Latest / The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert / Congressman Mike Flood In-Studio

Transcript

Congressman Mike Flood In-Studio · The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jean Stothert. Peyton Heilack, my producer, is
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: also here. Good morning, Peyton. Good morning, Jean.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: How are you?
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: I'm dandy today, and thank you all for being with us.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: We want to hear from you. We want to get
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  Speaker 1: your feedback, hear your comments, concerns, questions, complaints, really anything goes.
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  Speaker 1: We won't back away from anything, will we, Peyton?
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  Speaker 2: Never.
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  Speaker 1: Whether it's city, state, national, or the world, and we
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  Speaker 1: will have plenty of great guests, have a great guest today.
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  Speaker 1: But of course, you're going to hear plenty of opinions
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  Speaker 1: from me too, but it is your chance to To
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  Speaker 1: speak up and sound off, if you've got something to say,
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  Speaker 1: we want to hear it. So send your emails to
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  Speaker 1: comment at kfab.com. You can call us at 402-558-1110 or
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: leave us a recorded message on the talkback mic, and
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: we will play it on the air. We are very
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  Speaker 1: happy that you are with us today, and I'm very
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  Speaker 1: happy that Congressman Mike Flood from Nebraska's 1st Congressional District
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  Speaker 1: is here in the studio with us today. Good morning,
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  Speaker 1: Congressman Flood.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Mayor. We go way back. I was just
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  Speaker 2: thinking of myself back in 2008, I think I met you.
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  Speaker 1: No, it was sooner than that, because I remember it
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  Speaker 1: was 2006 when I ran for the legislature.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, we had that fundraiser up in Norfolk.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I ran for District 12, and if you remember,
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  Speaker 1: that was against Steve Lathrop. That was the one Gene
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  Speaker 1: Stothert lost on a recount.
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  Speaker 2: Not that it matters today.
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  Speaker 1: Not that it matters, but... By 14 votes. So once again,
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  Speaker 1: I want to and I want you, Congressman Flood, to
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  Speaker 1: let everybody know that every vote does count. I lost
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  Speaker 1: by 14 votes. And when people say, oh, I'm not
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  Speaker 1: even going to vote, my vote doesn't count. Yes, it does.
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  Speaker 2: People say to me, oh, you're going to be fine.
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  Speaker 2: I'm like, get out and vote.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, that that's a kiss of death right there. Right.
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  Speaker 1: I had a big supporter that is a very well-known
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  Speaker 1: home builder here in Omaha and in the surrounding area.
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  Speaker 1: But he called me the day after my last primary.
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  Speaker 1: And I came in first in the primary, followed by
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  Speaker 1: John Ewing. He called me on the phone. He goes, Dean,
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  Speaker 1: take those commercials off. Don't send another piece of mail.
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  Speaker 1: You got this. You're going to win. I go, that?
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  Speaker 1: is the kiss of death when somebody says that, don't
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  Speaker 1: ever say this again. And I lost. And so, you know,
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  Speaker 1: you can't take anything for granted anymore. And those votes
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  Speaker 1: really do matter. But Mike Flood, you know, I like
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  Speaker 1: talking about you because you are an attorney. You are
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  Speaker 1: a businessman. You have been in radio. I know you
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  Speaker 1: love being in a radio. You're a politician. You first
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  Speaker 1: ran for Congress in twenty twenty two.
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  Speaker 2: No, 2004. Oh, you're talking Congress. Congress. Yeah, 2022, yes.
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  Speaker 1: Okay. In 2022, you served two terms in the Nebraska legislature.
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  Speaker 1: You represented Legislative District 19. And you were the speaker
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  Speaker 1: of the Nebraska legislature, too. And you are a graduate
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  Speaker 1: of Notre Dame. I didn't realize that.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, and UNL, College of Law.
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  Speaker 1: I'll be darned. And you were, yeah, you're an attorney
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  Speaker 1: there too. And I, this is funny about you too,
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  Speaker 1: because I was looking in, in radio land, you had
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  Speaker 1: the nickname for a while of, of sideshow Mike. I
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  Speaker 1: like this one.
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  Speaker 2: That's right. Well, when, uh, country was King back in 1995,
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  Speaker 2: I got a job working, uh, afternoons at the local
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  Speaker 2: country station in, uh, in Michiana, that's Northern Indiana, Southern Michigan. And, uh,
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  Speaker 2: So for my college car, my roommates and I, we
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  Speaker 2: all went in like a Ghostbusters ambulance.
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  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh.
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  Speaker 2: And that was my car. So when I didn't want
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  Speaker 2: the people at the radio station to see it, so
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  Speaker 2: I parked it like on the side of the building. Well,
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  Speaker 2: the morning show host saw that and he goes, that
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  Speaker 2: kid needs to be on the morning show. And so
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  Speaker 2: he put a blue jumpsuit on me, called me Sideshow Mike,
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  Speaker 2: and I had to do all these stunts and stuff.
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  Speaker 2: But it was great. It was fun. I was on
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  Speaker 2: the radio for a couple of years out in South
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  Speaker 2: Bend and learned a lot about The morning show radio.
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  Speaker 2: That's when morning shows had stuntmen. They don't do that anymore.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, no. Well, now we know that Mike Flood has
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: a good sense of humor, too. And do you say Norfolk?
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Norfork.
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  Speaker 1: Or Norfork.
