Author: @SoDakCampaigns

South Dakota GOP Chairman Dan Lederman in support of Amendment C

The South Dakota Republican Party urges Republicans across the state to vote “Yes” on Amendment C in the upcoming primary election. As Republicans, we believe in the conservative principles of low taxes and limited government. Everyone should agree that it should be a hurdle to raise the amount of money the government takes from our wallets, using it to create more government in South Dakota. That is why the South Dakota Republican Party State Central Committee unanimously voted to pass a resolution in support of Amendment C.

Amendment C upholds our conservative principles by requiring 60% of voters to agree on ballot measures that raise taxes or spend more than $10 million. The South Dakota Republican Party supports the Taxpayer Protection Amendment.

The South Dakota Republican Party’s hard work to build an overwhelming advantage on voter registration, maintain strong majorities in the state legislature, and hold all statewide offices has helped make South Dakota a model for the nation with our fiscal responsibility. This has been made possible by our Republican values, but also the existing common-sense protections against higher taxes already in South Dakota law. For example, in the legislature there is already a 2/3 (67%) vote requirement in both chambers to pass tax hikes and create new government spending programs. This existing protection for taxpayers in South Dakota has helped prevent the high taxes and runaway spending that have destroyed blue states. However, South Dakota’s fiscal responsibility and your wallet are still vulnerable on the ballot.
Currently, tax hikes and new big government spending programs can pass with a vote of only a simple majority (50.01%) on the ballot. Without the protection of Amendment C, the Democrat Party and far-left special interests from California, Massachusetts, or Washington DC can bypass the elected legislature and raise your taxes.

The Left’s best chance to raise taxes, grow government, and change the South Dakota way of life is by dumping millions of dollars into ballot measure campaigns, with hopes that only a simple majority of those who show up at the polls to vote can be convinced to raise taxes and grow government for everyone else. Amendment C will require that these ballot measures must receive a 60% vote in order to pass. A 60% vote to pass tax hikes and new spending programs brings the ballot measure process more in line with our elected legislature’s 67% vote requirement.

The inflation caused by the Biden Administration is hurting South Dakotans at the grocery store, at the gas pump, and in every other aspect of our lives. Our budgets are being stretched to their limits, and we cannot afford higher taxes. Passing Amendment C is June would be a historic victory for Republicans and show that hardworking South Dakotans are sick and tired of the tax-and-spend policies of Washington D.C.

We need to protect South Dakota and your pocketbook from these radical policies. We need the Taxpayer Protection Amendment. You can vote “Yes” on Amendment C today. Early voting runs through June 6th and Election Day is Tuesday, June 7th.

 

There has never been a better time to talk about tourism in South Dakota. May 1-7 is National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW) across the country. In South Dakota, we celebrate the Great Faces, Great Places that make our state the greatest vacation destination in America.

NTTW is all about celebration. This year’s theme is #FutureOfTravel, but before I look ahead, we have a lot of folks to thank for getting us to this point. While other states were shutting down, the men and women in our tourism industry stayed open for business and open for visitors.

Despite a barrage of partisan criticism, our approach worked. A recent study from WalletHub just named South Dakota the second safest COVID-19 state in the nation, and we led the entire country in tourism growth. By working together, we have kept this state an ideal place for people to visit and enjoy the fresh air and open spaces at our scenic parks.

That is why we have so much to celebrate during this year’s National Travel and Tourism Week. We celebrate the 13.5 million visitors that came to South Dakota last year, an increase of 30% from the previous year. We celebrate the record $4.4 billion that visitors spent while they were here, the 54,208 jobs sustained by the tourism industry, and the $980 in tax dollars saved by each South Dakota household because of the tourism industry.

With a spirit of gratitude, let’s come together and use NTTW as a time to show our appreciation for our travel industry. There are many ways we can do this:

• Write a letter or social post thanking travel workers – including your favorite SoDak businesses – for everything they do to attract and entertain visitors.
• Share photos of your outdoor adventures in The Mount Rushmore State and tag the local town or park.
• Tag your messages with #NTTW22 and #FutureOfTravel to show the world how much you appreciate the many benefits that come from hard-working tourism folks.

This past legislative session, we passed reforms to allow for more agritourism. This allows farmers and ranchers to use their property to generate additional income from tourism without burdensome regulations. And to make sure the future of tourism is bright across the state, we are bolstering our marketing efforts to target smaller communities. We want to be sure the millions of visitors to our state do not miss the hidden gems.

We are also continuing our efforts to strengthen habitat and enhance the experience for our visiting hunters and anglers. We cut regulations to make it easier for hunters to take advantage of our open seasons. And we have worked with landowners and our conservation specialists to increase habitat and reduce nest predator populations.

