Alan Simpson Does Politics Right -- Listen Up, Obama & Dems!

Among the good things about President Obama's creation of a committee to study the deficit: his selection of Republican straight-shooter and former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson to chair the commission with Erskine Bowles. How does Simpson plan to tackle the deficit?

There are a lot of bitchers and whiners and snorters out there, and we intend to listen to them all, and then crush them.

—Former Senator Alan Simpson, interviewed on NPR, All Things Considered, 2010.02.18

Dang! If President Obama would start laying down the law the way Senator Simpson does, he'd defy ex-VP Cheney's one-term prediction for sure.

FY 2010 Earmarks for South Dakota: $148 Million

Taxpayers for Common Sense has posted its Fiscal Year 2010 Earmark Database. South Dakota's take in earmarks, by my sorting of the spreadsheet: $147,824,150.

Remember, that's not total federal funding; that's just the little Christmas ornaments Senator Johnson, Senator Thune, and Representative Herseth Sandlin (and President Obama!) were able to hang on the tree. (Oh, and one from North Dakota Senator Dorgan, who was nice enough to request $150K for a Corps of Engineers investigation on the James River.)

And just which of our Congresspeople were responsible for how much of those earmarks?

House sponsor	Amount	Senate sponsor	percentage of total SD earmarks
Herseth Sandlin	$360,000		0.2%
	$8,105,000	Johnson, Tim	5.5%
	$5,750,000	Thune	3.9%
	$150,000	Dorgan	0.1%
Herseth Sandlin	$19,381,550	Johnson, Tim	13.1%
Herseth Sandlin	$0	Thune	0.0%
Herseth Sandlin	$87,947,600	Johnson, Tim; Thune	59.5%

Six out of every ten earmark dollars were requested by our entire Congressional delegation, Democrats and Republican working together to bring home the bacon. And that nice fellow in the White House was nice enough to request more than $20 million more, mostly for the Fort Randall and Big Bend dams.

The ten biggest earmarks for South Dakota:

Amount	Project	Location	Purpose	Agency	Earmarkers H=Herseth J=Johnson T=Thune P=President
$32,200,000	MNI Wiconi Project		Energy and Water	Bureau of Reclamation	HJTP
$14,500,000	Add/Alt Deployment Center	Ellsworth Air Force Base	Military Construction	Air Force	HJTP
$11,604,000	Fort Randall Dam, Lake Francis Case, SD		Energy and Water	Corps of Engineers	P
$9,383,000	Big Bend Dam, Lake Sharpe, SD		Energy and Water	Corps of Engineers	P
$7,890,000	Joint Forces HQ Readiness Center Supplement	Camp Rapid	Military Construction	Army National Guard	HJT
$3,200,000	Alternative Power Technology for Missile Defense	Brookings	Defense	Research, Development, Test & Evaluation	HJT
$3,000,000	Advanced Electronics Rosebud Integration	Rosebud	Defense	Research, Development, Test & Evaluation	HJT
$3,000,000	Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Lower Brule Sioux, SD	Lower Brule Sioux	Energy and Water	Corps of Engineers	JT
$3,000,000	SD Highway 63 Resurfacing, SD		Transportation-Housing and Urban Development	Federal Highway Administration	T
$2,750,000	Sun Grant Initiative (SD)		Energy and Water	Department of Energy	HJ

The earmarks also include $500K for suicide prevention on the Rosebud, $400K for the Brant Lake sewer system, and $1.2M for developing "stabilized hemoglobin wound healing" for the Army. Once again, I welcome Dr. R. Blake Curd and my Tea Party friends to tell me which of these programs and any of the other earmarks are among the great evils of the Republic that South Dakota should reject.

Some notes from the national earmark scene:

• The Senator and Representative who won the most earmarks are both Republicans.
  
• Of the top five from each house, five were Republicans, five were Democrats.
• Republicans did claim fewer earmark dollars, taking just 34% of the partisanly assignable dollar value in this budget, compared to 44% in FY 2009.
• 58 Representatives claimed no solo earmarks; 13 were Dems, 45 were GOP.
  
• 24 Senators claimed no solo earmarks; 16 were Dems (including John Kerry), 8 were GOP (including John McCain).
  
• Earmarks went down by number, from 10,363 to 9,413.
• Earmarks went up by dollar, from $15.6 billion to $15.9 billion.
• Earmarks went up, barely, as a percentage of the total budget, from 0.44% to 0.45%.
  

HB 1222: Farmers Markets Get Green Thumbs Up from House Commerce

Rebecca Terk of Flying Tomato Farms notes that the South Dakota House Commerce Committee gave unanimous approval yesterday to HB 1222, the Home-Processed Foods Bill, which makes life better for folks who sell and buy local foods.

