by Terry Werner, Lincoln City Councilor

I am exercising my patriotic duty as a citizen today and questioning the actions of ourgovernment in Afghanistan. I believe that it is my right as an American and myresponsibility as an elected official to voice my concerns on this most important issue.

Let me begin by emphasizing in no uncertain terms that I condemn the terrorist actsthat have taken place in our country. I feel for the victims and their families. My own sonwas within a mile of ground zero on September 11 and could easily have been one of thethousands murdered. I deplore these criminal actions. The people responsible forterrorist activity must be brought to justice and even more efforts must be made toensure our safety both here and abroad.

However, I must question whether six weeks of military airstrikes by the world�s onlyremaining superpower against the poorest country on earth is an effective and wise wayto prosecute this �War on Terrorism.� As an American, a father, a husband and a son,I am concerned for the people of Afghanistan, especially with the coming of winter.They do not deserve to be �collateral damage.� And I am not convinced that destroyingAfghani towns and villages, killing and maiming innocent civilians and angering millions

by Sen. Ernie Chambers

The first casualty of war�especially a bogus, political one�is dissent.

My cable TV program (Cox Channel 22) the night of the �incidents� apparently createdsuch an uproar that I have been flooded with requests for a video copy or a transcript,neither of which I currently, have. However, I shall present excerpts from an audiotapemade when the program was repeated the following night.

Next week, I shall discuss the shrill, foolish, over-hearted political rhetoric aboutAmerica�s so-called �New War,� ballyhooed as a struggle between �good� and �evil.� Iam reminded of an old Burt Lancaster movie, �Elmer Gantry,� a scathing satire of anationally known preacher of the day who hustled religion and rooked the suckers. Arelated film (�Cape Fear?�) started Robert Mitchum as a sinister preacher with the word�EVIL� tattooed on one hand and �GOOD� on the other. In a memorable scene with twowide-eyed youngsters, Mitchem sat at a kitchen table, interlocked his fingers andtumbled his hands about on the table to symbolize a battle between good and evil. Icannot connect to all this craziness.

President Bush has combined the worst of the two movies to produce a bad imitation

Nebraska Report

Nebraskans for Peace941 �O� Street, Suite 1026Lincoln, NE 68508

DECEMBER 2001 VOLUME 29, NUMBER 9

inside:

There is no Peace without Justice

A Monopoly in the Making...MidAmerican Energy MakesIts Move p. 8

Alternatives To the Military2001 Report p. 9

Whiteclay Interim StudyTestimony p. 10

From the Bottomby Sally Herrin p. 12

Latin America Briefs p. 2War, Terrorism & Human Life p. 3

Why We Should NOT Honorthe Government of Saudi Arabia p. 5

Civil Liberties Threatenedby �Anti-Terrorism� Law p. 6

A Bus To Nowhere p. 7

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continued on page 9

Statement Opposing the MilitaryCampaign in Afghanistan

Are America�s Hands Clean�or Stained with Innocent Blood?

continued on page 3

Ernie Chambers Terry Werner

TTTTTwowowowowo WWWWWhohohohoho HHHHHaveaveaveaveave SSSSSpokenpokenpokenpokenpoken OOOOOutututututNoticeably absent from the protests against the military campaign in Afghanistan have been the voices ofelected officials and religious leaders. Apart from Rep. Barbara Lee of California and, more recently, Rep. JimMcDermott of Washington, there has been virtually no political opposition to the Bush Administration�sstrategy of �bombing first, and asking questions later.� Religious opposition has been equally sparse.

In Nebraska, however, State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha began openly criticizing the president�sinflammatory rhetoric about taking bin Laden �dead or alive,� �stamping out evil� and getting �vengeance�almost immediately after the September 11 attack. He was also the first political figure in the state to opposethe bombing campaign against Afghanistan. Reprinted below are Sen. Chambers� initial comments analyzingthe events surrounding 9/11, which appeared in the September 20 edition of the Omaha Star. Published overtwo weeks before the airstrikes even began, his straightforward analyis remains as timely as ever.

Then on November 20, at a specially called news conference in Nebraska�s capital, Lincoln City Councilmember Terry Werner became the first partisan elected official in the state to publicly speak out against thewar. His actions garnered coverage on local television and radio and articles in the Lincoln Journal Star andthe Omaha World-Herald. We are honored to be able to reprint the full text of Terry�s remarks to the media infront of the County-City Building in Lincoln.

DECEMBER 2001 NEBRASKA REPORT, P. 2

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Sayre Andersen, Bill Arfmann, Henry D�Souza, Bob Epp (ExecutiveCommittee At-large), Marsha Fangmeyer (Vice President), MelissaFluent, Debbie Galusha, Richard Hargesheimer, Gerald Henderson,John Krejci, Rich Maciejewski, Carol McShane (President), FrancesMendenhall, Neil Mesner, Patrick Murray, Paul Olson, Jo Peterson,Del Roper, Deirdre Routt, Jay Schmidt (Secretary), Jeanette Sulzman(Treasurer), Sue Ellen Wall, Virginia Walsh, Jim Wiest. Tim Rinne(State Coordinator), Ben Knauss (State Office Manager), Susan Alleman(Membership Coordinator), 941 �O� Street, Suite 1026, Lincoln, NE68508, Phone/Fax: 402-475 4620; Kevin Tuininga (Omaha Coordinator),P.O. Box 3682, Omaha, NE 68103, Phone: 402-453-0776.

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Latin America Briefscompiled by Sarah Disbrow

Nicaragua, An Afghanistan in Our BackyardNicaragua, An Afghanistan in Our BackyardNicaragua, An Afghanistan in Our BackyardNicaragua, An Afghanistan in Our BackyardNicaragua, An Afghanistan in Our BackyardWhile the United States used the war on terrorism to justify its interference in Nicaragua�selections in November, even before September 11, the U.S. was hard at work undermining formerSandinista President Daniel Ortega�s lead in the polls. Ortega lost the election to Enrique Bolanos,one of Nicaragua�s richest landowners and a former Contra supporter. A member of the rulingLiberal party, Bolanos was incumbent president Arnoldo Aleman�s hand-picked successor. Someanalysts say that Aleman has plans to rule Nicaragua through Bolanos. Aleman has been labeledone of the most corrupt presidents in Nicaragua�s history. Members of his own party accused himof enriching himself to the tune of $250 million, building a vast presidential palace while Nicaraguaslid deeper into poverty to become the poorest country in Central America.

In the year before the election, the United States threatened to intervene militarily if Ortegawon. Early on, the U.S. pressured Noel Vidaurre, a third candidate, to withdraw from the electionto bolster votes for Bolanos.

Last month terrorism became the pretext. The State Department claimed Ortega�s party had�ties to supporters of terrorism.� John Keane, acting deputy for Western Hemisphere affairs, drewa more direct comparison to Afghanistan: �We cannot forget that Nicaragua became a haven[under the Sandinistas] for violent political extremists from the Middle East, Europe and LatinAmerica.�

TV ads claimed that if Osama bin Laden could vote in Nicaragua, he�d vote for Ortega. FloridaGovernor Jeb Bush threw newly minted clichés at Ortega in a Miami Herald article, calling him �afriend of our enemies� and claiming, �Ortega has a relationship of more than 30 years with statesand individuals who shelter and condone international terrorism.�

Just before the elections, Jesse Helms, Bob Graham, and Mike DeWine put a resolution beforeCongress to reevaluate U.S. policy toward Nicaragua if the Sandinistas won, threatening, ineffect, to cut off all aid to the impoverished country.

Nicaraguans are puzzled by the U.S. attack on Ortega. One political analyst remarked that if theCIA had any intelligence, they�d have known that Ortega�s Sandinista party was taken over byyuppies long ago.Ironically, there�s a terrible truth in comparisons between Nicaragua and Afghanistan, but theU.S. refuses to recognize it. As soon as the Sandinistas were voted out of power years ago, theU.S. abandoned Nicaragua, as it abandoned Afghanistan after the Russian retreat. Today 80percent of the population lives in poverty, and in many places unemployment has reached 70percent. The U.S. had repeatedly promised that a post-Sandinista Nicaragua would flourish undergenerous U.S. aid, but after the Sandinistas lost power the U.S. ignored the deteriorating situationunder President Aleman. With the latest elections it continues to reinforce a government that islooting its own population.

Vieques RevisitedVieques RevisitedVieques RevisitedVieques RevisitedVieques RevisitedAfter calling a moratorium on civil disobedience in September, activists are preparing to block thenext U.S. Navy exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. The moratorium was called toexpress solidarity with the September 11 World Trade Center victims, who included many PuertoRicans. The leader of Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques (CRDV), IsmaelGuadalupe, reported in October that the group would be ready to block the next military exercises,which could take place at the end of November.

Human Rights Lawyer Assassinated in MexicoHuman Rights Lawyer Assassinated in MexicoHuman Rights Lawyer Assassinated in MexicoHuman Rights Lawyer Assassinated in MexicoHuman Rights Lawyer Assassinated in MexicoAfter repeated attacks over the years, one of Mexico�s most well-known human rights lawyers,Digna Ochoa, was shot to death in her office in October. Ochoa was the winner of AmnestyInternational�s Enduring Spirit Award for defending peasant activists against false governmentcharges. She also defended members of the Zapatista Liberation Army who were detained inprison. Ochoa worked at the Jesuit-run Miguel Agustín Pro Center for Human Rights. In 1999 shewas kidnapped and beaten. Two months later she was tied, blindfolded, and tortured in her homefor nine hours. No arrests were made in the attacks. Human rights advocates and environmentalistsare blaming the government under Vincente Fox for the assassination. President Fox resistedefforts to open up an investigation of political crimes when he took office last year, arguing thatMexico should look to the future. Following Ochoa�s murder, Fox announced that he wouldappoint a special prosecutor to investigate the cases of 570 leftists who disappeared at the handsof the government in the 1970s.

Thousands Protest Army SchoolThousands Protest Army SchoolThousands Protest Army SchoolThousands Protest Army SchoolThousands Protest Army SchoolWith the United States at war against terrorists, thousands of demonstrators marched outsideFort Benning this November to commemorate the November 16, 1989 killings of six Jesuit priestsin El Salvador. The killings have been linked to graduates of the school. Many felt it was moreimportant than ever to protest the School of the Americas because it not only harbored but trainedLatin American terrorists.

