Here's the Truth.

Perhaps you've been reading about the scary new attack ads bombarding our TVs, radios, and even internet enabled devices. They've all been spreading the same message: "WE'RE DOOMED!!!"



Yes, we've seen the actual ads, including the one starring the very person who started The Education Initiative (TEI) in the first place. "The Coalition to Stop Any Effort to Make Them Pay Their Fair Share" is hoping its bribes to this person will be enough to sway us to "STOP THE SCAWEEEEEE MAAAAARRRRGGINN TAX!!!"

Here's the problem: They have nothing. They literally offer nothing. And that's deliberate, as these "big bid'ness" types are the same folks who have always fought any & every effort to properly fund public education in this state. What makes anyone think they actually now "believe the children are our future"?

Here's what really scares them: More & more Nevadans are finally realizing what they're truly up to. And now that TEI is on our fall ballot, We the People finally have the opportunity to do what they've been preventing in Carson City for far too long.

Here's the truth behind their scary attack ads: They can't prove what they're claiming. If TEI is so "job killing", then why isn't Nevada doing better under the "no tax" status quo? Why are states with higher "tax burdens" seeing better job growth and balanced budgets while we lag behind?

Yesterday, new independent analysis from two UNR economists confirmed what we've been saying for some time: TEI will help Nevada's economy by restoring investment in public education. This is why a number of local business owners, such as Ron Nelsen & Cassie Rice, have come forward to explain why they're more than willing to invest more to build a better future for our kids.





Here's the truth behind all the media spin surrounding Question 3: Our schools are "grossly underfunded". And as long as they remain "grossly underfunded", our economy will suffer. But if we break this cycle of underfunding and failure, we can retool our economy so that it's no longer reliant upon "bubbles" and "winnings". TEI gives us the chance to invest in a stronger economic foundation instead of relying upon quicksand.

That's the truth that TEI's opponents don't want you to hear. So instead, they load up on scary attack ads featuring slick political insiders preaching a frightening message of "DOOM!" Don't fall for their crap. Just look behind the curtain to uncover the truth.

Talk About "Constituent Service"

(Also at Daily Kos)

This week, the entire world is on edge. Will we all witness an unprecedented economic catastrophe? Will the G-O-TEA's flirtation with Armageddon lead America to just that?

There were plenty of anxious Nevadans gathering outside Rep. Joe Heck's (R-What?) Las Vegas area office to demand an end to the G-O-TEA manufactured crisis. Yet when they arrived, Heck's staff called police on them. And that was just the start of their "constituent service".







While the peaceful demonstration outside Heck's office was underway, four police cars arrived. Yet upon witnessing the nonviolent protesters from Nevada AFL-CIO, OFA Nevada, and local progressive grassroots, Las Vegas Metro police officers just asked them not to block traffic (they didn't), then told them to proceed in exercising their First Amendment rights.

Just before police arrived, several local workers spoke to the crowd about what they've endured so far this month. Two federal workers are furloughed, one federal worker is being forced to work without pay, and one contractor is looking for work. Needless to say, people here in Southern Nevada are feeling the pain. What makes this even more painful is that it's absolutely unnecessary, and that's why they and the protesters were calling on Rep. Heck to stop playing Russian Roulette on the American people and let them get back to work.





This manufactured crisis has already caused plenty of economic damage. But if this continues and Republicans like Joe Heck force the nation into Armageddon, we'll only see even more unnecessary pain and suffering. That's why even Brian Sandoval, Nevada's Republican Governor, has been begging Congress to end the G-O-TEA Shutdown already.





A few protesters were allowed upstairs to talk with Rep. Heck's staff at first. It didn't take long before they were sent back down. The rest, however, were not even given a chance to be heard. Not even constituents from Nevada's 3rd Congressional District were allowed in the office.

Above is a photo of the constituents who wanted to speak with Heck's staff. And below is a video showing what happened when they tried...



Until the staffer said he didn't want any of it on the record. And just as I had to shut off the recording, he slammed the door on his boss' constituents. Talk about "constituent service"!

Rep. Heck's office had no answer to the question we're all asking: When will the insani-TEA end? People here in Southern Nevada are hurting. And all Rep. Joe Heck and his staff are doing about it... Is calling the police and slamming doors on Heck's own constituents.

Turning Point... Or Breaking Point?

