Author: @SoDakCampaigns

South Dakota Right to Life has a newsletter arriving in mailboxes about now, with an interesting article inside on the next to last page. One that seems to be sinful by it’s omissions. 

The headline on page 7 blares that SDRTL operates with a “Flare of Financial Integrity.”  And they even have a pie chart. Because everyone likes pie, you know.   You know what’s not on that pie chart of how donations were spent?  The $10,000 of donor funds that they diverted to defeat pro-life Republicans in the Primary. In case you have forgotten Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck’s expose‘:

Ten 100% pro-life voting record legislators were opposed by SD Right To Life, in spite of being PERFECT PROVEN pro-life public servants:

1. Representative Steph Sauder of Hamlin County has a 100% rating, and she was the top target of SDRTL in her senate race! Why you say? SDRTL diverted our donor dollars to help one of their board members, in spite of Steph Sauder having a perfect pro-life voting record.
2. Senator Erin Tobin, with a 100% pro-life voting record, and a nurse practitioner who worked with other legislators to try and position South Dakota to beat the abortion ballot issue (the one SDRTL was stealing funds from working against).
3. Senator Mike Walsh not only has a 100% pro-life voting record, he carried these life defining and pro-life attributes: American veteran, spouse of active military and retired respected law enforcement officer. Sounds like our perfect senator – SDRTL spent money to beat him!
4. Representative Brian Mulder carried a 100% pro-life voting record and has been an assistant pastor at Central Baptist in Sioux Falls. SDRTL spent money to beat him, and former Rep Keri Weems (see that odd story below).
5. In a Sioux Falls District, where we pro-lifers had the benefit of two incumbent 100% pro-life voting incumbents, Representatives Greg Jamison and Amber Arlint, SDRTL spent money to beat them! This is about as perfect of an example of SDRTL going to the dark side, except there are at least two districts where they were stronger in their anti-life actions!
6. Representative Tony Venhuizen has a 100% pro-life voting record, and SDRTL spent money to try and beat him. In that race, newcomer Brad Jankord was also pro-life, but SDRTL opposed him too !
7. In Yankton, Representative Mike Stevens, the House Speaker Pro Tempore has a 100% pro-life voting record as defined by SDRTL, but still they spent money to beat him
8. In Rapid City, two incumbents, Representatives Mike Derby and Becky Drury both had a 100% pro-life voting record as determined by SDRTL. Under those circumstances, donors like me would say, easy call: Derby and Drury. We would be wrong, SDRTL spent donor dollars to oppose both 100% pro-life voting record representatives.  Donors did not give SDRTL money all these years for them to oppose pro-life public servants.

Read that here.

My reading glasses might need cleaning, but I just don’t see “Defeat pro-life Republicans” anywhere on that pie chart explaining where people’s donations have gone.

Maybe South Dakota Right to Life needs to start a “corrections” section for their next newsletter?

As the populist rebel faction of the SDGOP held their faux gathering this weekend, they called in people to give presentations which agreed with their positions on several of the ballot measures.  No, no opponents of theirs were invited. They just had the people they agreed with.

A few were entirely reasonable, and advocated for their position no differently than they would to any group or in any interview. Nathan Sanderson with SD Retailers has been going around the circuit and speaking advocating against Initiated Measure 28. State Rep. Tony Venhuizen has regularly been advocating for Amendment F, and he was the prime sponsor in the House of Representatives for the measure.  They go and speak anytime and any place on their issues, and leave it for the listener to agree or disagree, as would be expected.

I did catch that the GOP faction also included speakers who are a lot more skittish and selective about who they speak to.  I’m referring to the populists letting “the mattress guy,” Chis Larson speak to the group about his coalition to vote no on several measures.   Which is interesting, as I’d heard through the grapevine that if he gets spooked he’s quick to bail out of speaking about his vote no effort. Which doesn’t sound like much of a spokesperson at all.

Now, if you read Larson’s website, you’d understand why he’s not interested in being in an environment when people might ask him questions. Questions about.. things:

Our state-sponsored “experts”, promoted by the legacy media, are bought and paid for. By who isn’t always clear. Nothing is clear anymore. There never seems to be a reckoning. We’re never going to find out where covid really came from, and who is responsible. We’re never going to get the truth about the covid vaccines that aren’t actually vaccines. Bad actors won’t be brought to justice. No one ever takes responsibility. It’s always on to the next manufactured crisis that our government heroes can rescue us from.

