The work of democracy never ends—I have another speaking engagement on Monday!
The Brown County Democratic Forum has invited me to speak at their February meeting. On the agenda for Monday, February 8: a brief summary of our ten ballot measures, with extended remarks on Jason Glodt’s astroturf initiative on crime victims; Hildebrand, Hickey, and Nesiba’s real 36% payday loan rate cap (which will survive the payday lenders’ flimsy challenge and appear on our November ballot as Initiated Measure 21); and the payday loan industry’s fake 18% rate cap (which may not make the ballot as Amendment U, thanks to my petition challenge and the evidence of petition fraud on a grander scale than Annette Bosworth’s).
And maybe I’ll try to make some news. Bring your pens and cameras!
Here are the details straight from the Brown County Democratic Forum:
The Democratic Forum will host their monthly meeting and luncheon this Monday, February 8th, at the Aberdeen Pizza Ranch, 1010 Sixth Ave. SE, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Cory Heidelberger, Aberdeen writer, teacher, and publisher/editor of Dakota Free Press will discuss the 2016 South Dakota ballot issues, including the Expansion of Rights for Crime Victims (Constitutional Amendment S) and the Payday Lending Caps (Initiated Measure 21). Currently, ten ballot issues have been certified by the State of South Dakota.
Information will also be provided on the State Democratic Party’s local Presidential Caucus to be held in Aberdeen on March 12 [Brown County Democratic Forum, press release, 2016.02.05].
Democratic Forum is a small-d democratic event, meaning everyone interested in democracy (and/or large quantities of pizza and mashed potatoes) can attend. Knowledge and conversation are free; the Pizza Ranch buffet will cost you. Bring a friend, bring your questions about ballot measures, and let’s have lunch at Aberdeen Pizza Ranch on Monday, February 8!
I wish I could be there.
Do German Americans eat pizza with potatoes? ? ? ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Americans
German Americans will and can eat potatoes with anything, including brownies. That is how they roll.
Speaking of rolling, when are we gonna get this guy to run for office?
Please film this and put it on the tubes. Did you know these pizza ranches are almost as good as the old Royal Fork by the mall was and you can spend hours there sometimes with two kinds of gravy for the mashers?
I remember the Royal Fork in CO. They all closed long ago. Buffet restaurants are a spin off from the smorgasbord concept. Best ever was Ike’s Chicken Shack … except the caged bear was a bit too cruel to animals.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1027955617245161/
You were brilliant on KELO tonight!
John Thune……….
Agree, Jeff. I was proud that I know who Cory Heidelberger is. I can’t decide who I want to challenge Senator Thune, Cory or Angela Kennece (sp).
Cory, I emailed all members of the House Local government committee asking them to amend HB 1037 asking them to put an amendment on the bill to require petition circulators to show a South Dakota D/L or ID on request. I told them of several situations that I encountered as you and Angela described, in which I knew that the circulators were from out of state. They did not do it, but hopefully if something like this ever becomes an issue again, they will get the law changed.
I don’t understand why out of state petitioners is bad? I have a friend who travels around USA for the company he gathers petition signatures for. He’s a very staunch liberal and only works on liberal petitions. His ethics are very high. Gathering petition signatures is just a job. You don’t have to be connected at the hip to do the job. You just have to be ethical and honest. Maybe y’all have a problem with the citizen voters who need to be more careful what they sign. Also if a bus load of gatherers from Atlanta try to pass a shady petition it’s up to the authorities (Jackley) to police their activities. Maybe Jackley is where the disconnect is. Does using only Sodak gatherers stop shady petition attempts? I’m honestly asking.
It’s bad for the same reason that letting people vote here, who only have a SD address for tax purposes is wrong. Should we let Russians or Chinese, or British vote in US elections?
Give ’em hell Harry ( Cory).
Pizza Ranch’s mashed potatoes are arguably better than their pizza.
Jeff, Lanny, thanks for the TV note! I’ll write up the two stories KELO-TV did yesterday (one from Erich Schaffhauser, the other from Angela Kennecke, whose names I always spell and say correctly) in a separate post.
Lanny, thank you for contacting your legislators about our concerns about out-of-state petitioners. Note that they could apply an ID amendment like what you suggest to HB 1241, Jim Bolin’s plan to make circulators get 50% of their signatures from somewhere other than Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Aberdeen, Brookings, and Harrisburg (!!). But I wonder about the ID requirement: just like the requirement that circulators provide the AG’s explanation, such a law only matters if the cops come to enforce it, and the cops had little interest in getting involved with the circulator violations we saw this year. I’m not convinced a circulator-ID requirement would add to the checks on abuse we have now. In general, citizens approached by a circulator should ask for ID and contact information. If the circulator won’t produce that, don’t sign—mission accomplished. Under a law requiring ID, if I catch a circulator not showing ID, I need to get his photo and call the cops… but then I still don’t have a name to help the cops catch the guy.
Porter, our ban on out-of-state circulators could well be unconstitutional. A guy from Colorado has as much right to stand on a South Dakota street corner and talk about voting rights, payday lender rate caps, and the minimum wage as any other American. But I feel like we’re talking not just about speech but election activity. A Colorado voter does not have a right to access the South Dakota ballot. A Coloradan does not have the right to vote on South Dakota issues. A Coloradan can testify in a committee hearing in Pierre on legislation, but a Coloradan cannot run for the South Dakota Legislature and enjoy the opportunity to make laws. Should a Coloradan be allowed to participate actively in the exercise of popular legislative power by gathering signatures to place a measure on the ballot?
