Posted by LauraEbke on 06/07/09

We are reaching a point where we are considering having a statewide meeting for all Campaign for Liberty members and folks who might be interested in becoming members.  Would you come? What would you like to see us talk about?  Would you bring friends?  Where should we have it?  

One thought is to have it a little closer to central Nebraska, to ease the driving time for folks out west--say in Grand Island or Kearney.  Would you come?  Leave comments, and answer the poll, please!

Posted 06/08/09 crouthe06 Lincoln, NE

August 22 - Free August 23 - Free August 29 - Out of Town August 30 - Out of Town September 5 - Out of Town September 6 - Out of Town September 12 - Arkansas State Football Game September 13 Free

Posted 06/16/09 JFeldman Kearney, NE

Okay, it looks like Saturday August 22nd then? Should we vote on a venue, or maybe take the eight that voted and just figure the most central place between their homes? Let's get a little more detailed so that we can begin the process of finding a place...

Posted 06/17/09 LauraEbke Crete, NE

Josh, e-mail me in the next few days, and we'll talk about this--August the 22nd is probably o.k.--although it's only one weekend after the Republican Liberty Caucus meeting in Aurora, which will involve a lot of our members, as well. Let me mull this over a bit.

Posted 06/22/09 DavidHunt Blair, NE

Posted 06/23/09 rdc569 Bellevue, NE

Has there been a decision on this yet? I'll be home in August and I can't wait to start getting involved.

Posted by LauraEbke on 03/03/09

I'm trying to figure out which of the conferences to go to this spring/summer, and would like to go to the one where the most Nebraskans are going to be--so that we can meet up there and talk.

So, please answer the poll below to help me figure out where the best place to be is.  Answer quickly--the St. Louis Conference is at the end of this month.

Laura

Posted by LauraEbke on 09/21/09

Here in Husker Country, we're knee deep into the Nebraska football season.  Nebraskans become consumed by Husker football for 3 or 4 months of the year (and only obsessed the rest of the year).  People drive from Scottsbluff (almost on the Wyoming border in the Panhandle), all the way to Lincoln--sometimes for every home football game, and yet...

We have a Campaign for Liberty meeting in Kearney on September 26.  To say that I am disappointed in the number of RSVPs so far would be to put it mildly.  Yes, I recognize that it's a home football game weekend (and so, our meeting is from 10-2, so folks should be able to get back to Lincoln before kickoff if they've got tickets, or back to their houses for the Pay Per View game of the 300th consecutive sellout).  But I had really hoped that Nebraskans would answer the call in larger numbers.

We've seen a lot of enthusiasm around some of the "Tea Parties" in the state.  That's a good thing, although my observations suggest that relatively few of the Tea Party attendees are former (current?) Ron Paul supporters.  The Tea Parties in the state seem to be openly anti-Obama, and pro-liberty to the extent that Obama is seen as the antithesis of liberty.  

Where have all the Paul supporters gone in Nebraska?  There were active groups in North Platte, McCook, Lincoln, Omaha and Norfolk.  There were pockets of supporters scattered around other places in the state.  We had 55 Ron Paul supporters at the Nebraska Republican Convention last summer...and yet, as of this writing, we don't even have a dozen folks signed up for the meeting in Kearney.

Perhaps what "they" said about Ron Paul supporters was true (at least here in Nebraska): "if we ignore them, they'll just go away.  They're not about anything real--they're just into a cultish hero worship."  

Is that the legacy we want to leave?  Or do we want to get involved, dig in and keep working, establish a plan of action for next year's legislative session, and take our cities, counties and state back?  Think about coming to the meeting in Kearney.  I know it's a long drive for those on either edge of the state, but how far would you drive if you had tickets on the 50 yard line?

Posted 09/26/09 CharlotteJuett Genoa, NE

Laura, I am very sorry that you are having such a poor turnout for the meeting. Unfortunately, even though I would have liked to attend, work had to come first in this case.

Posted by LauraEbke on 07/16/09

Well, he SOUNDS pretty reasonable on this, anyway. 

Feel free to keep reinforcing our view that any health care reform can NOT include a greater role of government in our health care decisions!

Give Sen. Nelson a call (and while you're at it, call Sen. Johanns and your member of the House--just to make sure they know how you feel)!

Numbers and e-mail addresses for all of our members of Congress are at the bottom of our state page.

Posted by LauraEbke on 07/16/09
Last updated 07/16/09

Every health care plan that I've seen proposed of late involves one or more of the following things:

1) Increased taxes on some segment of the population (those who drink sodas, those who make more than $300,000 a year, etc.).  

2) A "public option"--which will inevitably lead to no real "private option" for anyone but the most wealthy who can just pay cash for their health care needs.  Think about it: if you have a family insurance plan through your employer that currently costs someone--whether you or your employer or a combination--$16000 a year, and a government option only costs $8000, for (theoretically) the same coverage, where will you and your employer start purchasing your insurance?  Hmmm, $16000 or $8000?  Of course Medicare and Medicaid are both "public options" and impose all sorts of limits on care, all sorts of silly regulations, and are supplemented at the doctor's office and hospital by private insurance companies who actually pay a higher level of the actual cost of medical facilities business expenses.

3) A failure to understand that "there's no such thing as a free lunch".  "Free insurance"--or even low-cost "full coverage" can never be truly free--because the costs of doing business are still there.  Equipment and supplies still need to be purchased.  Physicians, nurses, lab techs, hospital custodians, hospital cafeteria workers, etc.--still want to be paid.  If they don't get paid adequately for their efforts, they will go somewhere else.  Can we really believe that a supposedly "free" system won't end up in terribly long waits and rationing of care?  And if these health care system workers ARE paid adequately for their efforts, where will the money come from?  Less premiums paid into the health insurance, means that money will have to come from somewhere.  Higher taxes, diversion of funds from one area into another, etc. Do we really believe that government can run the system more "efficiently"?  How could we believe that?  What evidence is there?

We need to put the brakes on any efforts to overhaul our health care system that will result in even greater government involvement.  Call your Senators and House members today (their numbers are at the bottom of your state page).

Posted 07/16/09 celticreeler Rolla, MO

Thanks for the post. I quit practice a long time ago, but this is the main reason I'm not resuming. What a gargantuan disincentive! Here's my idea: Take Andrew Ward's lead from his post yesterday ("An Overdose of Government Healthcare"), get that tangled labyrinth of gobbledegook printed off at your printer's (stimulate your local economy), and take it as a visual aid to your next grassroots event. I'm thinking my local county fair, at the Republican booth.