Sunrise News Editorial Flames Election!

Interesting ideas, but some I disagree with.

As much as I appreciate the Nebraska Sunrise News, their editorial “Unicameral” (March 2) struck some nerves with me.

The editorial opposed term limits. I understand the problems with term limits emboldening lobbyists and bureaucrats but without term limits, there would be powerful urban senators using filibusters and other procedural moves to control the whole agenda of the Unicameral simply because they had been in office for well over a decade. This was highly problematic with the various Unicameral committees. Terms limits are far from perfect, but the Unicameral operates better with them because of its unique features. Because of term limits, tax reform is now a viable issue.

Also, limiting the age as to who can hold office just is not going to do anything meaningful but the editorial is right about improving senators’ pay. During a 90 day session, a Senator from Omaha will spend about 180 hours merely driving to and from Lincoln. That is 4 and a half weeks of wasted time which they are not paid for. However, $75,000 a year is a huge stretch. $25,000 per session would be adequate to help the situation. The problem with paying at the $75,000 mark would lead to career politicians which the Unicameral is not designed for, and which lead to term limits to begin with.

The editorial mentioned extending the legislative session through May. This may be helpful, but instead, the Unicameral should take a one week break in the middle of the session. This would give them time to research legislation and converse with constituents. However, the biggest problem right now is the vast amount of garbage legislation put forward of which no one will vote on. The state senators need to learn to build support for ideas before introducing legislation.

The most disappointing part of the editorial was the limit on political campaign expenditures as it buys into the “magic money” theory. The restrictions on monetary contributions fail to understand, controlling money is a lot like trying to control where water goes. A lot of political consultants are going to get mad at me, but money does not win political races. Asking for money wins political races. Why? Because organization matters. Democrats beat conservatives by organizing those who cannot vote and cannot give money, but who can do phone calls asking for money, install yard signs, stage protests and make nasty vulgar attacks without any limitation. Do you know Palestinians were doing calls for Obama? Conservatives worry about felons voting, while Democrats worry about how many calls those same felons can make for their candidates. Congressman Fortenberry could have avoided his current problems by asking his foreign friends to do more calls.

Realistically, the best spent political money starts in the early primaries. Many Republicans are trying to figure out who to support for Governor. My advice, since it is a primary, give to all of them particularly those who make a point of reaching out to you and speaking to you. No matter what, you are supporting workers and volunteers in the Republican Party. When the general election comes, you will be able to tell the nominated Republican, you supported them in the primaries!

Yes, putting money down in the general election is important but volunteering is even more important particularly in the last month of a campaign. Calling friends and contacting neighbors can change a race as people listen to people, when the power of money wanes.  However, you can avoid a lot of costly mistakes by just donating to the Republican party at https://www.dcrponline.com/  In my situation, I found donating a couple of flat screen TVs did nice.

Original editorial at:

https://www.nebraskasunrisenews.com/opinion/unicameral