Nearly two years ago, I became aware of a problem with our state’s criminal justice system. I learned South Dakota’s imprisonment rate was higher than any of its six neighboring states. Per capita, we were locking up 75 percent more men than North Dakota and four times as many women as Minnesota. Maintaining the status quo would mean building a new women’s prison and a new men’s prison within the next 10 years.

The Republican Party is set to reap a virtual bumper crop of votes from the “Obamasick” electorate in November increasing their numbers in the US House of Representatives and securing control of the US Senate … unless … they push through an Amnesty for Illegal Aliens bill known as Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

A bill recognizing the anniversary of the addition of the words “under God” to the United States Pledge of Allegiance, HCR 1006, passed the South Dakota Senate. The bill had already passed the South Dakota House on a 66-0 vote of support.

In the parking lot after church last Sunday, another parishioner approached me, asking if I would sign a petition for a new law. I was so glad that she asked me. I knew about the petition and agreed with its goal. Then she explained that she could not talk about the petition inside the church. After signing the petition so that she could hurry on and catch more parishioners, I immediately thought of the U.S. Constitution.

The stated purpose of Compact for America, Inc. is to get a balanced budget amendment (BBA) ratified. Here is their proposed BBA. State Legislators recently introduced it in Arizona. The gap between what this BBA pretends to do - and what it actually does - is enormous. It has nothing to do with “balancing the budget” – it is about slipping in a new national sales tax or value-added tax in addition to the existing federal income tax.

Looks like a busy day ahead for the South Dakota Legislature today. These are some of the bills of interest being considered in the legislature Jan. 31, including legislation dealing with education, taxes, Common Core education standards, abortion, term limits and more.

After exposing myself to the lies and insults which have become an Obama speech routine, the truly sad state of our Union came into an unpleasant focus. The man is without conscience, without a soul. I assume many of you, like myself, are sick and tired of those in lock step with Boehner and his ilk as well.

I never deny climate change… the climate has been changing since the beginning of time. I simply reject hysteria and theories that suggest catastrophic anthropogenic (man made) CO2 based climate change is occurring. There’s a reason the left has changed vernacular.

Yet another bill geared toward dealing with the nationwide problem of illegal immigration has died in the Republican supermajority (76% in the House and 80% in the Senate) South Dakota Legislature. HCR 1009 “urging the federal government to enforce United States immigration laws and not grant amnesty to those who have entered the United States illegally” was killed 34-33. Some “Republicans” who voted against this bill, which merely calls on the federal government to obey our nation’s laws and do its job, claimed it “went too far” and was too harsh for them to support.

A bill to protect clergy, lay officials, and religious organizations from homosexual activists who seek to punish them for not facilitating the counterfeiting of marriage was heard in the South Dakota Senate Judiciary Committee today. The bill was killed on a 4-3 vote in the “Republican” committee.