Berg appointed to Ways and Means Committee

[RC]

WASHINGTON – North Dakota Rep.-elect Rick Berg will serve on the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee when he joins Congress in January, the Washington, D.C., publication The Hill reported Thursday.
It’s the first committee assignment known for Berg, the Fargo Republican who ousted longtime Democratic incumbent Earl Pomeroy in November.
Pomeroy currently sits on the Ways and Means Committee and serves as chairman of its Social Security subcommittee.
The Hill reported Berg is among only two freshmen GOP members appointed to the elite panel.
The House Republican Steering Committee met all day to decide which Republicans would sit on such “A-list committees,” the publication reported.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/301247/group/News/

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This is not good at all. Rick Berg is the Borg. We need to keep an eye on this guy, he is dangerous.

His ND state legisator voting record.
http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=7693

Berg has avoided detailed discussions of issues and ignored appeals from Pomeroy for debates. Berg drew wide ridicule for a proposal to bolster the Social Security trust fund with income earned by drilling for oil beneath the nation's national parks, including Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota's oil patch.
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Berg is a partner in a Fargo property development and management firm, and his voting record is decidedly pro-business. He has backed corporate and individual income tax cuts and supported exempting clothing sales from North Dakota's 5 percent sales tax.
>snip<
Democrats have highlighted aspects of Berg's voting record that they believe show him to be a reliable water-carrier for corporate interests. Four years ago, during a time of rapidly rising oil prices, Berg proposed cutting North Dakota's taxes on new oil production.

Berg also supported legislation that exempted banks from having to ask their customers permission to share their personal information with other businesses; after the Legislature approved the measure, it was referred to a statewide vote and repealed, with more than 70 percent of the voters rejecting the legislation.

State spending, helped by surplus oil tax collections, rose rapidly during Berg's tenure as state House majority leader.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/external/pre-election/bios/56129.html?SITE=NPRELN&SECTION=PREELECTION&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT