Many people are concerned that Democrats have gone even farther to the left. Overall, they have.
The more serious problem is that REPUBLICANS have drifted to the left as well. States like South Dakota have been long thought of as conservative to the core. That is simply not true in today’s political environment. Our “conservative” Republican US Senator just endorsed liberal Republican Mitt Romney for President. The South Dakota Legislature is controlled by Republicans. But are they really Republicans??
Now a group of dedicated Republicans have done something to hold these Legislators accountable. They have put together a comprehensive voting record on key issues for all Legislators, regardless of party affiliation. What we have discovered is that many Republicans are even voting to the left of Democrats.
In the House, over half of the Republican members vote against their own party platform more than they vote with it! In the Senate, only five members vote with the party platform more than they vote against it…. and one of them is a Democrat!
According to this voting record, the South Dakota Governor, who is a Republican, voted against his party platform 45% of the time. This is based on the bills reviewed by this group of concerned Republicans, which the governor signed or vetoed.
This group of concerned Republicans believes in the quote from Thomas Jefferson, who said “. . . whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that, whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them right.”
Other states should take notice of what this group is doing to hold their elected officials accountable. You can view this voting record survey on their website. If you live in South Dakota you MUST review this information to see how your representatives are voting. If you live in another state you can use this as a model and create your own accountability guide!
I would like to personally commend them for this outstanding work. My hope is that Republicans around America will use this as a model of accountability for their politicians.
***Gordon Howie is a nationally syndicated author and CEO of Life and Liberty Media***
This helpful voting record shows SD voters the real color of their representatives. I hope everyone passes it on to their complete networking lists. The people who put this together deserve our sincere thanks!
Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention. We’ve often wondered why some important issues don’t get addressed in the legislature, and perhaps this is part of the reason.
What is REALLY disturbing to my wife and I, is that a bill that would have taken some of the promised benefits away from our National Guard members actually made it to the floor of the legislature for a vote at all.
A bill like that is REPREHENSIBLE- and reflects very negatively on the GOP party leadership.
I’m pleased to see this article, especially the plain, simple truth in the opening paragraphs. I wonder all the time if our less-than-right South Dakota Republicans realize all the harm they do. For instance, as it was put to me, our governor chose to keep a promise to former Governor Rounds to push senate bills 38 & 43 (health care laws)rather than protect the people of South Dakota. Is that an accurate statement? I fear it may be. Implementing what amounts to Obamacare via those bills is said to be to protect South Dakotans from the Federal Government. Seems like saying, “Please don’t shoot me, I’ll do it myself.”