I just caught this story from a few days back over at SD Standard where it appears that the South Dakota Democrat Party has canceled Sheldon Osborn, one of their visible & long-time party activists for apparently having the temerity to speak his mind. Unfortunately for some Democrats, the fact that people listened to him was problematic enough that they felt the need to strip him of party office:

On Saturday, he was told his efforts were no longer needed. Osborn was recalled as Region 3 representative during a South Dakota Region 3 State Central Committee meeting on Saturday. Region 3 includes legislative districts 9, 10, 11, 14 and 15, covers Minnehaha County and includes Sioux Falls and a section of Hartford.

and..

In a notice of the Zoom meeting to decide his status, Region 3 officials said Osborn, a 76-year-old accountant and commercial property manager with a lengthy history of party activism, actually posed a risk.

“Our party, especially at a local level, faces many threats, but the continuous presence and undermining behavior of Sheldon Osborn is the most dangerous threat to the success of party efforts in our state’s largest county,” it states. “For these reasons and more, a majority of Region 3 SCC members seek an expeditious process to recall and replace Sheldon Osborn.”

and..

He said Erik Muckey, the chair of the Minnehaha County Democratic Party, was especially sensitive to any criticism. Muckey is the CEO of Lost&Found, which describes itself as “the region’s largest youth and young adult-focused (ages 10-34) suicide prevention and postvention nonprofit.”

In addition, he is the founder and managing partner of Pasq, a Sioux Falls consulting firm. Former SDDP Executive Director Berk Ehrmantraut is Pasq’s director of operations and Jessica Meyers, the former party vice chair, is a managing partner.

Muckey circulated a petition to recall Osborn. Among the signers were state Sen. Reynold Nesiba and 2020 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jamie Smith, who is running to replace the term-limited Nesiba in the state Senate. Ehrmantraut notarized the petition.

Read the entire story here.

For quite a few years, Osborne’s regular commentary as part of his “Drinking Liberally” website was the only place to get an honest opinion on the inner happenings at the South Dakota Democrat party coming from a member of the rank & file. And from the sounds of it, there are those in the new woke leadership team who doesn’t really like those dissenting views.

I mean, writing this website, I get Sheldon’s dilemma. Do you consent to that with which you disagree by silence, or do you shine the light of day?  There have been plenty of occasions where a few past members of House legislative leadership would make backbiting efforts to try to cancel me with the Republican party. Thankfully, those that are elected to lead the Republican party are made of sterner stuff.

In a few written interactions I’ve had with Sheldon, and in reading his commentary about the innerworkings of the SDDP with interest, Sheldon never struck me as a person who sought to sow chaos as much as have a viewpoint that came with a different set of tools and experiences, such as when the Democrat Party managed to experience success in their goals.

If the house that State Democrats have built isn’t strong enough to withstand a few contrary words, they probably deserve what they have coming down the line.

I’m sure Sheldon will be happy having a beer on the patio, and I’m sure others will be happy to join as he watches.

SD Ag Alliance Applauds Legislative Leadership’s “Good Neighbor Policy” to Regulate Carbon Pipelines

(Pierre, SD) Senate Majority Leader Casey Crabtree and House Majority Leader Will Mortenson have announced a “Good Neighbor” legislative package that will establish protections for landowners and funding for counties.

“The SD Ag Alliance supports the legislative package because it creates significant protections for landowners,” said Rob Skjonsberg, founding member. “Like any significant proposal, details will continue to be worked out. Senator Crabtree and Representative Mortenson are to be commended for tackling such an important issue.”

“The legislative package is good for landowners and creates regulatory certainty for pipelines which is a win-win for South Dakota,” said Jason Glodt, founding member.

The legislative package is comprised of three bills (Senate Bill 201 and House Bills 1185 and 1186) and provides protections for landowners, funding for counties and regulatory certainty for businesses.

