Dems Nominate Ron Volesky for Attorney General

Sure enough: we get to vote for Ron Volesky after all! Jessica Hotchkiss from Beadle County just nominated one of my favorite Democrats and orators to run for Attorney General. Mr. Volesky delivers a rousing address to the assembled delegates of the Democratic Convention. He wryly notes that he and our gubernatorila nominee, Scott Heidepriem, were once considered competitors, then declares his pride in joining Heidepriem on a united slate of Democratic candidates.

Volesky promises as attorney general to be guided by the moral test of government: how it treats the young, the aged, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped. He promises to protect workers' rights to organize, to root out corporate crime as diligently as street crime, and to enforce the laws for all citizens. He also promises to protect the fundamental rights of all, regardless of where they live or what race or religion they belong to.

Let's hope he'll also pull South Dakota out of silly lawsuits like Marty Jackley's doomed crusade against health insurance reform.

And Volesky makes the ballot unanimously. Yahoo! We're filling the slate!

More updates from the 2010 South Dakota Democratic Convention on Twitter at #SDDems!

Hottest Political Web Property in South Dakota: TheBjork.com!

Not just Björk; The Bjork! [Björk pic from here; The Bjork pic from here]

I just found the best political domain name in South Dakota, and it belongs to a candidate from right here in Madison. Who is it? Independent/Glenn Beck candidate for District 8 House Jason Lee Bjorklund is online with TheBjork.com (No umlaut, please). We can talk Bjorklund's politics later—right now, folks just want to go to the lake (typical human behaviour). Permit me, therefore, to restrict my comments to my entirely superficial admiration for Bjorklund's domain name choice. There's got to be some Google juice spillover the candidate will get from the queen of Icelandic surreal-pop, right? The marketing association catches the thoughtful hip who want to unravel cookie-cutter media messages from blow-dried talking heads. With a domain name like this, Bjorklund can shout to voters, "There's more to life than this! It's in our hands! Declare independence and vote for an army of me to shake up Pierre!" And on the off chance that Bjorklund could possibly, maybe lose in November, he still has a domain name with zip, verve, even big time sensuality, available for all sorts of other ventures, not some silly Web albatross like KarpenForPUC.com or KristiForCongress.com that's pretty useless once you lose the election. TheBjork.com could one day have some serious resale value, which could make Jason violently happy. Now if I could just get him to campaign in a swan dress. 100,000 Web hits per day, guaranteed.

Update 2022.06.26: Google Blogger unpublished this post 12 years later, claiming that it violated their malware and viruses policy. I  have not attempted to transmit any malware or viruses. The only thing I can speculate may be wrong is that TheBjork.com doesn't show any Bjorklund info any more (last I heard, Bjorklund ran for an SDGOP convention voting spot in Minnehaha County this year and got trounced by Rep. Chris Karr). I'll deactivate those links and see if that makes Google happy.

Ben Arndt Now a Dem? Not That I Mind...

Pat Powers and his commenters are having inordinate fun talking about Ben Arndt's rumored last-minute switch from Republican to Democrat. There's no mainstream confirmation yet... though I suppose I can ask Ben and his running mate Scott Heidepriem myself at the convention this morning.

If Ben has switched, I simply say, "'Bout time! Welcome to the party!"

But I would like some clarification: Powers is suggesting Arndt had to switch under state law to qualify for the ticket. I've perused state law, the state constitution, and the party constitution, and I see no clear requirement that the lieutenant governor register in the same party as the governor, or that a candidate has to belong to the party to receive the party's nomination (although as a party activist, I'd ask a non-party member some hard questions about why I ought to nominate him). But I'm also hurrying through breakfast, so I may have missed something.

Dear readers, your homework for today: find the statute or by-law requiring Arndt to be a Democrat. Also, let me know how much Ben Arndt's party registration matters to you.

Canadian Tar Sands Company Liable for Duck Deaths

If South Dakota's sportsmen are concerned about preserving waterfowl for our recreation and tourism industry, they should be concerned about the expanding Keystone pipeline system and the dirty tar sands oil TransCanada will transport. Even if those pipelines never leak and pollute South Dakota's wetlands, the production of the oil they carry has already killed wildlife in Alberta.

