North Dakota moves ahead with hemp, why don't we?

2006-05-08T12:45:00.000-06:00

North Dakota is pushing ahead with plans to license state farmers to grow industrial hemp even as it tries to allay law enforcement fears about marijuana's biological cousin.

State Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson and his department are crafting hemp rules after meeting in February with Drug Enforcement Agency officials in Washington. A public hearing on the proposed rules is slated for June 15.

The rules would require a criminal background check on farmers who want to grow hemp. The sale of hemp and location of the hemp fields must be documented. And the farmer must get a permit from the DEA.

This makes tons of sense! Hemp is about three to five times as valuable as any other crop, it doesn't need maintenance, it doesn't use up much water, and can be used to make just about anything. Our paper industry could get four times as much paper out of an acre of hemp than an acre of trees-the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were both written on hemp!

If North Dakota can move to legalize it, we ought to as well.

Another endorsement for Pete Ricketts

2006-04-20T12:53:00.000-06:00

From the Nebraska Republican Party:

Nebraska’s Attorney General Endorses Pete Ricketts for U.S. Senate
Bruning says Ricketts is Most Electable During State Capitol News Conference
***

Omaha, NE – Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning announced his endorsement of Pete Ricketts in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. In making his announcement, Bruning said Pete Ricketts represents Nebraska values and is the Republican with the best chance of defeating Ben Nelson.

“Pete Ricketts is not a career politician,” said Bruning who joined Ricketts at a news conference at the Nebraska State Capitol. Bruning said he endorsed Ricketts over Nebraska’s former Attorney General and former GOP Chair because “they don’t have a business perspective or the ability to beat Ben Nelson. Pete has what it takes.”

“Jon Bruning’s support shows that our grassroots campaign is gaining momentum,” said Pete Ricketts. “I am very appreciative of the support of one of Nebraska’s most respected conservative leaders.”

Following the 2002 election, Jon Bruning became the youngest Attorney General in Nebraska''s history and the youngest Attorney General in the United States.

A fifth-generation Nebraskan, Bruning carries a reputation as an aggressive, effective leader in the fight against crime. Before becoming Attorney General, Bruning was twice elected to the Nebraska Legislature and served six years as a state senator.

Pete Ricketts is a fourth-generation Nebraskan seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. For more information about the Ricketts campaign, contact Trisha Meuret at (402)333-8880.

Paid for by Nebraska Families for Pete Ricketts,Inc.

I've met and talked with Pete Ricketts as well... he seems to be a nice enough guy, once again. He helped build Ameritrade into the company it is now. And, from what I've talked about with him, he seems to appreciate states' rights-he supported the decision in Gonzales v. Oregon even though he opposes physician-assisted suicide. He seems to have a decent agricultural policy based around freeing the market up from government control, but I have one big reservation against him: he supports the neoconservative terrorism-fighting policies of war in Iraq, wiretapping, the USA PATRIOT Act, etc. Granted, Senator Nelson isn't really helping us out much in those areas either, so if the race comes down to these two I honestly don't know who I'll vote for, but I know that, at least on civil liberties, they're both fairly horrible.

Should the unicameral go?

2006-04-19T18:04:00.000-06:00

A recent article from The Conservative Voice seems to think so.

The Nebraska Unicameral in the 21st century is a dysfunctional mess. It is a single legislative chamber consisting of 49 state senators. No house members; just 49 senators. They are elected and serve on a non-partisan basis, so no effective party discipline is possible. At the polls, the voters are given no indication as to the political affiliation of these candidates. Because of the ideological nature of politics, most legislative races end up with Republicans running against Democrats, but occasionally, two Democrats or two Republicans end up running against each other. Primaries are free-for-all events with the top two vote-getters advancing to face each other again in the general election.

Having only one house in the legislature has allowed plenty of laws to be passed tht otherwise may not have been. While I'm not sure that party discipline is always a good thing, I do think that accountability is, and I'm not so certain that our current system permits that.

I've always been skeptical of the unicameral, though. What we need is a system like New Hampshire's-two houses with some 400 people in each, all collecting $100 a year. We'd have citizen-politicians again with electoral districts small enough that each person in the district could meet their representative and have a more direct say in the goings-on at the capital.

Nebraska one of 4 states that approve of Bush

2006-04-19T16:49:00.000-06:00

Observe.

We as a state support him by 6%, with only Utah, Wyoming and Idaho supporting him more (and at all).

After the wiretaps, the Iraq War that has disproportionately affected Nebraskans, and everything else... you would think we'd hate his guts too.

Scott Kleeb

2006-04-19T00:27:00.000-06:00

I found this via the Nebraska Democratic Party, but the original article is here.

It’s after the May 9 primary when the real campaigning will begin, because that’s when Nebraska Republicans will aim their party’s full might against the Democratic opponent.

In the 3rd District race, that man happens to be a young unknown who claims northwest Custer County as his address.

