that is where bob carrey, former democratic governor of nebraska and former senator from nebraska who held nelson's seat before him now lives. >> former nebraska democratic senator bob kerrey is considering a run. you mentioned the word difficult. it was going to be very difficult for democrats to hold on to this seat had nelson stayed and run for re-election. it's going to be difficult for them to win it, probably even harder but if they can get someone like bob kerrey at least it makes it competitive for them. >> i called bob kerrey as soon as the nelson news broke today. it took him a few seconds to understand what i was calling about since it turned out i had awakened him at 2:00 a.m. in india. he said he would love to move back to nebraska, that he's thought about it lately. but he has not thought about planning a race for the senate there. which we were at the -- so which means that the last word here, we officially interpret as at least at 2:00 in the morning in end yab while half aware, bob kerrey is leaving the door open. he also said he thought ben nelson's retirement was a

we have the executive director of bowls, nebraska. we will recognize each one of you for 5 minutes for your opening statement. when the light goes red, your five minutes are up. we will try to get through opening statements before we have votes on the floor. mr. pourbaix, i will recognize you for 5 minutes for your opening statement. please be sure and put your microphone on. >> transcanada is a $50 billion infrastructure company with more than six years of experience in the responsible development and operation of north american energy infrastructure. we employ over 4200 employees with half of those in the united states. we operate the largest gas pipeline system in north america over 40,000 miles with the capability to transport 20% of the natural gas produced in north america every day. keystone will bring many benefits to the united states. i believe the most important role in will play is to bring energy security to the united states during what has beenunse. the debate comes down to a simple debate for americans. the they want s

nebraska senator ben ben nelson and his wife were leaving dinner at a new pizza joint near their home in omaha one night last week when when a customer there began complaining about nelson's decisive role in the vote on the senate health care bill other customers started booing a woman yelled get the hell out of here the nelsons in their dining companions then beat a hasty retreat it was but despite truman's take on this democrats are worried by nelson's retirement there are twenty three democrats in the senate fighting for reelection next year and only ten republicans up for reelection and republicans only need a net four seats to take control of the upper chamber and with nelson retiring democrats are already figuring that the lose that seat in the brassica to a republican after all nelson is the only democrat currently elected to the state office statewide in the entire state so here's what democrats need to realize nelson's retiring isn't a setback it's an opportunity this is a chance for the democratic party to nominate a replacement who's a strong progressive instead of another

consider this ad featuring to nebraska small businessman that progressives in nebraska ran when bill nelson was screwing up obamacare and having single payer advocates arrested in the sun. for six years i've owned a sizzling skillet here and roast in the brisket. last week my health insurance agent called he told me my rates were going to go up forty two percent from last year i can't afford i told him i may have to cancel the coverage i'm just going to pray my kids don't get sick when president obama proposes a public health insurance option that would force the private insurance companies to compete at lower rates that's exactly what my family needs now i hear that ben nelson the southerner that i voted for was leading the charge to delay health reform this summer. that's exactly what they want the health insurance companies that have given summer to nelson over two million dollars know that if they can stall reform they can kill it i have to ask senator whose side are you on if you're on my side stay at work my family can't wait for reform so whether it's the tea party or the occu

do these nebraska laws satisfy your concerns? we've been told nebraska has passed some laws and let this whole thing go forward. >> so they are definitely in a step in the right direction and i'll say the only reason we have those bills is because citizens and landowners raised hell for two solid years at our state capital to make sure those bills got passed. we still don't have a study on tarsands. and i hope that representative terry would introduce that on behalf of nebraskans to make sure any tarsands pipeline that does get approved -- that we make sure that is safe. we don't know how tarsands -- >> well, representative terry's original plan was the original pipeline route was fine. he was for this project. >> that's right. >> and he thinks what's important, jobs, jobs, jobs. the alaska pipeline was taking oil. it was taking us through not very populated areas. this is a different kind of pipeline. because it's going to take the dirtiest source of oil available, and it's going to drive a significant increase in carbon polluti

