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announced Monday evening that he will support a Republican-led filibuster over President Barack Obama's nominee to serve on the National Labor Relations Board. The move is likely to infuriate labor groups who have fought hard for Craig Becker's nomination to serve on the five-member NLRB - and will likely give Republicans enough support to sustain a filibuster Tuesday. “Mr. Becker’s previous statements strongly indicate that he would take an aggressive personal agenda to the NLRB, and that he would pursue a personal agenda there, rather than that of the administration,” Nelson said in a statement. “This is of great concern,...

enator Ben Nelson has sold us out. He’s embarrassed Nebraskans. In a recent non-partisan poll, only 17% of Nebraskans said they approved of Nelson’s vote in exchange for the Medicaid provisions, while 64% oppose the current health care bill and 53% of Nebraskans are ‘Strongly Opposed’ to the bill. Nebraskans were not looking for special favors in this bill; rather all we wanted was our U.S. Senator to listen to the thousands of phone calls, emails, letters and faxes that we sent him, pleading him to vote ‘no’ on legislation that will burden our children for years to come. The...

Hours before his embattled boss gives his first State of the Union address, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has exposed as a bald-faced lie Barack Obama's claim made just two days ago that he had nothing to do with the much maligned deal to get the vote of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) for the Senate's healthcare bill before Christmas.Speaking to ABC News' World News Tonight anchor Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview on Monday, Obama denied being involved in what has come to be known as the "Cornhusker Kickback" SAWYER: A lot of people think you must say...

Sen. Ben Nelson (D., Neb.) reacts to the Massachusetts election in a statement (emphasis added): “Clearly, the vote showed that people are frustrated with Washington...and I am too. That frustration will likely register across the board for all incumbents. The overriding message from yesterday is that people are upset because Washington is dysfunctional and not working together for them. “The Massachusetts vote should be a wake-up call for Washington. Republicans now have 41 votes in the Senate, Democrats and Independents have 59. The 60/40 split that took us too far down the road to partisan gamesmanship is history.“The vote should...

Nelson: Like Mass. voters, I'm fed up with Washington By Jordan Fabian - 01/20/10 04:13 PM ET Centrist Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said Wednesday that he -- like voters in Massachusetts who elected Republican Scott Brown -- is frustrated with Washington. Nelson responded to Brown's Tuesday victory over Democrat Martha Coakley as Democratic leaders were scrambling to develop an alternative plan to pass healthcare legislation after Brown is seated as the 41st senator, breaking the Democratic super-majority. "Clearly, the vote showed that people are frustrated with Washington...and I am too," Nelson said in a statement. "That frustration will likely register...

Health Care: Will the administration seize the moment of Scott Brown's victory to work out real solutions, or will it follow Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid over the cliff? Or is it just about government control? Before Sen.-elect Brown became the Scott heard 'round the world, House Speaker Pelosi was asked what his victory in the bluest of blue states would mean. "Certainly the dynamic will change depending on what happens in Massachusetts," she replied in a bit of an understatement. The dynamic has changed, yet the Democrats, as the country song goes, apparently don't know when to hold them...

I've never posted a thread before. I hope I do it right. My brother was one of the plaintiffs in a case where a school bond issue was passed after the school board violated open meetings rules and gave blatantly false information in order to even get the bond issue on the ballot. (The sole engineer the school relied upon had told them the school was unsafe because of a "sagging beam", but when my brother looked with a flashlight at this "sagging beam" he found it was actually an air duct. That's just one example of the level of...

Sen. Ben Nelson's popularity in Nebraska has plummeted in the course of the health care debate, with a new survey putting the Democratic senator's approval rating at 42 percent.

If this guy was up for reelection in November instead of 2012, he’d already be preparing for a permanent vacation a la Dodd and Dorgan. As it is, he’ll limp along for two more long years — unless he finally crumbles and decides to be the 41st “no” vote after all. Or rather, the 42nd, if/when Scott Brown wins. Tell me again about running on ObamaCare in the midterms, champ. Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson and his wife were leaving dinner at a new pizza joint near their home in Omaha one night last week when a patron began complaining about...

Democrats didn't learn their lesson from the public outrage over vote buying. Sen. Ben Nelson, Nebraska Democrat, and Sen. Mary Landrieu, Louisiana Democrat, are still reeling from fallout over the hundreds of millions their states will get for a deal to buy their votes for the government health care takeover. If $400 million for those two senators generates so much anger, public outcry over a $59 billion special deal President Obama cut with unions on Thursday should be deafening.

Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-Neb.) approval ratings have slid since voting for health reform legislation, a new poll showed Sunday. 48 percent of Nebraskans say they disapprove of the way Nelson, a centrist who provided Democrats with the critical 60th vote for health reform, is handling his job. 42 percent said they approve, according to a poll by Wiese Research Associates conducted for the Omaha-World Herald. Those numbers mark a slide for Nelson, who won reelection in 2006 with nearly 64 percent of the vote. Voters' dissatisfaction with Nelson stemmed from his support for healthcare legislation, the World-Herald reported, though it...

Nebraska- Ben Nelson returned to Nebraska earlier this week to announce his imminent resignation from the position he has held, as the states Junior Senator, since 2001. Though the news came as a shock to very few of his constituents Nelson declined to acknowledge the rampant speculation that this decision was largely in response to the politician’s plummeting popularity since voting “yes” on the Health Care Reform Bill in exchange for 100 million dollars. Nelson did inform those in attendance -at the hastily arranged press conference- that he was quitting primarily because he “wanted to spend more time” with his...

Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson and his wife were leaving dinner at a new pizza joint near their home in Omaha one night last week when a patron began complaining about Nelson’s decisive vote in favor of the Senate’s health care bill. Other customers started booing. A woman yelled, “Get him the hell out of here!” And the Nelsons and their dining companions beat a hasty retreat. “It was definitely a scene in there,” said Tom Lewis, a 41-year-old dentist and registered Republican who witnessed the incident. A second witness confirmed the incident to POLITICO. It’s a new experience for Nelson....

Story from the Politico of Ben Nelson leaving a pizza restaurant in Omaha.."It was definitely a scene in there,” said Tom Lewis, a 41-year-old dentist and registered Republican who witnessed the incident...Story

The damage for the bill has been significant. In Nebraska, a Dec. 28 Rasmussen poll showed Heineman, who opposes the bill, soundly beating Mr. Nelson in a theoretical 2012 match-up, 61% to 30%. This is devastating to Nelson, who is 68 years old and was last re-elected in 2006 with 64% of the vote. The Democrats are in trouble when it comes to the health care bill in general and that legislation will likely serve as a referendum in the 2012 elections.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) now says he never intended to give his state special treatment in the Democrats' health care legislation. The moderate Democrat has been roundly criticized for a so-called "sweetheart deal" he struck with Democratic leaders in return for his support of the bill. In the deal, any expansion of Medicaid in the state of Nebraska would be paid for completely with federal funds, while other states would have to dip into their state budgets to meet the required expansion. Republicans called it the "cornhusker kickback." Now as Democrats in the House and the Senate work to merge...

Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson says he didn't hold back his vote on health care legislation just to get more money for his state, "but to fix the unfunded Medicaid mandate for all states."

As I had referenced in a previous posting, lots of State-level resistance is brewing against the congressional healthcare plan, HR3590. Now AmericanGrandJury.org has posted an article summarizing that Alabama Attorney General Troy King has gone on the offensive regarding the "Nebraska Compromise." What is the premise of the compromise? According to one of Mr. King's pressers: The "Nebraska Compromise," as it is being called, would ostensibly require the remaining 49 States to recoup the loss of Nebraska's Medicaid payments, and was added to the Senate bill in return for the vote of Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson (D). With the addition...

Sen. Ben Nelson said Thursday he has asked Democratic leadership to extend to all states the extra Medicaid funding promised to Nebraska in the health care reform bill. The Democrat wouldn't say who he has spoken to regarding the so-called "Cornhusker Kickback" but that he would see to it that Nebraska doesn't get a special deal. "At the end of the day, whatever Nebraska gets will be available to all states," Nelson said during a conference call with reporters. Nelson provided the crucial 60th vote that brought the reform bill to the full Senate after winning concessions to limit the...

Here is video of Democrat Rep. Joe Sestak saying in an interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he thought the deal Democrats made with Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson for his Health Care vote was "a disgrace." Sestak said bluntly that the Democrats have been less than open in their dealings: "At times, I find the caucus is a real disappointment. We aren't transparent, not just to the public but at times to the members . . . . "You have to give Rep. Sestak credit for being honest in these comments. What they have done in ramming through the Health...

