Plain Talk With Rob Port

Rob and Jay talk about another billionaire-backed initiated measure for North Dakota, though this one is being pitched under false pretenses.

Both North Dakota and the nation are grappling with the task of returning our society to some semblance of normal while still keeping in place appropriate measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic. On this episode of Plain Talk, Arik Spencer from the North Dakota Chamber of Commerce talks about some protections his organization feels business owners need to help them get back to employing their employees and serving the public. He noted that many businesses, like restaurants as one example, are afraid to re-open out of fear they'll be liable if an outbreak of coronavirus happens in one of their facilities. Similarly, businesses that shifted their work over to producing things needed during the pandemic - breweries, for instance, which started making hand sanitizer - are worried they could be sued if those products, which they don't typically produce, were faulty. "Can they be sued for trying to be a good Samaritan?" Spencer asked. What he'd like to see is legislation, preferably at the federal level but also

"To say that money buys elections in North Dakota is a little bit insulting to the people of North Dakota," Governor Doug Burgum said on this episode of Plain Talk. He was addressing a question about the criticism he's faced for spending millions, much of it his own money, on promoting his preferred slate of candidates in the North Dakota Republican Party's recent primary election. "There's so much more than money in politics," he added, arguing that the candidates he backed won because they persuaded voters. "People win in North Dakota when they've got the right message," he continued. Some have suggested there is growing discord between Burgum and Senator Kevin Cramer, a fellow Republican. These suggestions have sometimes come with speculation that Burgum might challenge Cramer for his Senate seat. "I'm trying not to laugh," Burgum said when I asked him about that, saying he would not ever think of challenging Cramer. In fact, he's not interested in a job in Congress under any circumstances. "The last thing

The political parties didn't hold their traditional biannual state conventions. The candidates were constrained in their ability to campaign in person. All of the voting was done by mail. The President of the United States endorsed in a down-ballot primary race for a sleepy executive branch office with little influence over actual public policy. This primary season was probably the most unusual in North Dakota's history. State Rep. Tom Beadle (R-Fargo) looks to have won the primary for Treasurer over his opponent, Rep. Dan Johnston (R-Kathryn), and on this episode of Plain Talk he spoke out about what it was like to campaign amid coronavirus, and against a candidate who has Donald Trump on his side. "It definitely got weird," Beadle told me. He said at one point, the personal attacks against him - from Johnston's supporters if not the candidate himself - got very ugly and very personal. "They were attacking my wife and I because we haven't been blessed with kids yet," he said. Governor Doug Burgum backed Bead

"If Governor Burgum's people win it will be a huge blow to conservatism," state Rep. Rick Becker said on this episode of Plain Talk. Becker is a Republican lawmaker from Bismarck and a founder of the Bastiat Caucus of conservatives in the Legislature. He was responding to a question about Governor Doug Burgum's involvement in the NDGOP primary season. Burgum has backed a number of candidates in contested legislative primaries across the state, as well a state Rep. Thomas Beadle in the NDGOP's nomination race for Treasurer, and he's put about $2 million of his own money behind the effort. Though Burgum is backing mostly candidates endorsed by the local NDGOP districts - incumbent Rep. Jeff Magrum in District 28 is the lone exception - Becker sees problems if Burgum gets his way. "His remaking of the Legislature in his own image is not good for the Republican party. It's not good for the state," Becker said. "I think it's unseemly," he added. "We know he doesn't care about the local party or the process," Becke

Rob and Jay talk about the issues surrounding law enforcement, both locally and nationally.

Zach Raknerud is the endorsed candidate of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL for the U.S. House of Representatives. He also acknowledges that he's the underdog, by a country mile, in his race against Republican incumbent Kelly Armstrong. Still, he credits his recent criticism of what he perceived as Armstrong's silence in the aftermath of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis with getting the incumbent to engage. Raknerud also talks about how our nation can recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, how we can improve race relations and law enforcement, and his plan to diminish the power of big business in politics.

"Good cops know who the bad cops are." That's what Congressman Kelly Armstrong said on this episode of Plain Talk, addressing a question about what we can do to solve the problems with racism and abuse in America's law enforcement agencies. Armstrong, a formal criminal defense attorney, argues that most law enforcement officers are good people doing their best with a tough job. He'd like to see them given incentive to "weed out" the bad apples in their own midst. He also addressed an accusation from his opponent, presumptive Democratic House candidate Zach Rankerud, that he's been silent and inactive during the George Floyd protests. "I don't think he's been paying attention," Armstrong said. "I'm comfortable with my background talking about this."

How do we fix our national problem with law enforcement abuse? There's no single silver bullet that will do it, but on this episode of Plain Talk, Fargo defense attorney (and former cop) Mark Friese says one big step in the right direction would be to end to end the qualified immunity America's courts have created for cops. It's a little complicated, but unless the government waives it the police have immunity from lawsuits unless the courts have established that you have the right you're accusing the cops of violating. So unless you can show the court that you have a right not to have a cop kneel on your neck until you are dead, a lawsuit with that complaint is likely to be dismissed. This makes it "almost impossible" for law enforcement to be held accountable in the civil courts. Friese says other steps, such as removing "incentives for police to treat people inappropriately" and generally winnowing the number of crimes on the books, would also help.

