NV-Gov: "Luv-Guv" Gibbons Is Gone... Or Is He?

So we won't have "The Luv-Guv" to kick around any more, as he lost the GOoP Gube Primary to Brian Sandoval. So it's no' mo' Gibbons? Really?

Well, maybe not...





No really! Remember this?



It seems the Nevada GOoP wanted the appearance of "cleaning house" by removing Gibbons in the primary, but in reality the "moderate" Sandoval has had to flip-flop so far to the right that he's made himself into essentially a carbon copy of Jimbo the Gube (sans scandaliciousness). We'll have to see in the coming weeks and months whether Nevadans want to give Gibbons a second chance... Vicariously, through Sandoval.

NV-Gov: "Luv-Guv" Gibbons Steps Into #AZRacism Debate... And Reminds Us of "Nanny-gate"

So "Luv-Guv" Gibbons really wants to reopen the immigration debate here in Nevada? Well, why doesn't he come clean about what he's done? (H/T Nevada Scandalmonger)



So does Gibbons want himself arrested for violating the law? That would be interesting to see.

So Much for Republicans Praising "Tort Reform"

Isn't it funny how Republicans always complain about "frivolous law suits"... Until they start filing their own? That's what I'm thinking about this new GOoPer plan to have a bunch of wingnut GOoPer state Attorneys General (AGs) file law suits against health care reform. They claim it's unconstitutional, but Steve Sebelius has already pointed out they're not on solid legal ground.

Although ["Luv-Guv"] Gibbons seems confident that the health-care bill is unconstitutional, many people disagree with him (not least of whom is President Obama himself, a Harvard-trained former law professor). Health-care supporters make a strong case that the bill they championed is allowed under the Constitution’s language empowering Congress to provide for the general welfare, the so-called elastic clause, which allows Congress to enact laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers to provide for the general welfare, and to regulate commerce among the several states. To those people, an argument on Tenth Amendment grounds — that the power to enact health-care reform or require residents to buy health insurance is reserved to the states or the people — is baseless, since the Constitution specifically delegates to Congress the power to provide for the general welfare and regulate interstate commerce.

And yes, you heard him right... "Luv-Guv" Gibbons is trying to force our AG, Catherine Cortez Masto (D), to join the law suit. Unfortunately for him however (and fortunately for all of us!), she's not interested in his ridiculous political games.

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto on Wednesday pushed back against calls to sue the federal government over health care reform, saying she will evaluate the bill and won’t make a decision until completing a “thorough legal analysis.”

Gov. Jim Gibbons has called on Masto, a Democrat, to sue, saying state law gives him the authority to direct the attorney general to take legal action.

But Cortez Masto, in a response sent Wednesday, said that the state’s constitution created her office to be the state’s chief legal officer.

“I must be satisfied in my own professional judgment that the case has merit and should be filed,” she wrote. “I also have the responsibility to decide how and when litigation is conducted.”

She also wrote that she must follow professional standards. “As an attorney yourself,” she wrote Gibbons, “you understand an attorney must certify that any litigation is warranted by existing law or by non-frivolous argument and that any pleading presented to a court cannot be presented for any improper purpose.”

And good on AG Cortez Masto for being the sane voice in Carson City! I know Mr. Sebelius doesn't mind seeing this law suit progress its way through the courts (until it finally has no more legal legs to stand upon!), but I'm glad he also sees that enough teabagger wannabes have already filed suit that there's no need for the State of Nevada to waste our tax dollars on this overtly political ploy to smear Harry Reid and make President Obama look bad.

Yes, you heard me right. The GOoPers don't give a rat's @ss about the Constitution. If they did, they would have challenged George W. Bush all the times when he overstepped his authority to declare war or torture or wiretap without a court warrant. Rather, it's all about politics for them. It's all about appeasing the teabaggers by throwing baseless attacks at Democrats.

Whatever. I feel for all the residents in those other states where their AGs are wasting their tax dollars to fight much needed health care reform. Still, I'm glad it's looking like we won't have to suffer the same fate. Thanks, Attorney General Cortez Masto, for making this decision on the merits of the law and not the political whims of the Nevada GOP.

"What's It to You?" More Gibbons Follies!

UPDATE 6:40 AM PST: No really, Gibbons does want to take away our civil rights! Derek is alerting us to Gibbons' plan to gut the Nevada Equal Rights Commission that's responsible for enforcing SB 207 and other anti-discrimination laws that cover women, racial minorities, gay & lesbian Nevadans, and more. Especially considering his "moralistic" hypocrisy, we need to call our legislators TODAY and urge them not to let Mr. "Luv-Guv" (ab)use our state tax dollars to hide away his girlfriends while he guts our civil rights laws!

