Noem, K Rep Gov

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NO MERRI

SEE TWO 1 25 DHS

820 primary on biker super-spreader

running 2024?

alec but not TP caucus?

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AN 1 25

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and 17 other Republican attorneys general are questioning the temporary protected status for immigrants from 17 distressed countries. They’re asking officials in President Donald Trump’s explicitly anti-immigrant administration to review whether protections are necessary.

In a statement Tuesday, Yost said some have been allowed to stay in the United States even after it was “safe for them to return home.” However, he didn’t name a single such country — and publicly available reports make it hard to guess which places he might mean.

His office was asked if he could name a person with temporary protected status who could safely return to her or his home country. A spokeswoman responded that it wasn’t the attorney general’s job to make such determinations.

An immigrant advocate said the letter was another way to scare vulnerable immigrants into the shadows. It’s akin to last summer’s false claims by now-President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and others that Haitians under temporary protected status in Springfield were stealing and eating their neighbors’ pets, she said. That led to dozens of bomb threats and reports of violence against immigrants.

“It’s about intimidation,” said Lynn Tramonte, founder of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance. “It’s about destabilization. These are authoritarian tactics where you make people unsafe in their homes and communities. It’s really sad. J.D. Vance himself brought violence to Springfield.”

Longstanding problems

Yost and the other attorneys general sent a letter to Kristi Noem, Trump’s head of the Department of Homeland Security. Now confirmed, Noem has the power to grant or revoke temporary protected status, or TPS. Her farewell address last week as North Dakota governor was peppered with starkly anti-immigrant rhetoric.

The Trump administration is giving immigration officers an expanded authority to rapidly deport immigrants, including people the Biden administration temporarily allowed into the country under parole authority, according to an internal memo, States Newsroom reported this weekend.

“TPS beneficiaries represent over 1 million immigrants residing in the States who are otherwise without legal status,” the attorneys general’s letter to Noem said. “Converting TPS into a license for long-term residency frustrates congressional aims and only increases the financial and governmental strain on States.”

In addition to Yost, attorneys general from Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming signed the letter to Noem.

The letter makes much of the fact that the word “temporary” is in the name of the designation, and that people from some countries have had temporary protected status for decades.

“Honduras, for instance, first received TPS after a hurricane hit in 1998 and DHS bases its current TPS designation on ‘persist[ing]’ conditions from that same event,” the letter said. “TPS extensions spanning decades have become routine.”

According to statutory language provided by Yost’s office, the Homeland Security secretary can grant TPS if she finds “that there exist extraordinary and temporary conditions in the foreign state that prevent aliens who are nationals of the state from returning to the state in safety.”

Tramonte said the attorneys general are misreading the law.

“It’s called ‘temporary protected status,'” she said. “It’s not called ‘short-term protected status.’ When a crisis happens, whether it’s a natural disaster or a political crisis, it takes years to recover. They’re fixating on the word ‘temporary’ as if that means short-term. But all that means is that Congress said we’re going to give you a break and not deport you because it’s dangerous to send you back.”

Harrowing conditions

In its 2023 report on human rights practices, the U.S. State Department had this to say about Honduras, the country the Republican AGs cite as being designated a TPS country for almost 27 years:

“Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by government agents; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including threats against media members by criminal elements; serious government corruption; extensive gender-based violence, including domestic violence, sexual violence, and femicide; and crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex persons.”

In fact, of the 17 countries designated for TPS, 11 have the State Department’s most severe travel warning — do not travel. Three have the next-highest, reconsider travel. And three have the second-lowest, exercise increased caution.

Reports for the latter countries — Cameroon, Nepal and El Salvador — indicate how dicey it might be to return there, especially if you’re not a tourist from a developed country.

Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2024 says that El Salvador had been stricken by gang violence, and then “a state of emergency (that was) adopted in March 2022 that suspended basic rights remains in force. Authorities have committed widespread human rights violations, including mass arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, ill-treatment in detention, and due process violations.”

The Human Rights Watch report for Cameroon detailed “continued clashes between armed groups and government forces throughout Cameroon’s Anglophone and Far North regions severely impacted civilians, with cases of unlawful killings, abductions, and raids on villages increasing in the second half of the year.”

And the State Department’s 2023 report for Nepal described “significant human rights issues (including) credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; arbitrary detention; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media, including violence or threats of violence against journalists and unjustified arrests of journalists.”

Those are the TPS countries that the State Department deems to be the safest of the 17 to travel to. The letter the attorneys general wrote to Noem criticized former President Joe Biden for extending temporary protected status designations for Sudan, Ukraine, and Venezuela, in addition to El Salvador.

Ukraine has been devastated by war since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded in 2022. Sudan has been torn by civil war since 2023, spurring the enlistment of child soldiers, sexual violence and other atrocities. And in Venezuela, the socialist government has made the economy so dysfunctional that 90% live in poverty, and it has the highest crime rate in the world.

Safe?

In a statement announcing that he and other Republican attorneys general called for a review of TPS designations, Yost, said some could safely return to their home countries.

“This program has been applied too loosely, allowing noncitizens to live here indefinitely, even after it’s safe for them to return home,” the statement quoted Yost, who last week announced a 2026 run for governor, as saying.

Asked if the Ohio AG could name one, his spokeswoman said that wasn’t his job.

“The Ohio Attorney General isn’t the person with authority to make TPS judgments, regardless,” the spokeswoman, Bethany McCorkle, said in an email. “That’s why the letter doesn’t call for the designation to be immediately lifted from any one nation.

“What the letter does ask is that the Secretary engage in a review of the country conditions and exercise her judgment regarding the status of countries that have been designated as ‘temporar[ily]’ protected for years — sometimes decades — based on the same insular events,” she added. “If conditions are currently unsafe in a certain country based on new/current factors that would reach the high bar set by Congress for TPS, then the Secretary would have discretion to give TPS on that basis.”

The call for an administration led by a vehemently anti-immigrant president to review and possibly deny immigrants’ protected status might be out of step with public opinion. A December poll sponsored by the National Immigration Forum and the Bulfinch group said that 73% of Americans agreed that immigration policies should protect the persecuted and keep families intact.

Tramonte, of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, said the real point of the letter is to distract the public from the real cause of many Americans’ suffering.

“This gets them headlines, this gets them accolades from the people they’re trying to stir up,” she said. “They’re trying to distract from their bigger agenda, which is getting corporations bigger tax breaks and helping the wealthy while average people are having to work multiple jobs just to pay the rent.”

Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com.

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NOW SAYS IT WAS NOT A PUPPY

some fox defenders?

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an 1 25

It seems absurd that Gov. Kristi Noem would harm the U.S. Department of Homeland Security just before she is expected to be confirmed as its leader.

But that is what she is doing with her ill-advised plan to destroy South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

Noem launched her surprise attack on SDPB in her Dec. 3 budget address, proposing to cut slightly more than $3.6 million of its $5.6 million in state funding.

“If it goes though as proposed,” said SeVern Ashes, SDPB’s director of engineering and operations, “there is not enough funding left to support the infrastructure, engineering salaries, buildings, power or service contracts for the equipment.”

It costs $4.8 million annually to “cover engineering expenses for the networks, studio engineering, and 24-7 coverage,” he said.

SDPB’s system is on 45 towers, and 17 of those co-host public safety communication equipment. The network is critical “to all emergency communication from the SD Division of Criminal Investigation on down to county-level emergency management systems such as ambulance, fire and local police departments such as Sioux Falls and Rapid City,” Ashes said.

Additionally, Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T wireless systems lease space on SDPB towers.

One federal Homeland Security agency using the tower network for communications is U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Ashes said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S Forest Service and Federal Aviation Administration also use the system, as does the Civil Air Patrol.

Fighting fires in the Black Hills will be difficult without radio communication. County sheriffs, the state Highway Patrol, city and tribal police departments and ambulance systems will all be seeking alternatives.

The potential loss of that emergency communication system is unacceptable to South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley.

“Law enforcement relies heavily on public broadcasting,” he said in a Monday interview. “We rely on it to a great degree for public safety from weather conditions to missing children and endangered individuals. I mean, that is who we go to for our Amber Alert.”

The public best understands the tower system as the way SDPB transmits its programming, which is the real target of Noem’s ire. Conservatives tend to dislike National Public Radio, which is only one part of SDPB’s programming and is funded by private donations and the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The state’s money primarily is used to maintain SDPB’s transmission system.

Ashes oversees seven SDPB-employed engineers, three in Rapid City, three in Sioux Falls and one in Pierre.

They maintain about 30% of South Dakota’s communication network, with the State Radio System under the Bureau of Information and Technology maintaining the rest.

Ashes said in addition to the towers, SDPB buildings house the state’s radio equipment as well as backup generators. Federal law requires 72 hours of backup power, but SDPB’s sites have seven days of capability.

The sharing of tower space with the State Radio System allows the two organizations to ensure coverage to about 98% of the state.

SDPB is the state’s connection to the federal Emergency Alert System, Ashes said. “We cover every county in the state. Any statewide alert system — Amber Alert, Blue Alert, endangered persons — those are activated out of our facilities in Vermillion.’’

If there is a national emergency, something involving the Homeland Security Department soon to be led by Noem, “Our infrastructure is taken over by the federal government for those alerts.”

If $3.6 million is cut and SDPB is unable to maintain the system, the state radio communications system likely would have to find money to maintain it, or SDPB’s portion goes dark.

At risk would be the state’s television and radio broadcast licenses. Incoming Gov. Larry Rhoden would have to be involved in relinquishing those vital assets.

Noem’s actions basically are those of a person showing malice against NPR, which explores ideas that differ with her worldview.

She never asked anyone at SDPB what might happen if they lost funding, and it’s clear Noem had no understanding of what would happen.

“The first thing we heard was when the governor made the speech,” said Ryan Howlett, CEO of Friends of South Dakota Public Broadcasting. “We weren’t asked about the implication of a cut.”

The bottom line, Howlett said, is that Noem’s proposed cut will “compromise the safety of about 1 million people.”

That’s something Jackley said is unacceptable. “That infrastructure is very significant and important.”

*EDITOR’S NOTE: Brad Johnson is married to a retired former employee of the nonprofit Friends of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com.

an 1 25

Soon Gov. Kristi Noem could be installed as the next Secretary of Homeland Security. In one of her last official acts as governor, Noem managed to instill some uncertainty in South Dakota’s public education system.

During her budget speech, Noem claimed she wanted to continue to “prioritize education.” Notice that she didn’t say “prioritize public education.” In what was likely her final budget address to the Legislature, Noem proposed an ongoing $4 million expenditure to help families pay for private school tuition and other forms of alternative instruction.

Her largesse toward families seeking to pay for a private school education came during a budget address in which she:

Offered a paltry 1.25% funding increase for the “big three” of health care, public education and state employee salaries.Unveiled $71.9 million in budget reductions and discretionary changes.Included in the budget cuts a $2 million reduction for the Board of Regents and a $3.6 million cut for South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

Noem proposed that the state would pay about $3,000 per student annually for private school tuition or alternative instruction. Private schools, homeschoolers and other forms of alternative instruction operate under a different set of rules. It’s a veritable wild west of schools that can be unaccredited or accredited by someone other than the state. In other words, good luck figuring out how your tax dollars are being spent.

It’s probably possible to figure out how much money the state of South Dakota has invested in public education since statehood. Instead of doing the math, let’s just assume it totals in the billions of dollars. It seems at cross purposes for the state to make that kind of long-term investment in public education only to turn around and start funding its competitors.

Instead of tackling the bigger issues in public education, Noem has revved up the Legislature for a fight over an idea that’s trendy in conservative circles. It’s also an idea that the state can’t afford. Any state budget that proposes tens of millions in cuts isn’t likely to have a spare $4 million. If there is $4 million extra in the state budget, it should be funneled into teacher salaries.

Through neglect and short-sightedness lawmakers and the governor have let teachers’s salaries sink back near the bottom of the barrel nationally. Noem’s proposed 1.25% increase in education funding certainly isn’t going to do much to get South Dakota’s national teacher salary ranking out of the basement.

With its low teacher salary ranking, South Dakota’s universities find themselves training the next generation of teachers for the surrounding states that make a greater attempt to pay teachers what they are worth. When qualified teachers become harder to attract because of South Dakota’s low salaries, school districts will be forced to cut their offerings, hamstringing the very education that Noem says she has gone to such great lengths to “prioritize.”

The last time South Dakota made any progress in this area was in 2016 when Gov. Dennis Daugaard led an effort to raise the state sales tax by half a percent with some of the funds dedicated to raising teachers’ salaries. Since then, lawmakers have cut the state sales tax and mandated a $45,000 minimum salary for public school teachers without offering any extra funding to help schools reach that goal.

