Nebraska Tour / Summer 2005

• In Ashland, Nebraska, we saw a marquee in front of St. Mary's church that said:  "You think it's hot here..."  (Global Warming notwithstanding).
•    During an interview with the North Platte (NE) Telegraph, I noted that there are 4,400 abortions a day in America -- indicating, among other things, that we've: lost our moral compass.
•    In Grand Island, Nebraska, I was interviewed by the publisher of the Hispanic newspaper: Buenos Diaz Nebraska.  Oscar Erives asked my position on the southern border.  I said we had recently gone to Juarez, Mexico, to look at conditions there (read: abject poverty).  That is, families were living on $3 a shift factory wages.  They live in cobbled together shacks, no electricity and malnourished babies were dying from drinking contaminated water.  I said my policy would be to mobilize as much help as possible for people south of the border.  And if some needed to come here to get help, then my administration would try to make that as easy as possible for them as well.
•      In York, Nebraska, a reporter for the York Times News asked me my take on American agriculture.  I said agri-business these days in the U.S. can grow at such high volume on huge farms that they can, frequently, undercut small subsistence farmers in Mexico who are selling to the local grocery store.  I continued that many see this as a "strong America," that can compete with anyone on the international market.  I, on the other hand, said I saw this for what I believe it really is:  a social justice travesty.
•    In Gothenburg, Nebraska, we took the kids to a preserved Pony Express Station.  Then during an interview with the Gothenburg Times, I said a key to helping turn the inner cities of America around are focused, sustained mentoring programs for youth.