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Noem Votes for Big Oil Again, Says Environmentalists Should Pay to Protest

Rep. Kristi Noem voted for more bad legislation yesterday. Joining a nearly unanimous Republican caucus against a just slightly less unanimous Democratic caucus, Rep. Noem voted for the Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act.

Two reasons Noem voted wrong:

  1. The bill would give the Department of Interior only 60 days to act on applications to drill for oil or gas on public lands. Absent action, the drilling applications would receive automatic approval. If I'm a smart oil company, I get my lawyers to draw up 1,000 applications with lots of documentation, submit them all on April 1, hope Interior can only process 10 apps a day, and start drilling like crazy at 400 sites on May 31. Giving a federal agency only 60 days to analyze an issue is like saying to the FBI, "Sure, you can investigate South Dakota's EB-5 program, but if you can't find anything actionable in 60 days, then there must not be any corruption in the program." Some issues are more complicated than an arbitrary deadline set by Republican legislators as a favor to Big Oil.
  2. The bill includes a requirement that anyone filing a formal protest to a drilling application must pay a $5,000 fee. Imagine if folks opposed to the Powertech uranium mining permit in the Black Hills had to pay a fee like that to file for official intervenor status in the mining permit hearings. Imagine if the veterans who spoke at last week's Sioux Falls school board meeting had to buy a ticket at the door to protest the board's Pledge of Allegiance policy. Requiring folks who want to challenge government action to pay a fee for exercising their rights flies in the face of the First Amendment. But Rep. Noem votes to make the Constitution a pay-to-play document, open only to the highest bidders.

President Obama has said he'll veto this bill. If we send him a good Democrat in Rep. Noem's place next year, he won't have to work his veto pen so hard.

33 Comments

  1. Lynn G. 2013.11.21

    That bill is like a classic Corporate States of America bill.

  2. Jerry 2013.11.21

    There is a cha-ching in the air and it is not from EB-5 resources either. NOem will get the ole payola from here puppet masters, the Koch brothers, count on it. NO More NOem

  3. Loren 2013.11.21

    Does this woman have a single original thought in her head? As far as I can tell, she votes like the Repub leadership tells her to vote and all her press statements are straight Repub talking points! Nothing new, here, folks. Move along!

  4. Lynn G. 2013.11.21

    Loren I've reached the same conclusion and it seems like every time I have seen videos of her speaking it is just canned and rehearsed including town hall meetings. Any updates on her challenger Corinna Robinson? Cory? It looks like she is off to a low key and stealthy start to her campaign. Meanwhile.....

    No to Noem for 2014!

  5. Rorschach 2013.11.21

    I hope someone from South Dakota challenges Rep. Noem. I don't like the idea of some out-of-stater moving here just to run for office. I know it worked for Hillary Clinton and Bobby Kennedy before her. I know it worked for Elizabeth Dole, and it may work for Liz Cheney. It didn't work for Alan Keyes when he ran for senate against Barrack Obama in 2004, and it probably won't work for Major Corinna Robinson of Washington DC. I wonder where Corinna Robinson is registered to vote. Did she buy a house in SD, or is she just living out of motels until we either send her back to DC or she goes back voluntarily? What commitment has she made to show us her intent to make SD her domicile win or lose?

  6. interested party 2013.11.21

    Gawd.

  7. Roger Cornelius 2013.11.21

    Didn't I read somewhere in The Constitution something about Freedom of Assembly?

    Noem is consistently saying President Obama is violating The Constitution and now she wants Americans to pay for that right.

  8. Lanny V Stricherz 2013.11.21

    Rorschach, so you are saying, if a young person joins the military to serve their country and does so making a career out of doing it, they should not be able to come back to their home state and run for public office? So what about the politicians who run for office and make a career out of it, without ever having to get in harms way? Should they also be allowed to go back to that same state every couple of years and run again for office?

  9. Bree S. 2013.11.21

    Maybe Rorschach would rather Sandlin run against Noem. Kind of bad timing for that I think. Governor would be a lot easier road in my opinion.

  10. Rorschach 2013.11.21

    I'm saying Major Robinson is an out-of-stater who moved here only to run for office. She has not lived in SD for what - 25 years? She should have run for office in her Alexandria, Virginia district. She has some convincing to do - not just me but alot of Democrats, Independents and Republicans. Did she buy a house here? Will she stay here if she loses? Or is SD just a useful tool to upgrade her job title and pay scale in DC? Why should we elect someone who hasn't lived here in the past 25+ years to represent us in congress?

  11. interested party 2013.11.21

    Robinson's hamster could beat Noem if the election were held today. Where does Don Juan Thune live anyway?

  12. owen reitzel 2013.11.21

    "Why should we elect someone who hasn't lived here in the past 25+ years to represent us in congress?"

    Because she's not Kristie NOem.

  13. Lynn G. 2013.11.21

    Can we all agree that Noem needs to be replaced? lol

  14. Rorschach 2013.11.21

    Lanny, you may blindly vote for anybody with military experience. Owen, you may blindly vote for anybody with a D behind their name. I won't vote for Noem, but Corinna Robinson has some convincing to do to get my vote. I'm not committing until I am convinced. That may be soon. Or it may be only after nobody else steps forward to challenge Rep. Noem, or it may be never. For me it's not enough for her to say "I'm a veteran from DC with a name followed by a D." Nobody knows anything about her. Shall we nominate her and find out there is some skeleton in her closet she hasn't disclosed that nobody in SD could have known because she's not from around here?

