The Obama administration insists, even after years of delays, that the decision to approve the Keystone XL pipeline – desperately needed energy infrastructure for the upper midwest – isn’t political. But it is says former Obama Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who said “the decision on whether the construction should happen was a political one and…
CBO Chief: Cost Of Obamacare Will Be Born By Workers In The Form Of Lower Wages
Yesterday the CBO produced a report indicating that Obamacare would cost an equivalent of 2.3 million jobs by 2021. The Obama administration very quickly spun that number, claiming that it meant 2.3 million would be freed of having to work all those hours. Because a nation with $17 trillion in national debt to pay off,…
Government Protectionism Kills North Dakota Pipeline Projects
I thought this story from Forum Communications reporter Amy Dalrymple puts oil export issue in a stark light. Oil industry leaders – among them Harold Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources, in the interview above – have been calling for an end to federal restrictions on crude oil exports. Hamm argues that while the ban is…
Reservation Death Blamed On Propane Shortage, North Dakota Democrats Blame Republicans
In a heartbreaking story from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, a woman was found frozen to death in her trailer home that was heated by propane. Her tanks were empty, and according to the Associated Press “officials” are blaming it on the propane shortage: FORT YATES, N.D. — Authorities are tying the death of a…
North Dakota Job Openings Decline, But There's Still A Worker Shortage
North Dakota jobs are still plentiful, but there aren’t quite as many as before and growth seems to have plateaued. The state Job Service department issued their Online Jobs Opening Report for January of 2014, and the numbers are pretty interesting. They don’t represent the state’s entire job market, just “online job openings and resumés…
Jerry Seinfeld Attacked For Not Caring About Race
Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels recently told an interviewer that Democrats have no sense of humor. The imbroglio over Jerry Seinfeld’s choice of comedians to appear on his (really cool) show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee proves his point, I think. Seinfeld was asked about why his show has mostly white dudes on it. “People think…
Doug Leier Column: Break Your Fishing Routine
Like a lot of people, I’m often guilty of following a routine. That’s particularly true when it comes to choosing fishing spots. Year after year I can fish the same lakes, recall past visits, and assess the current state – whether the water is up or down, or whether there are more or fewer people…
Audio: Former Ag Department Employee Says Goehring Created A "Hostile Work Environment"
Earlier today SAB broke the news about complaints from Ag Department employees against Commissioner Doug Goehring concerning his professional behavior around women. This afternoon I spoke with Katie Pinke, a former employee at the Ag Department who talked about her experiences there. She says it was more than that one incident, and claims that several employees…
Let's Build The Keystone Pipeline Already Says…Ed Schultz?
This isn’t as bizarre as you’d think. Unions are very much interested in the jobs the Keystone pipeline project would create (despite President Obama poo-pooing the numbers), and Ed Schultz is very much a union mouthpiece. Still, it’s bizarre to hear a pro-Keystone voice on MSNBC. Schultz’s argument? Pragmatism and safety: Based on safety I…
CBO: Obamacare Will Eliminate 2.3 Million Jobs By 2021
The CBO has updated its projections for Obamacare’s impact on the economy, and it’s not pretty. By 2021 the CBO is projecting that Obamacare will have cost America the equivalent of 2.3 million jobs. That’s up from the CBO’s previous estimate of about 800,000. Just to put that number into perspective, 2.3 million jobs lost…