From the “what have you got to lose” department, long-shot Tax Commissioner candidate (and erstwhile chair of the North Dakota Democratic Party) Kylie Oversen has a new video ad out in which she uses video of incumbent Republican Ryan Rauschenberger’s DUI arrest to accuse him of lying. Oversen, who lost her legislative seat in the…
What Does the Kavanaugh Controversy Mean for North Dakota’s Senate Race?
What does the turmoil about the Kavanaugh confirmation mean for North Dakota’s Senate race? First, let’s get caught up. Christine Blasey Ford has alleged, publicly and on the record, a truly harrowing experience she had with Brett Kavanaugh in Maryland after both had been consuming alcohol. If it’s true Kavanaugh should not sit on the…
Despite All the Attack Ads Kevin Cramer’s Polling Lead Over Heidi Heitkamp Has Remained Steady for Months
Yesterday Congressman Kevin Cramer’s campaign got some good news in the form of a poll from Anderson Robbins Research (commissioned by Fox News) which showed him with a four percentage point lead over incumbent Senator Heidi Heitkamp. You can read the full polling memo here. It also shows Republican Kelly Armstrong leading Democrat Mac Schneider…
Podcast: Earl Pomeroy, Janne Myrdal, Mac Schneider
It was a busy day for guests on the radio show today. Former Congressman Earl Pomeroy joined me to talk about his on-going criticism of the lawsuit against Obamacare. Republican state Senator Janne Myrdal of District 10 joined me to talk about her difficulties in getting a meeting with Senator “work with anyone” Heitkamp. U.S.…
Reported Cost of Implementing Recreational Marijuana Measure Seems Inflated
Today the Legislative Management Committee in Bismarck is receiving a report on the fiscal impacts of the four measures on the statewide ballot. You can read the agenda for the meeting here. That PDF contains links to the reports on all of the measures. The report on Measure 3, to legalize recreational marijuana, is the…
Podcast: Remembering 9/11, Making the Tax Cuts Permanent, and Should Trump Go to Indian Country?
On the radio show today, we talked about the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Mattie Duppler, senior fellow from the National Taxpayer’s Union, joined me to talk about Republican efforts to make the Trump tax cuts permanent (and what the political implications might be for North Dakota). I also made the case for Trump…
Protesters disrupt a meeting of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday, September 11, 2018. Facebook
Angry Pipeline Protesters Use Threats and Shouting to Shut Down Regulatory Meeting on Line 3 Project
Today the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission was set to consider whether or not Enbridge had met certain conditions for regulatory approval of their Line 3 replacement project. Unfortunately the PUC never got to act one way or another because the meeting was shut down by crude, shouting, disruptive thugs who probably look pretty familiar, in…
You Never Forget
I remember, as a kid, my parents and other adults talking about the “Where were you when JFK was shot?” question. I never really grasped the import behind those conversations until September 11th, 2001, when my mother called the office where my father and I were working to tell us that something awful was happening…
This Blog Is 15 Years Old
On this day in 2003 a 23 year-old kid, having read about this hot new “web logs” trend, signed up for a Blogspot account. This was in the ancient days of the internet. Back before Facebook or Twitter. Back before YouTube or Netflix. Heck, MySpace was barely a thing. That kid was me, and I…
Heidi “Work With Anyone” Heitkamp Attacks Cramer for Agreeing With Her on Legislation
Senator Heidi Heitkamp’s latest attack ad targeting Congressman Kevin Cramer has to do with pension issues. In the ad, a truck driver named Al Thomas says Cramer “did practically nothing” to help fix distressed pensions for Teamsters and other workers. Heitkamp’s campaign has been echoing these attacks to the media as well, but in an…