Republican legislator: North Dakota’s "moderate Democrat" experiment has failed – Grand Forks Herald

She has proved that to be nothing more than an empty campaign promise or a blatant lie.

We can go into mundane voting records where she votes routinely with the Democrats in Washington and how she regularly supported the Obama agenda on health care, (high) taxes and more. But that's an old game where we all know the ending.

Frankly, most of us only care about how she votes on the big issues facing our state. This week, one of those votes happened.

On the way out the door, the Obama administration cracked one last home run in their anti-energy agenda: the Bureau of Land Management methane rules. But the North Dakota energy industry has made the case loud and clear that these rules do more harm than good. They raise little new royalty revenue for the federal government while causing a decrease of $240 million annually in production, $24 million in state production and extraction taxes and $39 million less to the state's mineral owners.

Since the economic benefits of the energy industry reach every North Dakota community, numbers such as these should give serious concern.

We have jobs in manufacturing, engineering and construction across the state that rely on the Bakken, and our universities and local schools have benefited greatly from the Bakken's tax revenue.

Thus, supporting the repeal of the BLM's rules seems to be an easy no-brainer.

Yet, U.S. Sen. Heitkamp, D-N.D., voted against the health of our energy industry.

On May 10, the Senate held a vote to repeal the rules, and the vote failed on a 49-51 vote. Heitkamp could have been the 50th vote that would have protected our energy industry, protected the state's tax revenue and the many programs it supports and protected opportunities for our careers and families.

Instead, Heitkamp voted in with the rest of Washington's Democrats, showing her true colors and that, for her, politics reigns over North Dakota's best interests.

Heitkamp has failed to keep her promise to be a moderate Democrat, and she has failed the people of North Dakota.

North Dakota's "moderate Democrat" experiment on Heitkamp has failed, and our economy will pay the price.

Streyle, a Republican, represents District 3 in the North Dakota House.

See the article here:
Republican legislator: North Dakota's "moderate Democrat" experiment has failed - Grand Forks Herald

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