More Democrat attacks

In another e-memo to the faithful the Nebraska Democrat chairman attacks Heineman, Terry, Smith and Fortenberry while claiming that Senator Nelson and President Obama are responsible for whatever is good about Nebraska's economic situation. You can expect to see more of this as the campaigns against these incumbents begin.


'Governor Dave, Leadership is more than deciding where to cut Ribbons
Governor's lack of leadership with State's Budget is telling'

"We were surprised when Dave Heineman announced that he might have to call a special session of the legislature later this year on the budget.1 Where was the Governor's veto pen as the budget sailed through in record time last month? Not a single item was struck.
Yes, these are tough economic times for our state. And, yes, the people deserve leaders who can rise to the occasion and lead in tough times. Dave Heineman is obviously not a leader for tough times.
President Obama and Senator Ben Nelson deserve the credit for saving the state budget. This year, Nebraska, along with nearly every State received direct help in the form of Stimulus funds. Dave Heineman accepted these funds with glee. He used them to pay the bill on State Aid to Education. He used them to launch road projects which were waiting in the queue without funding. He dumped an increase in federal Medicaid money into the general funds.
These economic stimulus funds arrived only with the NO votes from Johanns, Fortenberry, Smith and Terry. These funds are benefiting all Nebraskans, no thanks to the Republican Party of No. The economic recession shows signs of improvement because of the drastic actions taken by Democratic leadership.
We have seen the positive impact this has had for our state and thank you to Senator Nelson for continuing to look out for the interest of Nebraskans first.
But even with a $1.36 billion dollar Democratic gift, Dave Heineman still foresees budget problems. He has already raided the cash reserve. And now after failing to use a veto on any part of the Legislature's budget, he says they may need to call a special session.
The governor's job is not just about deciding whether to cut ribbons in Fremont or Kearney. If the Governor spent more time cutting budgets instead of ribbons, we wouldn't be in this mess. We need a governor who can make the right decisions at the right time for the future of our State."

Setting Up a Campaign Against Heineman

The Democrats are obviously setting up their talking points for a campaign with or without Senator Lathrop as his opponent. In a e-memo to their followers, the state Democrat party had this to say:

"We all know that Governor Dave Heineman is a good political operative. He had a long and successful career as a campaign operative before he entered elective office and he ran a good campaign when he beat Tom Osborne in 2006. However, it is apparent that Heineman's political skill set is limited to electioneering and spin because Heineman has proved to be incompetent when it comes to actually governing our state.
The problems at the Beatrice State Developmental Center (herein after BSDC) provide an object example of Heineman's failure as a Governor. Up until the Johanns Administration, governors of both parties made BSDC a high priority. BSDC was a model facility that other states attempted to emulate. However, beginning with the Johanns Administration and continuing on with the Heineman Administration, conditions at BSDC have steadily deteriorated and have reached crisis proportions.

Since Heineman has been Governor, BSDC has gone through not one but two CEOs. After BSDC was cited for several jeopardy incidents in 2007, Vincent Benjamin resigned. After that, things didn't get any better at BSDC and now John Wyvill has recently resigned. As a consequence, BSDC is now more leaderless than ever.

Heineman's failure to properly fund and manage BSDC has cost the lives of several residents and has cost the Nebraska taxpayers millions of dollars in lost federal funding. In the hopes of saving money, Heineman ordered a small on campus hospital at BSDC to be shut down. Unfortunately, that proved to be a disastrous decision since two BSDC residents died because of inadequate medical care. In a panic move that followed that tragedy, Heineman moved 47 medically fragile residents out of BSDC against the wishes of their guardians into hospitals in Omaha and Lincoln. Unfortunately, the cost of this in-patient hospital care was much higher than the cost of caring for these residents at BSDC. In addition, six of these medically fragile patients sued Heineman and state officials for this move.
Another cost of Heineman's mismanagement is that Medicaid has ended its contract with BSDC and the State will now lose roughly $25 million a year in federal funds. Fortunately, for BSDC and the State, those funds were made up with money from general funds. However, there are no guarantees that that kind of funding will be available in future years.

When you add it all up, Heineman's record regarding BSDC is a sorry one marked by mismanagement and incompetence."

It remains to be seen who will take on Heineman, but you can bet he will be accused of murder and other high crimes in what will probably be a losing effort to derail his re-election. This is particularly true given that everything that Heineman does and decides is based on its impact on his re-election.

One less Muslim Democrat

Democrats are a little disturbed with one of their own Central Committee members, a Muslim who supported Hal Daub in the recent Omaha mayoral election. Seems they voted to remove him from his position as leader of the Muslim caucus and from his position on their executive and central committees.

Apparently, non-partisan elections aren't non-partisan for the Democrat leadership.

2010

Seems a sure deal that Senator White will challenge Lee Terry for the 2nd Congressional District seat next year with an announcement imminent.

As to Heineman, Senator Lathrop is making lots of noise and enjoying the publicity but we have it on good word that he will not run against Heineman.

As regards Congressman Terry, seems that Matt Sakalosky is creating lots of angst as he, a Republican, is solidly moving ahead with his campaign. Some Republican leaders will try to exclude Sakalosky from participating in GOP events while there are many Republican faithful that think Sakalosky should have a fair chance. In any event, Sakalosky is going to raise money and actively challenge Terry. There is no way Terry will lose the nomination, but winning against a challenger will cost Terry money and may provide additional hope to White and the Democrats.

Immigration, fund raising, secret meetings

In an article today by Kyle Michaelis of the New Nebraska Network, on statepaper.com, Michaelis attacks the Nebraska Republican Party and it's chairman's fundraising attempt and fight against illegals. It's an interesting article but we were intrigued by one of the comments which said: "I'm wondering if this tactic is among the top secret outcomes of that secret meeting in Omaha of a handful of Republican stakeholders that Fahleson called together on February 28 to determine strategy of the Nebraska GOP. " Comment by "Wondering'

We suspect this was the meeting held by Carlos Castillo at his home with only some of the Douglas County GOP 'elite' invited. But we can tell you that illegal immigration wasn't the reason for the meeting. More likely this was a meeting sanctioned by the governor to build a extra-GOP coalition to further his interests.

Anyone who was there want to comment?

Sigerson the Tax Raiser?

We were at the Suttle and council swearing in ceremony last night and it sure looks like Councilman Sigerson has started letting people know that he is going to vote for property tax increases. After 8 years of voting against them, it appears that he now realizes it is time to get the city out of the mess he helped create.

Is Beatrice the Governor's Albatross?

Is Beatrice the Governor's Albatross? Today's Omaha World-Herald tells of another resignation involved in the operation. It is not surprising to see quotes from potential state senators who might be opponents to the governor or even Lee Terry next year making hay over this.

Brashear and Governor Heineman at Odds?

Trouble at Nebraska GOP

We understand that there is much unhappiness with the state of Nebraska's majority party. Appears Mark Fahleson is not the happiest guy and is getting little help in covering the debt produced last fall, not necessarily the fault of former chairman Quandahl. Seems the biggest fund raiser that the party can put together is a breakfast before the Cattleman's Ball for $25 per person. Fahleson's life appears to be further complicated by the fact that he apparently had little to do with the selection of his Executive Director, Perre Neilan who was the governor's choice for the job.

Fahleson is a capable guy who appears to be getting little support from where it should be coming from, the guy who lives on H-Street.

Is Governor Heineman Thin-skinned?

Over the last several months we've seen reports that Governor Heineman may be a little thin-skinned. Numerous reports come into us daily about the governor who apparently is totally consumed in his mission of obtaining re-election next year and broaching no potential distractions from anyone in his own party which might cost him one vote.

So here are just a few of the people (other entities) who he seems to be sideways with or at least not fully appreciative of.

• Kermit Brashear
• Mark Fahleson
• Lee Polikov
• Sarpy County

Anyone what to comment?