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• RINOs are connected. Nearly every LibPublican in SD has benefactors at higher levels, a history of working for some high-level politician, and a direct line to the Donor Class. Examples: Summit, Sandford, Premier Bank. This is their armor. Money equals power, and power is everything to them.
• RINOs claim to be Christians. Now I certainly can’t judge people’s faith journey, or read their minds, but with RINOs it’s pretty clear that no matter what church they attend, their actions, words and attitudes out here in the world are nearly indistinguishable from the heathen. 

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 So we know the path to victory. Tell your friends, support Patriots & remember to Vote NO in NOvember!

You can read the crazy here.   I had previously also referred to his goofiness complaining about “normies” here.

Sooo…  Republicans are supposed to follow the direction of someone with delusions of grandeur and vote No. Or else we’re just RINO puppets of Summit and Sanford. And I love the part, where he can’t read people’s minds, but RINO’s are all a bunch of RINO heathens who can’t be classified as Christians?

That’s kind of hilarious.  As spokesman for a ballot measure group, I have to say that I don’t find that very spokesman-like. (Would we call that bad spokesmanship?)

You know, if you don’t really like the people you want to vote your way on measures, it might be challenging to make a convincing case.

Just caught this on Facebook.

Governor Kristi Noem is featured in this video clip. It’s a reminder of why she was elected, and how remarkably good of a speaker she is out on the campaign trail:

Attorney General Jackley Announces Plea Entered, Trial Date Set In Stealing $1.8 Million in State, Federal Funds Case

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that a former state Department of Social Services employee has pleaded not guilty to charges of stealing an estimated $1.8 million in state and federal funds from the department’s Child Protection Services. A trial date of Dec. 4, 2024 in Pierre has been scheduled.

Lonna Carroll, 68, of Algona, IA entered the plea Tuesday in Hughes County Circuit Court. She is charged with two felony counts of Aggravated Grand Theft. Carroll is accused of taking the money while an employee for the department’s Child Protection Services program, where she had control of the funds. The thefts occurred between 2010 and 2023.

Bond has been set at $50,000 cash or surety. She is being held in the Hughes County Jail.

Maximum sentence for Count One is 25 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. The maximum sentence for Count Two is 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine.

The defendant is presumed innocent under the U.S. Constitution.

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From the SD Trucker’s Association comes two of our favorite people, Christine Vinateri Erickson and Marty Jackley:

Attorney General Jackley To Host National Attorney General Meeting In Deadwood 

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley hosts a National Attorney General Alliance (AGA) Working Group Meeting Oct. 22-25 in Deadwood where Attorneys General from across the country will work on issues impacting states.

“While there are different challenges for each State, we have a common interest in working together to protect our States and our citizens,” said Attorney General Jackley. “I am honored to host this group in South Dakota as we look for common sense solutions.”

Topics to be discussed include Human Trafficking, Cybersecurity, Organized Retail Crime, Sports Betting and Online Gambling, a Mental Health Initiative, and Cannabis Law.

Attorney General Jackley, who is the immediate past Chairman of AGA, looks forward to welcoming to South Dakota, the current Chairman, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford.

“Aaron Ford is a strong leader for the Attorney General Alliance, and I value the opportunity to serve with him,” said Attorney General Jackley.

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I picked up this item off of eBay right before I had to take off to Boston last week, so I hadn’t had a chance to share it yet. It’s a little beat up, but it’s an uncommon item from an uncommon 1888 game, and most things 136 years old have a few dings in them.

What can we tell you about this Territorial Governor, who was #9 out of the 10 territorial governors?  From Wikipedia:

President Cleveland appointed Louis Church as Governor of Dakota Territory. A number of Democrats in Dakota Territory were disappointed in the appointment because they had expected the appointment of Dakota resident Frank M. Ziebach. Church became governor on February 21, 1887. He scrutinized every bill and restrained excessive spending with his veto power. He allowed the reform school to be established at Plankinton. Church opposed the division of Dakota Territory into two separate states. Governor Church and former Governors, Nehemiah G. Ordway and John L. Pennington, wanted Dakota to enter the Union as a single state.

