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Nebraska Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson said Wednesday during a conference call with Nebraska reporters that he intends to get rid of the aisle in the Senate that divides members by party affiliation. “I’m going to advocate — if there truly is an interest in working together — that we get rid of the aisle on the Senate floor,” said Nelson, “We could sit not by party but by state, or by alphabet, or some other way that erases the partisan divide.” “We could sit not by party but by state, or by alphabet, or some other way that erases the...

Add two more Republicans to the list of possible U.S. Senate contenders. State Sen. Deb Fischer, 59, of Valentine says she is “thinking” about a run, but won't decide until after this year's legislative session. And while former Nebraska Gov. Kay Orr, 72, says it is “unlikely” that she would run, she declined to completely slam the door on a campaign. The two are the latest names to come forward and possibly run in 2012 against Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, who has said he is leaning toward another run, although he has yet to finalize his decision. The Republican...

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint (R) is turning his attention to 2012 and using the vote this week on an earmark moratorium to pick his Democratic targets. DeMint sent an email to the supporters of his Senate Conservatives Fund early Wednesday highlighting four Democrats who voted against the earmark ban, are up for re-election in 2012 and sit in states that John McCain (R) carried in 2008: Sens. Jon Tester (Mont.), Ben Nelson (Neb.), Kent Conrad (N.D.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.). In the email, DeMint called for unseating Tester, Nelson, Conrad and Manchin. "These senators are nice folks but...

Nebraska Democrat, Senator Ben Nelson, says he plans to seek re-election in 2012. The Nebraska Republican Party Tuesday released a poll suggesting it could be a tough race for the Senator.

Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson announced late Friday he would vote against the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. In a statement released this evening, Sen. Nelson said, "I have heard concerns from Nebraskans regarding Ms. Kagan, and her lack of a judicial record makes it difficult for me to discount the concerns raised by Nebraskans, or to reach a level of comfort that these concerns are unfounded. Therefore, I will not vote to confirm Ms. Kagan’s nomination." Nelson is the only Democrat to oppose Kagan at this point. Five Republicans, on the other hand, have said they will support...

Here is video of Nebraska Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson admitting he “doesn’t know” if President Obama has the “Constitutional Authority” to force BP to surrender their stockholders’ money without due process of law. But, Nelson said, he has the “moral authority.” When asked if there were any limits to the quagmire of Obama operating on the basis of this “moral authority,” Nelson said there are limits to any authority, but he would not specify what that limit is. The U.S. Constitution is exactly the “authority” devised to limit the power of our President and the other members of our Government....

to a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) has now said he will vote for repeal, Politico reports: “I don’t believe that most Nebraskans want to continue a policy that not only encourages but requires people to be deceptive and to lie.The ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy does just that,” Nelson said. “Italso encourages suspicion and senior officers to look the other way. In a military which values honesty and integrity, this policyencourages deceit.” “I will support the Lieberman compromise because it removes politicsfrom the process. It bases implementation of the repeal on thePentagon’s review and...

By Kerry Picket on April 27, 2010 into Water CoolerEditSubscribe A second financial reform cloture vote failed to proceed in the last 24 hours. At 4:30 PM on Tuesday, Senate Democrats could not bring in the 60 votes needed to overcome a mainly Republican filibuster to halt debate on legislation that would overhaul the banking industry. The motion failed 57 to 41. Senator Ben Nelson, Nebraska Democrat, voted with the GOP against cloture for a second time.

U.S. Senate Republicans stood together Monday to successfully block lawmakers from moving ahead with sweeping legislation to overhaul U.S. financial markets, a temporary stumble for the Obama administration's top domestic policy priority. The Senate voted 57-41 on a procedural measure allowing lawmakers to move toward debate on financial regulatory overhaul legislation, falling short of the 60 votes needed. All GOP senators present voted against invoking cloture, joined by at least one Democrat, Sen. Ben Nelson (D., Neb.). The partisan vote underscores the high political stakes surrounding the legislation, which would subject the nation's financial institutions to new consumer and capital...

One of the big reasons House Democrats wanted changes to the Senate-passed health care bill was the so-called Cornhusker kickback, which provided extra Medicaid money for Nebraska. And Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, whose vote party leaders were courting when they inserted the provision, has disavowed the provision, saying it should be repealed. But now Mr Nelson says he will vote against the budget reconciliation measure aimed at repealing the Cornhusker kickback and making other changes to the health care bill.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said Monday he would vote against a reconciliation package that included changes to healthcare reform and student lending legislation. Nelson said he opposed the package because the student lending bill would make the federal government the originator of student loans, replacing private lending institutions. Nelson said that would cost 30,000 jobs.

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

The political fallout in Nebraska from the "Cornhusker Kickback" hasn't subsided. Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson and Democratic donors have spent more than $500,000 on TV ads in Omaha and elsewhere justifying the sweet exemption from Medicaid costs that was granted Nebraska in return for Mr. Nelson's vote for the ObamaCare bill. But a new Rasmussen poll finds that 64% of Nebraskans still oppose the bill, while Mr. Nelson's personal approval rating has cratered to 40% from 61% a year ago. Mr. Nelson doesn't face the voters until 2012, but this week one of his likely challengers, Nebraska State Treasurer Shane...

As a dangerous election cycle unfolds for Democrats, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) has been proactive — hitting statewide television to defend his controversial health care vote and on Wednesday becoming the only member of his party to oppose Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ’s (D-Nev.) jobs package. These moves are not surprising for a moderate Democrat who crosses the aisle to vote with the GOP and hopes to win re-election in an overwhelmingly Republican state; but Nelson isn’t up for re-election until 2012. Some Nelson supporters dismissed the idea that the Senator was already campaigning for a third term, arguing...

Democrats may have to abandon their effort for comprehensive healthcare legislation in favor of a piecemeal approach, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said Friday. Nelson, a centrist Democrat whose vote is critical to the fate of healthcare reform in the Senate, said that while he's inclined to support a majority-vote maneuver to pass a bill, he's unsure Senate Democrats will be able to do so. "I don't know if we can get a comprehensive bill through," Nelson said during an interview on KLIN radio in Nebraska. "Honestly, I just don't know." "We may be forced to doing healthcare -- to use...

Politics: The GOP has been invited by the administration to a health care summit. Will it be an effort to pass real reform, or an attempt to lure Republicans into a bipartisan disaster? When Democrats thought their absolute majorities in the House and Senate guaranteed the passage of government-run health care, they had no use for either GOP input or transparency. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid were quite content to fundamentally transform one-sixth of the American economy behind the closed doors of a Senate room. They dismissed the rising anger of the...

Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson joined a bipartisan effort on Wednesday to block the administration from trying the Sept. 11th suspects in civilian courts. Nelson (Neb.) signed onto legislation offered by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jim Webb (D-Va.) to require military commission trials for those suspects. Nelson made the announcement in a conference call with reporters, primarily citing the costs of security for the trials. “I believe that given the severe costs and security risks associated with holding these trials in civilian court, the best course of action would be to use military commissions,” Nelson said. “When...

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...