Dakota Rural Action and the state Department of Health worked together to craft this bill to clarify the rules and help farmers markets stay in business. HB 1222 is good legislation, good for local food, local entrepreneurship, and local self-sufficiency. Legislators, keep the momentum going on this bill and get it to the Governor's desk!

HB 1150: House Committee Penalizes School Choice

Stinky House Bill 1150 made its first step toward passage yesterday. The House Education Committee passed it 9–5.

To review, this bill reduces the amount of state funding some schools will get for students who open enroll into their district. Right now, each school gets a set amount of money for each enrolled student based on its size, with smaller schools getting an adjustment to make up for greater cost per student in smaller settings. For example, the state gives more aid per student at Montrose than at West Central, regardless of whether the student is a "native" or an open-enrollee. HB 1150 says that if Montrose attracts a student from West Central, Montrose only gets the state aid the student would have drawn at West Central, not the increased amount a regular student at Montrose warrants.

In other words, HB 1150 punishes small schools for success. Go ahead, Montrose, Rutland, et al., provide a better education. Convince parents in Hartford and Madison that you can teach their kids better than the big town. You'll pay for it.

District 8 legislator Mitch Fargen voted against the bill. His District 8 counterpart Gerry Lange still has his name on the bill. Let's hope Gerry changes his mind before the bill hits the House floor. Punishing small schools for success is not the right way for the state to save money.

What Questions? Stimulus Working!

Being an SDPB Political Junkie must have gotten Jon Hunter excited: he's written three editorials in one week! In last night's editorial, the Madison Daily Leader publisher joins the Madison Republican hypocrites who hate government spending but love to get it:

While there are real questions about whether the federal stimulus program was effective or not, we're glad to see the act provide funding for a South Dakota highway reconstruction to make it much safer [Jon Hunter, "Despite Stimulus Questions, We're Glad Road Will Be Safer," Madison Daily Leader, 2010.02.17].

Note that Hunter is o.k. with stimulus for reservation infrastructure... as long as it's not an airport.

But wait a minute: what's this about questions about the stimulus? Economists are all pretty clear on the effects of the stimulus: it worked and it should have been bigger! Adam Feser points us toward the David Leonhardt column Hunter missed in Tuesday's New York Times:

Just look at the outside evaluations of the stimulus. Perhaps the best-known economic research firms are IHS Global Insight, Macroeconomic Advisers and Moody’s Economy.com. They all estimate that the bill has added 1.6 million to 1.8 million jobs so far and that its ultimate impact will be roughly 2.5 million jobs. The Congressional Budget Office, an independent agency, considers these estimates to be conservative [David Leonhardt, "Judging Stimulus by Jobs Data Reveals Success," New York Times, 2010.02.16].

Leonhardt says that if you look at data and history (instead of GOP wishing points), you see the stimulus deserves "a big heaping of credit." The current stimulus package confirms that government spending is the surest way to fight a recession:

The last year has shown — just as economists have long said — that aid to states and cities may be the single most effective form of stimulus. Unlike road- or bridge-building, it can happen in a matter of weeks. And unlike tax cuts, state and local aid never languishes in a household’s savings account [Leonhardt 2010].

So what was your question again, Jon?

Turn down Fox Noise, pay attention to reality.

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Update 2010.02.19: The Obama Administration is also creating jobs for unemployed speech makers like Sarah Palin.

Dems: Run Hard, Turn Left!

Montrose track coach Ken Greeno effectively boiled his guidance to young tracksters down to four words: Run hard, turn left. The Democrats in Congress (you too, Stephanie!) should follow the same advice.

Public Policy Polling finds that much of the opposition to two Democratic priorities, reforming health care and repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell, comes from people who wouldn't vote Dem if you paid them (and in South Dakota, we do pay them, with all these crotchety conservatives getting free roads and farm checks and Medicare).

Among folks whose votes are at least up for grabs, President Obama's health care reform has 64% approval. 72% of those voters want gays and lesbians to be able to serve openly in the military, says Public Policy Polling.

If you're after votes, Dems, playing Blue Dog to appeal to the GOP naysayers won't get you anywhere. Besides, Stephanie, are you in office to win elections or to pass good policy? Shoot the moon: stop apologizing and vote like Dems!

PUC Votes Tomorrow on Keystone XL -- No Emergency Response Plan?

My friends (and yours!) at Plains Justice, the Sierra Club, and Dakota Rural Action are worried our Public Utilities Commission will vote tomorrow to approve TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline without an emergency response plan. Their press release:

Keystone XL Pipeline Vote at PUC on February 18

Commissioners Expected to Approve Pipeline without Emergency Response Plan

WHAT: The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is scheduled to vote tomorrow (2-18-2010) on TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Family agriculture and environmental groups expect the Commissioners to approve the pipeline without having seen an emergency response plan or an Environmental Impact Statement. Commissioners are also expected to direct PUC staff to prepare an order listing conditions of approval.

