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Central Nebraska banker remains optimistic in face of tariff troubles

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The escalating trade war with China is worrying many Nebraska farmers and ranchers, as soybeans and pork are being hit the hardest by Chinese tariffs.

Isaiah Graham, vice president at Homestead Bank in St. Paul, says there are still some positive signs, especially in central Nebraska.

“The cattle side of it is still pretty strong on the sales, and on the grain side, there’s opportunities still there,” Graham says. “We’re very optimistic on how this year’s working out. We’ve had plentiful rains in our area. Some guys haven’t even turned on irrigation at all this year. That’s a big expense that we’re not outlaying.”

Graham says too many outside factors are having an impact on the economy.

“One wrong thing is said and the market overly corrects itself,” Graham says. “This should be the new normal, where we’re at right now. The days of $5, $6, $7 and $8 corn, it was an anomaly that happened and hurt a lot of farms because they got used to that.”

Graham says bankers are striving to continue working with their customers who are ag producers.

“It’s just really about having a conversation with a lot of people and showing them where the numbers are,” Graham says. “Saying, ‘Hey, can we figure out ways to become better at what we do?’ and ‘work smarter, not harder’ is a big part of that.”

Graham says producers are looking forward to completing the harvest this fall, and then they’ll think about next year, when the impact of the tariffs may worsen.

By Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton

 

Billion-dollar tax cut initiative might have died; effort to cut property taxes remains alive (AUDIO)

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A big backer of the failed property tax cut initiative says questions emerged about the proposed ballot initiative, prompting the effort to end, sending the issue back to the legislature.

An effort to place a billion-dollar property tax cut proposal on the November ballot ended abruptly in late April.

The Nebraska Farm Bureau initially backed the proposal and was thought to be the main source of funding for the initiative petition.

President Steve Nelson says too many questions popped up.

“It’s not clear what the outcome would have been,” Nelson tells Nebraska Radio Network. “One of the concerns that was raised all along, was how would the ballot initiative be implemented?”

If the initiative would have gained ballot status and voters would have approved it, it still would have been up to legislators to implement the measure.

Now, the issue reverts to the Unicameral, according to Nelson.

“I continue to want to bring the focus back towards what we can do, and you know this is something that the legislature has the power to solve,” Nelson states.

Nelson says the crux of the issue is how Nebraska funds schools, stating school funding is too heavily reliant on property tax revenue.

Yes to Property Tax Relief stopped its efforts in late April. A spokesman at the time stated doubts remained that a ballot measure would be the best route to address the issue, stating the committee wasn’t convinced the legislature would effectively implement the proposal even if approved by voters.

The Unicameral failed to pass property tax relief in the 2018 legislative session.

The ballot measure proposed to give property owners a refundable income tax credit equal to half of the property taxes collected by their local school district. It would in effect be a 30% cut in property taxes. It would total nearly $1.2 billion.

AUDIO:  Brent Martin reports [:50]

Americans For Prosperity weighs whether to launch campaign against Medicaid expansion (AUDIO)

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Supporters of Medicaid expansion stack boxes with the signatures they have collected.

A Nebraska group has yet to decide whether it will launch a formal campaign against expanding Medicaid, should the issue qualify for the November ballot as expected.

Americans For Prosperity Nebraska State Director, Jessica Shelburn, says at present the group is only mounting an educational campaign.

“We’re looking at all of our options on if we want to wade into that battle and try to lodge a campaign against it,” Shelburn tells Nebraska Radio Network.

Shelburn says Nebraska needs to learn from the experience of states which have expanded Medicaid under provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

She points in particular to Ohio, which projected approximately 365,000 would enroll once it expanded Medicaid. Instead, the state has enrolled more than 700,000. Shelburn says that’s a steep cost increase, even if the federal government is covering most of the cost.

“When we’re talking about 90% is going to be paid by the federal government, keep in mind the state is coming up with 10% on top of what they were already paying for the existing Medicaid,” Shelburn says.

