E!! The True Conservative Story™

Fact:  Democrats control the Nevada State Senate, 12-9.

Fact:  Due to the 2/3 super-majority rule, Nevada Democrats cannot pass a tax increase without the votes of (at least) two Republican senators.

Fact:  No Republican senator would dare to vote for a tax hike without the blessing of Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio (R-Reno).

Conclusion:  Whether or not Nevada’s citizens, businesses and/or tourists get socked with a huge new tax hike in 2009 pretty much depends on Sen. Bill Raggio.

Action Item:  Call, fax, or email Sen. Raggio and respectfully urge him to oppose tax increases in these, the final days of the 2009 legislative session.

Toll-free Phone: 1-800-992-0973  or  1-800-995-9080
Fax: 1-775-786-1177
Email: wraggio@sen.state.nv.us

Action Item 2:  Forward this post to your friends!

Steve Wynn on Jon Ralston’s Face to Face:  “Anybody who raises taxes now is psychotic.”

Apparently there’s a guy working at the Nevada Policy Research Institute who is smarter than the entire Nevada legislature combined.

How so?

He went through the state ledgers line by line and, applying some basic principles and setting a few reasonable priorities, came up with a proposed budget of $5.1 billion.  Which, unlike the budget proposed by the Nevada legislature, stays within our current revenue projections. 

Oh, wait, that’s right:  the state legislature still has not released their budget for public discussion.  Even though they’ve been meeting up in Carson City for months.

Said a legislator who asked not to be named, “I mean, come ON, guys.  This stuff is, like, really hard.”

Says Geoffrey Lawrence, the fiscal expert at NPRI who put the proposed budget together, ”The reason the legislature and governor haven’t been able to balance the budget is that they’ve been unable or unwilling to set priorities.”

Now we wait to hear what the Economic Forum has to say.  We expect they will project lower tax-revenue than previously anticipated.  And that lawmakers will then propose record or near-record tax increases.

If they do, remind them of the four basic principles that provided the basis for NPRI’s budget:  sensible prioritizing, consistent application of government rules and taxes, agency thrift, and “last in, first out” (the elimination of some programs created and funded by Nevada’s record 2003 tax increases – which never should have happened).

So…a Clark County teacher at Harry Reid Elementary School down in Searchlight regularly shows up drunk to teach her kindergarten, first- and second-grade students.  The kids notice and tell their parents, and some parents in town witness her leaving a bar to go to work from time to time.  Parents complain.  And complain again.  And again.  For over two years.

And in response?  The school district finally transfers her to another school in Boulder City.  The residents of which are still reeling from the arrest of a teacher/soccer coach on 84 counts of child porn related acts with his students.

These incidents are hair-raising and are black eyes for public school bureaucrats and the teachers union.  And they help make the case for public school reform and private school choice.

We need a coalition of strong, viable, committed education reform organizations in Nevada.  And they need staffers who can bend enough ears and raise enough funds to actually get something done in Carson City.

Any stepper-uppers?  I’ll be glad to post any/all such activities here!

“Thousands of people, many waving hand-painted signs and American flags, held tax day ‘tea parties’ Wednesday in Las Vegas and Carson City as part of a nationwide movement to protest what they consider excessive government spending.  At Sunset Park (in Las Vegas), an estimated 2,000 to 2,500 people gathered to hear speakers and express their views. Demonstrators along Eastern Avenue and Sunset Road attracted a stream of honks from passing traffic throughout the afternoon.”

 - Las Vegas Review-Journal, 4/16/09

 ”…In Carson City, an angry crowd of 2,000 demanded that legislators not increase taxes…in a protest outside the Legislative Building.  Legislative police and Carson City sheriff’s deputies said the gathering was the largest they had seen in more than 30 years in the state capital.”

 - Las Vegas Review-Journal, 4/16/09

 ”Sen. Maurice Washington, R-Sparks…said (the Carson City tea party) was the largest protest he has seen in his 16 years in Carson City. Estimates ranged from 2,000 to 3,000 people.”

 - Reno Gazette-Journal, 4/16/09

 ”More than 1,500 people waved signs, tea bags and American flags in front of the Legislature (in Carson City) on Wednesday as part of the national Tax Day Tea Party to protest what they said was reckless federal government spending. . . . Organizers said the movement developed organically through online social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and through exposure on Fox News.”

 - Nevada Appeal, 4/16/09

 ”(P)rotesters who attended a modern-day TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party at Sunset Park on Wednesday afternoon hope their actions in protesting high taxation, increased government spending embodied in the federal stimulus package and all things Obama will carry a similar message.  Metro Police estimated the crowd at between 1,500 and 2,000 people and said there were no problems at the event, which was one of dozens held nationwide.  Clark County Republican Party Executive Director Susane Crawford organized the event at Sunset Park. Speakers included officials of the Libertarian and Independent American Parties.”

 - Las Vegas Sun, 4/16/09

 ”This isn’t a Republican event, this isn’t a Democratic event.  This is an American event.”

 - Las Vegas conservative talk-show host Casey Hendrickson, speaking at the Las Vegas Tea Party

 ”Americans from both (major) political parties turned out on Wednesday. From reports I received, some speakers were booed if they got too partisan. The point? The point is that we’ve seen both Republicans and Democrats turn their back on the American people. Spending, spending, spending, and taxes, taxes, taxes. It is too much, and we’ve all had enough.”

