Last updated on 2013.10.22
Congresswoman Kristi Noem traveled East River this week, holding four public chats dedicated to education. Her fifth stop was Yankton, a community holding a public vote on Tuesday, May 24, on a property tax opt-out to restore the funding slashed by Noem's old colleagues in the South Dakota Legislature.
Yet Noem chose to avoid discussing eduation and instead subjected Yanktonians to her empty pronouncements on the national debt, the economy, and the destructive Paul Ryan budget. What a missed opportunity! Yankton is abuzz with discussion and debate over education and the proper role of government therein
Randy Dockendorf at the Yankton Press and Dakotan provides a good summary of Noem's comments. Most of it sounds like bubbleheaded talk-radio regurgitation. Here's some text and my translation for educated people:
...the Yankton meeting focused on the debt and economy, which Noem said has dominated her conversations with constituents.
"The two biggest things I hear are gas prices and the (federal) debt ceiling," she said.
Translation: Kristi just finished four public meetings on education, and she didn't listen to anything those constituents said.
Noem opened Friday's meeting referring to the political paralysis surrounding the budget crisis.
"This country is facing its most predictable financial crisis in its history, and (politicians) do nothing about it because they want to be re-elected," she said.
Translation: Kristi doesn't realize she's talking about herself. She and her Republican colleagues are failing to offer workable solutions.
Noem noted the situation has worsened even in the four months she has been in office.
Translation: Republicans are still failing.
"Everyone recognizes we are on the path to a financial crisis," she added.
Omission: Kristi and her GOP friends are hastening that financial crisis by playing political games with the debt ceiling.
The nation needs to make deep cuts while still protecting programs for veterans, senior citizens and children, Noem said.
Translation: Kristi still can't cite specific cuts that she has voted for, including cuts to programs for veterans, senior citizens, and children. What's Kristi protecting those programs from, funding increases?
"These programs are all going broke," she said.
Translation: Kristi prefers scary hyperbole to discussion of specific programs. "Going broke" is pure rhetoric. What children's programs are going broke? What veterans' programs? Even Medicare isn't really going broke. The only thing really bankrupt is Kristi's ability to talk real policy instead of Paul Ryan budget fantasies.
"We have to figure how to fix it and do it in a timely manner."
Translation: Kristi gets her definition of "fixing" government programs from Grover Norquist. When it comes to balancing the budget, Kristi apparently defines "timely" as fifty years. (Note: she'd balance the budget sooner if she didn't give away $4.2 trillion of the $4.3 trillion in program cuts as tax breaks to the wealthy.)
Most of the budget is locked into "auto pilot," she said, noting the non-defense, discretionary items account for $666 billion of the $3.5 trillion budget.
Translation: Kristi uses "auto-pilot" to make it sound like there's nothing she can do about the rest of the budget. That's Kristi's weak excuse to refuse to discuss obvious and necessary cuts to the defense budget. Auto-pilot: Kristi, you're in Congress now. You and your colleagues are the pilots. Take responsibility.
Foreign nations held 47 percent of the United States' debt in fiscal year 2010, Noem said. That's up from 5 percent foreign ownership in 1970 and 19 percent in 1990.
"We truly are becoming enslaved to other countries," she said.
Translation: Slavery... yeah, that sounds scary! And if you say truly, that makes it true!
Given Kristi's language, may we assume that because she got 64% of her first-quarter donations from outside of South Dakota, Kristi truly is becoming enslaved to other states?
While Congress debates which direction to take, any action on the debt is better than no action, she said. "The only radical proposal talked about is doing nothing," she said.
Correction: Kristi denies reality and common sense. Action is not inherently better than inaction. If we're in a leaky boat with Grandma, and you propose killing and eating Grandma, I'm going to say no to your proposed action, regardless of whether anyone else has proposed alternative actions. Backing the radical Ryan budget and then saying, "I'm not radical, you are!" is classic Republican Newspeak.
For the next portion of the meeting, Noem outlined the fiscal year 2012 budget resolution crafted by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). The proposed budget is entitled "Path To Prosperity: Restoring America's Promise."
The proposal cuts $6.2 trillion in federal spending over the next 10 years, Noem said.
Omission: Kristi still doesn't mention the tax cuts for the rich that wipe those savings out.
The plan would create jobs, secure social programs, meet health care needs and balance the budget, she said.
Correction: Pure falsehood. Kristi's budget destroys jobs, weakens and eliminates social programs, leaves more health care needs unmet, and doesn't balance the budget for decades, if ever.
Standard & Poor's downgraded the nation's credit rating because of the debt and lack of a plan for tackling it, Noem said.
Correction: Wrong. Standard & Poor's said there is a one-in-three chance that it will downgrade our credit rating. And again, Kristi's treating the debt ceiling like a political polo ball increases the likelihood of a downgrade.
Noem disputed the contention that the proposed budget will gut or eliminate Medicare. The proposal protects the current funding for those now ages 55 and older while making changes for those who are younger, she said.
Translation: Kristi still hopes current senior citizens will take the "I've got mine; who cares about anyone under 55!" Kristi is doing the same as other Republicans: lying. Her budget guts and eliminates Medicare.
Noem said she supports an energy plan that makes more use of American resources and less reliance on the Middle East. As far as Hyperion, she said the project was moving forward but slowly.
Translation: Kristi thinks Canadian oil is American oil. And on "moving forward but slowly," Kristi apparently knows nothing more than what's in the papers.
The South Dakota congressional delegation is working to address concerns about the closure of small post offices and the curtailment or elimination of Saturday postal service, Noem said.
Translation: Kristi turns into a liberal when it comes to spending on South Dakota projects.
As for oil companies, Noem said she feared the reduction or elimination of those subsidies would find oil companies merely passing on higher costs to consumers.
