Republicans flex muscles, give GOP majority to nearly all legislative committees

George Norris must be rolling over in his grave.

Norris, the father of the one-house Nebraska Unicameral Legislature and one of the greatest U.S. senators in history, sought a political body that would not be dominated by political parties.

So state senators in Norris' Unicameral are elected on a non-partisan ballot, leaders of legislative committees are chosen by secret ballot and there's no closed-door, final crafting of legislation in conference committees. The idea is that legislators can make decisions based on what's best for their constituents, and not what's dictated by party leaders....