Protections for Landowners: The legislative package established protections for landowners, including 1) land survey reform; 2) liability protection; 3) minimum depth of carbon-capture pipelines of four feet; 4) lifetime repair of drain-tile, 5) release of dispersion models; and 6) additional compensation for landowners.

Funding for Counties and Townships: The legislative package also includes funding for counties and townships, including funds to maintain roads. The legislation will also create an extraordinary expenses fund which will be paid for by carbon pipelines. The state, counties, and townships will be able to access the funds to cover costs incurred for emergency response training and to purchase equipment.

Open for Business: In addition, the legislation will keep South Dakota open for business by creating legal and regulatory certainty for businesses.

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Supporting American Families
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
February 2, 2024

BIG Update

The Houthi attacks in the Red Sea are disrupting global shipping routes, threatening supply chains, and endangering human life. Twenty percent of all container shipping passes through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, but due to the conflict they must be rerouted. The detour is costly, to the tune of an additional $1 million in fuel costs and an additional ten days of travel time. Shipping rates from Asia to Europe have nearly doubled and freight rates for U.S.-bound cargo have also spiked.

This week, I urged the Biden Administration to secure the Red Sea and restore the safe passage of trade in the region. We may not be able to part the Red Sea like Moses, but if we can’t restore the normal flow of trade, Americans and consumers around the world will pay the cost.

BIG Idea

School nurses are often the first in line to care for our kids when they are at school. Carrie has been a school nurse for 25 years and is well aware of the needs of students and staff. As the South Dakota Director for the National Association of School Nurses, she advocates for school nurses and works to equip them with the tools and skills to keep our students safe and healthy.

We discussed fentanyl use among teens and the necessity to equip school nurses with Narcan to prevent overdose deaths. It’s unfortunate, but fentanyl is leading cause of death for teens. One pill can kill.

BIG News

The House passed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act this week to restore many Trump-era tax cuts. This pro-growth, pro-family, pro-small business tax policy will boost U.S. competitiveness on the global stage. Should the bill be signed into law, the Child Tax Credit will be increased to keep up with inflation and the penalty for large families would be eliminated to ensure child tax credit work incentives apply equally to all families. I was proud to support the bill to bring relief to American families and Main Street businesses who have struggled to keep up with inflation.

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Matters of State: Why the Invasion at the Southern Border is a Threat to States’ Rights
By: Governor Kristi Noem
February 2, 2024

For almost 250 years America has been the standard of a government of, by, and for the people. But today, the American people are not secure. We have a national security crisis at our Southern Border because the federal government is facilitating the violation of federal law. 

A nation without borders is not a nation at all. A government that does not value the security of its people is not only negligent but inhumane.

When the federal government fails to uphold its duty to the people, the responsibility falls to the states. But Democrat politicians are urging President Biden to federalize the Texas National Guard. If he were to do that, it would be the first time in American history that a president activated American armed forces explicitly to stand down, to make us less safe, to not protect the United States of America. And if President Biden can do that to Texas, he can do it to South Dakota – or any other state.

Governors are Commanders in Chief of our National Guards. These soldiers report to us, not the federal government. We understand our unique situations better than a distant federal authority can. I trust Governor Abbott to make the best decisions for his National Guard, just as I make the best decisions for ours here in South Dakota.

South Dakota is directly affected by this invasion. We are affected by cartel presence on our tribal reservations; by the spread of drugs and human trafficking throughout our communities; and by the drain on our resources at the local, state, and federal level. 

South Dakota was the first state in the nation to send National Guard soldiers to help. We later deployed our Lakota helicopters on a federal mission when the Biden Administration needed help with surveillance of drug traffickers. Last summer, when Governor Abbott again asked for assistance, we sent more troops.

And now, the sheer number of illegal migrants coming into the country has made it so that every state is now a border state. This isn’t just an issue for Texas and other states along the border. This is an issue for every American. And this issue is about preserving this great nation for our kids and our grandkids.

