Gov. Brian Sandoval has two simple criteria for the candidate he’ll appoint to replace U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., when he resigns on Tuesday: be ready to work on day one and reflect Ensign’s political ideology.
But don’t expect Sandoval to seek much public input on who best fits those categories.
Sandoval’s senior advisor Dale Erquiaga said today that the governor will try to best follow the will of the voters by appointing someone who not only is Republican, but matches Ensign’s “political ideology,” a term he declined to define.
“Sen. Ensign’s politics are fairly clear,” Erquiaga said.
Erquiaga dismissed an effort by Democrats in the Legislature to establish an “open, fair and public process” to select the appointment.
How fitting for a Governor who refuses to listen to the public and do anything that's not part of his own agenda to pursue more political power. And how is Brian Sandoval different from Jim Gibbons? Oh yes, that's right. He occasionally calls Bob Miller for "advice" and says nice things about John Oceguera and Steven Horsford. Whoop-tee-doodle.
Think about it: Have Jim Gibbons and John Ensign really left the building?
While much of the attention (especially among the out of state "politicos") was focused on the topsy turvy US Senate race (and we'll get to that later), probably one of the big stories of 2010 that many just seemed to shrug off was the slow motion collapse of Jim Gibbons' political career.
Oh, joy. He's back to cause more damage and destroy this state. Why is it that it seems like no one is doing anything to stop him?
We all know that "Luv-Guv Gibbons" doesn't give a sh*t about our state. This is all just a grand political game for him. It's his last chance to win the GOP nomination for reelection.
He cares nothing about slashing the social safety net to shreds, denying people badly needed health care, destroying what's left of our education system once and for all, and all around reducing our state to the equivalent of a small, underdeveloped third-world country.
And for what? For a failed far right ideology? For a failed Republican campaign slogan?
If it hadn't worked.
Of course, his "no new taxes" promise was just another lie. He had no problems raising fees on the poor and middle class, so long as it meant sparing the super-rich from paying anything close to their fair share. But even though everyone in Carson City wanted to distance oneself from Gibbons the failed politician, hardly anyone seemed to muster the courage to call out Gibbon's ridiculous policies for the failures they are.
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.
Behind Brian Sandoval's flowery rhetoric was something truly frightening. Naomi Klein wrote an amazing book three years ago, called "The Shock Doctrine", that explains how the radical right has used disasters and times of upheaval to sneak through their corporate right agenda of deregulation and privatization. And reading between the lines of Sandoval's statements last night, it became crystal clear he and his economic team are looking to "shock doctrine" Nevada by using our recession and budget crisis to slash public education, starve our entire public infrastructure, and let the corporate welfare agenda roll. [...]
We all know we can't cut our way out of this problem. As we've talked about before, there's hardly anything left to cut! And more and more state legislators are now saying the obvious that we have no choice but to look at new revenue. We know the mining industry can afford to pay its fair share, and we know corporate giants like Wal-Mart and Target have avoided paying their fair share for decades. It's time to finally address this and institute fair and progressive tax reform to save our state.
Pink Floyd summed it up best: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
And what made this even more depressing is that Rory Reid could hardly put up a fight. By the time this ad hit the airwaves...
So what does Brian Sandoval want to do? Placate his new teabagger friends by starving the state to death? Or listen to actual knowledgeable people who are urging us to finally make that down payment on diversifying our economy and creating a better Nevada?
One of the state’s most successful businessmen was on the phone and he was beside himself — as he said others are — about the upcoming legislative session. But, specifically, about Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval.
“There are a lot of very smart people, and we are all just shaking our heads,” said the business leader, to whom I granted anonymity so he would talk freely. “There were a lot of people who thought he (Sandoval) would get elected and soften his rhetoric.”
Trust me, dear readers, this man is no tax-happy lunatic. He is a thoughtful guy whose business has taken a gigantic hit during the Great Recession. But he — and he says several others who have been meeting to discuss the state’s future — are concerned that the governor-elect’s inflexibility on new revenue could be an impediment to the state’s economic future, especially if cuts in education are implemented.
“The business community is speaking as much as ever with one voice,” he told me. “It’s happening.”
I have heard about this convergence for months, with gaming and mining and chamber types realizing that the lack of a long-term plan while enacting devastating cuts could … obviate the need for a long-term plan.
“If those cuts happen, we’ve gone so far back,” he lamented before his frustration resurfaced. He fretted “people will not stay engaged” and that it “will take 20 years to get back” to a low level of service.
I have picked up on this frustration from other engaged business types, who are sick of the partisan maneuvering and the binary “to tax or not to tax” discussion. And they were counting on Sandoval to be the leader who could move the state beyond it.
