Archive Blog
Governor Rounds has announced his latest pardons and one in particular caught my eye:
Gary Sapulding was sentenced in Fall River County on Oct. 18, 1985 to eight years in prison for sexual contact with a minor younger than 16.
I am not familiar with the circumstances behind this case but is there a reason he is pardoning sexual predators?
Try as he might, President Bush apparently couldn’t get Governor Rounds to run for the Senate.
Governor Mike Rounds says President Bush tried again but couldn’t persuade him to run for the U.S. Senate this year.
Rounds and first lady Jean Rounds spent two nights at the White House when they were in Washington for the National Governors Association meeting last month.
Last year when Rounds stayed at the White House, Bush also tried to persuade him to run for the Senate - but Rounds declined. Rounds says Bush, in a joking way, tried again this year. The governor says when Bush couldn’t get him to run, he turned to Jean Rounds and asked if she would be interested.
Rounds says Bush understands that neither he nor his wife will run for the Senate - even if he persisted one more time.
So can we finally put this rumor that never seems to die to rest?
“Super Tuesday” part III? Continuing with today’s out of touch theme, Governor Mike Rounds tries in vain to prop up the importance of South Dakota’s minuscule number of delegates that are to be awarded during our last in the nation primary.
Rounds told Stateline.org that if either of the two parties’ presidential contests are still undecided by June, South Dakotans could come off looking pretty smart.“If it comes down to the fact that there are actually still competitive races, Republican or Democrat, then for that party they may very well say, ‘See, we were smart in doing so (on June 3),’ ” Rounds said.
Somehow I doubt the travel agents for either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton are rushing to make travel plans for either candidate to come to South Dakota even considering the fact that the nomination will likely not be locked up before (or after for that matter) our June 3rd contest.
The nasty rumor that has Mike Rounds running for Senate has re-appeared. Badlands Blue speculates on just that possibility based on a Real Clear Politics story which hints that several Republican “heavyweights” could soon be getting into the Senate races in Iowa and South Dakota.
Do we have any GOP “heavyweights” left in South Dakota other than Rounds?
Real Clear Politics at one time believed that Tim Johnson’s Senate seat was in play because of his health problems. Unfortunately for the Republican’s, the only candidate of note they seem to be able to muster to challenge him is Joel Dykstra.
South Dakota, where Sen. Tim Johnson is still recovering from a stroke, should be a good opportunity for Republicans. So far, though, they have only managed to recruit a State Representative who hauled in just $37,000 in the third quarter, nowhere close to Johnson’s $2 million account. Because of his health troubles, Johnson had been a retirement threat. But he announced his re-election bid in mid-October, and with an underfunded challenger, he will likely sail to another six year term in 2008.
Will Governor Mikey ever have a better chance for higher office? Time is slowly running out for him to find out.
Governor Mike Rounds continues to confound those looking at a run at Tim Johnson’s Senate seat. This time he has confused one of those seeking to unseat Johnson, Joel Dykstra, when he was discussing the Governors future plans including his thoughts on running against Johnson next year.
During an interview with the Mitchell Daily Republic, Dykstra’s communications director mentioned what Governor Rounds told Dykstra when asked about his plans for next year.
After Dykstra left our office, I asked his communications director, Sue Salter, for clarification. I wanted to know whether there had been a conversation between Rounds and Dykstra about a possible Rounds for Senate candidacy, and if there had been, what was said.Salter said there had indeed been a conversation. She wasn’t a party to it, but she said she felt comfortable in paraphrasing the governor. Rounds had apparently been as vague and open-ended with Dykstra as he’s been with everybody else.
“The governor told Joel that he plans to be governor for three more years, so you tell me what that means,” Salter said.
Can’t anyone in South Dakota politics give a straight answer? Rounds’ answer sounds eerily similar to what Senator Johnson’s staff had maintained up until he finally came out and admitted his intentions. Isn’t it amazing how a simple yes or no question can be so difficult?
I had posted a few days ago about how a request had been made to the Federal Government to investigate South Dakota’s purchase of an airplane indirectly using federal funds earmarked for other uses. This request was made by Minnesota Representative Jim Oberstar to the Amtrak Inspector General whom presented the funds to states not served by Amtrak.
So imagine my total lack of surprise when the Argus Leader editorial board came out in support of the investigation.
It is increasingly clear that the state’s actions were not in line with the prescribed purpose for which the money was allotted. Whether those actions also violated the letter of the terms is less clear. This investigation should determine precisely that, once and for all.
Oberstar’s request seems reasonable. He said he thinks the money was misspent, and his committee assignment obligates him to act on that belief. If states do not or cannot use federal funds as intended - and South Dakota has little intercity bus and rail service - the money should be returned.
Wow, perenial Rounds hater, the Argus Leader coming out in support of an investigation of the purchase of the state airplane that they fought so hard to burn him on over the way he used it last year. Who would have thunk it?
Governor Rounds had his hand slapped by voters in 2006 for using the state owned airplane for personal use and now the federal government might be looking into the purchase of that airplane.
Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., sent the request Friday to the inspector general of Amtrak, the nation’s passenger railroad system.South Dakota used money from the federal railroad agency to replenish the state aeronautics fund after buying the $1.5 million aircraft.
