Hoeven’s Lack Of Leadership?

The North Dakota Democrats blog is highlighting this article in the Fargo Forum in a post entitled “Hoeven’s Lack Of Leadership“:

Fargo Forum – Income eligibility requirements in North Dakota for a low-income energy assistance program won’t change, at least through November.
Gov. John Hoeven announced Thursday that he directed human services officials to maintain last year’s income eligibility levels for the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program – better known as LIHEAP – through November, pending additional federal funding.
Before Hurricane Katrina, the state had decided to increase eligibility levels for the program this winter. Since then, however, concerns about rising energy prices prompted the reversal.
Despite two failed efforts to increase funding for the program Wednesday in the U.S. Senate, Hoeven continues to believe there is support in the Bush administration and Congress to add money to the program.
Hoeven has come under pressure from Democratic legislative leaders to tap into the state’s $100 million budget surplus to augment federal energy assistance for the poor, which they said has failed to keep up with rising energy costs.

The state has a $100 million dollar budget surplus, unemployment in the state’s largest cities is hovering under 2%, the state-wide unemployment rate is just over 3%, Hoeven’s approval rating is in the mid 70′s, (well below the national average), yet the Governor gets accused of lacking in leadership?
Not only that, but the Dems want to spend the budget surplus on energy entitlements for “the poor” in an environment where it’s become pretty clear that if you’re unemployed it’s probably due more to personal choice than a lack of a job?
Give me a break.
North Dakota’s economy is on the cusp of some great things thanks to strong leadership from Gov. Hoeven. If anything, that budget surplus should be given back to North Dakotans in the form of tax relief to further spur growth in our economy. Something that will lead to more employment opportunities for those “poor” the Dems want to fork money over to.