From the SDGOP and Facebook:

Record turnout at Meade County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner! Great speeches by @martyjackley @KristiNoem @JasonRavnsborg @FITZFORAG Lance Russell @DustyforSD @SOSKrebs pic.twitter.com/Yrb2XPsFkd

— South Dakota GOP (@sdgop) March 25, 2018

They had a weekend of events and a tremendous turnout. But guess who wasn’t there?

All reports I’m getting are that – not only did Lora Hubbel skip yet another Lincoln Day Dinner in Aurora County – but she skipped this massive gathering of the Republican faithful out west.

Marty Jackley was there. Kristi Noem was there. But Lora Hubbel? Not so much.

The problem is that Lora tries to portray herself as a victim claiming that she hasn’t been invited to events. But here’s one of the biggest events held all year. And does she show up?

Nope.

Her loss. Besides the fact that she’s going to lose is a foregone conclusion. But, it is her loss.

Libertarian Candidate for Governor Carl W. Abernathey Jr. might have blocked me on Facebook, but that doesn’t mean it’s slowed us down as we monitor his candidacy’s slow implosion.

After we pointed out how he’s never changed his party from Republican, along with his subsequent tantrum and Facebook blocking, he’s taking to Facebook to try to explain and to apologize to South Dakota Libertarians how it’s all actually just a big ‘clerical error’:

I’m not sure what Republican US Senator Rand Paul has to do with a candidate for Governor who doesn’t know what their own party is.  But since Carl directed me in his prior Facebook rant to check out his page for Governor, I did. And look what I found:

While the courts were quibbling over the process to run for Governor under a third party banner, On January 3rd, Carl swore out a signed and witnessed oath that he was “registered to vote as a member of the Libertarian party.” Except.. he wasn’t.   And at least until tomorrow, admittedly still isn’t.

Probably a good thing for Carl that the courts found in favor of letting 3rd parties nominate constitutional candidates at convention. Because any signatures collected on these petition forms would probably be up for challenging since the statement up at the top appears to have some issues.

Again, details that one should check before running for Governor.

From the Mitchell Daily Republic, looks like Tara Volesky is taking some time away from Lora Hubbel’s campaign and running for office herself:

City Planning Commissioner Bob Everson and former mayoral candidate Tara Volesky have entered the field, throwing their hats in the ring with Mitchell City Councilman Mel Olson for the three-year position.

and..

Volesky was not immediately available for comment Friday, but she’s a candidate Mitchell residents will recognize. She ran for City Council in 2017, but lost to Councilman Kevin McCardle, who pulled out a landslide victory in his first campaign. She also ran for the Mitchell Board of Education in 2015 and as part of the six-way mayor race in 2012, but to no avail.

Read it all here.

Apparently, I upset the Libertarian candidate for Governor. Or at least, the person who is eventually going to register as a Libertarian in the middle of his campaign for Governor.

So, I had my post on Friday, where I noted that CJ Abernathey, A.K.A. Carl Jr., a Libertarian Candidate for Governor actually was not a Libertarian, but was currently a registered Republican according to the Secretary of State:

Predictably, Carl Abernathey Jr. didn’t take it well:

Since in my article, I didn’t call him anything, but just pointed out the current legal status of his voter registration as not being Libertarian, and since he tagged me personally in his post, I thought I’d ask him where he was coming from on his whole angry attack the messenger post thing:

And Carl Jr. quickly responded:

In response to my question over his attack, I got more attack. And according to Carl Jr, in addition to his name-calling he claims what I did was exactly what he was hoping for.  And that it would help in his race for Governor if he was “actually clerically registered” & “bureaucratically sound.”

Oookay… Not sure how that helps.  But after Carl Jr. tagged me personally, seeking my input…

…his social media got much less social. Considering I was not looking to be drug into the conversation in the first place, and that I didn’t ask to follow his personal page, as he was working through his rant Carl Jr. might have realized that he was fighting a losing battle against himself.. and blocked me.

Kind of snowflakey for a candidate.  If that’s how he reacts to questions, I think he’s going to find it’s a long, long road to the Governor’s seat.

FACT CHECK: Noem Voted for Omnibus Before She Voted Against It

PIERRE, SD: South Dakota Congresswoman Kristi Noem voted to advance a $1.3 trillion omnibus budget package despite telling supporters she opposed the deal.

Twenty-five House conservatives united to vote against the omnibus in a vote held Thursday morning, but Noem was not one of them.

