Boone County Republicans were doing their part to build interest in the 2016 general election during a rally last Friday evening, Sept. 16, in the Cardinal Inn Event Center.
About 50 people attended the event and listened to four featured speakers.
Tom Briese, unopposed 41st District candidate for Legislature, served as master of ceremonies, introducing the speakers and fielding questions at the end of the program.
Congressman Adrian Smith
Republicans were urged to maintain a conservative influence in local, state and national government by Third District Congressman Adrian Smith. He called the current election cycle the “most unique” he has seen throughout his political career.
“It is important to engage with people. We have important issues to address,” said Smith. “We need to package our ideas and bring people together.”
Smith cited several key national issues that voters can influence.
“The most common request of the people I talk to in the Third District is to be left alone (by government),” said Smith. He cited several examples of what he called government overreach, including proposed new regulations on anhydrous ammonia retailers, the proposed Waters of the U.S. (Wotus) regulations and Obamacare among those.
The current federal tax code, containing thousands of pages, “makes it easier to cheat and harder for the people who want to comply,” he said.
Smith said President Obama’s economic policies make it more difficult to “grow the economy” as most conservatives would like. He said a stronger U.S. economy is the only way for the nation to work its way out of a $19 trillion debt.
The national health care law has hurt Americans who were satisfied with their healthcare plans, he said, adding that new regulations have also been detrimental to small hospitals and health care providers.
Obamacare co-op plans have failed, leaving policy holders without insurance and in some cases, making them subject to tax penalties. Smith has proposed a resolution to exempt taxpayers from the individual mandate for the remaining months within the calendar year in which their co-op insurance plan was cancelled.
Also speaking were Lt. Gov. Mike Foley and outgoing District 7 State Sen. Nicole Fox, co-chair of the Donald Trump campaign in Nebraska.
Details in the Sept. 21 Albion Print and E-Editions.
Republicans rally here to build general election support
