As goes Mark Lakers, so go Nebraska Democrats

From today's Omaha World-Herald: 

Mark Lakers, the Democratic candidate for Nebraska governor, has amended his campaign finance report to the state, removing $157,000 in pledges from 12 individuals and 10 companies or organizations. In all, he removed about one-third of the individual pledges his campaign had earlier reported to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

As news reporting has shown, there's no question that in some cases Lakers listed people as pledging donations when in fact they had not done so. Some of those individuals have publicly expressed surprise at being listed as contributors.

As we've noted before, gubernatorial contests are important for a state. They give the opposition party the chance to set out an alternate policy vision. And they provide an all-important occasion for voters to weigh the pros and cons of an incumbent administration.

Lakers' handling of his campaign reporting, then, has undermined not only his own candidacy but also his own party's ability to make its case effectively for itself and against Gov. Dave Heineman.

Duane Acklie--An American Story

One week ago some 400 Nebraskans gathered at the Embassy Suites in LaVista to honor Duane Acklie.  Duane is a man of tremendous character, integrity and humility, and for this reason the Nebraska Republican Party saluted him.  The event was a tremendous success and may have set a new fundraising record for the NEGOP.

For those who don't know Duane, he was one of Nebraska's finest attorneys when he founded Crete Carrier Corporation and soon thereafter began serving as its President/CEO.  Duane and his lovely wife Phyl subsequently built Crete Carrier into one of the nation's largest trucking companies.  Duane has served our nation as President of the USO, Chairman of Sallie Mae, U.S. Senior Advisor to the United Nations. and as our National Committeeman to the Republican National Committee.   

I want to personally thank Duane and Phyl for all they have done for our state and our nation.  Duane has been a personal mentor of mine, and for that I am personally grateful.

Helping us honor Duane was Karl Rove, who did a great job expanding on the themes in his new book "Courage and Consequence."  Few Nebraskans realize that Rove ran Mrs. Haven Smith's successful initial bid for Congress (that's Congresswoman Virginia Smith for those not familiar with history).  He did an excellent job defining the differences between today's Democrats and Republicans and why the 2010 elections are so important. 

A great event for a great man.  Thanks Duane for allowing us to honor you and your service!

EPILOGUE:  On Saturday after the Salute to Duane Acklie I had the pleasure of taking Karl Rove to the Millard Airport.  When we arrived, an airplane crew stepped through the door and we asked, "Are you here for us?"  They kindly replied, "No, we're here for Senator Nelson."  Rove, being the consummate prankster, decided we need to make signs to hold up for Senator Ben Nelson's arrival.  So Rove grabbed a Sharpie and a couple of pieces of paper, writing "WELCOME BENATOR" on one (Sen. Nelson's moniker courtesy of President Bush) and "Have a Great CORNHUSKER day" on the other--a clear and intentional reference to Nelson's Cornhusker Kickback.  All good-natured ribbing by Rove.  By the time Rove's plane arrived and I left Senator Nelson had not yet arrived, but I'm confident he received these notes.  Sadly for him, these are not the only communications he will receive from me and those we work with over the next couple of years as we fight to return this Senate seat to hands of Nebraska voters.

Elections Matter

President Obama has nominated Elena Kagan to fill the Supreme Court vacancy soon to be created by the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens.   Little is known about Kagan, except her leftist decision at Harvard to bar military recruiters from using campus facilities--a decision that has caught the attention of Senator Mike Johanns.  (Sen. Ben Nelson said he was "unfamiliar" with the details of the incident, just like he is unfamiliar about how an ATM works, unfamiliar as to how the Cornhusker Kickback made its way into the health care legislation, . . .  We digress). 

Rest assured that Kagan, like countless other Obama nominees, is a judicial activist.  One need look no further than nominees Robert Chatigny (2nd Circuit), Goodwin Liu (9th Circuit), Louis Butler (who actually got voted off the Wisconsin Supreme Court) and David Hamilton (7th Circuit).  These radical appointments have even led to the creation of a new website--ObamaVConstitution.com

If the Republicans dig deep into these nominees' backgrounds and stall the nominations, Ben Nelson and his fellow Democrats have only themselves to blame.  After all, it was the party of Ted Kennedy that shamelessly lied about Judge Robert Bork to kill his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.  The end justifies the means, right?   