DECEMBER 2001 NEBRASKA REPORT, P. 3

of both. He is the Elmer Gantry/Mitchum-preacher of politics and is huckstering the mostvenal political opportunism. I prefer to write about that�but as Lincoln said when signingthe Emancipation Proclamation: �The promise, being made, must be kept.�

Excerpts from Sept. 11 TV Program

The older I get, the more anger and indignation I experience. Remember this: I havebeen working as a member of these white people�s government for 31 years. I have achance to see them up close and personal. I watch the kind of laws they oppose thatwould benefit all people (and those) they try to pass that favor the rich, the powerful andthe politically well placed. I see the discrimination throughout the system. When youhave experienced these things, you do not have the same reaction toward a misfortunethat befalls the oppressor that the oppressor has. Experience will determine our actions,our attitudes, our reactions to things that befall this country.

Monumental Tragedy

On a personal level, when talking about the airplanes crashing into those buildingstoday (and) thinking about individual human beings, I�m able to relate to those deaths asconstituting a monumental tragedy, one where the world would be better off had it notoccurred.

However, when I read the caption on CNN and see on the front page of this evening�spaper, the words: �America Under Attack,� I shake my head and say, no; that�s a lie.America was not under attack today. What happens in Iraq on a daily basis constitutes anattack�when America and Britain daily drop bombs on civilians. In the middle of thenight, people may hear the roar of jet planes; and they know what that means: their landbeing sown with bombs, strafed with gunfire, pounded with missiles. That�s a nationunder attack.

How many people who expressed great sorrow about what happened today in America,even give a thought to what America and Britain have been doing consistently for over ayear in Iraq? Women and children indiscriminately murdered by America.

WWWWWararararar, T, T, T, T, Terrerrerrerrerrorism & Human Liforism & Human Liforism & Human Liforism & Human Liforism & Human Lifeeeeeby Frank B. Morrison, Sr.

Former Nebraska Governor FrankMorrison wrote the statement belowexpressly for publication in the NebraskaReport. True to its creator, it carries theaccumulated wisdom of this 96-year-oldNebraska political legend.

As this Christmastime approaches, I amreminded that it is nearly two thousandyears since the Roman government, ondemand of the good church people ofJerusalem, ordered the killing of a prophetfrom Nazereth because he told them that allpeople should substitute love for violence.We have spent billions for churches andcathedrals in his honor, but have rejectedhis teaching. He is reported to have said,�As you have done it unto one of the leastof these, you have done it unto me.� If thisbe true, we have killed him all over againevery one of those 2000 years.

The years of my lifetime have witnessedmore brutality, bloodshed and wholesalekilling of humans than any like period inhuman history. In 1917 we sent thousandsof young men to die with the promise thatthey were fighting a war to end all wars andto make the world safe for democracy.Instead of ending war and tyranny, weinherited in sequence Stalin, Mussolini,Hitler, Tojo, Mao, Ho Chi Min, SaddamHussein and Osama bin Laden. In all ofthese cases we either subsidized their

enemies or spent vast quantities of innocenthuman blood to punish the dictator. In thecase of the last two, we subsidized thembefore they became our enemy. As I sit at mycomputer writing, this we are dropping bombson supposed terrorist targets in Afghanistan.The killing of innocentcivilians we refer to as�collateral damage,� notmurder. What assurance dowe have that the governmentwhich follows the Taliban willhelp us eliminate terrorist cellsfrom the other 60 countries?

This nation of ours haswithin its collective characterhumanity�s greatest reservoirof love, compassion andgenerosity, as demonstratedlately in our rush to help thevictims of Oklahoma City bombing and theWorld Trade Center massacre. But this isnot the image we present to the world. Theface we frequently show a world communityreeking with hate, poverty, hunger, pollutionand disease is that of the world�s greatestarms dealer, full of powerful politicalintrigue�first supporting tyrants such asSaddam Hussein and bin Laden, and thenkilling thousands of their subjects to punishthe evildoer for turning against us. Is thisthe America which was founded on theprinciple that the right to life flows from ourCreator and the business of government is

to protect it? This is not the true characterof America.

For the first time in world history, wehave the technology to lift humanity out ofthe gutter of starvation, misinformation,superstition, poverty, environmental

pollution and mostdiseases. Our challenge isto do this, not engage inwholesale murder.

Both war and terrorismare an intolerable blightupon civilization and mustbe stopped. America�s greatleaders of the immediatepast knew this. Before aterrorist killed him,President Kennedy told us,�The weapons of war mustbe abolished before they

abolish us.� General McArthur said moderntechnology has made war obsolete, therecould be no winners. Bobby Kennedy saidbefore a terrorist killed him, that our greatestchallenge was to �tame the savagery in manand make more gentle the life of the world.�President and General Eisenhowerchallenged us to end war or it was going toend us. Admiral Rickover told Congress hethought the human race was going tocommit suicide.

The taking of innocent human life issomething that a moral civilized societyshould not tolerate. The greatest legacy wecould leave to the innocent victims of

terrorism is to abolish terrorism from theface of the earth. The future of civilizationin no small degree depends upon Americanleadership. We must accept the challengeto organize all the nations of the world,both our friends and our enemies, toeliminate the causes of terrorism byappealing to our common humanity. Wemust end war with enforceable internationallaw.

No public figure of our time was wiserthan General Omar Bradley, commander ofthe American Army in Europe during theSecond World War, when he said, �Thecentral problem of our time is to employhuman intelligence for the salvation ofmankind. We have defiled our intellect bythe creation of such instruments ofdestruction that we are in desperate dangerof destroying ourselves. When are wegoing to muster an intelligence anddedicate it to the preservation of thesatellite on which we live?�

Nobody knows better than this old,battle-scarred veteran you cannot do itwith the slogan, �AMERICA STRIKESBACK.� Unless we root out the causes ofterrorism, the next one may be infinitelyworse than bin Laden and have access tonuclear weapons, against which there isno defense. We will then die traitors to thenation we love and the morals we profess.Perhaps the man we have crucified everyyear in the past 2000 years since that dayon Calvary had an answer we have nevertried.

Are America�s Hands Clean? continuedAmerica is a terrorist nation. But because it has so much kill-power, it can do whatever

it pleases and determine what the law is.

Bloody U.S. Hands

Many people are watching this program who don�t pay attention to the news if itdoesn�t affect something in their front yard. They wouldn�t even know where Grenada is.They don�t know where Nicaragua is. They don�t remember the Contras. They don�tremember the times America has supported with money and weaponry, right-wing,murderous groups�they�re called death squads�in places like Argentina and Brazil.They murder; literally, tens of thousands of innocent people, and America approves of it.Henry Kissinger� heiped orchestrate the undermining of Allende (in Chile).

Mighty America in Panic and Terror

Let me touch on a few things that the events of today demonstrated about America.First of all, America is very vulnerable. These white peopie strut. They posture. They talktough. They boast when they think everything is all right. And they believe that nothingcan ever happen on these shores.

But what happened today? Not when America was under attack. Two buildings in NewYork were hit and the Pentagon; in Washington, D.C.; and terror was spread throughoutthis country. Can you imagine what would happen if Americans were subjected to thebombing on a daily and nightly basis that the people of Iraq suffer?

They shut down every airport in the United States. Little bitty puddle-jumper airports.Because of fear and terror. The White House was evacuated. When one of the CNNcorrespondents on the scene was asked by a person in the studio whether the evacuationof the White House was orderly, the reporter on the ground said it was at first, then peoplestarted running in panic. And he emphasized: �These are professionals in businesssuits.� continued on page 4

Are America�s Hands Clean?

Oh, but they were stepping fast, fast, fast. Yeah, those tough-talking people�.wentrunning like a bunch of roaches on whom the light had been shined.

The Executive Building which is not far from the White House�same thing: evacuated,and they fled in terror. The Treasury Department. The Justice Department. All shut down.Not because bombs were falling; not because missiles were flying; not because the nationwas being strafed by jet fighters as happens in Iraq and to the Palestinians. AndAmericans care not about that.

Misdirection

When CNN and other people on the news were trying to give these white people creditin New York for having shown such aplomb, such calmness, walking slowly from thescene, not in panic, I�m reminded of what was stated by the New York City Fire Marshal�and it was printed in tonighfs paper about the scene: �Everyone was screaming, crying,running; cops, people, firefighters, everyone.�

Running, screaming, crying. So why did the media, before the first day was over, haveto misrepresent how these people comported themselves? Because they try to convey tothe world that America is unflappable. America is calm. America has everything undercontrol.

Then why did Congress flee? Why did they shut down all those government buildings?Even in Omaha in the early afternoon, they shut down the court system, and it will be shutdown all day tomorrow. In the State Capitol Building in Lincoln, Nebraska, crawling withState Troopers.

These people are always talking about praying. That�s what they always talk aboutbecause it costs nothing; it does nothing; it probably doesn�t hurt anything; and it mayhelp some people feel better. (Incidentally, when proclaimed Friday, Sept. 14, a �day ofprayer,� God sent New York bad weather that complicated rescue efforts.)

The �Good,� Not So Good

As I said, on the personal level of those people who died, it�s not difficult for me to feelfor them as others say they feel. But I cannot help remembering that when it comes to thiscountry, the terrible things that are done to us.

As a result of this, is there going to be less racism against us and our children? Will thediscrimination in housing be at an end? How about in education? Will the schools inOmaha cease to be segregated, understaffed and without adequate textbooks? Oh? Youall aren�t thinking about that right now because you�re so caught up in what yourPresident is telling you about America being under attack because two buildings weredestroyed? What about health care? How about police abuse? Is the Chief going toexplain what happened when Officer Kruse murdered unarmed George Bibins? Or don�tthose things count? That�s what America is about for those of us who are conscious.

Political Opportunism

This incident is a godsend for Bush and his administration. They have destroyed theeconomy. His tax cut has created untold, perhaps unsolvable in the short run and themedium run, problems. It�s looking like he�s going to have to dip into the Social Securitysurplus. So this completely takes away the public�s attention from those problems thatrelate to them.

