Author: @SoDakCampaigns

From KELOland, the proponents of a jungle primary, which has either been rejected by voters or failed to achieve the ballot THREE TIMES NOW, are back running it again.

And along with the commencement of circulating their measure, representatives are lying to voters about the level of opposition to the measure which no one wants, and no one has asked for:

Joe Kirby, a lawyer and well-known retired Sioux Falls businessman, is the main sponsor behind the ballot measure to start a top-two primary election in South Dakota. Kirby told KELOLAND News in December 2022 he wants to let all voters vote.

and..

Kirby said he hasn’t heard of any opposition to the Constitutional Amendment but said he could see opposition from the “radical sides of both parties.” 

and..

Democrat Rep. Linda Duba was in attendance at the news conference. The Sioux Falls lawmaker said she is supporting South Dakota Open Primaries because it is the right thing to do. She said she’s not concerned if Democrat candidates would be left off November ballots with the top-two primary system.

Read the entire story here.

If Linda Duba wants to make sure no one turns out for Democrats in the fall ever again, that’s her business if she wants to further wreck her party. But the line that Joe Kirby is feeding people is a load of fertilizer.  The measure’s main sponsor, Joe Kirby claims “he hasn’t heard of any opposition to the Constitutional Amendment but said he could see opposition from the “radical sides of both parties?”

Well,  let’s try the State Republican Party Chairman John Wiik for one..  John Wiik campaigned to be chair of the SDGOP in part telling groups that the party fundraising needs to be robust “to fight off attempts to establish a “Jungle Primary” system in South Dakota.” That’s straight out of the Clay County GOP January minutes.  Chairman Wiik is anything but the “radical” side of the party, which is a much different story than this group is claiming.

The State Republican Central Committee has had pretty strong words in opposition of other measures monkeying with the ballot system, and I suspect they will quickly let their opinions be known on this latest attempt to monkey with our ballots.

So I got a press release this afternoon… 

Freedom Caucus Calls for State Beer Divestment

Rapid City, S.D. (April 19, 2023) – The South Dakota Freedom Caucus is condemning the recent actions of Anheuser-Busch’s use of Dylan Mulvaney and calling on Governor Kristi Noem to immediately divest in the state’s holdings in the company, totaling thousands of shares of stock in the Anheuser-Busch company according to a Securities Exchange Commission report from December 2022.

and..

“South Dakota needs to put our money where our values are,” said Tony Randolph, Vice-Chair of the South Dakota Freedom Caucus. “We cannot continue to invest in a company that promotes values that are contrary to those of South Dakotans.”

and..

“Men imitating as women is offensive,” said Tina Mulally, Treasurer of the South Dakota Freedom Caucus. “South Dakota should be investing in companies that respect our values, not promoting those that undermine them.”

(Yes, the graphic is my parody, but the words are not..).

So, yeah. I’m not sure what you can do with that except mock it.

Why do I expect the two dimmest bulbs in the House of Representatives to introduce a bill next session outlawing Rainbow Brite, and expunging any mention of the Reading Rainbow series from PBS?

You know, if you don’t want to support the company by not drinking their product, be a good consumer and do so.

But the Freedumb coalition wants to try to force the investment council to remove a company from their portfolio because a company sent commemorative beer to a dude who dresses in a way that many find odd?

Well.. dayam…That’s actually kind of ironic coming from Tina Mullaly.

Johnson Questions EPA Administrator Regan on Biofuels

 Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) questioned Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan on year-round E15 sales.

Johnson and 16 of his colleagues sent a letter to Administrator Regan this week, urging the EPA to increase supply of biofuels and advanced biofuels blends. Increasing the use of biofuels is the most effective way to achieve lower emissions with our current transportation system.

“The reality is that E15 has a lower Reid Vapor Pressure rating than E10, so making E15 more broadly available doesn’t do anything to hurt smog,” said Johnson. “Quite to the contrary, it would help both from a carbon perspective and a smog perspective, and so I would ask the Administration to lean into this incredible opportunity for our country related to biofuels a bit more than it seems like you are today.”

View Johnson’s remarks from the House Ag Committee hearing here or click the image below.

###

Uh oh. Someone is in trouble.

The South Dakota State University Association President was arrested for underage possession as well as a fake ID (and was suspected of having consumed said alcohol) after apparently having a bit too much fun this last weekend. From the SDSU Collegian:

Newly elected Students’ Association President Nicholas Grote said Tuesday he will not step down from his position after his arrest last weekend.

and..

Grote was arrested at 1:38 a.m. early Sunday morning on charges of possession of a fictitious license and underage purchase or possession of alcoholic beverages, according to an email from Brookings Police Department Detective Adam Smith sent to The Collegian. The arrest took place on the 300 block of 3rd Street at the 24-hour parking lot.

Detective Smith told The Collegian Grote smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes.

and..

Grote said he does not think law enforcement had a good reason to stop him, and said that there is not enough evidence for his charges.

Read that here.

Interestingly, during the campaign for Student Association President last month, the perp (Grote) had heavily criticized the ethics of his opponent in terms of his conduct, expressly citing that violating the Student Association code of ethics is grounds for removal.

According to the SA code of ethics, members of the Students’ Association must “perform duties in accordance with institutional, local, state and federal rules and law..”

and..