(H/T Vegas Dave & NV Scandalmonger)



Well, isn't this precious? Just as Mr. "Luv-Guv" arrives at Reno Airport on his way to the Special Budget Session, he's confronted by KLAS TV (CBS-8 Las Vegas) reporter Jonathan Humbert.

Governor Gibbons was in Washington this weekend at National Governors Association conference. When asked about the trip and a possible Reno love interest, he became upset at the questions.

"Did you go with anyone today," asked Reporter Jonathan Humbert.

"Well, what's it to you? Yeah, I went with security," said Gibbons.

"And anyone else," asked Humbert.

"What's it to you," said Gibbons.

Karrasch became romantically linked to the governor after he sent her 800 text messages while they both were married to other people.

"No one else came with you on this trip," asked Humbert.

"No one. No one," said Gibbons.

"Kathy Karrasch didn't accompany you on this trip? She did not," asked Humbert.

"No," said Gibbons.

"She's not in this airport right now," asked Humbert.

"No," said Gibbons.

"She was not on that flight," asked Humbert.

"No," said Gibbons.

Despite the governor's claims, 8 News Now cameras caught Karrasch heading into an airport bathroom. She came out, but ran back inside after seeing a reporter waiting for her.

And this is where it really gets interesting!



Kathy Karrasch and Jim Gibbons have denied that they've been dating for some time, but apparently for some reason they were both on the same flight and they both entered an official State of Nevada (!!!!) vehicle at Reno on Monday. Remember when they both called Dawn Gibbons crazy pants for pointing out their budding romance?

Now frankly, I don't give a rat's @ss about the Governor's personal life. I'm just pointing out his moralistic hypocrisy... And his apparent abuse of state funds. How dare he tell Nevada's LGBTQ families that we don't deserve our civil rights and equal treatment under the law while he abuses his office to shuffle around his girlfriends and uses state (paid for!) phones to "sext" them!

"We are literally less than 12 hours away from a special session that's going to decide almost a billion dollars in cuts and here you are with a woman who's not your wife," said Humbert.

"You are full of shit. You are. You really are. All you're doing out here late at night trying to make a scene," said Gibbons.

On Tuesday, the I-Team sought clarification from the governor. He responded via email and his story had changed. He admitted Kathy Karrasch accompanied him on his trip, but that her expenses were not paid by the state.

He said, "I apologize for any ambiguity or confusion caused by my answers to your questioning of me late last night. I had just finished three days of arduous meetings and a cross-country flight when I was suddenly confronted with your questions. I admit I was briefly stunned to face your brazen inquiries about my personal life."

He continued, "What I do in my private life has nothing to do with my duties as governor. I would like to keep my private life just that -- private."

Oh really? So she even paid for the ride home? And the security detail?

And again, it takes a truly brazen sense of hypocrisy for Gibbons to call for "privacy" when he wants to install InsureNet cameras all over the state just to verify people's auto insurance!

And sadly, while Gibbons stirs up sh*t and creates more girlfriend drama while the Legislature faces all the tough questions on how to clean up his f*cked up budget and preserve some semblance of state government.

Dawn's Story

The long awaited interview that everyone's been talking about is finally here. Yes, RGJ is now bringing out the full Dawn Gibbons interview.

I won't give away all the interesting tidbits in the interview, but I will share something with you that really struck me when I first read it:

On May 2, 2008, she was in Long Beach, Calif. at the movies with her son. She checked her cell phone.

“When we came out I had 27 messages from reporters,” asking her to comment on the divorce paperwork her husband had filed that day.

His suit demanded that she be removed from the mansion and that the proceedings of the couple’s divorce be sealed. She later successfully fought for the proceedings to be open.

“It’s not like I want my public life out there,” she says. “It is so embarrassing. But he’s the governor, and I am afraid if it’s not public I won’t be treated fairly.”

She says she has been hurt by charges that she is a squatter who refuses to leave the mansion. She says she has been portrayed as a bitter, scorned women.

A June 2008 People magazine article, titled “She Won’t Move Out,” characterized her as a crazy, jilted woman.

How sad. No really, how sad. Even in our supposedly "enlightened" present, we still seem to prefer blaming everything on the wife.

"She's crazy."

"She's a mean bitch."

"She made him do it."

"She was such a nag, no wonder why he wanted someone else".

Give me a break! Jimbo "Luv-Guv" cheated, and this is all somehow Dawn's fault? I don't get it.

And again, the level of Republican hypocrisy keeps rising to an all new high here. Remember back in 2006 when "Luv-Guv" Gibbons was telling us about how he was such a good "family man" and he could be trusted with our money much more than that evil "socialist Dina Taxes"?

Well, take a look at the Dawn Gibbons interview and then try to come back and tell me Jimbo wasn't full of it then.

No really, don't feel bad about putting that "Don't Blame Me, I Voted for Titus" bumper sticker on your car.

