Gov. Kristi Noem Sneers at a Handout--Except for the Family Ranch

[Zorro]

The South Dakota governor tweeted that “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” Guess that doesn’t include farm subsidies?

Over the long weekend, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem reacted on Twitter to a post about a grocery-style food bank in a Texas school that seeks to reinforce the dignity of needy students and families by enabling them to shop with credits earned through good deeds and acts of service.

“There is no such thing as a free lunch,” Noem wrote, quoting conservative economist Milton Friedman, who used that line as the title of a 1975 book.

Noem has vocally opposed government handouts and the higher taxes that accompany them. She turned down a federal offer of a $400-a-week hike in jobless benefits last summer, saying her state did not need it. But she takes a different view of agricultural subsidies such as Friedman condemned in his 1962 book Capitalism and Freedom.

“An agricultural program intended to help impecunious farmers has become a national scandal that has wasted public funds, distorted the use of resources, riveted increasingly heavy controls on farmers, and withal has done little to help the impecunious farmer,” Friedman wrote.

Imagine what Friedman would have to say about the $4,288,571 Noem’s family-owned ranch received from a variety of programs at the United States Department of Agriculture between 1995 and 2020.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/south-dakota-gov-kristi-noem-sneers-at-a-handoutexcept-for-the-family-ranch

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

1. Robert Heinlein wrote "There is no such thing as a free lunch" in 1966

in a book entitled, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. Abbreviated "TNSTAAFL" the slogan is popular among Loonies, who use it on their flag during their war for independence.

Some variation of the saying has been used since the 1930s.

[SharonAnn]

5. I thought it was TANSTAAFL ("There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" )

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

7. You're right. Project Gutenberg lists TANSTAAFL! as the title of Book Three

of Heinlein's Hugo Award winning novel, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. Thanks for the correction, and for a reason for me to order a copy to read while I'm stuck at home.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. Ah, but that's different, doncha know.

[BobTheSubgenius]

3. First, I don't like them characterizing the program as "handouts." They're doing tasks and services.

Tasks and services that earn them their "handout." Kind of a minor quibble when compared with the massive wall of ill-will I have aimed in the other direction.

What a surprise. A POS making POS pronouncements about decent programs while totally ignoring the POS moves she and her littermates have made along the way.

POS sneers at social programs, environmental issues and even a pandemic that IS, in fact, real and killing real people.

Sorry. "POS" is all i've got.

[Praek3]

4. Which Kind of Whore is She?

I thought she was a Diarrhea Don Fame Whore. Turns out she is a money whore too. Go figure.

[SharonAnn]

6. Aren't they the same thing?