The Say No website sponsored by the Foundation for Government Accountability is advertising with us for a bit, and looking for people to join them in working to stop the expansion of Obamacare in South Dakota.

As they note on their website:

Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion in South Dakota will put taxpayers on the hook for MILLIONS in cost overruns, just like in other states.

The ObamaCare Medicaid expansion scheme is:

Unaffordable
Unpredictable
Unfair
Unpopular

This latest Medicaid expansion scheme will push adults out of private insurance and add more than 50,000 able-bodied adults onto taxpayer-funded welfare.

South Dakotans can’t afford another entitlement class!

Send a message directly to your legislator today and help stop Medicaid expansion in South Dakota!

Read, and sign the petition here.

I’m not sure if these numbers were intentionally typed, or if they were just random numbers thrown on the page, and the Secretary of State’s office just threw up their hands in futility and accepted it:

The Stace Nelson Campaign Finance mess report.

2016 Stace Nelson Pre-primary Report Campaign Filing

If you note on page 2, there’s $3220 in unitemized contributions, as well as $800 PAC money totaling $4020 on page 5. And expenses were $3136.26. So how does the cash on hand becomes $7,782.02?

There was a supplemental page provided with 6903.28 in contributions not reflected in the report….. and it appears to add up, if we assume those are itemized contributions not reflected in the report.  Not that the report appears to be properly filed or anything.

(Update: Nelson sends a note and blames the SOS for the confusing document, noting “The SOS office rejected my submission as there were a couple donors on the optimized lost that were listed by their mailing address.  Unusually enough, I resubmitted the addendum list, which they accepted, but then THEY changed my initial submission and posted it online.)

One thing did pique my interest in the itemized report:

The same Stan Adelstein who just paid thousands to roast Stace’s compatriot Phil Jensen over the coals saw fit to become Stace’s new buddy, and send him $250.00.

The same Stan Adelstein who tried to establish & bankrolled the Mainstream Moderates, who was a major supporter of Tom Daschle, who put about $80,000 into electing Democrats to office one cycle, received an award for his activism in protecting abortion, etcetera, and so forth, saw a kindred spirit in Stace, and became one of his campaign’s largest donors?

Dang, that’s kind of funny.

Great time at the Minnehaha County Lincoln Day Dinner!  Huge Kudos to Dave Roetman! And to everyone who helped and made it happen.

Here’s what I had a chance to snap in-between chatting.

Sorry about the photo Don. (It’s my thing, I take photos at events!)

Senator Thune talks about Democrats, and how they used to roam freely. (Now their numbers have dwindled through over hunting, but no one wants to call the season off.)

Blake Curd introduces Chris Paranto, as Curd was a major reason we were able to get him to the dinner. Great speech. Not often you hear about turtle heads at Lincoln Day dinners. (and it was funny)

Mike Rounds talks about his work, and his appreciation for the Republicans who put him in office, as well as why we need to return Senator Thune to the US Senate.

Congresswoman Kristi Noem addresses the upbeat and excited crowd!

I was towards the middle, and you can see how big the crowd was from my vantage point:

I am on my way to the Minnehaha County Lincoln Day dinner, with a couple stops on the way for business.

Along the way, Dave Roetman informed me that they have sold 650 tickets to the event. If you’re trying to compare considerate just shy of two Hillary Clinton South Dakota events, with an estimated 300 to 350 attendees.

And this is just a small Republican county “get together.”

It goes without saying that next weeks’ elections are going to have some effect on the make up of the State Senate, which has been an area more friendly to the Governor’s proposals over the past two sessions than the House of Representatives might have been.

And how much more friendly it is after next Tuesday may determine if there’s a special session for Medicaid expansion… or not.

If conservatives take a great number of the seats in play, this summer might be the most hospitable time for the Governor to attempt to pass some sort of Medicaid reform package. If it ends up being a general wash… then he might let it ride, and save the fistfight until next session.

The problem is, the concept of providing coverage to able-bodied adults isn’t overwhelmingly popular among the Republican rank and file, and already might be a nigh-impossible sell. Imagine it being tried in a far less hospitable political climate?

Not exactly odds you want to play. You might be damned if you do, damned if you don’t, anyway.

To Special Session, or not to Special Session. That’s the question.

Bob Mercer is reporting today on how the group calling itself the South Dakota Gun Owners (which is directed by a Colorado man) is pumping out-of-state dollars into several state legislative primary campaigns:

The Rapid City-based organization known as South Dakota Gun Owners, which is not the National Rifle Association, has put a total of $5,500 into eight primary contests for Republican nominations to seats in the South Dakota Legislature.