This war is primarily being fought at the southern border, but it affects us here in South Dakota, too. We might see the effects differently than Texas, but make no mistake – the open border affects everyone. It is South Dakota’s duty to protect our people.

We need to be prepared to stand united to protect our state’s constitutional right to defend ourselves. I am proud to support what Texas is doing to defend itself because I realize the consequences of what will happen if they don’t. The cartels are here in South Dakota, and they are perpetuating violence and criminal activity daily on South Dakota families. They are killing our children with their drugs and trafficking. These cartels are being fed from over the open southern border where more dangerous individuals are entering the country to destroy America from within.

It’s time to stand strong together.

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I had better things to do as I begin my workday here at South Dakota’s happiest political website – celebrating 19 years, and based in the lower level of my home in Brookings, when I checked Facebook… and noticed that Congressional Explorer Toby Doeden must still be butt hurt over how I pointed out he has never voted in a Republican Primary during the course of the last 20 years.   

Why? Because he’s paying to run advertisements on facebook for the video he made attacking me after my pointing this out. (I’ll put up the graphic again, since it seems to have vexed him so.)

For Republicans, that’s a bad voting record. Toby, bad voting record. Bad, bad voting record!

Ultimately, it was his choice whether to participate in the Republican elections across the last 20 years, so I’m not sure why he feels the need to shoot the messenger. But, I’m guessing self-reflection to be a better person is not a tool in his toolbox.  

Speaking of shooting the messenger, what’s Toby spending to attack me?

So far, there appears to be 2 flights of the amateurish ads that he started running yesterday to the tune of $900 total, which he’s targeted to an audience of 500,000 – 1,000,000 people.

That’s nearly $1000 he’s not spending to increase his name identification. He’s not using it to hire campaign staff. Not spending on stickers or flyers. Not even using it to reduce some poor single mother’s rent after he raised it by 48% this last year.  Nope.

All that time, energy, and money are going towards calling me a poopy-head like a 12 year old girl on tik tok?

This campaign is over before it ever began.

Economic Expansion Powered by South Dakota Ethanol Producers

New study shows farm income could increase by $128 million annually with SAF

ONIDA, S.D. (February 1, 2024) – In a significant boost to South Dakota’s economy, the SD Ethanol Producers Association share the promising economic impacts from the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) industry, as revealed by a Decision Innovation Solutions (DIS) study, released today.

The introduction of SAF production, particularly from fats, oils, and greases (HEFA-SAF) and ethanol-to- jet (ETJ-SAF), is set to escalate ethanol production capacity in South Dakota remarkably. The potential includes an additional 400 million gallons of ethanol capacity and the establishment of new ETJ-SAF plants utilizing 426 million gallons of ethanol yearly that would require an additional 147 million bushels of corn. This also opens doors for the construction of one or more HEFA-SAF plants in South Dakota, capable of processing the soybean oil from 167 million bushels of soybeans.

The study shows the construction and operation of these facilities promise a significant economic injection over the next 25 years, with profound effects on the state’s economic growth.

Economic highlights include:

• The creation of 9,089 construction jobs, adding more than $750 million into South Dakota’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and an increase of $600 million in labor income.
• An addition of 5,247 permanent new jobs post-
• An increase in household income by $241 million.
• An impressive $667 million boost to South Dakota’s GDP.

To fully realize the potential of SAF, the study shows it’s crucial to establish a stable public policy environment and develop carbon capture and sequestration opportunities for ethanol producers. While some ETJ-SAF can be produced from ethanol plants capable of onsite CO2 sequestration, meeting the full demand requires further innovation and support.

The South Dakota Ethanol Producers Association are committed to advancing the state’s economic well-being and job opportunities. We are poised to propel economic development and employment in South Dakota, and we need carbon capture and storage pipelines to get there.

