Category: Uncategorized

Secretary of State Shantel Krebs’ campaign for Congress filed her first FEC report this morning..

Krebs 2017 q1 Fec by Pat Powers on Scribd

The Report lists a respectable 140k raised, with a 133k cash on hand. But what struck me as a bit odd is the fact that her expenditures are unusually low in this report at about 7k.

Where did she raise the 140k from? There’s as many familiar names on her report as we saw on Dusty Johnson’s recent report. State Reps Tom Brunner and Elizabeth May donated. So did former State Senator Stan Adelstein and wife, who kicked in $5200 collectively. Who else gave? Former Senators Dave Knudson, Bruce Rampelberg, Mike Vehle, Phyllis Heinemann, & Dave Omdahl. Former Reps Bob Faehn, Charlie Hoffman, Jim Hood, Al Kurtenbach, Eldon Nygaard & Lorin Pankratz. Former School and Lands Commissioner Bryce Healy, former AG Roger Tellinghuisen, and former Governor Frank Farrar, among others. Chuck Turbiville, Roger Hunt, and Jim White also donated, except it was from their political committees.

Getting back to the expenditures.. The report only noted about 7k in expenditures, which seems unusually low, given that the campaign rolled out during this period.  About half of that is for on-line donations, and the rest is for minor printing and postage.

However, nothing for video production for the rollout video, nothing for website, staff, consultants, or the myriad of expenditures that campaigns incur, especially at the onset of a campaign. I suspect it’s simply a matter of the bills not being submitted to the campaign as of the date that the filing was due. They’re likely not going to impact the campaign’s bottom line significantly, but we don’t have an accurate picture of the campaign’s burn rate without them.

As I noted before, it’s going to be a long campaign. So keep things dialed in to the SDWC for all your 2018 campaign coverage.

Congressional hopeful Dusty Johnson’s campaign filed its first quarter FEC Report for 2017, and it appears that things are going along nicely for his campaign.

Dusty Johnson 2017 1q FEC by Pat Powers on Scribd

The filing notes 127k was raised in this quarter, with only 28k spent, and the campaign has 202k cash on hand.  No big surprises, as the campaign nearly doubles the previous 103k cash on hand.

I was a bit surprised to see that even Democrats are crossing party lines to donate to Dusty, as the first name on this list is USD President Jim Abbott who made a $1000 donation to the campaign. As for others who contributed, lots of familiar names including State Legislators David Lust & Greg Jamison, Current Lt. Gov Matt Michels & former Lt Gov Steve Kirby, former Governor Frank Farrar, former Congressman Clint Roberts, PUC Commissioner Chris Nelson, First Ladies Linda Mickelson-Graham and Pat Miller, former cabinet secretaries Rick Melmer, Walt Bones & Darin Bergquist, former legislators Al Kurtenbach, Dave Scott, Ryan Olson, Mike Vehle, Dick Werner, Dean Wink, Alex Jensen, Dick Brown, Bernie Christianson, Tom Dempster,  and a number of other familiar names.

2018 is shaping up to bring us at least 2 fierce primary elections. Get your popcorn ready!

A commenter noted under the prior post that there’s also another event going on at the Ramkota on the evening of April 29th opposite the SDGOP’s Freedom Rally with David Horowitz….The South Dakota Democrat Party is hosting their one yearly event, their McGovern Day Dinner, headlined with a Bernie Sanders Democrat who lost a race for National Chair of the Democrat Party, Keith Ellison, who has faced harsh criticism for his past support of Louis Farrakahn, votes against Israel, etc.

The McGovern Day dinner is the dem’s biggest (only?) fundraiser of the year, and it’s an expensive one, with prices generally starting at $100 a head, unless you go to one of the side events where they will try to fleece their dwindling number of donors for more money.

Ellison will likely prove to be a controversial speaker, with some Democrats threatening to leave the party if he was elected chairman, such as famed attorney Alan Dershowitz:

There has been powerful push from the hard-left of the Democratic Party, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), to elect Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) chairman.  If he is elected, I will quit the party after 60 years of loyal association and voting.  I will become an independent, continuing to vote for the best candidates, most of whom, I assume, will still be Democrats.  But I will not contribute to the DNC or support it as an institution.

and..

Ellison has a long history of sordid association with anti-Semitism.  He worked with and repeatedly defended one of a handful of the most notorious and public anti-Semites in our country:  The Reverend Louis Farrakhan.   And worked with Farrakhan at the very time this anti-Semite was publicly describing Judaism as a “gutter religion” and insisting that the Jews were a primary force in the African slave trade.

Ellison has publicly stated that he was unaware of Farrakhan’s anti-Semitism.  That is not a credible statement.  Everyone was aware of Farrakhan’s anti-Semitism.

and..

But the connections are more recent as well. In 2009, Ellison headlined a fundraiser for Esam Omeish, a former candidate for Virginia state delegate who had told Palestinians that “the jihad way is the way to liberate your land.”

With regard to Israel, Ellison was one of only a small number of Congress people who recently voted against funding the Iron Dome, a missile system used by Israel to protect its civilians against rocket attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah.  His voting record with regard to the Nation State of the Jewish people is among the very worst in Congress.

Read that (and more) here.

By bringing in Bestselling author David Horowitz to headline the GOP’s counter-programming of the Democrat Event, the Freedom Rally, SDGOP Chair Dan Lederman is also bringing in one of Keith Ellison’s harshest critics:

Not a lot of room left for doubt on where Horowitz stands on Keith Ellison.

So, if you’re a Republican who wants to support the GOP, and oppose the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democrat Party, there’s only one thing to do on April 29th:

You cannot make this stuff up:

And people wonder why I’m so critical when it comes to imagining Lora being put in charge of State Government.

