Senator John Hoeven has come under fire from critics over the health care issue. Voters want to know where he stands. They want a chance to question him. After reading this letter to the editor calling on Hoeven to host a town hall to take questions about this issue I reached out to him and…
Tu Quoque
My Sunday print column – headline, “Agree with me or people will die” – was about the sign up above from a protest at Senator John Hoeven’s offices in Fargo last week. It was also about the left’s propensity for this sort of rhetoric of late. The sentiment on that sign is hardly an isolated…
The Government Shouldn’t Compete With Private Businesses for Profits
Garbage collection is a service that, for the most part, ought to be left to the private sector. In some communities it may make sense to have some sort of municipal garbage service. Maybe because there isn’t anyone in the private sector willing to provide it. In that situation, perhaps a government solution makes sense.…
Supreme Court Extends Their Blaine Amendment Ruling to Case Involving School Vouchers
Earlier this week I wrote about a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Blaine Amendment laws which prohibit the flow of public dollars to organizations with a religious affiliation. Think private schools affiliated with, say, a church. I noted that there might be implications in the law for school choice proposals. Here in North Dakota our…
NDSU President Dean Bresciani Finally Figured Out How to Keep His Mouth Shut
It wasn’t a surprise at all that, after a year of basically being put on probation, NDSU President Dean Bresciani got his contract renewed. He has been “chastened” one higher ed insider told me months ago. After years of fostering a belligerent relationship with state lawmakers and even his superiors in the university system, the…
The Head of the North Dakota College Democrats Needs Some Remedial Work on Vocabulary
Last week I wrote that Senator Heidi Heitkamp is the most disingenuous politician in North Dakota. That’s because she’s pretending as though she’s undecided about a 2018 run for the U.S. Senate even as she raised a massive (by North Dakota standards) $1.6 million for her re-election campaign already and then leaked favorable facts about…
Heidi Heitkamp Blasted in the New York Times for Being “Uninterested in Sexism and Misogyny”
Here in North Dakota junior Senator Heidi Heitkamp has made a really big deal about the issue of human trafficking. See this interview as evidence of her passion for the issue. Heitkamp’s concern is justified. Human trafficking is an awful thing worthy of scrutiny and action by policymakers. So it’s interesting, then, that during a…
The NRA Needs to Speak Out on Philando Castille
On Friday a jury acquitted law enforcement officer Jeronimo Yanez of manslaughter charges after he shot Philando Castile to death in Minnesota. After the verdict was made public so too was dashcam video of the shooting, which you can watch below. I’ll warn you that it’s quite graphic and harrowing to watch. It’s deeply troubling…
Legislature Opts to Sue Governor Doug Burgum Over Vetoes
A meeting of the Legislative Management Committee today voted to proceed with litigation against Governor Doug Burgum over vetoes issued earlier this year, though there will be more meetings and votes before anything gets filed. “We need to make a statement that the governor was out of bounds on this,” Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner…
Stenehjem Joins North Dakota to Group of 13 States Threatening to Sue California Over Coal Divestment Initiative
UPDATE: ND Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread has signed on to a similar effort opposing California’s push. You can read his press release here, and the letter here. In California, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has begun what he’s calling the Climate Risk Carbon Initiative. Arguing that because of climate change investments in fossil fuel energy production are…
