Plain Talk

Congressman Kelly Armstrong, a Republican from North Dakota, was all set to serve on the high-profile House commission aimed at investigating the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Then, suddenly, he wasn't. Armstrong joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to talk about the politics in selecting who sits on that commission, and the work the commission has done so far. Also, Armstrong has recently introduced a bill that will be part of a package of legislation aimed at accountability for the tech industry, and he'll talk about why that initiative is important.

Does North Dakota need term limits? A ballot measure currently being circulated would implement limits for the Governor, and the Legislature, but no other statewide elected offices. Is it a good idea? Former Governor Ed Schafer says he's come around to the idea of term limits after previously opposing them. He joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss.

"We are not supposed to insult these people for their decision to not get vaccinated. We are supposed to understand their position," columnist Mike McFeely writes. "But should we be empathetic toward those with no good reason for not getting vaxxed?" "Most are supporters of Donald Trump and to call their decision-making deplorable is worse than insulting their grandmother," he continued in a recent column, choosing to see the vaccination debate through a partisan political lens. Is this fair? There's evidence to suggest that vaccine hesitancy is far less political than commentators like McFreely would like to believe. "For example, as of this weekend, 41 percent of New York City residents were not vaccinated. Trump won 22 percent of the vote in NYC," National Review columnist Jim Geraghty notes. "In Chicago, 43 percent of residents are not vaccinated. Trump carried 24 percent of the vote in Cook County," he continues. "In Multnomah County, which includes Portland, Ore., just under 63 percent have at least one dose, meaning that 37 percent are unvaccinated. Trump won under 18 percent in that county in 2020. Detroit has vaccinated just under 40 percent of its residents; Trump carried 5 percent of the vote in that city." Even if every single Trump voter opted against the vaccine, which certainly isn't the case, we'd still be left with a lot of people who voted for Joe Biden and are, so far, refusing to get the vaccine. Many in the news media have worked very hard to shoehorn the vaccine issue into a political narrative. The New York Times, as one example, published a statistical analysis in April which seems to show that vaccine hesitancy is generally higher in Trump-voting areas, and that the rate of vaccination is generally lower there. Yet per the Times' own data, Hawaii was, at the time, well below a 40 percent vaccination rate. Pennsylvania, Oregon, Nevada, and Michigan all had relatively low vaccination rates as well at that time. All of those states went to Joe Biden in 2020. Perhaps a political narrative isn't appropriate for the vaccination debate? Perhaps the efforts to frame the issue as another front in partisan politics does more harm than good? If the answer to that last question is "yes" it's a particularly egregious sin for members of the news media who claim to value vaccination. After all, if we want people to get vaccinated, is writing them off as deplorables the best way to go about it? Jay Thomas, host of the Jay Thomas Show on WDAY AM970, joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss.

There are some deep fractures in the North Dakota Republican Party. A faction of the party, loosely affiliated under the banner of the Legislature's supposedly conservative Bastiat Caucus, is attempting to recall Governor Doug Burgum. They're pushing a constitutional ballot measure to implement term limits. They attempted to take over leadership of the North Dakota Republican Party this spring. Now they're attempting a recall of Rep. Dwight Kiefert, a Republican who has represented District 24 since 2013. On this episode of Plain Talk, Kiefert will address the recall campaign and speaks to what he sees as its motivations.

State lawmakers in places like Texas and Tennessee have fled their states in an attempt to block laws backed by the Republican majorities in their legislative chambers. Now, at the national level, Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has urged his colleagues to do something similar to block a massive Democratic spending bill. Are these tactics legitimate? Jay Thomas, host of the Jay Thomas Show on WDAY AM970 in Fargo, joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss.

Starting this month, some qualifying Americans with children will receive monthly money from the government in an amount representing up to $300 per child. The payments come from the child tax credit millions of Americans tax every year. Think of them as a sort of advanced payment on a credit these families would have taken anyway. Is this good policy? Also, the calculus on these payments could get complicated for some Americans who may end up surprised by a tax bill at the end of the year if they don't adjust their withholdings appropriately. Sen. Kevin Cramer joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss this issue, as well as the shift in the way Republicans are talking about the climate debate and the push Democrats are putting behind spending and infrastructure bills in Congress.