Scott Kleeb of rural Dunning is not your typical Nebraskan.

He was born and raised on an Army base in Vincenza, Italy. He earned a master’s degree at Yale and soon will have his doctorate. During college years he worked during summer vacations as a ranch hand in eastern Colorado and Nebraska. Today he is a part of the McGinn Ranch Co. near Dunning.

So on the one hand we have Scott Kleeb, the intellect with a master’s degree in international relations. And then, on the other hand, there’s Scott Kleeb, who likes bull riding and can take down a cow at branding time.

Kleeb turned heads during Monday’s forum, prompting some Democrats to look optimistically toward the 3rd District campaign. This year, they may have a contender.

I've had the chance to meet with and talk to Mr. Kleeb, actually. He's a nice guy, and without knowing which Republican is going to win the District 3 primary, I'll say at this stage that he'll probably get my vote. Not because he's fantastic, though-just that he's the lesser evil.

Granted, it's unlikely that we're going to see anyone sent to Washington by District 3 that will oppose the war in Iraq, so I'll begrudge him that position, out of political necessity.

On the subject of healthcare, which is his main platform plank, he couldn't even answer exactly what he was going to do about it. At the luncheon I was at with him, the closest we could get to pinning him down on some position was that he supported a "public-private partnership." Sounds like vague waffling politicospeak to these ears, but it could be that he's just willing to hear the voters out. In which case, I think I've got a policy paper for him. We'll see.

One thing I did like about his platform was that he supported the development of alternative energy. If we as a nation have to be giving subsidies to energy companies, I'd much rather they be companies that won't destroy the environment, and companies that decentralize the production of power (like wind energy, which gives farmers a goodly chunk of the market). I'd rather direct $9 billion towards wind farms than pointless synthetic fuel corporate welfare. He also didn't seem to be opposed to the concept of progressive tax cuts for the poor, which disproportionately inhabit western Nebraska.

His methods discouraged me, though-a key method of his campaign was to "educate voters," not raise money or run ads or anything that normal campaigns do. This is a heavily Republican district, so to appeal to the electorate he'll have to shift to the right a bit, instead of hoping to shift the electorate to the left. The Libertarian Party, with its 20-plus year strategy of "educating voters," can attest to how well that idea works.

It seems he does well in debates and speaking events, though... so maybe he can carry the district. At this point, though, I doubt it.

From across the river in Iowa...

2006-04-18T23:44:00.000-06:00

...comes news of a complete nutjob who's just been convicted of sexually assaulting his wife. Kierkegaard Lives has the story.

A Council Bluffs, Iowa, man is currently on trial in a case that has gained international attention. The man, Travis Frey, is accused of tying up his wife and sexually assaulting her. He is facing first degree kidnapping charges and faces life in prison if convicted.

The case gained notoriety primarily because of evidence about a bizarre sex contract Frey allegedly gave to his wife. The full contents of the contract are available at The Smoking Gun. The document is titled a "Contract of Wifely Expectations" and it establishes "guidelines" for Frey's wife in terms of hygiene, clothing, and sexual activities.

Yes, he actually had a contract for his wife. Just look at some of this crap (warning, not for younger readers): Continue reading...

Badnarik's share of the vote in Nebraska in 2004

2006-04-18T23:13:00.000-06:00

I recently did a compilation of the Libertarian share of the Presidential vote in Nebraska in 2004 for an assignment at college. Figuring that this sort of information is useful to any of the Libertarians in the audience, I'm making my work public. You can see the full size by clicking on the image, or you can see it compared to the Bush-Kerry data here.

Basically, the rural vote is hard to figure. In a lot of those counties, the percentile means that literally one or two people voted Libertarian. The county showing the strongest support, McPherson County, had one Libertarian voter. However, it's useful to note that in rural counties, Libertarian support tends to be stronger in the ranching counties of the north and west as opposed to the farming counties of the south and east. Perhaps this has to do with subsidies; farmers get more in subsidies, typically, then ranchers do. Ranchers' main interaction with the government is being on the wrong end of regulations and corporate subsidies, so they have more to be pissed about-and more reason to vote Libertarian, I'd suppose.

Libertarian support is also comparatively strong in the Omaha metro, of course this still isn't above 0.3% of the total vote. But among a larger pool of Nebraskans, LP average support is between 0.22% and 0.29%. There also seems to be a cabal of Libertarians in and around Creighton University for some reason, I know of several who attend there. Also, the LPNE is centered in the Omaha metro, helping to explain the steadier support in Douglas County, and the LPNE's major successes have been in Sarpy County, explaining the strength there (also, Nydra Karlen lives in Bellevue).

LP support in the Native reservations is exceptionally weak; this could be for one of two reasons. Native precincts were actually competitive, with the only Democratic county in Nebraska, Thurston County, being the one with the Omaha reservation. So the wasted-vote syndrome may have sapped LP support that way. There's also the alternate possibility that the Libertarian platform doesn't appeal to Native Americans (or at least the ones here), which would be a startling revelation considering the LP's typical willingness to support AIM causes, but a possibility for the LPNE folks to munch on regardless.

