I bring this up because South Dakotas lone member of the US House has been quite vocal about how our country shouldn’t spend more money than it brings in. The asset disclosures of elected officials are always newsworthy, but they take on a new dimension in this era of debate over debt.
And Rep. Kristi Noem, R-SD, has what I consider a hefty credit card debt.
She reports somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000 in credit card debt on 2 cards. It should be noted that the report stops at the balance – not even the exact balance, but a range. We don’t know how long she and her family have carried the debt. It’s possible that, between running a farm and her congressional-related expenses, these are very short-term. And congressional expenses are reimbursable, so some of this might not even technically be debt.
As Noem and her fellow House Republicans gear up for more holding of the line as Congress returns to session next month, it’s worth knowing how much they practice what they preach. These reports give us a window into that.
Also of note on her form:
- Noem reports a combined total of $15,833 in “salary” from 3 different sources – $6,000 from her SD legislative gig, $8,833 from something called Family Worship Center and $1,000 from Noem Family Insurance in Bryant.
- She reports between $5,000 and $15,000 income each from renting pasture land and from an investment in an ethanol plant in Minnesota.
- Her family’s insurance business has between $500,000 and $1M in debt, probably from the recent purchase of another insurance company, although that is not explicitly stated.