City Fathers Cut Another Sweet Deal

We see in the RC Weekly News that yet another TIF ("Taxing Is Free" for the well-connected of Rapid City) is being given away to a group building a soccer complex off Elk Vale Road.
("TIF Boundary Created for Soccer Complex", RCWN, 9/30/08)

THREE CHEERS to Rapid City Council member Ron Weifenbach for asking the questions that need to be asked:

“The value of the land is going up and they want to capture the increment but no one can answer how much the increment is. We should know how much it is before creating the boundary,” Weifenbach said. “Another underlying issue is I don’t understand why a non-profit organization wants a TIF that does not directly help the soccer complex.”

I'll tell you why, the land was donated in the first place as part of the typical Rapid City deal-making.

We don't plan. We make deals.

Weifenbach did stress that he is a huge supporter of youth sports and soccer, but pointed out the complex already received $3.8 million from the city in 2012 money. He said he feels it may have more to do with Estes developing land around the complex. “If that is the case, it should be put on the table,” Weifenbach said.

Look, I'm not saying Estes is a bad guy, he has been on the board of the RC Regional Hospital Foundation and does a lot of good stuff the city father-types should be doing.

BUT... We way over-use TIFs in this town. But worse, we MIS-use them in favor of those that have the inside track (or get their ear, in the case of Cabela's), with the deals themselves more important than the long-term effects on our overall quality of life. We don't believe in even local control of development really, unless it's local support of development.

If we want the best economic development, in my humble opinion we should be working harder with TIFs and other tools to make this town a better place for families and young people to live, by promoting real land use planning to improve our quality of life.

Instead most of these projects seem to promote sprawl by giving a break to development that favors low-wage employers (Wal Mart, Cabela's, mini-malls) on the edge of town. Short term gain, with long-term cost. (Which, by the way is what overusing TIFs gives us fiscally--we carry the cost for years!)

Ths city council needs some vision. Their approach is seems soooo 1970's.

West River Dems Step Up For Kids, while Republicans talk

Cross-posted from Badlands Blue

The Rapid City Weekly News has an article this week worth checking out (Legislative candidates discuss children’s issues at forum).

Vicky Wicks reported on the powerful ideas that our first-class West River Democratic candidates have brought to the conversation this fall.


Some excerpts:

District 32 Democratic House candidate Beth Wojahn said prevention is assisted by early childhood programs, and every dollar spent is returned 16 times over. “If we don’t invest in kids now, we’re going to pay for it later,” she said.

(Wojahn had a sweet exchange with her opponent, unelected Rep. Brian Gosch, reported by the RC Journal story on this event.)

Democratic candidates Dennis Finch, for Senate, and Jeff Nelson, for House, both from District 33, agreed that the key to successfully overcoming poverty is education.

A better-educated populace leads to better wages and improved economy, Nelson said.

The RC Weekly continued...

But paying for education is a problem in South Dakota.

District 35 Democratic House candidate Curtis Marquardt said, “We should be ashamed” that we don’t support teachers with higher salaries, and he proposed a minimum statewide salary.

Fern Johnson, a Democratic House candidate also from District 35, said lottery money was supposed to support education and relieve property taxes, but now it’s channeled to cover other expenditures. She said the school funding burden should be flipped, with local governments paying 30% and state government paying 50%.

“Sooner or later, fantasy budgets meet reality,” she said. “That reality is here now.”

Raising salaries of parents is one line of attack to bring children out of poverty, and several [DEMOCRATIC -ed.] candidates offered ideas to make that happen.

District 32 Democratic House candidate Eric Abrahamson said that instead of waiting for out-of-state businesses to “ come in and save the day,” the state needs to invest from within, building the economy internally.

Kim Henderson, Democratic House candidate from District 33, said the state should pursue businesses that pay a living wage. If a business doesn’t do that, she said, they shouldn’t be supported with tax dollars.

District 34 Democratic House candidate Bonny Petersen recommended holding out-of-state businesses accountable not only for salaries, but also for healthcare.

As we've come to expect, the Republicans are not offering much more than talk, and some of them seem to think all is hunky dory....