Overall, it was a bad election year for the Libertarians-they'll have to figure out ways to appeal more strongly to Nebraskan voters to do better in the next election-assuming they can even get enough petitions signed to get back on the ballot, that is.

The latest casualty of the War in Iraq...

2006-04-18T22:46:00.000-06:00

...is local Drug War funding.

Taken from the Star-Herald:

Nelson met Friday with law enforcement officers from the Scottsbluff Police Department, Gering Police Department, Alliance Police Department and Scotts Bluff County Sheriff's Department on the impact of cuts to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants program. For the second year in a row, the program has been slated for cuts as funds continue to be diverted to the war in Iraq and Homeland security funds.
The cut in funding has meant a serious impact on law enforcement efforts to investigate drug offenses and violent crimes as methamphetamine use surges, Nelson and area law enforcement said. Nelson said he hopes to take information he has learned from regional task forces throughout the state to help other senators and national leaders understand the significance of funds in the state of Nebraska. Often times, senators from larger metropolitan areas see Byrne funds as supplemental funds, while senators from rural areas understand that the funds are vital pieces of budgets for regional task forces and police departments, he said.
"When it comes to rural issues in Washington, they don't get it," Nelson said. "They don't understand the challenges of wide open spaces.
Byrne funding to Nebraska has been declining since 2003, with the most significant cut made in this last year. In 2005, Byrne funds to the state were about $3.3 million, with more than $1.1 million directly awarded to local law enforcement agencies throughout the state. In 2006, funding to Nebraska suffered a substantial hit, with funds cut to $1.9 million and only an estimated $651,000 in direct awards to law enforcement allotted.
In 2006, funds expected to be awarded to the Western Nebraska Intelligence and Narcotics Group were zeroed out because funding cuts for the program resulted in changes in the way that funds were awarded. Under the new program, localities qualifying for $10,000 or more get a direct award.

I find it darkly ironic that Bush, staunch Drug Warrior he, may be one of the biggest aids in ending the drug war. All the laws in the world are meaningless if there is no enforcement.

Hopefully, local communities will be smart about this as well. Rural Nebraska isn't an economic powerhouse by any means, so there's little hope of making up the budget shortfall locally. So I hope they target what's left of this money on the more dangerous drugs, and leave safe drugs like marijuana alone. I also hope that the support for this program remains faded after the end of the Iraq War.

About the site

2006-04-17T01:15:00.000-06:00

Nebraska Freedom was begun by Stuart Richards as a way to tackle the political issues of his state head-on, and hopefully to decrease the size and power of state and local government. Anyone is welcome here; anyone who wants more liberty in their lives is even more welcome, and may even be offered an author position.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Stuart Richards

Coming from a military family, Stuart Richards has had plenty of options in where to call "home;" he chose Nebraska. He currently lives in Chadron, where he's studying for a bachelor's degree in history. He has a video game business that he runs on the side, as well as keeping busy at the political blog HammerOfTruth.com and his own personal website, ForaAugusta.com. His wife, LaRissa, grew up just outside of Aurora on a homestead that had been in their family since the late 1800s. Politically, he is a pragmatic libertarian, seeing government in general as a problem but willing to work with it when necessary.

An introduction

2006-04-16T18:36:00.000-06:00

I'm Stuart Richards, just a college student at Chadron State College. I'm tired of Nebraska's political scene slipping further and further away from freedom, so I started this blog.

I blog elsewhere-at Hammer of Truth, and also at my personal site, the Fora Augusta. Politically, I lean towards the Libertarian Party but I'll support any candidate from any party that's willing to make me more free.

Nebraska really doesn't have a strong pro-liberty movement. The state's Libertarian Party is tiny and really active only in the Omaha metro area, and even lost ballot access in 2005. The Democratic Party here in Nebraska is generally okay, at least the Exon Democrats who don't want to grow the government. I like a few of their policy proposals as well-things like supporting alternative energy, especially; even though this sets me at odds with hardcore purist libertarians, I don't care. None of the parties here really have a healthcare policy I support. The Republican Party here in Nebraska are the very-old-school Republicans, from back in the days of Lincoln. They support big government, corporate welfare, higher taxes, all the things that are strangling the life out of this state and its people. I doubt I'll be supporting too many Nebraska Republicans, but once in a while we do see some relatively decent ones-Chuck Hagel comes to mind.

So basically, what this means is that there really is no clear and obvious party deserving of support in this state; freedom-loving Nebraskans really do have to pick and choose depending on the candidate.

If you support more freedom, regardless of your party affiliation or lack thereof, I welcome you to this site and I'll try to post semi-regularly. If you would be interested in becoming a blog author here, drop me a line at princepsaugustus@hotmail.com. That's all for now.