Bush was talking this evening, and I wrote the comment he made about America beingattacked because it is a �beacon of freedom,� and some people don�t like that. Is it abeacon of freedom for those of us in this country with a complexion like mine? America isnot attacked because other nations are envious. America is attacked because America ishated, not only for the bad things it does toward other nations and other people buttoward people within this country. Its conduct is the same as that ascribed to Satan.

Empty American Chatter

Isn�t America the one who always talks about �democracy,� how you are to sit downand discuss problems? Well, when racism was to be discussed, America chose not toeven sit at the table and talk. And now that there is a problem, what is the first thing theyresort to? Violence and the threat of it. That�s the only thing they�ll be talking about: �Wegotta hit back, and we gotta hit hard!�

They shouldn�t say �we.� Those young men and women are the ones that these fat,white, bumbling men are going to send to do the fighting against some people who maynot have done anything other than be non-white and resistant to the �oppression ofAmerica.

Run. Rabbit. Run!

They are so brave that from Virginia, the port where their aircraft carrier and battleshipsare�they will put out to sea because they don�t want to be caught in port in the harbor.Aircraft carriers�in terror. Battleships�in terror.

When Madeline Albright, former Secretary of State under Clinton, was asked aboutthese ships putting to sea, she said, �Well, that�s to give a message to the world that we�rethe most powerful military in the world, and we�re proud of our military.� But they�re notputting to sea to attack an enemy. They�re putting to sea because they�re afraid if they sitthere in the harbor, somebody will blow them to smithereens. The most powerful militaryin the world, on the run already, and there�s not even an enemy in sight.

Action/Reaction

Some people will see this as payback time, that America has pushed and pushed andbullied and tormented to the point where payback is occurring. The chickens are cominghome to roost. Do innocent people die? Always. Whenever politicians are going todeliver what they call a �message,� innocent people have to die�that�s why they arebombing civilians in Iraq. America

has sown the wind, and now they are reaping the whirlwind. When America is trulyunder attack from bombs, missiles and strafing from aircraft, then we will see whatAmericans will do.

Forked Tongue

The sure-enough Godzilla was abroad in the land today. The smoke and the fire fromGodzilla�s breath still are in evidence, and Americans are saying: The whole world nowhas to join America and present a united front against what they call terrorism. They don�twant the world to present a united front against racism. They didn�t want racism discussed.They don�t want the world to present a united front against American oppression andmurder in Iraq or Israeli murder against the Palestinians.

This country which, ever since it came into existence, has engaged in duplicity,violation of treaties, enslavement, murder and rapine; undermining other governments,assassinating leaders, underwriting death squads all over the world, finally gets a tiny bitof payback...

Is it a tragedy? Of monumental proportions. Is it a tragedy of America�s creation?Without question. It was just a matter of time. This was not a real attack on America; itcould be taken, in a sense, as a warning. Suppose in this confusion, terror and dread thatpeople feel, somebody does decide to use some chemical or biological agents that canspread disease. What then?

Return of the Yappers

Now that things have settled down a bit, those hypocritical Congressmen are talkingtough again: �We�re gonna hit �em, and we�re gonna hit �em hard!� Who are you gonnahit? �Well, we don�t know yet, but there�s somebody out there and, by God, we�re gonnahit �em!� Old holy-joe Orrin Hatch, the preacher from Utah who talks about family values,Christ and God, said: �We�ll find the bastards and kill �em!� All of this wild, crazy talk.

Then they all assembled and sang �God Bless America,� which was one of the mostsickening, disgusting displays I ever witnessed. See, I�m a politician; that kind of stuffdoesn�t move me. These are the �courageous� white men. Do you know why they can talktough? There are young men and women who will be told to bark, will be told to bite, whomay die, and will certainly do some killing because these politicians tell them to do so.

End of the Excerpts

Now, I�m sure some of you will be sitting, breathlessly, at your telephone just waitingto dial up and light into me. And I�m going to give you the opportunity-You can ask mewhy I don�t swallow the line that Bush is spreading. We can talk about anything you�dlike.

I conclude this column by disagreeing with Congressman John Lewis� prayer proclaimingthat �we are all one family, one nation, one people.� America remains two nations, oneblack, the other white. And racism is alive and flourishing in the USA. Naught haschanged nor will it. Nothing changed after the real war; nothing will change as a result of-this bogus, political one.

Until next time.

conclusion

DECEMBER 2001 NEBRASKA REPORT, P. 4

Liz TaylorLiz TaylorLiz TaylorLiz TaylorLiz Taylor

Nebraskans for Peace lost a faithful friendlast month when Omaha member Liz Taylordied suddenly November 25. A long-timesupporter of NFP both with the OmahaChapter and the state organization, Liz hadjust ended four years of service on the StateBoard of Directors this past winter, and wasonly taking a temporary break from activeduty to attend to family matters. Our heartsgo out to Liz�s family, particularly herchildren and husband, Charles. Workers forPeace and Justice come no finer. We are alldiminished by her death, but will carry on.Liz would have insisted on it.

means �the owner family.� Tellinglyenough, the family has never objected tothe use of this expression. Clearly, theyfeel that they own the country.

Saudi politics are for the elite. Largegroups of the population are completelyexcluded from participation in thepolitical structures that decide theirfuture. They areexcluded because theyare not of the right race,not of the right sex, notof the right religion, andnot of the right familybackground. They are,in short, the subjects ofAl-Saud.

Consider the plightof Saudi women. Theyconstitute about 57percent of thepopulation, but they areexcluded fromparticipation in publiclife and have virtually no rights. Theruling members of the Saudi family andtheir clergymen assert that women areemotional, irritable and have inferiorfaculties of reason and memory. Thecourts discount the testimony of women,placing them in the same class as theblind, the handicapped and children.Women cannot travel without theirhusbands� permission. They areforbidden to drive an automobile. Theyhave absolutely no legal means forimproving their lot or for challengingtheir present position. They areeconomically dependent, legallypowerless and politically vulnerable.There are clear parallels between theposition of women in Saudi society andthe position of blacks in old SouthAfrica.

Other racial groups in Saudi Arabia areexcluded from participation as well.Blacks are found in a group of about amillion, and quite a few are highly educa-ted. However, there is not a single blackin high public office, and racial slurs suchas �abd� (slave) are used publicly bySaudi princes with reference to blackcitizens. There are over a million Shiites,but again there is not a single Shiite inhigh public office. Because of the Iran-Iraq war, the plight of this group goteven worse�Shiites are now preventedfrom teaching, preaching, or evenholding middle-management public jobs.

Then, there are the Hejazis who livenear the Hejaz Mountains along the RedSea. The Saudi royal family views these

Why We Should NOT Honorthe Government of Saudi Arabia

Contact CongressSen. Chuck Hagel346 Senate Russell Office Bldg.Washington, DC 20510202-224-4224202-224-5213 (FAX)402-476-1400 (Lincoln)402-758-8981 (Omaha)308-632-6032 (Scottsbluff)

Sen. Ben NelsonDirksen Senate Office Bldg.Room B40-5Washington, D.C. 20510202-224-6551202-228-0012 (FAX)402-391-3411 (Omaha)402-437-5246 (Lincoln)ben_nelson@bennelson.senate.gov

Rep. Doug Bereuter1st Congressional District2184 Rayburn BuildingWashington, DC 20510202-225-4806202-225-5686 (FAX)402-438-1598 (Lincoln)402-727-0888 (Fremont)

Rep. Lee Terry1728 Longworth HOBWashington, DC 20515202-225-4155202-226-5452 (FAX)402-397-9944 (Omaha)

Rep. Tom Osborne507 Cannon HOBWashington, DC 20515202-225-6435202-226-1385 (FAX)308-381-5555 (Grand Island)308-632-3333 (Scottsbluff)

Capitol Hill Switchboard202-224-3121

President George W. BushThe White HouseWashington, DC 20500

White House Comment Line202-456-1111

Capitol ContactsState Senator, District #State CapitolPO Box 94604Lincoln, NE 68509-4604

State Capitol Switchboard402-471-2311

Governor Mike JohannsPO Box 94848Lincoln, NE 68509-4848402-471-2244402-471-6031 (FAX)

people as virtual foreigners eventhough the Arabian Peninsula is asmuch their land as it is anyone else�s.Some of these people did come fromelsewhere, taking the trek to Makkahand then staying. They are called�Mukhalfat Hujaj� (left-overs ofpilgrims) by Saudi princes, both

privately and publicly.Indeed, ridiculingthose who arepowerless is a majoroccupation of Saudiruling elites.

Any objective lookat Saudi politicsshows one thing quiteclearly�birth is allthat really counts, andthose who are born torank, wealth, andprivilege will rule,while the vastmajority will be ruled

whether they like it or not. What bedyou are born in determines yourposition in Saudi society, and alsoyour ability to have any controlwhatsoever over your own destiny.This is the case only for men, ofcourse; women are subjugated nomatter where they are born.

We ridiculed and derided SouthAfrica for basing the right to rule onthe color of one�s skin. We called thatracism, and clearly it was. We called itas well inefficient, dangerous, andpatently unfair. We can call thesituation is Saudi Arabia the verysame. Saudi rule is based exclusivelyon membership in one family. Is thisnot also a form of racism? Is thereanything else we can all this sort ofelitist �ownership� of a country andits peoples?

Saudi politics has been taken awayfrom the people of Arabia and placedin the hands of one family. The rulingclass is racist, elitist, sexist and self-serving. For 70 years now, the Saudiruling amirs (princes) have subjectedthe people of Arabia to oppression,political manipulation, abuse andexploitation. In Saudi Arabia, the amiris everywhere, and everything is�Saudi� from politics to education,from business to sports. His power isimperial and he acquires everythingvia the tip of the sword. Therefore,the United States, the leader of thedemocratic world, should not honorthe government of Saudi Arabia.

DECEMBER 2001 NEBRASKA REPORT, P. 5

by Mohammed H. Siddiq

A native of Saudi Arabia andnaturalized U.S. citizen, MohammedSiddiq has lived in Lincoln for nearlytwo decades. He is a member ofNebraskans for Peace.

