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Noem E-Mail Heavy on Tax Hogwash, Short on Real Accomplishments for Working Women

By Cory Allen Heidelberger on 2018-09-22

Kristi Noem celebrates American Business Women’s Day by claiming to have done all sorts of wonderful things for businesswomen. Her self-praise rings as emptily as her target-missing attack on her superior opponent in the Governor’s race, Billie Sutton.

Let’s take Noem’s claims in the e-mail that interrupted my Saturday afternoon in reverse order:

Kristi Noem
Forgot tanning is free on sunny days….

4. Repealing Regressive Taxes – Obamacare’s tanning bed tax has been crippling for tanning salons… 70% of which are women-owned. Roughly 80,000 people have lost their job because of the levy. I’m working to repeal this tax [Kristi Noem for Governor, campaign e-mail, 2018.09.22].

First of all, this isn’t an achievement. It’s a hope, a work in progress, in a Congress that Noem will leave before any new substantial legislation passes.

Second, no hard evidence backs up Noem’s claim that the 10% tax on tanning beds caused a decrease in jobs or demand.

In a 2012 survey of about 300 tanning salons in Illinois, Northwestern University researchers asked proprietors how customers responded to the tax. Nearly all salons said they passed the tax on to customers and informed them about it. About 80 percent reported that business was down, but roughly the same percentage said that customers “did not seem to care” about the tax.

In a 2016 paper, researchers led by Derek Reed of the University of Kansas found that “recent tanners” would tolerate a tax of $25 on a $30 package (83 percent) and “non-recent tanners” would be willing to pay a 50 percent tax without reducing demand—far higher than the 10 percent ACA tax. Their paper was based on surveys of about 100 female KU undergraduates [Howard Gleckman, “Did the ACA Tax Kill Demand for Indoor Tanning? It’s Complicated,” Forbes, 2017.08.24].

Third, if we generously grant the claim that the ACA tanning tax affects demand, then Noem cannot claim that repealing the tax and thus increasing tanning-bed usage would be a net benefit to women without also calculating the net harm of increased tanning and cancer:

Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the number of high school students who reported having artificially tanned has decreased by more than half since the enactment of the ACA, from 15.6 percent in 2009 to 7.3 percent in 2015. While this may signify a downturn from a business perspective, deterring younger clients from beginning or continuing indoor tanning is a particularly desirable public health goal, as “young women under the age of 25 who engage in indoor tanning have been shown to be over 60 percent more likely to develop skin cancers such as basal or squamous cell carcinoma compared to those who have never engaged in the behavior” [Elisabeth Ryan, “The ‘Tanning Tax’ Is a Public Health Success Story,” Health Affairs Blog, 2017.08.15].

Tax cuts don’t do much good if they’re eaten up by chemotherapy.

Now for some more ringing baloney from Kristi Noem:

Kristi Noem and Donald Trump, Sioux Falls, SD, 2018.09.07.
Tremendous wave…

3. Incentivizing Entrepreneurship – Last week, my committee approved a bill allowing new start-up businesses to write off more of their initial costs. I’m hopeful this will help more folks ride the tidal wave of growth we’ve seen recently [Noem, 2018.09.22].

Funny: I don’t recall Congresswoman Noem referring to a “tidal wave of growth” on any of the occasions when GDP grew faster during the Obama Administration than it has under Trump.

More importantly, Noem doesn’t refer to the fact that her “hope” (remember: hopes and committee votes don’t put food on anyone’s table) is baseless. This bill won’t pass:

Prospects for the three-bill package to gain final approval are considered slim. “There is not a great groundswell of hope in the asset management community that this bill will progress. And if it does, it’s not going to go anywhere in the Senate,” said Rosemary Fanelli, a managing director and chief regulatory affairs strategist at global financial services consulting firm Duff & Phelps [Hazel Bradford, “House Ways and Means Passes Tax Reform 2.0, with Uncertain Prospects,” Pensions & Investments, 2018.09.14].

Jeepers—what kind of fries can I get with this Noem Nothingburger?

 

Kristi Noem and American children
Kids make great campaign props, and they pose for free!

2. Help with Child Care Expenses

– Did you know in South Dakota, infant care tends to cost nearly 70% of what it costs to rent a home? I fought to protect a credit that allows families to claim up to $6,000 of child expenses and deduct a portion of that each year [Noem, 2018.09.22].

