2006
Week 1
January 6, 2006

Hi

The 2006 Session will be a barn burner. Or a quagmire. Or a bodacious party. Or a free-for-all. Take the first one... the rest mislead.

Our "kids" live on the east coast, so we do a bit of a drive to have a wonderful time. We did just that. I was driving on the way home as Ruth read aloud from one of her new books. Then she drove as I took notes on the resulting conversation, which helped sort out my eclectic collection of legislative thoughts and how I got here. Good task.

The book is remarkable: "Our Endangered Values" by Jimmy Carter. It had little new, except documentation, but it is comprehensive in challenging legislative thoughts. I really could not argue with any statement. He writes well .... clear and concise.

In that and other study this summer and fall, and in conversations with my staff, I was able to prioritize central values and to recognize where my legislative attitudes/actions have shifted. [Sorry. Longer than usual.]

SHIFTS IN THOUGHT. 1. I have always believed the death penalty to be unChristian, but I decided early on it was not worth the battle in the legislature. I stated my points and then moved on to something that could be changed. Now I feel I must make the witness in plainer fashion. People are rethinking old attitudes. We have executed over 100 U. S. citizens who were innocent, including at least one in Nebraska. That ‘victim’ was still alive after we killed the ‘offender.’ But more troublesome, we thunder at our kids "Thou shalt not kill." Then add, defiantly, "But WE can kill." We can do better.

2. "Concealed Carry" of hand guns is a hot issue but frankly does not make much difference. It supposedly intimidates criminals. No verified supporting evidence. In fact countries without it have 80% less homicide by gun. But it does stir some passions among very sincere folk.

I find I must pay more respect to my faith on this one too. I am a follower of Jesus. That is a big deal to me. I do not fuss with Jesus on other issues. Why should I here? I do not want to kill anybody, nor threaten to kill someone, nor threaten serious injury. That is all a hand gun does. I do not want to live in a society which depends on threat to kill as a defense. We can do better.

3. I started being a senator with a high respect for business people, having had some stellar ones in my congregations. I now have a far greater appreciation for their wisdom. We cannot "run the government like a business" because we cannot limit our customers. That developmentally disabled child is our bill, even if we go broke paying it. However, long range planning and investment-minded decisions are winners and experienced business people know how to make these decisions. Can you imagine a business person turning down a $500 expense which would pay off $600,000 over the next 50 years? [A real option in Nebraska!] In government we say, "No, we have to hold down taxes." Argh. Our greatest chance to reduce future taxes is to search for pay back opportunities.

Plus, the Omaha scene is a tremendous example of business people who understand that investment in the arts pays off in a better community and stronger economy.

4. In Bangladesh, we provide a sewing machine and change the finances of a household. I will be looking more carefully for resources by which low income persons could invest in development, for themselves .... instead of just use $$$, with no change in status.

5. Democracy is at least a four-way street. We act like it is one-way. We live in a country which tells other countries what to think, listens less and apparently is too lazy to consider the basics of complex issues. We do more in Nebraska, but we also have too much of the condescending attitude. We can do better.

6. Finally, in the shift mode, I have come to the conviction that fundamentalism must be confronted. I prefer to ignore it, and then I note my strong criticism of Muslin clerics who ignore Fundamentalism. We can help ourselves greatly by plainly noting that Fundamentalism is not basic Christianity, as some think. It is only 100 years old, and ignores scriptural insights which are centuries old. We can hope they all keep to themselves or we can help one another phrase new dialog. This connects to standing by our court system when the right wing tries to rewrite the constitution to its opinions.

PRIORITIES IN ISSUES. (Ranking will depend on how they hit the floor.) 1. Education is, by far, the major issue for government. It will always be tough.

2. Poverty holds all nations back, including ours. Governments and citizens could do so much more. From the U.S., we give for the poor, sick and disabled in developing countries 22 cents of $100 od our income. That is from all sources, public and private. We are the lowest in th world of our type country. Planners say we should get to 70 cents. Well, I guess. In the last four years we have increased military budgets by $1.70. We have handed out $3.30 in new tax cuts, mostly for the wealthy.

Half the people of the world live on less than $2 a day. That hurts our development!

3. Drug treatment is an investment that pays off big dividends in lower enforcement costs. Rural folk used to look askance at city drugs. Meth put us all on the same page.

4. Disease is another enemy of the public good. HIV, malaria and diarrhea kill how many each MONTH? 545,000. We make a world effort to respond to the loss of 200,000 in the tidal wave, as we should. But we have not gained perspective on issues that hurt our global economy.

Several years ago, Black pastors told me, "HIV is a white man's disease." They do not say that any more. In Africa, a husband/father will often sell his blood, to buy food. In this way, many have contracted HIV and spread it in their family. Health care is very complex, and is clearly a priority. The disdain we have for someone else's disease holds back health care in Nebraska.

A community health clinic can provide full health care for one person for $500 a year. But we do not like the people who go there we and end up for the rest of us in systems which pay $1,000 a month for family insurance. We pay about one fifth more than comparable countries, all in administration, for our private systems.

5. Stem cell research has been tied by some to abortion. That connection is false. This research does not affect any pregnancy. Again, we must talk more plainly with each other, even as we respect strong, sincere, convictions.

6. Contraception is another sensitive issue that gets tied with abortion. For one Church, there is a connection and we respect that. But for government policy, there is no valid connection. We have an overload of political threats and hyperbole.

7. Alcohol impaired drivers are killing and maiming us, big time. The most dangerous thing you or your teenager can do is get in a car with an impaired driver. People are finally becoming upset, so we can do more. I hope.

8. Tax cuts draw marvelous rhetoric. Not much integrity to be found here. It is always a tax shift. The Federal budget expense has grown only 5% in its share of national income over the last 40 years. It is 20% of total income. But we just reduced our budget income from over that 20% to 16% with tax cuts, mostly for the wealthy. (For every $1 tax cut for a middle class family, the top 1% of personal income families get $54. The wealthiest had a 10% increase in income in 2002, while we had a downturn.) The utter shame of this shift is that we are sending the bill to our grandchildren. Do you suppose they may have bills of their own?

• • • • •

President Carter describes a cartoon in a Habitat publication. It shows the panorama of a village, from above. People are doing their lives:

playing tennis, riding bikes, driving, teaching, plowing, working. Above each head is a cartoon bubble: "What can just one person do?"

We are wealthy beyond the imagination of most of the world. We work hard, help each other, care a lot. We are a state community of which I am very proud and I trust that thoughtful planning, involving many more people, will make us even better.

Let's do some of that in 2006!

Lowen