But it's increasingly looking like Sandoval won't be the one to provide it. So who will? Look around you. We will have to.
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.
My goodness! Can you feel the earthquake being felt from DC to SF? The DK/R2K poll is out, and...
It's the GOP's numbers that have fallen off a cliff. And one of them will emerge from the primary battered, bruised and broke, only to run into not just Reid's gazillions, but also with an agenda woefully out-of-step with Nevada.
I'll admit it -- I had written Reid off. But if there's a developing theme in this political season, it's the GOP's ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. And we can give the tea baggers a hearty and sincere "thank you" for doing the seemingly impossible -- making our bumbling Dems look good by comparison.
And why is he saying this?
General Election [June]
Harry Reid (D) 43 (41) Sharon Angle (R) 37 (44) Scott Ashjian (TP) 2 (5)
Harry Reid (D) 42 (41) Sue Lowden (R) 38 (45) Scott Ashjian (TP) 2 (4)
Harry Reid (D) 43 (41) Danny Tarkanian (R) 39 (43) Scott Ashjian (TP) 2 (6)
[Republican Primary]
Sharon Angle (R) 34 (13) Sue Lowden (R) 25 (38) Danny Tarkanian (R) 24 (28)
As we had talked about yesterday, DC pundits are now starting to see in the Senate race what we've been seeing for some time. The Republicans have absolutely nothing to offer. They have no real policy solutions for anything. All they have are chickens and Scientology and famous last names. It's nice to see that Markos is also starting to understand now how our election is going.
But jeez, if only more of this magic could rub off on the Gube race...
[General]
Brian Sandoval (D) 51 Rory Reid (R) 41
Jim Gibbons (R) 31 Rory Reid (D) 52
[Primary]
Brian Sandoval (R) 48 Jim Gibbons (R) 27 Mike Montandon (R) 6
Obviously, we still have our work cut out for us with the Gubernatorial race. Sandoval still thinks he can get away with telling the teabaggers one thing, more moderate-to-progressive groups something else, and the media something entirely different. And since we don't have much time left to expose him for what he really is, we need to get moving.
And Rory Reid's campaign needs to act! This was a good start, but he really needs to ramp it up and make a strong case to voters that he's the best candidate for Nevada's future. I sometimes wish he'd take stronger stances on tax reform (especially mining), but all in all I know he's more likely to fix our broken state government than someone (Sandoval) who's been a part of the same ol' game of "no new taxes" fallacies... Until it's such a gawd awful mess that we pass more regressive tax hikes and temporary quick fixes while still protecting the corporate fat cats and kicking the fiscal can even further down the road.
So there's plenty of hope for Nevada this fall... And plenty of work still left to do. I'm feeling increasingly confident about getting one Reid (the elder) past the finish line first, but let's see if both can ultimately make it. You know what I like to say: Two Reids, Infinite Possibilities". ;-)
"Sen. Ensign is very popular here in Nevada, and he has an excellent voting record," Lowden said. "I hope that he becomes part and parcel of what's going to be a very vigorous campaign."
Yes, they are all part of the big, crappy "happy" dysfunctional GOoPer family. "Luv-Guv-Lite" Sandoval and Suzy Lowdown may occasionally forget to remind us of this, but all we have to do is look at the family portraits to see the resemblance.
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.
For all their differences over cuts and fees, Nevada’s Legislature has found an unlikely unifying force: Gov. Jim Gibbons. [...]
Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, said Gibbons had “crossed the line” with his remarks. “We rally as a team of senators, no matter what party you are from, when one of our folks is attacked. We are here to work together and not have those kind of disagreements.”
Lawmakers seemed to send that message Wednesday by passing a bill that would allow Nevada to apply for federal Race to the Top education money. They did so unanimously in the Assembly and by a veto-proof majority in the Senate.
The governor’s spokesman Dan Burns said Gibbons would veto the bill. [...]
“He’s running against the establishment even though he’s at the head of that establishment,” said Eric Herzik, head of the political science department at UNR. “Jim Gibbons seems to be his own party these days.”
So even though Gibbons himself amended his proclamation for the special session to include "Race to the Top" eligibility, he will still veto the bill because the Legislature's preferred language isn't exactly his. Klassy.
Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, lashed out at Gov. Jim Gibbons on Wednesday, widening a political fissure between the Legislature and the administration as lawmakers meet in special session to try to fill a nearly $900 million budget hole.
In a statement read on the Senate floor, the longtime lawmaker accused Gibbons, a Reno Republican, of having "failing memory," being "misinformed," or "intentionally distorting the facts." Raggio was responding to a newspaper article in Wednesday's Reno Gazette-Journal in which Gibbons said Raggio didn't "show up" at most budget meetings held in the weeks leading up to the special session that started Tuesday in Carson City.
