(BISMARCK, ND) – Attention Kevin Cramer: Your attempts to rewrite your record of jeopardizing coverage for folks with pre-existing conditions won’t work. As HuffPost points out, “voters aren’t likely to believe they suddenly care about pre-existing conditions, just because they say they do.”

HuffPost: GOP Senate Candidates Are Scrambling To Rewrite Their Record On Pre-Existing Conditions
By Jonathan Cohn and Kevin Robillard
September 2, 2018

• All across the country, Republicans running for Congress are promising voters they will look out for people with pre-existing conditions while supporting some combination of legislation, litigation and regulation that would undermine those very protections.
• The stakes are high, with the livelihoods ― and lives ― of many Americans depending on the outcome. The ACA rewrote the rules for insurers selling plans directly to individuals and families so that carriers could no longer deny coverage or otherwise discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions.
• [Republican] haven’t given up, even though last year’s effort failed. Just this week, Vice President Mike Pence reaffirmed the party’s determination to take up repeal in 2019 if they still control Congress. In the meantime, the Trump administration has been using its executive authority to undermine pre-existing condition protections unilaterally ― most recently, by effectively creating a parallel market with plans that don’t live up to the ACA’s standards.
• These plans generally aren’t available to people with pre-existing conditions and don’t include many essential benefits, which means people who manage to get them are risking financial ruin if they get seriously ill. And by drawing healthy people out of the broader pool, these new plans will force insurers to jack up rates, forcing people with pre-existing conditions to pay more for coverage.
• That’s not the only threat to the ACA right now. There’s also the lawsuitthat Hawley, along with officials from 19 other politically conservative states [including North Dakota], has co-signed.
• The political problem for Republicans is that voters aren’t likely to believe they suddenly care about pre-existing conditions, just because they say they do. 
• And voters have said they’ll make politicians who don’t protect pre-existing conditions pay: In a Kaiser Family Foundation poll earlier this month, 89 percent of registered voters said “continuing protections for people with pre-existing health conditions” would be a factor in their vote, and 63 percent said it would be an important factor. Nearly half of Republicans, 64 percent of independents and 74 percent of Democrats said it would be an important factor in their vote.
• This is a frequent Republican contention, arguing repeal isn’t tantamount to abandoning people with pre-existing conditions. But their proposals would still allow insurers to discriminate against people with medical problems ― by, for example, charging higher prices to people with certain conditions or leaving out key benefits, like prescription coverage, that would make plans effectively useless to people who need ongoing treatment.
• “If you leave any loopholes open, insurers will take full advantage, and people with health needs will quickly find the coverage they need to be inaccessible, unaffordable or both,” said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown’s Center for Health Insurance Reform.
• The question for the midterms is whether voters will notice that Republicans are making the same empty promises as before.

Read the full article here.

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.

CRAMER HAPPY WITH PROGRESS OF TRADE WAR. As Kevin Cramer’s self-imposed trade war deadline of September 1st approaches, Cramer is bafflingly stating that the use of tariffs and the ensuing trade war are all “playing out the way that [he] hoped.”

You read that right. Farmers and manufacturers’ concerns are growing over this conflict, yet Cramer is happy with the progress that has been made – all because the president says it’s going well. It’s just another proof point that Cramer will always stand with the administration 100 percent of the time rather than standing with North Dakotans.

NEW DEM-NPL AD: ND BEING USED AS WEAPON IN THIS TRADE WAR.” This week the North Dakota Dem-NPL released :15 and :30 digital ads on the trade war to highlight how Cramer’s refusal to stand up to the administration – and for North Dakotans – against these tariffs is hurting North Dakota’s economy. WATCH the ad here. The ads will run on Facebook for a minimum of two weeks.

LASHING OUT AT LAW ENFORCEMENT. After Senator Heitkamp received an endorsement from the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), Cramer did what he does best: lashes out – this time by bitterly trying to discredit the organization representing over 18,000 border security agents that endorsed President Trump in 2016. One passionate border patrol agent called into the program and took Cramer to task for playing politics and not standing up for them. Listen HERE.

CRAMER PROVES HE’S “ONE OF THE BEST FUDGE MASTERS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.” That’s how the Forum’s Jack Zaleski referred to Cramer’s attempts to paper over his record of putting himself and his special interests above North Dakotans. There are still 65+ days to go until the Election, but Cramer’s misinformation campaign has already kicked into full gear to distort his record on health care, the trade war, and border security, to name a few. See for yourself:

HEADLINE: PolitiFact: Kevin Cramer distorts record on government shutdown

• We rate this statement Mostly False.

HEADLINE: Washington Post: N.D. Republican’s Senate campaign ‘fact-checking’ website promotes false claim on CBO estimates

• Four Pinocchios. 