More than anything, these judicial nominations serve as a reminder that elections matter.  A vote for the Democrats is a vote in favor of elitist, activist judges who will rewrite the Constitution and legislate from the bench.  A vote for the Republicans is a vote in favor of judicial restraint and judges like Justice Clarence Thomas--a man of tremendous character who is, as one of my Democrat attorney friends remarked today, "probably the most genuine, representative justice on the entire Court."

Justice Thomas was in Lincoln today to talk about leadership as part of the Leadership 101 seminar at UNL.   In addition to talking about character ("Without character, one cannot and should not lead."), Justice Thomas talked Nebraska football.

As for me, I would much rather have a federal judge who won't try to rewrite the Constitution, believes that character matters, drives an RV and follows the Huskers than a liberal elitist activist who, like Liu, hold such radical beliefs as a constitutional "right" to welfare benefits.

Ben Nelson and the Union Bosses

FedEx and UPS. Two of the most well known delivery companies in America. These two delivery rivals seem like quite similar companies, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

FedEx delivers 85% of it parcels by air; UPS delivers 85% of its parcels by truck. This vast difference in delivery methods is creating quite a battle in the United States Senate with FedEx on one side of the battle and UPS and the Washington Union Bosses on the other.  UPS is unionized by the Teamsters.  FedEx employees have thus far been able to avoid the reach and corruption of the Washington Union Bosses.

For more than a year now Congress has been dealing with the issue of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act. The legislation is being delayed thanks to language slipped into the Act that would make it easier for the Teamsters to unionize FedEx.

Each and every time the Teamsters seek a vote of the FedEx employees to bring their jobs under union control the employees vote no. The Teamsters know that they can’t get a majority of FedEx employees as a whole to vote to join the union but they know they have a chance if they can get their proposed language adopted and start picking off FedEx employees one by one.  More members means more union dues money.  More money from union members means more money the Teamsters can spend to fight the Republican agenda of a smaller, more efficient and responsible federal government, and more money they can spend to force Card Check to passage.

And where does Sen. Ben Nelson stand?  The Nebraska Narcissist has been playing coy, pocketing Union Boss money while promising Nebraska businesses he'll do what's best for Nebraska.  We've heard that before haven't we?  Simply put, he can't be trusted.  That is why it is important that Nebraskans make their voices heard by contacting Sen. Nelson’s offices to let him know that he needs to oppose this legislation.

And now we know

For those who doubt what truly motivates Sen. Ben Nelson, his recent actions relating to his party's attempt at financial regulatory reform should clear things up.

Ben Nelson "surprised" his fellow Democrats this week when he voted against cloture, i.e., Nelson voted against stopping debate and proceeding to a vote on the bill. After all, Nelson had supported that bill in committee. What was different? A provision benefiting Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway had been removed.

Nelson's special affinity for Buffett--currently the world's third richest person--is well known. Nebraska political observers have reported that Nelson identified Buffett to the Obama White House as the one guy who could get his "no" vote on Obamacare to "yes," which would presumably give Nelson some cover in Nebraska. So much for that. (Note: Nelson is not the first Nebraska Democrat to have attempted to use Buffett unsuccessfully. In a 1994 debate, then-Rep. Peter Hoagland tried to deflect criticism of his vote in favor of the Clinton tax increases by saying Buffett told him to do it. Challenger (and Hoagland's vanquisher) Rep. Jon Christensen responded, "Maybe Warren Buffett can afford those tax increases. The rest of us Nebraskans can't.")

Well, with Ben it never quite ends there. Gotta follow the money. Thanks to the New York Times, we now know that our Senator Nelson apparently owns somewhere between $1.5 million and $6 million in Berkshire Hathaway stock. So he cast a vote on legislation that directly affected his personal investment in Buffett's company?

