Don Bacon

In today's edition of The Public Pulse, readers react to Rep. Don Bacon's op-ed and other public comments about immigration reform. They also chime in on Brett Lindstrom's campaign for governor, campaign finance reform, and ranked-choice voting.

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What Bacon gets right and Trump gets wrong about immigration

In Sunday’s World-Herald, Rep. Don Bacon published a thoughtful article on immigration that concluded with a call for Congress to enact legislation for badly needed immigration reform.

In early 2024, the U.S. Senate was very close to completing a bipartisan bill that would have accomplished that reform when then-candidate Donald Trump attacked the bill, stopping it.

So today we do have tight borders but also, as Rep. Bacon’s article suggests, enforcement throughout the country that has been disruptive, violent and terribly unfair to many good people. President Donald Trump always seems to prefer spectacle over real reform and progress.

We as a country should be able to do better.

Timothy Higgins, Omaha

The White House gets it wrong on law enforcement

White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis, complaining about Rep. Don Bacon’s criticism of deportation policy as currently conducted, stated, “The Trump administration does not pick and choose which laws to enforce.”

This is a lie. All administrations pick and choose which laws to enforce, and to what degree. Moreover, the Trump administration continually picks and chooses which laws to break, which explains why so many court decisions (on tariffs, as but one example) go against them.

James Reed, Omaha

Lindstrom offers more of the same

Per The World-Herald, former Republican State Sen. Brett Lindstrom, having failed in his signature drive to secure a place on the ballot as an independent, is undaunted and looking for a “pirate ship” to help him onto the November ballot.

Lindstrom has been part of a 20-plus-year run of GOP Nebraska government that has failed all of us.

Lindstrom says he supports the MAGA Big Beautiful Bill that cut food aid for Nebraska families, is closing small Nebraska hospitals and damaged health care access for some 130,000 Nebraskans. It seems his “pirate ship” has already sailed with Captains Jim Pillen and Donald Trump at the helm.

Voters are sick of corruption, cruelty, bad ideas and elected officials who represent only their donors. We need change, but Mr. Lindstrom promises more of the same.

In the immortal words of The Who, let’s “pray we won’t get fooled again.”

Patricia Zieg, Omaha

Nebraska needs ranked-choice voting

After reading about Dan Osborn’s team “infiltrating” the Legal Marijuana NOW Party to reduce vote-siphoning from his candidacy, and Sen. Ricketts’ campaign saying Osborn has no integrity while defending the sanctity of a two-party system that's past its prime, now is a good time to consider what’s next.

I propose ranked-choice voting: Voters rank candidates by preference; if there is no majority winner, last-place candidates are eliminated and votes redistributed until someone reaches 50% plus one.

Maine and Alaska use ranked-choice voting, Maine in its primaries and Alaska in its general elections. Washington, D.C., began using it this year for its primary.

I’m a 70-plus-year-old registered Republican, and I defy anyone to convince me that either political party is presenting us with its best candidates, which is why I don’t vote a straight ticket. Call yourself what you want, but ranked-choice voting expands our options from which to select legitimate candidates without the aroma of special interests.

Eric Allison, Omaha

Campaign finance reforms needed

I agree with Andrew Sullivan’s concerns (Sunday Public Pulse) that both political parties are using donation platforms and censoring donors.

Thanks to Citizens United, we are besieged by PACs helping candidates with no disclosure of donors’ names or businesses. They have brought mudslinging to new heights with no accountability. The rule that candidates and PACs can’t collude in campaigns requires only a wink and a nod and is unenforceable.

I would change his ending to say that a republic needs informed citizens, not just leaders. Reforms to promote fairness and unbiased clarity are needed for both parties.