In spite of his integrity, Church became very unpopular as governor because of his opposition to separate statehood. When Benjamin Harrison defeated Cleveland as president, Church became a lame duck who was generally ignored by the territorial legislature.

Read that here.

This card is out of a “political euchre” deck of playing cards.. a game which happened to have a poster featured in a recent auction from Heritage Auctions. They’ve also sold a full set of the cards in the past as well.

Interestingly, this is back when Democrats were identified by the color red, and Republicans were blue.

While I didn’t have access to a full set, I thought this unique record of South Dakota’s 9th Territorial Governor was a bargain at $16.87. (Especially since I was busy, and missed the final bidding on a Pierre for Capital poster I wanted badly.)

 

If you recall, the Confederate Republican county organizations decided on their lonesome to have a meeting yesterday in Oacoma.  The group, now calling themselves the “By-Law Compliant Counties,” supposedly met. And we’ve had nothing.

Nevermind the fact that the meeting was not called by the SDGOP chair, the SDGOP completely disavowed it, and underlined that fact by noting they’re not paying for it.  Because they already had a Summer Central Committee meeting – called the State Republican Party convention.

People are e-mailing me asking what happened. And in the hours since… there have been crickets.  It’s like they held fight club, where the first rule of fight club is that “You do not talk about fight club.”

No one is really talking about the meeting.  No pictures, comments, anything on social media.

I’m not sure what they’re going to talk about, other than almost none of these county groups have sent money into the SDGOP (per the county quota they’re supposed to be using to support the party), and their antics are keeping outside donors from investing with the GOP to support Republican candidates.

These are lean times for the Republican Party. It would be nice if they could be part of the solution.

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UPDATE!  

Just got a big update on what went on, literally 10 minutes after my post. And it sounds as if the truth was weirder than the speculation.  It was a glimpse into what we may see as the next iteration of the Republican Party after party elections in January/February.  And, have to say, not getting a warm fuzzy.

As was related to me, the group felt they needed to gavel themselves in for some reason and elected Tom Brunner, as their pseudo-chair.. kind of a consolation prize from the last time he wanted to be chair. I’m told they selected Starla Russell from Fall River County to be “Secretary Pro Temp,”  and Travis Ismay to be Sgt. at Arms.  The head table was manned by R. Shawn Tornow, Stu Cvrk, Brunner and Amy Wagner from Pennington County.

What else? They apparently charged everyone $21 for this event, because that’s how much lunch was. And then they moved into presentations on ballot measures.

I’m told Jon Hansen presented on Amendment G, Ezra Hayes on Amendment H, and someone on 21. They decided to oppose all three.  Nathan Sanderson presented on IM 28, which they decided to oppose.  Jim Kinyon presented on IM29, which they also decided to oppose.  Tony Venhuizen spoke on Medicaid work requirements, Amendment F, which they voted to support – the only one they voted to support.

The group did all of this by voice vote.  Which, since they hosted an echo chamber, you can imagine how it went.

They also discussed Amendment E, removing gender from the constitution. I’m told there was a little bit of debate on that – some people saw it as unnecessary – and they decided not to take a position.

What else? I heard the group did resolve that the party should spend $10,000 opposing the open primaries measure, Amendment H.  I’m also told spokesman Ezra Hayes told them they should work raising it themselves, given the party’s finances. But thinking there’s an unending well of money is a trend with these guys.

After that, they invited Kristie Fiegen to speak as a PUC Candidate. I’m also told Attorney General Marty Jackley was in attendance.

It sounds as if the primary result of this meeting was to motivate those present to work on ballot measures.  With only a passing glance to the actual reason we have a Republican Party organization – to elect candidates. Why aren’t they rallying to get our guys elected? It seems as if they consider it a foregone conclusion.. nevermind the fact that the party’s finances are dire at this point.

Honestly, what are these people doing?  It’s as if the Republican Party of 2024 has become the Democrat Party of the late 1990’s/early 2000’s, when they started tying their fortunes to ballot measures.  And we all know how that’s gone for Democrats. It’s a massive shift of resources and focus – and not for the better.

It’s taking the Republican Party’s eye off the ball, and choosing the golden calf over the ten commandments.

