Category: Uncategorized

As I’ve often noted that the South Dakota Democrat bench is more than a little weak to draw on for the next election, the South Dakota Democrat party reminds us why that’s the case, as they criticize the Pennington County GOP for offering a simple congratulations to the winners of yesterdays school board race:

Aside from the lapse in just basic manners, in case they need reminding, at one point someone actually wrote it on their own website at one point in time that their political party was interested in the job where they “identify and recruit and support candidates to run at all levels…”:

And wasn’t it just a couple of years ago that a group of state Democrats sent out a press release that they were going to be recruiting candidates for the school board so they could start winning elections again?

Following a meeting of State Democratic Party officials with South Dakota Progress founders earlier this month, newly elected state Democratic Party Chairwoman Ann Tornberg said her understanding is that South Dakota Progress will recruit candidates for local-level positions like school boards and township boards. Joe Lowe, the state party’s newly elected vice chairman, expressed a similar view that South Dakota Progress will focus on city council and other local races.

Read that here.

If there’s a disgrace here, I think it’s that the current management of the Democrat Party forgot the things that political parties actually do to be viable organizations.

Christopher Vondracek with forum news has an article out tonight noting that Democrats are convinced they’ll have a candidate for Governor by the end of the summer:

But party members said that while Sutton would immediately be the front-runner in a potential Democratic primary to challenge Noem, there are also other candidates who will, especially in lieu of a Sutton candidacy, announce by summer’s end.

and..

He told FNS he and his family are “evaluating what my next move will be.”

“We’ll be making a decision fairly soon,” added Heinert.

and..

State Rep. Peri Pourier, a Pine Ridge Democrat, told FNS she had “no comment on the gubernatorial candidates,” though multiple party officials mentioned her as a possible candidate.

Read the entire story here.

BTW, I notice that the troyheinert.com and heinertforgovernor.com web domains are both off the market.

Interesting.

We shall see….

Johnson Applauds B-21 Official Announcement

 Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) issued a statement following the U.S. Air Force record of decision designating Ellsworth Air Force Base as the Main Operating Base 1 for the B-21 bomber.

“This has been a long journey,” said Johnson. “We’ve felt good about our progress over the last few years, but now we can say without any hedging or hesitation: our nation’s first B-21 bombers will call Ellsworth home.”

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Thune Statement on Official B-21 Announcement for Ellsworth Air Force Base

“South Dakotans know what an asset Ellsworth Air Force Base is to our state and our country, and today, we’re incredibly proud of this historic, once-in-a-generation opportunity to host the B-21 bombers.” 

WASHINGTON— U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) issued the following statement after the U.S. Air Force signed a record of decision officially designating Ellsworth Air Force Base to be Main Operating Base 1 for the B-21 bomber. This designation not only means that Ellsworth will be the first base to host the B-21 Raider, but it will host the formal training unit and first operational squadron.

“South Dakotans know what an asset Ellsworth Air Force Base is to our state and our country, and today, we’re incredibly proud of this historic, once-in-a-generation opportunity to host the B-21 bomber,” said Thune. “It’s redeeming to still have Ellsworth at the forefront of our national defense when we were slated for closure 16 years ago. This mission will bring thousands of new airmen, spouses, and dependents to the base, spur hundreds of millions of dollars of construction activity in preparation for the stealth and nuclear mission, and drive increased economic development in the region. It’s an exciting time for Raider Country and everyone who’s worked so hard to make today possible.”

Thune has played an integral role in advocating for and investing in Ellsworth’s future throughout his time in Congress, foremost through his efforts to remove Ellsworth from the Base Realignment and Closure list upon his arrival in the Senate in 2005. The closure of Ellsworth would have been devastating for the local economy and America’s national security. Since then, Thune has sought every opportunity to expand the base’s mission to ensure it would never again be at risk of closure.

In 2006, Thune advocated for the Air Force placing the consolidated Air Force Financial Services Center at Ellsworth. The financial services mission required a new, high-capacity communications network, which enabled Ellsworth to be a front-runner for adding a command and control mission for the remotely piloted MQ-9 Reaper, which began at the base in 2010. Most notably, Thune led a decade-long effort to secure the expansion of Ellsworth’s training airspace, the Powder River Training Complex (PRTC). Leveraging his position as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Thune worked with the Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration to quadruple the airspace, making it the largest training airspace in the continental United States. Military aircraft from around the country now participate in large force exercises that are conducted in the PRTC, and the expanded training range will allow airmen to fly the B-21 in realistic combat conditions, which require longer engagement distances.

