Category: Uncategorized

Rounds Applauds FAA’s Approval of Powder River Training Complex Expansion for Ellsworth Air Force Base

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today applauded the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) announcement that it has approved the Air Force’s proposed expansion of the Powder River Training Complex (PRTC). PRTC encompasses air space over South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. This is the last step in the expansion process.

“I commend the collaborative efforts of the Air Force and the FAA, who have worked diligently to see this important project through,” said Rounds. “The expansion of PRTC will not only provide additional air space for our men and women in uniform to train for combat, it will save Ellsworth Air Force Base millions of dollars a year in fuel costs. Completion of the project solidifies the critical role Ellsworth plays – and will continue to play – in military readiness and national defense.”

###

Gov. Daugaard’s Statement On PRTC Expansion

PIERRE, S.D. – Gov. Dennis Daugaard issued the following statement today commending the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to approve the Air Force’s expansion of the Powder River Training Complex.

“I am pleased that the Powder River Training Complex has finally been approved,” Gov. Daugaard said. “This expanded airspace will provide tremendous benefits to the Air Force, including the servicemen and women stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base. I appreciate the efforts of Sen. Thune, the Ellsworth Development Authority, the Ellsworth Task Force and others as we worked with the Department of Defense to bring this project to fruition.”

-30-

BROOKINGS, S.D.–The South Dakota College Republicans announce that blogger, columnist, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Michelle Malkin will be headlining the 2015 College Republican Convention at South Dakota State University.

 

Malkin will deliver a speech at the SDSU Performing Arts Center 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 2 that is free and open to the public.  The event is being hosted by the College Republicans and is co-sponsored with Young America’s Foundation.

 

“We are thrilled to bring someone of Michelle’s talent, experience, and political insight to South Dakota,” said State College Republicans Chairman Joe Schartz.  “Her story should bring people of all political beliefs to SDSU, and we especially hope that students will be interested in hearing about her journey as a conservative writer.”

 

Malkin is similarly excited to bring her message to the convention.  “I can’t wait to visit South Dakota State University and share my story of how and why I believe conservative principles are best for protecting and enhancing individual freedom and prosperity. I’m thrilled by the invitation of the South Dakota College Republicans and impressed with their activism and engagement,” she said.

 

Members of the public interested in reserving seats for the free event are encouraged to RSVP at: https://eventbrite.com/event/16170985854/

 

State Republican Chairman Pam Roberts expects the event to be well attended. “I am proud of our College Republicans for hosting Michelle Malkin and generating interest in political discussion in South Dakota,” said Roberts.

 

Malkin began her career in newspaper journalism with the Los Angeles Daily News, where she worked as an editorial writer and weekly columnist from 1992-94. In 1995, she was named Warren Brookes Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. In 1996, she joined the editorial board of the Seattle Times, where she penned editorials and weekly columns for three and a half years. 

 

She has been a nationally syndicated columnist for Creators Syndicate since 1999. Her twice-weekly column is carried by the New York Post, National Review, Townhall.com, and many other newspapers and websites. 

 

Her first book, Invasion: How America Still Welcomes Terrorists Criminals & Other Foreign Menaces to Our Shores, published in 2002, was a New York Times bestseller. Her most recent book, Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies, was #1 on the New York Times hardcover non-fiction bestseller list for six weeks in a row. 

 

She has founded three successful conservative websites: michellemalkin.com, HotAir.com (sold to Salem Communications in 2010), and Twitchy.com (sold to Salem Communications in 2013). 

 

The daughter of Filipino immigrants, Malkin was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1970 and was raised in southern New Jersey. She has worked as a press inserter, tax preparation aide, and network news librarian. She is also a lapsed classical pianist. 

 

She lives with her husband and two children in Colorado Springs, Colo.

 

Thune Introduces Bill to Extend Successful Sport Fish & Boating Fund

-Bill scheduled for Commerce Committee mark-up this week-

 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), the committee’s ranking member, today introduced S. 834 to reauthorize through Fiscal Year 2023 the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, which has benefitted millions of anglers and fishermen since 1950. 

 

“This program helps ensure our natural water resources receive needed care so that they remain available for the use and enjoyment of generations to come,” said Thune. “Sport fishermen and recreational boaters value and support this trust fund that allocates funds to protect wetlands, restore fisheries, and support a national recreational boating safety program.”