Humanity is pushing its way into space, and some billionaires are leading the charge. Not everyone is happy about this. Jonah Lantto from the Good Talk Network joins this episode of Plain Talk to talk about it. Also, in multiple states, Democratic lawmakers have taken to fleeing their state capitols to deny Republicans the ability to pass laws they don't like. Is this a valid tactic? And in Tennessee, Republicans have fired a public health official over an email encouraging young citizens to get vaccinated. They've also curtailed the state's outreach efforts about vaccines. Why are so many so enraged by vaccines?

A faction of the North Dakota Republican Party which calls itself the Bastiat Caucus is pushing a constitutional ballot measure to implement term limits for the Governor and for the state Legislature. This comes amid deep tensions between the Batiats and the rest of the NDGOP. Does the state need term limits? Is this a wise political move from the Bastiats? Chad Oban, the former executive director of the Democratic-NPL, joins the episode of Plain Talk to discuss.

There is broad bipartisan agreement that America needs to invest in infrastructure. The problem is, there isn't a lot of agreement on what infrastructure is. In Congress, Democrats are pushing an infrastructure bill that includes a raft of progressive policy priorities that have little to do with roads or bridges, or power grids. Congressman Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota talks about that debate on this episode of Plain Talk Live. We'll also talk about Coal Creek Station, North Dakota's largest coal-fired power plant, finding a new buyer. The plant was set to be closed, but now a new company plans on operating it into the future, but what does it need to be a success? Also, the role of big tech in our lives continues to be a pressing political concern, particularly in issue areas like privacy and free speech. Armstrong has been appointed to a task force taking on this issue, and will talk about his work there.

Jupiter Paulsen was a 14-year-old girl who was brutally murdered in Fargo by a man with a history of criminal conduct who was out on probation. Some are blaming officials for letting Arthur Prince Kollie, the man arrested for the murder, out of custody. North Dakota, like many other states in America, has made some long strides toward criminal justice reform that includes an emphasis on moving away from incarceration. Was Paulsen's murder evidence of those reforms going too far? Jay Thomas, host of the Jay Thomas Show on WDAY AM970 in Fargo, joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss.

A group of hardcore supporters of Donald Trump have gotten approval to begin circulating a petition to recall North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and his running mate Lt. Governor Brent Sanford. Will they be successful? Chad Oban, former executive director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL, joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss it. Also, a federal judge has dismissed the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's lawsuit against the Dakota Access Pipeline, marking the end of an era of North Dakota politics, and at the national level Democrats suffered a defeat in their efforts to implement national election reforms. Is that issue over?

Critical race theory. You've no doubt been hearing a lot about it. It's in our headlines. It's grist for the ceaseless mill of cable news outrage. It's a topic of debate in our school districts. Do you know what it is? Is it valid curriculum? A worthy avenue for scholastic endeavor? Or is it an ideology? Political doctrine dressed up as academics? Perhaps it's a bit of both. Dr. Dan Conn, a professor teacher education at Minot State University, joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to talk about it.

Since 2007, the City of Fargo has had an ordinance making it illegal for federal firearms license holders to conduct transactions out of their homes. Only, nobody really paid attention to it until federal officials became aware of it and informed FFL holders in Fargo operating that way that they couldn't renew their licenses. There aren't many people in Fargo who do this. There were just seven in May of last year when then-Fargo Police Chief David Todd said there hadn't been any complaints about them. Still, Fargo's city leaders have refused to back down from this restrictive ordinance, so the Legislature stepped in. During their 2021 session, they passed a state law pre-empting Fargo's ordinance. But at a recent meeting, city commissioners tabled a motion to bring their ordinance into compliance with state law, opting instead to explore a lawsuit against the state over the law. Edward Krystosek, a Fargo resident and past candidate for the city commission who has followed this issue closely, joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to talk about the city's actions.

Earlier this year North Dakota's lawmakers passed a bill requiring full legislative approval of any interim appropriation of federal money that exceeds $50 million in a biennium. Now lawmakers don't want to follow their own law. Former North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer weighs in on that situation on this episode of Plain Talk Live. Also, there's drama at the State Investment board, with revelations that a consultant, paid by the state to manage its money managers, has also accepted payments from the managers it recommends for hire. Is this pay for play? What steps can the board take to address this situation?

