Why Hillary? Why Bellagio? (Follow the $.)

After so much anticipation and so much "controversy", it finally happened. And surprise, it raised money for UNLV! Who could have guessed?

Oh, yes. That's right. We've been saying all along that the Hillary Clinton UNLV fundraiser will raise money for UNLV. And whaddya know, the event itself turned in at least a $10,000 profit for the UNLV Foundation. In addition, the announcement was made of a $12 million gift to the school outside the Bellagio fundraiser.



Of course, speculation is running rampant today about why Hillary Clinton came and what she will be doing next time she returns to Nevada. Ironically, hardly anyone is talking about the reason why this event occurred in the first place.

Why, oh why, did UNLV (Foundation) have to pay Hillary Clinton to show up at some fancy Bellagio fundraiser? Look no further than Governor Brian Sandoval (R), Former Governor Jim Gibbons (R), and the severe budget cuts that UNLV endured in 2009 & 2011. And even before then, UNLV and the other public colleges in Southern Nevada were underfunded.

So what are public colleges supposed to do when confronted with severe state budget cuts? Ironically, they've been turning to private donors to try to fill as many gaps as possible. And due to rising tuitions and dwindling financial aid resources for poorer students, we're seeing a growing education gap exacerbate the already alarming inequality crisis.

Keep this in mind today as you read commentary from certain media pundits on the "optics" of last night's UNLV Foundation fundraiser. If you hear from someone who's "disturbed" by Hillary Clinton's visit, ask that someone if one truly believes public institutions of higher education should serve the public. If so, then shouldn't those institutions receive better public support? If so, shouldn't our public colleges receive better finding from our state & federal government?

If UNLV could count on better public funding, it wouldn't have to do so many of these private fundraisers.

Reno Is the New... No, Wait...

(In light of this latest round of navel gazing, we figure now's a good time to revisit this piece from March 2012 analyzing the truth behind the "Reno is the new Silicon Valley!!!" hype. And by the way, we'll have more on Tesla later.)

Yesterday, KRNV News 4 asked.

“The number one choice of why we're in Northern Nevada is quality of life,” says co-founder of Noble Studios, Season Lopiccolo.

For the diverse group of tech-savvy professionals at Noble Studios, Reno has something for everyone.

“Some snowboard, some like to dress up and pretend to be someone else, we have musicians, people with their own bands, all different walks of life,” says Lopiccolo.

Downtown Reno is in the midst of an image makeover, shifting from a place known for its bright lights and casinos to a world-renowned high tech hub.
And the supportive and entrepreneurial friendly environment within the biggest little city is making a big difference.

“One of the main reasons why we moved to Northern Nevada is that a handshake means something here,” says Lopiccolo.

I'll do my best to answer.

Is it possible? Sure. Is it probable? Perhaps when we get serious about investing in public infrastructure.

But then again, at least Reno has public infrastructure. Las Vegas doesn't have much of any left, so it's much more difficult to work on diversifying Southern Nevada's economy. Tony Hsieh is trying to do the same thing in Downtown Las Vegas. But if no one could even step up to save the Nevada Cancer Institute (which was ultimately gobbled up by a CALIFORNIA college), how can we really grow our own tech sector? As long as we fail to properly invest in our future, our economy will continue to suck.

At least Northern Nevada has UNR...



And to their credit, folks at UNR have been doing a great job in partnering with the greater communities around the Reno-Carson metropolitan area to work on economic diversification. This at least partially explains why Northern Nevada's economy hasn't been as devastated by continuing weakness in the gaming & tourism sector as Southern Nevada was when "The Great Recession" first hit.

However, the same set of data also shows that continuing gaming weakness IS harming economic recovery up north. Not even Reno is immune from it. And as we continue to see expansion of tribal casinos in California and online gaming worldwide, Northern Nevada will need to continue working on diversification to build a brighter future that isn't just based on fickle gamblers.

