As Sen. Ben Sasse and the Nebraska GOP stoop to name-calling following the senator’s announcement to seek re-election, the NDP is focusing on Sasse’s dubious record since taking office.
Sasse and GOP had the temerity on Monday to claim that the NDP was spreading “poison” about their refusal to call out the hateful, racial rhetoric from President Trump that appeared to help fuel at least one of last weekend’s mass shootings.
“We are confident that voters will see the words of Sasse and the GOP for what they are — bluster — and reject Sasse’s bid for a second term,” said NDP Chair Jane Kleeb. “The NDP has three strong Democratic candidates who have stepped up to challenge Sasse — Chris Janicek, Angie Philips and Dan Wik. Democrats offer a true path forward at this critical juncture for our nation.”
The foundation of Sasse’s 2013-14 campaign was his promise to abolish the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). “If it lives, America as we know it will die. If the idea of America is to live, it must be stopped,” Sasse said.
Well, he didn’t — although it wasn’t for lack of trying, even if it would harm thousands of Nebraskans. Fortunately, Obamacare is still alive — though under attack by Sasse and the GOP.
Sasse also pledged upon election to “focus on our duties for the long term” — yet in 2017 he voted for the GOP tax scam which will increase the deficit by $1 trillion over the next 10 years while giving the overwhelming majority of tax cuts to the richest Americans.
Sasse campaigned as a Tea Party darling with the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin at his side.
He sided with the president in March to uphold his declaration of an emergency on the southern border, a vote that saw 12 Republican senators cross party lines.
Sasse has voted with his party 99.3 percent of the time in 2018, higher than average for Republicans senators, according to a CQ Vote Watch/Roll Call analysis. And he supports Trump 96 percent of the time.
And yet just a few months ago, he trotted out his “maverick” persona during an interview on CNN.
He resigned his seat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, marking the first time in some 50 years that a Nebraskan was not a member — a move the Omaha World-Herald called “troubling.”
Bottom line: Sasse is not good for Nebraska.
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