Check with Chip

Message to Visitors

2011-07-07T10:22:00.000-05:00

Welcome to those looking for a sample chapter of my book. Please select the sample chapter offering in the column to the right. While you're here, enjoy comedy from Mary Maxwell (Mary Maxwell Moment) and Jim Maxwell (Jimmy the Fish) also in the column to the right.

Simoens Case Is Outrageous

2011-03-31T15:56:00.002-05:00

Alexander Simoens was the Omaha city jail prisoner who bled to death from a ruptured ulcer. He was under arrest for driving while his license was suspended. The neglect or indifference of the jail staff was astounding, but he got himself into the jam by his previous occasions of drinking and driving and getting his license suspended, and then breaking the law by driving anyway.

But that's not what I'm writing about.

I'm writing about the disappearance of evidence in the case. The video of Simoens writhing in pain in his cell, the poster board diagram of the jail, and the book of jail operating procedures are among the missing items.

The clerk of the district court said the evidence was never checked back in to his custody. The prosecutor and judge said they don't know where the evidence is.

This sounds like a caricature of a criminal justice system in a communist dictatorship or banana republic.

Nebraska Legislature : CIR Hits the Floor

2011-03-30T14:12:00.000-05:00

Is it "the answer"? Not from what I know so far.

The Commission on Industrial Relations is where disputes are resolved between governing bodies and public sector unions. Public sector workers are not allowed to strike. In return, they have the option of the CIR, which resolves cases by looking at what workers doing the same job in "comparable" jurisdictions in other states are paid. Governing bodies also can take disputes to the CIR, but usually its labor that is not satisfied with what management is offering.

My argument against the CIR is that it removes negotiating authority -- and the responsibility to establish spending and tax policy for local constituents -- from local elected officials and gives it to an unelected state aency. Then that state agency relies on a mathematical formula based on deals done by politicians and unions in other states. So the spending level and tax burden applied to local Nebraska communities is determined by unions and politicians in other jurisdictions that are not accountable to Nebraska taxpayers. It smacks of taxation without representation.

The proposal before the legislature would require the CIR to consider benefits and pensions as well as pay when evaluating and comparing compensation of NEbraska public sector workers with their counterparts in comparable jurisdictions. That makes sense, but CIR rulings still would be binding on local officials.

A key feature of State Senator Tony Fulton's reform bill is to make CIR findings recommendations rather than binding rulings. That would leave final authority for such decisions wehre it should be -- at the local level in Nebraska.

The proposal before the legisalture seems to give more power to the CIR and remove what little power lcoal officials have.

Once advanced to the floor for debate by the entire legislature, a bill can be amended into whatever form a majority is willing to support. Let's see what happens.

Steve King : Say It Ain't So

2011-03-29T14:38:00.000-05:00

Even rip-roaring fiscal conservative Iowa Congressman Steve King is afraid to make the first move on fiscal reform.

I can't figure out why congressional Republicans aren't pushing for a balanced budget amendment and the repeal of the unfunded federal rainwater runoff mandate (producing the $1.7 billion sewer bill for Omaha). Sure, the president and congressional Democrats will fight it, probably successfully (for now), but then every congressional race in 2012 should be turned into a referendum on those two issues. Cities all over teh contry are being slammed as Omaha is by the rainwater mandate. Incumbents and challengers all over the country ought to run on those two promises.

But even conservatives such as King are saying right out in the open that they are afraid to make the first move, that they want President Obama and the Democrats to go first in proposing meaningful spending cuts.

They must be looking at polls that say the public is not serious about fiscal reform. Are they really that afraid of the public? Even after the election results of the past two cycles?

Is the public that far gone? So the American Dream has become: If I can just hang on until 65, the government will take care of me with a pension and health care. America won't tolerate a run at real fiscal reform? The addicts are too far gone to be weaned from federal subsidies and programs?

Is Obama Wagging the Dog?

2011-03-28T14:18:00.001-05:00

"Gadhafi must go." But now removal of Gadhafi is NOT official U.S. policy. We're going to use our air force but not engage at ground level. But now we have the CIA and special ops forces engaging at ground level. Sounds a lot like Vietnam. Or is it Obama's "wag the dog" move?

In Vietnam, it was just going to be American advisers helping to train the South Vietnamese.

Apparently the rationale is to liberate -- or at least protect -- "the people" of Libya from Gadhafi. At least the Presidents Bush had rationales based on foreign policy interests and backed by United Nations resolutions and broad-based coalitions.

Is this the equivalent of President Clinton bombing alleged terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Sudan in the midst of the Monica Lewinsky scandal? Or targeting Slobodan Milosevic and bombing Serbia? Pick a villain. Give him a righteous beating. Look presidential and distract attention from negative issues.

It's more plausible than what the president is peddling.

Tomorrow's Show

2011-03-25T17:09:00.001-05:00

What is your reaction to the news that OPS Superintendent John Mackiel makes 400 grand?

That's been percolating in my head ever since the front page OWH story Sunday.

I guess we can talk about the toilet paper tax if you really want to.

402-558-1110. 800-543-1110.

More Fiscal Insanity from the Learning Community

2011-03-24T16:38:00.001-05:00

Leave it to the Learning Community to embrace one of the most expensive and least productive "innovations" in education: busing.

Busing is classic liberal/progressive policy. Do something really complicated and expensive to try to defeat human nature.

I've had numerous conversations with black Omahans who say busing does not improve race relations. And they are concerned about the fact that putting their children on buses for 90 minutes every day does not help, and more likely hurts, their children's ability to learn. Meanwhile family involvement, a crucial element of healthy school life, is wiped out when children are bused 10-or-more miles from their neighborhoods.

I've had numerous conversations with parents and children, white and black, who patronize the public schools and say the races mix like oil and water -- which means they don't mix. I'm not blaming anyone. Social engineers throw people into contrived situations and then are surprised that real live human beings don't behave like the controlled variables in their liberal/progressive scenarios.

If the welfare of children, especially disadvantaged children, is your priority then end busing, fund education from the bottom up with vouchers instead of from the top down through government bureaucracies, and let the money follow the children to the schools the families choose.

Current Course Is Flawed . . . but Social Security Is Fine

2011-03-23T16:25:00.001-05:00

The same guy who told us Social Security is fine a couple weeks ago now says "current deficits are unacceptably high and if we stay on our current course and do nothing, the fiscal situation will hurt our recovery and hamstring future growth."

No kidding? That statement was in response to growing pressure from fiscal hawks in Congress given the projection that the proposed 2012 budget will add $2.3 million more than projected to deficits over the next decade.

But this same guy, White House budget director Jacob Lew, recently disputed the reality that there is no surplus, no trust fund full of assets, to pay Social Security benefits. If he has the sense to see that the fiscal status quo is unacceptable, how does he miss the reality of Social Security?

Donkeys Kicking Elephants' Assets in Campaign Funding

2011-03-22T15:30:00.005-05:00

You've probably seen the list of federal campaign union donations from 1990-2010 produced by the Center for Responsive Politics. Here are the Top 10:

Union

Donations to Democrats

Donations to Republicans

Democrat/Republican Ratio

1. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

$40,281,900

$547,700

74:1

2. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

$29,705,600

$679,000

44:1

3. National Education Association

$27,679,300

$2,005,200

14:1

4. Service Employees International Union

$26,368,470

$98,700

267:1

5. Communication Workers of America

$26,305,500

$125,300

210:1

6. Service Employees International Union

$26,252,000

$1,086,200

24:1

7. Laborers Union

$25,734,000

$2,138,000

12:1

8. American Federation of Teachers

$25,682,800

$200,000

130:1

9. United Auto Workers

$25,082,200

$182,700

137:1

10. Teamsters Union

$24,926,400

$1,822,000

14:1

Apparently SEIU has two PACs. Taken together they would leapfrog AFSCME into first place. And of course the two teachers' unions combined would surpass AFSCME.

Business PACs donate much more money than labor PACs. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, over the last decade business PACs gave 3-6 times as much money as labor PACs.

Are business donations as lopsided in favor of Republicans? According to the Center for Responsive Politics, for much of the last decade business PACs were giving about twice as much to Republicans, a 2:1 ratio.

That changed in the 2008 and 2010 election cycles, with Republicans and Democrats receiving equal amounts from business PACs.

In the money game, Republicans are losing.

Meanwhile the government takeover of an auto company to save union jobs and pensions and "stimulus" packages that benefit teachers and other government workers start to make more sense.

Awaiting Enlightenment on Libya

2011-03-21T17:13:00.001-05:00

I raised this at the start of Saturday's show but we didn't have time to get back to it.

Someone smarter than I am (doesn't narrow the field much) has to explain why we are bombing Libya. I took the president's announcement last week to mean we were sitting it out. I guess he ruled out ground troops but not target practice for our air force.

I'm no apologist for Gaddafi/Gadhafy/Kahdafi/Kadhafy/Whatever, but I thought it was American hubris for presidents to pick sides and deploy military resources in civil insurrections in other countries. If we're at war with Libya then make the argument for it and declare it.

Tomorrow's Show

2011-03-18T21:41:00.003-05:00

Mike Friend, Nebraska director of Americans for Prosperity, will join us to talk about what the Nebraska Legislature might do with the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations (CIR), the state agency that resolves disputes between public sector unions and the governments with which they negotiate labor contracts.

We also have a fresh Mary Maxwell Moment celebrating St. Patrick's Day.

St. Patrick's Day Reflection on a Proud Irish Public Servant

2011-03-17T20:43:00.001-05:00

I dug out my eulogy for Mary Kay Begley, the long-time Metropolitian Utilities District board member and passionate Democrat who died in February 2010.

Permit an Irishman a few words about a dedicated public servant we lost this week.

Mary Kay Begley died this week. She is survived by her husband Dan and four boys, Brian, Mark, Danny, and Jim – and their spouses and children. Mrs. Begley was a neighbor and friend. The Begleys and Maxwells shared lots of baseball games and fast pitch softball. I was Jim’s confirmation sponsor. You probably recognize the name because Mrs. Begley served more than 20 years on the MUD board. She started out in life as a teacher. She had a master’s degree in American History. She stepped out of the classroom to raise her boys, but she never stopped being a teacher. The teacher gene rubbed off most on Brian, who is the principal at Millard North. Once the boys were raised, Mrs. Begley got back into public life by becoming the first woman elected to the MUD board. That was in 1988.

The Begleys were active in politics long before Mrs. Begley’s election and they’re still active today. They are old-school Irish Catholic Democrats. The pope, JFK, and Notre Dame are enshrined in the Begley home. It always bothered Mrs. Begley that I never hit the trifecta, the litany, the Holy Trinity: Irish Catholic . . . Independent? That’s what I was for 20-some years. She had no use for that at all. Then I committed the mortal sin of changing my registration to Republican.

As bad as that was, I also made the mistake of going to Boston College, a school that developed a nasty habit of beating Notre Dame. I tried to tell her that BC was America’s true Irish Catholic football team. We actually have real live Irish Catholics on our team. No sale. In 1993, BC kicked a field goal at the end of a game to upset Notre Dame and cost the Fighting Irish a national championship. Mrs. Begley called our house and thundered: “Boston College beating Notre Dame is like Jesus the Son beating up on God the Father.”

Despite my transgressions on these vital matters of faith, Mrs. Begley and the Begley family supported me in all my political campaigns, and I will always be grateful for that. I guess that means friendship between good people and good families transcends everything else.

And the truth is, while I am a Republican, I do have a soft spot in my heart for that Irish Catholic Democrat tradition. There was a time when shop windows in Omaha, Nebraska, had signs that said: Help wanted, no Irish need apply. Or: dogs and Catholics need not apply. Whether it was New York or Boston or Chicago or Omaha, the Irish responded in two ways. We got educated, and we got organized politically. I’m a beneficiary of that legacy. I’ve never experienced any serious ethnic or religious bigotry. A few people in the stem cell research debate have appealed to anti-Catholic sentiment to promote embryonic stem cell research, but generally I can do what I want and be what I want. I am grateful to the people who took some lumps, sometimes literally, so that I could have a relatively smooth path in life.

I do plan to follow up on a juicy nugget revealed by Fr. George Sullivan, S.J., who gave the eulogy at Mrs. Begley’s funeral. Fr. Sullivan said that Mrs. Begley’s masters thesis was on the Republican National Convention of 1860 that nominated Abraham Lincoln for president. No wonder she had that grin on her face lying there in the casket. She got away without having to explain that one. That fact certainly was well hidden – hidden from me, anyway. When my number is up, if I can talk my way past St. Peter, you’d better believe I’m gonna hold Mrs. Begley accountable for that one.

Until then, Mrs. Begley, as the Irish plaque in your home says, I hope you were in Heaven 30 minutes before the devil knew you were dead. Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon her.

Does This Spike Nuclear Energy?

2011-03-16T21:41:00.001-05:00

I thought one thing Europe was getting right was nuclear energy. Does the Japan disaster prevent nuclear energy as an option?

I am amazed at the variance in media coverage. Some media say it's the apocalypse in Japan and the radioactive cloud of doom is headed toward America. Others say it's bad, but manageable for Japan and laughable to think America is threatened.

Quit Insulting Us on Social Security

2011-03-15T22:43:00.002-05:00

Obama's OMB director says Social Security is not part of the fiscal problem. How do people in such positions get away with saying such things?

Until a few months ago, Social Security over the years collected enough revenue to pay benefits to retirees. But year after year, any surplus was sent to the Treasury and spent on other programs.

So there is no surplus. There is a pile of IOUs that has no value. The Treasury has no money to pay back those IOUs.

Now that the number of retirees is booming, Social Security has reached the tipping point at which spending on benefits exceeds revenue.

And there's nothing in the "lock box" or "trust fund" to cover the negative spread between benefits and revenue. Yet the Obama administration says Social Security is fine. Unbelievable. Literally.

Bring on the Balanced Budget Amendment

2011-03-14T22:01:00.000-05:00

It's going to take that kind of mandate from the people to get Congress to quit spending more than the government takes in.

I realize that mandating a balanced budget doesn't guarantee reduced spending and lower taxes. I found out in the Nebraska Legislature that you can balance a budget by raising taxes instead of cutting spending.

But at least we would quit sticking our children and grandchildren with the tab for our spending. That's what borrowing and deficit spending has done.

I would allow an override of the balanced budget requirement by 3/4 vote of both houses of Congress.

Tomorrow's Show

2011-03-11T02:02:00.002-06:00

Prof. Ed Rauchut of Bellevue University will talk about the next High School Academy put on by the Center for American Vision and Values. The topic: Popular Culture & Media. The expert panel for the event features a current KFAB host (Tom Becka), a former KFAB host (Jim Fagin, who now works for U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson), and a frequent KFAB guest (Joe Jordan, Nebraska Watchdog).

All of the following are on Prof. Rauchut's radar screen:

Consumerism and Popular Culture and their negative effects on our culture (liberals and conservatives may find common ground here).

