It seems Congresswoman Noem has one prerogative – donors in California and Washington, DC, show her the money, and she coughs up the votes. Meanwhile, South Dakota is left behind.
Just as Congresswoman Noem backed the elimination of incentives for the production and distribution of ethanol in the final 2011 House budget, Ethanol has lost many of its leaders in the US Congress—among them some of South Dakota’s greats—Senator Tom Daschle and Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. While Noem is whining foul today, her previous unwillingness to stand up to Washington’s Republican elite makes family farmers question her resolve. (It’s true, wearing cowboy boots to meetings is not a get-out-of-jail-free card…)
Yes, making our ethanol incentives more efficient and targeted must be part of the conversation, but Congresswoman Noem’s “cut, cut, cut” mentality only does one thing – severely undercuts South Dakota’s family farmers and decimates jobs in South Dakota’s ethanol industry. Bummer.
So, if you’re Congresswoman Noem, we have this advice: stop listening to your donors. If you’re anyone else, stop listening to your Congresswoman. She’s not listening to you.