This guest post was submitted by Fargo attorney Mark Western Today, the internet is gripped by the hysteria of knowing that the Prime Minister of Canada wore a black-faced costume in 2001, and also appeared blackfaced at some point in the 1990s. As a matter of war and peace, this is not. But it is…
Plain Talk: Senator Cramer Says Obama’s Iran Deal Partly to Blame for Attacks on Saudi Oil Facilities
On this episode of Plain Talk, Senator Kevin Cramer and I discussed the recent attacks on Saudi oil facilities. Iranian equipment was used in the attacks, but the country is denying involvement. Cramer, who said he’s “read the classified CIA brief on the evidence,” said it’s his “sense” Iran was behind the attacks. “Any deniability…
Print Column: If Democrats Want to Re-Elect Trump, They Should Impeach Kavanaugh
MINOT, N.D. — I’m not a very demonstrative person. Still, I laughed right out loud when I read the excuse House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) had for not pursuing the impeachment against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. I scared my dog, Molly, even. “We have our hands full with impeaching the president right…
Print Column: North Dakota’s New Ethics Regulations May Make Politics Less Transparent
MINOT, N.D. — Recently, a couple of dozen North Dakota lawmakers took a trip to Nashville which cost taxpayers nearly $90,000. The occasion was a summit put on by the National Conference of State Legislatures, an organization our state legislature belongs to (annual dues were $129,770 this year). The trip itself is not exactly news. These…
Print Column: We Overestimate the Government’s Ability to Solve Problems
MINOT, N.D. — Going by the promises currently being made by candidates for U.S. president, you’d think our federal government was an omnipotent machine, and politics merely the apparatus through which we aim it at problems. There seems to be no upper limit on what national candidates will promise they can accomplish. “Bernie Sanders promises…
Guest Post: Thank You to North Dakota Lawmakers for Supporting Music Education
This guest post was submitted by Sara Baumann, President; Mark Herold, President-Elect; Brian Saylor, Immediate Past-President; and Lindsey Tafelmeyer, Executive Director of the North Dakota Music Educators Association North Dakota values music education. This past session, the legislature doubled down on its commitment to the importance of music in our public schools by investing $800,000,…
Guest Post: Drug Importation Is Not the Solution for High Drug Prices
This guest post was submitted by state Rep. Karen Rohr (R-Mandan) and Rep. Lisa Meier (R-Bismarck). As prescription drugs become an ever more important aspect of modern medicine, leaders of all political stripes are increasingly concerned about the out-of-pocket cost of prescription drugs, especially for seniors. Some of these suggestions, like passing most of the…
Print Column: Life Is Worth Living
MINOT, N.D. — By the time I graduated from high school, my class had seen multiple suicides, including one of my friends. This summer we celebrated our 20-year reunion. The happiness of the occasion was tempered by a sad accounting of the half dozen or so suicides – some only suspected – among our classmates…
Print Column: Wouldn’t It Be Nice if Collegiate Sports Didn’t Increase the Cost of Higher Education?
MINOT, N.D. — One time, years ago, fans at North Dakota State University football games took to taping pictures of me in the portable toilets outside the Fargodome. They were “Port”-a-potties. Get it? I laughed. The sometimes juvenile opprobrium of sports fans is what my criticism of collegiate athletics has earned me over the years.…
Senator Kevin Cramer speaks with Customs and Border Patrol agents during a recent visit to El Paso, Texas. Facebook
Plain Talk: Senator Cramer Says He Could “Easily See” President Trump Saying He’d Pardon Crimes to Build the Border Wall
A recent report from the Washington Post claims, based on unnamed sources, that President Donald Trump has said he would pardon crimes in order to help build a border wall between the United States and Mexico. Asked if this report bothers him, Senator Kevin Cramer said, “It does if I believe it.” But Cramer, alluding…