2008
Week 1
January 5, 2008

Hi --

We are off. How far off some will soon tell us.

The 2008 session is my last. It will be strenuous. Pray for us.

Following is the background buzz on key issues which are coming at us.

Budget surplus. It is gone. School aid will have us in a hole in three years, even without adjustments which are necessary. State aid is our supplement to local school budgets, so it is an estimate until we receive local figures. The actual pay out is certified about Feb. 1 and will cost us.

Tax cut. I would judge not a chance, though some will try. Talk will go on as long as a few citizens think it is a sweet sound. One, we are not paying our bills now. Two, such action is a tax shift. Almost always, it is an eventual shift to property taxes.

Omaha Learning Community -- the two-county school system. Continuing adjustments must be expected for years. No one will be allowed to opt out, as the question is what can WE do to improve education. Opting out removes the “we.” Nothing major. Hopefully superintendents, boards and the coordinating council will give us good input for change.

Smoking ban. Looks like the legislative bill will make it happen. Our bill is a statute (does not amend the constitution), so we are prohibited from putting it to a vote of the people. If the “Opt Out” for communities is not taken out we will kill the bill. Then a citizens group will initiate a petition drive, which is ready to go. Their petition can go to a vote of the people and is more strict than our bill. It will pass by over 70% according to the polls. So if you want a sure bet, bet on smoke free food in Nebraska. Like in Ireland and France, where they smoked, smoked, smoked -- until they figured out the consequences. Wow.

Death penalty. So much emotional talk on this I doubt it can happen. Our system is not working. Death targets low income and minorities. A few are innocent. Plus, it does not deter. I really do not understand what continues to push it. Revenge?

Immigrants. Some want to prohibit services to those who are here illegally. Which is pure political hype, used by creative bloggers in an election year. The services are already prohibited and no one has found significant gaps.

Health care, especially mental health and disability care. We have made great strides in the last few years, which will need adjustment.

Corrections. Again, we have stopped the growth in prison population, which brought increased taxes in the 90s. However, we are challenged to treat mental health and addiction within our present systems. All in all, the main reason taxes go up.

A cynic can usually get a laugh by saying “Let's double the salary for senators on the condition they promise to do nothing.” Cute, but not funny -- and no connection with reality. If some of the problems listed above do not get serious attention every year we will eventually have chaos in delivery of services in our increasingly complex society.

Lord, help us. A website (godvotes.org) claims to inform voters on “electing God's choice in 2008.” O my. The selections are their choices, not God's, reflecting their twist of scripture, their twist of candidates' words, their twist of Mormonism, their twist of who is immoral, their twist of what pastors think, etc. All in red, white and blue. They will sway many voters through this dishonest charade. Deception at its worst, in God's name.

A bit of humor. An email this week warned us to be on guard against a sinister plan to imbed a socialist chip in all our brains. The Texas woman did not tell us how one would have a lobotomy (her word) without knowing about it. However, her stress does stir the imagination. How did “God votes” chips get implanted? Where is a socialist?

We have to work hard to find a true socialist, which she fears. But socialism is all about us. It means doing something as a community. We protect the senior who has no resources with Medicare and provide an income floor for such a person with Social Security. These are not insurance or investment plans. They are to protect the desperate through the resources of the community. Medicaid does it for those who are younger. If you do not want to send your message by FedEx the Post Office will deliver it for 41 cents. To the most remote rancher in the sandhills. Socialism at its worst.

I do celebrate her hope, that we are free to think. We are indeed a robust collection of thinkers, who can be led astray in an election year but who are, in the end, a wily crowd of decision makers.

Happy New Year.

Lowen