I can see the 2012 television commercial already. The sad thing is the ad is already "in the can" since history is replete with examples of public officials using their official positions to benefit themselves and those around them.

November 6, 2012 cannot arrive soon enough. On that day Nebraskans will Give Ben the Boot!

2012

Last week, I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Washington, D.C. raising money for the NEGOP and visiting with national political press about the 2012 Senate race (FYI--they don't care about the 2010 CD2 House race as they correctly view it as a nonrace--sorry Tom White--wrong year to be a big government Democrat who supports PelosiCare).

A few observations:

• Senator Nelson was on my flight to DC (quite common given the convenience of Midwest Express/Midwest Airlines/Republic Airlines/Frontier). He looks tired, old and rather pissed off at the world. If I had to read his mail and listen to his voicemail messages I probably would look that way too.
• At Ronald Reagan National Airport (best name of an airport EVER) some patrons wanted to get their photo taken with Sen. Nelson and he kindly obliged. What he didn't understand is that it was a joke, as they walked off laughing about it and muttering "Cornhusker Kickback." The photo is now probably on Facebook somewhere under the heading "Kickin' It with the Cornhusker Kickback."
• Washington Post, Cook Political Report, Roll Call, National Journal, Stuart Rothenberg and others we visited with clearly understand that Nelson's in deep, deep trouble. Veteran Nebraska Republican politicians say that in all their years in politics they have never seen so much ire and vitriol directed at one public official--EBN. And it's because of his official actions while in office. After all, he cast the deciding vote on ObamaCare. From this he simply cannot recover. Remember, EBN is a guy who got thrashed by Chuck Hagel in 1996 by a margin of 56 to 42, and who narrowly defeated Don Stenberg in 2000 by less than 12,000 votes. There's no way in Hades he recovers from this.
• The Washington political press (now, with a little help) understands that Nelson's duplicity on the health care legislation is just the latest in a long-line of incidents demonstrating a serious character flaw. We haven't forgotten that Nebraska taxpayers had to pay over $145 million to settle the lawsuit created by Nelson's political shenanigans over the Boyd County low-level nuclear waste dump. Or his career as an insurance attorney (more on that in the future).
• One political reporter said he hasn't seen Nelson in such a funk since he got his hiney kicked by Hagel. His sleazy backroom deal for the Cornhusker Kickback and mistaken belief that he could convince Nebraskans he did them a favor will go down as the greatest miscalculation in Nebraska political history.
• Another nail in EBN's coffin is the fact that the NEGOP has an abundance of qualified candidates waiting in the wings to possibly challenge him, including the likes of Governor Dave Heineman and Attorney General Jon Bruning. Further adding to EBN's misery is the fact that Governor Heineman has only token opposition this year (a "cupcake" is how one elected official describes Dem Mark Lakers) and Attorney General Bruning is running unopposed.

2011 and 2012 will be a blast. I look forward to travelling the state with the likes of former NEGOP Chair/Omaha City Councilman Chuck Sigerson (who is itching to get his ability to speak back and would love nothing more than to reprise his 1996 efforts that led to Nelson's defeat) and maybe even Arnold Schwarzenegger. After all, it was Gov. Schwarzenegger who accused Ben Nelson of illegally selling his vote in exchange for the Cornhusker Kickback.

Who better than The Terminator to help terminate Ben Nelson's political career?

AG Bruning: Standing Up for Nebraska and Future Generations

Nebraskans can be proud of our attorney general, Jon Bruning, for his swift and decisive action in joining other state attorneys general in filing suit to stop the health care monstrosity signed into law yesterday by President Obama.

The lawsuit, which can be found here, rightly challenges this abuse of the U.S. Constitution and the legislative trashing of freedoms our forefathers fought for.

And we aren't the only ones appreciative of Attorney General Bruning's leadership. As demonstrated by his recent appearances on national news programs, he continues to gain national attention as a recognized leader among the nation's AGs, and a constitutional conservative destined for greater things.