Madison and District 8 just lost a thousand-some registered voters… and Scott Parsley’s chances of unseating rookie Senator Jordan Youngberg just went up.
According to full-time recreational-vehiculist Becky Schade, Madison mail-forwarding company My Dakota Address has abruptly gone out of business:
On Tuesday the 24th I first heard whispers that My Dakota Address (MDA), which has been my (and many other full-time RVers) mail and domicile solution for years was closing its doors at of the end of this month. Having received no officially notice from MDA and seeing nothing on their website, I assumed this was just a rumor or at most an exaggeration. I fired off an e-mail to MDA and got a response back late in the afternoon – the rumors were true. Not only that but they were no longer accepting new mail as of yesterday the 25th.
I waited to break the news because the situation kept changing. There was talk of a different SD mail company buying out My Dakota Address, but that fell through today (the 26th) so it’s now official. My Dakota Address is closing [Becky Schade, “South Dakota RV Residency Update—My Dakota Address Going Out of Business,” Interstellar Orchard, 2018.07.26].
As of this morning, owner Jon Knuths and manager Terri Lund still haven’t taken down their MyDakotaAddress.com website or even posted any notice of their defunction. Schade says the Madison company recommended DakotaPost, a.k.a. Alternative Resources of Sioux Falls, to its customers.
Schade recommends that the newly mailboxless RVers “move” to Florida for the really good ObamaCare:
If you’ve been thinking of switching residencies to another state, say for health insurance reasons, now might not be a bad time to do it. To be honest if I was anywhere near Florida I would seriously consider taking this forced opportunity to “move” there for true nationwide health coverage and let Escapees handle my mail forwarding and residency. Something to think about [Schade, 2018.07.26].
That ObamaCare boost deserves some detail from Schade’s May post:
Being more or less self-employed, pre-retirement age, in general good health but wanting to cover myself in case of an emergency, and wanting to stay compliant with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), I have a plan through https://www.healthcare.gov/ – commonly called the Marketplace. Let me state here that things are much different for medicare age RVers, and that this article is aimed at younger pre-medicare RVers such as myself.
Every state’s Marketplace offerings are different, and some are definitely better than others. Of the three big full-timing residency states (Florida, South Dakota, and Texas), only Florida has Marketplace plans that provide nation-wide coverage (Florida Blue), which is something worth thinking about for those of you hitting the road in the near future who are debating what residency state to choose.
If I had health issues and required regular medical care, I’d probably “move” to Florida for this reason, but as I am still, thankfully, in good health, I can’t justify the cost it would take to switch residency states at this time.
With my plan based out of South Dakota I’m covered for an emergency out-of-state, but if I needed recurring care, I’d need to go back to South Dakota to get it. Likewise if I want any preventative care, checkups, etc., I need to go back to South Dakota, which for me isn’t a huge deal as most of my family is in Wisconsin so I tend to pass through South Dakota pretty regularly on the way to and from there [Becky Schade, “Health Insurance for Full-Time RVers, 2018 Edition,” Interstellar Orchard, 2018.05.30].
We know that some RVers go nomad to avoid state income taxes, but Schade points out that RVers not yet on Medicare (government health insurance) can get the best deal from a healthy Affordable Care Act Marketplace (government-subsidized health insurance). (On Twitter, we’d say #irony.)
Given that MyDakotaAddress.com is kaput, a thousand-plus voters no longer have residential nexus at 110 E. Center Street in Madison. The county auditor and Secretary of State will want to take note and include those now defunct addresses in the usual August voter purge. Conducted correctly, that voter purge could wipe out the 183-vote margin that Republican Jordan Youngberg enjoyed in Madison’s Ward 1 in the 2016 District 8 Senate election. Given that Youngberg won that election by a mere 94 votes, and given the suspicions of many that non-resident voters might favor a generic R like Youngberg over a well-qualified Democrat like Parsley, the Youngberg/Parsley rematch may have just taken on a new dynamic with its smaller, all-local voter pool.