Since 2019, there has been a $27 million increase in direct spending by hunters. When you combine all outdoor activities — including boating, parks, snowmobiling, etc. — the overall estimated impact on our economy is more than $1.3 billion total. The best part is that portions of those dollars spent on ammo, park fees, and other tools feed right back into our conservation and habitat efforts.

Whether you walk two blocks or drive across the state, I encourage you to take the time to treat yourself to some exploration. Even as Governor, I am consistently surprised with the sights and delights I continue to find across South Dakota.

The future of travel is strong in South Dakota. We have much to celebrate and even more to look forward to. That is the South Dakota way, and that is what National Travel and Tourism Week is all about. Someone once said, “Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.” I could not agree more. Together, let’s make sure that South Dakota will continue to enrich the lives of every visitor that explores our great state.

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Elevate Rapid City has their third annual pro-business scorecard out for people to see ranking the pro-business acumen of Rapid City area legislators. Seven of them (Tim Goodwin, Becky Drury, Chris Johnson, Helene Duhamel, Mike Derby and Jessica Castleberry) had perfect 100% scores.

Surprisingly, self-proclaimed small businesswoman and Congressional Candidate Taffy Howard ended up with the lowest score with only 40% of her votes being ranked pro-business:

Read more about it here at Elevate Rapid City.

Among her posts to Twitter today, Taffy Howard expressed some fairly strong religious views..

We need members of Congress that put America First and know that Christ is King 🙏

— Taffy Howard for Congress (@taffy_howard) April 28, 2022

Hm.. I wonder if other candidates running to the right have the same views on religion..

Religious belief is a world-view, a fiction used to explain our present existence.

and…

In tandem with meditation is the understanding that humanity needs a new one-world religion.

and..

There is no need to pledge allegiance to particular nations or creeds. What we really need is to return to ourselves.

– District 12 House Candidate Cole Heisey writing in The Volante, April 2, 2013.

Well, that’s going to make for some awkward conversations at the Stop the Steal Rallies.

Val Rausch running for District 4 State House of Representative seat

Val Rausch, local businessman from Big Stone City, announces his candidacy for the South Dakota State House of Representatives in District 4.

“After considerable thought and encouragement from area residents, I have decided to run and represent our area for the House,” Rausch said. “My past experience and leadership are essential to the future needs of South Dakota and will help to continue to move the state forward.”

Rausch served in the South Dakota legislature from 2005 – 2012.  As a Representative Val served on the Appropriations committee until serving in leadership his last two terms.  During his time serving the House, he served as speaker pro tempore and then as Speaker of the House.

Val has lived and served the community of Big Stone City, SD for most of his life. Rausch earned his B.S. from Northern State University. He worked for Rausch Brothers Monument Company as vice president and sales manager. Rausch is currently the owner/operator of Omega Lettering Incorporated.  He is a current member of the Glacial Lakes & Prairies Tourism Executive Board, the State Department of Tourism Advisory Board, and board member of the Abbey of the Hills.

Rausch served as mayor of the city of Big Stone City from 1993 to 1999. He was also a member of the County Planning and Zoning Board. Val is a retired volunteer fireman for the Big Stone City Fire Department

He is an active member of St. Charles Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus.

Val and his wife, Paula, have four grown children and seven grandchildren (and counting).

Yesterday, the Taffy Howard for Congress twitter account started tweeting a storm, throwing out all sorts of red meat to her followers, such as this gem, which I embedded on my website:

I was looking at the post this AM, and noticed it wasn’t resolving to a nicer graphic format.. and when I went to check the twitter account – *poof* the tweet had disappeared.    But a new “red meat” statement about the election was in it’s place:

Unlike our DC delegation here in South Dakota, I have questions about election night 2020.

Who ordered the votes to stop being counted? Why did so many Republicans go along with it? What are people afraid of?

— Taffy Howard for Congress (@taffy_howard) April 28, 2022

So, does Taffy now believe the election wasn’t stolen, and just wants to question it?

Thanks to my Executive Order, @sddoe will not be approving the credits that this training claims to offer. Our teachers deserve training opportunities that will better educate our kids, not divisive concepts aimed at classroom indoctrination.https://t.co/J7TG7datO9

— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) April 28, 2022

I think they’re certainly free to offer whatever educational opportunities they’d like.. but the State has a strong interest in setting certain standards over what constitutes continuing education for professions, and what does not.

Governor Kristi Noem’s Chief of Communications, Ian Fury is taking the media to task for their reporting on the Governor’s Education Standards group.

In an e-mail sent out this morning, he points out that the media seems to be intentionally distorting numbers, and misleading people over the people on the panel for the sake of headlines:

Folks, 

The media is not telling the truth about the process to update South Dakota’s education standards. Unfortunately, when South Dakota’s largest media outlets deliberately manipulate the truth, it is the people of our state who suffer. 

