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.

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.

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!!

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.

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.

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.

.

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.”

.

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.

Not much posting today because I was busy prep’ing for my KLAS Channel 8 interview re: Governor Gibbon’s State of the State speech next week, Nevada policy issues, and the role of blogging, citizen journalism and new media in politics. Clips will be televised next week in the days leading up to the speech.

I’m too tired right now to repeat what I said on camera, but I’ll sum it up for you sometime before next week’s event. Right now, I’m going to have drinks and dinner with Andrew and the Venerable Mr. Crum.

Cheers!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                      Contact: Andrew Stoddard
January 5, 2009                                                         Phone: 202-225-3252

Congresswoman-elect Titus Named to Transportation

and Infrastructure Committee

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman-elect Dina Titus of Nevada’s Third District announced today that she has been appointed to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for the 111th Congress.  The appointment was recommended by the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee and approved by the Democratic Caucus.

 “I look forward to working with Chairman Oberstar and the rest of the members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to reinvest and rebuild America,” Congresswoman-elect Titus said.  “With record growth that has put an increasing strain on Nevada’s aging infrastructure, it is more important than ever to modernize and strengthen our roads, highways, and energy grid while spurring job creation in Southern Nevada.”

 “I am pleased to welcome Congresswoman Titus to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee,” said Chairman Jim Oberstar of Minnesota.  “As the Representative of one of the nation’s fastest growing regions, she brings an understanding and knowledge of the transportation challenges our nation faces and will be a valuable addition to the Committee.”

(zzzzZZZ)

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.

My friend over at Blue Collar Muse has made the Finalists list for the 2008 Weblog Awards in the category of Best Conservative Blog. It is well deserved, and I am just delighted for him.

When added to the joy of being married to the dazzling and intelligent Much Younger Trophy Wife, BCM’s cup surely overfloweth.

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.)

Three readers have asked me to provide links to my posts on other blogs/sites.

I hope it is not too bold to assume these readers do not find those other blogs/sites as completely riveting as E!! and so do not wish to visit them and scroll and click through their content.

(But in fairness and all seriousness, my lady readers should try to read LadyBlog. It’s pretty interesting most of the time, very funny some of the time, and somewhat controversial once in awhile ~ as it was this week.)

Anyhooha (for that joke, see here in the Comments), here are my most recent other posts:

Pimp My Corpse

Cardboard Controversy

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

My sister was reported missing 30 days ago today.  The investigation continues.  My family is very grateful to all who have inquired and sent their well wishes as well as those at Michigan State who organized the recent candle light vigil for her.

You can continue to email me or Google “Krista Lueth” for the latest news from Michigan, but – sad as I am – I both need and want to get back to E!! 

Krista’s gifting and passion was plants, gardens and horticulture.  Mine is reading, researching and writing.  Many years ago as we talked about Life and Meaning, she quoted an approximated adage: “If we make our play and our passions our work, we’ll never grow tired.”  

At the time we thought we had many years of “playing” and exchanging stories ahead, but I guess growing old together was not meant to be.  I’ll so miss hearing about her victories and joys and/but I know that she would want me to move forward and try to have mine.

She was that kind of sister.

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.

 I am delighted to have been awarded the first Ever Blogivist of the Month award by the Sam Adams Alliance Blogivists group. 

Cash prize:  $250

Warm, happy feeling:  Priceless

Being part of Blogivists has been more fun that any blogger should rightfully have.  There are many skilled (and funny) bloggers in the group, and it’s been big fun to blog, click-o-vate, comment, and make merry.  I feel honored to have been picked for the first monthly award and look forward to seeing who wins for November!

Thanks to all – and Blog On!

Many are saying this election was a failure of Conservatism.  Not so.  It was the product of poor Republican leadership and big government policies.  Fiscal discipline went out the window.  Earmarks were snatched up eagerly.  Corruption scandals sprang up too often.  Communication and message management were poor.

In short, the Republican party became undisciplined, greedy, weak and ineffective.  This dirtied and eroded the Republican brand such that it became unrecognizable and uninspiring. 