WHEN: February 18 (2:30 pm CT)

WHERE: South Dakota Capitol Building, room 413

To listen live over the Internet to the PUC meeting, go to http://puc.sd.gov/ and click the Listen LIVE link at the top of the page.

Agenda for the PUC meeting: http://puc.sd.gov/agendas/2010/0218.aspx

The Keystone XL pipeline, also known as the Keystone Gulf Coast Expansion Project, involves the construction of a 1,980-mile, 36-inch diameter tar sands crude oil pipeline that would begin at Hardisty, Alberta and extend southeast through Saskatchewan, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. It would incorporate a portion of the Keystone Pipeline and deliver tar sands crude to existing terminals in Nederland, Texas to serve the Port Arthur, Texas oil market, with a 50-mile spur supplying the Houston, Texas oil market.

TransCanada has asked the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to allow them to operate this pipeline at 80% of the maximum burst pressure instead of the standard 72% in areas of “low consequence” including much of Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. If PHMSA grants this request, TransCanada will be allowed to use cheaper, thinner pipe than they are required to use in more densely populated areas. This heightens concerns regarding threats to public health and property because of pipeline leaks, explosions and spills.

Each year there are over 150 incidents related to oil pipelines - with more than 6 million gallons of dangerous liquids spilling and leaking annually. Between 2002 and 2005 more than 50 pipeline incidents were serious enough to warrant public evacuations.

As of today there is no Environmental Impact Statement or emergency response plan for Keystone XL. Is it prudent for the SD PUC to permit this project under these circumstances?

It is reasonable and appropriate to question the business plan of the XL pipeline. Will this project remain profitable and viable? Is the PUC permitting a pipeline of questionable value and necessity?

Oil executive, Patrick Daniel, CEO of energy company, Enbridge Inc., has recently questioned the economic viability of Keystone XL, stating that the XL pipeline would create an over capacity in the pipeline system serving the Alberta tar sands area.

Stay tuned for your elected PUC's vote tomorrow....

SD House Republicans Table Anti-Discrimination Act

Curtis Price at Robbinsdale Radical documents the yeas and nays on the regrettable tabling of HB 1144 yesterday. The bipartisan bill would specify that discrimination on the basis of age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or military status in employment and housing is not cool. Equality SD asks for fairness; the faux family values crowd screams perversion and social collapse, and the Republicans chicken out and table the bill.

In an otherwise mostly sensible interview on Dakota Midday yesterday, new "political junkie" and MDL publisher Jon Hunter unloaded a bonehead comment on HB 1144. He said something about being uneasy with creating all these new legal protections for special groups and worrying that pretty soon public radio will be forced to hire people who can't speak. Jonathan Ellis from that Sioux Falls paper quickly pointed out that HB 1144 really just catches South Dakota up with the times. 44 of South Dakota's 50 largest employers already prohibit discrimination against sexual orientation and/or gender identity, as do SDSU, USD, and various cities, counties, and school districts.

So if Hunter really thinks HB 1144 would take us down some slippery slope, he should realize our biggest employers have already taken us there. Employers like Sanford Health, Citigroup, Larson Manufacturing, 3M, Hy-Vee, Sam's Club, Target, Poet, Qwest, Lewis, and Gehl....

Go ahead, family values crowd. Try boycotting all of those companies. Try getting all of your relatives and neighbors to quit their jobs at those outposts of liberal tyranny.

The Williams Institute at UCLA has a really good report on why legislation like HB 1144 is good for citizens and doesn't cause any of the made-up disadvantages Jon Hunter and other regressives cite. Read it, call your legislators, and let's get HB 1144 back on track!

Time to Reflect: Bike-Passing Bill Gets Complicated

Michael Christensen of the Minus Car Project alerts us that SB 70 is bouncing toward an unpleasant amendment today. The bill would require motorists move over at least three feet to pass cyclists. (never mind that that's impossible on Madison's new tight five-laner.)

Minus Car reports that primary sponsor Senator Sandy Jerstad plans to introduce an amendment today requiring cyclists to wear reflective clothing. If I'm reading the language right, it won't be enough to have reflectors on the bicycle; you'll hae to wear shiny stuff as well.

Now I already have enough fancy bike clothes and reflecto-straps and winky-blinky lights to make me look like flying saucer cruising Lake Herman at night (at 18 miles an hour... not quite advanced alien technology). This amendment wouldn't keep me off my two wheels.

