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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