  15. owen reitzel 2013.11.21

    I also want to see the views that Robinson has. The jury is still out on her for me as well. But chances are that even though Robinson has been gone for 25 years she'll still represent me better them NOem.
    NOem wants to take away affordable health insurance from me and others like me.
    So while I'll take the time to see where Robinson stands on the issues chances are I'll still like her or look for someone else to challenge NOem.

  16. awake 2013.11.21

    At this point in time, Corinna seems the easy choice over KN. Not because she is a "D" , but because she may be the best choice to represent SD and not big money out of state interests! I don't think you can say someone from SD that joins the military isn't from SD. It's pretty early to make blind judgements!

  17. Lynn G. 2013.11.21

    That's why I asked if there were any updates from Corinna Robinson's campaign yet. Not much info from her website, facebook or the South Dakota Democratic Party website yet. I thought maybe Cory or someone may have more info.

  18. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.11.21

    Got none, Lynn! Wish I did! But Team Robinson is quiet. Too quiet. Shake that money tree, people! Shake that press tree! Shake 'em loud!

  19. Rorschach 2013.11.21

    Kristi Noem represents big oil. Corinna Robinson represents the military industrial complex. Ms. Robinson was asked at a Democratic meeting about cuts to the military and what she would support, and she dodged the question and refused to even acknowledge that any cuts of any kind are in order. She left the group with more questions than answers. How long has she been a Democrat?

  20. Joan Brown 2013.11.21

    If I remember right the late Senators Mundt and McGovern didn't own property in SD. They maintained apartments in SD, but from what I used to hear didn't actually own any land at the time they were in politics. In fact the building that Mundt's apartment was in, in Madison didn't even look that great.

  21. Deb Geelsdottir 2013.11.21

    Really Joan? I thought George still had a home in Mitchell. I thought he and Eleanor kept it as their home base. Are you sure about your info? I could be wrong.

  22. Donald Pay 2013.11.21

    The $5,000 fee would be unconstitutional. You can't be charged more than a very nominal fee for using your constitutional rights.

    Many of the people filing formal protests are adjacent land owners and mineral rights owners, who are trying to protect their property. Noem is using government to pick winners and who she wants to win are the big oil companies and the neighboring ranchers are who she wants to lose. What a whore for the oil racketeers!!!!

  23. Lanny V Stricherz 2013.11.22

    Rorshach, you are absolutely correct, neither I or anyone else should vote for someone just because they are a veteran. But by the same token, no one who has served their career in the military should be disqualified from serving in elected office. By and large a person with a military career has served in so many different places that the only place they can really call home is the state from which they hailed. I have met Ms Robinson, and while I will still reserve judgement, I know that I cannot support Ms Noem in her fiscal mindset, and ability to be on the public dole for her family farm but want to cut any help for the poor. I do agree with you that Ms Robinson is going to have to realize that we need to cut military spending and also the global reach of our military with its purposes for empire as directed by both political parties in Washington.

    Donald Pay, You are probably correct about the 5k fee being unconstitutional but I guess anything is possible, when in Sioux Falls you have to pay 5 bucks to challenge a $3 or any other parking ticket.

  24. Lynn G. 2013.11.22

    Joan I'm fairly certain McGoverns always had their home in Mitchell. My grandparents lived there and my grandfather was a friend of Senator McGovern. My grandmother would bake cookies and pies and volunteer for the Democratic Party booth during the Corn Palace festival. My parents would drive by their house on our way back home from Mitchell

  25. Lynn G. 2013.11.22

    Rorschach I agree with Lanny with the points he brought up about Kristi Noem and the need to seriously look also at cutting costs in the military. This article is a good example http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/18/us-usa-pentagon-waste-specialreport-idUSBRE9AH0LQ20131118

    There are examples of planes and other equipment the military has no use for anymore and have asked repeatedly that they be have the authorization to remove them yet are kept in the service for pork barrel reasons. Foreign and US energy policy need to be considered. So many factors that affect our military yet I do feel we need to properly compensate our folks in uniform and definitely make sure we take care of them afterwards and not just words or symbolic gestures that have been manipulated for political reasons so many times.

    I don't do facebook or twitter but I'll snail mail Corinna Robinson's campaign and see if I can get more info.

  26. Lynn G. 2013.11.22

    Thank you Lanny! That's great!

  27. Lanny V Stricherz 2013.11.22

    While I have heard some criticism from various points of Corinna Robinson's not saying much so far on her campaign, I wonder if she may be correct in laying low until after the Holiday season has passed. The political season has gotten way too long the way it is, what with Hillary apparently already running for 2016. From what I have seen, it appears that she is doing small behind the scenes, organizing and meet and greet events. In so doing she is probably getting a feel for the landscape and attitudes of South Dakotans and at the same time keeping her powder dry for when the shooting starts. I think that if the State of South Dakota is ever going to bring the Democrat party back from life support, we will have to do a better job of helping our candidates see the light, that business as usual and Republican light is not going to get the job done as far as winning elections. We and they have to stand for more than what we have shown in the past 10 to 20 years.

  28. Steve O'Brien 2013.11.22

    On the issue of Constitutional rights, how would Rep. Noem vote on a proposal to charge $5,000.00 to apply for a permit to own a gun? Why is the value of protecting Constitutional rights limited to the Second Amendment only?

  29. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.11.22

    That's an excellent comparison, Steve... one that would be lost on Noem until someone handed her a talking point.

  30. Roger Cornelius 2013.11.22

    Maybe Pat Powers can tell Noem the thing about Freedom of Assembly

Comments are closed.