Matt Corley has a post up over at Think Progress about Nelson's recent comments to the Washington Post about President Obama's Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Program that passed the House earlier this week. Apparently, Nelson is worried about some facets of the bill including providing $13 billion in Pell grants for students. He believes that they are "worthy" projects but shouldn't belong in the reinvestment program.
Yeah, because it's hard to understand how investing in college kids would improve the economy. That's a real barn burner.
Earlier today, President Obama released state by state job improvement numbers should the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Program be implemented. According to the figures, Nebraska would see an employment boom of 19,220 jobs or a -1.3% drop in the unemployment rate.
Those numbers alone make the program worthy of support.
I'd love to put something in this diary telling you to "Call Senator Nelson and demand he vote for the bill!" but it wouldn't have any effect. Honestly I think Nelson is toeing that line yet again in order to shore up support amongst conservatives in Nebraska. It's no different than earlier this week when Nelson voted "yea" on a killer amendment on the SCHIP bill -- it's all for show because last night Nelson voted for SCHIP.
To be honest with you, I'm no longer bothered by Nelson's "moderation" in the Senate. What irks me is the show that he puts on when important pieces of legislation hit the floor. It's getting real old.
That's Why We Elected Democrats
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Posted this on DailyKos about five minutes ago:
By now, I shouldn't have to tell anyone on this fine progressive blog that President Obama's stimulus package passed the House without a single Republican vote. That's a shame for House Republicans.
Yet, their decision to oppose this legislation just affirms what many of us know already and backs up what the American people voted for in the last two elections. You see, Americans from every corner of this country voted for Democrats on every level of their ballots. They voted this way because they know that Republicans will always choose politics over the American people and that is unacceptable.
We should carry no delusions that this vote had anything to do with lack of infrastructure spending, or birth control grants, or whatever else Fox Noise and it's band of merry distorters pushed throughout the media. This was politics plain and simple.
Yet, even with the Republicans relatively impressive show of conservative solidarity, the bill passed.
There's a reason for that. This bill, like some before and many after it, passed solely on the backs of Congressional Democrats -- it passed like that, because the American people voted like that.
Congressional Republicans would do well to remember that.
By now, I shouldn't have to tell anyone on this fine progressive blog that President Obama's stimulus package passed the House without a single Republican vote. That's a shame for House Republicans.
Yet, their decision to oppose this legislation just affirms what many of us know already and backs up what the American people voted for in the last two elections. You see, Americans from every corner of this country voted for Democrats on every level of their ballots. They voted this way because they know that Republicans will always choose politics over the American people and that is unacceptable.
We should carry no delusions that this vote had anything to do with lack of infrastructure spending, or birth control grants, or whatever else Fox Noise and it's band of merry distorters pushed throughout the media. This was politics plain and simple.
Yet, even with the Republicans relatively impressive show of conservative solidarity, the bill passed.
There's a reason for that. This bill, like some before and many after it, passed solely on the backs of Congressional Democrats -- it passed like that, because the American people voted like that.
Congressional Republicans would do well to remember that.
Nebraska is a Republican State
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So says Gallup (via Dkos diarisy "Red no more"):
All told, 29 states and the District of Columbia had Democratic party affiliation advantages of 10 points or greater last year. This includes all of the states in the Northeast, and all but Indiana in the Great Lakes region. There are even several Southern states in this grouping, including Arkansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky.Fan-tastic...
(snip)
In contrast, only five states had solid or leaning Republican orientations in 2008, with Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Alaska in the former group, and Nebraska in the latter.
Jim Suttle's Website
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Take a look here.
No offensive to the Councilman, but it's not very good. In fact, it looks like a High School dropout with a copy of "HTML for Dummies" built it. It's even worse when you look at his opponents sites: Hal Daub and Jim Vokal.
No issues on it -- are you kidding me!? And what is with the arcs? We don't live in St. Louis. Maybe he's hoping for a McDonald's endorsements but I don't get it.
Good thing I don't vote based on website...
Update [9:22 P.M.]:
Oh my...this photo thing is awful! Anyone ever hear of flickr!?
No offensive to the Councilman, but it's not very good. In fact, it looks like a High School dropout with a copy of "HTML for Dummies" built it. It's even worse when you look at his opponents sites: Hal Daub and Jim Vokal.
No issues on it -- are you kidding me!? And what is with the arcs? We don't live in St. Louis. Maybe he's hoping for a McDonald's endorsements but I don't get it.
