Domina: ‘Let’s Fix The Mess’
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. – Promising to challenge the growth and power of bad government and heavy-handed business, Democrat Dave Domina campaigned for the Senate Friday in North Platte.
The country is in a mess and people cannot “self-congratulate ourselves” out of it, Domina said at a stop at the Depot Restaurant.
“We must face, and fix it,” he said. “The only place this can be done in a democracy is at the ballot box.”
Domina, 63, is on a campaign swing through the state after announcing his candidacy on Tuesday.
His career as an attorney, handling the toughest legal cases, makes him the strongest and clearest voice in the race, he said as he listed some credentials.
“Over 250 appearances in appellate courts – face to face with ultimate decision makers on big issues in the most rigorous setting in government,” plus “hundreds of jury trials, before people like you,” he said.
Criticizing the bickering and negativity from both the left and the right, he said the Farm bill and food have become political pawns.
“Markets are dominated by too few, as Wall Street deal after deal goes down,” he said. “Small businesses get backbreaking regulations…. jobs are outsourced….assets are bought up,” he said.
“Our debt is to our biggest foreign competitor, and no one does anything about it,” he said. “The billionaire class grows and the middle class shrinks.”
Domina said five banks hold 65% of “all the money of all the people, and companies and levels of government in all of the U.S.”
And, crops and livestock are controlled by three companies in each market.
“We must take back our markets and restore real competition, not pay unfair taxes while Big Money escapes through thousands of tax loopholes,” he said.
“We cannot allow companies to get ever bigger, outsource more jobs, dry up more opportunities or build taller barriers to entry for aspiring independent businesses,” he said.
Domina, who is in the top 100 attorneys in the U.S. according to the National Trial Attorneys Association, relishes cases in which his clients have merits but are confronted with well-funded, powerful opponents.
Domina said he is driven by “my sense that individuals generally have claims with great merit, but can lose because the legal talent deck is stacked against them.”
“We must be friendly to new businesses and companies that want to compete fairly,” he said.
“Government must be about protecting the middle.”
“With a united approach and a fearless, strong voice to make our case, we can get things done,” he said. “Hold me accountable. I will hold them accountable.”
Four Republicans are also running for the seat, as well as two independents.
Domina said Nebraska must protect the Ogallala aquifer, perhaps the state’s biggest natural resource.
In answer to a question, he said the Keystone pipeline could jeopardize the aquifer if it leaks, but the danger would be much less if the pipeline were laid near the existing Keystone pipeline near the eastern border of the state.
In response to another question, he also said the danger of fracking is that toxic chemicals can contaminate underground water if and when plates shift.