Following President Trump’s public admission on ABC that he’d listen to foreign aid against his opponent in the next election, there is a renewed call for Congress to pass election integrity legislation currently in the U.S. Senate. The President’s position was met with a blunt response from the Chair of the Federal Elections Commission stating […]
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. Let’s start with a recent report showing the need for volunteer first responders in rural North Dakota. What are […]
Americans were relieved from another impending tax increase from tariffs on Mexican goods over the weekend. Congratulations are in order, I suppose. Last week, Republicans in Congress learned what can happen when they show independence from the White House when the President pushes forward with a bad idea. Make no mistake, the public pressure likely […]
Late Thursday night, President Trump tweeted his administration would be taking steps to impose tariffs on Mexico. The move, reportedly “hurried out the door” by White House aides creates a lot of questions on what comes next. For example, how does this impact implementation of the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA)? Better yet, does this latest tariff […]
With this week’s Associated Press reporting “North Dakota oil drillers are falling far short of the state’s goals to limit the burning of excess natural gas at well heads, five years after the state adopted the rules to reduce the wasteful and environmentally harmful practice” I’m once again raising calls to undertake a performance audit […]
It is a fair question. Have any of North Dakota’s federal delegation read the Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller report? Today during his first public comments since undertaking the investigation, Robert Mueller challenged people to read the report. A case could be made it is the duty of every member in Congress do the bare […]
The Trump administration rolled out a second round of farm subsidy to help farmers hurt by the trade war with China. The additional $16 billion subsidy brings the total aid from American taxpayers to $28 billion for agriculture. With the price tag increasing, the talk of “hysteria,” “pain thresholds,” and political attempts to downplay the […]
With another round of tariffs directly impacting agriculture and a second farm subsidy payment in the works, you’d think North Dakota’s lone Congressman would have a statement or a position on the matter and what they’re doing in Washington. After all, agriculture is the top industry in the state. Instead, North Dakota farmers have gotten […]
More people are beginning to wonder if the Trump administration has a plan when it comes to the trade dispute with China. It seems a series of tweets riddled with misleading claims and outright lies has only increased the uncertainty of American farmers at an important time in this year’s farming operations. It is frustrating […]
Signals were sent the morning of May 10th the Trump administration is looking to pursue more federal action to offset the negative impacts of their ongoing trade war. The President took to Twitter to talk about there being “no need to rush” trade talks with China. In his same statement, Trump said, “we will buy […]