Joel Rosenthal and the Mickey Mouse Legislators
Joel Rosenthal apparently thinks we have a few Mickey Mouse legislators.
At least that’s the take I’m getting from Joel Rosenthal’s latest column over at SD Straight Talk and at his little place over at Keloland.com. I bring it up as it has been the subject of some e-mails shooting across the Internet tonight.
Joel, who currently sits on the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers has some harsh words for a few members of the legislature who have a reputation for fiscal restraint when it comes to state government spending.
In his latest column he makes not just an off-handed comment in the direction of a few legislators, but openly takes a shot at a few current/former members of the Senate Appropriations committee:
Tension between the Legislature and Governor is exacerbated by the fact that the wanna be Governors on the Appropriations Committee (who think they are expert on the workings of State Government) is heightened by senior Senators Jerry Apa and Brock Greenfield serving their last year. Because of term limits they have become unchained in their quest to stop all spending they deem wasteful. They are particularly hard on social services and programs they deem “Nanny Government”. In large part they will be unsuccessful but they will be pesky and cause the 2nd Floor heartburn. Thankfully the third Mouseketeer, Bill Napoli (that would cause even more mischief) has been replaced on Appropriations by the steady hand of Senator Bob Gray of Pierre.
Let’s just say that I disagree with Joel on a few points he’s made. While I respect the number of years he’s put into the Republican party, I have to ask – “What’s the matter with fiscal restraint? Why can’t we fiercely challenge giving government more power over us through “Nanny Government” measures?
Really, if he’s taking shots at those Republican legislators and their fiscally conservative views, as well as their “Reagan-esque” attitude towards big government, it begs the question as to what problem he has with the people who elected them? I mean, it wasn’t one person who got them elected. It wasn’t a secret cabal. It was a clear majority of the people who live in their districts.
All three come from diverse backgrounds, and the makeup of their electorate are equally divergent. But in all three cases, their voters have handily returned them to Pierre again and again. In fact, they’ve sent them so many times in a row that for a couple, their voters aren’t allowed to send them any more.
Not in spite of those fiscally conservative views – but because of them.
I’ve said it before – the people of South Dakota ARE fiscally conservative. A majority are deeply religious, and follow the tenets of their religion. They are also fiercely independent, and don’t willingly or happily cede authority to government just because it thinks it should do something, or some do-gooder wants to ban something. That’s upheld by the fact that a majority of voters coalesce around the SDGOP.
So why would we discourage Republican legislators from trying to stop wasteful spending? Why would we call them out for trying to stop government intrusion into our lives? Criticize them? We ought to hold them up as examples to follow.
Mickey Mouse? No. Not at all.
In fact, I’d say we need more of them inhabiting the Magic Kingdom we call the State Legislature.
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Comments
How would Joel know how steady Gray’s hand is? Gray must be returning the favor for being donned Joel’s golden boy.
Brock couldn’t balance the til at his folks’ gas station, much less be an expert on the $3B state budget.
Other than that, there’s nothing wrong with legislators trying to keep the executive branch in-check. The problem is that they don’t and probably never will. Why you say? See first sentence.
Joel has hit the nail on the head. Here in West River, Apa and Napoli are considered by many people as the problem, not the solution. They get reelected because they are master manipulators, old fashioned tell ‘em what they want to hear politicos, and frankly, because no one in the Republican Party dares to challenge them.
Rosenthal once again proves he is a RINO. If he’s neither fiscally nor socially conservative, and even ridcules such folks, why is he a Republican? Talk about a Wannabe!
What’s so great about Bob Gray? How did he rise to power so fast? He’s obviously kissed a lot of the right arses.
What is wrong with fiscal responsibility? I hope you Conservatives keep the Rhinos in check.
Absolutely no State dollars should be spent on preschool! Let kids be kids. The next step will be just take the child at birth so the government can raise them to be politically correct.
Apa and Greenfield Thank you for a great job!! I am happy isomeone is watching the cheeckbook!
