Plain Talk

Forum Communications Co.
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Plain Talk Podcast

Plain Talk is a podcast hosted by Rob Port and Chad Oban focusing on political news and current events in North Dakota. Port is a columnist for the Forum News Service published in papers including the Fargo Forum, Grand Forks Herald, Jamestown Sun, and the Dickinson Press. Oban is a long-time political consultant.

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    531: Gubernatorial debate, Kelly Armstrong vs. Merrill Piepkorn

    North Dakota's gubernatorial race features to affable, well-liked candidates, who clearly like one another as well. Republican Kelly Armstrong was first elected to the North Dakota Senate in 2012, and served there until the 2018 election cycle, when he campaigned successfully for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. That's where he's currently finishing out a term, while also campaigning for governor. Democratic-NPL candidate Merrill Piepkorn has also served in the state Senate. He's been there since he was elected in 2016, and had a one-session overlap with Armstrong's service. On this Plain Talk, the two candidates compared and contrasted with one another under questioning from me and my co-host Chad Oban. We covered everything from internet pornography (Armstrong says he'd like to see North Dakota implement an ID requirement to access it), to political accountability (Piepkorn says long-time Republican supermajorities in North Dakota have created an "environment of entitlement"), to property taxes (both candidates oppose Measure 4 on the November ballot which, if passed, would abolish taxes on property values). To address North Dakota's chronic workforce shortages, Armstrong says "you have to concentrate on cops, teachers, and nurses." Piepkorn, meanwhile, says the state Legislature has been too-focused on the culture war, passing "bad bills that are repelling people." Armstrong said he's "really glad North Dakota has gotten to where it's at" on mental health issues, but added that if he's "blessed to win, in eight years we will still need more work." Piepkorn said that to address North Dakota's childcare shortages, he sees a three-pronged strategy: "help parents, help children, help businesses." These are two candidates who, again, are likable, and like one another, but they have very different visions for how North Dakota should be governed. It was our pleasure to bring their contrasting views to you on Plain Talk. Want to follow Plain Talk and be kept up to date on all of these debates? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.

    1h 2m

  2. 3 DAYS AGO

    530: How do we do politics in the classroom?

    We all know the old saying.  You don't talk about religion and politics in polite company. Only, does that advice make sense in a society like ours, where we practice self-governance? How can we govern ourselves if we can't talk to one another about politics? And, more pertinent to this episode of Plain Talk, how do we teach our kids how to participate in discourse over challenging issues like abortion or gun control if teachers are afraid to tackle politics in the classroom? Lindsey Galvao is a long-time educator -- the social studies curriculum specialist at GBH and a multiplatform creator for public media, and curriculum writer for the Civics Collection on PBS LearningMedia. Ben Klutsey is the executive director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University whose work is featured in the documentary "Undivide US." They recently co-authored an op-ed about politics in the classroom, and joined my cohost Chad Oban and I to talk about that very conundrum. "We disagree and that's ok," Klutsey told us. The problem, he argues, is that so many people say "we disagree and you're a threat to my existence." Both Klutsey and Galvao say that teachers need to be unafraid to host discussions about even fraught social and political questions, but that their focus should be on listening and encouraging students to understand one another. But how do we deal with misinformation? Kids who might have gotten the idea that the Sandy Hook school shooting didn't really happen, as right-wing talk radio host Alex Jones has claimed, or that the world is flat? Galvao said she would encourage teachers to ask those kids, "How do you know what you know?" They should be encouraged to explore the basis for their point of view. "We have to think about abiding by certain core principles," Klutsey said, identifying them as respect, authenticity, and curiosity. Which is to say that we need to respect those who disagree with us, represent our own views authentically, and be curious about why others disagree with us. Though, he acknowledged, that doesn't mean making room for false information. "Facts are facts," he said, "and you have to engage on facts as an educator." Want to follow Plain Talk and be kept up to date on all of these debates? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.

    1h 6m

  3. AUG 30

    529: Republican Julie Fedorchak and Democrat Trygve Hammer square off in the U.S. House debate

