bob kerrey

e out-of-power party is poised to gain seats in both houses. The question now is whether it will be a historic election with Republicans actually seizing power in Congress. The Republicans would have to gain 40 seats in the 435-member House, 10 in the 100-member Senate - a tall order no matter how upset voters are.

Every state is now in play   -Barbara Boxer

 

Tree removal along the Missouri River to make way for the new River's Edge Park will be the focus of a public hearing Monday before the Council Bluffs City Council. City officials plan to create a riverfront park over 85 acres of land for recreation, outdoor entertainment and other uses. About 200 trees, most of them cottonwoods, must be removed to create the park's planned Great Lawn as well as a road for the park.

We have a small window to work with   -Tom Hanafan

 

Almost by the day, Republicans are sensing fresh opportunities to pick up ground. Just Wednesday, former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats announced he would try to reclaim his old seat from Democrat Evan Bayh, who barely a year ago had been a finalist to be Barack Obama's running mate. And Republicans nationwide are still celebrating Scott Brown's January upset to take Edward Kennedy's former seat in Massachusetts.

Every state is now in play   -Barbara Boxer

 

In fact, the Republican tradition of campaign finance reform in which I stand dates to the trust-buster, Theodore Roosevelt. In his 1905 message to Congress, President Roosevelt proposed that "contributions by corporations to any political committee or for any political purpose should be forbidden by law." His logic was straightforward enough: "If [legislators] are extorted by any kind of pressure or promise, express or implied, direct or indirect, in the way of favor or immunity, then the giving or receiving becomes not only improper but criminal."  

A Feb. 1 World-Herald editorial on Nebraska's motorcycle helmet law described the pain and grief of helmet-less crashes: death. But it gets worse. Some victims never really live again.

diagnosable form of mental health problem.   -Robert Nelson

 

The National Enquirer has thrown its hat in the ring for a 2010 Pulitzer Prize , seeking official recognition from the media Brahmins for its ownership of the John Edwards sex scandal. Said Brahmins are harrumphing, and here's why they're wrong. There's no question that the Enquirer humiliated the institutional political press with its revelations about Edwards' infidelity, Rielle Hunter 's pregnancy, the potentially illegal use of campaign cash for hush money, and the existence of a federal grand jury investigation into the matter.

s pregnancy, the potentially illegal use of campaign cash for hush money, and the existence of a federal grand jury investigation into the matter. The Enquirer may traffic in " tabloid trash ," but the facts of the Edwards story are squarely and profoundly in-bounds when it comes to the sort of newsgathering that we expect from America's vaunted political press corps, and they didn't do it. While the Enquirer may have blown the Anderson Cooper Haitian baby story , the exposure of Edwards   -Rielle Hunter

 

"Democrats have got their hands full trying to navigate through unprecedented economic turmoil and two wars," says former Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb. He suggests the gloomy talk within the party is overstated and the Democrats are still likely to retain control, but he adds: "There's no question that there's anger out there."

Democrats have got their hands full trying to navigate through unprecedented economic turmoil and two wars   -Bob Kerrey

 

A Republican takeover on Capitol Hill is still a long shot. But strategists in both parties now see at least narrow paths by which the GOP could win the House and, if the environment for Democrats deteriorates further, possibly even the Senate. "The likelihood is that Democrats hold the House and Senate," says former Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., calling party members' doom and gloom overstated.

The likelihood is that Democrats hold the House and Senate   -Bob Kerrey

 

Former Sen. Bob Kerrey famously said that Bill Clinton was "an unusually good liar. Unusually good." Well, then, President Barack Obama is an unusually bad liar. Unusually bad.

By the time I took office, we had a one-year deficit of over $1 trillion and projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade. Most of this was the result of not paying for two wars, two tax cuts, and an expensive prescription drug program. On top of that, the effects of the recession put a $3 trillion hole in our budget. All this was before I walked in the door.   -Barack Obama