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Editorial

HEALTHY FOR THE HOLIDAYS

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There is an old saying, “it’s always darkest before the dawn.” It has two meanings. The first is that, despite difficulties, there is hope on the horizon. The second meaning is that circumstances can be at their very worst right before things get better. As we enter December, there are reasons to hope an effective vaccine will become available soon—on a limited basis even this month. At the same time, we may be entering the toughest stretch of the pandemic this winter as people head indoors. It’s time for all of us to put our trademark Nebraska grit and determination to work as we buckle up for the coming months of the pandemic.

Nahum Harwood In Nebraska Territory

Late in the spring of 1856 three young men employed by a civil engineering firm in Boston decided to seek their fortunes in the booming new Nebraska Territory. On August 6, 1856, Nahum Harwood and Horace May joined Benjamin P. Knight (who had preceded them West) in Omaha, which then had a population of about two thousand. Harwood and his friends soon moved north to Florence.

LET’S KEEP TRADE ROLLING

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Over the last four years, we have updated our trade relationships and trace agreements at a historic pace. We secured updated comprehensive trade agreements with Canada, Waco, and South Korea; entered into Phase One agreements with China and Japan that address many significant impediments to U.S. exporters in these major markets; and achieved important progress to remove trade barriers faced by particular sectors in several other countries. Together, these nations purchase almost 50 percent of the United States’ current exports. These agreements facilitated increased opportunities and fairer treatment forAmeriean producers and consumers struggling during the pandemic, and they are important platforms to open additional opportunities for US. exporters in the future. In part as a result of these agreements, we have seen exports increase 27 percent from the May low. Mile these agreements continue to bear fruit, it is vital we teat them as the first steps of a long journey toward more open markets and equitable treatment for US. goods and services, not an Excuse to relax when thee so much more work to be done

Christmas At The Turn Of The Century

Although the most popular toys for the current holiday season are electronic, more than a century ago the toys in Santa’s pack were likely to be mechanical. The Lincoln Evening News on December 23rd, 1905, said: “One of the surprises of the Christmas season is the increase in the number of mechanical toys and the ingenious methods that have been utilized to make them attractive to the youngsters. A favorite toy for years and advancing in popularity is the miniature engine pulling a train of metal cars. A track is furnished and it can be so arranged that the train is able to travel around and around until the locomotive has exhausted its wound up power.”

ROUNDTABLE RECAPS

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While votes are still being counted and recounted, there are other things we must focus on as well – like getting our economy back on track. Through the use of tools like Zoom, I am able to meet with Nebraskans about our economy without skipping a beat.

REMEMBERING OUR VETS

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After a contentious election, it is important we come back together and take stock of the unifying values and liberties which make our country great. While we have been endowed by our Creator with the freedom to self-govern, which we exercise through free and democratic elections, this freedom has endured because of the sacrifices of our veterans, as well as the men and women currently serving in our military who put their lives on the line so that we may enjoy these rights. Each year on November 11, the anniversary of the armistice ending World War I, we observe Veterans Day to commemorate our men and women who fought for us to have this freedom. It is up to us to show our veterans the respect and admiration they deserve, and to remember their legacy and give them the appreciation and the resources they need.

NEBRASKA NEWSPAPERMAN:

William C. Holden (1842-1901), remembered as one of Nebraska’s most aggressive and colorful newspapermen, was associated with papers in Harlan County and in Kearney and Lincoln. His purchase of the Central Nebraska Press at Kearney in 1879 introduced an era of muckraking there that lasted for nearly ten years. Historian Samuel Clay Bassett in the first volume of his history of Buffalo County, published in 1916, wrote that Holden "seemed to take delight in general attacks on individuals and it would have occasioned little surprise had he been killed by some whom he attacked."

INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE

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October marks the middle of harvest season for crops like corn, soybeans, and sorghum here in Nebraska. This process, the culmination of many months of work, also highlights how we rely on infrastructure for irrigation, transportation, and bringing products to market. Infrastructure has a hand in just about everything we do, including making agriculture more efficient. By prioritizing rural infrastructure, we lay a foundation for national economic growth.

FADING OF THE HORSE:

The rise of the automobile and the corresponding decline of the horse was well underway by 1909, especially in urban areas. The Omaha Daily News of August 22nd, 1909, noted that this change was reflected in the fading Omaha Horse Show and said, “If one were to demonstrate to what extent the automobile has usurped the place of the fashionable driving horse, let him take a census of the directors of the sometime Omaha Horse show. . . . Owners of the finest horses in the country were numbered among these people. Now but one of these directors has remained true to the tenets of the boulevard and the stable. This is F. A. Nash—the rest chug around in motor buggies or use the street cars.”

PROTECTING MEDICARE AS OPEN ENROLLMENT BEGINS

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There are two approaches to meet the health care needs of Americans. The first way is a command economy approach, such as the Medicare for All effort, which uses mandates to force patients, providers, and insurers to take action – demonstrated under Obamacare to worsen access and drive up costs. The second way is to use the marketplace to drive down costs and improve consumer access like we used in constructing Medicare Part D to improve prescription access for seniors. An important part of this process is Medicare Open Enrollment, which runs from October 15 through December 7.