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Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Money starts pouring into Nebraska midterm congressional races
The U.S. Capitol as lawmakers worked into the night on the "big beautiful bill" on July 2, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) OMAHA — Two political matchups in Nebraska will likely get national attention as both could help determine which party controls what parts of Congress after the 2026 midterm elections. One is the U.S. House race in Nebraska's Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District. The seat is typically a target of both national parties, as one of the rare remaining swing districts that has stayed politically split. The seat may be more of a target now, since U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., decided not to seek reelection. Several Democrats jumped into the race, creating a politically diverse and competitive primary race. A first-time federal candidate is leading the Democratic pack in terms of fundraising as more politically established candidates are lagging behind. New federal campaign finance filings show congressional candidate newcomer and business owner Denise Powell led the way, raising $429,739 in the second quarter. Powell has connections to some of local Democrats' top donors. Much of her political team has ties to former State Sen. Tony Vargas' 2024 House bid. While money isn't the be-all in politics, it can provide a glimpse of the initial support and the viability of a candidate. Powell said, 'It's clear that people are tired of lip service from politicians.' Instead, she said, people are 'ready for someone who is ready to go to Washington to put our communities first.' She called her bid an 'opportunity to send a champion for hardworking Nebraskans to Congress who will finally put a stop to the chaos of the Trump administration.' State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha, the other high-profile candidate who has been in the Democratic primary since early June, raised the second most. The incumbent, with his own list of donors, raised $130,341 over the same span. Ethan Dunn, a Cavanugh campaign spokesperson, said the senator 'continues to hear from voters across [district] that they know he will be the voice of reason amongst the Trump chaos.' 'The plan that John has to win the nomination is on track, and we are confident John's message voters will resonate with the voters,' Dunn said. Powell's campaign lists having more campaign cash on hand than Cavanaugh – with $340,121 compared to the state senator's $127,122. A third high-profile Democrat in the race, Douglas County District Court Clerk Crystal Rhoades, announced her bid Monday and just started fundraising. The same can be said of Navy veteran Kishla Askins, who joined the race last week, after the fundraising quarter ended in late June. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Also running as Democrats are Mark Johnston and Evangelos Argyrakis. Those lesser-known Democratic candidates haven't filed campaign finance forms. Federal law requires candidates to file campaign finance paperwork quarterly with the Federal Election Commission unless they have not yet raised or spent $5,000. The two highest-profile announced Republican candidates in Nebraska's 2nd District, Omaha City Council, Vice President Brinker Harding and former State Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha, entered the race this month, after the fundraising quarter ended. Neither had filed FEC reports. However, Harding's campaign has said it had raised $222,000 in the first two days after announcing his bid. Lindstrom's team said the former senator raised $250,000 in his campaign's first week. National political observers view the Omaha-area House seat as a possible pickup for Democrats, although the district retains a slight GOP lean. The 2nd District includes all of Douglas and Saunders Counties, as well as western Sarpy County. Nebraska's other federal race that could garner national attention is the bid by former Omaha labor leader Dan Osborn to unseat U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb. Osborn made national headlines in 2024 for turning an expected safe race for Republicans into a potential upset bid against U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb. He outraised Fischer in 2024, according to which tracks federal fundraising. He raised $14 million, including some late money from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. For Nebraska's 2026 Senate race, Osborn has reported raising $196,541 since his July announcement, according to his latest filing. He listed having $124,202 in cash on hand. As expected, Ricketts, a former two-term governor, significantly outraised him. His campaign raised $901,113 and his separate Pete Ricketts Victory Fund raised $1.2 million. His victory fund is can be used for multiple races, political parties and causes. Ricketts has a combined war chest of about $1.5 million. Ricketts, who had to run in a 2024 special election to finish the last two years of former Republican U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse's term, raised $5.8 million against Preston Love Jr., records show. Ricketts also has used his own money to influence Nebraska politics. He retains the state's dominant political operation. Osborn, who has proven himself a prolific fundraiser, has tried to frame his race against the millionaire Ricketts as 'the billionaire versus the mechanic.' Will Coup, a Ricketts campaign spokesperson, pointed to Osborn's use of ActBlue, a fundraising tool used often by Democrats, as evidence of a nonpartisan bid Senate bid with Democratic help. 'Dan Osborn's ActBlue page makes it easy for his liberal, out-of-state donors to support him, AOC and Kamala Harris without having to switch [browser] tabs,' Coup said. Osborn has said previously that he maintains independence from the Democratic Party and that he would not caucus with either party. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