Raggio said he attended at least eight meetings, and the governor was present at two.
"I don't know why he wants to pick a fight with me, unless it's for political reasons because I am supporting his primary opponent," Raggio, who's served in the Senate since 1973, said in his statement.
Asked afterward if he respects the governor, Raggio told reporters, "I respect the office, always will."
So Bill Raggio was attacked by Gibbons, and all the legislators (including the Republicans!) have declared open war on him. This really looks to be the next phase of "The Great Nevada GOP Civil War of 2010".
And after all, this special session is turning out to be just as much (if not more) about 2010 electoral politics as it is about balancing the budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal biennium. No really, think about it. Gibbons has used this all along as a "Reelect Gibbons 2010" campaign infomercial aimed directly at the teabaggers he needs to survive the June primary. Brian Sandoval has become involved, even though he's neither a legislator nor in the Gibbons Administration... And it seems the Raggio vs. Gibbons flame war is a proxy for the greater primary challenge.
And of course, there's also politicking on the Democratic side. Some legislators are afraid of the "no new taxes" boogeymen, while others are taking heed of what the progressive base has been trying to tell them all along.
Among their goals was to reduce Gibbons’ cuts in K-12 education by half and restore $50 million to health care and social services. Although closed-door negotiations continued late Wednesday, parts of the Democrats’ plan emerged, signaling the Legislature will have to raise millions of dollars more than Gibbons had proposed in fees to close the $887 million deficit.
In a moment of political theater, Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, called for members to raise their hands if they wanted to reduce the cut in state funding for K-12 from 10 percent to 5 percent.
“If we’re not reaching an agreement privately, we have no choice but to ask folks where they stand here,” Buckley said. “I don’t mean to put anyone on the spot. But we need to move on. We need to balance the budget.”
All the Democrats voted in favor, and none of the 14 Republicans raised their hands.
The smaller cuts in school budgets will likely force legislators to find $87.5 million in revenue or additional trims. [...]
Democrats have discussed raising $50 million from mining, $64 million from gaming and $8.5 million from higher business license fees. But so far, the cuts they have publicly proposed to undo would outstrip that revenue.
Other parts of the emerging plan include:
• $8.5 million in fee increases for businesses. Secretary of State Ross Miller justified the increase by saying that because of increased responsibilities, layoffs and furloughs, wait times for business licensing spiked from an average of four days a year ago to 37 days. The head of the Nevada Registered Agent Association testified in favor of the bill.
• Scuttle some of the proposed sweeping of various accounts because of constitutional concerns.
• Restore $24.7 million in health and human services cuts.
Gibbons reduced some of the proposed cuts to the agency that drew the loudest protests. He said federal money could cover restoration of $24 million in cuts that included eliminating housing assistance for the mentally ill and mentally disabled, hiring front-line welfare workers and providing dentures for the poor and elderly.
But legislators want to restore money to care for the elderly in their homes; to eliminate a 10 percent proposed cut to Clark County child welfare; and avoid implementing increases in health insurance premiums for children of poor families.
Well, I guess all our agitating from the "wacko Commie-loving extreme left" is working. It finally looks like a comprehensive plan is emerging that won't be completely "balanced" on the backs of the working poor.
OK, so Gibbons will likely veto it? So what! Even the Republican legislators have abandoned him. Let them fight their civil war and destroy each other in the primary.
Democrats in Carson City finally look to be finding their own voices, and this is exactly what they need to do to sideline Gibbons, pass a real budget, and win the fall election.
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!
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 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.
40% DANNY TARKANIAN 39% HARRY REID 11% JON ASHJIAN
21% JOHN CHACHAS 39% HARRY REID 22% JON ASHJIAN
32% SHARRON ANGLE 37% HARRY REID 16% JON ASHJIAN
[Republican Primary]
35% TOTAL LOWDEN 28% TOTAL TARKANIAN 1% TOTAL AMODEI 8% TOTAL ANGLE 4%^ TOTAL CHRISTENSEN * TOTAL CHACHAS
So he's not there yet, but Harry Reid does look to be closing the gap that had widened to double digits just last month. It's interesting to see the the "analysis" in the charts try to spin this as good news for the Republicans, but it looks clear that when the real threat of the Tea Party candidate (I won't lie, it helps Reid) and real weaknesses of the GOP candidates are considered Reid suddenly becomes viable again. And remember, Reid just started airing TV ads late last year and his campaign hasn't even started "vaporizing" the eventual GOP candidate yet.
OK, so what about the Governor's race? Oh my, get ready for this!
