I'm looking for the air quotes around "Brilliant":
Yes, Rep. Susan Wismer can claim victory. But Sen. Larry Tidemann played it smart today.... He declared today that he’s inviting Bollen to testify at GOAC’s next meeting scheduled for Sept. 24. Republicans took some tough hits on editorial pages for their treatment of Wismer, so the Tidemann decision today takes some of the steam out of the Democrats’ complaints claiming an EB-5 cover-up by Republicans.
...But here’s the smartest piece of Tidemann’s move. He’s essentially run an entire month off the calendar.... That takes Republicans four weeks deeper into their election campaigns [Bob Mercer, "The Persistence of Rep. Wismer and the Brilliant Move by Sen. Tidemann," Pure Pierre Politics, 2014.08.22].
I'm not sure what's so Republicanly brilliant about giving in to Democrats with a complete reversal. Last month Republicans didn't think Bollen was worth discussing. Tidemann maintained that the Government Operations and Audit Committee that he chairs had no authority and no need to ask Bollen questions.
If Senator Tidemann were "brilliant," he wouldn't have obstructed Rep. Wismer's Bollen-subpoena motion. He wouldn't have provoked statewide editorial outrage at the Republican cover-up. He wouldn't have set the stage for KELO to finally pick up my story from eight months ago showing that when the state privatized its EB-5 program, it put Bollen on commission and lowered his official salary below the legal threshold that allowed the state to issue a no-bid contract (now that contract was "brilliant"). A brilliant Tidemann would not have set the stage for Mike Rounds to get his glass EB-5 jaw hammered and Daugaard to get caught without a bucket by a Susan Wismer on fire at the Dakotafest debates. A brilliant Tidemann would not have provoked Democrats to retain formidable attorney Patrick Duffy to dig into the EB-5 documents and identify legal missteps (and Duffy won't sit silently twiddling his thumbs until September 24).
"Brilliant" (not to mention sensible, logical, responsible, practical...) would have been dragging Joop Bollen's butt before GOAC at its very first EB-5/GOED hearing on March 7 and demanding answers for the people of South Dakota. "Brilliant" would have been taking the EB-5 issue away from Dems before the primary.
"Brilliant" is the full-court press Democrats put on this week to force the SDGOP into a bad position.
Tidemann didn't shine yesterday; he surrendered... to Democrats. He scheduled a media spectacle in the heat of the campaign season. The least damaging outcome of Tidemann's delay is the GOP trotting out an arrogant and secretive foreigner as their Oliver North to declare EB-5 "a neat idea." The middle damage comes when Bollen either pleads the Fifth or declines to appear. The most damaging is Bollen smells the GOP throwing him on the fall-guy pile with Richard Benda and starts talking.
Democrats have known all along that Republicans would try to run out the clock on the EB-5 scandal to protect their candidates. But we have pressed anyway for answers, and now we may get them. Brilliant!
Laugh Line of the Week:
Craig Lawrence, the chairman of the South Dakota Republican Party, said Democratic calls for more investigation are fruitless.
"This is probably one of the most investigated matters in the history of South Dakota," Lawrence said. "Through all this, there's no smoking gun" [David Montgomery, "GOAC to Ask Bollen to Testify Despite Refusing Subpoena," that Sioux Falls paper, 2014.08.22].
and about that smoking gun......
Joop is being "invited"? Watch for him to decline the invitation if it is not printed on a subpoena.
Do they pay Dick Wad good money to write press releases quoting himself?
I'm really looking forward to seeing what Patrick Duffy comes out with. He could start by re-reading Cory's posts on this blog.
Tidemann brilliant? I've never heard anyone accuse him of that before. Being slow to act and failing to understand your own authority to call a witness demonstrate that he is a weak and indecisive leader at best. A tool of the GOP insiders at worst.
Bollen is not going to show. I hope Susan requests that Rounds and Daugaard show up for the next GOAC meeting. Why would they decline? It's convenient because they both live in Pierre and Ft Pierre. I would hope the Dems, anti-establishment Repubs, Independents, and 3rd party candidates get as many people as they can to the meeting and stage a protest outside the capital.
