A New Vision for the Future

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Better representation for the people of Nebraska

I am a retired eye surgeon who has lived and worked in Nebraska for over 25 years. Growing up as one of 12 kids working on the family farm I learned early the value of hard work and respect for others. I believe strongly in the Constitution, the rule of Law, and protection of human rights and freedoms.

Our farmers and small businesses, the security of our citizens and residents, our Educational system, our Judiciary, our Public Health system, our constitutional checks and balances, our veterans, our national security, and our foreign relations are all at risk.

Everything that makes our country TRULY great is under attack. And all to give tax breaks to billionaire donors at the people's expense.

This is a critical moment in the history of our nation. We are watching in real time as our hard-won human rights and freedoms are destroyed, while Congress sits and does NOTHING! It's time for all of us to stand up.

We need Congressional representation that addresses the concerns and wishes of the people of CD2 rather than following blind partisan loyalties and playing dangerous political games at the expense of our American values.

Issues:

The Economy

Until January 20th, the American economy was the strongest in world - probably in history- and now it is much weaker and our trade and security alliances are in shreds.

I would consider myself a fiscal conservative- by this I mean that as a person who built a successful small business from scratch, I understand the value and necessity of living within our means. When it comes to Government, the Republicans style themselves as "fiscal conservatives" and fiscally "responsible", but just look at the actual record, stop listening to the flag-waving rhetoric and start looking hard at what they actually are doing.

What Is Fiscal Responsibility?

Fiscal responsibility is NOT crashing the stock market, destroying the retirement savings and pensions of hardworking Americans. It is NOT threatening Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. It is NOT increasing the cost of living for ordinary people by slapping unrealistic tariffs on imports like shoes and clothing and food. It is NOT punishing and alienating friends and allies like the EU and Canada while pandering to aggressors like Russia. It is NOT slapping tariffs on building supplies like softwood lumber while we have a housing affordability crisis. It is NOT giving ever more massive tax cuts to greedy billionaire donors while cutting essential services to Americans who need them. It is NOT ruining farmers and small businesses so that those same billionaire donors can buy up competitors and farmland at pennies on the dollar. What this IS, however, is a roadmap for economic ruin.

If you look at the actual numbers over the last 30 years, Republican administrations consistently added more to the national debt than Democrats. As usual with the Republicans, the reality is the opposite of the narrative. Using US Treasury statistics, the debt added by Biden was $2.21 Trillion, by Trump $7.1 Trillion, by Obama 5.6 Trillion. The current Federal debt is $36 Trillion, the highest since the end of World War II. The interest payments alone on this debt are about $500 Billion a year, higher than either National Defense or Medicare.

At present the Republican-controlled Congress is considering a new reconciliation budget bill. This bill assumes a greatly expanded income from tariffs which will offset a large decrease in taxes for the billionaire donor club that has done a hostile takeover of our government.

Tariffs ARE taxes. Taxes paid by consumers, businesses and, most importantly for Nebraska, our farm-based economy. Tariffs and the current chaos and uncertainty coming from the White House will increase inflation and decrease consumer confidence with far-reaching effects throughout our economy. Nobody but the ultra-wealthy will be exempt from the pain. Tariff wars make us less secure as a country. We are well on our way to a serious financial shock.

We need to maintain our current tax structure and close existing loopholes for billionaires and big businesses. Of course, any good business or government must look for efficiencies and savings, and be consistently rational in its expenditure.

Specifically, my proposals are the following:

Raise corporate income tax to 28%
Close existing loopholes in the tax code that give preferential treatment and tax breaks to the ultra-rich and big corporations.
If everyone paid their fair share, we would be able to reduce the deficit and still fund Medicare, Medicaid and essential social programs.
Constant oversight and vigilance on how our hard-earned taxpayer dollars are being used.
Cuts are needed, but taking a chainsaw to our economy is not the way to do it.
Our approach must be thoughtful and targeted, and done without compromising our safety, national security, healthcare and social programs.

Our elected representatives RIGHT NOW are in the process of giving huge tax cuts to the ultra-rich while they impose devastating tariffs- just another form of taxation- which will massively increase the financial burden on ordinary Americans. The Republicans and the Administration are lying to the American people: Tariffs are paid, not by the countries upon which they imposed, but by American consumers and businesses.

