CROOKED CRAMER’S CHRONICLES – FINAL DEBATE TONIGHT – QUADRUPLING DOWN ON CUTTING SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE – STICKY FINANCES – CRAMERCARE

Welcome to Cramer’s Chronicles where, every Friday, we’ll break down the latest and greatest weekly hits about Cramer’s crooked, self-serving, extreme, and gaffe-prone behavior that puts himself and his partisan politics ahead of North Dakotans.

FINAL DEBATE TONIGHT. The second** and final debate between Heidi and Kevin Cramer is tonight at 7PM CT. To save everyone from an inbox full of emails at the end of the night, the Dem-NPL and Team Heidi are relaunching its rapid response website: demnpl.com/teamheididebatehq. Make sure to follow along for the latest #NDSenDebate updates!

**Quick reminder that there are only two Senate debates because Kevin Cramer declined 7 and was too chicken to reschedule a third previously scheduled debate in early October.

HEIDI’S WINNING MOMENT FROM THE 1ST DEBATE. A must-watch:

HEITKAMP: “I think it’s, I think it’s interesting that Congressman Cramer talks about President Trump. Why not talk about what you’ve done? Why not talk about your accomplishments? Why not talk about your… bipartisan credibility? Because when you look at rankings, no matter what he says, I am 50th most conservative and 49th most liberal and political thought right now is like a dumbbell. There’s hard right and hard left. Congressman Cramer is going to be on the hard right. There’s connective tissue in between that stops gridlock and that’s the moderates like me who try and get things done and do get things done.”

QUADRUPLING DOWN ON CUTTING SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE. In just the last two weeks, Cramer has four times proposed gutting Social Security and Medicare to pay for his massive tax cut to the wealthy.

1. In a recent interview with the Jamestown Sun, Cramer advocated for raising the retirement age and making cuts to programs like Medicare.
2. In a town hall sponsored by AARP, Cramer made clear his plans to make cuts to North Dakotans’ hard-earned retirement funds, saying, “President Trump – ironically, here’s one of the areas that he and I don’t agree on. He will not touch – he promised not to touch Social Security.”
3. Later that week, Cramer doubled down, saying, “he [President Trump] has pledged not to deal with Social Security and Medicare. I think that’s a mistake.”
4. Cramer also said he was “encourag[ed]” by Mitch McConnell’s desire to cut Social Security and Medicare.

CRAMER’S STICKY FINANCES. At the last debate Cramer became “uneasy” whenever the subject of his finances came up. Maybe his self-serving agenda can give us a clue as to why…

• Cramer took campaign contributions from the same industries he was charged with regulating while on the Public Service Commission, causing a judge to issue him a “written spanking,” noting that Cramer’s actions were “ill-advised, devoid of common sense, and raises legitimate questions as to the appearance of impropriety.”
• Cramer uses campaign funds to “enrich [himself] and [his] family,” a practice described as “morally kind of sticky.” Since his first run for the House, Cramer and his family have paid themselves over $350,000 from his campaign donors.

CRAMERCARE WOULD MAKE HEALTH CARE MORE EXPENSIVE FOR NORTH DAKOTANS. Cramer told the Williston Herald that his health care agenda “would look like” skinny repeal or Graham-Cassidy, but here’s what that could do to North Dakotans’ care:

❌Eliminate federal funding for Medicaid expansion, which has enabled 18,000 North Dakotans to obtain coverage

❌Allow insurance companies to charge more for pre-existing conditions coverage

❌Allow states to define essential health benefits to not include health conditions like asthma, cancer, or depression

❌Implement an ‘Age Tax’ on older North Dakotans ages 50-64

Don’t forget: Cramer also voted to repeal or undermine the current health care law 65 times and supports a partisan lawsuit that seeks to repeal the law entirely. He’s repeatedly broken his promise to North Dakotans to protect their care. 

CRAMER SURROGATE TO FARMERS: YOU DON’T GET IT. Another week, another instance where Cramer and his campaign are belittling North Dakotans’ concerns over the trade war. A campaign surrogate claimed that farmers concerned over the trade war “don’t understand the big picture” and “should actually be happy.” 🤔

DEM-NPL LAUNCHES GOTV WEBSITE. North Dakotans can visit demnpl.com/vote as a resource to vote by mail, find their polling location, pledge to vote, make a plan to vote, and learn about voting ID requirements.

From our Executive Director: “Every election comes down to turnout and that’s why the Dem-NPL is committed to making sure North Dakotans have the tools necessary to make their voices heard. The resources this website offers is just one of the many ways, in addition to our voter hotline and our extensive campus and native organizing efforts, that we’re working to make voting foolproof for eligible North Dakotans.”

TWEET OF THE WEEK.

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