States without Amtrak rail service got a one-time payment from the agency in 1997; South Dakota got $23 million. The money initially could be spent only on intercity bus and rail service, but that was expanded in 1998 to include air service centers and “the purchase of intercity air service between primary and rural airports and regional hubs.”
Oberstar’s letter states that the airplane purchase was “in violation of the express purposes for the funding.”
This quote from the article was a bit curious.
State Sen. Jason Gant said the Government Operations and Audit Committee, which he leads, had found nothing improper in spending from the aeronautics fund. But he had “no idea” whether the spending violated federal law.
So as an auditor he is unaware if the federal money spent by South Dakota violated federal law? Wouldn’t you think that should have been investigated at some point considering the source of the funds?
Right-wing conservative groups might have to re-think their strategy for eradicating the “secular humanist” influences in our Government. Or at least they are going to have to acknowledge that they have a long way to go after the week they have had.
First locally, South Dakota GOP darling and much rumored 2008 US Senate contender Governor Mike Rounds held a press conference supporting of all things, 150 new jobs coming to Sioux Falls as part of expansion over at Lodgenet. Unfortunately for the Rounds camp, past supporters from the South Dakota Family Policy Council weren’t too happy with the governor’s appearance with Lodgenet because of their profiting from providing adult entertainment to many of the hotels they serve, you know that 1st Amendment thing is such a downer for some on the far-right.
The latest blow to the conservative right nationally is the revelation by current GOP Presidential favorite and supposed conservative right savior Fred Thompson. Apparently Thompson isn’t the good little church going conservative that many in the GOP had thought/hoped.
Asked about his religious beliefs during an appearance before about 500 Republicans in South Carolina yesterday, Fred Thompson said he attends church when he visits his mother in Tennessee but does not belong to a church or attend regularly at his home in McLean, Va., just outside Washington. The actor and former senator, who was baptized in the Church of Christ, said he gained his values from “sitting around the kitchen table” and said he did not plan to speak about his religious beliefs on the stump. “I know that I’m right with God and the people I love,” he said, according to Bloomberg News Service. It’s “just the way I am not to talk about some of these things.”
That loud thumping sound you heard was from the jaws of tens of thousands of far-righties hitting the floor all at once when they realized what they have for front runners in the 2008 race for the White House. A Mormon, a divorced abortion rights supporter, and a former actor that doesn’t regularly attend church and isn’t going to bring religion with him on the campaign trail. So is there a plan “B”?
Governor Rounds is still mad about getting his hand slapped by South Dakota voters and he wants everybody to know it.
We all remember Initiated Measure 5, which sought to restrict the use of the government owned aircraft and even though supporters spent almost no money during the campaign, it still passed easily.
Well Rounds continues his complaining in an op-ed piece in yesterday’s RCJ.
For me personally, it complicates the scheduling of many events that governors are requested and expected to attend. Being on duty 24 hours a day, including many night and weekend events, it becomes even more difficult.Because there are no exceptions to the state law, I cannot go to church if I use the state airplane for government business in another town on the weekend. I cannot swing by the hospital on the way back to the airport to visit a friend who is sick. I cannot attend a charity event unless it is official state business only. Simple conversations about family become illegal because I am on state business.
Unfortunately, the biggest impact is not on me. It will be on any state employee who uses any kind of state vehicle.
If a state employee does something of a personal nature on a trip, even if it is unintentional, they are in violation of the new law. If they stop at a drug store for aspirin, that is a violation. If they missed lunch and stop at a grocery store for a late snack, that is a violation.
Nowhere to be found in his rant is the fact that the new law basically only changes the penalties and changes the wording so that state owned aircraft (which was previously not specifically mentioned) is now included. This would make his claims on how it affects other state employees nothing more than a scare tactic as they were already required to follow these restrictions.
From the Secretary of State’s explanation: (underlined portions are the only changes to the current law)
For purposes of this section, any aircraft owned or leased by the state may be used only in the conduct of state business. None of the exceptions listed above are applicable regarding the use of any aircraft owned or leased by the state or any of its agencies.A violation of this section is a Class 2 misdemeanor. The violator is also subject to a civil action by the State of South Dakota in circuit court for the recovery of a civil penalty of not more than one thousand ($1,000) dollars plus ten times the cost incurred by the state for misuse of the vehicle. An action for the recovery of a civil penalty or compensatory damages shall, upon demand, be tried by a jury.
Here is the rest of the state law which remains unchanged:
5-25-1.1. Vehicles owned or leased by the state may be used only in the conduct of state business. No state officer or employee, except the Governor, law enforcement officers of the South Dakota Highway Patrol, law enforcement officers of the Division of Criminal Investigation, and conservation officers may use, or permit the use of, any state-owned motor vehicle other than in the conduct of state business. Nothing in this section prohibits any use of any state vehicle, if, in order to provide for the most efficient use of state equipment or personnel, supervisory personnel issue written instructions to any state employee to use a state vehicle for transportation:(1) Between the employee’s permanent residence and work station; or
(2) Between the employee’s temporary residence or eating place and work station if assigned to a locality other than the employee’s permanent residence.
Not being a lawyer, it sure sounds to me like Governor Rounds is just blowing smoke up our you know what in an effort to conceal the fact that he got his hand slapped by the Argus and others in our state who were fed up with his unfettered use of government owned aircraft. But if any lawyers out there can show me where in the above voter approved changes in the state law supports his claims, I’d be happy to be corrected.