Free Republic

In a major blow to former Republican state Treasurer Shane Osborn’s candidacy for Nebraska Senate, national conservative group FreedomWorks is withdrawing its endorsement and backing his main primary rival, Midland University President Ben Sasse, instead. At issue, FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe said in a statement, is the unspoken support Osborn is believed to have from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “Both Osborn and Sasse are great people, and this was not a decision taken lightly. The question at the heart of this decision is, who would caucus with the Freedom Caucus, and who would fall in line with the...

On Monday, Governor Heineman released his newest column warning Nebraskan's of current efforts in Nebraska's Legislature to silence the voice of Nebraskans on future Presidential races. The Bill, LB1058 (sponsored by Republican State Senator Tyson Larson who made it his priority bill is also now cosponsored by liberal Democrat Sen. Ken Haar ). The bill is being pushed by highly paid lobbyists (noted below). The bill proposes that Nebraska join the National Popular Vote Compact, in essence promising all five of Nebraska's electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote (even if that candidate didn't win...

One day after her “Squeal” TV brought her national attention, Joni Ernst picks up the endorsement of Sarah Palin. The former Alaska governor, 2008 vice-presidential nominee and conservative firebrand calls Ernst a “champion for life, small government, and lower taxes.” Here is what Palin had to say when announcing her support for Joni Ernst in Iowa’s U.S. Senate race: “If Nebraska’s Deb Fischer can see through the bull in Washington, then Iowa’s Joni Ernst can help her cut through the pork. Growing up on a hog farm in Southwest Iowa, Joni has taken her “pork cutting” skills to the Iowa...

The number of food stamp recipients (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP) fell in Texas in 2013, dropping 4.6 percent from a year earlier to 3.9 million recipients in December 2013. Nationally, SNAP caseload declined by 2.1 percent from December 2012 to December 2013 as the job market gradually warmed up. California’s SNAP caseload bucked the national trend, increasing 4.1 percent to 4.3 million recipients, the second-largest percentage increase in the nation behind Maryland. Eleven states saw an increase in their SNAP rolls, Maryland, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Nebraska and Rhode Island , while...

With every big name in national Tea Party politics lined up behind Ben Sasse in the Nebraska Republican Senate primary, a disinterested observer could be forgiven for assuming that Shane Osborn was some GOP Establishment today. Except, that’s not the case. Osborn, a Navy veteran who was once captured and interrogated by the Chinese military for several days, served one term as the elected Nebraska treasurer, stepping down in 2011 rather than run for re-election. He has never lived in Washington aside from a 15-month assignment to the Navy Yard following his final deployment to Afghanistan. Osborn moved home to...

Television Re-Broadcast: KSNB 4 to air at 9:25 PM CT, Sun. Mar. 23)

Nearly 300 years ago, two great alliances collided on the Great Plains in a battle that changed the course of American history. But until now, no physical evidence of the storied conflict had ever been found. In the summer of 1720, where the Platte River meets the Loup in eastern Nebraska, Spanish soldiers, New Mexican settlers and their Pueblo and Apache allies clashed with warriors from the Pawnee and Oto nations of the Plains. In a daybreak raid, the Pawnee and the Oto — possibly with the support of French traders — routed the Spanish, killing their commander, Don Pedro...

Conservative Nebraska Senate candidate Ben Sasse, who has been surging since being labeled the anti-Obamacare candidate, has released a "Constitutional Madness" bracket to highlight the lawlessness of the Obama administration. "Which is President Obama's worst constitutional violation?" the bracket says. "Make your picks!" Pairings include "allowing congressional Obamacare subsidies" versus "forcing taxpayers to violate religious conscience by funding abortion through Obamacare" to "Using the IRS to suppress free speech" to "Secret monitoring of Fox News and the Associated Press." Sasse, who has vowed to take on the permanent political class and has already clashed with the Washington establishment, was most...

Senator Bill Kintner Medicaid expansion has been stopped when the proponents failed to get the necessary 33 votes to invoke cloture. The vote was 27-21 -1. Krist was a not voting. This is a huge win for the citizens of Nebraska for all the reasons I have previously covered. Thank you to all the people that called and wrote the senators.

BEN SASSE FOR U.S. SENATE FROM NEBRASKA Ben Sasse is the clear conservative choice in the Nebraska Senate race. National Review calls him “Nebraska’s Obamacare Nemesis.” Ben is a proven problem solver. A few years ago, Ben took over as president of Midland University in his hometown. The school was on the verge of bankruptcy, but under Ben’s steady leadership and commitment to make tough decisions and reform old policies, Midland is on the path to recovery and has nearly tripled enrollment. Today, it’s the fastest growing school in the Midwest. We need those kinds of results in D.C.

