Jay Thomas Show 11-09-20
Rob and Jay talk election results, Twitter bans, and District 8 controversy.
Nov 09, 2020•39 min
Plain Talk
Plain Talk is a podcast hosted by Rob Port and Chad Oban focusing on political news and current events in North Dakota. Port is a columnist for the Forum News Service published in papers including the Fargo Forum, Grand Forks Herald, Jamestown Sun, and the Dickinson Press. Oban is a long-time political consultant.
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Episodes
188: "I don't blame President Trump for his level of frustration"
As the votes continue to be counted, President Donald Trump, which no real evidence, is making accusations of a fraudulent election. How does North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer, a staunch Trump supporter, feel about it? "I don't think it helps him," Cramer said on this episode of Plain Talk. "Do I condone everything President Trump says? No," Cramer also said. But he also said he understands the President's feelings. "I don't blame President Trump for his level of frustration," Cramer said citing...
Nov 06, 2020•53 min
Jay Thomas Show 11-02-20
Who will win the election? Rob and Jay discus.
Nov 02, 2020•24 min
187: Former Governor Ed Schafer talks about Measure 2
Former North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer does not support Measure 2. He does not believe the Legislature should get a chance to overturn a ballot-box vote to enact a constitutional amendment. Measure 2 would amend the state constitution to make it so that constitutional measures approved at the ballot box would also have to be approved by both houses of the Legislature. If one or both houses voted against the amendment, it would go back to a second statewide balloting allowing voters to overturn ...
Oct 23, 2020•32 min
186: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Shelley Lenz
"Trump has brought the rural voice back into play," Shelley Lenz told me on this episode of Plain Talk. Lenz is the Democratic-NPL candidate for governor, challenging Republican incumbent Doug Burgum, and while she clearly doesn't like Trump overall, she is critical of her own party for not paying enough attention to the priorities of rural Americans. "Urban Democrats are misinformed," she told me. Much of our conversation, as you might expect, focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and Burgum's respo...
Oct 20, 2020•53 min
Jay Thomas Show 10-19-20
Is it even worth debating a mask mandate anymore? Rob and Jay discuss.
Oct 19, 2020•26 min
185: "She thinks that she...has it in the bag."
This episode of Plain Talk was intended to be a conversation with both of North Dakota's candidates for Superintendent. Sadly, the incumbent, Kirsten Baesler, opted not to participate, claiming she didn't have enough time to make it work, though she did offer me a one-on-one interview later in the week. Go figure. The challenger, Brandt Dick, did offer his time, and our conversation covered everything from why Baesler shouldn't get another term to test scores for North Dakota students to school ...
Oct 13, 2020•55 min
Jay Thomas Show 10-05-20
Rob and Jay talk about President Trump and the coronavirus, masking, and Measure 1 and 2 on the November ballot.
Oct 05, 2020•40 min
184: An idea to invest the Legacy Fund in North Dakota
What are we going to do with the Legacy Fund? There are a lot of things, and they generally fall into two broad categories. One is how the fund is invested, the other is what we do with the returns. Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread, who serves, as a part of his official duties, on the State Investment Board which oversees the investments of the Legacy Fund, has an idea for the latter of those categories. Currently, the Legacy Fund has approximately $7 billion, and almost all of those dollars ...
Sep 30, 2020•34 min
183: Debating Measure 2
Measure 2 is a constitutional amendment, put on the November ballot by the Legislature, which would change the initiated measure process for constitutional measures. Activists would still collect and file signatures the same way, but if a measure amending the constitution is passed by voters, it wouldn't immediately be enacted. It would first go to the Legislature for an up-or-down vote. If the Legislature approves, then the measure is enacted. If the Legislature votes it down, the measure autom...
Sep 29, 2020•53 min
Jay Thomas Show 09-28-20
Rob and Jay talk about Rep. Rick Becker wanting to be North Dakota's new state health officer, and the upcoming presidential debate.
Sep 28, 2020•27 min
182: Senator Kevin Cramer
Cramer talks Supreme Court and other topics during his regular appearance on the podcast.
Sep 28, 2020•42 min
181: Burgum walks back quarantine order
"I have to own the miscue," Governor Doug Burgum said on this episode of Plain Talk. He was referring to a quarantine order issued by his administration earlier this week which carried with it a misdemeanor criminal charge for anyone who violated it. The order applied to people who came into close contact with someone positive for COVID-19. Burgum said interim State Health Officer Dr. Paul Mariani noticed, upon taking his new position, that in the area of quarantines North Dakota wasn't in compl...
