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Sorry if I haven’t been posting many things here – it’s been a busy couple of days. Great breakout sessions on a number of topics, as well as visits from Presidential hopefuls. 

Bush was good, Jindal electrified the crowd with his red meat conservatism, and it’s been a lot of fun. Sharing lots of fellowship with attendees such as Rep Steve Westra, Larry Rhoden, Rep Don Haggar, Dale Bartscher, Rep Les Heinemann, and many others in a South Dakota delegation of thirty plus.

I’m trying to remain current on Twitter, so make sure you get the latest on the happenings at @SoDakCampaigns

Somehow, I would not have pegged that as community service towards fulfilling a criminal conviction:

  

As I’ve been chatting the AFP attendees up, I’ve heard a rumor more than once regarding one of their legislative colleagues.

What I’m hearing is that State Senator Craig Tieszen, who is termed out of the Senate, may be considering running for a house seat in that District, currently held by Dan Dryden and Jeff Partridge.

There’s still a lot of time to pass, and it’s just rumor at this point. But, it’s one of the rumors I keep hearing.

Remember this press release from a few weeks ago:

Hilger’s Gulch Getting A New Look

PIERRE, S.D. – Gov. Dennis Daugaard is embarking on an initiative to bring back the native landscape of South Dakota to Hilger’s Gulch and save taxpayer money.

“This is a planned transformation and it’s going to save us time and money,” Gov. Daugaard said. “On average the state has spent around $36,000 annually for irrigation and $23,000 annually for mowing, fertilizing and weed treatment. In dry years, the water bills have approached $50,000. We’re taking this project on as an effort to be better stewards of that money.”

For the project, the Governor selected vegetation that can thrive in the natural climate of central South Dakota. The new plant life is expected to save money over time because it will require less maintenance and will not necessitate the use of chemical herbicides. 

The renovation will also serve to restore habitat in the area. Working with the South Dakota Bureau of Administration, Gov. Daugaard has strategically mapped out the placement of the various plants, trees and a meadow with purple, yellow and red wildflowers.

Predictably, there were some who didn’t care for the decision. And some didn’t care for the decision oquite a bit. They found themselves so outraged they called for a private meeting with the state Bureau of Administration…. which on unannounced basis they turned into a public meeting.

Their biggest issue with the Governor’s plan seems to be the fact simply that they’re going to stop watering Hilgers Gulch, which over the years I grew up there has varied from hard scrub prairie, to swampy cattail farm, to it’s present state which resembles a well-groomed golf course.

I suppose if I lived over-looking a well groomed golf course, I might be a bit bent out of shape if the golf course owner decided to turn it back into an arid grassland with little maintenance.

But despite the falderal, it’s still the golf course owners’ property, and absence violating local ordinance, he should be allowed to maintain it as he will. The fact that it is government property, and all this maintenance is paid for by taxpayers should weigh far more heavily on the argument than the local property owners wanting their nice green view.

If we are going to open up the argument to the public, and have a public meeting in Pierre, where are the public meetings in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Aberdeen, etc. don’t those taxpayers deserve a say in the matter? Or is it only deserving of comment from those who want to maintain a nice green view?

My fondest memories of Hilger’s Gulch are not when it was in green or cattailed splendor, but rather when it was all covered in snow, and used for sledding. And amazingly in the South Dakota winter, it really didn’t matter one bit what state the Gulch was in during the summer.

The state did not groom for sledding trails. They appeared courtesy of the hundreds of children who made it their home during certain winter days.

And maybe that’s the lesson we should take from all of this.

Unless you’re going to pay for it yourself, let it be what it is going to be. And find a way to just simply enjoy it as it is.

I’m quite active on Twitter today regarding the AFP Depending the Dream Summit – Check out @SoDakCampaigns on Twitter to follow the day’s activities.

Whether it’s a Republican convention, a comic Convention, or the AFP Defending the Dream summit, there’s one booth everybody makes a beeline for. The booth with the commemorative bag full of swag.

Let’s not kid ourselves, it’s not the Academy Awards. Nobody’s getting a flat screen television or jewels from Cartier. Possibly because we’re all fairly conservative at these things.

However, it’s a good representation of the groups that are in attendance at the convention.

  
There are things from the NRA, Heritage Action, Young America’s Foundation, The Center for Competitive Politics, OpportunityLives.com, The Tax Foundation, and of course AFP.

Now, when I get home, a lot of this will be divided up among my children as spoils from my trip. Yes, just like pirates.

My younger children aren’t necessarily going to be fighting over the items based on where the item is coming from. I don’t anticipate my 10-year-old will say “I want the NRA bumper sticker!” with my seven-year-old saying “give me the AFP water bottle.” 

But my daughter in high school? I can see her asking for the Americans for Prosperity swag bag to use for her books.  And she knows It will annoy the liberals in her high school, while promoting a message of freedom and the American Dream.  

And if that’s what she gets out of it, I’m glad to allow her the spoils of my trip.

