Commentary
Problems outpacing solutions, ideas
To: U.S. Reps. Adrian Smith, Don Bacon, Mike Flood From: Nebraskans Re: We have a list. We read where the poverty rate for children in America more than doubled in the last year. Perhaps you read that, too. At least we hope so. Thousands of those kids live in Nebraska. According to most reports, allowing […]
Community health centers face critical funding deadline
As the congressional stalemate around funding the federal government continues, Nebraska’s community health centers are caught in the crosshairs. Without a solution to avoid a government shutdown, health centers are poised to lose critical funding at the end of this month. Nebraska’s seven community health centers serve as the primary medical home to over 116,000 […]
Nebraska office of public counsel or ombudsman
On Aug. 16, the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office issued an opinion concerning the Nebraska Public Counsel’s (Ombudsman) oversight of executive branch agencies. This article follows the Nebraska Examiner reporting of this AG opinion. In Opinion No. 23-008 dated Aug. 16, 2023, Attorney General Mike Hilgers specified how the ombudsman’s oversight and reporting obligations of executive […]
Biden’s boneheaded mining policy: A danger to U.S. mineral security
It’s time to face reality: Pursuing a policy of boosting U.S. mining — and breaking China’s grip on the production of metals essential for our clean energy transition — should be a no-brainer. It would insulate our nation from mineral embargoes, strengthen our economy, provide revenue and jobs and bolster the production of renewable energy needed to […]
Dignity, statesmanship from diamonds open and closed
Among my most prized possessions is a faded, white T-shirt. Here’s why: Being in the professional writing game for a considerable stretch, you eventually meet people you normally wouldn’t without a notebook and pen handy. Some of them are truly impressive: brilliant, genial and altogether human. Others … well … not so much. Populating my […]
Seinfeldian truths play well only on TV
“Jerry, just remember. It’s not a lie… if you believe it….” —George Costanza, Philosopher and Architect *** As post-truth America edges toward the Costanzafication of its public institutions and body politic, we sit idly by at our own peril. Rumors of the death of evidence are no longer rumors. Belief has replaced facts, which, as […]
Waves of strikes rippling across the U.S., but number of striking Americans historically low
More than 323,000 workers – including nurses, actors, screenwriters, hotel cleaners and restaurant servers – walked off their jobs during the first eight months of 2023. Hundreds of thousands of the employees of delivery giant UPS would have gone on strike, too, had they not reached a last-minute agreement. And nearly 150,000 autoworkers may go […]
Border problem being solved in the wrong place
You’ll know us by the company we keep. Which, for some Nebraskans, may strain incredulity given the crowd with whom we seem to be hanging. To wit: Gov. Jim Pillen is now apparently palling around with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. That’s palling around as in spending a couple million bucks from the state’s saddlebags for […]
Help Wanted … Help is here
This Labor Day we should take time to celebrate all of our workers across the state and welcome those who want to use their talents in Nebraska. The facts regarding our Nebraska workforce shortages are stark. There are 80,000 job openings statewide, and there are not enough native-born Nebraskans to fill those jobs. Nationwide, Nebraska has one of the […]
How Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702 helps protect America’s heartland
Fourteen years ago this month, I deployed to Afghanistan on behalf of the FBI. As improvised explosive devices detonated in Kabul, I responded to the scene of fatal terrorist attacks, collecting evidence, coordinating with U.S. soldiers and local Afghan police and talking to subjects in custody. My partners and I drove around the region in […]
Skip the broad brush when painting journalism
In an unintended sequel to the 2004 book “What’s the Matter with Kansas,” part of the Sunflower State’s justice system has run afoul of the First Amendment. Armed with a warrant signed by a local judge and probably in violation of shield laws, police officers and county sheriffs raided a small-town weekly newspaper and the […]
Catholic support for science-based city climate action plan for Omaha
Fall in Nebraska is a special time to experience and give thanks for our natural environment. It is fitting that between Sept. 1 and Oct. 4, the Catholic Church celebrates the Season of Creation. Anticipating this time, we draw on the Church’s wisdom to advocate for an Omaha City Climate Action and Resilience Plan that, […]