Earlier today, the US Supreme Court's ruling on Arizona's xenophobic voter registration restrictions added an exclamation point to Republican angst over comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). Already, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is proposing an amendment to S 744 to restore Arizona’s Proposition 200 and allow more states to follow suit on voter suppression registration restrictions. And that's not all. In the House, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced he won't allow a CIR bill onto the House floor unless it has majority Republican support. And here's why he's now saying this.

The radicalized House GOP, bolstered by gerrymandered-induced safe districts, are hell-bent on killing Senate efforts to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants. On the other hand, the Republican establishment understands that their long-term prognosis is poor unless they can start eating away at Democratic base supporters in immigrant communities (Asian and Latino, mostly, but pretty much everything else as well).

Remember, of the 2.4 million new Americans in 2012, only seven percent were white, and all of those were immigrants.It's widely assumed that immigration reform can pass the House with Democratic support and a few dozen Republican defectors, but only if Boehner ditches the Hastert Rule one more time. But after blowing off the Hastert Rule on a handful of legislative efforts, such as the fiscal cliff nonsense, his charges are restless. Few think Boehner could survive one more perceived betrayal.

So how firm is Boehner's insistance that he won't violate the Hastert Rule? We'll find out soon enough. It comes down to this formulation:

What's more important to John Boehner? 
A) His speakership 
B) The future of his party

Remember when Rep. Joe Heck suggested he can support CIR? Where is he now? As long as Speaker Boehner prevents a CIR bill from even reaching the House floor, Heck will never have to deliver on his promise the opportunity to vote for reform.

And then, there's this.



Last week, Senator Dean Heller (R) was sending mixed signals as he introduced benign amendments to S 744... Then threw a temper tantrum when Senator Harry Reid (R) sidetracked his amendments along with the more malicious ones. So now, Nevada AFL-CIO is taking to the airwaves as other immigrant rights activists hit the streets (and phones) to demand that Senator Heller (along with Rep. Heck) step up and support S 744.

As summer fast approaches, so is the fate of CIR in the 113th Congress. We are quickly reaching what will ultimately be either a critical turning point or a key breaking point. Either just enough Republicans will feel the urge to embrace long term political survival for themselves and their party by passing S 744... Or a critical mass of Republicans will buckle to 21st Century Know Nothing demands to kill the bill in order to survive the next primary.

And keep in mind that Heller, Heck, and Rep. Mark Amodei are at the center of this "TEA" tinged melodrama. As go their votes, so goes the fate of immigration reform in this Congress. So what will they choose? Will they listen to the vast majority of Nevadans and Americans? Or will they keep drinking the toxic "TEA"?

So Why Is This in Court? (Because They Don't Want the Voters to Decide?)

So far, "The Education Initiative" has experienced quite the political and legal roller coaster ride this year. And it isn't about to get any smoother. A district court judge in Carson City has just made sure to that.

The Nevada State Education Association and the Nevada State AFL-CIO are in the process of collecting the 72,352 signatures required for their Education Initiative, which proposes to impose a 2 percent margin tax on Nevada businesses with more than $1 million in total revenue.

The tax would raise approximately $800 million annually in new funding for the state's K-12 public schools, the labor unions said.

However, challenging the unions is the Committee to Protect Nevada Jobs, a political action committee that argues the margin tax would hurt businesses. The pro-business PAC filed a complaint seeking injunctive relief and requested that a judge declare the petition invalid on several grounds.

In his ruling Tuesday, Judge James Wilson Jr. agreed with many of the business PAC's arguments, saying the language used to describe the tax's effect to voters was "incomplete, deceptive, misleading, and therefore, invalidates the petition."

NSEA & AFL-CIO are already planning to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court, so this dramatic tale is still far from over. It's just amazing how far certain corporate interests will go to silence people's voices. Seriously, do you think they'd be suing like this if they didn't think it was popular?

And as we discussed in June, it's becoming comical to watch "Tea Party, Inc." argue against this initiative simply because it follows the very rule that they have used to kill past tax reform initiatives in court. Basically, they're trying to turn the single subject rule into a constant "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation that kills a tax reform initiative either way! How is this fair at all?

Again, this ruling will be appealed. And the Nevada Supreme Court will have to give some thought about how NSEA & the AFL-CIO have bent over backwards to follow the letter of the law on this... Only to be slapped with a law suit by a group that was formed solely for the purpose of defeating this initiative. Is there truly a legal motivation for this law suit? Or is this just a surreptitious and at least somewhat deceptive effort to put the brakes on a progressive tax reform effort that just might pass (and pass handily) if given to voters?

