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Thursday, 13 March 2008 |
Letter from Dwight Grotberg
Sanborn, N.D.
One good reason for changing out North Dakotas Democrat delegation to Washington is that they function as politicians, not as statesmen. Politicians constantly look for ways to get noticed, and as Dorgan, Conrad, and Pomeroy have done, they depart from the core principles that made this country great. Statesmen stick to those principles as Ronald Reagan did. These Democrats from North Dakota have become experts at using fear to promote tax increases and to criticize Republicans. They try to sound fiscally responsible by promising to tax their way to a budget surplus and to reduce the national debt. They ignore history’s lessons on borrowing for good investments.
Three other presidents in our nation’s history grew the national debt. Thomas Jefferson borrowed foreign money to finance the Louisiana Purchase (which includes North Dakota). Franklin Roosevelt never balanced the budget and relied on borrowing to help us get out of the Great Depression. Under Ronald Reagan, borrowing once again increased and his sound investments in our military ended the Cold War and caused the collapse of the former Soviet Union. As large as our national debt is our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is growing at a faster rate. Amazing, considering we are at war and with today’s outlandish energy prices. Debt must be managed but as history shows, not using it for wise investments could be disastrous.
Should the question be how much the War on Terror is costing us? Should it be how much has the War on Terror benefitted us? It should be both. Financial costs have been great and so has the loss of our troops. We must never forget, however, the loss of innocent life on Sept.11, not to mention destruction at the center of our defense department, the Pentagon. Our nation has been secured from further attacks since that day. What really cost us was not investing during the 1990s wisely (i.e. for military spending, which declined during that period while terrorist attacks increased). What followed that decade was the worst attack on our nation’s soil.
What we really need to be doing is expanding investment in our nation’s military for war prevention, strengthening national infrastructure and initiate massive de-regulation on the production of all types of domestic energy, especially drilling for oil on federal lands. High energy prices are the number one cause of inflation in this country. Our elected officials have no right to force upon us increased regulations for energy production with their flawed notions of global warming. With freedom Americans invented and produced airplanes, automobiles, and the telephone. The federal government didn’t bring us such things. Government needs to get back to what it does best: protecting its citizens and encouraging the private sector to grow.
Barack Obama also has abandoned core financial principles and has followed the way of our Washington politicians. His vision includes ending Bush tax cuts and pulling back on military spending. We need a president and we need Congressmen who return with faith in Americans the principles that made this nation great. Dorgan, Pomeroy and Conrad couldn’t be more wrong in their endorsement of Barack Obama for our next president. Wait, they could have chosen Hillary.
Editor’s note: Grotberg was the 2006 Republican candidate for the United States Senate.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 23 May 2008 )
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