Category: Uncategorized

19th Annual Pie Day Scheduled for Saturday December 10th

PIERRE, S.D – Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that the 19th Annual Pie Day will be held on Saturday, December 10th. The event begins at 11:00 a.m. at the Capitol building in Pierre.

“I want to extend an invitation to the 19th Annual Pie Day. It is the perfect opportunity to take in “Christmas at the Capitol” and enjoy a slice of pie,” said Jackley.

The event will include free pie, cookies, coffee and ice cream. This event is free and the public is encouraged to stop by the Capitol and enjoy. Area talent will provide entertainment throughout the day.

If you have any questions regarding this event please contact Sara Rabern at 605-773-3215.

Top Priorities for Next Congress: Repealing Obamacare and Confirming a Supreme Court Nominee

“Repealing Obamacare and confirming a Supreme Court nominee are two important things we’re going to do next year, but they’re just the beginning.” 

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today discussed the remaining items the 114^th Congress will tackle this year, including the National Defense Authorization Act, which is important legislation that would provide our troops with the resources they need to keep Americans safe. Thune also discussed two important issues that Republicans plan to take on at the beginning of the 115^th Congress: repealing Obamacare and confirming a Supreme Court nominee.

Governor Dennis Daugaard makes no bones about the fact that IM22 would divert badly needed funds away from education – and he’s not going to propose that they fund political campaigns from state coffers.

Daugaard on Monday told Argus Leader Media that he plans to ask lawmakers to support him in opting out of funding a so-called “democracy credit” program that could cost the state close to $4.91 million. Under the law passed last month by voters, the state is required to fund a program that grants two $50 vouchers that let voters support political campaigns of their choice.

“I’ll be up-front in my speech and ask them not to fund that,” Daugaard said of the program. “Especially in a year that’s so tight for revenue, I just can’t believe that voters would want us to reduce the money we could be spending on education or Medicaid or nursing homes.”

Read it here.

Attorney General Jackley Issues Official Opinion Relating to Marsy’s Law

PIERRE, S.D. – Attorney General Marty Jackley has issued an Official Opinion on the implementation of Marsy’s Law as it relates to release of auto accident reports to the public, the release of street addresses where crimes occur, and the names of victims in crime report logs or law enforcement radio traffic requested.

“While there is more work being done, this opinion is intended to help victims and those assisting victims in carrying out our new law,” said Jackley. “I would like to thank the individual Task Force members for their willingness to serve and for their assistance on these issues that have affected law enforcement and the public statewide,” said Jackley.

marsyslawAGop16-02 by Pat Powers on Scribd

Noem Votes to Send Thune Legislation Addressing Prescribed Burn Concerns to President

Washington, D.C. – Rep. Kristi Noem today helped the House pass S.3395, the Prescribed Burn Approval Act, sending it to President Obama for his signature. First introduced by Sen. John Thune and subsequently passed by the Senate, S.3395 would prohibit the U.S. Forest Service from authorizing prescribed burns in an area labeled as an extreme fire danger, except under certain circumstances with local coordination. The legislation is in response to the April 2015 Pautre Fire, which scorched more than 10,000 acres in western South Dakota.

“The extremely careless mishandling of the Pautre fire resulted in more than 10,000 acres of privately and publicly held land being unintentionally consumed by wildfire. Families were devastated. Multiple firefighting units and personnel were put in harm’s way. This burn should not have occurred that day without the collaboration and additional precautions such a burn requires,” said Noem. “The Prescribed Burn Approval Act is a step in the right direction, helping ensure necessary precautions are taken while also adding additional transparency and accountability measures for the Forest Service to adhere to. I thank Senator Thune for his work on the bill and encourage President Obama to promptly sign this legislation.”

Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners Respond to the Statement from the Department of the Army

Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE: ETP) and Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. (NYSE: SXL) announced that the Administration’s statement today that it would not at this time issue an “easement” to Dakota Access Pipeline is a purely political action – which the Administration concedes when it states it has made a “policy decision” – Washington code for a political decision. This is nothing new from this Administration, since over the last four months the Administration has demonstrated by its action and inaction that it intended to delay a decision in this matter until President Obama is out of office. 

For more than three years now, Dakota Access Pipeline has done nothing but play by the rules. The Army Corps of Engineers agrees, and has said so publicly and in federal court filings. The Corps’ review process and its decisions have been ratified by two federal courts. The Army Corps confirmed this again today when it stated its “policy decision” does “not alter the Army’s position that the Corps’ prior reviews and actions have comported with legal requirements.”