The House Freedom Caucus officially opposed the rule vote that Noem voted in favor of, leaving conservatives three votes short of stopping a bill that raises the deficit, funds Planned Parenthood, funds sanctuary cities, refuses funding for a concrete border wall and fails South Dakota on the question of internet sales tax.

“It’s unfortunate that Congresswoman Noem is touting her opposition to a bill when her vote sent it to the House floor,” said Jackley for Governor campaign manager Jason Glodt. “South Dakota has a simple question for their lone representative in Congress: Why didn’t you join with 25 other conservatives to do the right thing when you had the chance?”

Members of Congress were given less than 24 hours to read the 2,232-page bill before being asked to vote on it, yet Noem voted to allow debate to proceed. Had she and two other Republicans changed their votes, the omnibus would have failed.

The vote is part of a consistent record of voting for omnibus bills that raise the debt limit and increase spending.

In 2011, Noem voted to raise the debt limit by $2.1 trillion. In 2014, she voted for a $1.4 trillion omnibus, as well as the $1 trillion Obama-backed “cromnibus” spending bill. In 2015, she voted for a $1.1 trillion omnibus bill that raised the debt limit and raised spending caps by a total of $112 billion in fiscal years 2016 and 2017.

The total public debt the day Noem took office was $13.9 trillion. It now stands at more than $21 trillion.

Noem Voted NO on $1.3 Trillion Spending Bill
Jackley Criticizes Noem for Voting Against Pelosi, 180+ Democrats

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Kristi Noem voted NO on the $1.3 trillion government spending bill that passed this week. Despite her firm stand against wasteful government spending and repeated votes to cut spending, Marty Jackley criticized Noem for voting against House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and more than 180 Democrats in setting the rules of debate for the omnibus bill’s consideration.

“When the $1.3 trillion government spending bill hit the House floor, Kristi Noem voted against it,” said Justin Brasell, Kristi for Governor Campaign Manager. “Marty Jackley may support allowing Nancy Pelosi to set the rules, but that’s something he and Kristi will never agree on.”

From my mailbox, if State Senator Neal Tapio is trying to unite Republicans behind him to win the Congressional nomination, attacking Senator Thune on the budget and Republicans for not being as vocal as he is on Islamic Extremism might not be a successful strategy:

Tapio: Thune, Crooked GOP Establishment Cave on $1.3-Trillion, “Omni-BUST” Bill 

(Wednesday, March 23, 2018) GOP Congressional Candidate, Neal Tapio today, blasted House and Senate Republican leadership, for pushing the bloated 2,232 page Omnibus spending bill totaling $1.3-trillion which maintains trillion dollar deficits and includes troubling provisions for expanded background checks for gun ownership, funding for Planned Parenthood, and most importantly, only trifling support for President Trump and the American people in their desire to build the southern border wall.

“It is hard for me to watch Senator Thune stand behind Mitch McConnell, in support of this Omnibust bill. And this is an Omni-Bust Bill in every respect.” Tapio said.

“I was one of 6,500 volunteers working on election day in 2004 when John Thune defeated Senator Tom Daschle, largely because Daschle’s leadership position made him lose touch with the people of South Dakota. I wonder how many of those volunteers are proudly watching as their three term U.S. Senator is part of leadership maintaining federal funding of abortion, opposing the border wall President Trump was mandated to build, and breaking the bank for the next generation already saddled with crushing debt.”

Tapio pledges his campaign will highlight how elected Republican officials fall into an establishment mindset that trades principled positions they use to get elected for leadership positions they use to gain and maintain power. Too often, party leadership prioritizes re-election and fundraising over the best interests of the country and the will of the people. In order to fight the establishment, Tapio explained how it is important to have strong patriots willing to take on the establishment in their own party.

“Make no mistake, the Omnibust bill is a failure of Republican leadership in Congress,” Tapio said.

“I know how difficult it is to stand up to members of your own party, but to watch as one of your own Senators becomes the entrenched Establishment that President Trump must continually battle is completely dispiriting.”

Over the last two years, Sen. Tapio has highlighted one of the largest components of the federal debt as the global war on Islamic terrorism and the excessive costs and dangers of refugee resettlement from war torn Islamic countries into our local communities.

“Efforts to identify the costs and dangers of resettlements from war torn Islamic countries has been repeatedly stonewalled by a dangerously uniformed Republican Senate, an establishment Republican Governor and politically connected insiders who financially profit from resettling refugees from dangerous and terror prone parts of the world like Somalia, thereby increasing the risk of violence and terrorism in our neighborhoods and communities.” Tapio said.