And again, we in Southern Nevada can't depend on fickle gamblers for our future, either. We also have to face the reality staring us down as Macau continues to grow, online gaming goes live, and new casino projects are being proposed everywhere from South Florida to Baja California (Mexico). While gaming will likely always be in our blood, there's no reason why we shouldn't look beyond physical casinos to start attracting new gaming technology companies, online gaming innovators, as well as infrastructure support and consulting services.

But as long as our schools suck and as long as the rest of our public infrastructure continues to lag, Southern Nevada will continue to suffer our addiction to the extreme highs and extreme lows of "the bubble based economy". I'm sure I sound like a broken record sometimes, but I nonetheless feel the need to continue talking about this until we finally see some real action and real solutions. We really do have the potential to bring more high tech jobs into this state, especially in sectors like gaming and renewable energy where we have natural strength, but we'll never realize that potential if we don't invest in our "human capital".

Reno is already seeing some success in bringing in new high tech jobs. They just need to finish the job in diversifying the economy up there. And Las Vegas still has plenty of catching up to do in that department. And ultimately, both ends of the state need more investment in public education to ultimately be successful.

Where's the Scandal?

Must we do this again? Apparently, yes. While one local media pundit continues to beat this dead horse, national G-O-TEA media spinners have begun beating the "ZOMG!!! Hillary Clinton is a rich b---h!!!!" dead horse of a "scandal".



What Fox "News" talking heads call "rock star diva outrageous demands" are actually considered standard operating procedure for high profile politicians. If Hillary Clinton is a "rock star diva" making "outrageous demands", then so are George W. Bush, Rudy Giuliani, Sarah Palin, and Newt Gingrich.

But of course, Hillary Clinton is different... Because she's "stealing money from UNLV students"! Except she's not.

No really, the UNLV Foundation relies on private donations to fund its efforts to raise private money for UNLV (since the public college doesn't receive enough public funding). Since Hillary Clinton's speech will be for the UNLV Foundation, her speaking fee came from private donations. Already, there have been more than enough private donations to cover the fee. She has already donated that fee to charity. And the October event will likely raise a hefty sum... For the benefit of UNLV and its students.

So where's the "scandal"? Where were all these media pundits when politicians like Rudy Giuliani cashed in on big speaking fees? And where were they when Governor Brian Sandoval (R) pushed for more UNLV budget cuts in 2011?

Ironically, one of the most vocal critics of Clinton's UNLV Foundation gig accepted a for-pay speech at UNLV herself. And she's not alone on the list of high profile individuals UNLV and/or the UNLV Foundation paid to give a speech. So why are we still wasting so many characters arguing over this Hillary Clinton speech?

Whenever a Clinton runs for President, strange things happen. Extramarital affairs become "impeachable offenses". A money losing land deal becomes some horrifically sophisticated money laundering scheme. A tragic attack on a US consulate becomes some bizarre mass murder conspiracy. And a speaking fee becomes some heinous crime against higher education.

Perhaps if Republican political operatives and their media enablers were to spend less time hyperventilating over fictitious "scandals" and more time preparing better policies for their preferred Presidential candidates to espouse (along with decent candidates for them to prefer), they'd actually have a viable 2016 alternative to Hillary Clinton.

The Fact of the Matter

In recent days, we've been bombarded with news of a new haute faux scandal. Now that Congressional Republican "leaders" are already embarking on their path to impeach President Obama for committing the heinous crime of doing his job, they're already embarking on their strategy to tar & feather the next Democratic President (while also revisiting their irrational hatred of the previous one).

Oh, yes. That's right. They're going there. And they're already going after Hillary Clinton.

They were hoping #Benghazi would net them "2 for the price of 1". But now that they're coming up empty there, they need to latch onto a new haute faux scandal to gin up more "OUTRAGE!!!" So of course, they're returning to the time honored tradition of "investigating" the Clintons' personal lives to death (cough- Whitewater- cough- Monica).

And now, G-O-TEA operatives think they've hit pay dirt with the "speaking fees scandal". How dare that she-devil steal food right out of starving students' mouths! How dare that haggardly witch unilaterally raise tuition at UNLV! How dare that...