TV, movies, the Internet and the coarsening of our culture — the new moral low is the horrible new TV show Skins (he’ll have to educate me on this one).

The effects of entertainment on the news media — Infotainment.

Bias in the news media.

The transformation of print media — especially the press — by consumerism and the popular culture.

Talk Radio (uh oh).

The general dumbing down of our culture, as well as our politics and public policy.

Here's a statement from Prof. Rauchut in a flyer promoting the seminar:

The free market brings us many good things. But, as many on both the left and right of the political spectrum would probably agree, it also brings us many things that cause concern.

We live in a consumer society in which it is easy to confuse goods with the good. High and low culture are things of the past. Today, we are dominated by a consumer-driven Popular Culture in which nearly everything is evaluated by its entertainment value.

Traditional values, which in the past were reinforced by the dominant culture, are today under constant assault by an adversarial Popular Culture. Language and images which in the past were considered beyond the pale in the media, are today accepted as the norm — until they are pushed to even greater extremes in a relentless quest for ratings. The effect, at the very least, is a general coarsening of the culture.

Some argue that news media has not been immune to these influences, morphing from a reliable source of information to one of infotainment, driven by a 24/7 news cycle and the disruptive influence of the Internet.

Some would like to put the genie back into the bottle. Some think it will never happen, or that it shouldn’t. Some argue that nothing much has really changed anyway — from the time that Elvis shook his hips on the Ed Sullivan to Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction.

Still others, like me, would argue that we are facing a serious culture and moral sea change of degree and kind — something that we, as a nation, have never witnessed before — something that may very well erode the values that have made our nation great and free and our people strong and vigilant.

Nabity Taking a Break, but Alliance Still Swinging

2011-03-10T01:22:00.002-06:00

Contrary to assertions by critics, the Alliance for the Private Sector is alive and well. Yours truly has agreed to take over for Dave Nabity as spokesman for the Alliance.

Alliance Successes:

City Council repealed 4 on a rig.

Alerted mayor to mismanagement in fire department. Vindicated by state auditor.

$6 million solution: cut 64 positions saving $6.5 million annually. Vindicated by CIR.

$13 million cut from mayor’s last budget.

Police contract initially rejected.

Alliance Agenda:

CIR Reform

Fire Union Contract

Planning Dept. Problems

Annexation Plan

Omaha Public Schools

Learning Community

Omaha Housing Authority

Local Government Performance Audits

Sewer Water Project

City-County Merger

Thanks for the Donation; Now Let's Negotiate Your Contract

2011-03-09T01:05:00.002-06:00

I hope public opinion has changed on city council members receiving endorsements and donations from the unions with whom they negotiate contracts.

In my 2009 city council race, I declared that I would not seek or accept endorsements from the fire fighters and police unions because it would compromise me as a council member deciding what pay and benefits to approve for those entities.

That's no knock on those unions. They should try for the best deal they can get, and council members should be perceived as free and clear to engage in an adversarial process in which they are getting the best deal they can for taxpayers.

The fire fighters union endorsed my opponent and gave him $10,000. I made sure the voters in my district knew that. He is the fire fighters' candidate. I am your candidate. Which one do you want looking out for you in the next contract negotiation with the fire fighters?

Obviously it didn't matter enough to enough people because I lost.

Now the council is talking about an ordinance. I won't quarrel with that, but it's too bad it takes an ordinance.

Of course the question now is, will the unions let their beneficiaries vote for such an ordinance? If such an ordinance passes, the unions lose their means of gaining leverage with the ultimate approvers of their contracts.

Ash Wednesday : Cure for the Swollen Ego

2011-03-08T01:41:00.001-06:00

Maybe it's my imagination, but I swear when the priests see me they dig deeply into the ashes and load up with an an extra-strength, industrial-strength dose to smear on the forehead of the super-sinner before them.

I can't blame them. When confronted with a lawyer-journalist-politician-lobbyist-talk radio host, they're probably thinking "exorcism" instead of just ashes.

When applying ashes, the priest says: "Remember, you are dust, and to dust you shall return." It does keep things in perspective. Keeps the head from swelling and the ego from expanding accordingly.

A blessed Lent to all who observe it.

Best of Bastiat

2011-03-07T00:55:00.003-06:00

Here are some morsels from 19th century French political philsopher Frederic Bastiat. Bon appetit.

We cannot doubt that self-interest is the mainspring of human nature. It must be clearly understood that this word is used here to designate a universal, incontestable fact, resulting from the nature of man, and not an adverse judgment, as would be the word selfishness.

By virtue of exchange, one man's prosperity is beneficial to all others.

The profit of the one is the profit of the other.

Competition is merely the absence of oppression.

If socialists mean that under extraordinary circumstances, for urgent cases, the State should set aside some resources to assist certain unfortunate people, to help them adjust to changing conditions, we will, of course, agree. This is done now; we desire that it be done better. There is however, a point on this road that must not be passed; it is the point where governmental foresight would step in to replace individual foresight and thus destroy it.

The socialists declare that the State owes subsistence, well-being, and education to all its citizens; that it should be generous, charitable, involved in everything, devoted to everybody; . . . that it should intervene directly to relieve all suffering, satisfy and anticipate all wants, furnish capital to all enterprises, enlightenment to all minds, balm for all wounds, asylums for all the unfortunate, and even aid to the point of shedding French blood, for all oppressed people on the face of the earth. Who would not like to see all these benefits flow forth upon the world from the law, as from an inexhaustible source? . . . But is it possible? . . . Whence does [the State] draw those resources that it is urged to dispense by way of benefits to individuals? Is it not from the individuals themselves? How, then, can these resources be increased by passing through the hands of a parasitic and voracious intermediary?

Finally . . . we shall see the entire people transformed into petitioners. Landed property, agriculture, industry, commerce, shipping, industrial companies, all will bestir themselves to claim favors from the State. The public treasury will be literally pillaged. Everyone will have good reasons to prove that legal fraternity should be interpreted in this sense: "Let me have the benefits, and let others pay the costs." Everyone's effort will be directed toward snatching a scrap of fraternal privilege from the legislature. The suffering classes, although having the greatest claim, will not always have the greatest success.

When under the pretext of fraternity, the legal code imposes mutual sacrifices on the citizens, human nature is not thereby abrogated. Everyone will then direct his efforts toward contributing little to, and taking much from, the common fund of sacrifices. Now, is it the most unfortunate who gains from this struggle? Certainly not, but rather the most influential and calculating. [He must have seen TARP in his crystal ball.]

When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.

Life, faculties, production – in other words, individuality, liberty, property – this is man. And in spite of the cunning of artful political leaders, these three gifts from God precede all human legislation, and are superior to it. Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.

It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this: the conversion of the law into an instrument of plunder.

But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.

No legal plunder: This is the principle of justice, peace, order, stability, harmony, and logic. Until the day of my death, I shall proclaim this principle with all the force of my lungs (which alas! is all too inadequate).

Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all. We disapprove of state education. Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education. We object to a state religion. Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all. We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain.

If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?

It seems to me that this is theoretically right, for whatever the question under discussion – whether religious, philosophical, political, or economic; whether it concerns prosperity, morality, equality, right, justice, progress, responsibility, cooperation, property, labor, trade, capital, wages, taxes, population, finance, or government – at whatever point on the scientific horizon I begin my researches, I invariably reach this one conclusion: The solution to the problems of human relationships is to be found in liberty.

Tomorrow's Show

2011-03-04T12:41:00.000-06:00

Best of Bastiat. Why the Janssen bill fizzled. What the census indicates.

If we have time, we'll talk about the next High School Academy coming up at Bellevue University.

Census : Redistricting : The Battle for Madison County

2011-03-03T11:47:00.002-06:00

Fans of partisan politics will enjoy the battle in the Nebraska Legislature between Democrats and Republicans over GOP stronghold Madison County.

Redistricting, which was necessary in 2001 after the 2000 census, was one of the few times when I saw the partisan long knives come out while I served in the legislature.

It happens because Republicans want to keep Madison County in the 1st congressional district to counteract Democrat-heavy Lincoln. Democrats want to push Madison County west into the 3rd congressional district -- where it isn't a factor because the Big Third already is heavily Republican.

Let the games begin.

Census : What Happened to Omaha?

2011-03-02T12:17:00.001-06:00

Omaha was supposed to exceed 450,000 by 2010. Instead it barely reached 400,000. White flight? Tax flight? What's going on?

Be ready Saturday because I'm going to ask you: Why do you live where you live?

In case it matters to anyone, I live at 38th and California Streets and, as you can see from the picture on my main page, I am a minority under my own roof.

Majority Support Isn't Always Enough in the Nebraska Legislature

2011-03-01T00:44:00.000-06:00

State Sen. Charlie Janssen's bill on illegal immigration appears to be stalled in the legislature. Ever wonder why bills that seem to have popular support don't make it through the legislature?

It's because liberals are better at organizing than conservatives are. We'll talk about it Saturday.

KFAB Nation Is All Over Frederic Bastiat

2011-02-28T02:15:00.002-06:00

As caller Bill explained the teachings of French economist and political philosopher Frederic Bastiat, do you remember that I said it sounded like something that should be in the Signature Series curriculum called American Vision and Values at Bellevue University? In fact, it sounded so familiar that I asked him to spell Bastiat. Bingo.

Bastiat IS in the Sig Series readings about limited government.

Several listeners e-mailed me with observations about Bastiat.

I'm doing a Best of Bastiat segment on the next show. He's that good.

Tomorrow's Show

2011-02-25T00:17:00.001-06:00

What do the Middle East, Wisconsin, and Nebraska's Commission of Industrial Relations have in common right now?

They are all cases in which people at the grassroots have been pushed to the point of rebellion, but the consequences are unclear.

Somewhere Margaret Sanger Is Smiling

2011-02-24T00:32:00.001-06:00

The birth mother of abortion wanted to clean up the gene pool by ridding it of minorities.

Nearly 60% of black pregnancies in New York City are terminated by abortion. A billboard saying the inside of a womb is the most dangerous place for a black child was taken down because of political correctness. So now African-Americans (or at least the ones with the most political clout) are the ones demanding the right to butcher black children in the womb.

Amazing.

Ghandi . . . King . . . Meadowlark

2011-02-23T00:43:00.002-06:00

I asked Meadowlark Lemon: You are known as the clown prince of basketball, and deservedly so. You're a world-famous entertainer. But there have been trials and tribulations along the way. In some of the cities where predominantly-white crowds cheered your on-court performance, there were restaurants where you could not eat and hotels where you could not stay. But you persevered with a relentlessly positive attitude. Now those times and ways are gone -- and you are still going strong. How did you do it?

His answer: humor.

I'll explain on the radio.

Storm Clouds Gathering Over CIR

2011-02-22T00:54:00.000-06:00

The governor, the chamber of commerce, and prominent citizens are talking about eliminating the Commission of Industrial Relations. That is remarkable. And it is rare to see such candid talk in the news about the inner workings of the Capitol.
We'll analyze it on the radio.

Could Arab Street Be Worse for Us

2011-02-21T00:08:00.001-06:00

Admit it. You love to see Arab dictatorial regimes being rocked by their own people. Feels like the fall of Soviet communism. Except that we have no idea what might follow.

It was apparent that the Western dissidents fighting Soviet communism wanted to be more like us. The Muslim Brotherhood, on the other hand . . .

We're still dealing with the negative consequences of the overthrow of the Shah of Iran.

Tomorrow's Show

2011-02-18T08:52:00.001-06:00

There's more to say about everything raised in this week's blog. The CIR ruling on fire fighter staffing is a major development. And what about the teachers shutting down schools in Wisconsin?

Is there anything I said in my recorded show last week that gave you heartburn? The listener I quoted last week has a reply. My unofficial program observer wants to know if west Omaha can secede, or if we can go back to at-large election of city council members. He also is worried about what is happening with our currency.

The Wrestler Is Right

2011-02-17T08:15:00.002-06:00

Teenage boys and girls should not wrestle. Even with a referee supervising.

How did adults let it come to this? Who are the lefty/liberal/progressive deniers of human nature that said teenage boys and girls grabbing each other and trying to pin each other and unavoidably invading each other's private areas is just a sporting exercise?

This isn't a fussy non-competition argument. I have competed against females in various sports. I raise my daughters to be strong and brave competitors against all opponents. But I don't roughhouse with my 12-year-old daughter the same way I did when she was younger.

And this is full-scale, competitive wrestling. My only experience with wrestling was junior high phys ed class, but we learned the moves and did some wrestling. I've seen wrestling matches. The moves required to defeat the opponent would be considered sexual assault in a court of law.

The moves required in football or boxing -- or male-versus-male wrestling -- also would be considered assault in the "outside" world, but why is there is a separate category of assault for violations of a sexual nature? Why don't such violations simply fit under the category of assault? Because there is an additional element of offense connected to sexuality, to violating someone's sexual dignity.

Imagine engaging couple-friends in tennis, basketball, or golf. Now imagine one couple challenging another couple to a wrestling match with opposite sex match-ups. Imagine a husband telling a wife, "I'm going to wrestle our female neighbor." Or flip the roles and the wife is going to wrestle a male neighbor.

Absolutely not. If it's inappropriate for broken down old people such as me, how can it be more appropriate for teenagers with hormones aflame?

It's not sexist or discriminatory to say there are some activities in which men and women should not engage. It's a reasonable response to the reality of human nature. It's a necessary honoring of sexual dignity that has been assaulted by popular culture, especially where women are concerned.

Meadowlark in Omaha Next Week

2011-02-16T08:32:00.001-06:00

The Fatherhood-Family Initiative is bringing Meadowlark Lemon to Omaha. Click below for details.

EVENT: Meadowlark Lemon and His Harlem All-Stars are performing Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. at DJ Sokol Arena at Creighton University. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are free but must be obtained in advance. There will be no tickets available at the event. Call 402-502-1630 for tickets.

STORY LINES:

1) Meadowlark is now an ordained minister and there is an inspirational/motivational element to his message, which we think makes him a great fit for FFI.

2) It's worth noting during Black History Month that the Clown Prince of Basketball, perhaps the most widely recognized American sports figure around the world now that Muhammad Ali has retired from public life, experienced many sorrows and trials along the way. In some of the city's where white crowds cheered his on-court performance, Meadowlark was not allowed to stay in certain hotels or eat at certain restaurants. And yet he persevered with a relentlessly positive attitude. Now those times and ways are gone -- and Meadowlark is still going strong.

3) Meadowlark's advance man and team member Les "Pee Wee" Harrison is a native Omahan. In all the years he has been traveling with Meadowlark, this is the first time he gets to play in Omaha. Also, Kirk Trotter, dean of students at Jesuit Middle School, is part of the network of players around the country utilized by Meadowlark for such events. He'll be participating as well.