CNN
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
An inside look at one of the most coveted offices in the US Capitol
An inside look at one of the most coveted offices in the US Capitol Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware) gives CNN's Dana Bash a tour of his office once occupied by the late Senator John McCain, as well as a "hideaway" that offers an impressive view and backdrop for bipartisan discussions both senators are known for. 02:17 - Source: CNN Vertical Politics of the Day 16 videos An inside look at one of the most coveted offices in the US Capitol Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware) gives CNN's Dana Bash a tour of his office once occupied by the late Senator John McCain, as well as a "hideaway" that offers an impressive view and backdrop for bipartisan discussions both senators are known for. 02:17 - Source: CNN Democrats walk out before vote for controversial Trump nominee Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans voted on Thursday to advance the nomination of Emil Bove, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, to a federal judgeship, over the loud protests of Democrats. 01:42 - Source: CNN Trump's 'Manosphere' problems Influential podcasters with large audiences of millennial and Gen Z men helped propel President Donald Trump to victory in 2024. Now some of those same voices are sharing criticisms of the current administration. CNN's Steve Contorno breaks it down. 01:56 - Source: CNN Trump DOJ fires federal prosecutor in Epstein case Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor in the case against accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, has been fired from her job in the Southern District of New York, according to people familiar with the situation. 01:56 - Source: CNN Bernie Sanders calls Trump's GOP 'cult of the individual' Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) tells CNN's Anderson Cooper that Republicans developed an almost Stalinist-type devotion to President Donald Trump. 00:45 - Source: CNN This Native American senator brings Oklahoma ranch style to Washington Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) gives CNN's Dana Bash a tour of his Capitol office, which showcases his Cherokee heritage and rancher lifestyle. 02:35 - Source: CNN Ex-Trump business associate on Trump's friendship with Epstein CNN's Erin Burnett speaks with former Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino COO Jack O'Donnell about one of President Trump's previous interactions with Jeffrey Epstein. 02:27 - Source: CNN Fearing ICE crackdown, this family self-deports Fearing increased immigration enforcement, undocumented immigrant Julio Mendoza and his American wife, Sasha, made the difficult decision to self-deport to Mexico with their three children, all of whom are US Citizens. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez reports. 01:35 - Source: CNN How Trump's image is changing inside Russia Once hailed as a pro-Kremlin figure, President Donald Trump's image is changing inside Russia. It comes after Trump vowed further sanctions on the country if a peace agreement with Ukraine is not reached in 50 days. CNN's Chief Global Affairs Correspondent is on the ground in Moscow with the analysis. 01:41 - Source: CNN Rep. Jasmine Crockett responds to Trump saying she should take IQ test CNN's Laura Coates speaks with Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) about President Donald Trump's comments that she and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should take an IQ test. 01:05 - Source: CNN Trump says interest in Epstein files is 'pretty boring stuff' President Donald Trump said he doesn't understand his supporters' continued interest in the Epstein files, calling it "boring," while also reiterating his call for anything 'credible' to be released. 00:56 - Source: CNN Trump's fight with MAGA base over Epstein explained President Trump is at odds with some of his own supporters over after his Attorney General Pam Bondi declined to release more documents from the Jeffrey Epstein case. CNN's Erin Burnett explains the feud inside Trump's MAGA movement. 02:20 - Source: CNN Supreme Court ruling will allow mass firings of Education Department employees The Supreme Court on Monday said President Donald Trump may proceed with his plan to carry out mass layoffs at the Department of Education in the latest win for the White House at the conservative high court. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty reports. 01:34 - Source: CNN Trump demands Russia reach peace deal within 50 days President Donald Trump made several announcements on Monday aligning him more firmly with Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion than ever before. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh breaks down the two main developments that could drastically impact the ongoing war. 01:34 - Source: CNN MTG warns of 'big' blowback in MAGA world over handling of Epstein case CNN's Manu Raju spoke with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) who is demanding "transparency" from President Donald Trump's administration when it comes to information related to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and warned that the issue could stoke "significant" blowback from the right wing of the party. 01:04 - Source: CNN MAGA faithful weigh in on Epstein files debate At a conservative conference in Florida, Trump supporters share their views on the Epstein files fallout with CNN's Donie O'Sullivan. 01:40 - Source: CNN
