The first Rapid City legislative crackerbarrel meeting of 2016 was held at the South Dakota School of Mines this morning. Topics included education funding, drug testing for welfare recipients, Initiated Measure 17, Medicaid expansion, and more.

Sadly, America is showing mercy to the guilty by leaving off justice. This is a slap in the face to those who sacrificed themselves in the magnification of the law against the crimes of tyrants which in the end, established America’s freedom and independence.

The news is out that South Dakota Rep. Lynne DiSanto (Dist. 35) plans to introduce a bill in this legislative session for drug testing of welfare recipients. The bill has not yet been submitted, and the media has not yet seen the final text of the bill, but speculation about the details are rampant-as are the cat-calls from liberals in both parties.

The Left loves to play the narrative that America is a racist country. After all, the party of the Left (the Democrat Party) fought hard to maintain race-based slavery in America for a long, long time, and even after Republicans brought that to an end, they fought very hard to maintain institutional racism until Lyndon Johnson figured out that if he just pandered to black Americans…

Why does the left have such an affinity and affection for criminals? Because deep down they know they are criminals themselves. Lincoln defined slavery as, “you work, I eat.” That is the mantra of the left. Living off the labor of others is called theft whether the gun is in the hand of a street criminal or an IRS agent.

The brutal Columbus, Ohio murder of Erveena Hammonds and her 7 and 10 year-old daughters, whose throats were slit by an early-released felon, is exhibit A of why Congress should reject legislation designed to let thousands more convicted drug criminals out of federal prison prematurely.

Before swinging the prison doors wide, Congress needs to consider that President Obama’s response to Ferguson and elsewhere has created a climate where police are unable to safely do the same job they did a few years ago.

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that the Attorney General’s proposed legislative package for 2016 will include a request that our Legislature consider and enact several pieces of legislation.

The South Dakota Stockgrowers Association sent letters this week to congressional delegates, the U.S. Attorney General’s office and the South Dakota Attorney General’s office questioning what they call “egregiously unbalanced response of federal land management agencies” and supporting the claims South Dakota ranchers made for compensation after the 2013 Pautre Fire burned nearly 10,000 acres of federal and private land.

Today, South Dakota Secretary of State Shantel Krebs announced that South Dakota has seen a large increase in conceal carry weapon permits for 2015. “In the month of December alone we have seen the number of permits issued double from 1,423 in 2014 to 2,968 in 2015.