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Civic Engagement Nebraska Politics

How to Testify at the Legislature

Civics Class Time! We hope all of you plan to testify this legislative session and in future sessions. You may want to support an incredible piece of policy, or you may want to say “Oh hell no, not in my state!” about a specific bill. Some people will testify on behalf of an organization and others […]

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Nebraska Politics

Is the Legislature Safe for Liberal Voices?

This letter was sent to Speaker Sheer, along with all 49 senators on January 5th, 2018. As of this posting date, I have not received a response addressing my concerns. Senator Jim Scheer Speaker of the Legislature Dear Speaker Scheer, I would like to lodge an official complaint. I believe that Senator Steve Erdman has made […]

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Nebraska Politics

Meet Your New Secretary of State, Selected by Ricketts

When it comes to the least visible of the Constitutional officers of their state, Nebraskans can be forgiven for not knowing two things: What their Secretary of State does, and Who their new Secretary of State will be. For the past several years, the identity of the Nebraska Secretary of State might not have seemed […]

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Nebraska Politics

Nebraska, Get Ready for Koch University

After the horrific announcement this Tuesday that Governor Pete Ricketts intends to plunder the biggest employer and most valuable asset of the state of Nebraska, the University of Nebraska, another piece of news came over the transom—one that may seem unrelated to Ricketts setting fire to the state but is actually connected. The Governor of […]

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Nebraska Politics

Democrats Must be Champions for LGBTQIA Families

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Nebraska Democratic Party LGBTQIA Caucus member Joe Shaw.   On Sunday afternoon, the Nebraska Democratic Party’s LGBTQIA Caucus Chair, Brian Whitecalf, was in church when he received a disturbing YouTube video texted to his phone. In the video, a recently announced Democratic candidate for governor, Vanessa Ward, […]

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Nebraska Politics

Gun Lobbyist hired by Judiciary Committee

Something stinks in the Judiciary Committee and it’s the Ebke/Clark controversy that nobody is talking about. Before we jump into that, let’s quickly review the committee process. Every bill that is proposed in the unicameral is assigned to a committee, and nearly every bill receives a public hearing. There are 14 standing committees organized by […]

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Nebraska Politics

Regarding MLK, U.S. Rep. Don Bacon likes the “Civil” but not the “Rights.”

U.S. Representative Don Bacon, who represents the Omaha area, shared some words about Martin Luther King, Jr. today: At a time of great unrest, [King] showed a calm and powerful restraint. While people on both sides of a battle hurled insults (and weapons) at each other, he remained civil and kind. I have long admired […]

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Nebraska Politics

Deafening Silence from Nebraska Delegation on Shitholegate

It started out as just another ‘normal’ week during the Trump presidency: Unhinged tweets from a madman sociopathic president Even more documents released showing obvious Russian collusion in our election The threat of nuclear war casting a pallor over the faces of simple American folks who really just wanted to raise their children in a […]

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Nebraska Politics

The Big Red Scare

As everyone knows by now, Courtney Lawton, a graduate student in the English Department at UNL, was relieved of her teaching duties because she flipped off a student and called her a “Becky” (among other things). Except that that’s actually completely wrong. The official reason Courtney Lawton was relieved of her teaching duties, is that […]

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Nebraska Politics

Ricketts Appoints Friends instead of Applicants

Omaha Senator Sara Howard has introduced legislation that would impact how governors fill vacant positions in the legislature. These vacancies occur when senators resign before the end of their term. Let’s review the patterns of our current governor’s overreach of power and highly partisan cherry picking in his appointments. Pete Ricketts, our current governor, has […]

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