(BISMARCK, ND) – As Energy Secretary Rick Perry visits North Dakota today, here are three times Kevin Cramer tried to pass off Senator Heitkamp’s work to strengthen North Dakota’s agriculture and energy sectors as his own.

CLAIM: Cramer took credit for lifting the oil export ban.

REALITY: Heidi became “something of a fixture” in panel discussions and on TV and worked “for months” to form “a quiet, persistent alliance” with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski to overturn the ban.

• Roll Call HEADLINE: “How Heitkamp Kept Crude Oil From Being ‘Keystoned’”
• CNBC HEADLINE: “Sen. Heitkamp: Obama Should Lift Ban On Oil Exports” 
• Bismarck Tribune HEADLINE: “Heitkamp Introduces Second Bill To Lift Oil Export Ban” 
• GOP Rep. Joe Barton: Heitkamp “represented her constituencies […] and took a lot of heat in her caucus. But she stood her ground” on lifting the crude oil export ban.
• GOP Sen. Murkowski: Heitkamp was “just dogged in her efforts to help educate her party” on the crude oil export ban and “was able to.”

CLAIM: Cramer has taken credit for introducing a fix to the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) commodity support program included in the Farm Bill.

REALITY: Heidi introduced and pushed for a fix to ARC issues and the farm safety net program.

• AgWeek HEADLINE: “Heitkamp Bill Would Fine Tune Farm Safety Net Program
• Fence Post HEADLINE: “Heitkamp, Ernst Introduce Bill To Fix Farm Safety Net”

CLAIM: Cramer touted that he introduced legislation which incentivized carbon capture technology.

REALITY: Heidi has always been a champion for clean coal and carbon sequestration technology, and has worked across the aisle to bring together “an unprecedented coalition” for commonsense solutions.

• Energy Collective: Heitkamp’s FUTURE Act was “one of the most significant energy and environmental accomplishments by Congress in recent memory.”
• Minot Daily News: Heitkamp took the lead on the FUTURE Act to support the continued use of coal and natural gas.
• Grand Forks Herald: Heitkamp “championed” CCS legislation, “to offer tax credits for research and development of carbon capture technology.”
• Inforum HEADLINE: “Heitkamp Introduces Bill Encouraging Reduction Of Carbon Emissions And Technological Innovation In Energy Sector.”

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 CONTRADICTS HIMSELF ON TRADE WAR TIMELINE. Kevin Cramer is contradicting himself on the trade war timeline—telling one audience that negotiations with China would “take a while,” and telling another that he “expect[s] some quick action.” His political doublespeak is even more egregious when you consider his acknowledgement that markets lost due to this trade war could “be lost for years.” But North Dakotans know why he’s suddenly faking interest: he’s worried about his election chances.

That reminds us: See how much time Cramer has left until his self-imposed September trade war deadline.

CRAMER CONTINUES LYING TO ND. Cramer just can’t seem to tell North Dakotans the truth – lying, distorting, and papering over his record to hide his self-interested, unsavory agenda.

HEADLINE: POLITIFACT: KEVIN CRAMER DISTORTS RECORD ON GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN.

• “Cramer… 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.

FORUM’S ZALESKI: CRAMER’S “FALSE” MEDICARE AD “WORST SPOT SO FAR.”

• 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 will protect benefits for oldies like his mom (and me) and make sure Medicare is there for younger generations, like the kids in the ad. Sounds great. Notice the distinction? The distortion? 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.

See more:
HEADLINE: PolitiFact: Kevin Cramer distorts Heidi Heitkamp’s record on banking regulations
HEADLINE: Washington Post: N.D. Republican’s Senate campaign ‘fact-checking’ website promotes false claim on CBO estimates
HEADLINE: TPM: Kevin Cramer’s Campaign Images Shot Far From Fargo

PAPERING OVER HIS MEDICARE, SOCIAL SECURITY RECORD. Surprise, surprise: Cramer is trying to paper over his record and fake support for protecting Medicare and Social Security with a toothless resolution that takes no concrete action to protect and strengthen these vital programs. But Cramer can’t erase the dozen times he’s jeopardized these programs, and North Dakotans will see this political stunt for what it truly is: a pathetic attempt to cover up his record of not standing up for North Dakota seniors in favor of his hyper-partisan, put-special-interests-first agenda.

CRAMER (R-SPECIAL INTERESTS). Remember Harold Hamm, the out-of-state billionaire who convinced Cramer to run by promising to help him fundraise? The High Plains Reader has an in-depth look at how Hamm’s money “trails to Cramer branches like tributaries of the Missouri River.” It makes you wonder, if Hamm and his outside special interests are bankrolling Cramer’s campaign, whose interests will Cramer look out for in D.C.?

HIDING CRAMER’S HEALTH CARE AGENDA. Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and the rest of Cramer’s D.C. bosses don’t want voters to know that they’re gunning for another shot at making health care more expensive and less accessible for North Dakotans. One political operative referred to their plans to take away health care from millions as “like fight club. […] First rule is not to talk about it.” Will Cramer finally stand with North Dakotans against this dangerous plan or continue to kowtow to the special interests funding his campaign?

#FBF: CRAMER’S DISRESPECTFUL COMMENTS ABOUT VETS. Cramer once claimed that military service is often “a result of lack of other opportunity or revenue.” And, in case you missed it, Cramer was caught using a stock photo of an “authentic Vietnam veteran” in a campaign web ad, which a local veteran called “outrageous,” saying he “shouldn’t be surprised… Cramer has a long history of using veterans as political props.”