“The Republican Establishment in South Dakota is so afraid to tackle tough issues that they can’t even muster the courage to “support President Trump in his fight against radical Islamic Terrorism,” because they say the term “Islamic terrorism” is offensive.

“After watching the South Dakota Republican Establishment fail in a simple test to identify Islamic terrorism as the root cause of the global war in terror, it comes as no surprise that Senator Thune and the Republicans in Congress do not have the courage to make the tough choices to cut the size and scope of government.

Establishment politicians are simply controlled by fear—fear for their own reelection and fear of offending those that give them money.”

Tapio said the only way to fight the political establishment is to relentlessly shine the light of the truth on the shady underbelly of the political Establishment, their political cowardice and their political opportunism.

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Thoughts?

Number Nine
By Sen. John Thune

Agriculture, which is supported by hardworking farmers and ranchers across South Dakota, is the state’s top industry. It adds more than $20 billion to the economy each year, and, according to the South Dakota Department of Agriculture, “98% of farms in South Dakota are family owned and operated – in fact, over 2,500 South Dakota farms have been in the same family for more than 100 years.” That’s a pretty impressive statistic when you think about it, and it’s South Dakotans like them who I’m continually proud to fight for in the U.S. Senate.

More than 90 percent of South Dakota’s farms are enrolled in one or more conservation, safety net, or loan program that’s been authorized by the farm bill. And I’m no stranger to farm bills, as I’ve already written three of them during my time in Congress. The 2018 farm bill will be my fourth.

For more than one year now, with the expiration of the current farm bill already in sight, I’ve been leading by example and introducing numerous individual marker bills containing sound, common-sense policy initiatives. If we really want to get a farm bill to the president’s desk on time and avoid an unnecessary extension, we’ve got to put in the hard work today.

South Dakota farmers and ranchers are dedicated stewards of their land and rely on farm bill conservation programs to build their soil, provide wildlife habitat, and protect our water. One of the greatest challenges with applying the most effective conservation practices, like cover crops on working lands, for example, is measuring the economic value these practices can provide.

With my eighth farm bill proposal – bipartisan legislation I introduced in early March with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, our neighbor to the east – we could help farmers and land-grant universities better utilize the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) massive collection of conservation data and enable them to choose the best conservation practices that would improve productivity on farming operations while protecting individual farmer privacy.

Most recently – during National Agriculture Week, nonetheless – I introduced my ninth farm bill proposal. And there’s more to come, I might add.

This legislation, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Improvement and Rural Water System Access Act, would make important changes to the already popular conservation program that provides critical habitat to the state’s pheasant population and delivers a large infusion of cash to local economies each year. The bill would also make it less costly for rural water systems that cross U.S. Forest Service land by eliminating a rental fee that is charged when they do.

Many game species’ populations, including pheasants, which are economically significant to states like South Dakota, have been on the decline in recent years, and there’s an alarming correlation between these population drops and the loss of CRP acres and available habitat. Building on changes to CRP that I’ve already proposed, my latest legislation would define “species of economic significance” and add declining habitat for those species as a priority for targeting new or expanded CRP acres in South Dakota and other states.

I recently met with USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and Sen. Pat Roberts, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and I’ve made my priorities clear as we approach the release of the Senate farm bill, which could come as early as April. South Dakota farmers and ranchers are lucky to have these two strong advocates for agriculture in their corner, too, and I’m committed to working with them and my colleagues to get this important work completed as soon as possible.

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Nobody Wants a Repeat of the 2011 Missouri River Flood
By U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

Spring is just around the corner in South Dakota, and many residents are rightfully concerned about the higher-than-normal snowpack levels in the Upper Missouri River Basin, which could cause flooding along the Missouri River in our state.

NOAA, which is the federal scientific agency in charge of weather and climate monitoring, recently released its 2018 spring flood outlook report, which found that through May, moderate flooding is likely in parts of the Lower Missouri River basin. It also says that minor flooding is possible in parts of the Upper Missouri River Basin as above-normal snowpack melts. This reaffirms our belief that the Corps should be taking action sooner rather than later to make sure their plan recognizes flood control as their primary responsibility.

Also this month, the U.S. Federal Claims Court ruled that the Corps’ mismanagement of the Missouri River caused a number of floods between the years 2007 and 2014. It was determined that the Corps’ management plan was focused less on flood control and more on maintaining ecosystems for certain animals, including the pallid sturgeon, even though flood control is supposed to be their top priority.