    When U.S. House candidates Julie Fedorchak (a Republican) and Trygve Hammer (a Democrat) sat down for a debate on the Plain Talk podcast with me and my co-host Chad Oban, one of the first questions I asked them was why they wanted to be elected to Congress. Hammer, a Marine Corps veteran, said it's because less than 80 of the current 435 members of the House of Representatives have served in the military. He also said he wants to promote an atmosphere where leaders talk to one another instead of past one another. Fedorchak wants to focus on issues like border security, "record high inflation," and energy policy. One of the last questions I asked them was about their top priorities if elected. Hammer said a new farm bill and the national debt, as well as "talking to North Dakotans continuously" and taking his cues from the people. For her answer, Fedorchak said constituent services, arguing that, even if progress on making policy is stalled, members of Congress can still "be a force" for individual North Dakotans. Our debate covered a myriad of issues, from campaign promises made by national candidates to eliminating taxes on tips and Social Security benefits (Fedorchak wouldn't commit to supporting either, Hammer said he supports both with some caveats), to the national debt, to civility in politics, to America's foreign policy in Ukraine and Gaza. One area where the candidates agreed very closely was the need for a new farm bill. Both acknowledged that American agriculture has been operating under an old and badly out-of-date farm bill. An area where the candidates disagreed sharply was on the issue of abortion. Asked about her support for a national abortion ban -- something presidential candidate Donald Trump has come out against -- Fedorchak described her position as wanting a national "gestational limit" on abortions after around 15 or 16 weeks, with exceptions for the life of the mother and rape or incest. This "would allow states within that framework to be a little stricter," she argued that it would put the United States in line with "every civilized country in the world." Hammer said he does not support a national abortion ban and argued that even state-level bans are often "unnecessarily cruel." He pointed to the failure of a pro-life ballot measure in 2014 as evidence that North Dakotans don't want government interference in the abortion issue "at any level." Our intent with the Plain Talk debates is to foster conversations where the candidates can compare and contrast with one another on the issues. As with our previous U.S. Senate debate between Democrat Katrina Christiansen and Republican incumbent Kevin Cramer, Hammer and Fedorchak engaged civilly, providing robust answers while disagreeing without being disagreeable. Want to follow Plain Talk and be kept up to date on all of these debates? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.

    59 min

  4. AUG 28

    528: 'I'm grateful for every minute I have in this job'

    "This is the best job I could ever imagine," North Dakota U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider said on this episode of Plain Talk. Schneider was appointed to that position by President Joe Biden. Later this year, when America elects a new president, he may be out of a job, depending on how the country casts its ballots. A Republican president isn't likely to keep a Democratic appointee, but if Vice President Kamala Harris wins, would Schneider want another term in the office? He says yes. "I'm grateful for every minute I have in this job." My co-host Chad Oban and I asked Schneider about whether his office has seen any local blowback from national politics, where the FBI and the Department of Justice have, in recent years, been accused of political bias by both Republicans and Democrats. FBI Director Christopher Wray, who has rejected demands to resign from former President Donald Trump, the man who appointed him, and who recently visited North Dakota, has frequently been at the center of interparty food fights. Schneider says national-level drama has had little impact on federal law enforcement operations in North Dakota. "Not at all," was his reply to our question. "In North Dakota, the FBI is, rightly so, seen as law enforcement," he said. "I don't pick that up at all that there's any distrust of federal law enforcement here in North Dakota," he continued. We also asked Schneider about the recent federal prosecution of former Republican state Sen. Ray Holmberg, which resulted in a guilty plea to crimes related to traveling to Europe to pay for sex with minors. Schneider was recused from the case by the Department of Justice because he, like Holmberg, served the Grand Forks community in the state Senate. "You can just about imagine how I feel," he said when asked what it was like to watch someone he worked closely with plead guilty to those crimes. Also on this episode, Oban and I discussed school schedules, and how their complexities can make things hard for parents, and also the on-going struggles of the North Dakota High School Activities Association to deal with terrible, often bigoted behavior at sporting events. Want to follow Plain Talk and be kept up to date on all of these debates? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.

    1h 2m

  5. AUG 23

    527: U.S. Senate debate between Sen. Kevin Cramer and challenger Katrina Christiansen

    When we organize candidate debates on the Plain Talk podcast, our intent is to foster a competition that's not bogged down by a lot of rules and restrictive formatting, nor plagued by shouting and candidates talking over one another. We don't really even want a competition. We want a conversation. A thoughtful discussion between two candidates on important issues of interest to the voters. I think we achieved that with the debate my co-host Chad Oban and I hosted between incumbent U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican, and his Democratic challenger Katrina Christiansen. Our conversation covered everything from partisanship, to social security, the national debt, the state of the farm bill and Congress's inability to pass an updated iteration of it, the wars in Ukraine and Israel, and the role of government in our lives. The candidates found places where they agree. Both say they're committed to America's continued backing of Ukraine against Russia's war of aggression. Both support Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism. Both described border security as a crisis for our country. In other areas, however, there was sharp disagreement. Christiansen hit Cramer for voting against a bipartisan border bill negotiated in part by Sen. James Lankford, one of the most conservative members of the Senate and, Cramer revealed, a roommate of the incumbent. Cramer, for his part, pointed out that while Christiansen may be more moderate than some of her national Demcoratic counterparts, her presence in the Senate is a vote toward liberal Democrats leading the chamber. Overall, it was precisely the conversation we were hoping to get. Specifically, a back and forth between two engaged, well-informed candidates. We will have more debates upcoming on Plain Talk. On August 30, the U.S. House candidates, Republican Julie Fedorchak and Democrat Trygve Hammer, will face off. On September 6 we'll host the gubernatorial candidates, Republican Kelly Armstrong and Democrat Merrill Piepkorn. On September 13, supporters and opponents of the Measure 4, the property tax proposal, will make their cases. We also have a preliminary agreement between the candidates for Superintendent of Public Schools, incumbent Kirsten Baesler and former state Sen. Jason Heitkamp. I'll have more on that once it's confirmed. Want to follow Plain Talk and be kept up to date on all of these debates? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.

