Plain Talk

In 1977, Jimmy Carter was taking over the White House. Art Link was governor of North Dakota. "You Light Up My Life" by Debbie Boon was at the top of the charts, and movies like "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," and "Smokey and the Bandit" were drawing audiences to theaters. Also, Sen. Ray Holmberg also took his seat in North Dakota's legislature for the first time. Now, 46 years later, this constant in our state's politics is calling it a career. On this episode of Plain Talk, he reflects on his proudest accomplishment (promoting the UAV industry in his hometown of Grand Forks), his favorite governor (Jack Dalrymple), and the biggest challenges facing North Dakota in the future, including the growing acrimony in the NDGOP, its dominant political party, and the uncertainty of the oil, gas, and coal industries. About the rancor in the NDGOP, Holmberg said many voters are turned off by local meetings where attendees "listen to people scream 'point of order, point of order, point of order' for an hour." He said he expects incumbent Senator John Hoeven to win on the June ballot, but that the Donald Trump-aligned wing of the party is "very skilled" at organizing for the convention process, and more moderate Republicans need to get better at it. What's changed from the beginning of his almost five decades in the legislature to the end? Holmberg says more people than ever are engaged in a process that's also more open and accessible than before. When he started, he said the only way most North Dakotans could reach their lawmakers during the session, other than traveling to Bismarck, was by sending a letter or calling a toll-free telephone number and leaving them a message. Now the public can watch floor sessions and committee hearings and email or even text their lawmakers in real-time. Something that's both good and bad, Holmberg says. Want to know when new episodes of Plain Talk publish? Consider subscribing on your favorite podcast app. Want to support Plain Talk? Get a subscription for all of the great Forum Communications content for a low introductory rate of just $0.99 per month: https://inforum.news/port

How do you report the news, and in particular political news, fairly and faithfully in an environment where so many people can find sources on social media and talk radio and cable news who are willing to tell them only what they want to hear? Matthew von Pinnon, the editor of the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, talks about that on this issue of Plain Talk. He says the bias many imagine, where newspaper editors and publishers sit around a table in a smoky room to decide what the news will be, simply doesn't happen. Von Pinnon also weighs in on North Dakota's interesting 2022 election cycle, including the in-fighting in the North Dakota Republican Party, and why the Democratic-NPL can't seem to find the energy to take advantage. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting platform: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Want to support Plain Talk and other great news and opinion content? Consider subscribing for a low introductory rate of just $0.99 per month: https://inforum.news/port

The North Dakota Republican Party has had a dominant, three-decades-long run in state politics, but former Governor Ed Schafer, whose election in 1992 was the dawn of that era of success, says the sunset could be upon us. It doesn't have to be, he said on this episode of Plain Talk. Things can still be corrected. But the path the party is on right now isn't one that leads to sustained success, he argues. That was part of the reason why he endorsed incumbent U.S. Senator John Hoeven. "A lot of it was the nastiness," he said. Hoeven is facing a challenge for the NDGOP nomination from state Rep. Rick Becker, who has burnished appeal to a very Trumpy, very online faction of Republicans who have no problem being confrontational, disruptive, and often just plain mean. "It's distributing to me," Schafer said. He's worried that if Becker's approach to politics becomes the norm in the NDGOP, North Dakota voters will lose faith in a party whose candidates they've been consistently voting for over generations.

The officials overseeing North Dakota's investments are acting quickly to divest from investments in Russia in the wake of the terrible invasion of Ukraine. Already about 37 percent of the investments overseen by the State Investment Board have been pulled. It will take some time to pull the rest out - the investments are complicated, and officials are trying to limit the financial hit North Dakotans will take - but there's a plan in place to make it happen. But should our strategy about investing in countries with not-so-great political leadership change going forward? "I think it has to," Thomas Beadle said on this episode of Plain Talk. Beadle was elected as North Dakota's Treasurer last year, and by law is a member of the SIB. He said officials at the SIB, as well as other state boards, such as the Land Board, which oversees the investment of North Dakota's funds, are having a debate about that shift in policy now. But it can be complicated. Investing in state-owned companies is one thing, but what about American companies that do businesses in places like China or Russia? Also, is there danger in setting a precedent for reactionary investing? Do we want to open the door to pulling investments in companies based in other states because North Dakotans don't like the politics there? Beadle says we have to find a balance, and state investment officials are working to find out what looks like. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting platform: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Support Plain Talk with a subscription to the Forum Communications network of publications for an introductory rate of just $0.99 per month: https://inforum.news/port

Is U.S. Senator John Hoeven too wealthy to be in touch with North Dakota voters? Katrina Christiansen, a candidate for the Democratic-NPL's endorsement in North Dakota's Senate race, made that argument on this episode of Plain Talk. Joining Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I, Christiansen said Hoeven is too busy living up to Republican talking points from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to focus on North Dakota's values. On this episode Oban and I also talk about the theatrics at President Joe Biden's State of the Union address. Is it a good thing for members of Congress to heckle the President of the United States? No, it's not. Is it a savvy move for a politician who wants to get attention and raise money? Yes, sadly, it is. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting platform: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Support the podcast and get access to a lot of great content by subscribing to the Fargo Forum at an introductory price of just $0.99 per month: https://inforum.news/port/