District 34 Republican Senate candidate Craig Tieszen said that, as a former Rapid City chief of police, he witnessed the effects of child abuse and neglect. When cases get to court, it’s a response to something that’s already occurred, he said, and prevention would be more effective.

Well, Duh!

We need to remember that 30 years of Republican one-party rule in Pierre has given us more mandatory sentences and boot camp, and not much in the way of support for South Dakota's kids and young people.

Maybe they should start a bootstrap donor program?

District 35 Republican House incumbent Mark Kirkeby put a positive spin on the discussion. He acknowledged that school funding is low and blamed Gov. Mike Rounds in part for promoting higher education at a cost to K-12 education. But he pointed out that South Dakota has a high graduation rate and academically successful students.

What Kirkeby didn't mention is that this academic success is not shared between urban and rural areas, and especially not shared with our Native American brothers and sisters. And no kids benefit when librarians and counselors are cut so kids are left without those important supports in their academic and personal development.

IM 11 isn't enough

For those of you who are tempted to vote for IM11 in the hope that it will end this perennial issue, think again.

Roman Catholic Archibishop Cupich was quoted speaking at the "Vote Yes For Government Power Over Your Body" office opening in Rapid City. (RC Journal)

Cupich called for all pro-life people to embrace Measure 11 as a "gradualist" approach to ending abortion on demand.

"We want the lives of all unborn children protected, but Measure 11 is a serious attempt to limit the number of abortions in South Dakota," he said.

This means that if IM11 passes, they will be back next year with a more restrictive ban. And more efforts to limit access to any form of any effective birth control.




I just hope Leslee keeps her promise and spends a LOT Of time in West River:

"We lost out here last time," Leslee Unruh said. "I'm going to keep an eye on things this time."

She's a very provocative person, (specifically she scares the heck out of me) so the more we see of her, the more people will think before they vote. And rational thought will help defeat IM11.

Here's that eye--
creepy.



I'm sure it will be very close.

The 2008 Robbinsdal Radical Voting Guide: Part 2

This second installment covers the Initiated Measures. Part 1 was about the Constitutional Amendments, and Part 3 will cover candidates.

A useful resource for learning more about the ballot measures is the South Dakota Ballot Question Pamphlet, which includes pro-and-con statements for each of the ballot questions.

Initiated Measure 9 - An Initiative to make certain securities practices and transactions unlawful.

Who knows what they were thinking on this one. I don't understand this and I have to suspect there are ulterior motives here. International stock transactions are involved, and at least the transactions cross state boundaries so it's most likely best handled by Federal law -- I doubt our State will even have much jurisdiction, rendering it a waste of our efforts to pass such a law.

Radical votes No on IM 9.


Initiated Measure 10 - An Initiative to prohibit tax revenues from being used for lobbying or campaigning, to prohibit governmental bodies from lobbying, to prohibit government contractors from making campaign contributions, to prohibit government contracts when the contractor employs a legislator or legislative staff member, and to require contracts with governmental bodies to be published.

The staggering length of the title of this Initiated Measure alone should send your BS meter up to eleven. This has been sold as an "open and clean government bill" but what it is in fact a blatant attack on free political speech, and worse, an attempt to make governing so difficult that the state government will be hamstrung to do anything. Delicious as that sounds, I'm a believer that even South Dakota's government has proven itself to capable of doing very good things, sometimes almost by accident. But state government can't function, especially in this small state, if everyone doesn't have a chance to speak to help our politicians and executives figure out what needs to be done (and what should NOT be done!).

Both political parties resoundingly shot this down in their State Conventions in 2008, probably the first time they agreed on something with such enthusiasm. Many of these politicos have been doing political things for a while and I have to take that as guidance.

Radical votes No on IM 10.


Initiated Measure 11 - An Initiative to prohibit abortions except in cases where the mother’s life or health is at a substantial and irreversible risk, and in cases of reported rape and incest.

I know what M11 if definitely not. No matter what you may hear, this is definitely not a referendum on whether abortion is right or wrong.