Forbes
5 days ago
- Health
- Forbes
The One Big Beautiful Bill And The Case For Reform in Healthcare
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 03: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) signs the One Big Beautiful Bill ... More Act during an enrollment ceremony with fellow Republicans in the Rayburn Room at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. (Photo by) The passage of the so-called 'One Big Beautiful Bill' has triggered intense debate. Critics warn of devastating Medicaid cuts and uninsured patients flooding ERs. But behind the headlines lies a deeper question–what kind of healthcare system are we sustaining, and should we continue sustaining it? The One Big Beautiful Bill reflects not just a political pivot but a structural reckoning. Instead of panicking over budget cuts, policymakers and industry leaders must confront the business model flaws that continue to undermine access, quality and sustainability. For all the dramatic rhetoric–8-hour house floor speeches and dire headlines–what the One Big Beautiful Bill actually signals is a broad attempt to reorient federal safety-net programs, particularly Medicaid, toward something more limited in scope. That's uncomfortable terrain for many, but it's a conversation worth having. Key provisions such as work requirements, eligibility redeterminations every six months, and reductions in state-directed payments all point toward a central tension: who should be covered, and under what circumstances? As I noted in a recent column, Medicaid was never designed to be a universal coverage program. It was intended as a limited safety net. Over time, its scope has ballooned without corresponding improvements in efficiency or outcomes. The bill's changes–while abrupt–are an attempt to recalibrate. Whether one agrees with the approach or not, it reflects growing unease with the assumption that more money and more enrollees necessarily equal better care. It might be helpful to separate the rhetoric from the operational implications. What Congress is grappling with is not just budgetary, it's structural. And until the country addresses this, meaningful reform will remain elusive. One of the few provisions in the bill that received bipartisan support was the $50 billion rural hospital relief fund. While needed to stop the continued closing of rural facilities, this type of emergency infusion underscores a persistent problem: temporary financial lifelines often become permanent fixtures. Rural hospitals are in crisis. Nearly half operate at a loss. Closures are accelerating. As I wrote in a May column, the collapse of rural healthcare isn't just a public health issue, it's a national security risk. Yet throwing more money at a failing model is not a long-term solution. Instead of reflexively subsidizing every failing facility, we need to rethink delivery. A hub-and-spoke model that integrates pharmacies, local clinics and telehealth can offer sustainable access without the overhead of legacy infrastructure. Stop-gaps only make sense when they're followed by structural change. Without that follow-through, they become another example of the system's addiction to band-aid solutions. That deeper structural tension helps explain the fierce response to the bill from the hospital industry. Hospitals are sounding the alarm over how funding cuts will lead to patient coverage losses and an increasingly vulnerable American public. But much of their concern, frankly, is with how cuts will affect their own bottom line. As I explained in a June column, the anxiety isn't just that funding is vanishing, it's that revenue streams hospitals have grown dependent on are being reevaluated. That discomfort could prompt innovation, not panic and a desire to hold onto the status quo. Many providers and advocates argue that coverage reductions are untenable because there 'isn't enough money' to care for everyone otherwise. But this assumes the system is already efficient. It isn't. In my book Bringing Value to Healthcare, I estimated over $500 billion per year in waste. That estimate, rooted in data from 2016, has likely grown. Whether it's redundant testing, bloated administrative overhead or outdated processes–like nurses hand-counting inventory in high-end facilities–the system burns resources without accountability. Rather than argue over how much the government can afford to spend on healthcare, we should ask how well we're using what we already spend. The resources exist. What's missing is accountability for how the dollars are spent. The One Big Beautiful Bill has provoked outrage, applause and everything in between. But most commentary misses the forest for the trees. This isn't just about Medicaid cuts or rural bailouts. It's about a healthcare ecosystem on the brink: unsustainable, inefficient and increasingly unmoored from value. The goal cannot be to preserve access at any cost. No country has unlimited resources. A better approach might be to create a system where cost and quality are linked, where dollars drive outcomes, and where providers are incentivized to do better, not just do more. Stop-gaps won't save us. Only a fundamental rethinking of the healthcare business model will. This bill, for all its flaws, opens the door to that conversation.
