Since the 2015 North Dakota Legislature cut the oil extraction tax rate from 6.5% to 5%, it has reduced potential revenue by approximately $570 million dollars. The figure was obtained from Legislative Council, the non-partisan council that works for the Legislature shows the impact dating from March of 2016 through July of 2018. This fact […]
A number of lobbyist organizations officially oppose Measure 1, the anti-corruption measure. If passed, it would create additional transparency on lobbying influence on elected officials among other changes. Some of the organizations come as no surprise. Other groups have reportedly declared opposition quietly and will tell their members to oppose it in November, but didn’t want […]
The attempted cleanup from last week’s tactless comments delivered by Kevin Cramer is struggling to achieve its goal. He has tried, unsuccessfully, to clarify what he meant when he diminished Dr. Ford’s accusation of Judge Kavanaugh as “absurd” on KNOX in Grand Forks. Instead, Cramer has deflected blame, accused media of mischaracterizing his words, and […]
Late Friday afternoon, word came down that U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland upheld North Dakota’s Corporate Farming Law. The decision comes a little over two years since the North Dakota Farm Bureau (NDFB) sued the State of North Dakota. The lawsuit came just days before voters took to the polls to decide whether or not […]
Kevin Cramer has finally released an ad this election cycle talking about accomplishments. It is something I have pushed his campaign to do for months. “Notice anything missing in those ads? Accomplishments….we’ve yet to hear what specifically he has accomplished in his six years in office.” I wrote back in July. It is now the second week […]
It appears some Legislators are attempting to have it both ways on farming policy in North Dakota. Paging through the North Dakota Farmers Union magazine while at Big Iron, I found their voter guide. Their question was simple, do you support the state’s anti-corporate farming law? A handful of respondents replied “yes” even though their […]
Today kicks off Big Iron the largest farm show in the upper-Midwest. For three days in West Fargo people involved with agriculture gather to talk about all things farm and ranch related. In the midterm election, agriculture has been propelled to the front of our political debate due to policy decisions in Washington. That is […]
Labor Day weekend is considered the unofficial start of the fall campaign. Candidates tend to kick into a higher gear as vacations come to a close and children are back in school. If you live in North Dakota you’ve been witness to an onslaught of advertising dating back months in the U.S. Senate race. We […]
Kelly Armstrong’s campaign released poll results to selected friendly outlets today. The poll, paid for by his campaign and conducted by Axis Research, shows he has passed 50% and leads his opponent Mac Schneider. The results may have been released today, but I’ve heard about this poll as it was being conducted. Participants felt compelled […]
Public polling is often difficult to come by in North Dakota politics. Yet, today housed on the front page of the Fargo Forum is a poll result on recreational marijuana. The poll was conducted by Odney Advertising. Why did Odney choose to make this public? Perhaps to deter people from getting out to vote. Who […]