Sen. Tapio calls for Governor Daugaard to resign….?

Pat Powers

It’s apparently a Neal Tapio day, and the latest is Senator Tapio calling for Governor Daugaard to resign… I guess?

What caused this rift? Apparently because the governor disagreed with the Tapio immigration panel:

Gov. Dennis Daugaard said the efforts to probe the state’s immigrant and refugee placement procedures weren’t needed.

“People that seize the refugee issue and try to paint it as a threatening immigrant issue misunderstand that situation,” Daugaard said. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

Read it here.

A demand for resignation seems a bit much for disagreeing.

And the campaign rolls on.

Libertarian CJ Abernathy announces candidacy for South Dakota Governor.

Pat Powers

While Magic Mike Huether was talking about himself incessantly over not running for anything, fully bearded South Dakota Libertarian CJ Abernathy was announcing that he is running for Governor.

Why is he running? One platform plank of Abernathy’s was to proclaim that “if there is no victim, there is no crime,”  which would appear to be a reference to traditional Libertarian platform issues of drugs, prostitution, etc.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, Abernathy will have to collect the signatures of 250 Libertarians to appear on the ballot.

15 agonizing minutes…. Basically, Huether is not running unless people call him.

Pat Powers

Just finishing up watching the “Great Mike Huether Ego trip,” which appears to be one of the worst reality shows ever.  Because like an overly dramatic reality show, he drug out the announcement for an overly, overly long time.   Imaging watching the Bachelor yammering on about giving a rose for 15 minutes.  15 agonizing minutes….That’s what it was like, except he was talking about giving the rose to himself.

Basically, Huether isn’t running for anything. But he got to talk about himself for a really long time.

New advertiser coming, but we still have openings!

Pat Powers

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Neal Tapio preparing to launch US House Bid

Pat Powers

If you notice the release just sent out by State Senator Neal Tapio, it served as a reminder for me to see if there were any other external signs that he is preparing to announce in the US House race.  And it just takes a quick trip to his website:

When your website defaults to a WordPress login screen for “Neal Tapio for U.S. House,” it’s probably a good indicator that an announcement of running for that office is coming soon.

Release: Senator Tapio announces his intention to create a legislative working group to review state immigration and refugee resettlement programs.

Pat Powers

Senator Tapio announces his intention to create a legislative working group to review state immigration and refugee resettlement programs.

Senator Neal Tapio, R-Watertown, today announced his intention to create a legislative working group to review state immigration and refugee resettlement programs and to analyze the financial and societal impact on state and local governments.

Following an intensive year-long listening tour on the impact of immigration and refugee resettlement on the Aberdeen community, Senator Tapio expressed concerns about the openness and transparency of the immigration and refugee resettlement programs and reemphasized his concern regarding the lack of state and local oversight of the Refugee Resettlement program in South Dakota.

“Currently, elected representatives of the people of South Dakota do not have any input or oversight of the federal refugee resettlement program.” Tapio, said. “These programs are impacting our communities and leaving their citizens in the dark. We need to know the detailed impact to our state and to our communities.”

Tapio said the working group will document the financial impact on law enforcement, courts and jails, health care and hospitals, education and schools, housing, language and translation services, and welfare benefits. The group intends to hold public hearings to gather public sentiment about these programs and to document the safety and other concerns of the community. Tapio also indicated his desire to establish the number of refugees a community can properly assimilate while keeping a community safe and fiscally viable.

“I look forward to working with a group of legislators to gather appropriate information in order to make sound decisions on behalf of the people. We will work with city, county, state and federal officials, as well as have listening sessions with concerned citizens and interested stakeholders in order to create a comprehensive and exhaustive analysis of the immigration and refugee programs.” Tapio said.

Tapio highlighted a pattern of improper oversight by the state of South Dakota over federal programs in the past. The current Refugee Resettlement program is just the latest installment of failing or failed federal programs administered by the state. Several years ago, the federal EB5 “sale of citizenship” program led to corruption, ongoing litigation and the death of a state official. The GearUp grant investigation uncovered improper state oversight of nongovernmental agencies tasked with implementing federal programs on behalf of the state, which led to criminal trials and to the death of a non government grant administrator and his family.

“Citizens are concerned the Refugee Resettlement program has led to more crime and increased costs to state and local taxpayers. We need to investigate these concerns before things gets out of control, not after it is too late.” Tapio said.

The legislative working group will be announced as early as Friday.

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