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Message from the President
February-March '10 column
Take back America
by Eric Aasmundstad
NDFB President
It’s only January, and the election season is in full swing. Who would have thought a year ago that Byron Dorgan would choose not to run for re-election and a Republican would win the Senate seat held by Ted Kennedy?
As I am writing this column, the race for the Republican nomination for North Dakota’s seat in Congress is shaping up to be quite interesting. It’s my humble opinion that no real front-runner has emerged yet, and I expect the field could become more crowded which should make for a lively Republican convention.
I believe this is the single most important mid-term election my generation will ever witness. While North Dakota may seem relatively unaffected by the economic disasters occurring around us, we are not. The current Congress and the Obama administration have taken our nation down a dangerous path of unprecedented government control of industry and spending by politicians who have lost all touch with their constituents. It would appear our elected representatives have decided they know better than the American people what is best for the well-being of our republic.
The movement we have seen this past year of people standing up and reminding our representatives, “You work for us,” is long overdue. It is gratifying to see citizens participating in government by holding our leaders to task. This movement hasn’t been orchestrated; I believe it is truly an unsolicited response to the arrogance of career politicians, including Congressman Pomeroy, who forgot who they work for.
As Farm Bureau members, we have an obligation to participate in the process to correct the dangerous course this nation is on. Our belief in free enterprise, personal responsibility, limited government and an unrelenting opposition to socialism will be what brings us back to where I truly believe our nation needs to be. This obligation does not mean you need to run for elected office.
However, we need to surface, educate, fund, work for, and elect those who share our beliefs. We need to work harder than we have ever worked to make sure our friends end up in the offices that will determine the future of North Dakota and this great nation.
That’s why I’m encouraging all Farm Bureau members to bring a friend to the Take Back Washington event being cosponsored by NDFB at the Best Western Ramkota Hotel in Bismarck on February 12.
YOU are the focal point of this event. Come out and tell Washington of your frustrations with higher taxes, out of control spending, government over regulation, health care reform, heritage areas, and the other concerns you have with the liberal agenda being promoted in Washington.
Stand up and TAKE BACK AMERICA!
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October-November '09 column
Cap and tax
by Eric Aasmundstad,
NDFB President
Cap and trade, cap and tax, call it what you will; it’s possibly the biggest bilking taxpayers may experience to date. The proposals that are circulating will raise every aspect of your cost of living. Not only will your direct energy costs increase significantly (fuel for vehicles, electric bill and home heating) but your cost of groceries, clothing, and all else involved in everyday living will increase dramatically.
Everything we do is linked to energy production and consumption. Cap and trade will disrupt the production of energy and subsequently the energy consuming industries in this country such as agriculture and manufacturing.
As devastating as cap and trade would be on businesses and consumers throughout the United States, the effects of this legislation will be magnified in North Dakota. As we all know, our economy is heavily energy dependent. Agriculture and energy production lead North Dakota’s economy; cap and trade will severely cripple both. If cap and trade legislation is passed into law, tax revenues flowing into the state coffers will decrease significantly, resulting in either increased taxation at the local level to pay for government services or a reduction of those services.
Given the track record of politicians reducing services, you can bet if cap and trade becomes law your taxes will skyrocket in addition to your already increased cost of existing. Not an appealing prospect is it?
But there’s more. The effects will go far beyond what I have mentioned here. It is a near certainty that the first climate bill enacted will not be the last. In fact, most major environmental organizations have criticized current cap and trade bills as inadequate, or at best “a good first step.” The economic impacts of these measures could be a mere down payment on costlier measures yet to come.
Why do some in this country want to unilaterally disarm our economy and drive business and jobs out of the United States through measures such as cap and trade and fallacies like global warming? The only conclusion I can come to is the United States of America, being the richest most open society in the world, is the only place where extortion in the name of the environment is acceptable and profitable.
Cap and trade must not become law and you can help. Call or write our Senators. Tell them cap and trade will wreak havoc on North Dakota’s economy and standard of living, and must be stopped.
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August-September '09 column
HSUS
by Eric Aasmundstad,
NDFB President
Summer in North Dakota; isn’t it great? One of the things families enjoy most about summer is grilling. Grilling beef, pork, chicken, and turkey – all great fare – could become a thing of the past, at least those raised in the United States. That’s right. One of your favorite summer past times is under attack. Now, nobody is threatening to confiscate your grill. However, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is threatening to shut down raising animals for food use.
The HSUS is not your local Humane Society that runs an animal shelter. The HSUS is a very well-organized activist group with an annual budget of hundreds of millions of dollars. This nearly unlimited budget is used to openly support domestic terrorism against the livestock industry and promote a vegan lifestyle. The Humane Society of the United States has mounted successful campaigns against animal agriculture and humane husbandry practices in several states. In Florida and Arizona, they have successfully outlawed the use of gestation crates in hog production. California has banned, by proposition, the raising of chickens in cages. The pork and dairy industry in Colorado are under attack, and losing ground every day. Now, North Dakota has become a target of these militant animal rightists.