[Republican Primary]
32% TOTAL GIBBONS 38% TOTAL SANDOVAL 9% TOTAL MONTANDON
[General Election]
50% BRIAN SANDOVAL 34% RORY REID 15% UNDECIDED
40% MIKE MONTANDON 40% RORY REID 19% UNDECIDED
36% JIM GIBBONS 47% RORY REID 14% UNDECIDED
It's looking increasingly clear that Sandoval will be the clear favorite if he wins the GOP primary, but (Rory) Reid will be the clear favorite is Gibbons wins the GOP primary. And fortunately for Rory Reid, Gibbons is (re)gaining ground among GOoPer voters (but NOT everyone else). So maybe "Governor Sandoval" isn't really inevitable?
Oh, and I'm sure this just killed the GOoPer pollsters!
And, thinking some more about the budget shortfall, would you rather the Governor and State Legislature CUT SPENDING for state employee salaries and government services such as education and health care, or RAISE YOUR TAXES to avoid these cuts? 5/09 2/10 40% 38% CUT SPENDING 47% 47% RAISE YOUR TAXES 3% 5% BOTH/PRIMARILY CUT SPENDING (DO NOT READ) 1% 2% BOTH/PRIMARILY RAISE YOUR TAXES (DO NOT READ) 7% 6% DON’T KNOW (DO NOT READ) 3% 3% REFUSED (DO NOT READ) [...]
And, if the Governor and State Legislature were to raise taxes, who do you think should be paying increased taxes? (DO NOT READ) (ACCEPT MULTIPLE RESPONSES) 5/09 2/10 2% 1% SMALL BUSINESSES 13% 9% LARGE BUSINESSES 21% 17% CASINOS 6% 12% MINING COMPANIES 18% 16% THE RICH 3% 4% THE MIDDLE CLASS 53% 61% EVERYONE 3% 3% DON’T KNOW (DO NOT READ) * 1% REFUSED (DO NOT READ)
It's so funny to see this despite all the attempting push-polling against this. Nevadans really are starting to "get it"! And while a corporate income tax still has plurality opposition, it's been gaining ground since last May (now only a 5% gap). And as you can see above, a fairer mining tax seems to be gaining steam.
So really, feel free to throw out all that "conventional wisdom" you've been hearing for the past few months. 2010 is just getting started, and things may change dramatically with major events coming up (jobs bill, health care reform, state budget, etc.).
Gov. Jim Gibbons today signed the official proclamation calling for a special session of the Legislature to address the budget shortfall. He also presented his proposal for fixing the $880 million deficit, which includes increasing taxes on the mining industry by $25 million a year, contracting with a private company to catch insurance scofflaws and collecting sales taxes from Nevada online businesses that sell products in the state.
Gibbons' plan to extract more money from the mining industry calls for capping the amount of deductions mining companies can take from their property tax. The details haven't been worked out and the increase isn't on the proclamation.
But Gibbons, and his staff, flatly deny that requiring the mining industry to pay more in property taxes is a violation of his promise not to increase taxes. [...]
The clarification in deductions will result in the mining industry paying $50 million in more taxes over the next two years, according to Gibbons' plan. [...]
The governor's staff has been in talks with the mining industry, which has indicated it would be willing to be part of the budget deficit solution. But Gibbons' deputy chief of staff Lynn Hettrick said today that industry leaders want a broad-based tax that all businesses take part in. They have not agreed to the change in deductions, Hettrick said.
Now of course, this is small change compared to how much mining makes. But obviously, even Gibbons now realizes that a "cuts only" budget is completely impossible. Even Jon Ralston is calling BS on the "no new taxes" crap.
Everyone seems angry at Gibbons' proposed cuts. That much is obvious. No one wants to see schools close, roads crumble, and the elderly and disabled left out in the cold to die with no help. So why aren't more legislators proposing what's needed?
Oh, they "have no interest" in voting for a realistic budget solution that spares our most vulnerable citizens from even more pain and suffering. Seriously, this must end. And hopefully once the special session starts and legislators realize that "no new taxes" is a lie and even Jimbo Gibbons is wiggling his way out of this radical right frat pledge, they'll realize that their colleague Peggy Pierce is right.
In his State of the State speech Monday, Gibbons said: “In this tough economy, we cannot ask our citizens to pay new taxes. They have nothing left to give. We cannot ask our businesses to pay more taxes. Many of them are struggling just to stay open ... I reaffirm my word to you tonight: As long as I serve as your governor, I will not raise taxes.”
Gibbons was asked by reporters after the speech whether he would consider raising fees to fill the $881 million deficit, as some legislators have suggested. He said he would not, citing his belief that “fees are taxes.”
