Pete Ricketts ran for governor in 2014 on the theme that his alleged business savvy qualified him for the job. Unfortunately, Ricketts has visibly struggled in his job as governor since he was inaugurated in 2015. His repeated failures and missteps have long since punctured the notion that he was a good businessman. Ricketts’ reputation first took a huge hit in 2015 when he sent $54,000 to a shady middle man in India to purchase drugs for executions. Nebraska never got the drugs and we never got our money back. He has never recovered or improved. …

This story was published on August 1, 2016.

One of the many down sides of the Nebraska GOP’s control of the state Constitutional offices and Unicameral is that it is difficult to hold their elected officials and candidates to account for their misdeeds. This has created a certain arrogance and high handedness that makes them believe that they can do anything and get away with it.

I wrote a piece about this issue in 2013 during the Heineman Administration when then Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy was forced to resign over the use of a state cell phone to call his…

Over the weekend Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts tweeted: “Nebraska stands with Georgia and supports their work to promote integrity and access in voting.” The response to his tweet was immediate — numerous people went on his twitter account and made it clear that they don’t stand with Georgia’s effort to suppress the vote and its sore loser election law.

According to the New York Times, the Georgia law places “numerous new limits on vote-by-mail, cuts way back on drop boxes and mobile voting units, and bans third-party groups from sharing food and water with people in voting lines.”

Georgia’s new…

Between 1932 and 1980, the widely accepted economic consensus in America supported a combination of high tax rates on the wealthy, strong labor unions and significant investments in infrastructure. Only the few on the extreme right objected to these policies. This period created the greatest and most prosperous middle class in the history of the world.

Unfortunately, that New Deal consensus was rejected beginning in 1980 in favor of lower taxes on the wealthy and corporations, low wages, the deregulation of big business and a decline in public investments. …

The U.S. has experienced 8 gun massacres in the last two weeks. Things appear to be slowly returning to “normal” in more ways than one as mass vaccinations are beginning to bring the pandemic under control. Unfortunately, the U.S. is the only first world industrial country that is plagued by an epidemic of constant gun massacres. Let’s take a look at the numbers and see how the U.S. compares to other 1st world countries when it comes to mass killings.

Mass shootings, 2019:

Germany: 0

Italy: 0

UK: 0

Australia: 0

Spain: 0

Saudi: 0

France: 0

Canada: 1

Brazil…

The passage of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan has caused some on the left to second guess the 2009 Recovery Act. Unfortunately, President Biden’s huge success in passing this landmark legislation has caused some to diminish President Obama’s first big victory as president. Let’s take a little trip down memory lane and get the history right.

As a starting point, I want my readers to know that I relied heavily upon two excellent books when I researched the history of the Recovery Act. Jonathan Alter’s “The Promise” did a great job in covering Obama’s first year as president. …

The Republicans’ efforts to demonize President Biden so far have met with no success. Currently, Biden enjoys a 60% approval rating and his approval rating for handling the pandemic is 67%. Similarly, the American Rescue Plan is supported by 70% of Americans.

Initially, the Republicans tried to slow down Biden’s agenda by emphasizing Dr. Seuss and Mr. Potato Head. However, the Republicans’ emphasis on kid’s books and toys didn’t work so now they are trying to scare everybody with the immigration issue. I expect Fox to report that a caravan will soon be making its way to the U.S. border.

…

Since President Biden has taken office, the Republicans have doubled down on cultural issues and so-called “cancel culture.” In reality, the GOP doesn’t have much of a choice since President Biden has a 60% approval rating and the American Rescue plan is supported by 70% of the voters.

The focus on “cancel culture” is being driven by the right wing media. The D.C. Republicans are prioritizing performing on Fox News over actual legislating. That’s what happens when a political party is run by right wing entertainers.

What the GOP doesn’t like to mention is that it’s had a cancel culture…