At the onset, let’s just understand that Paula Hawks is going to lose her race for Congress badly. And with that said, it leaves you wondering why she’s admitting she’s going to use her time in Pierre to benefit her campaign, and not her constituents:

One South Dakota lawmaker says she’s crafting a resolution about debt-free college. Democratic State Representative Paula Hawks says she wants to start a conversation with fellow lawmakers about the cost of higher education.

And..

Hawks says she supports a national movement that involves progressive thinking to address higher education and student debt. She says in South Dakota that begins with a legislative resolution she plans to file ahead of January’s session start.

The democratic state lawmaker is also campaigning for United States Congress. Hawks faces incumbent Congresswoman Kristi Noem in November 20-16’s statewide election.

Read it here.

So, she’s going to use her position to promote Bernie Sanders’ platform of “free college,” as she stakes out a campaign position asking people to vote for her because she wants to give them free stuff?

And I use the ‘free college’ term loosely, because it’s not free, it just shifts the cost to taxpayers… basically, people not in college.

I have the sneaking suspicion that endorsing the proposals of an avowed socialist running for president is not going to serve Hawks well in conservative South Dakota. But when you’re already being written off, I suppose you can throw anything to the wall, no matter how bad it smells, and see if it sticks. Hawks is already identified as supporting an income tax & planned parenthood. So, why not add socialism to the mix?

Your thoughts?

I heard a rumor today… And don’t classify this as anything but…  But I had someone tell me they’d heard that there could be a primary challenger for State Senator Deb Soholt. And one name that was brought up was really, really interesting. 

It was a name that had been brought up in the past for various offices: Leslee Unruh.

As a grassroots organizer, and not unknown in Sioux Falls, Leslee could potentially be very formidable.

But, there’s no indication at this point that it’s something that’s going to actually happen. Just part of the background chatter that pops up from time to time.

From a release from the AG:

Two Arrested in Belle Fourche on Drug Charges

PIERRE, S.D.- Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that Heather Plunkett, 31, Belle Fourche, and Ryan Plunkett, 33, Belle Fourche, were arrested Friday, December 4, 2015, each on one count of the following: possession of marijuana, less than 2 ounces, class 1 misdemeanor, possession of drug paraphernalia, class one misdemeanor and ingesting substance other than alcohol, class one misdemeanor.

Both are presumed innocent until such time as proven guilty.

Of course, there’s this other thing going on:

I’m starting to update the 2016 Candidate list with things I’ve heard… or at least updated with those things that I haven’t been asked to keep confidential at this point. You can read it here. and e-mail me with updates, corrections, deletions, etc.

I shouldn’t read Gordon Howie’s blog when crazy headlines pop up, because I just feel stupider when I’m done. Gordon spends most of his time hating on the political party that he abandoned when he threw his ally Stace Nelson under the bus and announced as an independent for US Senate.

Admittedly, I had to look when I saw the headline blaring “Daugaard Donations Tied To Syrian Refugees.”  So I looked.  And as usual, I’m just dumber for the effort to click.

I kind of knew what I was going to get when I noted the author of the article, Bob Ellis. Anymore,  Bob spends many of his waking hours being an @$$hole to Republicans after Gordon predictably lost this last election. Bob’s website used to be interesting, even when saying we need to believe in Rambo Jesus, but since last year, he spends most of his time in blind idolatry of Gordon Howie.

Reading the article, Ellis finds himself quickly lost in his specious declaration when the sole link to the Daugaard connection to Syrian refugees is…. (cue ominous music…..dum dum duuuum….) Daugaard accepted political donations from former DSS director and Daugaard Administration advisor Deb Bowman, current LSS CEO Betty Oldenkamp, and former state senator Russ Olson…  because they’re involved with Lutheran Social Services!

Umm, what?  I mean, they’re not as cool as Catholic organization members (said me in a smirking manner), but I don’t think that means they’re trying to fill the state with Syrian refugees. In fact, I’d challenge Bob to name any Syrian refugees they’ve imported into South Dakota?  But God forbid Bob come up with anything that isn’t completely whack-a-doodle.

Bob tries to use his calumny against Daugaard to lecture the world on who is and is not a Republican. If Bob wants to lecture us on who is Republican, and who isn’t, I’d argue that the imagined connection between Governor Daugaard and Syrian Refugees is far less provable than his own false idol Gordon Howie’s connection with Teamsters, the Soros Family, and Democrat PACs from this past election. Because a PAC connected with Howie this past election took money from all of them.

And it was a lot of money.  Over $100,000 when it was said and done.

