Latest news with #workingClass
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nebraska's Dan Osborn picks a race, launches Senate bid against U.S. Sen Pete Ricketts
Former Omaha labor leader Dan Osborn is running against Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts in the 2026 midterms. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Former Omaha labor leader Dan Osborn is running against Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts in the 2026 midterms. After launching an exploratory committee in April, Osborn made it official Tuesday, choosing the Senate race over potential bids for governor and the U.S. House, because, he said, 'there are not enough seats at the table' for working people. 'I'm unapologetically for the workers and their issues,' Osborn told Nebraska Examiner. Osborn boiled down his race to 'the billionaire versus the mechanic,' citing the wealth of the Ricketts family. Ricketts himself appears more likely to be a millionaire, based on his Senate financial disclosure forms. But he is part of a family that built the company that became TD Amertrade and owns Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs. Osborn said he would approach legislation 'based on principles' and not 'on any kind of monetary [gain].' He pointed to Trump's 'big beautiful bill' as a piece of legislation with tax breaks that would make Ricketts richer 'off the backs of people' who are at risk of losing benefits from Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. 'If I had been elected in 2024, that 'big beautiful bill' would not have gotten passed,' Osborn said. The GOP mega-bill made the tax cuts from the first Trump administration permanent, cementing most of its benefits for higher earners while also introducing some new temporary tax breaks for workers earning less. It was a central piece of President Donald Trump's domestic agenda. To offset the costs of the bill, the law reduces spending on the social safety net by adding work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps. It also lowers provider taxes that nearly every state uses to help fund Medicaid health insurance programs for low-income residents. Ricketts and the rest of Nebraska's federal delegation voted in lockstep for the legislation. Ricketts called the bill a 'once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver for Nebraska.' 'This legislation will result in increased security, strength and prosperity for the American people,' Ricketts said in a statement. 'The bill restores critical pro-growth business provisions and makes them permanent, benefiting Nebraska farming, ranching and small business.' The delegation and pro-business and anti-tax lobbying groups, including Americans for Prosperity, are touting the benefits of the bill to Nebraskans, as multiple polls indicate that Trump's signature piece of legislation is unpopular among Americans who are aware of it. Ricketts, who served two terms as Nebraska governor before being appointed to the Senate by his successor, faced some pushback from constituents in April about the bill and other issues. He won a special election to hold the Senate seat in November. This is Osborn's second Senate bid. His populist run against U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., in 2024 made national headlines for turning an expected safe race for Republicans into a potential upset. He attracted an extraordinary fundraising haul of $14 million for a federal candidate in Nebraska without direct ties to a major party, including some late money from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee once they saw his momentum. He lost by about six percentage points. Fischer, during and after the race, described him as a 'Democrat in sheep's clothing' and said the campaign finance reports confirmed her belief. State voting records show Osborn as a registered nonpartisan since at least 2004, as the Nebraska Examiner reported. Osborn said he is at a 'stronger' starting point now than in 2024 because more people in the state know him. 'We were learning how to build the plane as we were learning how to fly it last time,' Osborn told the Examiner. 'Now it's built. We know how to fly it.' Republicans have almost completely dominated America's heartland, a region once known for its prairie progressivism. If Osborn were able to unseat Ricketts, it would be the first time a non-Republican had represented Nebraska in Congress since Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Ashford upset Republican U.S. Rep. Lee Terry in the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District in 2014. Osborn could benefit from a bump in Democratic turnout in the Omaha area after the announced retirement of five-term Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon led the nonpartisan Center for Politics, the home of Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball to shift the 2nd District U.S. House race to leaning Democrat from toss-up. Ricketts has a significant political war chest and has used his own money to influence Nebraska politics. But populism, whether Osborn's approach or Trump's, is the driving force in modern politics, as voters lose faith in institutions and seek alternatives. Some political observers believe the same working-class-focused rhetoric that drove President Donald Trump's victory could give someone like Osborn an opening. Ricketts faced similar populism in 2022, when a leadership team loyal to him leading the Nebraska Republican Party was ousted in favor of a team more loyal to Trump. But the former governor retains the dominant political operation in the state. Some Republicans who crossed him in the Legislature lost seats, and his endorsement holds weight. His endorsed candidate for governor, Pillen, defeated a Trump-endorsed candidate in 2022, Charles Herbster. Ricketts already has received the endorsement of Trump. The nod came after an internal poll showed Osborn statistically tied with Ricketts, although people familiar with the endorsement process said it had been in the works for weeks and that Trump decided the timing. Will Coup, a Ricketts campaign spokesperson, said, 'Senator Ricketts has consistently worked for and voted to secure the border and cut taxes for Nebraska workers, families and seniors. Dan Osborn is bought and paid for by his liberal, out-of-state, coastal donors.' Osborn during the last race did not say whom he would caucus with if elected. His campaign had no immediate response to a similar question Monday. Osborn had been eyeing multiple potential races before narrowing it down to Ricketts' seat in April. One of the races he considered, for the state's 2nd Congressional District, has garnered significant interest from Democratic candidates. Osborn has said he didn't want to play 'spoiler' for that seat. It's unclear whether Democrats will run a candidate in the Senate race, but Osborn said it doesn't matter to him. He said both parties are 'going to do what they do.' Osborn and his supporters drew criticism in 2024 for trying to minimize the number of names on his Senate race's general election ballot other than his and Fischer's. Some Democrats grumbled that he flirted with seeking Democratic support until it was too late for them to run their own candidate, and leaders in the Legal Marijuana Now Party complained that Osborn supporters took over the party's nominating process to help clear a path for him. The Nebraska Democratic Party, in a statement, seemed to hint at support for Osborn's effort, saying, 'Breaking up the one-party stranglehold on our state is going to take an unlikely alliance of Democrats, Republicans and Independents coming together to fix a very broken Washington, D.C.' Osborn said he feels like he's set to win. 'I want to show the country, and I want to show Nebraska that we could do it differently here,' Osborn said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Washington Post
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Dan Osborn to challenge GOP senator again as independent in Nebraska
Dan Osborn, a former Nebraska union leader who gave national Republicans a scare with his independent bid for Senate last year, announced Tuesday that he will run for his state's other Senate seat in next year's election, forging a campaign that he hopes can appeal to working-class voters who have been deserting Democrats.
