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I never really thought I’d end up in politics. I had been a fairly active participant in my own politics; however, I never really shared it. It was something like an imaginary friend. We would talk and play around a bit, and then it would vanish. Granted in high school, with the urging of a friend, we held a protest. About what I’m not quite sure. I wrote a play in high school about people disenchanted with the Vietnam War and attempted to draw a heavy-handed parallel to the Iraq War started by ‘W.’

I grew up with a house of Democrats with an auxiliary family of Republicans in a state that seldom makes up its mind. Our senator is Harry Reid, Democratic Majority Leader, who is a polarizing entity unto himself. One of our most celebrated Governor’s is Kenny Guinn (who is a Republican.) As far as presidents go, we voted for Obama, Bush twice and Clinton twice.

Moving to Sioux Falls for college, I graduated from Augustana with a degree in English and Theater. And now I’m working on a Masters of Education. Within a few months of moving back to South Dakota for graduate school, I was thrust into the world of SD politics, the passing of Governor Janklow, the varying sentiments towards Noem, and the sense that South Dakota is doing alright. Democrats argue we can do better, that state government’s priorities are misplaced, that we can get more bang for our buck without painful budget cuts. Republicans defend their policies, pointing to a balanced budget and modest job growth. People on both sides of the aisle are on the defense while simultaneously striking the other. A sort of bob and weave. A match of full contact checkers (or chess if you prefer.)

But after watching the GOP debates and the pundits prognosticate about who will face Obama, I decided to drop the South Dakota Dems a line. Because even though I have a propensity to vote Democrat, I believe that this country will go nowhere if we don’t entertain all viewpoints. And Republican Presidential candidates refuse to do that. That’s why my weight is entirely behind Democrats in 2012. (If you’d like to know  why, let’s have a beer, or coffee, or tea, or just water.) Continue Reading »

Being the day after Groundhog Day, we hate to be the bearers of bad news. Unfortunately, it looks like Congresswoman Kristi Noem has seen her shadow and nine more months of phantom representation are in the pipeline for South Dakota families. (and yes, the pipeline pun is entirely intentional, for you see kids – Kristi Noem’s latest attempt at being a lawmaker is being brought to you by Exxon Mobil and some very large donations to her campaign last year.)

Called “the worst transportation bill ever,” Kristi Noem and her fellow Republican leaders in the U.S. House are hoping that they can tie highway funding to Big Oil profits, which are in large part a result of their efforts to continue subsidizing an industry that contributes heavily to their campaigns. Let us pause here to note what a great idea Kristi Noem has stumbled upon (with the help of very large checks).

Back to the bill at hand—Kristi Noem wants to destroy the concept of a highway trust fund, the very trust fund that South Dakotans are depending on to fix roads washed out by recent record flooding across our state. Brilliant.

It is also clear, and it must be said, that the only job Kristi Noem is concerned about is her own.  For the construction workers who have built and maintained bike paths, and sidewalks, and roads, and bridges to carry our youngest citizens to school, home, and daily activities, Noem has only one thing to say to you, “You’re fired.”

Well, Big Oil may think that answer is just fine. But here in South Dakota, where we expect our lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives to actually do more than just lip-service, we have just one reminder: despite Mitt Romney’s claim, Exxon Mobil doesn’t vote; we do. And there are 277 days until Election Day.

It doesn’t take long to decide that Jeff Barth is a man of integrity.

Mr. Barth and I recently met at the South Dakota Democratic Party headquarters. There is a quiet ferocity about Mr. Barth. He is well-spoken, witty and has an unequivocal love for South Dakota and the United States. We discussed a plethora of topics ranging from chess tournaments and my family’s children’s theater to the Keystone Pipeline, education, and immigration.

Suffice to say in the nearly two hours we chatted, there was not a dull moment, a widespread positive discourse about the promise of South Dakota and the United States.

“Life is an art and with each stroke I’m adding to the picture.” Continue Reading »

Months of social media interest tugging at Matt Varilek to run for the House seat now occupied by Kristi Noem had not provoked Varilek to jump in quite yet. But even today – a full week into his official “Meet Matt” tour – he wanted to formally introduce himself to a packed house of 150 supporters at the Sioux Falls VFW.

“As you’ve heard I’ve made an announcement, but I wanted to announce it here, face to face,” he began. “I have decided to run for this house seat.”  The crowd erupted.