Good thing I don't vote based on website...
Update [9:22 P.M.]:
Oh my...this photo thing is awful! Anyone ever hear of flickr!?
Rural America in Trouble
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I'm terrible on rural issues because I'm a city boy, but this post at DK by user jgoodman details what a lot of my rural friends have told me about their economic situation.
Give it a 'rec if you have a minute.
Give it a 'rec if you have a minute.
679 Legislative Bills
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Kyle Michaelis over at NewNebraska.net has a nice roundup of the bills introduced to the legislature this cycle. He's got 1-100 up right now, check it out.
OWH Bans Gay Marriage Announcements
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Meet Marc Volenec and Peter Hamel...They're your average everyday Nebraskans. They have jobs, they own a house, I'm sure they have hobbies, and, oh, they're a gay couple that got married in a San Diego courthouse on Sept. 23 and the Omaha World Herald refused to print their wedding announcement.
Why? Well an OWH spokesperson knew the answer (via "The Reader"):
“As a business decision, the Omaha World-Herald does not print same-sex marriage announcements.” company spokesperson Joel Long told The Reader. He said the company’s decision is not based on Nebraska’s law banning gay marriage or a specific corporate policy. “We decided we’re not going to do it.”Let me be the first to say: WTF mate!?
The real reason the OWH didn't publish their wedding announcement is because they are run by conservative wingnuts trying to force their agenda down our throats. What makes this even worse is that Hamel is an 18-year employee of the Omaha World Herald. Now he has to go back to work everyday knowing his own employer doesn't think he's as good as a straight man. That's sick!
On the one hand, I get it: I live in a conservative state where a lot of people aren't ready to accept gay marriage. On the other hand, as Lincoln Journal Star cartoonist Neal Obermeyer reports, the Columbus Telegram, Fremont Tribune, Hastings Tribune, Lincoln Journal Star, North Platte Telegraph, Scottsbluff Star-Herald and the Sidney Sun-Telegraph all publish gay marriage announcements.
That's what makes this unacceptable. All seven of those papers are respectable institutions in this state. In fact, the Scottsbluff Star-Herald is actually owned by the Omaha World Herald which makes the "business decision" argument a little bit weaker.
This is why I'm officially boycotting the Omaha World Herald. I've canceled my daily subscription, I will never link to them again, and I've joined the official Boycott Facebook group. From now on I'll be getting my news from the Lincoln Journal Star -- a highly respected newspaper in Nebraska.
I hope you'll join me in my disgust.
---
Let me give a shout out to Neal Obermeyer who brought this issue to my attention on his site Nealo.com. Here's the cartoon he published for the Reader on this issue:
The answer to your question is yes...
Neal Obermeyer is Nebraska's Keith Olbermann. :)
More on Mark Fahleson
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Couldn't sleep last night so I decided to do a bit of political research on the new NE GOP Chairman, Mark Fahleson. The results were interesting:
As the Nebraska Republican Party spokesman, he accused Ben Nelson of "deception and dishonesty" during the 2006 Senate race. Apparently, Sen. Nelson ran "one of the most divisive and deceptive campaigns in Nebraska history." Sure.
As Lancaster County GOP Chairman, Fahleson used the phrase "out of the closet" to attack then Democratic Mayoral candidate Chris Beutler's position on taxes. I wonder how many social conservatives picked up on the "subtle" undertone of said comment.
Campaigned against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act which would make it illegal for employers to discriminate based on sexual orientation. A pattern perhaps?
Fahleson was the Lincoln Journal Star's blogger for the 2008 GOP Convention in Minneapolis. Highlights include his swooning over Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and shamefully admitting he has a "intellectual crush" on Newt Gingrich.
There's plenty to talk about when it comes to Mark Fahleson but I'd venture to say the best is yet to come. Fahleson is your typical cookie cutter conservative and isn't afraid to attack those "liberal elites."
Hopefully his counterpart, Vic Covalt, won't have any trouble taking the fight to Fahleson. He better, otherwise it'll be a long few years for Nebraska Democrats.
There's plenty to talk about when it comes to Mark Fahleson but I'd venture to say the best is yet to come. Fahleson is your typical cookie cutter conservative and isn't afraid to attack those "liberal elites."
Hopefully his counterpart, Vic Covalt, won't have any trouble taking the fight to Fahleson. He better, otherwise it'll be a long few years for Nebraska Democrats.
NE GOP Chairman
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No surprise, it's Lincoln attorney Mark Fahleson.