Noem’s fight to protect that credit was against her own Republican Party, which never put forward a concrete plan to make the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit really work for working people. Noem’s “fight” only preserved the status quo, a tax credit that doesn’t provide the help low- and middle-income parents need:

The legislation enacted last week, however, reflects none of those ideas. While it does maintain the existing child and dependent care credit, it doesn’t update or expand it. That’s a huge missed opportunity. In our early childhood system, where families choose what type of child care to purchase, but also pay for the bulk of child care costs, this tax credit could have been be a powerful tool to help families pay for growing child care costs and choose higher-quality care. But without expansion, it remains at levels ($3,000 for one child and $6,000 for multiple children) far lower than the actual costs of care, and, because it is not refundable, does little to help low-income and middle class families [Sara Mead, “The Tax Bill Is No Gift for Kids,” U.S. News & World Report, 2017.12.28].

And Noem has diminished the chances to improve the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit by voting for trillion-dollar deficits for the rest of our kids’ lives, meaning moms who want to start businesses are less likely to get any more help caring for their kids. Thanks, Republicans, and thanks, Kristi!


But now the biggest screamer, the one claim Kristi herself thinks deserves an exclamation point:

Sorry, Kristi—that shirt isn't enough this time.
What Noem can’t say to deficit spending.

1. Small Business Tax Deduction – Like any business, women-owned businesses benefited greatly from the tax cuts package we passed last December. In it, we included a first-ever 20% small business tax deduction! [Noem, 2018.09.22]

Sure, let Kristi shout. She’s probably as surprised as I am to find she’s reciting a new item she’s actually done amidst her litany of fruitless hopes and fights and mere continuations of past policies.

But the real reason she’s shouting is that she’s trying to drown out the public’s perception of the Trump/Noem tax cuts. We’ve had nine months of reckless deficit spending, and even the Republicans’ own internal polling shows that we’re not fooled—the Trump tax cuts were for the rich, not the rest of us:

A survey commissioned by the Republican National Committee has led the party to a glum conclusion regarding President Donald Trump’s signature legislative achievement: Voters overwhelmingly believe his tax overhaul helps the wealthy instead of average Americans.

By a 2-to-1 margin — 61 percent to 30 percent — respondents said the law benefits “large corporations and rich Americans” over “middle class families,” according to the survey, which was completed on Sept. 2 by the GOP firm Public Opinion Strategies and obtained by Bloomberg News.

…When it comes to approval for the tax overhaul, American voters remain torn — 44 percent favor it and 45 percent oppose it.

“Voters are evenly divided on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” the RNC-commissioned report said. “But, we’ve lost the messaging battle on the issue” [Sahil Kapur and Joshua Green, “Internal GOP Poll: ‘We’ve Lost the Messaging Battle’ on Tax Cuts,” Bloomberg, 2018.09.20].

Noem has demonstrated that she prioritizes hogwashing for Donald Trump over standing up for women. Now she exploits a celebration of women in business to bleat futilely against the public’s plain recognition of fact: Kristi Noem doesn’t do much, and what little she does doesn’t focus on helping working women or men; Noem’s efforts in Congress mostly help her rich donors.

Published in South Dakota

17 Comments

  1. Jenny 2018-09-22 16:05

    Tanning beds cause skin cancer, people actually still go to those?

  2. Debbo 2018-09-22 16:25

    So really she’s got zero accomplishments. 2-4 haven’t or won’t change anything or didn’t really happen, while number 1 helped some wealthy women, including her.

    That’s so embarrassing for her and SD. Hey state Noem voters! You got nothing for 4(?) years of her. Zero. You have only one representative in Congress so you need someone really good. Noem was really bad. You can draw 2 conclusions from this knowledge:

    1. Don’t make her governor, don’t to that to yourselves. Vote for Sutton.
    2. Elect Tim Bjorkman as your new Congressman. He’s going to be in the majority and he will actually and truly accomplish things.

    So by saying NO to NOem, SD voters can accomplish a twofer, Sutton and Bjorkman. Yeah!

  3. jerry 2018-09-22 17:00

    News flash to NOem, there are still 8 tanning salons in Rapid City. The only kind of salons that there are more of are nail salons of which there are 21. Of course tanning booths are dangerous to the skin and so are nail salons to the skin, the lungs and the environment itself. Thanks NOem for killing us with your stupidity.

