Category: Uncategorized

Uh oh…. Consumer Finance Protection Board has their eye on small business lending

Pat Powers

Elizabeth Warren’s mutant stepchild, the Consumer Finance Protection Board has been signaling as of late that they are looking to look into various aspects of small business lending in a big way – and given their track record, that could spell trouble for community lenders:

“Small businesses fuel America’s economic engine, create jobs, and nurture communities. Yet little is known about how well the lending market serves their financing needs,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said. “This inquiry will help us learn how we can best fulfill our duty to collect and report information on small business lending.”

and…

The bureau estimates that small businesses access about $1.4 trillion in financing. Current information on how small businesses engage with credit markets is incomplete or dated and does not paint a full picture of access to financing, particularly for small business owned by women and minorities.

This request for information is the first step toward crafting a rule for the collection and reporting of this lending data. The CFPB is looking for information on what defines a small business, what types of business lending information are used by financial institutions, and what is the privacy impact of the public release of small business lending data.

Read that here.

What do these steps by the Consumer Finance Protection Board mean for small town South Dakota lenders?   To start with, it means a lot of red tape, and close scrutiny from regulators for lenders who have already watched as the CFPB already make the business of lending more expensive because of the heavier hand of the federal government.

Small, mid-size and regional banks could see the most significant impact from the CFPB’s proposals. Based on the Bureau’s research, 46% of the small businesses that were surveyed applied for credit at a small bank. Of those that applied, the percentage of approval was higher at small banks than at larger banks.

and…

…the time is now for small, mid-size and regional banks as well as non-bank financial institutions to assess their small business underwriting programs for compliance not only with ECOA but to ensure these programs do not otherwise conflict with any other state lending or securities laws. The CPFB has repeatedly stepped up enforcement activity in advance of proposing new rules, and lenders in this market sector would be well-advised to increase their vigilance on all compliance obligations.

Read that here.

Another wake-up call for Congress and the Trump administration to strip the CFPB of power, and do away with the unaccountable agency.

Another update from the campaign trail for Jason Ravnsborg for Attorney General

Pat Powers

Ladies and Gentleman,

Another busy couple weeks have come and gone since I last wrote you.  Time flies when you enjoy what you are doing.  Since I last wrote you I have driven another 2,000 miles and after all the miles this last year I had to pause a day and get four new tires for my car!

Some of the highlights of the last couple weeks include attending the annual States Attorney’s Association Conference in Deadwood where I spoke with a number of States Attorneys and Deputy States Attorneys from all over our state.  I left the conference and before I headed back to Yankton I stopped and spoke at the monthly Meade County Republican Women meeting in Sturgis.  The ladies were supportive, encouraging and stated they very much enjoyed the informative presentation.

I next went to the Beadle County Lincoln Day Dinner in Huron.  I love how they have everyone put some money in the envelope at their table and each table gets to pick a dessert.  I was selected to go and pick one for our table and I passed that test as I picked a strawberry pie that everyone thought was delicious!  Thank you to Chairman Pilcher and Senator White for putting on a great event.  I also won an auction item, which says it all  – God Bless America!

The next night, I attended the Grant County Lincoln Day Dinner in Milbank.  It was nice to see them have a Lincoln Day Dinner after not having one for seven years.  Nice job Chairman Sandvig and Senator Wiik!  The venue looked very impressive! I met a lot of new people: a number of party chairmen and long-time strong party activists from a number of counties came as well to help make the night a success.

As the Lincoln Day Dinner season comes to an end for this year (except Lincoln County in the fall, I am not forgetting you!) it is time to transition to the next phase.  I will be traveling around all parts of our state again with a more in depth program about my candidacy and the issues coming before our state.

Upcoming events
I will be speaking on Saturday, May 20, 2017 in the County Resource Center Board Room at the Swiftel Center in Brookings at the Saturday meeting of the Brookings County Republicans.  It starts at 9:00 a.m.  I will be talking about a number of upcoming potential ballot issues, SB 70 and my candidacy.

Then around noon the same day I will be speaking at the Moody County Republicans at the Bean and Vine at 803 West Pipestone Avenue in Flandreau.

I hope to see you there or if you would like me to come and give the program to your group, feel free to contact me and we will try and work something out.

Stay safe and God Bless,
Jason

Family Heritage Alliance feels they have some ‘splainin to do after Dale Bartscher departure

Pat Powers

The Family Heritage Alliance came out with an e-mail today where they seem to be doing some…. well, damage control, for lack of a better term with regards to the departure of Dale Bartscher from their organization.

Does it come as they are possibly realizing that the public face that Dale provided to the group might have been part of what moved their agenda forward in Pierre?