Wait, what?! No really, this is what G-O-TEA media spinners are now claiming. Because Hillary Clinton accepted a $225,000 speaking fee from the UNLV Foundation to attend an October fundraiser (for UNLV!), she's somehow responsible for tuition hikes and budget cuts that she never approved. (Who's the Governor of Nevada again?) And now that Hillary Clinton is donating that $225,000 speaking fee to the Clinton Foundation, she's somehow horribly evil and selfish.

Give. Us. A. Break! Hillary Clinton was never the one eager to slash UNLV's budget. Hillary Clinton was never the one to direct state funding away from UNLV. And Hillary Clinton was never the one who voted to raise tuition for UNLV students.

Guess who did? Oh, yes. That's right. Nevada Republicans... And in particular, one Brian Sandoval.

We've seen first hand the pain & suffering caused by the budget cuts to higher education. And yes, we know that UNLV has especially been hit hard by the past 5 years of budget cuts.

The real perpetrators of the real scandal would like nothing more than for us to misplace our outrage and rage against those who actually have nothing to do with the real problems at our public colleges and universities. The fact of the matter is that the UNLV Foundation has already netted more money for this fundraiser (3 months before the event!) than it's paid Hillary Clinton/the Clinton Foundation. And the fact of the matter is that we wouldn't even need a UNLV Foundation hiring big names for big private fundraisers if the state's elected "leaders" were actually doing their job and properly funding public education.

But hey, let's not let some pesky facts get in the way of the hottest new haute faux scandal. Certain media pundits and political spinners find it so much "sexier" to hype a fictitious "SCANDAL!!!" than explain the real one.

The 900 Pound Gorilla Is Still in the Room.

Last month, we looked at the burgeoning campaign by certain Southern Nevada power players to change the state funding formulae. So far, it seems to be working. Even Gov. Brian Sandoval (R-Reno) has agreed to change the higher education funding formula to curtail the shortchanging of Southern Nevada schools.

Yet even with this, there's still conflict. Yesterday, a Twitter war erupted between Assembly Majority Leader William Horne (D-Las Vegas) and Nevada System of Higher Education Regent Jason Geddes over the new funding formula. While both seemed resigned to "Gov Rec" (Sandoval's proposed budget), they were arguing over how quickly to implement the $12.8 million annual funding shift from Northern colleges (UNR, Truckee Meadows, Western NV, & Great Basin) to Southern colleges (UNLV, NV State, & the CSNs). Geddes prefers Sandoval's approach of slowly phase in this change over 3 years, while Horne and other legislators want to start the transfer immediately while giving Northern schools a one-time $12.8 million payout to smooth over the transition.

What was so sad about this Twitter war was seeing 2 highly esteemed legislators (Jason Geddes served 1 term in the Legislature from 2002-04) bickering over fiscal crumbs. This is exactly what I feared last month when certain Southern power players were demanding "fair share" without progressive tax reform. We're reduced to this sorry fiscal tug-of-war when we should be restoring funding for the North and the South.

We know we don't properly support our colleges & universities. And because we chronically underfund them, our economy & society suffer as a result. And now that "The Sequester" has become a real possibility, Nevada colleges & universities stand to lose millions in federal funding. Simply put, the status quo is failing us.

And Governor Sandoval & Legislature leaders are just arguing over how to start a $12.8 million shift from there to here. It's just a little tweaking of the status quo. Why can't we talk about restoring our schools instead of choosing who to shortchange worse? When will Carson City start to get it? When will they finally notice that 900 pound gorilla in the room?

Sequester Madness

One would think this is obvious. When an economy is just starting to recover from a gruesome recession and high unemployment persists, the economy needs more investment. And if the private sector isn't investing enough, the public sector should step in and help. I mean, that's just common sense!

But apparently, there's little of that on Capitol Hill. Instead, some in Congress are actually cheering on the arrival of "The Sequester", another "Fiscal Cliff" that's loaded with budget cuts that will slow economic growth at the worst possible time.