If they don't put them under oath, nothing they say matters. Sending out invites is GOP BS, subpoenas are the only things that matters.
Tim is exactly right. That's why the Democrats need to insist on subpoenas.
Lawrence's choice of a smoking gun was not good.
Bob Mercer has an interesting take on political morals, calling delay of and lack of accountability "smart." Yeah, it's smart like Richard Nixon was smart. Nixon dragged the country through two years of constitutional crisis. Because Rounds was just the Governor of a small state, his crimes don't rise to that level, but he's just like Nixon in every other way.
The fact is Rounds is guilty. We all know it. How do we know it? Because we've all been that kid who tells little half truths about something we did. We seek delay in actually telling the truth, until we cover our tracks with believable subterfuge, or until Mommy forgets. Whether a finding of "suicide" was a coverup for murder, will be debated until South Dakota disappears under a blanket of ash from a Yellowstone volcano. I don't know, and I'm generally not one who believes in conspiracies. But it's all at least plausible, because we might react exactly like Rounds and the Republicans if we were caught in a horrible scandal. We might not know exactly what Rounds did, but we know he is crooked. And we know that because he is acting like it.
Republicans, now, are beset by a lot of crooks that hoot and holler about their "values," but abuse power the minute they get it. Rounds, Christie, Walker, and Perry, a Mt. Rushmore of crooked Republican Governors, seek to delay accountability for their crooked actions. Such is the state of political morals today. And Mercer calls it "smart," and a lot of folks nod in agreement. And the country sinks further down the path of destroying itself from within.
Want a solution? Money is the root of all evil. Get money out of politics. You'll take care of most of the problem.
Mr. Pay: you forgot Mary Fallin and Susana Martinez in your critique.
Mercer strikes me as a reporter stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand he, at times, acts like he wants to do the right thing and report, but on the other hand he knows if he reports like he should the republican power brokers in Pierre will shut him out. So, we get writing like the above article.
Montgomery does get the money quote though "Lawrence said. "Through all this, there's no smoking gun". That is where Lawrence is incorrect, there is one and that is the one found in the shelter belt, some distance away from a very dead Benda. Keep pressing Democrats, there is more blood in the water than was ever found in the killing ground around Benda. The republican mafia of Pierre politics is finding itself in a feeding frenzy with Wismer and Duffy tossing the chum. I can hear the "Jaws" music score in the back of my head. I think that they will need a bigger boat to haul out this school of corruption though.
Indeed, Tim and Owen—can we really call it "investigating" when we're just "inviting" someone to chat?
Not at all Cory. Only the threat of jail will hopefully make them tell the truth.
Agreed Cory, once in the judicial system they won't have the level of protection they get from the republican SD establishment. Besides, if they are backed into a legal corner, republican politicians will always save their own asses first.
Referring to this whole affair as an EB-5 scandal evades the context of how business interests have inveigled state government to allow them to run aspects of that government. That includes a legal code which protects them from public knowledge. There is a mindset among GOP supporters that is expressed on their blogs through attempts, after five newspapers calling for accountability, the Governor's Office of Economic Development announcing it wants its money back, and newspaper reporters probing the implications, to dismiss investigation of the government-corporate corruption as a flimsy Democratic ploy to get votes. The GOP is blowing its Wadhams on this. The GOP charges the Democrats of turning to scandal because it has no positions on issues. The fact is that Wismer and Weiland are making very clear positions on issues, while the only thing the Republicans have is character assassination, which admittedly has won for them in the past.
The problem with confronting corruption here is how many voters support it as their preferred mode of economic development. It runs much deeper than the EB-5 business and a true investigation can reveal the complicity of many government agencies and promotion organizations and lead to other relationships that are not related to the GOED-EB-5 business. This involves prominent law firms, economic development agencies, banking firms, and GOP insiders who have every reason to fear exposure. The pants-wetting posts from the GOP are so obvious in their attempts to dismiss the growing investigation as a Democratic campaign scheme that it merely emphasizes the GOP's embrace of corruption as economic development.
