Politics & Power Quote by Kristi Noem

"Every one says: 'Listen, I'd love to reinvest. I'd love to hire people. But I have no idea what this healthcare bill is going to do to my bottom line. I have no idea what this financial reform bill is going to do... I'm not going to step out a limb and do any of those until I know what this government is going to do to me.'"

Kristi Noem, Politician

About this Quote

Noem frames the private sector as a skittish animal: willing, even eager, but spooked by the sudden movement of government. The rhetorical move is simple and effective: ventriloquism. "Every one says" is doing a lot of work, laundering a partisan argument through the supposedly unfiltered voice of the job creator. By stacking "I'd love to reinvest... I'd love to hire" against "I have no idea", she turns business into a sympathetic protagonist and policy into a shadowy antagonist. The repetition is the point: uncertainty becomes its own crisis, something that can be blamed for stalled hiring without ever naming wages, demand, or corporate strategy.

The subtext is less about the fine print of health care or financial reform than about power and permission. "What this government is going to do to me" casts regulation as a personal threat, not a negotiated social contract. It collapses the distinction between being governed and being targeted, a framing designed to trigger resentment in voters who already suspect Washington is an intrusive force. Even the metaphor "step out a limb" nudges the listener to view hiring as an act of bravery rather than a calculation.

Contextually, this lives in the post-2008 debate where Democrats argued stability and coverage were pro-growth, while Republicans argued reform itself was the drag. Noem's intent is to relocate responsibility for a weak labor market from boardrooms to the Capitol: if jobs aren't coming back, blame the bill, not the balance sheet.

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About the Author

Kristi Noem (born November 30, 1971) is a Politician from USA.

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