No Wonder Why "Tea Party, Inc." Is So Scared.

NSEA recently paid for a poll testing the corporate margin tax it's backing alongside Nevada AFL-CIO. They must have been smiling after seeing this. So far, respondents are answering favorably. In fact, the initiative is leading 59-32 among voters!

And funny enough, the only two demographic groups it's losing are Republicans and conservatives. Among everyone else, it's leading solidly. It's leading 59-30 in the Vegas media market, and it's even leading 59-36 in the Reno media market!

However you want to look at it, it's a blowout in the making. And it explains why Brian Sandoval has been so afraid of our state having an honest conversation on "The T Word".

It looks like most Nevadans are finally reaching their breaking point. They're getting sick and tired of seeing our kids suffer under third world conditions at our public schools while out of state multinational corporations enjoy first class tax evasion. Something's got to give.

And perhaps, it finally will. After all, can our state afford to take more of the same?

It's Back! NSEA Walking Back to AFL-CIO Tax Initiative

Apparently, NSEA Chief Lynn Warne was in the mood to "make news" on "The Agenda" today. Last month, the state teachers' union walked away from the AFL-CIO tax reform initiative. Now, they look to be walking back to it.



I guess teachers are finally getting sick and tired of being spat upon, treated like crap, and blamed for the problems that are actually caused by certain politicians in Carson City playing the usual political games. Perhaps after the last month of turmoil at CCSD & WCSD along with Brian Sandoval's "moderate" denial of reality, NSEA leadership are now realizing this may be progressives' one best opportunity to finally begin changing Nevada's tax code for the better and funding public education at a more appropriate level.

So yet again, we see major twists and turns on the path to meaningful tax reform in The Silver State. But this time, this turn of events may lead to more justice for the 99% and a healthier path forward for the state's economy.

(The Need for Change Is) Still at the Center of It All

Yesterday, Governor Brian Sandoval razzle-dazzled the far right wing of the gaming-mining-lobbying industrial complex with his moving speech. Really, do you need me to tell you what he said?

Economic development is “a contact sport,” Sandoval said Wednesday during a speech at the Silverton for members of the Keystone Corporation, a conservative anti-tax business group. “If we want to be in the game, we have to have a cutting-edge approach.”

Earlier this year, Sandoval unveiled a new state economic development plan that relies on regional development authorities and “industry specialists” who will work with specific business sectors to increase exports, research and development.

Wow. I wonder what's "cutting-edge" about Sandoval's approach. Could it be? Could it possibly be... Oh, never mind.

Gov. Brian Sandoval today told conservative business group Keystone Corporation that his decision to support a two-year extension of taxes that were scheduled to expire eliminates the need for any new taxes to balance the state budget.

The governor received a standing ovation from the large gathering of business and political leaders at the Silverton in Las Vegas when he said he will block any new business taxes.

Of course, that isn't stopping the G-O-TEA wing of Sandoval's party from screaming "SELLOUT!!!" over his decision to extend the 2009/2011 "sunset tax" deal. And really, that's the point. By basking in the glow of "Bid'ness Establishment" praise while fending off nasty-grams from the likes of Chuck Muth and NPRI, Sandoval looks so "moderate" and "reasonable" by comparison.

But seriously, how "reasonable" is continuing the status quo? Can we really handle any more "moderate" solutions to the serious problems crippling our state's economy?

Brian Sandoval claims he took his new position on the budget because he doesn't want to cut education funding any more. OK, that's a start. But still, that's not enough to fix what's fundamentally wrong with our state. Jim Rogers clearly pointed that out last week.

One must question the timing of Sandoval’s pledge to education, especially during an election year. The governor may simply be posturing when he says, "no more cuts to education.” When push comes to shove, he certainly will follow the Republican party line to destroy public education. Education has little or no blood left. For all practical purposes, public education is dead in Nevada and Sandoval’s promise not to take the last half pint of blood is meaningless.

The governor is delusional if he believes the education community does not know he is anti-public education. Politicians have their own set of rules for truthfulness. That is, there are no rules. A politician will say anything on day one and just the opposite on day two and will actually believe that the day two statement will control and that no one will remember the previous contradictory statement. Sandoval has done everything possible to eliminate Nevada’s public education system. He now seems to believe that with a little play on words the public will forget what he has done.