As I’d noted in great detail this past election, this past year, a PAC was formed to support the candidacy of Gordon Howie, ran by Howie confederate Gary Coe, called “Many True Conservatives.” And if you look at their expenditures, in the FEC Report below, Many True Conservatives spent nearly every dime to promote the candidacy of Gordon Kenneth Howie.

Many True Conservatives 2014 4q FEC

Where did this PAC get their money? Well, if you look at the report, they took in nearly all of their money (Over $108,000 total) from a single source – Every Voice Action.  Don’t remember them? They came in late in the game, and were reported on briefly by David Montgomery at the Argus Leader. In reference to their support of Rick Weiland:

Every Voice Action received $1.58 million through Sept. 30. It’s received another $665,000 in the past two weeks.

Who are these donors? The biggest ones are other groups.

For example, the better-funded Mayday PAC gave $458,000 to its comrade in the fight against Mike Rounds.

Another group, “Friends of Democracy IE,” was even more generous. It gave $1.15 million to Every Voice. Donnelly is the treasurer of Friends of Democracy, another Super PAC founded “to end Super PACs.” Hopping over to Friends of Democracy’s FEC page, we can see it’s been primarily funded by a famous name: Soros.

In particular, it’s been given most of its money by Jonathan Soros, son of the famous financier (and liberal donor) George Soros. This election cycle, Jonathan Soros gave Friends of Democracy $1.5 million. George Soros gave it another $250,000; other George Soros children Andrea Soros and Alex Soros gave $250,000 and $375,000. It also got a lot of money from Napster founder and Facebook investor Sean Parker ($245,000), Google engineer Matt Cutts ($285,000), Kathleen McGrath of Encino, Calif. ($100,000), and John Pritzker of the Pritzker family.

Back to Every Voice Action. It’s also received $100,000 from CWA Working Voices, the independent expenditure arm of the Communication Workers of America; $100,000 from former Stride Rite president Arnold Hiatt; $50,000 from Cutts; $50,000 from private equity billionaire Jerome Kohlberg; and $50,000 from early Google employee David DesJardins. Other donors gave it less than $50,000; I’ll list them all at the bottom.

It also got an in-kind donation of $11,427.42 from the House Majority PAC, a PAC devoted to helping House Democrats. That was listed as being shared polling costs in districts where Every Voice Action is backing Democratic congressional candidates.

Read that here.

So if Ellis is going to come up with some nutty and false connection and lecture Republicans on Daugaard taking “Syrian Refugee Money” because of someone’s taking money from employees and board members for LSS, then he’d damned well better man up, and apply the same standards to the man on whose website he’s writing for – and admit the Howie PAC’s acceptance of money from labor unions, Democrat PAC’s and the Soros Family.

In last night’s presidential address, President Obama made a point of stating that people on the no fly list be barred from being able to purchase firearms, which to many, might seem to be a reasonable restriction.

But…  there are other factors involved in it, as US Senator Mike Rounds brings up in a recent interview with South Dakota Public Broadcasting:

U.S. Senator Mike Rounds questions a call by the Obama Administration to prohibit someone on the no fly list from owning a gun in the United States.

and..

But Senator Mike Rounds worries this would violate the constitution.

“Being able to fly is one thing but constitutional protections for someone to be able to have an arms, to have the right to bear arms, to keep and bear arms, is a constitutionally protected right.  And, if you’re going to take that away from someone there has to be a due process involved in it,” says Rounds

Read that all here.

And Senator Rounds brings up a good point. the Second Amendment.   If you want to restrict someone from flying that’s one thing, but due process needs to come into play if you’re going to strip someone of that right granted under the Second Amendment.  Which also brings in the The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

Terrorism is specifically designed to instill fear in the hearts of people. We should not let fear serve as an excuse to allow others to promote a political agenda designed to take rights away from us.

From today’s KCCR, District 30 State Rep Lance Russell is planning to propose a measure to re-direct Video Lottery revenues to teacher pay, noting that he does not believe new taxes are needed:

District 30 South Dakota Representative Lance Russell of Hot Springs is bringing forth a bill that would dedicate revenue from video lottery for the purpose of supplementing teacher salaries in the state and establishing a teacher salary enhancement fund.

Russell says a tax increase for South Dakotans is unjustified…

Russell says that the state can come up with the 75 million dollar increase in teacher pay without raising taxes…

Russell adds that re-allocating lottery funds is an appropriate way to fund education…

 

Read (and listen) to it all here.

Repeal and Replace Obamacare
by Senator Mike Rounds

The American people deserve a healthcare system that works for them, not against them. One that is truly affordable for all families, offers viable health insurance options and strengthens patient-provider relationships. Unfortunately, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, fails on all these fronts. Instead, the ACA has brought about more government, more bureaucracy and more rules and regulations that have resulted in soaring health care costs and less access to care for families across the country.

