Rick Berg, John Boehner’s Puppy

To the Editor

Recently, before Heidi Heitkamp had even declared as a candidate for the US Senate, the ND Republican party took out a full-page ad in the Bismarck Tribune in an attempt to define Heidi in their terms.  It seems like now is an appropriate time to take a look at how her likely opponent, Rick Berg, has defined himself during his first year representing North Dakota in the US House of Representatives.

The first significant vote Rick Berg made was against the Affordable Care Act, which he refers to as “Obamacare”.  Thousands of North Dakotans already enjoy one of the big benefits of health care reform.  We are able to keep our college-age children on our family medical insurance plans until age 26.  This is saving North Dakotans many thousands of dollars with no cost to the taxpayer.  Rick Berg voted to take that away from us.

Starting in 2014 the Affordable Care Act will prevent insurance companies from denying health insurance to North Dakotans on the basis of “pre-existing conditions”.  That is a provision for which many hundreds of North Dakotans are anxiously waiting.  Rick Berg voted to deny that benefit to North Dakotans.

Rick Berg’s next significant vote was for the Paul Ryan budget plan.  That bill would have reduced Social Security and Medicare benefits to our elderly and given them to the wealthiest Americans via a dramatic income tax rate reduction.  This is a classic case of taking from the poor and needy and giving to the rich and greedy. Rick Berg is a multi-millionaire.  My mother lives on Social Security.  Rick Berg belongs to the 1%; my mother is part the 99%.  Rick Berg wants to take money from my mother and put it into his own pocket.

Rick Berg’s next significant vote was to block funding for FEMA.  At a time when thousands of North Dakotans were struggling to prepare their flood-damaged homes for the coming winter with help from FEMA, Rick Berg voted to block funding for FEMA unless those funds were offset by spending reductions in other areas. I wonder if was he thinking of taking money from my mother’s social security benefits again.

Rick Berg has voted with Speaker John Boehner and the Tea Party on every issue.  To my knowledge Rick Berg has not deviated from the Boehner/Tea Party line on one single vote since entering the House of Representatives.  Unlike his predecessor, Earl Pomeroy, who often differed with his party leadership, Rick Berg is a Boehner/Tea Party puppy.  Had we known that Rick Berg was going to vote with John Boehner and the Tea Party on every single vote, we could have saved ourselves a lot of money by keeping Berg in his Fargo office and mailing in North Dakota’s vote. 

Greg Wentz
Bismarck, ND