A bold prediction, or setting up his opponent for a fail?

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from the Associated Press:

Noem campaign consultant Justin Brasell said he’s pleased with the fundraising pace for the quarter and that the congresswoman’s cash on hand total “puts her far and away in the best position she’s ever been in to start a new election cycle.”

and…

Minnehaha County Commissioner Jeff Barth, a Democrat and veteran South Dakota political observer, said Noem is “absolutely” an easier target for Democrats than Thune. He said the party should announce its candidates for both races at Saturday’s McGovern Day 2015, which is the largest annual gathering for South Dakota Democrats and this year features an appearance from Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Read it here.

So, is Jeff Barth intimating they will announce opponents…. Or is he saying the Democrats should have opponents, and setting up Ann Tornberg for failure? 

We’ll see.

Thune Statement on Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Legislation

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Thune Statement on Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Legislation

“Enacting TPA will be a boon to the economy, expanding opportunities for American workers and giving American farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers access to new markets for their goods.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), member of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade-related matters, issued the following statement on today’s announcement of bipartisan trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation introduced by U.S. Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.):

“Today’s announcement is much-needed good news for American workers and businesses. Enacting TPA will be a boon to the economy, expanding opportunities for American workers and giving South Dakota farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers access to new markets for their goods,” Thune said. “The challenges facing our nation are best solved when members of both parties come together to find solutions for the American people, and I commend Sens. Hatch and Wyden and Chairman Ryan for their efforts on TPA and other trade-related issues.”

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Thune to NPS: Accept Responsibility for Cold Brook Fire

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Thune to NPS: Accept Responsibility for Cold Brook Fire

“The NPS needs to accept responsibility for this fire, assume liability for damages and expenses, and change its burn policies.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.— In a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Department of Interior Sally Jewell, U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today called on the National Park Service (NPS) to change its prescribed burn policies. Thune also called on the NPS to accept full liability for damages and expenses to individuals and local and state government entities and provide a timeline and process for reimbursement for the April 13 Cold Brook Fire that burned more than 6,500 acres in Wind Cave National Park.

“It’s been just over two years since landowners and ranchers suffered losses due to the Pautre Fire in northwest South Dakota resulting from an irresponsible prescribed burn set by yet another federal agency when extremely dry conditions and high fire danger were present,” said Thune. “The Cold Brook Fire started by the NPS is just another example of a federal agency taking questionable action without first collaborating with adjacent landowners and local and state officials. The NPS needs to accept responsibility for this fire, assume liability for damages and expenses, and change its burn policies. I am going to continue to hold the NPS accountable and look forward to seeing the agency’s response to my requested prescribed burn policy modifications and timeline for reimbursement.”

On April 13, 2015, the NPS conducted a prescribed burn in the southern portion of Wind Cave National Park, located in the Black Hills. The prescribed burn was intended to cover 1,100 acres; however, due to the extreme dry conditions present at the prescribed burn site, the Cold Brook Fire quickly escalated out of control consuming more than 6,500 acres of Wind Cave National Park.

The text of Thune’s letter is below:
__

April 16, 2015

Secretary Sally Jewell
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20240

Dear Secretary Jewell:

On April 13, 2015, the National Park Service Forest Service (NPS) conducted a prescribed burn in the southern portion of Wind Cave National Park, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The prescribed burn was intended to cover 1,100 acres; however, due to the extremely dry conditions present at the prescribed burn site the fire, named the Cold Brook Fire, quickly escalated out of control consuming more than 6,500 acres of Wind Cave National Park.

In certain circumstances prescribed burns play an important role in federal lands management. However, when a prescribed burn is the recommended management tool, intentionally setting one for any reason in tinder dry forestland or grassland when extremely dry conditions exist is entirely unwarranted and inexcusable and once started has a high likelihood of burning out of control. Historically, carelessly set prescribed burns have resulted in unnecessary endangerment of firefighters, and have destroyed homes, personal property, and public lands.

I strongly urge a thorough and critical review of the Department’s prescribed burn policies and collaboration with local and state authorities and adjacent landowners prior to initiating any future burn. The current prescribed burn practice of following a “prescription” checklist before starting a fire obviously is not adequately preventing prescribed burns from being set in unsafe conditions that are resulting in out-of-control wildfires. There is an urgent need for you to do more to ensure that prescribed burns can continue to be used as a management tool without jeopardizing lives and property.

I fully expect the Department of Interior to assume complete liability for any damages caused as a result of the Cold Brook Fire. Even though the fire was contained to Wind Cave National Park property, I have been informed that fire lines were established on private property and that the intense smoke will likely damage the lungs of young calves in the vicinity resulting in high risk of pneumonia and death loss.

Within 30 days please provide me with a detailed plan for reimbursement to all who were damaged due to this fire, including private individuals, landowners, and local, county, and state entities who suffered economic losses or contributed resources to fighting this fire. Included in the requested plan please provide how claims will be established and processed, and the timeline for reimbursement.

