Economic Development is a Scam

We're done pretending otherwise

There is no controversy in the statement that the government isn’t known for its efficiency and accountability, particularly in financial matters. When it comes to spending our money (yes it is our money) it is just way too easy for them to overspend on unnecessary projects with little to no accounting or accountability to us, the taxpayers. I mean, just look at all of the state employee embezzlement stories that we’ve treated to in the past year. The sad truth is that when it comes to Other People’s Money, no one really seems to care how carefully it gets spent, wasted and stolen.

Fortunately, the citizens of South Dakota - the folks who actually fund our government - are waking up to the truth that “Economic Development” projects are mostly boondoggles that elected officials use to reward their donors and buy votes.

This perhaps explains why our current governor, who was not elected by the People but selected by Kristi Noem, came out last week ATTACKING SD CITIZENS - folks he has sworn to protect and serve - who are finally voicing our concerns about the wisdom of our various elected officials handing out favors to a select few corporations. Often, the businesses who are the beneficiaries of government handouts are not even South Dakota owned, which makes this particularly galling to those of us who are SD owned and operated.

We shouldn’t be surprised by Governor Larry’s attitude though. After all, he is the continuation of Kristi Noem’s regime, literally. For those who have been paying attention, Governor Noem’s legacy is one of corruption, crony capitalism and political opportunism. Like many politicians, Kristi used her positions in leadership to prioritize her upward climb in the power politics game, instead of protecting and serving the interests of the taxpayers of South Dakota. With his recent comments, Larry is officially doubling down on his commitment to giving us more of the same for the remainder of his term, and potentially into his future terms, if he wins his primary race next June,, and then in the general in November.

As a small business owner for the past 31 years in South Dakota, I am proud to say that I have never sought nor received any “Economic Development” funds from our government. I would imagine that applies to nearly all of my 96,770 (2020 estimates) fellow small business owners in the state. When our politicians speak of “Economic Development” schemes, they are in reality choosing certain large business entities to redistribute our confiscated tax dollars to, typically in order to secure benefits for their own careers and reward their friends and donors.

This is known as the PATRONAGE SYSTEM, that also involves rewarding freinds, supporters and family members with governement jobs and grants. The reality is that it’s an extremely corrupt way to run a government, even though it’s the system we have been saddled with for quite some time now. “This is the way it’s always been” is what we are told over and over. But does it have to be that way?

Can’t we do better than screwing over the taxpayers who keep this whole thing afloat?

Governor Rhoden’s recent comments included his condescending claim that a “very small minority” of South Dakotans are against his Economic Development philosophy, because of “voter apathy”. LOL apathy is what our electeds count on from voters, because when voters are apathetic they stop paying attention to all the shenanigans that they all get up to, redistrubuting our confiscated earnings to suit their whims. This statement proves that Mr. Rhoden lives in a bubble out there West River. I can promise you that the bulk of the 96,770 small business citizens are not proponents of Corporate Welfare. We don’t get or want handouts, and we definitely don’t want our enormous competitors who already enjoy many advantages over us to get them either. Besides, corporate welfare does not make a business more efficient at serving their customers.

Let’s take a look at just one example. In 2022 GOED (“Governor’s Office of Economic Development”) gave $1,000,000 to help a company in Madison named Manitou Equipment America for some reason, presumably at the urging of Governor Noem. This past May ICE raided this company and arrested several illegal aliens who were working there. It isn’t too much of a stretch to believe that Noem, the head of ICE, knew that this particular entity was a prime target to send her agents to. This illustrates one of the main problems with “Economic Development” schemes in our state: we are already at near full employment, so when a business is enticed to move here offering low paying jobs, then they have to import workers from all over the world to fill them. This does not make our communities more prosperous or safer.

And I can also guarantee you that the 260,000 SD home owners who pay property taxes are desperate for some tax relief. Instead of kowtowing to Big Business, how about you follow the lead of Governor DeSantis who has been making a convincing argument for abolishing property taxes for homeowners altogether.

After all, when did all sign up for paying rent to our government on the homes we own in perpetuity? I know I didn’t.

But of course, according to Larry, I’m just a tiny minority, so what does my opinion matter.

In closing, Mr. Rhoden please hear this: Being against crony capitalism and corporate welfare doesn’t mean we’re “anti-business”, it means that We the People are anti-corruption.

The 99% of us who don’t get sweetheart deals from our electeds, we’re paying attention now, no longer apathetic.

You may have the Power, but we have the Numbers.