Olson opines on South Dakota's culture of corruption

Editor's note: another skirmish flared up in the SDGOP civil war as Citizens for Liberty and Republican lawmakers filed a petition to bring a Rapid City boondoggle to a public vote while South Dakota's maddest former teevee newscaster, Shad Olson spoke truth to Pierre's culture of corruption again at his Faceberg page.

In addition to what amounted to appropriations money laundering and column shifting to spin the marketing tale of "we have the money" to build South Dakota's $650-million new prison, "The Cornhole Palace," the fine print on the builder contract gets much worse. Any cost savings on the total finished price of the project will be split 50/50 between the state and the builder.

While this arrangement might sound like a smart money play, it effectively incentivizes both the state and the builder to over promise and under deliver on quality and durability of the building, and to inflate the initial ask price for the project to leave padding for extra gravy off the backend.

Both parties get paid to cut corners. And the final price never changes. Anyone believing in "leftover government money," likely also believes in jackalopes and heterosexual South Carolina U.S. Senators.

In other words, if the final, or "actual price" of the prison project arrives at $350-million instead of $650-million, the extraneous $300-million "savings" would be split equally between builder and the state. $150-million apiece. An arrangement that installs multiple layers of opacity and ambiguity and plenty of slop room for greased palms and payouts.

And your "true conservatives" not only didn't play "hard to get" in the consummation of the deal, they bent over for a blowout establishment victory that leaves no reason for the RINO Governor and crony legislative caucus to negotiate on any piece of conservative legislation, or even to allow it to floor.

It's a worst of all possible worlds scenario, where South Dakotans were treated to a contrived auction under auspices of careful deliberation and in the end are nearly guaranteed not to get even the palatial finished project they were sold in the prenup.

But I'm sure there'll be a careful audit. Chortle.

Third most corrupt state in America.

South Dakota desperately needs a DOGE. And not one picked out and installed by the same batch of crooks, liars, thieves and phony conservative doofuses that have run the show for 40 years.

The illusion is finished.