Miracle on the gridiron

We spend so much time here discussing what are frequently depressing stories about the state of our nation that I think we’ll dedicate part of Sunday to focusing on what still makes this country great. Jack Hoffman is a seven year old boy from Nebraska with a rare form of brain cancer. He’s been undergoing [...]

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One and done.

Senator Mike Johanns will hit the exits after a single term in the upper chamber, his office announced yesterday.  The Nebraska Republican will bow out of a re-election bid despite having done well by all accounts in a first term.  Johanns reportedly has grown too frustrated with gridlock to fight for another six years: Despite [...]

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Stall tactics.

A couple weeks back, Nebraska Governor Heineman approved the portion of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would run through his state, obliterating the Obama administration’s last, best excuse for continuing to delay on what has become a politically explosive project. After what have already amounted to years of various reviews with positive results, the [...]

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What's the holdup, people?

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman signed off on TransCanada’s revised route through his state earlier this week, effectively clearing what the Obama administration has cited as a major hurdle to green-lighting the entire Keystone XL pipeline. Having already been through years of multiple State Department reviews, and with the southern portion of the project already under [...]

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Moment of truth.

Well, now — President Obama’s several eminent statements about his revived commitment to really do something about climate change during his inaugural speech on Monday are about to be put to the immediate test. As expected, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman has approved the revised Keystone XL pipeline proposal through his state after a positive environmental [...]

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It's back, baby

We spent almost all of last year peering at the Swing States… so much so that some of us will be quite happy to not hear about them again for a long time. (Unless, of course, the Cleveland Indians make the playoffs, in which case we’ll make an exception for Ohio.) But with the election [...]

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Change.

The metastasizing federal government may be in the process of doing anything and everything it can to stamp out the competitive virtues of federalism, but many states currently have Republican governors at the helm, even if they are conservatives of varying stripes — but state governments are going to be pretty much the only mitigating [...]

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Joke.

Let’s be clear: Bob Kerrey had as much chance of winning his US Senate race in Nebraska after spending the last decade in New York City as Republicans have of defeating Dianne Feinstein in California with a candidate who actually lived in the state.  The one-time Senator has been as far as 18 points behind [...]

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Tea time.

Granted, it’s a deep red state, but I’m surprised regardless. Kerrey served two terms in the Senate and another as governor so his name recognition is sky high; Fischer, meanwhile, was a distant third in the primary race behind Bruning and Stenberg as of just a few weeks ago. Can an almost total upstart crush [...]

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Not a "good ol' boy."

For the second time in as many weeks, an upstart candidate has shocked the establishment, only this time it comes as an even greater surprise. While Jon Bruning and Don Sternberg took turns beating up each other in the Nebraska primary for US Senate, state senator Deb Fischer stole a march on both and won [...]

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Palin power?

Wish we’d spent more time covering this given how interesting the race has become over the past week or so but here’s an eleventh-hour open thread for those who’ve been following it at other righty sites like Red State. Three candidates: Jon Bruning, the state AG and establishment favorite; Don Stenberg, the state treasurer and [...]

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Oops.

This isn’t how the playbook predicted the Senate race in Nebraska.  After incumbent Democrat Ben Nelson decided to retire rather than face the wrath of Nebraska voters over his support for ObamaCare, Democrats looked to former Senator Bob Kerrey, a genuine war hero and at one time a popular figure in the state, to rescue [...]

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"The longer I've been here, the further to the left I get on health care."

Remember that Bob Kerrey is the Democrats’ best hope for holding the Senate seat from Nebraska, even though Kerrey hasn’t bothered to live in the state since his Senate retirement more than a decade ago.  Jon Bruning reminds Nebraskans that Kerrey hasn’t exactly kept up with their political sensibilities, and says Kerrey’s values are as [...]

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Democrats' only hope?

Three weeks ago, former US Senator Bob Kerrey wrote to supporters in an e-mail that he had given the idea of running again to replace retiring Democrat Ben Nelson “very serious thought and prayer,” but that he had decided not to return to Nebraska for another election effort.  According to a Washington Post source, though, [...]

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Spending more time with his family

In Nebraska, Senator Ben Nelson will not be seeking another term, with observers noting that his chances looked fairly slim at best. Rumors quickly began flying that, in order to hold on to the seat, the Democrats might want to go with somebody carrying a proven track record as a winner. The progressive community turned [...]

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Big deal?

Add another to the list of Democratic victims of ObamaCare: Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska will announce today that he is retiring after two terms, a serious blow to Democratic efforts to hold onto their majority in the chamber next November. Nelson is scheduled to hold a press conference back home in Nebraska as early as [...]

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Ouch.

We have a cultural tendency to commemorate important anniversaries, and the NRSC has a new video out today “honoring” Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE). The 60-second spot notes the two-year anniversary of the Cornhusker Kickback, an amendment to the proposed ObamaCare bill that meant an extra $100 million for Nebraska — a change that inexplicably addressed [...]

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Sacred cow.

With sacred cows like Medicare and Medicaid suddenly up for discussion in terms of budget cuts, Republicans in Congress want to take aim at another — and it’s going to be a toss-up to see which draws more demagogic fire.  The GOP wants to defund ethanol subsidies, which would save $60 billion in ten years, [...]

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On the record.

Two days from now, the Speaker of the House will do something rather historic — set the agenda of the Senate.  Harry Reid has scheduled one of two floor votes required by John Boehner in the budget agreement for Thursday, the standalone effort to bar federal funds from going to ObamaCare: The next step in [...]

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Markers.

One of the more intriguing parts of the budget deal announced late last night was a commitment from Harry Reid to allow two floor votes on Republican legislative priorities, both of which would never have otherwise seen in the Senate chamber before 2013.  The first is the effort to defund Planned Parenthood, a rider that [...]

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Inevitability.

Yesterday, the Senate had several opportunities to put a leash on the EPA and its attempt to grant itself jurisdiction on climate-change regulation.  Proposals from both Republicans and Democrats failed to pass cloture yesterday, but the number of Democrats crossing over to push back against regulation sends a message to the White House that opposition [...]

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They're all #60.

For the past year, the NRSC has run ads against Senate Democrats labeling them as the “60th vote” for ObamaCare, the enabler of the legislation to pass into law.  Until now, none of them have been foolish enough to dispute this claim and engage the NRSC on its own terms.  Thankfully, Jon Tester of Montana [...]

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House, Senate push back against EPA, Obama energy policy.

Republicans in Congress advanced against the EPA and the Obama administration’s energy policy on two fronts today. In the House, the Energy and Commerce Committee approved a bill to stop the EPA from implementing regulations to enforce its finding on carbon dioxide emissions as a pollutant. The bill will certainly pass the House, and might [...]

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Frontrunner.

For a third survey in a row, Sarah Palin tops the Hot Air charts, garnering 34% of the readership’s vote. Palin leads a pack consisting of Chris Christie (who for a third survey came in second) at 14%, Herman Cain at 9%, Tim Pawlenty at 7%, and Mitt Romney. Notably, Romney has finished fifth in every survey, and [...]

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Only 329 million to go.

Well, give or take a few thousand; that’s as accurate as the 2010 Census data for Maine.  The entire state got itself a waiver from the core provisions of ObamaCare, which requires insurers to spend 80% of their premiums directly on provider care or offer rebates for the difference.  Maine requested and received a pass [...]

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