SPONSORS: FFI thanks Omaha Masonic Community Center Foundation, Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Nebraska, Prince Hall Education Fund, Scottish Rite Foundation of Omaha, Jesuit Middle School of Omaha, Creighton University, The David E. Slattery Companies, Anric Corporation, Bellevue University, Software Engineering Services, and Davis Companies.

PLAYERS: We're still recruiting players for the local team. Got game? I have a few people on my list but volunteers are welcome -- especially any former Creighton University power forwards who are public officials and belong to 100 Black Men of Omaha and the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Nebraska.

Even Republicans Seem Afraid to Restore Constitutional Budget Limits

2011-02-15T08:47:00.000-06:00

Look at the pie chart. It shows that 41% of the federal is budget is Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Include other entitlements and the number climbs to 58%. And it's all unconstitutional.

I realize that since the 1930s the Supreme Court has said such programs are constitutional, but that's not the only time the Court has been wrong.

Congressional Republicans are talking about budget cuts, but they don't seem to be addressing the structural big picture.

Soon after Sen. Ben Nelson's decisive vote on Obamacare, a caller on a radio show pressed Nelson on where the Constitution authorized the federal government to impose a health care plan such as Obamacare. Nelson didn't cite any authority. He replied that if the caller was going to take that approach, then he would have to scrap Social Security and Medicare because there is no constitutional authority for those programs, either.

Exactly.

One Word for Valentine's Day : Fireproof

2011-02-14T02:04:00.002-06:00

Did you see the movie Fireproof when it came out? A church in Georgia produced it. The same church produced Flywheel and Facing the Giants. If you have a problem with "Christian" movies, get over it.

Fireproof is a gritty story about the kinds of challenges, including pornography, that destroy marriages.

Yesterday was World Marriage Sunday in the Catholic Church. I heard a priest give a sermon emphasizing that there are many facets of love, but the one most crucial for marriage is . . . no, not erotic . . . sacrificial love. Sacrifice for the loved one is what makes a blessing of marriage.

Everybody gets worked up when St. Paul tells wives to be "submissive" or "subordinate" to their husbands. The priest said that was a call to sacrifice, not subservience.

The priest said when Paul tells husbands to love their wives just as Jesus loved the church, he's talking about all-out sacrifice, about loving her as much Jesus loved the church. The priest pointed to the crucifix to remind us that Jesus was willing to sacrifice everything, including His life, for the church.

There's a point in Fireproof where the husband is getting frustrated because his wife does not reciprocate his gestures of sacrifice and love. He wonders in frustration how far he has to go when the recipient does not appear grateful for or interested in his efforts. His father points to a cross.

Click here to see a trailer.

Tomorrow's Show

2011-02-11T01:16:00.000-06:00

The CIR, doings in the state legislature, Dr. Laura and the N-word, defending limited government, and a super-deluxe-extended Mary Maxwell Moment.

I won't be in the studio tomorrow because I'll be out of town, but I have recorded fresh commentary.

More importantly, you'll get to here the Mary Maxwell "invocation" that has had nearly 6 million hits on YouTube. Enjoy!

Nebraska Football : I'm Buying into the Recruiting Hype

2011-02-10T01:08:00.005-06:00

I'm talking about new coaches, not new players.

Hmm. From 1985-2003, there were two coaches for the offensive line and NU generally had the best offensive line in college football. Since then, year in and year out the offensive line has been a major disappointment.

Now the talk is that NU offensive line coach Barney Cotton is going to have an assistant. This is encouraging. It doesn't matter who plays quarterback or who is offensive coordinator. If the offensive line can't open holes for running backs or protect a quarterback trying to pass, the offense will continue to fizzle.

Reminder of True Nature of Capitalism

2011-02-09T00:49:00.009-06:00

One benefit of teaching for Bellevue University is that I get students who are, or have been, all over the world, usually because of military service. A current student had an interesting observation on business culture.

Student observation:

America as a whole has digressed when it comes to honesty and respect in our culture. In my travels I’ve encountered several cultures. Japan and Turkey, in my opinion, are the most respectful and courteous cultures I’ve been exposed to.

The Japanese greet one another with not only a formal salutation but a physical form of courtesy as well, bowing. They have “laws” prohibiting talking on cell phones on public transportation to respect workers that may sleep in transit and common practices like turning off heads lights while stopped in traffic to prevent lights from blinding other drivers.

In Turkey, the people are extremely friendly. They greet with formal salutations and hug and business patrons are treated like family whether they are first-time buyers or regular customers. The Turkish like to get to know people before they do any business with you because they consider business partners family. I think these two cultures have deep roots of honesty and respect and Americans can learn a lot from them in those aspects of their cultures.

True capitalism is not exploitative. It is a system of mutually beneficial transactions. It is about relationships. I don't know whether America "as a whole" has lost the sense that cultivation of relationships is part of business culture, but certainly the long-term health of a capitalist system depends on such an ethic.

Battle Is Joined on CIR

2011-02-08T11:21:00.007-06:00

It's look like a serious effort to reform or abolish the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations is taking shape. I was surprised to see the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce endorse abolition. Click below for my statement at the hearing conducted by the Business & Labor Committee of the Nebraska Legislature.

Statement on Legislative Bill 564
Chip Maxwell for the Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector
Business & Labor Committee of the Nebraska Legislature
February 7, 2011

Dear Mr. Chairman & Members of the Committee,

The Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector supports Senator Fulton’s effort to reform the procedure involving the Commission of Industrial Relations. The fundamental problem with the CIR is that it removes decision-making authority from local elected officials who should be accountable to their taxpaying constituents. Put another way, Omaha taxpayers are left at the mercy of unions and politicians in other cities and states. Deals made by politicians not accountable to Omaha taxpayers determine what Omaha taxpayers must pay their public employees. It’s an insidious form of taxation without representation.

The Alliance likes the way LB 564 shines a light on the facts and allows the public to effectively oversee the negotiating parties and judge whether they are being reasonable or unreasonable. Constituents can let their elected officials know what they think of a proposed contract and hold them accountable for it on the ballot.

If LB 564 or something like it cannot be advanced, then the Alliance would prefer to see the CIR system abolished, or at least an exemption granted for Omaha. We realize this would raise the specter of public employee strikes, especially unsettling in the case of police officers and fire fighters. We do not believe that either employees or politicians would want to be responsible for letting crimes or fires go unfought in their communities. Indeed, the risk of such a disastrous situation would be a disciplinary force driving all parties to an agreement at the local bargaining table where there is accountability to the local taxpayer. Such contracts must be presented in a public hearing prior to a vote on them, so the public would have the chance to evaluate the facts and the positions of negotiating parties – and ultimately hold their elected officials accountable. That would be preferable to the current system.

The current system is out of balance. It tilts too far in favor of unions, which can ignore the negotiating positions of local governments (and the fiscal realities they face), and instead rely on the numbers generated by the CIR’s analysis of comparable jurisdictions. That was one of the most frustrating things about serving on the Douglas County Board. In discussions of contract negotiations with public sector unions, the elephant in the room was the CIR. The fiscal authority of local elected officials is neutered. Deals made in other jurisdictions determine the fiscal burden of local taxpayers in Nebraska. This must stop.

The Alliance is not saying there is no value to the CIR. It is helpful to know what comparable jurisdictions are paying employees for comparable jobs. But in the current system, it’s all about the “comps.” Most of the debate is about which jurisdictions are comparable to the one at issue – rather than what level of compensation is justified by the fiscal realities facing local governments.

Treating the CIR as a court with binding authority over local fiscal policy is bad public policy. The buck needs to stop at the local negotiating table. LB 564 would allow that to happen.
* * * *

I told the committee that my beef is not with unions. They try for the best deals they can get under the existing rules. My beef is with a system that takes fiscal decisions away from locally elected officials and instead relies on a mathematical formula based on deals made by unions and politicians in other states.

Facebook Fatigue

2011-02-07T11:20:00.000-06:00

I'm a bad Facebook friend.

I had no interest in Facebook until my sons reached high school and wanted to have Facebook pages. My first answer was no.

Upon reconsideration, I said yes on one condition: you must allow me access to your Facebook page. It caused some heartburn, but both boys accepted the condition.

The truth is, I visited their Facebook pages right away to show them I knew my way in, and then once or twice after that.

To do even that minimal activity, I had to join Facebook. I stumbled in, put up a mug shot, and called it good.

Then I started getting messages and "friend" requests. I didn't want people to feel slighted, so I tried to keep up. I soon gave up. It's impossible.

But the friend requests showing up in my regular e-mail kept reminding me that a growing number of people -- 40, 50, 60 -- were awaiting replies from me. The guilt drove me to jump into Facebook to avoid seeming rude. About once a year I swing through and say yes to everyone. I hope I am not "friending" terrorists or porn stars. Some of the names I do not recognize.

But each time I do it, a quicker and larger wave of requests seems to follow. And I seem to be "confirming" or somehow acknowledging people who have agreed to "friend" me in my response to my request.

Huh? I'm not requesting friends. Does Facebook go trolling on your behalf? Does it use your friend list as a basis for recruiting more people to your page?

It's either say yes to everyone or get out of Facebook. If I disappear from Facebook world, please don't take it personally.

Tomorrow's Show

2011-02-04T08:43:00.001-06:00

Latest on Obamacare. Defending the Constitution, including a "Who said it?" quiz. Start researching now . . .

"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."

The job of Congress is not to "attend to what generosity and humanity require, but to what the Constitution and their duty require."

"We must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not attempt to prove that Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. We have the right as individuals to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right to appropriate a dollar of the public money."

"I cannot find any authority in the Constitution for public charity. (To approve such spending) would be contrary to the letter and the spirit of the Constitution and subversive to the whole theory upon which the union of these states is founded."

You can search far and wide, perhaps on the Internet, for the answers. Or you can turn to pages 254 and 255 of Prof. Ed Rauchut's American Vision & Values, part of the course by the same name taught at Bellevue University.

Heineman and Boyle Both Right on State Subsidies to Local Governments

2011-02-03T07:31:00.000-06:00

Gov. Dave Heineman wants to end non-K-12 state subsidies to local governments. Douglas County Commissioner Mike Boyle argued against it. They're both right.

Heineman is right to say local governments should fund whatever services they think appropriate with local taxes. But Boyle made a crucial point in an Omaha World-Herald news story: “The county is part of the state, and we deliver the services you tell us to.” The counties are subdivisions of the state, a fact the state legislature cites when handing down mandates -- but seems to forget when it comes to paying for the mandates.

Unfunded mandates. As a state senator, I supported a bill introduced by State Sen. Phil Erdman that would have required the state to provide funding for any mandates imposed on local governments. We junior back-benchers were dismissed by the leadership. Imagine state government having to pay for the mandates it produced.

The federal government has set the example of handing down mandates -- such as the sewer project for Omaha -- and leaving the tab to the recipient of the mandate further down the flow chart.

I would be more excited about the governor's proposal if it included legislation eliminating unfunded mandates from state government to the counties and cities.

Lefties Miss Point on Constitution

2011-02-02T13:12:00.002-06:00

There's a huffy op-ed column in today's Omaha World-Herald by a New York Times columnist. She's in a huff about the way Michelle Bachmann, U.S. representative from Minnesota and Tea Party favorite, reveres the Constitution.

This has become the liberal/progressive response to the Tea Party and its reverence for the Constitution. Lefties turn the issue into cultish worship of the founders, and then they revel in the flaws of the founders. In their formula, worship of the Constitution equals worship of the founders equals worship of slavery and any other flawed positions they held.

There were founders who wanted to abolish slavery, but let's concede that the Constitution, in original form, protected slavery. Furthermore, in the political system of the time, "all men" really meant propertied white men, preferably Episcopalian. As the NYT columnist noted, the founders certainly would not have anticipated Bachmann (a woman) serving in Congress.

So what? The genius of the Constitution is that it captures on paper a political philosophy that maximizes freedom. It combines stability and flexibility. Those who call the document "dead" ignore the fact that it has been amended 27 times, including the Bill of Rights and the abolition of slavery.

The combination of stability and flexibility was demolished by President Franklin Roosevelt, the Congress, and the Supreme Court in the 1930s. By reinterpreting the general welfare clause to mean Congress can do anything it wants instead of being limited by Article I, Section 8, they shredded the Constitution as a plan of limited government. The Constitution became all flexibility and no stability. That's why the size and expense of the federal government exploded during the rest of the 20th century.

Some of us want to put the genie back in the bottle and restore the founders' principle that Congress is limited to what is authorized in Article I, Section 8, subject to amendment by the people.

No one is arguing that the Constitution was, is, or ever will be perfect. But it's the best charter of government devised by human beings. Adherence to it is the best way to restore fiscal sanity to our nation.

Child Cries Over Snow Day!

2011-02-01T09:37:00.003-06:00

When the announcement came last night that school was canceled today, my daughter burst into tears. What a testament to Catholic Schools Week.

A+ for America -- that's the slogan for this year's celebration of Catholic education.

We have a good public education system in Omaha. The principal of Central High School lives right across the street. My aunt, Bonnie Pryor, a legendary educator as a teacher and principal at St. Cecilia's Elementary for more than 50 years, constantly stood up for public schools and pointed out the special challenges they face.

But my children are in Catholic schools.

Like most children, my 9-year-old 4th grader normally would be willing a blizzard from the sky to produce a snow day. But, she said through her tears, tomorrow is Spirit Day. The kids get to wear red, white, and blue -- which means getting out of uniform!

Now she's worried about Wednesday, which is pajama day -- you get to wear PJs to school! Thursday, 8th graders from schools throughout the Omaha archdiocese come bearing school banners to St. Cecilia's Cathedral for the annual Catholic Schools Week Mass. Friday is the annual 8th graders-versus-teachers volleyball game. And there are other funzies and treats plugged in during the week.

Academically, it may be the least productive week of the year. That's OK. The students, teachers, and staff more than make up for it the rest of the year.

I submit that the Catholic school is the most "American" school in existence in the 21st century. There used to be little difference between a Catholic school and a public school except for the religious overlay at the Catholic school. Now the public schools, as government-run schools, are so tangled up in political correctness and social agendas and government mandates unrelated to learning that they can barely function, even with the huge amount of tax dollars poured into them.

As the public school becomes a nonjudgmental morass in which toleration means no values are promoted, the virtues of American citizenship -- concern for neighbor and common good, striving for excellence, enforcement of discipline, learning how to compete in way that produces winners and losers but ennobles all who participate -- remain at the core of Catholic education.

A good student can get into honors courses at a public school and get topflight academic training. But the world can blow people around -- adults as well children. I want my children to have a moral center that does not shift with the prevailing cultural wind.

Click here for a recent column about Catholic schools published in the Omaha World-Herald.

The Million-Dollar Reality of Unfunded Liabilities

2011-01-31T12:36:00.002-06:00

In case you missed it . . .

On my show Saturday, Dr. Rod Hewlett, dean of the business college at Bellevue University, said the United States has more than $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities. Three line items make up most of that total: Social Security ($14.8 trillion), the prescription drug program ($19.6 trillion), and Medicare ($77.8 trillion). That's a total of $112.2 trillion.

