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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...