According to the Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS) produced as part of the formal basing decision, the B-21 mission will support a projected 7,700 airmen, spouses, and dependents at Ellsworth, with a total end-state increase of 3,147 individuals. These figures will increase beyond end-state projections during the transition from the B-1 mission to the B-21. The Final EIS also projects that, in addition to 1,664 new airmen, the mission will result in 582 indirect jobs and $23,878,400 in economic activity. Approximately 4.3 million square feet of new construction and 1.7 million square feet of renovation will be conducted over the next several years in preparation for the B-21 mission. The record of decision formally enables the Air Force to proceed with planning and contracting for the military construction activity, which will progress alongside the active B-1 mission.

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Rounds: Ellsworth AFB Officially Named First Home of the B-21 Raider Bomber

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today announced that Ellsworth Air Force Base will officially be the Air Force’s first base to receive the new B-21 Raider bomber.

During a call this afternoon with Air Force Global Strike Commander General Timothy Ray, Sen. Rounds was informed that Ellsworth has been officially designated as the future home of the B-21.

“I am pleased that the U.S. Air Force has officially selected Ellsworth Air Force Base as the first home of the B-21 Raider bomber,” Rounds said. “This landmark decision makes certain that South Dakota will continue to play a critical role in our national defense. The selection of Ellsworth is a testament to the hard work of our Air Force personnel on the ground at Ellsworth and the communities of Box Elder and Rapid City that have worked hard to improve the long-term suitability of the base for this new state-of-the-art aircraft.

“As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I’ve worked actively to secure full funding for the B-21 program being developed by Northrup Grumman for the Air Force. I can tell you that this is one of the most advanced weapon systems to ever be developed. The B-21 will help deter our adversaries, especially China, thanks to its long-range, speed, stealth and payload. This weapon system will play a crucial role in the defense of our nation and have a huge economic impact on the Rapid City area for the next 50 years.”

Background:

In March 2019, the Air Force announced Ellsworth was the preferred location for the first home of the B-21 Raider bomber.

In January 2021, Rounds’ provision to address the Air Force’s bomber shortfall, which directly supports B-21 bomber program and Ellsworth Air Force Base, became law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021.

In December 2019, Rounds secured full funding for the B-21 bomber program with the signing of the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2020.

As governor, Rounds successfully advocated for the removal of Ellsworth from the Department of Defense’s proposed closure list during a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round in 2005. Following that effort, he led a legislative effort to establish the South Dakota Ellsworth Development Authority (SDEDA). Now a permanent fixture, the SDEDA’s mission is to protect, strengthen and promote the base.

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Newsmax, one of the top cable news channels was one of our very first commercial advertisers over a decade ago.

And out of the blue they reached out today, and are rejoining Advertiser’s Row here at South Dakota War College for a period of time as they inform TV viewers in South Dakota that MIDCO Cable TV doesn’t seem very amenable to adding them to the channel lineup.

Please take a moment, and click on their link, and find out the story behind MIDCO’s unwillingness to offer their channel to viewers.

And please also take a moment to visit our other advertisers including Marty Jackley, Jordan Youngberg, Americans for Prosperity – South Dakota, Governor Kristi Noem, US Senator John Thune, Dusty Johnson for US Congress, and the South Dakota Republican Party!

Remember – SDWC has limited advertising opportunities available for reaching South Dakota’s opinion leaders as we move past the 2021 Legislative Session, including our #2 advertising position.

If someone is making laws, keeping up on the issues or what’s happening in campaigns, or promoting legislation, they’re stopping here to check South Dakota’s political climate. South Dakota War College provides candidates, companies, and organizations a unique opportunity to direct a targeted message at South Dakota’s politically active elected officials, and community opinion leaders.

Advertising on the Dakotwarcollege.com website is based on a first come, first serve basis for available positions.  Advertising slots may be either static image, animated .gif, or other, as long as the file size is within acceptable file parameters, does not impede the loading of the website, or interfere with existing code.  All ads run through-site, and are not rotated in their positions.

Information on ad prices, ad positions, and ad commitments may be directed to the webmaster by clicking here, and by dropping me a note today!

