Forum editorial: Two trips: one right, one wrong
The Forum
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Editorial
There are trade trips and then there are junkets disguised as trade trips.
Falling into the former category was the recent trip – several trips, in fact – to Cuba by bipartisan North Dakota delegations, led by Republican Gov. John Hoeven or Republican Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple and Democratic state Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson. Falling into the latter category was the jaunt to Antigua a few months ago by a tight-knit group of Republican legislators – a trip that would not have been exposed but for the reporting of The Forum’s capitol correspondent Janell Cole.
The Cuba trips were appropriately transparent, paid for by state funds and coordinated with a federal effort led by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., to open trade between Cuba and North Dakota. It’s working. The trips resulted in trade deals that promise to be the first of many. The bipartisan and completely open nature of the effort to establish ag trade with Cuba further confirms the legitimacy of the trips.
By contrast, the excursion to Antigua was an exclusively Republican affair, paid for in full by the Antiguan government and aimed primarily at entangling North Dakota in the Internet gambling business. The trip was approved by no one other than the participants, yet the legislators involved certainly would have been viewed as representatives of the government of North Dakota – and by extension the people of North Dakota. While the trip was not illegal, its clandestine and unofficial nature raises an odor of illegitimacy.
Click here to read the entire article...
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Editorial
There are trade trips and then there are junkets disguised as trade trips.
Falling into the former category was the recent trip – several trips, in fact – to Cuba by bipartisan North Dakota delegations, led by Republican Gov. John Hoeven or Republican Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple and Democratic state Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson. Falling into the latter category was the jaunt to Antigua a few months ago by a tight-knit group of Republican legislators – a trip that would not have been exposed but for the reporting of The Forum’s capitol correspondent Janell Cole.
The Cuba trips were appropriately transparent, paid for by state funds and coordinated with a federal effort led by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., to open trade between Cuba and North Dakota. It’s working. The trips resulted in trade deals that promise to be the first of many. The bipartisan and completely open nature of the effort to establish ag trade with Cuba further confirms the legitimacy of the trips.
By contrast, the excursion to Antigua was an exclusively Republican affair, paid for in full by the Antiguan government and aimed primarily at entangling North Dakota in the Internet gambling business. The trip was approved by no one other than the participants, yet the legislators involved certainly would have been viewed as representatives of the government of North Dakota – and by extension the people of North Dakota. While the trip was not illegal, its clandestine and unofficial nature raises an odor of illegitimacy.
Click here to read the entire article...
posted by Dem-NPL at 10:57 AM
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