Drop off canned food for Jim’s food drive at both of his offices.

Main Office: 2529 South 90th st. 68124

Sarpy County Office: Southroads Mall in Bellevue 1001 Fort Crook Road North, Suite 204

The food drive will run through October 1.

Thank you for your support!

Any questions ask for Joe at the Main Office at 991-3050 or ask for Matt at the Sarpy Office 991-7508.

View Jim’s Poverty statement below.

As a Pro-Life Democrat and a Catholic, I believe that supporting life at all stages and reducing poverty is a moral imperative of our nation. Catholic social teaching speaks extensively of poverty as a violation of human dignity. Pope Benedict XVI has said, “Within the community of believers, there can never be room for a poverty that denies anyone what is needed for a dignified life.”¹ Reducing poverty in the midst of such enormous wealth is a theme shared by many faith traditions and communities across our country.

Prior to the current economic slowdown, our economy had experienced periods of strong growth and employment since 2001, yet the number of individuals, families and children living in poverty continues to increase since 2000. According to recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 15,000 families and 26,839 children living in poverty in 2007 in the Second Congressional District of Nebraska.² Our nation has experienced periods of dramatic poverty reduction in the past, most recently in the 1990s in which the national poverty rate fell from a little over 15 percent to just over 11 percent between 1993 and 2000. We can reverse the trend of growing poverty that has reasserted itself since 2000 with sound economic and social policies coupled with motivated individual initiative.

Reducing poverty is not just a moral imperative- it is of great economic importance as well. With income inequality at historically high levels, the current pattern of wealth distribution will be incapable of maintaining long-term prosperity and growth. Poverty has profound implications for the future of our society, as it is the single greatest threat to child well-being and development. Children growing up in poverty are at greater risk for many adverse outcomes such as poor mental and physical health, inadequate nutrition, lower educational attainment, and increased interaction with the justice system. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, economists estimate that child poverty costs the U.S. $500 billion a year in lost productivity in the labor force and spending on health care and the criminal justice system. A reduction in poverty will create more consumers, and allow more people to participate in the economic and civic life of our nation. Reducing child poverty will ensure that as many children as possible grow up in conditions that maximize their opportunities for success.

As poverty continues to increase despite overall economic growth and increases in worker productivity, there is a growing disconnect between work and financial stability. Poverty has been called an “unnatural disaster,” a result of economic, social and political choices that we Americans have made, both as individuals and as a society.³ While individual behaviors and choices do affect the severity and duration of poverty, the consequences and pervasiveness of barriers to economic opportunity prevalent in many of our systems and policies cannot be ignored. Reducing poverty and barriers to opportunity will require economic policies that promote the creation of high-quality jobs and a strong and well-trained workforce, coupled with social policies designed to support working families and provide more than just a safety net but rather a path to financial stability through a focus on asset-building. As your Congressman, I will work to promote the dignity of life and also the stability of our economy by advocating for policies which support working families in Nebraska and help them build wealth. I will promote policies that create more opportunities for more Americans and the greatest amount of opportunities for our children.

[1] Pope Benedict XVI, “God Is Love,”
December 25, 2005, 20.

[2] U.S. Census Bureau 2007 American Community Survey, (Tables B17006 and B17010)

[3] Rev. Larry Snyder, President of Catholic Charities USA, Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support of the House Committee on Ways and Means, April 26, 2007.

Click here for the Podcast.

Who won the debate?

Just a quick reminder, Jim Esch will debate Lee Terry tomorrow morning on 1110 KFAB, at 10 AM.

Tune in tomorrow!

Our country is in desperate need of an economic policy that will provide job creation and stimulate demand for goods and services, while also building the foundation for long-term economic growth. I will focus on rebuilding our country’s crumbling infrastructure, developing a “green” economy, and strengthening our small business sector in order to stimulate the economy.

With our national debt being stretched to historic proportions, we will have to make firm and difficult decisions about our national funding priorities. I am prepared to adhere to pay-as-you-go policy constraints and will work to promote policy that will not increase our unsustainable debt obligations for future generations. To the extent that economic stimulus is necessary in a time of economic downturn, I will advocate for valuable investments in our future productivity and economic progress. Any domestic government spending, in the face of monstrous budget deficits, must generate significant rates of return in the future productivity of American people and the American economy to justify the expense.

Through increased economic opportunity, the wider availability of well-paying jobs, a stronger infrastructure, and a cleaner economy, we will make the American Dream more attainable for many Americans who have been struggling to just get by, let alone get ahead. As your Congressman, I will promote bipartisan legislation focused on restoring American economic growth through fiscally responsible investments in our own systems of infrastructure and clean energy technologies, investments which have been neglected for far too long to the detriment of our economic future. We can help ourselves by investing in ourselves, and I will work to ensure these investments are made a priority.