Renewable Energy: How About Some Fierce Urgency of Now?

So "Luv Guv Gibbons" finally remembered what he was required to do under state law? Did someone make him stop texting his girlfriends for a minute to... You know, do actual state business?

For months potential developers of renewable energy projects have been in limbo, unable to get answers from the state about the renewable energy tax abatements passed by the Legislature in late May, according to legislators and industry lobbyists.

The delay has led to growing frustration with Gov. Jim Gibbons and the state’s energy policy, which Republicans and Democrats alike have billed as key to the state’s economic future.

“We’ve lost a great deal of momentum,” said Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, the senior GOP state lawmaker on renewable energy issues. “Some might be because of the economy, but when you have priorities, you make time. You don’t pay lip service to it.”

Assemblywoman Debbie Smith said, “We’re behind. We’ve had unfilled positions for a long time. We have a lot of work to do in this state, a very big hill to climb.”

During this year’s session, renewable energy and creation of a “green economy” were key issues. The Legislature passed more generous tax incentives for renewable energy projects and created the energy commissioner position, which will oversee the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Authority.

But renewable energy lobbyists said that since the session ended, there has been no sense of urgency from the governor’s office to get these projects under way.

“It’s a perception issue,” said one lobbyist with renewable energy clients, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he still has to work with the state. “We get incentives passed in the last session and show everyone we’re serious about creating a new renewable energy industry in Nevada. And basically, since the session, we’ve done nothing. I guess, how serious are we really?”

I'll totally agree with today's Sun editorial that renewable energy can't wait any longer. We need the jobs, we need the power, and we need to start reducing our carbon footprint ASAP. Maybe Gibbons doesn't care about any of this, but the people of Nevada do.

Hopefully someone in Carson City actually lit a fire under Gibbons' ass that will make him fulfill these promises. It's that between the climate crisis and the economic crisis, we'd think we'd have a Governor who actually cares about things like this. What a novel idea!

Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood to Luv Guv Gibbons: You're Crazy!

Well, he said it himself in a more polite way.

"It has come to my attention that you were recently quoted in the media as saying that Nevada expected to receive funds this week," Secretary Ray LaHood wrote. "If such a statement was made, it is not accurate."

LaHood said he "cannot commit to a date certain" when the Federal Rail Administration would take action.

Gibbons announced last week that the feds were releasing $45 million for the magnetic levitation train between Las Vegas and Southern California, funds that had been set aside for the project in a 2008 federal spending bill. The money had been delayed as the maglev project lagged in coming up with the $11 million in required matching funds.

Maglev and the proposed DesertXpress train are in a fierce competition for the Vegas-to-Southern California route.

Wow. So Gibbons really wasn't telling the truth about maglev. Why am I not surprised?

So was he lying or is he just batsh*t crazy? Who knows! Maybe he wasn't even paying attention. Has anyone seen any suspicious text messaging on one of his state issued cell phones lately? ;-)

Keep It Klassy, LuvGuv!

Apparently amidst all the continuing drama of the Ensign Affair, we forgot to notice some big news. Our dear LuvGuv, Jim Gibbons, not only announced his reelection campaign, but also launched a Facebook page! And because this is Gibbons' Facebook page, it wasn't short on hilarious gaffes.

Among the more interesting things to note on the page is Gibbons' relationship status: "It's complicated." Gibbons is in the middle of a divorce from First Lady Dawn Gibbons.

Gibbons also became a member of the "Recall Raggio?" Facebook group, which was launched by state Senate candidate Todd "Taxpayer" Bailey. The group seeks to recruit members of Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio's Senate district to launch a recall because of his support of tax increases.

But don't worry, Gibbons apparently doesn't really want Bill Raggio recalled... Or at least, that's what his campaign manager said. Still, I can't help but ROTFLMAO over his inability to even control his own Facebook page. I'm sure if Dawn Gibbons had her own Facebook page, she'd also be laughing right now. ;-)

For Once, We're Only #2

Yes, America, Nevada for once doesn't win a "worst government" award! Nope, we're only the second most dysfunctional state with New York taking top (dis)honors in the National Journal survey of state governments.

The magazine said the rankings are based on interviews with state political experts who looked at four criteria: quality of leadership (legislature and governor), any criminality in the state's political leadership, the severity of any policy challenges the state is facing and the intensity of the media circus surrounding state government.

Each category was graded on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst. Those scores were averaged to produce the ranking, the magazine said.

As for Nevada, the magazine gave its leadership problems a "10" and its criminality, statewide challenges and media circus each a "7," leaving it with a dysfunction rating of 7.75.

But hey, at least we beat out California (#6) and Illinois (#3)! Our dear "Luv Guv Gibbons" can out-embarrass Arnie and Blago any time!