The Cold Brook Fire could easily have been prevented and I strongly urge you to take whatever actions necessary to prevent future occurrences. I fully expect the Department to accept full responsibility and liability for the damages, losses, and expenses due to this fire.

Sincerely,

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Thune Praises House Repeal of Death Tax

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Thune Praises House Repeal of Death Tax

“This legislation will finally give farmers, ranchers and family business owners the peace of mind of knowing that they no longer have to spend substantial sums on planning to minimize their death tax liability.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today praised the House of Representatives bipartisan passage of a bill to permanently abolish the estate tax, more commonly referred to as the death tax. The Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, which Thune introduced in the Senate, passed the House by a vote of 240 to 179. Thune offered the following statement regarding today’s vote:

“The death of a loved one should not be a taxable event. Imposing yet another layer of taxation, as high as 40 percent, on a family’s life savings is not just bad for the economy, it’s unfair to those who have spent their entire lives building job-creating small businesses, farms, and ranches in their local communities. This legislation will finally give farmers, ranchers, and family business owners the peace of mind of knowing that they no longer have to spend substantial sums on planning to minimize their death tax liability. I applaud the House’s bipartisan approval of this bill and look forward to the Senate taking it up later this year.”

The Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015 will now be sent to the Senate for further consideration. Last month, the Senate adopted Thune’s amendment to the Fiscal Year 2016 budget resolution to create a deficit neutral reserve fund to eliminate the death tax.

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Noem Helps Lead House on Permanent Death Tax Repeal

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Noem Helps Lead House on Permanent Death Tax Repeal

Washington, D.C. – Representative Kristi Noem today helped lead the House in passing a full and permanent repeal of the death tax with bipartisan support.  Noem’s family farm was hit by the death tax after her father passed away.

“Shortly after my dad passed away in a farming accident, my family got a letter from the IRS telling us that we owed a tax because he had died,” said Noem.  “I have never understood why the federal government thought it was appropriate to go after families with this double tax – especially in a time of crisis.  My dad had already paid taxes on the equipment, the land, and any money we had in the bank.  Now, we had to pay taxes on it again because he had passed away.  It’s not right.  No family should have to go through that.  I am committed to repealing the death tax and today we took a big step toward accomplishing that.”

A member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Noem joined Reps. Kevin Brady (R-TX), Sanford Bishop (D-GA) and Devin Nunes (R-CA) in introducing H.R.1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, on February 26, 2015.  The bill fully repeals the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes – more commonly known as the “death tax.” The legislation will now be sent to the Senate.

Watch Rep. Noem’s Powerful Testimony on the Death Tax
(Ways and Means Committee Hearing, 3/25/15)

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Don’t forget the Brown County Lincoln Day Dinner tomorrow night!

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Just a reminder not to forget the Brown County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner tomorrow night, Featuring Senator Thune & Congresswoman Noem, and emceed by Lt Gov Matt Michels.

Social at 5:30, Dinner at 6:30.  Tickets are $40 each or $280 per table.

According to their facebook page, there are a couple of ways to purchase tickets, You can Call Char at 380-8370 or Wayne at 380-3560. Or order them online at: https://www.ticketriver.com/event/14927

Word is this will be another dinner with people rumored to have an interest in the 2018 Governor’s race all in attendance.

After going through several attorneys, Accused former US Senate Candidate Clayton Walker still awaits a trial date.

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Democrat Clayton Walker, whose 2014 petition for US Senate was ‘signed’ by such luminaries as “Jeff Bridges,” “Ryan Reynolds,” and “Bambi Lake,”  is still awaiting trial as the prosecution of his case proceeds forward.  If you recall, Clayton was arrested for allegedly falsifying signatures on his petitions. And was arrested again for calling several state offices threatening and harassing employees.

The Attorney General’s office is reporting to SDWC that a motions hearing is in the process of being scheduled in the case, and will likely be held on April 29th.

While the events in this case took place early last year, Walker himself has likely been the cause of many of the delays in the matter. As his third attorney was attempting to jettison the case, a February Capitol Journal Article noted that Walker was ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation and a competency hearing was possibly going to be scheduled:

“I think rather than spelling everything out … I’ll just say I can’t work with him,” Rensch said. “I can tell you based upon what happened that we have become adversarial.”

In a written response to Rensch’s motion, Walker said the attorney/client relationship couldn’t have been broken because they had only met once. Walker also accused Rensch’s staff of lying to the lawyer and accused Rensch of wanting to withdraw from the case because it had become “politicized.”

“My attorney only wants to wiggle out of my case because he found out how highly politicized this case is with election fraud by the state and a cover up by a state university,” Walker said in a written statement asking for a hearing on Rensch’s motion to withdraw.

and..

Brown denied the motion saying Walker’s trouble working with his lawyers was causing the delays.

Walker’s trial date was not been set, Brown said, because he want to wait for the results of Walker’s evaluation and hold a competency hearing.

Read it all here.

The Walker case is the second case of alleged petition signature inconsistencies that the Attorney General’s office is prosecuting from the 2014 US Senate Race, with the first being the Annette Bosworth matter, which is scheduled to go to trial in May.