If there is any lesson to be learned from the last few years of tumultuous international politics, and the crippling pandemic, it's that we need our supply lines to get shorter. For a long time, Americans have been content to see industry, from value-added agriculture to mining and manufacturing - move out of sight and out of mind. It's clear that we need to bring that stuff back to the United States. That's not always as easy as it seems. There is a local political fight in Cass County over a soybean crushing facility. It's exactly the sort of project we need built in America, and in North Dakota, which grows some of the best soybeans in the world, but some critics, adopting a not-in-my-back-yard attitude, don't want it. Rep. Jared Hagrit, a Republican from District 20, a soybean grower himself, and a past chairman of the United States Soybean Board, joined this episode of Plain Talk to talk about the Casselton project and why it's important.

In an development I wouldn't have predicted a year ago, popular incumbent Senator John Hoeven, facing a primary challenge from state Rep. Rick Becker, may skip the NDGOP's endorsing convention. Why? Because it's not a sure thing that he'll win the endorsement, despite never receiving less than 70 percent in any statewide election since 2000. He also may be afraid that the turbulence within the NDGOP could manifest itself at the convention in embarrassing ways. Can you imagine the headlines if Hoeven were to be booed while addressing his own state party? Would Hoeven skipping the convention be a good idea? Chad Oban and I play political consultant on this episode of Plain Talk. Also, Superintendent Kirsten Baesler stops by to chat about the on-going challenges the state is facing when it comes to not just recruiting new teachers, but keeping existing teachers on the job. In a society where respect for so many of our cultural institutions - from the news media to law enforcement, government and education - is eroding our educators are taking it on the chin. How can we fix that?

North Dakota's oil production has "matured." Another term for it might be "plateaued." That's the estimate of Lynn Helms, who is the director of the oil and gas division of North Dakota's Department of Mineral Resources. On this episode of Plain Talk, he said the state has about a decade of steady production driving plenty of revenue - "this is a great time" for tax revenues from oil production, Helms says - but that we shouldn't expect a lot of growth. That might sound like sobering news in a state where oil activity drives an outsized portion of state tax revenues and commerce, but Helms isn't striking a dour note. Oil production may be plateauing, but gas production is not. The state is still very much in a growth phase when it comes to that commodity, and it can create a lot of other opportunities. Also, the state's emerging carbon capture industry could be key in the development of enhanced oil production techniques that could put the state's oil production back into the growth column.

Since Governor Doug Burgum announced a goal of making North Dakota's economy carbon neutral by the year 2030, the state has seen about $30 billion worth of investment in things like carbon capture project. James Leiman, who serves in Burgum's administration as commerce commissioner, said on this episode of Plain Talk that these investments can "add to every single sector of our economy." "We are going to grow every single one of these things," Leiman said, referring to agriculture, coal, oil, gas, wind power, and more. Plus, carbon capture has the very real chance to become a burgeoning industry in the state in its own right. Leiman says North Dakota is a special place that can make it happen. "This is one of the last places in the world where the American dream still exists," he said. Also on this episode, Attorney General Drew Wrigley talks about what it's been like to take over that office since the passing of Wayne Stenehjem, as well as how he plans to campaign for a term of his own.

Since Governor Doug Burgum announced a goal of making North Dakota's economy carbon neutral by the year 2030, the state has seen about $30 billion worth of investment in things like carbon capture project. James Leiman, who serves in Burgum's administration as commerce commissioner, said on this episode of Plain Talk that these investments can "add to every single sector of our economy." "We are going to grow every single one of these things," Leiman said, referring to agriculture, coal, oil, gas, wind power, and more. Plus, carbon capture has the very real chance to become a burgeoning industry in the state in its own right. Leiman says North Dakota is a special place that can make it happen. "This is one of the last places in the world where the American dream still exists," he said. Also on this episode, Attorney General Drew Wrigley talks about what it's been like to take over that office since the passing of Wayne Stenehjem, as well as how he plans to campaign for a term of his own.

On this episode of Plain Talk, we spent more time talking about gazpacho than I ever imagined I would on an episode of a politically-themed podcast. Columnist Tony Bender joined Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I talking about the struggle North Dakota's Democrats have recruiting candidates, the term limits ballot measure which will almost certainly be on the November ballot, the initiated measure process, and the U.S. Senate primary race between state Rep. Rick Becker and incumbent Senator John Hoeven. Oh, and lots and lots of jokes about gazpacho. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting network: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Support Plain Talk, and get access to Rob's columns as well as a lot of other great content, with a subscription: https://www.inforum.com/rob-port