Nebraska lawmakers have refused to expand Medicaid under the ACA as both Gov. Dave Heineman and Gov. Pete Ricketts held firm against expansion.

Ricketts continues to oppose expansion, though he has stated he has no plans to get involved in the campaign. The governor does question expanding Medicaid to the able-bodied, something it initially was not designed to do.

Supporters of expansion have submitted more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in November. The Secretary of States’ office is reviewing the signatures to verify whether there are enough registered voters to qualify for ballot status.

AUDIO:  Brent Martin reports [:45]

 

 

Democrat Raybould says host of issues face voters in US Senate race (AUDIO)

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Democrat Jane Raybould

Democrat Jane Raybould says Nebraskans need to carefully consider many issues as they decide between re-electing or replacing Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer.

This concludes our two-part candidate profile of Raybould.

Raybould has emphasized agriculture early in this campaign and is critical of Fischer’s recent decision to join the Senate Agriculture Committee.

“I feel like she’s been missing in action, so it’s only this year, an election year, that she’s now on the all-important Agriculture Committee. I think it’s too little, too late,” Raybould tells Nebraska Radio Network.

Raybould criticizes the Trump Administration’s trade policy, saying its trade war has caused a farm crisis. Raybould supports modernizing NAFTA to continue free trade between the United States and its neighbors, Mexico and Canada. She says the United States should join the Trans Pacific Partnership, which she says would open Asian markets for Nebraska farmers.

Raybould says Congress must find a way to reduce the cost of health care. She sees a two-step solution. First, health insurance markets must be stabilized by committing to Affordable Care Act reimbursements, according to Raybould. She says only then should Congress consider health care proposals. She won’t commit to Medicare-for-all, advocated by some Democrats, stating she hasn’t seen a cost analysis of it or a feasible plan to implement it.

The Democrat supports what she calls “common sense gun safety,” stating the assault weapons ban in 1994 reduced deadly shootings in the United States. Raybould voted for the Lincoln City Council move to ban bump stocks. She says so-called loopholes in the background checks required before purchasing a gun can be closed without harming Second Amendment rights.

As for President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanugh, Raybould wants a nominee who defers to precedent.

“I would not support a nominee that would be interested in overturning the Affordable Care Act or certainly not supporting a nominee that would be looking at overturning Roe v. Wade,” Raybould says, adding that on abortion rights she doesn’t believe government should be involved in something that is a very personal and private decision.

AUDIO:  Brent Martin reports [:50]

 

 

Democrat Raybould makes uphill challenge to US Sen. Fischer’s re-election (AUDIO)

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Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Jane Raybould

Lincoln city councilmember Jane Raybould is the Democratic challenger as Republican U.S. Senator Deb Fischer runs for re-election.

This is the first of a two-part series.

Raybould has run statewide before, as Lt. Governor in the failed gubernatorial campaign of Chuck Hassebrook in 2014.

She says she learned a lot then. And now, as she talks to farmers, who tell her they’re deeply troubled by the Trump Administration’s trade war, some saying they haven’t experienced anything like the current economic outlook since the farm crisis of the 1980s.

“They’re acknowledging this Washington-made trade war that’s now turning into a Washington-made farm crisis,” Raybould tells Nebraska Radio Network in a sit-down interview at B&R Stores headquarters in Lincoln.

Raybould describes herself as a foursth-generation Nebraskan and a second-generation grocer. She works with her parents in running B&R which owns Russ’s Market among other grocery chains.

She has served on the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners and has since been elected to the Lincoln City Council.

Raybould claims Nebraskans are frustrated by what they observe in Washington, D.C. She says partisan fighting has kept Congress from tackling difficult issues such as health care and immigration.

And Raybould further claims Sen. Fischer is part of the problem, claiming that Fischer embodies everything that’s wrong with Washington.

“She votes along party-lines 98% of the time. She’s accepted millions from lobbyists and corporate special interests,” Raybould says. “So, it’s no wonder she does their bidding and it means that she’s not listening to Nebraskans.”