To read the full study, go to: https://sdethanol.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/South_Dakota_Sustainable_Aviation_Fuel_for_the_-Future.pdf

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My text messaging and my phone just started blowing up first thing this afternoon today.  It started off with “Congrats on being Toby’s new opponent!” with the following image attached:

“Pat Powers is one of the dirtiest you’ll find in South Dakota.”   Well.. that kind of hurts. I took a shower yesterday whether I needed it or not! Had a dental appointment, and I was trying to be polite.

Oh! it wasn’t about hygiene?   It was actually about the fact I write about South Dakota politics. (SDWC birthday alert – and have done so for 19 years next week). So it’s nothing I haven’t heard before. I’m quite sure I’m awful and disliked by politicians and dogs alike. One of my daughters who saw this remarked that “He picked good photos of you.”  Well, thank God for that!

I mean, I’d hate to get in a candidate’s head and have them use bad photos of me.

Mrs. Dakotawarcollege –  who is far brighter than me, hence the Dr. in front of her name – did notice one thing.  That Toby appears to have completely recovered and found himself healed from the sudden onset of illness that triggered his forced cancellation from speaking to Brown County Republicans today. The affliction that supposedly left him so infirm and frail that he couldn’t address the Republican faithful in his own hometown.

Clearly Toby has turned around one of the worst cases of the 24 hour I-don’t-vote-in-republican-primaries influenza viruses that we’ve ever seen.  Thankfully your thoughts and prayers for this congressional explorer have healed him like it was a gosh darned tent revival.  Either that or it was Ivermectin.

Whatever the reason for his equally sudden cure, it clearly healed him enough to provide newfound strength to go after someone who looked up voter records.

I’m not sure how to best commemorate the occasion.

Probably a button.

I’ll see about getting some made. They’re durable, and there’s a chance it may be a long campaign.

While he wasn’t well enough to explain to Republicans why he has never voted in a Republican primary, convalescent ‘Congressional explorer’ Toby Doeden bravely mustered enough strength to arise from his sick bed long enough to explain to a supporter that he’s just sure that someone will try to bribe him to stay out of the congressional race.

If you hadn’t heard, someone was supposedly offering money to get Kari Lake not to run for Senate in Arizona. The latest speculation was that it might have even come from the Trump Team. It’s all rather murky.

But of course, the paranoid conspiracists and ultra-right facebook addicts that make up Doeden’s core supporters had to know – has he been approached with a bribe to get out of the race?

And of course, Toby (or the people chained to a desk to write on his behalf) are saying not yet, but I’m sure it’s coming!

“I 100% haven’t been approached, yet. I reckon it’s because we are an exploratory committee at this point. One way or the other, I’m sure this offer will be made at some point..”

Er.. yeah. You betcha. I’m suuuuurreee that’s going to happen. (That was sarcasm)

Someone must have mixed his aspirin with his coca-cola to addle him to this degree. If anyone is going to make a donation, there are two far more likely scenarios.

#1 – Local residents might donate a couple of gas cards to get him on the campaign trail and out of Aberdeen to save the community the embarrassment of being associated with him. As in “please, we’d like to help you leave town for a while…“

#2 – State political blog writers might send him money to stay in the race, because this stuff is absolute comedy gold. But then again, most of us don’t do this for the money, so that’s less likely to happen.

Yep – going with #1. His neighbors will likely want to encourage this clown’s away travel. Far, far away.

The announced Democrat in the race for Congress, Zach Kovach has filed his latest FEC Report for his committee “Friends of Zachary Kovach.” And in reading, it’s clear Zach needs to find some more friends.

Friends of Zachary Kovach 2023 YE by Pat Powers on Scribd

$880 raised, $2572.78 spent, a negative $1302.76 cash on hand, with 390.02 owed.

It’s tough enough trying to run a campaign from another state, where he’s located in Colorado, but doing so when it’s doing nothing but costing him money, I kind of feel bad for him at this point. Not enough to send him money mind you. But jeez. This is not looking like it’s going in a direction that will bring him success.

Might be time for Zach to cut bait before it gets more expensive.