Jerry, patience! I’ve got a few more blog posts to write before announcing for anything. ;-)
Speaking of my speaking, the National Weather Service has issued a High Wind Warning for Sunday. That warning ends before my speech begins on Monday… although the Monday forecast for Aberdeen says “blustery… with gusts….” ;-)
I suppose in a joint with a name that’s as culinarily inappropriate as “Pizza Ranch” you’d serve things that properly don’t go together like pizza and mashed potatoes. I was taught to invoke a “desire to dine” with the name of the eatery as well as the items on the menu. Pizza and Ranch have nothing in common … maybe that’s the appeal in a gastronomic hinterland. lol What’s next? Lefse Luau? Stir-Fry Bratwurst Bowl? Lutefisk Lovers Landing? Tater Tot Curry in a Hurry?
Lefse Luau? I’d stop and try that!
Lefse My Way ~ Spread it with chunky peanut butter, then a schmear of real mayonnaise, then a layer of dill pickle slices and a liberal dose of green Tabasco sauce. Roll it up and eat it down.
“Det kommer att hålla dig frisk.”
No talking about lefse unless you are going to share.
In Colorado we make lefse out of corn. They’re called tortillas. :)
DARK MONEY POLITICS IN SD is the story but WOSTER MISCHARACTERIZES DEMS:
“…she [noem] was the one Republican strategists had determined could beat Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. And that was no small feat, even with the Far Left in South Dakota abandoning Herseth Sandlin because of her positions of the Affordable Care Act and energy issues….When the 2010 campaign cash register stopped ringing, Noem had raised a total of $2.3 million, to $2.1 million for Herseth Sandlin. She also raised more votes, with 48 percent to 46 percent for the Democratic incumbent.”
***
“Noem had a pretty easy win over a very credible Democratic candidate in Matt Varilek in 2012 and a blow-out in 2014 against a not-so-credible Corinna Robinson, whom I haven’t seen or heard from since.” (nice dig woster)
“State Rep. Paula Hawks has her work cut out for her in the U.S. House race this year, in which Noem is the clear and perhaps overwhelming favorite.” (46 to 48% was barely overwhelming)
http://blog.keloland.com/politicsinkeloland/2016/02/06/noem-on-asking-for-money-rubio-for-president-and-the-idea-of-a-home-on-capitol-lake/
State Policy Network, which helps conservative think tanks in 50 states supply legislators with research friendly to their causes, and the Conservative Action Project (CAP), is a Washington policy group founded by Edwin Meese, a Reagan-era attorney general.
In internal memos, opposing tighter state campaign finance rules coach their local supporters on how to battle disclosure of political donors….focus on an “average Joe,” not a wealthy person. Find examples of “inconsequential donation amounts.” Point out that naming donors would be a threat to “innocents,” including their children, families and co-workers.
And never call it dark money. “Private giving” sounds better.
Dark money is the term for funds that flow into politics from nonprofit groups, which can accept donations of any size but, unlike political action committees, are not required by federal law to reveal the identities of their donors.
Since 2008, dark money groups have spent more than $690 million in federal races, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. A single group aligned with Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio helped buoy his standing in Iowa before Monday’s caucuses with $1.3 million in ads.
The same story is playing out on the state level. During the 2014 election cycle, 40 nonprofits spent $25 million on TV ads about state races, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity. That represented 3 percent of total ad buys, almost double the proportion that dark money paid for in 2010.
This year, 38 states are considering bills relating to disclosure, according to a database compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Some have already…
The [CAP] memo was signed by many leading voices on the political right, including anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist; top officials at Americans for Prosperity, an advocacy group backed by the Koch brothers political network; the Family Research Council; the Council for National Policy; and Heritage Action for America. It describes conservatives as “a persecuted class” and compares labeling private donations “dark money” to calling private ballots “dark voting.”
…the organization is alerting nonprofits regardless of political orientation that the proposals would interfere with privacy and free speech.
“Transparency is for government,” the group reminded conservative activists. “Privacy is for people.” (transparency for the press too, woster?)
Dan Backer, a lawyer who signed the memo, said the group’s organizing should be a warning to advocates of stricter campaign finance rules that his side will use… litigation to preserve the privacy of donors. Backer helped bring the 2014 McCutcheon case in which the U.S. Supreme Court removed aggregate limits on direct contributions, which along with the 2010 Citizens United decision set the stage for a new flood of money into politics.
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-conservative-playbook-for-keeping-dark-money-dark
http://www.propublica.org/article/how-nonprofits-spend-millions-on-elections-and-call-it-public-welfare
cory: perhaps the big picture of SDGOP’s focused action by this legislature is reflected in the many stories you have brought to us. A very disturbing narrative indeed:
1. KI YI, Harney legacy, HB 1060 quash, Chamberlain school board, Thune/Noem response to suicide and ER failure, KXL, Edgemont uranium, Wanblee voting exclusion, MCEC, Rapid Creek Indian deaths.
2. Voter restrictions/Initiative&referendum undermining in Bosworth, Furlong scenarios, and in EB5/Rounds, Jackley, Daugaard elections, RV votes/gerrymandering.
3. Republican failure to govern: again EB5 and MCEC.
4. Attack on minority and poor populations by failure to expand Medicaid, perhaps the Sanford ect. Bill, 18% Lending “Cap”, drug testing, ….
this list will be added to….
That’s a good list, Leslie. Help find ways to spread that list around and get people to vote on it!