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Friday, October 28, 2005

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.

Comments

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[...] Trackback URL for this entry:http://haloscan.com/tb/rgion/113051148879403273Hoeven’s Lack Of Leadership?Excerpt: 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 progr...Weblog: Say AnythingTracked: 10.28.05 - 10:22 am [...]

Avatar for The Whistler

There was a story in the Forum of all places saying that last year ND received $14 million in Heating aid funds.  We distributed it to 15,000 people.

That works out to $933 per person.  That’s not heat assistance, that’s paying the entire heat bill.

Before we allocate more money we should ensure that the people receiving heat assistance need it and perhaps spread the monies we have available around a little better.

The Whistler on October 28, 2005 at 11:11 am
Avatar for Say Anything - North Dakota’s Most Popular P

[...] Hoeven’s Lack Of Leadership? By Rob on October 28, 2005 at 1:21 pm [...]

Avatar for The Whistler

What, I didn’t hear you?

The Whistler on October 28, 2005 at 02:10 pm
Avatar for WOOF

That $14 million was distributed to the hearing aid industry.

WOOF on October 28, 2005 at 02:10 pm
Avatar for WOOF

Get that thing out of your ear Whistler,
you’ll hear fine.

WOOF on October 28, 2005 at 03:10 pm
Avatar for The Whistler

Guess I need some of the hearing aid.

The Whistler on October 28, 2005 at 03:11 pm
Avatar for Say Anything - North Dakota’s Most Popular P

[...] It’s amazing how confused folks are on this issue. The Republicans aren’t the problem on this issue, the Democrats are. Mostly because they’re confusing the issue in a bout of political pandering. [...]

Avatar for Say Anything - North Dakota’s Most Popular P

[...] Here are the state-by-state rankings. Note that North Dakota ranked #1 in job opportunities. This meshes with the super-low unemployment rates I highlighted last week. [...]

Avatar for Say Anything - North Dakota’s Most Popular P

[...] This is an issue of convenience for state Democrats. They’re grasping for criticism to hurl at a popular Governor who is doing a terrific job ($100 million state budget surplus, unemployment rate hovering around 3%, approval rating in the 70’s) and this is any easy one to twist to their purposes. They’re trying to make it sound like, because the Governor is not willing to spend more tax dollars on a program that doesn’t need it, that he doesn’t care about keeping the poor warm. [...]

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