Tough to say, but there are many interesting things to read between the lines in this e-mail:

 

Sioux Falls blogger serves up a heaping dose of misogyny in the School Board election (& claims teachers don’t vote)

Pat Powers

Argus Leader Reporter Dana Ferguson had an article late last week posing the question “Why don’t more women run for office in South Dakota?” She explored a variety of reasons, and in one instance, one female officeholder (Kristi Noem) offered a glimpse of the ugly side of why women don’t run:

And even when women can strike the right combination, they run up against some who aren’t willing to consider them as a candidate solely because of their gender.

“There’ve certainly been individuals along the way that have said or done things that made me realize that maybe I didn’t have the right body parts to ever get their support,” Noem said.

Read it here.

Unfortunately, it’s pretty easy to watch that attitude roll out in real-time, as it has been doing in this years’ Sioux Falls School Board race.

Sioux Falls blogger Scott Ehrisman, who has also dubbed himself ‘Detroit Lewis,’ has a long history of attacking people he doesn’t like, such as last year when he called Sioux Falls police “piggies” and claimed they stuff themselves on free meals.

And last night he was no different as he attacked Sioux Falls School Board Candidate Cynthia Mickelson on the basis of her gender as an “old house wife Republican,” and added teachers to his hate list for good measure:

Sioux Falls Education Association is rumored to endorse Mickelson

In one of the most bizarre moves I have ever seen a teacher union association pull, they are rumored to have endorsed a well known Republican for school board. It’s not like she is just some regular old house wife Republican, she is married to a staunch Republican lawmaker who is anti-union and anti-organized labor.

and…

It’s almost an insult to teachers that this person is running, than they endorse her? Baffling! The half-penny sales tax only passed because the chicken-shit Democrats voted for it also.

and…

Also, teachers typically are not big on voting, and take into account that a large percentage of them can’t vote because they live outside district.

Read that here.

In the past, Ehrisman had previously come out as a strong supporter of candidate Randy Dobberpuhl, who is running in the race, which might go a long way to explain some of his bias.  Unfortunately, that bias has expressed itself in misogynistic comments which bring Ferguson’s article to life, as Ehrisman works trying to minimize and belittle Mickelson’s candidacy as one of an “old house wife.”

It’s not the first time he made such a dismissive comment about a female candidate being in the race. As when the seat opened up, Ehrisman had offered a backhanded comment:

Either way, Doug Morrison has decided to NOT run for another term, so it will be an open seat. While no one has formerly announced, I guess the Tuthill Fairies have been in high gear to replace Doug with a ‘McKennan Park Mommy’.

Read that here.   And after Mickelson entered the race, he also added this poke at her…

I encourage Cynthia to run on her qualifications instead of her husband’s connections.

Read that here.

Deriding a female candidate as an “old house wife” or a “McKennan Park Mommy,” or trying to claim that she’s running on “her husband’s connections” seems to be going beyond what most would consider legitimate political differences into making one question if Ehrisman just has a thing against mothers in general, or dislikes all women who run for office?

It also make you wonder if he’s bothered to even research Cynthia Mickelson’s qualifications:

I don’t think there’s any doubts about Mickelson’s qualifications. Except for those who have a permanent membership with to the “he-man woman haters” club.

If Ehrisman’s attacks on Mickelson weren’t enough, he also had to add a backhanded comment about how “teachers typically are not big on voting.”

“Teachers typically are not big on voting?” Did he really say that? I’m not sure if he’s intentionally playing the fool, or if it’s an ingrained character defect.  Just in case you actually might believe his insult to teachers…

Do teachers vote at high rates compared with average citizens? The answer is clearly yes, ….. Teachers who live in their districts were from two to seven times more likely to vote than other citizens were.

Why do teachers turn out at such high rates? The answer may well be that they have an occupational self-interest other citizens don’t have. But this claim needs to be tested, for there is clearly a plausible alternative: that teachers are not only better educated and more middle class than the average citizen, but also more public spirited, more committed to public education, and thus more likely to vote in school-board elections regardless of their personal stakes.

Read that here.

Wow.

The best response to what is utter trash is to urge Sioux Falls residents, as well as the hundreds of teachers in the District who WILL vote, to go out and show Mr. Ehrisman that he is wrong, wrong, WRONG!

And to cast your ballot for an attorney, grant writer, professor, community service board member, and yes, an involved mother who wants to give back to her community.

Coverage on yesterday’s Dusty Johnson Campaign Kick Off Speech

Pat Powers

Kevin Woster wth South Dakota Public Broadcasting covered the Dusty Johnson Campaign Kickoff Rally yesterday for SDPB, and related what we can expect from the Dusty Johnson Campaign:

Facing the small audience of several dozen friends, supporters and reporters, Johnson promised to use his energy in the most productive ways to promote “limited government, local control and family values.”

