First Congressional District candidate profile: Michael Connely

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - Republican Michael Connely is running against incumbent Mike Flood to represent Nebraska’s First Congressional District. The winner will face Democrat Carol Blood in the General Election in November.

We sent questionnaires to each candidate in the race. Responses from candidates are posted verbatim and not edited for spelling, grammar, or content.

Michael Connely

Political Party: Republican

District 1

Website: https://www.michaelconnely.org/

1. Please provide a brief overview of your background and what drives you to seek this office.

My family has been in Nebraska now for 7 generations. Our original homestead is farmed by a cousin of mine, also named Michael Connely. I started school in Broken Bow, Custer County and finished as a high school senior in York Nebraska. After high school I joined the Marines working on Aviation Electronic, Nuclear Biological Chemical Warfare Defense, and military intelligence. Later an Air Guard stint gave me a background in Medical Lab and Military Police.

Most of my young adult life was in the military or doing farm/ranch work, with temporary work as State Quality Assurance Director for the US Census and Testing Administrator for the ASVAB military exam.

From the year 2000 - 2016, I worked full time in Japan as an Educational Director of private schools. That is the equivalent of a Principal/Superintendent of schools here in Nebraska. In 2016, recognizing that the Chinese government was preparing for war with the fastest military buildup in history, I returned to Nebraska in hopes of preparing everyone for what will likely be a war with China.

In 2022 I was one of the 9 candidates for Governor in Nebraska. At that time, there were several counties that would not allow me to attend GOP events, as I was too conservative and a non establishment candidate. Since that time, the Old Guard leadership has changed and there has been a major shift to the right for the Republican party in Nebraska. I am now welcomed (so far) at any GOP events.

As for the Congressional seats, people who are willing to take dramatic action to save our nation need to step up to represent Nebraska. I, Michael Connely in District 1, Dan Frei in District 2, and John Walz in District 3 are all challengers who are willing to bite the bullet and make hard conservative decisions that our nation needs. Our nation was once considered the “Shining Light on the Hill” but the light on the hill is more like a tarnished lantern in the mud, whose flame is nearly out. We must reignite that flame of patriotism, hope, freedom and morality.

2. What would be your top three priorities if (re)elected?

PRIORITY ONE IS TO COUNTER THE CHINESE THREAT

“The Art of War” is a Chinese military tactics guide, centuries old, that is required reading for all Chinese military officers. It instructs how to wage a campaign of war against an enemy, without letting the enemy realize what is happening. We are in a full fledged war now, but most people, who do not know “The Art of War”, and do not know military intelligence tactics, do not realize this.

The riots on the West Coast, and even those in western Nebraska were funded by the CCP (Communist Chinese Party). I will have details on the news section of my website www.connelyforcongress.com.

The massive radical social agenda push is funded by the CCP. The most dangerous thing averting a communist takeover is a strong family unit. They want this destroyed.

We have an individual who sits in the White House, whose family has received millions in payouts from CCP businesses in China, meanwhile our border has been opened and thousands of Chinese Military Reservists (verified by my Chinese contacts) have been sent across the southern border by the CCP. The staging of troops may have been set for a future land invasion of the continental United States.

We MUST immediately stop ANY refugee claims and deport ALL illegal entry aliens. All those who came in during the Biden funded (see my site for details) massive wave of humanity across our southern border MUST be deported immediately, WITHOUT their Biden funded cash cards.

Funding of all the UN groups that give out cash cards to immigrants heading for our Southern border must end immediately (see my site for details... Source Epoch Times)

We MUST do detailed inspections of all large isolated areas of land purchased by the CCP or associated shell companies to determine whether the eyewitness accounts of Chinese Forward Military Operating bases within the USA are accurate or not. My witnesses testifying to this seemed very credible, and scared, to me.

PRIORITY TWO IS TO CLEAN OUT OUR CORRUPT JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

The FBI needs to lose all powers of arrest and enforcement and be limited to only investigations, with those investigations given to state patrol and local sheriffs. Because of the horrendous abuses by the FBI, they need to have their wings clipped. The ATF (recently killed another civilian..airport executive.. at his home in a 6am morning raid) needs to be completely dissolved.

The J6 prisoners need to be released IMMEDIATELY on bail. We have video evidence showing the innocence of many of these prisoners, yet still they are imprisoned, often in solitary confinement, being strongly coerced to accept plea deals admitting guilt to crimes they did not commit.