I reported on duck deaths in the toxic tar sands tailings ponds in 2008; now an Alberta court has found tar sands producer Syncrude guilty of killing nearly 1600 ducks (well over anyone's limit). Syncrude faces up to 800,000 dollars Canadian in fines for its negligence.

Syncrude initially reported that 500 ducks were killed when it didn't maintain its bird-shooing cannons in working order. The company now admits it lowballed that number: the actual count was more like 1600. Gee, oil companies underestimating the impact of their mistakes... where have I heard that before?

U.S. Health Care: Twice as Costly, Less Effective

I'm on the Education subcommittee along with my neighbor (and chairman!) Gerry Lange at the Democratic convention this weekend, so I really ought to be reading up on education issues (like our state's willingness to federalize education with silly national standardized tests that take away local control and professional autonomy).

But then an eager reader sends me The Commonwealth Fund's latest update on the pathetic performance of the American health care system, and I'm all riled up on health insurance again:

In 2007, health spending was $7,290 per person in the United States, more than double that of any other country in the survey.

Australians spent $3,357, Canadians $3,895, Germans $3,588, the Netherlands $3,837 and Britons spent $2,992 per capita on health in 2007. New Zealand spent the least at $2,454.

This is a big rise from the Fund's last similar survey, in 2007, which found Americans spent $6,697 per capita on healthcare in 2005, or 16 percent of gross domestic product.

"We rank last on safety and do poorly on several dimensions of quality," [Commonwealth Fund's Cathy] Schoen told reporters. "We do particularly poorly on going without care because of cost. And we also do surprisingly poorly on access to primary care and after-hours care" [Maggie Fox, "U.S. Scores Dead Last Again in Healthcare Study," Reuters, 2010.06.23].

This year's health insurance reform law be damned—we need real reform. We need a robust public option, if not a full-tilt single-payer system. We need government-run health coverage, like the systems in all the countries that kick our cans in cost control and health care performance. We need universal public insurance like the Medicare program that treats Grandma and Grandpa (and George McGovern!) so well.

We need to acknowledge that the American health coverage system is broken. We need to acknowledge that the status quo is inequitable and unaffordable. We need to acknowledge that this year's reform is a step in the right direction, but not enough to fix a system where medical debt plays a role in more than 60% of personal bankruptcies.

Medicare for everyone. It works in other countries. It'll work here.

May Unemployment Mixed in Lake County Area

The South Dakota Department of Labor has posted the local unemployment figures for May. After a healthy drop from March to April, Lake County's jobless rate jumped back up a tick to 4.8%. The actual numbers aren't earth-shaking: 15 folks left the local workforce, but 20 jobs disappeared. But when Dwaine Chapel needs to make 835 jobs appear by the end of next year to meet the Forward Madison labor goal, we can't afford any slippage.

The job numbers are mixed for the surrounding counties. Brookings County jumped back up to 3.9%, with 90 more people out of work in May (the college kids leave, but so does a lot of business). McCook and Miner counties saw increases, too. Kingsbury, Minnehaha, and Moody counties all managed to create a few jobs. but what we're all waiting for, a good strong surge for everybody, was nowhere to be seen in May.

Karpen Lobbies Dems for PUC Nod; Where's Zaiko?

Doyle Karpen hits my mailbox, and the mailboxes of other Democratic convention delegates, to ask for our vote to make him the Democratic nominee to challenge Dusty Johnson for the Public Utilities Commission.

I've made clear that I have trouble getting excited about a Democrat (or anyone else) who calls the proposed Hyperion refinery "fantastic" and a "boon." So you can expect my read of Karpen's campaign literature to be less than favorable.

As I read his letter, the first thing I learn is the length of his marriage and the names of his wife, kids, and grandkids. Yes, yes, we all have wonderful families. Yes, I'm proud of my daughter, too, but that doesn't render my political judgment any more valid.