If you can name me a North Dakota community that wasn't built around a railroad stop, or at least had rails running through it at one point in its history, I'll buy you lunch. Rail infrastructure has been important to North Dakota for as long as our state has been a state. Longer, really, so when one of the companies providing rail service in our region is seeking out a merger with another American rail line, it matters to us. John Brooks, Chief Marketing Officer for Canadian Pacific Railway, joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to talk about his company's efforts to merge with Kansas City Southern, and why that transaction is a better outcome for North Dakota than a rival merger bid from Canadian National.

With the vigorous demonstrations against the Line 3 pipeline, the upper midwest is getting another front-and-center look at the often vicious politics of energy infrastructure. Left-wing activists train to be arrested, the plot conflict with law enforcement, all to produce media coverage that is sympathetic to their cause. Meanwhile, every single one of us, including the most ardent and extreme of pipeline protesters, is using the oil moved by pipelines every day. Jay Thomas from WDAY AM970 in Fargo joins this episode of Plain Talk to talk about the Line 3 protests and pipeline politics in general.

A big name in power is coming to North Dakota to invest in hydrogen energy, and it's a big deal for our state in a lot of ways. It's a new industry, for one, in a state that desperately needs economic diversification. The proposed hydrogen hub will be a new customer for North Dakota natural gas, a commodity produced as a byproduct of oil exploration here. We produce so much a lot of it gets burned off as excess in the Bakken oil fields. It will also be a shot in the arm for North Dakota's nascent efforts with carbon capture. The hydrogen plant will be carbon-neutral because what carbon it produces will be captured and stored here in the state. On this episode of Plain Talk Live, Bakken Energy CEO Mike Hopkins will discuss this new project and the specifics of North Dakota, from public policy to geology, that are making it possible.

The Administrative Rules Committee approved a ban on LGBT conversion therapy asked for by the North Dakota Board of Social Work Examiners, which oversees licensing for social workers. Some Republican lawmakers resisted the change. Was it the right move? I'll talk about it with former Democratic-NPL executive director Chad Oban on this episode of Plain Talk. This episode of Plain Talk will also feature, prominently, two of the most fun political words. Gerrymandering. Filibuster. Now that the census is completed, the task of redistricting lays before North Dakota's lawmakers. Since North Dakotans mostly vote for Republicans, that means the process will be controlled by Republicans Already, some of the state's Democrats are suggesting that the Republican plan will be an exercise in gerrymandering (whee!) which should be referred to the ballot and defeated by voters who would then also vote to approve a Democratic plan which could only be introduced at the ballot box because, again, North Dakotans mostly don't vote for Democrats. Sound convoluted? It is. Also, at the national level, Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, is the lone vote standing in the way of much of the Democratic agenda, including ending the filibuster (whoo!) and advancing sweeping election reforms. Is he taking a stand for the wellbeing of our country? Or is this an exercise in self-serving politics?

"Rural America gets bad vibrations from Big Wind," Robert Bryce wrote recently in the Wall Street Journal. He notes that President Joe Biden's administration is pushing for "tens of thousands of wind turbines," but asks, "where, exactly, will all those turbines be built?" It's a good question. Many Americans, even those who support the concept of wind energy, may not realize just how thoroughly we will need to carpet-bomb our landscape with wind turbines to reach some of the goals set for wind production. Remember, too, that all those turbines will also need to be serviced by transmission lines to carry that energy to market. While a coal plant or a nuclear plant generally sits in one location, wind turbines are dispersed across the landscape, and the transmission lines that serve them end up covering a lot of ground. Bryce, who has authored a report on this problem for the Center of the American Experiment, a Minnesota-based think tank, joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to talk about wind turbines and the challenges of not-in-my-back-yard attitudes. You can read Bryce's WSJ article here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/rural-am... You can read his report for the Center of the American Experiment here: https://files.americanexperiment.org/...

