Something else Intern Kristi Noem is cutting: support for sustainable agriculture:
In the recent budget bill passed by Congress, ATTRA, a 35-year-old program that has provided knowledge and training to new and existing farmers looking for information on how to use sustainable production practices, had all of its funding eliminated. Overnight, the program went from a $2.8 million budget to $0.
"(It's a) terrible disservice to anyone who wants to farm sustainably," says Patty Bancroft, who farms 300 organic acres in Vermilion, S.D. [Stephanie Paige Ogburn, "Sustainable Ag Education Loses Funding," High Country News: The Goat Blog, 2011.04.20]
Noem also says she'll demand federal spending caps before she votes to stop a national default and global economic disaster.
Something Noem is not cutting: fundraising. Even as Noem's frequent flogger Fox News criticizes the President for fundraising in California, the Washington Post reports that Noem and her fellow GOP freshmen have been raking in the PAC cash:
Many of the Republican freshmen in the House won election vowing to shake up Washington, so it's a little surprising that many of them seem to be playing an old Washington game: raising much of their campaign money from corporate political action committees.
...Among the Republican freshmen with big PAC receipts were Reps. Diane Black(Tenn.) with $178,000, Nan A.S. Hayworth(N.Y.) with $170,000 and Kristi L. Noem(S.D.) with $169,000.
Noem scheduled at least 10 Washington fundraisers in the first quarter, according to invitations compiled by the Sunlight Foundation. An e-mail obtained by the foundation included nine events, including a pizza lunch and two dinners asking for a $1,500-$2,000 donation from attendees. A Noem spokesman declined to comment... [T.W. Farnam, "The Influence Industry: New Republicans Play an Old Fundraising Game," Washington Post, 2011.04.20].
Declined to comment... wow! That's the smartest thing I've heard from Josh Shields et al. all year. Maybe Noem's staffers really are learning something from the online poli-sci class the boss is taking. But does USD give intership credit for record-setting fundraising?
WaPo notes that the new GOPers aren't doing nearly as well as the freshman Dems did in the first quarters following their big 2006 and 2008 wins. That does not temper the Displaced Plainsman's ire:
How many South Dakotans paid to eat pizza with Representative Noem? How may South Daktoans have $1500 to eat dinner with her? How is this upholding a vow to shake up Washington? What's the difference between this shake up and a shake down? ["Is Kristi Noem Under the Influence of the Lobbying Industry?" The Displaced Plainsman, 2011.04.21].
We shouldn't be surprised. Noem certainly isn't establishing a record of accomplishment to run on. Voting to short small farmers, kill Medicare, and kick veterans out of the VA won't help. To drown out those facts, she'll need all the campaign cash she can get.
I have a real problem with cutting sustainable ag. I would be ok with it if she cut her stuff also.
2.8 Million is less than she took in herself in subsidies. Give me a break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She'd be better off cutting Racota Valley!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't see Racota Valley on the chopping block in DC. This is absurd and probably the worst cut she could have voted for because it is so comparable in price to what she has taken from the fed.
Hard to believe if they cut Noem's ranch the government would save more money than if they cut the entire sustainable ag subsidie.
I think we should go easier on Kristiiii. After all she is only an intern.