Given the state of the budget Noem proposed, lawmakers would do well to put their efforts into protecting public education and finding a funding source that could ensure that the state’s teacher salaries are no longer a national embarrassment.

an 12 24

New Kristi Noem proposal would fund Christian ‘segregation academies’

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an 12 24

During the United States' 2024 presidential election, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was hoping to be Donald Trump's running mate. But her hopes were dashed because of an anecdote in her book, "No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward."

Noem, in the book, bragged about taking a puppy to a gravel pit on a farm and shooting it. The South Dakota governor evidently thought that the anecdote showed her to be tough and decisive; instead, the so-called "Puppygate" scandal sunk her chances of being Trump's running mate.

Regardless, Noem's allies still admire her for being an unwavering Trump loyalist. And now, she is the president-elect's pick for secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

But according to Washington Post reporters Peter Jamison and Isaac Stanley-Becker, some South Dakota residents are worried about how Noem, if confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2025, would handle the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). And they are critical of her response to disastrous flooding in the state.

"If confirmed," Jamison and Stanley-Becker explain in an article published on December 4, "she would oversee not only immigration enforcement, but an agency that has become increasingly important in a nation battered by frequent fires and floods: the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That alarms victims of one of the most serious disasters to affect Noem's state during her six years as governor."

The journalists continues, "In North Sioux City, whose 3000 residents live across the Big Sioux River from Iowa, many fault Noem for overseeing a response to the catastrophic June floods that they describe as disorganized, delayed and often simply nonexistent. Although she urged people in a development several miles away to move to safety, Noem did not order or even suggest that residents of McCook Lake evacuate their homes, leaving people to scramble for their lives as the Big Sioux overflowed its banks and tore through their neighborhood."

Noem, according to Jamison and Stanley-Becker, "waited more than a month to ask President Joe Biden for a disaster declaration."

South Dakota resident Kathy Roberts, one of the victims of the disaster, is vehemently critical of Noem's response.

Roberts told the Post, "I feel foolish for thinking that my government would take care of me in an emergency. Where are her priorities, and who is she looking out for? Because it's definitely not me. It's definitely not my neighborhood."

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an 12 24

Some obvious questions come to mind in considering Gov. Kristi Noem’s selection to lead the Department of Homeland Security in Donald Trump’s next administration.

Will the ghost of Cricket — the 14-month old German wirehaired pointer Noem shot and killed in an apparent fit of anger over the dog’s behavior — haunt her confirmation process? And will the hapless goat she blasted on the same day she executed Cricket bleat its way into the discussion?

Will Noem’s nomination be troubled by her questionable leadership during flooding last spring at McCook Lake in southeast South Dakota? The Federal Emergency Management Agency is part of Homeland Security, after all. And during the emergency at McCook Lake, Noem managed things by hustling back and forth between South Dakota and national political events in other states.

Trump picks South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to run Homeland Security

IFrame Content

When faced with challenges in the nomination process, will Noem show the resiliency and stubbornness and message discipline that have marked her political career and left her with a perfect record of campaign wins?

How much will she benefit from the uproar over some of Trump’s more outrageous nominees? She won’t have the benefit of any Matt Gaetz nomination theater. The right-wing flame-thrower with the tabloid-worthy personal life withdrew from attorney general consideration when it became obvious he’d never get Senate approval.

But Noem will still get cover from other controversial Trump nominees, including Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Defense Department and former Democratic congresswoman turned Trump Republican Tulsi Gabbard, who sometimes seems a bit too fond of America’s enemies, as director of national intelligence. Then for Health and Human Services there will be the nomination gift likely to keep on giving: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the man who made the brain worm famous.

Kristi Noem is free of brain parasites, as far as we know. And while she has admitted to shooting a dog and a goat, there is no indication she has dumped any road-kill carcasses in city parks or chain-sawed any large marine animals.

And speaking of large animals, presuming she is confirmed, how long will it be before we see video of riding along the southern border with border patrol agents? And will she be packing a gun?

As someone wrote on social media when word spread of Noem’s coming nomination: “She’s got a horse and a gun. What more does she need?”

A lot more, of course. But she does have a horse and a gun. Or several guns. She also has what seems to be the enduring affection of Donald Trump, which she has curried unremittingly in recent years. And Trump’s affection can take you far in politics and government these days.

How far could it take Noem? Well, probably to confirmation as Homeland Security secretary, which her home-state colleague and soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader John Thune is likely to deliver. And my guess is Noem still has thoughts about a run for the White House herself.

Self delusion? Could be. But many of us thought Donald Trump was delusional in 2015 when he rode down the golden escalator in Trump Tower to announce his run for president.

Many of us were ourselves delusional in believing he couldn’t win in 2016. And we were even more delusional when we thought denying the results of the 2020 election, conspiring to overturn it and inspiring an attack on the U.S. Capitol might disqualify Trump from ever serving again.

Compared to all of that, Kristi Noem for Homeland Security doesn’t seem so far-fetched. Her out-of-state distractions, love affair with conservative media and focus on grander political desires haven’t necessarily served South Dakota well the last few years. But she’s not without qualifications.

A former two-term state legislator and four-term member of the U.S. House, Noem seemed to be on a reasonably conservative road to some House leadership spot when she decided to run for governor. After making history as South Dakota’s first female governor, she is halfway through her second term and seems to be on her way to a cabinet-level position that she claims was the one she really wanted.

Who knows? Maybe that’s true. In the last couple of years she has seemed obsessed with what she relentlessly called the “war zone” at the southern border, and she expressed it in Trump-like rhetoric that the supreme leader of her party surely loved and encouraged.

She went to the border. She flew above it in a helicopter. She rode on it in an air boat. She sent Army National Guard soldiers multiple times there to assist in security and border-wall work. And wearing jeans, boots, a work shirt with rolled-up sleeves and a hard hat, she helped Guard members erect some barrier sections herself.

Could she have done all of that with the Homeland Security job in mind? Could she have been that crafty and strategic, possibly with guidance from advisers like Corey Lewandowski? Could she have even made her designs on the Homeland Security job clear to Trump months ago, and reached some quiet understanding?

Or was it just a happy coincidence for Noem that all of that posturing and hyperbolic rhetoric about the border put her in the perfect position for what now seems to be her dream job — as opposed, it seems, to the one South Dakota voters gave her.

When it comes to politics, I never sell Noem short. As for running a 260,000-employee, multi-agency department with a mind-numbing assortment of challenges and life-and-death security duties? Well, I’m not sure about that.

But I am pretty sure that if she gets confirmed, we’ll see her in a video clip on horseback along the southern border by summer.

More about Kristi Noem

Commentary: How ambiguity cleared Kristi Noem’s path to national prominence

Commentary: Be careful what you wish for, Gov. Noem Trump readies for mass deportations with pick of Noem as Homeland Security chief

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an 5 24 trumpista hit?

allies of South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem were hoping that her new book, "No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong With Politics and How We Move America Forward," would increase her chances of becoming presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's running mate. But various controversies surrounding the book may have, according to reports, made Trump's campaign less likely to choose her.

First, Noem drew widespread criticism — even on the right — for an anecdote in which she describes shooting and killing a puppy in a gravel pit on a farm. Then, the Dakota Scout reported that a meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un described in the book was very much "in dispute."

When Noem made a Tuesday, May 7 appearance on Newsmax — the cable news channel that prides itself on being even to the right of Fox News and Fox Business — host Rob Finnerty described the Kim Jong-Un encounter as a flat-out falsehood.

Finnerty told Noem, "If you asked me a month ago who's at the top of the list to run with Donald Trump, I would've said your name. If you asked me that same question this morning, I don't even think you're on the list…. It's because of things that came out in this book, like your claims that you met Kim Jong-Un."

Noem responded, "I've been to the DMZ."

But Finnerty quoted directly from Noem's book, saying of the alleged meeting with Jong Un, "Governor, that never happened, did it?"

Noem told Finnerty, "What I have said in the book is that when I became aware of the content, that we had it changed. And that's the way that it is. I should not have put that anecdote in the book. I am not going to talk about my meetings…. I am not going to talk about my conversations with world leaders."

Noem claimed that she has been "very forthright" about meetings she had with world leaders when she was serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. But Finnerty continued to stress that her book describes a meeting that is pure fiction.

The Newsmax host told Noem, "Governor, I'm not asking you about the details of this alleged meeting. I'm asking you if the meeting actually happened. I don't think it did. And I think if it did, you'd be able to confirm for me that yes, it did — and here's when it happened…. You're going to have to continue to answer this question."

Noem responded, "I don't think so, because the average American citizen is more worried about the border."

*Watch the full video below or at this link.

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'No way': Foreign policy experts question Noem’s 'dubious' account of meeting North Korean dictator - Alternet.org

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Kristi Noem explains to Sean Hannity why she shot a puppy and left it in a gravel pit | Media Matters for America

maybe trump wants woman vp to neutralize abort problem, mace? scotus reply fail

'I hated that dog': Kristi Noem recalls taking family pup to gravel pit and killing it - Alternet.org

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It’s a 'tragedy' not to force rape victims to give birth: Kristi Noem - Alternet.org

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an 4 24

less than a week after South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem was banned from visiting the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe reservation, the GOP leader was banned Tuesday from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation, according to The Daily Beast.

Noem, who Donald Trump is considering on his list of potential vice president candidates, has now officially been banned from visiting three Indigenous reservations — as the governor was also banned from the Oglala Sioux Tribe's land last month.

Per the Beast, the Republican leader is "now legally barred from visiting some 10 percent of the lands in her home state—and can be thrown out of those areas if she violates the order."

The bans come after comments Noem made during a recent town hall, according to the report, alleging that Native American tribal leaders are connected to Mexican drug cartels.

According to Dakota News Nob, "Noem stated, at a Winner, (South Dakota) town hall on March 13, that she believes tribal leaders are 'personally benefiting' from drug cartels. At a town hall in Mitchell, she said tribal children 'don't have parents who show up and help them,' and tribal members 'have a tribal council or a president who focuses on a political agenda more than they care about actually helping somebody's life look better.'"

The Associated Press reports:

*Noem also said drug cartels are responsible for murders on the reservation and that they’re affiliated with a gang called the 'Ghost Dancers' — which takes its name from a Native American religious ceremony.

Historically, U.S. and state officials viewed the Ghost Dance as a threat of violence and sought to ban it, prompting a painful period of history.

Following Noem's April 5 ban from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, chairman Ryman LeBeau said, "The South Dakota governor speaks gossip and lies about our Lakota students, their parents and our tribal councils. (The) SD governor's statements made on March 13, 2024 perpetuate stereotypes, misconceptions, which are inaccurate and untrue."

Politico reported in September that when asked about the potential of being picked as Trump's running mate, the GOP governor "told Fox News 'of course, I would consider it.'"

The Daily Beast's full report is[here.

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Watch: Kristi Noem argues NRA is diverse, then the camera reveals otherwise - Alternet.org

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Kristi Noem in hot water following Trump visit to South Dakota - Alternet.org $

AN 12 23 NO LNX

Kristi Noem in hot water following Trump visit to South Dakota

Alexandria Jacobson

andRaw Story

December 29, 2023

In front of a sea of MAGA hats, bedazzled patriotic gear and “Never Surrender” mugshot t-shirts, former President Donald Trump spent nearly two hours at a South Dakota rally in September bemoaning the current state of America.

“We are a nation that in many ways has become a joke, and we are a nation that is hostile to liberty, freedom and faith. We are a nation whose economy is collapsing into a cesspool of ruin,” Trump said over a melancholy orchestral tune that played for the final 12 minutes of his speech Sept. 8 at the South Dakota Republican Party’s Monumental Leaders Rally in Rapid City, S.D.

Then came a 180-degree vibe shift: R&B duo Sam and Dave’s “Hold On, I'm Comin'” blasting over the speakers to signify the end of the event, prompting a little dance at the podium from Trump before he headed off stage.

ALSO READ: Florida judge’s son is a neo-Nazi patron: data leak

The rowdy, “U-S-A” chant-filled affair held at Rapid City’s The Monument event center would end up costing the city’s taxpayers about $20,000 in public safety-related government expenditures, according to information Raw Story obtained through a South Dakota Sunshine Law request.

Trump’s campaign — in keeping with its standard practice — refused to help offset the costs to taxpayers.

The situation represents an awkward dichotomy for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who Trump could consider as a vice presidential running mate upon winning the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination.

On one hand, there’s Noem the MAGA champion who introduced Trump at the Sept. 8 event, giving him her “full and complete endorsement for President of the United States of America.

“To him, every American is worth fighting for. No one is better than anyone else. No one deserves to be treated differently than anyone else, and he will never forget about us, the little people in the little states that are the backbone of this country,” Noem said at the event.

