Author: @SoDakCampaigns

US Senator Mike Rounds’ weekly column: Trade Opportunities Benefit South Dakota Famers, Producers, Manufacturers

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Trade Opportunities Benefit South Dakota Famers, Producers, Manufacturers
By Senator Mike Rounds
April 26, 2015

MikeRounds official SenateFree and fair trade plays an important role in American commerce. From higher wages for U.S. workers to supporting small businesses and agriculture, trade has a proven record of keeping our economy healthy and vibrant. In South Dakota alone, trade supports 124,000 jobs. In 2013, we exported $3.7 billion worth of products. Trade levels the playing field in the global marketplace so we have the best opportunity to promote American-made goods throughout the world. We should continually be looking for ways to increase trade opportunities.

The U.S. is currently negotiating a trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with 12 other nations along the Pacific Rim. Finding an agreement with these nations, which includes important trading partners such as Australia, Canada and Japan, could boost our GDP by $77 billion annually and create 500,000 new jobs. Another agreement with European nations, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), would create as many as 750,000 new jobs. That is in addition to the 40 million jobs trade already supports in the United States.

One tool that recently passed out of the Senate Finance Committee would help us negotiate international trade agreements. Trade Promotion Authority, commonly referred to as TPA, is a tool that has been used since the days of FDR help the U.S. negotiate stronger, more enforceable international standards on trade agreements.

The TPA bill making its way through the Senate creates a stronger, more enforceable framework for Congress to exercise oversight over the Administration, giving us a stronger voice in the negotiations process. It also establishes new trade-negotiating objectives that reflect today’s economic challenges, including measures to combat currency manipulation and eliminate barriers to innovation and digital trade.

TPA strengthens our hand by giving the Senate an opportunity to guide the negotiations before a final deal is reached, rather than afterward. If the President has negotiated a good deal for our country, he then has the opportunity to take it to the Senate for an up-or-down vote. Members are not permitted to amend trade agreements, which gives other countries more confidence and certainty in the deal and the process.

Companion legislation recently passed the House Ways and Means Committee, and President Obama continues to signal his support. I expect the full Senate to consider TPA legislation in the coming weeks. This is a real step forward on policy that has had long-standing bipartisan support in Congress and from the administration, but had been held up under previous Senate leadership.

Free and fair trade agreements across the world open up new markets to South Dakota products. Our farmers and ranchers would particularly benefit from agreements such as TPP and TTIP. But in order to negotiate the best deal for our country, we must allow the administration to pursue trade agreements through parameters set by the Congress, and within the Trade Promotion Authority, to enable our current and future presidents to negotiate the best deal possible. That is exactly what the Senate TPA bill would do. This method has a proven record of boosting economic activity and bringing higher-paying American jobs. I look forward to debating TPA legislation when it comes to the full Senate in the coming weeks.

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Congresswoman Kristi Noem’s Weekly Column: Do More with Less

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Do More with Less
By Rep. Kristi Noem
April 24, 2015

kristi noem headshot May 21 2014This March, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen admitted that the IRS planned to ignore more than 60 percent of taxpayers’ phone calls during tax season.  The statistic in and of itself is infuriating, but the decisions that led to this “abysmal” level of customer service, as Commissioner Koskinen called it, are inexcusable.

On April 22, the House Ways and Means Committee, of which I am a member, released a report showing the IRS deliberately diverted funding away from customer service – a decision that left millions of taxpayer questions unanswered.

More specifically, the IRS collects nearly $500 million in user fees each year.  The agency has the flexibility to use this money as it sees fit.  In FY2014, the IRS spent 44 percent of the user-fee account – or about $183 million – on customer service. These numbers are similar to previous years.  But in FY2015, the agency expects to spend just 10 percent of the account on customer service – or $49 million.  That’s a 73 percent reduction in one year.

Hardworking taxpayers deserve an answer from the IRS as to why the agency diverted so much funding away from serving taxpayers.  I took it up with Commissioner Koskinen at a recent hearing and he responded by alleging the IRS’s poor customer service was Congress’s fault, as we had cut the IRS’s budget.

