“We want them to understand that the tariffs have a negative impact on US oil and gas industry. […] You can’t be promoting and maximising the production of energy while also imposing tariffs”

(BISMARCK, ND) – The president’s trade war could have unintended consequences for North Dakota’s oil industry, undermining yet another key industry in the Peace Garden State. With the state’s farmers bracing for a painful year and businesses statewide already feeling the pressure, North Dakota’s oil industry appears to be next on the chopping block. Unfortunately for the state’s many energy producers, the effects could be twofold.

Companies in the Bakken rely heavily on imported metals – with the president applying tariffs on imported steel from Canada, Mexico, and the European Union, the cost of doing business could soon be going up.

On top of that, American oil producers are fearful of losing business in one of the fastest growing markets in the world, as oil exports to China – currently totaling nearly $1 billion per month – appear to be the next in line for retribution in administration’s escalating trade war. This “tit-for-tat petroleum diplomacy” could make American oil less competitive than oil from Russia and the Middle East, bringing down profitability for American companies.

Rather than fighting for North Dakota’s most important industries, Kevin Cramer has been fully supportive of the president’s dangerous and misguided trade policies. Making matters worse for Cramer, his finance chair and the reason he decided to run for Senate, Harold Hamm, had to pull out of a meeting with OPEC in the days after China promised retaliation on U.S. oil products.

“From farmers, manufacturers, and energy producers, Kevin Cramer’s support for the administration’s trade war is hitting all sides of North Dakota’s economy,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “Even as our top industries come under fire, Cramer continues to cheerlead a trade war. North Dakotans are already hurting from these policies, but Crooked Cramer continues to double down – but North Dakotans won’t forget that he stood for himself and against North Dakota’s economic interests in November.”

(BISMARCK, ND) — Kevin Cramer has been the biggest cheerleader for the president’s trade war. Turning his back on North Dakota farmers and ranchers, Cramer has dismissed their concerns as “hysteria.” Here’s a quick shot/chaser to show just how divorced from reality Cramer really is:

SHOT: Last month, Kevin Cramer said, “Soybeans are one of those products where there’sa very high demand and a short supply. That means there will always be a pretty good price for soybeans.”

CHASER: In reality, soybean prices have just plunged to a nine-year low as Cramer and the White House stumble into a reckless trade war that threatens the livelihood of North Dakota’s ag producers. Read more from CNBC.

Maybe if Cramer served on the House agriculture committee he would have a better grasp on the issues? Here’s a quick timeline of Cramer’s bad, all-over-the-place record fanning the flames of the trade war:

• March 7, 2018: Cramer joined 106 House colleagues in asking the president to reconsider his plan for tariffs.

• March 17, 2018: “Rep Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., a Trump supporter, said he would like to see changes in the tariff proposal.”

• April 4, 2018: Cramer posted, then deleted a tweet and a Facebook post citing his opposition to Trump’s tariffs, which he claimed had “the potential to harm” North Dakota’s agricultural sector.

• April 4, 2018: Cramer replaced his original tweet and Facebook posts with new statements supporting the president’s aggressive trade policies.

• April 9, 2018: Just a day after admitting similar concerns, Cramer accused Democrats of wanting to “pour fuel on the fire of hysteria” when discussing the impact of a trade war. He lamented that Democrats expressing concern about a trade war was “neither helpful to the markets nor helpful to the farmers and certainly not helpful to the country.”

• April 20, 2018: Not happy only blaming Democrats for his failing trade war, Cramer aimed his fire at the media, complaining that North Dakota’s newspapers had been promoting “Heitkamp’s misguided understanding on market impacts of tariffs in North Dakota.”

• May 3, 2018: Demonstrating how out-of-touch he is with the struggles of modern farmers, Cramer assured soybean farmers that they wouldn’t be affected by the looming trade war, saying, “you can have a one day scare, a couple of days scare, but soybeans are going to follow- They’re going to follow the market trend based on willing buyer, willing seller.”

• May 17, 2018: Doubling down on his inaccurate claims about agriculture, Cramer claimed on local talk radio, “soybeans are one of those products where there’s a very high demand and short supply. That means there will always be a pretty good price for soybeans.” In fact, due to the president’s trade war, soybean prices are at a nine-year low.

• May 21, 2018: Cramer tripled down on his hysteria comments – “Sure enough, Democrat hysteria over the past few months on trade negotiations proved to be just that–hysteria. Thankfully, the administration approached China from a position of strength and has forged a tentative deal that leaves North Dakota producers in a stronger position than they were before, given China’s commitment to significantly increase purchases.” In fact, after the president approved tariffs on Chinese goods, China backed out of its promise to buy more American goods.

• June 1, 2018: Cramer quadrupled down on his hysteria rhetoric, saying “I don’t fall for the hysteria thing.”

• June 15, 2018: During a visit to the White House with North Dakota ag producers, Cramer discussed the “excitement” of being present while the president applied tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods.

• June 19, 2018: In a campaign email, Cramer criticized a group of farmers for discussing trade with the Mexican Ambassador and accused Senator Heitkamp of undermining the presidency for working to provide a commonsense solution to a complex problem.

Former Senator Kent Conrad previously said Cramer “has made a virtual cottage industry out of his campaigns”

(BISMARCK, ND) — Kevin Cramer is just about as crooked as they come. While some got into politics to make a difference, Cramer has made it a priority to enrich himself. He’s already come under fire from local media about his massive, nepotistic payments to himself and his family members – but it looks like that didn’t stop him.