Coal Creek Station is North Dakota's largest coal-fired power plant and, for a while, it was slated for closure, thanks to a long-running political campaign to tilt the energy markets away from coal, with environmental activists and political partisans cheering its demise. Then, a reprieve. Current owner Great River Energy is close to a deal with a buyer that would continue to operate the plant. Yet there are forces working to undermine that deal - some for political reasons, others because they just don't want to compete with coal-fired power anymore. At the center of this vortex of politics and energy is McLean County and State's Attorney Ladd Erickson who want the power plant to remain open. The closure of Coal Creek Station would be economically and culturally devastating for central North Dakota. McLean County and Erickson have shown a willingness to fight the anti-coal political winds. On this episode of Plain Talk, Erickson joins to discuss the pending deal.

"I would like us to get the smile back," Sen. Kevin Cramer said in a recent interview. "I mean, we still are the greatest experiment in political world history. Self-governance requires people of virtue, as Os Guinness puts it, and our virtue needs to be demonstrated in our personalities, not just in our ideals. If I grieve anything, it's that we've become too angry," he continued. How does Cramer square that statement with his staunch support for former President Donald Trump, a man famous for his incessant ridicule of his critics? He'll talk about it on this episode of Plain Talk. Also, the Biden administration seems intent on facilitating the fossil fuel aspirations of nations who aren't so friendly with us - lifting sanctions for Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline and Iran's oil exports - even as it works to fight energy development here in the United States. Though, in fairness, Biden's EPA administrator Michael Regan just visited North Dakota and had a lot of encouraging things to say about the state's big bets on carbon capture. Can this administration be worked with on energy?

Earl Pomeroy served in the North Dakota House of Representatives from 1980 to 1985, as state Insurance Commissioner from 1985 to 1992, and as the state's at-large member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2010. He knows a thing or two about state politics. And national politics. He joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to talk about the state of national politics, the rise of the Trump movement, the withering of Democratic appeal in rural America, and perhaps some thoughts on unemployment benefits.

Public health officials and other policymakers have been working hard to persuade people to get a COVID-19 vaccine, but one group of citizens in two North Dakota counties are being denied that opportunity. Williams and Burleigh counties — the former in the heart of North Dakota's oil fields, the latter home to the state capital — are refusing to provide COVID-19 vaccines to their jail inmates citing cost and liability issues. Does this make sense? Dane DeKrey, advocacy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Dakota, says this is a human rights issue. He joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss.

Earlier this year North Dakota's lawmakers approved a bill that prohibited institutions in the state's university system from working with groups that promote abortion. The bill, as passed, also included a financial penalty, denying matching state fundraising dollars for campuses that ran afoul of the provision. The impetus for the legislation was a long-standing grant relationship between Planned Parenthood, which is involved not only in promoting abortion rights but also in partisan politics on the side of Democrats. Governor Doug Burgum signed the law, though he vetoed the penalty, leaving only the prohibition in place. Many on the state's campuses see the Legislature's actions as an affront to academic freedom. Is it? Dr. Bo Wood, a professor of political science at the University of North Dakota, joins this episode of Plain Talk to discuss that as well as the controversy around Rep. Liz Cheney and the splintering of the GOP.

You're probably hearing a lot about cryptocurrency these days. Dogecoin. Bitcoin. The businesses you patronize are telling you they accept it. Heck, here in North Dakota, the City of Williston has begun accepting it as a payment option. But what is it? How do you use it? And given the headlines we see about the rollercoaster values of cryptocurrencies, is it a safe place to put your money? Jack Seaman from MinDak Gold and Silver Exchange is a business owner who accepts cryptocurrencies. He has a crypto ATM in his business. He joins this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the practical realities of using cryptocurrency.

Rob and Jay talk about UFOs.

It used to be, if you started talking about aliens and UFOs, most people would write you off as a crackpot. That's changed. High-ranking military officials, and even a former President of the United States, Barack Obama, are acknowledging that there are things flying around in our skies that even our best scientific and military minds can't explain. What's happening? And why did it become ok, all of a sudden, to acknowledge this stuff? Jay Thomas from WDAY AM970 joins this episode of Plain Talk to discuss.