The lack of freedom and the abuse ofhuman rights in Saudi Arabia aresomething that cries out forcondemnation by the United Statesgovernment, and yet it has largely beenignored by Washington. The politicalstruggle in South Africa, by contrast,received considerable attention from U.S.officials. Yet for decades, Washingtonhas missed the essential similaritybetween the South African ruling eliteand the Saudi ruling elite.

Just as was the case in South Africa,the majority population in Saudi Arabia isruled by a minority which enjoys all theprivileges, all the power and all theadvantages. Saudi politics is strictly afamily affair, with the 5,000-member rulingfamily controlling the political agenda tothe detriment of the vast majority ofSaudi citizens. Three hundred thousandwhites were doing the same thing inSouth Africa while the world watchedand voiced its censure. In Saudi Arabia,this much smaller number operates withinternational impunity.

Consider the major organ of Saudigovernment, the Council of Ministers,which contains no authority of its ownseparate from the king, who since 1964has also operated as prime minister. Thetop six ministers are always from theroyal family. The remaining ministers aretechnocratic elites. Ostensibly, theCouncil makes policy with reference tointernal, foreign, financial, economic,educational, and defense policies, as wellas public affairs pertaining to thekingdom of Saudi Arabia. This meanslittle since all decisions must besanctioned by the King.

Thus, the House of Saud limitsdecision-making to a ruling technocraticand royal elite, and then limits even thatby approving or disapproving ofwhatever decisions its chosen councilmakes. The Saudi people know that thisis the case, and every other institution inSaudi life reflects this basic fact. Localnewspapers are all controlled by theruling elite, as are radio and television.The media, in fact, indicate theirknowledge of the reality of Saudi life inthe way they address the ruling family asAl-Iyalah Al-Malikah, which literally

DECEMBER 2001 NEBRASKA REPORT, P. 6

(probable cause) in order to get a warrant,but even this protection has been removed.

This expanded ability to get warrantswithout probable cause also applies to theuse of �sneak and peek� warrants, whichallow the government to search a home orbusiness without the knowledge of theowner. The purpose behind serving awarrant before a search has always been toallow the individual to protect their rightsby challenging the warrant, i.e. telling theofficers they had the wrong place orreminding them when they began searchingbeyond the limits of the power granted inthe warrant. With �sneak and peek�warrants, federal agents have legal sanctionto commit burglary.

The Act allows the government to useits intelligence-gathering power tocircumvent the standard that must be metfor criminal wiretaps. Other existing lawsregarding foreign intelligence surveillance,which does not contain many of the samechecks and balances that govern wiretapsfor criminal purposes, can be used onlywhen foreign intelligence gathering is theprimary purpose. The new law allows useof such surveillance authority even if theprimary purpose were a criminalinvestigation. Intelligence surveillanceneeds to be only a �significant� purpose.This provision authorizes unconstitutionalphysical searches and wiretaps: though itis searching primarily for evidence of crime,law enforcement can conduct the searchwithout proving to a judge that there isprobable cause of crime.

The Act extends a very low threshold ofproof for access to Internetcommunications that are far more revealingthan numbers dialed on a phone. Undercurrent law, a law enforcement agent canget a pen register or trap-and-trace orderrequiring the telephone company to revealthe numbers dialed to and from a particularphone. To get such an order, lawenforcement must simply certify to ajudge�who must grant the order�that theinformation to be obtained is �relevant toan ongoing criminal investigation.� This isa very low level of proof, far less thanprobable cause.

This provision apparently applies to lawenforcement efforts to determine whatwebsites a person had visited, which is likegiving law enforcement the power�basedonly on its own certification�to requirethe librarian to report on the books you hadperused while visiting the public library.This provision extends a low standard ofproof�far less than probable cause�toactual �content� information.

In allowing for �nationwide service� of penregister and trap-and-trace orders for wirelessphones, the law further marginalizes the roleof the judiciary. It authorizes what would bethe equivalent of a blank warrant in thephysical world: the court issues the order,and the law enforcement agent fills in theplaces to be searched. This is not consistentwith the important Fourth Amendment privacyprotection of requiring that warrants specifythe place to be searched. Under thislegislation, a judge is unable to meaningfullymonitor the extent to which her order wasbeing used to access information aboutcommunications.

Opening Up Business and Health Records

The Act also grants the FBI broad accessin �intelligence� investigations to recordsabout a person maintained by a business. TheFBI need only certify to a court that it isconducting an intelligence investigation andthat the records it seeks may be relevant. Withthis new power, the FBI can force a businessto turn over a person�s educational, medical,financial, mental health and travel recordsbased on a very low standard of proof andwithout meaningful judicial oversight.

Spying on U.S. Citizens

The Act also allows for the broad sharingof sensitive information in criminal cases withintelligence agencies, including the CIA, theNSA, the INS and the Secret Service. It permitssharing of sensitive grand jury and wiretapinformation without judicial review or anysafeguards regarding the future use ordissemination of such information.

These information sharing authorizationsand mandates effectively put the CIA back inthe business of spying on Americans: Oncethe CIA makes clear the kind of information itseeks, law enforcement agencies can use toolslike wiretaps and intelligence searches toprovide data to the CIA. In fact, the lawspecifically gives the Director of CentralIntelligence�who heads the CIA�the powerto identify domestic intelligence requirements.

Destroying the Attorney-Client PrivilegeThe Attorney General is using his new

authorities to promulgate a program ofeavesdropping on attorney-clientconversations, thus damaging the SixthAmendment right of a defendant to effectivelegal counsel. The stated purpose of thiseavesdropping is to prevent attorneys frombecoming a conduit for instructions orinformation passing between a terroristsuspect and others. The proposed Bureau ofPrisons regulations contain a �firewall� sothat those who listen in on privilegedconversations will not report what they learnto prosecutors. But such an arrangement

by Tim Butz, Executive DirectorACLU Nebraska

Of all the enemies of public liberty war is,perhaps, the most to be dreaded.James Madison, Political Observations �April 15, 1775.

When one looks at what Congress and thePresident have done in creating sweepingnew legislation in the name of combatingterrorism, it becomes obvious that theterrorists have scored a major victory. Thevictory came not from flying planes intobuildings, but rather by scaring politiciansinto damaging the Bill of Rights.

In the wake of September 11, we facedanger not just from acts of terrorism butalso from our own government, which hasresponded to terrorism by abandoningsome of our constitutional principles andenacting �feel-good� legislation that willdo little to make us safe but will do much tolimit civil liberties. American political leadershave shown a lack of courage in dealingwith the threats to civil liberties that havebeen created by new legislation. This, ofcourse, is nothing new in American history.

Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ ofhabeas corpus and allowed civilians to betried before military tribunals. Wilsonsuppressed free speech and Rooseveltordered the internment Japanese-Americansin camps. The Korean War gave life to theMcCarthy Era and the suppression of FirstAmendment rights of speech andassociation. Vietnam brought about militaryand CIA spying upon American citizens,and Nixon attempted to suppress thepublication of the Pentagon Papers. In theaftermath of September 11, it is sad to reportthat nothing has changed in this trend.

The government has already taken stepsto allow military tribunals to prosecute non-citizens charged with terrorism, even thosewho are lawful permanent residents of theU.S. The military tribunals have the powerto conduct their trials in secrecy and givethe death penalty to those found guilty ofcertain crimes. This is unprecedented in atime where Congress has not issued adeclaration of war.

When President Bush signed the USAPatriot Act (an acronym for �Uniting andStrengthening America by ProvidingAppropriate Tools Required To Interceptand Obstruct Terrorism�) into law onOctober 26, he significantly increased thegovernment�s law enforcement powerswhile continuing a trend to cut back on thechecks and balances that Americans havetraditionally relied upon to protectindividual liberty. The USA Patriot Act was

Civil liberties threatened by �anCivil liberties threatened by �antCivil liberties threatened by �anCivil liberties threatened by �antCivil liberties threatened by �ant

An analysis of the new �USAhastily drafted and pushed throughCongress without much of a chance fordebate or amendment. The major significantchange between the original draft and thefinal draft was the incorporation of a�sunset� provision that requires that thelaw be reviewed and re-enacted in fouryears.

In four years, however, the USA PatriotAct will have done its damage to the Bill ofRights.

Abridging the Rights of Non-Citizens

Included in this misnamed Act areprovisions that will allow for the indefinitedetention of non-citizens, who are notterrorists, on minor visa violations. Suchdetention would occur if the person cannotbe deported because they are stateless, theircountry of origin refuses to accept them orbecause they would face torture in theircountry of origin. Foreign citizens can bedeported based solely only on the AttorneyGeneral�s certification that he has�reasonable grounds to believe� the non-citizen endangers national security. Nocourt will review the Attorney General�saction, and his judgment is final. Whileimmigration or criminal charges must be filedwithin seven days, these charges need nothave anything to do with terrorism, but canbe minor visa violations of the kind thatnormally would not result in detention atall.

As of October 26, Attorney General JohnAshcroft and the Secretary of State ColinPowell have been given the authority todesignate U.S. political groups as terroristorganizations and deport any foreignnational who is a member or supporter ofthose groups. Groups such as the WorldTrade Organization protesters, the Viequesprotestors and even People for the EthicalTreatment of Animals (PETA), would, onthe basis of minor acts of violence orvandalism, meet this overbroad definition.Non-citizens who provide assistance tosuch groups�such as paying membershipdues�will run the risk of detention anddeportation.

Expanding Police Power to Search andWiretap

The new legislation engages in massive�court stripping��minimizing judicialsupervision of police activities. Lawenforcement has been given greater abilityto get federal warrants for telephone andInternet surveillance without having toprove to a judge that there is any evidenceof a law being broken. In the past, federalagents had to show a low level of proof

DECEMBER 2001 NEBRASKA REPORT, P. 7

ti-terrorism� lawti-terrorism� lawti-terrorism� lawti-terrorism� lawti-terrorism� law

A Patriot Act�makes it difficult if not impossible for defenseattorneys to have the honest conversationswith their clients that allow for an adequatedefense.

Decreased Financial Privacy

The USA Patriot Act continues theunfortunate trend of expanding governmentaccess to personal financial information ratherthan safeguarding it against intrusion. Whilethere is certainly a need to shut down thefinancial resources used to further acts ofterrorism, the USA Patriot Act goes beyondits stated goal of combating internationalterrorism and instead reaches into innocentcustomers� personal financial transactions.