 

Thune: Biden Builds Back Big Government

“Under the Biden budget, in just a few short years working Americans could be facing thousands of dollars in higher taxes. All these hikes, of course, are an attempt to pay for the Biden administration’s new spending.”

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

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today discussed President Biden’s budget, which would raise taxes by $3.6 trillion over 10 years. The budget would raise taxes on middle-class families by allowing the tax relief Republicans passed in 2017 to expire. It also proposes at least 30 separate tax increases, including a hike in the capital gains tax, a hike in the top income tax rate, and a new death tax.

This Saturday 6-12-2021 the Young Republicans of South Dakota will hold their Annual Convention from 1:00pm-3:00pm at Beal Distributing located at 4815 N. Northview Avenue Sioux Falls, SD 57107. The cost to attend the event is $10.

Please join them for updates from the SD YR’s and a National YR update. They will have guest speakers, including State Senators, Statewide Elected Officials and more! They will also be voting on an updated Constitution and Leadership positions. They are working diligently to engage the 18–40-year old voter base in the state and look forward to seeing people of all ages at the convention to showcase what they have been working on.

After the SDYR Convention they invite you to a Pub Crawl in Downtown Sioux Falls.  They will be starting at Pave at 4 pm.  Here is the schedule:

4 pm – Pave
5 pm – Tommy Jacks
6 pm – Bin 201
7 pm – Lucky’s

The Argus Leader has an article on-line today where they’re speculating on who the Democrats could pick for Governor, and Argus political reporter Joe Sneve presents us with a list of six names, with several leaving us head scratching.  Now, Joe is arguably one of the best political reporters they’ve had since Dave Kranz… but I’m not sure where he came up with some of these picks speculating on who the Democrats might run:

South Dakota Democratic Party vice chair Nikki Gronli told the Argus Leader last week the party is working with a handful of potential candidates considering a 2022 run for the governor’s mansion in Pierre. But formal decisions likely won’t come until late summer or early fall.

“No one is ready to come out just yet,” she said, adding several party members from across the state are in the exploratory phase of a campaign, conducting behind-the-scenes polling to assess where they stand and waiting to see who else emerges.

Read that here.

From here, he comes up with a list of six names .. and as noted, some of them seem to be coming out of left field, as Joe tells us to look at Billie Sutton, Dan Ahlers, Bob Sutton, Troy Heinert, Brendan Johnson, Mike Huether, and Steve Hildebrand.

Er…..Maybe we can take a couple of those names seriously.  But there’s a number on the list that I just can’t.

Of the serious ones, all Democrats would kill to have Billie Sutton run again.. even though Kristi stripped him of his “he might be conservative aura” in the last election to show that he flip-flops on abortion, has mentioned exploring a state income tax, and the whole Bernie Sanders thing. So he’d be starting from that far behind.

Dan Ahlers would be one of the not serious ones, as evidenced from the abysmally bad campaign he ran for US Senate last election.

Avera CEO Bob Sutton switching parties and running? Where did Joe come up with this off-the-wall one? Bob has been Republican for years, and I don’t think that him dropping his position to get into politics is even conceivable.  Nobody says I’m in high position in one of the state’s top organizations, and I want to drop it all to get beat up for the next year running for office, and then if I win, I have to live in Pierre, and still get beat up.

Troy Heinert is noted as telling “the Argus Leader he’s eyeing a statewide run.”  I see that as one of the few serious possibilities, as I could see Heinert taking one for the team and running so Democrats have an opponent.

Brendan Johnson? I was just reading even today that he’s more interested in being an attorney and has no interest in running for office. He’d be on their wish list, but if he ran, I don’t think he’d want to be Governor.

Mike Huether running as a Democrat? Well, remember that time when he was their highest ranking elected Democrat, and the headline in the paper read “Huether Dumps Dems?” And he took inspiration from Donald Trump.   I’m sure that would play well with the Democrat Faithful.

I’ve heard rumors that Huether would only re-write a 1 year contract with KELO for his show because he might run for office within the next two years.. but Democrats seriously running him as a candidate?  I think that bridge was not just burned, but was blown up.

And rounding out the list is perpetual I-might-run Steve Hildebrand. Which is another one that can’t be taken seriously, since he’s been said to maybe-run for every race for the last decade.  That’s another dog that isn’t going to hunt.

So, on the list might be Heinert as the most serious candidate, followed closely by Sutton.. and it drops off quickly?

Democrat’s hopes for Governor are looking as bleak as their congressional chances.