SOUTH DAKOTA GOVERNOR JANKLOW RECEIVES JANUARY ‘PORKER OF THE MONTH’ AWARD | Citizens Against Government Waste

SOUTH DAKOTA GOVERNOR JANKLOW RECEIVES JANUARY ‘PORKER OF THE MONTH’ AWARD

Press Release



For Immediate ReleaseContact: Jim Campi
January 6, 2000(202) 467-5300

 


(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), America’s largest taxpayer watchdog group, today announced South Dakota Gov. William Janklow (R) as the recipient of its January “Porker of the Month” award.  Janklow earned the award for publicly threatening to use the state police to collect the South Dakota sales tax – even if it means pulling over and searching UPS and FedEx trucks.


“Gov. Janklow’s grotesque remarks about searching delivery trucks traveling through South Dakota sound more like the threats of a tin-horned dictator than a duly-elected governor of a state,” stated CAGW President Thomas A. Schatz.  “In recognition of his insatiable appetite for tax dollars, as well as his contempt for constitutional liberty, CAGW confers upon Janklow our January ‘Porker of the Month’ award.”


Gov. Janklow made his comments during a December meeting of the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce (ACEC).  While talking about the problems of collecting the state sales tax for purchases made over the Internet, Janklow mused, “The bottom line is we're going to start stopping little brown trucks, and we're going to start examining the packages.  People can talk privacy all they want, but there's nothing that stops...our Highway Patrol from stopping those white and brown trucks in my state and going through the packages and then just following them back.”


When asked by a fellow governor about the constitutionality of his suggestion, Janklow refused to back down, stating, “we have always had the authority to stop the little brown trucks. What I may do in that regard is not new. All I'm trying to do is to make sure that our state has the ability to collect the taxes from our citizens that are buying goods to be delivered in South Dakota.”


Ironically, Janklow claims he wants to use the revenues generated by e-commerce to lower taxes in his state.  Of course, he fails to realize that the best way to lower taxes and cut wasteful spending is to keep the money out of the hands of bureaucrats in the first place.


CAGW’s “Porker of the Month” award is a dubious honor, given to lawmakers and government officials who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.  Recipients of the award are listed on an online “Hall of Shame,” located at CAGW’s website, www.cagw.org.  Past recipients of the award include First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) and Senate Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).


CAGW is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.


 


 

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