The world of North Dakota politics, in the current moment, is one in which Republicans can't get along, and Democrats can't win. A faction of the North Dakota Republican Party, deeply aligned with former President Donald Trump, has launched a largely unsuccessful campaign to take over the state party. Yet though they've fallen short, their actions at local district meetings, including censuring sitting Republican lawmakers, have roiled the NDGOP. Meanwhile, the North Dakota Democratic-NPL has ch...
May 12, 2021•52 min
Should the State of North Dakota invest Legacy Fund dollars in a theme park venture in Jamestown? The proponents of the Buffalo City Park want the State Investment Board to approve a $60 million investment for the proposal. Lt. Governor Brent Sanford chairs the State Investment Board, and he joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss the amusement park proposal as well as new legislation directing more Legacy Fund investments into North Dakota projects and startups.
May 11, 2021•46 min
Rob and Jay talk about the impact of expanded unemployment benefits on our economy. People aren't going back to work, and why would they when they can make the equivalent of $15.00 per hour staying at home?
May 10, 2021•24 min
Is recreational marijuana inevitable in North Dakota? The Biden administration announced a loan forgiveness program for farmers, but not white farmers. Is that fair? A Wahpeton school teacher has been suspended after a classroom discussion about George Floyd and the Derek Chauvin trial outraged students (or, perhaps more accurately, their parents). Rob Port and Jay Thomas, talk radio host for WDAY AM970 in Fargo, discuss these topics and others.
May 10, 2021•40 min
Rail shipments are hugely important to North Dakota's economy. Framers and ranchers depend on the railroad infrastructure to bring their crops and livestock to market. The state's manufacturers receive shipments of raw materials, and send out finished products, by rail. The energy industry, too, depends on rail. The fraught political debate over pipeline infrastructure has often squeezed the capacity available for North Dakota's oil fields. Rail is a flexible, if not optimal, way to get petroleu...
May 07, 2021•27 min
A Fargo/Moorhead mosque was vandalized with racial slurs and Nazi imagery recently. That and other incidents have led for some to call for new hate crime policies in North Dakota. Fargo City Commissioner Arlette Preston is calling for a new ordinance. The editorial board of the Fargo Forum has also called for new statewide policies. But do these policies work? Do they actually deter hate crimes? Wess Philome, an activist with OneFargo and the Black Lives Matter movement, wants new policies enact...
May 06, 2021•1 hr
Ed Schafer helped usher in the current era of Republican dominance in North Dakota when he was elected Governor back in the early 1990s. How does he feel about the Trump era, and the strife and faction now dividing his party? We'll talk about it on this episode of Plain Talk Live. Also, the Governor weighs in on the just-completed legislative session, the battles between the legislative branch and the executive branch under current Governor Doug Burgum, as well as his thoughts on the way the Leg...
May 05, 2021•1 hr 12 min
Some Republicans in the U.S. House want Rep. Liz Cheney, the GOP's conference chair and the third-ranking Republican in the chamber, to go over her criticism of former President Donald Trump. Trump supporters are even attacking House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, pointing out his living arrangement with prominent consultant Frank Luntz. Is any work getting done in the House amid all this in-fighting? Can Republicans effectively rebut the Democrats' agenda when they're busying throwing pies at ...
May 04, 2021•48 min
Rob and Jay talk headlines including COVID-19 vaccines and what happened at the Legislature
May 03, 2021•22 min
Do vaccination selfies, or other types of posts people make on social media indicating they've received a COVID-19 vaccine, bother you? Some are irate about them. Some want them to stop. Rob and Jay Thomas, talk show host for WDAY AM970 in Fargo, talk about that and other headlines and issues heading into a new week.
May 03, 2021•38 min
The North Dakota Republican Party is, without question, the dominant political organization in the state. The Democrats hold no statewide offices. They haven't held a majority in either of the Legislature's chambers since the Clinton administration. They haven't held a statewide executive branch office since the dawn of the Obama administration. Starting in 2010, the Democrats began losing their control of the state's congressional delegation, culminating in former Senator Heidi Heitkamp losing ...
Apr 30, 2021•1 hr 1 min
The North Dakota Democratic-NPL has been out of power in North Dakota for about two generations. They haven't held the governorship since the early 1990s. They haven't held a statewide executive branch office since 2009, or a majority in either chamber in the Legislature since 1994. Until 2010, the state's entire congressional delegation were members of the Democratic-NPL, as of 2018 those seats are now all held by Republicans. The party holds just 7 seats in the state Senate, and only 14 in the...
Apr 29, 2021•46 min
President Joe Biden is set to deliver his first State of the Union address to a country that is still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic and deeply divided in just about every way a society can be divided. From environmental issues to infrastructure to immigration, can he map out a policy agenda that brings people together to solve real problems? Rob Port and University of North Dakota professor of political science Bo Wood discuss on this episode of Plain Talk Live. Also, North Dakota's legisla...
Apr 28, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Thanks to high-profile cases, including the death of George Floyd, Minnesota has become an epicenter in the political battle over the use of force by law enforcement. As a result, the state has created new use of force laws, and they're not sitting well with some in law enforcement. Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner, whose North Dakota jurisdiction bumps up against Minnesota's border, recently wrote a letter to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz asking him to exempt North Dakota cops from the new law so...