It amazes me that in the past the IRS has found millions of dollars to spend on extravagant conferences, training videos, and a Star Trek parody video while also dedicating countless resources to targeting organizations based on their ideology, but when it comes to customer service, the agency can’t find the funds.  Yes, Congress scaled back the IRS budget, but those cuts have been reflective of the IRS’s waste and abuse of your taxpayer dollars.

Ultimately, I’d like to see a tax code that is much simpler – a tax code that wouldn’t require tens of millions of Americans to dial up the IRS for help filing their taxes on time.  But until we can simplify the tax code, the IRS needs to reassess its priorities.

Across the country, families are doing more with less.  Yet the IRS Commissioner brazenly said the IRS has “no choice but to do less with less.”  I see it differently.

Just weeks after his appointment, Commissioner Koskinen reinstated a generous bonus program within the IRS that costs taxpayers $60 million a year.  Additionally, IRS employees spend 500,000 hours – worth around $20.7 million in staff time – on union activities each year and the agency used $2.1 million to hire an outside law firm even though it has a legal division staffed with tax lawyers.  Had the IRS not wasted this money and continued investing user-fee dollars into customer service, the agency could have answered 25.9 million more calls from American taxpayers.   But its leadership chose differently.

The IRS needs to get its priorities straight.  Taxpayers must come first

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Governor Daugaard’s Weekly Column: Celebrating Agriculture’s Leadership In Conservation

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Celebrating Agriculture’s Leadership In Conservation
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:

DaugaardIn South Dakota, agriculture is a tradition and a way of life. As our No. 1 industry, agriculture defines who we are as South Dakotans and the practices that we pass on from generation to generation.

One of those practices is conservation. No one understands the importance of being good stewards of the land better than our farmers and ranchers. Their livelihoods depend on it. Because 80 percent of land in our state is privately owned, conservation efforts employed by farmers and ranchers are integral to the quality of our natural resources.

Each year in conjunction with Earth Day, South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association, South Dakota Grassland Coalition and Sand County Foundation bestow the Leopold Conservation Award on a farming or ranching family that demonstrates outstanding land, water and wildlife conservation.

This year’s Leopold Conservation Award recipient, Jorgensen Land and Cattle, knows what it means to be a good steward of the land. The Jorgensens’ management style on their farm and ranch near Ideal – which consists of 10,000 acres of non-irrigated cropland, 850 head of cattle and a hunting lodge – demonstrates that good conservation practices can benefit the environment and a family’s bottom line. They believe the soil is their greatest asset, which is why they have been no-till since 1991. Their decisions are always based on a personal responsibility to care for and improve the land.

I congratulate the Jorgensens on winning this award. I am grateful for their stewardship and for all landowners across South Dakota who treat the environment with such care. Their passion and dedication help ensure our natural resources will be there for generations to come.

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Family Heritage Alliance sponsoring Rapid City Municipal Candidate’s Forum the coming Tuesday

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From my e-mail box:

Though you may not have seen much evidence, there is a Rapid City Municipal Election just around the corner.  FHA Action is planning to put the candidates for Mayor, City Council, and School Board in front of you to ask the questions important to your faith, family, and freedom.  Join us Tuesday, May 5 at 7:00 PM at the Ramkoda Inn Washington Room.  Come 30 minutes early for some (yet to be announced) entertainment.

When: Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Time: 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Where: Rapid City Ramkota Inn – Washington Room
Candidates For: Mayor, City Council and School Board

Please Note:

• Arrive Early for Guest Entertainment (6:30 – 7:00 p.m.)
• A Donation to FHA ACTION would be appreciated.
• This Forum will be video taped and up on this site soon after the forum

Also, we are pleased to announce that the Coull Band has agreed to provide the guest entertainment for the evening.

Former Dem Lt Gov candidate Ben Arndt noted in story of sick employee firing.

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In case you missed it, a former Democratic candidate for Lt. Gov was noted in the Argus today in the case of a sick employee being fired from his company for….  well, being sick, and the lack of protections thereof:

Bell, Inc. CEO Ben Arndt would only confirm that Tom McLaughlin had been a night supervisor for the Sioux Falls-based company.

“We respect our employee’s privacy, and our policy is to not discuss employee’s personal matters with anyone other than the employee,” Arndt wrote in an email. “We would encourage anyone who can meet the requirements of an open position to apply or to re-apply.”

Read it here.