After ascribing his political activities to the inspiration of "the spirit of the pioneers who made our country great," Karpen gets down to the real résumé, citing his experience on township board, school board, and county commission. Interestingly, in discussing his tenure as a Union County Commissioner, he does not mention the words "Hyperion" or "refinery":

Being Chairman of the Union County Commissioners fostered in me the importance of allowing everyone the right to be heard while ensuring that the wishes of the majority are sustained. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "The most sacred of the duties of a government is to do equal and impartial justice to all citizens" [Doyle Karpen, campaign letter to Democratic convention delegates, June 2010].

Well, at least Karpen is good at spin.

Karpen does mention Hyperion on his online résumé. Karpen says he "focused on laws and ordinances rather than emotions"... since, of course, if you oppose an unsustainable, polluting, economically unviable oil refinery, you're just being emotional.

I'm starting to worry that when Karpen talks about bringing "the pioneer spirit... back to the people of South Dakota," he's really talking code for letting big oil corporations pioneer their projects roughshod right over us natives (ah, just like the 1800s).

But where's our alternative? Challenger John Zaiko hasn't sent out similar mail. He did click "attending" on the Democratic convention Facebook page, so I'm hoping we can have a conversation in Sioux Falls Saturday... and maybe at least one interesting vote at the convention!

Madison's Next Subsidy: Downtown, Pavement, Utility Bills

The latest Madville Times poll shows readers split on what the ever-generous City of Madison should subsidize next. With handouts recently to Madison Farmers Elevator, East River Electric, Inter-Lakes Community Action Program, Rosebud, and James River Equipment, it seemed logical to ask what important project deserves the next round of funding from the City Commission. The five options presented in the Madville Times poll drew a divided response from 61 readers:

1. Renovating downtown storefronts: 16 votes (26%)
2. Paving gravel streets: 15 (24%)
3. Reducing utility rates: 15 (24%)
4. Building wind turbines: 8 (13%)
5. Restoring Masonic temple: 7 (11%)

Votes were evenly split among the top three suggestions. A quarter of respondents would like to renovate our downtown storefronts, perhaps by ripping out the chintzy tin work and other shoddy signage and restoring some of that lovely old brick work, not to mention looking up and fixing the old architecture that's crumbling all along the second level of our downtown buildings.

Another quarter would like to pave our gravel streets—as my mother has pointed out, folks on those gravel streets have paid for curb and gutter; they deserve some effort by the city to civilize the rest of their street.

Another quarter say everyone in Madison should get a subsidy in the form of a reduction of their utility rates. I'm actually surprised more readers didn't mark this option, given that the city raised electric rates 10% in this year's budget. I find it interesting (and heartening!) that, amid the din of the 9-12 Project hollering for smaller government, three in four readers are willing to keep paying their bills and directing their tax dollars toward projects to benefit the general welfare. (Then again, my sample consists of Madville Times readers, who surely include a disproportionate number of Communists and other unsavory elements, right? :-) )

The remaining quarter are split between providing incentives to build wind turbines around town and getting the Masonic temple back into shape. Alas, I'd like to see the Masonic temple at the top of that list, but that's why we have the discussion, to find out where the popular will lies. Too bad local government doesn't do more of that.

Thanks for voting, dear readers! Stay tuned for more fun, exciting, and locally relevant polls throughout the summer!

PUC Johnson Reads Blog, Gives Qwest What-For

My blog just earned its pay for the month... and so did Dusty Johnson!

Yesterday morning I vented about Qwest's inability or unwillingness to fix the midnight phantom ring on my phone. Yesterday afternoon, the phone rang. It was no phantom: it was Public Utilities Commissioner Dusty Johnson. I was out, but Commissioner Johnson told my wife the PUC had contacted Qwest and asked them to discontinue the test line to my house.

My wife and I stayed up late last night. No phantom ring.

One night is not proof—we've called Qwest previously, gotten assurances, then had the phantom rings return weeks or months later—but I called the PUC back this morning to thank Commissioner Johnson. That the Commissioner would take this action, without my even contacting him directly, demonstrates a sincere commitment to listening to and serving the public.

I'll still be voting Saturday to nominate John Zaiko (if he's still in!) to run against Dusty Johnson for PUC. But for now... keep up the good work, Dusty.

