NE-02: End Lee Terry's Flirtation With Corporate Lobbyists

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Thursday July 22, 2010 · 5:46 AM PDT

2010/07/22 · 05:46

For most politicians, getting into bed with lobbyists is only a metaphor. However, Nebraska's 2nd District Republican Congressman Lee Terry may have been caught trying to give the phrase a much more literal interpretation.

The New York Post reports:

Some Republican congressmen have been warned to keep their distance from the female lobbyists who prowl Capitol Hill. Sources say House Minority Leader John Boehner has told GOP congressmen who partied with lobbyists "to knock it off"....

GOP Rep. Lee Terry of Nebraska -- who's in a tough race against Democratic opponent Tom White -- was witnessed by Page Six in close conversation with a comely lobbyist at the Capitol Hill Club in DC recently. "Why did you get me so drunk?" Terry asked the giggling woman, among other personal remarks. When Terry realized he was sitting near a reporter, he quickly changed the topic of conversation to his three children and the struggle to pay their college tuition.

Skylewalker

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Thursday July 01, 2010 · 6:41 AM PDT

2010/07/01 · 06:41

On Wednesday night, Nebraska's Democratic Senator Ben Nelson had the opportunity to cast the 60th vote for an extension of unemployment insurance benefits that would have thrown a lifeline to one million out-of-work Americans who have already seen their benefits expire - not to mention the additional 200,000 who will otherwise continue to be phased out of the program each and every week.

The latest attempt of many, this vote finally forced a break in the previously unanimous Republican filibuster when Maine Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe crossed the aisle to support the extension. Still, one more vote was needed from one of 39 other Republican Senators or from Nelson - the lone Democratic hold-out. Unfortunately, Nelson and all those Republicans once again voted "no" - leaving a million families panicked and imperiled at a time when options are few and there's little talk of help being on the way.

Skylewalker

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Wednesday May 26, 2010 · 6:09 AM PDT

2010/05/26 · 06:09

How quickly things change. When the final health care reform bill was passed two months ago, the Omaha World-Herald noted that Nebraska's Republican Congressmen "showed little interest...in repealing it now that it is the law of the land." Specifically, the World-Herald reported of endangered 2nd District incumbent Lee Terry:

Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., said that rather than seeking repeal, Republicans should focus on eliminating "158 new boards, commissions and agencies, empowering the IRS, mandates, those types of things"....

If Republicans win back control of Congress, he said, they can exercise the power of the purse to reduce government involvement in health care. "That's the only way, practically, that we're going to be able to make any changes," Terry said.

Skylewalker

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Friday May 14, 2010 · 2:02 PM PDT

2010/05/14 · 14:02

Nebraska Congressman Lee Terry (NE-02) is one of the most endangered Republican incumbents in the country. In the Republican primary earlier this week, he gave up 37% of the vote to a Tea Party activist who raised less than $30,000 and didn't even run a real campaign. With such weak support from his own party, Terry now has to face the toughest fight of his political career against Omaha State Senator Tom White, a top-tier Democratic recruit who's already been named to the DCCC's 2010 "Red-To-Blue" program.

So, what's Terry's strategy heading into the general election? How's he going to save his campaign and win a seventh term as a Republican back-bencher without a single noteworthy legislative accomplishment? That's quite simple, really. Terry's following his party's example by making an appeal to the far-fright fringe - declaring a war on science in Omaha schools!

Skylewalker

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Thursday December 31, 2009 · 7:00 AM PST

2009/12/31 · 07:00

Readers of the New Nebraska Network should be well aware of Republican Congressman Lee Terry's half-baked "plan" for health care reform (1, 2, 3, 4). Since the moment Terry began referring to his "plan" in July of 2009, it has never been anything more than a few revolving talking points strung together without any real substance or merit. It's been a joke to hoodwink voters into thinking the endangered Republican incumbent in a district won by President Barack Obama has been anything but a blind partisan just following orders to kill the health care reform effort. This joke reached a new level in early November when Terry featured his "plan" in a mailing to his constituents - paid for at taxpayer expense.

Skylewalker

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Sunday September 20, 2009 · 11:24 AM PDT

2009/09/20 · 11:24

From the New Nebraska Network:

After following Mark Fahleson ever since he became State Chair of the Nebraska Republican Party earlier this year, I have such low expectations of the man that I've practically given up distinguishing one childish antic from the next as he sets new standards for tastelessness in Nebraska politics.

