We stand at a critical crossroads today in clarifying the role of government in our free country. President Obama was correct to say in Osawatomie, Kansas recently that “this is the defining issue of our time.” Ours is no longer, in our president’s take on things, the land of the free and the home of the brave. America now is the land of the envious and the home of the victim.

Recent national rankings released by three different organizations prove that South Dakota has one of the best business environments and among the strongest economic policies in the nation. For the seventh year in a row, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council named South Dakota as the No. 1 state in the nation for friendliness toward small businesses.

A column from South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard on the Fiscal Year 2013 state budget, in which he urges continued caution but increases in spending in some areas. Increases include a 2.3% ongoing increase in K-12 education, coupled with one-time investments that total more than $12 million. Gov. Daugaard also proposes Medicaid providers and state employees receive extra one-time funds that are the result of strong revenue growth.

Beginning January 1, 2012, five South Dakota communities will implement new municipal taxes or update their current city taxes. These towns include Bruce, Camp Crook, Frankfort, Oldham and Irene. The South Dakota Department of Revenue has Municipal Tax Information Bulletins available listing all municipal sales and use tax rates statewide as well as information on tribal sales, use and excise taxes.

Star Parker The Wall Street Journal calls the economic implosion now taking place in Europe “a crisis of the welfare state.” The latest European nation to hit the wall is Italy, where national debt is 120 percent of GDP. That is, for every dollar their national economy produces, they owe $1.20. The Journal calls this a crisis of the welfare state because the Italian national debt is well in excess of the ability of Italians to pay its obligations and is the direct result of excessive government spending. When the Republican presidential candidates were asked in the most recent debate if the United States should help bail out these bankrupt European nations, the consensus response was “no.” This, I believe, is the correct answer for two reasons. First, the way to deal with irresponsible behavior is not to find new ways to finance it but to demand responsible behavior. Second, […]

And we wonder why so many young people are growing up to be mindless drones of Marxist propaganda? It’s not surprising when we realize how much overt (and how much subtle) indoctrination they receive from elitists in the public education system. Watch this interview with the author of “Indoctrination: How ‘Useful Idiots’ Are Using Our Schools to Subvert American Exceptionalism” to hear about some ongoing examples of how our children are being indoctrinated against our way of life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 23, 2011 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Contact: Jason M. Gant (605) 773-3537 Today, Secretary of State Jason Gant announced that the petitions submitted for an initiated measure to increase South Dakota sales tax has passed the petition certification process, and will be placed on the November 2012 general election ballot. The measure, described in its title as “an initiated measure to increase state general sales and use taxes for additional K-12 public education and Medicaid funding,” will now appear on the 2012 ballot as Initiated Measure 15. “From our 5% sample of 1,763 signatures, we validated 1,434 out of the 35,251 officially submitted, and invalidated 329 for various reasons including lack of voter registration, improperly filling out the petitions, legibility, and notary public errors. Invalid signatures comprised 18.66% of the total signatures sampled, and under state law, the number of valid signatures sampled was sufficient for the […]

Hmmm. It seems Hurricane Irene didn’t behave as predicted by the weather specialists. You know, the “scientists” we’re crazy not to believe like the Gospel. When it comes to unsupported claims based on fudged computer models about what is supposed to happen with the climate in 100 years or 300 years, we’re supposed to accept unquestioningly. But when it comes to what will happen in 24 to 72 hours, we shouldn’t take things so seriously?

I know this is going to be hard to believe, but scientists are indeed confirming long-held myths and legends that the sun has an incredible influence over heating and warming of our planet. I know, I know, modern science has for many years told us that it is the SUV, light bulbs, power plants, factories and evil capitalism in general that warms our planet-and warms it dangerously. But this new evidence could just turn “science” on its collective (collectivist?) head.