Don't believe me? Believe Europe. The Eurozone (where the Euro is used as currency) has aggressively pursued fiscal austerity policies for nearly four years. And thanks to that, Eurozone economies are STILL mired in "The Great Recession".

[2012] marked the currency bloc’s first full year in which no quarter produced growth, extending back to 1995. For the year as a whole, gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.5 percent.

Economic output in the 17-country region fell by 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter,EU statistics office Eurostat said on Thursday, following a 0.1 percent output drop in the third.

The quarter-on-quarter drop was the steepest since the first quarter of 2009 and more severe than the average forecast of a 0.4 percent drop in a Reuters poll of 61 economists.

And this is where America is headed if Congress allows "The Sequester" to fully kick in. The Bipartisan Policy Center recently released a study showing how "The Sequester" will cost America 1,000,000 jobs (!!!) if implemented. What's so idiotic about this is that it means 1,000,000 more people who need unemployment aid. And this means 1,000,000 people who can't fully participate in the consumer marketplace. And of course, that means a major lost opportunity for economic activity & growth.

One of the most potentially devastating facets of "The Sequester" is the planned cuts to research & development (R&D) in our higher education institutions. Just take a look at what's at stake if we take "The Sequester".

National investments in R&D as a percentage of discretionary public spending are down to around 9 percent today from a high of 17 percent in 1962, and the automatic cuts looming in the sequester threaten an 8.4 percent reduction to discretionary spending programs across the board. When you take into account non-discretionary and discretionary spending, total R&D cuts from sequestration over the nine year period will amount to $95 billion.

These cuts will hit universities especially hard because academic institutions perform a huge amount of the research that drives our economy, doing 53 percent of total basic research and 36 percent of all research funded by the U.S. government in 2009. But the $95 billion figure doesn’t reflect the true damage the cuts will have to the U.S. economy because of the exponential impact innovation has in driving our economic growth. A report released last September by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation estimates the sequester’s R&D cuts will reduce GDP by between $203 billion and $860 billion over nine years, and result in 200,000 job losses in 2013 alone.

While the economic impacts could be devastating, looking beyond the numbers, it’s almost impossible to calculate the value add of innovations fueled by federal R&D funding in the U.S. and how many of them —such as medical treatments, the internet, or cell phones —have fundamentally improved or saved the lives of millions.

These "Sequester" cuts will especially be felt here in Nevada, as UNLV, UNR, and other public colleges here have already endured painful state budget cuts. With the loss of federal funds, they will have to cut even more R&D. At that means even more of a gut punch to our still weak economy here. And not only that, but it also means much less of the kind of critical investment in our people that saves lives and improves the quality of our lives.



This is what Nevada and the nation stand to lose if "The Sequester" is carried out. Perhaps Mark Amodei wants to inflict this kind of painfully unnecessary "drama" on his own constituents, but do Dean Heller and Joe Heck? Do they really want more out-of-work Nevadans and less of the very R&D that our state so badly needs?

Do they really want to take their queues from Paul Ryan, the "tea party", and the architects of The Eurozone's disastrous austerity program? Or will they listen to Nevada working families expecting better from Congress? Can't they just reach out to Harry Reid and recognize that he and other Congressional Democrats are ready and willing to strike a deal ASAP to stave off this counterproductive "Sequester"? It's time to stop this EPIC FAIL of a fiscal fiasco before it wreaks any more havoc on our economy.

Why #MittpocalyseNow? (Maybe Mittens Just Can't Campaign.)

Yesterday, Mitt Romney returned to Las Vegas to attack President Obama... And try to "reset his campaign" yet again. After all, this hasn't been a great week for Mitt Romney.

Well, Mitt just got worse here yesterday.



And it just highlighted Romney's continuing difficulties in delivering a coherent message. Greg Sargent thinks Romney is losing because he lost his key argument on the economy. Jonathan Bernstein thinks Romney is losing because he's trapped in "the tea party echo chamber" and that's keeping him detached from reality. And while both of them have good points, I'm wondering if perhaps there's a simpler reason why it's all going downhill for Mittens and his G-O-TEA.