If you break this liability down by taxpayer, in addition to your "regularly scheduled" tax burden there is an additional $1 million that the U.S. needs you to cover to keep the country afloat financially.

This is the type of fiscal reality that has driven me to the Tea Party.

Tomorrow's Show

2011-01-28T00:03:00.007-06:00

Recall and the State of the Union Address. If we have time, the governor's proposal to end state aid to local governments.

Recall. Trading places -- South Omaha Democrats turned against the mayor while Westside Republicans saved him. Did the pro-recall message hit too hard on policy issues and not hard enough on whether recall was appropriate? What about the Nabity factor?

State of the Union. We'll analyze it with Dr. Rod Hewlett, dean of the business college at Bellevue University. We'll focus on the president's use of the term "investment." Click here for Dr. Hewlett's recent column in the Omaha World-Herald on how the definition of "investment" increasingly is stretched to apply to expenditures that do not provide a return.

State Aid. The governor is right -- but so is Mike Boyle. I'll explain why.

I Thought Marc Kraft Was a Full-Time Commissioner

2011-01-27T00:46:00.002-06:00

Kraft has been awfully busy with his business for a candidate who said one of the reasons to vote for him was that he would leave the running of his business to his son and be a full-time Douglas County commissioner.

That was a jab at me in our 2008 campaign. As a husband and father of four school-age children, I needed to work a regular job while serving as a part-time commissioner.

But Kraft has been doing ads for his business and now is selling the physical inventory to focus on his growing online business.

Bully for Kraft for succeeding in the 21st century business environment, but down goes another campaign promise. This is the same Marc Kraft who promised to bring "fairness" to property taxes (as opposed to me, who cared nothing for the average taxpayer), and then voted to raise the county property tax rate 8% instead of cut county spending 4%.

But that seems to be business as usual these days. Local politicians can do whatever they want in office regardless of what they promised as candidates.

Omaha Recall : What Does the Result Mean?

2011-01-26T00:01:00.000-06:00

The people have spoken . . . but what did they say?

The mayor agreed to be on KFAB the morning after the recall. Why? He had been avoiding KFAB. He must have seen a poll showing a win.

I admit that I was envisioning in alphabetical order: Hal Daub returning to the mayor's office and making it his legacy to lay a solid foundation for city finances; or Dave Nabity getting to implement the type of policies and provide the type of leadership he has advocated; or maybe Dan Welch returning to city hall to pursue some of the ideas on efficiency and fiscal reform for which he was hammered a few years ago.

I'm happy for the Suttles on a personal level because I know them and consider them friends, but I voted to recall the mayor. I'm worried that this result will be embraced by the mayor and the defenders of the status quo as a mandate to continue business as usual, which means raise taxes and accommodate entrenched interests at city hall.

But I'm a populist who believes in majority rule. The way you maximize freedom is to go in the direction the majority wants to go.

I hope it turns out to have been a vote against the recall rather than a vote for the status quo. We'll find out in two years.

Meanwhile, I hope the Alliance for the Private Sector will continue to be a voice for fiscal conservatism.

Omaha Recall : Another Lobbyist End Run?

2011-01-25T08:42:00.007-06:00

Skirting the Omaha City Council to hire a lobbyist has played so well before that Mayor Suttle apparently decided to do it again.

State Sen. Abbie Cornett of Bellevue has a bill in the Nebraska Legislature that would undo Omaha's wheel tax on commuters who live outside Omaha. KFAB is reporting that Mayor Suttle hired lobbyist John Lindsay to work against it.

The fee: $19,000.

What a coincidence. Expenditures of $20,000 must be approved by the city council.

Does the number $19,000 sound familiar? That's what the mayor paid a lobbyist in DC to try to find federal money for a streetcar in Omaha.

This hearkens back to the mayor hiring lobbyist Walt Radcliffe to fight a tax proposal by State Sen. Tom White of Omaha that many (myself included) believed benefited Omaha. The mayor hired Radcliffe for $50,000 and did an end run around the city council by negotiating five $10,000 contracts.

Meanwhile the city has a paid lobbyist.

Happy voting.

Omaha Recall : Flawed Analogy

2011-01-24T08:53:00.001-06:00

Mike Leahy left out a crucial fact in his analogy describing the mayor's challenge upon taking office.

Speaking on KFAB this morning, Leahy likened Mayor Suttle's challenge upon taking office to the scene in the movie Apollo 13 where engineers were told to fix the damaged space vehicle with same items available to the astronauts. The "tools" were dumped on a table before the engineers and that's all they had to work with.

The flaw in Leahy's analogy is that the "tools" were dumped on the table during the 2009 campaign. Tax increases were not on that table. Suttle was in there with all the other candidates talking fiscal responsibility. Suttle did not follow Leahy's analogy. He added tax increases to the table after getting elected. Any politician can make "tough decisions" and "solve" problems if you put tax increases on the table as one of your tools.

Omaha Recall : What Do the Early Numbers Mean?

2011-01-24T07:49:00.003-06:00

A robust number of voters have requested early ballots. Maybe it means nothing more than avoiding bad weather. But as long as Gary DeSilvestro is in play, anything is possible.

DeSilvestro was the mastermind of the homeless bus/vote for $5 scheme. That was clumsy and visible.

What if, instead of bringing the voters to the ballots, you instead bring the ballots to the voters? You order early ballots in the name of registered voters and then pay the voters in the privacy of their homes.

Or have a voting party. You bring your ballot, we'll provide the food and drink -- and maybe even a fiver for your trouble.

What's to stop a union from requiring members to request early ballots and then stand over their members' shoulders as the members vote "no" on recall?

Either side could do this. Many Democrats signed the recall petition. Prominent Republicans have spoken out against it. But Democratic party leadership has argued that the recall is an effort to overturn the result of the 2009 mayoral election in which a Democrat won fair and square. So there is a partisan flavor to the recall.

Democrats are more organized and aggressive on getting out the vote and related activity. It comes out of the tradition in the early 20th century of Democrats figuring out that political organization can produce victory for an underdog.

In Nebraska, where the Democrats are in the minority, they have had to be better at organization than Republicans to compete. That's why, over the years, you have seen so many liberal Democrats in key leadership positions in the Nebraska Legislature.

Do not underestimate hardcore Democratic insiders in get-out-the-vote crunch time.

Tomorrow's Show

2011-01-21T00:01:00.005-06:00

Last call for recall.

Jeremy Aspen of the recall committee will join us at 7.

Apparently it's now heroic to raise taxes. That seems to be the main argument of recall opponents.

What does the recall have in common with global warming and stem cell research? Listen tomorrow for the answer.

Where are the Omaha World-Herald photos and profiles on big-money opponents of the recall? Where is the OWH coverage of the populist support for the recall?

Assertions by Ben Gray: the taxpayers' police pension contribution going from 20% to 35% does not constitute balancing the budget on the backs of taxpayers; everything that can be done is being done or has been checked out and is not possible; the state auditor's report was no big deal; recall is a "gotcha" campaign; recall is a vehicle for Nabity that he was pushing right after Suttle was elected; nonvoters should not get to "negate" previous mayoral vote. He used the pronoun "we" and clearly sees the recall as an attack on the city council majority that has supported the mayor.

A caller to my show said the recall could be construed as racist in the same way the Tea Party (Taxed Enough Already) movement is racist in calling for limited government. The argument is that "limited government" is racist code for "spend less money on programs for minorities."

Omaha Recall : Ben Gray v. Dave Nabity

2011-01-20T10:17:00.001-06:00

KFAB's Scott Voorhees hosted a debate in which a contentious participant called his adversary a liar for stating a fact about the police contract.

Dave Nabity also participated.

Nabity's advocacy group Citizens for Omaha's Future published a flyer saying the mayor negotiated a police contract that allows officers to retire at 45. Omaha City Council Member Ben Gray called that a lie.

It's a fact. Gray was correct to point out that only veteran officers can retire at 45, but the contract does allow retirement at 45.

A lie is a false statement that the maker knows is false. Gray understands the distinction between a mistake and a lie. He went out of his way to say that the Nabity flyer's claim was not just a falsehood, but a lie. In fact, he said "anyone who believes that ad is a liar." I guess that makes me a liar, too.

What am I missing? Gray kept insisting that the mayor and city council did not negotiate a police contract that allows retirement at 45. But, again, the contract does allow it.

My invitation to Gray to be on my show still stands. There's more to talk about. His general position is that everything that has been talked about by recall advocates is already being done or has been checked out and can't be done. I also want to talk about a statement he made on an earlier Voorhees show that the mayor should not be held accountable for promises he made as a candidate.

I will say this for Gray: at least he has the guts to talk about specific issues and policies rather than toss out whiny generalities about recall being divisive and bad for Omaha.

Omaha Recall : Do These Help or Hurt?

2011-01-19T09:04:00.000-06:00

I thank my radio show's unofficial program observer, OmaSteak, for providing the flyer funded substantially by the police union.

One of the main issues is whether the mayor is too cozy with police and fire unions. Doesn't this feed that perception? Or is it a net gain for the mayor to have the police union call him a champion of law and order?

When I ran for the city council, I declared that I would not except endorsements or donations from either union because a council member approves contracts with those unions and is supposed to be an advocate for constituents/taxpayers.

Maybe I am reading this incorrectly. My opponent got $10,000 from the fire union and won. Didn't seem to bother voters in 2009, but I wonder if the environment has changed.

When I saw the guy in the hoodie with a gun in the doorway, I thought of the pizza delivery man who was killed.

At least it's a flyer promoting someone, as opposed to the child predator lurking in the bushes at the playground -- which according to a 2009 police union campaign flyer was the future we faced had Jim Vokal become mayor.

Omaha Recall : Can the Mayor Save Himself?

2011-01-18T11:58:00.001-06:00

Apparently Mayor Suttle is squeezing in the state of the city address Friday to try to stem the rising tide of recall. After the fiver-for-your-vote homeless busing program, it might be impossible, but here's what I would recommend:

Citizens, I hear you and I get it. I will not raise taxes in future budgets. I will undo the tax increases enacted since I took office.

That means back to basics: police, fire, and public works. Nothing else. We'll have to recruit private donors to step in to fund libraries and other services and programs traditionally provided by the city, but I will not reach deeper into your pockets to pay for mistakes made by previous mayors and city councils.

More importantly, I will get us out of the rut we are in. But I will need your help.

As long as state law requires the city and public sector unions to take their disputes to the state Commission on Industrial Relations, we will never get out of this rut. As long as the city charter requires the city to provide employee pensions, we will never get out of this rut.

I will use the bully pulpit of the Omaha mayor's office to lobby the Nebraska Legislature to abolish the CIR or grant an exemption for Omaha. However, that won't be enough. I will need all of you to contact your state senators and demand this change. My words will mean little unless backed by the voices of the constituents who vote for those senators.

I will use the bully pulpit of the Omaha mayor's office to push for the necessary change in the city charter to make city employees responsible for their own retirement. Again, though, that won't be enough. I will need all of you to contact your city council members and demand this change. My words will mean little unless backed by the voices of the constituents who vote for council members.

And then I will need you to vote for the change in the city charter when it appears on the ballot.

If you are serious about changing the status quo and getting out of the rut that perpetuates the pressure for tax hikes, I am prepared to work with you to restore common sense to Omaha fiscal policy.

If we have not accomplished these goals in two years, or at least made substantial progress toward accomplishing them, then you'll have a regularly scheduled chance to replace me. But let's not waste precious time now by depriving the city of the stable leadership needed to start working on these goals.

* * * * *

The biggest problem the mayor faces is that he is a creature of the status quo. I can't imagine that he would make the statement above.

Omaha Recall : "Reads My Lips" Moment for Mayor Suttle

2011-01-17T09:42:00.003-06:00

The Omaha World-Herald apparently is using news stories as well as editorials to try to save Mayor Suttle.

The front page headline in the Sunday OWH said: "Addressing city's problems proved taxing for Suttle." The sub headline said: "His fix-it-all-now approach to Omaha's budget wound up raising taxpayer ire."

Translation: Martyr Suttle had the courage to tackle Omaha's fiscal crisis in a bold and comprehensive way, but the stupid taxpayers are fussing about it.

Today the OWH news stories read as if there is dispute about whether candidate Suttle promised to not raise taxes. The truth is he made that promise numerous times, in campaign stump speeches (I heard them in person as a city council candidate at the same events) and in written materials and TV ads. In some instances he promised lower property taxes.

His claim that he did not know how bad the fiscal crisis was until after he was elected is the dictionary definition of the word "incredible" -- too extraordinary and improbable to be believed.

I don't know what specific promises Mayor Suttle made to the restaurant industry, but you rarely see business people get so passionately political. Usually business people say about politics: Sure I'd like lower taxes, but just tell me what the ground rules are and I can run my business accordingly. It's when the ground rules keep changing that business people truly get agitated.

I can't believe the restaurateurs would take a leading role on recall unless they received a "read my lips" type of promise that was broken.

Maxwell Christmas Letter 2010

2011-01-16T18:21:00.009-06:00

We decided to jump into the Christmas update circuit this year.

At right, Pam is flanked by Oto (red) and Tomas (gray), with Laura (white) and Beverly (black) in front. Chip is the disembodied head below them.

Chip. Recovering politician. Won races for state legislature in 2000 and county board in 2004. Lost re-election bid for county board in 2008 and race for city council in 2009. Political virus is in remission but he’s still a carrier. Descent through Dante’s concentric circles of hell began with law (two years clerking for the Nebraska Court of Appeals and a brief stint at an Omaha law firm), then journalism (editorial writer at the Omaha World-Herald), then working on the staff of U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel from Nebraska, then elective office, then lobbying. That appeared to be rock bottom – until he began hosting a local talk radio show. Has tried to redeem himself by working for the Jesuit Middle School of Omaha (development and PR for school serving at-risk, inner-city boys), the Nebraska Coalition for Ethical Research (doctors, researchers, and ethicists who love stem cell re-search but don’t want human embryos destroyed to do it), and the Fatherhood-Family Initiative (promoting fatherhood and father-son relation-ships). Also enjoys teaching an American government course at a local college.

Pam. Thriving in her fourth year teaching Spanish at Creighton Prep. Already has had several careers: sales rep for Honeywell, deaf education teacher, and principal of a Catholic early elementary school accommodating Spanish-speaking families wanting to learn English. Next “career” move was returning to the home front fulltime as Beverly and Laura joined the family. Kept teaching as a volunteer at the county jail helping Spanish speakers learn English, and tutoring junior high kids in Spanish in our home. Joined Prep’s faculty when our youngest hit fulltime school. Enjoys the personal/spiritual dimension of teaching at a Jesuit school. Will be one of the faculty moderators for the Prep delegation at the 2011 March for Life in D.C. Also a faculty moderator for a Prep student trip to Europe in 2011.

