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Nelson: Peters Tried Booting Me from Senate for Opposing GOAC Handcuffs

On Wednesday on the Senate floor, Senator Stace Nelson spoke passionately against Senate Bill 125, the measure that, as Nelson accurately put it yesterday on Twitter, handcuffs the Government Operations and Audit Committee. View Senator Nelson’s floor speech at 3:11:15 in the SDPB video:

Nelson’s spot-on critique drew grouchy responses in floor speeches from self-restricting GOAC chair Deb Peters and Majority Leader R. Blake Curd. Now Nelson says Peters was so mad that she tried to get Nelson expelled from the Senate:

Senators Stace Nelson and Deb Peters, during floor debate on SB 125, screen caps from SDPB video, 2018.03.07.
Senators Stace Nelson and Deb Peters, during floor debate on SB 125, screen caps from SDPB video, 2018.03.07.

After she threw her public temper tantrum to my opposition to SB125, Senator Peters gathered her trusty RINOs together, met with Senators Curd, Maher, & LtGov Michels and demanded I be thrown out of the [Legislature] for my floor speech. She was reportedly confronted with the fact that she “lied” to the caucus about the conference committee and the snowflake caucus was told nothing in my floor speech warranted being expelled or censured. She purportedly admitted she wanted to make it so the GOAC could not summons and [subpoena] witnesses in the future as she is concerned that Rep Haugaard will become Speaker of the House and may appoint conservatives like Rep Taffy Howard, Sue Peterson, and Liz May to the GOAC, who would use the authority to actually look into such corruption [Sen. Stace Nelson, comment, Dakota Free Press, 2018.03.11].

I listened to Senator Nelson’s speech live and reviewed the video later. I heard no word and so no action that would remotely suggest that Senator Nelson violated any Senate rules or decorum. He simply spoke with conviction and passion about his opposition to Senate Bill 125. It thus seems incredible that any member of the South Dakota Legislature would suggest expelling a member for expressing vigorous disagreement with another member… but it wouldn’t be the first time this Session.

24 Comments

  1. grudznick 2018-03-11 12:38

    District 19 should fire Mr. Nelson for being the most ineffective in the legislatures since Mr. Klochek. But that’s what District 19 likes. Noshing.

  2. Roger Cornelius 2018-03-11 14:04

    It never occurred to me that you could fire a politician.

  3. Stace Nelson 2018-03-11 14:06

    @Grudznick Keep repeating your Alinsky lies.. Ever notice, folks.. the more effective I am? The more the establishment hacks like cowardly Grudznick scream “ineffective?”

    😉

  4. grudznick 2018-03-11 18:23

    Mr. Nelson has the nosh.
    Mr. Kloucek has the kolaches.
    District 19, at its best.

  5. Jenny 2018-03-11 21:09

    Nobody messes with big Stace. Don’t worry Stace, there are Dems on here that like you. Cory, Nick Nemec and I do.

  6. grudznick 2018-03-11 21:28

    Of course the Dems like “big Stace.” He’s their biggest ally. And when you say “nobody messes with big Stace” you mean nobody outside of the legislatures, where they all mess with him and he’s a giant laughing stock. All the lobbists laugh at him too, I just bet you.

  7. Jenny 2018-03-11 22:04

    Quit being so mean grudzie. It’s about time someone like Stace has come along and put the Pierre Corruption Club in their place.
    What’s the matter grudz you’re not tired enough of all the State corruption?
    Sigh I just don’t understand these SouthDakotans that would put someone down that is fighting for integrity in govt.

  8. Stace Nelson 2018-03-11 23:14

    @Jenny “Grudznick” is a Pierre insider who trolls the blogs. The more he & Powers gnash their teeth on the blogs? It’s just like the ranting of terrorist chatter, the more we know we are hurting them.

  9. Rorschach 2018-03-12 07:35

    Sen. Nelson is marginally more effective than Lora Hubbel. Still I believe he should be paid the same as she is.

  10. Jenny 2018-03-12 08:07

    Nelson is not a conspiracy theorist like cuckoo for co co puffs Hubbel.

  11. Jenny 2018-03-12 08:10

    I think Nelson intimidates people because he is a big guy that is outspoken but South Dakotans need to get away from that thinking b/c he is really sincere about fighting corruption. Yes, his style isn’t for everyone, but who else is going to stand up and talk about the millions upon millions of dollars that have been stolen from the SD tax payers? EB5 and Gear Up? What other Republican talks about it. They don’t even want to mention it, and that is so disturbing.

