Nebraska Business Hall of Fame
By Governor Dave Heineman
February 3, 2012
Dear Fellow Nebraskans:
We have a bold and strategic vision to make Nebraska the ideal place to create jobs and grow a business, the best place to obtain an education for students of all ages, and the perfect place to raise a family. We’ve made fundamental investments in education and the economic vitality of our state and as a result Nebraska has made significant progress and we have consistently ranked in the top 10 as a business-friendly state.
A Federal Auction in Desperate Need of Reform
By Reginald Nesbitt, MD, MBA
On the hit A&E cable show "Storage Wars," competing buyers take a peek inside foreclosed self-storage lockers, guess what might be hidden inside, then bid for the salvage rights. It's entertaining television. But it's a terrible model for the federal government acquire life-and-death treatments for Medicare patients.
Yet that's almost exactly what's happening. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is expanding its new bidding process to an advanced therapy for chronic wound healing. CMS won't require suppliers to prove competency with the therapy. If bidding goes forward as planned, millions of public insurance beneficiaries could have their health jeopardized.
The Myth of Class
By Rob Schwarzwalder
In 1920, a talented American rower named Jack Kelly applied to race in the British Henley Royal Regatta. The most prestigious rowing event in the world, the Henley seemed a natural fit for Kelly, who had already been the U.S. national rowing champion.
Yet he never got to row: Kelly, a bricklayer, was told that his background in manual work disqualified him. According to the then-rules of the Henley, no one "who is or ever has been ... by trade or employment for wages a mechanic, artisan or labourer" would be allowed to compete.
This effete classism is contrary to America's founding charter and its fundamental presupposition: that God has made all men equal, and endowed all of us with certain rights that should be protected by government.
Members of Congress are sent to Washington with the trust of those who elected them. Not only are we responsible for making laws, but also for abiding by them and holding ourselves, at a minimum, to standards which are commonplace in Nebraska: discipline, honesty, integrity. That's why I support a bill that would make it explicitly illegal for members of Congress and the executive branch to engage in insider trading. The Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act sets the right standard for Congress and reflects the trust placed in us by those we represent.
E-File This Tax Season
By Governor Dave Heineman
January 20, 2012
Dear Fellow Nebraskans:
It is time to begin thinking about filing your tax returns for tax year 2011 and I want to encourage every Nebraskan to consider filing their individual income taxes electronically. E-filing is a convenient and secure way to file state and federal taxes. I also want to encourage taxpayers who are making state income tax payments, including estimated income tax, to use the state’s electronic payment program located at www.revenue.ne.gov.
Nebraska’s Proud Military Tradition
by Senator Ben Nelson
Looking out over a gathering of about 200 people in late January as I sat in an auditorium waiting to speak, my thoughts went to Nebraska’s proud military tradition.
The 200 people were members of the Nebraska National Guard, who had recently returned from Afghanistan, and their families. They were the latest in a long line of Nebraskans who have served their country.
The military service of men and women in Nebraska has not only protected the American way of life, their service helped create it.
In 2008, during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., a reported 600 people were arrested. According to a local magazine, city officials had required party officials to purchase a policy covering up to $10 million in settlement cash. In December, St. Paul and Minneapolis police departments and the U.S. Secret Service settled for $100,000 a lawsuit brought by a TV reporter and two producers who were among about 40 journalists arrested while covering protests outside the convention center.
Taking a Stand Against Earmarks
by Senator Mike Johanns
After taking office as U.S. Senator, I pledged to never request or support earmarks – funding tucked into larger legislation aimed at one specific state, city or community. The practice of using earmarks as a legislative tool has evolved over the years, and today we generally consider them to be special requests from individual senators. They lack transparency, competitive awarding, and are often slipped into bills at the 11th hour, in the dead of night. In an effort to achieve a more open process to force more careful consideration of spending requests, I am a cosponsor of a bill aimed at permanently eliminating earmarks.
In Rhode Island, a student’s lesson in religious freedom
By Charles C. Haynes
First Amendment Center
At the tender age of 16, Jessica Ahlquist has already endured more verbal abuse than most people experience in a lifetime.
A high school student in Cranston, R.I., Jessica has been taunted and threatened at school, targeted by an online hate campaign, and called “an evil little thing” by a state representative on the radio.
Her crime? She asked school officials to remove a “school prayer” banner from the auditorium of Cranston West High School. Addressed to “Our Heavenly Father,” the prayer banner was presented to the school by the class of 1963 and has been affixed to the wall as a mural ever since.
We are fortunate in Nebraska to have one of the strongest economies in the country. Our unemployment rate is 4.1% while the national average is more than double at 8.5%. Nebraska is recognized nationally as a top state in which to do business and we continue to grow and create jobs in our state.
Our enviable position is the result of years of planning and implementing business-friendly policy. Six years ago, a new package of economic incentives known as the Nebraska Advantage went into effect that has helped attract outstanding new business opportunities to Nebraska while helping existing businesses expand.
Weekly Newsletter
Sen. Lavon Heidemann
There were 468 bills and six resolutions for constitutional amendments introduced during the 10-day introduction period of this legislative session.
If you were to credit one inventor in history with the genius and ingenuity that allowed for the technological advancements that we now use every day who would it be? Thomas Edison, right? He invented the light bulb. What would the world be like without... What's that you say? He didn't invent the light bulb? Joseph Swan invented the light bulb and was installing them in England before Edison even got his working?
A while back, I bought a fancy dancy photo scanner. One of those that you slide the photo through and it saves the image on a disk. No need to even hook it to a computer! It made the daunting task of scanning my family’s photos seem actually manageable.
If you were to look through pictures of my Grandma, Norma Mae Chrasstil, you would have a tough time finding one without her holding her chin up. I never noticed it before, I never saw past her being my Grandma, but now I see her for the woman she was before she was my Grandma. I see the elegance that exuded from her during her 20’s and 30’s and into my father’s childhood.
I’ve been wearing a lot of sweaters lately. Sweaters are comfortable and warm. They can make a person look distinguished without the use of a tie or a collar. Whether they are argyle or plaid, striped or a single color, a sweater can provide comfort and class with the same effort it takes to put on a T-shirt.
I hate cold weather. It’s for this reason that I have decided to devote this week’s column to compare warm alternatives to cold weather activities. Some people say that they prefer cold weather over hot. This column addresses those few.
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