Why do we even pay attention to Rosenthal anymore? He is a washed up, has been, evil man. I would not pee on him, even if he was on fire.
I think it has more to do with spending priorities. Marion has no problem spending money on private contractors, an airplane fleet and private lawyers but when it comes to a cost of living raise (not really) education and public safety (hwy patrol) the kitty is empty. Even though I’m so far left I technically live in Wyoming, I still consider myself a fiscal conservative. Fiscal responsibility starts with government expenses and last I checked since Marion took over they have gone through the roof, maybe someone should be checking into that before nickel and diming our school districts.
the problem with a lot of republicans in our country is that their goal isn’t to limit government, but to try to run it better than the democrats.
i thank brock, jerry, and bill for their fiscal restraint. it’s a shame there aren’t more legislators with the same principles.
Dammit! I’m slipping on the Olathes ’cause it’s time to give that Rosenthal the big boot where the sun don’t shine.
These MODERATE EXTREMISTS will choke the life out of our conservative party!!! I don’t know who this joker lexrex is, but he’s right on the money. Our tax money, that is. It belongs in my pocket and not in the hands of RINOs like Rosenthal, Rounds, Janklow, Knutson, Dempster, Nikolai and the rest.
Kick them out! Kick them out! Don’t waste another day taking care of business, and kick them out!!!
Brock, Jerry and Bill:
Just consider the source! Keep up the good work. I know it has been hard to be a conservative in inbred Pierre, but there are those of us who see it as a badge of courage.
Moderate Extremists???? Wouldn’t that be an oxymoron?
Brock and Jerry have both done a wonderful job. Thanks!
If you don’t accept the budget in total you are a problem, according to Mr. Braintrust aka Joel Rosenthal. He makes all these comments and assumptions yet never once has he talked to me about any of my positions on fiscal matters.
He left the Republican Party in turmoil due to his incompetence as chairman and he thinks HE is the expert in state government.
Now I know why his head is so bald, nothing in the cranium to stimulate hair growth.
Right on Jerry! There are an awful lot of us out here in the real world extremely grateful for the way you, Brock and Bill vote. Have YOU ever considered running for governor? The change from what we have now would be so refreshing!!!
It is amazing to me that you people continue to push the idea that there is a lack of conservatives in Pierre. Get over yourselves. Rush told me it was the liberals who were delusional and had a victim mentality. Apparently he never visited South Dakota.
Lexrex & Feasant, thank you.
#3, it’s a “till” not a “til”. And you are right. I put in a 10-hour day yesterday, and our till (again, with two L’s) was two cents off. I’m very ashamed.
I was not even aware that Joel had a blog. I have always been very thankful for his involvement in my campaign. I haven’t talked with him in years…probably since my first campaign. If he had visited with me, I would have told him that not only am I not “unchained,” but I didn’t even want to be on appropriations at all this year. I’d have told him that Bob Gray did not replace Bill Napoli. He replaced Arnie Hauge. Bill was not on Appropriations at all last year, and I don’t think anybody was happier about it than Bill himself. About the only nugget of truth in Joel’s blog is that, “they are particularly hard on social services and programs they deem “Nanny Government”. And I suppose I am a tad bit “pesky” at times.
Finally, to Ranger….please do not encourage Senator Apa. If he was ever elected Governor, it would be as though Hollywood was back in South Dakota shooting another sequel. Only it wouldn’t be “National Treasure III.” It would be “The Grumpiest of the Grumpy Old Men.”
Happy New Year to all! I’m off to bowl.
Hypocrisy at its worst. These three want gummit off our back…until it comes to a woman’s body. Then they say only the gummit can control what she does. These guys are first class pandering fruit loops. Say goodnight boys. Your time in Pierre has expired.
Eleanor, these guys don’t give a hoot about what a woman wants to do with her body, tatoos, implants, liposuction, whatever. It’s the killing of the innocent baby that they don’t like. By the way, the DNA of the baby is different than that of the mother, so it’s not her body she is destroying. No hyprcrisy there.
23, Eleanor,
Lest you or anyone forgets, the most fundamental and legitimate function of government is the protection of life.
