Significantly abrasive and ineffectual Governor Kristi Noem couldn’t push her Communist bill to block Chinese purchases of agricultural land through her own Republican-dominated Legislature. But Republicans and Democrats are working together in Washington to impose a national ban on ag-land acquisition by China and other troublemakers:
U.S. senators approved bipartisan amendments to the annual defense policy bill Tuesday night that would prohibit China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from purchasing U.S. farmland and screen American investment in high-tech ventures on foreign adversary soil.
By a 91-7 vote (including yes votes from both of South Dakota’s senators), the lawmakers approved a measure that would require review of — and direct the president to halt or waive — agricultural land transactions by the four nations.
The amendment would empower the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to evaluate the land deals. The committee already reviews other inbound investment transactions [Ashley Murray, “Senate Approves Rounds Amendment to Block Ag Land Purchases by Adversaries,” South Dakota Searchlight, 2023.07.25].
So Republicans are working with Democrats to give the President more power to intervene in the free market and stop capitalist transactions. Funny—I thought Republicans were promising to protect Americans from more big-government socialism.
Like Noem, Senator Rounds is wheezing about the danger of the Chinese buying farm land near military bases to facilitate spying. But as I suggested last winter when Noem’s state plan failed, the passage of any such socialist restriction on farmers’ capitalist decision-making will simply prompt the wily Chinese and other sneaky spies to invest in surveillance with less overhead, like more Chinese restaurants and spy balloons.
Rounds and his colleagues are working to pass this China land-buy ban along with the full defense spending bill this week. They’ll then have to convince the McCarthy House to settle for fighting the China war and not the culture war with the defense budget.
Interesting, huh? A case by case, purchase by purchase review can’t hurt.
Holy cats! That’s the first image I’ve seen of Master Ian – whadda mutant! Cory is right to call Noem abrasive and ineffectual; I suggest bluntly labelling Kristi Lynn offensive, incompetent, and stupid.
“Ian, when all is said and done, we will have lived lives of significance.” That is the first sentence in Fury’s “response” on the Dakota Scout’s site to Stu Whitney’s excellent news report. The alleged quote is attributed to Noem, apparently something she said to him when his feelings were hurt. If Noem really said that, I’d love to know what she thinks anything that she’s done during her time in state and national elected positions are significant. If the accompanying photo on Fury’s opinion article is current, he did something significant by shaving off his mustache that he had grown last fall.
I still suspect the Chinese have the best seat in the house through the dartboard machines in every tavern, sports bar, lounge, inn, pub, and rat hole serving booze in South Dakota.
Live dartboard cameras are out of place because it’s not like any podunkle in these parts is going to want to play real-time against a guy in China (or 14 yo girl because they are probably way too good). Regardless, those boards are online with 2 different angles of hi-def color video cameras watching (and probably listening) to all the shop talk and land gossip the folks in-the-know throughout the state discuss amongst themselves (so they think) over a cold one (or two).
I try to be sneaky when I tear off tiny corners of a napkin and lick it and stick it on the board’s cameras. I get funny looks:/ ya damnn right I do yeah!
Mind what goes on in front of those dartboards because China’s on the other end. I don’t care who it is, I just don’t like being on video (unless I need the alibi).
All <Mammal–a frightening possibility. I think it is more likely they will be launching large balloons from their property in South Dakota to monitor John Dale's cyber traffic.
So then, how much money do those pesky varmints have in South Dakota Trust funds? That is the place to start, clean that house first.
Further evidence and argument that Rep Tiny Johnson’s and Governor NOem’s China phobia is as misplaced as were the “security experts” that Russia would overrun Ukraine, that Iraq had WMDs, that the US would “win” in Afghanistan, etc., et al. Yes, China has a navy double the size of the US navy. So what? Almost none of the Chinese navy is blue water, unable to operate 1000 miles from land. That’s like saying my grandkid has more toy soldiers than does the US army.
China’s demographic is collapsing, it’s economy is collapsing (China cannot have a consumer economy when their consuming population is in free fall).
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/opinions/rising-superpower-myth-china-rayburn-bergen/index.html