Ben Nelson loves money from out of state... unless it's being used to help give voice to in-state frustration with his people-hating ways.
One way you make real change is you get rid of "allies" who consistently stab you in the back. Nelson's Progressive Punch "tilt", measuring this his voting record against his state's partisan makeup, is -26.47 for crucial votes this year, compared to is -2.77 for Evan Bayh, is -7.87 for Blanche Lincoln, and is -9.02 for for Max Baucus, so yes, he really is that much more odious than the other odious ones. Why the outrage right now? Nelson says that if ads are run criticizing his corporate whorish ways, he will single-handedly destroy health care reform.
Someone's not just scared. They're mean and evil, too. If politics is too hard for poor Ben, then fuck him. He can go get honest work. Robbing banks or something.
In a statement issued late in the afternoon by Nelson's office, spokesman Jake Thompson warned that if the new series of ads calling out the Senator's "stalling" on reform were "an indication of the politics going into August, then health care reform may be dead by the end of August."
"Nebraskans don't need outside special interest groups telling them what to think. Senator Nelson has nothing but praise for Nebraska groups working toward health care reform. Unfortunately, he says, these outside groups undermine the sincere and dedicated efforts of people in our state," Thompson wrote. "Recently, similar ads have run in Nebraska. Those ads by other special interests prompted hundreds of Nebraskans to call our offices, with 9 to 1 urging Senator Nelson to do exactly the opposite of what the special interest group wanted. In short, the ads backfired."
But, if they really backfired, then how come he's so angry? That's really lame lying!
Here's where Nelson gets his campaign funds, according to OpenSecrets.org:
I'm sure he's going to be returning all that out-of-state money--37% of the itemized total on that list--by the start of business on Monday. Aren't you?
Study: Many Rural NE Residents Delaying Medical Care
A new poll suggests many rural Nebraskans have delayed important services and racked up more debt on their credit cards to weather the down economy.
According to results of the annual Rural Nebraska Poll released on Monday, 45 percent of respondents with household incomes of less than $40,000 said they had delayed medical services to save money.
Twenty-seven percent of the respondents with incomes of less than $20,000 reported using credit cards to pay routine bills.
Thirty-four percent of the respondents said they'd traded work, services or materials instead of exchanging money to help make ends meet.
Findings were based on more than 2,850 responses to the poll conducted in the spring by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Oops! Looks like I cut off the HuffPo story a little prematurely:
On Friday morning, two liberal groups, Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) and Democracy for America, launched a new ad using the testimony of a Nebraska businessman to call out Nelson for holding up health care legislation in the Senate. The spot was one in a series of television spots the groups have launched targeting the senator.
Asked if Thompson's warning would dissuade his organization from running the ad -- which is slated to air 200 times in Nebraska by next Wednesday -- Adam Green, founder of PCCC, responded: "Absolutely not. We're going to buy more ads in Nebraska on Monday."
"Ben Nelson just called a Nebraska small businessman whose health insurance costs went up 42% an out-of-state special interest, while never disputing that he is bought and paid for by health and insurance interests who gave him millions to vote against his own constituents," Green continued. "If Ben Nelson stands behinds his spokesman's words, he just proved himself a fundamentally corrupt and out-of-touch politician who feels perfectly comfortable lying to his constituents and going to bat for private insurers who fear competition and want to rip off the people of Nebraska."
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