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The Senate Democratic leadership is one vote closer to the fifteen votes they need to move a measure that would repeal 17-year-federal law banning openly gay Americans from serving in the military from the Senate Armed Services Committee to the Senate floor, NPR's Liz Halloran reports. Earlier today, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NB) announced his support for the measure. "I don't believe Nebraskans want to continue a policy that not only encourages but requires people to be deceptive and to lie," Nelson said in a prepared statement. "The 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy does just that." "It also encourages suspicion and...

In response to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is asking the Interior Department's inspector general to review “the extent to which the oil and natural gas industry exercised influence” over the development of drilling safety regulations.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., couldn’t come up with the votes to break a filibuster on the financial regulatory bill today. Indeed, Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson joined a united GOP in opposition. So it’s worth asking whether this issue really is harming Republicans much at all. Last week IBD reported that Democrats seemed to be enjoying some success with the issue of financial regulatory reform lately, especially after the SEC charged Goldman Sachs (GS) with fraud. Of course, Republicans may be holding out with the expectation of getting to vote for a compromise bill sometime in the near future.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) voted Monday evening against beginning debate on his party's Wall Street reform bill. Nelson, a centrist Democrat who also broke with his party on healthcare legislation and several jobs bills, joined Republicans in opposing the legislation. The vote this afternoon was a long-awaited procedural vote to begin formal debate on the legislation, Democrats' top legislative priority since returning from recess. But after negotiations between Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), the chairman of the Banking committee, and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the ranking member, had hit snags over the weekend, the vote was expected to fall short. A...

Today, April 19, 2010, Nebraskans held a TEA PARTY in downtown McCook, on the northeast corner of George Norris Avenue and 'B' Street (US Hwy 34). The Good Lord gave us a beautiful day, and we were thankful that the rains of the late morning moved on to other more deserving geography. By all accounts, our gathering was a great success. The rally began promptly at 4:30 PM (CT) and at midpoint, about 5:30, there were 65 to 70 people in attendance, marking a line that stretched easterly down the north side of 'B' Street. American flags and Gadsden flags...

Willie reiterates his 9/11 belief that US created 9/11-WTC was imploded.

Failed warnings of doom do not deter new ones. THURSDAY is Lenin's Birthday. It will be celebrated around the world as Earth Day, a holiday begun by Democratic Sen. Gaylord Nelson in 1970 to keep anti-capitalist sentiment going after the Vietnam War ended. The Earth Day trippers have run out of pollution and are now attacking carbon dioxide - the air we exhale. Which reminds me, the biggest polluters in the world turned out to be the communist states of China, the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc nations. The Aral Sea is 90 percent smaller than it was before...

Six people have been injured in a shooting at Arrowhead Mall in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Three of the victims are reported to be in critical condition. Muskogee, United States - Muskogee Police confirm that there was a shooting at the mall and that there are victims. At this time the duty desk officer said during a phone interview that there is no other information that they can give out.

WASHINGTON - Florida voters have turned sharply against President Barack Obama, Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and a sweeping health care law they helped push through Congress, according to a Mason-Dixon poll released Saturday. The statewide poll of 625 registered voters found that Obama's favorable ratings have plunged to 37 percent from 50 percent when he was elected in 2008. Nelson's favorable ratings dropped even more dramatically, to 36 percent from 54 percent when he was re-elected in 2006. The health care bill passed by Congress and signed by Obama was supported by only 34 percent of Floridians in the poll...

TALLAHASSEE – Florida voters dislike the new health reform law so much that President Barack Obama and the state's top Democrat, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, are paying a hefty political price, according to a new survey and analysis by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research. Only 34 percent of Florida voters support the new law while 54 percent are against it, according to the poll. Opposition is significantly strong among two crucial blocs: those older than 65 and voters with no party affiliation. Seniors disfavor the bill by a 65-25 percent margin, while independents oppose the law 62-34.

Poll: Bill Nelson would lose to Charlie Crist, Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio Miami Herald: Florida voters dislike the new health reform law so much that President Obama and the state’s top Democrat, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, are paying a hefty political price, according to a new survey and analysis by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research. Only 34 percent of Florida voters support the new law while 54 percent are opposed – well outside of the 4 percent error-margin for the poll of 625 registered voters.

"A new Mason-Dixon poll shows Sen. Bill Nelson’s (D) popularity has fallen 18 points since his re-election in 2006, dropping to 36% overall. A possible reason is Nelson’s support for health care reform which is very unpopular among the state’s large population of retirees. Said pollster Brad Coker: “The only saving grace for Bill Nelson is that his election is in 2012 and some of the anger might die down by then.” In hypothetical matches for his 2012 re-election campaign, former Gov. Jeb Bush (R) trounced Nelson, 50% to 35% and Gov. Charlie Crist (R), who is running for the...

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) announced Monday evening that he would vote “no” on the health care reconciliation package that was approved Sunday by the House and is expected to hit the Senate floor on Tuesday. Nelson, who was widely seen as the 60th vote to help Senate Democrats clear health care reform in December, stood by his vote for the underlying, $875 billion Senate bill. But he cited several problems with the reconciliation package

Palm Beach County residents who believe they live in a cancer cluster met up with US Senator Bill Nelson, who promised to get them more help Friday afternoon.

NASA administrator Charles Bolden attempted to defend the new Obama space policy before a hearing of the Science and Space Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

MoveOn.org is launching a series of hard-hitting ads this week targeting the three Senate Democrats--Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Mary Landrieu (La.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.)--who've co-sponsored Sen. Lisa Murkowski's (R-Alaska) resolution blocking the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The television ads, which will amount to a six-figure buy and run in Arkansas, Louisiana and Nebraska, feature unsettling images of Americans smoking to highlight their exposure to air pollution.

KENANSVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Singer and guitarist Willie Nelson canceled a North Carolina concert because of a bum hand about an hour after several band and crew members were busted for allegedly possessing moonshine and marijuana.

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...

One month after Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) stunned pro-lifers across the country by casting the crucial vote allowing the health care bill to pass the Senate, the beleaguered Democrat caused a stir when he arrived unexpectedly at a private meeting of pro-life leaders Wednesday to explain his reasoning and insist that he was still devoted to their cause. The atmosphere of the room grew tense, however, as it became clear that Nelson had not come to apologize for casting the 60th "yes" vote that dashed the hopes of pro-life leaders counting on the senator to stop the abortion-expanding bill in...

Struggling to breathe in mouthfuls of air rank with choking gunsmoke, hundreds of men and boys crouched low on the gun decks of His Majesty's Ship Temeraire. In that cramped space, where shouted orders competed with the screams of the injured, blood ran freely through a hull hewn from English oaks. Already the sails high above were riddled with chain shot from the French warships, but it was there, on the crowded gundecks that a brutal slaughter was unfolding. In the hellish tempest of the Battle of Trafalgar, in an act of almost suicidal valour, the Temeraire's captain chose to...