Latest news with #Dakotafest
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Revolving door of congressional term limits would handicap states like South Dakota
From left, U.S. Sen. John Thune, U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds and U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, all Republicans of South Dakota, talk about agriculture policy at Dakotafest in Mitchell on Aug. 21, 2024. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight) It only stands to reason that a bunch of elected officials who are term-limited would believe that terms limits are good for everyone. That's the case in the South Dakota Legislature, where both chambers endorsed House Joint Resolution 5002. It calls for a national constitutional convention to create an amendment that imposes term limits on members of the U.S. Congress. HJR 5002 was approved by votes of 42-24 in the House and 25-10 in the Senate. Joint resolutions don't require the signature of the governor. The Legislature's action did earn praise from U.S. Term Limits, an organization pushing for a constitutional amendment determining how long members of Congress can serve. It takes 34 states to call for a constitutional convention. Now South Dakota is one of 10 states that has endorsed USTL's version of the amendment. Nineteen other states have endorsed congressional term limits, but their language has to be made to conform with USTL's or the entire effort will just become a jobs program for lawyers. USTL would like to see members of the U.S. House limited to three two-year terms and members of the U.S. Senate limited to two six-year terms. That's quite a change for an institution that has some members who make a career out of getting reelected. 'Term limits provide fresh faces with fresh ideas to elected office,' USTL says on its website. 'They reduce lobbyist and special interest influence and make room in Congress for the citizen legislator.' The citizen legislators in South Dakota's Legislature are limited to four two-year terms in each house, though they are allowed to try to jump to the other chamber after eight years. Legislators here became subject to term limits with the passage of an initiated constitutional amendment in 1992. Many of the faces in both chambers have changed due to term limits. However, many of the same lobbyists are still hanging in there, ready to offer their brand of guidance, expertise and institutional memory to each group of newbie lawmakers. Chances are that congressional term limits would make lobbyists more important rather than less powerful, as claimed by USTL. Term limits would also place more emphasis on the expertise of government bureaucrats. After all, co-President Musk and DOGE can't fire them all. The prospect of congressional term limits is worrisome for a small state like South Dakota. This is particularly true in the U.S. Senate, where longevity leads to power. If term limits were already the law of the land in Washington, D.C., there's likely no way that Sen. John Thune would rise to be the Senate majority leader. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Granted, Thune's tenure so far hasn't exactly been a profile in courage as the Senate confirmed a group of Fox News has-beens and conspiracy theorists to serve in President Trump's Cabinet. Still, it will be good to have someone from South Dakota in a position of authority to look out for the state's interests when Congress tackles the next farm bill. The battle cry for term limits is usually based on the power of incumbents and how tough it is to kick the bums out of office. Some of the same South Dakota legislators who embraced HJR 5002 proved last year that incumbency is not all that it's cracked up to be. The ditches of South Dakota roads are littered with Republican incumbents, tossed aside by voters in last year's GOP primary. All the new faces in this year's Legislature prove that, as they always have, voters hold the true key to term limits. By design, amending the U.S. Constitution takes time. With just 10 states signed on for its version of the term limits amendments, USTL has a long way to go. For small states it may be best if USTL never reaches its goal. Through the years, South Dakota has enjoyed the Senate leadership of Tom Daschle and now John Thune. It's hard to see how our small state could be in that position of power if the U.S. Capitol were to install a revolving door.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
For SD's congressional delegation, it's enable and deflect instead of advise and consent
