Merry Christmas from the Senator John Thune Family
I cleaned up my messy desk a little, and found the card I’d received from Senator Thune this week – Enjoy!
15 days until petitions for office can start circulating….
And despite their boasting, Democrats still don’t have a candidate for US Senate.
Governor Dennis Daugaard Family Christmas Card
I’ve got a few other cards I’ve received that I’m going to be posting, And today’s is the Governor Daugaard family card:
Keep them coming!
Christmas time is here: The Noem Family Christmas Card
As South Dakota seems to be given a snow day across much of the state today, it’s an appropriate time to start posting this years’ batch of Christmas Cards. And the first one is from Congresswoman Kristi Noem.
(Click to enlarge images)
Join the Minnehaha GOP TONIGHT for the GOP Debate watching party at the District
You’ve been invited! The Minnehaha County Republican Party is hosting a debate watching party tonight in Sioux Falls.
What? – Republican Presidential Debate Watching Party
When? – Tonight at 8 PM
Where? – The District – 4521 W Empire Pl, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57106
The Minnehaha Republicans will hold a debate watch party at The District, main dining area. Big screen TV, closed captioning and cash bar.
Update – word is from CNN that things will start around 7:30. Be at the District!
Noem: EPA Must be Held Accountable for Breaking the Law
Noem: EPA Must be Held Accountable for Breaking the Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Kristi Noem today released the following statement after the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) found the EPA violated federal law in promoting the agency’s controversial “waters of the United States” rule on social media:“The ‘waters of the U.S.’ rule could be the largest federal land grab in our lifetimes. Ranchers have raised concerns. Farmers have raised concerns. Homeowners, construction teams, and state governments have all raised concerns, and yet, the EPA has pushed the rule forward,” said Noem. “When they couldn’t find enough supporters, the EPA resorted to what the GAO calls ‘covert propaganda’ to create the illusion of grassroots backing. Not only did that violate the public trust, but they broke the law. The EPA must be held accountable for their actions.”
The GAO found that the EPA’s use of Thunderclap, an application that allows a social media message to be shared across multiple Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr accounts, was an unauthorized use of the EPA’s appropriations. It also found the agency in violation of a grassroots lobbying prohibition. To read the full GAO analysis, click here.
Paula Hawks’ theory of economics. Why did her classes get the magic job fairy, and mine didn’t?
I was poking around to see if Paula Hawks’ invisible campaign had bubbled up and shown any signs of life this month, and I was pointed back to something I’d written about earlier, where announced she was going to introduce a “Bernie Sanders-eque” resolution this next legislative session on college debt.
What has me revisiting the topic was one of the damndest misconceptions I think I’ve ever heard uttered from an elected official. I’ve been around 27 years, so that says it’s pretty darned goofy. From SDPB Radio’s website, the Paula Hawks theory of economics:
“Those kids who are choosing not to go to college because they can’t handle the debt or because they can’t secure the loans are stymied in their approach to economic development for themselves, and that slows down the process of economic development for everybody,” Hawks says. “And those kids who are finishing college and are saddled with that debt are not contributing to economic growth in South Dakota, because they can’t buy houses, they can’t buy cars, they can’t pursue their dreams and their ideals and what they hoped for having gone through college and being promised a great job with a great pay.”
I think there’s a lot wrong with that statement we can examine. but first and foremost, her claim of college students “having gone through college and being promised a great job with a great pay.”
Who promised anyone “great jobs?” I mean, seriously? I had previously known of no one at SDSU when I attended who walked into my classroom and said “Here’s a great job for you, and here’s a great job for you, and so on.” Clearly, I should have gone to Paula’s classes, because hers came with the magic job fairy who skipped over the political science department.
Paula’s theory of economics ignores the fact that in the real world, going to a school generally doesn’t promise you anything. Anything at all. Attending a college or university is not a guarantee of a darned thing. What does it mean? It means that on average, your economic opportunities are greater. As you can see from this chart…
… on average, the more education you have, the less likely you are to suffer from unemployment, and the more likely you are able to attain a higher salary. But, again, I don’t see anywhere where it promises anyone anything, despite her claims of people “being promised a great job with a great pay.”
Attending College provides an education, which is never a bad thing. And it opens up doors for opportunity. There may be jobs here and there. Or not, and to take a job, you have to travel away from your home, or across the country.
There is no societal responsibility on whether you take a certain kind of job. Whether to take an opportunity is up to the individual. You might take a mediocre job and try to move up in pay and responsibility. Or you do something until you can find something better. Or you can’t find a darn thing in your area, and you’re delivering pizza because you want to live in the area. That’s kind of up to you.
Paula Hawks may believe as she’d stated that people were promised things. But those of us who live in the real world know generally, no one has promised anyone anything. And it’s up to each of us to take opportunities, or to make our own.
That’s what people used to believe in America. Maybe it’s time they – including Paula – need to start considering the concept again.
The “Selective Public Record” in Hartford
From KELOland, it appears that one of the city council members under siege wanted to have his cake, and eat it too by reading an e-mail into the record which he tried to use to cast members of “growing Hartford” in a poor light….. but then he refused to put the full e-mail into the public record, potentially violating South Dakota open record laws:
The latest issues stem from an email council member Doyle Johnson read during a meeting earlier this month. It had hateful language towards Johnson and his family. Johnson claims it was from a prominent business owner in Hartford, but the name on the email remains a mystery.
Since it was read at a meeting, Johnson is required to submit the email for public record. He did two days later, but we found out tonight that the email submitted wasn’t the full letter.
