I believe that Nebraska has a right to proclaim that "it is the good life." The reason for this is that we have wonderful people. While we have our bad eggs like everywhere else, most of us work hard, play by the rules and do our best to live by principles of morality and virtue.

As a whole, the state has one of the lowest rates of unemployment and crime. If you want to live a long healthy life, then Nebraska is the place to be. Annually, Nebraska has one of the highest, if not the highest, life expectancy in the United States.

However, our governor and legislature don’t seem to think a good lifestyle is sufficient to keep people in the state or attract them to the state. On several fronts, we are daily presented with new schemes from politicians who claim we have to bribe business and, now, individuals to live in the state.

Last time I looked, bribing public officials is a crime. I think we need to make it a crime to let public officials bribe individuals and corporations. The definition of bribery also needs to be extended to include when businesses threaten to leave the state or not come to the state if not given special tax breaks, loans and direct payoff's (oops…I mean grants). If they leave the state, so be it. They shouldn’t have the right to steal from you and me in order to subsidize their business.

In recent years, we have seen politicians of both parties and all levels of state government going around with their lips pressed against the rear ends of some businesses that claim to want to move to the state or from one community to another. Special laws are passed to bribe the company to come to the state. Often, the efforts fail because some other state was willing to more heavily spread the grease onto the palms of the company officials. I don’t blame businesses for trying to get the best deal possible, but I consider it shameful and unethical for the government to use my tax dollars to bribe a company. Yes, that company can put a lot of money into the economy. However, it is small business where most people work and almost all new jobs are created. This is especially true in Nebraska. Nebraska already has a strong economy with virtually full employment. If you want to boost the overall economy, then cut all forms of taxes across the board. If there is any drain on economic growth, it is the high rate of taxation in Nebraska.

The latest twist to this is offered by our big brothers in Omaha. They want to build a new convention center. It is supposed to be an economic boon for the city and the state. If that is true, then it should be able to stand on its own. If it is going to make money, then private business people would be jumping to finance and build it in order to "cash in" on the so-called profits. However, once again, many politicians are on the bandwagon to use millions of our tax dollars to bribe businesses. Of course, it is a two way street. Whether it's illegal or legal, these same politicians are, in essence, looking to get their pockets lined. If the free market can’t support this project, then it shouldn’t be built. Let Omaha residents (like Warren Buffet, Kiewit and Sons, Union Pacific, and Mutual of Omaha) finance the project.

We are now spreading this mentality to individuals. At the behest of Governor Nelson, Senator Jon Bruning has been pushing "the Brian Gain" bill through the Unicameral. LB 1176 would give student loans to Nebraska natives and would turn the loans into a gift, if the student takes a job in Nebraska and stays for a certain number of years. As a native Nebraskan and college graduate who was a classmate of Jon Bruning (and, like him, have chosen to live my life here), I find it offensive that anyone thinks our state is so undesirable that smart, well-educated people will not choose to live here without a bribe. If what this state has to offer on its own isn’t appealing enough to someone, then I say, "good riddance."

I know it is difficult for small communities to keep the best and brightest young people, but I don’t think bribing a few to stay is the way to revitalize the small towns and rural areas of Nebraska. This current bill won’t keep people in Imperial or Firth. It may keep some in Lincoln and Omaha and Grand Island, but there is a natural inclination for a young person to want to establish a life for themselves and see what is beyond the horizon. They aren’t going to stay in their hometown unless the decision is theirs alone. Besides, there has to be a way to make a living in a small town before people will want to stay.

If we are to have thriving, growing communities in rural areas, then there needs to be a change in mindset to turn away from government being the source of a thriving community. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a community of any size that isn’t a county seat or that, at least, the government is a major source of employment. One might argue that this means we need more local government. Most of the government jobs require education, but they are dead-end jobs for the "best and brightest." I think the pay is decent for government jobs, contrary to popular belief. However, there is very little room for advancement, creativity and independence. Therefore, government isn’t the solution for "the Brain Drain."

Until recently, I would have been as pessimistic as anyone about the future of economic growth in small town Nebraska outside the agriculture sector. However, the great technological innovations of the past decade make for a multitude of opportunities for small communities to not just survive (because they are a center of government) but to thrive (because they are a source of economic growth and opportunity in the private sector). All kinds of computer-related jobs that earn 6, 7 or more figure incomes can be done just as well in Imperial as in New York or Omaha. Other service-related businesses and professions could be based in small communities because of the ability to communicate instantly worldwide and to use fast means of transportation.

The obstacle is to change the way we think about doing business and to get government out of the way of change. We need across-the-board tax and regulatory cuts. If our politicians want to promote economic development, they can then truthfully say that the cost of doing business is the lowest in the country for any and all businesses and the cost of living for all is the lowest.

Then, we need to end monopolistic control of all utilities, specifically the communications industry. This will increase competition, lower costs and allow the new technologically driven economic opportunities to become reality.