Nailed it.

No, really. Look at CCSD trustees fighting with teachers over cost-of-living increases and education benefits. Look at WCSD Chief Heath Morrison fleeing to North Carolina taking over Charlotte's schools and leaving Northern Nevada behind. Nevada, we have a problem. And no, "moderate" looking continuation of the status quo won't do anything to solve it.

Brian Sandoval's BFF Monte Miller recently dropped his tax initiatives because he's satisfied that Sandoval and the gaming-mining-lobbying industrial complex want to continue the status quo. And remember, the status quo has only been delivering failure. The status quo is limiting our potential for future growth, development, and improvement.

Seriously, we can't afford any more of the status quo. At least the Nevada AFL-CIO seems to understand that. Maybe it really will take a full throated call to justice for Nevada's 99% to finally get some badly needed change.

Still Wondering Why We Need Tax Reform?

Just today, we've seen plenty of scary headlines. CCSD is fighting the local teachers' union over salary step and education increases that the district once promised to teachers.



Meanwhile on the actual infrastructure side of things, some heavy hitters have emerged to help CCSD survive that.

As the Clark County School District contemplates a new, $5.3 billion capital program, four former Nevada first ladies filed paperwork Tuesday to form a political action committee to support the potential ballot initiative.

With the 1998 bond program comes to a close, the School District is likely to seek public approval for a new capital campaign, which may raise property taxes as much as $74 a year on a $100,000 home. The district estimates it will need to issue $5.3 billion in school construction bonds to repair and modernize its aging school buildings over the next decade. Voter approval is needed for the School District to increase its debt limit.

Former first lady Sandy Miller filed paperwork with the Nevada Secretary of State's Office to form a PAC to help get the vote out for the potential school bond program.

Sandy Miller, Secretary of State Ron Miller's mother, will chair the PAC, according to the PAC filing. Other members of the PAC include former first ladies Bonnie Bryan, Dawn Gibbons and Dema Guinn. [...]

If the new capital bond program were approved, the majority of the money - about $3.4 billion - would go toward renovating and replacing old schools. About $1 billion would go to new technology and equipment for schools. The rest of the bond money would help build new schools in growing regions of the valley, and help the district strive for "educational equity" among its schools.

Especially since "The Great Recession" hit, Nevada's K-12 schools have been hurting. Yet even before the recession hit, Southern Nevada schools especially had a hard time keeping up with rampant population growth. And for some time now, local teachers have been hit hard by the cuts and the continued denial of once promised benefits that help them survive. And of course, the students here have probably suffered the most as their future career opportunities have been limited by the poor state of public education in Nevada.

So now, CCSD and the teachers have to fight over a budget that's been slashed to the bone, and four former Nevada First Ladies are stepping up to rescue a school bond measure that should be a "no-brainer" (except for the fact that it will be paid for by raising property taxes). This is really looking pathetic.

Perhaps this explains why the state teachers' union at least looks to be having some change of heart after initially turning down the AFL-CIO's business tax initiative.

Lynn Warne, president of the Nevada State Education Association [NSEA], welcomes the attention all three tax initiatives are bringing to the state's need for new sources of revenue. In terms of education, Warne says, Nevada classrooms are operating with less funding than was allocated in 2003.

"We've gone backwards in funding for nearly a decade in the state. The initiative efforts demonstrate the frustration on the part of voters and parents that the legislature hasn't done right by our kids and schools, so they are taking it right to the voters."

Proposals are also being floated to raise taxes on mining and gaming in Nevada, but Warne says only the AFL-CIO initiative specifically targets dollars for education. Backers of the business profits tax have until mid-November to gather enough signatures to send the issue to lawmakers, and if they refuse to act, it goes on the ballot in 2014.

While NSEA still won't commit to endorsing the AFL-CIO tax initiative now, they're also not ruling out endorsing the initiative later this year. I guess they're realizing that Nevada AFL-CIO is determined to collect signatures this year, the workers have a powerful message of economic justice behind them, and some badly needed $1 billion a year in public school funding is at stake. Oh yes, and they must be realizing that our problems won't ever be solved if we keep delaying tax reform.

