Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak says that she doesn't agree with how Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has handled the situation around the shooting death of Renee Good, and ICE's overall activities in Minnesota.

Within hours of Good's death, Noem called her a "terrorist, something Fedorchak says she doesn't agree with.

North Dakota's congresswoman criticized the modern tendency to "respond too quickly in our culture" and come to "rash judgments with very little information," noting that she's personally avoided these things in her own messaging.

"We need more calm voices leading the charge," she said.

Fedorchak also defended her decision to vote against extending enhanced subsidies for people purchasing their insurance through the federal exchanges, raising concerns about fraud in the program. "We've got 34 million people, 34% of that program, is going to fraudulent participants," she said. "Like, this is not the kind of government that I can get behind. And so extending that for three more years is just intolerable to me."

"The solution is not throwing $80 billion at a broken system," she continued. "For $80 billion, we still have patients receiving significant increases, even with a subsidy in their insurance, and no solutions and continued wasted money and fraud. I can't get behind that."

Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the on-going turmoil around ICE's activities in Minnesota, as well as the lawsuits filed by Minnesota and Illinois against the federal government.

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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On this episode of Plain Talk, me and co-host Chad Oban react to more tragedy in Minneapolis, with the killing of Renee Good. The facts of what happened are still being established, but what did we think was going to happen when federal agents are operating under an administration intent on enforcing federal law in the most aggressive, most provactive way possible?

Also on this episode, Fargo mayoral candidates Josh Boschee and Denise Kolpack join to discuss their newly-announced campaigns. Kolpack is a current member of the city commission, and the deputy mayor, while Boschee is a Democrat elected to the state legislature.

Boschee talked about his skill working across ideological divides, as well as his familiarity with how things operate in Bismarck. He also said he's glad he doesn't have to pretend like he's not a Democrat, despite the mayoral race being officially nonpartisan.

Kolpack, meanwhile, said her experience in local government is what counts. She said he's pushed back on some bad ideas from the commission, and would work to alleviate some of the dysfunction there.

Both candidates weighed in on Fargo's controversial handling of the Applied Digital data center in the works in Harwood. Kolpack said Fargo acted like a bully. Boschee said he'd have done a better job of setting the city's priorities and communicating them.

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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"I just didn't get it prioritized to get out the door."

That's what Attorney General Drew Wrigley said on this episode of Plain Talk when asked about the state's annual crime report, which is typically released over the summer, but this year wasn't made public until New Year's Eve.

The delayed report comes amid an intense debate over crime in North Dakota. The most recent report, covering the year 2024, showed some declines from recent peaks in serious crime categories, but they're still signficantly up over the last decade.

"Violent crime and robbery crimes against the person...came down two 2%," Wrigley said, "but that 2%...makes last year the 10th highest of the last 11 years. You're talking over 4,000 more victims every year than was the case in 2014."

Wrigley said he plans to continue his push for stricter sentencing policies in next year's legislative session. He was unsuccessful in winning enough votes among lawmakers for his proposed reforms during the first two legislative sessions of his tenure in office.

Wrigley also addressed delays in his office in responding to open records and open meetings complaints filed by the public, and the news media -- "the number of requests is quite robust," he said -- and said that he planed to address a legislative request for an opinion on Retirement and Investment Office bonuses in "weeks" not months.

Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I react to my story about top executives at the F5 Project giving themselves personal loans out of the nonprofit's revenues, as well as my report about legislature's potentially preempting, during their upcoming special session, a ballot measure for universal school meals with a proposal of their own.

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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