A friend passed this along a few days ago, but I’ve been out of town on vacation, and could not bring it up on my iPad (Aarggh!) But, I’m finally back, so here we go!
As you well know, since the last gubernatorial election, Billie Sutton has spent his time and effort out begging for money for his ‘leadership program,’ which the cynical among us believe is his attempt to keep his gubernatorial hopes alive. Especially since he uses the same logo for both.
But clearly, Billie’s program has fallen on bad times, and has been endangered by COVID.. because he found it necessary to apply for a paycheck protection program loan from the SBA. According to the COVID bailout tracker:
According to the tracker, which notes that “This site contains all Paycheck Protection Program data — including specific amounts and company names — released by the Small Business Administration on December 1, 2020. This data covers loans of any value issued under the program,” Sutton applied for and received a bailout of $17,800. And the lender is First Fidelity Bank, his own employer.
If you’re not familiar with the terms of the loan, according to the SBA, “the Paycheck Protection Program is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll” and “SBA will forgive loans if all employee retention criteria are met, and the funds are used for eligible expenses.”
What service does Billie Sutton’s Leadership program provide that’s worth being bailed out with a loan that’s going to likely turn into a cash handout? I’m not sure. But I have no doubt the question will come up at a later date.
BTW, while we’re at it..
Troy Heinert, the incoming Democrat Senate Minority Leader also finds himself on the list for $9,200.
From the same data source:
Bailout Subtotal
$522.95 billion
Average bailout for 5.16 million recipients
$101,409
I’m sure that doing a search for one’s favorite friends or adversaries among the 5.16 million recipients will yield surprising results.
I bet if we look at all Republican elected official owned businesses versus Democrat, Republicans would beat the Dems 100 to 1 in the amount of bailouts they took. This is a cheap shot by Pat that is nothing more than propaganda to portray democrats need bailouts when in reality, Republicans in SD are taking a majority of the free money.
OK…..provide us the data supporting your claim oh wise one.
Noem Insurance, Bryant – $56,100
This is just hilarious. We are supposed to care that a non elected official received $17.2k while our current governor will directly benefit from a $56.1k bailout. Keep them coming. We need to post every elected Republican who benefited from a bailout.
Senator Blake Curd’s orthopedic institute – 3.45 million
Arch Beal – Beal Distributing – $851k
Senator Gary Cammack – Cammack Ranch Supply – $100k
The difference between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans have real jobs and employees. Who was Billie paying? Who was Heinert paying?
Curd heads up a major hospital. The Governor’s husband is a long time business owner. I’m sure they can back what they did. I’d like to see Heinert & Sutton’s explanations.
Hol’ up. So my job and my employees are fake? Well that sucks. I wonder what I’ve actually been doing the last 30 years.
Gee, thanks for mentioning all the Republican companies that are providing jobs while Little Billie’s only job was for him.
Troy needed money for a bailout. Billie needed money for a bailout. Cory over at the Stoner Blog is begging for money.
At least Billie keeps a good distance away from Cory and his Stoner Blog.
Keep it on topic, please.
And If you’re going to make accusations of someone acting in a manner that could potentially be illegal, citing your source and putting your name on the line would be for the best.
Hello All, As I find myself fortunate enough to make your blog and since the question was asked. The program allows for self employed individuals whose business was shut down due to COVID to apply for assistance. Most of the large rodeos I work were cancelled and therefore I qualified. I went from working 90+ performances a year to doing just 12 total. $9200 doesn’t even come close to what it costs to feed my horse herd, but it’s better than nothing.
There are numerous people in the same boat I am. Many South Dakotans are unemployed or underemployed and I will continue to fight for them. If you ever want to know something about me all you have to do is ask, my number is 6053196570. Stay Safe!
90+ performances? Are most in your dreams? It’s a great thing that the state shut down your special project for Stock contractors so you couldn’t line your pockets further. Also, I read that you took $7,000 out of your campaign finance for travel? Please divulge to us how you spent $7,000 on travel during a pandemic where you have “stayed safe” in your basement.