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  Speaker 2: Norfork. The whole deal is it's the North Fork of
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  Speaker 2: the Elkhorn River. We sent it to the post office
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  Speaker 2: in the 1800s and said N-O-R-F-O-R-K. They thought we were
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  Speaker 2: too dumb to spell Norfolk like Norfolk, Virginia.
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  Speaker 1: No kidding.
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  Speaker 2: And they sent it back to us. And so despite
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  Speaker 2: the U.S. Postal Service, we say Norfolk.
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  Speaker 1: I have friends from Norfolk, and they continue to call
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  Speaker 1: it Norfolk, so I'm going to tell them.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: They're wrong.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Okay. Well, let's get into it. We have a week now.
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  Speaker 1: November 3rd is a week from tomorrow, or today. It's
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  Speaker 1: a week from today. I know you're very, very busy.
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  Speaker 1: I know what it's like in this last week. You're thinking,
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  Speaker 1: what can I do? Who can I talk to? Where
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  Speaker 1: can I go? And tell us what this week is
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  Speaker 1: like for you. Well, today I'm running around Lincoln most
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  Speaker 1: of the day. Tomorrow I'll be in Columbus. On Thursday,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to start a statewide fly around with Senator
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  Speaker 1: Ricketts and Joey Spellerberg and other Republicans.
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  Speaker 2: You've been on those before. And we're going to barnstorm
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  Speaker 2: the whole state. We're going to be all over the
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  Speaker 2: whole state. I'm going to be all over the first district.
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  Speaker 2: I'm going to go straight Thursday through Monday night. And
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  Speaker 2: we're going to be at the game on Saturday, obviously.
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  Speaker 2: So it's going to be busy. I think Mandy, my
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  Speaker 2: wife's going to join me on the weekend and just
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  Speaker 2: do a bunch of stops. But, you know, just trying
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  Speaker 2: to be visible. And that's the big difference between me
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  Speaker 2: and my opponent. Like I actually live here in this state.
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  Speaker 2: I know where Clark's Nebraska is. I've been to Columbus.
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  Speaker 2: I know how Skylar works.
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  Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about your opponent because, you know, I haven't,
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  Speaker 1: I don't think anybody's heard a whole lot about your opponent,
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  Speaker 1: who is Chris Backenmeier. For listeners who may not know
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  Speaker 1: much about him, tell us who is he and what's
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  Speaker 1: the biggest differences between you two? Well, besides that you
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  Speaker 1: live here.
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  Speaker 2: Well, 28 years ago, he left Nebraska and went to
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  Speaker 2: get a degree ultimately, which is great. And then he
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  Speaker 2: worked for the U.S. State Department. He was right in
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  Speaker 2: there with President Obama when they did the Iran nuclear deal,
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  Speaker 2: the failed policy that resulted in them getting billions of dollars.
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  Speaker 2: He was an advisor to Kamala Harris. He was an
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  Speaker 2: advisor to Joe Biden. He was a special advisor to
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  Speaker 2: Kamala Harris. And after Doge, he either took the early
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  Speaker 2: retirement or decided not to work there anymore. Upset about that,
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  Speaker 2: came to one of my town halls, used it as
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  Speaker 2: a platform to introduce himself. And he's since been running.
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  Speaker 2: And You know, it's hard for me to understand why
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  Speaker 2: we would want somebody in Congress who owns a million-dollar
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  Speaker 2: home in Washington, D.C., he's registered to vote at his
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  Speaker 2: parents' house in Lincoln, and he's renting a house in
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  Speaker 2: Lincoln with his family. Does that scream, hey, I want
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  Speaker 2: to be a Nebraskan, I'm here for the long term?
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  Speaker 1: And this is so important for the listeners and the
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  Speaker 1: voters to know these things because, you know, at this
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  Speaker 1: point in time, as you well know, commercials that are
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  Speaker 1: running right now against you, for you, against your opponent,
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  Speaker 1: for you, people don't know what to believe. But this
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  Speaker 1: is factual. This is absolutely the facts on where he
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  Speaker 1: lives and where he's registered to vote.
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  Speaker 2: He says, well, it's too expensive to buy a house
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  Speaker 2: right now. And I was like, you have a $ 1
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  Speaker 2: million house in Washington, D.C. If you really want to
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  Speaker 2: live here, You know, I have a place that's in D.C.
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  Speaker 2: that's a crash pad. It's a basement apartment. It's one bedroom.
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  Speaker 2: If I stretch both my arms out, I can't do
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  Speaker 2: it in my bathroom. Like this is a little, little,
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  Speaker 2: little place. And that's because I don't live in Washington, D.C.
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  Speaker 2: I sleep there three nights a week. But I live
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  Speaker 2: in Nebraska.
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  Speaker 1: And, you know, and so many, I think, of the
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  Speaker 1: congressmen do that. I remember Congressman Bacon saying the same thing.
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  Speaker 1: He lived in somebody's basement when he was there.
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  Speaker 2: A lot of them sleep in their offices.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. And, well, Lee Terry used to sleep in his
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  Speaker 1: office when he was in Congress.
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  Speaker 2: I can't do that.
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  Speaker 1: My daughter used to work for him and they'd pull
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  Speaker 1: the mattress out of his closet, I think, every night.
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  Speaker 2: I would fear that somebody from Nebraska would come into
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  Speaker 2: my office and they'd see my CPAP.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, there you go.
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  Speaker 2: I'd be like, wait a second, wait a second.
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  Speaker 1: Wait, this doesn't look good. And then they would use
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  Speaker 1: it in a commercial.
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  Speaker 2: Right, right, right, right, right.