  4. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2018-09-23 12:56

    When Noem has to reach for an example of a carcinogenic business to prove her record, you can tell her real record on supporting businesswomen specifically is pretty darn thin.

  5. Richard Schriever 2018-09-24 07:54

    Like so many other small business owners/operators – Noem seems to imagine herself to be among the wealthy (and some folks seem to accept that concept of her as well). But ask her is she can affords to lose $50MM on and investment venture and not have it affect her personal lifestyle. (Can You Kristi?) If her answer is, “No.” – she’s not actually wealthy – and neither is anyone else who’s answer would be, “No.”

  6. jerry 2018-09-24 20:28

    Hey NOem, why do you hate women? “The Violence Against Women Act — which directs the national response to crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking — will expire at the end of September if lawmakers don’t act fast.

    In late July, House Democrats introduced a measure to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA. Then House lawmakers went on recess. When they return on Sept. 4, they will have only a few weeks before the law expires.

    VAWA has “ushered in a seismic transformation on how society perceives violence against women,” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), who introduced the bill, said in a statement. “Nonetheless, much work remains to address unmet needs and to enhance access to protections and services for all victims.””

    You are all about cancer causing tanning beds that harm women and then comes this that you could care a thing about. You only stand for money, you do not stand for South Dakota women one iota. Pack it up NOem, ya got nothing. Only the Democrats have your back women folk, always have. Healthcare..check. Have you had enough yet? Vote her out, she just is not into you.

  7. Steve Pearson 2018-09-25 10:48

    I know that you all have your preconceived opinions without any factual basis but I think a legislature staying out of the pocketbook of business owners, regardless male or female is positive.

    Do any of you know what a congress person does exactly? Or is it only accomplishments if they put forth huge tax increases, more govt red tape etc for an accomplishment?

  8. jerry 2018-09-25 11:54

    Mr. Pearson, how do you ride above the foam of preconceived opinions without any factual basis? As you note, that puts you in a pretty lofty position, how do you do that?

    As far as knowing exactly what a congress person does, I can tell you this, very little on their own. They only go with what the bosses tell them to do. In this case, check out NOem and what little if anything she has accomplished on a national scale.

    As we are speaking sometimes of the office that Cory is working to achieve in his district and our state, what exactly has Al done in all the years he has been there other than rubber stamp odious bills sent out by the bosses? Or to feather his own nest?

  10. jerry 2018-09-25 12:07

    NOem’s definition of small business is Exxon.

    “The tax windfall helped Exxon’s (XOM) net profits surge fivefold, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company said on Friday.
    Excluding the tax bonanza, Exxon’s results left Wall Street wanting more. Adjusted earnings unexpectedly declined and revenue missed the mark by a wide margin. Exxon shares slumped about 5%.”

    That is why NOem is all in on Tax Cut 2.0 This will help small businesses like Exxon meet or exceed Wall Street projections.

  11. Jason 2018-09-25 12:33

    Tax cut 2.0 doesn’t affect C Corporations Jerry. It affects individual taxes. Why are you lying?

  12. jerry 2018-09-25 12:46

    Little Russian, Tax cut 2.0 is not out there and hopefully it never will be. Why are you lying?

  14. jerry 2018-09-25 13:02

    Little Russian, unveiled, but not passed. NOem still hates women enough to not pass the Violence Against Women Act, so you are suggesting that she could now find time to pass Tax Cut 2.0? Women are not important to NOem but this is? Some strange priorities considering she is a woman and has some daughters.

  16. jerry 2018-09-25 13:23

    very good mfi, soon, when our debt reaches our economic level, we will be like Germany after World War !, almost 100 years ago. That 72% ratio means or should mean, danger. History showed us all that when you had to have a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a loaf of bread. The tycoons will still be standing though and wanting more. There is a solution. Have you had enough yet? Vote the bums out completely at the state and the federal level while we still have a country.

    In 1923, here is how much a dollar was worth in Germany “Inflation was exacerbated when workers in the Ruhr went on a general strike and the German government printed more money to continue paying for their passive resistance. By November 1923, the US dollar was worth 4,210,500,000,000 German marks.” That my friends is exactly what trump wants to do, print more money.

  17. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2018-09-26 18:47

    For the record, Steve Pearson only shouts things he’s heard faintly smarter commentators say to evade hard facts. He refuted none of the facts I presented and linked.

Comments are closed.