The governor’s remarks indicate he either has a more nuanced interpretation of the revenue increases in his plan or isn’t aware of everything his administration has proposed.
The proposed increases, which the Legislature will consider during a special session this month, include:
• Higher fees for restaurants to fully cover the cost of health inspections. This would raise $550,000.
• An increase in the health insurance premiums paid by 12,000 poor families whose children are insured through Nevada Check Up. The proposal would increase fees from $25 to $75 per quarter for some families, and $80 to $180 for others, depending on income. This would raise $1 million.
• Raising by 8 percent the rates paid by veterans and their families at the nursing home for veterans in Boulder City. This increase was approved by Gibbons and the other two members of the Board of Examiners on Tuesday. It is expected to raise $350,000.
• Higher fees for birth and death certificates. Health and Human Services Director Mike Willden told a legislative committee this week that the state could raise about $368,000 by increasing the cost per certificate from $13 to $20.
• A one-time charge to prison inmates based on the electronic devices they own.
So much for "no new taxes"? Even Gibbons himself has admitted that fee hikes amount to raising taxes. So why is he only willing to raise taxes on the poor and middle-class?
This parsing over whether a fee is a tax, and what fee increases are acceptable to conservative constituencies misses the larger point, said Eric Herzik, professor of political science at UNR.
Even Gibbons doesn’t think state government is so bloated that you can cut $881 million from its budget, he said.
“This is splitting hairs. No new taxes, but these fees are OK? It shows that his no-new-tax pledge can’t get you there.”
DUH! Of course, Gibbon's "no new taxes" nonsense is just that: NONSENSE! Nevada has the smallest and cheapest state government in the entire country. And with last year's budget, the state has already cut its government to the bone. Must we now let the bone marrow get sucked dry?
Well, at least one Democratic legislator is stepping forward amidst this mayhem and showing some real courage.
“We’ve already cut too much,” [Assembly Member Peggy] Pierce [D-Las Vegas] said. “We have the smallest government in the country and it’s not even close.”
She noted Nevada has the second- or third-lowest tax burden and ranks among the worst states in a variety of indicators. “There’s a connection. This chronic underfunding of government, our regressive tax system punishes working people, and does not require many, many businesses to pull their load,” she said.
Finally, FINALLY, someone serving in Carson City has hit the nail on the head! As I said on Tuesday, we won't go anywhere but down in flames if we won't even invest in our basic infrastructure. Our social safety net is already dangerously close to nonexistent, our schools are already badly underfunded, and our roads are already falling apart. Just how much more can we cut before Nevada ceases to be a state?
And how much longer can we let mining get away with paying almost no taxes? How much longer can we let big corporations like WalMart get away with taking advantage of our state while refusing to pay its fair share? The madness must end. Simple as that.
It's inevitable that the legislature will agree to some type of tax increase. And remember, those "fees" that Gibbons wants to slap on working-class families count as tax increases. (Hey, even he admitted it!) So why must the middle-class and working poor always suffer? It's about damned time that the big money special interests that have hardly paid any taxes up to this point start paying their fair share to save our state.
He cares nothing about slashing the social safety net to shreds, denying people badly needed health care, destroying what's left of our education system once and for all, and all around reducing our state to the equivalent of a small, underdeveloped third-world country.
And for what? For a failed far right ideology? For a failed Republican campaign slogan? Desert Beacon gives us a reality check:
If "lower taxes" were the fulcrum on which to lift an economy out of a recession, then Nevada ought to be booming. The state has the second lowest tax level in the nation: "Nevada's state and local tax burden has consistently ranked among the nation's lowest. Currently estimated at 6.6% of income, Nevada's state/local tax burden percentage ranks 49th highest nationally, well below the national average of 9.7%. Nevadans pay $3,245 per capita in state and local taxes." [Tax Foundation] (emphasis added)
A popular notion among supply-siders is that the lower the overall tax liability, the higher the level of business investment, and therefore, the higher the levels of employment. The rich, it is said, if not deprived of their wealth by taxation, will invest it in enterprises which in turn will drive employment upward. Nice theory. The fact is that Nevada, with its next to last in the nation tax assessment level, has a 13% unemployment rate. [DETR/BLS] Only Michigan with a 14.6% unemployment report is currently higher.
