Fischer, Lindstrom Announce Candidacies Posted by ramsey67

Posted 06/28/11

Two politicians have recently announced their candidacies for office.

Fischer for Senate

State Senator Deb Fischer (LD 43 - Valentine) announced today that she will seek the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. She is a 1988 graduate of Nebraska, a small business owner, a rancher, a mother of three, and a self-styled "citizen legislator". She joins a growing field of candidates, including veteran politicians Attorney General Jon Bruning and Treasurer Don Stenberg as well as businessman Pat Flynn of Schuyler and newcomer Spencer Zimmerman of Omaha.

Senator Fischer cited her leadership in the Unicameral, her track record of balancing the state budget, and her traditional Nebraskan values as strengths. She led the recent funding change for Nebraska roads, which dedicates a portion of state sales tax revenue to roads. At her Omaha announcement she was flanked by her husband, mother, and three grown sons. They will be accompanying her on a tour across Nebraska to announce her candidacy.

Lindstrom for Congress

Financial Advisor Brett Lindstrom announced his candidacy last Wednesday for the Republican ticket for the U.S. House of Representatives in District 2 (Omaha area). He is a 2003 graduate of Nebraska and was a walk-on quarterback for the Husker football program. He is a graduate of Millard West High School. He is facing incumbent Lee Terry and fellow challenger Jack Heidel, chairman of the Math Department at UNO and Learning Community board member.

Mr. Lindstrom cited the need for new leadership in Congress and the lackluster performance of Lee Terry over the past 13 years as his reasons for running. He was accompanied by his wife and newborn daughter.

Global Liberty Watch: Is Europe's Green Plan Brilliant or a Blunder? Posted by ramsey67

Posted 03/30/11

European Seeds of Tyranny

When discussing the European Union it is always important to remember that Europe was home to numerous brutal authoritarian regimes such as Hitler's Germany, the USSR, the GDR, and fascist Italy. Rooted in feudal kingdoms, the authoritarian seeds have merely grown into a more mature form over the centuries. On the contrary, America's libertarian principles are well-established and her authoritarian roots were long ago severed.

Concordantly, the European environmentalists have taken their agenda much further than Algore, Inc. has in America. The E.U.'s plan to eliminate gas and diesel vehicles from cities by 2050 is a case in point. The plan would ramrod Europe into a "Single European Transport Area (SETA)". Where some people might see it as the equivalent to a modern Interstate Highway infrastructure investment, it may turn out to be more of a gigantic prison sentence for Europeans.

See the rest at Nebraska Campaign for Liberty.

Omaha Mayor Proposes Wiping Away City Costs with TP Tax Posted by ramsey67

Posted 03/24/11

Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle has suggested a ten cent tax on toilet paper to help pay for federally mandated sewer upgrades. At a cost of $1.7 billion, improving Omaha's sanitation system is a major project.

Suttle remains on the hot seat after surviving a recall election. His poor handling of union contract negotiations amid the fiscal pinch led to voter outrage. The revelation that public union workers could loaf around, retiring at age 45 with a pension over $80k/year, especially irked taxpayers who have seen their earnings steadily eroded by taxes and inflation.

Unfunded, Unfounded

Unfunded federal mandates are a method used to circumvent the U.S. Constitution and they demonstrate the creeping expansion of the federal government. When it comes to managing city sewer systems, there is no authority granted to the Federal government (other than possibly over the District of Columbia).

However, by tying unfunded mandates to special federal funds, the federal government ultimately forces local governments to do its bidding. Cities and states are forced to participate in these programs or they will not receive federal money. Of course, the federal funds only partially cover the cost, thus forcing local governments to raise taxes to cover the rest.

See more at Nebraska Campaign for Liberty.

Candidate Profile: Stenberg for U.S. Senate Posted by ramsey67

Posted 03/16/11

Stenberg Touts Conservative Credentials in Bid for Nelson's Senate Seat

Nebraska State Treasurer Don Stenberg may be 14 months away from the primary, but he is already gearing up for his bid for Ben Nelson's U.S. Senate seat. Speaking to grassroots activists, he described his experience and policy positions in an effort to build early support for his candidacy.