On the other is Noem the anti-tax warrior, who boasts “keeping taxes low” on her official website.

"Public sentiment has shown that South Dakotans want a permanent tax cut," Noem said earlier this year when signing a bill lowering the state’s sales tax.

Noem did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment about the Trump rally’s cost to taxpayers.

As with other rallies, Trump discussed his own legal troubles during the South Dakota event, which include 91 felony charges spread across four indictments and a separate New York civil trial that threatens to upend his business empire.

“I am being indicted for you. I’m not too thrilled about that, but that's part of the job description. I’m being indicted for you,” Trump said on Sept. 8.

Trump’s campaign did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.

The cost of hosting Trump

The overtime payroll expenses for Rapid City police officers cost $15,550.04 on Sept. 8, according to Justin Williams, assistant city attorney for the City of Rapid City.

By comparison, the overtime payroll expenses were $4,997.21 a week later on Sept. 15, according to Williams, who said the figures show a “correlation between the city’s costs and former President Trump’s visit, but they don’t necessarily mean these costs are directly caused by the visit.”

The Rapid City Fire Department did directly incur $4,424.80 in costs for Trump’s visit for the South Dakota GOP event, Williams said. The costs included “staffing for additional emergency medical service staff for an ambulance on standby and for EMS staff to accompany the motorcade from the airport to the event location and back,” he said.

“It's just a cost that's absorbed by the city,” Williams said in a call with Raw Story on Wednesday. “It was never contemplated that either the Trump campaign or the South Dakota Republican Party would absorb or reimburse those costs.”

The City of Rapid City also shared the space lease agreement for The Monument, which required the South Dakota Republican Party to pay $2,277 to rent the ice arena and $350 for the lobby.

The South Dakota Republican Party did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.

Even with neither the Trump campaign nor the South Dakota Republican Party paying for the security costs, Williams said there “hasn't been a lot of concern” in terms of the taxpayer toll of the event, calling the expenses a “relatively small amount.”

While the rally required “an additional security aspect,” Williams said, the city is accustomed to absorbing security costs for other events, such as the Fourth of July parade, he said.

Should presidential campaigns help defray campaign event security costs?

While Trump is not legally required to pay for the security costs incurred for his visits, presidential campaigns — Trump’s primary opponent and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders among them in recent years — have voluntarily paid for such services in response to invoices or to show their support for the law enforcement who protect campaign events. Presidential campaign visits often occur in small towns on short notice, which can adversely affect municipal budgets.

Haley, for one, called on Trump to voluntarily pay law enforcement who protect his presidential campaign events, citing a Raw Story article.

Trump's Aug. 13 visit to Columbia, S.C. was “a whole to-do,” Raw Story reported, entailing detailed operational plans and security detail to prepare to host what the city called “2,500 patriots.”

Since his 2016 campaign, Trump has racked up millions of dollars in security bills. Some cities have tried to recoup the costs such as Erie, Pa.. while others just eat the costs: see, Novi, Mich. and Manchester, N.H.

Despite GOP competition from Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Trump remains the far-and-away frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, polling at 62 percent nationally as of Wednesday, according to FiveThirtyEight.

From Your Site Articles

    :{Grieving son tells South Dakota Gov. Noem she 'lost another vote for president in 2024' over her handling of COVID-19 ›:(style="font-family:Merriweather"):}:
    :{Watch: Kristi Noem argues NRA is diverse, then the camera reveals otherwise ›:(style="font-family:Merriweather"):}:
    :{Kristi Noem pushes for South Dakota college board to prohibit drag shows, pronoun preferences on campuses ›:(style="font-family:Merriweather"):}:
    :{South Dakota AG is ‘actively reviewing’ Kristi Noem’s 2020 meeting with state officials and her daughter: report ›:(style="font-family:Merriweather"):}:
    :{Kristi Noem mocked after admitting she's 'shocked' Biden's infrastructure plan includes money for 'housing and pipes' ›:(style="font-family:Merriweather"):}:

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an 3 23

no lnx

a trove of leaked emails between South Dakota legislators and anti-trans lobbyists read like excerpts from "The Handmaid's Tale," according to a new report.

The communications between lobbyists, state Rep. Fred Deutsch and other South Dakota legislators use deeply religious language that shows Christian nationalists are pushing restrictions on LGBTQ rights as part of what they believe is a holy war, reported Vice News.

“Know that many have prayed and are praying for you this day," wrote Vernadette Broyles, a lawyer and president of the Georgia-based Children and Parental Rights Campaign in a 2020 email. "Do not back down, nor should you be afraid. Know that the Lord is with you. The children of South Dakota belong to him. He is jealous over them. Let his jealousies be spoken forth in the House of Representatives of South Dakota today so that his children would be made safe. Know you are HIS representative today. Do not be afraid. Stand firm in what is right."

The emails were shared with Vice by Elisa Rae Shupe, a trans woman who had de-transitioned and become an anti-trans advocate before re-transitioning and renouncing her ties to Christianity.

“I fell prey to the belief that if I did what they suggested that I would be cured of my gender dysphoria," Shupe said. "I was encouraged to confess my sins, ask for forgiveness by Jesus, and turn my plight over to the Lord Jesus Christ. I was also asked to accept that my transgender status was a sexually motivated sin and to cure myself by attending a religious 12-step program, which I did for approximately a year."

The messages are peppered with references to blessings, prayers and apocalyptic warfare.

“It is the language of Christian nationalism,” said Thomas Lecaque, an associate professor of history at Grand View University. “It is the language of people who very much believe they are doing God’s will, and it is the language of people who very much believe that they are engaged in a holy war.”

:{Lecaque said :{South Dakota Republicans, who've gotten three anti-trans bills signed into law byGov. Kristi Noem}:, and GOP legislatures around the country are trying to eradicate the trans community while presenting themselves as underdogs.

“They are not trying to protect children," Lecaque said. "They are trying to murder the transgender community,”}:

“Stopping the existence of transgender people and the acceptance of trans people in the public sphere is to them some sort of religious imperative,” Lecaque added. “It’s particularly fascinating that this group that has all this money, control in state legislatures, control of the house, they had a presidency, is acting like somehow they are David in the struggle.”

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===}}

10 22

"Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver focused his main story Sunday on "problems" that Republicans create so that they have something to solve.

Republicans are desperately trying to take over the House, Senate and a slew of offices that allow them to control elections in an effort to usher in restrictive election laws to put in more Republicans and eliminate any policy delivered by a Democrat for the past century.

Republicans pledged for almost ten years that Obamacare must be repealed and replaced, only to be outed for being unable to come up with the replacement. They have placed judges in top posts to eliminate the personal freedoms and medical privacy of women. They invented an idea that Kindergarteners are being taught they are evil for slavery and were convinced that any mention of LGBTQ should be banned from schools in Florida and other states that have followed.

Oliver focused on another top issue for the GOP: transgender sports. While there are many, many issues facing Americans, indeed the world, Republicans are concerned that one or two transgender people could bring down sports.

He began with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem,who ran a campaign ad claiming that she personally saved girls' sports in the state. There was one trans student about ten years ago in South Dakota, but Noem zeroed in on the possibility that one person ten years ago could one day be millions of trans students in the sparsely populated state.

Oliver pointed out that there were more girls playing sports in the Noem ad than there were trans kids in all of South Dakota sports. So, while Republicans like Noem complain about failures around inflation, healthcare and other problems they blame on Democrats, their solutions are focused on transgender sports.

Noem isn't the only one. A whopping 18 U.S. states have spent the past few years passing legislation to regulate who can urinate in a stall next to each other. While most people simply enter a bathroom, do their business and get out, in the mind of Republicans, restrooms are nefarious places where liberals are ushering in a plot to bring down society. They have yet to find any evidence of it, but they can't stop their minds from turning to anarchy as a result of a kid using the restroom.

The positive piece of Oliver's report is that he first reported on transgender rights nearly a decade ago and things have gotten a lot better. The crisis for the right-wing is that the American public has decided that they are accepting of same-sex marriage, eliminating a key issue that they have desperately clung to for years. Trans rights have now taken over that same desperate attempt to create a villain, make people afraid of him and then pass laws to protect children from him.

See Oliver's full segment in the video below:

11/10

Following the Tea Party wave of the midterm elections, half of the Republican caucus in the U.S. Congress now questions the scientific consensus that greenhouse pollution is a civilizational threat. Analysis by the Wonk Room, with research by Daily Kos’s RL Miller, finds that45 of 97 Republican freshmen and85 of 166 re-elected Republicans are confirmed climate zombies. There are no Republican freshmen, in the House or Senate, who admit the science is real. New members include William Marcy (Miss.-02) — who warns of “Global Warming Environmental Terrorists” — and Kristi Noem (S.D.) — who voted for a resolution that “astrological” and “thermological” dynamics “effect” the weather....

ATTEMPTING TO DEFUND, LIMIT THE EPA

The first chance that the bloc of 85 freshman Republicans had to influence environmental policy was with H.R. 1, the bill that would fund the federal government for fiscal year 2011. The House passed a 27 percent budget cut for the EPA, which, had it passed the Senate, would have been the agency’s largest cut since 1981.

“We were trying to tell our brothers on the Republican side that they’re never going to get this through the Senate, but they were posturing,” said Norm Dicks, a Democrat, and the former ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee. “They wanted to make the cuts. They thought they were going to win political points with the Tea Party-types for cutting the EPA budget.”

Lawmakers also attempted other cuts by proposing 162 amendments, 22 of which would have cut EPA programs or limited the government’s enforcement of environmental regulations and its ability to study climate change. However, H.R. 1 never became law because the House and Senate were not able to reach a budget compromise until April 2011, when H.R. 1473 narrowly avoided a government shutdown. After negotiations with the Senate, the two houses agreed on a 15.6 percent cut, the largest enacted cut since the EPA lost 16 percent of its budget in 1986. RR

The 22 amendments proposed in H.R. 1 signaled how this group of freshmen Republicans, and pledge-signers, wanted to limit the EPA and climate-change research.Think Progress, a liberal blog, researched climate change statements by members of the 112th Congress, and found many members of Congress were doubtful of climate-change science.The Investigative Reporting Workshop matched the Think Progress statements with the list of members of Congress who signed the pledge from Nov. 16, 2010, and found 17 of the 20 Senators who had signed the pledge said they doubted climate change science, as did 78 of the 156 representatives who had signed the pledge.

Throughout the House's debate on H.R. 1, several pledge signers proposed amendments that would limit government regulation of climate change.

Rep. Mike Pompeo, a Republican who represents the Kansas district where Koch Industries is headquartered, and is a signer of the No Climate Tax Pledge, received $10,000 from Koch Industries PAC in the 2010 election.

Once in the House, Pompeo proposed an amendment to H.R. 1 to cut $8.5 million, or roughly half the fiscal year 2010 budget, from the EPA’s greenhouse gas reporting program. Pompeo said at the time, “This data is the very foundation of the EPA's effort to pursue its radical anti-jobs agenda.”

Another amendment was proposed by Republican Rep. John Carter of Texas, who wanted to ban using money to enforce a rule on cement manufacturing emissions. He was one of the first representatives to sign the No Climate Tax Pledge. Carter and two other Texas Republicans proposed an amendment that would have prohibited the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases emitting from stationary sources, such as factories.

Republican Rep. Ralph Hall of Texas, also in that first group of representatives to sign the pledge, sponsored an amendment — which passed — to stop the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from creating a National Climate Service, which was intended to be “a one-stop shop” for climate information.

Republican Rep. Morgan Griffith of Virginia sponsored an amendment — which passed — that stopped funds for EPA guidelines on surface coal mining operations.

Republican Rep. Kristi Noem of South Dakota signed the pledge in 2010 and received $5,000 from KochPAC.She sponsored an amendment — which passed — to prohibit money from being used to change the air quality standards regarding coarse particulate matter(dust).

However, neither these amendments nor the bill survived in the Senate.

Many of the 85 freshman Republicans sponsored bills in the House to limit the EPA’s regulatory power or to expand oil and natural gas drilling. Koch Industries Public Sector LLC, the lobbying arm of Koch Industries, lobbied for H.R. 910, the Energy Tax Prevention Act, which would have rolled back the Supreme Court’s ruling that the EPA could regulate greenhouse gases.The bill was sponsored by Republican Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan and co-signed by 92 Republicans (and three Democrats), 61 of whom also signed the pledge. Had it passed, the Energy Climate Prevention Act would have prevented the EPA from defining greenhouse gases as air pollutants and prohibited all federal research or programs on climate change research.

In June 2011, Rep. Griffith of Virginiaalso introduced the EPA Regulatory Relief Act, which would have allowed companies to ignore future EPA rules on industrial boiler and heater emissions while delaying the implementation of any rules that would constitute the “least burdensome regulatory alternative.” The bill eventually gained 101 Republican and 25 Democratic co-sponsors, 67 of whom signed the No Climate Tax Pledge.