Tomás. Junior at Creighton University majoring in psychology on path to masters in organizational and industrial psychology (corporate world as opposed to clients in a counseling office). Enjoying Creighton (better be, given the price) and making good friends – including one who will remain anonymous until we find out how his visit to her family in Iowa went this week. Those who haven’t seen Tomás since he was a tyke might be amazed at the handsome and gracious young man he has become.

Oto. Freshman at Benedictine College in Atchison, KS. Oto, too, might surprise those who haven’t seen him since he was conducting processions and building forts, but he’s the same gregarious Oto who is passionate about his faith. Managed to squeeze in classes while participating in just about every extracurricular activity at Creighton Prep. Announced that he was going to lie low and ease into college life. By the end of September he was elected to the student council and was off and running, but he also produced a solid set of grades for the first semester.

Laura. 6th grade at St. Cecilia’s, our parish school. Great soccer player and discovering she’s good at basketball, too (Chip coaches her team). Usually the smallest on whatever field of competition, so she tries to be the fastest/strongest/smartest/bravest. A “fixer” at home and school, trying to fix problems between people. Beginning her babysitting career and is much in demand as she is great with little ones.

Beverly. 4th grade at St. Cecilia’s. Loves to sing and dance. Very “spirited” child. This is her world and the rest of us are living in it. Very alert, the kind of child who breaks parental code-speak and will remember what you said about something months or years later. Fun to watch play soccer and basketball because she has the imagination and ability to create scoring opportunities for herself and teammates.

Pam’s and Chip’s parents are alive and well in Omaha and are a major part of the children’s lives, as are two generations of aunts and uncles. We are blessed to have them in our family life.

Still celebrating and agonizing over the fortunes of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Creighton Bluejays, Boston College Eagles, Notre Dame

Fighting Irish, New York Yankees, and Boston Celtics.

Still marveling at the way God brought this family together, and grateful to all whose prayers and other contributions helped make it happen.

Still smiling at memories of special people and places. Thank you for being a part of our lives.

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! God's Blessings in 2011!

Maxwell in Obama Administration?

2008-12-18T00:45:00.008-06:00

Not me. My cousin, Mary Beth Maxwell.
I didn't know she was a candidate for Secretary of Labor until a World-Herald reporter called me about a New York Times story mentioning her. I said we probably disagreed on most political issues, but that wouldn't stop me from rooting for my cousin. I said she certainly would have the skills for the job, and would offer a sense of fairness and humor rather than being a scorched-earth ideologue.

As proof that she's bright, I admitted that when we were young, Mary Beth headed up a team of girl cousins that wiped out the boy cousins in a game a Trivial Pursuit or something like it. Come to think of it, that may not be much of a claim to fame, kind of like Nebraska pounding on Slippery Rock.

I remembered her being home for the holidays one year sporting a "Thelma & Louise Meet George Bush" T-shirt with a gun barrel or something on it. Aunt Jeannette, Mary Beth's mother, reminded me that one holiday Mary Beth made sure the boy cousins shared the dish-washing duties with the girl cousins.

Are you detecting a pattern here?

It's an interesting case study. Two people from the same family genes and culture end up going in very different directions in political advocacy.

I told the OWH reporter that people can have political differences but share common ground at higher levels of life. Mary Beth and I reach different conclusions on political issues, but I suppose we're both populists whose main motivation is to help people at the grassroots level.

None of that changes the fact that it's driving me crazy that I can't think of anything more embarrassing to hit her with from the annals of family life.

Politically Mary Beth is a lefty, but what do you expect in the Obama administration? That's a given, so I'll go ahead and root for my cousin to get it.

What the heck, if she gets it, I'm looking forward to my next campaign: "Gee, it would be a shame to see your union audited/investigated/decertified by the Labor Department."

ALERT: Before someone on the left puts out another hit-piece on me, let me explain that that's called a joke. I've had union support in the past as a candidate and I hope to have it again.

Proof That My Book Is Needed

2008-12-17T00:45:00.005-06:00

Ignorant. Irrational. Illogical. Aren't those the terms lefties apply to opponents of embryonic stem cell research?

Click here for a string of cartoons that shows the tawdry, sloppy, grotesquely inaccurate treatment of this issue by people who no doubt believe they are enlightened.

This kind of spin is what motivated me to write my book.

The Shoe-Flinger: Another Test of My No-Death Position

2008-12-16T00:45:00.008-06:00

If I allowed exceptions to my opposition to the death penalty, the Iraqi shoe-flinger would qualify.

I realize that nobody was killed. But the guy threatened the president of the United States and acted violently toward him. An attack on the office is an attack on the nation the president represents.

Remember Iraqis taking off their shoes and smacking them on fallen statues of Saddam? It's an intense sign of disrespect.

I wonder how many shoes Mr. Righteous Indignation threw at Saddam Hussein in the name of the widows and orphans that Saddam produced on purpose. The number must be zero because, if he hadn't been shot or hung on the spot, he would have been forced to eat any shoes he threw. It would have been his last meal because the shoes would have been doused in gasoline and lit on fire -- just for the entertainment value.

Meanwhile, everybody in President Bush's security detail should be fired. What the hell were they doing? One shoe, maybe. There's no way the guy should have been able to fling a second shoe. There was no one near the president when the second shoe flew.

The only person to come out of it looking good was the president. They must play a lot of dodgeball at the White House.

The Conversation Just Got a Lot Livelier in Heaven

2008-12-15T00:45:00.006-06:00

The founding voice of Omaha talk radio falls silent at 68.

Steve Brown died over the weekend. The testimonials are flowing. I simply want to note that he was very friendly and helpful to me as I learned to put one foot in front of the other hosting radio shows.

"Talk of the Town with Steve Brown" -- that was the show that launched talk radio in Omaha.

As a state senator I had been a guest of Steve and other local hosts, but my foray into being on the other side of the microphone began by guest-hosting for Steve. I tried to impersonate Steve. Lasted about 30 seconds and ruptured my vocal chords. No one could replicate that voice.

It could get a bit rough, especially for liberals, on a Steve Brown show, but he also invited Tom White, a staunch liberal Democrat, for a weekly gig and was willing to let all viewpoints have a say. That included "candidate soup," an election eve tradition of allowing politicians of all stripes to hop on the air for a couple minutes to give their spiels.

I was on the periphery of Steve's life. I offer my condolences to those who were close to Steve. I hope the mourning gives way to celebration of great memories.

Fun for Spouses

2008-12-12T00:45:00.006-06:00

The wives may enjoy this as much as the husbands.

Click here.

On Abortion, Obama Offers False Solution

2008-12-09T00:45:00.030-06:00

I agree with Dan Schinzel of Catholic Democrats for Nebraska (November 29 Omaha World-Herald Midlands Voices) that abortion isn’t, or at least shouldn’t be, a partisan issue. What I found hard to swallow was his call to follow the leadership of Barack Obama to common ground on abortion.

Obama said signing the federal Freedom of Choice Act to wipe out state restrictions on abortion would be a top priority of his presidency. As a state legislator he opposed the Born Alive Act, which said a baby who survives an abortion should be cared for – not put in a room and left to die as was happening in Illinois hospitals.

So, the journey to common ground begins with a declaration of open season on preborn humans by someone who defends infanticide-by-neglect for abortion survivors.

I was surprised Mr. Schinzel cited President Clinton to support his argument. Clinton was a tenacious protector of abortion, including defending the procedure of pulling babies almost all the way out of the birth canal and then ripping open their heads and sucking out their brains.

The Clinton common-ground mantra on abortion was to make it “safe, legal, and rare.”

A similar approach was tried with slavery: restrict it and hope it dwindles. That attempt at compromise failed because it confused "common" ground with "middle" ground.

Common ground is where the most people are. It isn’t always the middle ground. There may not be middle ground, even between reasonable people of good will, when a fundamental human right is at stake.

Imagine having told abolitionists that the solution was for them to calm down and accept the status quo on slavery, with promises that efforts would be made to discourage it. Or this one: If you really care about ending slavery, abandon your divisive push for abolition and instead advocate changing the economic situation of slave-owners so they won’t resort to slavery.

In the same vein, Mr. Schinzel told abortion abolitionists to quit “posturing” and instead help the next president reduce the number of abortions with enhanced parental education, health care, job training, and child care. The problem is that even if we could look into the most wildly optimistic crystal ball and see a new array of government programs ending poverty and reducing the number of abortions by half, there still would be more than a half-million abortions annually.

I’ll keep “posturing” for abolition. When you see severed heads and limbs from dismembered fetal bodies positioned in proper-but-disjointed relation to make sure everything was retrieved from the womb, it’s hard to envision an acceptable common ground that permits such butchery.

I appreciate the desire to reduce the carnage by eliminating poverty as a factor, but I doubt it would make much difference. The formerly poor will still want abortion for the same reason middle-class and upper-class abortion protectors want it – birth control.

Abortion is legal because proponents want it passionately. It’s fiercely emotional and personal: You are not going to deny me something central to my ideology and way of life.

Mr. Schinzel paid lip service to the ultimate goal of eliminating abortion, but pro-choice leaders and major donors in his Democratic Party would squash him if he got serious about it. Anti-poverty programs are fine, but don’t mess with the right to choose.

By the way, plenty of people in my Republican Party wish I would shut up about abortion and related issues. It truly cuts across party lines.

The only way abortion will be eliminated is if the pro-life majority that existed prior to Roe v. Wade reasserts itself.

Mr. Schinzel said overturning Roe wouldn’t matter because most states likely would preserve the status quo or make abortion easier. I’m more optimistic. Before Roe, most states banned abortion. Since then, technology providing a window into the womb has helped convince people of the humanity of fetal life. I welcome the opportunity a Roe reversal would present.

Better yet, President Obama could call on Congress to put before the nation a constitutional amendment on abortion. It wouldn’t have to protect or outlaw abortion. It could say that abortion is to be decided by the people or their elected lawmakers. That’s how we find true common ground in our system. Reasonable people don’t always agree, so we count the votes and respect the result.

If that’s too ambitious, maybe all the pro-lifers who voted for Obama could at least get the president-elect to reject the Freedom of Choice Act and show mercy to babies who somehow emerge alive from the abortion death machine.

College Football: It's Good to Be Nebraska

2008-12-08T00:45:00.007-06:00

Observations on the college football bowl selections.

Missouri thrashed Nebraska and won the Big 12 North -- and got a lesser bowl package than Nebraska.

Missouri: Alamo Bowl, $2.25 million payout, Dec. 29, cable TV.

Nebraska: Gator Bowl, $2.5 million payout, Jan. 1, network TV.

Oklahoma State is ranked 13th, beat Missouri, and would have been heavily favored to beat Nebraska had they played. OSU bowl bid: Holiday Bowl, $2.13 million payout, Dec. 30, cable TV.

Clearly the bowls, the media, and the world of college football want Nebraska and its passionate, willing-to-travel fan base back in the picture. Let's hope the Huskers can finally deliver after prime-time disappointment (Virginia Tech) and disaster (Missouri and Oklahoma) so far this year.

City Council Feedback: What Have You Done?

2008-12-05T00:45:00.004-06:00

One comment said: Before you run for another office, tell me what you did in your current office that made a significant difference.

That's tough for county commissioners because we are not lawmakers. A city council is a legislature that passes ordinances, local laws. A county board is an administrative subdivision of state government with no lawmaking authority.

County government is where the rubber meets the road for many social services that citizens receive. So I don't mean to minimize county government. But county commissioners are like offensive linemen in football grinding away in the trenches, not making the flashy plays that garner individual attention.

I tried like crazy my first two years on the board to pursue city-county merger. Type "merger" into the search box of this blog for more detail. When Kathleen McCallister was defeated in 2006, the anti-merger position became the majority on the board, which stalled that effort.

Since I took office the county's property tax rate has gone down 8.6%, but no individual commissioner can take the credit for that. Productive county workers deserve most of the credit. And generally rising valuations.

The anonymous commenter asked for details. OK. I'll give you two examples: jail and health benefits. But don't say I didn't warn you that this is more like blocking than catching touchdown passes or kicking 50-yard field goals.

Jail. Right after I took office in 2005, Bob Houston left the county jail to run the state pen. I don't think commissioners are supposed to micromanage departments of county government, but that was a case where commissioners needed to get directly involved in the decision. It's one of the most important positions in county government.

The proposal was to install Captain John Hubbard as the interim director while searching for a permanent director. I had people, including some fellow commissioners, all over me saying the sky would fall if we tapped Hubbard. You may recall that there were huge problems in preceding years with allegations of racism and sexism in the work environment. Houston cleaned it up. But Houston himself said the staff made it happen, so I was part of the 4-3 vote to install Hubbard. He did a great job. Everything went fine.

The permanent director we hired did not work out, so six months later were back at it. We reinstalled Hubbard and he held the fort just fine until we got Jeff Newton, who is doing a great job.

Lesson learned: trust your people in county government until proven otherwise. Whatever the stereotypes are about government workers, I continue to be impressed by county workers.

Health benefits. My first three years I was in charge of the Human Resources Committee. One of its priorities is the health plan for county workers.

The only time I had a TV crew come barging in to cover such a committee meeting was when UNMC threatened to pull out of the county health plan negotiated by United HealthCare. I was getting pressure from some county employees and some board colleagues to cave in to UNMC and order UHC to agree to UNMC's terms.

My family gets its health care at UNMC and when the negotiations dragged on for most of 2007, it was getting dicey. In November I was hearing from county employees who were trying to make doctor appointments for January 2008, but UNMC was saying they had better find another doc because it looked like UNMC would no longer be part of the plan.

I met with people from UHC and UNMC, but the board resisted the pressure to issue a mandate. Negotiations finally succeeded.

I thought it would have been disastrous to let UNMC call the tune. Then Alegent and every other provider in our plan would have realized: Hey, just scare the county workers who use us and get them screaming on commissioners and we can get the board to give us whatever we want, too.

Health care costs are hard enough to control without that kind of blank-check process. Either county employees or county taxpayers would be bear the increasing costs. (I voted against adding those extra coverages a few weeks ago.) We pay UHC to negotiate the best deal for us, so stay out of the way and let UHC negotiate.

Sometimes the best course of action is to not take action.

City Council Feedback: I Did Win That District

2008-12-04T00:45:00.009-06:00

I'm not sure I agree that I'm too conservative for the Jim Vokal city council district. I'm not sure I was too conservative for the county board district I just lost.

How can I say that?

In my race, the Democrat got 500 fewer votes in 2008 than in 2004. The total turnout was 2,000 votes less than in 2004. My conclusion: I was done in by the mud bombs dropped on me in the final days -- including he likes big government and wants to raise your taxes (he's not conservative enough!) -- plus discouraged Republicans staying home, perhaps in part because of the mud bombs portraying me as a big-guv fiscal liberal.