Instead, the question is whether this is a good law; whether it will succeed in its laudable goal of (a) reducing abortions and (b) encouraging sexual responsibility (i.e. abstinence, if you ask our friends at Vote Yes For Life).

We're kidding ourselves if the we think the second part is not at the top of the agenda of the promoters of IM11.

It's also a question that even if this law would effectively accomplish either of the goals above, whether it's worth having the government dictate what goes on between a doctor, a patient, and her family, and worth the extreme intervention of the government into our personal lives.

Time for a reality check. South Dakota already has the most restrictive abortion laws in the country and because of its geography arguably the most limited access to all forms of women's medical care. We already have the awful affects of illegal abortions here in South Dakota already, and IM11 will not change that one way or the other.

This law would only allow incest victims an "exception" if they press charges and agree to submit DNA evidence to the government. Press charges, and submit tissue, or you're going to jail, honey. These not only aren't really "exceptions" -- but they sure bring into sharp relief what this division is about: citizens that think civil liberties are nice thing when we can trust people to do what we want them to do, and those that believe that women and families can and must be trusted, because our Founding Fathers were right to limit government power over our lives. I also agree with the Founding Fathers that people are basically good and will do the right thing if we give them freedom from government proscription. Jefferson and Adams would grieve how this issue has been cravenly put to political use, magnifying the suffering and putting our liberty at risk.

Sure, the life-of-the-mother and the medical abortions are not the majority of the small number of legal abortions that take place in-state -- but as a mom who is campaigning against IM11 said in a Washington Post piece published Sunday:

"So what if it's rare? If it's happening to you, it's not rare... If it can happen to me, it can happen to you, your sister, your neighbor, your daughter."

This young woman did a TV ad, putting her family it risk from the Operation Rescue types who will be marauding the State with their graphic photographs and their angry sanctimonious sermons in the coming weeks. I'm hoping they don't even make it over to West River.

The Radical votes with this brave woman, in favor of freedom, and in compassion and support for the women in his life and all women in South Dakota.

Radical votes No on IM 11.

The 2008 Robbinsdal Radical Voting Guide: Part 1

This Voting Guide covers the Constitutional Amendments included on our ballot. Part 2 will cover the Initiated Measures. Part 3 will cover candidates.

A useful resource for learning more about the ballot measures is the South Dakota Ballot Question Pamphlet, which includes pro-and-con statements for each of the ballot questions.

---

Constitutional Amendment G - An Amendment to the South Dakota Constitution, to repeal certain reimbursement restrictions for travel by legislators to and from a legislative session.

The whole point of a Constitution (as opposed to your garden-variety law) is to set the framework for government and reserve rights for the people, not to spell out how many cents a mile to reimburse legislators for their travel. For one thing, we can't amend it fast enough to keep up with these gas prices! Our pioneer forebears weren't thinking straight (maybe too much wind out on the prairie?) when they wrote this literal value directly into the Constitution the century before last. (The 5¢ a mile was set in 1891-- this is approximately $1.18 in 2008 dollars!)

We need to support our legislators by giving them new reimbursement rules that are current, not set in the 19th century! If we want a citizen legislature in such a sparsely populated state, we need to support their travel fairly and sensibly.

Radical votes Yes on G.


Constitutional Amendment H -
An Amendment to the South Dakota Constitution, to repeal certain provisions relating to corporations.

This is another cleanup/update of our State Constitution to bring it into line with current law elsewhere, simply bringing our corporate law in synch with other states. It's important that these things are not unique to South Dakota so we can work with other states.... most of it are with relation to obscure details of corporate governance that will not affect how business is done in South Dakota. No one was found to file against it, maybe because the people that really care know the meaning of legal terms like "debenture" .... and as far as I can tell we should go ahead and let them have what they want in this case.

Radical votes Yes on H.


Constitutional Amendment I -
An Amendment to the South Dakota Constitution, to provide for a maximum of forty legislative days each year.

Currently, the Legislature meets 35 and 40 days in alternate years. I think our state is big enough to need forty days of deliberation every year.