Every week we are seeing another Democrat deciding not to run for re-election or one that is switching parties to the GOP all due to the wild, left-wing overreach indulged in by the Obama Administration and its cohorts in Congress. Connecticut's Senator Chris Dodd is only the latest heavy hitter Democrat that is looking for an "exit strategy," if you will. And with all these pols looking to jump ship, the infamous 60th vote on healthcare, Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, suddenly finds that bringing healthcare to a vote so soon was a bit of a mistake! On Wednesday, Nelson,...

Election 2010: The back-to-back Senate retirements of Byron Dorgan and Chris Dodd may be just the beginning. The people have seen the future of health care reform and found it doesn't work. Apres moi, le deluge. We don't know what the Mayan calendar says about 2010, but it's starting to look like the end of the world for Democratic electoral prospects. Americans who watched in shock as government tried to step between them and their doctors, may have the last laugh. The tea party isn't over until the angry mob votes. As rage grew over the attempt to nationalize one-sixth...

Arkansas senator rips Nebraska health care dealUpdated: Jan 06, 2010 11:56 AM EST By ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press Writer LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln said a political deal that benefits Nebraska and may have clinched a lawmaker's support for health care legislation should be removed from the bill. The Democratic senator from Arkansas on Tuesday said she was disappointed about a provision in the Senate's health care bill that will require the federal government to permanently pay the entire cost of Medicaid expansion in Nebraska, while only paying the costs of expansion in the other 49...

'It's not a special deal,'' Ben Nelson told the New York Times of the special deal that converted him into the 60th Senator for ObamaCare. "It's a fair deal. Some people said I was getting money for Nebraska. That's wrong. I was just getting rid of an underfunded federal mandate. There's nothing sleazy about it. I cracked the door open for other states." The other states think somewhat less of Mr. Nelson's benevolence. Under the "Cornhusker Kickback," the federal government will pay all of Nebraska's new Medicaid costs forever, while taxpayers in the other 49 states will see their budgets...

Thirteen state attorneys general have sent a letter to Congress threatening legal action against health care reform unless a provision in the Senate bill given to Nebraska is removed. The provision is known as the “Cornhusker Kickback,” because it gives Nebraska a permanent exemption from paying for Medicaid expenses that would be required of all the other states. This means that taxpayers in other states would be paying for an increase in Nebraska’s Medicaid population. Medicaid is a federal-state health care program for the poor. “This provision is constitutionally flawed,” the attorneys general wrote. “As chief legal officers of our...

Move over Psychic Friends Network. Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson just became the latest contender for the infomercial throne. He’s pitching his own brand of healthcare snake oil. And, he’s sealing the sale in truest infomercial pitchman form, with the bogus guarantee: “Remember, folks, it’s not run by government.” Even the infamous PFN was never so shameless. At least they always added the caveat: “For entertainment purposes only.” Ben Nelson, of course, can’t do that – because his infomercial is no more entertaining that it is honest. After having voted to saddle every citizen of Nebraska (as well as the nation...

Here is my letter to Omaha Steaks (custserv@omahasteaks.com) & their reply re: Ben Nelson support and boycott of Omaha Steaks- My name is ____ (Atomic Vomit). I have gifted others with your fine beef over the years. Now that I have found that your company is a major contributor to Sen. Ben Nelson I will no longer purchase or accept your products. You support Ben Nelson- I dont support you. Pass this on to Senator Nelson. He's costing your company a lot of business. Nelson wont listen to American voters. He Will listen to you. Tell Ben Nelson he's fired....

Senator Ben Nelson needs to be driven from office, either forced to resign by overwhelming public pressure, or driven from office by the powerful people who sent him there to begin with: namely, his large donors.

"Call off the dogs" is the message Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson (D) sent a coalition of Republican attorneys general examining the constitutionality of the Senate's healthcare bill, according to media reports. That request, made by Nelson's chief of staff to South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster on Thursday, arrives just days after 13 states' top prosecutors signaled they would examine the legality of the bill's Medicaid provisions, which in part won Democrats Nelson's vote. At issue is a condition in the bill's Medicaid rules that would essentially cover all of Nebraska's new program participants. The deal, referred to by many...

Senator Launches Ad Campaign at Home to Defend Key Vote on Health Bill Facing an outcry at home in Nebraska for casting the critical vote in favor of a health-care overhaul, Sen. Ben Nelson has launched a new ad campaign to defend his position. "I'm convinced this is right for Nebraska," says Sen. Nelson in the ad, which aired during the University of Nebraska's Holiday Bowl game Wednesday night and statewide Thursday. He says he took a "common-sense approach to improve the bill." Mr. Nelson, who faces re-election in 2012, backed the Senate health-care bill only after lengthy talks in...