I got 3,400 fewer votes than in 2004. I was not a perfect candidate or commissioner, but I was a scandal-free incumbent. Losing 24% of my support from 2004 was striking.

I suppose the Democrat got some of those votes, but remember that the Democratic candidate also received fewer votes. There was a Green Party candidate who got a couple-thousand votes, but I doubt those were people who voted for me. The problem for me was that too many conservative voters didn't vote for me.

The district I represented as a state senator covered much of the same territory Jim Vokal represents. I was the same pro-life fiscal conservative then that I am now.

City Council Feedback: You're Too Far Right

2008-12-03T00:45:00.004-06:00

Interesting batch of comments to my post about running for the council.

There were several references to my positions in this blog be too candidly conservative for the general voting public.
That could be true. I think the reason I have had some success campaigning is that I'm much nicer in person than I am on paper or screen. :) In my campaign materials I try to accentuate the positive and even mix in some humor.
I think people who have served with me in the Nebraska Legislature and on the Douglas County Board would say I am one of the more pleasant and reasonable colleagues to work with.
One of my favorite constituent letters was from my first year in the legislature. A constituent wrote that he disagreed with me on abortion and other issues, but he respected that fact that I had solid reasons for positions on various issues and seemed to be working hard.
But is a problem to shoot from the hip in politics. That wisecrack incorporated into my logo for this blog -- Was I thinking out loud, again? -- was the unofficial slogan of my first campaign developed by exasperated volunteers who implored me to tone it down, at least on certain issues.
A smart politician wouldn't be blogging at all, right? And he certainly wouldn't be messing around with talk radio!

Why Believe in God?

2008-12-02T00:45:00.005-06:00

That was the question columnist Leonard Pitts addressed in a recent column.

Apparently Pitts had seen a billboard posing that question. Pitts spun it into a conversation with God.

God suggested that Pitts go ahead and answer the question. When Pitts started in about proof of God's existence, God cut him off and said the billboard wasn't questioning His existence. The billboard was asking, Why believe in Him?

Pitts' answer was that he believes in God because nothing else makes sense.
I need more than that.

The question reminded me of a concentration camp movie (might have been a version of Elie Wiesel's Night) in which prisoners put God on trial. On the question of whether they should believe in God as their Lord, one argument was no, God is not worthy of such worship because he is not good, He is not keeping His covenant with His chosen people. God was a bully who happened to be on our side for a while, the argument went, but He was never really good. And now He has turned on us and is allowing us to be wiped off the face of the Earth, so how can we possibly believe in Him?

The presence and effect of evil does not extinguish my belief in God for two reasons.

First, God has to allow evil or we are nothing more than robots, dolls in His menagerie, puppets on divine strings. If we are not free to do evil as well as good, then we are not free.

The critics will say that's a nice theory, but it doesn't do much good for the innocent people who, through no wrongdoing of their own, suffer harm or death because others choose to do evil. God sits up in His divine sky box and looks on while incredible horrors are committed against innocent people.

That brings me to the second reason: God took His own medicine. God became man. God the Father joined us as God the Son in the arena of life on Earth and suffered the consequences of allowing humans free will.

God the Son knew fear as well as suffering. During the agony in the garden, the Son asked the Father if there was another way to accomplish salvation without the torture and death that were imminent.

I've been told that Protestant churches display a cross instead of the crucifix (Jesus nailed to the cross) displayed in Catholic Churches. The point of Protestants is that the empty cross signifies that Jesus beat the cross. He is risen from the dead and in Heaven, not stuck forever on that cross.

True enough. It's the resurrection that confirms Jesus' divinity. But it's the Passion that confirms God was one of us and took his lumps right along with us. If I had the money, I'd affix a huge crucifix to the "Why believe?" billboard.

That's a lot of preaching for a layman. I'll stop before I get into trouble . . . if I haven't already.

Thank You, Salem!

2008-12-01T00:45:00.002-06:00

So ends the latest run of Check with Chip on the radio.

Thank you to General Manager Greg Vogt, Nick the producer who helped make it sound like I knew what I was doing hosting a radio show, and all the friendly people at Salem. I really enjoyed the shows on KOTK and KCRO.

If anybody out there wants to sponsor another run of Check with Chip, please let me know!

Should I Run for the City Council?

2008-11-28T00:45:00.005-06:00

Let the suggestions (and arrows) fly!

The dust was still settling from Nov. 4 when I started hearing from people about running for the city council.

I live in Jim Vokal's council district. Jim has been talking about running for mayor. The council and mayoral offices are in the same cycle, so Jim has to choose between running for re-election to the council or running for mayor.

Well, the third option is to run for neither, but he's in solid shape on the council and has a well-known interest in running for mayor, so it's likely to be a run for one of the two offices.

I called Jim a couple weeks ago. He was still sorting through his decision so I said I would sit back and let him figure out what he wanted to do.

But the more noise he makes about running for mayor, the more I hear from people about running for that council seat if Jim leaves it open.

I was kind of hoping to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas and then decide. But Jim seems in the newspaper to be a guy running for mayor. One political veteran thinks I should be ready with an announcement the day after Jim's to say I'm running for that seat. I'm sure candidates will emerge if it's confirmed that the seat is open.

The competitor in me looks forward to getting get right back in the arena and on the winning track. The husband, father, and working man in me knows that jumping right back into another campaign would be grueling for the family.

And of course there's serious work to do to maintain -- in some ways restore -- the momentum Omaha has developed over the last 10-15 years.

The floor is open.

God + Capitalism = Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T00:45:00.005-06:00

Thanksgiving ranks with Independence Day as the most genuinely American of holidays.

This is not a Hallmark holiday. This comes right from the heart of the American experience.

Rush Limbaugh has a good recap of the origin of Thanksgiving. Two main points: 1) it was God, not the Indians, that the Pilgrims were thanking, and 2) after a rough start marked by sickness and starvation, Plymouth Colony turned prosperous when the colonists abandoned their collectivist plan and let people work their own plots.

Click here for the Limbaugh recap.

Bowl Extravaganza Made for Thanksgiving Weekend

2008-11-26T00:45:00.004-06:00

Tonight should be the kickoff of college football's version of March Madness.

Click here for the scenario I laid out in January.

Words Worth Remembering

2008-11-25T00:45:00.002-06:00

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred.

Government cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than received. You cannot build character and courage by taking away initiative and independence. Government cannot help people permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

Who said it? Ronald Reagan? William Buckley? Margaret Thatcher?

Those words were spoken by Abraham Lincoln.

Media voices already are comparing Barack Obama to Lincoln. I thought those words were timely.

Indeed, they are timeless.

Bowl Speculation in Full Gear

2008-11-24T00:45:00.006-06:00

The view from a Big 12 optimist.

Apparently if Nebraska takes care of Colorado, the Huskers will be invited to play in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. Nice. And the opponent is shaping up to be Florida State. Even better. It's starting to feel like Big Red football again.

Now let's get creative. That Gator Bowl matchup would be spiced up by Florida State beating Florida. Then Florida beats Alabama in the SEC championship game.

That would clear the way for an Oklahoma-Texas rematch for the national championship. That's how Steve Spurrier got his title at Florida, a rematch with Florida State in which Florida avenged its loss to FSU.

Colt McCoy for Texas and Sam the Indian for Oklahoma. Right out of central casting.

If it's the Sun Bowl in El Paso for Nebraska instead of the Gator, will Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops pull a Barry Switzer and show up on the set of the Bo Pelini show with a bag of tacos for his good buddy? Pelini might not be as good-humored as Tom Osborne was.

A Youngstown smack down right on the spot. Great TV.

Tune in Tomorrow for this Year's Best Christmas Gift

2008-11-21T00:45:00.003-06:00

Paul Rea will be in studio tomorrow to talk about the stocking-stuffer of the year, his new book, The Legend of Lil' Red.

I must be honest. I've never been a fan of the inflatable mascot that roams the sidelines at Nebraska football games. But I'm a big fan of the tale of sportsmanship that Paul has spun for children in connection with Lil' Red.

The truth is, adults are as captivated as children with this take on Nebraska football that does not follow the conventional pattern.

Click here for the web site, where you can see examples of the eye-popping illustrations in the book.

Tune in tomorrow to learn about the unusual twist that makes this children's book a bit edgier -- and more compelling -- than the typical book of its kind.

Prop 8 Showdown Brewing

2008-11-20T00:45:00.002-06:00

Lawsuits have been filed challenging the state constitutional amendment approved by California voters that defined marriage as a union of a man and a woman.

At this point it isn't even the subject that matters. It's the democratic process.

Perhaps there were errors in the petition process for the amendment of which I am unaware. Absent something technical or procedural such as that, this is a moment of truth where the core of the American system of government is at stake. The people of California have voted on a public policy issue. The constitution supersedes all three branches of government, including the courts.

At least it's supposed to. The constitution is the direct expression of the will of the people, who are sovereign. If a disgruntled minority can get a court to judicially veto a valid expression of the will of the people on a public policy matter, that invites actual rebellion from the majority. See: Roe v. Wade.

Graphic Abortion Video

2008-11-19T00:45:00.005-06:00

This is not for children.

Although I'm starting to change my mind.

"It's bad for children." That's the argument against the "truth truck" and other displays of aborted fetuses -- or parts of them.

But maybe children should see such displays. Maybe adults need to ask, why must we shield children from the reality of abortion? If society permits it, why must it be hidden?

Comparison to war or the death penalty or other examples of carnage do not apply. There is no threat justifying the violence against more than a million unborn every year. It's not necessary. It is, indeed, a choice.

Am I an extremist for providing a link to the video? Watch what is done and tell me who the extremists are on this issue.

Click here and scroll down the page for the video by Eduardo Verastegui, star of the pro-life movie Bella.

Another Lefty Hypocrite on Education

2008-11-18T00:45:00.004-06:00

The Obamas, opponents of vouchers for poor children, are searching for a private school for their daughters. I go crazy over lefties who fight school choice but don't dare put their children in public schools.

I am a left-wing-socialist-communist on educational opportunity. The government ought to make sure every child has a fair shot at a good education. We don't have as many blue-collar jobs. Most people must rely on brain rather than brawn in the 21st century economy.

Put the money in the hands of families and let them decide where to spend it to educate their children. Actually I'm not a pinko because I want to put the free-market power in the hands of citizens. Schools wouldn't get money unless they attracted students. What a concept.

Is Nebraska Stronger or Is the Schedule Weaker?

2008-11-17T00:45:00.004-06:00

I share the enthusiasm over the Cornhuskers exceeding their win total of last year and qualifying for a bowl game. But . . .

Kansas and Kansas State are weaker than last year. Same for Colorado. Our defense has failed to stop good teams, and even a mediocre team such as Virginia Tech. Our offense has not been effective against the best teams.

The one, strange outlier in the season is the game at Texas Tech. The defense was gashed per usual, but the offense was amazingly poised and effective. But that image was shattered at Oklahoma.

It's that OU game that gives me pause. Total collapse on offense and defense. That wasn't supposed to happen anymore.

A staggering Colorado ought to be destroyed at Lincoln Nov. 28. A bowl game will be the next chance to see if NU has, on balance, made progress this season.

No More Bailouts

2008-11-14T00:45:00.005-06:00

No-fail capitalism isn't capitalism.

John Campbell argued that the recent bailout of the banking system was the other shoe dropping after the farm bailout of the 1980s.

Maybe, but something still bothers me about shaking down taxpayers to cushion the pain people and institutions should feel for making bad economic decisions.

It seems like trickle-up PC self-esteem from the schools to the adult world. No keeping score. Everybody wins, nobody loses.

Except the taxpayer.

Populism Is Still Kicking

2008-11-13T00:45:00.005-06:00

The success of Proposition 8 in California means the people have not rolled over and quit on self-government by majority rule in a free and democratic society.

I'm conflicted over homosexuality because I have known people and read credible stories about people who have prayed on their knees to God for an attraction to the opposite sex, but to no avail.

I definitely draw the line when people go beyond toleration to endorsement, forcing people in all manner of ways to accommodate homosexuality.

But let's forget about the subject matter and instead celebrate the political process functioning properly.

Defining marriage is a public policy issue. The California Supreme Court did what courts often do these days -- it exceeded its judicial mandate and decided to make public policy from the bench by legalizing same-sex marriage.

The people decided to take back their policy-making authority by passing a state constitutional amendment that says marriage is only between a man and woman.

Procedurally, that's the way it should be. I realize there are protests against the amendment, but they have no true basis for success. The constitution is the direct expression of the will of the people and it supersedes a court decision. As long as no laws were broken in getting the proposed amendment on the ballot, that should be the end of it.

Too Soon for Blackshirts

2008-11-12T00:45:00.004-06:00

Clearly the Nebraska Cornhusker defense is playing better than it did last year. But not that much better.

At home the defense has given up 33 points to Virginia Tech (weak offense), 45 to Missouri (great offense), and 35 to Kansas (good offense). At Oklahoma 11 days ago the defense gave up 55. The dogmeat teams are the only offenses Nebraska has stopped.

Maybe the players are giving maximum effort and that was the basis of the decision. Bo Pelini doesn't strike me as "self-esteem" coddler. I just thought the results, the numbers allowed in yardage and points, would have to be better to merit Blackshirt status.

Listen to me. 9-4 with a bowl win is plausible for this program that was in utter disarray a year ago.

It's great to round back into form as a spoiled Nebraska fan.

I Love War Movies

2008-11-11T00:45:00.004-06:00

I've never served in the military. I've never even fired a weapon. What I love in war movies is the clear contrast between good and evil.

I love movies that show the Nazis in all their strength and efficiency and order and discipline and grit and ruthlessness and brutality and apparent invincibility. Knowing they lose and we win gives me hope about a whole range of struggles, large and small, that I face personally and that we face as a society.

And it reminds me that what we have here in America is not the norm. Any violence we suffer is generally self-inflicted, inflicted by Americans on Americans. We do not have to worry about outside threats as people in most of the rest of the world do.

As a father, I do not have to worry about shielding my children from bombs or sniper fire. This may sound strange, but it's the indignity of war that bothers me as much as the threat of injury or death. I can walk my girls to school or take them around on a bike ride or a coach a little league practice at a nearby ball field in dignity and peace.

I have had nightmares about my children, especially my young daughters, looking to me for protection from forces that are beyond my control. I can't deliver and it leaves me feeling angry and unworthy of the mission God has given me as father of my children.

One of the most haunting scenes in one of the World War II movies (I forget which one) about persecution of the Jews was a small boy crying and trying to wake up his dead father who is sprawled pathetically on the street in the midst of a chaotic movement of desperate people.

Thanks to the American military, that's not me -- or my child feeling abandoned and terrified.

God bless the American veterans.

There Is No Government Solution to Out-of-Wedlock Birth

2008-11-10T00:45:00.003-06:00

The problem of out-of-wedlock birth won't be solved by a government program.

Last week Ryan took after me for praising Barack Obama for his call to fatherhood on the campaign trail, but then not proposing a solution to the problem.