 - Bobby Eberle, editor and publisher of GOPUSA.com, 4/16/09

“The modern-day Paul Reveres have had enough….  People have been venting their frustration since the global economy began its meltdown.  Citizens are angry watching the government spend billions and billions of dollars with no constraints in place, while they must juggle household budgets and income and wonder if they’ll have a job the following day.”

 - Lahontan Valley News editorial, 4/15/09

My friend and fellow grassroots organizer, Eric Odom, debates a sarcastic and dismissive Bill Press about the TEA Parties – who started them, who’s funding them, and what they mean – on Fox News Channel.  Here’s the video clip.

A few notes:

Bill’s opening quip – “I smell a rat” – made me roll my eyes.  And his contention that the Tea Parties are “not genuine” and are “funded by big Republican groups” and that the “timing is politically suspicious”…are ill-informed, wrong, and frankly, silly.

The TEA Party movement was and is a grassroots thing.  It started with a few small blogger-groups who organized some small demonstrations awhile back, and then the idea spread like wildfire online (”new media”) and on the “small” airwaves:  via blogs, email forwards, BlogTalkRadio, RFC Radio, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Ning networking sites, message boards, and chat rooms.

The biggest evidence that this is a grassroots effort is the lack of funding and the lack of central control/planning.  Here in Nevada, I’ve seen about a dozen different web pages posting  3 different locations and a dozen different time windows for the TEA (Taxed Enough Already!) Party events.  People got wind of the idea, liked it, and started organizing their own mini-events among their own friends and networks.  When they all show up today, it will be Big – but not because the mythical Vast Right Wing Consiracy and/or Big GOP is behind it.

Here in Las Vegas, there was/is NO BUDGET for our Tea Party event.  A few dozen very committed leader-volunteers and about 800 local volunteer-helpers spread the word about the event/rally.   The only money spent (that I’m aware of) was the $200 plunked down this past Friday by Chuck Muth of Citizen Outreach, for a picnic area at Sunset Park.  Chuck offered to do this when he got wind that we (the organizers and volunteers) were being told that local radio station KXNT – which wanted/wants to cover the event – could not set up a broadcast table, nor could we set up a small podium, mic, and sound/speakers, on or near the sidewalks at the designated protest areas.

Most of the people I know who are attending here have NEVER participated in a protest or a picket line.  General disgust and a wish to be heard has drawn them out.

Whatever the Snarkmeisters wish to say, the Tax Day TEA Parties are a grassroots, post-partisan/non-partisan thing.  People are simply fed up with the endless bailouts, lack of accountability and transparency, ridiculous earmarks, huge deficits, frightening federal budget, and the like.

So reports S.A. Miller, in the WaTi.

(It’s official:  I will now start using the “2010 Elections” category I created the day after the election.)

Also said (as much as it disgusts me to repeat it here):

Mr. Reid now has more than $5 million on hand after starting the year with $3.3 million, said a Democratic official familiar with the Reid campaign’s first-quarter contribution reports, which are due Monday.

The official did not want to be identified discussing campaign-finance figures not yet made public.

The cash infusion will push his total contributions to $7.6 million for the 2010 re-election race, compared with the $9 million total he raised for the 2004 campaign. Since his 2004 election victory, the Reid campaign committee has given about $1 million to other Democratic candidates and party entities.

Mr. Reid scheduled a meeting with supporters and volunteers in Las Vegas this week to discuss the campaign, which is “already in full swing,” according to the Nevada state Democratic Party.

He plans to rally volunteers Tuesday at the Democratic Party Organizing Convention, in Clark County, Nevada. There, party officials say, Mr. Reid intends to retool the Obama grass-roots organization in the state to boost his re-election campaign.

“I think starting early is just being smart, not being cautious,” said Sam Lieberman, chairman of the Nevada state Democratic Party. “As much as Republicans would like to target the race, I don’t see a credible candidate emerging…”

(I told someone the other day that at least $20 million would be spent on the race between Reid and his challenger.  The person looked at me in disbelief.  Well, do ya’ believe me now…?)

From the other side:

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), says the party is courting a strong challenger, but he’s not saying who that is.

We wait.  Oh My Stars !! do we wait, and hope, and pray, for Someone who can beat Harry Reid, who so deserves to lose his seat on The Hill.  Which is why:

Republicans say Mr. Reid will need an early start and deep pockets this time around.

“On a range of issues, he is to the left of the state,” NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh said. Nevada voters “know Harry Reid. They are just saying they don’t support him.”

The four-term incumbent consistently scores less than a 50 percent job-approval rating in Nevada, which, though then-Sen. Barack Obama carried it in the 2008 presidential elections, is generally more conservative than the Democratic Party national agenda Mr. Reid champions on Capitol Hill.

“There are a lot of folks who are upset with all the spending and what’s going on in the federal government,” said John Ellison, a longtime member of the Elko County Board of Commissioners in northern Nevada.

If and when a viable conservative candidate is announced, I pledge my blood, sweat, and tears to his/her campaign.

