We all hated when our little brothers or sisters would copy everything we did growing up. You know, when you started wearing the "Frankie Says" shirt, they had to go get one.  Well, turns out a few of our State Senators never grew out of their copy catting days.

These copy catting state senators represent the fringe of conservative ideology.  It's one thing to be a fiscal conservative.  It's a totally different thing to be on the fringe and to push those ideals in our unicameral.

Laura Ingraham was not in a journalistic mood last night.  When I appear with Bill O’Reilly he at least gives me the opportunity to talk.  It was clear after the first question that Laura wanted to echo what many of the anti-abortion groups are saying right now as an orchestrated campaign to try and frame Planned Parenthood as supporting sex trafficking.  That is an outlandish claim and the only people who will believe it are the same people who continue to sit in their corner rather than develop common sense laws to reduce the amount of abortions and ensure women have access to preventative as well as prenatal care.

The video from last night's show is below, but here are my thoughts that I wish I had the opportunity to share last night...

Bold Nebraska is proud of Senator Johanns and Senator Nelson for joining forces to fix a portion of the health care law that will help ease the paperwork burden on small businesses across Nebraska.

“I own a small business and understand the benefits of the health care law for me and our workers,” said Rick Poore, owner of Shirts 101.  “The 1099 paperwork rule was unnecessary and both Senator Johanns and Nelson realized that, heard from Nebraskans and fixed the law.”

The Senate 2012 race in Nebraska has already begun and the only declared candidate so far on the GOP side is “Wrong Way” Jon Bruning. Repealing the health care law and using all the right-wing rhetoric of “Obamacare” is the main page in Bruning’s predictable playbook right now.  It is a short-sighted strategy because just 17% of Americans think the health care law should be repealed.  We’re not on his staff, but that doesn’t sound like a winning strategy to us.

Today’s ruling by an activist judge in Florida, striking down the entire health care law, simply means another fundraising email from Bruning claiming victory where he will surely also mock Senator Nelson’s bold vote on health reform.  But, no surprise, “Wrong Way” Jon’s got the whole thing backwards.

10 Things You Can Do to Ensure Local Control of Pipeline Decisions and Protect Our Resources

Thank you to Washington Post for a great story on the opposition and concerns being raised in Nebraska about the TransCanada pipeline.

If you are visiting our website because of the article, below are pictures from the rally as well as some pictures of landowners who oppose the pipeline.

Lincoln, NE -- Bold Nebraska, a non-partisan advocacy organization, fully supports the Affordable Care Act, the health care reform bill signed into law last year. 

“Hundreds of thousands of Nebraskans are benefiting from the law today, and as more provisions go into effect our broken health care system will be fixed, resulting in better delivery of care, lower costs and lives saved,” reminded Jane Kleeb, Bold Nebraska Director.  “The repeal vote is an empty promise filled with rhetoric.”

Editor's Note: The following piece was originally posted on Nebraska Appleseed's blog this morning.  As we watch the House of Representatives debate repealing health reform (or the Affordable Care Act), Nebraska organizations and activists are weighing in on the cost of repeal. Appleseed has fought hard for reform over the past 2 years, and we ardently agree with their position that Nebraskans will lose if reform is repealed.

Nebraskans will lose if efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act succeed. Today the House of Representatives will hold a vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Yet, the vote takes place at a time when less than 25% of people support total repeal and majority want to leave the law as is or do more. These numbers reflect a recognition that the Affordable Care Act may not be perfect, but it takes some critical steps forward in addressing the problems in our health care system and moves our country toward a system that provides more control to individuals, more security, and a focus on wellness to help control costs. See our Letter to the Editor in the Omaha World Herald today.