Prosecuting attorneys who are destroying constitutional rights need to be disbarred, and potentially charged with crimes. Judges who are destroying constitutional rights need to be impeached, and potentially charged with crimes. Additionally, we need some type of ethics check on our judicial system, as they now run rampant with unchecked power.

PRIORITY THREE IS TO MAKE A REAL BUDGET AND ACTUALLY USE THE POWER GIVEN TO CONGRESS

For years, our Congress has been kicking the can down the road on making a budget, afraid of angering and losing high paying lobbyists. If we do not stop EVERY budget deficit soon, we will be beyond the point of no return.

In Argentina, the new President, Javier Milei just eliminated a full 50% of the departments in the national government there. We need to take the same type of approach here in the USA. My office will PERSONALLY make a budget that I will propose in Congress. We can have a budget surplus beginning in 2025, and begin paying down our debts. If we can do that, we can re-instill confidence in the US dollar.

Not so many years ago, more than 70% of world trade was conducted in our currency, the US dollar, the current world reserve currency. Today, only slightly more than 40% of worldwide trade is conducted in the US dollar. All those excess dollars worldwide are making their way back here which will set off unprecedented inflation. This will devastate our economy to the point we will not even be able to afford to fund our military.

We MAY be beyond the point of return even now, but there is a chance our country is still salvageable, but this action CANNOT be delayed. We cannot have business as usual in Congress. It is my hope that Nebraska is not the only state with strong fiscally conservative challengers trying to head to Congress. This includes me, Michael Connely in District 1, Dan Frei in District 2, and John Walz in District 3.

3. How do you plan to advocate for federal support for Nebraska’s agriculture industry?

There are multiple changes that need to be made. Some of these are as follows.

Put a leash on the EPA. That department is so overbearing that they want to control any mudpuddles made by a sudden rain in Nebraska. There are good environmental policies, and then there are some which are so stupid it appears as if there is an ulterior motive for that policy.

Part of this is based on the big GREEN push by the Biden regime. I AM a strong environmentalist. I plant dozens of trees every year, I have a small organic ranch and farm, but even I recognize the draconian rules that the EPA tries to administer. It reminds me of a documentary that I recently watched about volcanoes. The volcanoists stated that the pollution emitted by an active volcano in ONE WEEK, is more than the emissions of all the cars in the USA in an entire year. We are prioritizing what we cannot effectively control and suffering economically because of it.

The wind farms and solar farms getting set up across Nebraska are sucking up valuable agricultural land. These are only financially practical because of massive Federal subsidies. The wind and solar units are made primarily in China, and many of the companies profiting from these Federal subsidies are foreign corporations. I would call for the immediate end to these subsidies. If the Feds want to subsidize green energy, let them do it for small American Made personal household units so average citizens can help alleviate their burdensome energy bills, rather than paying this subsidy to foreign corporations that wipe out many acres of valuable agricultural land in Nebraska.

Purchase of Nebraska Agricultural land by foreign governments and by large out of state corporations (who take the land out of production) are serious threats. There was once a law that protected us from this problem, but it was ruled as unconstitutional in Nebraska and tossed out. What needs to be done internally in Nebraska, is to change our Constitution so that foreign entities and out of state corporations cannot purchase tracts of Nebraska farmland larger than 20 acres. Even though I am running for a Congressional seat, I plan on writing and running an initiative for the 2026 ballot so we can make this change right here in Nebraska.

Labeling of foreign meats with a USA label. We need to have a born, raised, and processed rule here. ANY meats that are NOT 100% of USA origin, must be labeled accordingly.

Elimination of the death tax on agricultural properties. What faster way is there to wipe out a family farm than to be hit with a massive inheritance tax bill after the owner of a farm passes away. Having a strong agriculture base is vital to our national security. We also have the Ogallala aquifer here in Nebraska, making us one of the most important states in the USA in the future. We MUST protect our farm families.

The massive Beef packing monopoly, often foreign owned, is a problem that must be taken care of. I welcome any suggestions by farmers and ranchers in Nebraska. Tell me your concerns and your ideas on how to solve those problems.