Minot, N.D. — There is only one Democrat elected to public office in western North Dakota, and she's retiring. State Senator Erin Oban announced last year that she won't be running for another term in office. Two Republican candidates, Ryan Eckroth and Sean Cleary, have announced campaigns for that seat. Tracy Potter, who served a term in that Senate seat previously after getting elected in 2006, has also announced his candidacy as a Democrat. He joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss what he sees as an arrogant legislature, the importance of protecting the initiated measure process, and term limits, among other issues. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting service: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/Plain-Talk-With-Rob-Port Subscribe to Inforum.com to support the podcast and access news content from across our region: https://www.inforum.com/subscribe

What started as a small protest of truckers upset about the Canadian government's vaccine mandates has turned into a full-on international movement. Now demonstrators have blocked multiple crossings between the United States and Canada, and it's having a deleterious impact on commerce between our nations at a time when we hardly need it. Not one of us needs prices to go any higher, do we? On this episode of Plain Talk, Senator Kevin Cramer talks about the protests, why they're happening, and how they could be stopped. "What they're asking for is so simple," Cramer said, noting that all the Canadian government would have to do to end the demonstrations is lift the mandate. He's got a point. Over 251 million Americans, or about 87.4 percent of adults, have at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. In Canada, 88.3 percent of citizens over the age of 5 have been vaccinated. Among the truckers, about 90 percent of those who regularly cross the border are vaccinated according to the Canadian Trucking Alliance. Is this really still about public health? Or is it about different factions with entrenched positions being unwilling to give an inch? Sen. Cramer also talks about trucking regulations taking effect in the United States which have the potential to cause more problems for our national supply lines, and the on-going Olympic Games in China.

State Rep. Rick Becker, the founder of the Bastiat Caucus in the North Dakota legislature which claims that they, and not the much larger majority of their Republican colleagues, represent actual Republicanism, has announced a primary challenge to incumbent U.S. Senator John Hoeven. What does Hoeven think about it? He answered questions about that on today's Plain Talk, co-hosted Chad Oban who joins the show on Wednesdays. He said that he'll campaign against Becker the same way he campaigns every time he's on the ballot, which is by focusing on the things he's done in office. "It's a lot more than just voting no all the time," he said, touting his work across the aisle with people like Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. I'm not usually one for meme-based political arguments, but a friend shared this one after Becker announced his candidacy, and it seems apt: Hoeven also talked about the food fight which has erupted within the GOP about the Republican National Committee's decision to censure to sitting House members, Rep. Liz Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, over their participation in congressional inquiries into the January 6 riot. "I'm not a fan of censures," Hoeven said of the move. Hoeven also said the January 6 riot was not legitimate political discourse as the RNC resolution claimed. "For people that broke the law, they need to be held accountable," he said. He agreed that the RNC resolution is a distraction. "Clearly we need to focus on winning in 2022," he said.

What is 30 by 30? It's an agreement, pushed by the global environmental movement, that would see participating countries place 30 percent of their land mass and controlled waters into conservation by the year 2030. For some, this is setting off alarm bells. On this episode of Plain Talk, radio host, farming/ranching activist, and 6th generation Nebraska farmer Trent Loos talks about the proposal and what he sees as a risk to food security. To be clear, the government already controls a lot of American land. The feds control over 28 percent, and that increases to well over 30 percent when you include state lands. Loos says further push to take land out of agricultural production would exacerbate a problem that already exists. Every year millions of acres of arable farm land are lost to urbanization as our communities grow.

Senator Kevin Cramer, one of former President Donald Trump's earliest and most consistent supporters, does not support the RNC's censure of Rep. Liz Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger. Trump supporters in the RNC are pushing the censure because Cheney and Kinzinger have been critical of Trump and have participated in the congressional inquiry into the January 6th riot. "We don't have the luxury of kicking people out of our party," Cramer said of the resolution. That doesn't mean he's supportive of the position Cheney and Kinzinger have taken on Trump and the January 6 inquiry. On this episode of Plain Talk, he said he likely agrees with much of what the resolution says, but he doesn't believe the RNC ought to be focusing on this issue. "I think it's unnecessary and unproductive," he said. Cramer also discussed how we're facing our entanglements with China, from the Winter Olympics to the debate over the Fufeng corn milling facility to be built near Grand Forks, as well as the situation in Ukraine, and our evolving debate about energy. Want to be notified of new episodes of Plain Talk? Subscribe for free on your favorite podcasting platform: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Want to read Rob's columns? Subscribe for just $10 per month: HTTP://inforum.com/subscribe