  12. o 2018-03-12 08:38

    ” . . . Senator Peters gathered her trusty RINOs together . . .”
    Why does this “RINO” group not pass the party purity test?

  13. grudgnutz 2018-03-12 10:22

    grudznick is a little child of indeterminate sex playing with special soft legos its parents buy for it. Its daddy writes its blog comments for it.

  14. Stace Nelson 2018-03-12 10:50

    @Jenny Who can really be as effective as Pierre inside snarky “Grudznick” and his trusty basement dwelling cartoon character sidekick “Rorschach?” Compared to their pomposity bathed in delusional self-important obscurity? Real impact is buried to satisfy their starving egos. Internet troll tough guys who quack at heart in real life at being in the proximity of those they don’t even have the courage to identify themselves to. 🤣

    Let them gnash their teeth in the darkness where they belong. History shall not note their comings and goings anymore than the death of a flea.

  15. John W. 2018-03-12 12:37

    I rather enjoy Stace’s efforts in this regard and in this rare instance, I think he’s right but about all he’s managed to do is further uncover and illustrate how the republican party cronyism in South Dakota has been developing and operating for decades………. It takes years of indoctrination, manipulation, cross training and recycling to field a group of people in the legislature that understand their self importance in the unique way they do. Those that continue to believe that the conservative solution is the right thing to do in each and every circumstance fails to notice that the process is seldom the right thing to do but is strategic effort to maintain control and protection of the process……. If we note,,,,,,, the entire process to modify the referendum and referral process is not a fairness issue…….. It’s a control issue….. No difference with this. Stace challenges the control issue in an indirect way and stimulates the rath of his own party. All it does is expose fault lines in the process that motivates the imperial party leadership to develop new tricks to repair the cracks. Been going on for decades……. There is only one way to overcome corruption in government and that is from the inside out, not the outside in….. I like to think of all these contemporary, self anointed conservatives as a group of musk oxen. When a Musk Ox is threatened, the entire group circle up with the tail toward the center of the circle and lower their head in impenetrable defense…….. Their butt can’t be kicked from the outside. It can only be done by being unwittingly dropped into the center of the circle.

  16. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2018-03-12 12:50

    John W., the GOP musk oxen don’t seem to be getting their butts kicked very effectively from the inside, either. Republicans like Stace who are willing to buck the leadership are still too few and too ill-organized to muster the necessary votes to force change. Worse, it seems like the only honest Republicans we can get to work from inside are those who are so politically extreme that, if they did capture a voting majority, we’d have potty bills and abortion bans and guns in every kindergarten and courthouse.

    The ideal would be 24 Democrats in the Senate. The second-best situation would be 12 Democrats (doable if you help me replace Al Novstrup!), 12 Nelson/wingnut Republicans, and 11 Peters/Curd opportunist Republicans, with Billie Sutton’s Democratic lieutenant as Senate President to manage the floor debates.

  17. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2018-03-12 12:52

    (And Alinsky? Come on, Stace—no one here reads Alinsky. I read him when the Republicans were fussing about Obama’s connections to him, just to see what that fuss was about, and found him somewhat scatterbrained and not offering really any new, revolutionary, and profoundly consistent method of public organizing. Let’s stick to the issues and not our favorite national-template talk that doesn’t fit South Dakota’s particulars.)

  18. John W. 2018-03-12 13:36

    Well Cory; you and Stacey just seemed to validate my assertions. Stace uses the Alinsky fallacy in faux conservative argument and you feign to believe that Stace is a republican insider that has the ability to kick the machinery’s butt. The identity is skewed. Stace isn’t a Republican insider and won’t ever be. Stace is just like Hubbel and our favorite Shad Olson that thrive on bashing their own party without understanding that they soil their own shorts. The only way to bring the latest brand of illusory conservatism to behavioral consciousness and responsibility is for insiders themselves to repent of their Napoleonic disingenuousity and recognize the value of balance and effective exchange of ideas. This gawd awful notion that Republican ideas born of an arcane group think process is the only viable game in town is a chapter right out of Joseph Goebbels pulpit.

