Guest Post: Berg-Backed Super Committee Super Failure With Super Tax Hikes
We have a crisis in Washington not one of debt, or the super-committee — but of a lack of real leaders willing to make hard decisions.
Washington politicians from both parties proved this last week that they do not have the leadership skills needed to move our country forward. Nowhere was this seen more clearly than in our Congressman, Rick Berg.
In August, Berg voted to pass the buck for developing a budget plan from Congress to an unconstitutional “super-committee.” If Congress did not accept the conclusions of the committee, specific, automatic spending cuts would be made. Everyone knew that when the deal was cut.
The super-committee failed to even provide Congress a plan on which to vote. Now, Congress is chasing its own tail trying to find ways to avoid the automatic cuts that they themselves agreed to if they failed to reach a deal.
It was clear from the beginning that this commission was going to fail. Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke about this problem months ago. But Rick Berg voted for the creation of the Super Committee and shirked his responsibility as a legislator. He then remained silent as the Super Committee failed to reach a deal.
Prior to the failure of the Super Committee, Speaker John Boehner voiced his support for a proposal that included $300 billion worth of new tax revenue. While the proposal offered some reforms to the tax code, on the whole it was nothing more than a backdoor tax increase. Rick Berg was ready to follow Boehner and raise taxes on North Dakotans in the midst of the worst economy since the Great Depression. That is unacceptable.
This Super Committee is just the latest in a long series of examples where Republicans like Rick Berg have gone along with a bad deal just to avoid being blamed for shutting the government down.
This isn’t the first time Congressman Berg voted for the status quo in Washington. In November, Berg voted for a “Continuing Resolution” to keep the government running for another couple weeks. This CR only had $757 million worth of spending cuts. Even more shocking, this CR increased the number of bad loans the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) could back. These provisions only solidify the belief that Washington is simply not serious about making decisions.
Our next Senator must do more than just follow leadership — that person needs to be willing to stand up to the leadership in the U.S. Senate.
North Dakota needs representation in Washington that does not just blindly follow their party’s leadership. It is clear that Rick Berg, along with the rest of House Republicans, did not hear the message the voters sent in 2010.
Duane Sand is a former Naval commander and a political activist who is seeking the NDGOP’s Senate nomination.
Tags: deficits, duane sand, election 2012, national debt, North Dakota News, Rick Berg