We need new leadership.  We need new voices and/or the renewing and rejuvination of existing voices.  Our elected officials need to stop concerning themselves with power grabs, pandering, and placating.  We must unapologetically and unashamedly stand on True Conservative values.

We need to get back to basics and get on message, recognizing that effective and persuasive communication matters.  As Laura Ingraham said today, “We must cultivate a new generation of leaders who are both proud of their conservative beliefs and comfortable articulating them with vision, clarify and optimism.” 

I hereby invoke part of Russell Kirk’s introduction to Ten Conservative Principles:

Perhaps it would be well, most of the time, to use this word “conservative” as an adjective chiefly. For there exists no Model Conservative, and conservatism is the negation of ideology: it is a state of mind, a type of character, a way of looking at the civil social order.

The attitude we call conservatism is sustained by a body of sentiments, rather than by a system of ideological dogmata. It is almost true that a conservative may be defined as a person who thinks himself such. The conservative movement or body of opinion can accommodate a considerable diversity of views on a good many subjects, there being no Test Act or Thirty-Nine Articles of the conservative creed.

In essence, the conservative person is simply one who finds the permanent things more pleasing than Chaos and Old Night. (Yet conservatives know, with Burke, that healthy “change is the means of our preservation.”) A people’s historic continuity of experience, says the conservative, offers a guide to policy far better than the abstract designs of coffee-house philosophers.

I have always loved Kirk’s Ten and that intro.  Not an ideology but ”a state of mind, a type of character, a way of looking at the social order.”

Conservatives are skeptical of change for its own sake and will always pause to ask, “but what are the unintended consequences?”  Conservatives value that which has been good, and is good, and are not eager to dismiss that good in favor of untested new ideas.  Conservatives are open minded but cautious.  Social experiments are looked upon with great skepticism.  As Kirk later writes:

Therefore the intelligent conservative endeavors to reconcile the claims of Permanence and the claims of Progression. He thinks that the liberal and the radical, blind to the just claims of Permanence, would endanger the heritage bequeathed to us, in an endeavor to hurry us into some dubious Terrestrial Paradise. The conservative, in short, favors reasoned and temperate progress; he is opposed to the cult of Progress, whose votaries believe that everything new necessarily is superior to everything old.

Just so.

I assume most have checked the state election results by now, so here are some random thoughts:

– With 28 seats in the Assembly, a majority in the Senate, and just a couple of Republican votes the Dems can override a veto by Governor Jim Gibbons.  He is now officially a lame duck.  Or, in light of the constant trouble and controversy surrounding him, maybe just plain lame.

– In light of the above, expect a tax hike in Nevada as legislators contemplate a budget shortfall of (at least) $250 million.

– My condolences to Senator Heck (R) who lost to Breeden by 801 votes.  But, as Chuck Muth pointed out during this morning’s panel discussion on KNPR, Heck’s campaign ignored his advice to court the Libertarian active voting block (which by all counts was larger by far than Heck’s loss margin).  A few calls and mailers to Libertarian types and who knows what could have been?

– Incumbent Senator Bob Beers (R) was outspent and outslimed by a Democratic machine that did not hesitate to twist, lie and libel.  And somehow it didn’t seem to matter to voters that his opponent, Allison Copening, ducked most debate and interview opportunities throughout the campaign. 

– I was dissatisfied with both Beers’ and Copening’s pre-election responses to my “what will you cut, or what taxes will you raise, specifically” question in re: to Nevada’s budget shortfall.  Beers said we’d have to do one or the other (duh!) and Copening said she’d figure it out when she got to Carson City.  These answers are not good enough.  Voters have the right to know what their candidates plan to do before they cast their ballots.

– Congrats to Chad Christensen who is “my” Assemblyman.  A lot of people thought he was done, including Jon Ralston.

– Memo to Senator Raggio:  Please do what you can to convince your fellow senators to cut the budget and raise taxes as little as possible.

I didn’t mention Dean Heller’s congressional race in my prediction blurb because he’s going to crush Democrat Jill Derby and I assumed everyone knew that.

Most people who follow election day results know that poll closing times drive news coverage throughout the afternoon/evening.  Below are how the closing times fall (all times are Eastern) along with some notes.  Electoral votes are in parenthesis where indicated.

