Rounds Honored with U.S. Chamber ‘Spirit of Enterprise’ Award

John Kirchner, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Director for the Midwest Region (left) presents Rounds (right) with the Spirit of Enterprise Award in Sioux Falls on May 3, 2018

SIOUX FALLS – U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) received the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Spirit of Enterprise’ Award for his support of pro-growth economic policies in the first session of the 115th Congress.

“It’s a good time to be doing business in America, thanks to a slate of legislative accomplishments that laid the groundwork for more economic growth and job creation,” said Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “These efforts to advance commonsense, growth-oriented legislation will help Main Street American businesses thrive. We commend Sen. Rounds for his commitment to promoting and protecting American free enterprise and economic prosperity.”

The Chamber’s prestigious Spirit of Enterprise Award is given annually to members of Congress based on their votes on critical business legislation as outlined in the Chamber’s How They Voted scorecard. Members who supported the Chamber’s position on at least 70 percent of those votes qualify to receive the award. Rounds scored an 86 percent.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.

There’s a recent entrant into the blogosphere that seems to have a particular point of view that we’ve heard before.  Southdakotawatchdog.org, comes from Nick Reid, manager of the Gordon Howie campaign in 2014, and who also served as statewide field organizer for the ill-fated Amendment V, which tried to use a change in the constitution to hide party affiliation on the ballot.

Over the past couple of months, the website has been active featuring trains of thought that we’ve heard before such as how Annette Bosworth was wronged, but is now vindicated, how supposedly the Attorney General “let a pedophile rapist off,” even though the AG actually didn’t prosecute the case, etcetera and so on.

(Did I mention they really don’t like the Attorney General?)

Too much of it seems to be the same silliness that was barfed forth on social media in the lead up to the Bosworth trial.  It seems to be less about being an objective watchdog, and more about being an attack dog.

Stay tuned.

Jackley Announces Ag and Rail Platforms

PIERRE: After traveling the state to meet with producers from every corner of South Dakota, Attorney General Marty Jackley is announcing his platform for the future of South Dakota agriculture and rail.

“Our team’s plan is informed by our personal experiences with farming and ranching, as well as the expertise of the stakeholders who have joined our campaign by and for South Dakota,” Jackley said. “After traveling the state to listen to farmers, ranchers, processors, cooperatives, truckers, researchers, and agriculture education instructors, I’ve heard the voices who make up the backbone of our agricultural way of life. All of those voices brought together helped build our Growing South Dakota Ag Initiative to support the more than 31,000 farms and ranches across our state.”

Jackley’s ag and rail platforms call for action on the following:

• Enhance transportation infrastructure, including rail projects at the Wolsey Interchange, Napa Junction, and improvements to existing state-owned rail.
• Support our growing livestock sector by promoting best management practices, education, and research.
• Expand value-added agriculture with more flexibility in the use of the REDI Fund and full utilization of the Value-Added Ag Subfund to provide grants and loans for development.
• Hold the line on property taxation and look for ways to reduce the property tax burden.
• Support advances in ag research and precision agriculture to increase the number of South Dakota producers who gain from these benefits.
• Expand access to international markets by promoting sound trade policy and leading South Dakota trade delegations to areas with growing economies such as China, South America, and the Pacific Rim.
• Fight EPA bureaucracy and useless DC regulations when they hurt South Dakota agriculture. I have successfully fought these as attorney general and will continue to fight them as governor.
• Increase the production of ethanol, oilseeds, and biodiesel, support the Renewable Fuel Standard and oppose EPA efforts to expand the number of RFS small refinery waivers that reduce South Dakota biofuel production.
• Expand agricultural education, internship opportunities, and curriculum.
• Promote natural resources conservation by aggressively fighting the pine beetle infestations in the Black Hills, promoting water quality through tax incentives, and encouraging investments in wildlife habitat on state and private lands.

“When our ag economy is strong, all of South Dakota is strong,” Jackley said. “Together, we can build the infrastructure, create the value, and generate the capital we need to maximize our ag industry’s competitiveness and provide an even brighter future for rural South Dakota.”

