Ricketts focuses on healthcare, jobs and tax reform in swing through area

When Gubernatorial candidate Pete Ricketts stopped in Sidney on Wednesday during an extensive trip of Western Nebraska ahead of next week’s primary, he spoke about the need to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with something better.

“What we have to do fundamentally at state government is reform HHS,” Ricketts said. “So we do a better job of delivering our services. To do that you need somebody who’s got my business experience to bring in the right management and put the right systems in place and invest in the right technology to be able to do that.”

Ricketts has a background in business and helped grow the financial firm, Ameritrade from a relatively small Omaha business to a nationwide company.

Ricketts opposes the expansion of Medicaid in Nebraska because even though the federal government promises to pay for it now, it could back out on that promise. The federal government promised to pay for 40 percent of the expansion of special education while it’s only paying for 18 percent, leaving the state to make up the balance.

“If we were to expand Medicaid, there’s no doubt that at some point in the future the government will say, ‘we’re not paying that anymore’,” Ricketts said.

When states are forced to pay for these sorts of programs it can crowd out payment for more vital things like education and roads, in Ricketts’ opinion.

“So, what I would rather do is help invest in job training programs to help people get off of government dependency so they can take those good paying jobs we have available all across the state,” Ricketts said.

When people have these good jobs with benefits at places like manufacturing plants, they can succeed without assistance, in Ricketts’ opinion.

Ricketts is a staunch conservative who believes life begins at conception and doesn’t think the life of a fetus should ever be purposefully taken.

As someone who supports the state’s right to perform capitol punishment to protect the citizens, Ricketts thinks he can resolve any issues with obtaining the necessary lethal injection drugs and administering them humanely.

“To me it seems like this is a problem that can be solved but just requires work with the attorney general’s office and medical professionals to determine what the right solution is,” Ricketts said.

Ricketts feels good about the primary on Tuesday.

“My chances are very, very, very good,” he said.

Ricketts was ahead in the most recent polling, he claimed.

“The only poll that actually matter is the one next Tuesday,” Ricketts said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and then. I like the direction this race is going.”

Ricketts has the support of 88 county organizations across the state and a statewide agricultural network.

“I think that this race is fundamentally how we grow Nebraska,” Ricketts said. “And the contrast here is, do you want to send somebody who’s been in government 20 years or do you want somebody who’s got a business background who can help fundamentally reform our state government to bring down our costs and provide tax cuts?”