Johnson said he would fight for conservative values in Washington, D.C., opposing efforts by liberals to gather and concentrate more power in the federal machinery.

“If you send me to Washington, I’ll work every day to send that power back,” he said.

Johnson said that if he’s elected to the House, he’ll challenge those with different philosophies and goals but also seek to build coalitions where possible to benefit South Dakota. He said he would push for a seat on the House Agriculture Committee and use his natural tendency to be a “policy wonk” to his constituent’s advantage.

But he also pledged a campaign based on issues, no personalities, and respectful disagreements rather than personal attacks. And he said he would serve the same way, if elected.

“If you want somebody who’s going to respect the political opposition, then I’m your guy,” he said.

Angry, personal rhetoric is counterproductive to good governing and is bad for the nation, Johnson said.

Read that here.

And in case you wanted to watch the full Dusty Johnson speech from his campaign kickoff in Rapid City for yourself…

Former Argus ‘content strategist’ becomes broadcaster at KSOO Radio

Pat Powers

Remember this comment made in December of 2014 from Argus Leader editor/content strategist Patrick Lalley as he took aim at broadcast journalists, noting:

“If you want free, go somewhere where they don’t do any reporting like our friends in the broadcast arts. OK, That’s not reporting. They’re way behind….”

Those comments came here.

Fast forward a couple of years, and yet another round of firings at the Argus, and we have this announcement in a story titled Patrick Lalley launching new talk show on what interests you:

So I’m thrilled to join the Results Radio family as the host of a new afternoon show we’re launching on KSOO-AM.

The show will fill the 3 to 5 p.m. time slot on weekdays beginning June 19. My hope is to engage KSOO listeners with a variety of news, information and analysis.

Read that here.

How the mighty have fallen.

As Lalley takes the helm at KSOO, which in Spring of 2016 hit a low as Sioux Falls’ least listened to radio station, we’ll see if he has managed to learn any humility in the interim.

Thune Discusses INVEST Act on CNBC, Fox News, and Senate Floor

Pat Powers

Thune Discusses INVEST Act on CNBC, Fox News, and Senate Floor

Thune’s Pro-Growth Tax Reform Bill Would Benefit South Dakota’s Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Including Farms and Ranches 

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, today discussed his Investment in New Ventures and Economic Success Today (INVEST) Act of 2017 (S. 1144), which wasintroduced earlier today, on CNBC, Fox News, and the Senate Floor.

In addition to joining CNBC and Fox News and speaking on the Senate floor, Thune also penned an op-ed on CNBC.com in which he said, “Forcing business owners, farmers, and ranchers to lock up their capital for years or even decades, as our current tax code does, discourages growth and job creation. We need to free these individuals up as much as possible to redeploy that hard-to-raise capital back into business expansion, increased wages, and new jobs.

“The weak economic growth of the past few years doesn’t have to be the new normal, but full economic recovery is only possible if we remove the obstacles facing our nation’s businesses. We need a tax code that works for American businesses, not against them.” 

Thune told the Wall Street Journal, which also highlighted the INVEST Act, that “We have to work within the parameters of what’s achievable and what’s realistic… There will be different ideas coming in from different directions but eventually hopefully we’ll be able to distill all those and come up with something that can get 51 [votes] in the Senate.”

Thune on CNBC’s Squawk Box:

Click here to watch Thune on CNBC.

“Small and medium-sized businesses are very interested in speeding up cost recovery, getting them to get capital deployed, to invest more, and create jobs. Our bill basically gives them ways in which they can recover those costs more quickly – expansion of Section 179 expensing, making permanent the 50 percent bonus depreciation, allowing start-ups to deduct their costs at a higher level, and expanding the number of businesses that are eligible for cash accounting.”

Thune on Fox News’ Your World With Neil Cavuto:

Click here  to watch Thune on Fox News.

“I’m interested in doing anything that will generate greater growth in the economy, because that solves so many problems. That gets us higher wages, better paying jobs, and obviously generates more government revenue at the same time.”

Thune on Senate Floor:

Click here  to watch Thune’s floor speech.

“The faster a new business can recover its startup costs, the faster it can establish itself on a secure footing.

And entrepreneurs are far more likely to take the risk of starting a new venture if they know they will be able to recover their startup costs quickly. My bill would substantially increase the amount of a business’s startup costs that can be deducted in the first year, from $5,000 to $50,000. Plus, any additional startup costs could be deducted over a 10-year period, instead of the current 15. This would go a long way toward encouraging new business creation and the economic dynamism that comes along with it.”

Click here for a full topline summary of the INVEST Act, here for a section-by-section summary of the bill, and here for legislative text.

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