Just received (pass it on!):

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Chuck Muth
(702) 531-5551
April 11, 2009

Citizen Outreach Joins Las Vegas Tax Day TEA

Party/Rally/Picnic to Be Held at Sunset Park

(Las Vegas, NV) – Citizen Outreach Foundation has teamed up with citizen-volunteer Tax Day TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party organizers for the rally being held this Wednesday, April 15th, at Sunset Park in Las Vegas. Citizens unhappy with local, state and federal government taxing, spending, borrowing and bailing-out public policies will gather to voice and show their displeasure. More than 500 similar rallies will be held nationwide on the same day.

Since the Clark County Department of Parks and Recreation wouldn’t allow TEA party organizers to use the park unless they were having a picnic and rented one of the picnic areas, Citizen Outreach President Chuck Muth stepped up to pay the rental fee and officially host a “picnic” for rally participants from 11:30 am until 2:30 pm.

“The government said we had to hold a picnic in order to use their park, so I decided to host a ‘pork’ roast!” Muth said. “What could be more appropriate? So bring your blanket, your kids, your folding chairs and a picnic basket and join our protest against higher taxation and pork-barrel spending. Forget about work; Obama has you covered!”

Keynote remarks will be delivered around 1:00 pm by special guest Herman Cain. Cain is a national motivational speaker, a FOX News business commentator, and host of “The Herman Cain Show” on WSB 750 AM out of Atlanta, Georgia. He’s the former chairman of Godfather’s Pizza, as well as a former president of the National Restaurant Association. Cain also ran for the United States Senate in Georgia in 2004.

Additional scheduled speakers include:

* Susane Crawford, Las Vegas Tax Day TEA Party director

* Casey Hendrickson and Heather Kydd, talk-show hosts for KXNT-840 AM

* Wayne Allyn Root, the Libertarian Party’s 2008 presidential candidate

* Chris Hansen, former state chairman of the Indpendent American Party

* Geoffrey Lawrence, Fiscal Policy Director for the Nevada Policy Research Institute

* Elizabeth Crum, award-winning blogger of “E!! The True Conservative Story”

Sunset Park is located at the southeast corner of Sunset and Eastern near the airport. Picnic Area F is located in the southwestern section of the park near the dog runs. Use the south entrance off Eastern into the huge parking area adjacent to Picnic Area F.

For additional information, contact Susane Crawford at (702) 374-7733 or by email at edirector@clarkgop.org

Thomas Mitchell @ the LVRJ reports on his experience with an open records request down at the County.  He got what he wanted, but it’s a good thing he didn’t have a deadline.

Las Vegas Sun political analyst John Ralston nails one, but good.

I challenge you to read every single word.  Then, if you live in Nevada, take a moment to feel some deep-seated disgust at the passing of a neutered campaign finance disclosure bill that won’t even kick in until 2011.  Then contact your Assembly representative to demand that they give the bill’s balls back (and perhaps lend a pair to GOP Assemblyman James Settelmeyer, whose objections against the measure seem pretty wimpy).

And while you’re at it, contact Sec. of State Ross Miller’s office to suggest that they make online filing easier.  Chuck Muth said the following about the process as it exists now:

I have a PAC (political action committee) and once tried filing my [financial report] online.  And I gotta tell you, it was a royal pain in the you-know-what.  The process set up by the Secretary of State’s office is decidedly not user-friendly and is unduly complicated to navigate and complete.  No wonder so many candidates, PACs, and ballot advocacy groups opt to simply fill out the forms by hand.
 
Miller is on the right track pushing for online reporting, but he also needs to get his own house in order. It shouldn’t be too difficult to allow campaigns using, say, Quickbooks, to import the required information directly into the campaign reporting system at the SoS’s office instead of having to type it out separately a second time. 

Timely online transparency should be a requirement not only for campaign finance reporting, but for all publicly funded agencies and organizations.  It’s something we can all agree on – or should.

Subject link:  Check out the Nevada Project at Sunshine Review.

From Chuck’s Muth’s News & Views:

Now here’s the sort of talk we like to hear from a Republican governor…

“Common sense dictates that when you’re in a hole it’s vital you stop digging. Requiring our state to spend beyond its means for the next 24 months to be eligible for all the stimulus moneys guarantees that (our state) will dig itself a $740 million financial hole. Who helps us then? Do we raise taxes, and thereby weaken our competitiveness relative to other states and countries — or do we just summarily end programs for some of the neediest of our state?
 
“Or are we to plan on yet another round of stimulus windfall from Washington in two years — again, with money we don’t have? I don’t know the answer to these questions, but I do know the $740 million budget hole created would be the largest such hole in (our) state financial history.”

Unfortunately, that’s not Nevada’s tax-hiking Republican governor talking.  It’s a true conservative Republican governor talking:  South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. 

Wish there were more like him.  Wish he was our governor.

Nevada Appeal has the details.

NV Senator Bob Coffin hoped to gain support for the bill (SB 369) but yesterday’s testimony by brothel owners and employees didn’t generate the needed votes from the Taxation Committee (four of seven votes are needed to move the bill forward).

Coffin argued that prostitution is a legal activity that should be subject to tax like any other service and says $2M in much-needed state revenue would be generated by the new tax of $5 per sex act.

A dissenting brothel owner said the tax would cause a further decline in the number of customers due to the economic downturn.

The fiscal and moral arguments against the tax are obvious, and I agree with them.