in return what did nebraska get? nebraska got millions of dollars in moemland security money. was it a sellout? you be the judge. nelson is one of the only democrats to sign on to grover norquist anti-tax pledge. who does he caucus with? the democrats? the bottom line is nelson hatz done everything in his power to water down financial reform. he voted against the president's jobs bill time and time again. and nelson was really a road block to the public option in health care. i used to call him and i still do, senate mutual of omaha. he always protected his buddies in the insurance industry and voted the way they wanted him to. nelson's retirement will make it harder for the democrats to hold on to the senate, but the real democrats will never miss this guy. but here's the thing. i believe that democrats can win anywhere, even in nebraska. nebraska folks, maybe you should ask yourself the question since you're so down according to the republicans in nebraska, that this health care bill was so bad. are you really against young people being on their parents' policy? are you agai

republicans rightly are touting this as nebraska. >> the biggest impact is 2013 is hairy reid no longer has to deal with ben nelson frankly. there was very little chance he was going to win this, especially after his bad handling of the cornhusker kickback and the health care debate. instead of owning it -- >> that's what we're supposed to do. >> he sort of backed away from it and then he voted against the bill. republicans automatic knew they had him on the ropes then. i don't think anything changes. >> privately republicans i talk to largely agree with you. ann, the name that comes up, i feel like it's a name that comes up every time, i compared it to charlie brown trying to kick the football and lucy always pulls it away, stormer senator bob kerrey. someone who has spent basically the last decade in new york. is bob kerrey the kind of democrat that can sell in a conservative state like nebraska. >> it was hard to see when he was in office. i think it's harder to see na now, especially in a year when president obama is going to hav

the route through nebraska.that was the concern. so the state of nebraska then -- let's make sure i got my dates right. the state of nebraska said okay, we are concerned in nebraska, but we're going to address the problem. we're going to solve the problem. so the state of nebraska has a special session on november 1 of this year, concluded november 22. in their special session, they agreed that they would reroute the keystone x.l. pipeline as to the route in nebraska. the concern was that it went through western nebraska, what's called the ogallala aquifer or the sandhills region. there's a lot of irrigation there. even though there is another pipeline there, they said we don't want it in that part so we will agree to reroute the pipeline in nebraska. all this legislation provides, the legislation we've written -- there have been other bills on this but the legislation included in the house package, that we're working to get passed here in the senate, here's what it says. it says 60 days after the bill is passed

snow system to the weather but camera and alliance nebraska today.e stopped all of the ground like those folks. but not be tackled by the time it gets here we should still stay in the mid twenties we had upper thirties around the area today after a morning in the twenties at the 33 degrees at o'hare the cloud cover halted the heat and. 27 to greet with the chill end to 70 percent humidity in chicago area at the headline is a dusting of snow fall possibly tonight. the 36 degree temperature today compared to 25 tablature a year ago at the first 20 since february forecast tomorrow and saturday the moving weather maps snowfall accident the area early tomorrow is steady but kind of biting westerly but tomorrow with high- pressure canadian origin, it to the area tomorrow night a chilly night could be a few single digit numbers in the western suburbs ranging to 20 degrees in the loop and 50 degrees at o'hare tomorrow night the clouds continuing to thicken and light snow developing after midnight most areas 8 austin 1 in. possible particularly in the souther

kinzinger: i thank the gentleman from nebraska, mr. terry, and listening to the words of the gentleman from oklahoma, very well-spoken. you know, i often ask, what are the top issues? what are the top things americans are concerned with right now? obviously number one is jobs. number two is jobs and the economy. i hear people talk a lot about energy in the 11th district of illinois. so we have jobs, economy, energy. and i also hear some people talk about they're concerned with the national defense. you know, amazingly to me, when you look at jobs, international defense, there's one thing we can do which is going to address all of those concerns and it would address them now. and that is the keystone pipeline. i actually sent a letter the other day, mr. speaker, to my colleague in illinois, senator dick durbin. he's the whip over in the senate, and i asked him and i asked the senate to just, you know what, let's have an up or down vote on the keystone pipeline. let's stop the parliamentary parlor tricks and have an up or down vote on th

