Josh Swanson Josh Swanson a.k.a. “Swanny” joined me at Bar 9 in West Fargo for the return of Happy Hour in the Heartland. Swanson is an Attorney at Vogel Law Firm where he focuses on energy and natural resource law, business law, property law and land use. He has been at the practice since 2011 and […]
Did I miss something? When did it become frowned upon for a member of a political party to say simply being the party of “No!” wasn’t their job? Why is it surprising for someone in elected office to want to find common ground and get work done when possible, and push back when there is […]
Last week I asked if North Dakota was in a position to pay more for Medicaid Expansion. Under the Republican repeal and replacement of Obamacare – which was enthusiastically supported by Rep. Kevin Cramer – that is exactly what would be expected of our state. A new projection by Republican U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy states North […]
Last Friday, Lauren Donovan of the Bismarck Tribune published an article stating 38,700 emails had been deleted by the Department of Mineral Resource’s Oil and Gas Division but later recovered after an open records request. Those who instigated the request suggest the deletion of these emails was at the directive of Lynn Helms, the Director […]
Is North Dakota in a position to take on more of Medicaid’s funding? That is an important question to consider while Congress debates health care reform. Under the rushed plan passed by the House of Representatives, Medicaid would be shifted to a new funding formula. Reports suggest the new formula would limit federal expenditures and […]
I’ve had a number of readers reach out to me with the same basic question. Now that the North Dakota Legislative Session is over, what’s next for ND xPlains? Rather than answer each individually, I decided to go this route and lay out my intentions for this platform and what you can expect in the […]
It is past time to remove partisan politics from investigations involving Russia and last year’s election. We’ve called on that for months on our Facebook page. The questionable timing of FBI Director James Comey’s firing now demands it. The unexpected removal has seen push back of all kinds. Some demanding truth. Others more partisan in […]
With his vote for Trumpcare, hereon known as CramerCare, Congressman Kevin Cramer voted to make healthcare more expensive for millions of veterans in America. One of the provisions in CramerCare was to prohibit veterans who are eligible for Veterans Affairs (VA) health care from receiving tax credits to help them afford insurance in the private market. […]
The political debate surrounding the Republican decision to cut the oil extraction tax in 2015 continues over two years later. Rightly so, because this rushed change to North Dakota’s oil tax collections is having profound long-term impacts on our state budget. Moreover, the Republican decision to cut the oil extraction tax was passed and implemented […]
North Dakota’s lone Congressman Kevin Cramer voted for the rushed, unknown, non-analyzed Republican plan to replace Obamacare today. The bill had zero committee hearings and no scoring from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The public couldn’t even see the text of the bill the day before 217 Congressional Republicans cheered its narrow passage. I’m […]