For more information on my economic plan, click here.

This Saturday, August 23, we have three big parades and we need your help! Wear your Jim Esch t-shirts and come walk the parade route.

Arrows to Aerospace: Old Towne Bellevue. Meet at Mission and Bert Murphy (near St. Mary’s School) at 9:15 a.m. Parade starts at 10:00 a.m.

Millard Days: 132nd and Millard Ave. Meet at Faith Westwood Methodist Church 4814 Oaks Lane at 10:15 a.m.
Here is a map showing Faith Westwood’s location. Parade starts at 11:00 a.m.

Dundee Day: Memorial Park to 50th and Underwood. Meet at Brownell Talbot School’s north parking lot at 10:00 a.m. Parade starts at 10:30 a.m.

You’ll notice a video on the front page from Afghanistan. The video is produced by USAID, (United States Agency International Development), and was given to Jim on his trip to Afghanistan. Feel free to watch the videos for more about Afghanistan.

The people I met with in Afghanistan were working hard in their own ways to rebuild the country, but the signs of danger were everywhere. It was hard to go anywhere without an armed escort. The on-the-ground impression I got was that this region is in a very difficult place right now. We need to refocus our efforts on Afghanistan, and end the war in Iraq. We need to restore our standing in the world as trusted partners, something that has been badly damaged by this administration and its allies in Congress. The stakes in this region are much too high for our security and for the security of our allies. We cannot continue on this same path.

This is one of the fundamental differences between myself and my opponent. While I went to gain first-hand knowledge about the situation on the ground in a region that is vital to our national security, he was playing partisan games in Washington. Our district is home to a center for detailed and comprehensive information on Afghanistan, its history, its culture, and the current situation there. But our Congressman has not reached out, and has not met with the experts there to gain a better understanding. We need someone who is willing to talk to the people in our community, who is not afraid to ask questions, and will not play partisan games with our nation’s future.

I was told before I came that I may have to walk a few kilometers to catch my ride. Since, cars are generally not allowed within close proximity to the airport, I began to walk outside when I heard my name. Hamidullah Anwari, who works for UNO and was the former Director of the Office of the Chief Justice, introduced himself. He phoned for our ride. An older gentlemen pulled up in Toyota 4Runner with the steering wheel on the right side.

The drive into Kabul is bleak and dusty. The landscape is desolate and the buildings are mostly rubble, shelled out long ago by the civil war that raged after the Soviet withdrawal. The road into the city was a wide boulevard with a dirt median down the middle. The road, like all roads in Kabul, was crowded with everything from cars, motorcycles, taxis, buses and trucks to men and mules pulling old wooden carts and many more people walking or on bicycles. There were no stop lights and apparently no speed limits or rules. Clearly, your best defense was a good offense.

On the road side were small wooden stands with people selling everything from fruits and vegetables to gasoline in plastic containers. The poverty of the country is staggering and immediately realized. The vast majority of the people are young, unemployed, and uneducated.

The only buildings that looked modern were the numerous wedding halls. Weddings are a big deal in Afghanistan. The halls look like something from Fremont Street in Las Vegas, gaudy all glass structures with fake neon palm trees and thousands of colored lights. Families spend anywhere from $10,000 to over $60,000 on weddings. That would be a lot in the US, let alone the fact that the average Afghan is lucky to make a few hundred dollars a month. It seems weddings are the only social outlet and it is the classic “keeping up with the Jones” scenario. However, some Mullahs are beginning to outlaw them for being too extravagant.

Kabul is a walled city. Everywhere are thick concrete, barbed wire topped walls protecting foreigners and the few rich. We arrived at the Kabul Inn which has an armed guard posted out front with what looks like an AK-47 slung over his shoulder. From the outside, the Inn doesn’t look like much, but inside the walls is a very pretty courtyard with flowers, shrubs and vined tressels with grapes hanging down. While old, it is clean and the rooms are simple but comfortable. They are air conditioned with satellite television, which is mostly channels from India, a third of which are in English. Kabul Inn has a small restaurant with decent food, old Mercury computers with internet access in the lobby, and laundry service. I was instructed to be aware of two things, my stomach and security. Luckily, the Kabul Inn seems to provide for both.

Tomorrow, I will have more on Afghanistan, and you can see more photos from the trip in our gallery.

Last week, I traveled to Afghanistan to get a firsthand perspective of the situation on the ground. I arranged the trip with help from the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Center for Afghanistan Studies. The center is one of the foremost resources in our country for information and expertise regarding Afghanistan. I spent about a week in the country, and met with Afghans, Americans, and others who are dealing day-to-day with the delicate situation in this volatile region.