plus ben nelson's retirement in nebraska is a hard blow to the democrats' chance of holding the u.s.senate. we'll go over the map and crunch the numbers and also the latest republican play for religious conservatives and whether that will affect the women's vote come november. and let me finish tonight with a democratic guide to the way republicans pick their presidential candidates. it's different. we begin with the latest in iowa, and the new numbers that show more reason for gingrich to worry and an explanation for why the old newt is showing up these past few days. as i said, boy, is this guy angry. jonathan martin is politico's ç senior political report. we begin with the new "time"/cnn poll numbers out just a short time ago. in iowa newt gingrich has fallen dramatically out of first place. he's now in fourth with just 14% of the vote. what a fall. romney and paul each have jumped up five points to lead the pack, and look at rick santorum. he's tripled his support from just earlier in december. he's now running third. and in new hampshire romney has had a commanding lead with 4

. >> a democratic senator from nebraska is leaving. a guy who's been there and done that may want to do it again. molly? >> senator ben nelson says it's time to move on, and this seat could be an easy pickup for the gop. the two-term democratic senator from the very red state of nebraska, who's been mulling the decision for months, will not seek re-election in 2012. democrats had been pushing nelson to run again, thinking he had the best chance to retain that seat, but nelson, a moderate democrat, said in a video to nebraskans today that it's time for him to step away from elected office. >> i encourage those who will follow in my footsteps to look for common ground and work together in bipartisan ways to do what's best for the country, not just one political party. >> nelson has voted conservatively with republicans on some fiscal judicial and social issues, but viewed as the deciding vote with democrats in 2009 to pass president obama's healthcare law. that vote spurred by the cornhusker kickback, was according to one political that

nebraska did pass a law that allows them to move the pipeline and they're still in negotiations so. so even if the democrats agreed with the republicans that i said that's cool find go out expedite it isn't going to produce any jobs before the elections in november that's true and even the larger point is this project is not a major national job creator i mean you're looking at cars thousand temporary construction jobs and. you know as you said a couple hundred permanent jobs according to trance canada state department said that it would be as low as twenty permanent jobs so this isn't the job the national jobs. is that the american people have asked congress to produce and that the you know the house leadership is presenting it as has there been any consideration whatsoever of the climate impact on draining the world's second largest pool of liquid carbon and there's been very little consideration i should say of replacing eight hundred thirty thousand barrels a day of conventional crude with this tar sands crude is the equivalent of putting more than six million cars on the road t

nebraska obviously not friendly territory for democrats.ll try to slot in next? >> well, chris, we do know this, that a former nebraska democratic senator bob kerrey is considering a run. you mention the word difficult. it was going to be very difficult for democrats to hold on to this seat had ben nelson actually stayed and run for re-election. it's going to be difficult for them to still be able to win it, probably even harder. but if they can get someone like bob kerrey, at least it makes it competitive for them. that would be -- >> a known name. >> right. that would be a huge recruit. if they're not able to get bob kerrey, this is something you almost kind of give to the republicans. >> one thing -- two things i would say with bob kerrey. one, we always talk about him, in 2008 when there was an open seat, they floated it and he didn't run. number two, he lives in new york city. he's the president of the new school. >> right. >> not exactly credentials for nebraska. one other point i wanted to make, though, mark. the democratic committee

candidate "b" wins all the popular votes in new mexico and nebraska. their combined population is about 4 million. in a direct election, candidate "a" would win. he or she got the most votes from the people who went to the polls. but let's now look at the electoral votes. new mexico and nebraska each have five for a total of 10. but colorado only has nine. so here's an example of how candidate "a" can win the popular vote but still lose the presidential election. >> no, i don't think it's fair. >> i don't think it's fair. >> i don't think it's fair. i think the person with the popular vote should win because more overall votes should get the win instead of more electoral votes. >> in fact, many surveys show that most americans would like to get rid of the electoral college and elect the president through a direct popular vote. >> so, whether or not it will ever be overturned is anyone's guess. it seems unlikely because it requires a constitutional amendment, which is a pretty onerous hill to climb, but it also -- it works. it has fulfilled what the fou