Read practically any of Fahleson's blog posts or his Twitter feed, and you'll see what I mean. But, it's preparing for the likely match-up between incumbent Republican Congressman Lee Terry and Democratic challenger Tom White where Fahleson's obnoxious approach has truly been the most apparent.

Skylewalker

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Monday September 07, 2009 · 8:00 AM PDT

2009/09/07 · 08:00

From the New Nebraska Network:

We saw some evidence of Republican Congressman Lee Terry's artful feeding of right-wing paranoia about health care reform at his townhall forum on Tuesday, August 25th. The following Saturday, though, at a Coffee with Lee event in Omaha, Terry went one step further than his prior rationalization of right-wing hysteria about death panels.

Where he'd previously debunked the death panel myth but defended the logic behind it, Terry now debunks the earlier death panel made famous by Sarah Palin by explaining that the real death panel is contained in another part of the Democrats' health care legislation.

Skylewalker

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Wednesday August 12, 2009 · 2:57 AM PDT

2009/08/12 · 02:57

From the New Nebraska Network:

Below, you can see Sen. Ben Nelson's ad responding to the ongoing campaign by Democracy For America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee targeting him as a supposed enemy and potential supporter of progressive health care reform legislation.

The ad delivers exactly the message Nebraskans have come to expect from Nelson after his two terms as Governor and his eight years in the U.S. Senate. It also sets him apart from the state's otherwise Republican Congressmen as being fully-engaged and a constructive partner in this vitally important debate.

Skylewalker

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Monday August 03, 2009 · 8:12 PM PDT

2009/08/03 · 20:12

In response to the diary "Kyle Michaelis -- Fake Nebraska Progressive Blogger":

I don’t feel the need to defend myself from Adam Green’s attempt to purge me from the ranks of progressive bloggers. Readers of the New Nebraska Network know me, and I believe my record speaks for itself. Of course, having my name maliciously dragged through the mud on the front page of OpenLeft and in a featured diary at DailyKos is a less-than-pleasant experience. But, I was touched – even honored – by those who countered Green’s very personal attack and at least offered some perspective on my years of work advancing progressive issues and building a progressive body of political thought from which a New Nebraska might one day emerge.

Skylewalker

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Saturday July 18, 2009 · 10:17 PM PDT

2009/07/18 · 22:17

From the New Nebraska Network:

On Friday, Sen. Ben Nelson was joined by fellow Democratic Senators Joe Lieberman, Mary Landrieu, and Ron Wyden, as well as Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, in sending the following message to their party leaders about health care reform:

In the current debate about our health care system, we are firmly committed to enactment of comprehensive reform this year. That reform must reduce premiums and administrative costs, expand choices, and increase coverage for all Americans. We are eager to work constructively with Senate leadership and agree that this is an historic opportunity which makes it imperative to proceed thoughtfully and responsibly. Our efforts will affect virtually every American.

Skylewalker

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Wednesday July 15, 2009 · 6:43 PM PDT

2009/07/15 · 18:43

For the third day in a row (1, 2), we find yet another instance of Sen. Ben Nelson positioning himself as the chief Democratic roadblock to health care reform in Congress. In an article on House Democrats' proposal to fund a large part of health care reform through a surtax on the wealthiest Americans, the Washington Post reports:

[T]he plan has drawn sharp attacks from Republicans and is already creating friction with Democrats in the Senate. "Tax is a four-letter word" with voters, said Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.).

Once again, that's Nebraska's own Sen. Nelson leading the way in opposing President Barack Obama's agenda and undermining his fellow Democrats' efforts to achieve fundamental reform.

Skylewalker

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Monday July 13, 2009 · 10:10 PM PDT

2009/07/13 · 22:10

From the New Nebraska Network:

Last month, while Sen. Ben Nelson was being targeted for his close ties to the insurance industry, I pondered whether the "Change Congress" campaign had changed Nelson's mind on health care reform after early indications had suggested he'd strongly oppose a public health care option. A few days later, the co-founder of "Change Congress," Lawrence Lessig, wrote a piece declaring the campaign's victory in the Huffington Post:

After an intense 11-day battle with Nelson, he's now publicly "open" to the public option -- and this week, he made more news by saying he won't join a filibuster of Obama's plan.

Well, I hate to burst everyones bubble, but - speaking as an actual Nebraskan - I've seen no actual signs of the victory Lessig proclaimed.

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