Go ahead and take another look at that video above. Notice the message being delivered by the Obama supporters, then notice the message being delivered by Romney supporters. Now, take a look at what Rachel Maddow has to say below.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

And herein lies perhaps the biggest reason why Romney's campaign has taken such a turn for the worse. OFA and Democrats have been making the case that Mitt Romney doesn't want to take action to save America's middle class. Yet while Democrats make this case, Romney and his fellow Republicans... Well, they confirm it!


And with early voting now starting in several states, and with so little time left before the final day to vote, they don't really seem interested in even hitting the ground to campaign and deliver their own message. This is a serious problem. And as long as this continues, Republicans have no one else to blame for their own loss.

What I Mean by "Penny Wise, Pound Foolish"

Congratulations, Nevada. We rank at the bottom of yet another list (that we shouldn't be at the bottom of). This time, Ball State University gave us a "D" in logistics. And surprise, surprise, the reason why is our lack of proper public infrastructure.

Jim New, TMCC’s dean of applied industrial technology, said, “Obviously the most important thing is to have the workforce in place. We regularly hear that we just don’t have the entry level workforce in the community to support the needs of the industries that want to move here. Just recently, I heard this from a company in the food manufacturers industry.”

At least Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) and UNR have been developing programs to educate future logistics industry workers (although UNR's program is now on the chopping block, so progress there may not last long). And while that's a start, we clearly need more. We need more education, and we need better transportation infrastructure.

New said, “Whenever you look at any system, there’s always room for improvement and given the impact of the recession on the state, we’ve certainly slowed down on infrastructure upgrades but I don’t think we’ve truly lost ground like the report represented it.

“We’ve probably held steady and I would hope that as the economy recovers, we turn to improving the infrastructure, which increases jobs and improves infrastructure for all industries. We need to be able to attract more air service to the community and that in turn will attract more support business. And we need a road system that can handle increased traffic and we need support for the rail system.”

Actually, we have lost ground. Contrary to what the folks interviewed by the RGJ want to admit, the state overall doesn't have enough of the infrastructure necessary to become a complete logistics powerhouse. Again, Northern Nevada hasn't felt it quite as much. They can thank the late Bill Raggio for that.

But come here to Southern Nevada, and it's painfully obvious that we've fallen far behind. Our roads are inadequate, and so are our educational offerings. And this brings us back to what we discussed in January.

What makes this even worse is that over many years and many legislative sessions, "the powers that be" in this state have mostly looked the other way despite all the growing evidence pointing to these serious problems. "The Great 2000s Real Estate Bubble" was always doomed to burst, but hardly anyone in Carson City wanted to talk about how to get past it until it was too late. Of course, they probably didn't want to talk about it because the bulk of the state's budget was built upon the bubble, and that everything from fire stations in Tonopah to community centers in Eureka to freeway projects in and around Reno depended on tourist dollars from the Las Vegas Strip. And even as the state had been able to fund some public infrastructure in Central and Northern Nevada thanks to "bubble" money from the last decade, Clark County still lacks sufficient higher ed opportunities at UNLV, sufficient health care, and plenty other areas of infrastructure that are critical to a successful community. Strangely enough, money from the primary economic engine of Nevada (Clark County) hasn't been used to properly maintain that engine. And because that engine has been neglected, the entire vehicle (Nevada) is in trouble.

And this brings us back to our #1 problem. As long as we fail to invest in our infrastructure, we can't really fix our economic woes. Even though Northern Nevada has gotten by with a little more "help from friends", Southern Nevada has been bled to dry because our state's "leaders" have refused to let us break free from our overdependence on tourism and artificial "growth".

But as long as we continue to starve public education, shortchange transportation, and fail to invest in the rest of our public infrastructure, we'll never have the economy we need for future survival. It's bad enough that the future of UNR's logistics program is endangered while TNCC must beg for the private sector to bail out its program. It's even worse that we have nothing of this sort in Clark County. And if we don't fix this soon, we'll all suffer the consequences. And that won't be pretty.