Continue Reading »

Almost immediately after Democrats released their budget proposal last year, House Majority Leader Rep, David Lust (R-Rapid City) denied the Democratic plan even a second glance:

“I didn’t see anything of substance in there that merits further consideration,” Lust said.

Now that everyday South Dakotans are questioning Governor Daugaard’s education reform policies, however, Lust gets defensive after receiving the same dismissal he gave out last year.

“It somewhat saddens me when people reject things out of hand,” Lust said.

And so it goes, for GOP leadership, rejecting ideas out of hand is only OK if they are the one’s rejecting them.

To justify ending teacher tenure, imposing testing-based teacher rankings, and instituting merit pay for only the top 20% of teachers, Governor Daugaard has been parroting a nice chart comparing increasing school spending with middling student achievement between 1971 to 2011. 

Let’s be clear – either Daugaard is blissfully unaware of the transformation that has taken place in our schools over the last 40 years or he’s being deliberately thick to enact a controversial education agenda. Here are just a few policy changes our schools have seen over the last 40 years.

• Mandatory special education in public schools (and the enormous resources we dedicate for it) didn’t exist until 1975.
• Gender equity in schools didn’t exist until 1972 (i.e. same number of athletic/extracurricular programs for boys and girls.)
• Graduation requirements have increased substantially in those forty years, so students need to take more classes to graduate.

“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there “is” such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”

When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., uttered these words – taught us this lesson – the urgency of now existed in every home, every community across this nation. Today, we face that same urgency as we are called to act on problems new and old.

Without a doubt, we are a different country because of Dr. King. However, we have more work to do. We know what ordinary citizens can do when they seek to right injustice. We know the power of hope, of change, and of compassion for others.

We also know the world Dr. King envisioned, and the ability we all have to create that world today. For the jobless, the hungry, the sick, and the weary, we are not too late. We are not too late to fulfill Dr. King’s dream. As Democrats—today, tomorrow, and on Election Day, now is our moment, now is when we live the words of Dr. Martin Luther King.

As House Democratic Leader in the South Dakota Legislature, I wanted to quickly touch base to let you know that today legislators from across South Dakota are meeting in Pierre to kick off the 2012 Legislative Session. And, we’ve got a big job ahead.

After devastating budget cuts last year, state lawmakers now have an obligation to rebuild our education funding, focus economic development funds on South Dakota businesses and entrepreneurs, and create real accountability through open government databases.

We’ll work tirelessly to accomplish these objectives, but we can’t do this alone. We need you. You can help us shape the debate in Pierre by staying active and informed through an exciting new feature from the South Dakota Democratic Party: Eye on Pierre News Hub.

Follow all the action at the Capitol! Visit the News Hub at: www.sddp.org/eye-on-pierre

South Dakota can’t move forward if our neighbors don’t know how some Republicans in Pierre are holding us back. There’s a lot at stake in 2012. You can play your part in improving South Dakota by joining the dialogue.

Together, we can deliver real, two-party government back to South Dakota.

Best,

Rep. Bernie Hunhoff

“It’s our job as soldiers to hopefully pass legislation supported by the ‘Supreme Being’ of our Republican Party, and that is Gov. Dennis Daugaard.” (Rep. Mark Kirkeby, R-Rapid City)

That’s what Rep. Mark Kirkeby (R-Rapid City) reminded his fellow Republicans after the Tea-Party affiliated Life & Liberty Group published a new legislator report card in which Republican legislators were scored on their adherence to true conservative principles.

Make no mistake – this is what the Republican legislature in South Dakota has come to: complete obedience to their ‘Supreme Being,” Governor Dennis Daugaard. Obedience not to the voters, not the general population, just the Governor.

‘Supreme Being’ sounds about right to anyone who follows the South Dakota Legislature. But that’s just one way to characterize the relationship between the Governor and Republican legislators. So let’s help Rep. Kirkeby and his fellow Republican seat mates in the legislature think of a few more ways to describe this relationship. We’ve got a few here:

• ‘Puppet Master’
• ‘Ring Leader’
• ‘Under One Gov We Rule’

Comment with your ideas! And ‘like’ or ‘retweet’ the other descriptions you like most. We’ll start including the winners as a hashtag in our tweets (e.g. #PuppetMaster) about the South Dakota legislature. That way, we can remind Republican legislators that they are supposed to serve as a check against the executive branch – not a rubber stamp for it.