For her part, Raybould pledges not to take any corporate PAC money, claiming such contributions have undue influence on Fischer.

Raybould acknowledges she is fighting an uphill battle in a Republican-dominated state. She doesn’t have the money Fischer has. The latest campaign finance disclosures show Raybould with $480,000 on hand with Fischer at $2.75 million. Still, Raybould says she has the money she needs to unseat the incumbent.

Tomorrow, Raybould discusses the issues in this campaign.

AUDIO:  Brent Martin reports [:50]

 

Tariffs on Canadian newsprint could wipe out small-town newspapers

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The survival of small-town newspapers in Nebraska and elsewhere is being threatened as the Trump administration is placing higher tariffs on bulk newsprint paper produced in Canada.

Rob Dump of Hartington is the publisher of six local papers in northeast Nebraska.

“This could wipe out community newspapers as we know them,” Dump says. “This is a huge thing. There are so many mom-and-pop operations out there today that are on a shoestring budget as it is. They’ve got so many other factors going against them. This is the last thing in the world they need.”

The U.S. Commerce Department is adding duties of between four and 22-percent on imports of Canadian paper. Dump says it could drive up newspaper costs more than 30-percent.

“Our subscribers are loyal customers but I don’t know that anybody is loyal enough to pay that much more all of the sudden,” he says.

Dump says he’s working with the Nebraska Press Association in urging the state’s Congressional delegation to help.

“Our congressmen and our senators were excellent and understood the problem. A couple of them were willing to sign on to a proposed bill,” Dump says. “Some other states, where they have other issues, weren’t as willing to help out.”

Dump says he buys two semi loads of paper per year and the current supply is almost gone.

Besides Hartington, he runs newspapers in Osmond, Coleridge, Laurel, Randolph and Wausa.

By Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton

 

Sen. Sasse and President Trump agree to disagree

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U.S. Senator Ben Sasse has been accused of hammering President Trump at every given opportunity. Sasse says that is really the opposite of reality.  He says that one big point is his voting record that is to the right of the Administrations. Sasse also points to his disappointment with the budget saying that President Trump promised to “drain the swamp but instead passed a really swampy budget last year.”

Sasse says he also turned down all five Sunday shows 52 weeks straight last year and says comments that he is out to criticize the president is inaccurate.

Sasse says, “The President and I wrestle in private a lot. He and I have a long term known agreement on trade and global security, we wrestle in a collaborative way but I’m not persuading him so I told him I would be very public about all the places that we differ.  There are lots more policy areas that we differ but I keep those mostly to our private wrestling matches.”

Sasse recently condemned Trump’s bailout of farmers hit hard by tariffs.

Democrat Jane Raybould slams Sen. Fischer as “DC Deb” in 1st TV ad (VIDEO/AUDIO)

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Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Jane Raybould speaks at a Russ’s Market in Lincoln

Democrat Jane Raybould has released her first television ad in her challenge to Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer’s re-election.

The ad dubs Fischer “DC Deb,” claiming she has lost touch with Nebraska.

It features Humboldt dairy farmer Ben Steffen, who told reporters during a news conference, he isn’t impressed with Fischer’s joining the Senate ag committee.

“To have Sen. Fischer jump on the ag committee in the election year is totally unacceptable,” according to Steffen. “It’s not the kind of Senate representation that Nebraskans deserve.”

Sen. Ben Sasse had served on the Agriculture Committee, but left to take a seat on the Judiciary Committee. Nebraska didn’t have a seat on the Senate Agriculture Committee for the first time since 1969.

Fischer joined the committee earlier this year. Raybould called her move politically motivated.

Raybould pounded home the theme of the commercial during the news conference held at a Russ’s Market in Lincoln.

“My campaign is releasing this ad today, because Sen. Fischer went to Washington and forgot that she’s supposed to be fighting for Nebraska families and our Nebraska farmers,” Raybould stated.