And that's really at the center of this. For far too long, Nevada has ignored the trouble in our tax code and the woes in our public schools. Now that we're just emerging out of the greatest recession experienced since "The Greatest Generation" were youngsters, we're really feeling the pain. Brian Sandoval may continue to try to spin it all away by showing us a pretty "sunset", but at the end of the day we must realize we have to prepare for tomorrow. We'll never really be ready for the challenges that lie ahead if we keep denying that they even exist.

Can AFL-CIO Go It Alone on Tax Reform?

As mentioned yesterday, we've been on quite the wild roller coaster ride this year when it comes to tax reform. It's up... No, it's down... No, it's all around! Yesterday, we saw another twist in the form of a federal law suit being filed by the City of Fernley that threatens to take down Nevada's Consolidated Tax (or "C-Tax") system. And today, we're seeing an interesting turn at Nevada AFL-CIO. After NSEA turned down AFL-CIO's margin tax initiative over legal concerns, Danny Thompson is now claiming the state's largest union alliance is ready to pass the initiative all on its own.

After months of talks, teachers, gaming, mining and other Nevada power players are unwilling to join the initiative campaign, but AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Danny Thompson said that won’t doom the proposal to increase funding for education.

“We’re going to do this with or without the teachers,” Thompson said. “We’re going to do this with or without anyone.”

And here's where it gets really interesting. There have been rumors for several weeks about Brian Sandoval's power brokers bleeding dry both organizational and financial support for Nevada AFL-CIO's tax initiative. So obviously, there have been questions about how Danny Thompson can somehow make this work. In today's Sun article, Thompson himself provided us with some clues.

Thompson said he would have no problem collecting the signatures needed to qualify his ballot initiative.

“I can get the signatures internally,” he said. “I can go to the unions. I don’t even need to go out to the streets.”

Thompson wouldn’t disclose how many members unions affiliated with the state’s AFL-CIO have but noted that the Culinary alone has 65,000 members.

Thompson said despite rumors to the contrary, his organization has money to support an initiative campaign. He declined to reveal how much money the organization has.

“We have money,” he said. “We’re just not giving it away to candidates.”

It's funny that Danny Thompson brought up Culinary 226. Lately, they've been awfully busy fighting Station Casinos over both unionizing Station properties and heading off anti-union campaigns on The Strip. Yet last month in a stunning display of solidarity, the national AFL-CIO put aside past differences with Culinary's national partners (who joined SEIU in breaking away from AFL-CIO in 2005) to voice strong support for Culinary, and for Station workers looking to join the union.

Is there more to that alliance than what we saw last month outside Red Rock Resort & Casino? And is this why Danny Thompson doesn't seem to be shedding tears over the loss of the state teachers' union from his margin tax coalition and the deafening silence from Billy Vassiliadis and the R&R powerhouse business leaders? Thompson indeed makes a valid point about the grassroots might of Culinary's 65,000 members. If Culinary goes all in for this initiative, it will indeed mark a key turnaround for this initiative.

Thompson also noted something important in stating unions won't just be "giving away" money to candidates this year. This looks to be in line with the national AFL-CIO plan to focus more on its own campaign instead of just donating to Democratic party committees and candidates. We have been seeing Labor in full force in Wisconsin since last year, and now they're hoping to take the energy and momentum nationwide. And while Brian Sandoval has been trying hard lately to avoid becoming "The West's Answer to Scott Walker", Danny Thompson may nonetheless see opportunity in rallying workers behind a tax initiative that has the potential to carry a powerful "99%" economic justice message in making big business pay its fair share so working class kids can have a better education.

We'll have to wait and see where Danny Thompson and Nevada AFL-CIO ultimately go with this margin tax initiative. But now, it looks like there may actually be a path forward for it regardless of what NSEA and the Nevada Resort Association ultimately decide to do with it. Can the kind of Labor powered grassroots energy that reawakened progressive activism in Wisconsin and catapulted the Occupy message of economic justice to the national spotlight redefine the conversation on taxes and investment in public education here in Nevada?

Wither Tax Reform (Again)?

Just as I was getting hopeful again, we're now seeing this.

“We have some concern regarding language,” Lynn Warne, president of the Nevada State Education Association, said of the proposed ballot initiative. “As of now, we’re not signed on.”

Warne said she supports in concept the effort by AFL-CIO head Danny Thompson to raise money for schools. But her position highlights growing uncertainty about the fate of the tax effort.