But – is it wrong of me to ask why the bill proposes a flat, per-act tax rather than a percentage of the total sale like most businesses?  Skimming $5 off a $100 service would result in a 5% tax, but $5 out of $1,000 is only one half of 1%.

Surely Senator Coffin can agree it wouldn’t be fair to have Nevada’s low-income, underpriveleged whores paying out a higher percentage of their wages than the high-dollar girls? 

Or are they so used to getting screwed that Coffin thinks they won’t mind?

UPDATE:  Two readers emailed in on SB 369 name-ology, suggesting we call it the “Flat On Your Back” Tax.  Good idea, but Chuck Muth beat them to it.

Since I don’t have an agent or a PR department, I have no choice but to shamelessly promote myself (see award #4).  I think there is a blog badge or button coming at some point; I’ll proudly post it here when it arrives.

If you’re in the Chicago area (or want an excuse to be) and would like to attend the awards banquet and ceremony on April 18, click here for tickets.  Presenters and VIP guests include Michelle Malkin, John Fund, Stephen Moore, Mary Katherine Ham, Paul Jacob, and Joe the Plumber (yes, really!)

A quote in honor of Sam Adams, the namesake of the award:

“It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate and tireless minority keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”

The award-bestowing Sam Adams Alliance is a 501(c)(3) “To Do Tank” based in Chicago.  They educate, inform, and empower citizens about important political issues through New Media tools (blogs, wikis, Google groups, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.)  Among other things, they created Blogivists:  the platform/server upon which this blog was started.

*

I do realize this isn’t the Grammys and that the Thank Yous are the most boring part of any awards event…but in addition to a general “thanks” to my readers and fellow bloggers, I would like to specifically acknowledge a few people for their support of this blog:

An update from my friend, Heather Kydd, who co-hosts a great show with Casey Hendrickson on AM 840 KXNT:

Due to a greater-than-expected anticipated turn-out, it’s been decided to move the Tea Party a little ways down the road from the original location – and to extend the hours so more people can participate at times that are convenient for them.

We will now be gathering at the Sunset & Eastern intersection sidewalks as it provides more room and there is considerably more parking in this area.

when:  April 15 from 12 – 7 PM
where:  Sunset & Eastern intersection

Parking will still be somewhat limited, but people can park at Sunset Park and perhaps surrounding businesses.  It is recommended that you carpool or catch a ride if you can.

Please spread the word!!

If  you can, call and urge these NV legislators to vote against the budget:

Sen. Reid       202-224-3542

Sen. Ensign     202-224-6244

Rep. Heller     202-225-6155

Numbers for the “Mod Squad” in the Senate:

Evan Bayh (IN): 202-224-5623
Mark Begich (AK): 202-224-3004
Michael Bennet (CO): 202-224-5852
Thomas Carper (DE): 202-224-2441
Kay Hagan (NC): 202-224-6342
Claire McCaskill (MO): 202-224-6154
Mary Landrieu (LA): 202-224-5824
Joe Lieberman (CT): 202-224-4041
Ben Nelson (NE): 202-224-6551
Jeanne Shaheen (NH): 202-224-2841

Also… these Republicans are on the fence:

Arlen Specter (PA): 202-224-4254
Olympia Snowe (ME): 202-224-5344

Note: Updates will be added to this post as they are available, so check back.

Quite a few readers have emailed asking about the Tax Day Tea Party events as well as possible Sign Making Parties to occur in the days leading up to the event.  Here’s the info:

Las Vegas Tea Party
Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Time: Noon to 2:00 pm (update:  hours extended:  Noon to 7:00 p.m.)
Location: 1001 E. Sunset Rd, Las Vegas, NV. Sidewalk across from the Sunset Post Office (update:  now meeting on the sidewalks at the intersection of Eastern and Sunset)
Contact: edirector@clarkgop.org
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=66803845916

National Tax Day Tea Party page: http://www.taxdayteaparty.com

Las Vegas Sign Making Parties

GOP Event: The Clark County GOP headquarters on S. Decatur will be open from noon to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8th.  Bring your own supplies!

Carson City/Reno Tea Party
Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Time: 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
Location: 101 N Carson Street, Carson City, NV. In front of the State Capitol building and Supreme Court
Contact: unrcollegerepublicans@gmail.com or renoteaparty@gmail.com
Meet-up page: http://www.meetup.com/Reno-Tea-Party/calendar/9944771/

Carson/Reno Sign Making Party

Friday, April 10th.  I’ll post an update on time and location when I get more info from the organizer.

Vin Suprynowicz has a good piece on a new lawsuit just brought before the Nevada Supreme Court by Las Vegas attorney Phil Aurbach.  The contention is that pharmacists had a duty to voice their concerns to doctors before filling a prescription for a narcotic painkiller for a woman who later killed someone in a car crash (in Vegas in 2004).

Aurbach says Nevada pharmacists continued to fill prescriptions for Patricia Copening even after warnings by a state task force that she might be a prescription drug abuser.  He asked the court to reinstate the wrongful death case he seeks to file against several pharmacies.

District Judge Douglas Herndon earlier threw out the case, saying the pharmacies were not legally liable in the crash.  Vin concurs and says you can’t hold pharmacists responsible for following doctors’ orders, nor for what people do with the pills they’re given.  I agree.