PUT PRESSURE ON YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES FOR THIS DISTRICT. NOW! REPUBLICANS ARE USING THE RECONCILIATION PROCESS TO USE TARIFFS TO GIVE HUGE TAX BREAKS TO THE SUPER-WEALTHY. DO NOT LISTEN TO THEIR FLAG-WAVING RHETORIC - THEY ARE ONLY SERVING THEIR BILLIONAIRE DONORS.

CALL, EMAIL, WRITE, OR GO IN PERSON TO LET YOUR REPRESENTATIVES KNOW YOU OPPOSE THEIR RECONCILIATION BILL -- RIGHT NOW!

Don Bacon contact - click here

Pete Ricketts contact - ckick here

Agriculture

My cropland north of Grand Island is ready for corn planting the first week of May. I am very concerned about the welfare of all of our farmers and agricultural workers. Between the government mistreatment of immigrant labor, the downstream effects of the cancelling of USAID and the collapse of foreign markets due to tariffs, this is bad policy that is going to have worse consequences. And all without appropriate Congressional oversight or approval. Having grown up on a farm and having a life-long interest in agriculture, I have to stand up and be counted on these incredibly serious threats that are coming, not from outside our nation, but from within our own administration.

Our farmers are going to take the brunt of this once again. The tariffs on soybeans brought in the last time Trump was in government decimated the massive Chinese market for American soybeans. While action on China's unfair trade policies is certainly necessary and overdue, taking a chainsaw to our agriculture industry and putting farmers out of business is not the way to go about it. These policies do, however, have one effect that this Administration is aiming for: they will serve the interests of billionaires like our very own Pete Ricketts who will be able to buy up our agricultural land at pennies on the dollar. Nebraskans deserve much better!

AND OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES SEEM TO BE JUST FINE WITH ALL OF THIS! WE DESERVE BETTER!

Public Health

The current state of the Department of Health and Human Services is a disgrace. Under the "guidance" of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., critical funding has been cut to entities that safeguard our public safety and the health of our children and the entire community. As a doctor, I have to stand up and be counted on these incredibly serious threats that are coming, not from outside our nation, but from within our own administration.

The Trump administration carried out mass layoffs across the Department of Health and Human Services on April 1st, aiming to slash around 10,000-20,000 full-time jobs from the federal agencies long tasked with regulating food and drugs and overseeing the nation’s public health policies.

These funding cuts eliminate critical medical research, including development and testing of promising anti-cancer treatments. They include divisions responsible for tackling HIV, improving minority health and preventing injury, such as gun violence. Jobs were eliminated at offices overseeing the approval of new drugs and vaccines, providing health insurance, and prevention and treatment of dangerous infectious diseases. The list goes on. And on.

A well-known anti-vaccine advocate, RFK's department has slashed or eliminated critical vaccination initiatives and is actively attempting to dismantle vaccine requirements for children. Measles is not a harmless disease of childhood, and it was considered to have been eliminated in this country in 2002. The current measles epidemic is only a tiny taste of what is to come.

The excuse that has been used is to "eliminate waste" and "increase efficiency". Is this really the agenda? Not on your life! And I do mean YOUR LIFE! I am very much in favor of the idea of efficiency in government, but cuts that affect the public well-being cannot be made with a chainsaw. As a doctor, I feel very strongly that when people's health and the national interest is concerned, we should try a more thoughtful and targeted, "surgical" approach to savings. Not a chainsaw.

AND OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES SEEM TO BE JUST FINE WITH ALL OF THIS! WE DESERVE BETTER!

Immigration:

Our current immigration system is broken. We can probably all agree on this point. This country has failed to implement a workable system despite the fact that we have known for decades that this is a problem. This is not an easy issue, but the current Administration's inhumane approach is NOT a solution.

We must have control over our borders and sovereignty within our country. However, every person in this country is entitled to due process under the law and our Constitution. We have a lot of work to do.

People who have been living in this country for years - hard-working, tax-paying, law-abiding neighbors and friends - should have a route to normalize their position in our society and should not be living in constant fear of imprisonment and deportation without due process.