The Tax Foundation gave Nevada a nice high score (4th) in the nation in its rankings of State Business Tax Climate. [TTF] If the direct correlation between employment growth and business tax liabilities holds then we should see states with the "best" business tax climates also having the lowest rates of unemployment. If we were to cherry pick some numbers from the "top five" low business tax states we could extrapolate just such a conclusion. South Dakota, with the "best" business tax climate has a 4.7% unemployment rate; second place Wyoming has a 7.5% unemployment rate. Third place Arkansas has an 8.8% unemployment rate, and fifth place Florida has an unemployment rate of 11.8%. When two out of five states with low taxation rates (Nevada/Florida) have higher than average unemployment rates the correlation can't be made, and there's certainly no support for a causal relationship. Nor, can we compare the economies of South Dakota and Wyoming, based on primary industries, with Nevada and Florida, which both have significant tertiary industry economic components.
Suppose we tried it the other way around, and posited that higher taxes led to higher levels of unemployment. We'd have to cherry pick those numbers too in order to suggest a correlation. New Jersey, which ranks 50th in business tax climate has a 10.1% unemployment rate. 49th ranked New York has a 9.0% unemployment rate; and, 48th ranked California has a 12.4% unemployment rate. Not to put too fine a point to it, but all of these states, all ranked well below Nevada's rating for "supportive business tax climate," all have lower rates of unemployment. If unemployment rankings and business tax climate figures don't correlate, then perhaps we could explore other comparisons.
So if "no new taxes" is working so well for us in Nevada, why is our economy so much lousier than states like New York with higher taxes and a stronger regulatory climate? Could it be that we haven't been investing in our infrastructure like we should? That we should be strengthening our infrastructure to invest in a stronger, more diversified economy? Take it away, Maven & Meddler.
If we are going to model the state after families, then I gotta tell you that although this family - here at Rancho Maven - has cut back on some non-essentials, we haven’t quit investing in our future. We continue to cautiously spend money where it has the best chance of an enhanced ROI. We continue to improve our home (the structure and systems), we get needed medical checkups and care (can’t afford to be sick due to neglect), we service our cars and continue to invest money wisely.
Pulling the plug on education or medical services would be stupid in the extreme.
This is why I can’t support the suggested rollbacks in K-12 education, higher education or Medicaid and essential social services.
Gibbons can close the prison in Carson City today, and if he has his way with education cuts, can open it back up a few years from now.
Ain't this the truth! If we keep shirking our responsibilities to our people, all we'll get is more of the same: overcrowded prisons, inadequate schools, roads falling apart, and way too many people using the UMC emergency room for "primary care".
Well, at least we have a few sane folks like Progress Now Nevada and PLAN stepping up and taking action. And seriously, we need to join them if we want to save our state. Yes, yes, I know this is an election year and no one wants to go against the "no new taxes" mantra.
But you know what? Mining isn't paying its fair share. Small businesses can't afford a state where its workers can't survive. Big businesses are just taking advantage of our regressive tax structure to get their "money for nothing and chicks for free". Working families can't afford any more of the tax burden being placed upon them. And once and for all, we can't just rely on casino revenue to survive any more!
Gibbons is irrelevant. His ideology is failed. So why should we follow his queue to commit complete economic suicide?
So our beloved Gube presented his f*cked up budget with more cuts and no revenue solutions... And ProgressNow Nevada is pissed! If you are, too, then join us in writing a letter to "The Luv-Guv".
If you need any inspiration, check out my letter below.
To Governor Gibbons,
Please reconsider these horrible draconian cuts to essential services that Nevadans depend upon. Our state will never fully recover from this recession if we don't properly invest in the best possible education and health care for all Nevadans. Our state also won't recover if we don't properly invest in the infrastructure needed to keep this state running.
Please, Governor, think for once about what's best for Nevada. We need tax reform, progressive tax reform, that lessens the burden on the working poor and middle-class while shoring up our state's finances. Without a broad-based business tax, we won't ever truly solve this budget crisis. And without changing the tax law to make the mining industry pay its fair share for taking advantage of our state's natural resources, we won't ever have the money to pay for the essential services needed in Nevada.
So please, Governor Gibbons, rethink your approach to the budget and develop a fairer budget that enhances revenue while protecting the services that Nevadans depend upon.
Remember "the good ol' days" when the "business establishment" would simply anoint a candidate... And boom, he became Governor?! Republican Brian Sandoval does.
By most accounts, Sandoval’s campaign fits with the state’s long history of “anointment politics,” wherein a group of power brokers recruits and coalesces around a single candidate. Campaigns are fought on the airwaves, not on the ground — with an air of inevitability.
In 1998, Kenny Guinn, a banking and utility executive and former Clark County School District superintendent, was the beneficiary of this process. Four years later, he rolled to re-election with 68 percent of the vote.
Likewise, the establishment rallied around Gibbons in 2006.
But wait, this isn't 1998! This isn't even 2006.
But times have changed. After the crushing defeats of last year’s elections, Republicans worry about an anointment campaign in the age of Obama.