I do think the sentences for people who commit crimes while abusing prescription pills should be much harsher, though.  The lady from this story got only NINE MONTHS in jail after killing someone while all doped up.  That sentence seems more appropriate for non-negligent manslaughter, not for someone who chose to drive after popping pills that say “Warning:  May cause drowsiness.  Do not operate heavy machinery” on the side of the bottle.

From Chuck Muth’s March 22 issue of News & Views:

Richard Viguerie is known as the “Funding Father” of the modern-day conservative movement for his pioneering success in harnessing the power of direct mail fundraising from millions of small-dollar donors in the 1970s and 1980s.  So his thoughts on the current predicament conservatives find themselves in should be taken strongly into consideration.

“It’s obvious that conservatives have a GOP problem,” Viguerie writes in his 2006 book Conservatives Betrayed.  “On the one hand, we have to work within the two-party framework of American democracy in order to be effective and not be marginalized. . . . On the other hand, putting all of our marbles on the Republican side hasn’t worked either, as we’ve seen since 2000. . . . Republican lawmakers talk conservative, but vote for bigger and more intrusive government.  They’ve been getting away with this – so far – because they think conservatives have nowhere else to go.”

Gee, sounds an awful lot like Nevada, doesn’t it?

“Instead of creating a new party,” Viguerie continues, “we conservatives need to think of ourselves as a Third Force – an independent outside force that holds both parties accountable for their actions.  This is not a pipe dream – we’ve done it before.

“In the 1970s, the ‘New Right’ was becoming so successful precisely because its leaders thought of themselves – not the Republican Party – as the alternative to the Left and the Democrats.  And during the second half of the 1970s and the early 1980s, this alternative New Right leadership planned strategy every Wednesday at my McLean, Virginia home.

“For six or seven years, the New Right independent operatives would meet for a breakfast session.  For a couple of years, those sessions were followed by evening gatherings where we would be joined by six or seven key Republican congressmen, with Newt Gingrich as their leader.  The organizational leaders thought of themselves as the ‘outside’ leadership group, with the congressmen as the movement’s ‘inside’ leadership.

“For another example, some of the greatest conservative successes over the years have come with independent single-issue groups that have managed to take liberal issues off the table – perhaps the ultimate in political success.  Phyllis Schlafly’s ‘Stop ERA’ took the proposed Equal Rights Amendment off the table in the 1980s, and more recently, the National Rifle Association took the ‘gun control’  issue off the table.

“The critical strategic point is that they battled for bipartisan support of their aims, and held politicians of both parties responsible for their votes.  The fact that the conservative cause triumphed on these issues is my interest, and I say it’s time to let 1,000 new conservative single-issue organizations bloom.”

Hmmm.  Breakfast at my house next week?

From my favorite Nevada conservative, Chuck Muth:

REPUBLICANS GONE BAD
 
It’s bad enough that Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons broke his Tax Pledge to the citizens of Nevada by proposing the teachers union’s room tax hike in his budget, and that seven Republicans in the state Assembly – led by Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert and Assistant Assembly Minority Leader Lynn “Bug Man” Stewart – along with four Republicans in the state Senate – led by Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio and Assistant Minority Leader Dennis “The Menace” Nolan – voted for the tax hike.
 
But now we find out, courtesy of the Ralston Flash, that before Republicans even know who their candidate is going to be against U.S. Sen. Harry Reid next year that two Republican mayors – Reno Mayor Bob Cashell and Sparks Mayor Geno Martini – are helping him raise money for his re-election campaign. 

AND:

If GOP elected officials want to give aid-and-comfort to Democrats…fine. But they should run for office as “independents,” not Republicans.  Backing a Democrat when you’re an elected Republican is a major league spit-in-the-eye to the legions of GOP grassroots volunteers (especially those serving without pay on state and county Central Committees), average voters and small-dollar donors who give their all every cycle to help elect Republicans.

AND:

(get this!!)
 
Coincidentally, the Cashell/Martini fundraiser for Harry Reid is being held in Reno on the exact same night as the Nevada Republican Party’s spring Central Committee meeting in Carson City.  I guess the Republican mayors won’t be able to make the Republican meeting.
 
Seriously, Republicans.  You need some bylaws changes and some serious “woodshed” resolutions to put a stop to this crap.  Actions which undermine the party such as these should have consequences.  Serious consequences.  Do I hear a motion on the floor?

I hope so.  And can we please get some Reno volunteeers to picket the Cashell/Martini fundraiser?!

That’s a line from one of our favorite Adam Sandler movies, Waterboy. 

He yells it at a KFC colonel look-alike professor who is trying to convince him that contrary to what his back woods Mama Says – “alligators are angry because they have all them teeth and no toothbrush” - alligators are ornery because they have an enlarged medula oblangata.

“So you see, Bobby Bouche, your mama is just wrong.”

-

And on the subject of being wrong, Max Schultz claims Yucca Mountain is not dead.  Enough money to keep the project alive (see Obama’s budget) is all the proof we need.  No matter what Harry Reid says.

According to Forbes, Las Vegas beat out the Motor City for the highest vacancy rates in the country in Q4 2008.  The overall rates were obtained by averaging homeowner and rental vacancies.  Vegas had a rental vacancy rate of 16% and a homeowner rate of 4.7%.

The article attributes these statistics to the recent housing bust.  I’d feel pretty safe guessing that major valley wide layoffs were/are a factor as well.

