Denise writes a weekly newspaper column about South Dakota’s congressional delegation and congressional candidates / election campaigns.

Read the archive here (Rapid City Weekly News / Black Hills Pioneer) or here (Mitchell Daily Republic.)

Here are a few outtakes:

“Do any of you have an independent analysis that it has been the price of corn or wheat that has directly led to increased food prices versus energy costs for producing and transporting the food?” Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin asked the oil executives.

Crickets chirped.

And:

Just when it seems within his reach, drought aid is more likely than not to slip away. Again. 

“The permanent disaster program is under intense pressure. They’re trying to pull that provision out,” Sen. John Thune said. “The Senate has stood firmly behind the bill we passed. Help for those in states where crops and livestock are subject to destruction year after year simply can’t be negotiated away — and won’t be.”

It’s exactly that “year after year” situation that draws protests to setting up an automated disaster payment system for farmers. If they are truly emergency disasters, the current ad hoc system in which Congress considers disaster payments on an individual basis should work, critics argue.

And:

Ah, the continuing resolution, that procedural crutch that allows Congress to keep funding the federal government while it fights over budgets. (A recent column in Roll Call predicted that Congress will skate through the November election on continuing resolutions, essentially ignoring President Bush’s budget altogether.)

If you are a newspaper editor or publisher interested in running Denise’s column, drop a line to denise@hoghouseblog.com or write a comment to this post with your contact information. (The comment won’t be published.)

Ditto that if you are a reader with an idea for a column topic. (I need all the help I can get!)

Spread the word

Hide Sites