The Lincoln Journal Star - Reining In Federal Spending Key To Ricketts' Campaign

Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - Lincoln Journal Star

Reining In Federal Spending Key To Ricketts' Campaign

By Don Walton

OMAHA - As Nebraska's Republican Senate candidates begin to stake out their ground, Pete Ricketts has planted his flag as the budget-cutting businessman.

"I believe the biggest domestic issue is getting government spending under control," said the former Ameritrade executive.

An $8 trillion national debt and annual federal budget deficits of $400 billion threaten the nation's future, Ricketts said in an interview this week at his campaign headquarters.

"We must decide what do we prioritize. That's where my experience comes in. I come from a cost-conscious culture," he said.

"We cut the budget (and) set priorities" at Ameritrade, said Ricketts, who left his position as chief operating officer of Ameritrade Holding Corp. to pursue the Senate nomination.

"The experience I have nobody else in the race has. And that's the biggest differentiator. I'm not a lawyer; I'm a businessman and a problem-solver."

Responding to financial challenges facing Ameritrade a few years ago, the brokerage industry pioneer cut its budget from about $600 million in 2001 to about $450 million in 2002, according to company documents.

Ricketts faces former three-term state Attorney General Don Stenberg and former Republican State Chairman David Kramer in the GOP Senate contest.

Kramer recently staked out immigration reform as a key issue.

Stenberg this week emphasized his support for President Bush's decision to conduct domestic surveillance of communications involving suspected terrorists or their associates without seeking clearance from the secret foreign intelligence surveillance court.

Ricketts said he supported comprehensive immigration reform patterned along the lines of a plan proposed by Sen. Chuck Hagel. It provides a pathway to legal status for illegal immigrant workers in a manner similar to Kramer's proposal.

The key element in immigration reform should be "tighter border security," Ricketts said. Both Hagel and Kramer included enhanced border security as part of their plans.

As for the president's surveillance tactics, Ricketts said he supported intercepts of communications from suspected terrorists outside the country without court approval.

"The primary purpose of the president is to protect the country," he said. "We need to recognize we are at war."

The winner of the Republican primary will face a tough task in attempting to unseat Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson, Ricketts said.

"But one of the reasons I got in the race is I believe I can win in November. I believe I am the strongest candidate with the best chance we have to send someone to the Senate who will control spending."

Despite his political strengths, Nelson is a Democrat who belongs to a Senate minority that cannot set the agenda, Ricketts said.

Although a lot of news media attention focuses on his multimillion-dollar wealth, Ricketts said: "I don't think Nebraskans care how much money I have; they want to know what I'm going to do to help fix problems and what I would do for Nebraska."

Ricketts said he also thought reports that he was the candidate preferred by national Republican leaders in Washington was beside the point.

"Nebraskans don't care if I'm Washington's candidate. That's really irrelevant. The issue is what do Nebraska voters want."

Ricketts has estimated his personal wealth at about $25 million. Ameritrade financial records indicate he also may have considerable holdings in the form of a portion of family stock.

Thus far, Ricketts has plowed nearly $1.5 million of his own money into his campaign.

Responding to Stenberg's claim that his opponents must be planning attack ads against him because they have declined to pledge not to mention him, or each other, in campaign ads, Ricketts said there was a difference between attacks and facts.

"We've agreed there will be no personal attacks, no negative campaign," he said. "Sticking to facts and talking about the record is not an attack ad."

Ricketts says he has campaigned in 44 of Nebraska's 93 counties and will have visited every county by the end of March.

http://www.petericketts.com/full_article.asp?article_id=51