As one Republican consultant put it: “I’m wondering if they’re running a 2003 campaign in 2009.”
Republicans worry about the perceived message and the candidate’s ground game.
“It’s a traditional anointment strategy but it might not be the right environment for that strategy,” said Dave Damore, a UNLV political scientist. “The electorate is not interested in establishment candidates right now.”
Apparently, the latest reality check for "The Anointed One" was when the teachers' union decided on an endorsement. Surprise, they're looking for more than empty platitudes!
When the state teachers union gathered to endorse a candidate for governor last month, board members had a short list: Democrat Rory Reid or Republican Mike Montandon.
GOP front-runner Brian Sandoval didn’t make the cut. He hadn’t returned a questionnaire the candidates were sent to get their views on education issues.
But in between candidate interviews that Friday afternoon, Sandoval called the union’s political consultant. He wanted an extension, saying he needed more time to consult with his campaign.
The board said no, ultimately deciding to back Reid, the Clark County Commission chairman. (Gov. Jim Gibbons returned the questionnaire but declined to be interviewed by the union.)
Lynne Warne, president of the Nevada State Education Association, said the board found Sandoval’s actions baffling. Although the union is generally aligned with Democrats, it has endorsed Republicans in the past, including Sandoval when he was Nevada’s attorney general. Also, she said the candidates had a month to return the union’s questionnaire.
“He knows the routine,” Warne said. “The board was not comfortable with the way his campaign was set up.”
Haha. Poor Republican Brian Sandoval. He expected Nevada's teachers to roll over and do his bidding, but they'd rather choose a candidate with a real plan.
Yeah, yeah, go ahead and say the usual crap about "Harry's son". Yes, I know he isn't perfect... Especially since not even he's ready to admit the obvious on the need for progressive tax reform in this state. But hey, at least he has some plan for us to see and evaluate for ourselves. And to be fair to the GOoPers across the aisle, we now know what "Luv Guv" Gibbons and Mikey Montandon are all about.
So what say you, "The Anointed One"? What is Sandoval's plan? For anything??!! Has he said anything meaningful on any policy? Or does he expect us to be subservient to him just because he looks nice and "knows all the right people"?
Maybe we've been fooled too many times, and maybe we're finally ready for something different.
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.
Republican Sen. John Ensign gives his first, full-length interview this morning since disclosing an affair last summer with a staffer, and says he is getting Republican requests to campaign in 2010, has no plans to resign and cannot understand the health care bill as it is written.
About the affair, Ensign said, “It’s something I deeply regret and wish I wouldn’t have done.”
He reiterated previous terrain -- that he made some calls to help the woman’s husband, Doug Hampton, one of his top aides at the time, land another job, but said he did nothing wrong and would comply with any federal investigations.
As for the belief that Ensign is hurting the embattled Republican Party in Nevada – Republican Rep. Dean Heller has said part of his decision not to challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was because Ensign would be sidelined – the senator, who is not up for re-election, may indeed show up on the trail for Republican candidates.
“They want me involved in their campaigns,” Ensign said. “I want to be helpful, not hurtful.”
Yes, Johnny. You will be plenty helpful next year... For Harry Reid and Nevada Democrats! Please keep speaking up in public and campaigning for GOoPers, and please keep helping your party fall off that cliff and become even more irrelevant.
As long as disgraced idiots like Johnny Casino and Jimmy "Luv-Guv" Gibbons remain the face of Nevada Rethuglicans, that party will continue to struggle in this state. People here don't mind "alternative lifestyles", but they're not all that into moral hypocrisy. Let them come forward in 2010, and watch the Nevada GOP suffer. :-)
If you hear anyone, especially someone who claims not to be a far-right teabagger, talk about how great Brian Sandoval is, remind that person why he's still tying himself to the Republican Party.
Sandoval, who has been seen as a moderate vulnerable to Mike Montandon and Jim Gibbons on the right, is being feted by some very conservative folks, including at least two members of the Reno Tea Party (George and Jo Ritter). The event is hosted by Washoe Commissioner Bonnie Weber of the well-known conservative Weber family and ex-GOP Chairwoman Earlene Forsythe (Incestuous NV note: Her son-in-law, Steve Wark, is Montandon's chief political adviser.) at the Forsythe's Reno home. The list also includes Mendy Elliott, an ex-Gibbonsite just forced from her second state job.
Not sure this event isn't more about showing he can appeal to the right than raise a lot of cash (donations are suggested at $250).
And the quote on the invite from Sandoval gives me a reason to believe again: "These are trying times that require unique leadership, a roll up your sleeves and fight to get Nevada working again type mentality. That's why I'm running for governor."
I'm all lachrymose here.