Arndt was the 2010 Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota, running on a ticket with Scott Heidepriem.

The ticket ran into problems when they ignored that part of the law which says the running mate has to be of the same party, and they were left scrambling to get the county auditor to change his registration to Democrat prior to nomination.

Convicted drug felon proposing criminalizing alcohol and tobacco in revenge for pot being illegal.

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A bizarre campaign finance report for a proposed Ballot Measure filing was made with the Secretary of State’s office from a new group calling itself “Consistent South Dakota.”

As filed yesterday by convicted drug felon Bob Newland and Sioux Falls antique store owner Andrew Ziegler, the group is ostensibly indicating that they’ve organized the campaign effort to punish South Dakotans for not legalizing pot by limiting the amount of alcohol and tobacco that they can purchase, creating felony penalties for serving alcoholic beverages.

According to the filing made with the Secretary of State’s office:

Campaign Finance filing for Consistent South Dakota

The filing indicates that “We intend to bring So. Dak. law into closer adherence tp (sic) common sense. The State Should not profit from the legal transfer of two deadly drugs, while punishing the transfer of benign herbs.”   According to the pro-pot legalization group SouthDakotaNorml.org, an organization ran by Newland, the “deadly drugs” they’re referring to are alcohol and tobacco.

The language used in the measures notes:

Section 1. No person or business may transfer an alcoholic beverage, as defined in SDCL 35-1-1, containing more than one per-cent ethyl alcohol to another person or business in the State of South Dakota. It is a Class 1 misdemeanor to transfer two ounces or less of an alcoholic beverage containing more than one per-cent ethyl alcohol. It is a Class 6 felony to transfer more than two ounces but less than one-half pound of an alcoholic beverage containing more than one per-cent ethyl alcohol. It is a Class 5 felony to transfer one-half pound but less than one pound of an alcoholic beverage containing more than one per-cent ethyl alcohol. It is a Class 4 felony to transfer one to ten pounds of an alcoholic beverage containing more than one per-cent ethyl alcohol. It is a Class 3 felony to transfer more than ten pounds of an alcoholic beverage containing more than one per-cent ethyl alcohol. In addition to any criminal penalty imposed upon conviction of a violation of this section, a civil penalty, not to exceed ten thousand dollars, may be imposed.

Read that here.  The measure for Tobacco is identical in language.

According to the language of the measure, it would make serving an alcoholic beverage with 2 oz of alcohol a class 6 felony.

It should not be viewed as a coincidence that the language contained in the measure mirrors the marijuana possession laws which Newland faced at sentencing for his 2009 conviction for possession of 4oz of pot. An amount which the prosecution noted, “was not for personal use,” prior to the judge sentencing him to a year in jail with all but 45 days suspended.

Somehow, this bizarre revenge on the State of South Dakota does not surprise me coming from the guy who threatened to “pour hot urine on my children.”  Filing this kind of stupidity, which is going to waste time and tax dollars, seems less an exercise in democracy and more in the realm of being an “attention whore.”

And a good argument in favor of the legislation this past session to make it a little more difficult to bring weirdness to a statewide ballot.

Senators jockeying for caucus positions in upcoming elections 2 weeks hence.

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The Associated Press filed a story this morning, several days after I’d written about it, talking about the upcoming caucus elections. They did mention a few who are running, with commentary, so it’s worth revisiting it again:

Republican political observers have said bids for the leadership posts could come from one of the caucus’ three majority whips or from a rank-and-file member. If a whip were elected to a higher post, an additional vote to fill the spot would be necessary, and if Brown succeeds Rave, a new president pro tempore would need to be chosen.

The three majority whips are Sens. Ried Holien, Ernie Otten and Deb Soholt.

Holien was unavailable for comment. Otten and Sen. Brock Greenfield said they intend to run for assistant leader. Soholt said she is “taking a strong look” at a run for assistant leader or president pro tempore.

“I’m at 98.9 percent that I’m going to be running,” Otten said. “I think I could bring a position from the harder right and be a person that could bring also the middle and hopefully bring everybody together.”

Greenfield, who doesn’t occupy a leadership position, said if elected, he wouldn’t simply succumb to the executive branch. He said he would be the “strongest voice for the Legislature that I know how to be, and ultimately for my caucus.”

Read it here.