Oil, Tsunamis, Ethanol -- Grim Notes

Two dozen tabs open on my browser—time to clear the cache and lament the ongoing disaster of our irresponsible energy practices.

1. Scott and Megan at The Post revisit that amazing BP oil spill overlay map and find the great blob of careless greed stretching from Sissteon to Rapid City.
2. Maybe mushrooms can clean up the BP oil spill. I'd certainly give that a shot before trying the mushroom cloud option.
3. Fungus or nukes, the eggheads had better find a solution fast. If you think oily birds and beach tarballs are bad for tourism, try double exploding methane-triggered tsunamis.
4. Maybe someone should have mentioned tsunamis to Judge Feldman before he overturned the federal moratorium on further deepwater oil exploration. One rig blowing up and spewing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico doesn't mean all such rigs are dangerous, does it? I susecpt such a conclusion makes more sense to a judge who has invested in numerous oil companies, including the outfit that owned the Deepwater Horizon rig.
5. The solution is not magic mushrooms or more drilling. The solution is for us Americans to grow up, sacrifice for future generations, and get the heck off oil. That change will be slow and painful, but we Americans ca do it. At least that's what conservative commentator David Frum will tell you:

   We want to get the country off oil? Tax it. (Politicians may not wish to say it, but their advisers can at least think it.) Then liberate people to find their own best alternative -- and incentivize industry to develop alternatives that make sense at the new higher price. And be prepared to argue candidly and straightforwardly in the marketplace of ideas why this new tax is right and justified [David Frum, "Getting off Oil Easily Is a Fantasy," CNN.com, 2010.06.21].

   I'll make that argument. Tax oil hard. Game on!
6. And for those of you thinking ethanol is the best way to get off oil, there's a strong argument that ethanol, via corn production and fertilizer runoff, has been contributing to hypoxia, algae blooms, and the massive "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico for years. But hey—that ongoing disaster is only the size of New Jersey.

And now I'm hopping in my car to burn three gallons of gasoline and ethanol to go to Brookings. I smell exhaust and hypocrisy.

Five Years after Kelo v. New London: Fight the Capitalist Dogs!

Mr. Woodring at Constant Conservative reminds us of the fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court's Kelo v. New London decision. I agree with my conservative blog colleague that Kelo was an abominable decision, foisted upon us by my fellow liberals on the court who got property rights and eminent domain dead wrong. I am proud that South Dakota was the first state to pass legislation in response to Kelo to outlaw exactly the sort of private-private eminent domain transfer that Kelo upheld. (HB 1080 passed the 2006 Legislature with near unanimity.)

But I suggest that repudiating Kelo v. New London is not strictly Ron Paul libertarianism (a philosophy for which I still harbor sympathies). The City of New London forced homeowners to sell to Pfizer on the promise that Pfizer would build an extravagant research park that would raise property values and swell the city coffers. (Pfizer's promise fell through, and the land transfer was for naught.) In Kelo, the court narrowly held the taxable dollar value of land to supersede other values, like the sense of place, of home, of neighborhood. The court said that if you don't want to act like a capitalist and generate as much wealth as possible with your property, the government should take your property and hand it to a more avid exploiter.

As a homeowner who was able to build a fine lake house for a humble $100,000, amidst more extravagant lakeside temples to consumption worth triple and triple again as much, I found Kelo terrifying. I could easily see the Lake County Commission looking at my cheapskatery and saying, "Heidelberger's house is only generating $1700 in property tax. We know a Sioux Falls developer who can subdivide Heidelberger's land, build two McMansions, and generate ten times the property tax. Evict Heidelberger: we've got roads to fix."

Forcing a property owner to sell that property to another private party who can make more money on that property is akin to forcing construction workers and custodians to move out of town because we want our community to be populated by doctors and lawyers and other wealthy folks who can buy more stuff and generate more sales tax (Vail is like that). Rights should not depend on your economic output. Kelo and the slim liberal majority got that point dead wrong.

Mr. Woodring is right to lament the Kelo decision. I lament it with him. But remember: a rejection of Kelo is a rejection of the capitalist imperative. Some things, like having your home on your terms, are more important than money.

