Pigeon Governor

As we discussed yesterday, there are those in the state of Nebraska who are currently overreaching, politically. Sadly, they're displaying the kind of blind partisanship that can transition seamlessly into "political corruption." While that description applied to yesterday's discussion of redistricting, it also applies to today's subject matter - the ongoing war against workers' rights.

Those who know the current Nebraska Republican Party and its recent history - that of attempting to forcibly pass anti-worker legislation in violation of the state constitution - also likely recognize the methods of its de facto leader, Governor Dave Heineman.

To us, Heineman's methods resemble those of a pigeon.

In some workplaces, there are leaders who are sometimes known as "pigeon bosses." That title refers to a person in a nominal leadership position who swoops in after most of the hard work is done, craps all over the project, ruffles everyone's feathers, and then flies away to go screw something else up.

On Monday, Governor Heineman shook his proverbial tailfeathers at a bill that has drawn passionate debate from legislators who favor workers' rights as well as from those who oppose workers' rights. The debates on that bill, LB397, have often been ugly.

Even in the face of contentious discussion, for most of the last year, both Democratic and Republican legislators from across the state of Nebraska have worked together in an attempt to update the rules governing the state labor court that is the Nebraska Commission on Industrial Relations.

It's been difficult to find an effective and fair way through this problem. Yet, the hard-fought compromise bill to update the CIR recently won unanimous first-round approval - a truly rare achievement in our politically polarized country.

On Monday, Governor Heineman swooped into the public discussion of the bill and insisted that if the changes he wants to be made to the labor bill aren't made in the second round, he's going to veto the bill and scuttle the whole process.

State Senator Steve Lathrop, who has worked on the bill from the beginning, noted that Governor Heineman has not participated in the development of the bill at all.

As we've said many, many, many times before, the soul of good government is compromise. It's clear from the first-round vote tally that the current bill governing the update to the CIR is a good compromise.

In our current American political environment, where nearly everything is hyper-polarized, we believe it's a wise idea for any leader who wishes to leave a positive legacy to identify areas where legitimate compromise is being made - and then have the wisdom to stand back and let that compromise occur.

Or, as any real Nebraskan would say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. On the update of the CIR, we think it's quite obvious that the legislature has already fixed the issue - meaning Governor Heineman needs to fly away, and leave the issue alone.