The 800 Pound Gorilla in the Classroom

Last week, former Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Chancellor Jim Rogers called out the 800 pound gorilla that always seems to be in the room when critical higher ed budgets are decided. Last Wednesday, Rogers pointed out what should be glaring inequities.

When UNLV was growing from 20,856 students to 28,317 students in about a decade (1998-2008), instead of building UNLV's infrastructure at twice the rate as UNR's to make up for some of this inequity, UNR received roughly 800k gross square feet of new state funded space while UNLV received approximately the same. The other new buildings UNLV acquired during that period were paid for with institution-based funding, some generated by student fees. Even when the state came up with funding, UNLV provided much more in matching funds than UNR did. For example, 40% of the cost of the Greenspun building at UNLV was donated by the Greenspun family to the tune of $37 million. UNR committed nothing like this amount in either private or institutional funds.

Honestly, I've never been a fan of privatizing public education, so I'm not advocating forcing UNR to rely on more private funds. However, I have wondered why "the political and educational powers that be" in this state have forced UNLV to do this. Thankfully, Rogers and I no longer look to be alone. The Sun penned this editorial yesterday that really highlighted what's at stake.

The current funding formula was created by the Legislature under the leadership of the late Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, who was masterful at shuttling resources to Northern Nevada. And, as a result, Southern Nevada schools have been short-changed by a formula weighted to the north.

That can’t continue. UNLV has grown significantly, yet the state funding hasn’t kept pace because of the formula. The state has to address the needs of Southern Nevada’s schools, especially considering their vital role in educating the state’s workforce. The bulk of the students in Nevada’s colleges and universities resides in Clark County, so under-funding the schools here is unfair and makes no sense. That’s especially true considering the role higher education can play in the economy.

A study of the Intermountain West has shown that regions with higher education levels have fared better than others during the nation’s economic doldrums. As we have said before, colleges and universities can help drive an economy, but they have to be given the chance.

The funding formula by itself isn’t the answer. Lawmakers should consider the overall funding of higher education. Klaich has made a point of keeping the discussion about the funding formula separate from that discussion. He told the Sun that he didn’t want it to look like he was using the funding formula to try to get more money out of the state. That’s fair, and lawmakers shouldn’t confuse the two. Nor should they think that by fixing the funding formula, the problem will be solved. No matter how perfect the funding formula is, it won’t matter if the Legislature doesn’t fund it sufficiently.

Of course, this isn’t a matter of simply throwing money at the problem. Any spending has to be strategic and directed toward meeting the state’s goals, and there has to be results. However, at the same point, the state’s spending on education simply hasn’t been adequate.

Certainly, the late Bill Raggio left behind a legacy of reaching across the aisle to find reasonable budget solutions and continuing investment in higher education. However we can't ignore the entirety of his legacy, which also included "finding" additional funding for Northern Nevada colleges no matter the situation. During the "good times", UNR was receiving the same amount of construction funding as UNLV despite UNLV desperately needing more capacity for its expanding student population. And during the hard times, Great Basin College hasn't had to experience the kinds of fears (of losing classes, faculty, and so much more) that Nevada State College and the CSN system have had to face.

Again, I do NOT want to see UNR or Great Basin or any other Northern Nevada college cut down to Southern Nevada colleges' present level. All that would do is ruin what's left of higher education for the entire state. UNR has certainly played a valuable role in diversifying the Reno area economy. We need to see more of that, NOT the emerging threat of essentially selling parts of UNR and/or UNLV to the Koch empire so they can turn our schools into their "tea party" ideological training grounds.

Instead, I would love to see UNLV, Nevada State, and the CSN system brought up to the level of funding, and essentially the level of respect, that Northern Nevada colleges now enjoy. Back in January, Dr. Robert Lang from UNLV Brookings Mountain West took to KNPR's "State of Nevada" to explain how Southern Nevada has suffered due to the lack of proper investment in our public infrastructure. While the likes of UNR and Western Nevada College have played a vital role in diversifying Northern Nevada's economy, Southern Nevada has remained captive to the whims of tourists and real estate speculators because we don't have enough classrooms for Clark County students and enough opportunities for Clark County's diverse communities. As we've discussed many times before, our economy will never really be sustainable if we keep unrealistic expectations of surviving on "exotic" stripping, bar tending, and valet parking alone.