A company or organization wants to start some project with economic development assistance from the government. They make applications to state boards or local governments, and in those applications they make promises. They'll create jobs, they say. They'll generate tax revenue. And when the tax breaks or subsidies are approved, the politicians doing the approving typically take a victory lap. But does anyone ever look back to see if the promises made in the process of procuring government largesse are kept? Fargo City Commissioner Tony Gehrig, an outspoken critic of this approach to economic development, says no. At least not in his community. He joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss.

Some of the biggest investors in the green energy space are major players in the fossil fuel industry. Meanwhile, Ford has announced an electric version of its hugely popular F-150 pickup. In North Dakota, where oil and gas is a huge contributor to the statewide economy, Governor Doug Burgum just announced a goal of being carbon neutral by 2030. What's going on? Rob Port and Jonah Lantto from the Good Talk Network discuss. Also, why are public health officials hassling vapers? And will the checks from the government ever end?

In April, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum signed a bill that aims to protect school districts from liability for posting the 10 commandments. "School boards are already required to develop a policy for the proper display of any religious objects or documents," Burgum said in a statement announcing his signature on the bill. "This law supports local control and gives school districts full control over whether to display any religious objects or documents." Opponents of the bill argued that the legislation could invite lawsuits from groups who see displays of the 10 commandments as an affront to religious liberty. Andrew Seidel, a constitutional law attorney for the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation has described the legislation as "un-American" and has said that his group is ready to challenge it in court. "The Freedom From Religion Foundation has successfully sued three times to remove Ten Commandments monuments or posters from public schools, and is prepared to challenge this blatantly unconstitutional law," he wrote in a recent letter to the editor. He joins this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the issue.

First, it was economic stimulus checks. Then it was multiple-round pandemic relief payments and expanded unemployment benefits. Now President Joe Biden's administration, acting on a part of the Democrats' nearly $2 trillion pandemic relief package, is set to send Americans with children hundreds of dollars every month. Kids under 6 are worth $300 each, while kids age 6 to 17 are worth $250. That adds up to thousands of dollars per year, per family, at a time when our national budget deficit is routinely measured in the multiple trillions as our total national debt closes in on $30 trillion. This is supposed to be a temporary program, but once the money starts showing up in bank accounts, does anyone doubt there will be a move to make things permanent? This is money we don't have. Or, think of it another way. These are tax dollars our great-grandchildren will pay one day, and we're just giving it to ourselves. Talk show host Jay Thomas from WDAY AM970 in Fargo will join this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss.

The world of North Dakota politics, in the current moment, is one in which Republicans can't get along, and Democrats can't win. A faction of the North Dakota Republican Party, deeply aligned with former President Donald Trump, has launched a largely unsuccessful campaign to take over the state party. Yet though they've fallen short, their actions at local district meetings, including censuring sitting Republican lawmakers, have roiled the NDGOP. Meanwhile, the North Dakota Democratic-NPL has chosen more leadership for a party that hasn't won much of anything for going on three decades. Can the NDGOP's political dominance survive this fraught and divisive moment? Can the Democratic-NPL overcome the toxicity of its brand to take advantage of Republican infighting? Chad Oban, a former executive director of the Democratic-NPL, joins this episode of Plain Talk to discuss.

Should the State of North Dakota invest Legacy Fund dollars in a theme park venture in Jamestown? The proponents of the Buffalo City Park want the State Investment Board to approve a $60 million investment for the proposal. Lt. Governor Brent Sanford chairs the State Investment Board, and he joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss the amusement park proposal as well as new legislation directing more Legacy Fund investments into North Dakota projects and startups.

Rob and Jay talk about the impact of expanded unemployment benefits on our economy. People aren't going back to work, and why would they when they can make the equivalent of $15.00 per hour staying at home?

Is recreational marijuana inevitable in North Dakota? The Biden administration announced a loan forgiveness program for farmers, but not white farmers. Is that fair? A Wahpeton school teacher has been suspended after a classroom discussion about George Floyd and the Derek Chauvin trial outraged students (or, perhaps more accurately, their parents). Rob Port and Jay Thomas, talk radio host for WDAY AM970 in Fargo, discuss these topics and others.

