Rapid City Tax Day Tea Party Attracts 1,500 or More

By Bob Ellis | 04/16/09

 The Tax Day Tea Party in Rapid City yesterday was fantastic! We had a good crowd when we lined up in Memorial Park along the intersection of Omaha Street and 5th Street, and in short order it only got better.  Before long, people were lined up along 5th Street from Rapid Creek, around the bend in the intersection, and down Omaha Street to the 6th Street stoplight. The cars, trucks and semis driving by were honking their horns like... read more »

Conservatives: Enemies of the State?

By Bob Ellis | 04/13/09

As a conservative, have you ever got the feeling that in the eyes of liberals, you are a greater enemy to their vision of the United States than belligerent foreign nations or terrorist attackers?   On Saturday Roger Hedgecock talked about a new report from the Department of Homeland Security which won't do anything to assuage that feeling. As the Obama Administration abandons the War on Terror, makes peace with enemy combatants... read more »

Support for Capitalism Shrinking in America

By Bob Ellis | 04/09/09

Apparently conservatives and free market advocates haven't been doing enough to educate the public and counter the socialist propaganda coming out of pop culture. A new survey from Rasmussen Reports found that only 53% of American adults think capitalism is better than socialism (most of those were probably the remaining Americans who aren't on the take from bribery from the federal government).  The need for better education on... read more »

Sexual Orientation Measure Rejected by Rapid City Council

By Bob Ellis | 04/08/09

Monday night the Rapid City Council rejected a proposal to recommend to South Dakota's congressional delegation that they support at the federal level the addition of "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to nondiscrimination policies alongside innate, morally-neutral physical characteristics such as age, sex and skin color. Originally, Alderwoman Patti Martinson had submitted a measure to add these factors to the Rapid... read more »

Location for Rapid City Tax Day Tea Party Locked In

By Bob Ellis | 04/06/09

The planning committee for Rapid City's Tax Day Tea Party met late last week and a location for the event was locked in: Memorial Park in Rapid City. The event will be from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm on April 15.  We plan to meet in the area of Memorial Park around the intersection of 5th Street and Omaha Street (please park in the Civic Center Parking lot or other safe area).  The group will then walk a short distance over to the Bandshell... read more »

Thune Amendment Passes to Protect Charitable Tax Deduction

By Bob Ellis | 04/03/09

Yesterday the United States Senate passed Senator John Thune’s (R-SD) amendment to protect the tax deduction for charitable giving.  The amendment passed 94-3; the only “Nay” votes were Senator McCaskill (D-MO), Sanders (I-VT), and Whitehouse (D-RI). At a time when many Americans face tough economic times, President Barack Obama seeks to lower the tax deduction for charitable contributions on Americans making more than... read more »

Senator Thune Achieves Important Victory for the Taxpayers

By Bob Ellis | 04/02/09

Senator John Thune (R-SD) won a remarkable but ultimately uncertain victory for the American taxpayer this week. Several weeks ago President Barack Obama announced his intention to force a global warming-related cap-and-trade tax on the American people.  Oh, he didn't put it that way; he's just going to stick it to those evil capitalist companies like the coal industry that he wants to bankrupt.  Never mind that the cost of business... read more »

Only the Little People Pay Taxes

By Bob Ellis | 04/01/09

For a president who wants to tax the socks off the American people with the cap-and-trade penalty he has in mind for us through our energy consumption, President Barack Obama certainly seems to have a deep love in his heart for tax cheats. First there was former senator Tom Dasche, whose Department of Health nomination was dashed on the rocks for not paying his taxes.  Then there was Commerce Secretary nominee Bill Richardson who was... read more »

Tea Party Movement Growing, Adding Cities in South Dakota

By Bob Ellis | 03/30/09

We now have five cities in South Dakota planning Tax Day Tea Parties. A few weeks ago, the people of Sioux Falls announced they would be joining hundreds of other cities across the nation in a Tax Day Tea Party to protest the gross irresponsibility coming from Washington D.C. Last week, the people of Rapid City held their first planning meeting to hold a Tea Party on Tax Day, April 15; weather permitting, they will meet again tomorrow at 11:45... read more »

War on Terror Now a "Contingency Operation"

By Bob Ellis | 03/27/09

It looks as if we're going back to the Bill Clinton days when national security and fighting the bad guys was just an annoyance that has to be fed a bone every now and then but is otherwise forgotten. As I pointed out a couple of weeks ago, the Obama Administration has decided to stop calling the terrorists we have locked up at Club Gitmo "enemy combatants" anymore (presumably in favor of something liberal-esqe like... read more »