The group’s political action committee report filed May 27 shows $1,000 contributions to Sen. Phil Jensen, R-Rapid City; Rep. Lance Russell, R-Hot Springs; and House candidate Travis Lasseter, R-New Underwood.

The PAC also gave $500 apiece to Rep. Dan Kaiser, R-Aberdeen; House candidate Drew Dennert, R-Aberdeen; former Rep. Stace Nelson, R-Fulton, who is a state Senate candidate; House candidate Taffy Howard, R-Rapid City; and Senate candidate Tina Mulally, R-Rapid City.

The PAC run by Ray Lautenschlager of Rapid City has also spent nearly $3,200 for printing and postage. The report doesn’t identify whose legislative districts’ residents have been receiving the mailing.

Lautenschlager doesn’t identify the source of $10,000 his organization gave his PAC. He reports $8,000 from a Windsor, Colorado-based group, National Association for Gun Rights. He also reports that $6,000 is owed to a business known as Front Range Consulting but no other information is shown for that business.

Read it here.

This report comes at the same time that Mercer reports that Governor Daugaard has donated to candidates in several races, with candidates who didn’t get any money from him trying to complain about it in some instances, as noted by challenger Janet McIntyre on facebook:

Someone explain why exactly a straightforward donation from the Governor to a candidate he supports is bad, yet donations coming from out of state dollars, and via out of state mailings are good?

Just a question for our more computer savvy readers out there. And it’s a question eliciting a near eternal battle – PC or MAC?

I’ve been a PC person since moving from CPM-80 to the first version of MS Dos, and through every flavor of windows.

I’ve always been on the leading, if not bleeding edge of PC’s, and for about the last 20 years, I’ve built my own from scratch. I’ve never had any desire to own an apple product until the advent of the iPhone and iPad.

But, I’m starting to wonder if it’s time to dip my toe in the water.

I’ve always been told that the Macs are awfully nice to work with in doing graphic design, video editing, etc, and since with my subscription to the Adobe suite, I get both the PC and MAC versions, I’m somewhat tempted to give them a try.

Further piquing my interest is the fact my current AMD FX-8350 based PC has been a real pain in the @$$ lately; rebooting, acting funny, and general odd behavior I attribute to overheating and/or Windows 10. These are behaviors I’m not really appreciating when I’m in the middle of trying to do design work.

As we get past the primary, and I have a little more time, at a minimum I’m looking at a complete rebuild, going with one of the newer Intel i7’s and appropriate motherboard. But I’m seeing a few used Mac’s out there with stout enough specifications (and low enough prices) I’m tempted to give it a shot.

Anyone familiar with working with both?  What are your thoughts?

Keeping Our Skies Safe and Secure
By Sen. John Thune

Memorial Day has long marked the unofficial start to summer, and with it, a busy travel season quickly ensues. Whether you and your family are hopping in the car this summer for a trip across the state or boarding a plane for an adventure around the country or overseas, safety is rightfully top-of-mind. Everyone who relies on air travel wants peace of mind that airport officials – both in the United States and abroad – are doing everything they can to protect the traveling public and prevent bad actors from doing bad things.

Aviation safety and security was recently thrust back into the national conversation after an EgyptAir flight bound for Cairo, Egypt, crashed into the Mediterranean Sea in the middle of the night shortly after entering Egyptian airspace. Until the investigation is complete, no one can say with certainty what brought down the flight and the 66 lives that went with it, but absent clear evidence of a technical failure, terrorism cannot be ruled out. Although no credible claim of responsibility has yet to be made, U.S. and Egyptian officials have already suggested that terrorism or another form of foul play could be to blame for the downed flight.

In the Senate Commerce Committee, which I chair, aviation security has been one of our top priorities. Last December, the Commerce Committee approved legislation I authored that would protect the traveling public by tightening the vetting process for workers who have access to secure areas in airports throughout the country. We also approved an amended version of House legislation to expand PreCheck enrollments that will help shorten TSA screening lines. In April, these measures were included in my bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act of 2016 that the Senate approved by a vote of 95-3.

Also included in the package of security measures, which I co-sponsored with a bipartisan group of senators, including the Commerce Committee’s ranking member, is a provision that would strengthen security at international airports with direct flights into the United States, also known as last-point-of-departure airports. We must ensure that U.S.-bound flights meet the highest security standards.

Since it’s impossible to have TSA agents screening passengers outside of the United States at last-point-of-departure airports, our amendment requires the TSA to conduct a security risk assessment in conjunction with domestic and foreign partners, including foreign governments and airlines, and an assessment of TSA’s workforce abroad. The amendment also authorizes the TSA to donate security screening hardware to last-point-of-departure airports around the world that currently lack the necessary equipment.

