At a gubernatorial nomination debate in Rugby last week candidates Doug Burgum and Rick Becker hit Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem (who didn’t attend, shame on him) over an amicus brief he filed opposing an anti-Obamacare lawsuit. They’re talking about the King vs. Burwell case, and the candidates probably know about the issue because I wrote about…
More Government Subsidies For Suddenly Anti-Big Government Burgum
Over the last week there have been three debates among the NDGOP’s gubernatorial candidates (front runner Wayne Stenehjem attended only one, unfortunately, which is worthy of criticism). At those debates Fargo businessman Doug Burgum made a remarkable shift in his posturing as a candidate. Suddenly eschewing the dressed-down, jeans-and-sweatshirts look he’s known for in favor…
Michael Filloon: Things Are Anything But Fine In North Dakota
Chris Berg had an excellent question on 6:30 Point of View’s ND Governor’s Candidate Forum. The question was quite simple, and covered North Dakota’s 2016 budgetary issues. Is ND just fine? This question revolves around our current budget gap created by gross miscalculations forecasting the price of oil. To answer this question, we must look…
The Big Winner In North Dakota's Gubernatorial Race Will Be The Advertising Industry
“A poll commissioned by North Dakota United—the combined teacher and public worker unions—was released last week and showed us who the real winner in the North Dakota GOP’s hotly contested gubernatorial race will be,” I write in my Sunday column this week. The answer, of course, is the advertising industry. Because the poll I’m talking…
John Andrist: The Party Is Hardly Over Over For Republicans
Perry Schumacher is right about what has been happening to the Republican party (Re: Rebel and tea party takeover) but lacks some understanding of history. I still remember questioning a wise old New York Times publisher (back when the Times was the greatest newspaper in the land) whether he saw a time coming when Conservatives…
Matt Evans: What Is A Republican?
At the national level, Donald Trump is presenting the “little r” republicans with an identity crisis. Is he Republican? Is he Republican enough? Who decides? What does it mean to be a Republican? What does it mean to be conservative? How are they they related? I recently had a conversation about what it means to…
NDGOP Debate: Does Doug Burgum Believe What He Says About Government Handouts?
I was told that video from last night’s NDGOP-sponsored debate among the Republican gubernatorial candidates would be online today, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere. When or if I do I’ll update this post with it for those of you who missed it. It is worth watching. I feel like as this race…
Perry Schumacher: The Party Is Over For Establishment Republicans
This letter is to you, you, and you; and the rest of you. You know who you are. You are the district chairs, co-chairs, legislators, and governors who think you are so important to the Republican Party. You remember the days when you would get 8 people to show up to a district meeting, select…
It's Just A Steady Stream Of Bad News For North Dakota Democrats
It seems state Senator George Sinner may not be running for re-election in District 46. This after confirming, again, that he’s on the long, long list of Democrats deciding not to run for governor. This just two years after Sinner – son of former Governor George A. Sinner – was on the statewide ballot for Democrats…
Social Media Justice Reveals Something Ugly About Our Society
Back in July there was an incident in Fargo where a man taking photographs in Island Park, near the pool, was himself photographed by someone who thought he was maybe a pervert. That person uploaded pictures of the photographer to Facebook where they quickly went viral. The photos got thousands of shares and hundreds of comments…