David, I look at GOP corruption in this state like a huge rock, if you are going to get rid of it you must chip away at it one piece at a time. EB-5 is a starting point, but in no way an ending. Maybe this will be a start at getting back to a two party system which is a start at getting rid of the state rules put in place by decades of republican rule that allowed us to get here to begin with. We have to start someplace.
I got your "smoking gun" the way it was meant to be. First saw Robert Cray on Austin City Limits play Stairway to Heaven on guitar. Yikes!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-Q26wKox-0
You realize these heraings will most likely be behind closed doors with no public accessibility and the results can be kept behind closed doors,too. They can give Bollen limited use immunity and compel him to testify,but I really think they know what they are gonna find and don't want the public to find it out. This won't be a slow or fast attempt to get the truth. More of a halffast attempt.
I wonder how "the republican power brokers in Pierre" viewed Saturday's guest editorial in the RC Journal by the Pierre Capitol Journal title, "It is not a search for dirt. It is a search for clean."
Good catch, bat: it had gotten by me.
http://www.capjournal.com/opinions/it-s-not-a-search-for-dirt-it-s-a/article_1d0b9e52-281a-11e4-a81d-001a4bcf887a.html
It will be interesting if, a) Joop shows, b) They give Susan more than 2 minutes for questioning, c) if any of the other Republicans ask more than "Hey, how is the family."
What questions must be asked to get Joop to testify and answer anything of significance?
Isn't all testimony before a government panel something that could be perjury if you knowingly mislead the government officials?
A search for clean? They will find very little clean in Pierre, that house has been occupied by the same people for to long.
Means absolutely nothing if Bollen and others testifying are not placed under oath. If that doesn't happen, the Democrats in the room should make a statement about more Republican stonewalling of justice and walk out.
Brilliant moves are hard to come by for Team, Rounds, Jacklye, Bolen and Tidemann. Usually there is a reason relatively smart folks don't find brilliant solutions. Apparently there are few brilliant moves left that don't share the smear of EB5.
Republicans are really sensitive to the whole partisan part of politics. Anything Democrat is mostly dismissed by Republicans. They get even more upset when Republicans criticize other Republicans. On ballot issues people seem to be more sensible.
The EB5 disease that is infecting our state should scare the crap out of any business owner. Dont play political ball with the ruling class? We will convene a commission to study this regulation that might be difficult for your business to be profitable. If that dont work or alternatively we will just use state grants and eb5 money and subsidize a competitor. Perhaps this is the biggest reason SD needs an income tax. If business owners and politicians are going to double down on these anti-business practices, make them pay for it. Yeah there will be good people who are affected by that, but I'm unsure how else to penalize people for engaging in bad behavior.
Not only that, but there has to be some internal conflict about EB5 and the whole Immigration Reform issue. It's hard to argue that we have to "close the borders" on one hand, and then be okay with selling $500,000 citizenship tickets on the other. If I were a pol concerned with immigration legislation and enforcement, I wouldn't want to talk about EB5 very much either.
Today's announcement that the state will retain an attorney to recover the $550,000 that Benda stole is nothing more than continue crony capitalism corruption. This lawyer they hired, is he a Republican?
Don't we have state employees in Jackley's office, the dept. of revenue or some other state agency that could be assigned this effort? I view this as a another waste of state taxpayer money that could better be used elsewhere.
I would add to Bill's observation and ask how many of the EB-5 projects used immigrant labor (documented and undocumented) because their business plans couldn't support paying a living wage. You know, for South Dakotans.
In tune with the song Camp Granada:
"Hello muddah, hello faddah
Here I am at Camp Dakota
Camp is very entertaining
And they say we'll have some fun if Rounds, Daugaard, and Jackley stop campaigning.
Cory rang some chimes
When he developed Madville Times.
You remember Richard Benda,
He is dead due to EB-5, we are waiting for full exposure, didn’t they tell ya?
There is a teacher’s shortage 'cause not enough are applying
Millions in reserve and trips to China while the school districts are crying.
And the governor wants no sissies
So he toughens people up with no handing out of Medicaid kisses.