“Keeping our beaches, lakes and rivers clean and abundant with fish is about protecting our economy and fragile environment,” Nelson said. “It’s also about leaving a lasting legacy for future generations.” 

The program collects user fees on fishing tackle and equipment, motorboat fuel, imported boats and fishing equipment, and small engines, raising roughly $600 million per year. The money in the fund is then allocated to federal and state programs for boating safety and infrastructure, fishery management, habitat conservation, and related programs and activities. Last Congress, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill “would not affect revenues.” 

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund authorizes annual distribution for the following:

 

• Administration of the Sport Fish Restoration Program
• Multistate Conservation Grant Program
• Atlantic, Gulf, Pacific, and Great Lakes States Fisheries Commissions
• Sport Fish and Boating Partnership Council

The remaining funds are allocated to the following programs according to the Act:

• Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA)
• Boating Safety (Administered by U.S. Coast Guard)
• Clean Vessel Act
• Boating Infrastructure
• Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation
• Sport Fish Restoration – apportioned to states/DC/insular areas (includes funding for Aquatic Resource Education and Boating Access)

 

Click here to read S. 834. The Sport Fish Restoration and Recreational Boating Safety Act is scheduled for consideration by the Commerce Committee on Wednesday, March 25, 2015.

 

###

When ‘Slick Rick’ Weiland announced his new PAC this last week, mocking from the state’s media probably wasn’t the reaction he was looking for. But, that’s what he’s getting from the Capital Journal.

Rick Weiland, erstwhile candidate for the South Dakota seat in the U.S. Senate, just announced he’s forming a new special interest group to raise money to fight the raising of money by special interest groups.

His email announcement about it – with a “Donate Today” link – went out to his base this past week.

There’s the rub

And…

Hence, Weiland’s first impulse on losing in his bid for the Senate, was to rally others to his flag – i.e. form a special interest group – and try to get stuff done politically as he sees fit.

Ain’t that America? 

And..

Make everyone sign on the dotted line and email list as soon as they sign the check, so we know who is funding whom.

But let’s not whine so much about “special interest groups.”

I’m scanning the morning news when I come across the latest incident of Media Malpractice. Stu Whitney’s awful headline, awful tag line, and somewhat slanted story:



The thrust of it was that the big scary “GOP political machine” killed the sales tax plan of cities.

Er, wasn’t the bill proposed by Corey Brown in the Senate, Scott Munsterman in the House, and about 35 other Republicans? About 1/3 to 1/2 of the Republicans in the legislature?

But, it doesn’t promote the agenda of “hate Republicans,” to simply state “Republicans disagree on city sales tax increase.” 

Ugh. 

Are you one of those fellow South Dakotans who are getting tickets for the Eagles when they play the Sanford Center on June 4th?  My wife has wanted to see them in concert for longer than we’ve been married, so you know where this one’s going…

First I went here,

until I realized it was a scalper or “resale” web site, where the cheapest tickets were $257. Each.

Once that was cleared up, I hit Ticketmaster, where it wasn’t much better. I managed to get a couple of main concourse seats for $173. Each.  And that’s from the venue. Supposedly not-the-scalper.

Really?  Paying that much for concert tickets just grates on me personally, but it’s for the wifey, so sometimes a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.

But it still grates on me.

One of my readers who was in Pierre during session offered his opinion to me today on why the democrats squawking about it’s passage by Republicans & signing today by Governor Daugaard are way off base:

Democrats have abused the law for years by using placeholders so they can recruit past the deadline. This fixes that.

They have also taken advantage of their horrible gubernatorial campaigns to have a much lower signature requirement than Republicans. This changes so both are based on registered voters – which is the universe of voters who can sign. Daugaard got lots of votes from Democrats and Independents – none of those people can sign a petition for a Republican candidate. Why should R candidates need 2x the signatures that D candidates do, when R’s have 45% of the registered voters and D’s have 35%?

The last change is with independents. This puts them on equal footing with the R’s and D’s – collecting signatures from Independents and requiring the same percentage.

What will the anti-69 campaign say? “Let Dems continue to abuse the placeholder law” or “Save easy petitions for Dems” don’t have a great ring to it.

This all happened because Bernie Hunhoff tried to amend SB 69 to make it EVEN EASIER for Dems to name candidates after the deadline. Listen to the Senate State Affairs hearing – both days – and you will see.

So the righteous indignation wears a little thin.

Food for thought.