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Check out the legislative profiles section.
Filing this week
2 Robert Cooper, Plattsmouth
30 Norman Wallman, Cortland
40 Duane L. Dean, Plainview
So far there are 59 candidates that we are aware of for 20 open seats.
Larry Harvey withdraws from the 44th Legislative District Race
Interview with Pete Ricketts, January 12, 2006
Follow up interview, January 17, 2006
January 12th interview hosted by the Imperial Republican
Follow up interview was done over the phone.
Pete Ricketts got started in politics with Gambling with the Good Life, an anti-gambling organization. He learned that bad things can happen, if you don’t pay attention. He also learned that if you do get involved, you can make a tremendous difference. Gambling with the Good Life is a grass roots organization and was able to defeat the gambling measure, even though the group was outspent 20 to 1.
Pete decided to get involved when Karl Rove visited Nebraska and spoke about social security. By getting involved, Pete feels that we can make sure we keep our promises to seniors.
Pete feels that the biggest issue facing the nation domestically today is getting government spending under control. The government has grown 33% over the last four years. There is an $8 trillion debt. Pete is on the board of directors at Ameritrade. During the dotcom bust, Ameritrade had to cut its budget. Hard decisions had to be made. The company was not able to raise rates and, so, the only way to stay alive was to eliminate everything except what was required. Ameritrade survived and is now one of the leading trading houses in the nation. Pete feels this experience prepares him to work in government and to control spending.
He asks, “What are our priorities?” He answers, “We need to balance the budget. We can’t raise taxes without hurting the economy. So, the focus is on controlling spending.”
This is Pete’s first political campaign. Pete feels that his skill sets match the needs of the job. He believes we need more citizen legislators. “Someone that comes from the real world.” All of the other candidates are lawyers or lobbyists. He states that 58 of the 100 senators are lawyers. Pete feels that the nation needs representatives who reflect America better.
Pete is a Republican and a pro-life candidate. He believes that life begins at conception. He does not believe government should support destructive embryonic stem cell research.
Pete supports free and fair trade. He is a strong supporter of ethanol and domestic drilling for energy supplies. He believes the death tax needs to be eliminated. .He says that for every $1 the government collects in death taxes, people spend another $1 avoiding such taxes.
Pete feels he has a connection to the farm. His mother comes from a farming family. His motto is faith, family, and hard work. He had a paper route when he was a kid and also worked at Burger King.
His father had a policy that says the children need to get out and work in the real world. Pete could not return and work for the company until he turned 30. He had to start at the bottom – which, in his case, meant working the phones and giving quotes and confirmations. Pete is now 41.
Pete was asked what the difference was between he and Ben Nelson. He said his focus now is on the primary. But, he commented that Ben Nelson is a Democrat. He is beholden to the Democratic party. The Democrats are the minority party, meaning that they cannot set the agenda.
Pete believes the highest priority for his campaign is to control spending. Ben Nelson defended a $950,000 parking lot paid for with Federal funds for Joslyn Art Museum. Pete does not feel that is a good use of money while the U.S. is at war.
I asked what committees Pete would like to serve on in the Senate. He said the two areas of greatest interest were Ag and Appropriations. He feels that the safety nets for agriculture need to stay but that we need to move to a more market-oriented policy. He wants mandatory price reporting and transparent pricing.
I asked if he supported programs such as CREP, which pay farmers to retire land. He said, “I am still studying issues such as CREP. I am not sure if the program should be modified but if there are changes to the program, they should be made gradually.”
Pete feels the best way to make decisions is to bring in teams of people who are experts. This small group of people would then help him sort through all of the facts and would make recommendations.
Pete had another engagement so the interview ended.
I conducted a follow up phone interview and several email sessions with Pete Ricketts regarding water.
The following is a statement made by Pete Ricketts regarding water.
“I believe that water is a critical issue for the state of Nebraska. It is vital to our agricultural economy. Although it is not a federal issue and needs to be resolved at the state and local level, I understand the importance of it and believe we need to address it quickly.
I would approach this problem like any at Ameritrade: get the experts together, put them in a room and ask them to come up with a solution that works for everyone.
State and local officials are key to solving this problem. They are the people who are closest to the issue, those with the most expertise, and those with the most invested. I think we need to come up with a statewide plan – one that deals with both surface water and groundwater. We need to take a look at the way the state manages water in the broad term. All options should be on the table. One potential solution is a new state authority that leverages all our resources statewide, both financial and hydrological. But, we must remain cognizant of the importance of local control over water issues. We must work together as a state and consider multiple solutions such as transferring water from one basin to another. I am confident that Nebraskans can work out the solution without Federal involvement, and I will leverage my ability in the U.S. Senate to get resources and help implement our solutions.”
Profiles updated for
Jim Ruby - Legislature - District 24
Brad Ashford - Legislature - District 20
I ran a poll on the Chase 3000 web site. It is not a scientific poll but it permits anyone visiting the site to vote. I can see the IP of the person voting and can eliminate duplicate votes. It does not reflect the opinions of people that do not use the internet. It primarily represents the opinions of people in southwest Nebraska.
Should state legislator terms be limited by term limits?
Yes No Total Votes
172 86 258
67% 33% 100%
I have been very busy with water related issues. Hopefully will know in a few days what the Legislature will do this year, or at least try to do.
I have been updating a few of the candidate profiles. But haven't posted notes on those yet. Trying to get basic information on everyone. I interview Pete Ricketts here in Imperial on Thursday.
Larry Harvey, candidate for the 44th Legislative District announces that he had a heart attack and is reconsidering his candidacy for the Legislature.
