We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are practicing safety this Black Friday (Malinda’s chosen to hunker down rather than brave the savage consumer waters). Speaking of savage consumers, Sarah Palin will be in Norfolk to sign copies of her new book America, By Heart tomorrow. Here’s your Roundup:
Ad of the Season: GM’s got the ad of the season, thanking Americans for the bailout when they stood on the verge of collapse. It’s definitely a quality PR campaign, we hope they back it up by moving the American-owned car company forward. View Here
No Day in Court: Nebraska has the third highest wait period in immigration court after California and Massachusetts. The coastal states have an average wait period of 630 and 615 days, respectively, while the Cornhusker state averages at 519. The national average is 456 day. The growing backlog of cases is part of a national trend, but the TRAC report which brings the issue to light does not offer an explanation. Insufficient staffing combined with increased immigration law enforcement (the Obama administration has drastically stepped up enforcement along the southern border) may the culprit. View Here
Intercessors are Suppressed: The Intercessors of the Lamb, a hermit-like group that’s been camped out in the Ponca Hills north of Omaha for nearly three decades has been officially suppressed by the Archdiocese of Omaha. According to financial disclosure reports, the group has over $6 million in net assets. Their mission is “contemplative, intercessory and spiritual warfare prayer,” but there has been speculation that the group was becoming to cult-like. Religious scholars say Suppression in the Catholic church is usually a death sentence for an organization. View Here
No More Honor in the House: The incoming GOP House leadership may ban honorific resolutions in the House. Honorific resolutions include such things as honoring the Hollywood Walk of Fame’s 50th Anniversary, declaring national Pi Day (March 14th) and renaming post offices. We don’t know how incoming Speaker Boehner expects his pal Lee Terry to coast through another two years of leadership if he can’t rename post offices anymore. View Here
Fremont’s Mayor Donald “Skip” Edwards has resigned, citing health issues and exhaustion from the immigration fight in the city.
Wednesday, November 24th
Just one more day until we sit down to feasts of Turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. Tell us Bold readers, what are you most thankful for this year? While we’re all giving thanks, let’s not forget those among us who are going hungry this Thanksgiving. We encourage you to make a donation to the Heartland Food Pantry to help feed members of our communities. Here’s your Roundup:
Watching the Bench: The state’s judiciary commission has sent four nominees for an open judgeship to Governor Heineman. The position became available when Judge Kent Florom was removed for trying to influence a case involving a player and coach from his daughter’s softball team. Who says the judicial branch is dull? View Here
Application Deadline: Application to fill the legislative seat that will be left vacant by state senator Bob Giese are due at 5pm today to Governor Heineman’s office. Giese is leaving his legislative seat to serve as treasurer for Dakota County. If you’re interested, here’s the application. Under “appointment desired” you can write in “State Senator for LD 17.” Then mail a resume and cover letter to the address at the bottom of the application. View Here
Lincoln Politics: Nancy Hicks at the Journal Star has a rundown of small stories regarding the city government. Hicks covers the Haymarket arena, new road repairs, TIFing, and private business telling LES how to manage its budget. Is it flashy info from the underbelly of politics? No. But if you live in or around Lincoln, it’s the basic city update that you ought to read. View Here
Feeling Inadquate: We stood with Plains Justice yesterday when they released a report revealing glaring inadequacies in TransCanada’s emergency response plan for their oil pipelines. TransCanada’s all over the air waves during Husker games, claiming what a good neighbor they are. The last time we checked Nebraskans do not consider endangering our way of life and being under-prepared for an emergency being a good neighbor. View Here
Majority Like Health Reform: A new McClatchy Newspapers-Marist poll shows that a majority Americans either want to keep or even expand the health reform law. Only 44% of respondents said they wanted to reduce or repeal health reform, but 51% want to keep it around. Not only is the public siding with Dems on health reform, the poll also showed â…” of respondents agree with the Dems’ position on extending the Bush tax cuts: extend them only for those making under $250,000. This can only lead us to ask: what Republican mandate? View Here
Tuesday, November 23rd
If you’re in Omaha tonight, KFAB’s afternoon host Tom Becka will be bar tending at the Dundee Dell from 7-10pm to raise money for the Heartland Food Bank. We encourage you to stop by and leave a hefty tip. Here’s your Roundup:
