Category: Civil Rights & Economic Justice
Anti-Immigration Organization Operating in Nebraska Branded as a 'Hate Group' by National Civil Rights Watchdog
Paul A. Olson
Nebraskans for Peace President
At a February legislative hearing on a bill dealing with immigration, State Senator Bill Avery asked a pointed question of Kris Kobach, the lawyer for the legal affiliate of the ‘Federation for American Immigration Reform’ (FAIR). Did Kobach know, Avery inquired, that the ‘Southern Poverty Law Center’ had classified his umbrella group, FAIR, as a hate group?
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Sascha Krannich
German citizen Sascha Krannich was an exchange student at Hastings College two years ago, and wrote his Master’s thesis about undocumented immigration to Nebraska. Now he is doing research for his PhD. in Mexico. He offers a European perspective on the immigration issues facing our state.
Immigration, both documented and undocumented, is on the rise in Nebraska, one of the New Immigration States in the U.S. It’s an issue and a problem that both Nebraskan citizens and their political representatives will have to continue to confront. Although the state policy has been lenient, it is now trending toward restrictive. How does Nebraska want to be represented in a national perspective: as a pioneer of hospitality, or as a closed door to those seeking opportunity? The impact of the private sector in this political debate is substantial, both through its role in forming public opinion and its lobbying influence in legislative process. In any event, the working conditions of immigrants without the legal status to exercise their rights—and the disruption caused by deportations—demand a review of current policy.
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Hendrik van den Berg
UNL Professor of Economics
Since the beginning of the 2008 presidential race, healthcare has been the focus of election campaigns, lobbying efforts and political debate across the country. All this attention to what is perhaps our most pressing economic and social problem, though, has not brought us much closer to a solution.
For a hundred years, political leaders have tried to provide healthcare for all Americans. Teddy Roosevelt tried at the start of the twentieth century, but failed to convince Congress and the voters to support healthcare legislation. Franklin Roosevelt was able to get Social Security, unemployment benefits, a minimum wage, deposit insurance, extensive bank regulation and other social legislation through Congress with his large Democratic majority, but he could not pass universal healthcare. President Truman tried again after World War II, but failed. Lyndon Johnson was able get Medicare through Congress—which provided universal healthcare coverage for everyone over 65—but he did not push for true universal coverage for everyone. Bill Clinton pushed for universal healthcare at the start of his first term in 1993, but quickly retreated in defeat. The Obama Administration has tackled the issue yet again, but (despite Democratic majorities in both houses) has only produced a weak bill that, while expanding healthcare to more people, falls far short of universal quality healthcare for all.
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Patrick D. Jones
NFP State Board Member
The following article appeared in The Omaha World-Herald: Columns - Midlands Voices on January 25, 2010. The writer is an associate professor of history and ethnic studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is the author of “The Selma of the North: Civil Rights Insurgency in Milwaukee” (Harvard University Press).
If we are serious about developing a more humane economic system in the wake of our nation’s ongoing woes, perhaps we should reflect on Martin Luther King Jr.’s “dream” of economic justice.
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HENDRIK VAN DEN BERG
UNL PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS
The discussion over healthcare has gone off track. While the media obsess over ridiculous people shouting about death panels and an impending socialist takeover of our government, the private healthcare/insurance industry is quietly ushering through Congress legislation that raises their profits — and our medical costs — even further. So let’s put the discussion back on track with a few important facts and a realistic policy option that actually improves Americans’ health.
We’re last among developed countries
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