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ALEC Drugs Meth State Legislature

What is really behind AG Jackboots Electronic Record keeping legislation

l3wis 34Comments

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Hey, sounds great, right? Anything to curb people from making meth is a good thing right?

Methamphetamine. South Dakota is experiencing a significant increase in the number of meth lab incidences as well as meth arrests.

“As Attorney General, I do not support requiring a doctor’s prescription for basic cold medicine.  The more reasonable approach is to utilize electronic record keeping of information already being provided in order to address inappropriate use of cold medicine for methamphetamine manufacturing,” said Attorney General Jackley.  Cold medicines containing Pseudoephedrine are often utilized in the manufacturing of
methamphetamine.  South Dakota law currently provides for a written record keeping system for the
sale of Pseudoephedrine products that cannot be efficiently checked by either retailers or law enforcement.  The proposed legislation addresses the problem through electronic record keeping and further allows for a waiver if a retailer does not have these electronic capabilities.  There will be no additional cost to the retailers, consumers or taxpayers for the electronic record keeping system being funded by the industry.

Interesting stuff, especially when you connect the dots.

What are the key components of adding up these dots? Let’s see, they want to implement electronic record keeping, retailers will have access to the information and lastly it will all be paid for by the ‘industry’.

What industry you ask? Big Pharma. See, this legislation is model legislation through ALEC. Who gives ALEC and ALEC members (state legislators) lots of campaign donations? Big Pharma. Who has received a lot of big Pharma money in the past? AG Jackboots. Can you imagine the usefulness of this kind of information to Big Pharma? Being able to track the sales of their over the counter drugs (being sold mostly to innocent consumers not interested in making meth) right down to the actual person purchasing the product, all the while requiring retailers to train their employees to do this extra work, ultimately costing them more in labor costs.

Once again, ALEC is well on it’s way to hoodwink our State Legislators and voters on this legislation.

GP will be posting an extended/closer look at this issue in the near future.

State Legislature

Governor Daugaard appoints Casino Manager to legislature

l3wis 14Comments

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IMAGE: KDLT News

About the only positive that could come out of this is that he is a tribal member, not sure what percentage, maybe he can get some polling places open on the res;

Governor Dennis Daugaard announced on Tuesday that he will appoint Chuck Jones of Flandreau to the South Dakota State Senate. Jones will represent District 8, filling the vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Russell Olson.

Jones is the general manager of Royal River Casino in Flandreau. From 2007 to 2011, he served as the city administrator for the City of Flandreau. Jones is a veteran of the United States Army and served overseas during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He also served in the Minnesota and Iowa Army National Guard from 1991 to 2001 and the U.S. Army Reserve from 2001 to 2012.

District 8 includes Lake, Miner, Moody and Sanborn counties.

Still curious as to why Denny thought appointing the GM of Royal River was a good idea? Why not just appoint the head lobbyist in the state of tobacco and alcohol to the legislature to? Hey, we have no ethics laws, or fair investigations/audits anyway. Stack Em’ up! If AG Jackboots is asked to do an investigation, he will just either drag his feet, refuse to do it, blame the family, or investigate them of a crime he already knows they did not commit. And they wonder why we get an ‘F’ for corruption in the state.

food tax State Legislature

The SD ‘Food Tax’ Dilemma

l3wis 21Comments

Trust me, I don’t stand out on street corners holding a sign that says ‘End the Food Tax’ but I do think eliminating the tax, at least partially would be a good idea.

So why am I bringing this up months before the legislative session? Well it seems there may be winds of change blowing on the issue in Pierre this year.

The other night I ran into a state representative, and let’s just say this, we are on ‘talking terms’. One of the topics of conversation was ‘legislative’ proposals. They had a great idea; eliminate the food tax on fresh fruits and vegetables at farmer’s markets to encourage healthy eating habits. I liked where this person was going with the idea, so I told them they should go a step farther, and eliminate the food tax on all fresh foods and preparable foods (i.e. milk, flour, eggs). I told them that Bread for the World has been fighting this fight for years in the legislature, but maybe if they teamed up with a legislator that wasn’t a Democrat, they might get somewhere on the issue.

They gave me that normal right winger scowl you often see when you ask them to be bi-partisan. They did say they would take that into consideration. I hope so, I already told Bread for the World about your proposal. Teamwork kids! Teamwork!

South Dakotans State Legislature

Should the minimum wage in SD be raised through initiated measure?

l3wis 22Comments

I say yes, but it often makes me chuckle that South Dakotans consistently support Democrats ideas in the form of initiated measures at the ballot box, but vote for Republicans to represent them. Here’s a clue, SD Voter, if you like and support Democrats ideas, maybe you should vote them in office, just a hint;

The minimum wage hike will come before South Dakota voters next year if its proponents, the South Dakota Democratic Party and two labor unions, manage to get almost 16,000 signatures by November of this year.

Of course the SD Chamber of Commerce is against it, because you know, it’s ‘complicated’

Owen, the president and CEO of the state chamber, predicted his group would oppose the minimum wage increase.

“The higher you drive this up, the more you’re going to complicate people entering the workforce,” Owen said.

What complication? Forcing employers to pay a wage (which ironically) isn’t even close to a living wage.

I am of the opinion that higher wages only boost the economy, the more money (lower income) peeps make, the more they will spend, this of course only adds more profit for businesses, which means they can pay their workers more (or at least they should). It is unfortunate you have legislate greedy business owners.

But Zach Crago, the interim executive director of the South Dakota Democratic Party, predicted a minimum wage increase would help the economy.

“It’s common knowledge that people with more money in their pockets will spend that at businesses across South Dakota,” Crago said. “That’s money that will ripple through our economy and create opportunities for all people.”

I also like the idea of tipped servers getting paid more ($4.25 per/hr) though I still think they should at least get $5 per/hr. Restaurant owners in SD and across the country have been very successful at making a lot of dough off of the backs of their poorly paid employees. The restaurant owners will of course argue that prices will have to go up if they have to pay servers more. Boloney. The fact is, what most restaurants will do is cut their service staff, which isn’t a bad thing. Servers will make more money, not just from their wages but in tips, but it also has it’s consequences, less service, but that is for the restaurant owners to decide.

I think it is wonderful if this gets on the ballot, and I think it will pass. Like I said at the beginning, Democratic ideas once again will be approved by the SD voters, while they continue to send loser Republicans to Pierre and DC.

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