How I don't want this should scare ya
But I think there might be some Republicans feeling a bit of paranoia.
You remember all the EB-5 investment money
They're about to organize a searching party."
LOL LOL :)
Bill, I know you are a precise man by listening to you at breakfast. Let me ask, do you have a green card or are you a citizen? I am a citizen and I make that distinction.
Or are you just hyperboling or indefferentiable?
I'm a citizen. I differentiate. You intentionally don't. Pancakes.
We may have an October surprise here with our arrogant governor and his do nothing legislature. I think they may try to pull the Medicaid Expansion bunny out of the hat. Seriously, Wyoming (Darth Cheney's cave) is leaning strongly in that direction http://www.tribtown.com/view/story/37f79c7880a34067ae43bbd64cd70981/WY--Mead-Medicaid
when right wing nuts finally get the grasp that their state is sending money to other states that already have the expansion in place, they move to help stop the hemorrhaging of tax payer dollars. They only do that to protect their benefactors who stand to loose big time.
I see captain dummy and the crew coming on board with this purely to stop a flank attack by Wismer. It may not help him as he and Rounds are going to be each passing the anvil of EB-5 around to see whose neck it is attached to. Rounds better be good at treading water because he is in over his head.
Mr. Pay, I've been thinking about Watergate quite a bit this week, recalling how it all unfolded and eventually resulting in the resignation of a president.
The SDGOP weak response to allegations by Wismer and Rounds this week are playing into the narrative both candidates need to use from now until election day.
For instance, let us assume for a minute that Benda did commit suicide, the question should always be why did Jackley cover this up and not allow the press to review the death investigation documents. The other critical issue that relates to Benda's "suicide", is who informed that Jackley had an arrest warrant for him and was taking him before a grand jury? Why didn't Jackley arrest Benda when he should have.
With every denial by Rounds, Wadhams, Jackley, et al., it reveals another part of the conspiracy and raises more questions than answers.
We have seen numerous conflicting statements by Jackley this week that serve as proof of his continued stonewalling and cover up.
Tidemann "asking" Bollen to testify before GOAC is a joke, Bollen should have his ass subpoenaed and have his had on the Bible when he testifies. Some may this as a "brilliant' idea and running down clock, what it really is a continued effort to stonewall and cover up the Daugaard and Rounds administration role in EB-5.
Every time Jackley or Tidemann say that is not my responsibility, that is not in the scope of our jurisdiction, or call somebody a liar they are playing into the hands of Wismer and Rounds.
Let the SDGOP denials and their gimmickry flow, with each and every statement they make they become part of a cover up.
I can even accept that the audits of GOED are complete and show no other wrong doing other than by Benda.
The "smoking gun" that has been referred to is the $167 million in Chinese investments. Patrick Duffy is on the right investigative track, that money has never been accounted for. No bid and over bid contracts? Who are the contractors that reaped the awards of that money and what is their party affiliation.
Rounds and the SDGOP may think they are brilliant by playing with the clock, eventually the clock runs down.
Remember that with the Watergate break-in, only a handful of guys went to prison for the actual break-in.
A president, his cabinet, and campaign staff went to prison for lying and obstruction of justice. Will Republican Party and Rounds/Daugaard staff members become the sacrificial lambs, and at what cost?
Rounds, Daugaard, Jackley may appear to be untouchable before the election, but we don't know what is going to happen before or after the election and the clock is ticking.
Grudz, thanks for asking.
Like you, I am the seventh son of a seventh son.
My daddy was a pistol.
I'm a son of a gun.
So dang me. Dang me.
Otta take a rope and hang me.
Have you been naturaluzd?
Would you weep for me, grudz?
Pork chop.
You guys all know that the state hired a DD campaign donor to retrieve lost Bendagate money, right?
Bachand, Paul & Carla 1805 Sun rise Drive Pierre SO $1,000.00
This is an informative list folks made even more interesting by who is NOT on it:
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/capjournal.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/da/fda00c14-8e28-11e3-bd1a-001a4bcf887a/52f1d06d9921c.pdf.pdf
sounds like jackley was allowing some negotiation w/ benda's lawyer, leveraging him. jackley prolly feels significant guilt for the suicide.
i think jarding, wismer and weiland are gonna waste the gop. of course unless we live in a red state ... we need every vote possible.
