How many 'Enablers' can you name in South Dakota's legislature

By Gordon Garnos

AT ISSUE: For a lack of a better word, an enabler is one who enables, or simply put, gets things done. The contention here is that this state is short of enablers, especially in our state¹s Legislature. Yes, we have some, but far too few. And, yes, there are loads of maintainers, those who keep things going in state government, but won¹t rough up the status quo too much. However, when it comes to developing our future we seem to be short of those people who have the brainpower, vision and courage to resolving today¹s issues as well as developing our tomorrows. (Full Article)

Huckabee and Obama: A Study in Contrasts

BY STAR PARKER
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
COALITION ON URBAN RENEWAL & EDUCATION

In almost poetic lockstep, Republican and Democratic caucus voters in Iowa rejected the political establishment. In picking Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama, they selected candidates who, at this time last year, conventional wisdom would have deemed inconceivable. Beyond this common denominator, and equally fascinating, is the fact that these two candidates and two political stories are mirror images of each other. Huckabee a traditional values conservative and Obama a boilerplate liberal. And, of the leading candidates in Iowa, Huckabee spending the least money and Obama the most. (Full Article)

The Clinton Chameleon: Hillary Clinton Changing into Obama Now?

By Carrie K. Hutchens

It's been entertaining over the past months watching Hillary change her position from this to that and back again, depending upon what audience has been before her and how the tide was flowing at that particular moment. Even more interesting is how she stepped off the plane as Obama-Hillary. After all, it appears because it worked for him in Iowa, Hillary is now going to be the candidate for the young in New Hampshire. Does she likewise intend to be the black candidate in South Carolina since Obama carries that off so well, too? (Full Article)

The Two Faces of Huckabee on the Troop Surge

A post at Free Republic points out another inconsistency between what Mike Huckabee said then and what he says now.

I posted one before on Huckabee's two-faced immigration stance. This one shows two different opinions from Huckabee on the troop surge in Iraq. Watch these two videos:



Contrast with this

More Legislators Support Putting Abortion Ban on Ballot Than Oppose

The Rapid City Journal today has an article stating that based on a survey, more South Dakota legislators support putting a new abortion ban law on the ballot in November than oppose it:

One hundred of the 105 members of the South Dakota Legislature responded to the AP mail survey. Fifty-one said they believe an abortion ban with exceptions for rape, incest or the life or health of a woman should be put on the November ballot. Another 29 said they oppose the public vote, and 18 were undecided.

While nearly two-thirds of the Republican lawmakers supported a public vote on abortion, only about one-third of the Democrats supported the idea.

According to the latest statistics on abortion from the South Dakota Department of Health, 84.6% of abortions done in South Dakota are simply because "The mother did not desire to have the child." The reasons many gave for rejecting the 2006 abortion ban, the lack of rape/incest/health exceptions, accounted for a combined total of only 1.9% of all abortions.

Polls in 2006 indicated a vast majority (somewhere around 70% if I remember correctly) said they'd support an abortion ban that had these exceptions.

2008 is time to put their money where their mouth is. We'll see if they really mean it...or if it was simply another lie to keep abortion on demand available.