The CATO Institute FISCAL POLICY REPORT CARD ON AMERICA’S GOVERNORS scores Governor Daugaard…
and he is not at the top of the class.
Only 5 Republican Governors scored worse than Governor Daugaard in this extensive report. 4 Democrats scored as well or BETTER than Daugaard.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone who has really looked at the performance. Under the leadership of Governor Sam Brownbeck, taxes in Kansas have been REDUCED by $ 800 million dollars a year. Daugaard’s leadership has produced tax INCREASES of well over $ 100 million dollars a year. That’s quite a contrast.
Those suffering the illusion that the South Dakota governor is a strong conservative might want to look at this report and re-evaluate their perspective.
Daugaard earned a 53% on this scorecard, 16% behind the best scoring Governors. When compared with other Republican Governors, Daugaard scores “below average”.
On spending, Daugaard earned a score of 55%, while 15 other Republican governors scoring even worse.
The CATO Institute include a fiscal policy note on each Governor. The note on Governor Daugaard follows:
”South Dakota has a relatively low tax burden, and Governor Daugaard wants to keep it that way. The state does not have a personal or corporate income tax, and it has a sales tax rate of just 4 percent. The Tax Foundation found that the state has the second best tax climate for businesses in the nation. Daugaard has spearheaded an advertising campaign targeting investors in high-tax California and Illinois to open or expand their businesses in South Dakota. Daugaard’s modest grade of “C” reflects the lack of any major steps by the governor to cut taxes and spending. But it is also true that there are fewer tax and spending targets to cut in relatively small-government South Dakota.”
It is certainly true that South Dakota is small potatoes in the world of big state budgets, giving us the benefit of lower taxes and less regulation than that of larger states. One could argue that this gives our Governor a head start toward a HIGH grade, rather than a “below average”.
What is most troubling is that South Dakota continues to travel in the direction of MORE regulation and HIGHER taxes. That is not a comforting trend to conservatives in this state.
***Gordon Howie is a nationally syndicated author, host of Liberty Today TV and CEO of Life and Liberty Media***
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Gordon, I guess I would just like to know what some of the
MORE regulations are and in what area the HIGHER taxes are?
Curious?
Am also rather impressed with the note they wrote on the Governor.
Do you have some other problems with him? Not trying to be argumentative, just would like some more info if you don’t mind.
Thanks for the questions Sharon. First, the dishonesty bothers me significantly. Saying “We balanced the budget without raising taxes” is simply not true. Another example of dishonesty is saying he endorsed pro-abortion/homoseual candidates because he needed the help on fiscal issues is less than candid, to be generous. Example is Peters vs Hubbel. There isn’t a candidate who would have been more fiscally responsible than Lora Hubbel. Saying that Sen Tom Nelson is a fiscal conservative is also an absolute distortion of truth.
Now to the issue of taxes… during the first two years of the Daugaard administration, taxes have increased over $100 million dollars per year… 1/2 % increase in sales tax, increased registration fees, increased license fees to mention a few.
Regarding regulation, the big one is ObamaCare. Unbelievable imposition of regulations embraced by our governor. He introduced SB 38 & SB 43 which pave the way for ObamaCare in SD, while conservative governors around the country are standing firm and sayin “no”. If you have been watching our posts, you have seen lots of evidence that our governor is moving forward with ObamaCare, even though he says a State Exchange would be “too expensive”. Lots more information is available that demonstrates our governor is not the conservative hero many seem to think he is… as evidenced by his ranking among other Republican Governors in our nation.
Some have the impression I have some sort of “vendetta” against the Governor because he won the election. That simply isn’t true. I pray for him and will cheer for him if he becomes a leader for life, family, fiscal responsibility and honesty.