[UPDATE: There was a problem with on claim in the MDR report. Stace Nelson never denied putting up the web site. The reporter must have been confused with the cover conduced by the far-left Democrats and the GOP Establishment RINOs on the SDWC and Madville TImes comment sections. Also note that this post did not show up on the SDWC Update sidebar. This web site has been shielded from the readers of SDWC since the scorecard became known. Another demonstration of the type of tyranny we find in the SDGOP Establishment.]
On Sunday the Argus Leader published a misleading piece by Jonathan Ellis on the Republican Platform Voting Scorecard. Excerpt:
So the authors decided whether a bill qualified as Democratic or Republican. If that sounds subjective, well, it is. Thus, a bill that allowed landowners to shoot coyotes from snowmobiles on their own property was labeled a Republican bill, while a bill increasing the fees on license plate renewals was called a Democratic bill, even though it had a number of Republican sponsors.
First off, Ellis sidetracked the basis of the Scorecard, which was the SDGOP Platform. And Ellis clearly does not understand defending property rights by exercising the Second Amendment Right by shooting predators from a snowmobile. He also doesn't understand how RINO Republicans protect special interest such as the Corporate Medical Establishment with regulations.
Ellis is still stuck on the false belief that if you are a Republican you vote the Republican line:
And they decided whether the bills qualified as Democratic or Republican. You might think that’s easy, right? Democratic bills were ones sponsored by Democrats; Republican bills, sponsored by Republicans. But some of the bills were sponsored by members of both parties. And one which the authors labeled a Democratic bill was actually brought at the request of the governor’s office. Last time I checked, Gov. Dennis Daugaard was still a Republican.
The Scorecard clearly shows the fallacy of that shallow thought process. HB1230, which allows the governor to pick winners among "big projects", should be firmly discarded by anyone who believes in a government that should be limited in scope.
And Ellis also has trouble dealing with illegal immigration:
It seems, to me, to be a little presumptuous of the authors to decide what’s Republican and what’s not. Take illegal immigration. Sure, lots of Republicans want them all deported. But there are plenty of other Republicans who see the population as a valuable part of the workforce.
Republicans who want cheap "illegal" labor for their Big Business cohorts and campaign contributors have a lot more problems than following their Platform's insistence on using the Constitution, the Law of the Land. What the heck is Ellis on? Was he just trying to be funny? Or is he serious here:
One final observation about the site: There are several grammatical errors in the text, so perhaps the authors will want to remain anonymous. Let’s hope they aren’t products of the South Dakota public school system.
At least he understand how personal attacks are used and helps justify those who want to remain anonymous.
Today The Mitchell Daily Republic issued a front-page report titled, "SD GOPers stir pot with new legislator rankings" that actually gave a fair presentation to its readers:
The site — www.sdrepublican.org — is presented as a “snapshot” of how legislators voted on some issues, compared with the planks of the state Republican Party platform.
I was also quoted:
Local blogger Steve Sibson said he also acted as a consultant for the new site, but his involvement was not extensive.
He would not disclose the names of the people he spoke with. He said the state GOP has a history of being vindictive.
“They don’t want to be identified and I can understand why they don’t want to be exposed. They’ve got jobs they want to keep,” Sibson said.
Sibson said the voting record disclosed on the new website confirms what he has known all along — namely, that the GOP leans left in the Senate and the state House of Representatives is more conservative.
And the paper even disclosed how Distrcit 20 Republicans ranked:
Mitchell’s three Republican lawmakers all received lower scores. Sen. Mike Vehle got 36 percent; Rep. Tona Rozum, 50 percent; and Rep. Lance Carson, 28 percent.
It would have been better to add their responses to the results. But the report did get this response:
Tony Post, executive director of the South Dakota Republican Party, said he hasn’t had time to study the site, but he’s not worried about it.
Post said the site shows the energy of the state GOP, a quality he says is lacking on the Democratic side of the aisle. Republicans are fired up and want make sure their legislators are following the party line, he said.
“Here’s the dichotomy,” he said. “We have an organic movement of Republicans and conservatives who are doing what they feel is right. On the other side of the fence, you have apathy and a ‘Draft Matt Varilek’ movement that’s as organic as a corndog.”
Varilek, who last week announced a candidacy for the U.S. House, is a former staffer of U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson, DS.D.
Post dismissed any possibility that there will be retaliation for those who put the website together.
Well then let us revisit what happened in 2008 to Jewel Breard:
Pat Powers has put out some information, that if true (and you never know about Powers), brings into light a very troubling political environment within the South Dakota Republican Party leadership:
Some of what I had mentioned in passing as changes happening at the GOP office seems to filtering out. Word I’m hearing from an independent source tonight that GOP Finance Director Jewel Breard is no longer with the state party as of Friday, primarily because of the actions of her husband Lee Breard.
And Pat Powers shows his sign of approval regarding this bully tactic with this:
I’d personally like to wish Jewel well in her future endeavors, and hopefully her husband’s political crusades won’t serve as a detraction for her employment again.
So if personally attacking those they disagree with doesn’t work, Pat Powers and his cohorts who are running the SD GOP will go after family members and their livelihoods. What other organizations are known to use such bullying tactics?
Pat Powers and his "No on 10" cohorts were against going after family when a citizen received no-bid contracts from the government. But they have no problem with going after a family member of one who they disagree with a spouse's "political crusade". Obviously their motives are not based on principle, but instead are concerned about maintaining their power. Anybody who poses a threat to their power are publicly humiliated and their family members become targets. And what do they target, people's jobs. And the more government jobs these big government liberals can create, the more control they have over our lives. That is exactly what the NEA's agenda is. It is not about quality for teachers, it is about the quantity.
The next question becomes, will the leaders of the SD GOP admit to firing an employee based on political activities of a spouse. That may open the door to an issue of retribution. If the deny that, then Pat Powers needs to provide the identity of his "independent source". Of course Pat Powers will not do what he expected me to do. That would be too principled.
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