Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
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A double standard occurs whenever a set of moral principles applies to one group of people, but not to another. Today it is easy to find examples of how conservative Republicans are held to higher standards than liberal Democrats. So, today I thought I would document for you some recent examples of these kinds of double standards all of which occurred in the news last week. In March a California jury convicted Nebraska Congressman, Jeff Fortenberry, of lying to federal agents and concealing the...
June 14th is flag day. Flag Day is a day to honor the American flag. It is a time to proudly fly the Stars and Stripes, to recall our American heritage, to honor our values of liberty and justice for all, and to celebrate the republic of the United States for which it stands. Many American soldiers have risked their lives and even died to protect that star spangled piece of cloth that we recognize as the American flag. For example, during the days of the American Civil War color sergeants were...
How about that new 2023 license plate design? Some like it; most don’t. After Nebraska’s First Lady, Susanne Shore, revealed the new license plate design at a press conference with Gov. Ricketts last Tuesday, the responses that followed on social media were mostly negative. I share that opinion. The new design does not represent folks in Nebraska. Instead of choosing a design which reflects the geography, culture, history, or natural beauty of the whole state, Gov. Pete Ricketts decided to go...
Last week American school children once again became the innocent victims of yet another senseless shooting rampage. Whenever these atrocities occur, I believe society should respect the victims and their families by giving them a few days to grieve their losses, to memorialize their children, and to bury their loved ones. However, it will take many Americans a long time to heal from the Uvalde Massacre. Now that the dust is finally beginning to settle, we can begin to ask why these shootings...
As our national anthem says, the United States of America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. As Americans we never tire of sharing those stories of fearless bravery which have provided us with freedom and protected our liberties for almost 250 years, especially against foreign oppressors. As we enter into the Memorial Day weekend, one of those stories I have read of valiant bravery has finally come to a peaceful end. It is the story of Marine Corps sergeant, John Lee Canley....
The Nebraska primary election is now over. This year’s primary election will likely go down in history as one of Nebraska’s nastiest primary elections ever, especially in regards to the gubernatorial race. Now that the election is over, Republican party leaders are especially facing the very difficult task of trying to unify the party before the general election comes later this fall. This will be a very difficult task considering the kinds of campaign tactics that were employed, some of the...
The big news last week was the leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court, suggesting the high court’s intention to overturn the landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion nationwide. Although the leaked opinion piece does not represent the high court’s final decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, it does suggest that at least five of the justices will side with the State of Mississippi in that case. Overturning Roe v. Wade would not m...
Why did the chicken cross the road? Probably to get to somewhere where it’s still safe from the bird flu. The avian (bird) flu has come to Nebraska. The bird flu has been especially bad in the eastern part of the state. Millions of birds are currently being euthanized in Eastern Nebraska. Nebraska has already experienced seven outbreaks of the bird flu this year. Most recently, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture discovered an outbreak in a flock of 2.1 million chickens in Knox County. W...
Last week the 107th Legislature came to an end. This year was the shorter 60-day session. For the past four years I have served on the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee; however, this year proved to be the most difficult year so far. What made this year so difficult was that the Appropriations Committee had to appropriate $1.04 billion of federal funds from the American Recue Plan Act (ARPA). In previous years the number of bills assigned to the Appropriations Committee never surpassed 5...
Ever since I became a State Senator six years ago my number one priority has been to give Nebraskans meaningful and significant tax relief, especially property tax relief. The second session of the 107th Legislature is scheduled to end sine die on Wednesday, April 20, 2022. Therefore, today I would like to assess the status of tax relief efforts in Nebraska this year. The Nebraska State Legislature missed its best opportunity for meaningful and significant tax relief by failing to advance...
In the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature expectation lurks as a kind of devilish phantom farmer secretly sowing seeds of disappointment. That is what life is sometimes like inside the Nebraska State Legislature. You can spend an entire year or more crafting a single piece of legislation only to see it fail on the floor of the Legislature by a single vote or two, and that is what happened last week on more than one occasion. Last week was a very disappointing week in the Nebraska State...
State Senators in the Nebraska State Legislature recently voted to pull LB 933 out of the Judiciary Committee and up to the floor for debate. LB 933 is the Nebraska Human Life Protection Act, which prohibits abortions in the event that the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Congress passes enabling legislation, or the U.S. Constitution gets amended to let states decide for themselves whether or not to ban or put restrictions on abortions. Although I have...
Last week the Nebraska Legislature debated the main budget bills for the State. These budget bills always tell State Senators what the State cannot afford, but we end up spending the money anyway. That’s very easy to do when you are spending other people’s money. Budget bills are always controversial. Although the main budget bill (LB 1011) survived the first round of floor debate by a vote of 40-6, every State Senator in the Unicameral Legislature believes the State’s money should be spent...
