Commentary
Let’s rethink abortion politics that punish patients and doctors
Abortion is among the most, if not the most, emotional, painful and divisive issue our society has struggled with. The two sides are dug in with little to no prospect of compromise. Abortion opponents believe abortion is murder. Abortion rights supporters reject that and believe that decisions in early pregnancy are entirely the prerogative of […]
Trump and Harris, with starkly different records on labor issues, are both courting union voters
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump are in a tight race for the White House. Every voting bloc will count – including members of labor unions and other people in their households. The majority of union leaders have over generations endorsed Democratic candidates, and this race is no exception. Although rank-and-file […]
Here’s hoping a thousand points of light grow from Thune’s anti-Trump flicker
Even in these deeply troubled political times, you can sometimes see a flicker of hope coming from what former President George H.W. Bush called “a thousand points of light.” And I think I saw one of those points flicker briefly last week, thanks to John Thune. Bush used the “points of light” metaphor in his […]
Voters caught in the middle as political parties unite against open primaries
Just when we thought bipartisanship was dead in South Dakota, Democrats have joined Republicans in opposing Amendment H. That amendment, on the ballot in November, creates what detractors are calling a “jungle primary.” All candidates for office at the gubernatorial, congressional, legislative and county levels would be listed on the primary ballot, regardless of party […]
America’s decade-long experience with marijuana legalization shows it to be a success
Contributor Tom Dean urges “we go slow” and put the brakes on efforts to legalize and regulate marijuana use (“More research needed on health effects of recreational marijuana,” Aug. 23). For those of us who have spent decades working to end over a century of marijuana prohibition and stigmatization, these changes cannot come soon enough. The initial […]
Where Kamala Harris stands on Big Ag is anybody’s guess
For the nation’s chicken farmers, the last nine months have been breathtaking. Poultry producers have been gamed, we might as well say plucked, for decades by chicken companies. Ever since the 1948 Chicken of Tomorrow contest, Big Poultry has found ways to increase its profitability at the hands of many individual farmers. In July of […]
Legislators should plan for sales tax ballot measure’s impact, not politicize it
The short-sighted nature of South Dakota’s Legislature is coming back around to bite them right in the wallet. In the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers chose to temporarily cut the state sales tax from 4.5% to 4.2% until 2027, betting that the state budget could handle the estimated $100 million annual loss in revenue. They did […]
More research needed on health effects of recreational marijuana
This fall, for the third time, South Dakotans are being asked to vote on whether to approve marijuana (cannabis) for recreational use (marijuana use as a medical treatment was approved in 2020). In the past, the proposal was approved, declared unconstitutional and then subsequently rejected by voters. So, what are we to think? What are […]
It’s Thune’s job to say it, but financial worry didn’t start with Biden
A couple days back I was sifting through my emails when I happened upon a recent column by Sen. John Thune. He was lamenting how American families are being hurt by the “reckless spending” of the Biden-Harris administration and Democrats in Congress. In the column, Thune wrote that “it costs a typical family $13,000 more […]
Bayer attempts to leverage rural GOP lawmakers to end glyphosate litigation
Over the last couple of decades covering agribusiness, I’ve come to this ironclad factoid … the Republican Party is generally more sympathetic than the Democratic Party to the interests of Big Ag – the industrial complex that produces the majority of our food. One needs to not go far beyond Farm Bill debates to see […]
Legislative staffer was a great help to lawmakers and a proud Czech
Reuben Bezpaletz, who was one of the main staffers for the Legislative Research Council in our state Capitol for 42 years, died this past weekend at age 77. He was very kind and fair to all legislators, including Democrats. He worked hard to keep legislation between the staff and the legislator. There was no disclosure […]
Legislative interest in statewide school cellphone ban underscores myth of local control
It’s like something out of one of those old Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland musicals: “Hey gang, my dad’s got a barn! Let’s put on a show!” Instead of putting on a show, the state’s Department of Education and some legislators are eager to follow in the footsteps of several school districts that have banned students from […]