I, along with many of my Senate colleagues, promised to repeal and replace Obamacare, and recently we had the opportunity to follow through on that promise. On December 3rd, we passed a bill to repeal significant portions of the Affordable Care Act.

My office has received phone calls and letters from hundreds of South Dakotans telling me how unaffordable the so-called Affordable Care Act really is for them. Premiums for certain plans in South Dakota have increased by nearly 50 percent under the ACA, forcing some families to choose between paying outrageous rates and forgoing health insurance all together just so they can afford to pay their mortgage and put food on the table. This is unacceptable.

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the healthcare law will cost American taxpayers more than $116 billion a year. In fact, on average, every household in the United States can expect more than $20,000 in new taxes over the next 10 years. This is a heavy burden to place on the already over-taxed, over-regulated American people.

Repealing the Affordable Care Act is only the first step in a long journey towards a better healthcare system. Congress must work together to create a replacement plan that puts the patient first. We also need a partner in the White House who understands that significant changes must be made in order to repair our broken healthcare system.

Any replacement plan must be market-based and patient-centered in order to be truly affordable for families. This can be achieved by enacting transparent, step-by-step reforms. I support common-sense initiatives, like expanding Health Savings Accounts and creating pools, such as the Multiple Employers Welfare Trust, in which small businesses can unite to secure better rates. The worst parts of Obamacare, such as the employer mandate, individual mandate and the Independent Payment Advisory Board, have no place in any future health care plan.

We can cut costs by reforming medical liability laws as well. Our current system encourages frivolous lawsuits which come at a high cost to doctors, taxpayers and truly injured patients who deserve timely compensation. Lastly, we must hold insurance companies more accountable by increasing transparency, standardizing paperwork and helping those with pre-existing conditions maintain access to care.

Allowing healthy competition within the private insurance market would allow families to choose the healthcare plan that best fits their needs and budget. I will continue to advocate for these responsible and effective solutions as we move forward with a replacement plan. The Affordable Care Act greatly expanded the government’s role in health care, and it very clearly did not work. This is the message the American people are sending and this is the message Congress sent by passing legislation to repeal Obamacare.

Fueled By South Dakota
By Rep. Kristi Noem

It might surprise many of us, but there are a lot of people out in D.C. who don’t seem to know the difference between South Dakota and North Dakota.  I know my counterpart in North Dakota often gets the question: “Is that the state with Mount Rushmore?”  No, that’s South Dakota.  For me, the question is: “Are you the state with all of that oil?”  No, that’s North Dakota, but while North Dakota has all that oil, South Dakota’s corn and soybean production plays its own role in America’s energy security.

Every year, South Dakota harvests more than 400 million bushels of corn and 100 million bushels of soybeans.  These commodities provide a pathway toward North American energy independence that can help boost our economy and our national security.

Today, about one-third of the petroleum used in the United States is imported from foreign countries, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.  Most of this petroleum is refined into gas or diesel.  Especially with conflicts arising in energy-rich areas of our world, the need to decrease our reliance on foreign fuels grows every single day.  Now is the time to double down on domestic energy production, but unfortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is looking to let off the gas.

In early 2014, the EPA proposed new Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volumes.  These volume requirements, which impact corn-based ethanol and biodiesel alike, tell refineries how many gallons of renewable fuels should be blended into our overall supply.  This gives both farmers and consumers more certainty and greater price stability.

The EPA’s initial proposal was very disappointing, as the agency moved to significantly roll back our commitment to ethanol and biodiesel.  Not only could this curb production, but the move would send the wrong message to investors, risk jobs, and threaten the creation of more developed biofuels.

I, along with a bipartisan group of 30 lawmakers, reached out to the EPA shortly after their announcement.  It was important that they reverse course.

When the final numbers were announced in late November, the RFS remained beneath the levels I believe are appropriate.  Nonetheless, the EPA did adjust the requirements at least slightly higher because of the pressure we put on them.

Especially at a time when the Middle East remains so volatile, our commitment to homegrown renewable fuels should not be in doubt.  While the EPA is backing down, I am not.  In recent weeks, I introduced an extension of the biodiesel tax credit.  This legislation would ensure that domestically produced biodiesel was given a $1-per-gallon tax credit through the end of 2016. The legislation has bipartisan support and I’m hopeful it can be wrapped into an end-of-the-year tax extenders package.

My number one responsibility is to keep the American people safe – protecting economic opportunities comes in at a close second.  By throwing our support behind homegrown fuels rather than foreign oil, we are accomplishing both and creating a nation that is fueled by South Dakota in the process.

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