Grote said during the debate last month: “We (The Students Association) have an entire list of things you do not violate when you are a senator. I’m sure, Hunter, you know, you violated five …  seven of those codes of ethics when talking about [vice presidential candidate Trinity Peterson or myself]. That is something that we will not tolerate in any way, shape or form. That is grounds for removal and that can be really, really bad.”

 Grote is scheduled to appear in court at 9 a.m. May 15 . The Collegian plans to  continue following this story.

Read the entire story here.

I guess he must have drawn a line through that part or added an exception for “falsifying government documents.”  Because this seems like a case of do as I say, not as I do.

When I read “The Collegian plans to continue following this story,” I have the feeling they are rubbing their hands together and going mwaaahahaha, because he comes off as more than a bit self-righteous, and might need to be taken down a peg.

Thune: Tax Day Highlights Need for Greater IRS Accountability and Oversight

“I’ll continue to do everything I can to push for accountability at the IRS and make sure that taxpayers’ rights are respected – and that Americans’ tax dollars are being used responsibly.”

Click here or on the picture above to watch the video.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke on the Senate floor about the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS’s) poor reputation for customer service and its mishandling of Americans’ private information. Thune also discussed his IRS Funding Accountability Act, legislation that would give Congress a direct say in how the unprecedented $80 billion in new IRS funding could be spent, hold the IRS more accountable, and provide greater transparency to taxpayers.

South Dakota’s senior US Senator John Thune is the first featured speaker in South Dakota Strong’s “Leaders Up Close” series out in Rapid City on May 19th:

You can put it on your calendars, and find out more here!

The US Attorney’s office has released notice that former US Attorney and outgoing Democrat Party chair Randy Seiler has passed away after suffering a heart attack this last week.

Please keep his family in your prayers.

From Twitter:

The top six states with clean energy are powered primarily by nuclear or hydropower.

Not solar or wind.

Whether they know it or not, when “environmentalists” advocate against hydropower and nuclear, they advocate for INCREASING fossil fuels.

(1/6) pic.twitter.com/7lg9EoqBGN

— Benji Backer (@BenjiBacker) April 17, 2023

Gov. Noem Applauds Passage of Social Studies Standards

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem  applauded the passage of the social studies standards revisions by the Board of Education Standards:

“Today is a wonderful day for the students in South Dakota. They are our future,” said Governor Noem. “Now, they will be taught the best social studies education in the country, one that is a true accounting of our history. We want our children to have honest and factual classroom teaching so they can be engaged participants in our civil society for the rest of their lives.”

Department of Education Secretary Dr. Joseph Graves also celebrated the passage of the standards revisions:

“Growing majorities of Americans lack fundamental understanding of the nation’s governmental structure and history,” said Secretary Joseph Graves. “Passage of these standards is an important step in equipping South Dakota students with the solid grounding in history and civics they need to exercise their role as citizens. The board previously approved an extended, two-year timeline for implementing the standards. The department stands ready to support that implementation with professional development and standards-aligned resources.”

Starting in June, the Department of Education, along with the Historical Society and the Office of Indian Education, will start a two-year implementation period to help current teachers learn how to put the standards into practice for our students. Highlights include a History and Civics Summit in Sioux Falls for a thousand teachers, a state history “Road Trip” for another 240 teachers, and a web site to support the integration of state and Native American history throughout K-12 for teachers, students, and parents.

###

Oh my gosh, did I get a great Capital Fight item in the mail today. A fully illustrated 32-page brochure for the last South Dakota capital fight extolling the virtues of “Picturesque Pierre.” And one that spends as much time-trash talking those scurrilous slanderers of Mitchell as they do extolling the virtues of Pierre. It might be one of the single best pieces I’ve run across that shows the lengths that these communities went to in fighting for hosting the South Dakota State Capital.

You get awesome passages such as “Mitchell proceeds to libel and vilify it through local and itinerant knockers and by newspapers and other campaign literature. But when charged with such libel and vilification, Mitchell hypocritically denies that she has knocked the western half of the state.”

And that’s one of the mild attacks on it’s competitor to be the seat of government for South Dakota.. here’s another passage:

“What would you think of a proposition, made by any special and selfish interest of any single community in the state, or by any bunch of conspirators connected therewith, which, merely for its own real estate boom, should attempt to smite and libel and slander and slap in the face every acre of the more than two millions comprised in these seven southeastern counties of the state?

What would you think of the consummate nerve of such a bunch if it should go to the owners of all the real estate in these seven southeastern counties and ask them to help in this libel and slander of their own millions of acres?”

That is just great stuff.

Sharing a few pages from the brochure, you can see why I’m absolutely giddy to get my hands on this great piece of history.

On the cover is the old Capital, located at the present day location of the Retailer’s Building, across the street from the current one…

Page 2 has the Hughes County Courthouse, which I believe they’ve redone the roof in the intervening years, as well as the Old Federal Courthouse and Post Office, which has been donated to the state, and has been state offices for decades now. I used to work there many years ago when the Division of Insurance was in the building.

Some pictures showing the fertility of the region.. with the header of one the Capital Fight Slogans, “Pierre, Progress and Prosperity”

Three of the banks in Pierre at the time, one of those corner buildings might still be there…

and the back cover with the view across and down the street from the temporary Capital..  Not sure if any of that’s left, although that might be the methodist church far in the background.. or the old high school.

If you’re into the history of our state, this is great stuff, and a unfiltered glimpse into how rough and tumble politics could be 120 years ago.