I’ve always thought the minimum wage topic was really a non-issue. The people that benefit from this discussion are not the minimum wage earners, but the politicians and the political consultants who make it such a big deal.

And it’s because of those folks that I now find this non-issue an interesting subject to talk about.

By now you know that the voters voted to increase the minimum wage in Nebraska. The Unicameral in their infinite wisdom decided the voters didn’t know what they were doing so they modified the voters decision.

What do you remember about 9/11/2001? Do you remember anything at all?

I’m sure you’ve seen the yard signs popping up all over town. They say The Heartland Honors 9/11. It’s to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

I was at the press conference where Mayor Ewing, Police Chief Schmaderer, Fire Chief Kathy Bossman, and others announced the plans to commemorate those events.

Governor Pillen, Secretary of State Evnen, and others who call for legislative change in how signatures are collected to get issues on the ballot have a valid point. The way we currently pay petitioners per signature doesn’t seem to be working.

Governor Pillen wants to stop paying people to get the names. But we can’t throw the baby out with the bath water. In our Unicameral system of government, with a weak Democratic Party, the petition process is the only way to get some important measures before the people.

If you’re not paying attention to the case out of Lancaster County where 2/3 of the signatures submitted by a group called Good Government Lincoln were flagged as fraudulent, you should be. While this petition was focused on Lincoln issues, there could be broader political consequences statewide.