The South Dakota Department of Education recently announced a new workgroup to ensure that our kids are taught true and honest civics and history in the classroom. The Department and the Governor’s Office worked together on the membership of this group. After all, the Department of Education is part of the executive branch. They work for the people’s elected Governor, and the Secretary of Education is appointed by the Governor. 

Nonetheless, the Argus Leader apparently found it inappropriate that the Governor would have any involvement in an action taken by her own administration. They took issue with the membership of the group, printing ‘It’s a slap in the face’ in their headline. In particular, they took issue with the group including “only three people with active South Dakota K-12 teaching certificates.”  

That statement is completely misleading. The group includes 15 members, meaning that teachers get 20% of the seats at the table. But a strong majority of the members also have education backgrounds. Two members of the committee are former South Dakota teachers. One teaches in Nebraska. One is a college professor. One is the State Director of Indian Education. One is the State Historian and former Secretary of Education. One is a tribal historian.  

Teachers deserve seats at the table – but there are other stakeholders who need to be there, too. And this is not the only chance teachers will have to come to the table during this process — teachers, parents, students, and the general public will have multiple opportunities to weigh-in on the standards during the public comment period. This will be a transparent and public process. 

The misleading reporting doesn’t end there, though. For instance, three members of the group are Native American. In another example of the media manipulating the facts, Keloland reported earlier this week that “only three members of the new workgroup are… members of tribal communities.” Three of 15 is 20%, or more than twice the 9% of South Dakota’s population that is Native American. These three individuals have extensive knowledge and education in Native American history, culture, and language.  

By using dismissive language, the media is discounting the Native Americans on this workgroup, who will help present a broad, fair, and accurate inclusion of Native American history. Governor Noem recognized that Native American history and culture is an important part of South Dakota’s history, so she ensured that Native Americans were more than represented with seats at the table.  

But this emerging media narrative ignores another key fact that the media should have learned last year – PARENTS deserve a seat at the table, too. ” Governor Noem recognizes that parents should have a voice, so several members of the workgroup are parents of kids currently in school. 

Trust in media remains at historic lows, and not just among registered Republicans. Only 31% of registered Independents trust the media. The media should wake up to that reality and refocus their efforts on truth, not on a preferred political narrative; on education, not indoctrination.  

Regards,
Ian Fury 

What do you think? 

South Dakota News Watch has an article tonight regarding the Attorney General’s race, and how delegates are viewing the convention race, as well as the prospect of the impeachment trial on the cusp of the decision:

Most political observers see Jackley as a clear favorite, with the understanding that strange things can still happen at the convention. Jim Gilkerson, a party delegate who is chairman of the Brookings County Republicans, said he will support Jackley because of “frustration” over Ravnsborg’s legal troubles and the way he has handled them.

Ravnsborg did not respond to an interview request for this story made through his spokesman, Mike Deaver.

“I really like Jason – he’s a personal friend of mine,” said Gilkerson. “But I don’t think it’s going to work for him to be Attorney General after the problems we’ve had. I don’t know how you have something that serious happen and continue, or even want to continue, in that job.”

and..

Does that mean Ravnsborg’s defeat is imminent? Not to some delegates. Spencer Wrightsman, a District 2 Senate candidate and treasurer of the Minnehaha County Republicans, said he has spoken to Ravnsborg and wants to see the impeachment trial play out before deciding on a nominee. He also criticized the decision to hold the trial so close to the convention.

Read the entire story here.

New tweet from Taffy Howard today..

We need more people in Congress like @RepCawthorn @RepMTG @RepBoebert and @DrPaulGosar. If elected to Congress I would be happy to fight for America alongside them.

— Taffy Howard for Congress (@taffy_howard) April 27, 2022

Of course, this comes on the heels of Cawthorne’s latest scandal.

Is Madison Cawthorne wearing women’s lingerie and jewelry, the grooming that Republicans are so worried about? pic.twitter.com/Sz8jvhuXZF

— LA Votes Blue in GA! #DemVoice1 🌊🌎💙 (@LALewman) April 23, 2022

I’m not sure what to say about that. What Does Taffy think about all this questionable morality?

(From the Rapid City Journal, May 25, 2004)

When will people “wake up and see the cultural battle?”  Hm… Taffy seems sleepy when it’s her friends who might be a little creepy.  Now how about all those R rated movies!

** Bonus Taffy Tweet **

I am going to say something none of my opponents will:

The 2020 election was stolen and Trump should still be President.

Here in South Dakota us patriots understand this.

— Taffy Howard for Congress (@taffy_howard) April 27, 2022