But, this is South Dakota politics, and there are some who just want to take Republicans from complete electoral dominance to wander around in the wilderness for a few decades.

Protecting Kids Online
By Sen. John Thune

Social media has become a big part of Americans’ lives. It’s a source of entertainment and information, a way to connect with friends and family, and a place to shop, do business, and advocate for causes that are important to us. But I don’t need to tell anyone that social media has a dark side as well. Social media can have negative effects on mental health. It can foster negative and divisive engagement and serve as an outlet for illegal activity. And it can be especially detrimental to teenagers’ still-developing psyches.

In the last few years, reports and whistleblowers have sounded the alarm on social media’s impact on young people. In 2021, the Wall Street Journal released a series of reports highlighting, among other things, Facebook’s knowledge of the harm its products can cause, including its own research into Instagram’s impact on teenage girls. Another report revealed how easy it is for teens to be bombarded with inappropriate content on TikTok, a risk-plagued platform with flaws far beyond this one. And many of us have also read tragic stories of eating disorders and suicide linked to social media. The status quo is unacceptable.

For several years now, including my time as chairman, I’ve worked with a number of my colleagues on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation to address some of these issues. After years of hard work, the Senate recently passed the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act, which takes important steps to protect young Americans online.

Championed by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, my colleague from Tennessee, this bill provides safeguards for teens by requiring that Big Tech platforms default to the strongest privacy settings for minors. It puts the responsibility on these platforms to prevent and mitigate harm to young people, and it prohibits internet companies from collecting personal information from minors without their consent. These and other measures in the bill are critical steps to protect children online and hopefully begin to reverse social media’s ill effects, of which we’ve seen too much in recent years.

In addition to these provisions, I’m proud that this bill includes my Filter Bubble Transparency Act. One big problem with social media platforms stems from platforms’ ability to decide what information to show you based on a secret algorithm that you can’t inspect or change. Not all algorithms are bad – some can even be helpful, like YouTube queuing up another song from your favorite band instead of something totally unrelated. But algorithms that expose a 15-year-old to inappropriate videos, that’s problematic, to say the least. And unfortunately, consumers are not always aware of just how much of their experience is being shaped by opaque algorithms.

The Filter Bubble Transparency Act puts consumers and parents back in charge by requiring Big Tech platforms to disclose when they are using an opaque algorithm, and it requires platforms to give consumers the option to view content that has not been curated by the secret algorithm. It provides more transparency for consumers and gives them more control over the content with which they interact online. I’m glad to see this bill advance alongside other important measures in this bill.

As always, there’s additional work to be done to update our laws for the social media age. But the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act is an important step forward in protecting young Americans from harm on the internet. I hope the House of Representatives will soon take up this bill, and I will continue working with my colleagues on this important issue.

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Big Connections
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
August 23, 2024

BIG Idea

Children look up to adults young and old as examples of how to live. Friends of the Children – He Sapa is ensuring children have role models who teach the Lakota values of fortitude, wisdom, courage, generosity, honor, respect, and humility. As the first and only long-term professional mentoring program in the country, Friends of the Children puts the children first to help them overcome childhood adversity.

BIG Update

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a preliminary review of employment data that shows there were 818,000 fewer jobs in March 2024 than previously reported. The Department of Labor initially reported 2.9 million new jobs between March 2023 and March 2024. This 30 percent reduction is the largest downward revision in 15 years. Two years after passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, we’ve seen how these policies have increased gas, food, and electricity prices. Businesses are experiencing the same squeeze families are, and employment data shows these challenges.

It’s time for change. We must cut government spending, ease taxes, and reduce unnecessary regulations from the Biden-Harris Administration. I’ve voted against $13 trillion of spending supported by President Biden and Congressional Democrats. I’m working to decrease spending and block Biden’s rules that are costly and unrealistic for our economy.

BIG News

For nearly 35 years, the city of Madison has waited and worked towards connecting with the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System. At the beginning of August, the town completed the pipeline project that connects Madison to the system. I joined Madison city leaders and Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds for the ribbon cutting to celebrate the newest L&CRWS connection.

The Lewis & Clark Regional Water System will process more than 45 million gallons of water per day for nearly 350,000 people. The system spans 5,000 square miles across southeast South Dakota, northwest Iowa, and southwest Minnesota.

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