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…
Saudi Attacks Should Make Us Thankful the Environmental Zealots Have Been (Mostly) Losing Their War on American Oil Development
Over the weekend the American news media was obsessed with another salacious (though ultimately not nearly so salacious as initially reported) story about the Trump administration. Largely overlooked in that furor were coordinated drone attacks on roughly half of Saudi Arabia’s crude oil production facilities. Though the Saudi national oil company, Aramco, acted quickly to…
Plain Talk: Rep. Armstrong Says He’d “Have a Difficult Time” Supporting a Ban on Flag Burning, Slave Reparations Are a “Non-Starter”
On this episode of Plain Talk, Congressman Kelly Armstrong says he hasn’t yet read the anti-flag burning constitutional amendment co-sponsored by Senator Kevin Cramer, but said he “would have a difficult time” supporting any ban on flag desecration. “At a personal level I think burning an American flag is abhorrent,” Armstrong said, but he also…
Iran’s Supreme Leader Sides With #NoDAPL Protesters
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe just got an ally in the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline that they may not necessarily want. Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Iran, has posted a message on his official website declaring solidarity with the #NoDAPL protesters. The Iranian government also included the above bit of image…
Hoeven: Iran Deal Heidi Heitkamp Voted For Is Hurting North Dakota
Here’s something North Dakota Republicans need to do more of: Talk about how Senator Heidi Heitkamp’s votes in Congress have hurt North Dakota. Senator John Hoeven kinda, sorta did that this last weekend when he delivered the GOP’s weekly address (watch it above). In it he pointed out that the Iran deal is hurting America’s…
Obama Puts Heidi Heitkamp Between A Rock And A Hard Place
Boy did President Obama hang Senator Heidi Heitkamp out to dry today. Earlier former North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer said he was surprised Heitkamp demurred from a 2016 run for governor, an office she clearly covets. But maybe that surprise isn’t warranted given the political position Heitkamp finds herself in. As I noted earlier today Heitkamp’s vote…
How Heidi Heitkamp Hurt North Dakota When She Voted For The Iran Deal
“Rig count in the Williston Basin had stabilized, but the drop in oil price associated with anticipation of lifting sanctions on Iran and a weaker economy in China is leading to further cuts,” the most recent oil and gas report from the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources states. So far the drop in oil…
Rod St. Aubyn: Is The Iran Deal The Next Obamacare For Democrats?
With the recent vote on the Iran Nuclear Accord I was reminded of the many similarities with ObamaCare. Time will tell whether other similarities come to reality. Public Support ObamaCare did not have the public’s support when it was presented to Congress for a vote. Even now after it has been fully implemented, it still…
Forget The Iran Vote, Can Heidi Heitkamp Explain Her Filibuster Hypocrisy?
Since casting a vote to defend President Barack Obama’s controversial deal with Iran Senator Heidi Heitkamp has been acknowledging the political ramifications. “It’s going to impact any campaign,” Heitkamp admitted to Bismarck Tribune reporter Nick Smith. “We’ve got to be able to defend those decisions.” But Heitkamp’s vote to support the Iran deal isn’t the…
If Only North Dakota Could Get A Deal Like Iran's
Yesterday, in a procedure that turns on its head the assignment of powers in the Constitution, Senate Democrats blocked a vote on disapproving President Barack Obama’s controversial deal with Iran. Per the Constitution the Senate is supposed to ratify such treaties (Article II, Section 2 states that the president can make treaties “provided two thirds…