Texas will build a border wall in our state to
help secure our border.
Homes are being invaded, neighborhoods are dangerous,
and people are being threatened on a daily basis.
I told you the Texas would step up and respond.
Today we begin that response,
the border crisis reaching a boiling point as Texas Governor
Abbott vows to protect his state and build a wall.
Now other states are stepping up to help by sending
their own law enforcement officers to the border S the
governor.
South Dakota Governor Chris Nome joins us now to react.
Good morning, Governor. Glad to have you with us.
Good morning. It's great to be with you.
So we have seen several states begin to answer the
call of Governor Greg Abbott of Texas asking for help
from other states to deal with this,
what should be a federal issue.
In lieu of federal help,
other states are stepping out.
I believe we've seen Florida has made a commitment to
help out in Texas.
Tell us what's happening in South Dakota.
Will you guys be able to also offer help with
the border crisis?
Well, securing that border is a national security issue and
we in South Dakota are evaluating that.
We'd love to help and we're working through that process
to see if that's something that we can make possible.
Governor, I want to move to another topic that I
think
is very personal to you.
A lot of middle income families right now are unhappy
with the proposal that the Biden administration has for a
death tax,
saying that it would cripple their kids with bills.
And I know that's a story that hits home for
you.
I'd like to see if you could just talk to
us a little bit about what happened in your family
and
and why that issue was so important and actually was
a little bit of the reason why you want to
get into politics.
Well, people ask me that all the time,
Rachel, why I got involved in government and politics.
Because up until just about 10-12 years ago,
I was a farmer and a rancher.
But it was because of the experience that I went
through when I was in college.
It was back in 1994 my dad was killed in
an accident on our farm and ranch.
He was only 49 years old at the time,
and our family got hit hard by death taxes.
It was devastating for us.
I had lost my dad.
It was a time of tragedy.
He was my best friend.
And then suddenly we found out from the IRS that
we owed hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of
dollars that we didn't have.
We had land, machinery and cattle,
but we didn't have any money in the bank.
And so it made me angry.
I started showing up at meetings talking about policy,
got passionate about tax reform.
It took us 10 years to pay off those taxes,
and we had to figure out a way to make
more money off the assets that we had.
But it was hard. And so I think that story
is powerful because the death tax is the only place
in our tax code where we double tax someone.
And people who are wealthy who have a lot of
money
figure out ways to hire enough attorneys to get around
it.
Most of the time, it's those who get surprised by
a tragedy or don't have money to do the kind
of estate planning that wealthy people do that end up
getting hit the hardest. So I was thankful to be
in Congress when President Trump took on tax reform.
We made it better. I always had the bill to
completely repeal the tax because it is so unfair.
But what President Biden has proposed will be devastating.
It'll be devastating to families and small business owners,
especially those that that are trying to make ends meet
today.
If we had owned a gas station,
we would have been forced to sell our family business
in order to pay those taxes.
Or if we had, you know,
a small restaurant or motel,
we would have had to sell in order to pay.
Luckily, we had land we could take a mortgage out
on and and get debt on in order to go
secure financing and had some people help us and go
out on a limb for a bunch of kids
and a mom who was devastated.
But if that hadn't happened here in South Dakota,
we would have jeopardized our family business too.
Well, this is something that could be increased death taxes
is a possibility under what Joe Biden wants to propose.
What is the philosophy of the left that believes that
ultimately we should be taxing the wealth that parents accumulate
because they want to pass it to the next generation?
Well, they're not telling the truth.
Folks work hard every single day and they pay their
taxes.
These folks that have any kind of an asset under
their name,
they may own something that they've worked for their entire
life and that they want to give their kids a
start with,
but but you're taxing it again,
It's a double tax at the time of death
that really cripples their ability to pass on and keep
that business going.
So this is what liberals
want to do is is take anything that they have
and and pull it into the government and use it
and grow government,
take more control over people's lives.
They're using fear to do it.
They're using manipulation to push that agenda.
And it ends up in resulting in a country that
has socialist policies and that is where this is going.
And it starts with taxes.
It starts with control. And the death tax and estate
tax is exactly.
And a good example of how that begins.
Well, I know the answer to that,
Pete. The answer to why or how the left rationalizes
the death tax is they think they are simply taxing
the wealthy.
They are taxing unearned income.
Now, Governor Nome, you're pointing out,
first of all, the very particular problem of your situation,
people that are land rich and cash poor.
And that hits very hard.
There's also the philosophical issue,
which you're right, it's a double taxation.
But how do you answer their argument to Pete's question?
They will say it's simply taxing the wealthy and and
and it's unearned income anyway.
You didn't do anything to earn that.
So how do you respond to someone making that argument
to you?
I tell my story. I tell the story of my
neighbors,
the families around me that are small business owners,
have a little dress shop on Main Street,
have a little bit of equity in it,
have a building that they fought their whole life to
pay for and want to hang on to.
And then they have a death,
a tragedy, and they won't have the ability to keep
it because of the taxes they owe the federal government.
So we as Republicans, as conservatives,
often use statistics and data and policies.
But it's the stories that are powerful and they're real
and they're everywhere across this country of where an unfair
burden from the government came in,
took away the belongings that someone has worked hard for
and earned and and took it from them at a
very difficult time and used it to promote their agenda
and promote a bigger government that has more control over
their lives.
Governor, your story is so powerful,
if people haven't heard it,
Google it, read about it because it reads like a
Hallmark movie.
What you did to help your family,
the sacrifices you made and had to make in order
to make,
you know, keep the land in your family's
name and not give it over to the government who
did nothing
to earn that money. So it reads your story.
It's, it's fascinating. Thanks a lot for joining us this
morning.
And you, there was no one better to talk about
the death tax than you,
Governor. Oh, well, I tell you what,
it's something that was very difficult for our entire family.
We had an incredible state community that helped us.
And we wouldn't be here on our land today if
it wasn't for them.
Thank you, governor. You know,
thank you so much. Thank you.