Sen. John Thune, Sen. Mike Rounds and Rep. Dusty Johnson attend a forum at Dakotafest in Mitchell on Aug. 16, 2023. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight) The second Donald Trump administration is barely more than a month old and it's already exhausting. The flurry of moves made by the president are designed to 'flood the zone' to keep his detractors from focusing on any one thing he does amid an avalanche of executive orders meant to dismantle the federal government. All of this is taking place while South Dakota's representatives in Washington are enabling the president's wishes with legislation, casting votes for questionable nominees or agreeing with his off-the-wall plans. With so much going on in the Trump administration, a recent South Dakota News Watch interview with Rep. Dusty Johnson seemed outdated by the time it appeared. In the interview, Johnson tried to explain why he offered legislation that would allow for the purchase of the Panama Canal. In an earlier South Dakota Searchlight story, Johnson explained that his bill would allow Trump to arrange for the purchase of the Panama Canal 'if he could get a good deal.' That particular flight of the president's fancy seems like old news now, way back in the days when he was looking lovingly at welcoming Canada or Greenland into the Union. Now the former real estate mogul is fixated on turning war-torn Gaza into some kind of Middle Eastern Riviera. Thune and Rounds vote yes as U.S. Senate confirms Kash Patel as FBI director RFK Jr. confirmed as nation's health chief; Thune and Rounds vote yes SD congressman drafts bill to authorize Trump's potential purchase of Panama Canal Trump's plan is to push out the Palestinians that live there, forcing them on Jordan and Egypt before making the area a playground for rich folks. He obviously doesn't see the irony in forcing thousands of refugees into countries that don't want them while he has Kristi Noem's Homeland Security working overtime here trying to ferret out immigrants living in the country illegally. Here's hoping Johnson doesn't come up with legislation opening the way for Trump to get a 'good deal' on the purchase of Gaza. His original bill seeking a purchase of the Panama Canal is the kind of enabling of bad ideas that Congress is doing too much of as the members of the Republican majorities in the House and Senate try to stay on Trump's good side. Johnson isn't alone in his play to stay in the president's good graces. His Republican compatriots in the House deflect questions about the president's actions with praise for the way he is using executive orders to reshape the federal government. They claim that he's just watching out for our tax dollars. Again, there is more irony-impairment at play as they fail to see that Trump's funding cuts in scientific research, education and agriculture come from the very bills that were passed by Congress. So much for Congress having the power of the purse. As the leader of the influential Main Street Caucus in the House, Johnson should be standing up for the traditional, legal role of Congress, not offering legislation that enables Trump's latest flight of fancy. Over in the Senate, another South Dakotan is likely seeing the wisdom of the old saying, 'Be careful what you wish for.' Sen. John Thune, as the new majority leader of the Senate, has been the overseer of a party caught in Trump's double-barreled plan to surround himself with sycophants while insulting a revered institution. With the exception of the doomed candidacy of Matt Gaetz for attorney general, Thune, South Dakota's Sen. Mike Rounds and their Republican colleagues have proven that they live in an alternate reality where the likes of Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are worthy to run the Pentagon, oversee the nation's security agencies and serve as the next guardian of the nation's health care. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX By putting forth such lackluster candidates, Trump is surrounding himself with people who will do his bidding without question. He's also sending a message to the Senate, that he can nominate any clod as a Cabinet secretary and the Senate will have to back his play, or else. This sets a disturbing trend for the time when Trump gets behind a particularly egregious piece of legislation and wants the Senate to continue to march in lockstep to do his bidding. As expected, Noem, as a Trump appointee, is embracing the president's ideas, going so far as to agree with his estimation that FEMA should be dismantled. It's hard to name a federal office that's taken it on the chin more in recent times as the emergency management agency deals with a seemingly never-ending cycle of wildfires, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes. If FEMA goes away, let's hope there's a plan for how the federal government will help the victims of natural disasters. Trump's dismantling of government is taking place with the Republican majorities in Congress either cheering him on or huddled on the sidelines in silence. So far, it has been up to the courts to tamper down Trump's many plans. If the day comes when Trump decides he doesn't have to abide by the courts' decisions, maybe then Congress will get back in the game.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Marshall Mitchell: Mitchell fire union's Chase the Ace smolders out after reaching UTV fundraiser goal