Sorry Brockster…never ran a “till” before. Thanks for the expert advice. You should apply that wisdom to budgeting & legislating.
Although my sarcasm must have rung on deaf ears, you (or the famous three… of you) have a chance, no dang it..an obligation, every year to get some of these spending habits under control. You don’t. We blow money on airplanes(2 or 4 by now?), “FTE’s”, extra universities, lawyers, and bloated salaries all the while nursing homes and (some) schools are going broke. It just makes no sense. What in the world are you doing with your time? All (famous three) of you talk tough, and haven’t had any kind of effect.
We don’t have a revenue problem in SD. We have a GIGANTIC SPENDING PRIORITY PROBLEM in SD. Show some leadership.
Any more words you’d like to spell-check????????????
Sorry # 28, but you’re bawling out the wrong people. If every member of the legislature voted like Brock and Jerry we wouldn’t have these problems. It isn’t easy making any changes in Pierre when there is such a swarm of blue-badge (Administration’s) lobbyists around, and knowing your personnal bills will get killed if you cause too much ruckus.
#28, don’t you know there are a total of 18 members on the joint House/Senate Appropriations, nine in each chamber? Do you think that their 3 votes can override the other 6 in the senate? Or maybe you didn’t stop to think.
You should be blasting the others on the committee, not the ones who support your views.
In my memory we have NEVER had a real conservative Governor in South Dakota. All of them have been Tax-and-Spend-aholics. The only person who seemed to me to be a real conservative was Walter Dale Miller who never got a chance to show us how a conservative government could run. He inherited the financial mess left from the airplane crash, the prison scandals and riot and the court ruling against the state’s lottery law — which could have been prevented if there was a competent attorney general on board.
Instead we got more Janklow and he put Rosenthal back in as party chairman to keep us all under control.
I’m a rancher but I am not stupid. The true conservatives of our party have been used, abused and hung out to dry so the lawyer society and their pals in the regents, state agencies, contract sweetheart deals with law firms and construction and land swindlers, the big fat credit card industry and the medical industrial complex can keep sucking the blood out of our citizens. These vampires enjoy feeding on the corpse that used to be the So. Dak. Republican Party and they believe it’s our job just to lie down and take it. Yep and once in a while they’ll throw us a bone and call themselves pro-life and pro-family, but we KNOW THE TRUTH.
I get a lot of people making fun of me on this blog and I kind of like that smarty pants Fleming. Nemec’s not bad. They’re just wrong on the role of government.
This is why Apa, Greenfield or Napoli have to decide which of them is going to run for Gov. and who will be the running mate. In my view the power of our party is in West River so Napoli or Apa need to head the ticket. Greenfield comes from farm country between Watertown, Huron and Brookings. We need those votes too.
Shoenbeck calls himself a conservative and if I knew him better maybe I’d back him. But he is a LAWYER and the last thing we need in Pierre is another empire building smart aleck with a law degree feeding the beast — all those damn law firms, banks, credit card sharks, railroads, elevators and health care administrators who suck the life out of our state.
I am throwing down the glove boys. One of you pick it up and announce now. That lt. gov. is miles in front of you but if one of you starts now and slaps a gag on that lawyer and Janklow chief of staff Dave Knutson we might surprise voters in the next two elections.
If not you’ll know why nothing changes.
Old Coot, I’ll admit to being too young to know what a conservative was when Joe Foss was governor, but from what I can remember, he seemed to be fairly conservative. Did I get that wrong?
32.
Smokey Joe was governor while I was still in the U.S. Marines so I didn’t see or hear much about him as governor than what we all knew about him as a Medal of Honor recipient and ace pilot in WWII. He was to South Dakota what Ike was to the nation – a war hero celebrity that the party asked to run for the top executive office. On a personal level he was well liked by folks but I don’t know what he accomplished as governor.
A celebrity is not the same thing as a conservative even though Joe’s celebrity got him that national mouthpiece position with the N.R.A. Since the N.R.A. has endorsed Democrats like Stephanie you shouldn’t be so stupid to think it is a conservative group outside its interest in supporting the firearms industry.