“There was a deadlocked certainty there’d be an initiative two or three months ago,” said one political operative. “Now, not so much.” [...]

Representatives of the gaming and mining industries, which are both being targeted with industry-specific tax initiatives authored by a conservative businessman, would not comment for this story.

Gov. Brian Sandoval’s announcement last month that he would support extending $620 million in taxes set to expire in 2013 appears to have dulled the sense of urgency behind the tax-related ballot initiatives.

The teachers union’s unwillingness so far to sign on to the AFL-CIO initiative presents two significant problems for the effort to get the tax passed. First, teachers are among the most visible, sympathetic faces of government services. Second, and most important at this stage, the teachers union has a reserve of cash that could be used to gather signatures.

If proponents of the initiative collect signatures, it would first go to the Legislature, which would have 40 days to pass it. If the measure doesn’t pass, it would be placed before voters in 2014.

This was one of the top goals of Brian Sandoval's "shift to the center" and sudden embrace of the sunset taxes. In addition to making himself look "moderate" and encouraging Republican Legislature candidates in tough races to do the same, Sandoval also hoped this would blunt momentum for progressive tax reform that had been building since last year. Yet even as Sandoval may be hitting a snag on the former (thanks to Chuck Muth's "tea party temper tantrum" causing some G-O-TEA primary mayhem), he still seems to be reaping some success on the latter. But then again, just blunting momentum for tax reform may be enough to boost Sandoval, setting him up for the best possible negotiating position with a (still) Democratic controlled Legislature and a prime opportunity to campaign as a "bipartisan uniter" when he runs for reelection in 2014.

And now, the Nevada AFL-CIO and the state's top teachers' union look to be playing right into Brian Sandoval's hands. Early on, the business margin tax promised to be the most viable tax initiative, as it had the most potential to attract strong financial backing. But now that NSEA is threatening to join the Nevada Resort Association on the sidelines, it's unclear how Danny Thompson can mount an ongoing and hard hitting tax campaign for the next two years. Even if he can get the signatures this year, the initiative must still go to the Legislature next year. And if the Legislature can't muster the 2/3 super-majority to pass this tax, then it must go to the voters in 2014.

Oddly enough, progressives' best hope for serious tax reform may lie with none other than conservative activist Monte Miller. His campaign for mining tax reform is looking increasingly serious. Even Republican pollster Glen Bolger has shown strong support for mining tax reform, and legal eagle Maggie McLetchie has so far found success in turning back mining industry efforts to block the initiative in court. And since Miller's mining tax initiative is a constitutional amendment, it will go directly to the voters this year and in 2014.

So maybe tax reform isn't entirely dead yet, but it's certainly in a precarious position overall. At this point, it all depends on how committed Monte Miller is to his mining tax initiative as well as whether the AFL-CIO and NSEA can work out differences on the margin tax. However, at this point it also looks like Brian Sandoval has gained some more breathing room on the budget.

Who's Afraid of Kermitt Waters?

He's brilliant. He's edgy. He's visionary. He's radical. And perhaps he's managed to bring folks together (while simultaneously driving away powerful players on the left and on the right) in a way that hardly anyone else has.



He's Kermitt Waters, and he wants to lower your taxes... Unless, that is, you're a multinational corporation looking for an "onshore tax shelter" here in Nevada. If that's the case, watch out.

But before Waters can even launch a campaign for his tax initiative, he has to sue in court to strike down the state statute that's been holding him back. And he's formed a strange alliance on this law suit, one that actually scares some local progressives. (I'll explain this later.)

On Saturday, I finally had a chance to meet Mr. Waters myself and ask him the questions that I sense many Nevadans have been wanting to ask. I started with what I thought was the most obvious: Why bring forth such a complicated and radical restructuring of Nevada's entire state budget that openly violates the single subject rule that only allows for an initiative to address one policy matter? Waters gave me a simple deadpan of an answer: "You want to give me $500,000?"

Waters complained about how expensive it is to push a ballot initiative. This led me to my next question: Why do this? Isn't this why we have a Legislature? Again, he gave a clear and concise answer: "Gaming and mining own The Legislature." He then went on to express his deep distrust of pretty much anyone and everyone in Carson City, and especially of what he considers the center of "booze, broads, and bribes". It seems that he's felt the same frustration with the way business is done in Carson City that most voters in Nevada (and especially Clark County) feel... But he's taking it to another level in threatening their power over perhaps the biggest decision made there, which is the one made every two years on the state budget.

