I know the Wall Street Journal thinks North Dakotans have it bad, but they have one thing going for them: They get to laugh at Minnesota.
The Land of 10,000 Lakes is facing a likely deficit of more than $600 million. Meanwhile, North Dakota soon will have an estimated $700 million surplus.
Do the math. If we took care of Minnesota's needs, we'd still have $100 million extra. That's almost $200 apiece if we split up the balance among our 600,000 citizens. Just think - even more economic stimulus!
It's important to send that $600 million across the border because we wouldn't want Minnesotans to raise their taxes. That would break Gov. Tim Pawlenty's promise of “No new taxes, or else I won't ever become vice president.” Our money isn't nearly as important as Pawlenty's political aspirations.
Sure, we North Dakotans could dump our surplus into such luxuries as bridges, roads, education and health care. But that would be selfish.
