Category: Uncategorized

State Treasurer Josh Haeder Elected President of National Association of State Treasurers (NAST)

Pierre, SD: South Dakota State Treasurer Josh Haeder was unanimously selected to serve as the 2023 President of the National Association of State Treasurers during the organization’s annual conference last week.

“It’s an honor to be selected by Treasurers from around the nation to serve as the next President of the National Association of State Treasurers,” Haeder said.

“NAST serves as the nation’s foremost authority for responsible state treasury programs and related financial practices, policies, and education. South Dakota has a balanced budget, we have one of the best public retirement systems in the nation, we focus on protecting money from fraud, and are now on the cutting edge of technology implementation. South Dakota has been a leader in returning unclaimed property to citizens, reaching thousands of South Dakotans through our marketing campaigns. As the NAST President-elect, I’m excited to collaborate with my colleagues, continue to grow our organization, and share South Dakota’s successes with Treasurers across the nation.”

Haeder’s term as president begins in January 2023. He is the first South Dakota President of NAST since Treasurer Dave Volk was elected to serve as president of NAST in 1976-77

Haeder is currently serving as the 2022 Senior Vice President of NAST.

NAST’s membership is comprised of all state treasurers or state finance officials with comparable responsibilities from the United States, its commonwealths, territories, and the District of Columbia, along with employees of these agencies.

Before being elected South Dakota’s 33rd state Treasurer, Josh Haeder was the managing partner of Haeder Organization, LLC based in Huron, SD. Haeder Organization is a property management company that focuses on affordable housing and lodging.

Treasurer Haeder has been married to his wife Amanda for ten years and they have two young daughters.

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This one made made laugh out loud this AM. The Democrat Blog SD Standard makes a wacky claim this morning that a path to victory exists for Democrat US Senate candidate Brian Bengs on the basis of a push poll from a Democrat Polling firm.  (No, really).

“After testing four frames giving the respondents additional information — one positive Bengs frame, one negative, one positive Thune frame and one negative — Bengs ultimately led Thune 45% to 38%,” according to the release.

Read that here.

So after trashing Senator John Thune on the phone, they managed to get some people to move their opinion? Well, they buried the lede about the problem that the Bengs has.

Name identification is a major hurdle for Bengs even as the campaign approaches the final month. The poll indicates he is largely unknown to voters, with 81% having no opinion or never having heard of him. That includes 75% of registered Democrats who were polled, who either did not know who he was or had no opinion of him.

and..

The release said the poll indicates the pathway to victory for Bengs is introducing him to voters by “using the recommended message simulating equal spending” in the race.

That is far from the case, with Thune having raised more than $11 million this cycle and having more than $16.9 million in cash on hand as of June 30. Bengs had raised almost $151,000 and had $31,307 on hand on the same date.

Read that here.

So, Brian Bengs has a name ID among South Dakotans hovering around 19% going into absentee voting and the last 45 days of the election…  but ridiculously claims that he has a path to victory?  Ha ha ha. That’s pretty darned funny.

Good gosh. I don’t know of any candidate in South Dakota with name I.D. less than 20%, who could seriously think they have a way to win.

I mean, how do I frame how bad that is?  Let’s look back to an earlier time and an earlier poll…

According to our KELO TV scientific poll, if the election were held today, Thune would defeat Democrat Jay Williams by a wide margin, 65% to 27%, 8% are still undecided.

Only Williams doesn’t see it that way.

“Maybe the polls are trending, because I just saw a poll yesterday where it had 58% to 38%, I had virtually the same numbers as Secretary Clinton had, which I hope is the case,” Williams said.

and..

If you recall, when it comes to name recognition only 2% of the voters didn’t recognize Thune, but 52% don’t recognize Williams’ name at all.

Read that here.

In the recent past, when Democrats could find a candidate, one of the mediocre offerings was Jay Williams. Even he managed to achieve name id of 48%.  Yet Bengs isn’t even half of a Jay Williams yet as he struggles to get past 19%.

In that 2016 race, Senator Thune beat Jay 72-28%.

I don’t anticipate it’s going to be much different 6 years later.

There is an undeniable crisis at our southern border. So far this fiscal year, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has encountered more than 2 million illegal immigrants, far exceeding the Biden administration’s previous record, which it set last fiscal year. This doesn’t include known “gotaways,” immigrants who evaded apprehension after crossing the border – more than 1.1 million combined in the previous two fiscal years alone.

President Biden recently claimed he’s put a process in place to manage migrants and that he is working to make it safe, orderly, and humane. Conditions at the border contradict the president’s claim, as well as his vice president and appointed border czar’s recent assertion that the border is secure. Border Patrol is overwhelmed, local police departments are stretched thin, and border facilities and private shelters are beyond capacity. One Texas sheriff worries illegal immigrants may be released into communities with minimal or no screening because Border Patrol is so strained. This is especially concerning as convicted criminals, large shipments of drugs, and  individuals on the terrorist watch list are known to be crossing the border.