Waters and I then went back to the matter of his law suit. He sounded especially frustrated over The Legislature intervening in the law suit, as well as Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto (D) sending this law suit to federal court.

I then asked about the other big elephant in the room: Is Kermitt Waters about to open a "Pandora's Box" of "tea party" crazy by making it easier for the likes of Chuck Muth and Richard Ziser to unleash the full radical right wish list, from TABOR to zygote personhood to domestic partnership repeal and more, on our ballots? After all, it's impossible that Chuck Muth is backing Waters' law suit because he likes Waters' tax plan. (Remember that if Waters wins this law suit, a precedent is set that will allow virtually everyone else to start collecting signatures to put whatever one wants on the ballot.) So what was Waters' answer? Simple: "If you don't like it, beat it at the damned polls. Don't kill the goose. Just beat them at the polls."

It's interesting. Kermitt Waters may be very cynical and pessimistic when it comes to the death of good policy caused by the people running Nevada's government, but he sounds hopeful and downright optimistic about the triumph of good policy among the people voting in Nevada elections. It sounded like he genuinely believes Nevada will be better off with more of the California/Arizona style direct democracy regularly practiced there than with what we have now.

OK, so Kermitt Waters likes direct democracy. But again, why pursue this long, complicated initiative when there are simpler initiatives floating around that are not being challenged in court? When I asked about the AFL-CIO's proposed business margin tax, Waters flatly dismissed it. "It's a waste of time. In three years, they'll take it off." And since the AFL-CIO proposal is just a statute instead of a constitutional amendment, he thinks it may face the same fate in the hands of The Legislature that the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act has experienced. Waters pretty much said the same thing about Monte Miller's proposed gaming and mining tax initiatives when I asked about those.

At this point, Kermitt Waters then dropped a bomb on me. He told me that other progressive organizations did not want to work with him on his initiative, and that they didn't want to touch this because of his association with Chuck Muth, and because they fear Waters' victory in court would lead to the likes of Muth and Ziser throwing the entire "tea party" wish list on Nevada ballots in a matter of no time.

When I asked him if the concerns of other progressives should be noted, Waters stood behind his plan. "We're trying to accomplish something. We'll get nothing done if we don't [change the rules on initiatives]. We'll all starve to death if we don't let someone get two hamburgers. This is just insane."

Now before I wrap this up, I want to give a reminder of what's at stake with Waters' initiative. If Kermitt Waters succeeds, his initiative will:

- Eliminate the property tax for single family homes

- Establish a 20% levy on mining companies

- Set up a gross receipts tax on businesses earning over $1 million a month

AND

- Use the new revenues to set up a fund separate from the state's general fund (so legislators and the Governor can't use any of this new money to cover everything else in the general fund and/or pay for new tax cuts somewhere else) to pay for a new system of Nevada appeals courts, increased investment in public education, more renewable energy investment, expanded health care coverage, and more.

Honestly, this is why I've personally been at conflict with myself on this. And this is why I was willing to meet with Kermitt Waters himself last weekend to hear his side of the story.

I personally believe Kermitt Waters is genuine in his desire to remake Nevada Government, and especially Nevada's broken budget process, for the better. And when glancing at everything in Waters' initiative, from renewable energy investment to public education investment to generating the new revenue our state so desperately needs, it really does read like a progressive's wish list come true.

However, I can also see that Waters' route isn't the only route that progressives have to use to enact needed reforms to our budget and our tax system. That's why later this week, we'll be looking at the other progressive tax proposal making waves: the AFL-CIO's. We'll probably also do more analysis, along with some needed comparison & contrast, on both initiatives later this week.

In talking with Kermitt Waters, I can see why he's become feared in recent years. He may be dismissed at times as a "gadfly", but he truly does have the determination to follow through on his fights. We'll have to see how far he wants to go on this one.

"The T Word" & 2012

This morning, The Sun asked Mitt Romney to come clean on where he really stands on storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain while the RGJ begged all the G-O-TEA contenders to have an honest conversation with Nevada voters on what to do to fix the economy (Ha! Like that's possible...). Of course all the attention is going toward the upcoming caucuses, but there's another big issue looming this year. And while the discussion was dominated last year by which of Nevada's big power players would line up behind which initiative, someone else has emerged to fire the opening shot.