Speaking of delicious fish….A petition has been placed online on liberal democrat website change.org to collect signatures asking Governor Dennis Daugaard to call a special session on the non-meandered lake issue which has recently come to a head.

The petition notes:

We need to all come together as South Dakota citizens, landowners, sportsmen, business owners and state legislatures and call for a special session to be held in 2017. This session is in regards to the South Dakota lakes that are currently closed due to the new meandering water ruling that was recently passed by the Supreme Court. South Dakota citizens, small local businesses, sportsmen and landowners are suffering from this recent ruling and do not have time to wait until the next meeting in January 2018. We need to all come together and support the small communities, landowners and sportsmen so we can all enjoy South Dakota’s natural resources. There are thousands of people who rely on these natural resources to attract people to these small communities and also for enjoyment with friends and families. It will be a pretty quiet year for these well saught fishing grounds that have been funded by the general public. There are two sides to this fence and we can all feel for them both. The main point is there is billions of dollars going to the state of South Dakota from both sides of the fence and something needs to be done immediately! Please sign this petition if you are in favor of an immediate response to this serious matter through a legislature special session in 2017.

thank you!

Derek Garner ( South Dakota landowner, sportsman, small town business owner)

Read it here.

The issue pits sportsmen against landowners and could prove to be a very contentious fight over private property rights when it comes to wildlife.

Is this worth a special session? And where do you fall on the issue?

 

My wife mocks me for it, but there’s one thing I have a tendency to do when I’m visiting or vacationing on the east coast.

We’re cattle country here in South Dakota, and when we do it, we do it up correctly. There’s nothing I enjoy more than a well-cooked steak. But when you’re out in the part of the country where they catch fish, one would be remiss to not sample good fresh seafood.  What my wife mocks me for is the fact I have a soft spot for fish & chips, which when done correctly, is unbeatable for taste.

And I might even go out of my way if a local eatery is renowned for doing it well. Counted in that number are a number of themed establishments which serve either British or Irish fare. So, while my wife was conferencing this week in DC, I was out exploring the town, and when on my own for lunch, I jumped on the Metro or pinged Uber so I could sample some of the best fish & chips that our nation’s capital had to offer.

1. The Dubliner (Union Station area):  

If you’re up visiting on the hill visiting Senators Rounds & Thune or Congresswoman Noem, one of the better restaurants in the immediate area is the Irish themed “The Dubliner.”   The Dubliner is literally the best Irish Pub in Washington, DC, and the food is fantastic.

When they refer to their Fish & Chips as world famous, they aren’t kidding, as they regularly end up on top five or top ten lists for them.  They consisted of North American pollack, Harp beer batter, cottage fries, & tartar sauce, with the two pieces of fish cooked perfectly. Not a hint of greasiness, and you received them piping hot.  Prices were good, and well worth it.

2. Eamonn’s, A Dublin Chipper. (King Street, Alexandria, VA) 

This is the only photo of the group that isn’t my own but it is a perfect example of what you get at this no-frills location in Alexandria, which I discovered a few years back.   I made a point to visit there again this past week, and wasn’t disappointed.

The food is good, if not a little expensive for what you’re getting. A 6oz piece of cod will set you back $10, and the chips are pretty basic. But it’s still a good home-cooked meal if you’re in the area. You can also get fried sausages or a fried cadbury egg when they’re in the Easter season.  Again, not a hint of greasiness, and service is terrific here. In fact, they messed up my order, and I ended up being brought a nice piece of fish for free. I can’t complain about that.

3. Rí Rá Irish Pub (Georgetown, Washington, DC)

Was I complaining about the portion size at Eamonn’s? I was almost in shock when I saw the size of this lightly breaded, and perfectly cooked hubcap of Icelandic Haddock. It was HUGE, and so, so good.

In fact, if I could make a confession, for someone of heavily Irish descent, I’m not a big potato guy.  I generally never order fries, I pass on baked potatoes, etc.  It’s just not my thing. I’d rather have broccoli, or something else.  But in the 2017 Fish & Chips tour, they hands down had the best chips.  And the food was outstanding.

My wife and I shared an appetizer of “banger bites,” a bite size portion of bangers, an Irish/British mild sausage. And they were to die for.  This stop on the tour deserves it’s place in the top five lists of the area, and even if you’re not a big fish person, they’ll have something for you that might be the best you’ve ever had for that dish.

4. The Queen Vic (Washington, DC)

The Queen Vic was the sole vendor of British Fare in the tour, but it was no less good than any of the places I ate at, as I enjoyed my brunch meal out on their back patio.  The staff was fantastic, and the food was great.

Yes, that’s my camera bag by my plate, in case you were wondering scale. Here’s another perfectly cooked massive piece of fish that comes out tender and steaming.   The chips were probably the second best of the tour, and it was great food all around.

In fact, it was so good, I stopped back that evening with my wife, who had their oysters on the half-shell. She was glad to report that those were fantastic as well.

It’s hard to pick a favorite, as they all do their meals well, and service is terrific.  If you’re ever in our nation’s capital, and have a hankering for a piping hot meal of Fish & Chips, you can’t go wrong at any of these award winning and renowned local eateries.

And let me know if you’re going. I might just decide to tag along!

My wife and I stepped on the flight to Sioux Falls a minute ago, and who do we run into,  but 1992 GOP US Senate Candidate Charlene Haar, who challenged US Senator Tom Daschle that election. 

When I was in Rapid City as Pennington County GOP Director, my wife worked on Char’s campaign as the Haar campaign west river person.

Char has become an expatriate in recent years, living in London where her daughter Elizabeth and her family lives. 

It was great catching up for a bit. Char’s back in the states for Easter with her family, and she is just as kind and gracious as she always was, and she looks great.