Tag Archives: economy

Broken government

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Is there no hope for compromise in Congress? Are the Republicans and Democrats so divided, so far apart, so bitterly opposed to working together that they cannot do business?

The failure of the not-so-super committee indicates the answer is yes. A months-long effort to strike a deal on spending cuts to reduce the deficit collapsed in recriminations and regret Monday.

David Gergen, an adviser to presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton, said this is a sign that Washington has “gone nuts.”

“It’s difficult to remember a Congress that has put the nation so much at risk in the service of ideology and to hold onto office. Partisans on both sides are grievously failing the country,” Gergen wrote in a CNN piece.

As he points out, there have been deep divides on issues and ideas in the past, but deals were made, progress continued and the country was not put at risk, nor was a shaky economy allowed to tremble to make partisan points.

South Dakota’s congressional delegation weighed in Monday afternoon. Rep. Kristi Noem and Sen. John Thune blamed the Democrats, with Noem also decrying the failure of the parties to work together. Sen. Tim Johnson said he was disappointed with the politics being played but he didn’t take a shot at the GOP.

Is there no hope? Has the political center collapsed and all that remains are two angry, foolish sides perched on mountains shouting at each other? Has Washington, in fact, gone nuts?

Should job creation be a governor’s No. 1 priority?

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Like the rest of you, I’m feeling besieged these days by campaign commercials. I can’t escape them. This morning, I heard a Dennis Daugaard ad on the radio. In the ad, I heard him say for the umpteenth time that job creation will be his No. 1 priority if he is elected governor.

For whatever reason, I began to ponder whether job creation is what South Dakotans want their governor to have as his top priority.

That may be heresy on my part, but what about public safety? What about quality roads? What about quality schools?

I don’t have anything against Daugaard or his job-creation efforts. And I realize that, in this economy, saying you’ll focus on jobs is pretty smart politics. I’m just curious what you, the voters, think about Daugaard’s jobs pledge. Is that what you want your governor’s top priority to be? Or would you rather the governor make something else his top priority?

GOP battle intensifies

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With five days to go until the Republican gubernatorial primary, the five candidates are getting a little sharper with their comments.

Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard and state Senate Republican Leader Dave Knudson locked tusks over the state budget during the one-hour forum sponsored by KELO Thursday night. Knudson said Daugaard doesn’t have any new ideas to deal with the looming state budget crisis. Duaggard said the national and state economies are improving and a rising tide will lift all ships, including the state’s budget boat.

The other three candidates — state Sen. Gordon Howie, former Brookings mayor Scott Munsterman and rancher Ken Knuppe – offered their ideas for fixing the budget problem.

Howie would freeze state spending and reduce regulations. Munsterman said he would lead the state to a better tomorrow and keep spending tied to the rate of inflation. And Knuppe, the only one unsullied by past political campaigns, said he would call for across-the-board spending cuts.

If there’s a runoff for the Republican nomination, and with five candidates that’s very possible, look for even harsher exchanges. It takes at least 35 percent of the vote to win and avoid a runoff, which would be held June 29 it it’s needed.

Janklow speaks

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Bill Janklow doesn’t say much publicly these days. He talked to Bloomberg News, though, which is a service we subscribe to.

Here’s an excerpt:

SIOUX FALLS — Bill Janklow’s law office is crowded with mementos from his 16 years as a Republican governor. On a low, wooden bookcase, near bottles of hot sauce custom labeled for an annual Buffalo Roundup, he keeps a 4-foot length of red ribbon festooned with Citibank credit cards.

Janklow is the politician who, in 1981, brought Citibank to South Dakota.

When he cut that ribbon to welcome the New York- based bank, he blew the lid off the credit card business.

The law inviting Citibank to South Dakota threw out limits on how much interest the state’s banks could charge borrowers. In a secret meeting at the governor’s residence with Walter Wriston, chief executive officer of Citicorp, Janklow agreed to drive through the legislation in a swap for 400 jobs.

“That was the deal,” Janklow says. “You have no idea, in a state of 750,000, how many 400 jobs is, all in one place.”

Click here to read the rest.

Should Mitchell be funding a regional development group?

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We published a story today about the Mitchell City Council’s decision to give $10,000 to a regional development group called the Dakota Heartland Development Association.

I’m wondering about the reaction of some other nonprofits in town. I’ve sat through plenty of City Council budget hearings at which various nonprofits requested money, only to be turned away.

I’m not saying the donation to the regional development group was a bad thing. I’m just wondering how the council’s gift to an organization that serves towns other than Mitchell is being received by people within Mitchell.

Any thoughts?