HEADLINE: PolitiFact: Kevin Cramer distorts Heidi Heitkamp’s record on banking regulations

• We rate this statement False. 

Valley News Live: Cramer’s Ad “Misleading”

• We must label the most recent ad from Cramer’s campaign as ‘misleading.’ 

PolitiFact on the Cramer-Endorsed Trade War:

• Economists tell us the effects of the tariffs, while imprecise so far, are not pretty.

PolitiFact on Cramer’s Health Care Agenda:

• Whatever Cramer’s wish is, his votes jeopardize coverage as it stands for pre-existing conditions […] The limits of what insurance companies could charge would have been watered down, which would have sent premiums skyrocketing, experts say, to the point that coverage for many would be unattainable.

CRAMER’S ACTIONS RAISED SERIOUS QUESTIONS AS TO THE “APPEARANCE OF IMPROPRIETY.” While on the Public Service Commission, Cramer faced a lawsuit for allegedly taking “improper campaign contributions” – over $55,000 – from the same industries with applications before the PSC. The judge who oversaw the case called Cramer’s actions “devoid of common sense” and said they raised serious questions as to the “appearance of impropriety.” BOTTOM LINE: Cramer will always act with his own interests in mind, even when it goes against the interests of North Dakotans and even when it means throwing his own integrity to the wayside.

HEADLINE: CRAMER COULD BE USING A LOOPHOLE TO SKIRT REPORTING Cramer’s finances keep getting called into question. From Tyler Axness:

• As Congressman Kevin Cramer is seeking a seat in the U.S. Senate, he may be using a loophole to skirt the reporting requirements of his assets on his personal financial disclosure.
• This wouldn’t be the first time Cramer’s financial reporting has raised questions. In fact, if he is using a loophole it only leads to more questions.
• As far as I can tell, Cramer has not reported having a bank account on his federal personal financial disclosure dating back to the mid-1990s.
• [Cramer earned] approximately $995,650 in [between 2011 and 2016]. Earlier this year, Politico reported that Cramer has reimbursed himself approximately $200,000from his campaign account. Yet no bank account reported on his personal financial disclosure.
• It seems odd Cramer hasn’t reported a bank account. Other candidates for the U.S. Senate have done so. Unless he has distributed these funds at numerous banks as to not have an aggregated amount over $5,000 then perhaps he found a creative loophole to not disclose all of his financial assets. If that is the case, further scrutiny is needed. What would he be hiding?

Read more here.

ND RURAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION SPEAKS OUT AGAINST CRAMER-BACKED LAWSUIT. The President of the North Dakota Rural Health Association spoke out against the Cramer-backed lawsuit that could remove patient protections for up to 300,000 North Dakotans.

TWEET OF THE WEEK.

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(BISMARCK, ND) – Less than one day remains until Kevin Cramer’s self-imposed September 1st deadline to stand with North Dakotans against the harm being done by the administration’s trade war. In typical Cramer fashion, Cramer punted his responsibility to stand with North Dakota, saying that if things were still bad in September, he’d be “concerned.”

What Cramer should be aware of is that not a single order has been placed for North Dakota soybeans in the last seven weeks and that farmers’ concerns about losing their market share are growing.

Cramer’s almost out of time to do the right thing – and North Dakotans will remember that he once again blindly stood with the administration instead of with them on Election Day.

See how much time is left on the countdown clock here.

(BISMARCK, ND) – Amid shrinking markets, decreasing soybean prices, and continued uncertainty about the future, the North Dakota Dem-NPL today released :15 and :30 digital ads on the trade war. The ads highlight how Cramer’s refusal to stand up to the administration – and for North Dakotans – against these tariffs is hurting North Dakota’s economy. The ads will run on Facebook for a minimum of two weeks as part of a campaign-long, five-figure digital buy against Cramer.

WATCH:

“Kevin Cramer has made it clear that he won’t stand with North Dakota’s farmers and manufacturers against this trade war,” said Courtney Rice, Press Secretary for the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “Instead, he’s following through on his one campaign promise to stand with the president 100 percent of the time, going so far as to call concerns over the tariffs ‘hysteria.’ Well, with Cramer’s self-imposed September 1^st deadline fast approaching, he’ll have to decide where his loyalties are.”

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(BISMARCK, ND) – Kevin Cramer’s misinformation campaign is kicking into high gear as he attempts to paper over his record of putting himself and his special interests above North Dakotans. From health care to the trade war to distorting his own record while misleading North Dakotans about Heidi’s, Cramer is proving that he’s “one of the best fudge masters in Washington, D.C.”