So it's long past due for NSHE to finally do something about the longstanding inequities in the higher education funding formula. Again, hardly anyone wants to see Northern Nevada suffer from cruel cuts. However, we need to stop asking Southern Nevada colleges to suffer the worst of budget cuts while being spared the best of growth opportunities. It's time to start properly investing in Southern Nevada's future for a change. We will soon have over two million people here in Clark County, so it's time for our burgeoning metropolis to finally get the respect we deserve.

Are UNLV & UNR Thirsty for Koch?

Tonight, UNLV will be hosting a lecture on human rights by a professor from Boston College. OK, so what's the big deal here? Let me explain. It's scarier than you think.

First off, the lecturer from Boston is a "libertarian" who doesn't seem to like granting liberty to LGBTQ folk. Seriously, how can one be "libertarian" and oppose marriage equality? I know the "tea party" set is making "libertarian" cool again, but last I checked, Rick Santorum is not "libertarian".

OK, so Professor Susan Meld Shell isn't consistent in her "libertarian" beliefs. What's the big deal? Honestly, this is the even bigger deal: This lecture is being bankrolled by the Koch family.

Remember the Kochs? They've only been lifting up radical teabaggers and astroturfing them to positions of prominence and power across the country.



And they're not hesitating to buy themselves even more power by buying even more Presidential, Congressional, and state level candidates this year.



But wait, there's more. The Koch empire isn't stopping at electoral politics. It's now injecting its extreme "tea party" ideology into college campuses throughout the country.

What’s happening to academia in Florida demands national attention. Billionaires Charles and David Koch are infringing on intellectual freedom and independence in colleges and universities. It’s an old fashioned quid pro quo where the Koch brothers get allied professors who’ll preach Ayn Rand, supply side economic policies and the values of the 19th century Guilded Age to students and the college gets some funding.

Every year, thousands of individuals move through the Koch-supported classes, lectures and fields of study, which in their totality amount to an ideological assembly line bought and paid for by the Koch brothers. There are Koch-funded agreements at more than 150 American colleges and universities.

“The Koch brothers have paid tens of millions of dollars to get their point of view instilled in classrooms, amongst faculty members and in students,” said Cary Nelson, President of the American Association of University Professors. “Programs they start tend to be one point of view only.”

The Koch brothers’ business has annual revenue that are about 200 times the size ($100 billion) in one year than the entirety of Florida State University’s endowment ($423 million). At a time when governors like Florida Gov. Rick Scott are slashing spending on education, colleges and universities are virtually forced into restrictive and ideological funding agreements with questionable sources to meet students’ demands. Instead, they’re meeting the Koch brothers needs and the students are paying the intellectual price.

Enter the Charles Koch Charitable Foundation, which has given more than $14.39 million in grants to universities like Florida State, Auburn, Clemson, West Virginia and Utah State. All five campuses are in financial agreements with Koch-supported groups requiring the university to hire candidates who adhere to defined ideological guidelines. In some cases, the Koch-supported groups recommend candidates to the faculty or have sway over the college’s hiring committee.

OK, so now this s**t is starting to look scary... But why should we worry? After all, we're Nevada. Do we even have higher education?

Well, that's actually the point. We DO have higher education... And we need to strengthen it, not sell it to Koch Industries for mere pennies on the dollar. Just last October, alarm bells went off at UNR as it looked like the Kochs were about to set up their own teabagger indoctrination camp "center" in Reno.

Earlier this month, a news release went out from a Center for Public Policy Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. The wording of the release made it appear that the Center already exists: “The Great Recession, fiscal distress, and respective policy responses have rekindled intense debates about the appropriate roles of government and the private sector in fashioning economic outcomes, at both the macro and micro levels. Political rhetoric about the causes and consequences of government intervention has been fierce, yet our academic institutions have been largely mute in these debates due to an absence of a central, recognized forum for policy research and development. To fill this void, a center for Public Policy Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno will be a nexus for rational public policy debate on critical issues facing Nevada, our region and our nation.”