The controversy in Hartford tonight is surrounding Johnson. The councilor says the original threatening email sent to him had a name at the bottom. But the email submitted to City Hall on December 3rd does not have a name.
“Since December 3rd, it appeared likely that the individual whose name was printed in the signature block was not the author. I have deleted all reference to that individual’s name in the copy that I provided to the city so as to not implicate that individual in a fabrication,” Johnson said.
An elected public official uses an e-mail to attack his opponents in a public forum by reading it into the public record. But he selectively edits it before attaching it to the minutes. Isn’t it nice he was protecting the person from all that awful public scrutiny by redacting their name? Or was it a case of all being BS from the start?
There’s something in this that smells rather badly. If he’s going to place it into the record by reading it, he doesn’t get to determine what people can and cannot see.
The 75-Million dollar question: Will legislators raise taxes two years in a row?
In a legislative forum recently in Pierre, the District 24 legislators met with the Pierre School Board, and discussed several topics, including teacher salaries.
The biggest question, where to find the money for it, faces a hurdle, as Rep Tim Rounds points out. They just raised taxes:
One of the biggest concerns for the Pierre School Board was finding the $75 million.
“I think one of the biggest questions is whether you would support that $75 million being new revenue,” said Pierre School District Superintendent Kelly Glodt.
That, state Rep. Tim Rounds said, would be an incredibly tough sell.
“You have to understand that this legislature passed a massive tax increase last year,” he said.
Rounds was referring to a bill passed last year that raised some state taxes to pay for highway maintenance. Asking the same group of overwhelmingly conservative lawmakers to increase taxes again, he said, may not work.
Can legislators find that loose change in the couch? Or are we going to see a penny sales tax? And if so, who will put their name on the line for it?
Annette Bosworth thinks it’s the giving season. As in you giving her money and your credit card number.
The latest Annette Bosworth Legal fund plea hit mailboxes today, just in time for Christmas, And Chad’s trial, (whenever that is). And as you’d expect, it’s a fundraising appeal full of enough exaggerations, fabrications, and outright falsehoods to fill every present under your tree.
But don’t take my word for it. Read for yourself:
I just received this at about ten this evening, but it had me howling in laughter enough that, pajama clad, I had to scurry down to my computer to post it. And just listen to the gems contained therein:
“I knew the choice of abortion disappointed God and Satin smiled when women fell for the trap of that quick fix.” and “When we pinched off the supply of money, Satin stirred their souls to attack whoever blocked the money.”
I’m not sure who Satin is. It does sound like a stripper name, though. She must be a bad person.
“The Attorney General tried to silence me by questioning my sanity…. “She believes in the power of prayer? Does she hear voices when she prays?” I mockingly said, “If you want to hear Jesus’ voice, open your bible and read a verse in red. That’s as close as I’ve ever been to hearing the voice of the Lord.””
When did this ever happen? I’m thinking this sounds a little made up, if not fabricated in someone’s head.
“Across the ocean, ISIS sliced the heads off of Christians and bombed teenagers at a concert. Shockingly persecution of Christians takes place right here. South Dakota’s DCI selected preachers listed on my petitions. Dark vehicles arrived at their homes where those DCI Officers asked the preachers to call their parishioners into the church. The preachers were interrogated in front of their parishioners asking questions about how they knew me and how long they have had their tax-exempt status.”
Again, when did the “interrogations in front of the parishioners actually happen? Didn’t we talk about this in the past as “never happening?” Writing it again still doesn’t mean it’s happened.
“The intimidation and suppression of Christian voters by the Attorney General has been well documented through affidavits and testimony.”
So, what affidavits, and what testimony?
“Judge Brown said in his fmal statements that my sentence would surely send a message. He stated that my desire to run for a political office was wrong. He further drove home that statement by reprimanding me for finding such harsh criticism for the political establishment serving South Dakota.”
Did we watch the same trial as Annette did? I don’t exactly recall those statements being uttered by Judge Brown.
“My access to information while running for U.S. Senate brought me closer to the hidden truths of our America. I learned of mothers that put their kids on school busses, only to find the government took their kids while at school.”
Did someone watch invasion of the Body Snatchers before they wrote this? Again, it seems a bit far fetched.
“I learned that Attorney General Jackley’ s office gets huge federal dollars [$80,000 per year per American Indian] when American Indian kids live inside the so·called social “handout” programs.”
I think both Marty and the state budget would tend to refute this.
“Knowing that the medical board is supervised by a carefully positioned Assistant Attorney General, I wasted no time in starting my 500 hours of community service hours.”….”Do not miss the fact that the medical board is run by the Attorney General’s office!!”
Again, more than stretching the truth, it’s a another fabrication. They have an assistant AG there as their attorney, but, in no way does he supervise the board. And a brief glance at statute dispels the untruth of “the AG runs the Medical Board.”
“…my husband, my most encouraging alley had 2 felony charges too.”
I’ll be he’s her “most encouraging alley.” Seriously, the nuttiness of this letter is not dispelled by the lack of spell check.
“To appeal this case to the South Dakota Supreme Court it will take roughly $100,000. The appeal of my medical license will cost nearly $65,000. Chad’s legal costs are estimated at $50,000. All this as they have squelched my revenue stream ·as a physician. Given everything that we’re now facing, raising $220,000 is a very steep task.” “We are going to continue to fight this war against Big Govermnent corruption. But it takes money. Lot’s of it.” “To make your donation by credit card, please provide the following information:”
What do they say about a fool and their money? If anyone is dumb enough to send her a dime, I suspect that adage would tend to apply.