To date, since the last reporting period, Cramer and his family have pocketed more than $375,000. Cramer has paid nearly $200,000 himself. His wife, Kris – who was until recently on payroll – has raked in nearly $150,000. Other payments have gone to members of the Cramer family and their family business, as well. Politics has been a profitable business for the Cramer family – since he was elected to Congress, Cramer’s net worth has nearly doubled.

“Kevin Cramer went to Washington to get rich, and it looks like his con is working,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “Since he was elected to Congress, Cramer and his family have pocketed hundreds of thousands in campaign contributions – all the while his net worth skyrocketed – nearly doubling since he moved into his D.C. office. North Dakota voters will remember on Election Day that Kevin Cramer is nothing more than a crooked Washington politician climbing a political ladder – that’s why his loyalty will always lie with special interests.”

As the president escalates the trade war by threatening more tariffs, Cramer continues to support fraying trade partnerships – putting vital North Dakota industries at risk

(BISMARCK, ND) – In a dramatic escalation of the administration’s trade war, the president threatened tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. The question now is, when will Cramer finally stand up for North Dakota farmers, ranchers, manufacturers and producers against an impending trade war?

This announcement piles onto last week’s approval of tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods, which almost immediately provoked retaliatory tariffs on key American industries including soybeans, corn, wheat, automobiles and more. Should China counter the president’s latest threats with more trade measures of their own, the president has promised to escalate the trade war even further by launching tariffs on yet another $200 billion of Chinese goods.

And where is Congressman Cramer in all of this? Still refusing to stand up for North Dakota’s ag economy, which is particularly vulnerable to an intensifying trade war.

Agricultural exports are a vital part of the state’s economy, with over $5 billion in goods exported in 2016. The industries most likely to be affected by the trade war – agricultural exports and manufacturers dependent on steel and aluminum – are responsible for roughly 34,000 and 17,000 North Dakota jobs respectively. Additionally, China threatened this week to impose duties on U.S. oil imports that total nearly $1 billion per month. Further raising the stakes for North Dakota’s farmers and ranchers, the administration is also on the verge of a trade war with Canada and Mexico, who buy almost all of North Dakota’s corn, beef, pork, and poultry exports.

Read a quick recap of the article below:

The Hill: Trump calls for tariffs on additional $200B in Chinese goods as trade war ramps up

• President Trump on Monday said he is directing his top trade official to identify $200 billion more worth of Chinese goods that will be subject to tariffs, escalating the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China.

• The president announced on Friday that the U.S. would impose 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods. Beijing then responded with tariffs on $50 billion in U.S. products.

• The White House’s move is expected to further ramp up trade tensions with Beijing and possibly risk Trump’s push to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

• He has in recent weeks decided to implement steep tariffs against China and other key U.S. allies, despite warnings from congressional lawmakers that doing so could harm American workers and erase gains made from the Republican tax package.

• The U.S. has also imposed tariffs this year of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum from a wide range of nations, including China.

• The moves have angered close allies including Canada, Mexico and the European Union, which are pleading their cases to the World Trade Organization and planning their own rounds of tariffs.

• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said that about $75 billion of U.S. exports will be hit with retaliatory tariffs during the first week of July from all of those nations, angering a wide range of business groups and roiling stock markets.

Lawsuit to roll back coverage for pre-existing conditions may hurt the 175 million Americans who get coverage through their employer

(BISMARCK, ND) – Americans who get health insurance through their employer – some 175 million people – could be susceptible to changes in their coverage, according to a new article in the Wall Street Journal. The Department of Justice is supporting an effort to roll back coverage guarantees for people with pre-existing health conditions and to relax limits on how much insurers can charge older individuals and women. Should the efforts succeed, parts of the health care law that benefit workers who get coverage through work would also be revoked, potentially affecting millions of Americans.

Since arriving in Washington, Kevin Cramer has supported legislation aimed at rolling back the protections provided by the Affordable Care Act. In 2013, Cramer voted for a bill that would have delayed parts of the Affordable Care Act that guarantee coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions, who Cramer famously accused of “gaming the system.” That same year, Cramer voted against a law that would prohibit employers from reducing insurance coverage for their workers.

Read a quick recap of the article below:

Wall Street Journal: Get Health Coverage at Work? Lawsuit Against ACA Could Affect You, Too

• Tens of millions of people who get health insurance through their job could face waiting periods for coverage or find that specific medical conditions aren’t immediately covered if the courts back a request by the Trump administration to toss key provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

• … the request would also rewind some protections for the vast majority of Americans—some 175 million people—who get health coverage via small and large employers, analysts said.

• “Anyone who just thinks this is just impacting the 12 to 15 million individuals with individual coverage is wrong,” said Timothy Jost, an emeritus law professor at Washington and Lee University.

• That means employers would again be able to impose lengthy waiting periods for health coverage on new hires.

• Employers could also opt not to cover a new hire’s specific health problem, like cancer, for up to a year even if they provide them insurance.

• And when smaller companies shop for insurance, they could be charged more to cover their workers if they have a large number of older or sicker people. That can indirectly lead to higher costs for workers who pay a share of their premiums, health analysts said.