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  Speaker 1: So, you know, I want to ask you, the national
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  Speaker 1: pundits are out there saying that this could be... a
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  Speaker 1: blue wave for the Dems, meaning they could win the House.
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  Speaker 1: They could win the House and the Senate. I had
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  Speaker 1: Senator Ricketts on a Monday, and he said, well, I
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  Speaker 1: will speak to the Senate. But tell our listeners what
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  Speaker 1: you think it would look like. What would it mean
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  Speaker 1: specifically for us if the Dems took control of the House?
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  Speaker 1: Because Once again, I want to remind people what the
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  Speaker 1: makeup is right now. Right now in the House, tell
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  Speaker 1: me if I'm wrong or right, there's 220 Republicans, 212 Dems.
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  Speaker 1: Barely edged them out there. So there's 432 plus three,
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  Speaker 1: what do you call them, delegates or vacancies? Okay, so
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  Speaker 1: that's where we are now. We edged the Dems out
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  Speaker 1: a bit. So talk about what it would look like
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  Speaker 1: if the Dems took over both houses.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it starts with Speaker Hakeem Jeffries from New York
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  Speaker 2: who has endorsed Mondani now. And here's how he has–
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  Speaker 2: here's what he has to do to get the speaker's gavel.
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  Speaker 2: He's going to have this DSA. They call themselves the
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: block or the squad or whatever it is.
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  Speaker 1: The Democrat Socialist of America.
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  Speaker 2: So he's going to have these new members that are
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  Speaker 2: coming in on this blue, quote-unquote, wave. And they're going
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  Speaker 2: to say to things like him, like, we're going to
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: need a vote on this. We're going to need a
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: vote on defunding the police. We're going to need a
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: vote on abolishing ICE. We're going to need a vote
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  Speaker 2: on getting rid of the Border Patrol. We need a
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: vote on changing immigration policies. All the things that we've
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: fixed from the Biden administration are going to get put
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  Speaker 2: on the platter. And here's the thing. Hakeem will probably
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  Speaker 2: know it's bad. politics to do that, but he is
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: going to, he'll be a junkyard dog for them. He
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: has to. In order to get the galley, you got
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: to please everybody. And I say this from experience. I've
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  Speaker 2: watched as Republicans in some of the more members of
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  Speaker 2: our tribe, they'll force the speaker to do certain things
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  Speaker 2: because they want to control the narrative. The same thing
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  Speaker 2: is going to happen over there. Fortunately, the folks on
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  Speaker 2: our side a lot of times are pushing to cut spending,
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  Speaker 2: which works. I do that. I'm for that. The stuff
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  Speaker 2: that these far-left Dems are going to do will make
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  Speaker 2: your skin crawl. And it will be so easy for
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  Speaker 2: America then to see what they're all about.
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  Speaker 1: And, you know, I said this with Senator Ricketts yesterday
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  Speaker 1: and that there are really some good Democrat incumbents in
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  Speaker 1: our country now that are getting beat in the primary
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  Speaker 1: by these socialists. And really, some are communists. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: when you think. of these people that are winning primaries,
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  Speaker 1: it really should be a concern for all of us.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: Let's look, I want your opinion specifically like on our
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: defense budget. If the Dems took over, what would that
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: mean for the border situation? What would that mean for
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  Speaker 1: Offutt right here?
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  Speaker 2: Well, historically, what the Democrats have done with defense spending
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  Speaker 2: is they'll say for every dollar in defense, we get
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: this over here in food stamps. We get this over
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  Speaker 2: here in human services. We get this over here like
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  Speaker 2: free health care for all, things like this. And this
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: comes at a time where we actually, I mean, they
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  Speaker 2: have actually prevented us from replacing our munitions after Venezuela
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: and the Iran conflict. We have been asking them. We
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  Speaker 2: passed a reconciliation bill, $ 68 billion, just to replenish our munitions,
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: and they have stopped us. They have voted no. That
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  Speaker 2: is what you're going to get more of. And if
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  Speaker 2: we do get defense spending, it will be coupled with
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  Speaker 2: money for their pet projects that have nothing to do
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  Speaker 2: with national security.
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  Speaker 1: And keep this in mind, folks, when you go out
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  Speaker 1: to vote. And, you know, I bring up quite often
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: on this show, look at what is happening in France
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: right now. They are rioting. There is violence. This is
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: all going on. It started out with protests about education,
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: but now it has expanded. Of course, the president, Marcon,
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: is over there blaming Donald Trump for their problems in France.
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  Speaker 1: But they have those things. They have free health care.
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  Speaker 1: They have free education. I'm not sure about their housing.
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  Speaker 1: And they have the highest taxes in the entire world.
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  Speaker 1: And this is happening because people are unhappy.
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  Speaker 2: I recently talked to a parliament, a member of parliament
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: from the European Union. And he said around the time
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  Speaker 2: that the wall fell in the Soviet Union and the U.S.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: government came in, basically paid for everybody's defense.
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  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
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  Speaker 2: An era called the good life started in Europe, where
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  Speaker 2: they stopped being a continent that made things. They started
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: implementing these very tough regulations to regulate society. And people
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  Speaker 2: lived a very good life. And now the bill is
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  Speaker 2: coming due. Germany's seen its manufacturing dissipate. China's in there
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: trying to get what they can get. France has been
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: off the charts for a while. And now the people
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  Speaker 2: are looking around saying, what do we have left? And
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  Speaker 2: That's what happens when you introduce socialism. That's what happens
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  Speaker 2: when everybody gets everything for free. There's no buy-in. There's
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  Speaker 2: no need to go to work.
