Noem Urges USDA to Act Quickly in Delivering Livestock Forage Program Relief

Washington, D.C. – Rep. Kristi Noem today issued the following statement after the U.S. Drought Monitor indicated six South Dakota counties had been categorized as D3 (extreme drought), triggering the Livestock Forage Program (LFP).  Ranchers in Campbell, Dewey, Walworth, Potter, McPherson, and Edmunds are eligible for three months of LFP payments.

“This year’s drought conditions have led to extremely poor grass growth, resulting in feed shortages and limited grazing,” said Noem.  “Ranchers are being forced to sell yearlings and cow-calf pairs just to make ends meet.  It’s because of years like this that I fought so hard to preserve the Livestock Forage Program during the 2014 Farm Bill debate and why I’ll continue to do so as we prepare for the next Farm Bill.  With LFP now triggered, I urge the USDA to act quickly to provide producers relief.”

Noem has also urged USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to immediately release all South Dakota CRP acres for haying.

Noem served on the 2014 Farm Bill Conference Committee, which negotiated the Livestock Disaster Programs.  The 2014 Farm Bill reauthorized and strengthened the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), the Livestock Forage Program (LFP) and the Emergency Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP).

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Read it here.

As she makes preparations for her fundraiser with Tina Mulalley and State Rep. Lynn DiSanto in Rapid City tonight, I noticed that Congressional Candidate and Secretary of State Shantel Krebs put in an appearance at last weekend’s parade in Hot Springs, SD:

From the Argus Leader, apparently Sioux Falls’ egomaniac in chief, Mayor Mike Huether sent out a press release with an announcement of his future plans. Specifically, yet another missive on what he’s not running for:

Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether announced Thursday he will not be running for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Kristi Noem.

Huether, whose second term as mayor ends in May 2018, said in a release he will not seek to fill the opening in the U.S. House of Representatives next November.

Read it here.

Good lord. Who else sends out a press release announcing what he’s NOT running for?

I’m not sure who is more ridiculous, Huether for sending it out, or the rest of us for giving it the media coverage it doesn’t deserve. Because he wouldn’t be sending these things out if we wouldn’t mention it!

I blame ourselves, and the fact it’s a very, very slow time in political news, so you take what you get, even if it’s the bitter dregs.

So, until Huether announces he isn’t running for President in 2020…. stay tuned.

Just received this e-mail update from Campaign Manager Erin Schoenbeck of the Dusty Johnson Campaign on the campaign’s recent activities:

There’s comings and goings at the SDWC website, and I’m happy to announce that the South Dakota Banker’s Association has re-upped their advertising, and I’m proud to announce that they’re going to be with us another year!

Make sure you click on the link, and find out about the important work your local lending institutions do to keep our communities growing and healthy!

And while I’m on the topic, I’d remind you that if you’re looking to reach an audience that is among the most public affairs minded and politically engaged in the state, the SDWC has another rare opening towards the top of the page in it’s advertising line-up, as well as a few other select positions. Once these spots are filled, that’s it, and they may be locked up through the election.

Advertising on the Dakotwarcollege.com website is based on a first come, first serve basis for the available positions.  Advertising slots in the main column are 300×350 pixel ads, which may scale slightly depending on WordPress theme, and may be either static image, animated .gif, or flash file, as long as the file size is within acceptable file parameters, does not impede the loading of the website, or interfere with existing code.

Our non-campaign season traffic has been strong this year, averaging around 2250 to 2500 unique individual visits daily.  At times of flurried activity, the SDWC has reached as high as nearly 9000 unique visits in a day (And that’s visits, not hits).

Whether you’re looking for a run for office, or you want to put a message in front of Republican office holders and opinion leaders, whether it’s our people in Pierre, Sioux Falls, or Washington DC, dakotawarcollege.com is where our Republican leaders and their staffs are getting their information on South Dakota politics on a day to day basis.

Information on ad prices, ad positions, and required ad commitments may be directed to the webmaster by clicking here.

And while I’m on the subject, whether your business is politics or retail, organizational or service, if you find yourself in need of high quality print materials such as business cards, postcards, or brochures, collateral items such as signs, banners, pens, or pins, or anything that helps you promote your business – give me a call for a quote today.

I’ve done some business printing over the past couple of years, and I’m working on expanding that base, since printing a postcard for a business is no different than printing one for a candidate. And gosh darn it, my prices sometimes come up in the neighborhood of 1/3 to 1/2 of many commercial printers.

From Facebook today:

And in case you’ve forgotten:

Maybe the new SDDP Executive Director who was Dem’s event person at the time should have remembered that little point.  (Brought to you by Ann Tornberg’s Democrat Party.)

Was Cory Heidelberger, the most liberal man in South Dakota just calling someone a sore loser?

For his part, Mayor Thorson goes out sounding a little less classy

Thorson’s Facebook kiss-off isn’t much better

Read that here.

That is an awfully selective memory Cory has. In case he needs reminding…

Looking forward to 2018, I think its worthwhile noting that Cory must not plan to run again, as he continues to ignore basic rules as he moves forward. On election night, when his defeat was clear, Cory didn’t bother to call his opponent and congratulate him. In fact, in his first postscript on the election, as opposed to congratulating Novstrup, he stooped so low as to engage in name-calling. It was the ultimate in being a sore loser.

Read it here.

Do as Cory says, but not as he does. Check.

Apparently, Speaker of the House Mark Mickelson has been a busy man. In addition to his proposals on keeping ballot measures to be in-state affairs only, he’s also proposing a significant increase in what South Dakota’s would pay for taxes on tobacco products. From the Argus Leader:

South Dakota should hike taxes on cigarettes to help bring down tuition at the state’s technical institutes, Rep. Mark Mickelson said Monday.

The Sioux Falls Republican submitted two proposals this month to the Secretary of State’s Office that would increase the tax on tobacco from 35 percent on wholesale products to 45 or 55 percent and bump up the prices on cigarettes. Up to $20 million of the revenue could then be used to lower tech school tuition and provide scholarships.

Mickelson, who helped spearhead a 2016 effort to recognize tech schools as separate from K-12 schools and universities in the South Dakota Constitution, said the effort is essential to making the schools more competitive in the region.

Read it here.

Sin taxes are easy targets for legislators who want to raise money for projects, because they don’t affect everyone at large, but I question how many republican legislators will want to sign on to a tax increase in an election year… Much less cast a vote in favor of raising taxes without seeking funding possibilities from other sources.

There were a couple legislators whose support of raising taxes for teacher pay knocked them out, and more money for teachers had been sought for literally decades.  Tech schools being on their own is a brand new development, and it is questionable if they have sufficiently made their case to the public yet.

Stay tuned on this one. The big issues for the 2018 session are already starting to form.

Republican Karen Handel declared a hard fought victory in a Georgia special congressional election over liberal Democrat Jon Ossoff… who didn’t actually live in the district. That might have been a fatal flaw for the filmmaker, in a race that served as a proxy battle for republicans and Democrats trying to assert dominance in a post-Trump election world.
In South Carolina, Republican Ralph Norman, won a special congressional election against Democrat Archie Parnell. 

Of course, this only comes a short couple of weeks after the Montana election where a body-slamming Republican Greg Gianforte defeated Democrat Rob Quist.

Maybe Donald Trump isn’t as much of a point for Democrats to campaign on as they’d hoped?