Griffith said he signed the No Climate Tax pledge because he believes national limits on greenhouse-gas emissions harm Virginia’s coal industry and the jobs it provides. He said he didn’t feel any pressure to sign the pledge from Americans for Prosperity, which he credits with helping him win a seat in Congress in 2010 by campaigning against the policies of his Democratic predecessor, Rick Boucher.

Griffith also said that the $5,000 his campaign received from Koch Industries in June 2010 had no influence on his decision to sign the pledge less than two weeks later. Opposing President Obama’s “war on the coal industry” was a top issue during his campaign, he said.

“When I was running in early 2010, this was already on my agenda,” Griffith said. “I was talking about these things long before I even knew that the Koch brothers and AFP were involved in these issues.”

The pledge isn't limited to those in Washington. Among other office-holders who signed it is Oklahoma Schools Superintendent Janet Barresi, who declined to talk about her reasons for signing the pledge in August 2010. But through her press secretary, Barresi said in statement that the school district relies on property taxes from power plants and oil and gas production.

"Oklahoma's schools depend on revenue from fossil fuels, and the destructive power of a tax on these fuels is not justified by questionable science," Barresi said in the statement.

Contributing: Julia Broemmel

According to a report from the Daily Beast's Tom Lawrence, Gov. Kristi Noem's plan to break out of South Dakota and became a high-profile figure in the Republican Party is blowing up in her face because has she alienated GOP lawmakers in her state who have grown tired of her act.

Noem, has closely allied herself with Donald Trump in an effort to raise her profile and set herself up for a run for national office, is finding few allies at home among the Republican leadership despite her popularity with voters in her home state.

According to the Beast's Lawrence, "Gov. Kristi Noem, who has been riding high in polls in her state, has never lost an election. She served four terms in Congress before being elected governor in 2018. The South Dakota legislature has supermajorities in both chambers, with Republicans holding 94 of 105 seats. No Democrat holds statewide office. But Noem has suddenly found plenty of opponents with whom to wage bitter political battles: fellow Republicans."

According to political observers who have been watching Noem's political star rise, she will likely still win re-election but may stall out there due to her war with her Republican colleagues.

"University of South Dakota political science professor Michael Card told The Daily Beast that Noem has raised hackles in part by the very nature of how she performs duties essential to her job. Specifically, he pointed to her repeatedly referring to South Dakota issues with terms like 'my bill' and 'my budget' in a state with old-school lawmakers who like to maintain their fiefdoms."

That, in turn, has angered GOP lawmakers who are the ones creating and passing the bills that she is attempting to take credit for.

With a GOP insider bluntly stating, "She doesn’t have any friends," the Beast's Lawrence adds, "State political insiders suggest Noem is basically alone in Pierre, and that even if she remains beloved by large swaths of the Republican base, her image has taken a serious dent among the very people she needs to get things done."

Add to that, Noem is the subject of investigations in her state which her opponents within her own party could use against her.

"One is Noem’s use of state airplanes for multiple trips out of state to appear at conservative political gatherings. For months, the governor has claimed she needed to keep details of her travels private for security reasons. Now the Republican-dominated legislature is interested in digging into those trips," The Beast report states. "Noem also has taken heat for her involvement in her daughter Kassidy Peter’s efforts to obtain a real estate appraiser license from the state. That led to a meeting between the governor, the state employee who oversaw the process, that employee’s boss, and other officials—as well as Noem’s daughter—as the Associated Press reported."

According to State Sen. Reynold Nesiba (D), Noem's problems with her GOP colleagues are self-inflicted.

"She’s not very good at being governor,” Nesiba explained.

You canread more here.

shock horror nepotism corrupt

Noem slammed for 'gaslighting' response to allegation of abuse of power: 'clearly a conflict of interest'

Meaghan Ellis

September 28, 2021

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) is facing allegations of abuse of power after she helped her daughter acquire a real estate appraisal license from a South Dakota state agency despite being denied last yr...

Gov. Kristi Noem won't make kids wear masks in schools -- but she is trying to make them pray

David Badash

September 18, 2021

South Dakota's Republican Governor **Kristi Noem** refuses to mandate masks for schoolchildren and teachers but she's trying to make students pray in public. Gov. Noem, who is widely expected to run for...

upping the anti-?

https://www.alternet.org/2021/09/kristi-noem-abortion/

sturgis 15x spike?!

south Dakota COVID cases explode after Sturgis motorcycle rally

Sarah K. Burris Raw Story

August 26, 2021

For the second year in a row, the Sturgis motorcycle rally has become a super-spreader event. In the 14 days since the rally, Meade County has had more than 1,500 percent increase in case

https://www.alternet.org/2021/08/why-kristi-noem-now-qualifies-as-one-of-americas-worst-governors/

cpac BS for 2024 don't let those other gop govs convince you they did not shut down etc

https://www.alternet.org/2021/07/gop-vaccines/

thom h

Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a CNN Medical Analyst, said last week, "A surprising amount of death will occur soon..." But why, when the deadly Delta variant is sweeping the world, are Republicans and their media warning people not to get vaccinated?

There's always a reason. People don't do things — particularly things involving a lot of effort and a need for consistency — without a reason. It just doesn't happen. No matter how bizarre, twisted or dysfunctional the reason may be, there's always a reason.

Dr. Anthony Fauci told Jake Tapper on CNN last Sunday, "I don't have a really good reason why this [unwillingness to get vaccinated] is happening."

But even if he can't think of a reason why Republicans would trash talk vaccination and people would believe them, it's definitely there.

Which is why it's important to ask a couple of simple questions that all point to the actual reason why Republicans and their media are discouraging people from getting vaccinated:

Why did Trump get vaccinated in secret after Joe Biden won the election and his January 6th coup attempt failed?

Why are Fox "News" personalities discouraging people from getting vaccinated while refusing to say if they and the people they work with have been protected by vaccination?

Why was one of the biggest applause lines at CPAC: "They were hoping — the government was hoping — that they could sort of sucker 90% of the population into getting vaccinated and it isn't happening!"

Why are Republican legislators in states around the country pushing laws that would "ban" private businesses from asking to see proof of vaccination status (they call it "banning vaccine passports")?

Why, when President Biden suggested sending volunteers door-to-door into low-vaccination communities to let people know how and where they could get vaccinated, did rightwing media go nuts about "government thugs" coming to your door to "force" vaccines on you?

Why are about half of all the Republicans in Congress refusing to say if they've gotten a vaccine or not? For that matter, why do the CPAC speakers who are trashing vaccines refuse to say if they're vaccinated or not?

Why would a Newsmax hosttrash-talk vaccines saying, "I feel like a vaccination in a weird way is just generally kind of going against nature"?

Why did Republican Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota downplay the dangers of Covid last week by bragging that she never shut her state down(and Ron DeSantis did) when SD has 230 Covid deaths per 100,000 people while similar low-population states like Vermont and Oregon are at 41 and 66 deaths per 100,000 respectively?

I hope I'm proven wrong on this, but the only possible explanation I can see for all this activity that seems so well-coordinated and largely consistent is that they all think there's something in it for them. And what might that be?

Political power. And, of course, the eventual wealth that often comes with political power, particularly corrupt power. Retired Republicans make a *lot*of money.

Put simply, I believe these Republicans are trying to promote outbreaks of Covid in America to soften or damage Joe Biden's red-hot economy on the assumption that if the economy tanks then people will vote out Democrats and vote in Republicans in 2022 and 2024.

As Pat Buchanan wrote today: "Are the Democrats headed for their Little Bighorn, with President Joe Biden as Col. Custer? The wish, you suggest, is father to the thought."

They're not just willing to let tens or hundreds of thousands of Americans die just to win the next two elections, they're actively encouraging that outcome.

Death is their electoral strategy.

Is there any other possible explanation?

They're not stupid (although they're banking on their audience being, at least, poorly informed) and most have college degrees (and Lauren Boebert finally got her GED). Even if a few of them fell down the Facebook or YouTube rabbit hole into anti-vaxxer territories, they still have no shortage of actual medical experts and staffers who know how to use Google available to them.

It's remotely possible they just hate and want to damage the US, and a few who are pushing vaccine "hesitancy" like Ron Johnson and John Kennedy recently celebrated the 4th of July in Moscow, but it's unlikely that they'd take the chance of coordinating with a foreign power to kill Americans (even if much of the foreign troll activity on social media is also trashing vaccines to American social media users).

A bizarre faux masculinity could be behind it, the way Trump tried to promote the idea that only wimps wear masks, but, seriously, do you really think these folks are taking fashion/appearance tips from an obese geriatric guy with a huge comb-over who wears absurd amounts of makeup, contacts, men's diapers and false teeth? And what's "masculine" about slowly dying by drowning in your own snot? Or becoming unable to get an erection, as happens to a significant number of men who get Covid?

It's certainly not fear of, or concern about, the vaccine itself; whether they'll admit it or not, virtually all of these Republicans and media stars telling people to be afraid of getting a shot have been secretly vaccinated themselves, just like Trump and his family were in January. As CNN Medical Analyst, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, said, "Over 100 members of Congress, all of them GOP members, refuse to tell their constituents whether they have been vaccinated. They've all been vaccinated, every single one of those characters have been vaccinated."

This also has nothing to do with "conservative" ideology. Vaccination has been a part of the American landscape since George Washington ordered his troops inoculated against smallpox during the Revolutionary war, and Republican President Dwight Eisenhower (and his VP, Richard Nixon) had schoolchildren across the nation get the polio vaccine in the 1950s (I was one of them who lined up in school to get it and remember it well).

As California governor, Ronald Reagan oversaw a public school system that required vaccination for admission and conservatives like Bill Kristol and George W. Bush are proudly vaccinated against Covid. Mitch McConnell, who had polio as a child, said, "As a victim of polio myself, I'm a big fan of vaccinations, and if I were a parent who had a child … being subject to getting any particular disease, I would come down on the side of vaccinations." This is not about fearing or not understanding vaccines.

They're certainly not being paid by "big Pharma" to trash vaccines, and you can bet your last dollar that the billionaires who pay for big Republican events are not only themselves vaccinated but have made sure the entire staff of their multiple mansions, from the cooks to the pool boys to the masseuses and the live-in chefs are all vaccinated.

So, what's left?

Politics, and the power and money that derive from it.

The reason why Donald Trump spent much of 2020 desperately encouraging people to keep shopping and working was because he knew that when an economy collapses in the 18 months before an election, the party in power always loses.

In his desperation to get the economy back in shape, Trump even issued an executive order *forcing* mostly Black and Hispanic meat-packing and slaughterhouse employees back to work under threat of imprisonment.

But, sure enough, the economy tanked anyway and Democrats now control the White House, Senate and House of Representatives.

Thus, it appears that today's entire GOP strategy of encouraging "vaccine hesitancy" is to try to replicate that dynamic, to tank the economy, only this time in a way that works in favor of Republicans.

Encouraging Americans to die so they can win elections. That's how low today's GOP has sunk.

721 brag on covid fail

https://www.alternet.org/2021/07/19-republicans/

omg

Unbelievably dangerous': Top Democrat slams Gov. Noem for using the National Guard as a 'private militia'

David Badash The New Civil Rights Movement

July 01, 2021

The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee is blasting South Dakota Republican **Governor Kristi Noem** for fulfilling the request of a wealthy GOP donor who asked her to deploy....nat'l gd in texas abbott border

infra pipes and houses

https://www.alternet.org/2021/04/kristi-noem-mocked-on-twitter-after-admitting-she-is-shocked-bidens-infrastructure-plan-includes-infrastructure/

reba cty

https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/kristi-noem/

almost random grab an 321

Kristi Noem promised transparency — but is among 5 governors defying records requests: report

Alex Henderson March 15, 2021

When Kristi Noem was campaigning for governor of South Dakota in 2018, the far-right Republican promised transparency — vowing to "throw open the doors" of government if she won. But Noem's office, according to Associated Press reporter Stephen Groves, has denied records requests when it comes to how much her security detail is costing taxpayers.

Groves explains, "Her state is among half a dozen where governors' offices routinely block access to executive records, keeping the public in the dark about decision making and possible influence peddling by special interests."

The 49-year-old Noem, a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump, is popular with the MAGA crowd and was a hit when she recently spoke at the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida. But as Groves points out, it is unknown exactly how much her travels and the security involved are costing taxpayers.

Jack Marsh, co-founder of the nonprofit South Dakota News Watch, told AP that South Dakota's open records laws are "some of the weakest in the country" and warned, "Things that are in the public's interests are still being hidden from the public."