As the chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Oversight, one of my duties is to oversee the Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for properly managing the Missouri River. Over the past three years, I have held multiple hearings on the Corps’ management of the river. I recently sent a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James, requesting a briefing on the 2018 Missouri River management plan. High levels of snowpack this early in the season are worrisome, and in my letter I urged the Corps to carefully monitor them, and communicate openly with communities along the river about risks of flooding.

In 2014, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report on the 2011 flood, and recommended a snowpack monitoring system by implemented along the Upper Missouri River Basin so the Corps could make better, more informed decisions with improved forecasting models. Additionally in 2014, a Water Resources Reform bill known as WRDA, was signed into law and it authorized the Corps to create this recommended soil moisture and snowpack monitoring system along the basin. In 2016, I offered an amendment to the Energy and Water appropriations bill that would authorize the use of up to $2 million within the Corps’ existing budget to implement such a system. Still, the system has not been built.

The Corps’ has claimed that Congress never authorized this funding, but the reality is that the Corps has never requested additional funding for this program that it has been authorized by Congress to implement. This has been incredibly frustrating, and is a sign that they have not learned from their mistakes of 2011.

If you have been following along on my Facebook or Twitter pages recently, you may have seen that we are posting daily updates of the water levels at each of the dams along the upper Missouri. We’ll continue doing this until we are confident that the threat of another major flood has gone away.

The Missouri River plays a vital role in the economy and livelihoods of those living in communities along the river. Proper management of the Missouri requires the Corps to work closely and communicate extensively with stakeholders such as state and local governments and understand the needs of the communities within the Missouri River basin. I will continue to monitor the Corps’ actions and will keep South Dakotans updated on any new information I receive.

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Supporting Moms, Strengthening Families
By Rep. Kristi Noem

South Dakota has the nation’s highest rate of working moms with 84 percent being employed outside the home. For many families, both parents working is a financial necessity – one that comes with significant child care costs attached. In fact, by some estimates, child care in South Dakota costs about 28 percent of the average household income, or about $14,700 per year.

Many of these families qualify for the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, which helps defray some child care expenses. During tax reform, however, some in Congress tried to eliminate the benefit. I had to fight hard to maintain the credit, but in the end, we were successful. Additionally, the Child Tax Credit was doubled to $2,000 per child, a win I worked closely with Ivanka Trump to achieve. These credits can make a real difference in people’s lives.

A few weeks ago, I spoke with a single mom who is getting another $80 every pay check because of tax reform. For her, that meant she had more breathing room and greater financial security. For her son, it meant a new pair of basketball shoes.

I’ve heard similar reports from others. Let’s say you’re a family of four making around $85,000 a year. Because of tax reform, you’ll be keeping an additional $2,400 in your pocket every year. That’s a new washing machine, a nice family vacation, or a good chunk of change for the kids’ college funds.

Of course, this financial peace of mind helps mitigate only one of the challenges working families face. Flexibility is another issue I’ve heard a lot about. For years, I’ve been working to get the Working Families Flexibility Act signed into law to help make balancing the demands of family, personal responsibilities, and the workforce a little easier.

This bill would give employees the opportunity to choose between taking overtime pay or receiving more paid time off. I’ve led the House in passing this bill multiple times, the most recent being in 2017, but the Senate has yet to consider the bill.

Additionally, in March of this year, I introduced legislation to help give expectant mothers additional flexibility, when needed. In the early 2000’s, Peggy Young was working for UPS. She became pregnant and was instructed not to lift anything over 20 pounds. She requested light-duty work, but was told “No,” even though accommodations were made for non-pregnant workers that had similar health-related restrictions. She couldn’t return to her previous role either, as it was a liability.

As a result, Peggy had to go on unpaid leave and lost her medical coverage. She filed a lawsuit against UPS, which has since changed its policy, but the court’s decision left a lot of questions. My bill works to clarify the law. It says a pregnant worker should be treated the same as a non-pregnant worker who may have a temporary disability and is therefore unable to perform certain duties. This bill takes a balanced approach, protecting mothers without imposing duplicative burdens on their employers.

I firmly believe our nation would be a whole lot stronger, if families were a whole lot stronger. Supporting working parents is an important step in achieving that. When we make these investments, we strengthen families and put the next generation on a trajectory toward success.