Republican Shane Osborn nabbed the endorsement of social conservative leader Phyllis Schlafly in his bid for Senate in Nebraska. Schlafly, head of the anti-feminist, anti-abortion group the Eagle Forum, said in a statement obtained exclusively by The Hill that she’s endorsing Osborn because the nation needs “leaders with strong moral convictions.” ADVERTISEMENT "I am pleased to announce my support for Shane Osborn in the Nebraska U.S. Senate race. Our nation is at a crossroads, and we urgently need leaders with strong moral convictions to lead our nation back into prosperity and constitutional government,” Schlafly said. “Shane Osborn is just what...

“With all due respect, Texas is crushing it,” says Texas Gov.Rick Perry. When it comes to attracting new business projects to the state, that’s true, according to a survey conducted by the real estate magazine Site Selection. For the second year in a row, the Lone Star State’s governor won the magazine’s Governor’s Cup for luring more commercial projects than any other. Other states with the most total commercial projects in 2013 were Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Michigan. But the ranking changes when you look at the largest number of projects per capita. Using this methodology, Nebraska came in first,...

Nebraska has now joined states like Florida, Arizona, Idaho, Missouri, Kansas, and Alaska in standing up for the Second Amendment -- and telling Barack Obama what he can do with his unconstitutional gun bans and gun registration schemes. L.B. 1030 would prohibit any Nebraska state or local official from "restrict[ing] the carrying, possession, transfer, purchase, sale, or ownership of or otherwise regulat[ing] any firearm, ammunition, or component of any firearm or ammunition to a greater extent than state law." This is particularly important in view of the Obama administration's efforts to ban and register guns unlawfully, by executive fiat. Hence,...

The advent of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has created a number of problems for our state that did not exist prior to that legislation, in addition to exacerbating most, if not all of the existing issues faced by Nebraskans. We long ago decided as a society to care for those who could not care for themselves. This deference to the needs of the vulnerable is a hallmark of our social contract and has been a driver of public policy for more than a century. It is the foundation of our entire social services system. For more than a century...

Healthcare industry lobbyists connected with the Republican establishment in Washington are making a concerted effort to sink the campaign of the Nebraska Republican who has been branded the “anti-Obamacare candidate,” Breitbart News has learned....

A Nebraska judge on Wednesday struck down a law that allowed the Keystone XL pipeline to proceed through the state, a setback for the project that would carry oil from Canada to Texas refineries. Lancaster County Judge Stephanie Stacy issued a ruling that invalidated Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman's approval of the route. Stacy agreed with opponents' arguments that a law passed in 2011 improperly allowed Heineman to give TransCanada eminent domain powers within the state. Stacy said the decision should have been made by the Nebraska Public Service Commission, which regulates pipelines and other utilities. Heineman said Wednesday that state...

A Nebraska judge ruled Wednesday that the state violated its constitution when it allowed the governor to approve the route of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, a decision that could significantly delay the $5.3 billion project. District Court judge Stephanie F. Stacy blocked Gov. Dave Heineman (R) and other defendants “from taking any action on the governor’s January 22, 2013 approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline route,” such as allowing land to be acquired by eminent domain for the project. Stacy concluded that the state legislature’s decision to take the siting power away from its Public Service Commission and give...

LINCOLN, Neb. – A Nebraska judge on Wednesday struck down a law that allowed the Keystone XL oil pipeline to proceed through the state, a victory for opponents who have tried to block the project. Lancaster County Judge Stephanie Stacy issued a ruling that invalidated Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman's approval of the route. Stacy agreed with opponents' arguments that law passed in 2011 improperly delegated the decision-making power to Heineman to give the company eminent domain powers within the state. Stacy said the decision should have been made by the Nebraska Public Service Commission, which regulates pipelines and other utilities....

Because the Obama administration really needed another justification for their interminable dithering on the Keystone XL pipeline — not to mention the eco-radicals grasping at everything and anything they can to court the success of their counterproductive crusade.To review: Back in January of last year, the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality finished their impact report on TransCanada’s amended proposal for the route the Keystone XL pipeline would take through their state (environmentalists had objected to an earlier version that would have routed the pipeline through the state’s ecologically sensitive Sand Hills region, and this new version proposed to curve around...

Democrats who oppose the Keystone XL pipeline have thousands of dollars invested in direct competitors to the company looking to build the pipeline, public records show. A recent environmental assessment by the State Department was seen as a step toward the pipeline’s approval, but Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.) remains opposed to its construction. “In my view, there is now enough evidence to conclude that construction of this pipeline is not in America’s long-term interest,” Kaine said in a statement on the review. The freshman Democrat has between $15,000 and $50,000 invested in Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, according to his...