New York Times
08-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Dan Osborn to Seek Pete Ricketts's Nebraska Senate Seat, Stressing Class Issues
Dan Osborn, a steamfitter and former labor leader from Nebraska who ran a surprisingly close campaign for a Senate seat as an independent last year, announced Tuesday that he would run for the Senate again in 2026. Mr. Osborn said in an interview that he would aim to draw a sharp contrast between his working-class background and the profile of Senator Pete Ricketts, the Republican incumbent, who is an heir to billions his father made in the financial services industry. 'It's the C.E.O. from Omaha versus the guy from the shop floor from Omaha, so that's going be the fundamental difference,' Mr. Osborn said. Mr. Osborn, 50, faces a steep climb against Mr. Ricketts. Republicans have won every House and Senate seat in Nebraska since 2014, when Brad Ashford, a Democrat who had previously been a Republican, won a single term in the House. Mr. Ricketts, 60, who has spent tens of millions of dollars on Nebraska campaigns for himself and other Republicans, is not likely to be surprised by Mr. Osborn, as was Senator Deb Fischer last year, when Mr. Osborn, running a populist campaign, outperformed Vice President Kamala Harris in the state by 13 percentage points. Ms. Fisher defeated Mr. Osborn by 6.6 percentage points. In a campaign announcement video, Mr. Osborn disparages Mr. Ricketts as someone who inherited billions from his father, calls him Wall Street Pete and accuses him of turning his back on Nebraska's working people. 'Bye, Pete,' Mr. Osborn says. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Telegraph
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Oasis represent a self-confidence that is all but extinct in Britain today
Nostalgia, as they say, is a helluva drug. It is also freely available and widely consumed, especially now, as the Oasis concerts refill the air with an irresistible 1990s snarl. Who would begrudge anyone living their high old times at the moment? Certainly not me. There is no point, for instance, in arguing about whether Oasis are as good as they were 'back in the day' (as every hanger-on puts it). The Oasis reunion is selling a vibe that people clearly want to buy, even at ridiculous prices. The vibe is about something direct and uncomplicated, music from a simpler age. Or that is how many view the 1990s. Mass singalongs, blokey swagger, working-class lads on the rampage. Those, apparently, were the days. 'Please don't put your life in the hands/Of a rock'n'roll band/Who'll throw it all away' as the lyrics of Don't Look Back in Anger go. But they didn't throw it all away, did they? They cashed it in. Accompanying this tour are ads for sportswear. But no one minds about that kind of shameless commercialism when it comes to Oasis. In fact, it seems ridiculously purist to even think about it – even though so many working-class kids cannot get a break or earn any kind of living in the arts. The point is that Oasis broke through. This is about the joy of them. They were not grateful for their success – they owned it. Nothing like them could happen today. It's all different now. The same thought occurs watching the BBC's recent documentaries on Live Aid, which are full of incredible footage. It's 40 years since Bob Geldof and Midge Ure staged the huge concerts in Wembley and Philadelphia. This was an appeal for money for famine-stricken Ethiopia. Such a thing seems unimaginable these days. Unimaginable too, is Live 8, the string of benefit concerts that took place in the G8 countries and South Africa 20 years ago to coincide with the G8 summit being held at Gleneagles, Scotland. In retrospect, all of these concerts were remarkable in a number of ways. Geldof's absolute drive to do something after seeing the pictures of fly-ridden, starving children was immense. This drive seemed to cut through swathes of naysayers, of politicians, of cynics. The idea that back then we failed to see that a bunch of white-saviour pop stars trying to save famine-stricken Africans could possibly be iffy, paternalistic and politically naive is not true. There was always suspicion as well as acclaim around Live Aid. Geldof and, later on, Bono were educating themselves along the way. There was always a tension between pure emotion – Billy Connolly weeping in the studio at the images of dying children that David Bowie insisted be shown during his set – and what happened on the ground. Did the aid go to the people who needed it? Was the money raised being used by the Ethiopian former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam to buy weapons from the Russians for his deadly civil war? The impulse to give and the righteousness of the cause remain admirable. The hard politics of interfering in a country that is crushing its own people are immensely complicated. Humanitarian aid groups such as Live Aid were accused by Médecins Sans Frontières of actually fuelling the crisis and the slaughter of the civil war. Geldof knew this and insists it was better to do something than not and it's