Sep 25, 2020•23 min
180: Two rural Democratic legislative candidates talk about campaigning
Jodi Meisch and Will Thompson are two Democrats in North Dakota's 22nd legislative district. They are hoping to unseat to Republican incumbents, Rep. Brandy Pyle and Rep. Michael Howe. On this episode of Plain Talk, they talk about the issues that are important to them, both big and small. We also delve into the complicated policy problems presented by property taxes and local control, as well as the difficulties inherent to campaigning as a Democrat in a state, and legislative district, that ha...
Sep 23, 2020•58 min
Guest Hosting: Jay Thomas Show 09-21-20
Democratic-NPL gubernatorial candidate Shelley Lenz takes questions and talks about her campaign. Also state Rep. Scott Louser (R-Minot) makes the pitch for Measure 2.
Sep 21, 2020•1 hr 54 min
Jay Thomas Show 09-14-20
Rob and Jay talk about some recent fire at a Minot City Council meeting, and controversy over a Native American statue in Carrington.
Sep 14, 2020•41 min
Jay Thomas Show 09-08-20
Rob and Jay talk about a report connecting some 250,000 cases of coronavirus to the Sturgis motorcycle rally in South Dakota.
Sep 08, 2020•40 min
179: Sec. of Energy Dan Brouillette
North Dakota has come "dangerously close" to not having the power it needs. That's what Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said on this episode of Plain Talk. He said that political policies favoring energy sources like wind and solar are "distorting the economic viability" of baseload energy like coal. Secretary Brouillette said he wasn't going to criticize a company like Great River Energy, which announced earlier this year that they would be closing down North Dakota's largest coal-fired pow...
Sep 01, 2020•18 min
Jay Thomas Show: Measure 3 Is Off The Ballot
Jay and Rob talk about the North Dakota Supreme Court kicking Measure 3 off the ballot.
Aug 25, 2020•14 min
178: CDC Director Robert Redfield
On this episode of Plain Talk Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control in Georgia, talks about the COVID-19 impact and how America, generally, and North Dakota, specifically, is handling it. One point Redfield made is that elected officials need to avoid making sweeping policies, instead tailoring responses to the needs of specific areas. "We need to be more surgical," Redfield said, echoing something Governor Doug Burgum has been saying about responding to the pandem...
Aug 25, 2020•20 min
Jay Thomas Show 08-24-20
Jay and Rob talk about the Trump vs. Biden race, and the group calling itself North Dakota Voters First which is pushing Measure 3.
Aug 24, 2020•41 min
177: North Dakota U.S.House Debate
Incumbent Congressman Kelly Armstrong, a Republican, debates Democratic challenger Zach Raknerud on issues ranging from marijuana to criminal justice reform to energy development and the postal service.
Aug 18, 2020•1 hr 15 min
Jay Thomas Show 08-17-20
Rob and Jay talk about the election and mail-in voting.
Aug 17, 2020•22 min
Jay Thomas Show 08-10-20
Rob and Jay talk about North Dakota's cap on state liability, President Donald Trump's attempted suspension of payroll taxes, and coronavirus news.
Aug 10, 2020•38 min
Jay Thomas Show 08-03-20
Rob and Jay talk about re-opening schools during the pandemic.
Aug 03, 2020•52 min
Jay Thomas Show 07-27-20
Rob and Jay talk about the coronavirus and masks.
Jul 27, 2020•43 min
Jay Thomas Show 07-20-20
Rob and Jay talk about coronavirus, mask mandates, and employee bonuses for the state of North Dakota.
Jul 20, 2020•37 min
176: "I don't know what got into him" Senator Kevin Cramer says of Trump tweet about border wall
In a recent tweet , President Donald Trump criticized a portion of wall built along the American southern border by a private group of his supporters. "I disagreed with doing this very small (tiny) section of the wall, in a tricky area, by a private group which raised money by ads," Trump wrote, responding to media reports claiming this section of the wall is facing problems from erosion. "It was only done to make me look bad, and perhaps it now doesn't even work. Should have been built like the...
Jul 17, 2020•45 min
Jay Thomas Show 07-13-20
Rob and Jay talk about re-opening North Dakota's schools amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Jul 13, 2020•39 min
Jay Thomas Show 06-22-20
Rob and Jay talk about mobs tearing down statues across the United States.
Jun 22, 2020•51 min
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