Translation: Kristi holds the unconservative belief that guaranteed government handouts are superior to obtaining revenue on the free market... especially for her campaign donors.
No criteria exists [sic] for allocating and maintaining federal funds for projects such as Lewis and Clark, Noem said. The pipeline deserves funding because of the number of people served by the project and their reliance on it for cleaning drinking water, she said.
"It's a long battle, but we have to keep fighting to make sure the project gets completed," she said.
Correction: Such criteria do exist. Unfortunately, the criteria Kristi applies are wholly inconsistent. In general she supports cutting the size of government. But on specifics, Kristi supports any big government spending on her home state, whether on water pipelines, Ellsworth Air Force Base, or her hometown airport.
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I sympathize with whatever USD professor had to grade Kristi's poli-sci papers this semester. Noem's public statements are a steaming mass of vagueness, contradictions, and outright deception.
Kristi Noem follows the precedents of Newt Gingrich and blog commenters: Gingrich, in the sense that she will recite all the old anti-liberal cliches regardless of whether they refer to anything in the discernable universe; blog commenters, in the sense that she can't pose a subject then stay on it. Rather, as she demonstrated in her debates with SHS, she sets up distractions and misdirections so she never gets around to addressing topics. That's why education was a pretext for her recitation of hackwork lines.
Like Palin, Noem is a great dissembler.
Guys,
She is only talking tough. She will vote to raise the debt ceiling (anything to not be compared to Bachmann) but before she does she wants to make sure her base and Lora Hubbel, the Unruhs, SD Tea Party Alliance etc... see her fighting to get a good deal for America before she throws in and votes to raise the debt ceiling.
Noem is all show. The Tea Party base isn't as stupid as Josh Shields tells Noem they are. Noem wants to be John Thune and that is why she has so many Thune folks advising her.
The difference between Thune and Noem is that Thune has the ability to craft his message to the audience he is speaking and I've seen in person how good he is at hitting the nerve in the room. He is good at getting a majority of voters in any room on his side. Even if he has to soften his message.
Noem on the other hand keeps forgetting that she isn't always speaking at a Tea Party rally.
Cory,
Thanks for giving us the scoop on what happened down there. Now, I'm not surprised about KELO's recent press release story on the subject since we find out from you that she changed topics. I bet she did this after one of her staffers read your blog post warning people to get down their with their questions. This is the game Kristi is playing: she will only talk about education at these town hall meetings when there is little notification and at the last minute prior to the meeting. However, if she gives much notification and Cory blogs about it, then, she turns around and changes the topic, so, no one can address the education topic. Yes, she is all about deception and playing games. Her only real important venue is Sean Hannity's show on FOX news.
There is not a day that has gone by that I have not noticed Kristi spinning her talking points on national television. I do not watch FOX News at home, but, many businesses that I frequent have FOX News on their TV sets and Kristi always seems to be on it around the clock. She has done more talking on the tube in 4 months than Steph did in her entire 6 1/2 years in office. I now know why this is because Kristi is a talker and Steph was a do-er.
I'm surprised she would have meetings about education in all towns but Yankton. I mean it is a big deal in Yankton so why not have the talk?
Nesselhuf needs to follow Cory's lead and start getting people to these town halls rather than just sending out press releases.
Mike,
The reason she changed topic in Yankton is because Cory notified people on his blog about it. You see, her staffers warned her and she expected to beleaguered by questions she would not be able to answer. She will keep doing this until some in the audience caller her out on it and do not expect KELO or the Argus to report about it because they seem to be quite content with passing press releases as journalism.
Do you think the Tea Party would not have asked questions if Herseth said "I'm not going to talk about health care"? Nesselhuf is going to need to make sure people get to the meetings and ask questions. Noem can say the meetings are for whatever she wants but the people really determine the agenda for the meetings.
I know Ellis is in the bag for Noem but when it comes to KELO they are just sucking up because they ripped her on the driving record.
Ellis is a Noem fanatic and Kelo is just trying to make nice.
This is probably the only blog in the state that has that kind of power now that dwc has collapsed.
aside from the debate... Corey, I agree w/ you. Can you make translating Noem a regular feature? It's a great read.
Mike, Guy, I think you overestimate my influence in any politician's office. But I'll certainly keep shouting and hoping it does some good.
Lauri, I could easily make it a regular feature: ever time Noem opens her mouth, she gives me easy blog material. But I want to keep at least a little diversity in my topics! After all, we can't let that Madison City Commission sneak any more corporate welfare past the taxpayers without some scrutiny. Say, what are those characters doing tonight...?)
Mike,
I too noticed that SDWC seems to be "sputtering out of gas." Ah, maybe "gas" was the incorrect word to use. Anyway, you all know what I mean. The stories are coming fewer and fewer from them and they have a team of writers compared to just Cory on this blog.
Mike, are you sure KELO is "just trying to make nice?" If my memory serves me correctly, I highly doubt Steve Hemingson and Doug Lund would have covered the Premier Bankcard and Noem stories like the current news team has. I really believe Lund and Hemingson would have had a conniption fit if these news reports came across their news desk with no balance and pure press release spin.
See this? http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/sd/ellsworth/index.html
And this? http://www.acc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123254237
This is from the Kevin Woster chat when she endorsed Ryan's plan in the primary... Do you think Noem has gotten greedy and taken any pack money that isn't in SD's interest?????
Comment From Derek Gardner Derek Gardner : ]
Kristi, campaigns are expensive nowadays and you need adequate funding to run a strong race. Will you take special interest PAC money to fund your campaign?
Wednesday May 12, 2010 12:44 Derek Gardner
(Noem)12:45 The only PAC money I would take would align with South Dakota and South Dakota's values.
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/app/blogs/politicalblog/?p=5562