Groves notes that open-records laws, also known as "sunshine laws," exist in most states in the U.S. and "give the public insight into (a) governor's decisions." But according to Groves, Noem is among the governors who has "thwarted records requests by citing exemptions."

"Her administration has refused to disclose how much it costs to send state troopers with her as she travels the country campaigning for former President Donald Trump and raising her own campaign cash," Groves observes. "The governor's office has cited state law exempting security details from records requests and argued that providing the information would 'put lives in danger.' Several GOP lawmakers pushed the governor's office to disclose its annual security costs to the (South Dakota) Legislature, but Noem, a fellow Republican, pressured them to drop the matter."

Per the AP: "Noem and governors in five other states — Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, Michigan and New Jersey — have thwarted records requests by citing exemptions."

Republican lawmakers are refusing to get vaccinated — which is holding up Congress

Brad Reed Raw Story March 15, 2021

Many members of the Republican Party are refusing to take the novel coronavirus vaccine -- and it's delaying Congress's return to a full legislative schedule.

Axios reports that 25 percent of lawmakers serving in the House of Representatives still have not been vaccinated, even though Congress has its own supply of the vaccine.

"While it's not certain which party is most to blame for any vaccine hesitancy, the phenomenon is higher among white Republicans than any other demographic group," the publication writes.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) told the publication that he will not be getting the vaccine because he's only 25 years old and "the survival rate is too high for me to want it."

Additionally, GOP lawmakers such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have regularly spread anti-vaccination propaganda, making them likely culprits in thwarting the House's efforts to return back to normal.

"Multiple waves of voting, meant to ensure social distancing inside the House chamber, are slowing a full legislative schedule," notes Axios. "It's also giving power to disrupters like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who's used a procedural move to further drag out the process. Votes can take more than three times longer than pre-pandemic times."

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WSJ columnist encourages college students to come to Florida for Spring Break despite COVID

Matthew Chapman Raw Story March 15, 2021

On Monday, writing for The Wall Street Journal opinion page, Dave Seminara urged college students to "come back to Florida" and flout COVID-19 safety recommendations.

"Much of the spring-break travel scare revolves around the effort to discredit Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose less restrictive approach to the pandemic has worked, infuriating Democrats," wrote Seminara. "Perhaps some of his critics perversely hope that a calamitous outbreak here will give them a chance to blame Florida, the state progressives love to loathe."

Cases in Florida are falling as vaccination rates climb, although DeSantis has come under fire as vaccines have been distributed to communities with his donors.

"Shutting down tourism, as [CDC Director Rochelle] Walensky would prefer, would be disastrous for many states, especially Florida," wrote Seminara. "Tourism generated $13.3 billion in federal tax revenue and $11.4 billion in state and local tax revenue in 2017, according to Rockport Analytics, and the industry supports more than 1.5 million jobs in the state ... Some students will behave irresponsibly on spring break. But the answer isn't to punish everyone. Heavy-handed efforts to limit personal freedom based on the assumption that too many people are ignorant is elitist."

Seminara's plea comes after 120 unruly spring breakers were arrested in Miami Beach, after partiers turned on police in a clash that uncovered guns and drugs. It also comes as the UK COVID-19 variant spreads across Florida — something experts aren't entirely sure our current vaccines will be able to contain, although so far they appear to be effective.

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GOP chair tweets proof that Biden was right about Trump's COVID lies 8 months ago

News Corpse Daily Kos March 14, 2021

The Republican Party has devolved into nothing more than a culture war slogan dispenser, spending all of its time and energy contriving faux outrage and divisiveness. They have no discernible policies to

321 gop kia covid

https://www.alternet.org/2021/03/republican-governors/

Republican governor's coronavirus grant fund gave $600,000 to her family's ranch

Sarah K. Burris Raw Story

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) is coming under fire after it was discovered that the businesses of her family members were given $600,000 in COVID-19 funds from a state grant...

===

oregon just decrim all possession?! 2/21

south Dakota voters ended marijuana prohibition — but Kristi Noem helped get it overturned by a judge

Bob Brigham Raw Story

February 09, 2021

The will of the voters in South Dakota was overturned by a judge on Monday.

"A Hughes County judge has ruled that a voter-approved amendment to the South Dakota Constitution ending marijuana prohibition in the sta

dn 1120 w/ trump pull $ retaliation to rez covid blockade; one of 1st states to lift stay @ home

equivalent to manslaughter': This governor ignored pandemic mitigation efforts. Her state has the highest COVID death rate in the world

Meaghan Ellis

November 25, 2020

Since the beginning of the pandemic, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) has often followed the lead of President Donald Trump by disregarding science and the public health warnings regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

In Noem's state, there is no mask mandate and very few mitigation guidelines are in place. Now, South Dakota has the highest coronavirus death rate in the world, according to Native Sun News. Dr. William Haseltine, president of ACCESS Health International and author of the book "My Lifelong Fight Against Disease," recently weighed in on the alarming coronavirus outbreak in South Dakota as he lambasted politicians for politicizing public health.

According to Haseltine, the South Dakota COVID outbreak is "as bad as it gets anywhere in the world." He blamed the Republican governor for "ignoring public health measures that would have been successfully used to curb the spread of the virus elsewhere in the world." Describing her lacking leadership as the "equivalent to manslaughter," he expressed concern about the continued refusal to enforce mitigation guidelines despite the state's infection and death rates.

The Hill reports that South Dakota now has a 12.1 percent positivity rate for coronavirus. On Nov. 12, the state hit a record high of 1,821 cases reported in a single day. Both statistics are glaring red flags that signal an accelerated spread in the state. With a state population of less than 900,000, statewide, the numbers are alarmingly high.

But despite the obvious signs of a dangerous outbreak, Noem refuses to enforce masks or any other mitigation guidelines. On Monday, Nov. 23, the governor's spokesperson Maggie Seidel released a statement on Noem's behalf. Ignoring science yet again, Seidel claimed masks and mitigation efforts do not work although the state has not made a real attempt to follow the guidelines.

"The facts are simple: mask mandates, harsh lockdowns, massive testing and contact tracing haven't worked – in the United States or abroad," Seidel reportedly wrote in an email, according to the publication.

Noem has also claimed she does not have the authority to issue a statewide mask mandate. "We talk often about the government's role in a situation like this in dealing with a pandemic," Noem previously said. "At this point, frankly, I'm getting more concerned about how neighbors are treating neighbors."

As of Wednesday, Nov. 25, the United States has 13 million coronavirus cases including more than 76,000 cases in the state of South Dakota alone.

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/the-nations-worst-governor-trump-superfan-kristi-noem-is-a-rising-gop-star-but-she-may-have-mismanaged-the-crisis-worst-of-all

sofia t salon

south Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican who is the first woman to lead that rural and sparsely populated state, is taking her turn in the national hot seat as the Mount Rushmore State has become the nation’s latest coronavirus “hot spot.” In distinctly Trump-like fashion, the Trump-friendly Noem has turned to right-wing outlets like Fox News tolash out at critical media coverage and rail against an “_{elite class of so-called experts}_.” But as was the case _{with Florida’s Ron DeSantis}_, Georgia’s Brian Kemp and _{Arizona’s Doug Ducey}_, _{conservative media has rushed to circle the wagons}_ around Noem just as the fuller picture of her failed handling of the coronavirus crisis becomes clearer.

South Dakota is now considered in the “red zone” for COVID-19 cases after ranking as the second-worst-hit state in the nation for new cases and test positivity per capita over the last two weeks, according to the _{latest document prepared for governors by the White House Coronavirus Task Force}_. But Noem is one of 14 Republican governors who have ignored the task force guidelines to curb the spread of COVID-19, even as the White House says that increasing case counts in South Dakota and “remarkably high” test positivity are “deeply concerning” given insufficient testing levels in the state.

While the World Health Organization’s benchmark for business re-openings is a 5% rate of positive tests, South Dakota has seen a positivity rate above 10% since Aug. 16. Both daily active cases and hospitalizations have more than doubled in South Dakota since the start of August, and _{no other state has seen such a rapid expansion rate}_. Over the past week, there have been an average of 236 confirmed cases per day, an increase of 48% from the average only two weeks earlier. That’s out of a total state population of roughly 885,000, which ranks 46th in the nation.

Despite such troubling trends, Noem is among the few state governors who never imposed a shelter-in-place order. Her_{ administration has refused to impose any restrictions on businesses or public activities}_, contrary to calls from South Dakota’s largest medical association. And Noem has resisted issuing a face-mask mandate — even though guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said for months that everyone should wear a facial covering while in public to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. She’s even encouraged parents to send their kids back to school “without masks.” As of the end of August, more than 550 people had been infected at the state’s universities, with another 200 cases recently reported in K-12 schools.

noem initially attempted to conceal the latest statistics out of her state. When the Argus Leader, the daily newspaper in Sioux Falls, requested_{ a copy of the weekly reports }_sent to the state health department from the White House task force, Noem’s office refused. When Trump repeatedly touted the drug hydroxychloroquine as a potential COVID remedy, Noem was was among the first to launch a trial of the unproven drug, which was later _{quietly dropped}_.

Noem’s public rhetoric also has a distinctively Trumpian flavor. She recently asserted that “about 95% of the population … is not at risk for serious infection” and announced that “South Dakota is open for business” after _{four workers at a Smithfield Foods meatpacking plant in the state died and another 48 were hospitalized}_. She made a big show out of not requiring social distancing or masks at Trump’s pre-Fourth of July event at Mount Rushmore, appearing on Fox News with host Laura Ingraham to _{brag about the lack of safety precautions}_. The state reversed its longstanding fireworks ban and spent $1.5 million on the event. Noem _{reportedly}_ even gifted Trump with “a four-foot replica of Mount Rushmore that included a fifth presidential likeness: his.” In return, the president flew her back to Washington aboard Air Force One.

Noem has been tying herself ever more closely to the president since narrowly winning election in 2018 — after a last-minute campaign push by Trump and Vice President Mike Pence helped her edge out her Democratic challenger in the closest South Dakota governor’s race in decades. Noem won a congressional seat in the Tea Party Republican wave of 2010, and served as her state’s sole House member for eight years, but only won 51% of the vote against Democrat Billie Sutton in what is generally a die-hard red state.

More recently, Noem — who :{counts onetime Trump campaign manager :(style="background-color:#ffffff;"):}::{Corey Lewandowski as a top adviser:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}: — has embarked on a multi-state campaign tour as an official surrogate for Trump’s re-election campaign. During the pandemic, she has traveled to Republican events in states like Ohio and Iowa, in the latter state finding a kindred spirit in Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who has also _{resisted a statewide mask mandate}_ in the face of official recommendations amid a surge in cases. The 48-year-old Noem clearly aims to become a national right-wing star, and has spent $130,000 in taxpayer funds to build a studio in the basement of the State Capitol for her frequent Fox News appearances — including one this past week to defend her decision to promote the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, one of the largest public events held since the start of this pandemic.

More than 460,000 people from across North America descended on the small city of Sturgis, in western South Dakota, for the 10-day rally that ran Aug. 7-16. That came even after the city council surveyed local residents andfound that more than 62% opposed holding the rally. Sturgis officials went forward anyway, unable to say no to the $800 million in revenue the rally generates.

Most bikers and enthusiasts who attended the event did not wear masks or practice social distancing, as _{the Associated Press reported}_ at the time. South Dakota shot up to No. 2 in the country in per capita cases shortly thereafter. It’s hard to conclude that’s merely a coincidence. As of last week, the AP had identified 290 cases in 12 states tied to the rally. In South Dakota, 118 residents who attended the rally have subsequently tested positive for COVID-19, and _{one has died}_. Noem has since allowed the state fair to continue as planned and announced plans to add a 13,000-person concert to the annual “Governor’s Hunt” that celebrates South Dakota’s pheasant season in October, which she has promised will be ” bigger and better than ever before.”

Noem now stands alongside Florida’s GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, who allowed the Daytona Bike Week to proceed in March with 500,000 people attending, in terms of permitting potential super-spreader events. According to an Aug. 8 article by the New York Times’ Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman, Lewandowski unsuccessfully lobbied Trump to attend the Sturgis rally in an effort to boost Noem’s profile.

Her biggest turn in the spotlight so far came a few weeks later during her address to the Republican National Convention, in which Noem ignored the spread of coronavirus in her state in favor of culture-war platitudes about saving Confederate monuments from left-wing mobs. (South Dakota did not become a state until 1889, and the Dakota Territory played no role in the Civil War.) Noem then ordered the South Dakota Department of Tourism to run a _{30-second spot}_ she narrated on Fox News during the convention, at a price of $819,000. That was part of a $5 million tourism campaign using federal coronavirus relief funds that comes with great potential personal gain for the governor.