Rail shipments are hugely important to North Dakota's economy. Framers and ranchers depend on the railroad infrastructure to bring their crops and livestock to market. The state's manufacturers receive shipments of raw materials, and send out finished products, by rail. The energy industry, too, depends on rail. The fraught political debate over pipeline infrastructure has often squeezed the capacity available for North Dakota's oil fields. Rail is a flexible, if not optimal, way to get petroleum to market. Given this importance, shouldn't rail safety be paramount for North Dakota's leaders? After a few firey and explosive derailments of oil-by-rail shipments created a new narrative for anti-oil activists to pounce on, Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak, a Republican, sought funding from the Legislature to begin a state-run rail inspection program. The federal bureaucracy is typically in charge of that, but their coverage leaves much to be desired. State inspectors help them cover more rail. But some of North Dakota's lawmakers, even as they've funded the rail inspection program, have been hostile to it. Some of them would rather leave it to the federal government. Others resent the modest cost, which currently stands at just $600,000 for the two-year budget cycle. Every time the program is funded, a sunset provision is put in. Fedorchak joins this episode of Plain Talk to talk about the success of the rail inspection program, and the fight to keep it funded.

A Fargo/Moorhead mosque was vandalized with racial slurs and Nazi imagery recently. That and other incidents have led for some to call for new hate crime policies in North Dakota. Fargo City Commissioner Arlette Preston is calling for a new ordinance. The editorial board of the Fargo Forum has also called for new statewide policies. But do these policies work? Do they actually deter hate crimes? Wess Philome, an activist with OneFargo and the Black Lives Matter movement, wants new policies enacted. Mark Friese, a practicing defense attorney with the Vogel Law Firm in Fargo, questions both the efficacy of such policies and the necessity. These men join this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss the issue.

Ed Schafer helped usher in the current era of Republican dominance in North Dakota when he was elected Governor back in the early 1990s. How does he feel about the Trump era, and the strife and faction now dividing his party? We'll talk about it on this episode of Plain Talk Live. Also, the Governor weighs in on the just-completed legislative session, the battles between the legislative branch and the executive branch under current Governor Doug Burgum, as well as his thoughts on the way the Legacy Fund is being used.

Some Republicans in the U.S. House want Rep. Liz Cheney, the GOP's conference chair and the third-ranking Republican in the chamber, to go over her criticism of former President Donald Trump. Trump supporters are even attacking House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, pointing out his living arrangement with prominent consultant Frank Luntz. Is any work getting done in the House amid all this in-fighting? Can Republicans effectively rebut the Democrats' agenda when they're busying throwing pies at one another? Also, the Biden administration has finally conceded that the Dakota Access Pipeline should continue to operate during a court-ordered review, earmark spending is making a comeback, and federal legislation addressing civil asset forfeiture may be on the way. Congressman Kelly Armstrong will discuss the problems in his caucus and these other topics on this episode of Plain Talk.

Rob and Jay talk headlines including COVID-19 vaccines and what happened at the Legislature

Do vaccination selfies, or other types of posts people make on social media indicating they've received a COVID-19 vaccine, bother you? Some are irate about them. Some want them to stop. Rob and Jay Thomas, talk show host for WDAY AM970 in Fargo, talk about that and other headlines and issues heading into a new week.

The North Dakota Republican Party is, without question, the dominant political organization in the state. The Democrats hold no statewide offices. They haven't held a majority in either of the Legislature's chambers since the Clinton administration. They haven't held a statewide executive branch office since the dawn of the Obama administration. Starting in 2010, the Democrats began losing their control of the state's congressional delegation, culminating in former Senator Heidi Heitkamp losing control of a Senate seat that had been home to a Democrat since the Eisenhower administration. But, despite that dominance, the NDGOP's coalition is showing some cracks. In the Legislature, the secretive and controversial Bastiat Caucus has begun to define itself as the true protectors of the state's conservative movement and the NDGOP platform. Activists aligned with the caucus to one degree or another have, this year, launched a campaign to take over control of NDGOP district organizations, and perhaps ultimately the state party itself. Perhaps one of the most visible members of the Bastiat Caucus, Rep. Jeff Hoverson of Minot, who said he doesn't even belong to the Republican caucus in the state House, joins this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the movement.