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  Speaker 1: It costs something.
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  Speaker 2: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: I read some statistics the other day about what the
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: mayor of New York is asking for with free groceries,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: free housing, free everything. And he said if they would do,
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: if our country would do what he wants to do,
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: it would cost about $ 350 trillion. Oh, my gosh. Where's
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: that going to come from? That's what the worry is.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: It may sound good on paper to everything free, but
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  Speaker 1: it's not free, and you're going to be paying for it.
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  Speaker 1: This is the problem.
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  Speaker 2: We need to be a nation that makes things, a
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: nation that embraces manufacturing, that gets our young people into
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  Speaker 2: the workforce and trades. I think that's the direction we're
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: going under this administration.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: Let's move on to another subject that I wanted you
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: to bring up is housing. One of the things that
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: is talked about a lot is the cost of housing.
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  Speaker 1: You've talked a lot on the campaign trail that this
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: is about a bipartisan housing bill that you helped get
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: through Congress. My time as mayor working on this issue,
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: I know how important it is, but If you could
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: just walk through your role in getting this housing bill passed.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: I will. But before we go there, as mayor, do
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: you remember dealing with the federal funds that you got
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: for housing and your housing director saying there's too many
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: hoops to jump through? Yes. So I'm the chairman of
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: the housing committee. I reached out to Emanuel Cleaver, former
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: mayor of Kansas City. And I do think mayors uniquely
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: are far more experienced on housing because they deal with
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: it all the time. And Emmanuel and I worked famously.
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  Speaker 2: He's a Democrat. He's a former chairman of the Black
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: Congressional Caucus. And we basically said to every housing stakeholder
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: in the country, send us your ideas. They sent their
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: ideas in. They're like, get rid of these environmental studies.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 2: Get rid of the Section 3 stuff where we have
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: to hire an integer people.
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  Speaker 1: All the regulations.
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  Speaker 2: Change the average median income from 80 percent to 100 percent.
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: Let us use the CDBG dollars that we get allocated
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: to the city of Omaha, for instance. get rid of
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: this requirement that you have to have a chassis in
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: every manufactured home. You know, in 1905, you could order
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: a new house out of a pre-made house out of
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: the Sears catalog. Yes, and they're still standing. Well, we're
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: going back to that time. And so we got this done.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: It got essentially 360 votes in the House, close to
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: 90 votes in the Senate. And this was a bill
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: that I wrote with a manual. It ended up becoming law.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: And it's going to increase supply and bring down costs.
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: And that's an example of the kind of work you
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: can get done when you focus on the issue and
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: not the politics.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. And I always bring up the term affordable housing,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: which is really kind of described by HUD. You know,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: people do not understand it. I found that in Omaha
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: and in this area, they don't understand it because they
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: think affordable housing means housing. Cheap or free housing in
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: luxury apartments. No, it doesn't mean that at all. And
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: I explained to them that what is affordable here in
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: Nebraska is not the same as what's affordable in New
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: York City or Los Angeles, too. It's based on your
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: average median income in the area that you live in.
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: And what's so frustrating for a lot of families is
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: somebody will come in and say, oh, we're building this
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: new house for $ 415, 000. That is not affordable. If you
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: look at what the average mortgage applicant is for in
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: a lot of the counties in the first district, it's
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: around $ 210, 000, meaning they've got another $ 20, 000 if they– otherwise
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: they have down payment assistance. But it's $ 210, 000. That's why
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: these pre-manufactured homes are important. That's why more density, infill,
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: all that stuff makes sense. The affordable house for a
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: hardworking family, if you can keep it well under $ 300,
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: you're in the right ballpark.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: Right. So, okay. So let's talk about your– let's move
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: on here because I want to talk about your town
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: hall meetings. Holy cow.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: You've been through that. You know that.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: I love town hall meetings. Most elected officials don't, but
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: I absolutely loved them. I did over 70 town hall meetings.
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: The time I was mayor, I usually did one in
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: every city council district, which means there's seven every fall.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: I know Mayor Ewing is only doing four, but okay,
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: we'll see how that goes. But you have had a
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: number of them. Some members of Congress seem to have
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: moved away from having them because there's so much vitriol
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: going on. I mean, you even have the handmaidens come
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: to yours. Whatever those women are, what they're trying to prove,
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: I don't know. But why do you keep on having them?
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: I know why you keep on having them, but I
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: want you to tell the listeners.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: You've got to show up in the town square. I
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: always tell people if I think the reason I'm voting
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: is for the right reasons, which you have to do
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: this job, then I'll go into the town square and
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: explain it.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: You want to know why I voted this way? This
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: is why I voted this way. Mm-hmm. And for the
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: most part, 80% of the people in there are just
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: good people that want to find out what's going on.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: 15% are there to perform and 5% are there to
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: go on beyond that. And I was in Lincoln one
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: time and I was welcome. This guy comes up to
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: me and I'm shaking hands out in the front. He goes, hey,
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: how are you doing? I said, oh, good to see you.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: I said, have you been to all three of these?