Under the new law, financial institutionsare required to monitor daily financialtransactions even more closely and to shareinformation with other federal agencies,including foreign intelligence services suchas the CIA. The law also allows lawenforcement and intelligence agencies to geteasy access to individual credit reports insecret. The law provides for no judicial reviewand does not mandate that law enforcementgive the person whose records are beingreviewed any notice.

Decreased Privacy of Students

The USA Patriot Act allows lawenforcement officials to cast an even broadernet for student information without anyparticularized suspicion of wrongdoing. Whenthe changes in federal law dealing with studentrecords privacy are combined with otherinformation-sharing provisions contained inthe new law, it becomes clear that highlypersonal student information will betransmitted to many federal agencies in wayslikely to harm innocent students� privacy.

Since September 11, law enforcementagencies from all levels of government havefaced few barriers in accessing studentinformation. According to the AmericanAssociation of Collegiate Registrars andAdmissions Officers, about 200 colleges anduniversities have turned over studentinformation to the FBI, INS and other lawenforcement officials.

But law enforcement agencies wanted eveneasier access to a broad range of studentinformation and the USA Patriot Act gave it tothem by allowing them to receive the studentdata collected for the purpose of statisticalresearch under the National EducationStatistics Act. The statistics act requires thegovernment to collect a vast amount ofidentifiable student information and�untilnow�has required it to be held in the strictestconfidence without exception.

The USA Patriot Act, however, eliminatesthat protection and�while it requires a court

Nebraskans for Peace representative JasonNord boarded a bus in Lincoln November 13 fora 36-hour trip to Ottawa, Ontario to attend theprotest at the International Monetary Fund/World Bank meeting . The November 16-17 IMF/World Bank conference had originally beenscheduled for late September in Washington,D.C., but had been postponed and transferred toOttawa after the World Trade Center attack. AsJason explains in his report, though, he nevergot across the border into Canada.

The border guard asked me where I wasgoing. I told her Ottawa. She paused, her eyesscanning over me with a heightened level ofscrutiny.

�Why are you going to Ottawa?��I�m doing interviews for a small

newspaper called the Nebraska Report. TheWorld Bank and International Monetary Fundare having meetings in Ottawa, and I�ll betalking to local professors about their viewsconcerning these organizations.�

Honesty is apparently not always the bestpolicy. Before you could say �freedom ofspeech� all of my belongings were spilled outon a long metal table. One guard sat down andcarefully read through my personal journal.Four others searched through everything I hadwith me.

�At least he didn�t try to lie to us,� one ofthe guards argued on my behalf.

When the hour-long search was finallycomplete, they told me that I couldn�t enterCanada unless I had my original birthcertificate, $600 in cash, and writtenconfirmation from Nebraskans for Peace statingthat I was an employee. During my hour-longdetention, none of the other travelers whopassed by were searched as thoroughly norwere any denied entry.

Preventing activists from crossing bordersseems to have become a favorite tactic formany national governments. The Quebec LegalCollective estimates that during theOrganization of the American States conferencein June of 2000 more than 90 percent of theactivists who attempted to cross the Canadianborder were denied entry. Thousands ofactivists from the United States reported beingstopped at the border during the FTAAdemonstrations in April of 2001.

Perhaps the most striking occurrence ofthese border blockades was during the G-8demonstrations in Genoa this past July. Anentire ferry boat carrying hundreds of peoplewas turned away once it touched ground inItaly. A train full of activists leaving from

Britain was stopped at the French border. It onlystarted moving again when French railroadworkers threatened to go on strike if theactivists weren�t allowed to continue theirjourney.

Restricting the free movement of thesedemonstrators is especially ironic when thedemonstrators� message is considered. Theorganizations and agreements which comprisewhat is being called �globalization� are makingit easier for corporations to travel where theywant, when they want, with fewer and fewerlimitations. Products and factories can bounceacross borders more easily, severely hurtingthe lower classes in many countries. Yetcitizens still face severe restrictions on wherethey can live and work; activists cannot followcorporate and political leaders in order to voicedissent.

In retrospect, luck may have been with mewhen I was denied entrance into Canada. Thedemonstrations in Ottawa, like many in thepast, were marred by police violence. Officersreportedly tackled and arrested suspectedanarchists for no obvious reason. Independentmedia reports claim that activists attempted tostop these arrests, including a number ofmiddle-aged pagan women who threwthemselves between riot police and a group ofpeople dressed in black. According towitnesses, the police quickly responded with awide range of weapons. Water cannonsdrenched demonstrators in near zero-degreeweather, causing several cases of hypothermia.Police used pepper spray and rubber bulletsliberally. Attack dogs were released into thecrowd, causing dozens of injuries. By the end ofthe day local media estimated that around 50people were in jail and that many more werebeing treated by medics. Protesters estimatethat somewhere between 4000 and 6000demonstrators attended the main rally.

When Canadian customs finally released me,I was searched again by American police. As Isat there, my belongings being sifted throughfor the second time that night, two teenageAmericans literally stumbled through thecustoms line. One of them was so intoxicated hecould hardly stand, and the other was by nomeans sober. They were ushered through,without being searched, with only driver�slicenses for identification. The only comment theborder guards made was to the slightly moresober of the two. �Perhaps you should drive,instead of your friend.� They all laughed.

For more information, go towww.indymedia.org, www.ontario.indymedia.org or www.flora.org/gdo

A Bus To Nowhere

order�allows law enforcement agencies toget access to private student informationbased on a mere certification that the recordsare relevant to an investigation. Thiscertification, which a judge cannotchallenge, is insufficient to protect theprivacy of sensitive information containedin student records.

Impact on our Daily Lives

What does all this mean to the averagecitizen? Most Americans may take comfortin the belief that their liberties will not beviolated. After all, few of us anticipatebecoming suspects in a terroristinvestigation. Unfortunately, the 1.9 millionMuslims and 3.5 million Arab-Americansliving in the United States cannot be sosanguine. Immigrants and citizens of Arabdescent face an increased risk of beingbranded disloyal and losing their liberties�the same risk faced by other minority groupsduring past national crises.

Menacing powers are now in place,including the possibility that immigrantscould be jailed and deported without trial,or even an opportunity to establish theirinnocence.

There is more than a little irony in thefact that a bill called the USA Patriot Actabridges civil liberties. Everyone has his orher own definition of patriotism. Some willdefine it as supporting the war inAfghanistan and others will define it asopposing the war. Neither camp shoulddefine it as blindly following the governmentwithout examining facts. Patriotism shouldnot be defined by acquiescence togovernment power, but rather should beinspired by rising to defend civil liberties atthis time of crisis.

We have a right to demand that thegovernment keep us both safe and free.The efforts to make us safe from terrorismshould not come at a cost of destroying thevery things that make us free. In the rush to�do something� and not appear to bepowerless in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks,congressional representatives, senators andthe president all joined forces to do whatthe terrorists could never do withoutthem�damage the Bill of Rights.

Our country is in danger and in the faceof danger people must respond with thecourage to cling to, rather than abandon,our civil liberties. We seek safety, but notby any means necessary.

(For more information on civil libertiesissues such as the USA Patriot Act, contactACLU Nebraska, 941 �O� Street, #1020,Lincoln, NE 68508, or by e-mail toHuskerACLU@aol.com. Additional detailed

DECEMBER 2001 NEBRASKA REPORT, P. 8

by Mark ZimmermanTreasurer, Nebraska Green Party

For advocates of a progressive energypolicy in America, the last year has been adiscouraging one. The long-awaited reportby the Inter-governmental Panel on ClimateChange predicted an even worse globalwarming forecast than expected. The Bushadministration offered up a national energyscheme (to call it a policy seems anexaggeration) which will only increasedrilling on sensitive public lands,greenhouse gases and other pollutants inthe atmosphere, and profits for themultinational oil industry that helped putBush in the White House to begin with.And just as technological advances in fuelcells, wind and photovoltaics are startingto offer the tantalizing promise of adecentralized and locally controlledmicropower revolution, consolidation in theenergy industry continues unabated, andwith it, a massive concentration of economicand political power.

We don�t have to look farther thanOmaha to find a current example of thisconsolidation. Headquartered in DesMoines, Iowa, MidAmerican EnergyHolding Company (MEHC) is privatelyowned by three well-known Omahabusiness executives: Warren Buffett(Berkshire Hathaway), Walter Scott (PeterKiewit) and David Sokol (CalEnergy). Itssubsidiary, MidAmerican Energy, has670,000 electricity and 650,000 gascustomers in the Midwest, primarily in Iowa,where it has about 90 percent of the market.Another subsidiary, Northern Electric,serves 1.5 million electric and 650,000 gasconsumers in the United Kingdom. A thirdsubsidiary, CalEnergy, has geothermal andgas exploration projects in California andaround the world. MEHC�s fourth majorbranch, HomeServices.com, is one of thelargest residential real estate brokerages inthe U.S. with more than 140 offices in 12states.

MidAmerican got its start through themergers of local Iowa utilities and in 1999was bought by Sokol�s CalEnergy to formMEHC. In early 2000, Buffet, Scott and Sokolbought MEHC for $9 billion and made it aprivately owned company. Buffet�sBerkshire owns 75 percent of the stock, butbecause of federal regulations (and thecreative financing to comply with them) canonly exercise 10 percent control over thecompany. In a corporation with only threeowners who have known one another foryears, this doesn�t seem to present aproblem.

This summer MidAmerican announced

plans to invest another billion dollars inNorthern Electric, which when completedwould make it the second largest electricaldistributor in Britain. Even that might palein comparison to its plans in Asia. At aboutthe same time the British deal wasannounced, Sokol was in Hong Kong toinvestigate China�s plans to open its powerindustry to outside development.According to an interview in Reuter�s (8/3/01), Sokol said that MidAmerican has beeneyeing China for a long time and that itpresented some good investmentopportunities. He also said the companywas looking at investments in Thailand andSouth Korea.