In any sufficiently large group of people, you're going to have some undesirables. Whether it's a church congregation or a political party or a sports team fan base, if you look hard enough you'll find some people who just aren't very good people. But what happens when a certain type of behavior becomes the defining characteristic of a group of people? Robert Wheeler as a representative of the very Trumpy Bastiat Caucus faction of North Dakota Republicans, ran for chairman of the NDGOP last year. This week he was involved in what law enforcement alleges was a felony DUI accident, severely injuring his wife. He is also facing charges for disorderly conduct and preventing arrest because officers say he physically resisted them when they tried to arrest him. If these charges are upheld - Mr. Wheeler certainly has a right to his day in court - they're just the latest examples of problematic behavior from people in the Bastiat Caucus movement. Sen. Jason Heitkamp showed up to the special session of the state legislature in a truck with the words "f*** Joe Biden* on them. Prior to that, he was fond of calling for former President Barack Obama to be lynched. Former Rep. Luke Simons was expelled from last year's regular session over accusations of sexual harassment. His local party district chairman, who has since been ousted from that position, decried the expulsion as an "atrocity." Rep. Jeff Hoverson insulted his own majority leader during the special session, and prior to that was barred from a flight after getting into an altercation with a security agent. Rep. Jeff Magrum, who after redistricting will be seeking the District 8 Senate seat in the current election cycle, got so angry with a fellow lawmaker at a public meeting that law enforcement had to intervene and tell him to settle down. I could go on with more examples, but I think you get the point. It's a common political tactic to try and discredit a group of people by focusing on the behavior of a few fringe elements of that group. But how about when a certain type of unacceptable behavior becomes de rigueur for the group? On this episode of Plain Talk, Chad Oban and I talk about how the North Dakota Republican Party is dealing with that very problem, where a not-small faction of its membership regularly participates in behavior that's simply unaccetable. Also on this episode, Dr. Jeremy Jackson, a professor of economics at North Dakota State University, talks about school choice policies.

When the Capstone Classical Academy project was announced for Fargo, some people immediately looked at it through a political lens. It was called "Trumpy," by some. But is it? On this episode of Plain Talk, headmaster Paul Q. Fisher describes the philosophy behind the school's mission. They're hoping to provide the people of the region with an education rooted in classical education. That means the Greeks. The Romans. And, yes, the kids will be learning Latin. But Fisher stresses that it's not about promoting a certain ideology, but rather helping kids learn how to process information and think with reason and logic. Capstone is accepting enrollments now for the fall 2022 school year for pre-kindergarten through 6th-grade students. Fisher says they're at about 30 enrolled students so far, in the roughly three weeks since they've started, and they'll be holding classes regardless of how may students they get. The long-term goal is to build a campus on property that's already been secured, and begin adding grades to the school in future years. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting app: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Subscribe to read Rob's writing: https://www.inforum.com/subscribe

This week Governor Doug Burgum helped announce a nearly $2 billion investment in developing a datacenter in western North Dakota that would primarily be used to mine cryptocurrency. But that announcement was overshadowed, somewhat, by the extensive criminal record of the man who heads up the construction company that would build it. Jamie Selzler, the former executive director of the North Dakota Democrat Party, who has spent years working in online commerce, joins this episode of Plain Talk to discuss whether Burgum deserves criticism for being involved in the announcement, and if cryptocurrency mining is really a viable industry for North Dakota. Also on this episode, Jamie and I talk about the looming fight over a new appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcast service: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Subscribe to read Rob's columns: https://inforum.com/subscribe

A new survey from North Dakota United, the state's combined public worker and teacher union, finds strong evidence that teachers are feeling burned out. Why? A lot of the same reasons many of us are feeling burned out. It's politics and the pandemic and shifting attitudes about compensation levels. On this episode of Plain Talk, co-host Chad Oban and I interview Nick Archuleta, the president of North Dakota United, about the survey's findings. And, as Fargo looks to become home to a new private school affiliated with ideologically conservative Hillsdale College, we talk about the push for school choice policy. Should North Dakota taxpayers get to use taxpayer dollars to send their kids to a non-public school? Or even homeschool them? Archuleta joins Chad and I in that discussion as well. (Full disclosure: Oban's day job is at North Dakota United.)

I'll admit, I wanted to use this interview to push Congressman Kelly Armstrong, a fellow baseball nut, to pass legislation to end Major League Baseball's ongoing lockout. But I controlled myself. After all, what kind of conservative would I be if I was pushing for that sort of federal intervention? Principle must trump emotion. What Armstrong and I did talk about was President Joe Biden's first year in office. As you might expect, this Republican congressman isn't impressed. He's also not impressed with Biden's leadership with Russia. Armstrong told me he hopes Biden is successful in handling the crisis in Ukraine, but he's afraid we're in for another debacle like the one Biden presided over in Afghanistan. We also talked about why it's important for America to counter the influence of countries like China and Russia, even when it's not always economically important to do so.