After a short flight through Minneapolis, I’m officially at the Americans for Prosperity Defending the American Dream Summit in Columbus Ohio.

The atmosphere is interesting, it reminds me much of the Salt Lake City Comic-Con that I attended last year, except this time for conservatives, and you won’t see any men dressed up as Princess Leia in her slave suit.

 

As you can see, I’m coming as a member of the media. Albeit, one that is sympathetic to capitalism and American exceptionalism.

So stay tuned, I should have plenty of fun stuff today!

Rounds Nominates Bethany Christian Services as 2015 Angels in Adoption

PIERRE—U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today announced his nomination of Bethany Christian Services of Eastern and Western South Dakota for the 2015 Angels in Adoption award presented by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption (CCAI). Bethany Christian Services of Eastern (Sioux Falls) and Western (Rapid City) South Dakota have been helping connect children and families through foster care, domestic and international adoption for more than 25 years.

“It is a privilege to nominate Bethany Christian Services for the Angels in Adoption award,” said Rounds. “Their relentless dedication to finding children loving and supportive families is admirable. Every child deserves a forever home, and Bethany Christian Services is committed to that cause. I have talked to families going through the adoption process with Bethany, and have heard nothing but positive, fulfilling experiences. Bethany Christian Services connects loving parents with children who need them, making families whole.”

Each year, Members of Congress are invited to nominate an outstanding family or organization from their district to receive an Angels in Adoption award. Bethany Christian Services is invited to join other Angels in Adoption nominees from around the country at an awards banquet in Washington, D.C., later this year.

CCAI is a 501(c)3 nonpartisan organization dedicated to raising awareness about the tens of thousands of orphans and foster children in the United States and the millions of orphans around the world in need of permanent, safe and loving homes through adoption. For more information, visit www.angelsinadoption.org.

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IRS Phone Scam Targeting South Dakotans

PIERRE, S.D – Attorney General Marty Jackley is warning South Dakotans of an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) phone scam that has surfaced in South Dakota.

The scam involves a caller telling the consumer they are being sued by the IRS for an unresolved debt. Some of the threats reported went as far to say there has been an arrest warrant issued for the consumer. The caller will then ask for personal identifying information or demand payment by wiring money.

“These scam artists use the threat of arrest to convince trusting individuals to pay a debt that is not legitimate. The IRS does not ask for personal identifying or financial information through phone calls,” said Jackley.
The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division believes some of these calls may be a result of the IRS data breach in May 2015.

Consumers who have received these phone calls should contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-300-1986 or [email protected]. If you have a phone message claiming to be the IRS, do not use the number left on your phone, immediately contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to confirm whether the IRS is trying to contact you about a tax return.

Consumers are encouraged to check their credit report with the three nationwide credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com or call 1-877-322-8228 for a free copy of these credit reports. Consumers are entitled to a free copy from each company every 12 months. If consumers find errors on their report, contact the reporting agency in writing.

Consumers can also place a fraud alert on their credit reports to help mitigate potential issues by contacting the three credit reporting agencies:
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Experian: 1-888-397-3742
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289

Before I say what is basically trivial and maybe not even interesting, I pause in prayer for the health of former President James Earl Carter.

With the news of former President Jimmy Carter’s cancer diagnosis, I got to thinking of something:  It seems we have a lot of former Presidents living.  Somethings I uncovered with a quick review of the list of former Presidents:

1)  In general, most Presidents serve with one or two predecessors alive during their Presidency with a few occasions of three predecessors for awhile.  As this is possibly sometimes the loneliest job in the world, knowing there are “others” who have been there must be comforting, knowing they are available for advice during difficult and dark moments.

2)  Except during the Presidency’s of George Washington and John Adams, after LBJ’s death, Richard Nixon was the only President to serve without a predecessor being alive.

3)  While many Presidents served with three predecessors alive, until the Presidency of George Herbert Walker Bush, we had never had four former Presidents (Nixon, Ford, Carter & Reagan) alive at the same time.

4)  For fourteen months of the Presidency of Bill Clinton, we actually had five former Presidents alive at the same time (Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, GHWB).  With the death of Nixon, we fell back to four former Presidents alive.  And then for almost 30 months during the start of the Presidency of GWB, we again had five former Presidents alive (Ford, Carter, Reagan, GHWB, Clinton) but by the time his term ended, we were back to a more normal three former Presidents alive.

5) Having again five living former Presidents is possible if Carter and GHWB are still alive at the end of the Presidency of Barack Obama (Carter, GHWB, Clinton, GWB, Obama).  I end this post as I began:

I pause in prayer for the health of former Presidents Carter and GHWB to stay with us and enjoy good health as the world is better with them in it.  While I’m in this mode of reflection, I too pray for our living former Governors Frank Farrar, Harvey Wollman, Walter Dale Miller (I am so embarrassed I forgot Walt.  I truly love this man) and Mike Rounds.