So how big does MEHC plan to get?Buffet has been quoted as saying he wouldlike Berkshire to invest $10-15 billion in theglobal energy sector over the coming years.In an article last year in the online MotleyFool (fool.com 3/ 27/ 00), Sokol said thatwith deregulation the 150 or so energycompanies can be whittled down to about20, and of those 150, with BerkshireHathaway�s resources, MidAmerican willbuy �as many as we can. The deal-makingdays are just beginning.�

While this may be a rosyscenario for its three owners,or perhaps for those who areheavily invested in BerkshireHathaway stock, what will itmean for a farmer in China, afactory worker in Britain or asmall business in theMidwest? Because so manyfactors affect the energymarket, such predictions arenot always easy. But perhapssome perspective can be gained by lookingacross the river at Iowa�s experience withMidAmerican.

The Iowa Experience

In 1983 forward-thinking legislators therepassed an alternative energy bill requiringinvestor-owned utilities like MidAmericanto start providing a small percentage oftheir electricity from renewable resources.To get the law passed, enforcementprovisions were left out and this led to theutilities using litigation in order to avoidhaving to comply. After their legal excusesran out, they tried to get the law repealed in1995. Proponents of renewable energyquickly organized to defend the law. IowaCitizen Action, the Union of ConcernedScientists (UCS) and 16 otherenvironmental, agricultural, and consumerorganizations pooled their resources to formthe SEED (Sustainable Energy for Economic

Development) coalition, which for the nexttwo years successfully opposed efforts torepeal and weaken the renewables law.Today Iowa has more than 240 megawattsof wind generation on line.

Not only did these utilities not want touse renewables, they also opposed Iowa�snet metering law which allows electricconsumers to feed renewable energy intothe grid. Under net billing arrangements,homeowners and businesses who installwind, solar, or hydro generators can reducetheir electric bills by having their metersrun in reverse as they feed excess energyinto the grid. MidAmerican filed a petitionin 1998 with the Federal Energy RegulatoryCommission (FERC) to overturn the Iowalaw, claiming that the state didn�t have theauthority to pass such a law. In theirarguments to the FERC, it turned out thattheir opposition wasn�t so much againsthomegrown electricity (though they couldhardly have been enthusiastic about theidea) as the fact that they only wanted toreimburse the local generators at a wholesaleor �avoided cost� rate, not at the same ratethey charged those generators. In other

words, they wanted the meters to run slowerin reverse than they did in MidAmerican�sdirection. Again the SEED coalition and theUCS went to work and supported the lawbefore the FERC. In March of this year theFERC upheld the Iowa law. Soon after,MidAmerican filed for a rehearing.

Over the past three to four years,MidAmerican and other investor ownedutilities have lobbied hard to promotederegulation in Iowa and several bills to dojust that were narrowly defeated in the statelegislature. A pilot program allowing retailchoice was approved for Council Bluffs,but the only alternative choice thus far isanother MidAmerican subsidiary.

More recently the state�s ConsumerAdvocate filed a case with the Iowa UtilitiesBoard, asserting that MidAmerican�s rateswere too high. In response, MidAmericanproposed a 5.4 percent across-the-boardrate hike to offset inflation and transmissionline maintenance. The state�s AttorneyGeneral negotiated a settlement this summer

in which rates will be frozen for five yearsand MidAmerican will build two new powerplants (one natural gas, the other likely coal).

All in all, the relationship betweenMidAmerican and many Iowans has been acontentious one. So how protected are wein Nebraska from a similar situation?

Moving in on Nebraska

MidAmerican�s name does pop up hereand there due to the interconnected natureof the electrical industry. They buyelectricity from the Cooper nuclear plantand recently sued it over decommissioningassessments. They are joining with OPPDand NPPD and several other Midwesternutilities to form a regional transmissioncompany called Translink. The formation ofregional groups like Translink was promptedby the FERC in order to improve andmaintain long distance electrical lines.Translink will charge its members for use ofthe lines at a federally regulated rate. Sinceour lines in Nebraska are publicly ownedthey can�t be sold or leased to the newcompany, but our power districts will haveto comply with how Translink wants tooperate them. While it�s hard to argue

against improving the reliability of theregional grid, the suspicion rise that suchan arrangement helps set the table for largeconglomerates if Nebraska ever decides toderegulate. In a series of stories (8/21-23/2001) the Washington Post looked at justthis issue, detailing the battles between thegiant power wholesaler Enron and a groupof southern utilities whose lines Enronwants to use to compete for retail customers.

So how likely is deregulation for us?Some folks in the industrial sector havesupported the idea for years; of course theywould be the first and perhaps only ones tobenefit. State Sen. Kermit Brashear of Omahaand Omaha financier Mike Yanney haveboth stated that they favor not justderegulation, but privatization (selling off)of Nebraska�s public systems.

But since the troubles in California thelast couple of years, that scenario seems a

continued on page 11

A Monopoly in the Making...

MidAmerican Energy Makes

its MOVE.

DECEMBER 2001 NEBRASKA REPORT, P. 9

Terry Werner, conclusionin the Muslim world to try and find Osama bin Laden will enable us to root our terrorismand enhance our security. I fear, in fact, that it will do just the opposite.

By our government�s own admission, the bin Laden�s al Qa�eda network has 15,000-20,000 members in over 50 countries in the world�and it�s not the only Islamicfundamentalist network. On October 25, in an exclusive interview in USA Today, DefenseSecretary Donald Rumsfeld frankly admitted that getting bin Laden �dead or alive� willnot end the threat of terrorism. �If bin Laden were gone tomorrow,� the Secretary wasquoted as saying, �the same problem would exist.�

And it will continue to exist because the problem is international, not national. Itcannot be confined to any one country. It cannot even be confined exclusively to Islamicfundamentalism. What about the terrorist groups within our own borders? It was whiteAmericans, remember, who were behind the Oklahoma City bombing. And according tothe FBI, it�s probably an American who�s behind the current anthrax attacks.

If indeed what we are conducting is a War on Terrorism�and not a war on the Talibanor Afghanistan�then I am afraid that what our six-week bombing campaign has mainlysucceeded to doing is to breed a new generation of terrorists and suicide bombers. Astory in the November 15 Lincoln Journal Star, entitled �11th hour attack by terroristsfeared,� stressed that very point. �With the Taliban retreating and in seeming disarray,Osama bin Laden may be more dangerous and unpredictable than ever.�

It is undeniable that the military airstrikes have succeeded in dislodging the Talibanfrom the cities, and I am personally glad to see the Taliban in retreat. I am happy for thepeople of Afghanistan�particularly the women, about whose plight we have heard somuch. What freedom-loving person wouldn�t be?

But we went to Afghanistan to rid the world of terrorism, not to fight for freedom. Andthe fact that we as a nation choose to defend democracy and freedom only when it is in ourbest interests is one of the reasons our government is so hated around the world. In ourrecent history we have been more likely to defend democracy for oil than human rights. Justlike with the Taliban, we armed and aided Saddam Hussein when it served our politicalpurposes. And when it no longer did, we went to war with him to liberate Kuwait. Tenyears after the Gulf War, however, Kuwait remains an important oil ally, but the women ofthat country still cannot vote and legally remain the property of their husbands andfathers.

I am encouraged that President Bush wants to turn the peacekeeping and nation-building duties over to the United Nations. If the United Nations is deemed worthyenough to rebuild a shattered Afghanistan and to keep the peace, however, it is alsocapable of tracking down the terrorists responsible for the attacks and bringing them tojustice. This, in fact, is what we should have done in the first place. Instead of unilaterallylaunching a crusade to exact vengeance after the horror of 9/11, the Bush Administrationshould have turned this matter over to the UN and the World Court. It is imperative thatthe UN take total command of the operation in Afghanistan before the U.S. launches aground war and makes matters even worse.

With every passing day, I believe it becomes ever more obvious that we as taxpayersare not getting the political or economic value from the billions of dollars that have beenspent on bombing Afghanistan over the past six weeks. As an elected official responsiblefor protecting the public trust, however, I am further concerned at how our government isusing this national tragedy to promote ill-conceived tax credits, reckless abandonment ofour environment, bailouts of businesses that are poorly run and wild military spendingwith little regard for the American worker and small business. This is a labor issue. This isan issue for small business. This is an issue for the average American. These costs aredirectly impacting business and workers in Lincoln, Nebraska. Why would we the peopleoffer tax incentives to giant corporations that remove jobs from the U.S.? Where is theirpatriotism when they take our money and move jobs to foreign soils?

I implore our government to reconsider its actions. Let�s bring the terrorists to justice,without �collateral damage.� Let�s stimulate the economy, but not on the backs of themiddle and lower class. Let�s provide security for all of our citizens, but without wastingbillions of dollars waging a war that will wind up making us even less secure.

Finally, I would just like to end by explaining why I am doing this. I believe that allcitizens should speak their beliefs, especially if they want to affect change. However, Ibelieve that as a public servant one is obligated to express alternate points of view. Thisis the democratic process. In this instance, I have waited patiently for others to take thelead. I could not remain silent any longer.

by Nye Bond & George Eisele

Alternatives to the Military is a committee of Nebraskans forPeace working to inform high school students of options andopportunities to achieve their career their goals other than byjoining the military. Many recruiters are persistent andconvincing in persuading students that all the answers to theirpersonal goals of selecting and financing a vocation or trade iswith one of the branches of the military. We encouragestudents to think seriously about this important decisionbefore they enlist in the armed services. This is done invarious ways:

1) Since the beginning of the Gulf War we have leafletedeach high school every other year in the early morning asstudents arrive. The principal is informed ahead of time andis most always helpful. We stand off school property unlessotherwise permitted by the principal. We hand out approximately500 leaflets with questions for students to consider beforesigning up with the military.

2) Since 1996, the High School Principals Council ofLincoln Public Schools has given permission to ATM to bringmaterials into the schools for students. We provide suchinformation for display in the guidance department and media

centers and table each semester in each school during lunch hourin a hallway. Two committee members are at the table whereusually 20-30 students ask for information. The materials we

provide each of the four high schools and the Bryan LearningCenter include Americorps and Peace Corps information; Careersin Peacemaking and Social Change; Financing College withoutJoining the Military; Do You Know Enough to Enlist?; HowMilitarism Equals Violence Against Women; Adventures Workingfor Peace and Social Justice; The Military's Not Just a Job--It'sEight Years of Your Life; The Myth of Military Economic Opportunity;

Alternatives to the Military 2001 ReportAlternatives to the Military 2001 ReportAlternatives to the Military 2001 ReportAlternatives to the Military 2001 ReportAlternatives to the Military 2001 ReportAre Your Students Getting a Balanced Education about theMilitary?; Questions to Consider before Seeing Your MilitaryRecruiter.