PolitiFact on the Cramer-Endorsed Trade War

• For workers in America’s heartland, the good news of savings from President Donald Trump’s tax cuts is getting overshadowed by concern over his disruptive trade policies.
• “My equipment manufacturers tell me whatever advantage they’ve gotten from the tax code change has been eaten up in the very early months of the steel and aluminum tariffs,” Heitkamp said on CNBC on July 20, 2018.
• Economists tell us the effects of the tariffs, while imprecise so far, are not pretty.

PolitiFact on Cramer’s Health Care Agenda

• Whatever Cramer’s wish is, his votes jeopardize coverage as it stands for pre-existing conditions in the individual market, according to Karen Pollitz, senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit health care organization.
• By the letter of the law the bills protect pre-existing conditions. But they take away the mandate that everyone be insured and the subsidies that make that affordable. In practice, plans for individuals in the nongroup market would become exorbitantly priced, if available at all.
• The limits of what insurance companies could charge would have been watered down, which would have sent premiums skyrocketing, experts say, to the point that coverage for many would be unattainable.

HEADLINE: PolitiFact: Kevin Cramer distorts record on government shutdown

• Cramer, running to unseat Democrat Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, touted a clean record without any support for shutdowns… We took a closer look.
• Cramer has cast votes that indirectly resulted in a shutdown.
• We found multiple instances where Cramer indirectly helped to cause a shutdown by voting for bills that defunded Obamacare — these bills had no chance of survival in the Senate or of being signed by then-President Obama. While Cramer’s actions were not direct votes on keeping the government open, they encouraged the 2013 shutdown.
• We rate this statement Mostly False.

HEADLINE: Washington Post: N.D. Republican’s Senate campaign ‘fact-checking’ website promotes false claim on CBO estimates

• For a website that proclaims it is providing the truth and nothing but the facts, this line about the tax cuts and economic growth is poppycock. The CBO does take into account the economic effect of tax bills, so Cramer is simply wrong on that score. It’s even worse for a politician to suggest he is a deficit hawk — and ready to take on entitlements — and yet dismiss credible forecasts on future deficits by a respected agency.
• Four Pinocchios.

HEADLINE: PolitiFact: Kevin Cramer distorts Heidi Heitkamp’s record on banking regulations

• A review of the evidence shows that Heitkamp has been working on banking issues since she was elected in 2012… “During the entirety of (her tenure), she has often expressed a desire for regulatory relief for community banks and credit unions,” said Rob Blackwell, editor of American Banker. “The idea that she’s a johnny-come-lately to regulatory reform just doesn’t hold water.”
• Heitkamp has been an advocate of regulatory relief for small banks since she ran for the Senate in 2012. Cramer announced his Senate bid in February. Heitkamp’s lack of support for the regulatory relief that Cramer supports does not mean she is disinterested in regulatory relief.
• We rate this statement False.
  

Valley News Live: Cramer’s Ad “Misleading”

• By using the video, it appears as though we are questioning Senate Majority PAC on their latest ads. We are not. Watch and listen.
• Because of this, we must label the most recent ad from Cramer’s campaign as ‘misleading.’

Zaleski, The Forum on Cramer’s False Promise to Protect Medicare and Social Security:

• The ad’s premise is false. Cramer has always wanted to mess with Medicare—cut benefits, privatize portions of the program, etc. He can’t fudge his record, although he is one of the best fudge masters in Washington, D.C.
• The ad relies on shrewdly ambiguous weasel-words… He is vague about future Medicare for people currently in the workforce (would he gut benefits?), while he preaches to oldsters who are on the program now, who vote, that he’s their Medicare evangelist. It’s not blatant deceit; it’s duplicitous half-truth.

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(Bismarck, ND) – With only three days remaining until Kevin Cramer’s self-imposed deadline to stand with North Dakota against the trade war, the state’s farmers and manufacturers aren’t holding their breath for him to do anything. Cramer has made it clear that he’s sticking with the administration in this trade war, despite the economic harm it’s causing the state.

Just yesterday, Cramer bafflingly said it’s all “playing out the way that I hoped.”

Below is a probably accurate portrayal of Cramer in that exact moment:

It’s not playing out well for North Dakota though.

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

Forum: “The North Dakota Trade Office says two foreign trade missions to the state have been canceled and a higher-than-normal number of visas sought by international buyers hoping to attend this year’s Big Iron Farm Show have been denied by immigration officials.”

Associated Press: “One of the town hall participants, soybean farmer Matt Gast, said export sales figures released Thursday show that the U.S. has shipped 37 percent fewer soybeans compared to this time a year ago. ‘We weren’t losing that much market share before the tariffs came into effect,’ Gast said. ‘How long can this go on before we can gain some of this back or we can’t regain it back?’”

Rugby, ND farmer: “I’m terrified of this trade thing. I lose sleep over it […] It’s just the uncertainty of it.”

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