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: He's like, yeah. He's like, how's your son doing? I
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: was like, oh, he's getting ready to go to college.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: This is last summer or the summer before. And we
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: had this great conversation. 20 minutes later, we're in the
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: town hall. He's jumping up and down on the back
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: of the room, flipping me off with both hands. That
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: does not surprise me. I was like, okay, this is
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: a performance. And you know what? That behavior speaks for itself.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: But I don't wake up in the morning and say,
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: I want to vote some way to screw with everybody's day.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: I honestly think what is the best position for Nebraska,
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: the country? My job as an elected official. And I
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: feel like I can defend that. I go into the
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: town square and And if somebody sees it differently and
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: they want to tell me why I should vote differently,
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: then they have that right. They should have that right
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: without being censored or in any way told that their
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: question is not going to be read.
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: I agree.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: And good for you for keeping on doing them. But
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: I will tell you, you and I have been in
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: an elected position for quite a while with your past
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: in the legislature. I've been in an elected position for
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: 27 years when you consider school board.
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: Oh, boy.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: But I'm not anymore. But the thing of it is
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: that I notice– Congressman Mike Flood is with us today.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: I think it's getting worse than it's ever been. This
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: vitriol out there, the anger, the screaming, the yelling. I
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: try not to even look at my own Facebook anymore,
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: but I look at the candidates' Facebook. Just things that
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: people are saying that are totally made up. I mean,
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: I've never seen anything like it. And then when you
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: see the commercials on TV, they're just meant to confuse
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: the voters because now they don't know who to believe.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: You see craziness out there now. I think it's getting
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: worse than it's ever been, but it is what it is.
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: And it's a lot because of social media.
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't look at social media.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: It's not good for your mental health.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: It isn't good. And I even, two months ago, I
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: said I can't even. The one I do like is LinkedIn. Yeah.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: I think people are pretty normal.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: Right, and you can see they want their whatever to
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: look decent because a lot of people look at it.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: You know, the thing I don't like about the current
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: environment isn't what they say about me, but it's the
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: things that they do to your children. Yes. I mean,
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: I've got a, 17-year-old kid who just wants to play
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: high school football and do good in school. He does
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: not want to be connected to this whole thing.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: But he has the last name of Flood.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah. And there's nutjobs out there that are trying
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: to DM him from all over the country. And you're like,
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: leave him alone. Like, come on.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: And they will do this. I mean, when I took
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: my official Facebook down, I had about 49,000 followers. Oh, wow.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: And when we would look at some of them, they
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: were from the east and west coast. I mean, they
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: didn't even live in Nebraska, but they follow you and
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: they try to say these horrible things to you. It just,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: it boggles my mind.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: And then you go click on their profile and it's
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: like them, a kitty, and a crucifix.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: Right, right.
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: You're like, what happened to you?
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: Uh-huh, yeah.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: And their names are like Susie Q. And there's a cat.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: But they go after you. And it's just terrible.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: I just want to say decaf. You need to switch
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: to decaf.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: Or get a job or something. But you just sit
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: on social media all day long. So good for you
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: to keep on doing them because I agree with you.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: I think there's nothing better than getting out there and say,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: here I am.
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: Let's do this.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: I wanted to be elected. and you elected me, and
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: I want to be elected again, so lay it on me.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: Ask me whatever I want. So good for you to
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: keep on doing it. But I know when the handmaidens
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: show up, what?
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: Well, I came out of the bathroom at the Cornhusker Marriott,
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: and I was like, hey, where'd you come from? And
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: there's like six of them, and they started following me.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: I was like, wow.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: And they stand there, and they don't say anything. Well, obviously,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: we know what it is. It is meant to intimidate you.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: That's all there is to it. That's like when you
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: walk out of the bathroom, and eight people have their
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: cell phones, and they're recording you. And they record you
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: going down the hall. That's supposed to intimidate you, too,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: because I had that happen so much. And you're like, okay,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: I just went to the restroom, and now I'm walking
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: into this other room. Record all of that. But I
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: want you to explain before we take a break, because
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: I know you're busy. But the Main Street Caucus, for
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: listeners who aren't as tuned in to what's happening in Washington, D.C.,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: tell us about the Main Street Caucus. I understand your
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: role in this caucus has you at the negotiating table
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: with the speaker. and the White House. What's the Main
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: Street Caucus and what's your role? So think of the Godfather,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: where they have the five families in the Godfather. So
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: inside the 220 Republicans, we basically have five families. And
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: one of the biggest families is what I call Team Normal,
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: which is also the Main Street Caucus. This is 12
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: members of appropriation, seven full committee chairs, people from rural areas,
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: New York, California, whatnot. And we meet once a week
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: with administration officials. And then the five families each have
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: their chairperson, in the speaker's office with the majority leader,
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: with the majority whip, with the other leaders of the
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: conference once or twice a week. And that's where I
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: go in and advocate on behalf of the 90 members.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: That are in our caucus. And so I became chairman
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: when Dusty Johnson from South Dakota decided to run for governor.
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: I got elected and I've been doing that now close
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: to two years. And, you know, it's, It's an important job,
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: but more importantly, it lets me punch above my weight
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: from a rural district being at the table with a speaker.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: And why does this matter, the Main Street Caucus? Why
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: does it matter for Nebraskans?
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: Well, like for instance, when the National Weather Service started
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: cutting the weather balloons and all that other stuff, I
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: had the number at the White House and I called
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: James Braid and I was like, we got to talk.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: This cannot happen. It's April 15th. Severe weather season, I've
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: got to have a full complement of people. We have
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: to have a full complement of people in the North Platte, Cheyenne,
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: Rapid City, Hastings, Omaha offices because if we are caught flat-footed,
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: that means lives are lost with a tornado rolling through here.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: So that actually is an example of where you can
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: make one call and they're like, okay, okay, okay, we'll
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: get that handled. Okay.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: Congressman Mike Flood, who is U.S. Representative for Legislative District,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: not Legislative, Congressional District 1 in Nebraska. Congressman, just a
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: week away, what's your closing message to the voters here
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: in the First District?