In spite of consistently stating at every turn that the permit for the crossing of the Missouri River at Lake Oahe granted in July 2016, comported with all legal requirements, including the use of an environmental assessment, rather than an environmental impact statement, the Army Corps now seeks to engage in additional review and analysis of alternative locations for the pipeline.

The White House’s directive today to the Corps for further delay is just the latest in a series of overt and transparent political actions by an administration which has abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency.

As stated all along, ETP and SXL are fully committed to ensuring that this vital project is brought to completion and fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting in and around Lake Oahe. Nothing this Administration has done today changes that in any way.

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Thune, Rounds Join Colleagues to Request President Obama Stop Issuing New Regulations

“It is our job now to determine the right balance between regulation and free market principles and make sure that our federal government no longer stands between Americans and financial success.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) joined 21 of their Senate colleagues in sending a letter, led by Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), to President Obama requesting the administration stop issuing non-emergency rules and regulations in the final weeks of his term. Thune and Rounds stressed to the president that the American people made it clear on November 8 that they expect regulatory relief.

 “Whether it is the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule unfairly burdening our farmers and ranchers, the anti-coal rules eliminating thousands of jobs and driving up household energy costs, or the Dodd-Frank rules denying our small businesses access to capital, federal agencies continue to produce reams of new regulations that hurt our job creators and cripple our economy,” the senators wrote. “But this flawed approach to governance has been rejected by the people.”

In addition to Thune, Rounds, and Gardner, the letter was signed by U.S. Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), John Barrasso, M.D. (R-Wyo.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska). 

Full text of the letter can be found below.

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500     

Dear Mr. President:

We write to request your Administration cease issuing new, non-emergency rules and regulations given the recent election results of November 8. In a clear and direct repudiation of consistent regulatory overreach by federal agencies, the American people have, for the first time since 2007, handed control of both the executive and legislative branches of government to the same majority. It is our job now to determine the right balance between regulation and free market principles and make sure that our federal government no longer stands between Americans and financial success.

Whether it is the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule unfairly burdening our farmers and ranchers, the anti-coal rules eliminating thousands of jobs and driving up household energy costs, or the Dodd-Frank rules denying our small businesses access to capital, federal agencies continue to produce reams of new regulations that hurt our job creators and cripple our economy. But this flawed approach to governance has been rejected by the people. 

Today, we have the opportunity to return to commonsense principles of regulation and curb unnecessary government interference in the private sector. In doing so, we will grow the economy, create jobs, and, above all, help the people who have been overlooked the past eight years. To this end, we respectfully request you honor the will of the American people and refrain from working on or issuing any new, non-emergency regulations while carrying out your remaining term in office.  

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(All I have to say is “when are we going to get Beth to run for office? She’s awesome! -PP)

Reagan Lunch at Pizza Ranch
Wednesday, Dec. 7th, noon
Beth Hollatz, guest speaker  

Beth Hollatz, of Watertown, is Congresswoman Kristi Noem’s State Director. Beth is a SD Native who was born and raised in Watertown. Beth was a small business owner for 23 years in Clark. During that time she served  on the Clark Chamber Board as well as serving as President. Hollatz also served as Interim Executive Director for the SD Republican Party in 2005 and as Clark County chair of the Republican Party in 2006-2010. 

Beth is well connected with activists and community leaders across South Dakota.

Come hear her speak at the Reagan Lunch on WEDNESDAY, December 7th, at the PIZZA RANCH (noon). The Reagan Lunch is casual and social. We encourage you to invite friends. A buffet is available to you for a cost.

As President Trump prepares to take office in the coming months, there’s going to be a long laundry list of things that his administration has hinted that they will take the initiative to fix; The Trans-Pacific Trade proposal, NAFTA, Obamacare, the Keystone XL pipeline delay, the Dakota Access pipeline mess, and the list goes on and on.

Lying on the fringes of people’s radar is another problem caused by Democrats during the Obama administration – the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB.

The CFP uttered forth from an unholy union of the late 2007 recession and Elizabeth Warren, and was expressed legislatively as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The Act created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB consolidates most Federal consumer financial protection authority in one place.  And as recognized by the courts, that’s unquestionable authority is just the tip of the iceberg.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the CFPB’s structure violated the Constitution’s separation of powers because the agency’s director lacks enough oversight – in particular, he isn’t sufficiently answerable to the president, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The decision came as the court set aside a CFPB enforcement action against mortgage lender PHH.