Why are so many judicial races in North Dakota uncompetitive? And not uncompetitive because the winning candidates dominate, but because they're usually running unopposed? Part of the problem is the pay Justice Daniel Crothers said on this episode of Plain Talk. He's served on the North Dakota Supreme Court since he was appointed in 2005. He ran for election to the unexpired four-year term he was appointed to fill, and for re-election to a new term in 2012, and now he's running for another decade-long term on the 2022 ballot. With history as our guide, he probably won't have an opponent. Since 1990 there have been just five competitive Supreme Court races on the statewide ballot. Crothers says that lawyers make a lot of money but judges, comparatively, do not. North Dakota already has a relatively small legal community, and finding people in that community who want to abandon their private practice, and it's pay, to become a judge. Crothers also talked about the on-going efforts to get court records online, what it's like to campaign for an office like judge, and the process behind how the state Supreme Court works. Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I talk about the calls to pull the medical license of state Rep. Rick Becker. Becker works as a plastic surgeon outside of his political career, and some of his fellow doctors find his comments about COVID-19 and treatments for it to be unethical. They're calling for him to either stop these statements or face discipline. Subscribe to the Plain Talk podcast on your favorite podcasting service: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Get a Forum Communications subscription to read Rob's columns: https://www.inforum.com/subscribe

"I've largely stayed out of that stuff," says Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski, speaking about national hot-button issues. He says he's tried to focus on local issues like public safety and infrastructure. But when the University of North Dakota announced they were pursuing a new policy that could punish people for using the wrong pronouns, and would allow access to even sensitive campus facilities like locker rooms based on the gender a given student or university employee identifies with, Bochenski felt he had to speak out. "I felt like there was a lack of transparency" in the way the rule was being developed, Bochenski said on this episode of Plain Talk. "Compelling speech and forcing ideology on our students, our children and our community is abhorrent," he wrote in a Facebook post touting a letter from the North Dakota Catholic Conference objecting to the policy. How have people responded to his public statements? "It's been mean on both sides," he said. Also on this episode, Jim Hobart, a pollster with Public Opinion Strategies, talks about a new survey of North Dakotans showing strong support for coal mining, coal-fired power, and carbon capture. Hobart says that despite the often divisive national debate about energy and carbon capture, North Dakotans show strong consensus support for coal and carbon capture projects, even across partisan lines. Read the polling memo here: https://www.scribd.com/document/553440998/North-Dakota-Energy-Key-Findings-Memo Subscribe to the Plain Talk podcast on your favorite podcasting service: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Get a Forum Communications subscription to read Rob's columns: https://www.inforum.com/subscribe

"We have opportunities that are being missed," says Shannon Roers Jones. Roes Jones is currently a state representative, having been elected to the House from District 26 in 2016. She was just re-elected to that seat by a small but comfortable margin in 2020, and now she'd like to be mayor of Fargo. On this episode of Plain Talk, she talks about why she'd be better for that job than incumbent Tim Mahoney, what the biggest challenges facing Fargo are, what it's like to campaign in Fargo's relatively new approval voting process, and what she'll do with her legislative seat if she wins this election. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting platform: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Subscribe to Rob's writing and get all of the great Forum Communications content from news sites across the upper midwest: https://www.inforum.com/subscribe

After more than two decades in the North Dakota legislature, having served in some consequential ways, as an influential appropriator and eventually leader the majority Republican caucus, Rep. Chet Pollert is calling it a career. On this episode of Plain Talk, he talked about that decision, as well as what changed during his tenure in office, and what challenges North Dakota might face in the future. "There was a decorum," Pollert said of politics when he first got started in the legislature. "There was a process...and we seem to have gotten away from that a little more." He said modern politics have become more personal, and more divisive. "I want us to be able to fight like cats and dogs but also be able to respect one another," he said. He has some personal experience with how personal state politics has gotten. Under Pollert's leadership last year, the state House took the extraordinary step of expelling a member for the first time in state history. Luke Simons, at the time a Representative from a Dickinson-area district, was voted out of his seat after being accused by multiple women, including two fellow Republican lawmakers, in a landslide vote that included a 2-1 majority among his fellow Republicans. "I felt it had to be done," Pollert said of the vote, though he added that it was "a very unpleasant time" during which both he and his wife received ugly phone calls and messages from Simons supporters. Pollert said his proudest accomplishment as a lawmaker was showing his children the importance of public service. As for what challenges face North Dakota's leaders going forward? Protecting baseload energy production, and the reliability of the power grid, are at the top of his list as well as managing the Legacy Fund so that it can be a resource for funding the state's needs as oil activity, and thus oil revenues, decline in future decades. Rep. Michael Howe, a Republican from West Fargo, also joined the show to talk about his interest in running for Secretary of State. The incumbent, Al Jaeger, has held that office since 1992. "I was in kindergarten then," Howe said. Now that Jaeger has announced he's retiring, Howe said it's time for some new leadership. He'd like the office to get better at handling business filings, which has been a recurring theme of Secretary of State campaigns for years now. He also spoke about how he'd rebuild trust in elections, at a time when many Americans have lost it. Subscribe to the Plain Talk podcast on your favorite podcasting app: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/plain-talk-with-rob-port Subscribe to read Rob's columns and other great content from Forum Communications: https://www.inforum.com/subscribe

