Democratic candidate for governor Joe Lowe thinks the EB-5 scandal is worth talking about in the gubernatorial race as well as the Senate race. In his latest press release, Lowe calls it "inexcusable" that the Legislature is ignoring its duty to hold hearings on EB-5 and the financial shenanigans in the Governor's Office of Economic Development.
...The citizens of our state need to demand that an independent audit be done because it is important to finally resolve this issue. However, it seems our legislature has more important things to do.
Our state taxpayers lost $4.3 million; the Governor says EB-5 records were lost; 50 or so Asian Investors lost $500,000 each and some did not even get their green cards; lawsuits are pending; and a federal investigation may be ongoing [Joe Lowe, press release, 2014.04.21].
Lowe questions his opponent's professed ignorance of malfeasance in GOED and EB-5:
Governor Daugaard claims he knew nothing about the program when he was Lieutenant Governor. I find this interesting since each Division Director, and I was one, had to turn in a monthly governors report that spoke to what each division was doing and report accomplishments. I would presume that the Governor kept the Lieutenant Governor in the loop on what was going on in each division of state government [Lowe, 2014.04.21].
Lowe frames EB-5 and corruption as a primary theme of his campaign:
It is well past time to end this culture of corruption. Our citizens deserve answers. At best, EB-5 was bad business and lacked the proper oversight and protections that the program needed [Lowe, 2014.04.21].
I encourage South Dakota Democrats to run unashamedly as Democrats. But even I recognize that the EB-5 scandal is a powerful campaign issue for Lowe and other Democrats because it does not require speaking in some unique Democratic voice. Critiquing the current administration on EBAY doesn't require citing a single plank of the Democratic party. It just calls for advocating responsible supervision of government programs, something everyone can agree is a good idea... and something all but the most diehard partisans can agree didn't happen with South Dakota's EB-5 program.
To get a perspective on the magnitude of the NBP/EB-5 scandal, ponder the coverage it would get had Chris Christie had it to deal with rather than the closing of traffic lanes on a bridge. From the inception of the beef packing scheme in Huron to its demise in Aberdeen, Rounds has been cited as a hovering presence. However, there is a multitude of people who have been consciously complicit in the scheme: local officials, economic development groups, business interests, and company officials. The unwitting dupes aside, there is a horde of people who had knowledge of and took active roles in creating this scandal.
David is there anyway a national news organization could pick up on this and run with it? Is it so convoluted that it's not easy for them to present for ratings or readership?
There seems to be layers and layers to this and I wish the federal investigation would come out with it's results.
Has anyone tried to get the records from Bollen? It's too bad Northern was associated with all of this. Did Bollen's salary come out of Northern's budget until he left the campus? If so, it's too bad it came out of the University's budget when they didn't gain anything from it except a liability in the end.
Joe is on the right track, this has got to become a major campaign issue. If Joe wants my vote, he will have to do that.
The legislature didn't investigate nor do they intend to this upcoming legislative session, the only thing they did was pass some limp legislation about background checks, something that was likely in place anyway.
There is some good news today, as Cory has reported in the past few days, Greg Belfrage has taken notice of the scandal, the tea party (for whatever reasons) has also taken notice.
If Nelson wants to win the primary, now is the time for him to bring on the heat in future debates, whether Rounds shows up or not.
This scandal is not about past failures of oversight or accountability, it is about the criminality of all those mentioned by Mr. Newquist. $170 Million is a lot of cash to split up among all those involved.
My concentration is on the money trail is with the Rounds campaign, how much of that $170 Million has directly or indirectly ended up in the Rounds campaign by those even remotely responsible for this scandal, that needs to be our concentration between now and the primary. Number crunchers are handing this primary to Rounds, if they are correct, the money trail is more important then ever.
One of the many good reasons to be on this scandal hard is to prevent future criminal "investments" of SD taxpayer money. Another program is coming down the pike.
Tom Vilsack of Iowa just formed the first Rural Business Investment Company. It's a new program funded by the Department of Ag to the tune of $160,000,000. That's the kind of money Rounds and the Gang like. What's to stop them from doing the same thing again? Candidates, politicians, news people, the Feds, and especially concerned citizens like us advocating for a complete and thorough investigation of the EB-5 crimes can stop the crooks.
You can read more about the RBIC program here:
http://www.startribune.com/business/256107621.html
The thing is, that nasty old federal government is creating plans to help rural folk in SD and elsewhere, but the plans aren't working out for us because good ole SD boys like Republican Rounds and the Gang are cheating SD citizens out of it.
The irony of it all is so ironic.