It is a terrible story, and we should all be mindful that there is obviously a family who is hurting over it. No doubt there are details it would be better for us not to know. And sad that perhaps we now may have to. That's the most difficult part of all this for me.
Larry,
It is also interesting to note that the Bachand firm has been paid by the state $47,478 since the start of the fiscal year, July 1, $284.301 for FY 2014, and $$460,085 for FY 2013.
It is also interesting to note that one of the names mentioned in the Capitol Journal piece is Jeff Sveen who is listed on the donor list you linked for $4,000.
We are getting closer to the full dimension of this finagle.
Jackley donated,but no Gant and no Bollen. The plot thickens.
Larry the donor list you provided, thank you, does not show to whom the donations were made.
SDGOP, Mike Rounds, Dennis Daugaard?
While Rounds is waiting to be fitted for his orange jumpsuit, Rick Weiland was in Rosebud at the pow wow along with Tim Johnson. A beautiful day in the sun for sure.
Roger, that's the Daugaard list released earlier this year.
http://www.capjournal.com/news/daugaard-receives-donations-from-future-fund-recipients/article_074a88f6-aa72-11e3-a70b-001a4bcf887a.html
https://madvilletimes.com/2014/03/daugaard-donors-receive-future-fund-grants-first-amendment-prevents-fix/
Bollen and Benda are missing from all the governor's pheasant killing contests where there are records, most notably from 2011:
http://www.keloland.com/classlibrary/page/news/files/Governor's%20List.pdf
Larry, thanks. You did say that was Daugaard donor list in your original post. My bad.
Larry Tidemann is not "brilliant." This was not his decision. He simply did what he was told by Republican overlords. Again. They put him in charge of the committee because he would be their puppet. They must be afraid he will be beaten in Nov. In a face to face with Democrats Tidemann and the Republicans blinked. Victory for the taxpayers.
Thanks to Wismer, Weiland and Duffy, now even the arrogant Daguaard wants to sue to recover the missing EB-5 money that is not only in his back pocket but also funding his sidekick Rounds senate campaign. First thing to do when you are looking for missing money, check you pockets before you call the cops.
Nice move there Daugarrd, we see through it though. When are you suddenly gonna find your heart and start the process of Medicaid Expansion? These boys are feeling the heat and they do not like it one bit. Toss another log on the fire for these fellers so it brightens it up so we can see how the anvil throwing is going.
Even more shockingly, AG Jackley says the state isn't going to hold anyone accountable for that diversion:
Jackley, who was appointed as attorney general by Rounds in 2009, said his investigation is now closed.
That indicates there won’t be an attempt by state authorities to recover the $550,000 from the bankrupt Northern Beef and its officers, or SDRC and its president, Joop Bollen, or the Hanul law firm and James Park.
Jewett, Cynthia 1104 N. Lincoln St. Aberdeen SD $4,000.00
Jewett, Harvey 1104 N. Lincoln St. Aberdeen SD $4,000.00
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/capjournal.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/da/fda00c14-8e28-11e3-bd1a-001a4bcf887a/52f1d06d9921c.pdf.pdf
Buyers of the Gold Dust, Deadwood
Lamont, Mary 2011 N Jay Aberdeen SO $1,000.00
Lamont, William 401 S. Main St. Aberdeen SO $500.00
Sellers of the Gold Dust, Stan just appointed to tourist board. Yes, Deadwood's service industry predominantly Filipina.
Anderson, Stan & Terri Rae PO Box 422 Wall SD $1,000.00
Former Gold Dust owner: Estes, Doug 14136 Hacker Loop Rapid City SD $2,000.00
Slimeball incarnate and former owner of the Gold Dust
Christianson, Harry & Barb 4823 Carriage Hills Drive Rapid City SD $4,000.00
Funny. Master of over-consumption: Endrizzi, Jeff 1117 Vista Drive Milbank SD $250.00
Larry, remind us what point you are making by calling out names on Daaguard's campaign donor list. I scanned it quickly when you linked to it and saw lots of people I know. Quite a few of them are friends of mine. Again, what's your point?