Apr 27, 2021•37 min
Rob and Jay talk about the end of the Legislative session, including the debate over a Buffalo-themed amusement park in Jamestown.
Apr 26, 2021•23 min
In March the State of North Dakota implemented a truly innovative bit of public policy. With some grant money from the AAA Foundation, Governor Doug Burgum's administration launched the Sober Ride program, which provided $10 vouchers for Lyft rides between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. The result? In March, some 800 presumably impaired drivers got rides home, and the total cost was just $8,000. Far less than taxpayers would have paid for one DUI checkpoint, or to put one DUI offender thro...
Apr 26, 2021•36 min
North Dakota's legislative session is ending, and that always means a flurry of bills getting signed into law, or occasionally vetoed, by the Governor. On this episode of Plain Talk Live, Governor Doug Burgum talks about the bills he's signed, and the bills he's yet to sign. Among the bills already signed is one protecting schools from lawsuits over 10 commandment displays and another providing health benefits for the family of fallen first responders. Burgum has also signed a "stand your ground...
Apr 22, 2021•28 min
Derek Chauvin is guilty, and that's some justice for George Floyd, but are debate over the role of law enforcement in our society is far from over. Can cops accused of inappropriate activity get a fair trial in this environment? What can we do about militant attitudes in the ranks of law enforcement? Rob and podcast entrepreneur Jonah Lantto from the Good Talk Network, a production company that currently produces several podcasts and a late-night show, discuss. Send comments and feedback to rpor...
Apr 21, 2021•57 min
#NorthDakota #FreeSpeech #HigherEducation Recently Governor Doug Burgum signed House Bill 1503 into law. It's aim? To protect free speech on North Dakota's campuses. At the national level, we've all heard many stories about students who, whether it's because of campus administration or harassment from other students, have difficulty expressing controversial points of view. Was that a problem in North Dakota? Was this bill necessary? Tyler Coward, an attorney for the Foundation for Individu...
Apr 20, 2021•27 min
Rob and Jay talk about COVID-19 vaccines, face masks, and more.
Apr 19, 2021•43 min
A new ballot measure campaign seeks to amend North Dakota's state constitution to make it harder to amend the constitution. Specifically, it would require a 60 percent supermajority for any constitutional amendment on the ballot to pass. It would also limit each proposed amendment to just one topic. Is this good reform? Or a power grab or, as the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead put it in an editorial , a "stunt" aimed at weakening the voices of voters? Rick Gion , head of North Dakota Voters First , a g...
Apr 19, 2021•28 min
The rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been paused across the nation. North Dakota is possessed of some of the highest rates of hesitance in the nation when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations in general. What does the pause mean for you? How do we persuade people who are skeptical of any of the vaccines? Molly Howell, the Immunization Program Manager at North Dakota Department of Health, joins Plain Talk Live at 2 p.m. central time to discuss these issues....
Apr 15, 2021•30 min
Chad Oban is a long-time activist in North Dakota politics. He served as the executive director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL and his wife, Erin Oban, is a state Senator from Bismarck. On this episode of Plain Talk Live, Rob and Chad will talk about the rise of the Bastiat Caucus in North Dakota, the fight over mask mandates, campaign finance transparency, and legislative pay. Plus, whatever else might come to mind!
Apr 14, 2021•1 hr 8 min
A group calling itself Protect North Dakota’s Constitution held a press conference today announcing a ballot measure campaign aimed at making changes to North Dakota's constitution a bit harder. Currently, outside of a greater number of signatures required on petitions for constitutional measures, it's as easy to amend the state constitution at the ballot box as it is to amend statute. This group wants that to change. "PNDC is proposing a constitutional measure proposed by the legislature or as ...
Apr 13, 2021•32 min
Is North Dakota about to give the coal industry a handout? That's what critics of pro-coal legislation in Bismarck are saying, but there's another side of the story. Power sources like wind and solar have enjoyed decades of political favoritism. From heavy production subsidies to outright mandate for their use, the market has been skewed in their favor, to the detriment of baseload power like coal and even nuclear. But recent power outages and utility bill spikes show that we may have gone too f...
Apr 12, 2021•44 min
Rob and Jay talk about the officer-involved shooting in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, and the resulting protests.
Apr 12, 2021•45 min
There is perhaps no political conflagration in America more intractable than our debate over border security and immigration. In the long run, we need policies that facilitate lawful immigration while giving no quarter to illegal entry into our country. In the here and now, we have a crisis at the southern border, with thousands upon thousands captured and detained while trying to make an illegal crossing, and thousands more successfully entering our country outside of our laws. North Dakota Con...
Apr 09, 2021•38 min
In Georgia, Major League Baseball reacted to the passage of election reform laws with a boycott. The sports league has moved its all-star game from Atlanta to Colorado. In North Dakota, a debate over legislation dealing with transgender athletes was dominated by rumors about what the NCAA might do to punish the state if it passed. Every day, much of America's political debate takes place in venues where corporate giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Google regulate the speech, either through direc...
Apr 07, 2021•1 hr 4 min
On this episode of Plain Talk, Rob talks with David Owen of Legalize ND about the future of legalizing recreational marijuana in North Dakota now that the Legislature has shot down legalization efforts.
Apr 06, 2021•30 min
Rob and Jay talk about the controversy around the Georgia voting laws.
Apr 05, 2021•42 min
