Recently, Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak sent out an email seeking to debunk what she describes as myths when it comes to proposed changes to the Medicaid program. She argues that the program isn't being cut, but rather just being slowed in its growth.

But wherever you come down on that debate, the fact that she's prompted to make these arguments is politically significant. On this episode of Plain Talk, my co-host Chad Oban and I talked about that, in the context of one of Fedorchak's predecessors, former Rep. Earl Pomeroy, trying to explain his vote in favor of Obamacare.

Oban pointed out that while Fedorchak is disputing the claims that Medicaid is being cut, some Republicans, including Mehmet Oz, the Trump administration's administrator for Medicare and Medicaid services, are calling them cuts.

"The problem that she has is it's not just people like me who are saying it's Medicaid cuts," Oban said.

"You're like, well, these aren't cuts, but when someone on your own side is referring to them as cuts, you're losing that war," he continued.

We also discussed the NDGOP's on-going District 25 debacle, and what the proposed sell-off of federal lands means for Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's political trajectory.

Also on this episode, Matt Briney, chief communications officer for the Theodore Roosevelt President Library, talks about the progress on the project. "We're looking forward to welcoming everybody July 4th, 2026 when we will open to the public."

Public funding for the project has drawn some criticism, but Briney pointed out that only "about 11% of the project is funded from state funds" and that the library organizqation hasn't had to touch a $70 million line of credit made available by the state.

He also detailed some of the features visitors will be able to explore next year. "We're going to take you into the White House. TR's White House. Not the White House that we know today, but TR's White House. So, it's going to have the full kind of look and feel replica of being in there," he said, adding that the library will leverage artificial intelligence technology to make simulated conversations with Roosevelt possible.

"You're actually going to be able to talk to TR and TR is going to talk back to you," Briney said. "And that's where we're we're leveraging new technologies from Microsoft...where you can have actual conversations in a group setting with him."

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In a recent column, I argued that the concept of "baby bonds" — a verison of which is included in "big beautiful bill" President Donald Trump is backing in Congress — is something North Dakotans should implement whatever the federal government might do.

We have hundreds of millions in revenue from the Legacy Fund's investments, and we have the Bank of North Dakota to administer the program. A rough estimate based on the average number of live births in our state every year is that this would cost the state about $20 million or so per biennium.

After I published my column, Treasurer Thomas Beadle reached out, saying it's a topic that intrigues him as well. "I think that you get a little bit of a a stakeholder society," he said on this episode of Plain Talk. "Children are being set up with these accounts, and the parents are managing these accounts on behalf of their kids, so they will be vested. They might have a stakeholder interest in making sure that programs like this are viable."

Speaking of investments, also joining this episode was Jodi Smith, executive director of the state Retirement and Investment Board, and Kodee Furst, a director 50 South Capital. They discussed the ongoing efforts to implement the Legacy Fund's in-state investment program.

The goal is to have the Legacy Fund at $1.3 billion invested inside of the state by 2030. Some of the challenges in getting there early on were negotiating the producer-investor rules. State investment officials have a responsibilty to maximize returns, but with the in-state investment program, the idea is that some of those returns aren't in the form of interest on investments but rather economic development.

This balance is important. "We're not providing a grant," Smith said. "We do expect a return to come back to us."

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The North Dakota Republican Party censured Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong at a recent meeting.

And yes, despite what some party leaders are now saying, Armstrong does see it that way. "It was a censure," he said on this episode of Plain Talk, going on to expand on his immediate reaction to the censures which was "I don't care."

The censures expressed disapproval in Armstrong's property tax plan, along with his veto of book ban legislation, but he says that serving the party isn't his top priority. "I just view it this way: I'm a North Dakotan first. I'm the governor second and a Republican third."

He accused some in NDGOP leadership of being obsessed with "microniche" issues and wanting to control Republican elected leaders with party rules and censures.

"I mean, one of the problems I think you're running into in this is...this was always 'we hate the smoke-filled back room,' right? That was always the argument forever. That's not really true. What they want to do is control the smoke-filled back room," he said.

