Opinions

Each day hardworking parents, farmers, ranchers, linesmen, teachers, and laborers across the country get out of bed and do what it takes to provide for their families and pay their bills. This week, as Americans continued to go to work, unfortunately ideological, partisan demands from Senate Democrats again obstructed commonsense legislation to keep the federal government open. As a result, funding for the government lapsed, initiating a shutdown.

“Where is the best place in town to eat?” That was the question that I heard multiple times late last week, as I hung around the storage bay of my office in downtown St. Paul.

It is a profound privilege to represent the people of the Third District. I never take for granted the opportunity to take your ideas to Washington and work together to create solutions. It can be easy to merely talk about the many challenges we face, but taking the time to formulate and focus on solutions is what yields results, though it requires more effort.

Federal spending and our growing national debt are serious challenges which must be addressed for the long-term fiscal health of our nation. By enacting our tax cut and family security package (H.R. 1) in July, Republicans took significant strides to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The appropriations process provides another important opportunity to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly.

For a lot of people, if you were asked to think about the year 2010, there is a good chance that a litany of headline- making events would come to the forefront of your mind. Haiti was devastated by an earthquake just a handful of days into the year, Steve Jobs and Apple announced the launch of the first iPad in the spring, thirty-three Chilean miners got trapped and were miraculously rescued late in the summer, and just before Christmas, the Big 12 gave Husker fans a going-away gift we will never forget, a gut-wrenching loss to Oklahoma in the conference championship game.

Nearly a quarter century has passed since the attacks of September 11, 2001. That day’s tragic events, the heroic acts of so many Americans, and the extraordinary shows of patriotism and national unity which followed are forever etched in our national memory. We will always remember the courage and sacrifice of those who passed and those whose lives were forever changed 24 years ago.

Growing up, on our birthdays, my siblings and I always kept a keen ear tuned to the radio in the morning. In maybe a humorous sign of the times, on our birthdays, our parents would call in to a morning show—usually Matt and Julia in the Morning on 107.7, KSYZ— and we would listen for our names to be called with the rest of the people in central Nebraska celebrating our special day.

Agriculture producers have faced serious economic challenges in recent years. Despite rising productivity, farmers face high input costs and falling commodity prices, straining their margins. As many Nebraskans know well, a record crop alone doesn’t right the market, and producers are in a challenging position.

When you are a little kid, no one is smarter than your parents. You idolize them.

Monday morning, as I scrambled out the door and off to my first event of the week—the Arcadia Fall Festival Parade—out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the front end of my vehicle, and my heart skipped a beat.