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Omdahl: Tuition drives debt load 
At a time when the nation needs to capitalize on the natural talents of all of its young people, skyrocketing tuition and borrowing have become major barriers for young people wishing to get a college degree. Even though a college degree is worth every dime in the long run, the upfront costs are forbidding.
RELATED CONTENTOil boom requires balance
We welcome the development in the North Dakota Oil Patch and celebrate the benefits that will enrich mineral owners, landlords, community businesses, oil companies and the state treasury.
RELATED CONTENTOmdahl: Leave no North Dakota child behind
Ten years ago, President George W. Bush saw the entrepreneurial leadership of the United States in the world slipping away, with China, Japan, India and Brazil becoming leading players in the global economy.
Omdahl: Postal model obsolete
With the U.S. Postal Service on the edge of bankruptcy, Postmaster General Patrick Donahue – backed by the General Accountability Office – is proposing drastic across-the-board cuts to stabilize the agency.
Omdahl: You are being heard!
While each group consists of divergent motives and opinions, the tea party and Occupy Wall Street have one common thread – the demand to be heard. History tells us that this is not a new complaint.
RELATED CONTENTTax plan worse than tax
On Nov. 3, a committee of the Legislature received testimony and considered the merits of the initiated measure that proposes to repeal all property taxes in North Dakota beginning Jan. 1, 2012. The legislators were not impressed.
Retail act is about fairness
Chances are good that you have been a tax dodger. Unknowingly, of course.
Omdahl: Place your bets on 2012
Even though it is too early to start placing bets on the 2012 election, John Dwyer, president and CEO of the Lignite Energy Council, wanted the best estimates at the annual meeting of the Lignite Energy Council in Bismarck earlier this month.
Omdahl: Summer of 2011 gets failing grade
Labor Day seems to mark a division between summer and fall even though the calendar doesn’t figure it that way. Anyway, it’s a good time to look back and evaluate what should be the best season of the year.
RELATED CONTENTOmdahl: ‘Turning Points’ confirms Sinner never left priesthood
the aid of his former press secretary, Bob Jansen, Gov. George Sinner has recorded his life’s story in an autobiography titled “Turning Points,” now on sale at local book stores.
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Omdahl: Measure 2 deserves ‘no’ vote
Because proponents of the property tax repeal have taken comments by former Gov. Ed Schafer and me out of context, we have issued a joint statement making it clear that we are opposed to Measure 2.
RELATED CONTENTOmdahl: The kids from ND did well
Bill Scouton knew Kari Wigton before Dick Clark even knew she existed. So who is Bill Scouton, and who is Kari Wigton?
RELATED CONTENTOmdahl: Cramer upends process
By announcing that he will bypass the North Dakota Republican endorsing convention and go straight to the party primary in his quest for a U.S. House seat, Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer has thrown the party endorsing process into turmoil.
RELATED CONTENTOmdahl: Mythical holiday bargains
The credit card bills for our wild holiday spending have started arriving, and they attest to the fact that we did not get as many Black Friday bargains as we had thought.
RELATED CONTENTOmdahl: Census will cost the west
We just about held a statewide “Populationfest” when the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the state had an increase of 31,000 residents – a 4.7 percent – in 2010 over the 2000 count.
RELATED CONTENTOmdahl: Measure a recipe for chaos
Looking at the possible passage of a North Dakota constitutional amendment abolishing the property tax, legislators have already started considering methods for getting around the consequences of such precipitous action.
RELATED CONTENTOmdahl: Studies create problems
Two recent studies by the Council on State Taxation have raised serious doubts about North Dakota’s business climate and warrant the concern of the state Legislature and economic development leaders.
RELATED CONTENTOmdahl: Might be no future in future
Sometime around 1970, professor Ed Banfield wrote a book, “The Unheavenly City,” in which he described the “present-oriented” nature of lower-class people whose lifestyle was devoid of thoughts of the future.
RELATED CONTENTOmdahl: Ed board fails its mandate
Article VIII of the North Dakota Constitution grants sweeping powers to the Board of Higher Education for the management of the state’s colleges and universities. A number of recent events suggest, however, that the board may not be measuring up to its constitutional mandate.
RELATED CONTENTWho will pick up shortfall?
The North Dakota treasury may be brimming with windfall revenue, but financing the total repeal of all property taxes will be virtually impossible. Oil production may have a favorable prognosis, but agricultural prosperity will still depend on the whims of the federal government.
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