Category: Uncategorized

Hiley goes on to say-“It is not only because of the contemptuous sound, suggestive of “squit.” It is also clearly a diminutive.”

Yesterday, GOP got the slimmest of a majority (51 votes including a tie-breaking vote by the Bice President) to open debate on amending Obamacare, with amendments limited to taxes or spending and items directly related spending or taxes. Under Senate rules, a full repeal requires 60 votes, which would require support from over 20% of the Democrat caucus.

A subsequent vote of the most broadly possible amendment of Obamacare as allowed under Senate rules failed 43-57. Any other possible changes will be less robust because of the Senate rules. Thus, we have on the record a definitive list of Obamacare Republicans.

Senators Susan Collins, Bob Corker, Tom Cotton, Lindsey Graham, Dean Heller, Mike Lee, Jerry Moran, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul.

These Obamacare Republicans betrayed the most central GOP position advocated in the past four elections and their stature will never be the same. They are Quislings. In addition to 9 Democrat Senators in states carried by Trump, the GOP must primary Corker and Heller. No Quislings allowed in caucus.

Update: Today, the following Senators voted against “skinny repeal” (what is possible with a simple majority) without a specific replacement: Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, Susan Collins, Dick Heller, John McCain, Rob Portman, Lamar Alexander, and Lisa Murkowski. Only Collins voted against the 2015 measure which passed both houses and was vetoed by President Obama.

Today, this adds Capito, McCain, Portman, and Alexander to the Obamacare Republican list.

Positive Feedback From South Dakota Farmer,
Other Panelists on Thune’s 2018 Farm Bill Proposals

Thune questions panel in Agriculture Committee hearing on the effectiveness of his SHIPP and commodity title improvement proposals 

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today received important feedback on his 2018 farm bill proposals, including his bill tomodernize and target commodity assistance and his Soil Health Improvement Protection Program (SHIPP), a short-term acreage conserving use program.

“I especially want to thank Kevin Scott for being here, representing the American Soybean Association,” said Thune. “[He’s] a multi-generation South Dakota farmer, going back to 1885, I think the family operation has roots. He always provides great council and insight and advice to me and my staff and to all of South Dakota when it comes to the issues that are important to agriculture and to our country, I might add.”

The panel, which included Valley Springs, South Dakota, farmer Kevin Scott, agreed that commodity title payments should be calculated using a farm’s physical location instead of according to administrative county, which Thune’s commodity title proposal would enforce. The panel also agreed that a short-term conservation easement program, like SHIPP, would be an effective means of using conservation to improve soil health and offset low commodity prices.

To read more about Thune’s 2018 farm bill proposals, click here.

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Thune: Senate Must Complete Work to Repeal Obamacare 

“It’s time for us to complete the work the American people sent us to do: repeal and replace this failing law with the affordable, patient-centered health care solutions Americans deserve.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) issued the following statement after the Senate agreed to move forward on legislation to repeal the failing Obamacare law:

“For seven years, we’ve watched the bad Obamacare news pile up, from lost health care plans to soaring premiums and dwindling choices. Americans all across the country are suffering under Obamacare’s failures, and they deserve relief. Today Senate Republicans took an important step forward toward fixing the problems Obamacare has created. It’s time for us to complete the work the American people sent us to do: repeal and replace this failing law with the affordable, patient-centered health care solutions Americans deserve.”

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As I had mentioned, all last week I was out in Sturgis for an annual office training/meeting period that we do in one of my day jobs.  The driving is a drag, but it’s worth it.

It’s a good exercise, as we’re a national specialty insurance agency, with staff from Maine to Arizona, and from Florida to Washington State. And we’ve doubled in size in the last few years, so sitting down together helps keep us in line with the company goals of service and growth, and helps people put a face to the name.

We do a lot of group events, and one of them was a picnic up at Pactola:

I took this last Thursday when I was out at the our office get together. I still need to do some cleaning up on it, as the images have some shading where photoshop stitched them together, but it’s a great panoramic view of the beach area we were at.

Now that I’m back at the SDWC home base in Brookings, it’s probably a good thing it’s a slow time in state politics, as it will be light posting again through the weekend. Instead of being out for work again, after today I’m going to be out for fun.

Since my wife took my #4 daughter out to DC for a graduation trip, I’m taking “the boys” out on a “manly man trip.” Truth be told, we’re going to the place with the mouse in Florida for a few days.

My 16 year old son is aware of it, but my 9 year old thinks we’re going to go digging at Diamond State Park in Arkansas, which we did a couple of summers ago in July sun and heat.  We didn’t find anything, and the weather was oppressively hot. So, he’s going with little enthusiasm which will turn out to be a nice surprise for him when he finally figures it out.

In another week or two, so much of summer is going to come to a screeching halt as my wife starts commuting for her new job at Augustana, my older son gets involved into a heavy band practice schedule, and everything keeps driving towards the next school year. So, it’s important to take what time I can with the kids while I have it, something I recognize all the more as the baby birds leave the nest, one after the other.

