ICYMI: ‘Hamm-handed’ confession shows Cramer (R-Harold Hamm) running for all the wrong reasons

“Serving North Dakotans or the country might not have been a deciding factor for Kevin Cramer running for the United States Senate, but out-of-state billionaire Harold Hamm offering up big bucks definitely was.”

(BISMARCK, ND) – Kevin Cramer (R-Harold Hamm) is showing us what Washington swamp politics really look like. This week, he admitted that a desire to serve the citizens of North Dakota wasn’t what finally dragged Kevin Cramer into this year’s campaign for U.S. Senate – after initially backing out. According to Cramer’s interview with WDAY, it was an out-of-state billionaire who signed on to bankroll his campaign.

The admission is pretty startling – even for a politician widely known for his penchant to make careless and inappropriate remarks. His confession begs the question – is Kevin Cramer involved in this race for himself and Washington insiders or for the residents of North Dakota?

Watch Cramer’s Hamm-handed confession here. Highlights from the column below:

Forum: McFeely: Cramer’s admission is Hamm-handed

  • A public servant should be swayed by public service and the desire, regardless of political affiliation or ideology, to do good things for constituents, no matter how a candidate might define “good things.”

  • But those are not the worst reasons. No, that distinction, the absolute most miserably insufficient reason to run, is to have an out-of-state industrialist with a direct interest in having you elected be the person who finally persuaded you. North Dakota, meet Kevin Cramer. Oh, and Harold Hamm, who is important to this story, too.

  • According to Cramer, Hamm is the person who pushed him over the line to run for the Senate. He said so in an interview with WDAY-TV[.]

  • “It took months to get him to run. He said ‘no’ to other Republicans. ‘No’ to the president. He didn’t want to risk losing his seat in the House,” WDAY’s narrator said. “But it was a call from oil tycoon Harold Hamm, whose net worth is $18 billion, that finally tipped the scales.”

  • Not North Dakotans, not the country. A wealthy out-of-state oil man who promised to raise a lot of money. That’s the who and why that tripped Cramer’s trigger.

  • It’s always telling to know what compels people to make major decisions. Harold Hamm compelled Kevin Cramer. What does that tell you?

Cramer’s Caucus Targets Crop Insurance

After Telling Farmers They’ll Have to Tighten Their Belts on Crop Insurance in 2018, Cramer’s Republican Study Committee Calls for Crop Insurance Cuts

(BISMARCK, ND) — Make no mistake: North Dakota farmers hoping for strong crop insurance programs in the 2018 Farm Bill can’t count on Cramer.

In February, Cramer told North Dakota farmers not to look for crop insurance increases in the 2018 Farm Bill, saying they would have to “make the same amount of money go a little farther.” But last month, North Dakota farmers learned Cramer and his fellow D.C. swamp-buddies at the Republican Study Committee (RSC) have a lot more planned than a little belt-tightening – recommending significantly chopping the government’s share of crop insurance in half in their 2019 budget recommendation, in part by “eliminating the government’s reimbursement to crop insurance companies for administrative expenses.”

Cramer and his cronies certainly don’t think much of crop insurance – even quoting Farms and Free Enterprise to characterize the critical safety net as “less about insurance and more about providing subsidies to farmers.”

Over 93 percent of the farmland in North Dakota is covered by the Crop Insurance Program, but apparently Cramer thinks the vast majority of our farmers are living too high on the hog.

“Kevin Cramer has already shown his willingness to throw farmers under the bus to stay in the good graces of his DC Republican friends and advance his own career, but to take away a crucial safety net for North Dakota’s farmers is downright cruel,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the Democratic-NPL. “Crop insurance is a backbone program for North Dakota’s agriculture community, and cutting premium support in half puts farmers and other agricultural producers at risk of losing everything through no fault of their own. It’s clear: No program and no North Dakotan is too sacred for Cramer to betray when it comes to pleasing his Washington pals – and our farmers won’t soon forget it.”

AUDIO: Cramer Again Holding Up Farm Bill To Score Points In Washington

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.

ICYMI from NDxPlains: Cramer (R-Harold Hamm) Changed His Mind on U.S. Senate Race Only After Out-Of-State Billionaire Pledged Support

So much for draining the swamp…

(BISMARCK, ND) – Yesterday in an interview that aired on WDAY, Kevin Cramer admitted that it wasn’t North Dakotans who got him to reconsider and jump into the U.S. Senate race – it was an out-of-state billionaire worth $19B who pledged to be his national finance chair.