25% is the Loneliest Number: Apparently if you’re a Democrat in Madison County, you may as well be invisible. The OWH paints a bleak picture for moderates and progressives who live near Norfolk in their story about Sarah Palin’s book tour visiting the town. God bless Robynn Tysver for trying to find any other reason Palin might visit Norfolk besides all the conservatives living there, but when we hear hoofbeats, we don’t think “zebras.” If you’re a moderate or progressive in Madison County, don’t get too downhearted. Bold exists for you. View Here
80% is the Happiest Number: Thanks to health reform, starting today 80-85% of the money health insurers collect must go to ACTUAL HEALTH CARE, not administrative overhead costs and fancy ad campaigns. Health plans will have to start showing how they spend their money (no more anonymous executive salaries). Small health plans are getting extra time to meet the standards. The executive branch’s implementation will be key on the success or failure of this part of reform. Sorry incoming GOP House majority, we won’t let you repeal this progress. View Here
Sticker Shock: Project Extra Mile’s student members in Wahoo launched their “Sticker Shock” campaign yesterday. High school students with adult chaperons (and blessings from the local sheriff’s department) put stickers on boxes of alcohol that said “No free ride if you Provide.” It’s part of their awareness campaign for the holidays to remind adults that providing alcohol to minors is illegal. There’s nothing that warms our holiday spirit like youth getting active. View Here
Nebraska’s Bab ies: An interim hearing by the state legislature’s HHS committee revealed that a lack of Medicaid and prenatal care to low-income women in Nebraska is hurting babies. Community health centers are seeing increases in the number of uninsured women, premature births and stillborns. Prenatal care was scaled back after Governor Heineman refused to adapt state structures to federal regulations on the grounds that illegal immigrants might use the services. Nebraska Right to Life, a group that has endorsed conservatives across the state, also opposed the move. View Here
Monday, November 22nd
It was 47 years ago on this very day, that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Kennedy was a pioneer for Civil Rights, an advocate for international peace and an icon for politically active youth. He left behind a legacy that was all too short, and promises that we are still trying to fulfill. Here’s your Roundup:
Bruning Gets a Challenger: Jon Bruning now has a challenger to be the Republican candidate running against Ben Nelson. Schuyler attorney Pat Flynn has decided to make another Senate bid. Flynn lost the GOP primary to Johanns in 2008. State treasurer Don Stenberg (who was just elected to serve his first term) is also rumored to be considering a run. View Here
Animal Welfare Economics: The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) was hosting a townhall in Lincoln last night, and they sure raised a fuss in the blogosphere. We’ll never doubt the impetus for ranchers and farmers to blog when their livelihood is concerned. HSUS cleared the air that they are NOT targeting Nebraska for a ballot measure that would restrict livestock practices. HSUS president Wayne Pacelle did emphasize that the group is not anti-agriculture, but farmers have to be willing to change to meet consumer demands for more humanely raised meat. We know plenty of ranchers and farmers who do that already, if you are looking to buy some meat take a look at Morgan Ranch, North Star Neighbors and Fulton Farms. View Here
Farmers and National Security: Keith Dittrich, Nebraskan and chairman of the board for American Corn Growers Association, makes the case for agricultural price supports and farm subsidies in the NY Times. We like how he compares price supports to the minimum wage: it costs taxpayers nothing, unlike welfare. Dittrich takes on conservatives who have partnered with Big Food (e.g. McDonald’s) to create a system that “has unfairly treated farmers, consumers and workers, and made our children fat.” Amen brother. View Here
Heineman Supports Dems?: Not really, but he certainly tried to give the impression that he’d like to see more Democrats running for office in Nebraska. We don’t believe Heineman actually wants competitive Dems campaigning, he’d prefer straw men that the GOP can knock down and use to give the impression that Nebraskans support their extremely conservative agendas (hint: they don’t). If anything, conservatives like Heineman, Fahleson and Ricketts should be concerned that the big money they spent going negative in campaigns only won them 1 seat. View Here
The Pope and Condoms: The Pope has said that using condoms can be justified in some cases like preventing the spread of diseases like HIV if you’re a male prostitute. The small admission is a big step forward in Vatican positioning that has long condemned the use of birth control for any reason. The nuances of the Pope’s statements will be hashed out over the next few weeks as the world searches for some context to the pope’s statement. View Here
The Pentagon is moving up the release date of its study on repealing DADT.