His priorities include opposing the President-elect's economic recovery plan and lobbying the state legislature to do away with Nebraska's split-vote electoral system.
His priorities include opposing the President-elect's economic recovery plan and lobbying the state legislature to do away with Nebraska's split-vote electoral system.
Lethal Injection: "Not so fast, my friend!"
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It seems that we have a progressive in the legislature:
It's about time someone pushed back against Speaker Flood's unhealthy desire to see our great state kill convicts. The death penalty is wrong -- plain and simple -- and I couldn't be more thrilled to see Senator Council plant her foot in the ground and say enough is enough.
However, Senator Council has a tough road ahead of her...
Last week's AP survey displayed overwhelming support for Flood's lethal injection bill but, there does appear to be an opening to get the 16 votes needed to prevent cloture. Six Senators have already come out against the death penalty, with another 11 refusing to go on the record and 4 Senators on the fence. It's a long shot, but if Council is as persuasive as her supporters say she is, than the freshman Senator might just pull this off.
Let's not forget that Council's predecessor, Ernie Chambers, was a master of the legislature who could lock up legislation just by showing up. Council has said she is seeking Chambers advice so we'll see what tricks he might have up his sleeve. If I were a Senator, I'd make sure to bring a book.
((This post can also be found at NNN and Daily Kos.)
State Sen. Brenda Council says she’ll pick up the fight to keep prisoners from being executed in Nebraska, introducing a bill to repeal the death penalty and vowing to battle a bill changing the state’s method of execution.Since the State Supreme Court ruled the electric chair unconstitutional last year, Republicans like Gov. Dave Heineman have been in a purpectual state of depression. (As depicted hysterically by Lincoln Journal Star cartoonist Neal Obermeyer last February.) Because, you know, someone has to do the killing and we can't ask the National Guard to do it!
Council of Omaha said Thursday that she’s adamantly opposed to capital punishment and assured her constituents she’d pick up where her predecessor — Ernie Chambers — left off.
It's about time someone pushed back against Speaker Flood's unhealthy desire to see our great state kill convicts. The death penalty is wrong -- plain and simple -- and I couldn't be more thrilled to see Senator Council plant her foot in the ground and say enough is enough.
However, Senator Council has a tough road ahead of her...
Last week's AP survey displayed overwhelming support for Flood's lethal injection bill but, there does appear to be an opening to get the 16 votes needed to prevent cloture. Six Senators have already come out against the death penalty, with another 11 refusing to go on the record and 4 Senators on the fence. It's a long shot, but if Council is as persuasive as her supporters say she is, than the freshman Senator might just pull this off.
Let's not forget that Council's predecessor, Ernie Chambers, was a master of the legislature who could lock up legislation just by showing up. Council has said she is seeking Chambers advice so we'll see what tricks he might have up his sleeve. If I were a Senator, I'd make sure to bring a book.
((This post can also be found at NNN and Daily Kos.)
Nelson "likely" to Join Bayh Caucus
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A few weeks ago, Matt Stoller reported (via Roll Call) that Indiana Senator Evan Bayh was forming a new Senate caucus of conservative Democrats. This Senate caucus will mirror the House Blue Dogs led by Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. Targets included Mark Pyror and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Jim Webb and Mark Warner of Virginia, and Nebraska's own Ben Nelson. Nelson is the third most conservative Democrat in the Senate.
Now the Lincoln Journal Star reports:
To be honest, I am more interested to find out how Nebraska's Senior Senator will vote when it comes to important legislation like Universal Health Care, the Employee Free Choice Act, Network Neutrality, an Economic recovery package, etc...
Do you expect a perfect batting average? I don't.
(This post can also be found at the New Nebraska Network.)
Now the Lincoln Journal Star reports:
Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana already plans to form a new caucus of moderate Democrats to fill that role.I can't imagine joining a conservative caucus will change much of anything. Nelson does and says what he wants and has never really cared about party unity or anything like that. In fact, I believe that Sen. Nelson has no affinity for the Democratic Party and if given a worth while reason would seriously consider switching parties. Something he has been rumored to consider before.
Nelson is a likely participant.
To be honest, I am more interested to find out how Nebraska's Senior Senator will vote when it comes to important legislation like Universal Health Care, the Employee Free Choice Act, Network Neutrality, an Economic recovery package, etc...
Do you expect a perfect batting average? I don't.
(This post can also be found at the New Nebraska Network.)
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