The FAA bill, which contains all of these important security provisions and numerous other reforms, cleared the Senate last month with strong support. Taken together, these security reforms comprise a comprehensive approach to addressing emerging threats. It’s now time for my colleagues in the House of Representatives to take up this bill so we can get meaningful safety and security reforms that can protect air travelers around the United States to the president’s desk without delay.

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Obama Administration’s Illegal Implementation of Water Rule
U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD)

Since the misguided Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule was first proposed by the Obama administration in 2014, farmers, ranchers and local units of government in South Dakota and across the country have been rightly concerned about the rule’s impact on their operations. They were able to breathe a sigh of relief last October when a judge issued a nationwide stay halting the rule, but reports have recently surfaced that that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been moving forward with implementing the rule anyway – illegally. This is deeply troubling not only because it is another example of this administration blatantly ignoring the rule of law, but because the rights of landowners are being stripped away and they can no longer utilize their land due to burdensome permitting requirements that are being illegally imposed on them.

The WOTUS rule is one of the largest federal land grabs in the history of our country, giving the Army Corps and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) control of nearly all water, including man-made water management systems, farm ponds, drainage ditches and any other water that the EPA decides has a “significant nexus” to downstream water. Under WOTUS, farmers, ranchers and landowners would be forced – and allegedly are already being forced – to spend hours filling out burdensome paperwork to get permits from the EPA and Army Corps just to conduct normal agricultural activities or spray for weeds along our county roads.

The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee recently held a subcommittee hearing regarding the allegations that the Army Corps is expanding federal control over land and water via WOTUS despite the court-ordered stay. During the hearing, a representative of the American Farm Bureau testified that that the Army Corps is regulating farmland based on light-sensing radar and aerial photographs, and then refusing to share these documents with the landowner, claiming that they are classified. This is unacceptable. Farmers are losing the ability to manage their land and utilize it in the best way possible.

As I said during the hearing, when land is subject to burdensome and unreasonable permitting requirements based on incomplete information or the illegal implementation of a regulation, business owners and ag producers alike lose the ability to develop and properly manage their land, which essentially prohibits them from using the land that they rightfully own. Our farmers and ranchers should be focused on growing crops and caring for livestock, not wasting time filling out paperwork or waiting around to get a permit to spray weeds in their ditches.

Implementing the WOTUS rule despite the nationwide stay may not only be an illegal taking from landowners, it runs against the will of a majority of Members of Congress, states who have sued the administration and countless ag groups across the country. I will continue to do everything I can to expose these abuses and protect South Dakota landowners from this unacceptable federal overreach.

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Something Bigger
By Rep. Kristi Noem

The solemn nature of Memorial Day has been somewhat lost through the years. With so much going on, it’s easy to start thinking about the weekend as the launch point of summer, a day off work, or maybe a great time to get a good deal. The truth we all know is that Memorial Day is set aside to remember those who sacrificed everything to preserve our live, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

I don’t know what it is like to lose a family member to the trauma of war, but I do know how devastating it is for a child to lose her father. That is where my mind ultimately goes each Memorial Day: to the children, spouses, parents, and friends who are here today, reminding us that the price for freedom is high.

One of the most difficult things I’ve had to do while in office is call the families of a soldier who has fallen in action or lost their life to the physical and emotional wounds incurred in service. My heart shatters thinking about all they’ve lost, but even so, I know I can’t understand the true depth of their suffering. So, I pray for them.

The debt we owe these families and the service members they love can never be repaid. Nonetheless, we owe them our undying gratitude through our words, prayers, and actions.

One of the ways I tried to mark that recently was by flying a flag over the United States Capitol earlier this year to recognize the service of Eugene Fedt of Bryant. Eugene has been a dedicated member of the American Legion for 50 years and a lifelong steward of the American land he vowed to protect. It’s my honor to personally thank him in this way.

I encourage you to spend time this week thanking a veteran or the family of a fallen soldier. Take President John F. Kennedy’s advice that when expressing this gratitude “never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” Visit the Black Hills, Fort Meade, or Hot Springs National Cemeteries. Attend a Memorial Day celebration. Sit down with a disabled veteran. Invite a military family to dinner. Reach out to a member of the South Dakota National Guard and congratulate them on taking Gold in the 2016 Army Communities of Excellence Awards earlier this month. There are little things each of us can do this week and throughout the year to show how much we appreciate their sacrifices.

Author Joseph Campbell wrote: “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” To all our heroes – past, present and future – and to their families, I want to say thank you for dedicating yourself to something bigger. I am truly humbled and inspired by your service.

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