Radical votes Yes on I.


Constitutional Amendment J - An Amendment to the South Dakota Constitution, to eliminate term limits for legislators.

Unlike certain Republicans like Sen Bill Napoli who were for this until their time was up, I've always been against term limits as undemocratic. Sure, I don't particularly like the fact that voters of District 35 may disrespect women and further embarrass our State by sending Bill back into the spotlight if this passes, but, hey, it's their right.

Tom Daschle and Stan Adelstein can both tell you, we have always had term limits in South Dakota. We call them elections.

Radical votes Yes on J.

The Liberal Media

From Think Progress:

Progressive Silence On Television

Last week, MSNBC debuted a new prime-time political show hosted by Rachel Maddow, a progressive radio host on Air America. The debut attracted more viewers than both Larry King and Glenn Beck's programs, on CNN and CNN Headline News, respectively. After one week on air, Maddow's was MSNBC's highest-rated show on Tuesday, with Keith Olbermann's Countdown in second place. When Olbermann announced Maddow's new show last month on the progressive blog Daily Kos, he wrote to its readers, "Yes, you had something to do with it." Maddow's show is one of the few success stories of the efforts by progressives to see more progressive voices on TV. In fact, the day before Maddow's debut, MSNBC announced it was pulling Olbermann and Chris Matthews from its election coverage -- a move the New York Times said was a "direct result of tensions associated with the channel's perceived shift to the political left." Despite Olbermann and Maddow's rating successes, MSNBC and the other networks still don't seem to be getting the message: Americans want to hear progressive voices on television.

But, apparently, the media's corporate owners do not. Don't want to give the rabble any ideas, you know...

Sample ballots are online now!

You can verify your voter registration, find your polling place, and even get a sample ballot at the South Dakota Sec of State's Voter Information Portal right now.



Hmmm. that was easy.

Brian Gosch has been listening to too much Michael Medved

At the first DIA forum down the street from me in Robbinsdale tonight, I heard Brian Gosch (Robbinsdale's unelected [Gov. Marion Rounds-appointed] State House Rep) assert (in the context of illustrating the difficulties in even considering switching to alternative transportation fuels in the State) emphatically twice that hybrid cars cost $10,000 more than conventional vehicles. Typical Republican: we can't do that new thing... it costs too much, we don't deserve it, etc... I guess in South Dakota the Republicans are the party of no.

He seemed very sure about this. Maybe he was listening to Michael Medved, right wing radio hack, trash hybrid vehicles as he is wont to do.... instead of looking at the facts.

Carseek.com says:

It is true that the initial cost of such a car is generally $3,000 - $6,000 higher than a similarly-sized conventional vehicle, but there are post-purchase savings that may off-set the initial outlay.

Earth to Gosch: that's less than half of your $10K number you probably heard on right-wing radio.

Hybrids are a great idea and Detroit has dropped the ball by not getting into the game and concentrating on short-term profit selling SUVs.

Hybrids are a VERY viable option, which is why they are on waiting lists instead of on sale, even though they cost a little more. In fact although the list price of my Prius went down right soon after I bought it, erasing my tax rebate benefits, I'm not complaining--because my family is still way ahead:

• Fuel savings of 35% (at $4 a gallon that adds up)
  
• Since you slow down using the electric generator instead of brakes, you save on power train, tire, and brake wear.
  
• Hybrid cars (like our Prius) generally come with comfortable extras like pushbutton start and and nice stereo systems (and you can hear the stereo!)
  
• Cheap maintenance. Gosch said to his formidable Democratic opponent Bethany Wojahn "Well, I hope you car's battery doesn't die because those are $10-$15K to replace." Alert to Brian G: if you bothered to read Consumer Reports, hybrids have had a very good track record, largely because the battery is just part of the system, they are gas + electric. That's why they call it a hybrid.
  
  UPDATE: As of January 2010 my Prius batteries are doing just fine, thank you.
  