Deaths at the southern border have surged under the Biden administration. The Department of Homeland Security reports 748 migrants have died crossing the border in fiscal year 2022, surpassing last year’s record. The number of CBP search and rescue missions have substantially increased as well. These conditions have resulted in the United Nations International Organization for Migration declaring the U.S.-Mexico border “the deadliest land crossing in the world.”

The situation at the border is neither safe, orderly, nor humane. It is also clear the border is not secure. An illegal immigrant recently told a reporter, “Everybody believes that the border is open.” This is the message that President Biden’s immigration policies have conveyed since he first took office more than 20 months ago. The longer this inaction continues, the more individuals will be encouraged to attempt the dangerous journey across the southern border.

For months, as this crisis raged, Democrats have downplayed and outright ignored it. Democrats recently shoved their massive spending package through the Senate, containing hundreds of billions of dollars for Green New Deal priorities, but zero resources for addressing the border crisis. Republicans offered multiple proposals to provide resources to secure the border, but Democrats unanimously rejected all of them.

It was not until recently, when border-state governors began sending some illegal immigrants to places like New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., to alleviate their overstretched communities that there was a sudden and predictable outcry from Democrats who accused these governors of manufacturing a crisis. Washington, D.C., a city of 700,000 people, declared a state of emergency and requested federal resources when they received about 9,400 migrants over five months. New York City, with 8.4 million residents, has not received as many as the nation’s capital. Eagle Pass, Texas – population: 29,000 – sees 10,000 migrants each week. Where is the real crisis?

The situation at our southern border is appalling, but it’s preventable. If the president has any real interest in making it “safe, orderly, and humane,” he would make border security a priority. His record so far suggests it’s more likely we’ll see the scenes of chaos and human suffering continue.

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For the past two years, big government policies in Washington, D.C. have decimated our economy, left the southern border open, and skyrocketed inflation.

Our nation has faced tough times, but there is hope, and I believe our country will soon turn the corner. Today, House Republicans launched the Commitment to America. Ahead of November and a likely Republican-led Congress, House Republicans have identified ways to reverse the damage done by the Biden Administration’s policies. Our plan focuses on issues the American people care about—our economy, safer communities, freedom, and government accountability.

The announcement today revealed four pillars House Republicans are committed to:

• We commit to building an economy that is strong. We’ll support policies to fight inflation and lower the cost of living. We recognize the need to make America energy independent and reduce gas prices, and strengthen our supply chain, ending dependence on China.
• We commit to making America a nation that is safe. A safe nation includes a border that is secure, combatting illegal immigration, reducing crime in our communities, and defending our national security. Supporting our troops, establishing a Select Committee on China, and exercising peace through strength with our allies will counter some of our biggest global threats.
• We commit to ensuring a future that is built on freedom. Ensuring success for every student, achieving healthier and longer lives for our loved ones, and confronting Big Tech’s agenda that doesn’t protect our children online or our sensitive and personal data.
• We commit to being a government that is accountable. From accountability of Members of Congress to our election process to preserving our Constitutional freedoms, Americans should be able to trust their elected officials to uphold the Constitution and make decisions that don’t abuse their power.

Our fellow citizens are concerned about paying the bills, putting food on the table, keeping their children safe, and whether they can trust their government. Our plan addresses concerns held by many from coast to coast, including our friends and families in South Dakota. I and my fellow House Republicans look forward to upholding our Commitment to America.

To learn more about the Commitment to America, you can visit the website here.

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When I first ran for Governor, South Dakota needed new opportunities. For years, our economic growth had not kept up with the nation. Young South Dakotans were too often leaving our state to pursue college or a career. Cities like Sioux Falls were growing, but our rural communities were slowly falling behind.

I grew up in rural South Dakota – I love what our rural communities stand for. I knew that we could turn that trend around, and that’s exactly what we’ve done in the last four years.

Because of the example of Freedom that South Dakota set during the pandemic, millions of Americans visited our state. Thousands chose to make South Dakota their home. But they didn’t only move to Sioux Falls or Rapid City. We have folks moving to small towns, too – even some of our smallest town!

This was possible because we prioritized strengthening our small towns. Folks shouldn’t have to choose between the career of their dreams and our rural way of life, and now they don’t have to. We’ve made several key investments in our rural communities that have made this possible.

When I was first elected, I pledged to connect every corner of South Dakota to high-speed broadband, but it looked like this would take 10 years to accomplish. Because of South Dakota’s tremendous tax revenues, we managed to fully fund our broadband program in just a couple years. We have connected thousands of South Dakotans to high-speed internet. Families in small towns now can get Wi-Fi access right at home. Farmers can get internet to monitor various aspects of their operations.

Rural healthcare is an issue that has also fallen behind over the years, but we addressed that challenge, too. I proposed and signed legislation to extend telehealth flexibilities to South Dakotans. Now, you can talk to your doctor over the internet from wherever you are, making it so much easier to get the healthcare that you need, even from a rural community.

We also improved training and purchased new equipment for our emergency first responders and are investing in regional emergency response services. This will have a particularly strong impact on our rural communities. We want to be sure that every South Dakotan can be taken care of in an emergency, no matter where you live.