and nebraska's governor says he supports the effort to accelerate federal approval.m angle, fox news. >> bret: we'll talk about the back and forth over the payroll tax cut extension on capitol hill today with the fox all-stars after a quick break. but to be honest, i find the omega choices overwhelming. which one is right for me? then i found new pronutrients omega-3. it's from centrum, a name i trust. it goes beyond my heart to support my brain and eyes too. and these ultra-concentrated minigels are much smaller than many others. it's part of a whole new line of supplements. there's probiotic and fruit & veggie too. new pronutrients from centrum helps make nutrition possible. >>> democrats and republicans in the senate said we are going to put our fight on other issues aside. and go-ahead and do what is right. on something we all agree to. i need the speaker and the house republicans to do the same. >> i need the president to help out. all right? [ applause ] >> senate voted to give the american people $166 tax cut. we voted to give american people $1,000 tax cut. w

nelson is the only congressional democrat left representing nebraska, the other u.s. senator and all three congressman are republicans. as the more conservative democrats in the senate, republicans and democrats courted the nebraska for key legislative votes and the last hold out on the health care vote in 2009, securing what was known as the corn husker kickback, special insert for nebraska requiring the federal government cover the laws' medicaid expansion, but that was later removed. republicans accused the democrats of buying the vote, and others are reminding voters of it. from that deal, republicans say they felt they had enough momentum to defeat nelson in twelve -- in 2012 and now political analysts considered nebraska a toss up in 1212 and the senate is very much in play in 2012 with democrats controlling the senate with 53 seats and republicans have 47. democrats must defend 23 seats in november and republicans only have to hang on to ten. back to you. >> gingrich want dozen get on the virginia ballot and now he is getting help. from a democrat to do it. tha

>> it goes to nebraska again. it was a way to bring more business to this part of the state. >> from washington, good evening. >> my question was about the australian ballot, or the secret ballot of 1896, 1900, 1908. did bryan never talk about the need for secret ballots? i've read anecdotally where employers make sure that wrote in mckinley and things like that. >> it was not a major issue. like the potential corruption of companies that would bring in voters to vote for elections, or would require voters to vote in a certain way and these accusations are made especially in nebraska of one railroad. it brought them into lincoln and told them which way to vote. that kind of activity led to politicians like bryan and others to object to calls for the kind of secret ballot that would allow individuals to vote for who they wanted without the pressure of corporate interests in the election. >> our next caller from reno, nevada. >> [unintelligible] >> are you with us? we would try one more time. we're getting some feed

however, the state of nebraska recently had a special session. in that special session, they said hey, we will work to reroute the project to eastern nebraska, similar to the pipeline that already exists. that eliminates the problem. now we don't have an issue anymore in the sand hills region of nebraska. the legislation that we have written and that has now been incorporated into the house bill takes that very solution and incorporates it into the legislation. it says that the nebraska department of environmental quality can work with the e.p.a. and the state department to reroute the project into nebraska so that there is no longer an issue. we solved the problem. it's problem-solving legislation. so we say over as to the entire project that the administration, the state, the e.p.a., and so forth haso

we cannot drill in nebraska. every time there is a conflict in the middle east, gas and oil prices spike. it is the average american joe that suffers for this. everything goes up. inflation goes up. food goes up. it is harmful. we need this pipeline as a cushion during bad times when there is conflict. thank you so much for your time. host: thank you for your call. matt koch. guest: he raises a number of good points. i am involved working for the institute of energy. one of the issues that we promote it is our country needs a lot more energy infrastructure. there are different types of energy that's being developed in this country and we feel we need all of them. we need wind energy and alternative energies. without question, no matter what type of energy use support, we need energy infrastructure. we are certainly a lagging in the development of wind and renewable resources and also waged to move that energy around the country. one of the benefits of this pipeline is it will allow for this being developed in nor