Like the president she admires, Noem has a history of using her office to boost family members.She hired her daughter as a policy analyst while the latter was still in college, and hired her son-in-law for a different position in the governor’s office. _{Her daughter got a promotion and hefty pay raise}_ at a time when other state employees did not. Without citing any specific threats, Noem’s team proposed a $400,000 security fence to be erected around her residence, mostly at taxpayer expense.

Meanwhile, Noem has publicly boasted about turning down federal unemployment relief, citing a healthy state economy she attributes to never locking down. _{She rejected}_ an additional $300 in unemployment benefits per week for unemployed South Dakotans, refusing to kick in the required $100 in state-provided benefits and claiming South Dakota had recovered nearly 80% of its job losses since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Noem told Fox News this week that her response has been “a balanced approach” and pointed to the state’s tax revenues, which who 8.7% more money coming in this fiscal year than projected.

Noem was quick, however, to reach out to the Trump administration to stop sovereign Native American nations from erecting coronavirus checkpoints on highways leading into their territory, even as the virus spread through Native communities. _{She told Trump}_ in June that she needed federal assistance “to bring a prompt end to these unlawful tribal checkpoints/blockades on U.S./State highways” as “a final alternative to formal litigation.” It’s unclear what type of federal reinforcement she sought, but the governor later suggested that her opposition to _{coronavirus checkpoints}_ in Indian Country was linked to the Keystone XL pipeline protests.

“‘For every action that we take, and the tribes take, they’re setting precedent,” Noem warned in a letter to the Department of Justice. “If we allow checkpoints to shut down traffic in this situation, then we are setting precedent for that to happen far into the future in many other situations as well.” She has subsequently _{refused to meet with the state legislature’s bipartisan State-Tribal Relations Committee}_.

Noem’s Trumpian words and deeds, along with her charismatic media appearances and her determination to strip benefits from the unemployed have made her favorite among virtually all factions of the right. Expect her to be a leading Republican presidential contender within the decade.

https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/massive-super-spreader-19-event-now-underway-in-south-dakota/

[pix Sturgis, South Dakota motorcycle rally in 2015. This year’s rally, now underway, is expected to attract 250,000 people.]

It would be too much to expect the millions of Americans who choose to celebrate their personal identity with intentionally loudand purposely obnoxious, high-polluting machines, operated at speeds in excess of 70 mph on our nation’s highways, with zero protection between themselves and the roadway, all to care equally about potentially infecting other people with an invisible virus.

Still, for at least a discrete subgroup of those folks who claim the “individual freedom” to face a fatality risk 26times the rate of other motorists, attendance at the annualSturgis motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota this year in the midst of the deadliest global pandemic in over a century, signifies a quantum leap of sorts in both irresponsibility and crass disregard not only for their own lives, but for the rest of the people in this country as well.

As reported by Michael Daly, special correspondent to the Daily Beast, starting on Friday, and for the next nine days, nearly a quarter million motorcycle aficionados, many driving thousands of miles from states all across the country, will congregate, backslapping, hugging, drinking, smoking, spitting, shouting, and expelling varied forms of bodily fluids from their orifices in a tiny South Dakota town, before returning home to spread whatever it is they might catch there to those who they interact with—stopping to sleep, eat, and urinate along the way for good measure.

Daly writes:

“Nobody is social distancing and none of them are wearing masks,” local psychologist Michael Fellner told The Daily Beast. “None.

The attendees for this event have come to Sturgis with the encouragement of South Dakota’s Republican governor, Kristi Noem, an acolyte of Donald Trump who has taken a highly visible, negative view towards any means of self-protection during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, Noem has encouraged parents to send their small children back into public schools without masks,which she claims will increase, rather than decrease, the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Following Trump’s lead, Noem has also advocated and commissioned her state to engage in trials ofthe anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquineas a treatment for COVID-19 infections, despite guidance from the FDA warning against its use.

The rally is proceeding in large part to boost the South Dakota economy, as it normally generates several hundred millions of dollars in revenue. As reported by Daly, it is also proceeding despite the opposition of the majority of actual Sturgis residents. According to the The New York Times, over 60% of the town’s 7,000 citizens supported postponing the event.But the same residents believed they could do little to stop it, since the rally itself occurs on state-licensed property and the state, through Noem, has already sanctioned it. A phalanx of businesses, advertisers and “people outside the city,” according to the The Times, pressured the town to proceed, and the town’s City Council on June 15th voted 8-1 to go ahead with the rally, although city-sponsored events related to it were canceled.

As Daly reports, many of these attendee bikers have already expressed their disdain for preventive measures as well as the seriousness of the pandemic itself on social media.

“On my way I ain’t scared of the media flue or as we call it round here election fluesee ya soon sd,” J.F. Watson of Ohio said.

“Just call it a big protest !! And it be A-Ok!!” J. Toothman, also of Ohio, suggested.

The Sturgis rally is being reported as the largest public gathering since the COVID-19 pandemic began. But what particularly distinguishes it is the widespread disregard of the participants for preventative health measures to ward off potential infection, and the risk of broader spread of the virus once participants leave Sturgis. Reuters published an article on Friday describing the attendees as they arrive, through the eyes of Meade County Sheriff, Rob Merwin.

The sheriff’s office overlooks Sturgis’ Main Street and from Merwin’s vantage point, he saw few precautions taken as the town began to fill up Thursday evening.

“I’m sitting here and I’m watching people walk up and down the street, watching people ride up and down the street.A few have masks – most don’t,” he said. “There’s not much we can do. Everybody is coming here with their eyes wide open, they know what they’re getting into.”

In fact, it appears that many of them do know “what they’re getting into.” It’s just that they don’t particularly care. Most of these people have been fed six months of science denial and propaganda about the COVID-19 virus, by everyone from Donald Trump to Kristi Noem, down to their enablers on Fox News, all of it geared to stoke their delusions about how their “personal freedom” is being taken away by wearing masks, avoiding large gatherings and practicing social distancing. In Sturgis what we arewitnessing is the apotheosis of all that, a toxic blend of ignorance, insouciance, and arrogance in a small but significant subset population that prides itself on being “set apart” from the rest of society.

The problem is that in the context of an equal-opportunity pandemic, no one is set apart. Just as many of the attendees are likely to arrive already infected, and are likely to infect others while there, once they leave for home and parts unknown, millions of other Americans will be forced to deal with the health consequences of their “choices.”

So much for that “freedom.”

https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/**most-incompetent-state-leadership-in-the-us-these-6-governors-make-the-case/**

stitt ok noem all gop?

https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/South_Dakota_ALEC_Politicians

State Governor

Rep. Kristi Noem (R-6), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member,^[25] former U.S. Representative

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24102019/south-dakota-anti-protest-law-riot-boosting-oil-pipeline-penalties-transcanada

7 states have

South Dakota officials have agreed to walk back parts of the state's new anti-protest laws that opponents say were meant to target Native American and environmental advocates who speak out against the proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline.

Gov. Kristi Noem and state Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg agreed in a settlement Thursday with Native American and environmental advocates that the state would never enforce portions of the recently passed laws that criminalize "riot boosting"—which it applied, not just to protesters, but to supporters who encourage but never take part in acts of "force or violence" themselves.

The settlement, which makes permanent a temporary ruling issued by a federal judge in September, has immediate implications for opponents of the Keystone pipeline in South Dakota and could challenge the validity of similar laws targeting pipeline and environmental protestors in other states....

omfg

no lnx vid

https://www.indianz.com/News/2019/04/04/native-sun-news-today-trump-once-again-p.asp

Native Sun News Today: Trump once again pushes Keystone XL Pipeline on Indian Country

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Holding on tight as Trump boosts KXL Pipeline

By Talli Nauman

Native Sun News Today Health & Environment Editor

nativesunnews.today

MISSION - As the Rosebud Sioux Tribe celebrated the fifth anniversary March 29 of founding its spirit camp to protect nature from the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, U.S. President Donald Trump advanced the Canadian tar-sands crude-oil slurry project by revoking its stalled State Department permit and issuing a fast-track executive proclamation.

“Today we celebrate the day now recognized as a Rosebud Sioux Tribe Official Holiday and we continue the original prayer as we remain steadfast, Shielding the People - Oyate Wahancanka Woecun,” the Rosebud Spirit Camp announced, inviting the public here to a feast and dance “to give thanks for the continued success of the original prayer.”

Just hours later, Trump signed a memorandum declaring: “By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States of America, I hereby grant permission … to TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. to construct, connect, operate, and maintain pipeline facilities at the international border of the United States and Canada at Phillips County, Montana, for the import of oil from Canada to the United States.”

If unopposed, the order would allow construction to go forward despite a federal court suspension of the State Department Presidential Permit, requiring further study before approval.

indianz.com

@indianz

President Trump is attempting to circumvent the judiciary by approving the Keystone XL Pipeline without a full environmental review of concerns raised by Indian Country. #NoKXL statement from the Indigenous Environmental Network:

The Indigenous Environmental Network responded by calling the order “an attempt by the President to bypass federal environmental laws.

“In defense of the sacred and the protection of indigenous peoples, we will continue to fight this pipeline, even if that means further legal action against the office of the President of the United States,” the Bemidji-based non-profit alliance said in a written statement.

Trump’s document professes to be an instrument that “supersedes” the State Department’s Presidential Permit issued March 23, 2017. However, the earlier permit applied to the full length of the segment of the pipeline that remains to be built through unceded 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty territory in Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska.

If completed, the Keystone XL Pipeline would carry diluted bitumen, or dilbit, from the tar-sands mines of the Athabascan homelands in Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast refineries and export terminals.

The memorandum only covers construction at “border facilities,” consisting of a 36-inch diameter pipeline extending from Canada “to and including the first mainline shut-off valve in the United States,” located approximately 1.2 miles from the international boundary.

Oyate Wahacanka Woecun: #NoKXL #NoDAPL #WeAreProtectors

The announcement came as tribal governments and ranchers along the route were struggling to survive monumental spring storm runoff that is creating mud plains and stranding residents for weeks.

“In the face of historic flooding in Nebraska and South Dakota, the Trump Administration issues another proclamation attempting to shove a risky tar-sands pipeline down the throats of farmers and ranchers currently facing devastation,” said Jane Kleeb, Bold Nebraska founder.

The past Administration had denied the Presidential Permit to build into the United States and Trump overturned that with the flourish of a pen during his first week in office, as promised on the campaign trail.

“Instead of helping the heartland, Trump is driving a stake through the hearts of family farmers and ranchers and tribal nations who are trying to protect the land and water from a foreign oil pipeline,” she said in a written statement.

The White House action followed the announcement one day earlier of a lawsuit against the state ofSouth Dakota for Gov. Kristi Noem’s recently approvedRiot Busting Act, so-called after she coined the phrase “riot busting” in drafting the measure she said was aimed at avoiding costs to the government for conflicts the Keystone XL project is anticipated to engender.

The act says that “anyone that contributes to a protest, whether through monetary donations, donations of supplies, or even through organizing a page on social media, can be held liable, and have civil and criminal penalties for supporting a protest that the state deems violent,” plaintiffs claimed.

“Individuals or organizations that support a protest don’t even need to be on the ground or physically present at the protest to be held liable,” plaintiffs added. Also under the law,TransCanada Corp. could use money obtained from protesters and organizations to promote pipeline construction,” they alleged.

“Gov. Kristi Noem's legislation is yet another way to promote Big Oil interests and prevent dissent by making protesters subject to legal action,” said Kim Pate, vice-president of NDN Collective. Cherokee and Choctaw, Pate is an attorney with 25 years of experience in civil rights litigation.

“Protests and other forms of dissent are protected speech under the First Amendment of the Constitution. If we don't fight this now, what's next? Silencing all speech to placate and enable corporate interests at all costs?” she asked. “Not on our watch.”

Joining her organization in the lawsuit prepared by the ACLU are the Indigenous Environmental Network, the Sierra Club, and Dakota Rural Action, as well as Oglala Lakota’sDallas Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network, and Nick Tilsen, president and CEO of the NDN Collective.

rose fast?

http://scorecard.lcv.org/moc/kristi-noem

3/4%

Border Wall Funding & Anti-Immigrant Policy

House Roll Call Vote 282

Issue: Other

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) sponsored H.R. 4760, the Securing America’s Future Act, which would have funded the environmentally destructive and xenophobic border wall, failed to offer a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, and advanced anti-immigrant policies. This bill would spend nearly $25 billion on an ineffective and damaging border wall and military technology and would waive 36 environmental and cultural laws for construction of the wall and other border enforcement activities on federal lands within 100 miles of both the northern and southern borders. H.R. 4760 also includes policies that would cause significant harm to immigrant families, including eliminating opportunities for family reunification and the diversity visa program and criminalizing millions of undocumented immigrants. On June 21, the House rejected H.R. 4760 by a vote of 193-231 (House roll call vote 282). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/28032019/pipeline-protest-crackdown-state-law-legislation-south-dakota-conspirators-riot-boosting

This story was updated with a lawsuit filed March 28 over the South Dakota law.

