Category: Uncategorized

There are news reports today surrounding the gathering that Congressional hopeful Taffy Howard is attending this week in Georgia, which gives a little more context to the recent photos of her with Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows:

Cumming Republican Sen. Greg Dolezal, chair of the new Georgia Freedom Caucus, said the goal is to promote conservative values in state legislatures around the country.

and..

Behind him were about 40 state legislators from Wyoming, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Indiana, South Dakota, Mississippi, Arizona, Iowa, Illinois, Texas, Alaska, Idaho and Nevada.

and..

Singleton said the new caucus is following the national group’s lead and not publishing a list of members, though they are free to reveal that they belong to the caucus.

Read the article here.

If you go look at the picture accompanying the article, the picture appears to have two South Dakota legislators hiding in the back;  Taffy Howard who notes her attandance on her facebook page, and State Senator Phil Jensen, who was recently cited by Rolling Stone as also being a member of the Oath Keepers group.

As further noted in the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Back to the drawing board for Democrats.

As I’d reported a couple of weeks ago, State Senator Troy Heinert is confirming to the media that he’s not running for Governor:

Democratic South Dakota Senate Minority Leader Troy Heinert is announcing plans to join the private sector after serving his term in the legislature, passing on a run for Governor.

Heinert accepted a position as Executive Director of the Intertribal Buffalo Council.

“I’m termed out of the Senate anyway, I wasn’t going to run for the House. So it was: run for Governor, US Senator, or the US House. This position came before me, I really believe in its mission and its cause.

Read the entire story here at Dakota News Now.

Disgorgement

“the act of giving up something (such as profits illegally obtained) on demand or by legal compulsion.”
– Black’s Law Dictionary

What does disgorgement have to do with the Democrat’s latest FEC Report? Because the FEC required them to “disgorge” some of the funds they should not have obtained as determined by a FEC audit:

And the rest of the recently filed FEC Report has equally interesting tidbits, which you can read for yourself:

SDDP 12 21 Fec Report by Pat Powers on Scribd

Biggest takeaways from the latest report are that Democrats raised $64,961 in this report, but spent $71,371.

Should I mention that “raised” might be a loose term? Because the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund gave them a $15,000 donation, and the Democrat National Committee gave them a check for $37,000.   Why the big cash movement to the local Democrats?

A portion of the $15k from the Grassroots fund is most likely their welfare check from the national party to keep the doors open. And the $37,000 from the DNC was likely for another big expense this month – the $40,000 fine from the Federal Elections Commission that the SDDP had to cough up in addition to their disgorgement of funds:

WHOOF! That had to sting, especially for the SDDP, who finds their ending cash in hand at nearly $6500 less than the previous month at $18,629.52

This is not trending in the right direction for the South Dakota Democrat Party at a time when they should be trying to get ready for candidate recruitment.

Thune: Reckless Tax-and-Spending Spree Highlights Democrats’ Big-Government Vision for the Future  

“Government should create the conditions in which freedom, opportunity, and prosperity can flourish – not attempt to secure particular outcomes or dictate the paths Americans should take.”

Click here or on the picture above to watch the video.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today discussed how the radical proposals in the Democrats’ reckless tax-and-spending spree highlight the massive difference between the two parties when it comes to their vision for the future of America. Thune noted that preserving liberty is a fundamental purpose of government, and the Democrats’ policies would transfer some of Americans’ decision-making power over to politicians and Washington bureaucrats.

State Senator Tim Johns announced today that after a number of years in office as circuit court judge and in the state legislature, he will not be seeking another term in the State Senate.

As he reflected on his many years of service, he had some thoughts about what legislators and others should bring to the table:

“I was proud of it all, frankly,” he said. “The question I’ve always asked is, is there a problem and do we need to address it? I’ve got a Libertarian bent to me and I don’t think we should have any more laws than what we absolutely need to govern us. That’s been kind of a guiding principle for me. Let’s stay out of the things we don’t need to be in.”

Read the entire story here.

Congressman Dusty Johnson sent an update out today on Second Amendment issues currently before Congress, including measures to deem the firearm industry essential during emergencies, and to limit government interference with firearm innovation.

As received in my mailbox:

From Twitter, House Speaker Pro Temp Jon Hansen is announcing this afternoon that the House will be bringing back a measure to ban transgender surgery for minors:

We will bring a bill in the South Dakota Legislature to ban chemical castration and surgical mutilation of minors suffering from gender dysphoria. I hope other members and our governor support the effort and political leaders across the country do the same! Thanks @JonSchweppe! https://t.co/RFM8ATCgiv

— Jon Hansen (@RepJonHansen) December 15, 2021

What are your thoughts? Should the procedure be banned in the state?

The Federal Elections Commission has sent a warning to Congressional Candidate Taffy Howard that she may have accepted too much money from one of the donors throwing cash at her campaign, according to this letter dated December 7th, and filed electronically on the Federal Elections Commission website today:

FEC says Luke Blindert spent too much on Taffy by Pat Powers on Scribd

Luke Blindert, the poker-playing crop insurance salesman from Salem, was one a handful of donors who maxed out to the campaign in the first FEC report filed by Taffy Howard.

From an examination of the report, it’s likely a matter that the error is because both donations were attributed to the primary election, as opposed to one being primary, and the other needing to be attributed to and held for any general election expenses.

(Not that Taffy will have any General Election expenses at this rate.)

Thune Applauds Senate Passage of Annual Defense Bill, Ellsworth Funding

“I am committed to ensuring that Ellsworth has everything it needs for its new mission, so that it can continue to serve as one of our nation’s essential military assets for decades to come.”

Click here or on the picture above to watch the video.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today applauded the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2022. Thune noted that the bill contains numerous priorities that benefit South Dakota and the future B-21 bomber mission at Ellsworth Air Force Base.

NDAA priorities for South Dakota include:

• $2.87 billion for B-21 development
• $47 million for a B-21 Field Training Detachment Facility
• $36 million for a B-21 Mission Operations Planning Facility
• $65 million for a B-21 Washrack and Maintenance Hangar
• $24 million for a B-21 additions to the flight simulator facility
• $70 million for a B-21 Formal Training Unit/Aircraft Maintenance Unit
• $41 million for a B-21 two-bay Low-Observable Restoration Facility
• $9.8 million for an F-16 Mission Training Center at Joe Foss Field
• $15 million for a South Dakota Guard Readiness Center in Sioux Falls
• Preservation of B-1 maintenance and operational squadrons through at least fiscal year 2023 or until their replacement by B-21 units

In a tweet a short time ago, Governor Kristi Noem is underlining the fact that the proposed 6% increase in state aid to education should go directly to educators:

My budget proposes a historic 6% increase to education funding.

Legislators need to get it passed. And school districts need to give that money directly to teachers and staff. https://t.co/AwNWUE54yV

— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) December 15, 2021