MUST READ – Grand Forks Herald: Heitkamp: Cramer’s support of trade war policies ‘present a threat to North Dakota’.

TWEET OF THE WEEK.

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(BISMARCK, ND) – Kevin Cramer’s preference for cutting Social Security and Medicare is well-known, from calls to raise the retirement age to implementing means testing for seniors’ hard-earned benefits. It’s not surprising then, that the out-of-state special interests bankrolling Cramer’s campaign also support slashing Social Security and Medicare.

One such donor is Illinois billionaire Richard Uihlein who has poured money into Cramer’s campaign, as well as Restoration PAC, which advocates for Social Security and Medicare to be “completely restructure[d].” Oh, and those same Uihlein-backed groups have funded Cramer’s campaign, too.

“Of course Kevin Cramer agrees with the extreme agenda of his out-of-state, special interest backers, rather than looking out for North Dakota’s seniors,” said Courtney Rice, Press Secretary for the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “Cramer may try to paper over his desire to privatize Social Security and slash Medicare but, come November, North Dakotans will hold him accountable for putting his political interests above their own.”

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(BISMARCK, ND) – We’re less than 13 weeks out from Election Day, so it’s no surprise that Kevin Cramer is trying to paper over his record and fake support for protecting Medicare and Social Security. But Cramer can’t erase the dozen-plus times he’s jeopardized these vital programs, from refusing to fully protect Medicare for folks who are 50 and under to calling for raising the retirement age and means testing for Social Security benefits.

What’s more, Cramer’s resolution on Medicare and Social Security is a toothless gesture and takes no concrete action to protect and strengthen these programs that over a hundred thousand North Dakotans rely on.

“It’s election season, so of course Kevin Cramer is trying to mislead North Dakotans about his real record,” said Courtney Rice, Press Secretary for the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “But North Dakotans will see this political stunt for what it truly is: a pathetic attempt to cover up his record of not standing up for North Dakota seniors in favor of his hyper-partisan, put-special-interests-first agenda.”

Reminder: This isn’t the first time Cramer has lied to North Dakotans, hoping they won’t notice his actual record:
Zaleski, The Forum: “The [Medicare] 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.”
HEADLINE: PolitiFact: Kevin Cramer distorts record on government shutdown.
HEADLINE: PolitiFact: Kevin Cramer distorts Heidi Heitkamp’s record on banking regulations.
HEADLINE: Washington Post: N.D. Republican’s Senate campaign ‘fact-checking’ website promotes false claim on CBO estimates.

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(BISMARCK, ND) – In case you missed it, the High Plains Reader detailed how Harold Hamm, a “verifiable master of puppets” was a key player behind Kevin Cramer’s run for a promotion he hasn’t earned, and funneled buckets of money to Cramer and his campaign. Don’t forget, Cramer himself admitted that he decided to run because Hamm, an out-of-state billionaire, promised to help him fundraise – not out of a desire to serve North Dakotans.

High Plains Reader: Master of Puppets
By C.S. Hagen
August 1, 2018

Key Points:

• […] Hamm and his net worth of $19.5 billion became the decision maker for Cramer accepting Hamm as his national finance chairman.
• Hamm, with his billions in North Dakota oil profits, became Cramer’s national finance chairman in February, which was a deciding factor in Cramer’s flip-flopping stance on whether to run against Heitkamp, or not.
• Hamm’s company, Continental Resources, is based in Oklahoma, and has also contributed $1,204,950 in campaign funds in 2018, according to Open Secrets, Center for Responsive Politics.
• For years, Hamm’s money trails to Cramer branches like tributaries of the Missouri River. Sometimes donations are direct deposits to Cramer, at other times the funds are processed through PACs and committees. More than 50 percent of Cramer’s funds for his U.S. Senate run have come from large and primarily out-of-state contributors such as Energy Transfer Partners, the parent company of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
• In 2018, Continental Resources has given $7,400 directly to Cramer, and Hamm has personally signed over $8,100 to Cramer in two different installments.
• The oil magnate also donated $50,000 to the Cramer Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee, which then shoveled $155,282 to Cramer this year. Another $5,000 of Hamm’s money went to the Badlands PAC, also a committee for Cramer, which so far has sent $72,440 on to Cramer.
• Hamm gave $33,900 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a Republican campaign group for the Senate, which donated $80,376 directly to the Cramer Victory Fund.
• The joint fundraising committee supplied a total of $155,000 to Cramer’s campaign, more than $72,000 to the Badlands PAC, and $65,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, according to the Open Secrets, Center for Responsive Politics.
• Kevin Cramer is tied for the top recipient after receiving $47,000 from the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Read the full article here.

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(BISMARCK, ND) – This column from The Forum’s Jack Zaleski speaks for itself.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Forum:

• Worst spot so far: Cramer. He uses his mother and two kids to assure North Dakotans he won’t mess with Medicare.
• 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 will protect benefits for oldies like his mom (and me) and make sure Medicare is there for younger generations, like the kids in the ad. Sounds great. Notice the distinction? The distortion? 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.
• The fib is bad, but exploitation of mom is worse. She probably wants to help her son. It’s what moms do. But in the ad she looks painfully ill at ease. It’s uncomfortably obvious she would rather not be at center stage in a phony drama. Unconvincing ad. Kinda creepy.

Read more on Cramer’s true record on Medicare here and here.

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