Here’s an interesting developer anecdote from the article:

[Laurence Hallier]’s $600 million Panorama Towers complex was a tremendous success at its inception three years ago. The first of his four planned residential skyscrapers sold out in six months; the second, which opened in 2007, sold out in 12 weeks. As the third tower neared completion last fall, Hallier had sold 92% of its units. Then the recession hit, and only half the units ended up closing. Hallier says it will take years to break even, and plans for the fourth tower have been delayed indefinitely.

This story out of TN has cheered me up considerably.

Apparently Representative Kent Williams sold out conservative Tennessee voters and his own party when he  stole the House Speaker’s chair at the last minute – with the help of Democrats with whom he has been secretly conspiring.  And apparently the TN GOP decided not to take it lying down.  From a resolution of their Executive Committee:

Whereas the supporters, voters and donors of the Tennessee Republican Party have a right to expect that, having collectively campaigned for and won a majority in the state House for the first time since 1868, both houses of the legislature would be lead by loyal Republican leadership; and

Whereas the evidence shows that Representative Kent Williams had been planning his betrayal for eight weeks and conspiring with Democrats to crown him Speaker in exchange for betraying his fellow Republican caucus members; and

Whereas Representative Kent Williams rewarded his Democratic allies with committee chairmanships, putting at risk the Republican agenda the majority of Tennessee voters voted for; and

Whereas Kent Williams’ actions and words provide indefensible evidence to the 30 written challenges questioning the Bona Fide status as a Republican; and is entitled to its constitutional right of Freedom of Association; and

Whereas the Tennessee Republican Party seeks to disassociate with Representative Kent Williams;

BE IT RESOLVED:

1. That state Representative Kent Williams of Carter County, Tennessee, be forever barred from seeking elective office in Tennessee on a Republican ballot; and

2. That the Tennessee Republican Party immediately request all media outlets in Tennessee to cease referring to Representative Kent Williams as a Republican.

3. That Kent Williams receive no support, endorsements, or financial backing by those affiliates of the Tennessee Republican Party.

Can they DO that?

Yes.  As the resolution notes, the Republican Party enjoys the constitutionally protected right of Freedom of Association.

Hmmm…

Have the state parties in Pennsylvania and Maine – home to RINO (Republican In Name Only) sell-out Sens. Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins – heard about this pithy little resolution out of Tennessee?

Maybe the GOP in every state should start disassociating themselves from Republican legislators who sell out conservative values, the voters, and the party that got them elected.

I can think of one state, in particular, in which at least one prominent Republican seems to be conspiring with Democrats to give “bi-partisan” support for tax hikes in the middle of a huge recession.

I’ll give you one guess which state – and which Senator – it is.

It is now the eve of the 75th convening of the Nevada Legislature.  But don’t get too excited, kids!  Tomorrow will be a day of glad-handing and back-slapping and silly grinning.

Anyone waiting for actual state business to be done will have to wait (at least) until Tuesday.  Longer, probably, since the the Dems still have not put forth a comprehensive budget proposal, and it’s going to be more than a 5 minute job to solve our $600 million budget shortfall.

Even then, with the Dem super-majority in the Assembly, the best that minority leader Heidi Gansert will be able to do is convince her team that supporting tax-and-spend policies is bad for their electoral futures.  And if they don’t believe her and choose to join the Dems in a “bi-partisan” action, I’m guessing it’ll be D-Day for them in 2010.

Update: Steve Sebellius has the Democrat “plan” – all two vague-sounding, double-spaced, extra large font pages of it – here.

What does Las Vegas Culinary union Local 226 have to do with the plans to move Las Vegas City Hall from its present location to a site 6 blocks south?  And why did Culinary chief D. Taylor recently meet with Mayor Goodman?

Vin Suprynowicz has the shakedown details.

I wish I had that many.

Thanks to all two readers who have sent concerned emails asking if I am ok.

I am fine and just very busy with two new projects that are leaving me with very little time for browsing the blogosphere and offering my three cents here on E!!

The first project – RFC Radio – is the brain child of my All American Media business partner and dear friend Andrew Riley.  Ideally, he would do all the work and I would reap the benefits.  Alas, he says he needs me to help with the To Dos.  And check his spelling.  And help make Duane feel guilty for missing our conference call last week.  (there, I did it)

The second project is Nevada News Platoon. Apparently, in a fit of extreme congeniality during which I hallucinated that I have spare time and that I am independently wealthy and do not need to paid for my work, I agreed to be the volunteer editor of this soon-to-launched grassroots news and blog site.

The gist is that we will cover news and politics in Nevada from an openly conservative and/or libertarian perspective.  We will not advocate for political parties, but we will unapologetically promote free-market, small government policies.  And provide valuable information to Nevada citizens who would like to Do Something about the current sad state of affairs.

February 5th is the “soft launch” (that’s New Media talk for all you greenies) and then the ”hard launch” and related fanfare will be sometime in March.

If anyone wants to help, here’s what I need from the conservative and/or libertarian citizens, activists, bloggers, writers, media-gurus, and leaders in Nevada (choose the one that fits):

- Commit to visiting the News Platoon site weekly and signing up for our news briefs

- Comment on our blog posts and stories so we know what you think

- Forward select Platoon news items to help spread the word (at your discretion)

- Send me news tips and story ideas (now and on an ongoing basis)

- Keep me informed of all your interesting political and business activitites (this is your opportunity to share info or expertise that only you have and maybe shed light on things for the public)

- Write letters to the editor (me) when you are upset about something going on in NV

- Refer bloggers and citizen journalists to me as potential contributors

- Tell anyone who’s not reading us that they Should Be

I think that about covers it.