At the time he was governor Joe didn’t do more than what you would expect a care-taker to do. The fact that he lost to George McGovern for Congress shows that he didn’t impress folks much when he was in office in a conservative state.
I stand by my earlier statement. Show the voters a proven onservative for governor and we will change things in our state from the fat cat spending and taxing direction it has been on.
Old Coot,
I agree with you…if Apa, Napoli or Greenfield are on the ballot for Governor, there will be a change in this state. Unfortunately, the change will be a Democrat Governor. Also, if you are a true Republican in favor of small government, make sure you send back all of your government checks you get for ranching.
I happen to be an attorney and a rancher and take great offense to what you have blathered on about. Lawyers just happen to be the first line of defense when it comes to our rights being preserved in this country. Adolph Hitler said “I shall not rest until every German sees that it is a shameful thing to be a Lawyer.” What does a good dictator like General Musharraf do with lawyers? He locks them up. I know that there are some bad lawyers out there just like there are bad ranchers and bad doctors and bad teachers. Why do you insist upon going on a rant about how they are unfit to hold political office because they are part of the lawyer society? The legislature makes laws, lawyers are neck deep in “the law” every single day and know what works and what doesn’t. The lawyers that have served in the legislature and as Governor have served this state well. Often times it is the attorneys in the legislature that rise to leadership and are often the “go to” people when something needs to be fixed. If attorneys were self serving they would never leave their practice to serve in the legislature. They would let bad laws pass because they would then reap major financial gain. Here’s an example. When Amendment E (Jail for Judges) was on the ballot the state bar and lawyers all across this state stood shoulder to shoulder to oppose it. Now, if lawyers were as bad as you make them out to be, they would all be for this amendment passing. The attorney fees that would have been generated by clients having to go through such a convoluted system could have put all of my kids through college. The lawyers in this state ultimately knew it was bad for the state and ultimately bad for our clients. The same thing happens during the legislative session. Instead of consistently passing bad vague law that would reap millions for attorneys they are often the ones to step in and fix them preventing the law from being litigated to death.
As far as anyone running for Governor from West River and winning, dream on. Take a look at the registration numbers and you’ll quickly see that it just doesn’t add up. The last elected Governor from West River was a LAWYER Merrill Q. Sharpe.
I think Sharpe still lived east of the 100th meridian, however, for whatever that’s worth.
Sharpe also wanted a third consecutive term and if I remember my history right, Republicans told him “no, thanks” by electing G.T. Mickelson.
Weird, too, how we can elect Republican senators from west of the river — most recently Abdnor and Thune — but not governors in modern times.
Of course, some would argue pretty convincingly that our Democratic senator was elected by West River. That’s another story.
#34
If a registered Democrat occupied the Governor’s office, the only difference would be that he or she was a “registered” Democrat.
I thought I’d hear from the South Dakota Bar Association a lot sooner. You boys are a bit slow on the draw.
I stand by my post. You liberals and MODERATE EXTREMISTS out there just want to keep our state on its knees and subserviant to the fat cats and their fat cat lawyer lobbyists who have always run things in this state.
If there was a news reporter worth more than 2 cents in Pierre, Rapid City or Sioux Falls, they’d do the research on how this state’s governors are selected and funded by these special interests. Hell, the screwball they elected in Pierre right now got a three million dollar mansion built for him by the donations from these fat cats.
Those millions are chump change to these fat cats and they know that if they keep electing their hand-fed pets as governor, they can keep sucking the blood out of this state.
To Mr. Lawyer/Rancher in 35, you write like a maniac. You must suffer depression and I highly recommend you get off your dead ass and take a walk each day to lower your stress. I must have really punched your buttons and my guess is you’re on the government tit with state contracts, jobs or some other payoff. No wonder you’re screamin’ like a bitin’ sow!!!
To 34, who I suspect is the same as 35, you must not know much about cattle. And you have chosen to ignore the point and the truth of my case. I don’t give a rip.
