The Health Care Reform debate is currently playing out across Nebraska as town hall meetings, ads and rally’s are happening in many communities. There is a very vocal and well organized voice that would like to stop any health care reform in Congress. Today they will have their rally in Omaha and will likely get […]
We Need a System that doesn’t Leave People Behind Read More »
An impressive number of Nebraskans turned out for a public meeting with Senator Nelson on health care today. I ventured to guess that at least 600 people showed up. But apparently my skill (or lack thereof) at estimating crowds hasn’t improved because the media reported that 1,000 + turned out. 420 were able to sit
Democracy and Truth in the Health Care Debate Read More »
An increasing number of children and families find themselves caught in the intersection of our country’s complex – and broken – immigration and child welfare systems. The first goal in these cases should be for the state to provide culturally appropriate services to reunify the family when that is appropriate and can be done safely.
Special Visas Available to Abused and Neglected Foreign-Born Children Read More »
Today many children across the state don new backpacks, sharpen their pencils, and begin the giddy walk to the first day of school. Thinking about the first day of a new school year always makes me remember the nervous feeling I would have in my stomach on the first day, accompanied by a series of
Back to School Breakfast Read More »
When I started as a law clerk for the Health Care Program at Nebraska Appleseed, I saw the summer as an opportunity to delve into what was sure to be an interesting, if somewhat technical, debate over health care reform. I did not expect those outside of the health care or political fields to become
Civil Health Care Debate, We Hardly Knew Ye… Read More »
[kaltura-widget wid=”o1s82qbvqo” width=”400″ height=”365″ style=”margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 5px;” addpermission=”” editpermission=”” align=”right” /]Recently, I attended a great event entitled “Tools for Education” at an organization that is doing excellent work in Nebraska, the Center for People in Need. In addition to sharing backpacks and notebooks to prepare kids for the upcoming school year, the Center for
“Know Your Rights” Video Premier! Read More »
Just over a year ago, images from the Postville, Iowa, immigration raid shocked Americans and caused many to question how this could possibly be coming out of the American legal system. We saw large groups of detainees shackled together in the National Cattle Congress livestock fairground, denied access to legal advice, and processed in group
Immigration Court Craps Shoot Read More »
It goes without saying that meaningful health care reform is essential to provide coverage for the tens of millions currently uninsured. But what do the reform bills currently moving through Congress do for the far greater number of people who already have insurance? Insured Americans are already bearing a huge burden of out-of-pocket costs that
Health Care Reform – What’s in it for me? Read More »
In June, I blogged about the long-term outcomes for children who “age out” of foster care and the opportunity presented by the new federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act to extend foster care to children up to age 21. While a number of important provisions in the Act focus on improving outcomes
Fostering Connections for Nebraska’s Children Read More »
In recent months, the economic downturn has strengthened the value that Nebraskans place on a hard day’s work. Now, more than ever, we recognize and appreciate the opportunity to earn a living to support our families. This is, in part, why we can celebrate the recent minimum wage increase from $6.55 to $7.25 which will
Valuing Work, Valuing Workers Read More »