Category: Uncategorized

What does a candidate who sees the handwriting on the wall of an impending loss spend his weekend doing?    Instead of going out and earning votes, Brian Bengs, gets on twitter and poses a question whether Senator Thune changes his own oil and cleans his gutters..

 

Er.. yeah. I’m sure John has done those things, as well as many more. But considering the fact that 2 1/2 weeks before an election where Bengs is way down in the polls and has no cash left,  and should be out knocking on doors and campaigning, instead he decides to do household chores, and make it a weird tweet.

When I said last week “we can call this race over and done with..”  apparently Bengs has taken it to heart.

From my mailbox, you can find out more at SALUTETOVETERANSDINNER.EVENTBRITE.COM

Dem Secretary of State candidate Tom Cool has filed his campaign finance report. And it seems as if he is running the same level of campaign that he always has.

After collecting about $19k in donations from various sources, Cool finds himself gambling on himself with a $50,000 loan.

Considering his past track record of 4 or 5 losses, 50k is a pretty big wager to make when it hasn’t gone his way so much.

Read the entire report here.

 Services in Memory of Former Governor Harvey Wollman Scheduled for Sunday and Monday, Oct. 23-24

PIERRE, S.D. – The family of former Governor Harvey Wollman has planned for services in honor of Governor Wollman for Sunday, Oct. 23, and Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. These services are set for Huron and Doland, as the family has declined a state memorial. More information about the plans can be found here.

Pursuant to Governor Noem’s previous flag order, flags statewide will remain at half-staff in honor of Governor Wollman through sundown on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022.

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“The key to getting a handle on drug crime is securing our southern border. The drugs might be coming across the southern border, but they’re coming to a community near you,” Pennington County Sheriff-Elect Brian Mueller said. These drugs are connected to violent crime at very high rates—and almost all of it is coming from the border.

We could hope that being over 1,000 miles away from where these drugs are coming from would keep us safer—our small towns are typically safe havens. A place where families can be carefree and not always worrying their kid will be in danger or get into serious trouble themselves.

But over the past couple years we have seen increases in crime rates across the country, specifically violent crime, and almost all of it is connected to drugs like meth and fentanyl that is crossing our southern border. Even though there is 1,000 miles to cover between the border and South Dakota, Sheriff-Elect Mueller said almost all drug dealers arrested in Rapid City have connections to the Mexican cartel. The “Defund the Police” movement and the Biden Administration’s open border policy are enabling increased crime and drug smuggling. This is unacceptable—the Biden Administration and Congress must work towards improving public safety.

Law enforcement in small, rural, and tribal communities are sounding the alarm of the risks of low staff, slow emergency response times, lack of resources, and higher crime rates. To support these communities, I voted in favor of the Invest to Protect Act that recently passed the House and I introduced the Tribal Capital for Operations Promoting Safety (COPS) Act. Both bills will provide resources to law enforcement agencies to make our communities safer.

And it’s not just causing an increase in violent crime, but we are seeing an increase of drug overdose deaths, especially in teens. In 2021, fentanyl overdoses killed over 71,000 people—that is more than 175 per day. In addition to joining House Republicans’ efforts to secure the border, I cosponsored the Protecting Kids from Fentanyl Act to help prevent fentanyl overdoses by allowing schools to use unused COVID relief dollars to purchase overdose prevention drugs and provide life-saving training to faculty, staff, and students.

We all hope our communities remain safe havens for our families. To do so, we need to secure our southern border and invest in local law enforcement agencies. House Republicans and I are committed to protecting the public safety of our nation for generations to come.

It’s no secret that costs are rising in just about every aspect of our daily lives. We’ve talked quite a bit about the skyrocketing cost of food and gas, and our businesses are facing these challenges, too. Rising costs can create a lack of predictability about the future. Thankfully, over the past few years, South Dakota has built an economic climate that shores up that predictability by creating steady growth.

Businesses are starting in South Dakota at a faster rate than any state in America, and the businesses that have been here for years are flourishing. That’s a testament to the predictability and sustainability of our low tax environment, which enables businesses to feel comfortable making long-term investments in our state. And families are making the same choice for the long term, moving to South Dakota at such a rate that we are the no. 2 state in the country for inbound migration. This, in turn, will continue to give our old and new businesses the workforce needed to shore up their long-term growth.

