Plain Talk

Rob and Jay talk  about re-opening schools during the pandemic.

Rob and Jay talk about the coronavirus and masks.

Rob and Jay talk about coronavirus, mask mandates, and employee bonuses for the state of North Dakota.

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 rest of the Wall, 500 plus miles." This portion of the wall was built by Fisher Industries, a North Dakota company that has also received contracts from the federal government to build hundreds of miles of southern border wall. "I don't know what got into the president," Senator Kevin Cramer said when asked about the situation on this episode of Plain Talk. "It's only mildly interesting to me, to be honest," Cramer added, noting that he hasn't spoken to the President or any White House staff about the situation. He did defend Fisher's wall construction, including the portion the president criticized. "I don't think he said anything about Fisher Industries specifically," Cramer said. "The President is nothing if not spontaneous," Cramer replied when asked if the tweet frustrated him. "I don't get frustrated. He also speaks in hyperbole. A lot of people don't understand that." Cramer also discussed the Pentagon's new policy about which flags can be displayed at military bases that excludes Confederate flags and the roller-coaster legal fight over the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Rob and Jay talk about re-opening North Dakota's schools amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Rob and Jay talk about mobs tearing down statues across the United States.

"He liked watching him on the shows." That's what Senator Kevin Cramer said on this episode of Plain Talk, responding to a question about why President Donald Trump would have hired John Bolton in the first place. Bolton is currently peddling some salacious stories about his tenure in the Trump administration, and that has earned him quite a bit of condemnation from Republicans, up to and including the President himself. But Bolton is hardly the first member of the Trump administration to depart under stormy circumstances, and while the President doesn't have anything nice to say about them, the fact remains that he hired them in the first place. Per Cramer, Bolton apparently got his job because he had a "bareknuckle" style during his cable news appearances. Cramer also addressed the NDGOP's Treasurer race, which saw state Rep. Thomas Beadle emerge as the winner over the Senator's preferred candidate Dan Johnston. Cramer helped orchestrate an endorsement for Johnston from Trump, but that wasn't enough to put him over the top. "I'm still glad I supported him," Cramer said of Johnston. Asked if Johnston's loss is an indication that  Trump has lost popularity in North Dakota, Cramer said "no, not at all." Would Cramer be open to making Juneteenth a national holiday? "I'm not ready to do that, but I'm open to the discussion," he said, adding that he'd like to review all major holidays to ensure that the calendar isn't getting too full of federally-recognized days.

Does North Dakota need a special session? House Minority Leader Josh Boschee, a Democratic lawmaker from Fargo, thinks so. He is one of a group of Democratic lawmakers who are requesting a special session to address the impacts of the coronavirus. One major issue Boschee would like handed is some $1.25 billion in federal funding North Dakota is receiving to help address the COVID-19 situation. As it stands now, the executive branch will decide how that money is spent, specifically, and the Legislature's Budget Section Committee will say "yea" or "nay" to the decision. That committee can't do anything more than that. If they do, it would be unconstitutional, since a mere committee of the Legislature cannot, on its own, legislate. Also, membership on that committee is limited. Many parts of the state have no representation on it. Boschee thinks the whole Legislature should get to weigh in on the issue, as well as other problems facing the state, such as looming budget shortfalls and public health policy.

Rob and Jay talk about another billionaire-backed initiated measure for North Dakota, though this one is being pitched under false pretenses.

Both North Dakota and the nation are grappling with the task of returning our society to some semblance of normal while still keeping in place appropriate measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic. On this episode of Plain Talk, Arik Spencer from the North Dakota Chamber of Commerce talks about some protections his organization feels business owners need to help them get back to employing their employees and serving the public. He noted that many businesses, like restaurants as one example, are afraid to re-open out of fear they'll be liable if an outbreak of coronavirus happens in one of their facilities. Similarly, businesses that shifted their work over to producing things needed during the pandemic - breweries, for instance, which started making hand sanitizer - are worried they could be sued if those products, which they don't typically produce, were faulty. "Can they be sued for trying to be a good Samaritan?" Spencer asked. What he'd like to see is legislation, preferably at the federal level but also at the state level if need be, which would protect businesses that acted in good faith from liability. Spencer says he's heard from some of his members in North Dakota that law firms are advertising looking for clients who feel they were impacted by coronavirus. A law making it clear that businesses which followed the government's guidelines are protected from liability would help our state, and the nation, get back to work. "Let's not inhibit them anymore. Let's get people back to work," Spencer said.