"I don't think they spend near enough time talking about how to win elections, which is what people rely on the party for," he added, further arguing that party leadership is elected by small groups of people.

"Matt Simon got elected with 24 votes," Armstrong said "I hope he does great. I hope he brings unity."

Also on this episode, we discuss Rep. Scott Louser's decision to forgo a property tax ballot measure challenging the relief lawmakers passed earlier this year, as well as the recent No Kings protests and how their momentum compares to the 2009 "tea party" movement that changed the shape of North Dakota politics.

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Andrew Loftesnes is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. Specifically, he served with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, which is the same unit that President Donald Trump has, controversially, deployed to Los Angeles to, as Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem put it recently, "liberate this city from the socialist and burdensome leadership" elected by local citizens.

The deployment was "not only a direct threat to democracy and in my opinion a significant step towards autocracy, but also a direct betrayal of the young men and women who serve in the Marine Corps and other branches of the US military," Loftesnes said on this episode of Plain Talk.

"The escalation 100% is the point," he added when asked if Trump's motive was to inflame an already delecate situation further.

"Anyone who calls themselves a conservative politically, I think, should be horrified by this federal overreach," he said.

Also on this episode, Attorney General Drew Wrigley explains his legal opinion concluding that Gov. Kelly Armstrong's line-item veto should stand, and that a special session isn't necessary. He points to Article V of the North Dakota constitution which states that the governor need send two things back to the Legislature when issuing a veto: A veto message, and the original bill, with the latter requirement being an anachronism from the pre-digital, pre-copy machine era when there would be only one copy of a given piece of legislation.

Wrigley says that the veto message issued by Armstrong was accurate, and that whatever mistakes were made up the marked-up version of the bill Armstrong sent back alongside the message are irrelevant. "This isn't a hieroglyphics contest," he said.

Armstrong's office is proceeding following Wrigley's opinion, but the Legislature, and specifically the Legislative Management Committee which Senate Majority Leader David Hogue chairs, has yet to decide whether they'll litigate or call themselves back into session to take further action. In public statements, Hogue was dismissive of Wrigley's opinion, saying his "understanding of the English language" and "respect for the rule of law" prevented him from going along with it.

Wrigley says he's since spoken to Hogue, and that they laughed the matter off. "We had a conversation that afternoon," he said. "In fact, I had seen the quote that you just mentioned, and when he called me later in the afternoon, I asked him if he was calling to discuss the English language, at which point he started speaking Spanish. We started off with a pretty good laugh."

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When former Congressman Earl Pomeroy looks at the protests today against the Trump administration and the so-called "big, beautiful bill" in Congress, he sees echoes of the 2009 protests that ended his tenure in elected office.

"There's going to be an election day reckoning," Pomeroy, a Democrat who represented North Dakota in the U.S. House from 1993 to 2010, said on this episode of Plain Talk. What was interesting about this discussion is that many of the 2009-era "tea party" protests in North Dakota were organized, in part, by me.

Pomeroy said that in 2009, there were times when voters would be "mad as hell out there" but Democratic leaders in Washington D.C. were dismissive. "The leadership would say to the nervous members not to worry. They'll get over it. Or, as has been said with the more recent demonstrations, or the passionate town halls, oh, these are paid agitators."

He says he still thinks the 2009 protesters were operating on bad information, but that they should have been taken seriously. "What I found is the the concern, the anxiety, the anger was very real."

North Dakota's political dynamics are different in 2025 than they were in 2009. At that time, our state was politically mixed, with an all-Democratic congressional delegation. Today, North Dakota's political landscape is more ideologically homogenous, and the protests against Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak, as well as Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer, have quite reached the critical mass that the 2009 demonstrations achieved.

Still, Pomeroy has a warning for those Republicans: "I think these protests are real and I think that there's some people going to lose their seats over it."

Also on this episode, Zachary Taylor and former Fargo City Commissioner Arlette Preston, representing Strong Towns Fargo, joined to discuss my recent column about sprawl in North Dakota cities, its impact on property taxes, and how property tax reform recently passed by the Legislature may force local governments to have some meaningful debate about it.

