State Senator Mark Christensen has introduced legislation to allow teachers to carry guns in schools.  Neal's not a fan.

In the State of the State address Governor Heineman said his bold budget is centered on two priorities: jobs and education.

We find it interesting that a conservative who doesn’t think the government can create jobs is saying now (his) government somehow can... but that is not the focus of this post.  

While this is a week of turkey, allow me just a few minutes to draw your attention to duck.  Lame duck, that is.  While the new kids on the block have already arrived at Capitol Hill for their orientation, the 111th Congress has some unfinished business to take care of before saying “adios” in December.  The lame duck session, which began Monday, November 15th and is expected to last until mid-December, contains high-profile legislation, some of which has been in the works for over a decade. However, there has been a public push from the Right to refuse passage for any legislation in the session.

Neal's latest cartoon for us.  Heineman takes a page out of the Roman Empire's handbook:

This week’s wimp would be in serious trouble if he were held to the same standards as college students.  Simply put, because plagiarism is a big no-no.  The extreme right-wing, outside-Nebraska funded, Americans for Prosperity state director Brad Stevens is taking credit for grassroots work he didn’t do and trying to spin a loss that his campaign was handed last week.

Looks like Governor Heineman is taking a page out of the same bully handbook that TransCanada used on landowners earlier this month.

Except Heineman isn’t bullying Nebraska landowners, he's bullying education groups.

Heineman’s opportunities to have his cake and eat it too are coming to a close.  It looks like Senator Ben Nelson is calling out  the Governor’s double talk leadership style.

Nelson’s office just released a statement that he has introduced a bill that would direct unused education funding towards deficit reduction.  If you’ll recall, Senator Nelson voted to pass FMAP funding for state aid that would go to first responders, teachers and Medicaid.