The North Dakota Democratic-NPL has been out of power in North Dakota for about two generations. They haven't held the governorship since the early 1990s. They haven't held a statewide executive branch office since 2009, or a majority in either chamber in the Legislature since 1994. Until 2010, the state's entire congressional delegation were members of the Democratic-NPL, as of 2018 those seats are now all held by Republicans. The party holds just 7 seats in the state Senate, and only 14 in the House. How can they turn it around? Zach Raknerud was the unsuccessful Democratic-NPL candidate for U.S. House in 2020, and he's currently running to be a committeeman for the party in 2021. He joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to talk about his party, its past, and what he believes could be its future.

President Joe Biden is set to deliver his first State of the Union address to a country that is still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic and deeply divided in just about every way a society can be divided. From environmental issues to infrastructure to immigration, can he map out a policy agenda that brings people together to solve real problems? Rob Port and University of North Dakota professor of political science Bo Wood discuss on this episode of Plain Talk Live. Also, North Dakota's legislative session is due to be wrapped up this week. Governor Doug Burgum has signed a raft of pro-gun bills, and declared North Dakota a 2nd Amendment "sanctuary state." Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up an important gun rights case. What could that mean for guns and self in America?

Thanks to high-profile cases, including the death of George Floyd, Minnesota has become an epicenter in the political battle over the use of force by law enforcement. As a result, the state has created new use of force laws, and they're not sitting well with some in law enforcement. Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner, whose North Dakota jurisdiction bumps up against Minnesota's border, recently wrote a letter to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz asking him to exempt North Dakota cops from the new law so that they can continue to render assistance across the border. Sheriff Jahner joins this episode of Plain Talk Live to discuss Minnesota's law, the problems he sees it posing to North Dakota law enforcement and the issue of the use of force by law enforcement in general.

Rob and Jay talk about the end of the Legislative session, including the debate over a Buffalo-themed amusement park in Jamestown.

In March the State of North Dakota implemented a truly innovative bit of public policy. With some grant money from the AAA Foundation, Governor Doug Burgum's administration launched the Sober Ride program, which provided $10 vouchers for Lyft rides between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. The result? In March, some 800 presumably impaired drivers got rides home, and the total cost was just $8,000. Far less than taxpayers would have paid for one DUI checkpoint, or to put one DUI offender through the criminal justice system. Should this program continue? Should it be expanded? Also, the 2021 legislative session is wrapping up, but there's still a lot of issues to settle and budgets to finalize. Rob and talk radio host Jay Thomas from WDAY 970 AM discuss on this episode of Plain Talk Live.

North Dakota's legislative session is ending, and that always means a flurry of bills getting signed into law, or occasionally vetoed, by the Governor. On this episode of Plain Talk Live, Governor Doug Burgum talks about the bills he's signed, and the bills he's yet to sign. Among the bills already signed is one protecting schools from lawsuits over 10 commandment displays and another providing health benefits for the family of fallen first responders. Burgum has also signed a "stand your ground" bill that removes the "duty to retreat" from the state's self-defense "castle doctrine," new protections for free speech on the state's campuses, and a massive infrastructure bonding package. Among the bills vetoed? One would have restricted the participation of transgendered athletes in K-12 sports, and the other would have stop the state government from implementing mask mandates in the future. Why did he make these decisions? I'll ask.

Derek Chauvin is guilty, and that's some justice for George Floyd, but are debate over the role of law enforcement in our society is far from over. Can cops accused of inappropriate activity get a fair trial in this environment? What can we do about militant attitudes in the ranks of law enforcement? Rob and podcast entrepreneur Jonah Lantto from the Good Talk Network, a production company that currently produces several podcasts and a late-night show, discuss. Send comments and feedback to [email protected]. You can follow Jonah's work here: https://www.facebook.com/thegoodtalknetwork

#NorthDakota​ #FreeSpeech​ #HigherEducation​ Recently Governor Doug Burgum signed House Bill 1503 into law. It's aim? To protect free speech on North Dakota's campuses. At the national level, we've all heard many stories about students who, whether it's because of campus administration or harassment from other students, have difficulty expressing controversial points of view. Was that a problem in North Dakota? Was this bill necessary? Tyler Coward, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, discusses the bill and the state of free speech rights on North Dakota's campuses. Send comments and feedback to [email protected].