Gerry Lange for Gov... Oh Wait...

...we already have a governor who supports an income tax!

Dakota War College bemoans the signing into law of HB 1005, South Dakota's new income tax. Republican Governor M. Michael Rounds signed it into law Thursday. Oddly, he did not invite the true grandfather of this legislation, Gerald Lange, to the signing ceremony. Governor Rounds doesn't appear to have made any fuss about signing this new income tax into law. Was he afraid to draw attention to this utter reversal of Republican talking points that he used to help push Gerry Lange out of office in 2006?

But let's hope PP doesn't pack up the family and head for Minnesota. The bill his Republican friends sponsored, passed, and signed is no "sucking rift" -- it's a rational replacement of an outmoded, inaccurate, arbitrary tax system with a fair, objective measure of wealth. Instead of the county assessor taking a wild guess on how much some speculator might be willing to pay for a given plot of land for unpredictable uses in an unpredictable economy, the SDSU economists will do a bang-up job of calculating a productivity formula that any high school graduate can understand. (Don't let me down here, State!) But eventually, their slide rules will start wearing out, and we'll all realize it would be a heck of a lot simpler to scrap the whole property tax charade and impose a straight income tax on everyone, individuals and businesses alike.

Here's what PP is really worried about: The electorate will recognize Governor Rounds's signing of HB 1005 as an endorsement of Gerry Lange's candidacy for the Legislature. Gerry will win in November and head back to Pierre to preside over South Dakota's transition into a new era of modern taxation. But look on the bright side: think of how many more fun Gerry quotes PP will have to blog about.

South Dakota Income Tax: good for farmers, good for Gerry, good for bloggers... good for everyone!