Study and candidates and then do your part

Back in March, this space contained a plea for voters to approve Amendment One, which would increase pay for a Nebraska legislator from $12,000 to $24,000 a year.

In the editorial, we argued that $1,000 a month would be sufficient for someone who is very rich, or very poor and used to getting along without many of the necessities of life.

We argued that increasing pay would make it possible for more candidates to consider running for office -- something especially important in light of term limits.

Thursday night's Candidate Forum, sponsored by the Gazette and the McCook Radio Group, proved that there is still plenty of interest in running for Legislature, without the pay increase, and possibly because of the term limits.

However, we still question term limits, and still urge our readers to vote for Amendment One, which doubles the pay of legislators. We feel it's fair and right.

Newspaper editorialists can't pretend to have all the answers when it comes to political leaders, but if we spur thought and discussion, we've done our jobs.

Earlier this week, we gave your our recommendations for the Republican nomination for governor, Senator, Congress and State Treasurer.

To refresh your memory, here they are:

* Gov. Dave Heineman for governor, because of his skills, personality and character, as well as his stance on local control and illegal immigration.

* John Hanson for U.S. Representative for the 3rd district, because of his experience with agriculture as well as business, and his family values.

* Don Stenberg for the Republican nomination for Senate, for his record as attorney general and stance on issues such as alternative energy, defense and agriculture.

* Ron Ross for State Treasurer because of his success as director of the Department of Health and Human Services as well as his current job as State Treasurer.

Notably absent from our endorsements are the hotly contest 44th Legislative District and other local races. We aren't saying that we won't offer recommendations for the fall general election, but the truth is, most readers rub shoulders with the candidates in those races enough to be able to make up their own minds.

Time is running short. It's only a couple of days before we have the chance to play our part in keeping our system of government going. Please study the candidates and issues, and make the effort to cast your vote.