This state needs to wake up about the Pierre Merry-go-round. You are getting bled dry by these blood suckers. They changed your usury laws so that bloodsuckers from Citibank to the loan shark Pay Day Loan outfits can wreck families. They have turned your towns into havens for casinos to bankrupt our families. They are bringing in Big Oil tycoons to rob families of some of our state’s finest farm land so we can land a so-called green refinery here.
Calling an oil refinery green is like saying candy-flavored cyanide is somehow more pleasant.
When we elect a truly conservative governor and not another lapdog for lawyers, bankers, railroads, loan sharks, credit card companies from New York, garbage interests, corporate hog farms, political careerists, land swindlers, the medical industrial complex, the damn insurance companies and every other con artist who darkens the doorway of the governor’s office, then, and only maybe then, can we say with conviction that South Dakota is the state where the people rule.
Until then the blood will continue to drain.
Old coot, personally I can’t decide if you are a republican who has repressed liberal tendancies or if you are just off your rocker. Your screen name is dead on, however.
Realize of course that your irrelevant rants will get any who followa you nothing in this state, in any state for that matter (except perhaps the state of dementia).
If a Dem follows Kloucek he is a fool, if a Rep. follows Apa he’s the same. Everyone in Pierre has a role to play, Frank knows this. Jerry and Brock don’t, and guys, crying won’t get you anywhere…plus its a shitty way to govern.
The Republic of Sioux Falls should be laughing at this diatribe. You guys are nuts.
The next governor will be moving to the putrid little town of Pierre from Sioux Falls. The power base is moving farther east. You crackpots in the west must hate the thought. I just can’t wait to hear you blather then.
Apa or even Napoli running for statewide office is at least something within the bounds of reason. They’d probably say the wrong thing at the wrong time and that would be the end of them.
But GREENFIELD for statewide office? You’ve got to be pull our legs, right? Not un ’til (till, if you wish) the Rush Limbaugh gains back 100 pounds and is sworn in as ringmaster of the Heathen Circus could such an incident occur.
Depression? Nope. Just a freedom fighter. You can thank me later. Get off my dead ass? Trying to make it in small town South Dakota as a lawyer and also being involved with the family ranch keeps me off my dead ass, thank you very much. I don’t have a government contract and the only time I was in that mansion was when everybody else in South Dakota got the tour. If it were up to you Mr. Coot there would be a double wide on the shores of capitol lake. The lawyers in this state must really be “slipping” since we ended up with an insurance man in the Governor’s Office. I figured my earlier response would fall on deaf ears. Just trying to give you a dose of reality. I’m sure you’ll respond as colorfully as you did before. Call me names and bash lawyers. I don’t agree with much you say Mr. Coot, but I will always defend your right to say it under the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article VI, Section 5 of the South Dakota Constitution.
Lawyer/Rancher/Freedom Fighter/Country Club Republican, you are a shining example of what is wrong with the lawyers who give the rest of the lawyers a bad name. You are an arrogant, elitist prick.
By the way, if fire fighters fight fires and crime fighters fight crime, what do freedom fighters fight?
I figured my post would get some more name calling. Now I’m a “arrogant elitist prick.” I would hope you would defend your profession too. That’s a pretty good one with the “freedom fighters” line. ZING!
God bless Jerry Apa’s steady hand running the Appropriations committee. If it were not his volumes of knowledge and past experience we would be running in the red and not anywhere close to the current balanced budget that we posses.
Being a college student I am more than pleased that knowledgeable individuals such as Apa, Napoli, and Greenfield are keeping the Board of Regents and the Governor in check. If we were to let both entities get what they want, I would be looking at more debt trying to pay tuition.
The people on this blog that have negative opinions of the three legislators mentioned have a vendetta because their social views may differ. Let’s look at the task at hand, saving money and not spending it if we don’t need to. In the private world can anyone argue and say “we need to spend money any and every way”? no, it doesn’t make any sense in the private sector, and the same should be true with state government.