------------------
Update 2010.06.25 09:20 CDT: Mr. Woodring continues the discussion! Worth reading!

Johnson Good on Grassland Wilderness; What's Thune's Problem?

Location of first national grassland wilderness (blue zones), proposed in Tony Dean Cheyenne River Valley Conservation Act of 2010. Click image to enlarge. [Image courtesy of South Dakota Wild Grassland Coalition]

Senator Tim Johnson has a good idea. In May, he introduced S. 3310 the Tony Dean Cheyenne River Valley Conservation Act of 2010. The bill, which got its first Senate committee hearing last week, would designate about 48,000 acres of West River grassland as national wilderness. That's about 75 square miles, a total area a little larger than Sioux Falls, declared off limits to development and mechanical travel (including my mountain bike) and kept about as natural as it can be.

The South Dakota Wild Grasslands Coalition released a survey last March finding about 60% support for this specific wilderness proposal among voters in the neighborhood of the affected lands. The survey even found majority support among snowmobilers and off-roaders.

Ranchers won't lose any grazing land if the wilderness designation passes. S. 3310 specifically excepts established grazing from the bill. In other words, if your cows eat grass near Red Shirt now, they'll be able to eat grass there after the bill becomes law.

Hunters and fishers would still get to enjoy the area right alongside backpackers, birdwatchers, and rock collectors. S. 3310 specifies that the state retains jurisdiction over fish and wildlife management, including hunting, fishing, and trapping.

Even Ellsworth Air Force Base gets to carve a niche in this bill. S. 3310 specifies that the military gets to keep its current flight training routes and can even declare new flight paths over the wilderness. (And you know, even when I'm backpacking, I think getting a good look at big jet planes is kind of cool... as long as that ordnance stays bolted on tight!)

Now Senator John Thune ought to be backing Senator Johnson on this proposal. Thune appreciates the value of protecting habitat and game populations for hunting and tourism.

But Thune is opposing S. 3310. He cites opposition from Governor Rounds, the Legislature, county commissioners, and area ranchers like Ken Knuppe and Scott Edoff, who worry their grazing permits will change.

The list of ranchers opposing the wilderness designation does not include Dan O'Brien, who holds the largest grazing permit in the northern portion of the targeted territory. He raises buffalo and is looking into eco-/agritourism. In his Senate testimony last week, he invoked the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt to declare the silence and solitude of the Indian Creek area a vital national resource deserving "maximum federal protection." He says wilderness designation would protect his own ranching and business interests as well as the rights of all Americans to enjoy the grasslands, which he says are "the least protected landscape in the world."

Senator Thune appears to be reaching for arguments, resorting to saying that the language in the bill doesn't say exactly what it says. He's rounded up the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association to echo his alarmism. The SD Wild Grassland Organization pretty effectively disposes with every one of Senator Thune's and the SDCA's stated concerns here.

The Tony Dean Cheyenne River Valley Conservation Act would create a unique national wilderness, protecting a fragile prairie ecosystem that enjoys this sort of protection nowhere else. Right between South Dakota's two existing wilderness areas, the Black Elk Wilderness in the Hills and the Badlands Wilderness, the Indian Creek, Red Shirt, and Chalk Hills wildernesses would boost South Dakota's profile, tourism, and hunting without taking away from ranching. Passing this bill would honor the memory and wisdom of famed South Dakota outdoorsman Tony Dean, who appreciated the value of wilderness.

Senator Johnson recognizes the clear and immediate good S. 3310 would do. Senator Thune is grasping for hypothetical "potential" harms refuted by the spirit and the letter of this legislation, not to mention plain facts.

Come on, John: you can work with Tim on Ellsworth; you can work with Tim on wilderness. Drop the obstructionism, and support this good bill.

-----------------------
Update 19:37 CDT: I learn via Sibby that President Bush proposed creating a 71,381-acre Cheyenne River Valley Grassland. Sibby also leaves me to puzzle over how protecting wilderness ecosystems on federal land is part of the "socialist anti-property-rights agenda in South Dakota." Hmmm....