Apparently Ryan was looking for another government program with a budget and rhetoric about empowerment and politically correct bullet points and maybe a 5-year plan. Blah, blah, blah.

The solution is to stop drive-by breeding. Black leaders that I have talked to know this. You would recognize their names. They're just afraid to say it.

And I repeat what I said last week that the problem is not confined to the black community.

You'll find no one more passionate about education and job training than I am, but none of it matters if the dysfunctional behavior of producing children out of wedlock becomes the rule rather than the exception. And that's coming from Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

Click here for more.

Good News on Stem Cell Research

2008-11-07T00:45:00.001-06:00

For those of us who love stem cell research but don't want embryos destroyed to do it, the national election results were scary. But the news was good in Nebraska.

As has always been true, the entire Nebraska congressional delegation remains opposed to destruction of embryos for stem cell research.

Tim Clare won big in the race for the Lincoln-based seat on the NU Board of Regents. The regents govern all the NU campuses and set the general parameters for research. Clare's opponent made advocacy of embryo-destructive stem cell research the number one issue in the campaign.

Clare's victory means that 5 of 8 regents favor stem cell research without resorting to human cloning or destruction of human embryos.

State law now bans cloning and embryo destruction at state facilities in Nebraska, but, per federal guidelines, research with stem cells from embryos destroyed elsewhere prior to August 2001 can continue. If federal policy becomes more permissive and federal funding is allowed for renewed destruction of embryos for research, will the regents allow research in the NU system with embryonic stem cells harvested after August 2001?

Because they were split 4-4 on destroying embryos for stem cells, the policy of the regents had been to follow federal guidelines. If federal policy becomes more permissive, my side hopes that a 5-3 majority of regents will be emboldened to hold the line in Nebraska.

Will Obama Condemn Drive-By Breeding?

2008-11-06T00:45:00.001-06:00

In connection with Father's Day this year, Barack Obama "went Cosby" and made some strong statements about fatherhood. Now if we could channel some of that fatherhood impulse into not leaving newborns in the hospital's soiled utility closet to cry themselves to death.

In society generally, but especially in the black community, the belief that government can solve all your problems has reached fever pitch with the election of Obama.

Welfare advocates might be able to squeeze more money out of the government and "spread the wealth around," but the problems plaguing the black community, and spreading across racial and ethnic lines, will not be solved until the out-of-wedlock birth rate is brought back down into single digits.

It's two-thirds in the black community. It's over 30% in Douglas County, Nebraska.

Obama could do so much good by calling out all men, not just black men, on this issue.

I volunteer to keep sharp instruments away from Jesse Jackson.

Postmortem by the Corpse

2008-11-05T10:58:00.006-06:00

I submitted a column to the Omaha World-Herald. It was rejected. Click below to read it.

I knew I was in trouble when my fourth-grade daughter came home from school on Election Day and said one of her classmates had announced that “Chip Maxwell stinks because he wants to raise our taxes.”

Laura the Righteous set the record straight in her class. I was not as successful in my campaign.

My opponent saved for the final days of the Douglas County Board District 5 contest a series of mailings alerting voters to my nefarious record so far, and my evil agenda for the future. In the final three days I tried to respond with facts in mailers, flyers, radio ads, the Internet, phone calls, and door-to-door campaigning with the help of family and friends, but the avalanche of mud was too much.

One of my opponent’s hit pieces accused me of giving “property tax breaks to political appointees and multi-millionaires.” Examples given were the Witherspoon mansion, the state tax commissioner’s protest, and a home in Ponca Hills. If you aren’t one of these special people, the flyer screamed, “You Lose!”

My opponent made it seem that I was unilaterally granting backroom tax favors to big shots. The truth is that these cases are handled by the entire board in the course of regular business at public meetings, and people of various circumstances receive valuation reductions.

Reasonable people can disagree on such cases. I thought county government mistreated the mansion owner and the tax commissioner, and I don’t care what the status of the taxpayer is. Government should not be allowed to mistreat taxpayers with impunity.

Of the third case, my opponent said, “Value reduced to $100 for Ponca Hills home that later sold for $251,000.” So (according to my opponent) the valuation was pushed down to a basically tax-free level for one of the favored few, and that person proved it was an unethical sweetheart deal by later selling the home for $251,000.

Here are the facts. A $350,000 home was built on a cliff in Ponca Hills. Part of the cliff gave way. The foundation of the home cracked and there was doubt about whether it was habitable. The experts hired by the county board to review such cases determined that the property was virtually worthless and recommended reducing the valuation to $100, which the board did.

Then a buyer came along who apparently believes the cliff can be restored and the home can be repaired or rebuilt. The buyer paid $251,000 for the property.

Such grotesque misrepresentation of the truth by my opponent on this and other items poisons the political atmosphere. It makes citizens more cynical and suspicious toward government.

But it does work.

On the campaign trail the day before the election, a voter complained about political mud-slinging, but then admitted she was going to vote against me based on the mud dumped on me by my opponent. After hearing all the facts, she said she would vote for me, but I walked away from her door wondering how many others were convinced I was the bogeyman.

Apparently about 3,400.

As a Republican, I was expecting a higher-than-2004 surge of Democratic votes for my opponent because of the Obama campaign. It didn’t happen.

In 2004, I received 14,426 votes and the Democrat received 12,983. This year, I received 11,016 votes. My Democratic opponent received 12,455 votes – 528 fewer than the Democrat received in 2004. Even when you add the votes for the Green Party candidate and write-ins, this year fewer votes were cast in my district than in 2004.

I was not swamped by a Democratic tsunami. I lost the election because I lost 3,410 votes that I had in 2004. Was it because dispirited Republicans stayed home? Possibly. And there’s always more you can do as a candidate – for that matter, as an officeholder, too.

But a 24-percent drop in support for a scandal-free incumbent? Here’s my congratulatory toast to my opponent: Mud works!

However, it works only if voters let it work. The next time such propaganda comes at you, apply a high burden of proof before you accept it as true.

Election Day Prayer

2008-11-04T07:50:00.005-06:00

Are you the praying kind? Here's what I pray for.

I've never asked God for victory. I've always thought that was insulting. God is not a magician.

I ask God for two things: 1) help me perform my best as a candidate, and 2) open people's minds and hearts to give me fair consideration.

It's that second one that scares me. I've had some conversations with voters in these final days that indicate mud works. Maxwell wants to raise your taxes and make government bigger. Maxwell grants special property tax favors to big shots and doesn't care about the rest of us.

When they get all the facts they tell me they support me, but what about those who don't get all the facts? I hope through mail, radio ads, and door-to-door leafleting, I've been able to get my rebuttal out.

I can handle losing a good, clean fight, which is what my previous campaigns have been. I would have warmly congratulated my opponents in those races.

Not so this time.

I hope voters base their decisions on the facts.

Maxwell for County Board: Washing Away the Mud

2008-11-04T00:50:00.002-06:00

My opponent has tried to bury me in an avalanche of mud. Let's pull out the fire hose, blast away the mud, and reveal the facts.

TAXES: One hit piece shows a roller coaster and says I want to take you for a ride and make you pay higher taxes.

The truth is, I’d like to shift more of your tax burden to sales tax, but only if the property tax is abolished. My opponent forgot to mention that part.

Every year I served in the state legislature was a brutal budget crisis, and the pressure was intense to raise taxes. I said no, we should instead use the opportunity to overhaul state spending, especially the nonsensical way we fund K-12 education. Since I joined the county board in 2005, the county’s property tax rate has gone down 8.6%.

I’m a tenacious defender of the taxpayer. Any change I advocate will benefit the taxpayer. I’ve proven that in my 8 years in public office, and you can count on me to keep looking out for the taxpayer.

MERGER: Another hit piece says I’m for “forced” merger of Omaha and Douglas County into one municipal county to create bigger and more expensive government.

First of all, there’s no such thing as “forced” city-county merger. A commission would be formed, there would be public hearings and opportunities for revision, and finally a vote of the people. There are many ways to put together a merger package that makes sense for the taxpaying public. Other places around the country have done it, and so can we.

If my opponent wants to make an issue of merger, that’s fine with me. Government insiders and special interests hate merger. The taxpaying public loves merger. The one time the concept of merger was on the ballot, there was overwhelming support from every corner of Douglas County. Ninety percent of Douglas County residents also live in Omaha. The public understands that we don’t need two houses of local government to manage local services.

WITHERSPOON MANSION: Another hit piece accused me of giving “property tax breaks to political appointees and multi-millionaires.”

The Witherspoon property was valued at $1.6 million. The county assessor tried to raise the valuation to $2.6 million. The owner challenged it all the way through the protest system and won a ruling from the state supreme court in his favor.

The next year, the assessor again tried to raise the valuation to $2.6 million. The county board said no, that’s not fair to the taxpayer. In a system that favors the government every step of the way, the taxpayer played by the rules and won. I don’t care if he’s a millionaire or a fry cook at a diner. To turn right around and jack up his valuation denies the taxpayer his victory. And it keeps happening year after year even though there have been no transactions or improvements to the property.

My opponent calls this giving a break to a millionaire. I call it justice for a taxpayer who won his case against the government fair and square.

TAX COMMISSIONER: A homeowner who happens to be the state tax commissioner challenged his valuation. The county acknowledged that it incorrectly measured his property and overstated the square footage. The county promised to remeasure the property and negotiate a settlement based on the proper measurements.

After agreeing to a settlement, the taxpayer discovered that the county had not remeasured the property, so the settlement was not based on corrected measurements. The county’s reply: Sorry, sucker, you signed the settlement agreement so you’re out of luck. The county board thought the taxpayer deserved better, but provisions of state law prevented the board from granting relief to the taxpayer.

Yes, I did want to help the taxpayer. Again, I don’t care about his income or stature. Government should not be allowed to treat taxpayers that way. My opponent calls the effort to help the taxpayer a special deal for a big shot. I call it justice for a mistreated taxpayer.

CLIFFHANGER: A $350,000 home was built on the edge of a cliff in Ponca Hills. Part of the cliff collapsed. The foundation of the home cracked and there was doubt about whether it was habitable. The team of real estate experts hired by the county board to review property valuation cases determined that the property was virtually worthless and reduced the valuation to $100.

A buyer came along who believes the cliff can be restored and the home can be repaired or rebuilt. The buyer paid $251,000 for the property.

That’s great. I hope it works out. But my opponent presented this as Chip Maxwell orchestrating a sweetheart deal where the owner got his valuation knocked down to basically a tax-free level, then got to sell it for $251,000. As you can see, that’s not true.

NO BACKROOM DEALS: In all these property tax cases, contrary to the impression given by my opponent, it was not me unilaterally granting tax favors. These cases were handled by the entire board in the course of regular business at public meetings.

MEETING ATTENDANCE: My opponent said his attendance was near perfect when he was on the Omaha City Council. Then he chided me for not attending meetings of the county hospital board.

Did you catch the misdirection, the comparison of apples to oranges? He's not talking about my attendance at county board meetings. He's talking about county hospital board meetings.

I have attended meetings (2 or 3) of the hospital board when they have been incorporated into our regular Tuesday meetings, but I do not go to the hospital for its board meetings.

The hospital is one of many agencies and departments of county government. I could be going to meetings nonstop. I see the commissioner as someone surveying the overall picture and not trying to micromanage agencies/departments.

On specifics, we divide and conquer. We have committees focused on particular agencies/departments. For instance, we have a commissioner who monitors health and human services matters, including the hospital, and we get regular reports from the hospital and other agencies/departments. If something needs special attention, the rest of the board will be alerted to it.

My attendance at county board meetings is, like my opponent's on the city council, nearly perfect.

CIVILITY: The absolute topper is my opponent’s claim that he is the champion of civility in government, while Chip Maxwell “often resorts to name-calling when he disagrees with someone.” If you check with my colleagues and others familiar with my record of public service, I think they will tell you that I take strong positions on issues, but always with a live-and-let-live spirit.

This is my third campaign for public office and every campaign message I have ever put out has been positive. This message has a sharper edge to it, but that’s because I’m now learning why my opponent was one of the most divisive members of the Omaha City Council, and why he was voted out by his constituents. I’m not going to let anyone negatively spin my record the way my opponent is attempting to do.

No More Mr. Nice Guy

2008-10-31T09:12:00.003-05:00

It's been an eventful week. I expect to be sporting a pair of horns and a tail in the next Marc Kraft flyer.

I'm not repealing my ode to the Benson Neighborhood Association candidate forum, but a hit piece portraying me as the fixer for millionaires and political big shots requires an edgier response than is typical for me.

A third Kraft hit piece zinged me on three property-tax protests: the Witherspoon mansion, the state tax commissioner, and one in Ponca Hills where the cliff on which a home was perched collapsed. The assertion is that the board -- by the way, we operate by majority rule; no one commissioner gets to throw his weight around and grant unilateral favors to protesters -- was too generous in reducing valuations in those cases.

The cliff-collapse case speaks for itself. The problem with the other two was that county government screwed the taxpayer. Doesn't matter if the taxpayer is a millionaire or a tax commissioner or a cook at a fast food joint, if the government doesn't follow its own rules and keep its promises, the taxpayer deserves to win.

But there's no time to get into specifics in a radio ad, and I don't know what may surface next, so I recorded an all-purpose response that I affectionately call "Mud." It's the first time I've done anything like this, but I felt it was necessary to draw the line.

Here's the text:

I’m Douglas County Commissioner Chip Maxwell, I’m running for re-election to the county board, and I need a fire hose to wash off all the mud my opponent Marc Kraft is throwing at me.

I’ve held my tongue until now, but now I understand why Marc Kraft was one of the most divisive figures on the Omaha City Council and why he was voted out by his constituents. He distorts my record by neglecting to mention key facts that explain my votes and proposals on tough issues. And of course that’s the game – throw the mud late so there’s no chance to respond.

Please call me at my county board office or at home, both numbers are in the phone book, and I’ll be glad to visit with you about the parade of horribles trotted out by my opponent in recent days.

You know, we have a good thing going on the county board. Don’t let Marc Kraft do to the county board what he did to the city council.

I’m Douglas County Commissioner Chip Maxwell and I would appreciate your vote. Paid for by Maxwell for County Board.

Politics at Its Best

2008-10-31T00:45:00.001-05:00

Could you stand something positive about political campaigning? The hit pieces against me have not diminished the warm glow that emanated from the Benson Baptist Church Monday night.

You should have been there. Peggy Gilmore and the Benson Neighborhood Association hosted a candidate forum. The whole food chain was invited, from the federal candidates down to those of us running for local offices.

It was not exciting. No sparks flew. But citizens stayed for 90 minutes and remained engaged the whole time. The host and audience of about 40 people asked intelligent questions. The candidates were articulate and classy.

When it was over, there was good-natured chit-chat and banter among politicians of all stripes, including adversaries in the same races, as we gathered our flyers and signs and walked to our cars.

