Say Anything Blog

Yeah, Hotel Rendezvous out in the CRP and sand hills west of Cavalier, 4 miles from where the city’s only other hotel is struggling to make it. Where another “supper club” couldn’t make a go of it either. Spare me.

Obviously we need a party room for me and 150 of my friends there.

So where exactly is this?

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

We basically have the same problem in Kansas. It’s time to get rid of the RINOS and elect conservatives. It will take time, but it can be done, it has been done. I will not allow people to dictate my life, my happiness and my country. These people we have in power are dangerous.

Who approved these expenditures? Did the legislature vote on these?  Are there North Dakota State Earmarks?

They’re APUC grants. 

http://www.growingnd.com/index.asp?Section=Detail&PageID=268

* McLean Organic Rhubarb received $5,250.

LOL, $5000 has strapped your budget and forced tax increases?

Seriously, what’s the total here?  Is this even a dent in your budget compared to the social services that your state dishes out?

I echo your concern about wasteful spending, but if you spend too much time on principle, you have no time left for substance.  And if fixing your spending is a substantive problem, then addressing 0.1% of the problem isn’t much of a solution.

brenario, from what you say, this has to be a miniscule amount of the total state expenditures.  Am I right there?

LOL, $5000 has strapped your budget and forced tax increases?

Seriously, what’s the total here?  Is this even a dent in your budget compared to the social services that your state dishes out?

I echo your concern about wasteful spending, but if you spend too much time on principle, you have no time left for substance.

What worries me here is not so much the amount (though you’ve got to remember that North Dakota’s budget for its 600,000 people is going to be tiny compared to other states) but rather the potential for corruption here.

Who owns these businesses that got the money?  And how much quid pro quo is going on?

Even $500 worth of corruption is too much, and when it comes to this economic development money being spent the cronyism and outright bribery is awful.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

That type of spending is in the millions.  The list in the post is only the more stupid ones.

And it’s good to point out ALL wastefull spending… big or small.  But, you’re right… we have to cover the big stuff too.

Actually Brenario, according to the site you linked there are a maximum 64 APUC awards per year (16 per each quarter) with a maximum of $25000 per award.  That totals to $400,000 per year.

Rob, again, are you going to spend all of your energy on $5000 of potentially wasteful spending, when you know it doesn’t matter one hill of beans, or are you willing to spend energy on the really hard problems, like pushing back socialism in your state and in our country?

What we need in North Dakota is for more people to realize how ridiculous the people in Bismarck have become.  We used to be able to pride ourselves that we had a fairly frugal government. 

Not anymore.

So yes Carrick you’re right the total of the waste in this program isn’t all that much.  But sometimes it seems that you can get people worked up over the small things and not the large things.

For example people still talk about $500 toilet seats but nobody cares about the wasted billions.

North Dakota’s state government has become a joke under John Hoeven.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

Actually, Carrick, the last appropriations gave a base level of funding to APUC of over $3 million or about 12% of the Department of Commerce’s entire budget.

http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/60-2007/bill-text/HQMK0600.pdf

You make it sound as if Rob spent all day researching and blogging about one expenditure to a rhubarb farm and devoted his entire year to it. 

It took the Whistler 2 minutes tops to put this together. 

And another thing… it’s stupid little $3 million appropriations here and $3 million appropriations there for all of these “economic development” programs that start to add up. 

Hitting the Commerce Department is exactly the place to start.

Brenario:

Hitting the Commerce Department is exactly the place to start.

Why Commerce Department?  What makes them “exactly the place to start”?

Thanks for the clarification on the numbers… by the way, I wasn’t trying to make anything seem like anything.  I was just pointing out what I consider to be problems with the argument.

"Two Minutes?” It was a cut ‘n paste job.  I can do it faster than two minutes.

If we can point out how wasteful they are on the little things I think the voters will probably understand the big budget increases are probably not necessary either.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

Carrick,

The Commerce Department is the place to start because that’s where Hoeven is buying votes.  Under the guise of economic development, his programs give businesses money.  If that isn’t a bribe for a vote then i don’t know what is. 

At least the social programs target poor people.  Commerce Department programs give money to people who don’t need it.

Bernario, the only reason I asked is because generally money from the Commerce Department is often associated with infrastructural development.  Now I will admit that the grants listed aren’t good examples of expenditures in that direction, but how representative are they?

Infrastructural spending is essential to the long-term health of any economy.  Or at least that’s how I see it.

If I had to pick a place to start, it would be medicare expenditures or your education department…

The Commerce Department doesn’t do anything to my knowledge with infrastructure improvements.  It’s all community servies (i.e. grants) and tourism.

Bernario, the only reason I asked is because generally money from the Commerce Department is often associated with infrastructural development.  Now I will admit that the grants listed aren’t good examples of expenditures in that direction, but how representative are they?

I’ll back Brenarlo up on that.  The Commerce Department, which didn’t even exist prior to the current Governor’s administration, exists exclusively to redistribute wealth from the taxpayers to businesses selected by politicians and private economic development boards.

Infrastructure issues are handled, depending on their category, by organizations like the highway department and the public service commission.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

If Governor Hoeven is this careless with this money how careless is he with his “infrastructure” money.

True, government has a place, to quote Milton Friedman, I am not an anarchist. 

However wasteful, stupid project like these are counterproductive.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

Why vote Republican when we get garbage like this?

I rest my case.