6:00 – Most of KY and IN – Indiana is a battleground state this year.

7:00 – Remaining precincts in KY and IN + VT, half of NH, VA, SC, GA, FL – This is the “first wave” of election results.  Kentucky (8), South Carolina (8), and Georgia (15) are red states.  Vermont (3) is blue.  Eyes are on Indiana (11), New Hampshire (4), Virginia (13), and Florida (27).  I’ve seen polls in these states that have the candidates virtually tied and polls that have Obama up by 3 to 5 points.  I predict FL and NC for McCain; not sure on NH and VA.

7:30 – OH, WV, NC – Ohio is huge with 20 electoral votes.  West Virginia (5) is red, but North Carolina (15) is in play.  I predict McCain will win NC, but Ohio is anybody’s guess.  Obama could win without Ohio, but I’m not sure McCain can.

8:00 – ME (4), the other half of NH, MA (12), CT (7), PA (21), NJ (15), DE (3), MD (10), D.C. (3), MI (17), TN (11), AL (9), MS (6), IL (21), MO (11), SD (3), KS (6), OK (7), TX (34) - The battleground states on this list are NH, PA, MI, and MO.  Mchigan will go blue.  I think Missouri will go red.  I would have called PA for Obama up until a week ago, but now I’m not so sure.  PA is second in importance behind Ohio, and no matter what McCain can’t lose both of them and win the way things are looking.

8:30 – AR (6) – Arkansas is red.

9:00 – RI (4), NY (31), LA (9), WI (10), MN (10), parts of ND (3) and SD (3), NE (5), WY (3), CO (9), NM (5), AZ (10) – The only real question marks here are Colorado and New Mexico.  All the polls say Colorado will go to Obama and the margin seems to make that likely.  The race in New Mexico is closer.  Strangely enough, the way these things work, McCain really needs New Mexico’s five electoral votes.  (And I noted that he spent some time there today so his campaign concurs.)  I ran quite a few scenarios earlier including one in which McCain won NH, IN, OH, VA, NC, FL, MO, and lost PA, MI, CO, NV, and NM…which resulted in a tie:  269 electoral votes each.  Moving NM’s 5 to Obama’s column resulted in a 274-264 Obama win.

10:00 – IA (7), MT (3), ID (4), UT (5), NV (5) - Iowa is blue.  The rest are red except Nevada which is in play this year.  Based on registration rolls, many people are calling Nevada for Obama, but the predicted Dem wins in the primaries (for the same reason) didn’t happen.  So, we’ll see.  

11:00 – WA (11), OR (7), CA (55) – “Yawn”:  The most boring poll closing since all are blue.

12:00 – AK (3), HI (4) – Alaska is red; Hawaii blue.

I’m scheduled to be on KNPR’s State of Nevada with Dave Berns tomorrow to discuss the election.  Others on the panel will be political consultant (and my friend) Chuck Muth, City Life editor Steve Sebelius, and Las Vegas CBS/Channel 8 Face to Face’s Jon Ralston (who I’ll be meeting for the first time).  Listen in if you can or check the website for the archive later on.

A Vegas voter posted this on Bob Beers’ blog yesterday:

Disgusted with Dems Says:
October 31st, 2008 at 3:01 pm

I went to one of the early voting locations today and when I refused the Copening propaganda her supporters thrust at me in the parking lot, I was called a “b*tch” as I walked away. How dare they treat voters with such disrespect.

In this next case, emailed in by my one of my readers, a partisan person was sanctioned:

I voted this morning at the Lake Meade/Tenaya location.   Probably the most excitement was a guy from the Obama campaign that had on a yellow T-shirt that said “voting questions – ask me” or something like that.  He was sitting along the line of people waiting to vote. 

I didn’t think anything of it, until I noticed that all the poll workers had on blue/white/red shirts.  About that time, the guy was escorted out of the area.  He took off the shirt and then was milling around with the ‘poll observers’.   I was ready to grab my cell phone for a picture if anything exciting happened, but nothing did. 

I waited about an hour to vote.  My hubby was on Channel 3 – they were interviewing people about the early voting process – was it easy, what did we think, etc.