Bills to clamp down on pipeline protests have spread to at least nine new states this year, part of an industry-backed push that began two years ago to heighten penalties for activists who try to block fossil fuel infrastructure projects.

Several of the bills also allow prosecutors to go after people or organizations as "conspirators" or "riot boosters" for merely supporting or coordinating with others who violate the law.

Civil liberties advocates argue that these vague and far-reaching provisions risk violating free speech protections under the First Amendment, and they have already started launching legal challenges.

The latest government move came on Wednesday in South Dakota—one of the states the planned Keystone XL pipeline is slated to cross—whenRepublican Gov. Kristi Noem signed a law that enables state and local governments, as well as "third parties," to seek civil damages from people or organizations that engage in "riot boosting."

Lawmakers in North Dakota, a hub of oil and gas development, also passed a bill this week that stiffens penalties for anyone who interferes with the construction or operation of pipelines and other "critical infrastructure." Once the Senate approves some minor changes, it heads to Republican Gov. Doug Burgum, who has not said whether he will sign it.

The North Dakota bill was based on a law that was enacted in Oklahoma in 2017 and then circulated by the industry-backed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Versions of that legislation have now been introduced in at least 15 states, three of which have enacted it: Oklahoma, Louisiana and Iowa. A version of the bill passed the Indiana legislature this week, too, though the Senate there must also approve some amendments before sending it to the governor.

While the details vary from state to state, the bills generally increase penalties for trespassing on or tampering with a range of facilities, including pipelines, oil storage tanks, railroads and utility infrastructure. Several of them, including North Dakota's, also include language assigning higher penalties—up to $1 million in some cases—for any group found to be a conspirator in violating the law.

The South Dakota law is different. Rather than imposing new penalties for interfering in pipeline construction, the bill enables state or local governments—or a third party working with government—to seek compensation from anyone who engages in "riot boosting," which includes encouraging or directing someone to engage in a riot, defined by the state as the use of force or violence by three or more people acting together.

Someone can qualify as a "riot booster" even if they reside out of state and act indirectly "through any employee, agent or subsidiary." Anyone found liable would be responsible for three times the ordinary penalty.

The bill was introduced at the end of the legislative session and approved over the course of four days, with only one hearing.

Environmental and civil liberties advocates, as well as many Native American tribes, say the bills are an attempt to stifle legitimate protest by creating harsh penalties for minor infractions and by trying to scare off advocacy groups. An organization that holds a nonviolence training, for example, might be targeted under the law if attendees are later part of a protest that ends in a clash with private security forces or police.

"'Riot boosting' is an unusual and new term. You might be asking yourself what that means, and I think protesters will too," said Vera Eidelman, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Unionwho has tracked the bills. "I think it poses a unique threat to speech and appears to be targeted at protests. It uses words like 'encouraging' and 'advising' that are very broad and refer to a category of protected speech."

On Thursday, the ACLU sued South Dakota officials in federal court on behalf of indigenous and environmental groups, arguing that the new law and two related statutes violate the Constitution by suppressing free speech and failing to describe what actions could qualify as violations. In a statement, the group said "such vague and broad language invites arbitrary enforcement, will chill protected speech, and will result in indiscriminate targeting of peaceful organizers."

Industry-Backed Group's 'Model Legislation'

The legislation is part of a wave of state bills introduced across the country since President Donald Trump's election in response to high-profile protests like those against the Dakota Access Pipeline on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota in 2016 and 2017.

Oklahoma state Rep. Scott Biggs said he was responding to those protests when he introduced a bill in 2017 to impose harsh penalties on people or groups who interfere with "critical infrastructure." After ALEC adopted the bill as model legislation, versions quickly spread across several states with active pipeline projects.

The bills' supporters have said they make it easier for prosecutors to go after protesters or vandals who violate the law, and that they do not target free speech.

Advocates have pointed out that the actions in question—trespassing, vandalism—are already covered by existing laws. Instead, they say, the aim of the bills is to intimidate protesters who draw attention to their concerns through civil disobedience, including minor infractions like blocking the gates of construction sites. Advocates say these protests are part of a long tradition of American civil disobedience dating back to the Boston Tea Party.

"Even where these bills are simply introduced, even if they do not move, even if they do not become law, they have potential to chill free speech and curtail activism," said Maggie Ellinger-Locke, a staff attorney with Greenpeace. "We're hearing from people on the frontlines of activism in these states that these bills frighten them."

Pipeline Companies Register Their Support

Energy companies and associations have supported the bills and have continued to push the legislation this year, according to documents compiled by Greenpeace.

TransCanada, the Canadian company behind the Keystone XL pipeline, registered its support for the bill this year in Missouri along with the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers and other industry groups. In Illinois, TransCanada was joined by Enbridge and Energy Transfer, two other leading pipeline developers, as well as the American Petroleum Institute.

Sen. Janne Myrdal, who sponsored the North Dakota bill this year and is a member of ALEC's energy task force,did not respond to requests for comment. But she told the Associated Press that she introduced the bill in response to a protester who in 2016 broke into a control site for the existing Keystone pipeline that cuts through the state and manually closed one of the valves.

"There was frustration from law enforcement and residents that there wasn't enough teeth in current law to go after these people and the organizations that support them," she said.[pix]

The protester, Michael Foster, was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison, though two of those years were suspended. He ended up serving about half a year.

In South Dakota, Gov. Noem's office did not answer emailed questions about TransCanada's role in drafting the bill, but Noem said in February that she had met with representatives of the company to discuss her legislative package, which also includes a bill that requires pipeline developers to contribute to a fund that would help pay for government costs associated with construction.

"I fully support the freedoms of speech and assembly, but we must also have clear expectations and the rule of law," Noem said in a statement issued Wednesday. "My pipeline bills make clear that we will not let rioters control our economic development."

Terry Cunha, a spokesman for TransCanada, said in an email that "we appreciate the efforts of Governor Noem and her administration to help advance Keystone XL construction and other pipelines," adding that "any legislation that deters unlawful activities and encourages the advancement of critical infrastructure projects is a positive step."

Is It Stifling Dissent?

Some activists say the bills are part of a wider effort by the oil and gas industry and its allies in government—through lawsuits, public relations campaigns and legislation—to paint protesters as criminals and even terrorists.

"All of these things I think incorrectly mischaracterize protesters and respond to a powerful pushback against pipelines and other protests, not by trying to engage on the issues but by trying to stifle dissent," Eidelman said. "I think this is really part of a broader trend."

Last year, the ACLU sued the federal government, accusing several agencies of withholding documents detailing preparations for the potential construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The group had submitted records requests seeking information about the preparations, and the documents that did emerge, mostly from state agencies, showed that law enforcement agencies were conducting trainings for potential protests. The ACLU said the activities risked treating activists as criminals even before protests broke out. State officials have said they are simply doing their jobs.

In January, The Intercept reported on similar concerns in Minnesota, where police had been preparing for a year and a half for protests against Enbridge's proposed Line 3 pipeline expansion project by identifying groups opposed to construction and monitoring some activists.

The ACLU and other civil liberties groups said they are continuing to evaluate the state bills and considering whether they may challenge them as unconstitutional. So far,Louisiana is the only state where protesters have been arrested under the new laws. Bill Quigley, a lawyer who is representing several of the activists, said prosecutors have two years to press charges and have yet to do so.

PUBLISHED UNDER:

ACTIVISM

OIL SPILLS/PIPELINES

REGULATION

Lawmakers also attempted other cuts by proposing 162 amendments, 22 of which would have cut EPA programs or limited the government’s enforcement of environmental regulations and its ability to study climate change. However, H.R. 1 never became law because the House and Senate were not able to reach a budget compromise until April 2011, when H.R. 1473 narrowly avoided a government shutdown. After negotiations with the Senate, the two houses agreed on a 15.6 percent cut, the largest enacted cut since the EPA lost 16 percent of its budget in 1986.

The 22 amendments proposed in H.R. 1 signaled how this group of freshmen Republicans, and pledge-signers, wanted to limit the EPA and climate-change research. :{**Think Progress**:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px"):}:, a liberal blog, researched climate change statements by members of the 112th Congress, and found many members of Congress were doubtful of climate-change science. The Investigative Reporting Workshop matched the Think Progress statements with the list of members of Congress who signed the pledge from Nov. 16, 2010, and found 17 of the 20 Senators who had signed the pledge said they doubted climate change science, as did 78 of the 156 representatives who had signed the pledge.

Throughout the House’s debate on H.R. 1, several pledge signers proposed amendments that would limit government regulation of climate change.

Once in the House, Pompeo :{**proposed an amendment**:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px"):}: to H.R. 1 to cut $8.5 million, or roughly half the fiscal year 2010 budget, from the EPA’s greenhouse gas reporting program. Pompeo said at the time, “This data is the very foundation of the EPA’s effort to pursue its radical anti-jobs agenda.”

Another amendment was proposed byRepublican Rep. John Carter of Texas,who wanted to ban using money to enforce a rule on cement manufacturing emissions. He was one of the first representatives to sign the No Climate Tax Pledge. Carter and two other Texas Republicans proposed an amendment that would have prohibited the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases emitting from stationary sources, such as factories.

Republican Rep. Ralph Hall of Texas, also in that first group of representatives to sign the pledge, sponsored an amendment — which passed — to stop the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from creating a National Climate Service, which was intended to be “a one-stop shop” for climate information.

Republican Rep. Morgan Griffith of Virginia sponsored an amendment — which passed — that stopped funds for EPA guidelines on surface coal mining operations.

Republican Rep. Kristi Noem of South Dakota signed the pledge in 2010 and received $5,000 from KochPAC. She sponsored an amendment — which passed — to prohibit money from being used to change the air quality standards regarding coarse particulate matter (dust).

However, neither these amendments nor the bill survived in the Senate.

Many of the 85 freshman Republicans sponsored bills in the House to limit the EPA’s regulatory power or to expand oil and natural gas drilling. Koch Industries Public Sector LLC, the lobbying arm of Koch Industries, lobbied for H.R. 910, the Energy Tax Prevention Act, which would have rolled back the Supreme Court’s ruling that the EPA could regulate greenhouse gases. The bill was sponsored by Republican Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan and co-signed by 92 Republicans (and three Democrats), 61 of whom also signed the pledge. Had it passed, the Energy Climate Prevention Act would have prevented the EPA from defining greenhouse gases as air pollutants and prohibited all federal research or programs on climate change research.

In June 2011, Rep. Griffith of Virginia also introduced the EPA Regulatory Relief Act, which would have allowed companies to ignore future EPA rules on industrial boiler and heater emissions while delaying the implementation of any rules that would constitute the “least burdensome regulatory alternative.” The bill eventually gained 101 Republican and 25 Democratic co-sponsors, 67 of whom signed the No Climate Tax Pledge.

The pledge isn’t limited to those in Washington. Among other office-holders who signed it is Oklahoma Schools Superintendent Janet Barresi, who declined to talk about her reasons for signing the pledge in August 2010. But through her press secretary, Barresi said in statement that the school district relies on property taxes from power plants and oil and gas production.

“Oklahoma’s schools depend on revenue from fossil fuels, and the destructive power of a tax on these fuels is not justified by questionable science,” Barresi said in the statement.

This article is written by :{Eric Holmberg :(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px"):}:and :{Alexia Campbell :(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px"):}:, and is published athttp://investigativereportingworkshop.org/investigations/the_koch_club/story/Koch_climate_pledge_strategy/

Republican Launches Corn Dog Attack On Democratic Opponent In South Dakota

Rep. Kristi Noem also hits Matt Varilek for backing cap-and-trade legislation. “2006: Matt Varilek hosts a raucous National Corndog Day party in his swanky D.C. neighborhood, serving more than 1,000 corn dogs, 1,200 beers and a 150-pound ice luge for consuming shots of Jägermeister.”

ad eco UN vs farmer family restaurant so dakota soybean assoc ad inadvert funny? paif for by gop

i'm not proud of this:

gawker

South Dakota Congresswoman-elect Kristi Noem narrowly won the election season's"hottest race" — the one with two under-40 female candidates — last week. And now her drooling male colleagues in Washington may give her a spot in the leadership!

Noem is a true Mama Grizzly, a Tea Party favorite and mother who lives on a ranch in South Dakota. A campaign ad of her doing ranch stuff while complaining about the national debt and unknowingly posing for the next GOP Babes calendar is above.