For the ninth consecutive year, Alternatives to the Militaryhonored a Nebraska Peacemaker of the Year at its annualsummer potluck supper in July attended by former winners,friends and stalwarts from of the Lincoln peace community.This year's recipient, Elizabeth Goodbrake, is well-known tomembers of Nebraskans for Peace, having served as theorganization's Membership Coordinator and Field Organizerfrom May 1999 to her graduation from University of Nebraska-Lincoln this past spring with a major in International Studies.Now living in Austin, Texas, Elizabeth was honored for herdedicated service attending the committee meetings andleafleting and tabling efforts at Lincoln's high schools.

ATM committee members are currently: Nye Bond, EdMaynard, George Eisele, Roy Bailey, Jay Schmidt, BobbieKierstead, Marge Manglitz, Ruth Thone, Molly Ruhlman andTimothy Niessen. Others who regularly help with leafletingand tabling are Don Tilley, Bob Hall, Margaret Vrana, and FranKaye. High school speakers are: Danny Ladely, Jaime Obrecht,Larry Zink, Paul Olson, and Dwight Ganzel.

Peacemaker of the Year Elizabeth Goodbrake

Terry Werner speaking at his news conference in front of the County-CityBuilding. The banner reads, �Bombing Is Breeding More Terrorists.�

DECEMBER 2001 NEBRASKA REPORT, P. 10

by Byron Peterson

This past session, the NebraskaUnicameral passed LR 124 directing thelegislature�s General Affairs Committeeto conduct an Interim Study Hearing onthe issue of alcohol sales in Whiteclay. Asa rule, such hearings are conductedbetween legislative sessions, and ahearing was scheduled to take place inWhiteclay on October 30. GovernorJohanns� decision to call a SpecialSession of the legislature because of thestate�s budget shortfall, however, obligedthe General Affairs Committee topostpone the hearing until sometime thisnext spring. Printed below is thetestimony that Nebraskans for Peace hadoriginally prepared for its presentationin October.

The alcohol trade in Whiteclay,Nebraska has been an ongoing scourgefor the Oglala Lakota Tribe virtually fromthe moment the Pine Ridge Reservationwas established. -As early as 1882,President Chester Arthur was prevailedupon to issue an executive orderestablishing a 50-square-mile �bufferzone� on the Nebraska side of theReservation border to protect the Oglalasfrom �whisky peddlers� operating out ofthis Agency town. Seven years later in1889, Congress itself intervened, formallymaking this protective five-mile-deep, ten-mile-wide buffer zone federal law.

In 1904, however, President TeddyRoosevelt unilaterally�and probablyillegally�rescinded the buffer zone byexecutive order, permitting the resumptionof alcohol sales in Whiteclay. Exceptduring the 13-year period of Prohibition,the alcohol trade in this unincorporatedvillage has operated uninterrupted for thebetter part of the past century, marketingits product to an almost exclusivelyReservation clientele living in the poorestcounty in the United States. Literallygenerations of Oglalas have grown upvictims of an alcohol abuse that hasimmiserated them socially, economically,culturally and medically.

Plagued with one of the highestalcoholism-related mortality rates in thenation, the leadership of the Oglala Tribehas taken aggressive measures to controlthe substance abuse of this drug. Apartfrom educational efforts encouragingsobriety and abstinence, the Tribeactually voted to ban alcohol on theReservation outright in the early 1970s�outlawing not only the sale, but the

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possession, of alcohol on Tribal property.Pine Ridge has been officially �dry� eversince.

Over the past three decades, however,our own state government has worked toeffectively thwart and undermine theOglala�s prohibition policy. In thisunincorporated village that is bracketedon two sides by the Reservation andwithin easy walking distance of theReservation�s principal town of PineRidge, the Nebraska Liquor ControlCommission has consistently licensedfour off-sale dealerships in Whiteclay,just 200 feet beyond the Tribe�s control.

More a �commercial enterprise� than acommunity, Whiteclay functions primarilyas a place for residents from theReservation to go to buy beer. While 750vehicles per day are estimated to enter thevillage from the Reservation and apopulation of from 50-100 people maygather on the streets at any one time, only14 people actually live there. The fourmerchants who annually sell the 4.1million cans of beer and operate this $3million annual trade only come to thetown to run their stores. Every one of thedealers chooses to live elsewhere.

Unlike other Nebraska communities,Whiteclay exists only to make money. Ithas no schools, no churches, no civicorganizations, no parks, no benches, nopublic bathrooms, no fire service and nolaw enforcement. Tribal police are ofcourse stationed immediately to the north(only two miles away in Pine Ridge), buttheir jurisdiction does not extend intoNebraska. The closest Nebraska lawenforcement available�the SheridanCounty Sheriff�s Department�lies about21 miles to the south in Rushville, and theNebraska State Patrol also has officerswho are available on call. While bothunits are believed to offer routine patrolsinto the town, the major portion of eachday lacks on-site enforcement. Indeed, inthe five-year period from 1996-2000, onlyfive citations were issued to the fourdealers in Whiteclay, compared to the sixcitations issued in just three months afterGovernor Johanns temporarily orderedstepped up enforcement this pastFebruary.

Oglala Sioux Tribal President JohnYellow Bird Steele calls Whiteclay �awide-open town� because of itsreputation for lawlessness. And thislawlessness stems not just from the factthat there are disreputable dealers inWhiteclay who are selling alcohol on

credit, regularly permitting theconsumption of alcohol on their off-salepremises, trading goods and sex for beerand selling to minors and intoxicatedindividuals. Nor does it stem just from thefact that in this border town brutalmurders, like those Ronald Hard Heart andWilson Black Elk, Jr., can be committedand allowed to go unsolved for years onend. No, this lawlessness stems mainlyfrom the fact that the Nebraska LiquorControl Commission is licensing the saleof alcohol in Whiteclay to a customerbase from the Pine Ridge Reservation thatfor all practical purposes has no legalplace to drink it. Annually, the fourdealers in Whiteclay peddle 4 million cansof beer to Pine Ridge residents wholegally have no way to consume it inWhiteclay since none of the dealers havean on-sale license, and who are knowinglyviolating Tribal law if they haul it backonto the Reservation.

Confronted with this dilemma, theLiquor Control Commission simplyanswers that �it is legal to sell alcohol inNebraska,� as if this state-sanctionedjudicial body has no responsibilitywhatsoever for the consequences of itsdecisions. But if this is indeed the legalfact of the matter�that it is legal to sellalcohol in Nebraska and the Commissionhas no option but to enforce the law�Iwill wager that not once in the four yearsthat the problems at Whiteclay have beenin the public eye has a commissionerapproached the legislature requestingsome sort of legislative solution toaddress the endemic lawlessness there.

What the Commission has done thispast year, under public pressure fromNebraskans for Peace and others, isrequest law enforcement by the NebraskaState Patrol for all the hours alcohol issold in Whiteclay. And I am here today totell you that representatives of both theState Patrol and the Sheridan CountySheriff�s Department told me to my facelast August that they cannot, and will notbe able to, provide that degree of on-sitelaw enforcement in Whiteclay. Whenasked to put this revelation in writing,they refused, saying the Commissionalready knows it. Thus, as things standright now, with the Liquor ControlCommission pleading that they are boundby state law to license alcohol salesanywhere in the state, and Nebraska lawenforcement asserting that they will neverhave the human resources to provide apermanent presence in Whiteclay, thelawlessness is set to continue with no endin sight.

And so, despite the many marches intothe town to protest its many abuses, thetragedy and the shame of Whiteclay goeson unabated. For sure, the remoteness ofthe place within the state makes it easy toignore the problems there. Behaviors bydealers and patrons that would not betolerated�not for one minute in any othertown in Nebraska�are all too oftensimply accepted as the realities of doingbusiness in Whiteclay. Not just ourstate�s private sector, but our own stategovernment profits handsomely from thisIndian misery to the tune of $150,000annually in liquor and sales taxes. And tomollify our consciences for continuing tolicense beer sales there and for directlycontributing to so much pain andsuffering on Pine Ridge, we repeat therationale that the Indians from theReservation are going to drink anyway,and the farther they have to drive intoNebraska to get it, the greater the vehicleaccident toll on Nebraska�s highways.

This past September, in a speech atNebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln,Native American activist Winona LaDukecalled Whiteclay �Nebraska�s hate crime.�It is almost impossible to calculate howmuch of the Oglala Tribe�s human andeconomic resources have been extractedby this enterprise over the past century.After having worked intensely on thisissue for the past two years, however, Ican tell you that neither the LiquorControl Commission nor the NebraskaState Patrol can be counted on to end thistragedy. It will take a change in state lawby the Nebraska Legislature.

Prohibiting the sale of alcohol within afive-mile radius of a dry Reservation willnot solve all of the alcohol abuseproblems on the Pine Ridge Reservation.But it will do this: It will place alcoholsales beyond easy walking distance ofPine Ridge, which will go a long waystowards limiting supply (not unlike whatthe United States is asking of thegovernment of Colombia). It will stop theflagrant profiteering off of Indian miserythat the State of Nebraska is heartlessly,reprehensibly and maliciously nowengaged in. And, for the first time in threedecades, it will demonstrate some respecton the part of the State of Nebraska forthe prohibition policy of the sovereignpeople of the Oglala Lakota Nation andsome consideration for the needs of itspeople.

Doing this, we believe, is the very leastwe as Nebraskans can and ought to do.

DECEMBER 2001 NEBRASKA REPORT, P. 11

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little less likely for the foreseeable future. GovernorJohanns went on record this year as supporting ourpublic power system. And popular support for oursystem remains strong, particularly in the rural two-thirds of the state. There are probably still a fewpeople out there who remember that one of the mainreasons we have public power in the first place isbecause private companies didn�t want to serverural areas with lots of miles of line and few customers.

