The Public Pulse: Flood town hall shows Nebraska voters are waking up

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Voters' anger on display at Flood town hall 

In regards to Lisa Todd and Jay Larson calling out Rep. Mike Flood’s critics at his last town hall for being out of line (Public Pulse, July 7), did it ever occur to Ms. Todd or Mr. Larson that people are simply fed up with the lies and broken promises?

For the most part, things only got really vocal when Flood was aping the same ole tired, Fox-inspired, GOP talking points about a Big Ugly Bill.

People are mad! They were repeatedly told the Jeffrey Epstein files would be released. They were lied to! Now, the White House is engaged in the biggest, most corrupt cover-up in the history of any presidency.

What did Flood expect? Tea and crumpets? If you wish to tone down the temperature, quit lying and listen to your constituents for a change! People are starting to wake up!

Michael Leonard, Omaha

Congress must reclaim tariff authority

The World-Herald noted that “Rep. Don Bacon sees troubling signs that President Donald Trump’s tariffs are beginning to weigh on the economies of both Nebraska and the nation.”

This is incorrect. These tariffs are not Donald Trump’s tariffs, they belong to Don Bacon’s own U.S. Congress.

Congress has the constitutional responsibility for tariffs, according to Article I Section 8. While Congress may delegate that authority in certain circumstances, the delegate (the president) is acting under the authority of Congress, and Congress has the responsibility to oversee its delegates.

Congress has delegated certain powers to the president in cases where emergencies require fast action. If President Donald Trump uses that power to create punitive taxes on Swiss imports in response to fentanyl smuggling based in Mexico, then Congress can and must put a stop to it by rescinding the delegation or by impeachment.

Rep. Bacon has made no attempt to do his actual job, so his complaint to The World Herald rings hollow. Ultimately, any damage done to Nebraska and the rest of the United States rests with the refusal of those in Congress to follow their Oath of Office. If this is now somehow impossible, we are no longer a constitutional republic, and the Honorable Mr. Bacon is a co-architect of one the greatest squandered opportunities in history.

Steve Miller, Omaha

Republicans must listen to voters’ concerns

It is indeed regrettable that the crowd at Rep. Mike Flood’s town hall in Lincoln was so raucous and impatient.

By the same token, Republican lawmakers would do well to recognize the fervor in the room as an accurate expression of the contempt and anger they have earned by disregard for opinions not their own.

It’s true many Americans voted for policies Republicans espouse, but nearly as many voted against them. The popular vote margin for Donald Trump over Kamala Harris in the 2024 election was 1.5%, a minuscule proportion which by most statistical measures is within the margin of error. It is nowhere near a mandate. Despite the claim that Americans (as if all Americans) voted for border security and deportations, they did not vote to watch Republicans ditch due process.

They did not vote for the government, by its own admission, to err in deporting an individual and make no effort to rectify the mistake until forced by court orders ignored as long as possible. They did not vote to witness people arrested while obeying the law and attending scheduled hearings on their immigration status.

But events of this sort Deb Fischer, Mike Flood, Pete Ricketts and Adrian Smith not only fail to decry but in fact endorse and cheer happily, along with the firing of government employees without cause beyond Donald Trump’s desire to “have our own people” in place.

It is this authoritarian behavior that brings to mind fascists. It’s the same with Republican claims of fighting “waste, fraud and abuse.” No one has provided any definition or metric by which “waste, fraud and abuse” can be proven to exist, much less managed in any coherent legislative or bureaucratic fashion. This is a slogan for things Republicans do not like, and nothing more.

And all in support of legislation childishly named the One Big Beautiful Bill. One Big Boondoggle Bill is more accurate. Indignant Republicans feeling insulted should consider that if their votes and conduct did not remind people of fascists, no one would call them on it. Trump’s sense of entitlement is bottomless, and his followers do absolutely nothing to stand for the rule of law.

James Reed, Omaha