I make a living writing and talking about politics, and I divide the topics I cover up into two categories. First, there's the sexy stuff. The hot-button stuff. Topics that immediately stir up interest from the audience. It's the stuff we spend most of our time talking about. How big should the government be, and how much should it cost us? Stuff like that. Then there's the unsexy stuff. Like blockchain. What is blockchain? North Dakota Chief Information Officer Shawn Riley knows. He's an advocate for it. He tried to explain it to this humble political wonk on this episode of Plain Talk, and what he said makes a lot of sense. Blockchain is a way of recording transactions in a way that's simultaneously secure and transparent. He believes it could be used in everything from recording title histories for property to tracking mineral rights and, yes, even voting. Nerd stuff, I know, but the impact could be very sexy in terms of that thing we all care about, which is how much government is costing us. Riley estimates that North Dakota has something like $1.2 billion in what he calls "tech debt," which is to say investments in dated technology that needs to be upgraded. There's no holding back the rapid advance of technology, but Riley argues that if we implement blockchain for the information our government is built around - all the little transactions and data the state records and keeps - upgrading that technology could be a lot cheaper in the future.

We all know how divided we are as a country. Politics has always been an ugly business, but it's perhaps uglier right now than any time in recent memory. Given that, who would want to run for public office, and expose themselves to the brutal acrimony of an increasingly uncivil process? On this episode of Plain Talk, I spoke with two candidates for the North Dakota legislature about that very topic. Mike Motschenbacher is running for the state House in District 47 in the Bismarck area. Mason Wede is running for the state Senate in District 29. They're both Republicans, and they both say that, as bad as things are, it's a job somebody has to do. Our state, and our communities, has challenges. There are budgets that must be written. And if principled grownups aren't willing to do those jobs, who will? Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting service: https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/Plain-Talk-With-Rob-Port Want to read more of Rob's work? Get a subscription that works for daily newspapers across the upper midwest: https://www.inforum.com/subscribe

Between the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic malaise, America's employers have been in a crunch. Not only are their costs rising due to supply line snaggles, but many of them are having trouble finding and keeping workers. Jonathan Holth is one a North Dakota employer. He is a co-founder of the Toasted Frog restaurant in downtown Grand Forks, and has since opened additional locations in Bismarck and Fargo. He's also the co-owner of the Urban Stampede Coffee Bar in Grand Forks. On this episode of Plain Talk, he discusses what his business has been doing to keep workers on the job, which includes getting creative with leave time and other benefits. Among the creativity is an accepting approach to employees struggling with addiction. Holth himself is nearly 14 years sober, and was appointed by Governor Doug Burgum to serve on the advisory council for North Dakota's Office of Recovery Reinvented. Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I talk about the upcoming anniversary of the January 6 riot in Washington D.C. and the growing mainstream acceptance of political extremism in America.

One thing I think about, as our kids return to school from a long holiday break, is how hard it can be to get them back into the education groove. That challenge is perhaps on the minds of parents more so now than before, given the way COVID-19 has turned our lives upside down. In October Kirsten Baesler, the Superintendent of North Dakota's public school system, released data from testing showing significant pandemic-era declines among the state's students in proficiency levels for English and mathematics. How worried should that make you? Perhaps not as worried as you think you should be says Dr. Dann Conn. Conn is a professor of teacher education and kinesiology at Minot State University. He's also the co-author of a book, Unraveling the Assessment Industrial Complex, which calls into question the purpose and efficacies of the very testing regime being used to measure educational declines. "Kids are resilient," Conn said on this episode of Plain Talk. "They'll bounce back." He argues that parents, educators, and policymakers ought to be more focused on what we might call real-world outcomes than testing scores. Subscribe to Plain Talk on your favorite podcasting platform by clicking here.

Wayne Stenehjem, North Dakota's long-time Attorney General, announced recently that he'll end a more than four-decades-long career in elected office once his term is up next year. Who will replace him? The name you'll hear most often in those conversations is Drew Wrigley, who served two stints as North Dakota's U.S. Attorney, one under former President George W. Bush, and another under former President Donald Trump, and between them served six years as Lt. Governor under former Governor Jack Dalrymple. Wrigley joined this episode of Plain Talk to say nothing definitive about if he's running, though it sure seems like he is. In addition to speaking about what his approach to the office would be, what priorities he'd focus on, and his philosophy about the job of Attorney General, Wrigley hinted that those interested in whether he's running or not might want to check the candidate filings at the Secretary of State's office in the first week of 2022. This seems to me like a pretty good confirmation that he's running.

It's been a wild year in North Dakota politics, from a lawmaker getting expelled from the Legislature for the first time in state history to a small group of NDGOP leaders walking out of their own party's meeting just last week. On this episode of Plain Talk I was joined by Chad Oban and Jamie Selzler, both former executive directors of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL, to talk about the year that was in North Dakota. We also talk about what next year, an election year, has in store.

