Since the collapse of the financial system last fall, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., has been more than willing to remind the American public about a speech he gave a decade ago, condemning the deregulation of the banking industry.

Dorgan was one of eight senators to vote against the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 - a bill he calls "shortsighted, greedy and downright ignorant" - that was supported by President Bill Clinton and both parties in Congress.

Dorgan gave a floor speech the day the bill passed against the legislation.

A decade later, the three-term senator is releasing his second book, which, at 268 pages, is a quick and often discouraging overview of tax abuse, fraud and downright stupidity on behalf of big business and the federal government.

"I wish I hadn't been right, but actions of the past decade prove how this legislation pulled the rug out from under the American economy," Dorgan writes in "Reckless! How Debt, Deregulation, and Dark Money Nearly Bankrupted America (And How We Can Fix It!)."

Starting at 2 p.m. today, Dorgan will be at the Bismarck Barnes and Noble, 565 S. Seventh St., to sign copies of his new book.

The majority of "Reckless!" focuses on the current economic downturn and the so-called "dark money" that got the country there in the first place. It's also an argument for government oversight and regulation of financial markets and war spending as well as a call for an overhaul of the many loopholes included in the federal tax system.

Dorgan, ever the populist, makes no hesitation to stick it to the big guys - the AIGs and Halliburtons of the world - throughout the book:

"Halliburton was charging the government for serving forty-two thousand meals a day to soldiers, but auditors said they were serving only fourteen thousand."

"I don't want taxes to be any higher than they have to be for corporations or citizens, but almost a third of our biggest, most profitable corporations paid no federal income tax between 2001 and 2003 ¦ these companies still received billions of dollars in tax rebates!"

Health care debate

As the debate over health care reform heats up in Washington, Bismarck and Mandan residents will have an opportunity to voice their concerns as well as learn how to contact their lawmakers.

The Center for Rural Affairs will host a health care forum in Mandan starting at 4 p.m. June 29. The forum also will include "leadership training," which will start at 5:30 p.m.

"Our current health care system is not working for rural America," said Steph Larsen, a spokeswoman for Center for Rural Affairs, in a Friday statement. "Without adequate, affordable health care, farms, ranches, and main street businesses struggle, rural economic development fails, and rural communities suffer."

The event will take place at the Mandan Community Center, 901 Division St., in the Poolside Room. To register, contact Larsen at 402-687-2100 or StephL@;cfra.org. For more information, visit www.cfra.org.

Staffer promoted

Jamie Morin, defense aide to Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Friday to become assistant secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management.

Morin's new position will require him to be the principal adviser to the Air Force secretary and chief of staff regarding the efficient use of financial resources.

(Reach reporter Brian Duggan at 223-8482 or brian.duggan@;bismarcktribune.com.)