The Definition of Insanity is Voting For Nebraska Republicans
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. You could say that about voting for the Nebraska Republicans. They have owned the state lock, stock and barrel since 1999 and have driven Nebraska into the ground. The state is in a recession, broke and suffering a brain drain.
A new block buster report from the AkSarBen Foundation hasn’t received enough attention due to the lamentable assassination of Charlie Kirk. Every Nebraskan should familiarize themselves with this report. The essence of the report is that the economy is under performing and stagnant in Lincoln and Omaha.
From the Omaha World Herald on September 10, 2025:
“In the past five years, Omaha’s annual average job growth rate has been a fraction of 1%. Metro Des Moines is booming in comparison, with a growth rate more than three times Omaha’s, according to an Omaha World-Herald analysis of federal employment data.
What’s more, Kansas City is growing jobs more than twice as fast; Denver almost four times faster; Oklahoma City more than four times faster; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, more than five times faster.
In that same time, Lincoln’s employment growth is only a tick higher than Omaha’s.
A recent consultant report commissioned by Omaha’s Aksarben Foundation spotlighted the non-competitive job growth in Nebraska’s two largest metro areas. It also found that lagging growth is costing the state thousands of potential jobs, billions of dollars in wages and hundreds of millions in state taxes.
The report also cited the state’s declining gross domestic product — a measure that includes public and private consumption, investment, government spending and net exports — in the first quarter of 2025 when the state’s growth ranked last in the nation when compared with the previous quarter.
But business leaders associated with the Aksarben Foundation say they reveal a clear lack of progress in addressing the state’s chronic shortage of workers.
Business leaders interviewed said those efforts should include updating business incentives to target the creation of high-wage jobs, overhauling the state’s tax system, and doing more to promote the opportunities and high quality of life available in the state.
Currently, the state is facing an annual budget deficit of nearly $100 million that is expected to worsen.”
Nebraska has been saddled with the Republicans’ trickle down economics for decades. Those policies have clearly failed. A large, unaffordable tax cut for the rich and corporations in 2023 has bankrupted the state. In addition, the Republicans’ big ugly bill will cost the state $400 million in lost revenue over the next four years.
The Republicans’ dirty little secret is that Nebraska’s wealthy and corporations are lightly taxed. We also have one of the most generous corporate subsidy programs in the country. The legislature should revisit those programs and consider channeling some of that corporate subsidy funding into middle class property tax relief, child care and education.
Nebraska’s biggest problems are a labor shortage and a brain drain. Nebraska’s “brain drain” — the net loss of college-educated people through migration to other states — has more than quadrupled in the last decade. We are not going to solve these problems by doubling down on the MAGA Republicans’ trickle down economics and culture wars.
Former State Senator Adam Morfeld:
“If we were more focused on things young Nebraskans cared about and less focused on going after LGBTQ people, gutting public education, making reproductive healthcare impossible to obtain, and giving tax breaks to wealthy folks, then maybe we wouldn’t lose so many young people.
If lawmakers want a guide to keeping young people in the state, here you go:
- Stay out of our bedrooms
2. Invest in public transportation, culture, and entertainment
3. Affordable housing
4. Invest in childcare and healthcare
5. Legalize marijuana
Whew that was tough.”
I would add to the list the repeal of Nebraska’s so-called right to work (for less) law. Corporate “right to work” laws drive down wages. Nebraska is a low wage state and won’t be able to retain workers in the absence of pay increases.
The Democrats are winning big in the 2025 elections. This is the most under reported story in American politics. There is a huge backlash to Trump and MAGA. Nonetheless, the mainstream press is addicted to a “Democrats in disarray” narrative. Despite our divisions, we keep winning elections. We are united against the threat to freedom and democracy posed by Trump and MAGA.
If you are a Democrat with any ambition of running for office, you should immediately start planning your 2026 campaign. If this disaster continues, it will (unfortunately) be the best political environment for you to run in for the rest of your life. The environment will most likely resemble 1932 when Roosevelt and the Democratic Party won a landslide victory across the board.
The tide is turning. Be confident going forward. Take nothing for granted. Keep working hard. Blue wave 2026!
Blue wave 2026! Let’s f*cking go!
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