    60 min

  6. AUG 21

    526: Marijuana and the Democratic national convention

    "Every law enforcement officer I've spoken to has said this has been hard on our state and hard on law enforcement." That's what Burleigh County Sheriff Kelly Leben had to say on this episode of Plain Talk. He's referring to Measure 5 on North Dakota's November ballot which, if passed, would legalize the recreational use of marijuana. "I'm very big on personal freedom," Sheriff Leben told co-host Chad Oban and I, but added that those liberties have to be balanced with the needs of public safety. He rejected the oft-made argument from marijuana supporters that legalization will make less work for law enforcement, arguing that "prices" for illicit marijuana will still "entice the black market." Leben did credit the backers of Measure 5 with taking a thoughtful approach to the issue. "I would have to concede that they're trying to get it right," he said, but added that the costs of legalization outweigh the benefits. Also on this episode, Jamie Selzler, a North Dakota delegate to the Democratic National Committee, spoke to us from his party's national convention in Chicago. He reflected on the speeches, the security and protests, and the heartbreak he felt when actor Mark Hamil, of Luke Skywalker fame, was too tired to pose with him for a selfie. Want to follow Plain Talk? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.

    57 min

  7. AUG 16

    525: 'For many years the locals have blamed the legislature'

    "Let's take valuations away." That's what state Rep. Ben Koppelman proposed on this episode of Plain Talk. He's referring to a plan for property tax reform that he's proposed should Measure 4 -- a constitutional ban on taxing property values -- fail on the statewide ballot in November. Koppelman would like to see property taxed on size, not value. His plan would levy mills on the square footage of properties, and the structures on those properties, with residential property owners seeing their bill defrayed by credits akin to the state's existing Homestead Tax Credit. "For many years the locals have blamed the Legislature" for the property tax problem, Koppelman said, arguing that, whatever happens with Measure 4, it's time for the Legislature to implement some more dramatic property tax reform to address what is a perennial source of consternation for North Dakota's voters. Koppelman said he's not for or against Measure 4, saying he's got his personal feelings but doesn't want to "twist the arm of voters." However, in the 2023 session, he did oppose Legislation that would have abolished property taxes. Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the politics around the Measure 4 debate, recent polling in North Dakota's U.S. Senate race that shows Democratic candidate Katrina Christiansen putting up strong numbers, and some of the upcoming debates we have scheduled for the podcast. Want to follow Plain Talk? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.

    1h 5m

  8. AUG 14

    524: 'Bill Gates doesn't need another tax break'

    Even if North Dakota voters approve Measure 4, a constitutional amendment that would disallow taxes on real estate values, our state and its elected leaders will still need to figure out how to replace the roughly $2.4 billion in revenues those taxes generate very budget cycle. We're going to pay for it. The question is how. Neal Messer, a farmer, businessman, and commissioner in Stark County, joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss what that problem might look like from a local level. One upshot? Property owners may still be stuck with a property tax. "It does open the door where we could tax property based on square footage," Messer told us, though he added that the measure itself is "not very well written." "The challenge is five years from now," he added, pointing out that Measure 4 obligates state lawmakers to replace the revenues from property value taxes, but only at four years from now. Messer argues that, thanks to things like inflation, the cost of something like paving a road is going to cost more in five years than it does today, and yet Measure 4 would pin the Legislature's obligation for paying for local government eternally in 2024. Messer also says he's worried about giving big companies and out-of-state landowners a big tax break by eliminating the tax on property values. He pointed to Marathon Oil, which pays a big tax bill in his county that in turn does a lot to fund local schools, but would be able to keep that money in their out of state headquarters should Measure 4 pass. There are also wealthy, out-of-state landowners who would benefit as well, he argues. "Bill Gates doesn't need another tax break." Also on this episode, my co-host Chad Oban and I discuss why I was wrong about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz being bad pick as runningmate for Vice President Kamala Harris. Want to follow Plain Talk? Click here for an archive of past shows and for information on how to subscribe, or just search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, including on YouTube.

    1h 4m
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3.5
out of 5
65 Ratings

About

Plain Talk is a podcast hosted by Rob Port and Chad Oban focusing on political news and current events in North Dakota. Port is a columnist for the Forum News Service published in papers including the Fargo Forum, Grand Forks Herald, Jamestown Sun, and the Dickinson Press. Oban is a long-time political consultant.

Information

  • Channel
    Forum Communications Co.
  • Creator
    Forum Communications Co.
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2024
  • Episodes
    631
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    ©2024 Forum Communications Co.
  • Show Website
    Plain Talk

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