Kermitt Waters seeks to place on the November ballot a proposed constitutional amendment calling for a sweeping overhaul of Nevada’s tax system — abolishing property taxes on single-family homes among other things while identifying and allocating new tax revenue.

Waters said last week his proposal is borne of frustration with the status quo in Carson City. The state’s 63 lawmakers represent the powerful interests who fund their campaigns, he said, not the voters who elect them.

“The people of Nevada don’t have a Legislature. Mining and gaming have a Legislature,” Waters said. “If the Legislature could get their hands on this money, none of this would ever happen.”

However, there's a big problem with Kermitt Waters' initiative... And ironically enough, his dilemma is the exact same one that has hampered anti-choice extremists from putting a "personhood initiative" (like the one that failed in Mississippi last fall) on the ballot this fall. Basically, both initiatives face major legal roadblocks because of the "single subject rule" that requires citizen sponsored initiatives to address one issue and one issue only. And with both the "call the zygotes people" anti-choice radicals and Waters continuing to fight it out in court, we'll have to see if 2012 is finally the year that unleashes more initiatives onto our ballots.

So what's the problem with Waters' initiative? Basically, he's out to:

- Eliminate the property tax for single family homes

- Establish a 20% levy on mining companies

- Set up a gross receipts tax on businesses earning over $1 million a month

AND

- Use the new revenues to set up a fund separate from the state's general fund (so legislators and the Governor can't use any of this new money to cover everything else in the general fund and/or pay for new tax cuts somewhere else) to pay for a new system of Nevada appeals courts, increased investment in public education, more renewable energy investment, expanded health care coverage, and more.

Wow. Now that's ambitious! Oh yeah, and now it's easier to see why Kermitt Waters' initiative runs into trouble with the "single subject rule". Theoretically one could argue that it all falls under the blanket subject of the state budget, but someone else could easily argue that Waters' proposal is a legal hot mess that change everything from state mining law to public education to private property rules to energy policy and more if passed.

Honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my head around Kermitt Waters' initiative myself... But regardless of whether or not his initiative makes this year's ballot, he kick-starts the much needed conversation on what kind of Nevada we want for the future. In addition, he also allows for the conversation to "shift more to the left" by bringing to the table more progressive tax solutions, like fixing our woefully outdated mining tax policy and making big corporations pay instead of shifting the burden to working class families. We should really appreciate that, even if some of us are leery of the unintended (????) consequences of messing with Nevada's "single subject rule" for initiatives. (If Waters succeeds, definitely expect more religious right lunacy and "tea party" nuttery to make their way onto our ballots as well.)

Now don't get me wrong, I also appreciate what groups like the AFL-CIO are doing in building a broad coalition for tax reform that takes us in a positive direction for a change. But then again, as I pointed out back in June, there may be a catch:

Of course, there has to be a catch somewhere. In this case, the powers that be in Nevada's gaming-mining-lobbying industrial complex are afraid the angry mob of plebes just might come after them for years of pulling the puppet strings of "the best state government money can buy" that never seemed to care about the people very much. So now, out of desire not to bear the brunt of the people's wrath, these powers that be now want to help pass some kind of broad-based tax reform.

And now, none other than "Angry Plebe Champion" Kermitt Waters has stepped up with a bold and ambitious tax reform plan that threatens to steal thunder from the more moderate AFL-CIO plan that Danny Thompson is hoping to win over big business with, and from Nevada GOP big wig Monte Miller's tax proposals that ProgressNow fears may be a right-wing attempt to "rat f*ck" the other tax reform initiatives. At the very least, there's hope that we're finally reaching a "critical mass" here in Nevada where we can finally have an adult conversation on raising the revenue our state needs to properly function. Think about it. Not that long ago, "The T Word" was so "dirty" and "taboo" that hardly anyone wanted to even approach the subject. But with at least three different sets of tax initiatives that may come to a grocery store parking lot near you very soon, it feels like the sense of taboo is finally fading away.

It remains to be seen just how sincere Monte Miller is about his tax proposals, how Kermitt Waters intends to get the legal approval needed to start circulating petitions for his proposal, and whether the AFL-CIO can really coalesce a "grand business-labor coalition" behind its "trans-partisan consensus" proposal. But hopefully now that it's started, we can hope the conversation on real, progressive, 21st century tax reform in Nevada can continue in 2012.