Oh - and if anyone figures out how to squeeze more hours out of the day, please let me know.

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Nevada’s most incorrigible tax hater, Chuck Muth, penned a pretty good one today.  Read it for yourself, but here’s a sum-up with a little E!! on the side:

The Silver State’s usual tax-and-spend suspects are crying a river over what amounts to a 10% budget cut (not 15%, not 22%, and not 34%, as has been reported by various hysterical persons who shall go unnamed).

Yes indeedy, 10% is the official figure that Andrew Clinger, the state’s official Budget Director, is officially using in his official correspondence with people.  According to Clinger, Gov. Gibbons’ proposed general fund budget this year “is $632.9 million smaller than last biennium,” a reduction of 9.3 percent. 

So why all the discrepancies, disparities, and dispepsia over huge budget cuts?  Let’s have a little history (and MATH) lesson and see:

2003:  The Legislature increased taxes by more than 3/4 of a billion dollars.  And there were no spending cuts.  Then-REPRESENTATIVE Jim Gibbons criticized then-Governor Kenny Guinn for not cutting 3/4 of a billion dollars from the budget rather than raising taxes. 

2005:  Wonder of wonders, Nevada had a budget surplus of about 3/4 of a billion dollars.  Gov. Guinn put some of the surplus into the Rainy Day Fund and rebated $300 million back to the taxpayers.  The general fund budget was around $6 billion.

2007:  Gov. Guinn is out; Gov. Gibbons is IN.  Gibbons SHOULD HAVE proposed a budget which included the 3/4 of a billion in cuts he’d suggested to Guinn back in 2003, which is to say he should have proposed a budget of around $5.5 billion (allowing for inflation and giving a little leeway and such).  But instead Gibbons suffered from sudden budget amnesia (SBA) and proposed about a billion dollars MORE in state spending.  So the Gibbons budget was nearly $7 billion.

2008:  Astonishingly enough, The Economic Forum projects actual revenues coming into the state coffers at around $5.5 billion.

SO, here we are, 2009:  Looking at the insufficient funds left over from 2007’s budget and faced with having to roll back spending to 2005 levels based on current state revenues.

AND the big-government gurus want the 2009 Legislature to spend NOT ONLY the $7 billion the government already can’t afford, but ANOTHER $1 billion on top of that!   Yes, it’s true:  the spendy spenders are demanding $8 billion in government spending while the state is only taking in $5.5 billion.

AND – here’s the big finish, folks! – the Spenders are calling any talk like the Talk I just talked (i.e. only spending what we are actually taking in), an “irresponsible $2.5 BILLION BUDGET CUT.”

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Any questions?!

Almost forgot to post this!  If you live in Nevada and want your name added to to the coalition letter below, email your name and location to chuck@chuckmuth.com 

Chuck will see that the names get added and the letter is delivered!

Yucca Facts today posts a letter from Ty Cobb, a former Reagan official, to key Nevada decision makers re: Yucca Mountain, as well as a letter Cobb penned to Bruce Breslow, the new executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects.

I have long hoped that Nevadans could/would be fully and fairly informed about Yucca Mountain and that the NANP and Harry Reid and others would stop doing their utmost to kill every proposal for Yucca before a detailed debate has been had.  Nevada citizens deserve unbiased information on Yucca so we can weigh the real pros and cons of hosting the waste facility - and possibly a reprocessing center.  We need to understand the safety issues and consider all the costs and benefits so we can make an informed decision.

I have done some reading and research and I believe safe transportation and storage are possible; that a viable reprocessing center would solve many of the present concerns about volume; that a world-class university R&D center at the plant would be a boon to our higher education system and the state; and that the $100 billion injection into our economy plus an estimated 8,000 jobs during construction would be very good for Nevada.

I sure hope Bruce Breslow will give things a fair shake.

Everything I proposed above is already being done in France and dozens of other nations around the world.  The United States is way behind most of the developed world when it comes to nuclear power plants, storage, and reprocessing – because of the fear-mongering and misinformation dissemination that has been allowed to go on for so long.

Here’s another tired story about how the most helpless people in our society – our disabled, our children, and our disabled children - will be harmed if the Nevada legislature makes any more cuts to the state budget.

(yawn)

The thing about these kinds of stories is that most people don’t dare criticize them because then you’re called a supporter of “unconscionable” acts and a heartless hating hater of autistic kids.

Unless you’re me, and then you dare.

As a general rule, large government bureaucracies run so inefficiently and are guilty of so much over-spending and waste that any run-of-the-mill efficiency auditor could find ways to shave 5 to 10% without much of an impact on anyone.

If you doubt me, check out some of the information on the new Transparent Nevada website.

Like the sum total of the astronomical above-market salaries, overtime, and benfits packages being paid to some state employees.  A few reasonable adjustments and everyone could keep their jobs while the state saves about $100 million.

Or the astoundingly large vendor contracts that exist just here in Clark County.  You cannot convince me that out of the six $100,000,000 – ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR – contracts, there are no reasonable cost reductions that could be made while still maintaining adequate service levels.