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) reached out Thursday evening to South Carolina GOP Attorney General Henry McMaster, the leader of a group of 13 Republican state attorneys general who are threatening to file suit against the Senate health care bill, and urged him to forgo any legal action, POLITICO has learned. According to a copy of a memo sent by McMaster’s chief of staff to other GOP state attorneys general detailing the call, Nelson asked McMaster to “call off the dogs,” a reference to recent threats by the state AGs to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Medicaid provision...

Hmmm. He must have seen the polls. If this isn't a full retreat, I have never seen one. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) reached out Thursday evening to South Carolina GOP Attorney General Henry McMaster, the leader of a group of 13 Republican state attorneys general who are threatening to file suit against the Senate health care bill, and urged him to forgo any legal action, POLITICO has learned. According to a copy of a memo sent by McMaster’s chief of staff to other GOP state attorneys general detailing the call, Nelson asked McMaster to “call off the dogs,” a reference...

Neighborhood protest of Senator's home will show the truth about the results of taxpayer funded abortion Contact: Troy Newman, President, 316-841-1700; Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Policy Advisor, 316-516-3034; both with Operation Rescue, info@operationrescue.org  OMAHA, Neb., Jan. 1 /Christian Newswire/ -- An abortion protest featuring Operation Rescue's Truth Truck will be conducted on New Year's Day near the Omaha home of Sen. Ben Nelson. The protest against Nelson's scheme for tax-funded abortions will be held on January 1, 2010, in the neighborhood of 9735 Fieldcrest Drive in Omaha, Nebraska, beginning at 2 PM, Central Time. "The Pro-Life Movement will be making Sen. Nelson aware of our New Year's Resolution....

Senator Ben Nelson and his friends (of the leftist MSM) have discovered that the senator from Nebraska may have committed political suicide by voting for ObamaCare. Yahoo! News reports that, according to pollster Scott Rasmussen, Nelson would only receive 30% of the votes if elections were held today, while his (unnamed) Republican competitor could count on 61%. That’s a massive gap of 31%. It goes to show just how unpopular ObamaCare is. Nelson’s health care vote is clearly dragging his numbers down. Just 17% of Nebraska voters approve of the deal their senator made on Medicaid in exchange for his...

The good news for Senator Ben Nelson is that he doesn't have to face Nebraska voters until 2012. If Governor Dave Heineman challenges Nelson for the Senate job, a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows the Republican would get 61% of the vote while Nelson would get just 30%. Nelson was reelected to a second Senate term in 2006 with 64% of the vote. Nelson's health care vote is clearly dragging his numbers down. Just 17% of Nebraska voters approve of the deal their senator made on Medicaid in exchange for his vote in support of the plan. Overall, 64%...

Senator Ben Nelson took to the airwaves in his home state on Wednesday, trying to defend his decisive 60th vote in favor of broad health care legislation. In the days since,Nelson has faced scathing political cartoons, busy phone lines and criticism of his position, even from some former supporters. To explain his vote, he appeared in an advertisement scheduled to be broadcast statewide on Wednesday evening during the one occasion when most Nebraskans were certain to be found before a television — the Holiday Bowl, in which the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers faced the Arizona Wildcats. “With all the distortions...

Republican attorneys general in 13 states say congressional leaders must remove Nebraska's political deal from the federal health care reform bill or face legal action, according to a letter provided to The Associated Press Wednesday. "We believe this provision is constitutionally flawed," South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster and the 12 other attorneys general wrote in the letter to be sent Wednesday night to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "As chief legal officers of our states we are contemplating a legal challenge to this provision and we ask you to take action to render this...

The scriptures refer to reaping the whirlwind. That certainly describes Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson after the first state-wide poll since the controversial deal he cut in exchange for his deciding vote on the Senate health care bill. A new Rasmussen Reports poll shows that if he were running for re-election today, Mr. Nelson would lose to Nebraska's GOP Governor David Heineman by a stunning 61% to 30%. Only three years ago, Mr. Nelson won his current term with a solid 64% of the vote. Clearly, the senator's fall in public esteem is a direct reaction to his having voted for...