Our entire state’s economy depends on agriculture, and this is doubly true in our small towns. Lieutenant Governor Larry Rhoden and I made our living farming and ranching, so we understand the challenges that our farmers face.  I worked to secure favorable trade deals that give our producers new markets to sell their goods. We provided grants to 99 small meat processors across the state to increase competition, which will benefit our ranchers. And we’re investing in opportunities to innovate our agriculture industry and keep it strong for the next generation.

Our rural communities are thriving in South Dakota. For the first time in a long time, our young folks are choosing to stay here. People are moving to our small towns to share our way of life. And we are making investments to build on this momentum and keep rural South Dakota strong for the future.

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This might be one of the best thing I’ve watched today:

🚨 Rep. @RashidaTlaib asked all major bank CEOs to submit to her ESG agenda and stop funding fossil fuels.

Their response?

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon: “Absolutely not and that would be the road to Hell for America.” pic.twitter.com/rGX7EjrVZj

— Consumers’ Research (@ConsumersFirst) September 21, 2022

Gov. Noem & Attorney General Vargo Praise Ruling on Head Start Vaccine Mandate

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem and Attorney General Mark Vargo praised a Louisiana federal judge’s permanent injunction that blocked President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for the Head Start program. The injunction was issued earlier this week.

“President Biden attempted to use the COVID pandemic as an excuse to expand federal power to an unconstitutional level. Thankfully, the court didn’t let him get away with it,” said Governor Noem. “This mandate would have taken away the Freedom of South Dakota teachers and negatively impacted our kids’ education as a result.”

South Dakota joined 23 other states in this lawsuit late last year. The mandate would have required teachers, contractors, and volunteers in Head Start Programs to be vaccinated by Jan. 31, 2022 or face the loss of jobs and programming.

Louisiana Western District Judge Terry Doughty had initially issued a temporary injunction in January, but Wednesday’s ruling was on the merits of the case. The Judge ruled that the President did not have the authority to issue such a mandate without the approval of Congress.

“This is an important decision because it reaffirms that the executive branch can’t issue such mandates without the approval of Congress,” said Attorney General Vargo. “We applaud the judge’s understanding about the need for checks and balances in our government.”

The lawsuit (Louisiana, et al. vs. Becerra, et al.) was led by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry. Besides South Dakota, other states joining the lawsuit were Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina; Tennessee, Utah, Wyoming, and West Virginia.

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Billboards starting to go up. pic.twitter.com/BPHVmsbdfj

— Rep. Fred Deutsch (@FredDeutsch) September 21, 2022

According to an image posted to Twitter today by State Representative Fred Deutsch, at least one billboard has been placed advertising against Initiated Measure 27 with a disclaimer that is was paid for by the (Al) Novstrup for State Senate, Brandei (Schaefbauer) for House and (Carl) Perry for State House campaigns, who are all running in District 3.

The South Dakota Canvassing group is at it again with pillow-guyesque conspiracy theories, claiming that they have hard evidence of problems with the state’s voter rolls. Except when asked for evidence, the challenges to the group’s assertion are met with a lot of redaction. Which is kind of funny, considering voter date is actually public information.

According to the subscriber only story posted today by Jon Ellis at Dakota Scout:

Materials released by South Dakota Canvassing Group during its Tuesday rally on the steps of the Old Courthouse Museum include affidavits alleging voting discrepancies. Members of the group say they  interviewed voters and registered voters who say that despite not voting, they’re showing up in voter participation rolls in the 2020 general election.

and..

Among the group’s claims was that 256 voters were older than 120 years old. Lund said that was because the state switched voting systems about a decade ago. Some voters on the old system didn’t have birth dates, and when the rolls migrated to the new system, it automatically gave people with no birthdates a birthday in 1900.

Lund said they can explain specific complaints, but not vague accusations.

“It’s so frustrating because I’m of the mindset that if there’s a problem, let’s fix it,” she said. “And they’re yelling, ‘There’s a problem. There’s a problem,’ but they won’t tell me what it is.”

Read the entire story at the Dakota Scout.

Rick Weible, a member of the group and author of election paranoia website Midwest Swamp watch was at my local GOP meeting last week going on about the claims, and went on about the people who were 120 years old (as noted in the above article by auditors as how they fixed records for those w/out birthdates in the system).

He was also going on about how in one county, all the RV voters voted on one day.  Which I would logically assume corresponds to the day they did the date entry at the office. That’s the problem with all the South Dakota election conspiracy theories. While it makes for fodder for the conspiracy minded, the real story falls a little flat.

Before coming out with mouths blazing and tongues wagging, none of these guys bother to ask if there’s a logical explanation. Nor can they point to anyone in South Dakota who was erroneously elected. So what’s the end game?  Disenfranchising voters who make South Dakota their home base? A push to going back to hand-counted ballots?

Neither one is terribly appealing.

Our county Auditors do a good job with the limited resources they have, in an ever more politically-charged environment when it comes to our elections.  It would nicer if they could do their job in an environment where conspiracy theories aren’t snatched up and amplified.

If you’ve noticed the site has been up and down a bit, I just finished working with the server people to turn away a DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack on the website, so hopefully things will respond a little more promptly.

Seriously. Someone actually finds it worthwhile to go after a political website in the middle of South Dakota.