Read the Marty Jackley Growing South Dakota Ag Initiative in its entirety here.

Read the Marty Jackley Rail Initiative in its entirety here.

Codington County Sheriff Brad Howell Endorses Ravnsborg for Attorney General

WATERTOWN, SD: Codington County Sheriff Brad Howell endorses Attorney General Candidate Jason Ravnsborg.

“Jason is a tremendously hard-working individual, who I have discussed a number of the issues facing Codington County and our state. I have seen his presentations and appreciate his willingness to work tirelessly and engage with law enforcement to hear our concerns. I am impressed with his ideas and solutions to move our state forward. I am proud to endorse Jason for Attorney General and look forward to working with him in the future.” Sheriff Howell said.

Sheriff Howell has been working law enforcement keeping the public safe since 2002.

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Since yesterday, the John Fitzgerald campaign has released several endorsements for his candidacy for Attorney General:

Stay tuned.. more election information to come!

I finally had a moment to upload my photos from last night’s Americans for Prosperity – South Dakota Gubernatorial Debate. Enjoy!

Moderator & AFP Director Don Haggar questions Marty & Kristi.

Attorney General Marty Jackley addresses the gathered crowd..

As does Congresswoman Kristi Noem, who makes a point…

…as Don listens intently.

Another shot of Marty.

Closing the debate. An absolutely great event!

I’ll have more photos up in a bit, but both of these gentlemen had a good night last night. Mayor-elect Paul TenHaken, and AFP Director Don Haggar!

Jonathan Ellis at the Argus repeats some of what I wrote about last week about the final days of the Loetscher campaign in his column which will likely appear in Sunday’s Argus, in his newest column “The week that doomed the Loetscher campaign”

Loetscher fully embraced the Democratic Party, campaigning at the state party’s annual McGovern Day fundraiser and running on a platform of identity politics of racial diversity and gay rights that is unusual for South Dakota.

and…

Loetscher decided to play for all the marbles. She went negative. She mangled it.

and..

Suddenly, she had a trust issue, an issue that only got worse when authorities found no evidence of hacking. Then, too, came scrutiny of her “biotech company.” Prior to her foray into politics, Loetscher had started a dog poop cleaning business. Any small business owner or entrepreneur brings value to politics. But Loetscher overplayed her hand by referring to the venture as a biotech company.

and…

Meanwhile, on policy issues, the police union repudiated her plan to create police precincts.

Everything had gone very badly. Indeed, she likely would have done better if she’d simply taken the final week off and taken a vacation somewhere. Instead, she suffered a historic defeat.

Read it all here.

With Loetscher saying she will  “grow her biotechnology company” in her concession speech, I’m not sure she ultimately gets it. That her tendency towards exaggeration was ultimately her achilles heel in this election.  A point illustrated and underlined several times in a landslide of a complete and total victory for her opponent when he brought home an authoritative 62.7% against her 37.3% vote.

Restlawn Alliance Group seeking stronger cemetery protection measures in South Dakota

State Attorney General Marty Jackley was recently interviewed by KELO’s Angela Kennecke for a two-part story about Restlawn Memory Gardens, a cemetery south of Huron. The story focused on troubling issues at the cemetery including extraordinary delays in the delivery of pre-paid markers, failure to repair damaged markers, poor maintenance of the cemetery and mausoleum, and questions about the state of the cemetery’s endowed trust. Jackley noted as a priority the importance of examining situations like these for evidence of criminal activity or a violation in the use of the trust funds.

Here is a link to the first part of the story:
http://www.keloland.com/news/article/investigates/families-upset-by-cemetery-s-condition

Here is the link to the second:
http://www.keloland.com/news/article/investigates/grave-disgrace

Jackley also stated that, in light of this situation, he would encourage South Dakota legislators to look into cemetery laws to prevent situations like this from happening again. We, from the Restlawn Alliance of South Dakota, a group of citizens who are concerned about the cemetery, appreciate Jackley’s stand. We encourage other state officials to help enact laws and enforcement mechanisms to protect not just this cemetery, but all cemeteries across South Dakota.

You can read more about the Restlawn Alliance at restlawnalliance.com