Now remember that these were the same people backing "Luv-Guv" Jim Gibbons in 2006... And look at how the "wisdom" of Nevada's radical right has worked out for our state. So when anyone is gushing about how Sandoval's supposedly "different", remind that someone that Sandoval really is just another Republican offering no real solutions for this state.
Nevada is one of nine states suffering from the same economic and political problems that have driven California to the “brink of insolvency,” according to a new report by the Pew Center for the States.
The Silver State’s exploding unemployment and foreclosure rates and expanding budget shortfalls, coupled with legal and political obstacles to fundamental tax reform, put it at greater risk of prolonged fiscal problems even as the nation’s economy shows signs of recovery, according to the report released Wednesday.
But of course, the usual suspects are already trying to claim otherwise.
A spokesman for Gov. Jim Gibbons, a sharply anti-tax Republican, said the two-thirds majority requirement and constitutional protections are a positive, not a challenge.
“The governor believes it should be difficult to raise taxes on people,” spokesman Dan Burns said. “If the Pew Center has a problem with that, the governor believes that is the Pew Center’s problem.”
1. Nevada is already the cheapest state in the nation -- for the size of the state's economy, Nevada spends less on state government than any other state.
2. Nevada's tax structure is already one of the most regressive in the nation.
3. Nevada is one of only three states without a corporate income tax or a gross receipts tax on business (the other two being the mostly uninhabited pseudo states of Wyoming and South Dakota).
4. Probably in no small part because of 2 and 3, Nevada's budget shortfall was already the largest in the nation even before release of the latest numbers revealing that the state is more broke than earlier projected.
5. Taken all in all then, proportionally, Nevada will now be cutting more money than any other state from services that are already funded less than in any other state.
And Mr. Gleaner said all this during the first budget battle in May! Think of how much more f*cked up this state will be if we then have to start rolling back education or stop paving roads.
And again, for all the right-wing talk about how "we're turning into California", they don't realize that in many ways we already are!
It looks like a budget deal may finally be made. Yes, yes, I know I've been saying that for a while. But now, it really looks like Arnold is caving on eliminating CalWORKS as Democrats cave on stopping cuts-only madness. While it could have been even worse, this will nonetheless take the cake as a horrendous "deal" that will cause massive pain in many people's lives.
Arnold looks to be getting his desired enrollment cap on Healthy Families, California's S-CHIP program. While other states are actually expanding health care coverage for children of working families, kids will be turned away from the doctors' offices and health clinics here. Oh, and it gets worse. Home health care services for disabled people will be gutted. State parks may be closed. More state workers will be fired.
And you know what makes this even worse? We'll be paying for these cuts long into the future. Remember that it costs more to care for sick people in the emergency room than at the health clinic. It costs more to turn away tourists and day-trippers from state parks than to keep the parks open. It costs more to throw troubled kids in jail than to prevent future crime with good education and after-school programs.
So all in all, "Arnold's Folly" will deeply hurt all of us. And really, this isn't just his folly. Karen Bass [California's Democratic Assembly Speaker] and Darrell Steinberg [California's Democratic Senate Leader] must also share the blame for not doing more to present a progressive alternative. The corporate establishment also shares the blame for refusing to pay their fair share of taxes while still expecting giveaway after giveaway after giveaway. And ultimately, we the people also share the blame for living in la-la land for far too long in expecting all the amenities in the world and refusing to think about paying for any of them.
Thanks to the many silly gimmicks, false accounting, and empty rhetoric in "The Age of Arnold", "The California Dream" now looks to be nothing more than an illusion. Will we ever see it again?
Substitute Jim Gibbons for Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Barbara Buckley and Steven Horsford for Karen Bass and Darell Steinberg, and we pretty much now have what's about to happen in Nevada if Gibbons gets his way. No really, think of what will happen if we have no social safety net, no health care, no after-school programs, no state parks, no paved roads... Basically the kind of nonexistent state government that Gibbons wants.
Speaking as a former Californian myself, let me tell you what the real problem is over there. It's the damned people who want everything but don't want to pay for anything! It's the broken state government where legislators can't "violate" draconian tax bans and surreal spending requirements. It's a continued state of suspended disbelief where a regressive tax structure is never enough to pay the bills but there's always a silly magic trick to use to try to thwart disaster for just another day.
“That’s the one hope I have that the prolonged recession will lead us to the most difficult political solution, but the very necessary one, which is to broaden the tax base,” Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said. “We’re to the point now where the budget situation is so bad we have to do something significant.”
So maybe Sheila Leslie isn't a total fool? Maybe she actually knows what she's talking about? Maybe we should be listening to her instead of this fool or this clown?
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!
