LISTEN: Repeating his mistakes from 2014, Cramer is a broken record –stymieing critical Farm Bill negotiations with partisan politics

(BISMARCK, ND) – Kevin Cramer cemented his position as an out-of-touch politician this week, confessing that passage of the Farm Bill is being delayed in Congress by right-wing political provisions. You have to hear it to believe it – asked by a constituent about the bill, Cramer lamented that his party was being “held hostage” by American families struggling to put food on the table.

LISTEN HERE.

“Typical Cramer – always putting himself first, and his Washington spin on anything that might help his own political ambitions. His D.C. double-speak didn’t fool anyone when he held the Farm Bill hostage in 2014, and it’s not fooling North Dakota farmers now,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of North Dakota Dem-NPL. “We know what he’s gearing up to do – hold the most important legislation for North Dakota’s ag community hostage again over a political provision, and North Dakota farmers won’t stand for it.”

This is nothing new for Cramer, who was widely criticized by North Dakota’s media for threatening to upend the last Farm Bill in 2014. North Dakota’s farmers, already struggling to recover from last year’s drought, are being left out to dry by their lone vote in Congress. Traditionally the Farm Bill enjoys broad bipartisan support – but Cramer is too busy helping D.C. partisan politicians are play games – risking the Farm Bill’s passage to score points in an election year.

By stuffing the bill chock-full of partisan talking points, Cramer shows he’s happy to put the state’s agricultural economy at risk to please his party bosses in Washington. Make no mistake, Cramer is treating North Dakota’s farming community like a bargaining chip while asking struggling Americans to tighten their belts.

The report comes days after Cramer dismissed farmers’ fears as “hysterics”

(BISMARCK, ND) — You just can’t trust Cramer: Despite Cramer’s relentless attempts to mislead North Dakota’s farmers – insisting their very real concerns about the harmful impact the Trump Administration’s tariffs could have on their livelihoods are nothing but political “hysteria” – North Dakota farmers aren’t buying it. And neither are the experts: According to CNBC, China has been canceling millions of bushels of soybeans over the past three weeks. It was reported that essentially zero new orders are being made.

For weeks, Cramer has hung his hat on the insistence that “very few places in the world grow soybeans,” so China will eventually cave to U.S. pressure, “because three times a day, there’s a meal in China. 1.4 billion people have to eat.” But despite Cramer’s claims, China is shopping around to places like Brazil, proving – as farmers warned – China might not “need us every bit as we need them.”

All of this comes on the heels of the Chinese government threatening a 25 percent tariff on soybeans, corn, and other agricultural products if Trump Administration continues with its misguided trade policies.

“Does Cramer think North Dakota farmers are blind? Despite their warnings about what a tariffs-induced trade war could mean for our ag economy, Cramer has been hellbent on trying to convince them that they don’t know their own business,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the Democratic-NPL. “Now that China has halted soybean buys in the U.S. and is shopping around to other countries – will Cramer finally stand up for them? It just goes to show North Dakotans can’t trust Cramer. He would rather play politics with our farmers’ futures and advance his own career every time.”

CNBC: Angst hangs over farm belt after reports that China stopped buying US soybeans

• Farm country is worried about reports that China has curbed buying U.S. soybeans due to the ongoing trade spat.

• “Using soybeans as a retaliation for other trade disputes is really worrisome for farmers,” said Gregg Fujan, a soybean grower in Nebraska. “Those international markets are critical to our profitability. So hopefully the people doing those negotiations can come to an agreement and we can get this worked out.”

• China buys roughly half of the U.S. soybean exports, and about 1 in 3 rows of soybeans grown on the nation’s farms goes to the world’s second-largest economy, according to the American Soybean Association.

• In the three weeks ending April 26, China canceled just over 196,000 metric tons (or about 7.2 million bushels) of U.S. beans for the current marketing year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s roughly equivalent to filling up the cargo holds of four mid-sized bulk ships.

• Brazil, though, enjoyed record volumes of soybean exports last month, according to Anec, the country’s grain exporter group. Anec put exports at just over 11.6 million tons in April, or about 1 million above the March tally.

• Soren Schroder, CEO of agricultural commodities dealer Bunge, said during a Bloomberg interview on Wednesday that U.S. soybean sales to China have essentially stopped. “All the business that’s being conducted with China now is being conducted from non-U.S. origins,” he said.

The two candidates for the US House of Representatives squared off at the North Dakota Newspaper Association’s Annual Conference

(BISMARCK, ND) — North Dakota Democratic-NPL endorsed candidate Mac Schneider and his Republican opponent Kelly Armstrong held their first debate in Bismarck over the weekend.

While Armstrong has spoken favorably about the administration’s trade policies prior to Saturday’s debate, Mac Schneider again stood by North Dakota farmers in opposing tariffsthat could put North Dakota agriculture at a competitive disadvantage in the near term and threaten access to markets in the long term.

From the Grand Forks Herald: First faceoff: U.S. House candidates focus on farm bill, ag issues in first debate

• The two differed in thoughts on how to handle trade with China. The U.S. should play a role in making sure China is not violating trade agreements and is “playing by the rules,” Schneider said, but he disagreed with President Donald Trump’s tactics of putting tariffs on China. Schneider noted the move has resulted in retaliation from China, including the country’s announcements to increase its tariffs on U.S. soybeans.

• “If you are for less trade, you are for fewer farmers,” Schneider said, calling for enforcement action instead of implementing tariffs.

• “It’s time to try something different,” [Sen. Kelly Armstrong] said as he called China is a bad actor.

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?”

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.”