York News-Times - Johanns, Heineman Tout Republican Ticket

News Article

Melanie Wilkinson

The candidate and his supporter, Governor Dave Heineman, stopped in York Thursday to tout the Republican ticket and ask voters to cast their ballots for Mike Johanns in the senatorial race.

Johanns and Heineman were greeted by a number of York residents, as their stop along the campaign trail drew quite a number.

"As a state, we should be proud of how we are doing, compared to the rest of the nation," the governor said, as he introduced Johanns to the crowd. "We're in pretty decent shape. We have people here with common sense, banks that are (responsible). We know, here in Nebraska, that if we take out a loan, we need to have the means to repay it. Our agricultural economy is in good shape and our manufacturing is doing reasonably well. I'm worried about the future of the nation -- but we should be able to handle, here in Nebraska, whatever comes. We have the strongest cash reserve we've ever had. And part of that reason goes back to when Mike Johanns was governor. Elect someone who will do a tremendous job for us.

"We are an agricultural state," the governor continued. "We have an opportunity to elect a senator that was the United States Ag Secretary. He was the head of the USDA. He could do great things for our ag producers and ranchers. We need someone who can work across party lines and show Washington that we need to work together."

"Nebraska has a great governor, really good senators," Johanns said. "They've done well with our budget, they are paying attention.

"What I am hearing all over the state is regarding the economy," Johanns said. "Nebraska is one of those states that has really bucked the trend. Hardly any other states can announce new jobs, such as Governor Heineman recently did. We were together during post 911 -- what a tough deal. We went through the state's budget line item by line item. And truly what makes Nebraska is that (the state government) cannot borrow money. So during that period, we'd read about other governors saying they had reached agreements with their legislatures. Those agreements were only about how much debt that state was going to incur. We didn't do that.

"This state has the highest savings account it has ever had and you are better poised to handle (what the world economy brings)," Johanns said. "This makes us truly Nebraskan -- and that's what I want to take to the U.S. Senate. If we commit ourselves to sustainable policy, I believe we can pull through.

"A few months ago, everyone was discussing energy, and still are," Johanns said. "I can see the price at the pump today -- don't be fooled. This problem has not been fixed. We are still 60-70 percent dependent on foreign oil from countries that don't like us very much. We need to do more drilling and it can be done environmentally safe. We need to say yes to our future.

"There is no place like the United States," Johanns continued. "There is nowhere that has what we have here. We have work to do -- past generations had work to do also, and they did it. We can solve these issues -- but we have to work together and be optimistic and hopeful about the United States of America."

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