Experience

* · Master's of Business Administration, Juris Doctorate (Law).
* · Aide, legal counsel for Nebraska Governor Charles Thone (1979-1983).
* · Nebraska Attorney General (1991-2003).
* · Ran for Senate 1994, 2000 (advanced to general election), 2006.

Fiscally Conservative

* · As Treasurer, recommended a 13% budget cut for the department.
* · Saved $100k in Nebraska budget by eliminating long term care savings program.
* · Saved $200k in Nebraska budget by updating child support disbursements.
* · Opposes Obamacare for its cost, among other things.
* · As Attorney General, budget grew only 3%, compared to AG Bruning's 12% growth.

See the rest at Nebraska Campaign for Liberty.

Fed vs. Ron Paul on Inflation Posted by ramsey67

Posted 03/09/11

Fed now Fears Bubbles, Inflation

Henry Ford said, \"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.\" The financial crisis of the last four years has focused more of the country\'s attention on Wall Street and the banking system and while the revolution is not happening overnight as Ford suggested, it is happening slowly but surely. Some mainstream economists have changed their tone, possibly pointing to a change in policy to reflect the people\'s understanding of banking.

Fed Official\'s Attack on Ron Paul Retracted

See the rest at Nebraska Campaign for Liberty.

Local Fed Chief, "Nebraska's Economy Remains Strong" Posted by ramsey67

Posted 03/02/11

The Nebraska Economist

UNO's College of Business hosted Federal Reserve VP Jason Henderson Monday for a presentation on Nebraska's economy. Henderson is the Branch Executive of the Omaha Branch of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, serving as the bank's chief economist. He has a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue; useful in the agriculture-based Midwest economy.

Henderson's main concern is the possibility of a farmland real estate bubble. The interest rate has been held too low for too long, creating a flood of capital into agricultural real estate. Farmland values increased over 17% this year in Nebraska and North Dakota led the Midwest with an increase of over 23%! Additionally, farmland values have outpaced the price-earnings (P/E) ration by 15%. Evidence of the boom is found in increased sales of tractors, grain bins, and other farm equipment.

For the rest, please visit Nebraska Campaign for Liberty.

Senator + Lobbyist = Zero Real Reform Posted by ramsey67

Posted 02/28/11

NET recently interviewed Senator Lathrop about the labor reform issue in Nebraska and lobbyist Lynn Rex about city-state relations. Both videos offer useful insight into the issue.

Senator Lathrop's main solution to the public union issue is to clarify statutes so municipal governments can make more accurate forecasts for labor costs. All the same structures would remain, but cities could fine tune their budgets better. This would do little to head off failing city budgets.

Similarly, municipal lobbyist Lynn Rex proposes to improve government labor costs by using a better formula to estimate cities' costs. She rightly praises the idea of at least comparing city employee wages with similar positions within the community, but misses the real point of the issue.

Public Unions: Revolting, Nation-wide Posted by ramsey67

Posted 02/28/11

Public Unions: Revolting, Nation-wide

As the budget crisis deepens, state and local governments are seeking new means of cutting costs. The recent pro-union protests in Wisconsin have taken center stage in the national budget battle and have inspired similar protests across the country.

The Nebraska Capitol was the site of Nebraska's Wisconsin-esque protest this Saturday. Hundreds of Nebraskans showed up on a cold, snowy day to show their support for union members and the retention of collective bargaining by state employees. To get a better understanding of the pro-union perspective, Jeremy Jensen of the York County Tea Party briefly interviewed several protesters. His video provides several examples of the unfortunate misconceptions people hold about public unions.

See the rest of the article at Nebraska Campaign for Liberty.

Capitalism, Shooting for the Stars Posted by ramsey67

Posted 02/20/11

Last week the UNO Aviation Institute awarded the William F. Shea Award to George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic. The award is issued yearly for “distinguished contributions to aviation”. After receiving the Shea Award at UNO’s Thompson Alumni Center, Mr. Whitesides presented the audience with a discussion of his company and its role in shaping the future of aviation.

