Lloyd Omdahl, column: Can North Dakota handle being rich:?
August 12, 2012 at 4:54 pm in Grand Forks Herald
With a flood of oil money into the state treasury, the question must be raised about the ability of North Dakota to handle the challenge of unexpected wealth. One thing for sure, it will change the dialogue in the state Legislature. Continue Reading
I didn’t know about the 1980 education supported increase in oil tax from 1980. There should be no excuse now not to raise teacher salaries to be the nations highest instead of almost the lowest in the US.
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85 years ago my aunt taught in a little town in western ND for $20 a month and board and room in someone’s house. Given the mindset in ND today about teachers, some would say now that is being overpaid.
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WHY? Quality does not correlate to salary!
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It would be a good idea to invest in staffing our medical infrastructure with doctors, nurses, other health workers. We are not training enough doctors, we’re not retaining enough of the few we are training here in ND, and we’re not competitive in recruiting. As the spouse of a UND trained physician, and a lifelong, fourth-generation North Dakotan, I can tell you, not enough is being done.
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At least Lloyd acknowledges the money is going into slush funds. He just wants it to flow to all his cronies in the state education cabal which is bleeding taxpayers dry.
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There needs to be a reduction in college costs…for ND RESIDENT students. Perhaps a program that reduces student debt for each year you remain in the state after graduating. ND needs to promote higher learning and perhaps more importantly…keeping the well educated here, to move this state forward. There can be no more important investment, long term.
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Studens go to college to qualify themselves for well-paying jobs. They don’t exist in ND. Ask someone who has left why they will never return. They get used to the amenities of real metro areas, whether it be the Cities, Denver, DC or whatever. They get used to a level of sophistication never found in ND. And they get used to being paid for what their value is to their employer. ND has a long tradition of employers low-balling salaries and wages. Which is why the wages in the oil patch are such a shock in this state: companies paying what they pay elsewhere. ND parsimony is one of the state’s worst enemies.
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let’s see…how about…
FREE education
FREE medical care
FREE houses
FREE cars
FREE trucks
FREE gasoline
FREE diesel
FREE groceries
FREE clothes
FREE vacations
FREE movie tickets
FREE sporting events
FREE candy
yeah! FREE CANDY
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C’mon, think about it…if all this stuff was free. ….
Well, we would all be equal, we would all be the same, there would be no competition.
No one would have to feel bad because the neighbor got a new car, or got a new truck or a had a bigger house.
ENVY (or class warfare) would not exist…wait…what would the democrats run on then?
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Always, your definition of “class warfare” is the one only recently coined by your right wingnut politicians. Traditionally it is a Marxist term to describe the masses fight against unjust big capitalism.
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Class warfare is an easy concept! Envy of those more intelligent, successful, working harder and earning more dollars! SIMPLY SIMPLE!
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Who is asking for FREE anything? Typical rightiot. If FEAR, PARANOIA, HYPERBOLE and BIGOTRY did not exist…what would the republicans run on?
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Republicans run on the greatness of competition, capitalism, self-reliance, small government.
These are the things that have made the United States the greatest ecomomic engine in the world. So successful, that we have people risking their lives to come here and live.
How many people do you see fleeing to Kenya?
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Prove to me that one North Dakota Republican is truly for less government and i’ll believe that drivel you just spouted. The only one running for President that is for honest to god less government is Ron Paul.
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You are correct.
Republicans and Democrats … both feeding at the trough.
That is where Grover Norquist and the TEA Party come in…
Taxed Enough Already.
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always, you need to add “American imperialism” to your list of what made the US “great”.
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Can North Dakota handle being rich? North Dakota or North Dakotans? If you are asking about North Dakotans my answer would be no they cannot handle being rich. My experience has been that several have become uppity, snobbish and rude since they rediscovered oil. They take every opportunity given to them to remind me that I come from Minnesota and that my state is poor. Who makes fun of poor people? North Dakotans that’s who. Oh it’s a hoot to tease people that are close to bankruptcy…if you are a NoDak with a bank vault bursting with cash. Try and get one of them to open their wallet and buy a round of beers. Who do you think will get his money on the bar first…a Minnesotan or a North Dakotan? The Minnesotan of course. You would think they were on their last dollar but I know that isn’t true. Tight as hell and they squeak instead of fart. Of course we all know there isn’t anything worth spending money on in that state so it’s no wonder they aren’t used to pulling out their wallets. If by chance it ever were to happen they would have to shake the dust off their dough before they could read the numbers on the bills. Pitiful bunch in my opinion.
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How do you get 10 NoDakers into a VW bug? Throw in a dime.
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Tj, you talk that way after Mn. spent the last 150 yrs. ripping off N.Dak.’s farmers? Read some history!
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Spearman take a joke at least once in your life. I was kidding. Do I really need to spell that out for you? Now please…try to be nice to me at least once before you hit the bucket.
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Tj, That’s the way most Minnesotans seriously talk about ND.
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LOL No kidding? Not me….holy….I have lived in both states. My dad’s family is from Hamilton. My great-grandpa started the Pembina County Fair, along with two other men. I’m an East Sider now but I do have strong feelings for the state of ND. I graduate from GF Central. As a side note…I was going to buy my son a Golden Gophers ball cap in the TC’s this past week. I called him to see if he wanted one. He said no way. He loves UND even though he has never lived in ND.
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tj, then you’re not an actual Minnesotan. I’ve been in Mn. for 37 yrs. so I know very well how they talk about N.Dak.
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Well you ‘true Minnesotans’ aren’t very nice in my opinion. I was kidding but you people are serious. You should be ashamed of yourself spearman. I’m glad we had this talk. Maybe now you will straigthen up.
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When are residents of this state going to start getting oil dividend checks like Alaska?
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Never. Since politicians believe they put the oil in the ground, they also believe the money’s theirs.
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OMG! North Dakota has money! Spend! Spend! Spend!
How about we try doing something smart for once. The oil boom is great but it also brings costs with it. The roads need alot more maintenance now, we need people to pick up pee bombs off the side of the roads, we need more truck parking, we need more housing, etc, etc. We should take 25% of the tax revenues and put it in an account that can only be used for things pertaining to the oil industry, fixing the roads, clean up, etc. The other 75% should be invested in a 5 year savings bond or some other investment with guaranteed returns. After 5 years, 1/2 the money from the investment goes into a “Do not touch” account for when the oil boom withers up and dies, the other 1/2 goes into the general budget and can be used on things like education or creating more state grants for higher education, or whatever. The main reason for the 5 year hold on 75% of the funds is so we have something if a catastrophe happens, major oil spill, explosion, whatever. We should implement a plan before the politicians vote a raise for themselves.
Just my .02 worth, or .013 after inflation.
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