I’ll be monitoring things by phone and iPad, so if something comes up in this “summer before the election off-season,” I’ll be on it.

Otherwise, I’m going to be enjoying what’s left of vacation time, and soaking up some sun.

Check it out here!

Why is it that when State Senator Stace Nelson is at meetings in Pierre, that anonymous comments being posted from LRC/State Government IP addresses talking about how awesome he supposedly is start popping up?

Just wondering.  (It must be Lake Oahe, and someone is deciding to practice their back-stroke.)

GOP Gubernatorial outlier Dr. Terry Lee LaFleur is out on facebook actively recruiting for campaign staff today:

When I take a look at this expensive list of campaign staff that is beyond what we typically see in many state level campaigns, I can’t help but notice that salary isn’t mentioned.  Especially given that this campaign is what you might term an outlier campaign, coming from outside the recognized political establishment, with somewhat odd campaign platform planks.

And let’s not forget the fact he’s been looking for a campaign manager for about a year now.

Is there a job there for someone? Possibly. Whether it pays anything is between you and he.

Curious what the candidates for statewide office were busy with this past week? Here’s a quick review of what the candidates are saying on social media:

Congresswoman Kristi Noem was present at a groundbreaking at the DUSEL lab this past week:

Riding to the groundbreaking ceremony for the LBNF – DUNE project at the Sanford lab in Lead SD today. We are 1.5 km below the ground! I’ve made several trips down the old Homestake mine but still amazes me. Exciting to see this neutrino research project getting underway. #southdakota #research #darkmatter

A post shared by Kristi Noem (@repkristinoem) on Jul 21, 2017 at 6:23pm PDT

While there have been no posted updates from the Krebs’ Congressional campaign since 7/15, both the Marty Jackley for Governor and Dusty Johnson for Congress campaigns had crews hitting the Gold Discovery Days in Custer:

Gubernatorial Candidate Lora Hubbel is cheering on President Trump as he (supposedly) is shutting down Jihad Training Camps in America:

The only candidate to out-Hubbel Lora Hubbel on Facebook, GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Terry Lee LaFleur promoted his state controlled burial fund to care for South Dakotans’ mortal remains this week:

(psst.. if it’s that big a deal to you, buy a funeral plan. More free market, less socialism).

And on the other side of the aisle, Tim Bjorkman is arranging lunch with supporters:

Stay tuned….

Stepping Up for South Dakota’s Livestock Producers
By Sen. John Thune 

Virtually every South Dakotan is now living in an area of the state that’s facing drought conditions. In fact, according to the latest Drought Monitor, 99.97 percent of South Dakota land is now being ravaged by the extreme heat and lack of adequate rainfall. We could have a long conversation about statistics and historical averages, but none of that matters to South Dakota livestock producers who are on the receiving and damaging end of this severe weather. All that matters is the here and now. It either rains or it doesn’t. They either have the feed for their livestock or they don’t. That’s what counts today.

Since the drought first started a few months ago, I’ve been working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on a nearly daily basis to both relay the concerns I hear from folks across the state and find ways to provide assistance to producers whose livelihoods literally depend on the livestock they raise. I was recently traveling through a particularly hard-hit area in South Dakota and called USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue. I wanted to give him as close to a firsthand account as possible of what was happening in the state.

Secretary Perdue has always been willing to listen, which I greatly appreciate. In late June, he accepted my common-sense recommendation to stop USDA from forcing ranchers to destroy good hay on certain CRP-enrolled acres that are subject to mid-contract management. The fact that USDA was even considering going forward with such an idea is a perfect example of how Washington can be out of touch with the real world. Secretary Perdue granted several other requests that I made, including opening up non-environmentally sensitive CRP acres to emergency haying and grazing, which folks have been able to access since July 16. He also waived a 30-day ownership requirement under the Livestock Revenue Program that would have cost insured livestock owners who face early liquidation, due to the drought, their premium and any indemnity.

In my first letter to Secretary Perdue after the drought began, I asked that he also open the hundreds of thousands of environmentally sensitive CRP acres in South Dakota, which have been off limits, to emergency haying and grazing. Of all the hay that’s currently available, it’s the hay on these environmentally sensitive acres that is some of the most useable. I’ve been hearing from producers for more than a month who say this would dramatically help their operations, and I’ve been in contact with several wildlife organizations that support my proposal. I appreciate their concern for our livestock producers and agreement that nearly all CRP acres should be used to provide hay and grazing this year.

After many letters, emails, and phone calls with USDA and wildlife groups, I’m glad to hear that USDA is immediately opening more than 450,000 environmentally sensitive CRP acres in South Dakota to emergency haying and grazing. This will be welcome news to folks across South Dakota, particularly producers in the northeastern part of the state where a large percentage of these acres are located.

This recent announcement means that USDA has used nearly every CRP option that’s available to provide assistance to livestock producers in South Dakota. None of these actions will stop the drought or reverse the damage that’s been done, but they will certainly help alleviate some of the pain and give folks greater peace of mind as we head further into the summer months.

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