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: I'm a proven leader. I was in the legislature for
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: 10 years. I was Speaker for six. I was capable
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: of putting deals together. I've been in Congress for four.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: I'm the Chairman of a Subcommittee on Financial Services, working
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: to become a full committee chairman. We haven't had one
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: since 1954. I lead the Main Street Caucus, and I'm
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: rising through the ranks of the House to deliver for Nebraska.
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: Between Senator Fischer and I, we've gotten $ 100 million for
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Innovation Campus for ag research to
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: put Nebraska at the forefront of making sure we can
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: grow more corn with less water, less nitrates, and make
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: more money for farmers. And so that's, you know, my
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: focus is growing Nebraska. I've always been about economic development,
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: and I think if you want to know where I stand,
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: you know where I stand because I live here. My
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: opponent rents a house here. He has a million-dollar home
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: in D.C. Guess where he's going to spend his weekends?
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: And guess where his kids are probably going to go
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: to school? They've been going to school in D.C. for
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: a very long time. They're now in Lincoln. But they're
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: renting a home there, and my opponent's registered to vote
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: at his parents' house. So I need Republicans to get
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: out and vote. It is very important. And you might
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: not know this, but if you want the calls to
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: stop or the texts to stop or the mail to stop,
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: You can go to your courthouse and vote right now.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: Go ahead and vote and then get it over with.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: If not, go on Tuesday.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: But, you know, I voted a couple weeks ago, and
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: I'm still getting messages. But, you know, this will all
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: be over after– November 3rd. Well, on November 4th, we'll
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: analyze what went on. But good luck to you. You're
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: out on the campaign trail. I know you're very, very busy.
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: I'm jealous you get to do this radio show.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: I'm telling you, this is the most fun I've had
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: in a long time. Who would have ever thought that
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: I would end up doing this? But this is great.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: I love doing this.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: You know I love radios.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: I know you do. You're an old radio, not, you're
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: an old radio guy. 51, 51. You're a young radio guy.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: There you go. Congressman Mike Flood, thanks again for being
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: with us and good luck.
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Mayor.
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: Gene Stothert and the KFAB Comment Line returning after a
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: break from Fox News.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: And we are back. Boy, we've had a busy week
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: and we're going to have a busy week. If you
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: all have any questions or comments about the interview with
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: Senator Ricketts that was on Monday with Congressman Mike Flood today,
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: please send them in. I thought both interviews were very good.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: And the rest of the week is going to be full, too. Tomorrow,
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Tom Becker. The famous Tom Becker will be on this
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: show in the studio, and we're going to have a
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: talk about the elections. That ought to be good. We
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: both better take our blood pressure medicine in the morning
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: before that interview. Thursday, Brinker Harding is going to be
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: back on, and also on the second half of the
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: show on Thursday, Judge Leanne Riddlesdorf is going to be on.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: She is a retired district court judge from Douglas County,
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: and I ask her on because we have been getting
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: quite a few questions to the studio lately about how
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: do we know or get information how to vote for judges.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: And I thought that would be very interesting to talk
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: about that and then to actually have a judge on
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: and to talk about what we need to be looking
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: for in judges. She is retired and was a very
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: good judge. And then Friday, we have the Mayor of
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: Lincoln coming on.
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: Mayor.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: Lirian Gaylord Baird. Three names. But Mayor Baird and I
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: have known each other for a long time. Politically, we
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: are as different as night and day, but we have
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: maintained a friendship. And she's going to be up from
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: Lincoln and be on the show on Friday. So what
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: a busy, busy week. To start out this morning, please
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: send us, again, your emails and your comments and your calls.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: But I did get some information from the Douglas County
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Election Commissioner, Danielle Jensen, just this morning. This is of today,
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: of this morning. And I wanted to share it with
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: you because I think it's very interesting, very interesting to
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: me anyway. So for the mail-in ballots, there has been
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: requests of 29,866 Republicans to But 39,725 Democrats, so over 10,000
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: more requests for early voting from Democrats, and 17,000 nonpartisan. Now,
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: we'll go back to those again. Of the 29,866 requests
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: from Republicans, 20,277 have been returned. Of the Democrats, 39,725 requests, 26,704
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: have been returned. And at the nonpartisan, 17,000, 10,530 have
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: been returned. So more Democrats have asked for early ballots
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: by 10,000, and there's over 6,000 that have returned theirs
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: as compared to the Republicans. That's very telling. In person
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: so far, we've had in-person voting already. There has been 3,350
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: Republicans that have voted already. There has been 4,000 996
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: Democrats that have voted already, and there is 1,976 nonpartisan
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: that has voted already. So if you add all those up,
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: and there's a few, about 113 write-ins, total in person
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: so far, 9,535, that is up 5,714 from 2022. So
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: it's up. So hopefully, you know, that vote that is
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: up from 2022 will end up meaning more at the
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: November 3rd on Election Day itself. But total early. So
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: let's just break it down. Total early with the Republicans. 34%.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: With the Democrats, 45%. And with the nonpartisans, 20%. So
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: that's what we got so far. And that's of this morning.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: So thank you to Daniel Jensen for that information. But
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: I wanted to share it with you. If you're a Republican,
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: this should be a big concern. And like we have
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: been saying all along, Republicans... Get excited about this and
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: get out and vote. If you're a Democrat listening to this,
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: you're ahead right now as far as the votes.