Whether or not you have hatred because Napoli, Apa and Greenfield don’t like abortion should not put up a smoke screen on something that also affects you in taxes.
mr. lawyer/rancher, thanks for citing the constitution. too few lawyers today know anything about our state and federal constitutions.
and that’s the problem in pierre and washington: too few legislators and congressmen, whether they be lawyers or ranchers or doctors, use the constitution as their guide.
41. “Being from Sioux Falls doesn’t exactly prove to be an asset to gubernatorial candidates.”
That’s right. We just disguise them and get them elected anyway. Bill Janklow, elected to four four-year terms, has a house that is listed as Brandon in the countryside, but if it was just a few yards west, it’d be Sioux Falls. But the big boy practices law in Sioux Falls. He is a Sioux Falls lawyer, not a Brandon lawyer, and he hasn’t lived in Flandreau since his lawbreaking days and being forced into the Marines.
I guess nobody from Sioux Falls can get elected governor. Duh!
You’re long on academia and short on insight.
Jerry & Brock balance the budget by arbitrarily inflating revenue estimates. ‘We can’t balance the budget or challenge gov mike on his sailer spending, so we’ll just make some money up and go home.’
That’s steady, alright. Check into it, pal.
#50,
Don’t know where your getting your info but the revenue estimates adopted by the legislature have been on the low side the last few years. Remains to be seen where they will come in this year.
All that aside, even if they did inflate the estimates to balance the budjet, they would just leave a hole in the budjet for next year that would have to be backfilled.
50) Don’t know where you’re getting YOUR information, but “low side” by whose standards? If the estimates were “low”—— how come they have to backfill money the following year?
I’m sure you don’t get the point…. they shoot their revenue estimates long to cover expenditures they can’t control and then make up the difference the following year by using reserves. That’s been the case the last couple years. Care to go another round?
52,
I believe arguing the point is fruitless, so let me reduce my comments to this. If the legislature is doing what you suggest and overestimating revenues for the following year. and then backfilling with reserves, how is it the two reserve accounts still have over 130 million dollars in them???
52,
One other thing, the legislature used nothing out of reserves last year. You need to check your facts.
Hey PP, since there’s a claim that the legislature hasn’t used reserves to balance the budget and that the appropriators don’t inflate their revenue projections:
Run a story on it. It’s easy enough to check. Compare Rounds’ budget proposal (including revenue estimates) to that adopted by the approps. Follow up with whether or not the gov took money out of reserves to cover their (legislators) shortfall. Then, compare expenditures from the gov’s proposed budget to that of the legislature. I’m fairly certain you’ll find both revenues and expenditures higher than what rounds proposes. Who’s the liberal spender? Suprisingly, it ain’t rounds.
55,
Sheesh, If the revenue is higher than the Governor projected, and the Appropriators picked a higher revenue estimate than the Gov (a more accurate number) how is that grounds to call them liberal???
55, do you work for “the man”? Your boss has proposed spending, what, $3.3 billion? If the legislators spend one dollar more, does that make them liberal spenders? You’re the ones proposing the first thirty-three hundred million.
And, as #56 points out, you blew your own talking points when you stated that revenues exceed the Governor’s projections. In 50 & 52, you were trying to make the point that the legislators inflate their number and then have to backfill. Now, you’re saying that the number usually isn’t inflated at all. Methinks you stepped in it.
Gov Proposed: Revenues = X
Gov Proposed: Expenses = Y
Legislature adopted: Revenues = X+1
(because) Legislature adopted: Expenses = X+1
When revenues don’t = X+1 = reserve spending.
I know, this is REALLY difficult.
And once again, you ignore ACTUAL revenues.
When revenues exceed X + 1 (as is most often the case) = swelled reserve accounts.
Nothing difficult at all.
….unless the bureaucrats can’t make budget and the legislature has to pass supplemental appropriations when they get together each year. Then reserves don’t swell as much as actual revenues exceed projections.
more Apa and Napoli, sure.
but there’s enough of your buddy Brock to last a long time.