There is not supposed to be any partisan canvassing at the polls.  Also, in re: to situation 1 above, here is what item 3 of the Nevada Voters’ Bill of Rights, as outlined in NRS 293.2546, says about voting:

3. Each voter has the right to vote without being intimidated, threatened or coerced.

That first voter should have complained to the poll workers so they could have asked those Copening people to take their handouts and nasty remarks elsewhere.

Incumbent Nevada state Senator Bob Beers has filed a libel lawsuit against Allison Copening and the Nevada Democratic Party.  The complaint was filed due to political advertising that contains libelous statements claiming Beers was under “Ethics Commission review.” 

I checked it out and Beers has never been under investigation by the Nevada Ethics Commission, so if the advertising did state this, it is indeed false.  And if the Dems and Copening knew this, they did libel Beers and should be held accountable.

You can read the complaint here.

The Nevada Democrats have certainly been peddling a lot of lies and sleaze this campaign season.  Their billboard smears against Beers were called “misleading and blatantly false”  by CityLife editor and Democrat Geoff Schumacher, who is no fan of Beers.  You can read more about it here.

And if you care to learn the differences between the candidates’ policies, you can go here.

Apparently some of my readers, including The Venerable Mr. Crum, are often pressed for time and do not always have time to scroll through all of LadyBlog just to find my posts. 

It’s sweet that they care only about me, though I must say in all fairness that the other BlogLadies are nearly as bright and funny as I.  (ha ha!)

Following are a few of my most recent LadyBlog posts.  Forward the links and/or leave comments if you wish; it earns us points with the editors.

Planetary First:  Rwanda’s Parliament Has Female Majority:  http://culture11.com/blogs/ladyblog/2008/10/30/planetary-first-rwanda%e2%80%99s-parliament-has-female-majority/

Well Done, Laura Bush:  http://culture11.com/blogs/ladyblog/2008/10/29/well-done-laura-bush/

Next Season’s Dancing With the Stars:  http://culture11.com/blogs/ladyblog/2008/10/24/next-seasons-dancing-with-the-stars/

Sarah Palin’s Shoes:  http://culture11.com/blogs/ladyblog/2008/10/22/sarah-palins-shoes/

Ledeen on Noonan:  Singling Out Palin (lots of comments on this one; good discussion):  http://culture11.com/blogs/ladyblog/2008/10/17/ledeen-on-noonan-singling-out-palin/

Women and the Commentariat:  http://culture11.com/blogs/ladyblog/2008/10/16/women-and-the-commentariat/

Mr. Nintendo, Meet Ms. Couture:  http://culture11.com/blogs/ladyblog/2008/10/08/mr-nintendo-meet-ms-couture/

A Shoe by the Side of the Road:  http://culture11.com/blogs/ladyblog/2008/10/01/a-shoe-by-the-side-of-the-road/

Patrick Gibbons of the Nevada Policy Research Institute has an excellent education blog post up.  It addresses the disproportionately high cost of new school construction in Nevada compared to other states.  Re-stated:  we are great at being inefficient.

Apparently, Nevada ranks third in the nation in construction costs per student.  Gibbons reminds us of the billions voters recently approved for new Clark County schools and then does the math.  It comes out to roughly $130M per school (though, to be fair, Gibbons says the school district will use some portion of the funds to refurbish old buildings).

There are quite a few things Nevada could do to shore up efficiency and reduce spending.  Including making it easier to form charter schools and create and use school vouchers, so financing for at least some new school construction can move to the private sector.  

Pushing the risk of building the schools onto the private sector naturally creates incentives to keep construction costs low – because their costs have to be recouped by attracting students – but even if they should spend an excess, it wouldn’t be the taxpayers’ problem.

Nevada state senator Bob Beer’s campaign office has been located at 6822 W. Cheyenne Ave., Las Vegas, NV for the last six months or so.  He says that a couple of weeks ago, two doors down, an Obama campaign office opened.  Beers’ staffers thought maybe Obama had adopted a new slogan, but it turns out the previous tenant prepared tax returns and the Obama people neglected to take down the old sign: