Health Care Reform Law: Will States Ask Supreme Court to Expedite Appeal?

In the wake of Judge Roger Vinson’s recent decision invalidating the health reform law, legal wonks from expert to amateur are evaluating both the odds that the states who were victorious in that lawsuit will request the U. S. Supreme Court to expedite appeal of the case and the odds that the Supreme Court would [...]

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Public Employee Unions: Breaking State and Local Budgets

For the past week, we’ve been advocating for passage of two legislative measures introduced by Nebraska State Senator John Nelson; LB664 and LR29CA. Both measures would prohibit collective bargaining by the State with public employees; LB664 would repeal certain Nebraska laws that provide for the practice and LR29CA would give Nebraskans an opportunity to vote [...]

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ACTION ALERT: Big Turnout Needed At Capitol on Monday Feb. 7th

*Your help is needed to ensure that very important legislation is passed out of the Business and Labor Committee and onto the Unicameral floor for debate and a vote by all Senators.* *PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND, IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, HEARINGS AT THE STATE CAPITOL IN LINCOLN ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7.* Additional details about the [...]

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Health Care Lawsuit Ruling: Federal Power IS Limited

The big news Monday was the opinion issued by Judge Roger Vinson of  the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in the Attorneys General lawsuit, declaring the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a/k/a Obamacare) unconstitutional.  His ultimate conclusion is probably being equally celebrated and condemned in the mainstream media and [...]

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10 Untold Truths About Health Care Law State Officials Hope You Miss

By Shelli Dawdy Please share this with anyone you know who does not want the health care law implemented. While this article has been written from a Nebraska perspective, the basic facts and information are applicable everywhere. Few Americans are aware that the health care law was written to be implemented step by step by [...]

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“Innovative” State of the Union: It Glows in the Dark!

I will confess that I did not sit through the whole State of the Union speech the other night due to a prior commitment. While I am so sorry for that, truly, (really, honestly…no, I mean it) I did catch bits and pieces during the replay later and then saw some more through the hash, [...]

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Budget Buster Fix: Prohibit Collective Bargaining By Public Employees

Nebraska’s government budgets are hurting most everywhere, but particularly in the State’s two largest cities. Enough fed up Omahans were paying attention when taxes were raised recently, that it kicked off a drive to recall Mayor Jim Suttle and resulted in a rare recall election. (Suttle appears to have narrowly escaped removal Tuesday). Omahans’ taxes [...]

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Creative Legislating 101 – XXX Tax Rates – Literally

The 102nd Legislature, 1st Session just concluded its 12th official day and I know I am already getting…tired, nauseated, and grouchy. (No, I don’t have a virus…unless you call politician-itis.) Why? In addition to more wrangling than you would see at a Texas rodeo, I’m disappointed and in some cases, appalled about some of the [...]

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Lots of Legislation in the Unicameral: Are You Watching?

Examining the blizzard of bills introduced in the Unicameral is likely to make one’s eyes cross. We are working through them, however. We’ve been hearing from a number of Nebraskans who are passionate about one issue or another and from those who are passing along information to help us out. We appreciate the interest, the [...]

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Many Questions About Chris Beutler Decision to Join ICLEI No.1: Is it Legal?

Thanks to Don for the excellent presentation last Monday evening about Sustainable Development. We have only begun distributing the information we’ve discovered in our research on this subject. To see our previous articles, click here. We are currently developing an information page on this topic that will include resources and references. Again, much thanks goes [...]

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