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: Yes, and I just did the math here.
• 30:32
  Speaker 3: As far as the mail-in ballots go, for both the
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: Republican and Democrat numbers, based on what was requested, both
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: parties have returned about 68% of the total ballots, though
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: there is 10,000 more Democratic votes. mail-in ballot requests, but
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: still about the same percentage return-wise.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: Right. And usually with a general election, usually that return
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: of the mail-in ballots is usually 80, 85%. It's usually very,
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: very good. So we've got to make sure that we
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: tell people that have those mail-in ballots, get those in,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: mail them in this week, get them out there and
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: get them in. that's really, really important. Let your voice
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: be heard. That's all we've been talking about, seems like,
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: for months on this show. I did want to mention, too,
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: that a third candidate that will be on the ballot
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: for Congressional District 2, along with Denise Powell and Brinker Harding,
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: is Eric Michael Foreman. He's a Libertarian candidate, and he
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: was going to be on the show today, but something
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: didn't work out for him, and he could not make
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: it this morning, but he's certainly welcome to be on
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: this show anytime. And I listened to that last debate
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: that WWT did that Brian Mastry emceed, And I listened
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: to Eric Foreman, and I liked what he said. I mean,
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: he's a libertarian. I didn't disagree with a lot that
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: he said. So I thought he did a very good
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: job on that debate because that was obviously the first
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: debate he's ever been in. So lots and lots still
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: to talk about today. I think we've got some emails
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: and some comments that we didn't get to in the
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: last couple days.
• 32:13
  Speaker 3: So let's get to them, Peyton. Yes, I got an
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: email here, comment at kfab.com. This comes from Tom. Mm-hmm.
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: I heard on the Dave Nabity show this weekend that
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: Gene endorsed John Fredrickson over Republican Chris Anderson. If true,
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: it is very disappointing. He has done nothing in the unicameral.
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: We need action in Lincoln. Voting, present not voting, is ridiculous.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: Yes, Tom, that is true. I did endorse John Fredrickson,
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: and I will tell you why. Of all the legislators
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: that we have serving this area and Omaha over the
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: past 12 years when I was down at City Hall,
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: I would say that one of the most engaged senator
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: that was always calling me, asking my opinion on things,
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: what I felt about this, what I felt about that,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: even calling me when he didn't agree with me was
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: John Fredrickson, even more so than a lot of the
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: Republican legislators that we had. And we were dealing with
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: some really, really complicated things. John Fredrickson was that type
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: of guy. Now, Chris Anderson, that is his opponent, is
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: a very nice guy too and would be a very
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: good legislator. I met with him. I talked with him.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: But John Fredrickson, Senator John Fredrickson, he came out and
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: endorsed me, went out on a limb being a Democrat,
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: endorsed me when I was running for mayor. And as
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: soon as he decided to run for a second term,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: he called and said, would you consider endorsing me? for
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: a second term like I did you? And I said, absolutely,
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: I would. Because I thought, you know, folks, this is
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: what we've been talking about all along. We've been talking
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: about every one of these candidates right now, every one
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: of their messages is from Denise Powell on is I
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: will work with both parties. I will reach across the aisle.
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: I will work with the other party to get things done.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: And that's exactly what I did with John Fredrickson and
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: enjoyed doing it. And to say he never accomplished anything
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: is just false. It means you aren't paying attention. He
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: worked a lot on mental health and healthcare access and
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: passed legislation to speed up the licensure for behavioral health
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: and medical professionals. I remember that. He did a lot
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: with public safety. He connected 911 and 988, it was 988,
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: I believe, so that when someone in a mental health
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: crisis calls 911, they could be routed to a trained counselor,
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: crisis counselor. He supported the largest income tax cut in
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: the state of Nebraska. He worked a lot on transportation
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: to make sure that Omaha gets his fair share of
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: road funding through the state appropriations. He worked a lot
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: on childcare and affordability. I remember all these things because
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: he called me about it. So number one, yes, I
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: did endorse him. Never said anything negative about Chris Anderson,
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: but I did because he was very good to work
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: with when he was in the legislature the last four
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: years and yes he did accomplish quite a bit so
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: to say he didn't is just false.
• 35:18
  Speaker 3: I'm just seeing it this way gene correct me if
• 35:21
  Speaker 3: I'm wrong but a ideas ideology aside it just seems
• 35:25
  Speaker 3: like he was willing to.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: Work Absolutely he was. And, you know, again, isn't that
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: what we are hearing in every one of these campaigns
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: is I will work with the other side. I will
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: reach out and work with, you know, across the aisle
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: because we want to get things done. And when we
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: stay in our own little corners, we can't get anything done.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: And so I worked with him just like the Mayor Lincoln,
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: who's going to be on Friday. You know, we were
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: the mayors of the two largest cities in the state
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: of Nebraska. I was a Republican. She was a Democrat.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: But we thought if we got together– and then approach
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: the legislature on numerous issues, a Democrat and a Republican,
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: that we felt the same way about our cities, then
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: hopefully we could get some things done. And so that
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: is my opinion. I think that everybody knows I'm a
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: Republican and knows what my values are. But to say
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: it's just disappointing that I supported a Democrat who has
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: achieved a lot and who was very, very good to
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: work with and very, you know— eager to reach out
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: and get my opinion on multiple things. Yeah, I think
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: that that's a good thing to do. And it's a
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: good thing to show that you can be nonpartisan. So, Tom,
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: sorry you don't agree with me, but yep, I did
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: endorse him. And again, when I endorse somebody, I don't
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: turn around and I'm not blasting Chris Anderson either. Like
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: I said, I met with him and he's a very
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: good candidate.