When done right, politics can ennoble participants -- citizens as well as candidates. It doesn't have to be mud wrestling.

Chip Maxwell: The Republican Who Fights Like a Democrat

2008-10-30T00:45:00.001-05:00

As they say in the Ghostbusters movies, "I've been slimed!"

My opponent put out two hit pieces about my "crazy" ideas to raise taxes and make government bigger and more expensive. It's the first time in three campaigns that an opponent has taken cheap shots at me.

I guess Republicans are supposed to stoically absorb such blows and not retaliate.

Guess again.

There's a spoof country-western song (at least I think it's a spoof) about a family taking its firearms along on a patriotic vacation across America. The refrain is: "We don't look for trouble but by golly if we're in it, it's nice to know we're free to blow 900 rounds a minute."

I've never handled a firearm by I love that policy.

My opponent offers some targets of opportunity from his record, but I do not respond by going after him. I go after the caricatures of my positions.

It's kind of fun in that it forces me to sharpen my messages, but it's hard to respond in kind when I don't have time to produce and send a rebuttal mailer.
I tweaked my radio ads to address the assertions. I can't figure out how to get audio files in this blog, so I'm afraid all I can offer is the test of my messages.

TAXES:

I’m Douglas County Commissioner Chip Maxwell and I’m running for re-election to the county board. My opponent put out a hit piece on me showing a roller coaster and saying I want to take you for a ride and make you pay higher taxes.

I’d like to shift more of your tax burden to sales tax, but only if the property tax is abolished. My opponent forgot to mention that part.

Every year I served in the state legislature was a brutal budget crisis, and the pressure was intense to raise taxes. I said no, we should instead use the opportunity to overhaul state spending, especially the nonsensical way we fund K-12 education.

Since I joined the county board in 2005, the county’s property tax rate has gone down 8.6%. I’m a tenacious defender of the taxpayer. Any change I advocate will benefit the taxpayer. I’ve proven that in my 8 years in public office, and you can count on me to keep looking out for the taxpayer.

I’m Douglas County Commissioner Chip Maxwell and I would appreciate your vote. Paid for by Maxwell for County Board.

MERGER:

I’m Douglas County Commissioner Chip Maxwell and I’m running for re-election to the county board. My opponent put out a hit piece on me saying I’m for forced merger of Omaha and Douglas County to create bigger and more expensive government.

First of all, there’s no such thing as forced merger. A commission would be formed, there would be public hearings and opportunities for revision, and finally a vote of the people.

There are many ways to put together a merger package that makes sense for the taxpaying public. Other places around the country have done it, and so can we.

If my opponent wants to make an issue of merger, that’s fine with me. Government insiders and special interests hate merger. The taxpaying public loves merger. The one time the concept of merger was on the ballot, there was overwhelming support from every corner of Douglas County.

90% of Douglas County residents also live in Omaha. The public understands that we don’t need two houses of local government to manage local services.

I’m Douglas County Commissioner Chip Maxwell and I would appreciate your vote. Paid for by Maxwell for County Board.

Yikes! Did He Say MY Name?

2008-10-29T00:45:00.001-05:00

A local political analyst on the radio this morning speculated about Jim Esch winning and mentioned me as part of the next wave of Republicans going for the House seat. I don't want my name connected with that kind of premature postmortem.

That makes it sound like I'm one of several vultures circling over Lee Terry.

Reality check: The vultures may be coming for my carcass next week. I'm in a tight race for re-election to the Douglas County Board.

Aside from that, any Republican who thinks it's good for Lee to lose because it provides an opening is a selfish fool. The local Democratic Party would be revived, and local and national Democrats would move Heaven and Earth to hold that seat. The best play for whoever wants to succeed Lee is to be patient.

Five years ago -- my children were small, life was relatively simple, and I knew I couldn't continue serving in the Nebraska Legislature because of the financial blow to the family budget -- I visited with Lee about his long-term plans. Now my children are older and life is much more complicated. I'm running for re-election to the county board because I have enjoyed it much more than I anticipated, and because it fits well with work and family life.

If I could write the script, Lee would hold the House seat for another 10 years while my wife and I raise our children. Then I could test my sanity by looking at a House race.

It's all moot because Lee's gonna win and I'm on my way to becoming a best-selling author and talk-radio host.

Wipe that smirk off your face.

Tax Policy: We'll Have to Talk about This Saturday

2008-10-28T00:45:00.001-05:00

Ryan (see yesterday's post) isn't buying the beer-drinking analogy. We'll have to get into it on my show.

Meanwhile, I wonder if the beer-drinking analogy could be tweaked to account for the increase in revenue produced by tax cuts. Not sure how that would work, but the 1980s and 1990s proved that reducing taxes raises revenue. David Stockman lost his nerve, but supply-side economics produced unprecedented economic growth plus a corresponding surge of tax dollars into the federal treasury.

Someone smarter than I am will have to figure how to revise the analogy.

Tax Policy So Simple That Lefties Will Hate It

2008-10-27T00:45:00.001-05:00

This is why conservatives' blood pressure when people like Barack Obama yammer about taxing the rich at higher rates and spreading the wealth around to everyone else, even those who don't pay taxes.

This has been going around the Internet for a few years. I saw it for the first time the other day when mt friend, Chris, forwarded it to me.

Snopes says the authorship is not determined. So what? The message is unassailable.

* * *

Ten men go out for beer every night and the total nightly bill is $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $3.

The seventh would pay $7.

The eighth would pay $12.

The ninth would pay $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

One day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20." Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share?

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).

The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free.

But once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Drop That Stone, Rural Citizen

2008-10-24T00:45:00.003-05:00

Remember the column on the bailout that I told you was coming this week? It ran yesterday. We'll talk about it tomorrow. Click below to read it.

Omaha World-Herald
Oct. 23, 2008

Recall when farmers needed a bailout

BY JOHN B. CAMPBELL

The writer, of Omaha, is senior vice president at Ag Processing Inc. He was a deputy U.S. secretary of agriculture from 1989 to 1991.

Something historic happened in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 3. Twenty-six Republicans and 32 Democrats in the House of Representatives defied the mob — even though it endangered their political prospects just four weeks ahead of Election Day.

These 58 courageous politicians changed their vote on the $700 billion bank rescue package. The bill was different than the one they voted against on Monday of the same week, but that really did not matter to angry constituents telephoning and e-mailing against the rescue package by about 100-to-1.

The rescue votes were especially difficult for conservatives pledged to balance budgets and limit government: Do you appear to violate your principles and anger your constituents by voting “yes,” or do you vote “no” and risk global economic meltdown?

I spent that week working with members of Congress on the rescue package. It reminded me of the wisdom of our Founding Fathers. They established a representative republic — not a direct democracy. Some founders, led by Alexander Hamilton, established an early form of an independent central banking system.

As the consequences of living beyond our means unfold, we see representative democracy awkwardly rising to the occasion — but rising nonetheless.

The financial trouble we see today, in hindsight, was predictable. It’s very similar to the farm crisis of the 1980s, when 328 rural commercial banks failed. Trouble in the Farm Credit System peaked in 1985, with $15 billion in toxic debt and $2.7 billion in losses. That led Congress to craft the $4 billion Agricultural Credit Act rescue package, signed in 1988. Write-offs in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s $33 billion portfolio totaled $1.8 billion that year.

The 1970s were an inflationary period. Rural bankers happily lent farmers as much money as they wanted, assuming land prices would keep going up.

The Carter administration’s Russian grain embargo, high interest rates, a rising U.S. dollar and falling farm prices combined to bring the agricultural house of cards crashing down. Just like in today’s housing market, more land was put on the market than could be absorbed at original purchase prices.

Cash flow to pay debts fell, and farm foreclosures followed. Each time a farm sold at auction, the discounted price cycled back into the balance sheets of all farmers and their bankers. Panicked lenders forced farmers and ranchers to sell herds to pay back loans. Distressed selling created a downward cycle that “froze up” agricultural lending.

Congress forced the USDA to directly loan or indirectly guarantee a higher portion of commercial debt for overleveraged famers and bankers. A downward cycle followed, requiring more taxpayer intervention.

Legislation was passed that required loan restructuring and rescue of the government-chartered Farm Credit Administration. Farmer Mac was created to facilitate a secondary market for agricultural loans, but with stricter oversight than Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The taxpayer rescue of the Farm Credit System, along with a 1985 farm bill totaling $100 billion, stabilized the farm economy. Taxpayers ultimately recouped their investment in the Farm Credit System rescue.

Fast-forward to today. Members of the House Agriculture Committee, on a bipartisan basis, overwhelmingly rejected the first bank rescue package. By the end of that week, many changed their minds and voted in favor of the second package.

Do rural legislators and their constituents remember when it was our assets on the line? Urban members of Congress stepped up on behalf of rural states like Nebraska and Iowa — as they have done many times.

We can point fingers all day about how we got into our current mess. Before getting too sanctimonious about the bank rescue package, people in agriculturally dependent areas should heed the old adage, “Don’t throw stones when you live in a glass house.”

Joe the Plumber

2008-10-23T00:45:00.002-05:00

The "transformational figure" is neither Barack Obama nor Sarah Palin. It's Joe the Plumber.

The beauty of Joe Wurzelbacher of Ohio is that he wasn't seeking fame. Obama approached him and struck up a conversation. When Joe balked at Obama's tax proposal, Obama said it was necessary to "spread the wealth around."

I hope Joe speaks for most Americans when he said doesn't like the idea of government deciding who is making too much money and then redistributing it to others.

Obama and his defenders are upset that the word "socialist" is being applied to his "spread the wealth" tax policy. Obama says he's just trying to give Joe the Plumber a tax cut.

Joe would rather try to develop a business without being undermined by a rising tax burden.

Here's hoping Joe's unsolicited and genuine observation is resonating with the populist majority of voters.

Safe Haven: We Meant to Do That

2008-10-22T00:45:00.003-05:00

Some people are saying that the safe haven spectacle is an example of the law of unintended consequences. Most state senators seem anxious to amend the safe haven law to apply only to infants. But some senators are saying they intended that events play out as they have.

Nebraska's safe haven law does not limit drop-offs to infants chiefly because State Senator Ernie Chambers does not like safe haven laws of any kind, and threatened to filibuster the bill if it included an infant age limitation. A few other senators say they wanted the spectacle of teenagers being dropped off at hospitals under the safe haven law to highlight the difficulties families have in getting help for troubled teens.

One of the "we meant to do that" senators now says he will introduce a bill to provide easier access for families to mental health options for their children.

Sounds good, but why wasn't that approach taken when the safe haven law was first passed?

Even absent that option, why weren't enough senators willing to provide the votes to overcome a filibuster during the 2008 session? They seem to be pushing the governor for a special session to clean up the mess ASAP.

Quit Whining About Ayers

2008-10-21T00:45:00.002-05:00

You knew the whining about free speech was coming. That doesn't make it easier to stomach.

There's a difference between accommodating free speech and letting a radical use our university as a platform to launch another batch of brainwashed radicals into the teaching ranks.

It's not just the bombings 40 years ago. He's still attacking America. He doesn't place bombs in buildings anymore. He places "bombs" in the minds and hearts of teachers. They explode in classrooms and splatter our children with anti-American propaganda.

Here are excerpts from Ayers in 2006 cozying up to Hugo Chavez in Venezuela:

President Hugo Chavez, Vice-President Vicente Rangel, Ministers Moncada and Isturiz, invited guests, comrades. I’m honored and humbled to be here with you this morning. I bring greetings and support from your brothers and sisters throughout North America. Welcome to the World Education Forum! Amamos la revolucion Bolivariana!

This is my fourth visit to Venezuela, each time at the invitation of my comrade and friend Luis Bonilla, a brilliant educator and inspiring fighter for justice. Luis has taught me a great deal about the Bolivarian Revolution and about the profound educational reforms underway here in Venezuela under the leadership of President Chavez. We share the belief that education is the motor-force of revolution, and I’ve come to appreciate Luis as a major asset in both the Venezuelan and the international struggle — I look forward to seeing how he and all of you continue to overcome the failings of capitalist education as you seek to create something truly new and deeply humane.

I walked out of jail and into my first teaching position — and from that day until this I’ve thought of myself as a teacher, but I’ve also understood teaching as a project intimately connected with social justice. As students and teachers begin to see themselves as linked to one another, as tied to history and capable of collective action, the fundamental message of teaching shifts slightly, and becomes broader, more generous: we must change ourselves as we come together to change the world. Teaching invites transformations, it urges revolutions small and large. La educacion es revolucion!

I taught at first in something like a Simoncito — called Head Start — and eventually taught at every level in barrios and prisons and insurgent projects across the United States. I learned then that education is never neutral. It always has a value, a position, a politics. Education either reinforces or challenges the existing social order, and school is always a contested space – what should be taught? In what way? Toward what end? By and for whom? At bottom, it involves a struggle over the essential questions: what does it mean to be a human being living in a human society?

Totalitarianism demands obedience and conformity, hierarchy, command and control. Royalty requires allegiance. Capitalism promotes racism and militarism – turning people into consumers, not citizens. Participatory democracy, by contrast, requires free people coming together voluntarily as equals who are capable of both self-realization and, at the same time, full participation in a shared political and economic life.

Despite being under constant attack from within and from abroad, the Bolivarian revolution has made astonishing strides in a brief period. Venezuelans have shown the world that with full participation, full inclusion, and popular empowerment, the failings of capitalist schooling can be resisted and overcome.

This World Education Forum provides us a unique opportunity to develop and share the lessons and challenges of this profound educational project that is the Bolivarian Revolution.

This holdover hippie is still calling people "comrades." Bolivarianism is the Chavez socialist spin on the ideology of anti-colonial revolutionary Simon Bolivar, whom many South Americans revere as the George Washington of South American independence from Spain.

Who at UNL thought it was good idea to bring this guy to campus to teach teachers how to teach? Maybe bring him in as part of a panel discussion on political activism in education to get his viewpoint heard, but my impression is that this is a seminar for graduate students trying to become better teachers.

We can respect his right to free speech, but we don't have to take him seriously as an "education reformer" and trainer of teachers at our university.

Nebraska Football: Pass the Big Red Kool-Aid, I Can Almost See That North Crown

2008-10-20T00:45:00.003-05:00

You heard it here first: the Nebraska Cornhuskers could still win the Big 12 North Division.

A shattered Missouri loses two more games. Kansas loses to Texas Tech or Texas (or both). NU beats everyone except Oklahoma. NU wins the North and (yikes) gets a chance to return several favors and ruin the Longhorns' shot at a national championship.

Failing that, we still win 8 games and end up in our favorite consolation bowl (Alamo) against a Big 10 team.

That's fine as long as we don't face my alma mater, Boston College, which just beat Virginia Tech, which beat Nebraska. Oh, I'll root for the Huskers, but I'm afraid BC will beat NU, as would have been the case every year since 2003.

The ACC doesn't go the Alamo Bowl, right?