One of the issues which has concerned me ever since I sat on the Legislature’s HHS Committee is what to do about price benefit managers, otherwise known as PBMs. Price benefit managers are the middlemen who provide our pharmacies with prescription drugs. PBMs negotiate with drug manufacturers on behalf of government health plans, private health plans, and employer-based health insurance plans. The deals they strike with pharmaceutical companies determine the availability of drugs as well as t...
I serve on the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee. The Appropriations Committee is charged with the task of putting together the State’s budget. In other words, we decide how the State spends its money, and this year we have a lot of extra money to spend. Last Thursday the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee finished hearings on 123 bills. That is the highest number of bills ever to be assigned to the Appropriations Committee. The reason we had so many bills this year had to do with...
Whenever a bill in the Nebraska State Legislature receives no opposition testimony at its public hearing and the committee members all support the bill, it becomes eligible for the consent calendar. The Speaker of the Legislature is the keeper of the consent calendar. Once the Speaker of the Legislature decides to place a bill on the consent calendar, it gets only 15 minutes of debate on the floor of the Legislature. Today I would like to tell you about four bills of mine that I have requested...
One of the bills that I have co-signed this year is LB 773. This bill would authorize private citizens to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. Currently, the Concealed Handgun Permit Act allows cities to restrict the concealing of a handgun only to authorized permit holders. LB 773 would allow all Nebraskans to conceal their weapons anywhere in the state without having to carry such a permit. However, the bill would not apply to those who have already been prohibited from carrying a handgu...
Last Thursday the Legislature’s Revenue Committee held a public hearing at the Capitol on LR264CA, which is my resolution for a constitutional amendment for the consumption tax. The resolution would put an initiative for the consumption tax on the ballot for the November 8 election. The time has come for the citizens of Nebraska to be given the opportunity to decide how they should be taxed. I would like to begin by saying thank you to all those who drove to Lincoln to testify in person at t...
The public hearing for my priority bill has been set at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln for Thursday, February 3, 2022 beginning at 1:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend the hearing and to testify in person. LR 264 CA is my priority bill. LR 264 CA is a resolution for a constitutional amendment for the consumption tax. Before the consumption tax can ever become law in Nebraska, the voters must vote to amend the Nebraska State Constitution. LR 264 CA contains the ballot language that...
Ever since being elected to the State Legislature back in 2016, I have received more emails in support of an Article V convention of the states than on any other single issue by a long shot. The emails I receive in support of a convention of the states out-number those in opposition to it by a margin of about twenty to one. So, there is no question that voters in the Panhandle of Nebraska support LR 14, the resolution which calls for a convention of the states. Once LR 14 passes in the...
Nebraska’s economy has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic better than any other state in the Union. According to Politico’s State Pandemic Response Scorecard, Nebraska’s economy ranks first in the nation. Nebraska continues to enjoy record low unemployment, and last fall the Department of Revenue reported that our state’s incoming tax revenues beat the projection of the Forecasting Board by 7.7%. Despite our economy doing so well, the State of Nebraska has been given more than a billion dollars...
The second session of the 107th Legislature has already begun and new bills are now being introduced. Although new bills may only be introduced within the first ten legislative days of the session, I expect approximately 500 new bills to be introduced this year. Many of these bills will likely venture outside of the scope of what good government ought to do. Therefore, today I would like to remind my readers about what good government is supposed to do. Milton Friedman once famously said that...
In my July 10, 2020 article I wrote about the use of certain therapeutic re-purposed prescription drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 symptoms. I especially talked about the potential benefits of inhaled budesonide and hydroxychloroquine. After I published that article, I received some harsh criticism from several folks who accused me of not following the science. Well, it turns out 18 months later that I was right all along. Treating the symptoms of original COVID-19, along with its delta and...
This is the calm before the storm. The second session of the 107th Legislature is about to convene. This year the legislative session will start on January 5 and will go into the month of April. This year’s legislative session will be the shorter 60-day session. Because there will be fewer days on the legislative calendar, it will be even more difficult to get bills passed into law. Many of you would like to know what I have been working on for next year, so now I will tell you. The bills t...
Christmas is the season for giving. Long ago when the magi came to visit the baby Jesus at that very first Christmas, they bestowed upon him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. While these may seem like strange gifts to give to a baby, the magi were honoring Jesus as a king, as a priest, and as a savior. It is because of the magi that exchanging gifts eventually became a Christmas tradition. Many of us will strain ourselves this year to find that perfect gift for a loved one. Finding that...