The Standard
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Standard
House sends bill regulating stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency, to Trump
The U.S. Capitol stands behind a U.S. flag on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 29, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/ File Photo
CNN
6 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Democrats are far more motivated than Republicans for next year's midterms, CNN poll finds
Democrats are far more energized than Republicans about participating in next year's midterms, but deeply negative perceptions of the Democratic Party and its officeholders raise questions about the party's ability to capitalize on that energy. Overall, 72% of Democrats and Democratic-aligned registered voters say they are extremely motivated to vote in next year's congressional election, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. That outpaces by 10 points deep motivation among the same group just weeks before the 2024 presidential election and stands 22 points above the share of Republican and Republican-leaning voters who feel the same way now. But just 28% of Americans view the Democratic Party favorably, the lowest mark for Democrats in the history of CNN's polling going back to 1992. Still, only 33% hold a favorable view of the Republican Party, which is the smallest share in CNN polling since just after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. The poll suggests Democrats have a major opportunity next year – especially since midterms often favor the party out of power – but also a perception problem within their own ranks, particularly among younger voters. Among voters younger than 45 who align with the Democrats, just 52% say most Democratic members of Congress deserve reelection, and 48% say they do not. Older Democratic voters, by contrast, say these elected officials deserve another term by a wide margin, 76% to 24%. Nearly 6 in 10 Americans say most of the Democratic Party's members of Congress do not deserve reelection and Democrats themselves are 7 points less likely than Republicans to believe members of Congress of their own party deserve reelection. Those historic lows on favorability are partly driven by Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents being less likely to have a favorable view of their own side (76% of Republican-aligned adults have a favorable view of the GOP, while just 58% on the Democratic side feel that way about their party). The American public largely agrees that full Republican control of the White House and Congress is bad for the country (57% feel that way), with negative views of both President Donald Trump and his party persistent since spring. Sixty percent say most GOP members of Congress do not deserve to be reelected. And the Democratic Party may hold an advantage among political independents. Nearly two-thirds of independents say full GOP control of the federal government is bad for the country, and slightly more independents say most Democratic members of Congress deserve reelection (38%) than say the same about most Republican members of Congress (33%). That gap grows to double digits among independent voters who are deeply motivated to vote next year (39% say most Democrats deserve reelection vs. 27% who say the same about most Republicans), though this is driven at least in part by the stronger motivation to vote among independents who lean Democratic. Trump won't be on the ballot in next year's election, but his presence is likely to loom large for both his supporters and opponents. While roughly 3 in 10 Americans call themselves Republicans, in a separate question, 37% of US adults say they're political supporters specifically of Trump. A smaller share has backed his commercial ventures: 11% have purchased the president's products or stayed in his hotels. That small group is particularly loyal: They are more motivated to vote than other Trump supporters (62% compared with 45% among Trump backers who haven't done so) and are more apt to say that Republican members of Congress largely deserve reelection (89% vs. 77%). The president's self-described supporters are demographically and politically similar regardless of whether they have spent money on a Trump-branded item or hotel stay. They are largely Republican, more male than female, mainly White, and less likely to have a college degree than those who do not consider themselves supporters. But having spent money on the Trump brand seems connected to a deeper political commitment to the president: 73% in that group say they strongly approve of his handling of the presidency, compared with 44% among those who say they support him politically but haven't purchased a product or stayed in one of his hotels. At the other end of the political spectrum, roughly a tenth of Americans say they've participated in some form of protest against Trump since his inauguration, with 8% saying they've shown up to a protest in person. With perceptions of both major parties broadly and persistently negative, Americans continue to express interest in a third political party. Overall, 63% say they would favor having a new third political party to run candidates against Republicans and Democrats for major offices. That's consistent with the appetite for a third party found in other recent public polls and about the same level of support for a third party found in CNN polling in early 2010. But interest dropped off significantly when voters were asked about the idea of a new party founded by Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO who has floated the 'America Party' amid his public falling-out with Trump. His idea for a third party has just 25% support, with 74% opposed. The poll finds impressions of Musk himself deeply negative – 60% of Americans have an unfavorable view of him, while just 23% see him favorably. That's worsened since March, when he was a prominent part of Trump's efforts to slash spending and jobs in the federal government. That shift is almost entirely due to lost goodwill among the president's partisans: While 75% of Republicans had a positive view of him in March, that stands at just 42% now. His favorability ratings among Democrats and independents remain largely unchanged and deeply negative. Americans have long been receptive to the idea of a third party, but when specific ideas and agendas are attached to that new party, support tends to drop dramatically, and candidates from existing third parties rarely win meaningful support in American elections. In 2010, the Obama-era conservative movement known as the Tea Party sparked similar conversations about a third party spin-off from the GOP, as challengers from the right inspired by the Tea Party took on establishment Republicans leading in to that year's midterm elections. Later in 2010, though, only about half of Americans (48%) said they would favor the Tea Party movement becoming such a third party. The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS from July 10-13 among a random national sample of 1,057 US adults drawn from a probability-based panel. Surveys were either conducted online or by telephone with a live interviewer. Results among all adults have a margin of sampling error of ±3.5 percentage points.