When outside organizations evaluate how well  a state is governed, they look at a number of factors. Primarily, they ask how a state manages in a competitive business climate. The American Legislative Exchange Council ranked me the no. 1 Governor in America because of our state’s “fiscal and executive policies,” meaning that they believe we have created a climate where businesses can succeed. And this ranking is validated by the fact that we are setting the pace for new business applications, leading the country in income growth for our people, and setting the bar for new housing development.

Those fiscal and executive policies are simple: we live within our means; we balance our budget; we save money wherever we can, spending $43 million less than budgeted this past fiscal year; we pay down debt; we protect our AAA credit rating; we have the most well-funded pension system in the nation; and we invest in long-term growth, like connecting every corner of the state to high-speed broadband and developing our cyberresearch industry. These policies have inspired long-term capital investments in our South Dakota communities, helping us to build the strongest economy in the nation.

And we’re just getting started. I will include in my next budget the largest tax cut in South Dakota’s history – and it will be my top priority for the next legislative session. South Dakota already has some of the lowest taxes in America. We have no individual or corporate income tax, nor do we have a statewide personal property tax. This past legislative session, I eliminated additional taxes, as well.

We want to tax less in South Dakota, not more – to cut taxes, not add to them – to give people more control over their money, not less.

South Dakota will continue to build on these policies to guarantee predictable, steady growth for our future. We will guarantee that there are jobs available for our kids and grandkids. In doing so, we will continue to grow the incomes of our people and battle back against the rising inflation being driven by liberal policies in Washington, D.C.

And we will accomplish these goals by continuing to trust in the Freedom of our people.

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The Dakota Scout has an article this week on the community leaders who are joining the effort to keep recreational marijuana illegal in South Dakota after it passed only after being bundled together with medical pot:

“I didn’t expect recreational marijuana to pass last time,” TenHaken told The Dakota Scout on Tuesday after recording a series of radio advertisements on behalf of Protecting South Dakota Kids.

TenHaken’s surprise at the passage of Amendment A two years ago isn’t unique for many of the opponents to IM-27. Amendment A won by a comfortable margin, with 54 percent of the vote.

and..

“I am more vocal now, because we have more proof that it doesn’t work,” said Milstead, who joined TenHaken during a press conference on violent crime last month in which both urged people to vote against IM-27.

Read the entire story here at the Dakota Scout.

This vote will be interesting to watch, as recreational marijuana does not seem to have the popularity it claimed to have in the last election where it was bundled with medical.  While the party has taken no official position on ballot measures this year, some conservative Republicans have banded together to fight it, and to help promote the effort against IM27.

Related to the topic, I do know that some local groups are so opposed to IM 27 that they are sending money to the anti-im27 group while at the same time not sending money to candidates.

Hm.. I think funding ballot measures over people isn’t the way to go. That’s what Democrats do, and look how they’ve ended up in the legislative process.

Watching the Congressional debate on public broadcasting tonight..

Is Libertarian Colin Duprel experiencing a medical issue?  Because his eyes and head are rapidly darting all over the place. Kind of hard to watch.

Jamie said he wants “more THINGS to tax.” Things. Plural.

Marijuana is one thing. What else do you want to tax, @RepJamieSmith? https://t.co/9LFaWgWDyY

— Ian Fury (@IanTFury) October 17, 2022

Jamie Smith is attempting to roll back his statement where he claims there was a misinterpretation of his words that he wants “more things to tax.”

But, taking him at face value, recognizing the words that came out of his mouth, I think it’s very valid to question what his intentions are in making that statement. Some supporters are claiming it’s a referral to the sales tax, and if that’s the case, what things does Jamie intend to remove exemptions on?

In it’s wisdom, South Dakota has a number of things that are not taxed. Such as livestock, commercial fertilizer, cattle feed, and repairs on ag equipment and machinery. Insulin is also not taxed, nor is durable medical equipment, or medical services. If Jamie Smith intends to cost taxpayers an arm and a leg in new taxes, he could actually do so, by attempting to repeal the tax exemption for prosthetics.

There’s a wide open space to examine that in his view we need “more things to tax.” The question is whether or not we’re going to get full disclosure as he now tries to backtrack the statement.

Senator John Thune is out west this week speaking with South Dakota Ranchers on issues they have with the federal government, as well as gaining their input on the next Farm Bill: