Cramer Disses Farmers and Ranchers in an Email to His Donors

Recent fundraising email shows Kevin Cramer would rather dismiss the concerns of North Dakota Farmers than stand up to his own party

(BISMARCK, ND) – In a recent email to donors, Kevin Cramer again called the outrage over his unwillingness to stand with North Dakota farmers “hysteria.”

Farmers know that the looming trade war could be a disaster for their bottom line. So does former North Dakota Governor and USDA Secretary Ed Schafer, who has previously called Cramer’s comments unfair, “politics.”

So why doesn’t Kevin Cramer stand up for North Dakota farmers and ranchers?

This isn’t the first time Cramer has called these very real fears “hysteria.” Back in April, he used the word to describe the common knowledge that a trade war would be bad for farmers, and since then it has been reported that China has stopped buying U.S. soybeans.

That’s not hysteria. That’s pointing out that there are real consequences for Cramer’s actions.

“Kevin Cramer has his head firmly buried in the sand when it comes to tariffs,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “When farmers ask him to side with his constituents instead of Washington powerbrokers like Mitch McConnell, he condescendingly calls them hysterical. Farmers know that they would be the first casualties of a trade war, yet Cramer continues to put his own political ambitions in front of the well-being of our agricultural producers.”

Tick Tock: How Long will it Take Cramer to Put ND Farmers Before his Own Political Ambitions?

WATCH THE CLOCK: Over a month after Cramer deleted his tweet opposing harmful tariffs, Cramer still won’t tell the truth or put North Dakotans first

(BISMARCK, ND) – It took less than one hour for Kevin Cramer to abandon North Dakota farmers and producers in favor of his own political career – deleting his tweet opposing harmful tariffs and replacing it with robust support. But one month, three days and counting later, Cramer is still refusing to put North Dakotans ahead of his own ambitions. How long will it take for Cramer to stand up for our state? The clock is ticking.

North Dakota exports more than two-thirds of its soybean crop to China – and if China’s retaliatory 25 percent levies on soybeans go into effect, that could spell catastrophe for North Dakotans. Cramer is fully aware of the risks – more than 100 business groupshavecalled on Congress to protect Americans from tariffs, and he’s already come under fire in the state for putting partisan politics and personal ambition over North Dakota’s ag economy.

But instead of telling the truth about the tariffs, Cramer has resorted to dishonesty: Becoming a talking points robot, and trivializing the very real concerns of North Dakota farmers and producers as nothing more than political “hysteria.”

“Kevin Cramer knows how much the tariffs would devastate an agriculture state like North Dakota, that’s why he originally tweeted out his opposition. But an about-face didn’t take long once he realized his reward might be greener political pastures – and more green in his own pocket,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the North Dakota ND Dem-NPL. “The longer the clock ticks on, the more Cramer desperate becomes – lying, blaming, and talking-point parroting that’s verging on pathetic. Now the question is – will the clock run out Cramer to finally tell the truth and stand with North Dakotans?”

Extreme, Harmful & Self-Serving: Cramer’s “Missed Opportunity” to Repeal Health Care Protections Would Have Devastated North Dakota

On the anniversary of the AHCA, a look back at Cramer’s vote to rip health care away from thousands of North Dakotans

(BISMARCK, ND) – One year ago today, Kevin Cramer sided with his powerful friends in Washington over the well-being of North Dakotans. Voting for the American Health Care Act (AHCA) might have been a good move for Cramer’s career, but it could have ripped away health care access and resources from families back home.

Today, Cramer’s agenda is still just as extreme and self-serving as it was last year. As a refresher, the bill that Cramer called a “missed opportunity” could have:

  • Stripped health care coverage from over 30,000 North Dakotans. According to the Congressional Budget Office’s estimates, under the AHCA, over 23 million Americans would lose health insurance by 2026.

  • Put 300,000 North Dakotans with pre-existing conditions at risk paying much more for basic care. The AHCA would have jeopardized the ability of North Dakotans with cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases to get affordable access the health care services they need.

  • The AHCA’s “Age Tax” could have significantly increased costs for seniors.The price increase would have made it impossible for many seniors to afford health coverage.

  • Raised premiums by 20 percent in 2018 alone. One estimate showed that North Dakotans would have paid nearly $1,000 more per year under the AHCA.

Cramer’s idea of a “missed opportunity” would have been a health care catastrophe for North Dakotans. This is not policy prescription that puts North Dakotans first.

With his vote, Kevin Cramer put Kevin Cramer’s career ambitions first. Again.

“One year after Cramer voted for a health care prescription for disaster, his policies are just as extreme, self-serving, and bereft of real solutions as ever,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “We can always count on Cramer to turn his back on North Dakotans when we need him most. After voting to rip health care away from families if it’ll help his political career, he even had the gall to call that snake oil a ‘missed opportunity.’ It’s time to tell Kevin Cramer – North Dakotans want real solutions, not another bought-and-paid-for politician who’ll sell us out to the highest bidder.”

Extreme, Harmful & Self-Serving: Cramer’s “Missed Opportunity” to Repeal Health Care Protections Would Have Devastated North Dakota

On the anniversary of the AHCA, a look back at Cramer’s vote to rip health care away from thousands of North Dakotans

(BISMARCK, ND) – One year ago today, Kevin Cramer sided with his powerful friends in Washington over the well-being of North Dakotans. Voting for the American Health Care Act (AHCA) might have been a good move for Cramer’s career, but it could have ripped away health care access and resources from families back home.

Today, Cramer’s agenda is still just as extreme and self-serving as it was last year. As a refresher, the bill that Cramer called a “missed opportunity” could have:

  • Stripped health care coverage from over 30,000 North Dakotans. According to the Congressional Budget Office’s estimates, under the AHCA, over 23 million Americans would lose health insurance by 2026.

  • Put 300,000 North Dakotans with pre-existing conditions at risk paying much more for basic care. The AHCA would have jeopardized the ability of North Dakotans with cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases to get affordable access the health care services they need.

  • The AHCA’s “Age Tax” could have significantly increased costs for seniors.The price increase would have made it impossible for many seniors to afford health coverage.

  • Raised premiums by 20 percent in 2018 alone. One estimate showed that North Dakotans would have paid nearly $1,000 more per year under the AHCA.

Cramer’s idea of a “missed opportunity” would have been a health care catastrophe for North Dakotans. This is not policy prescription that puts North Dakotans first.

With his vote, Kevin Cramer put Kevin Cramer’s career ambitions first. Again.

“One year after Cramer voted for a health care prescription for disaster, his policies are just as extreme, self-serving, and bereft of real solutions as ever,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “We can always count on Cramer to turn his back on North Dakotans when we need him most. After voting to rip health care away from families if it’ll help his political career, he even had the gall to call that snake oil a ‘missed opportunity.’ It’s time to tell Kevin Cramer – North Dakotans want real solutions, not another bought-and-paid-for politician who’ll sell us out to the highest bidder.”

Republican Efforts to Suppress Native American Vote Get National Attention

The Nation explains how GOP plays politics with the right to vote in North Dakota and attempted to disenfranchise thousands

(BISMARCK, ND) – The North Dakota GOP won’t be able to get away with it this time. A new article in The Nation shines a light on their efforts disenfranchise thousands of Native American voters through an onerous – and unconstitutional – voter ID law.

State Representative Dan Ruby flat out stated that these actions were an attempt to stifle turnout after Senator Heitkamp’s 2012 victory, not preserve the integrity of North Dakota’s elections:

The prospect of losing an election in a state Republicans otherwise dominated—they held every statewide office and both legislative chambers—served as a wake-up call. “I think that shined a light on it in a way that it was decided that now we should fix the issue,” Ruby told me.

“North Dakotans will not stand for their fundamental rights being taken away because of partisan politics,” said Representative Joshua Boschee (District 44), the Democratic-NPL candidate for Secretary of State. “Republicans knew exactly the people their voter ID law would disenfranchise, but they went ahead and passed it anyway. We need leadership in the Legislature and the Secretary of State’s office who will work to expand access to the ballot box so our communities can have their voices heard from Bismarck to Washington, DC.”

On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland rejected an appeal from the State to delay the earlier ruling that struck the residential address requirement from voter ID law.

Cramer’s Me-First, North Dakotans-Last Health Care Plan Would Have Raised the Cost of Coverage

The Cramer-supported American Health Care Act (AHCA) would have raised premiums by 20 percent and likely brought back lifetime and annual spending caps

(BISMARCK, ND) – When it comes to priorities, North Dakotans can always count on Cramer to count himself first – regardless of how North Dakota families might suffer. Through his efforts to gain support for and pass the AHCA, Cramer pushed a plan that would have caused insurance premiums to skyrocket, making affordable health coverage an impossibility for many families.

According to the Congressional Budget Office report on the bill, the AHCA would have likely led to significant costs by bringing back lifetime or annual spending caps. By eliminating certain Essential Health Benefits (EHBs), insurers could charge exorbitant amounts for services like maternity care, mental health and substance abuse treatment, and for necessary prescription drugs.

Kevin Cramer voted for it, anyway.

Even though the official Congressional Budget Office estimate said that North Dakotans could expect a 20 percent increase in premiums in 2018 alone. Further analysis put the dollar amount at nearly $1,000.

Kevin Cramer called it a “missed opportunity,” anyway.

“The last thing North Dakota families need is higher health care premiums, but for Kevin Cramer, costing them an extra $1,000 was well-worth racking up political points in his push for the AHCA,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “That’s because, for Cramer, his own political and career interests always come first. We need serious solutions that will lower premiums and protect quality care for those who need it most. But for Cramer, working hard for anyone but himself just isn’t in the cards – and he’ll continue to force North Dakotans to sacrifice their care and their wallet for the sake of his own political ambitions.”

ICYMI: More Broken Promises – Hiring and Investment Boom from Corporate Tax Reform Has Not Come To Pass

Cramer and his Republican sidekicks promised ‘rocket fuel’ for the economy – but many workers aren’t seeing benefits

Despite the corporate giveaway, evidence of hiring and investment is lacking, with U.S. borrowing ballooning

(BISMARCK, ND) – Despite the massive corporate tax cuts at the center of President Trump’s tax overhaul, corporate executives have no major plans in sight their tax windfall into their workers, according to a new report from the New York Times. Wealthy shareholders are winning big, and American corporate executives are playing it safe rather than hiring new workers or increasing the salaries of their current employees.

After claims of job creation, new factories, and higher wages, Republicans in Washington are, once again, failing to live up to their empty promises to the American worker. While corporate profits swell, many Americans aren’t feeling the effects of the GOP tax overhaul. Meanwhile, conservatives are swiping the country’s charge card to finance their corporate giveaway, with the deficit predicted to jump to $1.9 trillion.

Highlights from the article below:
New York Times: Investment Boom From Trump’s Tax Cut Has Yet to Appear

  • After years of costly layoffs and plant closings, things are looking up for the heavy-machinery giant Caterpillar, which forecasts solid global sales growth and increased demand this year. Yet despite the corporate investment incentives at the center of President Trump’s tax overhaul, the company’s executives have no plans to supercharge investment or expansion.
  • Caterpillar’s plans for new investment remain low by historical standards. Instead, the company has started using cash to repurchase its own stock as a way to return cash to shareholders, something it hadn’t done since 2015.
  • Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, told The Economist in remarks published last week that after the tax cuts passed, corporations “bought back shares, a few gave out bonuses; there’s no evidence whatsoever that the money’s been massively poured back into the American worker.”
  • As they anticipated a windfall from tax cuts, the nation’s banks increased their pace of buybacks by more than 50 percent last year, to $77.5 billion from $51 billion in 2016, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The 10 largest banks, led by JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup, accounted for 70 percent of those buybacks.
  • A survey by the National Association for Business Economics also finds capital spending expectations rising from a year ago – but two-thirds of respondents said the new tax law did not cause them to change hiring or investment plans.

Looking Back: Cramer Ambushed Older Americans with Age Tax and Medicare Cutbacks in Backroom Deal

Cramer voted for bill that would hike premiums for older Americans

He described the AARP-condemned bill as a “missed opportunity”

(BISMARCK, ND) – As the one-year anniversary of partisan efforts to rip away health care protections for North Dakotans approaches, it’s worth taking a look back at what Cramer’s vision for North Dakotans’ care would have looked like, had his hyper-partisan, backroom deal been signed into law.

“Kevin calls the fact that his back-room,hyper-partisan deal to rip health care away from older Americans a ‘missed opportunity,’” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the North Dakota Dem-NPL. “Is he serious? North Dakotans breathed a sigh of relief when the Cramer-backed bill failed because it would it would have slapped them with a new Age Tax, surged their premium costs, and threatened vital programs by weakening their Medicare. But for a self-serving politician like Cramer, losing a chance to boost his own career at the expense of North Dakotans is a ‘missed opportunity’ – and that’s the last thing our seniors deserve.”

The American Health Care Act (AHCA) would have posed a direct assault on the ability of older Americans to receive care:

  • Age Tax: By revoking an Affordable Care Act provision that prohibited insurance companies from charging older customers sky-high premiums, the Cramer-backed law opened the door for companies to impose an “age tax” on older Americans, with premiums five times the amount charged to younger customers.

  • Weakened Medicare, Threatening Vital Programs: The Cramer-backed AHCA also contained provisions that undermined the Medicare guarantee, weakening the popular program with millions of beneficiaries nationwide. By threatening Medicare funding, the AHCA could have cut benefits to vital programs, which could have meant lower quality of care for millions of older Americans.

  • Premium Increases: Under the AHCA – Cramer’s idea of a “missed opportunity” – older Americans would have faced potentially up to thousands of dollars in premium increases, pricing many out of the market entirely.

ICYMI: Even GOP Sen. Marco Rubio Says There’s “No Evidence” of Republican Tax Bill Helping American Workers

Kevin Cramer’s would-be colleague criticizes the GOP corporate giveaways they voted for

(BISMARCK, ND) – Despite what Kevin Cramer has been saying for the past year, North Dakotans know that the corporate giveaway masquerading as a tax cut for the middle class will not help out the average working family in the long run. But now one of their own has let slip the truth about the tax scam, and it doesn’t look great for Cramer’s Cronies.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, in an interview with the economist, actually told the truth about the deficit-and-debt exploding bill:

“There is still a lot of thinking on the right that if big corporations are happy, they’re going to take the money they’re saving and reinvest it in American workers,” [Rubio] says. “In factthey bought back shares, a few gave out bonuses; there’s no evidence whatsoever that the money’s been massively poured back into the American worker.”

Now that his colleagues in the GOP are finally acknowledging the truth about their marquee accomplishment, will Cramer change his tune?

Based on his Cramer-before-North Dakota track record, workers likely shouldn’t hold their breath.

Happy Anniversary: Cramer Voted for “Mean” Bill to Strip Over 30,000 North Dakotans of Health Coverage

Cramer-backed American Health Care Act (AHCA) would have hurt those with pre-existing conditions the most
(BISMARCK, ND) – This week, we’re approaching the anniversary of Kevin Cramer’s vote to pass the American Health Care Act (AHCA) of 2017, legislation that President Trump called just plain “mean” because it could have forced more than 30,000 North Dakotans off their health insurance.

Additionally, more than 300,000 North Dakotans with pre-existing conditions could have lost their health coverage or been charged more for basic care.

Cramer’s vote on May 4, 2017, was an attempt to roll back important progress made toward expanding health care access and proved that he’d rather stand with partisan Washington big-shots like Mitch McConnell that can help him with his own career rather than with North Dakota families.

But this shouldn’t be a surprise, given Cramer’s history. Instead of working to improve health care options for North Dakotans, Cramer was more concerned with attacking North Dakotans with diabetes, cancer, and other pre-existing conditions – saying they were trying to “game” the system. In fact, he’s voted nearly 60 times to strip coverage from North Dakota’s most vulnerable populations.

“In the words of President Trump, Kevin Cramer’s vote to kick over 30,000 North Dakotans off their health coverage – including over 18,000 men and women who gained health insurance through the Medicaid expansion – was just plain ‘mean,’” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “Cramer showed his true colors with that vote– he cares more about voting in lockstep with party leaders that can help him get ahead than he does about the health and safety of North Dakotans. With Cramer, our families will always take a backseat to the ideological concerns of his donors and his own political ambitions – and that’s not what we deserve.”

Boschee Receives Victory Fund “Game Changer” Endorsement

Endorsement highlights potential statewide impact in Secretary of State race

(BISMARCK, ND) – The North Dakota Democratic-NPL is proud to announce that Representative Joshua Boschee has earned a “Game Changer” endorsement from Victory Fund in his race for Secretary of State.

Victory Fund is America’s leading national organization advocating for LGBTQ candidates at the local, state, and national levels of government. Endorsements from the group highlight not only a commitment to public service and equality but also emphasize the candidate’s viability.

“Victory Fund is pleased to endorse Rep. Josh Boschee for Secretary of State,” said Victory Fund President & CEO Annise Parker. “Rep. Boschee’s commitment to modernizing the Secretary of State’s office and ensuring all eligible North Dakotans’ right to vote is protected makes him the best candidate for Secretary of State. When he wins in November, Rep. Boschee will continue to be a voice for all North Dakotans.”

“I am honored to be joining the ranks of Victory Fund endorsed candidates,” said Representative Joshua Boschee (Dem-NPL 44) and candidate for Secretary of State. “Throughout my career, I have been an advocate for equality for all North Dakotans, and I look forward to bringing that important perspective to the Secretary of State’s office. Our citizens need a modern, responsive Secretary of State’s office that will advocate for their fundamental rights, especially the right to vote.”

“The people of District 44 know Josh is a tireless public servant with a strong moral compass, and he looks forward to bringing that same energy to the Secretary of State’s office,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the Democratic-NPL. “The Victory Fund endorsement emphasizes his leadership ability and his commitment to our shared values of equality and open access to our state’s most important services.”

REPORT: Heitkamp pays North Dakotans who intern in her office, Cramer accepts free labor

#TBT from NDxPlains: Cramer has family on campaign payroll, refuses to pay interns

Former Heitkamp intern: “You don’t have to be ‘well-to-do’ to work for her. That’s just who she is and it’s reflected in how she runs her office.”

(BISMARCK, ND) – There’s a new push to get Members of Congress to pay their interns,and a report from Pay Our Interns details those who do – Senators Heidi Heitkamp and John Hoeven are on the list. Notably absent is Kevin Cramer, whose fondness for nepotism has led him to have family members on campaign payroll – and reimburse himself about $200,000.

Reports show that a typical internship can cost students up to $6,000, but apparently Cramer can’t stomach paying the North Dakotans who intern for him on Capitol Hill.

“It’s shameful that Kevin Cramer refuses to pay the North Dakotans who intern in his office, but still finds hundreds of thousands in campaign cash to line his own pockets,” said Scott McNeil, executive director of the North Dakota Dem-NPL. “Republican or Democrat, North Dakota’s Members of Congress have had a proud tradition of paying their interns the wages they’ve earned – Kevin Cramer should get on board because it’s the right thing to do.”