4. What strategies do you propose to enhance the economy?

By far, the largest obstacles to economic growth are excessive regulations. I have seen large, well made buildings sit empty, because new regulations required millions to be spent before the buildings could be utilized. This is absurd. Small businesses flourish when they are not limited by governmental rules. Granted that in Nebraska, most of the stifling regulations are home grown, but there are some Federal restrictions that also place limitations on economic growth. Again, I encourage ANY businessmen who are adversely affected by Federal regulations to contact me at my site www.connelyforcongress.com

High rates of taxes also discourage economic growth. Lower the taxes and increase growth. This is a standard economic principle that most Congressional leaders do not seem to know.

There is another policy that dramatically increases inflation and limits economic growth and employment, especially among younger workers. This policy is the minimum wage. There should be NO minimum wage. There are small towns where the normal prices are very inexpensive, but when minimum wages are thrown into the mix, businesses are forced to close because they cannot pay their staff. Young workers, who are still not very productive, cannot gain experience because high minimum wages prevent businesses from hiring young unproductive workers. This is a detriment to businesses and young inexperienced workers as well. It stifles economic growth. With our easy to access information on companies, available jobs, salary levels etc. the market place is the best way for wages to be determined, not by governmental decree.

Many US corporations locate production plants overseas because of excessive taxation and regulations here in the USA. Some of these plants could be brought back to the USA if we can provide more favorable conditions here, AND have unfavorable taxes on the companies that relocate overseas.

5. What reforms need to be made to border security and immigration, if any? How do these issues directly impact Nebraskans?

First let’s mention the impact on Nebraska. I recently heard an official,who represented Omaha public schools, say that they were overwhelmed with additional costs because of the massive increase of migrants (illegal entry aliens) who enrolled their non-English speaking children in the schools there. I asked why they enrolled undocumented individuals and was told that a Federal law prohibited schools from rejecting any children regardless of their legal status. With that absurd Federal Law in place, that basically means EVERY human on the planet could legally enroll his or her children in Nebraska schools. I will be asking Attorney General Mike Hilgers if he and other state Attorney Generals would be willing to sue the Federal Government to eliminate this law. Additionally, I would try to do the same internally if sent to Washington DC by the voters of Nebraska.

A few days ago, I spoke with an individual who works at the airport in Omaha. I was told that north of the main airstrip, there are daily flights of white aircraft with blue markings on the tail, (Federal Government planes) that fly in hordes of people who had crossed our Southern border illegally. Several months ago I heard the same thing about buses going through North Platte Nebraska filled with those who had come across our Southern Border. Nebraska, because of Biden policies, has become a border state.

ALL funding of EVERY Federal government program needs to stop until we get a 100% deportation policy on those crossing into our country illegally. We are being invaded daily as you are reading this. I am not just speaking of a simple horde of humanity, I am speaking of a military invasion as well. As I mentioned earlier, thousands of Chinese Military Reservists (verified by my Chinese contacts) are sent across the southern border every month by the CCP. This may be a staging of troops for a future land invasion of the continental United States.

Funding of all the UN groups that give out cash cards to immigrants heading for our Southern border must end immediately (see my site for details... Source Epoch Times)

6. What is your stance on U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts such as those in Ukraine and Gaza? Do you support funding for these conflicts or sanctions against Russia?

This is a question that would take hundreds of pages to adequately answer. For those who do not know, one of my jobs in the military was intelligence (classified material control). There are SO many factors involved here, that I can only give a superficial explanation.

First let’s look at Ukraine. We knowingly instigated a fight by having biowarfare sites right there beside Russia, in Ukraine. We also instigated a fight by mentioning we wanted to bring Ukraine into NATO. That would be the equivalent of Russia making Mexico their ally and loading it up with weapons. Imagine what our response would be.

The Russians used this to commit horrible atrocities against the Ukrainians. They could have launched limited strikes against the biowarfare labs, but now it appears as if they want to gain control of all the rich oil fields so as to completely dominate oil production and be a strong supplier to their Chinese allies.

In late 1979 through the 1980s, we economically ruined the Soviet Union by secretly providing weapons to Afghani rebels who devastated the Soviet (Russian) military. This could have been an opportunity to do the same with Russia except for a couple of main factors.

1. Biden has so crippled the oil industry that worldwide oil prices have skyrocketed, enriching the Russians. If one checks the correlation between oil prices and Russian invasions, it can be seen that Russia only invades its neighbors when oil prices are high and it is affordable to do so. Therefore Biden is directly responsible for the invasion of this incredibly corrupt Ukrainian nation, the same one where he forced a prosecutor to be fired for wanting to investigate a company associated with his son. Biden actually admits this on video.