It’s all about identifying and reducing inefficiency and waste - not cheating the poor kids out of their speech therapy classes.

Nevadans may remember when Judge Elizabeth Halverson was found guilty of gross misconduct and removed from the bench by the Nevada Discipline Commission?

You can read the sequel in the Las Vegas Review Journal:  

Halverson’s husband recently tried to beat her to death with a frying pan and has plead out his case to the tune of 3 to 10 years in jail.

Quite a pair, these two.

Patrick Gibbons, a staff researcher at the Nevada Policy Research Institute, has a good column on higher education costs in the Reno Gazette-Journal.  He cuts through the hype and runs down the realities of the present budget crunch and then offers some viable cost-saving solutions based on success stories from Virginia Tech and other universities. 

Gibbons says Nevada needs to become better educated about delivering efficient, effective higher education services so rising costs (and fees) do not exceed inflation and income growth.

Jim Rogers and others need to leave the Stone Age behind and get with a financially responsible, 21st century program. 

If you are interested in learning more or becoming involved in education reform in Nevada, consider attending this conference on Wednesday, January 14.  E!! will be there to listen and learn along with many business and community leaders.

Patrick Gibbons, a researcher-analyst at the Nevada Policy Research Institute (NPRI), has a new piece up.

It’s worth the read if you want to (1) understand where Nevada REALLY is with its budget issues, (2) be informed about the questions that remain unanswered, and (C) be reminded that when it comes to politics and money, the devil is always in the details.

Gibbons points out that depending on which newspaper, pundit or politician you believe, you might think Nevada has a budget shortfall of $5.6 billion, $4.5 billion, $2.5 billion, $1.2 billion – or no real shortfall at all. And so you might think we need to cut between 34% and 0% of the budget in order to cover the shortfall.

The questions are: Who is right, and what accounts for the differences in math? And how can the public (or our elected officials) have intelligent policy discussions if we can’t even agree on the basis basics?

In order to wade through it all, one first needs to understand that the General Fund (GF) is not the same as the total state budget. In fact, the GF makes up only 37.5% of the overall budget. The recommendation for the General Fund for the current biennium (FYI: we do our state budgets two years at a time, if you didn’t know that) was $5.8 billion, but the overall recommendation for the state budget was $18 billion.

The other thing to know (ask!) when talking about either the General Fund or the overall state budget is whether people are extrapolating their numbers from (1) the originally projected and appropriated sums or or the currently projected sums, and (2) ditto on the revenue.

Read the NPRI piece and see for yourself!

(And if you have any questions, submit them here and we’ll see if we can get Patrick to stop by and explain things.)

State Assemblyman James Settelmeyer (R-Gardnerville) is looking for ways Nevada can tighten the budgetary belt.  He says the state could save over a million dollars a year if it stopped serving hot breakfast to its prison inmates.

The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that Greg Smith, a spokeperson for the Department of Corrections, admits hot breakfasts – like pancakes and eggs – are indeed being served but says Nevada spends just $2.17 per day per inmate on meals. He further defends the hot plate practice by saying the eggs are “not cooked to order.”

With or without the pancakes, E!! fully endorses the punishment of felons through egg choice deprivation.  The fear of losing one’s autonomy on the question of “scrambled” or “sunny side up” is no doubt a frightening and therefore effective deterrent for those who might otherwise be tempted to a life of crime.

Whatever your personal egg prejudice, please communicate your support for the “No Pancakes for Prisoners” campaign to Assemblyman Settelmeyer.

Write:

770 Hwy 395 N
Gardnerville, NV 89410-7813

Call:

Office:  775-684-8843

Cell:  775-450-6114

Email:

jsettelmeyer@asm.state.nv.us

Iain Murray recently had a good post on the general arguments for them, and for meddling or not meddling with them.

At a recent meeting of Nevada conservative and libertarian leaders it was interesting to note that although we each came from different points on the political spectrum and disagreed on some things, we found one general policy area in which we all agreed:  fiscal policy.  Namely:  free market, small (and transparent) government, low tax, balanced-budget approaches.

The LVSun reports that Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley wants to put two cents from every dollar of state revenue into the Nevada’s rainy day fund. Says the Sun:

Buckley said Wednesday that in the upcoming legislative session, she will propose a “forced savings account” into which 2 cents of every “new dollar” of state revenue would be deposited. New dollars would be any money that comes in above existing revenue levels.

Taking the pennies from new dollars would prevent this system from siphoning funding from existing programs, she said.

Having talked with state Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, and Democrat Steve Horsford, the state Senate’s new majority leader, among others, Buckley said she has not “found one person who does not think it’s a good idea.”

It’s also been reported that (1) Democratic Sen. Bob Coffin has suggested a “temporary” tax that would cease when certain savings goals are met, and (2) our “no new taxes” governor Jim Gibbons has said he might agree to approve a temporary new or increased tax if it has an expiration date.

If Coffin’s plan flies and Gibbons signs off, I guess we’ll have to call him the ”no new taxes unless you pinky swear they won’t last forever” governor.

The LVSun reports that BMI, the second largest carrier at Heathrow International Airport, is pulling out of McCarran. BMI has been providing non-stop flights from Vegas to London since 2004.