Letter: Heitkamp serves ND with skill and honor, deserves vote for Senate seat

“Read my lips, no new taxes.”

That statement came to define the first President George Bush.

He recently told Parade Magazine that despite his determination not to, he was forced to raise taxes out of economic necessity. The country had spent too much on military expansion, and the “free market” out-sourced thousands of well-paying American jobs. These practices still haunt us.

In this same article, Bush points to how foolish the Grover Norquist anti-tax pledge is. “The rigidity of those pledges is something I don’t like. The circumstances change, and you can’t be added to some formula by Grover Norquist. It’s — who the hell is Grover Norquist anyway?”

Norquist is an uber-rich, ultra-conservative bent on catering to the very rich, without concern for the rest of us. One of Rick Berg’s first acts in D.C., even before he was sworn in as a House member, was a pledge of loyalty to Norquist. Barely settled into the House, Berg decided he deserved a promotion to the U.S. Senate.

Our choice this November is clear, between a person willing to kowtow to Norquist, rather than think for himself — and a woman who stands up for the hard-working men and women who made this state great. Heidi Heitkamp came from common stock, worked hard for her right to earn a degree, to better herself.

She served North Dakota with skill and honor, first as tax commissioner, then as attorney general. Her opponent, who came from the same humble beginnings, became an investor that profits from squeezing students and other Goldmark renters out of every security deposit Goldmark can pocket, knowing who can’t battle back.

It’s time to elect a champion of all the people, a person who knows how to work with others in the spirit of compromise and civility. Elect Heitkamp to the Senate of these proud United States.

Kent Rogne, Dickinson

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