Humanity is celebrating fifty years of space flight but the results coming from NASA in the last few decades have been less-than-stellar. The space shuttle program is being retired soon, having lost two shuttles and fourteen astronauts while costing $450 million per mission and over a billion per machine. Other NASA endeavors have also ran up extraordinary costs over the years, and many missions have had costly technical difficulties.

Like most government-run organizations, NASA has fallen into a bureaucratic quagmire. NASA is facing budget cuts and looks to be losing the support of many Americans. The problem is not the idea of America shooting for the stars, the problem is money. In other words: it’s nothing personal, just business.

The remedy for this budget crunch is to privatize space flight. One of the methods created to do so is the X-Prize, designed to foster technological breakthroughs through competition. In 2004 Virgin Galactic won the $10 million prize for the first reusable commercial sub-orbital space craft, SpaceShipOne. Since then, its engineer, Burt Rutan, has steadily improved on its design. The culmination is Virgin Galactic’s latest machine, SpaceShipTwo.

SpaceShipTwo will launch paying passengers up to low orbit for a brief but unforgettable experience. The whole flight takes 2 to 2 ½ hours with only about five minutes in space. At $200,000, the steep ticket price has not deterred the 400 people who have pre-ordered for the ride of a lifetime. Ticket price is expected to steadily decline as the technology is further developed. Whitesides put a ballpark figure of $50,000 on tickets ten years from now.

NASA’s reputation for super-human requirements for space flight is coming under scrutiny. Virgin Galactic has put people aged 19 through 88 through its space flight simulator, and with 93% passing it seems that NASA’s stringent physical requirements are overstated. What was once reserved for the elite few will soon be open to all.

Space travel will likely develop along the lines of ocean, rail, and air travel. Each was accessible only to those with deep pockets in the early days, but each eventually became commonplace. Access to global resources contributed to further economic and social progress. The possibilities that will be unleashed within the Solar System are beyond imagination.

Virgin Galactic is truly taking space travel to the next level by opening up this new frontier to the public and by allowing market forces to exert influence on prices. As more and more enterprises spin off from Virgin Galactic’s efforts space travel will become highly accessible. As the old vision of government-led space exploration withers away, humanity’s commercial space-faring days will blossom.

Obamacare Dealt Another Blow; LB 515 is the "Green Shoots" Posted by ramsey67

Posted 02/20/11

While Nebraskans await the Legislative hearing for the Federal Healthcare Nullification Act (LB 515) Obamacare has been dealt another blow. The U. S. House of Representatives has voted to block funding for Obamacare in its "Continuing Resolution".

Most likely the Republican move will be overturned and the government will pass another record large budget. However, at least this episode can be seen as a slight victory for the Tea Party, because the tea partiers are the ones who led the fight against Obamacare and big government in general. Without tea party support the Republicans would never have had the majority in the House to even try blocking Obamacare.

Meanwhile, the 27 States who sued the federal government over Obamacare are still waiting for their lawsuits to reach the U. S. Supreme Court. Two decisions in lower federal courts have ruled favorably for the resistance.

Obamacare, the budget-busting gigantic lead balloon floating over Americans' heads is wounded but still afloat. The final prong of the attack on Obamacare is Nullification. Already passed in Idaho, the Federal Healthcare Nullification Act would bar federal agents and regulators from implementing Obamacare provisions.

In Nebraska, the Federal Healthcare Nullification Act was introduced by Sen. Christensen (LD 44) on January 20, 2010, and is currently awaiting a hearing in the Judiciary Committee. Please contact your Senator and ask him or her to support LB 515. Please also contact the members of the Judiciary Committee and urge them to pass LB 515 to the floor for a final vote.

Remember the slogan etched into the North face of the Capitol: "The Salvation of the State is Watchfulness in the Citizen." It is up to citizens like you to rein in out-of-control government.