Republicans: Nelson fought valuations , too (US Senate Ne)

[Omaha Steve]

Full story (reg req): http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1673&u_sid=2213293



Published Thursday
July 27, 2006

Republicans: Nelson fought valuations, too

BY ROBYNN TYSVER

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Republicans fired back Wednesday at Democratic critics of Pete Ricketts' property tax protest, saying Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson did the same thing 21 years ago.

Nelson purchased his Omaha home in 1984 for $345,000. A year later, he filed a protest after the house was assessed at $256,500. Nelson prevailed, and the property's valuation was lowered to $220,000.

Mark Fahleson, a spokesman for the state GOP, said it was "hypocritical and deceitful" of Nelson and the Democratic Party to criticize GOP Senate candidate Ricketts in television and newspaper advertisements for doing the same thing Nelson had done earlier.

A Nelson spokeswoman responded that Republicans were comparing "apples to oranges," and that the two protests were not comparable.

Spokeswoman Marcia Cady also disclosed that Nelson successfully contested the valuation of his Washington, D.C., town house three times in the last three years.

A political newcomer, Ricketts is attempting to unseat Nelson, the former two-term Democratic governor who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000.

Ricketts came under fire from the Democratic Party earlier this month for contesting his Omaha home valuation. He bought a house in 1999 for $1.2 million. He filed a protest in 2002, asking that the house be valued at $625,000. The county dropped it to $900,000.

He filed another protest this year when the county gave notice that his house's assessed valuation would be increased by 32 percent. He lost.

[TwilightZone]

1. So, 21 years ago vs. last year.

Typical Republican bullshit. I've noticed that another of Ricketts' ads uses a bunch of Nelson quotes from 1990 to 1994. I guess he can't find anything more recent to bitch about.

Ricketts has no chance. As much as he annoys me, Nelson is one of the top five rated Senators in the entire country. He's going to stomp Ricketts regardless of how much of Daddy's money Pete throws into the race.

[Bandit]

2. One declared Republican bitching about another undeclared

Republican. Both use same methods, imagine that???