Say what you will about Jim Pillen.  He might be a lousy governor, but he’s a smart politician.  A smart politician with a mean streak.  

The other day an organization called RARE held a press conference at the State Capitol.  RARE’s mission statement says they are dedicated to empowering families impacted by rare diseases. They wanted to bring attention to the cuts Health and Human Services are proposing to limit caregiving for families with someone with severe disabilities. Currently the state provides funding for twenty-four-hour care seven days a week.  The new cuts would limit it to just 40 hours week.

Governor Pillen knew that it would look bad to have the TV newscasts show video of numerous people in wheelchairs or have reporters interviewing tired adults with elderly parents who want to care for mom or dad instead of sending them to a nursing home. 

So, the governor scheduled a news conference for the exact same time to announce Senator McKeon’s replacement.  

Governor Pillen knows that news departments are spread thin these days and that they probably wouldn’t have the resources to send reporters to both conferences.  

He was right. 

KETV was the only TV station who attended, and the Nebraska Examiner was the only other news outlet I noticed there. 

I ignored the governor’s political news conference and attended the one to bring attention to Nebraskans in need.  

Now to be fair, money doesn’t grow on trees. The budget to help these families has grown substantially over the years.  According to the director of Department for the Developmentally Disabled, it’s grown 322% from 2016-2025.  

Something does indeed need to be done.

And Governor Pillen’s solution is to try to sweep the problem under the rug. 

You see these proposed cuts aren’t etched in stone just yet.  And if fewer people know what’s going on, there will be less pressure to help these families out.  

Out of sight, out of mind. 

He knew about RARE’s press conference in advance, so he scheduled his at the same time.  Just like a good politician.  And while I’m on the subject about Jim Pillen the politician vs Jim Pillen the governor, let’s talk about how he wants to make a mountain out of a molehill when it comes to State Senator Machaela Cavanaugh.  

You may recall the senator removed posters from the wall near her office commemorating America’s 250th anniversary.  These posters were put up by conservative nonprofit media outlet Prager U.  The senator says she removed them because senators are not supposed to have things like that hanging in the hallway.  She didn’t know that it had been approved by speaker John Arch.  

Senator Cavanaugh carefully removed them, told the Highway Patrol they were in her office, and when she found out they were allowed to be there she apologized before the Unicameral.  

They are back on the walls outside her office.

Now that should have been the end of it.  But since Cavanaugh is a Democrat, and Pillen a Republican he couldn’t let it rest.  

He is calling for a criminal investigation into Senator Cavanaugh’s actions.  

Let me repeat that with a little more emphasis.  

HE’S CALLING FOR A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO SENATOR CAVANAUGH’S ACTIONS!!!

If Pillen was more concerned about governing rather than playing politics, he would have accepted the apology and moved on. He would start to work with the senator to try to fix problems like the ones these families with disabled members are facing. 

But that’s not how this man works. 

Nothing will come from this criminal investigation. It’s just going to be some busy work for a law enforcement officer, and a momentary headline.  But it will appeal to a certain segment of his base that want to “own the libs” rather than work to benefit Nebraskans regardless of their political persuasion. 

We are less than a year away from the next election.  Charles Herbster is getting his political team in place, there’s rumors of a more moderate Republican throwing his hat in the ring, and Lynn Walz is traveling the state getting ready to announce her run for governor on the Democratic ticket.  

Those families impacted by these government cuts shouldn’t hold out a lot of hope their needs will be met during this short session of the Unicameral.  

Jim Pillen is too busy playing politics to be worried about being governor. 

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.