If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It’s super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you’re from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below.

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Artificial intelligence continues to dominate conversations worldwide, sparking both optimism and deep concern. On this replay episode of Plain Talk, hosts Rob Port and Chad Oban revisit a compelling discussion with the late Rep. Josh Christy, an influential North Dakota lawmaker and expert in artificial intelligence who tragically passed away during the legislative session.

Throughout the conversation, Christy emphasizes the critical balance between safeguarding communities and fostering economic growth through responsible AI adoption. His insights offer valuable perspectives that remain highly relevant today, underscoring both the transformative potential of AI and the necessity of thoughtful policymaking.

If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It’s super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you’re from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below.

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At the beginning of this episode of Plain Talk, Attorney General Drew Wrigley took exception to my recent reporting suggesting that he and Gov. Kelly Armstrong are at odds over sentencing legislation and the performance of state prison officials.

Based on what would follow, I think the conflict between two of North Dakota's top elected officials is positively overt.

According to Wrigley, the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, headed by director Colby Braun, is lying to state lawmakers and the public.

He took particular issue with a recent fiscal note issued by the DOCR indicating that so-called "truth in sentencing" legislation he supports, which would mean that inmates serve a larger percentage of their sentences, will cost taxpayers as much as $269 million.

"Their quest is to make it extraordinarily expensive to turn people away from the bill," he said.

"That is a blatant falsehood," a stormy Wrigley told guest-cost Erin Oban and I.

"It is not worth the paper it's written on," he continued about the fiscal note.

"It would be a joke if it weren't a matter of serious policy debate," he said.

Wrigley also said that DOCR officials have been hiding data from the public and lawmakers, and making misleading statements about rising crime rates. "What an absolute abdication of responsibility," concluded.

These are serious accusations -- lying, abdication of responsibility, etc. -- but Braun isn't an independent operator. He has a boss. That's Armstrong, who was also scheduled to appear on this episode to discuss the progress of property tax reform, which he has made his primary focus during this legislative session. 

I asked Wrigley if he felt Braun should be fired, and he demured, saying it wasn't his place to advise the governor on personnel issues.

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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. (https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/col...)

Ben Klutsey is the executive director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University whose work is featured in the documentary "Undivide US." (https://undivideusmovie.com/) They recently co-authored an op-ed about politics in the classroom, (https://www.grandforksherald.com/opin...) 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." 

If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It’s super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you’re from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts | Episode Archive

Recorded live at the North Dakota Professional Communicators conference in Minot, this special episode features Rob and Chad in front of a live audience talking media bias, political polarization, and the value of honest disagreement.

They share lessons learned from tough interviews and respond to audience questions about journalism, trust, and what could be done to make North Dakota’s legislature more effective.

If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It’s super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you’re from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode.

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On this episode of Plain Talk, co-host Chad Oban takes the reins with guest co-host and former State Senator Jessica Bell for a conversation with Matt Perdue, Government Relations Director at North Dakota Farmers Union.

Perdue, who's running to become the next president of NDFU, emphasizes the uncertainty facing many producers amid economic headwinds, fluctuating commodity prices, and ongoing concerns about federal farm policy and trade conflicts. He also shares how farmers are working through complicated relationships with energy developers, the challenges of rising land prices and absentee landowners, and the importance of investing in rural communities to attract and retain young families.

Plus, Chad and Jessica dive into the recent veto snafu by Gov. Kelly Armstrong, the implications of growing partisanship, and the upcoming appointment of a new Superintendent of Public Instruction.

This episode is presented by Lignite Energy Council, an organization dedicated to protecting and enhancing the development of North Dakota's abundant lignite resouces. Their goal is to maintain a viable lignite coal industry and support the generation of electrcity, syntheitc natural gas, and valuable byproducts. Visit www.Lignite.com/Podcast to connect and learn more.

If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It’s super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you’re from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below.

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