Colbert comments on HB 1217
l3wis Abortions are an ‘Impulse Buy’
State Legislature
Frank Kloucek proves something I have known a long time about the SD GOP
They have NO F’ING SENSE OF HUMOR!
This article in the Mitchell Daily Republic proves it;
He ended by inviting the dozens of people in the audience to his annual post-dinner gathering at the local truck stop, where he was offering pie and ice cream. In keeping with the draconian budget cuts by Republicans, he said, he would only allow his guests one of the goodies, and not both.
Every time Kloucek rattled off a zinger like that, the five Republicans seated to his right remained stonefaced, even as most of the audience laughed.
They don’t laugh, because Frank breaks down the hypocrisy of the SD GOP, and it’s many facets;
I know many political people in South Dakota who are at a loss to explain how Kloucek keeps getting elected. They see him as too plainspoken, too common, too “provincial,†to borrow a word they might use.
What they fail to see is that many voters admire exactly those kinds of qualities. That was evident last week at the legislative dinner when, in a room full of voters, the only people not laughing along with Kloucek were his colleagues.
But I’m laughing, while I enjoy my Kolache.
If you told a state legislator that Jesus walked on water, would he believe you, wait . . .
“I believe anything the Unruhs tell me.”
Wow. Our governor is even dumber then I thought;
The Republican Governor of South Dakota signed a bill into law Tuesday, formally mandating that women in the state wait three days and visit with anti-abortion activists before undergoing a medical procedure to terminate a pregnancy.
With Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s signature, South Dakota claims the title of having the longest mandatory waiting period for an abortion out of any other state in the nation. About half of the states require patients to wait 24 hours.
There is only one abortion clinic in South Dakota: the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) in Sioux Falls.
South Dakota’s law was seen as part of a broader attack on Planned Parenthood by social conservatives acting at the state and federal levels.
The non-profit organization is perhaps best known for abortion services, thanks to media campaigns launched by its religious conservative critics. However, the vast majority of PPFA’s activities focus on education, womens’ health, disease screenings and pregnancy prevention.
To this effect, PPFA says that each year it plays a role in preventing over 600,000 unwanted pregnancies, and only three percent of their patients request abortion services. By contrast, figures show PPFA is ten times more likely to be helping prevent an abortion than carrying one out.
But in an exclusive interview with Raw Story, Republican state Sen. Al Novstrup, the South Dakota bill’s primary sponsor, did not seem to know that. He even suggested that Planned Parenthood is akin to an abortion factory, ushering women in and putting them on a doctor’s table without so much as a consultation.
He also suggested they have a financial incentive in carrying out as many abortions as possible, which is demonstrably false as similar procedures are astronomically more expensive when carried out at private hospitals. Most women pay between $500-$900 for abortion services through PPFA.
The 72-hour waiting period aside, the law will also require women to consult with one of the “crisis pregnancy centers” around the state, which are mainly run by anti-abortion activists.
I’ll say it again, the best way to end abortion is to prevent a pregnancy from happening to begin with. We should be encouraging PP to reach out and educate more people on birth control instead of continuing to tie their hands.
These things happen when one party controls Pierre
Bernie Hunhoff writes a great letter about how GOP lawmakers in Pierre are all about talking about transparency, but when it comes to action, they scurry like freaking rats;
My second concern is that we don’t have enough transparency in government to determine whether any of our existing economic development funds are being spent wisely. I introduced legislation this year to require that the state provide an economic database to report information and results on loans, grants and tax rebates for economic development, but it was opposed by the administration and died on a party-line vote.
Democrats also offered a bill to prevent campaign contributions from companies that receive no-bid contracts from state government. That also was opposed by the administration and killed.
South Dakota has no restrictions on so-called pay-to-play as other states have. You could write campaign checks to South Dakota politicians who ultimately control the purse strings on economic development programs. In fact, this year, a bill was passed over my objections to allow corporations to write checks of up to $10,000 to PACs that can give money to politicians. Surely, there’s no quid pro quo in South Dakota, but we should have laws prohibiting such conduct.
But representative Johnston just tells us to get on the inter-webs and we can download and print out all the info we want;
I am committed to openness and transparency in all aspects of government operations. At the state level, our government has taken many steps to provide online resources for virtually all government records through www.Open.SD.gov. I encourage everyone to visit the site to experience all the information available with the click of a mouse.
Wow! Who knew it was so easy to uncover the state’s secrets? I feel like a total ass that I didn’t know about this website sooner. 🙁
SD State legislature finally decides to talk about the budget
Oh, crap! Is it already the end of the legislative session! Better prepare the budget;
By the end of the day on Friday, the South Dakota Legislature will approve a budget containing significant spending cuts — but the shape and size of those cuts is far from determined.
This is what I scratch my head about every year. Before the legislative session starts everyone starts crying about how broke we are (which we are) so you would think the very short session would be devoted to solving our budget issues. Nope. Abortion. Guns and more guns.
But it seems a dirty little secret has been exposed;
Lawmakers are also discussing the possibility of getting rid of some of the state’s $500 million in tax exemptions. Unlike a tax rate increase, Gov. Dennis Daugaard has said he is open to eliminating tax exemptions. Two bills dealing with tax exemptions have passed both houses; several others have been killed. Any legislator could introduce a budget amendment eliminating more sales tax exemptions.
$500 million! WTF! While I am an ardent supporter of some exemptions, it seems we could probably find a couple of them that should be eliminated?
But that would be too easy, why not something more difficult and painful;
A much-discussed alternative, HB1141, would set a special election this November for initiated measures with the intent of allowing for a popular vote on a tax increase.
BAHAHAHAHA! This wouldn’t pass in a million years, and any legislator who thinks it would should get their freaking head examined. We give tax breaks and refunds to Canadian corporations to dig holes in our state then turn around and expect South Dakotans to pay more in taxes on a loaf of bread? Get real.
Eliminate exemptions and tax advertising. Done deal.