It makes one wonder what else he asserts that he doesn't have a clue about. I'm sure we'll find out during the next 49 days. Gosch also said that putting Rapid City's buses on compressed natural gas is not possible because "when we had it before, the City found them expensive to maintain. Maybe with new technology it's better, but I don't know." Well... we could Use The Google and look at what our government has posted on the internet. Heck, why not: NREL: Natural Gas Buses: Separating Myth from Fact

Deepak Chopra has words about Palin

Deepak Chopra has blogged on Palin.

It's worth a read:

[Gov. Palin] is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and turning negativity into a cause for pride. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of “the other.” For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don’t want to express them....

I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin’s message.

I know it isn't popular here, but I think it fuels the attitude in South Dakota as well...

Ohio and South Dakota are tied for last in a new state-by-state ranking [analyzing]... laws dealing with gay rights and reproductive rights.

A conservative Republican legislator from South Dakota, Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, described the results as "a badge of honor." "I'd have been disappointed if we'd finished any higher than last," he said.

Stop Blogging!

“You should be ashamed!” Ivy Frye, the assistant [to Alaska Gov. Palin], told her. “Stop blogging. Stop blogging right now!”

Good luck with that.

This from an article in the New York Times today. (Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes)

So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency.

Ms. Havemeister was one of at least five schoolmates Ms. Palin hired, often at salaries far exceeding their private sector wages.

There's something familiar about this story, but I can't put my finger on it...

Oh yeah...

The resignation of President's former point man [Micahel Brown] on disasters -- has raised questions about whether political connections, not qualifications, have helped an unusually high number of Bush appointees land vitally important jobs. (TIME, 09/25/2005)

The campaign heats up

The election starts a week from Tuesday (when early voting begins) and there are 51 days until it's all over.





Pennington County Dems get this party started yesterday...




At this same meeting I was THRILLED to see District 32 master researcher Sue Timmons back in Rapid City. One of the unsung heroes of the Katus 2006 upset. Consider yourself sung, Sue!!





My friends Rick and Deanna with Tom putting up signs on a windy day, getting 'er done.

Deanna is smiling because if Tom wins it won't be an upset this time... and perhaps because it's the last sign of the day!


And, on the lighter side, as we embark on this 50 day marathon...

Health Care on the front burner in Robbinsdale

As you probably know, my corner of town is home to the largest hospital for 350 miles around and my town is a health care center for South Dakota. Then what better place to build a grass-roots movement to clean up this health care mess we are in? It isn't like Washington DC is going to help us!

Today there was a presentation hosted by Health Care for America Now. Featured speaker was Dr. Sarge Preston, who has been working on ideas to develop a single-payer system in South Dakota. He told the group that his feeling is that health insurance does not work in a for-profit model, but health care can. Business is being terribly hurt by our broken system, so we all have a stake in improving the system. He would like to see a multi-state single-payer not-for-profit insurance system; such a system would create affordability to all by creating a large risk pool and providing competition among health care providers, with regulation to ensure access. Taking profit out of the insurance part of things would remove huge expenses of administration that are many of us uninsured, and most of us underinsured. Keeping the provider side of things private is important to keep things affordable and care responsive--if people get lousy care, they can go to another provider. If the state is getting a bad deal, they can do the same.

Thanks to longtime friend of the PenDems Chas Jewett, who has returned to the area to work on this effort, we had a full house, including quite a few Democratic candidates.


Why no Republican candidates or insurance industry folks?

Maybe they like things the way they are?

Rasmussen cries foul on Palin

Randy Rasumussen is serving up Republican talking points on the Rapid City Journal's Mount Blogmore, as usual:

Apparently, these claims and many others are completely false rumors circulating through the Internet. Including: Palin cut special needs education funding in Alaska, she sought to ban books, she was a member of the Alaska Independence Party, she supported Pat Buchanan for president and she wants creationism taught in school.

My comment:

RR is conveniently reading around the many things Palin is saying that are demonstrably false. She continues to repeat the hot-focus-group parts of her convention speech that sell, ignoring the fact that many of the zingers (her history with the bridge to nowhere, the jet sold on e-bay, the cook that was fired, etc) are misleading or absolutely false and have been throughly debunked. (It's like the truth doesn't matter, just the political value of the idea. Sound familiar?)

