I’m not usually one for resolutions. I love the spirit of them but simply suck at following through.
The spirit of New Year’s Resolutions rocks though– it’s a self-imposed fresh slate. Whether you’re a resolution person or not, we can at least admire the ideas behind them. They’re an excuse to work towards a better version of yourself, a newfound sense of motivation, and a reason to create lofty goals!
In Nebraska, however, we’re stuck with Resolution Scrooge as our Governor. Every time there’s an opportunity to turn the leaf a la Resolutions, Pillen doubles down in his desire to keep Nebraska the same, regardless of year. Jim Pillen capped off an otherwise unremarkable 2023 in office with one of the most abhorrent decisions in recent memory– the decision to deny $18 million of federal funds dedicated to feeding 175,000 kids.
That $18 million would have helped with the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children, known as EBT for short. The goal of the program is to ensure that children who are usually on free and reduced lunch during the school year have healthy and accessible meals in the summer as well.
So much for the spirit of resolutions. Governor Pillen had the easiest opportunity to move our state even one inch in the right direction, and somehow still fumbled the opportunity. Fresh starts be damned, the Governor just wants to see our kids starve!
Happy New Year, Nebraska, let’s pray it’s only up from here.
“The Election of Our Lifetime”
In the world of politics, our “New Year” comes via election cycles. We don’t get to press reset on January 1st, or even every year, only when we have elections! So, although it didn’t happen this week, we still get to flip to a new chapter this year.
On May 14th and November 5th of this year, Nebraskans will turn out to the polls and cast their votes for everything from County Commissioners to President of the United States and everything in between. It gives us the opportunity to be the change we want to see in this country. If you’re pissed off about something— vote!
Dissent is the most beautiful thing about our country… we’re actively encouraged to disagree with each other, and for that, we should be grateful. We have the ability to vote for the person who best represents our values, each of us serving as a small cog in the machine that keeps our great nation turning.
However, every single election year we’re told “It’s the election of our lifetime” and “Your vote matters more than ever before”… it almost feels like the boy who cried wolf at some point. I mean, c’mon, not every election can be the election of my lifetime.
To be honest, I completely hate that phrase and rhetoric. Yet, despite my hatred for that phrase, I think this truly is the election of our lifetime. We’ve had our fair share of crappy Presidential candidates in our lifetime.
George W roped us into the Middle East under false pretenses, plunged us into a recession, and cozied up with his oil buddies in the name of denying the existence of climate change.
Both John McCain and Mitt Romney thought that the solution to the recession was to give big businesses more tax breaks.
And Donald Trump, well, was Donald Trump.
He talked a big game, said a lot of nasty shit, and used the most powerful office in our country as a platform to be the worst person imaginable for four years straight.
Yet, this time around, he’s even more emboldened, more unapologetic, and more spiteful.
I think we’re almost desensitized to how insane some of the things he says are, myself included. After four years of only hearing about him in the news, it’s kind of nice to not have to listen to him.
“I’ll only be a dictator on day one”
Immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country”
Called his political opponents “vermin” and promised to “lock them up”
alrededor del cuerno
New Year, new news stories! Let’s see what the first week has had in store for us already.
Last week, the supposed “moderate” alternative to Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, said that slavery was not the reason for the Civil War. I think we should add passing a high school civics exam to the list of requirements to run for President. It might incidentally disqualify 90% of Republican candidates, but hey, at least we’d know our nation’s real history.
As we move into 2024– here’s a list of events that are a decade old now! Hope this doesn’t make you feel too old…
- Malaysian Airlines 370 disappears and lives forever lost
- First recorded Ebola outbreak in the USA
- “Frozen” releases and becomes the highest-grossing animated movie
- The Ice Bucket Challenge was the top US social media trend
- El Chapo captured
- The World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Nebraska football fires Bo Pelini
And with that… a happy 2024 to you all! Let’s hope this year brings prosperity, political stability, good health, and free meals for school kids!
Gracias por leer,
Por favor considere donar al NDP aquí. La lucha por el alma de nuestra nación estará en las urnas en 2024, y necesitamos ayuda para mantenernos al día con los megadonantes corporativos del Partido Republicano.
Si tiene alguna pregunta o comentario, no dude en comunicarse con jack@nebraskademocrats.org.
Mis mejores deseos,
jack schiewe