And..

“In light of the consistent historical practice under which independent agencies have been headed by multiple commissioners or board members, and in light of the threat to individual liberty posed by a single-Director independent agency … We therefore hold that the CFPB is unconstitutionally structured,” the court ruled.

Read that here.

“In light of the threat to individual liberty posed by a single-director independent agency..”  It has to be universally recognized what when an Obama era-court hands down a decision that says an agency has too much power that the law creating that agency is deeply, deeply flawed.

The CFPB wasn’t originally sold this way. At the time, it was claimed that “implement and, where applicable, enforce Federal consumer financial law consistently for the purpose of ensuring that all consumers have access to markets for consumer financial products and services and that markets for consumer financial products and services are fair, transparent, and competitive.”

Unfortunately, that hasn’t really happened, and it has been at the expense of creating an autocracy. All the CFPB has managed to accomplish is imposing high costs on the finance sector and consumers while reducing the choice of products and services within the consumer financial marketplace.

The CFPB has had a target drawn it for some time among Republicans, including those who had been running for president.

In 2015, Senator Ted Cruz called for its elimination as part of his campaign platform, and Texas Republican Representatives Randy Neugebauer and Roger Williams argued in an issue of the American Banker that the CFPB “is responsible for some of the most consequential regulations that are hurting economic growth and stifling opportunity for individuals and families across America.”

According to an article in The Hill at the time:

They argued that instead of helping consumers by regulating and reining in larger financial institutions, the CFPB has squashed smaller banks and limited options for consumers.

“The CFPB’s regulatory zeal has stripped American consumers and businesses of their freedom of choice and has limited their access to capital — all in the name of a ‘we know best’ attitude from Washington,” Ratcliffe said.

Read it here.

Overzealous overregulation from an agency that’s been unconstitutionally operating outside of government. All to the detriment of local, small town lenders who are just trying to do what they were intended to do – serve the banking needs of their communities.

If it’s the president elect’s intent to fix the problems with the economy caused by the Obama administration – add the dismantling of Consumer Finance Protection Board to the list of problems that the incoming Trump administration as well as the Republican Congress need to deal with in short order.

The Aberdeen American News has reprinted a recent story about the Death Penalty’s national decline, but comes to the conclusion that while it’s support might be shifting, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon:

Battered with bad publicity in recent years, the death penalty’s public support has declined. But earlier this month when voters in Nebraska, Oklahoma and California had their say, they voted to retain and even expand it, making clear that the controversial punishment is far from finished.

But even while public support for the death penalty remains in place, the political ground underneath that support has shifted in important ways.

and…

Public opinion polls seem to clearly follow crime over that time period, with support for the death penalty spiking just after crime rises, then falling gradually as crime falls.

If this link between violent crime and public opinion on the death penalty is accurate, then the 60 percent level of death penalty support today may not be the result of a downward slide that is destined to continue. The drop may be, rather, the ebbing of an unusual dual spike upward and back down to more normal levels. Confidence that this slide will continue may be misplaced.

Read it here.

Interestingly, an anti-Death Penalty group had a booth at the last State Republican convention for the first time. But I suspect it’s more of an aberration than a trend.

The Death Penalty in South Dakota has traditionally been one of those litmus test issues for those running for high office. Opposing it could come at a price, as it’s certainly an effective wedge issue. People vote for people who will keep them safe in their homes. Being viewed as weak on violent crime is not a positive thing.

But, there is opposition.

Much of the concern from the opposition seems to be coming from wrongful convictions in other states. However, one would be hard pressed to argue that anyone on death row in South Dakota is wrongfully convicted. In fact, South Dakota would be the opposite, as in this state, juries tend to dole out a Death Penalty very, very sparingly, and only for the worst crimes.

The thesis of the news article is, in part, that support fo rthe death penalty increases with the crime rate. If there is a corresponding increase in support based on a higher incidence of violent crimes, given that Sioux Falls is quickly becoming known as Crime City, USA, with car jackings and higher incidents of Meth crimes, then the Death penalty is in no danger of going anywhere in South Dakota anytime soon.

What do you think? Any chance of South Dakotans softening on the Death Penalty? Could they accept a candidate for Governor who is opposed?

Or will it remain a litmus issue for candidates who might be required to dole it out?