The HSUS has convinced several Women’s Clubs across North Dakota to become Adopt-a-Classroom sponsors of the HSUS. The local Women’s Clubs are sponsoring the HSUS newsletter KIND for classrooms in our local grade schools. While the newsletter seems rather benign, its core message is not. The slant is definitely anti-agriculture and provides links to websites that promote activism against animal agriculture.
The HSUS knows if they can reach the kids they can reach their mothers who make buying decisions. This is a proven strategy that worked in other states HSUS targeted. They must be stopped and stopped now before they gain a foothold in our schools and become part of the curriculums.
I am encouraging you to talk to your school board members and administrators. Tell them what the HSUS is doing. Convince them to close the door on the HSUS. If you know of a local Women’s Club that is a sponsoring group, visit with them at one of their meetings about the true mission of the HSUS. North Dakota Farm Bureau can provide you with all the information you need to counter this activity. The time is now to draw a line in the sand and protect our summer grilling season.
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June-July '09 column
Time to manage water for us
By Eric Aasmundstad, NDFB President
Isn’t nature incredible? We have been reminded once again just how insignificant we are. Many North Dakotans were already back on their heels from the abnormally wet fall and relentless winter. Just when we thought it was coming close to spring and a time of hope, BANG! the state is hit with the worst flooding ever.
Parts of the state that just don’t experience such events were inundated with floodwaters. All across North Dakota, farms and homes, fields and towns, were gobbled up by floodwaters. As always people’s lives were disrupted, homes damaged, and livelihoods jeopardized. In the most heartbreaking and extreme instances, life was lost. My prayers go out to those who lost a loved one to the ravages of nature in this still harsh land we call home.
As trying and disheartening, as these events can be, we can all take comfort and pride in how we as neighbors, as North Dakotans, pull together when threatened. We don’t wait for somebody to come to our rescue. We pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, roll up our sleeves and go to work helping our friends, our neighbors, our family, and most incredibly of all, complete strangers.
Why are North Dakotans so ready to help one another? I can imagine as many answers to that question as people I could ask.
I like to believe that, as North Dakotans, we still possess a strong sense of community pride and a sincere concern for the welfare of our neighbor, knowing that but for the grace of God there go I.
We understand if we don’t take care of our communities, our businesses, and our families, nobody is going to do it for us. After all, North Dakota is but a small town and in small towns we are all neighbors.
While the cleanup from the flooding begins in most areas of the state, the discussion begins again on what the future holds for flood protection. Community leaders and politicians are renewing efforts to find solutions and remedies to the flooding problems around the state.
We have to remember the sense of community that exists in time of disaster. We have to work together to find equitable long-term solutions to problems that have plagued areas of this state for many, many years. We have to demand leadership from our elected leaders. If our leaders cannot find solutions to flooding issues that are in the best interest of the people of North Dakota, they need to be replaced with leaders who can.
North Dakota needs to start managing its water for North Dakota. Our leaders work for us, not other states, not other countries, not out of state environmental interests. They work for the North Dakota taxpayer.
As far as this taxpayer is concerned, our elected leaders have scored an F in water management and at best an incomplete in leadership on water issues.
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April-May '09 column
Sequester, cap and trade
by NDFB President Eric Aasmundstad
It would seem that the election of Barack Obama as president brought environmentalism to a new level in these United States. We not only now have the promise of wealth redistribution, but environmental anarchy.
With the proposals I have heard about coming from this Congress and Barack Obama's Administration, consumers - taxpayers - better get ready for energy prices to skyrocket.
President Obama himself said in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle last year, "Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket."
It isn't enough that our retirement plans have been decimated and the economy is in the tank and likely to get worse? Congress is putting us all in debt for the rest of our lives using our money.
So with all of this going on, some think we need to pay more for our energy in the name of stopping climate, change formally known as global warming.
During a recent meeting of the NDFB board of directors, representatives of Basin Electric gave a presentation on carbon sequestration, cap and trade, and how we all need to be part of the solution. A couple of things that really stick in my mind (or maybe craw) from that meeting are, and I will paraphrase:
1. The public perceives something has to be done about climate change. Regardless of the scientific fact the public demands action and momentum is building in Congress to act on cap and trade. We all should embrace it.
This statement concerns me. North Dakota's economy is heavily energy dependent. A cap and trade system would devastate an economy like ours, adding possibly billions of dollars to the cost of doing business in this state. These costs will burden every household in North Dakota.
2. The parasitic power drain from carbon sequestration technology will require the energy produced from one coal fired power plant for every five that exist today.
Does this make any sense at all? Where are we supposed to get this extra power? We are not supposed to build new coal plants for fear of damage to the environment and increased climate change. The same fears apply to oil and gas facilities. We are not supposed to build wind turbines for fear an endangered bird might be in peril. And the one that just kills me that applies to all of these energy sources is a viewscape might be impacted. A viewscape. And we should embrace this because momentum is building in Congress for action on climate change? Seems to me too many people are jumping on the global warming/climate change bandwagon.
There is no doubt mandated measures to control greenhouse gases will bare a substantial cost to all consumers and have a detrimental effect on business. Why would a large power cooperative be so accepting of this? And with the negative impacts these initiatives could have on North Dakota why isn't our Congressional Delegation "fighting" for North Dakota on this one?
Not knowing the answers to these questions, I think I'll stay off this Obama climate change bandwagon.
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