Congressman Kelly Armstrong isn’t running for a federal office anymore. He’s been North Dakota’s lone Congressman since 2019, and he recently announced he no longer wanted the job. (I might argue Burgum already showed us he didn’t want his job, but that was a conversation we already had.) Then, Congressman Armstrong decided he wanted Burgum’s job, and announced he’s running for Governor.
Congressman Armstrong came on “News and Views” this week and explained why. And honestly, he gave pretty good reasons, citing family and his desire to be back in North Dakota. He pointed to his experience in the state legislature and how that will help him guide North Dakota into the future. It was what he brought up as his action items that bothered me.
Armstrong brought up the need to make sure we aren’t burdened by over-regulation from the Federal Government. That, of course, is where I took exception. Never before has the oil industry pumped more oil from the North Dakota ground than it is right now. Record profits are being made and most of that money is leaving the state to never return. The oil industry, ladies and gentlemen, is doing just fine.
What didn’t come up as part of his focus, was property taxes. It didn’t come up until I brought it up. February is here, and that means it’s time to write that check. The check that funds our counties, schools, ambulances, fire departments, parks, roads, and a whole lot more. And if your property taxes are anything like mine, they’ve gone up, and not by a little.
So, the question was simple: If you’re elected Governor, what will you do about it? He said the previous Legislatures and Governors have tried to deal with it and were unsuccessful.
The problem with that is it isn’t the Legislature’s fault. It’s the fault of the Republican Party, and they’ve had the tools to get this fixed for years. A supermajority can do that. They can recognize that sitting on a ten BILLION dollar surplus, along with a huge majority, gives them the tools to do just that. They just don’t want to.
So, why is that? Why would they sit on all those dollars when they could be giving you the tax relief you need? I don’t know why. It might be that it’s more important to give that oil mogul, Howard Hamm, that money. They made sure he and his partners had a tax break that added up to more than $700,000 a day. Money, as I pointed out, that left North Dakota never to come back. Money that could have fed a lot of kids hot lunch.
It just doesn’t seem to be a priority for the Congressman or his Republican Party, and it won’t be in the campaign.
Unless you make it.
Good riding with you,
Joel
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