  19. owen reitzel 2018-03-12 14:03

    John, I don’t agree with Stace on much but I don’t think he’s as bad as Lora Hubbel or definitely not like Shad Olson.
    You can talk to Stace, but I’m guessing not so much with Olson

  20. Stace Nelson 2018-03-12 19:45

    @ “John W.” et al , whatever would we do without the professional anonymous pundits… for someone so “ineffective?” I was the top vote-getter in a contested legislative race even after the governor and his cronies did everything possible against my candidacy.

    There is a reason why all the left-leaning Republicans claim to be “conservative” during election years. If the voters were fully aware of the voting records of these frauds? There would be a heck of a lot more Real conservatives in office.

  21. grudznick 2018-03-12 20:20

    Mr. Nelson, how many real law bills, aside from the “nosh” one, did you pass this year? Commemorations don’t count. If you want we can use your other resolutions and such meaningless tripe as part of the totals we will divide it into to gauge your effectiveness.

  22. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2018-03-13 13:01

    John W, I would welcome mainline Republicans to admit their errors and either start acting like honest Republicans or go whole hog and admit that Democrats are right.

  23. leslie 2018-03-13 21:26

    The ultra-partisan House Intell Cmmttee wrap up is just like the SD GOAC abject partisanan republic failure to subpoena Rounds/records relating to the EB5 fraud on the state taxpayers.

  24. John W 2018-03-16 13:04

    Stace: Whatever would we do with celebratory politicians that are so myopic that they can’t see the forest for the trees? You seek to operate in an imaginary closed system dominated by your own ignorances and biases. If we’re really going to assess your political success and popularity Stace, the more comprehensive measure is found in your performance during the 2014 Senate Primary where you came in 3rd below Rhoden who’s one of the worst, most deceptive and corrupt Republican politicians this state has ever seen. 3rd……….. Now that should give you some understanding of where you fit in with what the bulk of South Dakotan’s perceive to be conservative….. What you also don’t seem to get is that your self appointment as conservative evaluator doesn’t seem to be either consistent or popular with the rest of the state beyond your small district of rigid, steadfast R’s that pull the party lever because they don’t know any better and couldn’t think independently if their life depended on it.

    Has your style, tactics and general legislative demeanor helped you achieve your goals or should we say the goals you hold out to be those of your constituency? Have you changed your approach or your methods in the years since the Senate primary to actually get something meritorious done? Nosh???? Good lord that is as kindergarten as Kuchen. Just how does putting the LRC and other legislators through that irrelevance improve your status and qualification.

    You and I are a lot alike Stace; Confrontational, challenging and sometimes overly self righteous but the difference between us is that I recognize that those aren’t qualities that make a good public representative and I won’t run for office because I know I won’t make it to first base. It’s self realization. I worked in State government for over 30 years and watched honest, effective representatives work and their success is attributed entirely to changing the party platform from the inside, not beating it to death in the court of public opinion. Problem identification is one thing……. problem solving is quite another and you should have learned a long time ago that disagreements with party thinking and behavior are best resolved in private rather than on full public display in the legislature. There isn’t a one of us that likes being embarrassed and most seasoned politicians have learned how to protect themselves from it and they will do so at any expense……… In this case, yours…………

    In the instant case, there are few of us either outside the legislature or inside, that honestly believes that committee subpoena power would have or could have made any difference what so ever in the GOAC or EB-5 scandals….. You aught to know that testimony without corroborating evidence is useless and you also aught to know that the 5th Amendment is still valid in Senate Committee hearings as much as it is in judicial hearings…… Now you come along and play a victim for self inflicted wounds.
    Voting records? You live on assumptions. This state isn’t concerned with voting records but if they were, the concern would be on single issues and not everything else. We don’t have many thinking voters in this state. They are influenced by poorly defined and limp wristed terminology like conservative or liberal and maligned marketing of ideology that has no practical substance………..Just look at Noem and Jackley’s campaign adds already…… Same old, tired, ill defined, substance empty themes we’ve endured for decades and people will make up their mind which of these is “the better conservative” and not even understand the sincerity of it all. We hold up gossip and innuendo as political qualification and the R faction just soaks it up like an artificial sponge. Upholding 2nd Amendment rights in concert with special interest political donors to an extreme while the “domestic tranquility” of an entire nation deteriorates into a state of constant fear, anxiety and pessimism is not conservatism….. It’s tyrannical government and political parties performing badly…………..

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