Wayne Stenehjem has served the State of North Dakota in elected office for more than 40 years, from his stint in the Legislature starting in the mid-1970s to two decades serving as Attorney General. Now, he's calling it a career, announcing that he'll step down once his current four-year term is up. Stenehjem joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss it. To say that his career was consequential for our state would be an understatement. In the Legislature, where he served with two of his brothers, Alan and Bob, something he believes to be unprecedented in America's legislative bodies, he had a hand in creating the open records and meetings law state government operates under today. He pushed for a uniform court system, moving it beyond an antiquated system that saw different areas of North Dakota served by different sorts of courts. When he became Attorney General in 2000, the State of North Dakota didn't even have a crime lab to handle evidence like fingerprints and DNA. But it wasn't all serious business. Stenehjem also recounts how he reacted with his brother Bob, then the Senate Majority Leader, would steal his parking space at the capitol during a legislative session. Also on this episode, North Dakota has had an ongoing debate about ethics for years now, well before voters approved an ethics amendment for the state constitution. Some of the people behind that push have notions about what constitutes ethics, as far as campaign finance go, that are hard to square with how Americans have traditionally viewed free speech and participatory democracy. Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak, whose office has become ground zero for this argument, joined Plain Talk to discuss.

North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer joined this episode of Plain Talk and discussed all sorts of stuff. The January 6 committee, and what it's revealed about the way former President Donald Trump handled the riot at the U.S. capitol. The Build Back Better plan. The state of inflation. The retrenchment going on in the Republican party. Carbon capture. Also, the divides in the national Republican party are impacted the NDGOP as well. Cramer, a former chairman of the NDGOP, weighs in on some of the rule changes being discussed by his state party relating to how the party does its business around state conventions and endorsing candidates.

Politics in North Dakota are about as divisive these days as they are anywhere else. In our state, the divide in the Republican party is between traditional Republicans and a faction of conservatives, in-step with former President Donald Trump, who feel the state's Republicans haven't been conservative enough. I've been writing and talking about this divide a lot, and recently state Rep. Jeff Hoverson, a Republican from Minot and a member of the Bastiat Caucus of lawmakers who align with this faction, asked to come on the podcast to talk it out. So Hoverson joined my Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and I and we talked about Hoverson calling people who disagree with him "enemy" and the other things that are dividing us. I'm not sure we changed anybody's mind, but it was good conversation. Also, Oban and I discuss some of the changes the NDGOP is making to their state convention and candidate endorsement process. I wrote about the proposed rule change for the timing of the convention in recent column, and we talked about that, but we also discussed another potential rule change that would make it harder for candidates to seek the NDGOP's endorsement. It would even require the candidates to pay the party for the privilege of being considered. Good idea or bad? We talked it out.

Religion has always been at the center of American life, but in recent years many Americans are turning away from faith. The polling firm Gallup has been tracking trends in religion since the 1930s when church membership among Americans hovered in the 70 percent region. It stayed that high through the late 1990s, but in the last couple of decades, it has plunged. In 2020, the percentage of Americans who said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque plunged to 47 percent. Is this a good thing? A bad thing? And why is it happening? Roxanne Salonen and Devyln Brooks are both Christians. The former is a Catholic; the latter a Lutheran pastor. They both write columns on spirituality, and they joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the decline of religion in America with the host, yours truly, who is an atheist.

North Dakota has industries that produce a lot of carbon. Oil. Natural gas. Coal. Agriculture. But North Dakota's newest industry could be taking that carbon and putting it someplace where it can't harm the environment. Wade Boeschans, a vice president with a company called Summit Carbon Solutions, joined this episode of Plain Talk to answer questions about one of the first, and biggest, projects of this burgeoning industry. The Midwest Carbon Express is a pipeline that will gather carbon emitted by ethanol plants across Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota, and bring them to a spot in North Dakota where it will be stored underground. What are the challenges attendant to building such a project? Is it safe? Who will be responsible for all this stored carbon long-term? Wade answers those questions and more.

Misinformation. Fake news. These are terms we hear a lot in America in 2021, but what do they mean? How do they happen? Dr. Dan Pemstein is an associate professor of political science at North Dakota State University. He joined this episode of Plain Talk to talk about his research into online misinformation both here in America and across the globe. Also, state Rep. Rick Becker, a Republican from Bismarck, flew off the handle recently when asked about a quarter-million dollars in Paycheck Protection Program loans he took for his businesses, the bulk of which have reportedly been forgiven. Becker has refused to answer questions about those loans, choosing instead to engage in what is almost a borderline homophobic attack on me, the one asking the questions. For the record, I don't consider being called gay to be an insult. Co-host Chad Oban and I discuss.

Earlier this year Governor Doug Burgum raised a lot of eyebrows in the political world by announcing a goal for North Dakota's carbon-based industries, including oil and coal, to become carbon neutral. Can we do it? There are no magic bullets to achieving that goal, but there are some promising endeavors. On this episode of Plain Talk I discussed one of those with Kevin Black, CEO of Creedence Energy Services, and Marty Shumway, the technical services director of Locus Bio-Energy Solutions. Shumway's company has developed a biosurfactant, that could be made from agricultural products like canola and sugar from right here in North Dakota, that, in some instances, has improved the output of older oil wells by as much as 70 percent. That's a big deal for the oil industry, where more oil from any given well means more profits, but it's a big deal from the perspective of lowering the environmental footprint of the oil industry as well. More from any one well means fewer wells are needed. It also means Again, there is no one thing we can do to achieve Gov. Burgum's goal of carbon-neutral oil and gas industries, but there are many small things, and this endeavor seems to be one of them.