John Boehner**likes what he sees**, and will make her extremely powerful right away:

Washington (CNN) – Three senior House GOP leadership sources told CNN on Monday that they are planning to add a leadership slot for a freshman member.

Two of the sources said that South Dakota's Kristi Noem has expressed interest in the leadership post and appears to have the backing of the current GOP leadership.

Think we're being too shallow in our analysis of why she's likely to get the spot?

If she got the spot, it could help the new House Republican majority with two issues: bringing someone associated with the Tea Party movement into the leadership fold, and adding another woman.

Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who also would fit those criteria, is running for caucus chair but is not expected to beat Jeb Hensarling of Texas, who also is running.

So long, Michele Bachmann. It's over. You're through. America will now coast on the KristiWave.

TEA PARTY

Noem (born November 30, 1971) is the U.S. Representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district, serving since January 2011.^[1] She is a member of theRepublican Party and was elected to the Republican Leadership for the 112th Congressas one of its two freshman representatives.^[5]She previously represented the 6th District in the South Dakota House of Representatives for four years, serving as an Assistant Majority Leader during her final year. She is a farmer, rancher and small business owner by profession. She is of German and Norwegian descent.

Early life, education, and farming career[

Kristi Lynn Arnold was born to Ron and Corinne Bergan Arnold in Watertown, South Dakota and raised with her three siblings on the family ranch and farm in rural Hamlin County.^[6] Growing up, she participated in rodeo queen events, learning horsemanship and interview skills.^[7] She graduated from Hamlin High School in 1990, and won the South Dakota Snow Queen title, which required that she enroll in a state university and promote the state during her reign.^[6] She credited the experience with helping her polish her public speaking and promotional skills.^[7] After high school, she enrolled at Northern State University. She married Bryon Noem at the age of 20, then left college at age 22 to help run her family's ranch after her father was killed in a farm machinery accident.^[6][8]

Upon her father's 1994 death, Noem has said she and her family members decided to take out a loan to pay taxes owing on the estate, noting that "for 10 years that loan really impacted our ability to make a profit".^[9] The property, of which Noem's family owns a non-controlling partnership in, has also received $3,058,152 in USDA farm subsidies from 1995 through 2009.^[10] Over the years, Noem added a hunting lodge and restaurant to the property, and all of her siblings have moved back to assist in expanding the businesses.^[6]

After her early marriage, Noem stopped attending college full-time but, over the years, took classes at the Watertown Campus of Mount Marty College, and South Dakota State University.^[6][7] After being elected to Congress, she continued her education, taking online courses and receiving "intern credits" for her work as a representative – leading the Washington Post to dub her Capitol Hill's "Most Powerful Intern."^[11]She earned a degree in political science from South Dakota State in May 2012.^[3]

South Dakota House of Representatives[

Elections[

Noem entered political life by serving on local committees and boards.^[9] In 2006, she won a seat in the South Dakota House of Representatives representing the 6th District (comprising parts of Beadle, Clark, Codington, Hamlin, and Kingsbury counties, but not including the city of Watertown). In 2006, she won ranked first with 39% of the vote.^[12] In 2008, she won re-election to a second term, ranking first with 41% of the vote.^[13]

Tenure[

Noem served for four years, from 2007 to 2010, and was an Assistant Majority Leader during her last year.^[14][15]

According to the Daily Caller, Noem was noted for being a tough and knowledgeable state legislator. She publicly accused a state senator of a conflict of interest during a legislative hearing thus killing his effort to stop the construction of an Indian casino.^[9]

In 2009 and 2010 she sponsored bills to lower the age of compulsory education in South Dakota to 16,after it had been raised to 18 in 2008, arguing that requiring school attendance until age 18 has not been proven to improve graduation rates.^[16] Supporters of the higher age argue that it increases graduation rates and provides motivation for students who would otherwise drop out.^[17]

Committee assignments[

State Affairs Committee
Taxation Committee^[18]

U.S. House of Representatives[

Elections[

2010

Main article: United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota, 2010

On June 8, 2010, Noem ran for South Dakota's at-large seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.^[19] She won the Republican primary with a plurality of 42% of the vote against South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson and State Representative Blake Curd.^[20]According to Sabato's Crystal Ball blog, Noem's "victory over two A-list opponents" was impressive.^[20] Her primary opponents endorsed her in the general election.^[14]

Noem's opponent, incumbent Democratic U.S. Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, emphasized her own record of independence from the Democratic caucus including her no votes on health care reform, the Wall Street bailouts, and the cap-and-trade energy bill. In response, Noem repeatedly highlighted Herseth Sandlin's vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. A Washington Post story on the race described Noem as "a made-for-Fox News star" and described her as a "mama grizzly" in the mold of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.^[21] During the 2010 election cycle, Noem out-raised Herseth Sandlin $2.3 million to $2.1 million.^[22][23] Of those totals, Noem received 84 percent of her cash from individual contributors while Herseth Sandlin received 56% from political action committees.^[22][23] Mitt Romney's PAC made a donation to Noem's campaign, andRomney endorsed her.^[24]

Gallup polls in June 2010 showed Republican candidates ahead of their Democratic counterparts due to dissatisfaction with President Obama.^[24] Polls conducted by Rasmussen Reports consistently gave a Noem a slight edge over Herseth Sandlin following the June GOP primary, with Noem pulling ahead 47 percent to 44 percent in early October.^[25] Critics said the Rasmussen firm's surveying methods were erratic and tended to favor Republican candidates.^[26] Noem defeated Herseth Sandlin 48%–46%.^[27]

2012

Main article: United States House of Representatives election in South Dakota, 2012

Noem won re-election to a second term, defeating Democrat Matthew Varilek 57%-43%.^[28]

Tenure[

Noem and fellow freshman congressman Tim Scott of South Carolina, were elected by acclamation of the 2011 House Republican 87-member freshman class to be liaisons to the House Republican leadership—making Noem the second woman member of House GOP leadership.^[9][29] According to The Hill Noem's role was to push the leadership to make significant cuts to federal government spending and to help Speaker John Boehner manage the expectations of the freshman class.^[30] On March 2, 2011, Republican Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas named Noem one of the twelve regional directors for the **National Republican Congressional Committee** during the 2012 election campaign.^[6][31]

Health care

Noem fulfilled a campaign promise by voting in January 2011 to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,^[32][33] Though the repeal was not signed into law, she has stated that she will work with the House members to defund the health care reform, while retaining measures she supports such as^[6] the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, the provision allowing parents to keep their children on their health insurance plan into their 20s and the high-risk pools.^[34] New provisions that Noem wants to add to federal law include limits onmedical malpractice lawsuits and allowing patients to buy health insurance plans from other states.^[34] She supports cuts to Medicaid funding proposed by Republican Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan that would reduce benefits for South Dakota Medicaid recipients by 55 percent.^[35]

Spending and taxes

Noem calls the budget deficit one of the most important issues facing Congress, and is a cosponsor of H.J.Res. 2, which would require that total spending for any fiscal year not exceed total receipts.^[36][37] She cites the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Medicaid, high-speed rail projects, cap-and-trade technical assistance, and subsidies for the Washington Metro rapid transit system as examples of a federal programs where she would like to see spending cuts.^{[35][36][38][39]}

She indicated that she would vote to raise the federal spending limit.^[29] She wants to eliminate the estate tax,^[40] lower the corporate tax rate, and simplify the tax code to make it less cumbersome.^[6] She has also stated that she would not raise taxes to balance the budget.^[41]

Social issues

On the issue of abortion, Noem is pro-life.^[42] She has the support of Susan B. Anthony List.^[43] She stated after her election that she hopes to maintain a 100 percent pro-life voting record.^[40] During her tenure in the State House, Noem voted in favor of the death penalty on several occasions, including a bill changing South Dakota's formula for the lethal injection cocktail.

Energy and environment

Noem has stated that the U.S. must end its dependence on foreign oil. To achieve that goal, Noem says Congress should encourage conservation of existing resources.^[44] Noem believes the U.S. government should also offer incentives for new ideas.^[44] She supports continuingethanol subsidies that benefit her state.^[45] Noem opposes ending federal subsidies for oil companies.^[35]

Noem opposes a bill introduced by South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson that would designate over 48,000 acres (190 km²) of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland as protected wilderness.^[46] Noem supports the current designation of the land as a national grassland.^[47] She points out that the land is already managed as roadless areas similar to wilderness.^[48] Noem argues that raising the land's designation from protected grassland to wilderness will further limit leaseholders access to the land and further imperil grazing rights.^[47][48]

She supports off-shore oil drilling.^[49] She co-sponsored three bills that she argues will reduce American dependence on foreign oil by ending the2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico and re-opening sales on oil leases in the Gulf and off the coast of Virginia.^[50]

Foreign affairs

Noem supported the American military intervention in 2011 conflict in Libya, but questioned whether America intervened to protect civilians, or whether the U.S. military would try to remove Libya's leader, Muammar Gaddafi.^[51] In March 2011, Noem called on the President to provide more information about America's role in the conflict, characterizing his statements as vague and ambiguous.^[51][52]

Fundraising

Since her election, Noem has raised 56 percent of donations from individuals and44 percent from political action committees.^[53] On March 8, 2011, Noem announced the formation of a leadership political action committee called KRISTI PAC.^[54] Noem said she will use the PAC to pay expenses and support other Republican candidates. Former South Dakota Lieutenant Governor Steve Kirby is the treasurer of the PAC.^[55][56][57]

Noem was among the top freshman Republicans in PAC fundraising in the first quarter of 2011, raising $169,000 from PACs and hosting at least 10 Washington fundraisers.^[58] She is a member of the conservative Republican Study Committee. She has said she has no plans to join the House Tea Party Caucus.^[59]

On January 14, 2013 Noem took down her "Government Official" Facebook page effectively deleting hundreds of pages of job performance criticisms, eliminating a public internet forum for criticism of the Congresswoman. She announced the takedown in December 2012 on the Facebook page, giving no reason. Noem retains an active Facebook page associated with her campaign.^[60]Interaction with Constituents

Committee assignments[

Caucus memberships:{:(style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit source | edit:{beta:(style="vertical-align:top;padding-left:0.5em;background-image:none !important;display:inline !important"):}::{]}:

Republican Study Committee

Electoral history:{:(style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit source | edit:{beta:(style="vertical-align:top;padding-left:0.5em;background-image:none !important;display:inline !important"):}::{]}:

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections, 2010

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections, 2012

South Dakota's At-large congressional district election, 2012^[61]	South Dakota's At-large congressional district election, 2012^[61]	South Dakota's At-large congressional district election, 2012^[61]	South Dakota's At-large congressional district election, 2012^[61]	South Dakota's At-large congressional district election, 2012^[61]
Party	Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Percentage
	Republican	Kristi Noem (Incumbent)	207,640	57.45%
	Democratic	Matt Varilek	153,789	42.55%
Totals	361,429	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%
	Republican hold	Republican hold	Republican hold	Republican hold

2010 General election – At Large Congressional District of South Dakota	2010 General election – At Large Congressional District of South Dakota	2010 General election – At Large Congressional District of South Dakota	2010 General election – At Large Congressional District of South Dakota	2010 General election – At Large Congressional District of South Dakota
Party	Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Percentage
	Republican	Kristi Noem	153,703	48%
	Democratic	Stephanie Herseth Sandlin	146,589	46%
	Independent	B. Thomas Marking	19,134	6%
Totals	319,426	100%	100%	100%
Voter turnout	61.5%	61.5%	61.5%	61.5%
	Republican gain from Democratic	Republican gain from Democratic	Republican gain from Democratic	Republican gain from Democratic

2010 Republican primary election – At Large Congressional District of South Dakota^[62]	2010 Republican primary election – At Large Congressional District of South Dakota^[62]	2010 Republican primary election – At Large Congressional District of South Dakota^[62]	2010 Republican primary election – At Large Congressional District of South Dakota^[62]	2010 Republican primary election – At Large Congressional District of South Dakota^[62]
Party	Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Percentage
	Republican	Kristi Noem	34,527	42%
	Republican	Chris Nelson	28,380	35%
	Republican	Blake Curd	19,134	23%
Totals	82,041	100%	100%	100%
Voter turnout	35%	35%	35%	35%

Personal life[

Noem lives with her husband and their three children on the Racota Valley Ranch near Castlewood.^[63] As of 2009, she had a 16.9 percent ownership stake in the ranch.^[64] Her recreational interests include hunting.^[65]

From 1989 to 2010, Noem received 27 traffic citations, including 20 for speeding,^[66] as well as several for stop sign and seat belt violations, and no driver's license. She also received failure to appear notices, and two arrest warrants were issued. Noem said, "I'm not proud of my driving record, but [I've] been working hard to be a better example to young kids and young drivers out there."^[67] She had paid her fines and penalties by August 2010.[citation ^needed]