Raybould criticized Fischer for voting the Republican party line 98% of the time.

Russ’s Market grocery chain is owned and operated by the Raybould family. Raybould also serves on the Lincoln City Council.

 

AUDIO:  Brent Martin reports [:45]

Gov. Ricketts denies claim President Trump would like him to run against Sasse (AUDIO)

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Gov. Pete Ricketts

Gov. Pete Ricketts denies President Donald Trump, frustrated by Senator Ben Sasse’s criticism of him, has asked Ricketts to challenge a possible 2020 re-election bid by the senator.

Ricketts gives a flat “No” when asked about a Politico article which suggests allies of Trump have approached him about mounting a primary challenge to Sasse should the senator seek re-election.

“There’s no truth to that whatsoever and if I’m fortunate enough to be re-elected as governor for a second term, I plan on staying governor for the entire term,” Ricketts tells Nebraska Radio Network when asked about the article.

The article by the Washington-based news outlet first suggests Sasse would mount a Republican primary challenge to the re-election of President Trump, then claims Trump has been searching for a primary challenger against Sasse.

Sen. Ben Sasse

Sasse, when asked about the article by Nebraska Radio Network, called the article “a whole bunch of nonsense” and said nobody should waste any time on it.

The article claimed Trump supporters in Nebraska have been looking for possible primary challengers to run against Sasse with the early attention focusing on Ricketts “who has forged a warm relationship with the president and will be termed out of office in 2022” if he wins re-election.

Ricketts denies Nebraska Republicans have soured on Sasse.

“I haven’t had anybody in the party come to me and say, ‘Hey, we want to find somebody else to run against him.’ I think with anybody there’s going to be pros and cons. People are going to gripe once in a while, but I haven’t heard of anybody seriously considering running against Sen. Sasse,” Ricketts says.

Ricketts just doesn’t see a backlash against Sasse.

“I think we can put this firmly in the category of rumor,” Ricketts says with a chuckle.

AUDIO:  Brent Martin reports [:45]

Krist calls on Gov. Ricketts to fire Corrections Director Frakes (AUDIO)

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State Corrections Dir. Scott Frakes appears before the legislature’s Judiciary Committee.

Democratic candidate for governor, state Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha, today called for Gov. Pete Ricketts to fire state Corrections Director Scott Frakes.

Krist, during a news conference outside the state prison in Tecumseh, said it was time for a change at the Department of Correctional Services.

“Today, I am calling for Gov. Ricketts to immediately terminate Scott Frakes as the director of the Department of Corrections,” Krist told reporters. “We’ve been more than patient waiting for Gov. Ricketts and for the director and they have shown no leadership in the way that they’ve handled corrections.”

Krist claimed Ricketts and Frakes have presided over a prison system that continues to spiral out of control. Krist said Frakes has stated there needs to be a culture change at the department, but hasn’t delivered. The candidate zeroed in on prison overcrowding during his criticism, pointing out Nebraska state prisons stand at 155% of designed capacity. If the prison population remains high, the governor might be forced to officially claim an emergency which could force the release of prisoners.

Krist stated he would prefer a director such as former Nebraska Corrections Director Bob Houston, though Houston retired in 2013 under a cloud. Krist claimed Houston was handcuffed in running the department by former Gov. Dave Heineman.

Ricketts rejected the call for Frakes’ head a ‘baldly political move,’ saying Corrections has made improvements under his leadership.

“We’ve got the right leader in Scott Frakes to manage all this,” Ricketts responded when asked about the comments by reporters. “He’s doing a fantastic job. We’re making the efforts to really take an organization that was under-invested and had to have a change in culture and we’re making that change.”

Ricketts said his administration is taking a three-prong attack to reduce prison overcrowding through sentencing reform, new programs designed to prepare inmates for release, and incentives to attract and retain employees.

Ricketts said Frakes has the experience to lead the improvements at the Department of Correctional Services.

AUDIO:  Brent Martin reports [:45]