What worries me is that this amendment would criminalize casual bicycle use for 99% of the potential pedaling population. I want to promote bicycle use in South Dakota. I want people to be able to just hop on their bikes and ride the few blocks down to the park or the grocery store to run everyday errands. A sure way to stifle growth in bicycle use is to say to those casual riders that, before they hop on the pedals, they have to put on special clothes.

The way to promote bicycle riding in South Dakota is not to make life harder for cyclists. The way to promote bicycle riding is to enforce the existing pecking order—pedestrians get right-of-way first, then non-motorized vehicles, then motorized vehicles, everywhere. We also need to train drivers to watch the heck out.

Cyclists are on a 30-pound machine. Motorists are piloting a couple thousand pounds with 130 times the momentum. The more damage you can do, the more responsibility you have. Watch for bikes. Move over. And for pete's sake, don't make it any more expensive for folks to get out of their cars and travel under their own power.

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Update 2010.02.18 15:15 CST: Mike McDowell and the State Senate roll with me on this one. SB 70 and amendments go down a floor vote.

Home School Rigorous? What Do Your Public School Graduates Know?

HB 1160 passed the South Dakota House yesterday on a 42–24 vote. The bill would allow home school students to qualify for the state's Opportunity Scholarship by scoring a 26 on the ACT or a 1200 or better on the math-verbal portion of the SAT. That's higher than the 24 regular high school students have to get... but I suspect most home schoolers are saying, "No problem. Bring it on."

Michael Woodring at Constant Conservative notes the bill has drawn a line of news coverage that struck me as a hint of anti-home-school bias:

Because home-schooled students don’t take the rigorous high school classes, they would have to score 26 on their ACT to qualify. ["Bill Would Expand Scholarship Program," AP via KELO, 2010.02.16].

As Woodring points out, home school families already jump through more hoops and make more sacrifices to get their kids to college. They buy more books and educational materials, work harder to arrange extracurricular activities when their school districts won't let their kids play, and often give up outside income to stay home with the kids more, all while dutifully paying their property taxes to support the public school system.

Of course, you do know what happens when people have to work harder for what they get, don’t you? They usually value it more [Michael Woodring, "Homeschool in South Dakota Is Not Sufficiently Rigorous?" Constant Conservative, 2010.02.16].

The suggestion that homeschoolers don't take rigorous courses demonstrates an erroneous conflation of sitting in a classroom with real learning.

I've heard from other teachers and seen firsthand the entitlement mentality that is growing in our public high schools. We have seniors graduating who can't identify a subject and predicate in a sentence. We have university freshmen who need remedial English and math. We have too many students who think university is just grades 13–16, four more years to sit through and so they can get another diploma.

And too many students and parents think that just showing up and sitting through the process entitles them to a passing grade. Too many parents are willing to pressure high school teachers to give their kids the grade they need to qualify for the Opportunity scholarship. In too many cases, the grade is no longer a true measure of a student's acquired knowledge and skills; it's the permission slip teachers are forced to hand out so parents can lower their tuition bills.

All that entitlement mentality... and I thought my neighbors were Republicans.

As I've pointed out in previous coverage of HB 1160, homeschoolers already beat the national average on the ACT by 1.4 points. You public school kids are dragging the average down. Hit those books... and remember, you'll be competing against my daughter and the very rigorous Lake Herman Academy curriculum.

Roemen Listens to Goeman, Installs Green Box Movies

When Sunshine Foods shut down Mr. Movies to make way for expanding its liquor selection, local insurance agent and eager reader Rod Goeman suggested the grocery store could at least install a Redbox DVD rental machine to make up for the lost entertainment choices.

I walk into Sunshine yesterday for milk, and what do I find?
A big green DVD rental box! Instead of going with Illinois-based Redbox like Hy-Vee in Sioux Falls (and 22,000 other locations nationwide), Roemen went with Brandon-based Prairie Video, which has over 120 machines in seven states, including the Sunshines in Tea, Lennox, and Sioux Falls.

DVDs for $1 per day. No late fee; you just pay another buck for each day you keep it. Forget that video under the couch for a month, and you've just paid $30 for one movie.

So on the good side, Roemen has restored a little of the movie selection his booze crowded out. He's also doing business with a South Dakota company On the bad side, movies from a tin box can't replace the selection of a full movie store. And we've replaced an independent entrepreneur and six jobs with a green box. One step up, two steps back.

Kristi Noem = South Dakota's Sarah Palin?

...and then Kristi Noem goes and wrecks my electoral calculus... not to mention Pastor Steve Hickey's big news day.

Will Kristi Noem be South Dakota's Sarah Palin? So far her "vision" sounds more platitude than plan. Stay tuned....

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Update... or downdate? Mr. Ehrisman toyed with the Noem-Palin comparison last year; some anonymous commenter also brought up the comparison during some idle speculation about what Noem might run for next.