• 36:53
  Speaker 3: More to come here on the KFAB Comment Line. You're
• 36:55
  Speaker 3: host of the show. Gene Stothert. Gene Stothert in the
• 36:58
  Speaker 3: KFAB comment line. My name is Peyton Highlock, 1053 on
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: the clock, wrapping up the Tuesday show. I did get
• 37:05
  Speaker 3: an email from the main man, Brian, here, comment at kfab.com.
• 37:09
  Speaker 3: And Gene, Brian says, your statistics are somewhat incomplete as
• 37:14
  Speaker 3: there are ballots cast in Sarpy and Saunders County for
• 37:18
  Speaker 3: Congressional District 2 and other Omaha races. Brian goes on
• 37:22
  Speaker 3: to say, Sarpy County traditionally has been the difference between
• 37:26
  Speaker 3: To elect CD2 candidates.
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: No doubt. But I said at the beginning when I
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: read those statistics, I said it was from the Douglas
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: County Election Commissioner, Daniel Jensen, this morning. So I was
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: just talking about Douglas County.
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: So, yeah.
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: Brian, you are right.
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: You are right.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: But you're right. But I did reference this and say
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: this was from the Douglas County Election Commissioner. So these
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: are the numbers from her as of this morning that
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: I wanted to share with you. I don't have the
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: others to share with you this morning. Okay, Jean, I
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: got an email yesterday, and it was strongly worded. It
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: was– I'm trying to find it really quick here, but
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: it was a little bit harsh and a little bit crude,
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: and so I'm not going to– Was it one of
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: our more hostile?
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: Yes. It was more hostile for sure. We get those.
• 38:14
  Speaker 3: And the point of the matter here is among all
• 38:19
  Speaker 3: of this– The emailer, Michael, says, unfortunately, I would not
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: have guessed you would condone rape.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: Oh, for Pete's sake. Who is it, Michael? There was
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: no way whatever you heard was not condoning rape. Rape
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: is a felony. It is a horrible crime. I don't
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: even know why you would say that and that it
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: was not ever brought up in the conversation. The conversation
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: was about Pete Ricketts as governor having the ability with
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: a committee to pardon. I brought up I had the
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: ability to pardon misdemeanors as mayor of Omaha for 12 years,
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: and I pardoned hundreds of people. These are people that
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: committed a crime in the past. And then I said
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: my criteria was that if they would apply for a pardon,
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: it would go through three sets of eyes, including mine.
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: But I would make sure they haven't reoffended at all
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: since that crime that they committed. And not even a
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: similar crime, but that they weren't out. breaking the law
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: by speeding or drunken driving or burglary or shoplifting or anything, anything.
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: And so I asked the governor what his criteria was
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: because a lot is going on now about the pardon
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: he did of a rapist. The point I was trying
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: to make is that that rapist pled guilty, was convicted,
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: and he went to prison for 14 years. So he
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: did serve a sentence, and he was punished for that
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: crime that he committed. And then over the last 14
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: years since he has been out, he did not reoffend anyway.
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: What we were trying to do is to get the
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: facts out. Nobody said, not Pete Ricketts or I, condoned
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: rape for Pete's sake. That's a ridiculous statement to make.
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: But I will tell you this. I just got a
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: piece of mail yesterday, and it says on it, on
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: this same issue, it turns out that Pete Ricketts pardoned
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: over 600 criminals. Well, who else are you going to
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: pardon but somebody that has broken the law in the past?
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: These are what I would consider past criminals. That they're
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: not offending now. They're not breaking the law now. And
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: that's what we tried to make very, very clear about
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: what you do with a pardon. It also, I tried
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: to make it very clear that it doesn't take that
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: off your record at all. If the police would look
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: up anybody's criminal record, the police would be able to
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: see that this person was convicted of rape and spent
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: time in prison for that crime. It doesn't take that
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: off your record. Now, it does restore some of your rights,
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: but it does not take it off your record. And
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: a lot of people think that, that it's just your
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: record is clean. It's a formal act of forgiveness is
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: what a pardon is. And that is it. And so really, Michael,
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: to say that we condoned rape, to me, that's disgusting
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: that you would even say that. Absolutely preposterous.
• 41:37
  Speaker 3: And you have the opportunity to go back and hear
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: that interview with Senator Pete Ricketts on KFAB.com or the
• 41:44
  Speaker 3: iHeartRadio app. We also had Mike Flood on to start
• 41:47
  Speaker 3: the show today. That'll be uploaded here very shortly. You
• 41:50
  Speaker 3: can give that a listen to as well. And throughout
• 41:53
  Speaker 3: the week, so many incredible guests. You're going to want
• 41:55
  Speaker 3: to stay tuned because you're in for a good ride.
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: Tom Becker tomorrow. That ought to be a good one.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: We're going to have a lot of fun talking about
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: the election coming up. You know, Tom, I think is
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: a little far, leans a little bit more to the
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: left than I do. But this is going to be really,
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: really fun. But thank you all for being with us today.
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: I really appreciate it and spending this hour with us.
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: We'd love for you to join us again tomorrow. And
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: I'm Jean Stothert. And this is 1110 KFAB. Bidopty. Bidapti.
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: Bidapti.