I just ran across this South Dakota related EB-5 facebook page focused on Rounds and DD. Not much activity but still it's there. https://www.facebook.com/investigaterounds
Lynne,
I believe there are places on several liberal news sites you can write in to the journalists or editors about news stories. Huffingtonpost.com has one somewhere. There is always Rachel Maddow's email. That would be a start. I have thought about it myself, but then I am not a writer for this type of info.
Gayle,
I wrote to all the anchors on MSNBC last fall during the shutdown pointing out the hypocrisy of Kristi Noem voting to shut down the government yet was more than happy to get some pretty lucrative subsidies. Ed Shultz, Rachel Maddow and a few others but I never received a reply.
This EB-5 fiasco has so many layers and my writing skills seem to have really diminished since my college days. It's embarrassing at times! lol I'd love to have a big news outlet run with it though. It sure would help our cause!
If the real media hasn't picked up this story yet after being carried ad nauseam by Liberty Today and other world-wide distributions of news, they're just not interested.
I really wish this would blow up on Round's face.
Lynn and Gayle,
Don't despair too much, as we get more into the campaign season and Washington pols see that this has become a crucial senate race to both parties, Rounds will be exposed.
The key to all of this will be when the federal investigation comes to light. Should Rounds be the candidate, and most are saying he will be, it will be easier for Weiland to demand the status of all those investigations.
Is too much to hope for that Rounds wins the primary and a month later GOED and NBP break into the national news?
Oh Roger, I hope you are right! Being a RED flyover state sucks.
Lynn, like you I have forgotten how to write all but what I have to do for work. Maybe someone who is better at explaining all the fiasco could write them.
Gayle. I have talked with journalists from major media, and their corporate bosses don't think what happens in South Dakota is of any interest to the rest of the world. One of the problems is is no coherent account of all that is involved in this story. And there is the question of how the federal agencies regard it and the extent of their investigation. The South Dakota media cowers for fear that it will be accused of having a liberal bias if it reports fully on this.
The South Dakota media is getting questions about its coverage: http://www.argusleader.com/story/davidmontgomery/2014/04/22/argus-leader-eb5/8012213/
From the website that you posted, Lynn
Chelle McMurrey
FYI:
PRESS CONFERENCE: SD CORRUPTION
Wednesday, April 23, Caille Library,
11:30am - 12:30pm ...
See More
Like · · April 21 at 10:09pm
Whoops, I missed the more
PRESS CONFERENCE: SD CORRUPTION
Wednesday, April 23, Caille Library,
11:30am - 12:30pm
4100 Carnegie Cir
Sioux Falls
Come hear Lora Hubbel, Republican candidate for Governor and Mike Myers, Independent Candidate for Governor speak this Wednesday.
South Dakota is the second most corrupt state in the nation...why? Because of our poor open records laws. Come see how this effects issues that concern you. When information is stymied and hidden (SD is a master at this) you are denied information in making personal choices...whether that be for your candidates for office, your businesses and even your doctor.
Questions addressed:
...is SD hiding information on the EB5 scandal?
...are you getting the truth on ObamaCare in SD?
...how do Republicans treat women candidates?
...come with your questions, we will answer them.
Like · · April 21 at 10:09pm
Mr. Lowe reminds us of an interesting point - 50 or more individuals had dreams of green cards waved in front of them and spent $500,000 towards that dream and lost out. Sure, they are not South Dakota citizens or U.S. citizens, but they are still human beings who lost a large sum of money and no one is being held accountable.
Furthermore, if the state of South Dakota views EB-5 as a good long-term economic plan, we should encourage more people to keep investing. What type of message do we send when so many people lose so much money and no one is held accountable? Why would anyone invest in this state again?
Your second paragraph hits the nail on the head, Mr Kearin. Besides that, a good legitimate job creating tool not only for the State but for our Nation, may be shut down because of shenanigans like those here in SD, will make it unpalatable to the US Government.
Wasn't there more than 130 Chinese and Korean investors that lost money? I believe EB% rules state that investors should not expect a return on their investments. It would be nice to know where all that money went. Maybe like Iraq,bundles of money just walked off the plane into the sunset.
You know what folks, Mr Lowe is completely right in suggesting that this failed economic development issue is just as much a governor's race issue as that of the US Senate race. The comments by Daugaard and his minions in the failed Anderson seed company indicates that not only did the GOED not do its due diligence in funding Anderson, when it found out that the company was failing and pulled its funding, they did not notify the PUC and other state agencies who would be affected by that failure and farmers would be protected from that failure.
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120319/NEWS/303190014/&template=artiphone
Just noticed this story from Reuters story about EB-5. http://news.msn.com/videos?videoid=721a37a5-f1c4-8d60-b319-7af1c160798e