I always thought the MyDakotaAddress building was vacant, and the name referred to a long-dead web development or marketing business. Whenever I would walk by that building, especially during evenings, I would see lights on inside. If you would through the front window, you’ll find that the place is a bit dumpy. There is junk on the hallway floor and more junk visible if you can peer into the first office to the right of the entrance. It sort of felt like whoever owned the building was using this as a personal storage space or actual residence. I never thought much of it, besides a bit of suspicion.
Just a few days ago, something to the tune of a generic “Our business has closed” message was hastily taped up on the front door. Not knowing about the entire mailbox business that was inside, I thought it was very strange to see a sign like that taped up on a dumpy building that I never seen people go in or out of.
That entire block seems to thrive in secrecy. Next door to MyDakotaAddress is a small office building with a scrapbook and photography studio that also seems to never be open. Drapes cover the doors and windows. And further down from that is Leaned-in Crossfit, also seemingly in a perpetual darkness. Unlike the other two places, I have seen people come in and out of this business, usually doing laps around the block.
Other states have better healthcare plans than Florida but you really do have to physically “move” and reside there.
I think if people don’t physically live in a state, they shouldn’t get to vote there.
Oh these Progressives everything is a conspiracy. The law office has been there for 50 years since the fire across the street, the jewelry store just as long until last year. Knock on the door some kid was just going in there a half hour ago. It was simply a business that didn’t get much foot traffic. Better drive by Teezers, there’s another generic sign they are closed, oh the suspicion, oh the loss, no more Blue Moon on tap.
Madison Rumor Mill is that they were tipped off that they were going to be raided by the FBI. That is why they allegedly closed their doors.
Matt, get out! Really? What on earth for? They didn’t have Russians establishing voting residency there, did they? :-D
Scott Parsley is a good guy but he got beat by Youngberg as an incumbent. Youngberg is popular with the people in his district and he will probably win by a bigger margin this election.
Sounds like a non-unique observation, Greg. Scott Parsley is also popular with the people in his district. Youngberg won bigger in a ward that just lost over a thousand registered voters. That evidence suggests Youngberg faces a loss of margin. What evidence can you point to that shows Youngberg gaining votes to outweigh that loss?
I’m pretty ticked off that they didn’t have the courtesy to notify its customers! Our bills were returned to the senders and letters refused, and we had NO notice. They were a good service and only had one mix-up in many years. Even an email in retrospect would have somewhat appeased me, but now I’m left with trying to figure out what bills are missing and paying late fees! Very disappointed!!
Why don’t you just admit you are a conservative Republican, or a DINO? Because you act like it,a and your posts disgust me.
This post is full of misinformation.
1. It is not called “ObamaCare”. It is known as the Affordable Care Act. Republicans invented the name “ObamaCare” to turn people against Obama. Why do you fail to see this? Call it by its rightful name.
I suppose you still call SNAP Benefits “food stamps” and Housing Choice Vouchers “Section 8”. I bet you call undocumented migrants “illegal aliens”. You want to perpetuate the stereotype and denigrate people who rightfully benefit from these programs.
2. 2018 was the last tax year there was an IRS penalty for not having health insurance.
3. “We know that some RVers go nomad to avoid state income taxes,”.
Uh, no they don’t. They need a driver’s license and registration from a state that accepts the nomadic lifestyle. SD, TX,and FL all do; and they happens to offer the fringe benefit of no state taxes. If forced to choose, who wouldn’t choose those states? But if their original states would let them keep their driver’s licenses and registrations, they would have no reason to seek them in other states. And many full-timers do not even have an income that would meet the threshold for taxability anyway. I know I don’t.
Maybe you should become a full-timer before you make such ignorant comments. Maybe then you would understand.
I wish you would think before you post trollish nonsense. No wonder most people think SD is a state full of deplorables.
@Debbo:
“Other states have better healthcare plans than Florida but you really do have to physically “move” and reside there.”
No, you don’t have to reside there. Get a PO box or UPS Store address and you will be set. I did this for many years with Medicare Part D. There are other ways too, but I am not going to mention them here.