Rob and Jay talk about the riots and protests in Fargo.

On this episode of Plain Talk, Fargo Forum columnist Raheem Williams, who is also a resident of downtown Fargo, talks about living through the violent protests which took place there over the weekend. "I never thought in my life I would have to act as a sentry in my own community," Williams told me. We discussed what he saw and did, how the protests evolved from something peaceful to something ugly, and the frustration which comes from watching a righteous cause get undermined by violent thugs.

Jay and Rob talk about the Fargo Forum reducing its print editions and the controversy surrounding North Dakota's Care19 app.

One of the innovative things the State of North Dakota has done during the coronavirus pandemic is work with a Fargo-based developer ProudCrowd to create a contact tracing app. Contract tracing is an epidemiological technique aimed at tracking where an outbreak is happening and who it is happening to so that policies can be targeted. This allows policymakers to better strike a balance between addressing an outbreak while not unduly burdening the public. Tim Brookins is the founder of ProudCrowd, and on this episode of Plain Talk, he talks about how his app has helped during the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as recent privacy concerns brought by another app developer. Brookins says his company is not selling data, not only because it would be illegal under his contracts with the states of North and South Dakota, but because "it's completely worthless." The data the Care19 app collects is anonymized, and tech giants like Facebook and Google already collect far more detailed data from many, many more people. Is the

Rob and Jay talk about absurd coronavirus restrictions.

Gary Emineth is a long-time activist in North Dakota politics, and at one point was the chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party. He was an outspoken supporter of Governor Doug Burgum's 2016 campaign, but he sees problems in Burgum's decision to spend big money defeating other Republicans in primary races. The Governor is "using his wealth as the chief executive to go after the Legislature," Emineth told me, though Burgum has also intervened in a primary competition for the Treasurer's office as well. Emineth has filed the paperwork to form his own political action committee to try and counteract Burgum's efforts.

Brandt Dick is already a superintendent. He works for the public school system in Underwood, North Dakota. He'd like to continue to be a superintendent, albeit of all of North Dakota's public schools. He's asking North Dakota voters to do that this election year. He's one of three candidates for the position on the June primary ballot, along with incumbent Kirsten Baesler and gadfly candidate Charles Tuttle. Asked about Baesler's job performance, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic which prompted statewide school closures, Dick said she's done a "decent job," though he thinks she hasn't been assertive enough. "It seems like there are some times she's allowed the governor to be in control and make decisions," he told me. One area where he's critical is school closures. "Even now two months after we shut down the schools there are still 14 counties that haven't had a case," Dick said. "At what point will the governor give that local control back?" Dick asked. With the school year closing, that may be a mo

On this episode of the Plain Talk podcast, Congressman Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) recounts being lectured about not wearing a mask by a reporter who was wearing a mask, albeit around his neck and not up over his mouth and nose. "All this is turning into a new realm of virtue signaling," he said. Will Congress pass more relief legislation for the COVID-19 pandemic? Armstrong thinks so. "There is going to be more legislation," he said, adding that he hopes it's "targeted" unlike a new proposal being touted by Democrats which has a price tag "north of $2 trillion." "I don't see how that's responsible," Armstrong said. He also addressed the announced closure of the Coal Creek Station power plant, and a federal judge in Montana who created chaos with infrastructure projects across the country with a national injunction he ordered in a suit against the Keystone XL pipeline which is before his court. Will Congress seek to limit the authority of the courts to do that sort of thing? "No," Armstrong said bluntly. "We aren'

Rob and Jay talk about the recent story about workers, fearful of coronavirus, walking out of their jobs at a Fargo business. Was that story fairly reported?

To hear Ladd Erickson tell it, when Coal Creek Station was built the justification for constructing the power transmission line that services it across acres and acres of prime North Dakota farmland (to the consternation of many farmers at the time) was that the coal plant would generate economic activity. Erickson is the State's Attorney for McLean County, and he believes that if Great River Energy wants to shut down and deconstruct their coal power plant, then they ought to take down their power line too and return the land it's using to farmers. "North Dakota has no economic interested in the power line," he said on this episode of Plain Talk. Coal Creek is North Dakota's largest coal-fired power plant. Great River Energy has said they want to find a buyer for the plant, but if they can't they will shut it down in two years. "We hope they're sincere in this effort to sell the plant," Erickson told me, but added that he doesn't believe they can. That transmission line that serves Coal Creek is extremely val

"Opening up our own economy is not enough," Dr. Jeremy Jackson, head of North Dakota State University's Center for the Study of Public Choice and Private Enterprise, said on this episode of Plain Talk. "We need other places to open up." Jackson is the author of a new forecast for North Dakota's economy which has some grim findings. During the interview, he notes that North Dakota is an export state. Our primary industries produce goods which are then sold outside of the state, and often outside of the country. Without that outside demand, it's going to be hard for North Dakota's economy to recover. What can state policymakers do to address this situation? "I don't know what policy can get us out of this mess we're in," he said. "We need some contingency plans," he added.