Feb. 21—MITCHELL — Where has the ace of hearts gone? The Mitchell Fire Department union's UTV fundraiser Chase the Ace is missing in action. Union and fire administration have cited department-wide flu, venues falling through and changes in union leadership for dropping the deck on what was previously a regular drawing that raised funds to pay off a UTV that was purchased for the fire department. The Chase the Ace raffle, with the most recent drawing on Jan. 3 and along with donations and grants, reached the fundraising goal and the UTV was purchased. "With the closure of the Back 40, we were as surprised as everybody else," said former Mitchell fire union president Shannon Sandoval, who spearheaded the Chase the Ace fundraiser. "The event had slowed down with winter months. It was good to kind of put a quick pause on it, giving us time to figure out how we could finish it, because at that point, we had had enough donations to finance the project fully." Mitchell's fire union, chapter 4166, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, purchased the $37,700 Cam-Am Defender utility vehicle and installed a skit kit for $5,000. Headlights and other amenities have also been purchased. A commissioning celebration at Iverson Powersports is forthcoming. In August 2024, the fire union organized a raffle during Dakotafest, but was interrupted when a citizen brought the topic to Davison County Administrator Jeff Bathke, who forwarded the concern to the auditor's office , who then called the Davison County Sheriff's Office to shut them down for not notifying their office of the raffle. The current jackpot is $8,366. Under the Chase the Ace rules, one raffle ticket will be drawn, which gives the ticket holder the chance to choose a card off the board looking for the ace of hearts. Drawing that card entitles the winner to 50% of the jackpot. The Chase the Ace raffle was held at the Back 40 Taphouse Grill from September 2024 until the location closed in January. The event started at the VFW Post 2750 in June 2024 and was held weekly until October, when it became a monthly drawing. On Jan. 17, the 4166 union's Facebook page said that Chase the Ace was taking a break. No public update has been released since. The Mitchell Republic inquired to the Mitchell Fire Department about the UTV fundraiser the fourth week of January, and again the second week of February, but fire officials did not have an exact date for the next drawing or the UTV commissioning. Fire Chief Dan Pollreisz told the Mitchell Republic on Feb. 18 that the final Chase the Ace jackpot drawing would most likely be held March 8 at the Masonic Temple following an EMS refresher course in the main hall, but union leaders indicated that this date may not work for the venue as there was already an evening event to be held there. Finally, the temple agreed to let the union use an upper room for the fundraiser. "We just didn't want to put a burden on another business for the benefit of the fire department, so we thought this would be the best way to do that," Sandoval said. Before the recent changes in leadership at the firehouse , Sandoval resigned as union president and went back to the floor. Sandoval had duties as fire marshal, union president, running the weekly UTV fundraiser and a home inspection business on the side. "I had just worn myself a little thin. I needed a quick reset," Sandoval said. The Masonic Temple, which is offering its venue to the fire union for an administrative fee, will have a cash bar open during the Chase the Ace final drawing. Any alcohol sales for the night would go to the lodge and not to the fire union, according to Sandoval. The Chase the Ace fundraiser started with 52 cards and ran for 22 weeks. There are 30 cards left. Union leaders have not decided if there will be prizes for drawing a losing card, as there was for the first 22 weeks, when a losing card would win 10% of the proceeds raised that week. A Pink Ladies dart league in Hudson, a South Dakota town with a population of 311, raised about $350,000 through donations and raffle tickets for a Chase the Queen fundraiser to help cancer survivors. The fundraiser lasted until there was only three cards left. The fire union will share 50/50 of the pot with the person who finds the ace of hearts. For every dollar the pot grows, the more money the fire union will have and the less fundraising they'll have to do. The more opportunities for the pot to grow, the more money for the union and for winning ticket holders. The fire union has a potential 30 more weeks to run the fundraiser, but is choosing to end it in one night. "We talked about removing some (cards) to make it go faster," said Tom Schaffner, who is the union secretary/treasurer and a firefighter/EMT. Raffle tickets can be purchased for $5 at the event or through the union's Venmo account ahead of the event in increments of $10. "We will be doing a rapid fire drawing so someone will win the pot that night. We will keep drawing until someone finds the ace of hearts," Sandoval said. The final drawing will be at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 8 in an upper room of the Masonic Temple.
