It is past time to correct the voting requirement for school building and renovations in North Dakota. Currently, the Legislature and Governor require school districts get 60% of eligible voter approval to build needed schools to address overcrowding. Their arbitrary threshold has created an unnecessary burden on many school districts dealing with enrollment growth. If […]
America is at a crossroads. Multiple forces driving our politics appear to be coming to a head in the 2020 general election. Social anxieties competing with economic concerns. Frustrations fueling populist backlash. Attacks on our democratic norms. What the hell is happening? When did it start? Jason Matthews is a Public Affairs Consultant, an adjunct […]
Tensions between the United States and China have increased yet again as the trade war continues. Recently, President Trump announced a 10% tariff on $300 billion in Chinese goods. American businesses and consumers will be paying the import tax. In response, China allowed their currency to weaken, but perhaps most damning is they also suspended […]
Robert Mueller’s highly anticipated testimony on July 24th included a warning about continued interference in our elections. From the evidence his team gathered he believed what Russia did in 2016 was one of the biggest threats to our democracy and they are continuing to attack us to this day. It should outrage every American. North […]
It appears Doug Burgum or those associated with him have been in the field polling North Dakota voters in July. Readers reached out to discuss what can simply be described as a “push poll” to build up the narrative Burgum successfully used in 2016. If we couple what was reported in the poll with a […]
North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer admits to Politico he has no idea what will happen to health care protections if the lawsuit he supports succeeds and the entire ACA is thrown out. North Dakota was added to the lawsuit in 2018 by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. Stenehjem was asked to add North Dakota to the […]
It seems more often people look at the news and ask, “what the hell is happening?” As a radio talk show host, I’ve fielded a lot of messages wondering how we got to this point in our politics. Is the anger and resentment new? Did this happen overnight? Will we – as Americans – come […]
The arrest of Jeffrey Epstein over the weekend has renewed the severe and warranted criticism of President Trump’s Labor Secretary Alex Acosta. Acosta was involved in a plea deal with Epstein – deemed illegal from a federal judge – for Epstein’s federal child sex trafficking crimes. New documents in a New York case against Epstein, “could […]
President Trump said he was under little pressure to get a trade deal done with China at the G20 Summit. Following his meeting with President Xi, Trump tweeted he is “in no hurry.” Meanwhile, national farm debt is expected to reach $427 billion this year. That is the worst since the 1980s farm crisis. Where is […]
There are a number of challenges facing rural North Dakota. Over a series of upcoming posts on ND xPlains, I’d like to highlight some of those challenges including what may help mitigate some of the issues. The closing of rural grocery stores has caught the attention of lawmakers. It is not only a food policy […]