. >>> golf courses in nebraska, they are shocked by the spike of business they've seen all thanks to a lack of the cold weather. temperatures mild and even a little snow but the golfers keep coming out in droves. they are bundling up to play because it is still cool but not too cool to keep them off the golf courses. some in omaha have seen as many as 100 golfers over the course of a day and like we were saying earlier this is something i've seen around maryland as i go around and see some of the golf courses. you have stragglers out there playing. some guys are dedicated to the craft. >> you're dodging leaves and twigs. >> oh, winter rules apply.

most recently the problem was in nebraska, the sand hills area of nebraska, the ogallala aquifer. now we've come up with a solution to make sure that we deal with that issue, so we've cleared that process, right? now, that means that this project is ready to go as we're -- as we've just described. leader mcconnell just a minute ago talked about how the labor unions strongly support this project and i can go through that whole list as well. in addition, the u.s. chamber of commerce says, let's go; we support this project. so you got 40 senators bipartisan, you got the labor unions, you got the u.s. chamber of commerce. here's another interesting statistic -- and this example is such a good example of what we're talking about, and i would ask the good senator from oklahoma to maybe expand on the point, but the u.s. chamber of commerce last year released a study identifying 351 stalled energy projects nationwide. costing the american econom $1.1 trillion in lost economic impact and nearly 2 million jobs annually. my point is this: we have got to find way to empower private investment

for the state of nebraska to reduce this issue. -- i think it is appropriate for the state of nebraska to review this issue. they do not really want to know the truth, they just want the pipeline. my friend who just asked questions on the republican side talked about how this is a hidden agenda because it is perfectly safe. we already have one keystone pipeline. it is certainly a lot later in type than the alaskan pipeline. its last year of operation showed that there were one doesn't spills. so many spills that it was shut down temporarily. let me go to the question that bothers me the most -- what the impact will be of this pipeline if we go forward on the climate problem? republicans do not even believe in such a thing and deny the science. when they hear scientist talk about it, they think it is a hidden agenda. they cannot take another point of view seriously because they are so convinced they are right all the time. the decision is an important one. ms. kleeb, you and your neighbors and been fighting for at the environmental impact. told this whole thing should go for. >> they ar

with today's announcement from nebraska senator ben nelson, it's time to move on.t straight from the mouth of the 70-year-old conservative democrat. announcing he will leave office at the end of his second term next year. and he is not the only one. 14 other capitol hill democrats making the same move for a total of six in the senate, nine in the house. ultimately, it could all mean a big shift in the balance of power in congress. molly henneberg is live in washington. why is ben nelson leaving the senate? >> hi, trace, in part political analysts say because the moderate democrat likely would have faced a tough re-election fight in the very red state of nebraska. senator nelson was viewed as the deciding vote in 2009 that passed president obama's health care law. which didn't go over so well at home. >> there is no question that his vote for obama care sent him from the heights of popularity to the depths of unpopularity in nebraska. he has never really recovered from that vote. and it probably would have been the critical factor in the 2012 senate race. >> democra

they're saying they think the seat will be competitive in nebraska. but it will not be competitive in nebraska. they don't even have a candidate yet. this allows democrats to focus efforts on massachusetts and nevada, which are two republican held seats that the democrats feel pretty confident they can flip if it's a good year for barack obama. there's one exception with the obama popularity, he's still doing ok in virginia, which everybody is a little surprised by because it's a state that's clearly battleground. he won it, first democrat to win it since 1964. and tim cane has not spent a lot of time with barack obama. he's running for senate on the democratic ticket for open seat there. that will be interesting. ohio, shar sherrod brown, is actually running ahead of barack obama right now. gwen: it's interesting the he people who decided to retire and leave congress are more likely to be liberals who are discouraged or conservatives discouraged. you think about lynn woolsey in california, barney frank in massachusetts, staunch liberals throwing up t