As I said last election, our decision to shift our focus from hunting down Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda to regime change in Iraq was an enormous mistake. It is clear from my travels, while the country is much better off than it was under the Taliban, progress seems to be stalling. Bin Laden and other terrorists are free to operate in the uncontrolled border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Life for the average Afghan is getting worse, not better. Security concerns are jeopardizing Afghanistan’s ability to hold free and open elections in 2009. We must refocus our efforts now, before we lose what gains we have made.

After 2 days of travel, including a 7 hour lay over in the Delhi airport, I arrived at the Kabul International Airport at 8:40 am. The term “international” is a bit of a stretch. The one and only runway is new, but the taxi lanes are in great need of repair and the grounds are unkept. There is one terminal which was built probably in the ’60s and has not been updated. Though, a new terminal is under construction.

The plane landed only 50 yards or so from the main building but we still took a bus from the stair-car to the terminal. Inside we waited in line to go through customs. There were a few members of the national police but other than putting my bag through a x-ray machine, very little security.

In the next few days, I will have more to say on my trip. Photos are available now in our gallery.

We’re opening up a new office in Sarpy County, and we’d like to invite you to the office grand opening. Our new office is at Southroads on 1001 Fort Crook Rd N, Ste. 204 in Bellevue.

The opening will be from 5-7 PM next Monday, August 18. Food and drinks will be available. Donations are welcome.

See you there!

Thursday, August 21st, we’ll be having a volunteer night at Rosenblatt Stadium for an Omaha Royals game. This is a thank you for all that you’ve done so far in the campaign and all you’ll continue to do until election day.

Tickets are already paid for, and Rosenblatt has great concession deals on Thursday night. All you need to do is stop by the office, come to the Sarpy County office grand opening on August 18th (more details on that to come), or meet Dan Esch by the CWS statue on August 21st.

On Tuesday, Lee Terry held an energy relief rally, calling for citizens of the second district to bring him gas receipts that he will personally deliver to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Thursday. While we agree that Congress should have worked until a solution was reached, we also recognize that President Bush denied requests to call Congress back to session. Furthermore, we view this as nothing more than a political gimmick by Terry and here is why:

Let me start out by reminding you that Lee Terry has been in Congress for 10 years. Seven of those 10 years Terry has been a Member of the House Energy Committee.

On June 26, 2000 Lee Terry recognized that this country was staring an energy crisis in the face (click here to read the editorial by Terry). In the Editorial he blames the Clinton Administration for his own lack of ability to come forth with an effective energy plan to address the crisis. For the next 6 years, with a Republican Congress and a Republican President, Terry still failed to come up with an effective energy plan. For the last two years, Terry has again blamed his inability to deliver an effective energy plan on a Democratic Congress and most recently he is pointing a finger at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Terry need not look any further than the finger print on the finger that he is pointing for a reason as to why, 8 years later, this country still faces an energy crisis. Terry has claimed that his finger prints are all over this nation’s current energy policy. A policy that is currently burning a hole in the pocket books of all Americans and the citizens of the second district.

This brings me back to why this energy rally was no more than a political gimmick.

Lee Terry said it best himself when he said on July 28, 2008, “Congress can no longer sit back and do nothing.” After recognizing the energy crisis our country faced in 2000, Lee Terry sat for 8 years and did nothing. Seven of those years Terry was in position where he could have made a difference and he didn’t and that is why Americans are feeling the pain at the pump.

Lee Terry held an energy relief rally to distract from his lack of leadership and ineffectiveness on an issue he claims his fingerprints are all over. He used the rally as a vehicle to once again, publicly point a finger at someone else.

Joe Sibilia

Communications Director

The National Conservation, Environment and Energy Independence Act was introduced yesterday. Members of Congress worked across party lines and came up with this bipartisan piece of legislation,sponsored by Congressmen Neil Abercrombie (D-HI-1) and John Peterson (R-PA-5).

“It’s a comprehensive bill and it addresses the energy issue head on,” Esch said. “This is a piece of legislation that both parties can be proud of and meets the demands of the American people, much like I have proposed in my EASI plan.”

Jim released his EASI Energy plan on July 17.

“This act addresses both the short term and long term energy needs of this country,” Esch said. “It focuses on conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy research, and environmental restoration.”

To hear Representative Abercrombie talk about the National Conservation, Environment and Energy Independence Act click here.

“Representatives Abercrombie and Peterson got it right. They worked across party lines, explored all options, and devised a plan that encompasses both Democratic ideas and Republican ideas for American solutions,” Esch said. “My opponent is supporting a partisan plan that is all about politics and not about solutions.”