It begs the question – what was Kevin Cramer assured from Harold Hamm? Cramer has a history of using his campaigns to line his own pockets and it’s estimated that he’s nearly doubled his net worth since he was elected to Congress. This just goes to show – once again – that Cramer is in this race for himself, not for North Dakotans.

Read more:

NDxPlains: Cramer Admits Oil Tycoon Harold Hamm was Deciding Factor in Senate Run

  • In a locally televised interview, Kevin Cramer admitted to what I speculated early on about his decision to enter the U.S. Senate race. It was billionaire, out-of-state, oil tycoon Harold Hamm that changed his mind. Hamm promised to be Cramer’s finance chairman if he took the political risk. Cramer had rejected other calls for him to jump in. He even publicly announced he wouldn’t run for the Senate because he was “a man of the House.”

  • It wasn’t North Dakotans that convinced Cramer to change his mind. It wasn’t even the President of the United States. By his own admission, it was an out-of-state, multi-billionaire oil tycoon in Harold Hamm that was his deciding factor.

  • As I wrote earlier this year, why was Hamm such a large influence on Cramer taking this risk? Is it simply the offer to help him raise much needed money for the campaign? Was there something more that was “pretty compelling”? We don’t have that answer, but we do have another North Dakota example to reflect upon.

  • With his public admission that it wasn’t even North Dakota residents who convinced him to run for the Senate, but rather Harold Hamm who changed his mind, one can wonder if he is possibly looking to help himself in the long-run.

Cramer’s Club: Eliminate the Renewable Fuel Standard

Kevin Cramer and the Republican Study Committee advocate killing the RFS

(BISMARCK, ND) — Kevin Cramer is no friend to ethanol producers. Over and over again, Cramer has proposed eliminating completely the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) – a policy which mandates certain blend levels in biodiesel fuels and is a key driver of ethanol production. Even though that policy could put North Dakota’s $640 million ethanol industry at risk, Cramer again pushed to do away with RFS just last month.

Why would Kevin turn his back on North Dakota? Because his Washington buddies told him to.

A member of the Republican Study Committee, Cramer proposed reforming RFS to “end ethanol fuel-blending mandates” and implementing policies ‘mirroring’ the Renewable Fuel Standard Elimination Act as part of the group’s policy reform wish list for the 2019 budget.

“It’s no secret – from tariffs and trade to the Renewable Fuel Standard – Kevin Cramer is no friend of North Dakota’s ag community, leaving farmers and producers by the wayside in favor of the DC-swamp establishment,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the Democratic-NPL. “Even though it would put North Dakota’s ethanol industry on the road to ruin, Cramer is forcing the Renewable Fuel Standard toward the chopping block. Our farmers and producers need stronger, not weaker policies that help them thrive, but for thatthey can’t count on Cramer – he’ll turn his back to them every time.”

ICYMI: China Stops Buying Soybeans Despite Cramer Claims

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.

VIDEO: Cramer admits out-of-state billionaire Harold Hamm was the deciding factor in reconsidering Senate race

Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-Harold Hamm) won’t act in the best interest of North Dakotans

(BISMARCK, ND) – Yesterday in an interview that aired on WDAY, Kevin Cramer admitted that it wasn’t North Dakotans who prompted him to reconsider a run for Senate – it was a promise from an out-of-state billionaire to be his campaign’s National Finance Chair.

You read that right.

Kevin Cramer fessed up that nothing was more persuasive to get him into the U.S. Senate race than a phone call from a man worth a whopping $19 billion dollars. So who does Kevin Cramer represent – the constituents he was elected to serve or an out-of-state billionaire?

“Kevin Cramer says he wants to drain the swamp but we now know that he’s nothing more than a lap dog for out-of-state billionaire Harold Hamm,” said Dem-NPL Executive Director Scott McNeil. “Cramer has never been in politics for the right reasons – that’s why he uses his campaigns to enrich his family and has nearly doubled his net worth since he was elected to Congress. Now, he’s a puppet for out-of-state billionaires, which begs the important question – what kind of parachute deal has Hamm promised Cramer if he loses?”

ICYMI: Schneider Opposes Tariffs, Armstrong “Differ[s]” in First Debate

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.

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.”