2. We left Billions of dollars of military equipment in Afghanistan...I am STILL angry about this... This absolutely moronic action cleaned out many of our supplies that could have been given to the Ukrainians to effectively help bankrupt the Russians.

Since we are enriching the Russians by high oil prices, and since many of our weapons were abandoned in Afghanistan, we cannot effectively take the same action that we did in the 1980s with Ronald Reagan.

As for monetary sanctions, the massive hundreds of billions of dollars of frozen private and public assets by our government may have been the nail in the coffin that wipes out our standing as the World Reserve Currency. Our control of worldwide finances has been a bit oppressive in the past, fining a rogue bank a billion here or a billion there, BUT freezing hundreds of billions of private and public assets has scared EVERY country on the planet. They fear what would happen to the assets of their countries if they were on the wrong side of our US policy.

Because of this, there has been a massive exodus away from the US dollar and toward the BRICS currency (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). The BRICS nations may also be announcing a link between their currency and gold, a standard that we abandoned during the Nixon era. This January, Saudi Arabia, the main stabilizer of the US dollar (Petrodollar agreement) joined the BRICS group. This is VERY bad. We must restore both the demand and confidence in the US dollar or we WILL lose out World Power status before 2030, as the British did before us. That means monetary sanctions would cut our own throats.

As for trade sanctions, I have NEVER seen them be effective from the sanctions we placed on Russia during the 1980 Olympics until now.

Many people do not know that the war almost ended shortly after it started, but the US and Great Britain talked the Ukrainians out of signing any agreement. Why is that? That is too deep to go into here. Additionally, Poland offered to give aircraft to Ukraine, and Biden halted the Europeans from doing so. There is massive corruption at play here. As for the billions we have already given, there has been NO accountability, dumping billions into one of the most corrupt countries in the world, you KNOW we have made multiple well connected millionaires during this waste of US taxpayer dollars. Well regulated medical supplies for Ukrainian victims, I could see, but no more.

NOW ON TO ISRAEL. If one knows ALL the details and history of the Arab groups living in Palestine (now referred to as Palestinians), how they call for the extermination of all Jews as the Jews in Israel call for living together in peace, then all concern for the Palestinian terrorist group kind of disappears.

On October 7, we know that Hamas terrorists crossed the border and purposely slaughtered over 1,000 unarmed civilians. It has been described as a military strike. It was not. It was genocide. There were over 40 babies that were decapitated. One baby was cooked in a microwave oven. WHY does our news media not cover these extreme atrocities?

People say Israel is committing genocide by bombing buildings, but how many know that the day before a bombing leaflets are dropped warning the residents to leave because that area is filled with Hamas military. An hour before the bombs are dropped, a small loud explosive is dropped on the roof to notify residents to be out before the bombing. There have been cases where the Hamas fighters have forced residents to remain in the building (or be killed by Hamas fighters). This way Hamas can show dead civilians and make a public outcry, using some of the same tactics that Ethiopia did during the supposed famine of the 1980s, where Western Countries sent millions to unknowingly support the Soviet backed Ethiopian military in its quest to eliminate Eritreans, all in order to steal an area the Soviets wanted for a military complex.

Not only should we be supporting Israel, but there were American victims killed on October 7, and Americans kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip, and therefore the Marines should have been sent to assist the IDF in capturing or killing ALL the Hamas fighters. At this point, we should be sending medical supplies and weapons to Israel and we should STOP calling for an immediate ceasefire. Did President Harry Truman call for a ceasefire against Japan in WW2? No, unconditional surrender was the price for the aid given to Japan. Hamas has it EASY compared to what the Japanese went through with us. Have you SEEN the videos of Hamas markets with massive aid supplies being sold there. What is happening and what is being reported are completely different.

If you look at the border walls between Gaza and Israel, they look a little daunting, BUT nothing compared to the walls between Gaza and Egypt. The Egyptians are well aware of the extreme radical nature of Hamas ever since the massive unrest during the Arab Spring years ago. Civilians could be easily moved into Egypt, but the Egyptians do not want them in their country.

Recently, careless action by some IDF members resulted in the bombing and killing of several international aid workers. During wartime, friendly fire is unfortunately a common occurrence. Nobody mentions the more than 3,000 wounded Israeli soldiers in this ground offensive against the genocidal Hamas, nor the 600 plus IDF deaths. That is very significant for a small country like Israel. These men are under intense pressure and are being killed constantly. Mistakes, unfortunate as they are, will happen.

Not only should we give complete support for Israel, but our Marines should be there as well, as Americans were also killed and captured. This terrorist threat will only grow larger if it is not stopped.

In the military, we trained beside Israelis who were guests at our training facilities. We trade military intelligence. Israel is one of our closest allies and takes a more humanitarian approach in battle than most countries of the world. As a Marine, I consider them brothers in arms.

7. How would you balance being mindful of taxpayer spending and also providing critical services like infrastructure, social security and more to Nebraskans?

This is another HUGE question.

Infrastructure and Critical Services... First of all let me state that the Federal government actually has very little authority in providing infrastructure in the states. Our Interstate system was a big Federal project BECAUSE the roads were designed to be suitable for tanks and military equipment. This justified the Federal government spending money on them. Other things such as money from the Department of Education, etc. are simply forms of bribes to the states with strings attached. There is no real authority there.

Federal functions include * Funding the Federal government, where we need major reductions, * Defending our border, which we are not doing * Regulating international commerce, which we are doing a poor job of, etc. etc. but providing for most critical state services does not fall among the Federal tasks. When they do something, it is from money conjured out of thin air (leading to more inflation) or money borrowed from China. Borrowing money from a country that wants to replace you is NOT a good policy.

SOCIAL SECURITY This is a big one. At the current rate, our social security is supposed to be bankrupt by 2034. That is actually kind of humorous because there is NO money in the Social Security account now. ALL of the money has been loaned to the US government to use in its general budget. It is like watching the movie “Dumb and Dumber” where when asked for a briefcase of money, they produce a briefcase of IOUs. Our Social Security system is merely a briefcase filled with IOUs.

How should it be run? Originally, social security was set up to care for older workers who had paid into the system for all of their lives. Since that time, it has become a welfare catchall with more and more free programs added to it. That is nonsense. Social security should be ONLY for retired workers and ALL the other add ons should be shifted to the general budget where they belong. Additionally, they keep moving retirement age back and eventually it will probably be 70 years old. I strongly object to this. Our Biology has not dramatically changed in the past few decades. I believe that Social Security should be taken BACK to 65 years old. It should also never be taxed. We MUST however take all the miscellaneous welfare programs OFF the Social Security system.

What about Congressional pensions... I say DO AWAY with these very expensive and coveted pension plans and shift ALL political pensions to the Social Security system. It was made by them, for us, but they are too good to be in the program themselves? End all the political pension programs and shuffle those pension amounts into Social Security.

Can you imagine how bad politicians hate me for saying that!. ha

8. Many Americans are frustrated and distrustful of our leadership in Washington. How can you work to help rebuild trust between Government and the American people?

Of COURSE Americans are distrustful of our leadership in Washington DC. They enrich themselves by buying stocks which they know will skyrocket, as they are the ones who make the financial policies. Talking about insider trading... WOW.

The Department of Justice has been completely weaponized by the current administration. People arrested for the January 6 riots have been in jail with NO bail now for years. Some of them are innocent and we have video evidence to prove it.

Most Congressional Candidates (and others) take political payoffs from lobbyists. The payoffs are for support and favoritism.

Most Congressional Candidates seem invisible until right before elections, and then suddenly they are available.

SO, how can we rebuild trust?

* Eliminate Congressional and Senatorial pension programs and let them have only Social Security as others receive.

* Make a rule that leaders in DC (and their family members) cannot own stocks while in public service. That would really mess with Nancy Pelosi and her millions.

* A good way to end lobbyist money is to outlaw political contributions. Let all candidates for office simply show up to special places to have a forum or discuss issues. Outlaw political campaign ads as well in all media. This includes no yard signs.

* Congressmen should have a weekly program on MOST state media outlets, so citizens can hear a report of what happened in Washington DC.

* Put term limits on Congressmen and Senators to get rid of lifelong politicians. Two terms for a Senator (12 years maximum) and 3 terms for a Congressman (6 years maximum)

* Require an annual budget, with NO deficit or the Representatives receive NO salary. That should wake a bunch of them up.

* Have all candidates answer a series of questions to show their political philosophies, as the Activote organization has done. In this way everyone can see what the actual ideology is for candidates.

All of THESE steps would increase the trust levels of leadership in DC.

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