For the last year or so I have had this nagging sore throat, a sharp pain in my back and my hand keeps getting these weird puncture marks on them. I have heard I am not the only one with these abnormal episodes. It seems as though a majority of Americans are experiencing these exact same symptoms.
But that's OK, thanks to our very own Congressman Earl Pomeroy, Senator Byron Dorgan and Senator Kent Conrad we will soon all have national health care and we will all be saved from all our ills. I'm really not sure when this great health care starts or what's really in this new law that our three know-it-alls ( I'm sure they read it ) saddled us with. They said, "They know what's right for North Dakotans," so I guess we should trust in them and their all knowing, elitist wisdom. Or should we?
Normally, constituents could trust their Washington representatives to vote according with the desires of their states majority. In other words, representatives wouldn't bite the hand that feeds them or they wouldn't stab their constituents in the back, all the while saying they know what's right for you. I say normally but everything coming out of Washington these days is anything but normal.
This coming November we have a choice to make. We can trust Pomeroy, reward him with our vote, send him back to Washington and hope he represents us or we can not trust Pomeroy, not feed him with our vote, pull the knife out of our backs and stand on principal.
So to trust or not to trust Pomeroy is the choice you need to make. Can you really trust him to vote no for some future new energy tax bill that Obama and his gang put forth that would hurt North Dakotans? He says he wouldn't, but would he under pressure from his party leader Nancy Pelosi? Can you really trust him to vote no for future bailouts of irresponsible states or a new stimulus with more money for special interest that would cause North Dakotans to pay higher taxes?
This choice reminds me of that saying "fool me once ( stimulus ) shame on you, fool me twice ( health care ) shame on me." Will you be foolish with your vote? Can you really trust Pomeroy?
Some would like us to believe if we don't vote for Pomeroy, this all powerful Ways and Means Committee Senior Congressman, North Dakotans won't receive all the Washington goodies he might be able to pass out. I would like to believe North Dakotans stand on principal and not for a few bread crumbs that he might throw our way.
If this November, Pomeroy wins re-election and we send him back to Washington, this North Dakotan with a sore throat has one request- peanut butter. Most Washington elitist don't know this but a majority of Americans like a little peanut butter with their jam. While they jam their taxes, mandates and new regulations down our throat, a little peanut butter might make it easier to swallow. And since we are so greedy, throw us some of those bread crumbs, too.
(Johnson is a community columnist for The Minot Daily News)