That Sibby is right about crony capitalism and the culture of corruption in South Dakota, Bill.
Good question, a lot of people I know on that list as well, none are friends but I know quite a few. Is there a point?
Common knowledge Larry, they all scratch each others ball sacks, it's how things are done here. That's what we are trying to change, and why it will be so hard.
Because they donated money to a political campaign, and their candidate won, that makes someone a crony capitalist?
Ok then, I hope I get to be one someday, don't you? LOL.
Everyone on that list is making South Dakota a one-party state: boycott their businesses.
http://northernbeacon.blogspot.com/2014/08/how-even-threat-of-boycott-changes.html
I hope to be on a democrat list just like that someday, just because they contribute doesn't automatically make them cronies. Some are I'm sure, but not all.
Larry, I have a list of the Guardians for Daugaard. They were listed in the Rapid City Journal. Sorry, I don't know how to cut and paste or I would post it. Won't you say the upper 2%ers pretty much run the state?
The sad thing is that republican politicians allow themselves to be bought and paid for by such people without concern for the rest of the people they are supposed to also represent.
Tara: hell yes. double-click on the address bar, right-click and choose copy. Would love to see it.
Funny twitter deal: when i tweeted that Rod Woodruff run for AG as an unaffiliated he favorited it even though not addressed to him.
oh, and bring it here, right-click and select paste.
Larry, I can't do it. It will take an hour to learn, so I emailed it to Cory. I can email it to you to but I don't have your email address.
I can send you a lot of good stuff. $300,000 Rounds had to pay back to the state for misuse of airplane for personal pleasure too.
It's a Republican disease that seems to be skipping liberal led Minnesota, but infecting Wisconsin. This was all supposed to be kept on the down low, but we do have, at times, a couple great investigative papers here. Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, headed by Scott Walker gave Ashley Furniture a $6 million Wisconsin tax credit to, get this, cut 1,900 jobs. That's right. Ashley Furniture will get state money to cut jobs. How can this happen? Walker is receiving a truckload of money from the Ashley Furniture executives.
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/wedc-board-ok-d-ashley-furniture-getting-million-tax-credit/article_6fe5690f-64d0-5829-bc51-3dc59533abe9.html
I think one of the greatest things that will come out of this is a fulfillment of one of Mike Rounds greatest dreams. The dream to become a physician of sorts, at least that is what it will say on the back of his orange jump suit, DOC.
There is such courtesy and consideration that all this run around gives time for those directly profiting to laugh their way to the bank. Bollen is going to take the 5th, if he does attend the meeting on 9/24. By the way, James Park of Hanul Law Firm has already moved to Seoul, South Korea. Also former partner to James Park - Austin Kim now of H&H Law in Santa Ana, CA May have some knowledge . This is going to be yet another waste of taxpayer money if these people are not held to some serious truths.
Clarification. James Park is also part of H&H Prof Law Corp. in Santa Ana, CA. http://www.hnhplc.com
It looks like James Park and Austin Kim (aka Su Ki Kim) set up their own firm.
hire lawyer to collect $550,000 means rounds will head em off at the pass, like chris Christie.
Bollen lawyered up, refuse to attend 9/24 GOAC mtg, responded that he will submit written responses. Can I say "I told you so!" All this dancing around this guy is a huge joke and waste. Somebody needs to show him that he is not above the law.
It's the Rounds/Bollen defense: Duck public appearances. Maybe they're on the lamb together and running down the clock!
You nailed it Jane, for sure you did. The good news is that Brendan Johnson will now wait between sometime after November 5 and who knows, to go after Joop Bollen. Bollen is probably wetting his wooden clogs about now with the fear of the unknown. Why this dude is still walking the streets is no mystery in South Dakota that is for sure. If you are gonna do big crime, then the South Dakota that Mike Rounds created is your kind of place.