Plain Talk: Senator Cramer Says of Border Deal, “I Like It Ok. I Certainly Don’t Love It.”
Senator-elect Kevin Cramer is The Forum's 2018 Person of the Year. David Samson / The Forum
In response to several questions about it, the Senator says he’s co-sponsoring legislation introduced by Texas Senator Ted Cruz which would use some of the money seized from notorious drug lord “El Chapo” to pay for construction of the border wall. “I told Ted right away I want to get in on that,” Cramer told me. “A lot of that money gets used up in other lawsuits,” he added referring to claims from victims seeking restitution, “but not all of it.”
“I like it ok,” Cramer said of the border deal struck by a conference committee intending to keep the government from shutting down again. “I certainly don’t love it.”
Cramer added that he’s “kind of interested in hearing from the President the rest of the story on what he could do” in terms of using emergency powers to build the border wall.
On the so-called Green New Deal, Cramer says it’s “peculiar” that Democrats insist there’s an impending climate change crisis but object when Republicans push to bring their legislation to a vote. “Whether we have a vote on it…it’s fun to watch the Democrats debate themselves,” Cramer said.
Ben Kimbro also spoke about the challenges the marijuana industry faces in North Dakota and elsewhere when it comes to banking services. Because the federal government continues to see marijuana as illegal, the few banks that will work with the marijuana industry charge a lot more for their services which drives up costs. Kimbro is a spokesman for Harvest Health & Recreation, an organization which has the licenses for two of the four dispensaries to be established by state law (they’re in the running for a third).
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