And the meme that asking questions about Palin’s religious background, her family life, etc to get a little insight into her character and values is grossly hypocritical and unfair. I hadn’t noticed anyone on the right holding back on the Clintons, who, BTW, are still on their first marriage.

I’m just sayin’.

One more thing:

Jesus was a community organizer.
Pilate was a governor.

Palin Shmalin

Obama in Michigan today:

"I mean, you can't just make stuff up," Obama said of a new McCain ad that says Palin "stopped the Bridge to Nowhere." "You can't just recreate yourself. You can't just reinvent yourself. The American people aren't stupid."

If you are a Republican, apparently you get a blank check to reinvent yourself whenever you feel like it.

Just remember:

- Sarah Palin actually did say: "thanks, but no thanks for the bridge" -- after she supported building it during the her gubernatorial election campaign.... When it became unpopular, she abandoned the bridge -- but Alaska still took the money, thank you very much.


- She didn't really fire her chef, just gave her a different job title and she kept cooking!


- The Alaskan governor's jet was used more than 50% of the time to transport prisoners, not the Governor living high off the hog.

- Oh, I forgot. Palin did not sell the jet on eBay. She just put it up on eBay as a political stunt and later had to sell it at a loss. Given they still probably have to shuttle prisoners around, the deal has probably been a political plus and a financial minus. (Why is this not surprising?)

This has all come up in a little more than ten days. You wonder what else we're going to hear about.

Candidate Dialogue in Robbinsdale!

One week from Tuesday... the candidates are coming a stones throw from my house in Robbinsdale!

Letter in RCJ re Palin

Another letter to the editor, extracted from the RCJ 9/7/2008 edition...

Palin’s judgment in daughter issue off base

I question the judgment of any candidate for national office, whether male or female, who would subject their 17-year-old daughter to the kind of vicious media attention that Gov. Palin has done by agreeing to run for the second highest office in the land when her unmarried daughter is pregnant.

Beyond that, how wise is it to arrange a marriage between two high school students just so they can be, what? Morally right with the Lord? Socially correct? Live with their mistake? Hope that everything will turn out right? So many couples are unable to adopt a baby because teenagers choose to keep their babies, often making an emotional decision that may not be the right one for the new life coming into the world. It would be so nice, now that the cat is out of the bag, to hear that this vulnerable young girl and her family would choose to give up their precious baby for adoption by a deserving family.

Surely this would be better than yet another teenage marriage, which has extremely low chances of surviving, especially if the grandmother is dividing her life between the vice presidency and supporting her daughter.

VAUDETH OBERLANDER
Rapid City

Robbinsdale candidates were great at Oktoberfest

House candidate Bethany Wojahn (right) with her treasurer (and former candidate) Suzan Nolan.

Just got back from Oktoberfest and have to say it was just fantastic. There were a lot of people there and a lot of energy. Our local candidates were out in force and it was a great day. More later!

South Dakota is in play!

Read more about it at www.electoral-vote.com.

Samantha Bee needs to interview Elli

Elli Schweisow (District 32 Senate candidate, Rapid City) will make it all clear to her, I'm sure.

Pit bull sans lipstick!

Dear Spouse came across this comment on a Washington Post blog "The Trail" (Obama Camp Responds to Palin Attacks) and wanted to share it:

Here's the thing about pit bulls -- yes, they can be vicious, but they are also dumb. They can be sweet and loyal, but if something small and fast runs by, including children, they lose their crackers and will attack it. Not the world's most flattering analogy.

Note to self - If I ever make it to a major political convention, do not compare self to dog who operates on 99.9% base instinct.

Posted by: Midwest Mom | September 4, 2008 11:15 AM

Dear Spouse also introduced herself at a candidate event this morning as "a hockey mom, yes, and a pit bull, yes, when defending my kids... but I sure don't wear lipstick."

Bullet dodged

The Republican Party definitely dodged a bullet. At least everyone seemed to do what they were supposed to do this time...

Spared a Direct Hit, New Orleans Exhales