Dear Senator Nelson: You have sold the physicians of Nebraska for zilch (zilch for us, but beaucoup federal bucks for you and the liberal partisans in this state).

With Ben Nelson's Health Care infomercial set to air this evening, let's remember what he did to the state of Nebraska:

Lincoln, NE (LifeNews.com) -- One day after a new poll showed him tanking with Nebraska voters because of his decision to compromise his long-held pro-life views and become the 60th vote for the pro-abortion health care bill, Sen. Ben Nelson will run a television commercial during a college football bowl game to defend his decision. Nelson will make his case for supporting the Senate government-run health care bill that forces taxpayers to fund abortions and would allow the Obama administration to make insurance companies pay for abortions with taxpayers' premiums. He will air a 30-second television spot during Wednesday night's...

Let's make sure it does! Rasmussen Reports found that Nelson’s sellout on the ObamaCare bill would hurt the Senator should he have to face Heineman "Republican" in 2012

A day before Sen. Ben Nelson (D - NE) voted for the passage of the Senate's version of the health care reform bill, the Nebraska Senator appeared confident before reporters that his vote would not hurt him back in Nebraska. Last week, The Washington Times asked him what he expected from his constituents, when he returned home after the Senate recessed for Christmas.: "Well, two types[of constituents]. Those who are saying very positive things about this legislation and those that have the opposite point of view. There’s nothing new about that."

As a fresh poll measured the political cost of Sen. Ben Nelson's health reform vote, he prepared Tuesday to take his case directly to Nebraskans during Wednesday night's Holiday Bowl game. Nelson will air a new TV ad in which he attempts to debunk opposition claims that the Senate legislation represents a government takeover, and he makes the case for health care reform. "With all the distortions about health care reform, I want you to hear directly from me," the Democratic senator says in the ad. Nelson, dressed in an open-necked shirt and sweater, speaks directly into the camera during...

Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson may get burned in his next election by the health care debate, regardless of how he ultimately votes for the Democrats' reform package, but he may be better off opposing it, a new poll shows. Under intense pressure to fall in line with the rest of the Democratic caucus in the Senate, moderate Ben Nelson finally voted to end a Republican filibuster on the health care bill after cutting a deal to pay for an expansion of Medicaid in Nebraska with federal rather than state dollars. However, only 17 percent of Nebraska voters approve of the...

Lincoln, NE (LifeNews.com) -- Until his recent sellout on abortion funding, Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson was a darling of the pro-life movement as the lone consistent pro-life Democrat in the Senate. Now, a new poll shows him losing massive support and he would lose by a lopsided margin in his 2012 bid for re-election. A new Rasmussen Reports survey shows Nelson struggling after becoming the 60th and deciding vote for the Senate's pro-abortion health care bill. Should pro-life Republican Governor Dave Heineman challenge Nelson for his Senate seat, a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows he would get 61% of...

The good news for Senator Ben Nelson is that he doesn’t have to face Nebraska voters until 2012. If Governor Dave Heineman challenges Nelson for the Senate job, a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows the Republican would get 61% of the vote while Nelson would get just 30%. Nelson was reelected to a second Senate term in 2006 with 64% of the vote. Nelson's health care vote is clearly dragging his numbers down. Just 17% of Nebraska voters approve of the deal their senator made on Medicaid in exchange for his vote in support of the plan. Overall, 64%...

A new Rasmussen poll has Senator Ben Nelson down 30 points in a theoretical race against current Republican Governor Heineman. Nelson's health care vote seems to be the reason. Sixty-four percent (64%) of Nebraska voters oppose the health care legislation Ben Nelson voted for, including fifty-three percent (53%) who are strongly opposed. Only 17% of Nebraska voters approve of the deal Senator Ben Nelson made to sell his vote for a special Medicaid deal. An April 2006 poll by Survey USA found him to be the Senator with the highest popularity rating, 73%, among his own constituents.

He'll have plenty of time to play golf after the 2012 election,... this one isn't even close, remember, Nelson got 64% of the vote in 2006....See ya Ben..

Poll: Nelson's Abortion Funding Compromise Costs Him With Nebraska Voters Lincoln, NE -- Until his recent sellout on abortion funding, Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson was a darling of the pro-life movement as the lone consistent pro-life Democrat in the Senate. Now, a new poll shows him losing massive support and he would lose by a lopsided margin in his 2012 bid for re-election. http://www.lifenews.com/state4684.html