CROOKED CRAMER’S CHRONICLES – ND FARMERS CALL OUT CRAMER FOR SUPPORTING TRADE WAR – CRAMER FAILS TO ‘SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT’ ON HEALTH CARE

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.

ND FARMERS CALL OUT CRAMER FOR SUPPORTING TRADE WAR. Yesterday, farmers from across North Dakota and the Dem-NPL came together to call on Congressman Cramer to stop blindly following the administration down the trade war route and for failing to stand up for them and the state’s best interests.

  • Wyndmere farmer, state Senator, and Ag Commissioner candidate, Jim Dotzenrod: “It’s a little bothersome to me that the people that have crafted this policy, that have decided to go this route, have no skin in the game. They’re playing poker with somebody else’s money.” 
  • Colfax farmer, Vanessa Kummer: “We all know that trade wars don’t work. And so for Representative Cramer to stand beside Trump and promote harm to North Dakota farmers is just wrong in my opinion.”

HEADLINE: KVRR: Farmers Speak Out Against Rep. Kevin Cramer and His Comments on Trade War

Watch more here.

HANG TOUGH? Meanwhile, Cramer is once again dismissing North Dakotans’ concerns (remember when he accused their fears of the trade war as “hysteria”?). See today’s front page of the Fargo Forum for how Cramer and his cronies are once again belittling the economic impacts his decision to stand with the administration 100 percent of the time are having:

DON’T MISS: “FOR CRAMER, DIFFERING WITH TRUMP MAKES YOU AN ‘ENEMY OF OUR COUNTRY’.” Cramer’s bizarre thinking behind calling Senator Heitkamp an “enemy of our country” for working to help those affected by the trade war is criticized in Mike McFeely’s latest column: “Cramer’s stance is obvious: He’s loyal to Trump above North Dakota. […] With Trump, it’s a different story. Cramer doesn’t see his job as looking out for North Dakotans, but rather standing with the president 100 percent of the time. And if you dare question Trump, you’re ‘an enemy of our own country.’ That’s startling hyperbole, even for an unapologetic Trump fanboy.”

CRAMER FAILS TO ‘SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT’ ON HEALTH CARE. “Cramer campaign on the defensive, as it has been multiple times” and, this week, it was about his disastrous health care record. Cramer and the NDGOP held a ‘set the record straight’ (aka: damage-control) press conference in an attempt to rewrite their history of supporting policies that could spike costs and strip coverage for North Dakotans. Not surprisingly, there were “quite a few misleading claims.”

  • Congressman Kevin Cramer has voted to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act over sixty times since taking office. In 2015, he bragged about voting to repeal the law in its entirety. Repealing the law in its entirety would eliminate the protections of people with pre-existing conditions. To now try and claim otherwise at a press conference is election year spin at its worse.
     
  • Cramer has also claimed Graham-Cassidy, a replacement plan, would protect people with pre-existing conditions. That’s not accurate. While it technically didn’t gut the entire thing, consumers could be charged more for care or completely priced out of the insurance market because of pre-existing conditions. Directors of Medicaid across the nation also raised flags about the proposal’s shortfalls.
  • To top it off, Cramer accuses Democrats of using health care as, “a theme to try and ride into this election cycle.” Apparently, he delivered that line without a hint of irony nor a level of self-awareness. Recall, he voted over 60 times to repeal the law. When asked about it, he claimed those were “symbolic” meaning for political motives. Now, after years of running on health care, they control the federal government and they don’t want you to talk about health care because it isn’t politically advantageous for them.

BOTTOM LINE: North Dakotans can’t trust Kevin Cramer with their health care.

HEADLINE: CRAMER’S OFFICE THREATENS CONSTITUENTS. Chris Hagen of the High Plains Reader details how Mary Rennich and several other North Dakotans concerned about their health care were “threatened… with physical removal from the building if they dared say a word” at Cramer’s health care event. See more:

  • If Mary Rennich and her family lost insurance, she would be facing more than $7,500 a month in medical bills.
  • “Being a citizen of North Dakota, I think we should have a voice,” Rennich said. “I don’t think they should be afraid to hear questions and have some answers ready. I think that’s their responsibility… I would like to ask some questions. And I know there are a lot of other families that would like to ask, too, because we’re really scared. We’re very frightened.”

Seems like the damage-control desperately needed from Cramer’s health care agenda is going about as well as expected.

TWEET OF THE WEEK.

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