Sen. Erin Oban is the only member of the Democratic-NPL to be elected in western North Dakota. To the extent that you can consider her Bismarck-area district to be "western North Dakota," anyway. Oban announced recently that she will not be running for another term in that office. Hot on the heels of that announcement, Republican Sean Clearly made one of his own, saying he'd like to take over the Senate seat in District 35. Cleary talks about that decision on this episode of Plain Talk. We cover North Dakota's workforce needs, our economy's needs, how to defeat some of the negative perceptions of our state held by people in other parts of the world, and the looming issue of abortion which may be very much an issue for state Legislature should the U.S. Supreme Court strike down the Roe v. Wade decision. Also, fun fact: Oban was Cleary's middle school math teacher. For the record, Cleary says math wasn't his favorite subject, but he hopes Oban doesn't hold his behavior as a 12-year-old against him.

Vaccine mandate policies are a fluid situation right now. They're being challenged in the courts. The federal government is tweaking its policies. In North Dakota, during the recent special session of the Legislature, a bill passed that doesn't ban businesses from implementing vaccine mandates, but did implement a lot of policies dictating what those mandates should look like. The Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce opposed that bill. Arik Spencer, president and CEO of that organization, joined this episode of Plain Talk to talk about how the state's businesses are handling all of this uncertainty. Also, Rob and co-host Chad Oban talk about Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's recent comments about electric cars.

Rob and Jay talk about the North Dakota Democratic-NPL and their relationship to a man who attacked Sen. John Hoeven's office with an ax. They also discuss political extremism in America.

Kelby Krabbenhoft, the long-time CEO of South Dakota-based health care giant Sanford abruptly left his job last year after making some controversial comments about masking during the COVID-19 pandemic. More recently, news broke that Krabbenhoft left with a big, fat golden parachute strapped to his back. He got a $49.5 million payout, and that prompted North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread to blow the whistle. On this episode of Plain Talk, Godfread talks about the connection between what hospitals spend and what health care, and health insurance, cost you. He says hospitals are always wanting more from insurers, and the taxpayers, even as pay to executives goes up. If this keeps up, Godfread, a Republican, argues, we're going to end up with the sort of single-payer health care system Democrats want.

North Dakota's coal industry is promoting electric cars. The Lignite Energy Council owns a Tesla, emblazoned it with pro-coal messaging, and has been driving it around. It's an image so incongruous to some that the Washington Post recently featured the marketing effort in a national news article. Jason Bohrer, president of the LEC, joined this episode of Plain Talk with co-host Chad Oban to discuss why he feels it's important for the debate over coal and energy not to be seen through the lenses of partisan politics or the culture war. Also discussed is the just-completed special session as well as the resignation of Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger as his struggles with sobriety continue.

On this episode of the Jay Thomas Show, a state lawmaker upset with Rob calls into the show and yells at him.

Sen. Nicole Poolman has served in the North Dakota Senate since 2012. During last week's special session, she announced her retirement, saying she won't be running for another term. Some of her reasons were personal, she wants to spend more time with family, and some were professional, she wants to focus on her job as a teacher, but part of the reason is what she cited as a "toxic" political environment. Sen. Poolman joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss that toxicity.

North Dakota snack food startup Dot's Pretzels has been acquired for $1.2 billion. The special session of the legislature continues with fights over redistricting and culture war bills dominate. Rob Port and Chad Oban talk about these issues and more.

A return for the Plain Talk Podcast. On this episode, Rob talks to fellow columnist Tony Bender about the divides in the North Dakota Republican Party, the tribalism of American politics in 2021, redistricting, and the special session of the legislature in Bismarck.

Rob and Jay talk about the special session in Bismarck, as well as vaccine mandates.

Simone Biles has had some trouble competing at the Tokyo Olympics, and that has certain political commentators steaming. Charlie Kirk called Biles a "sociopath," as one example, and you've probably seen worse on social media. But why do people care so much? Does everything have to be culture war? Also, a federal moratorium on evictions is set to expire soon, and many are upset about it, but at what point do we give property owners back their right to legal recourse against people who aren't paying their rent? Or who are in other ways violating the terms of their lease? Jay Thomas, host of the Jay Thomas Show on WDAY AM970 in Fargo, joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss.

Is critical race theory an attempt to take over our education system and indoctrinate students with left-wing orthodoxies about race and culture? Or is it controversy ginned up as a "lucrative side hustle" by various pundits and activists, as Nick Archuleta argues in a recent column? https://www.inforum.com/opinion/lette... Archuleta, the president of North Dakota United, which represents teachers and public workers, joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss. The audio of every episode of Plain Talk Live is available on the Plain Talk podcast, which you can find through your favorite podcasting service.