As usual in cases involving large amounts ofmoney and a captive market, opinions andendorsements are overwhelmed by hard-nosed legalwrangling, and such is the case in Nebraska. In 1996when the Legislature first began looking at the issueof deregulation, they commissioned a three-yearstudy. In early 2000, based on recommendationsfrom the study, they passed LB 901 which appliedwhat is called a �conditions certain� approach toany potential attempts at deregulation. In some otherstates deregulation was phased in according to aseries of deadlines. LB 901 differs in that it saysderegulation cannot be considered unless particularconditions exist. The Nebraska Power Review Board(NPRB), which oversees the activities of all the powerdistricts on a state level, was charged withconducting an annual review and hearing to ascertainthese conditions. Itsfirst report was made public in early October.

Nebraska�s Report Card

Tim Texel, executive director of the NPRB, saidthat �its findings support the current system� butthat the Board doesn�t recommend for or againstderegulation; it just reports on its given set ofconditions. The report and a summary of it can befound at the NPRB web site (www.nprb.ne.state.us).The report is divided into five conditions or �issues�and can be briefly summarized as follows.

The first is �whether or not a viable regionaltransmission organization and adequatetransmission exist� in our region. In order forderegulation to work, big companies must be able tomove their supplies of electricity easily around theregion and in and out of the state. While our statesystem was found to be adequate for our own useunder normal conditions, it is short of what wouldbe needed for an active wholesale market. This iswhere the formation of the Translink organizationcomes into play. Most likely Translink will fulfill thiscondition and help set the stage for possiblederegulation.

The second condition is �whether a viablewholesale market� exists in the region. To the westof us there are capacity shortages and interconnectproblems, so that market is not likely. There wasfound to be a more viable market to the east but notenough transmission lines to make it practical. Againthis points up the significance of the Translinkannouncement. The report also noted that thesemarkets are more volatile than what we are used to ina consumer-owned, cost-based system.

Which leads us to the third and probably mostvisible issue, that of prices. Nebraska�s average retailrate is 5.31 cents per kilowatt hour, about 20 percentbelow the national average. Some of this is due toour proximity to cheap coal from Wyoming. And

while public financing and lack of a corporate taxaccounts for some difference, Omaha Public PowerDistrict paid out $17.5 million last year in lieu of taxesto local schools, cities and counties. Texel said that a�significant difference� though is that there are nodividends to pay out to stockholders; rather themoney is either reinvested or rates are held steady.Add to that the fact that the executives at our publicpower companies don�t pull down the astronomicalsalaries and stock options their counterparts in theprivate sector do, and public power really looks like abargain.

The NPRB also looked at two other areas: onebeing whether our rates are �unbundled,� meaningare they broken out like a phone bill into separatecosts for generation, transmission, fees and the like?Since our power districts are vertically integrated(they generate, distribute and bill), there has been noneed for this and it likely won�t happen (unless as apart of some future deregulation plan). The fifth andfinal area regarded legislative, regulatory andindustrial developments in the field, in order to keeplegislators abreast of relevant issues. While the BushAdministration has proclaimed a national energypolicy, no action has been taken to date. The Houseof Representatives did pass an energy bill last summer,but the Senate has yet to take it up or act on energybills of its own. Finally, this section looked at howderegulation is proceeding in other states and, inwhat must be one of the most significant findings ofthis report, stated that �No state was found that hada vibrant competitive retail electricity market.� In otherwords, there is not yet an example of wherederegulation has actually worked as its proponentspromised.

It�s important to remember that LB 901 doesn�tproscribe deregulation at any particular point, even ifall the conditions in the report are fulfilled. It simplypresents information to the Unicameral which it canact on or not. It may be telling that not one persontestified at the hearing which accompanies the reportprocess, although industry representatives sentobservers. If there was a big clamor for deregulation,that would have been the place to hear it. The NPRB�sTexel said he sensed that at this point most senatorsagreed with the governor.

And as for MidAmerican�s plans? In an interviewwith the Omaha World-Hearld in 1999, Sokol wasnonchalant about selling electricity here, sayingNebraska�s laws �are what they are.� But that doesn�tmean they won�t be doing business here, becausethey already are. MidAmerican�s real estate subsidiaryowns CBS Realestate in Omaha. Sokol has said hewould like MidAmerican to become a turnkeyoperation, providing not just real estate services butarranging the hookup, if not provision, of varioushousehold services and utilities. And while he hassaid MidAmerican does not plan to buy into phoneand cable businesses (and go into competition withpartner Walter Scott�s Level 3 Communications), itdoesn�t seem likely he would turn down theopportunity to compete in Nebraska, at least inmetropolitan areas, should the legislature ever give itto him.

If not, there�s always the rest of the world.

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From the Bottom by Sally HerrinThe real political spectrum isn�t right to left�it�s top to bottom.

2001 Farm Bill: Call Me CassandraWhen I was a young, innocent and self-important poet, I planned to call my firstbook of poems Cassandra. Cassandra wasa prophet in Greek mythology. A godwho loved her gave her an unparalleledgift for seeing the future. The catch(there�s always a catch) was, she wouldnever be believed.

In the end, I called my book (stillunpublished) The Chicken Shack. Theyears have put a lot of dents in my inno-cence and self-importance. Me, I�m stillmaking predictions. A lot of the time, Ihate being right.

A few months back, I published �TheTop Five Red Herrings on the Trail ofMeaningful Reform for U.S. Farm Policy,�detailing the most dangerous dead endsand non-solutions for Congress as itstruggles to build a new Farm Bill to suc-ceed the disastrous 1996 FAIR Act (alsoknown as Freedom to Farm, Freedom toFail, Freedom to Go Broke and other vari-ants).

I identified five pitfalls for Congress.Let�s see how I�m doing so far.Business as usual.

The Big Lie of U.S. farm policy is thatfarm income will improve with moreexports at discountprices. All major agcommodities arenow priced be-low the cost ofp r o d u c t i o n .Read My Calcu-lator: A loss

times volume is just a greater loss!Volume of major agricultural com-

modities did not increase over the past 25years of export-based farm and tradepolicy, despite forecasts and promisesby each administration. �Value of exportsto producers, in inflation-adjusted dol-lars, has declined by 30-40% for thesecommodities in that same quarter cen-tury,� I said. �Export-based farm policyhas created a flood of cheap product forthe grain and meat traders, and stolenvalue from producers.�

Prices to producers for all major com-modities suffered the greatest decline inhistory last month, but neither the Housenor the Senate Farm Bill proposal restoresprice-impacting tools to ag producers.

Called this one.Expanded role for insurance.

Senator Richard Lugar tried to re-cycle this idea in the form of a five-yearbill, which would phase out farm pro-grams altogether. Not one farm organiza-tion supported this proposal, not eventhose with major insurance holdings.

I was right�it did come up�but mer-cifully, this one is DOA.

Fast track authority for the President.Now called Trade Promotion Au-

thority, this bad idea is high on thepermanent Republican wish list. TPAwould relieve Congress of much ofits role in trade negotiations, limitingdebate and

allowing only up-or-down vot-ing on deals negotiated by the Presi-

dent. TPA would strip Congress of itspower to examine trade agreementsclosely, to determine the interests of thisnation and others, and to approve agree-ments that benefit Americans and upholdsocial and environmental standards forall parties.

Will the same war fever that gave theAttorney General expanded powers towiretap and detain finally give TPA themomentum to succeed? Maybe not. TPAfaces determined opposition from labor,human rights, and environmental con-cerns, as well as from progressive farmorganizations.

Still, rust never sleeps. This one isnot going away.Counter-cyclical payments.

An extraordinarily effective red her-ring. It looks very much as though Con-gress will go for this one. The complex,cumbersome formula in the Senate AgCommittee Farm Bill proposal will still notsecure ag producers cost-of-production,much less a fair profit. But it will keep thebureaucrats busy. And above all, it staysthe course by making the federal farmprogram into a welfare program the nextto last step in dismantling farm programsaltogether (see Expanded role for insur-ance, above).

Right again.Making the Farm Bill into a Conserva-tion Bill.

The Senate Ag Committee Farm Billproposal has some very good bits andpieces for the environment, a strong en-

ergy title, for instance, which stressesrenewables, and some expanded conser-vation programs. Another proposal, themuch-ballyhooed Conservation SecurityAct, would tie the level of support toenvironmental practices. Absent a mean-ingful commodity title, however, all betsare off.

Several national environmentalgroups have spent the past couple ofyears cozying up to family farmers. Thehope was that a coalition of consumers,environmentalists and family farm inter-ests would hang tough to protect thenation�s safe, reliable food supply and tosupport land stewardship by the two mil-lion farm families who produce that food.

This coalition has quietly evaporated,however. Farm organizations like Farm-ers Union and American Corn Growersanswer to constituencies who are goingbroke and want a Farm Bill that will se-cure them a fair price for what they pro-duce. Many national environmentalgroups make their policy from the topdown, have no real constituency, and areanswerable primarily to a handful of grant-making foundations that set their agenda.

�Environmental groups should notlet themselves be used to high-jack theFarm Bill. CRP and WRP, without the otherprice-impacting tools farmers need, won�tstop the hemorrhaging in ruralAmerica�the environmental communityneeds to know that no separate peace ispossible in this matter.�

I saw it coming, and I said so.

Photo by Gail Folda. Reprinted from Nebraska StatePaper, http://nebraska.statepaper.com/

With a projected $220 million shortfall in state tax revenue, the NebraskaLegislature met in Special Session in October to balance the state�s budget.Following Governor Mike Johanns�s direction, the legislature dutifully cut $170million in spending out of this year�s budget, with another $50 million set to beslashed in January. As Nebraskans for Peace supporters pointed out at a newsconference during the session, however, corporate tax breaks for Big Businessdeserve much of the blame for why we�re broke. Last year alone, LB 775 costthe state $140 million in lost revenue. Over the last 13 years, the price tag forthis giveaway program has reached a whopping $1.5 billion. �This is the 800pound gorilla in our budget crisis, and nobody will talk about it,� an NFPspokesperson said. Repealing LB 775 is the logical solution for balancing thestate�s books, not cutting education and social services. Expect to hear thisidea talked about a lot in the coming legislative session.

Blame LB 775 for Why We�re BrokeBlame LB 775 for Why We�re BrokeBlame LB 775 for Why We�re BrokeBlame LB 775 for Why We�re BrokeBlame LB 775 for Why We�re Broke