Reckless Ricketts, Predictably Pitiful and more — #NebDems News

Four days after the State Legislature ended its 2019 session, Gov. Pete Ricketts vetoed a bill (LB436) that would have formed a state commission to push for a “complete count” during the  2020 Census.

State Sen. Tony Vargas said that the state lost an estimated $20 million in federal funding due to an incomplete census count in 2010 and that getting a complete count only made financial sense.

Vargas and Sen. Matt Hansen sent Ricketts a letter assailing the veto. It’s well worth a read.

***

Well, President Trump’s recent visit to the United Kingdom was predictably pitiful.

And the Brits were ready for him, as the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank noted.

A fair number of Brits don’t like President Trump. An online petition opposing his … state visit to the United Kingdom secured more than 1.8 million signatures. Some anti-Trumpites are motivated enough to have created a 20-foot balloon depicting the president as a whining baby — a prop trotted out for Trump’s last visit as well as the current one. As The Post reported, “The road outside 10 Downing Street was sealed off with steel barricades, and there was a heavy police presence. But nearby, the so-called ‘Carnival of Resistance’ was in full swing.”

Among the “main features” of that carnival, noted The Post’s Karla Adam, was a “talking Trump robot who sat on a toilet, saying: ‘You’re fake news! I’m a very stable genius!’”

Prophetic! Here’s what Trump said Tuesday about his visit:

“As far as the protests, I have to tell you, because I commented on it yesterday: We left, the prime minister, the queen, the royal family — there were thousands of people on the streets cheering, and even coming over today, there were thousands of people cheering. And then I heard that there were protests, and I said, where are the protests? I don’t see any protests. I did see a small protest today when I came, very small. So a lot of it is fake news, I hate to say. But you saw the people waving the American flag, waving your flag. It was tremendous spirit and love, there was great love. It was an alliance. And I didn’t see the protesters until just a little while ago and it was a very, very small group of people, put in for political reasons. So, it was fake news.”

***

As we remembered the 9,000 Americans who died during the invasion of Nazi-occupied France, which began 75 years ago this week, the Omaha World-Herald ran a nice piece on Andrew Jackson Higgins, the native Nebraskan who designed and mass-produced the landing craft that carried American troops ashore in the Pacific and European theaters of World War II.

“Without Higgins’ famous landing crafts, the U.S. strategy during WWII would have been much different — and winning the global conflict much more difficult. The Higgins boat participated in every major invasion of the war, including North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Normandy and the islands of the Pacific, including Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.”

***

The Nebraska Democratic Women’s Caucus will award $500 “Inspiring Women” scholarships to three female students, each representing one of Nebraska’s Congressional Districts.

The scholarship application deadline is July 1.

These awards are inspired by our memory of political trailblazer and mentor Helen Boosalis, Mayor of Lincoln and Democratic Party nominee for Nebraska Governor.

The simple application process includes a 500-word essay and biographical/contact information emailed to: ndpwomenscaucus@gmail.com.

More information is available here.

***

A reminder that the NDP’s State Central Committee Meeting and Trainings are June 28-30 in Scottsbluff.

More information can be found here.

***

The first Democratic Presidential Debates are June 26-27, 2019.

Sign up to host a watch party!

***

We leave this week with a rendering from political cartoonist Tim Campbell on the aforementioned Trump visit to the U.K.

–By Kevin O’Hanlon/NDP Communications Director

###

IMPORTANT DATES

June 8: Blue Bench Training: Mobilizing at Community Events

June 15: Omaha Juneteenth Parade

June 15: Lincoln Juneteenth Celebration

June 26-27: Democratic Presidential Debates

June 28-30: SCC Meeting and Trainings in Scottsbluff

Like this article?