hard not to agree. The older I get, the less cynical I become about such issues. All the criticisms thrown at Geldof would be amplified today. Detractors now would note there were not enough black artists in his line-ups. Does that diminish what he's done? Not when he has explained this by saying he simply wanted the biggest artists he could get, and there was no Stormzy in those days, no 'diversity hires'. Thankfully, back then, social media did not exist to slag off every politically incorrect move that Geldof made in his quest to get as much money as possible. Belief and pragmatism could win the day. Any nostalgia we may have for those times is surely for an era in which people could put aside 'the narcissism of small differences' (to use a phrase from Freud) for a larger goal. We are nostalgic for the kind of idealism this represents, whether it's Live Aid's desire to help those worse off than ourselves, or Oasis's unbridled, rebellious confidence. Such idealism now seems to be a thing of the past. The world we live in now is full of worries about the advance of AI, climate change, perpetual war. It is an anxious place to be and I am so tired of being told how terrible everything is. So who can blame those bouncing to Oasis, in communal bliss, escaping into the analogue times, the pre-cancellation times? When being mouthy and hedonistic was not a sin, and we were living for cigarettes and alcohol. Living forever. I want to Be Here Now. To live in the present, not to locate optimism squarely in the past. Oasis and the Live Aid nostalgia have made me realise how dependent we all are on each other and reminded me of the stoicism of our great country.
Daily Mail
05-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Steve Coogan says working class are being 'ethnically cleansed' as redevelopment of northern cities does not benefit blue-collar workers
Steve Coogan has suggested that working class people are being 'ethnically cleansed' amid the redevelopment of northern cities. The Alan Partridge actor, 59, argued that investment in sophisticated skyscrapers did not benefit blue-collar workers. After backing the Greens at the last election, Mr Coogan appeared on BBC Breakfast on Friday to endorse the co-operative movement, which encourages businesses to share its profits among its employees. He said: 'The problem with all these cities like Liverpool and Manchester is they've got all these big shiny buildings, but all the people who are disenfranchised have been ethnically cleansed from the area. They don't actually benefit. 'What the co-operative movement does is tries to keep that money in the area and empower people and try to mitigate and push back against the effects of big business.' Mr Coogan also hit out at Nigel Farage 's Reform party for peddling 'racist rhetoric'. 'If the Government want to stop Reform making all these gains, instead of dealing with the symptoms of the problem by leaning into the racist rhetoric of Reform, they can deal with that by helping working people and the best way of doing that is to support the Co-operative movement,' he added. The comedian, who backed Labour under Jeremy Corbyn in both 2017 and 2019, criticised the political fabric of the UK, accusing governments of prioritising the wealthiest members of society. He claimed the co-operative movement aims to shift the focus towards working people and would soften the blow of Labour's recent welfare cuts which, after a chaotic backbench rebellion, saw the health element of Universal Credit halved. Last minute concessions, however, meant that radical changes to personal independence payment (Pip) would be delayed until November 2026. Mr Coogan also argued that a key reason post-industrial areas are 'dying' is the dominance of large supermarket chains. He claimed the co-operative movement would ensure less money left the local economy, with profits reinvested into key projects in the area. The movement is believed to date back to the 18th century but rose to prominence after the successful co-op at the Rochdale Pioneers' Shop in 1844. Mr Coogan pointed out that the idea was birthed in the UK but he suggested that it has been making bigger gains in other parts of the world. Earlier this year, the comedian starred in a two-part drama, written by James Graham, about Margaret Thatcher's 1989 interview with Brian Walden. The star, who plays the former Labour MP turned London Weekend Television host, said that he had 'huge antipathy' for the former PM describing himself as 'very anti-Thatcher'. He told the Radio Times: 'The one thing that I was worried about in this drama was being too compassionate because of her legacy.' The actor even took exception to a scene written by Sherwood writer Mr Graham, 42, for being 'too kind' to the Iron Lady and said that she would now be diagnosed with a 'disorder'. Mr Coogan added: 'In fact, in the edit we cut something because I thought it was a bit too kind and we wanted to remind people that there was this damage... 'She had vision and zeal, but she lacked empathy. Now, she'd probably be diagnosed with some sort of disorder.'