The release also reported that “the Koch Foundation has recognized the commitment we are seeking and has agreed to increase the impact of your support by offering to match the first $1 million (subject to Regents’ approval and satisfactory agreement on final terms).”

This set off alarm bells. There are several Koch Foundations, but this one is the Charles G. Koch Foundation, which has a history.

Charles and David Koch are the sons of Fred Koch, a founder of a gargantuan industrial conglomerate in oil, gas and chemicals. The two sons have provided funding to a wide variety of libertarian and private enterprise political organizations, and David was the Libertarian Party vice presidential candidate in 1980. Among the organizations funded by Koch money are FreedomWorks, the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation, Patients United Now (which opposes a single-payer health care system) and the anti-environment group Citizens for the Environment. [...]

The Reno news release named faculty for the Center for Public Policy Studies: Economists Brad Schiller, Mark Pringle, John Dobra, Thomas Cargill and Gerald O’Driscoll. The first four are among Nevada’s top economists (O’Driscoll is with the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C.). All are conservatives.

The news release referred inquiries to UNR College of Business development director Kristen Kennedy, but she knew little about the proposed Center and referred calls to Dean Gregory Mosier.

Mosier said the Center did not yet exist and its creation depended on several things that have yet to unfold. He said the project is in a very early stage: “We don’t have a single piece of paper other than that [news release] … We don’t have a single thing in writing.”

Fortunately, it turned out that the proposal for a "Center for Public Policy Studies" that only seems interested in "studying" radical right policies of privatized everything was just that: a proposal, and a proposal that doesn't seem to be going anywhere at the moment. Thanks to the early outcry and righteous outrage over allowing the Kochs to stomp on academic freedom at UNR, the project to install the Koch's new Northern Nevada outpost seems stalled at the moment. However, don't discount the Koch family's ability to revive the project and tempt UNR with grant money (with plenty of ideological strings attached) some time soon.

But for now, it looks like the Kochs have turned south and turned their focus to UNLV. First, we see UNLV College Republicans chief and local Koch/"tea party" darling Mark Ciavola running for UNLV Student Body President. And now, we're seeing this Koch funded lecture pop onto the schedule. What's going on?

Now before I hear any accusations of "CENSORSHIP!!!", let me say this. I'm not out to censor anyone, not even some "Tea Party, Inc." backed "libertarian" Boston College professor who's not really a "libertarian" and not into recognizing civil rights for queer folk. Sure, she and other Koch allies can have their platform. However, the Kochs have no right to buy their way into power at UNLV and UNR and force their platform to become the only acceptable platform in Nevada higher education. We at Nevada Progressive will be keeping a close eye on both UNLV and UNR to ensure the Kochs and "Tea Party, Inc." don't attempt to shut out free speech and academic integrity and/or shove their radical right "tea party" agenda down any throats at any of Nevada's colleges.

So if you still plan to attend tonight's lecture, go ahead and do it... Then come here and let us know how it went. And if you're concerned about "Tea Party, Inc." injecting its ideology into Nevada higher education, join our friends at MoveOn for a rally outside the lecture tonight to demand that UNLV maintains its commitment to providing a free exchange of ideas and points of view from across the ideological spectrum. Hopefully starting today, we can protect Nevada's institutions of higher learning from "Tea Party, Inc." corruption.

Has Southern Nevada Been Shortchanged?

Today, KNPR's "State of Nevada" touched the issues that are always on our minds... Even if it sometimes feels like they are never really part of our agenda:

- Are we really investing too little in public education?

- Just how over-dependent are we on tourism?

- What must we do to diversify our economy?

Oh yes, and...

- Considering Clark County pays for over 80% of the State of Nevada's budget and is home to over 70% of the state's population, do we really get our state tax dollars' worth?

Last November, UNLV Brookings Mountain West released this paper discussing the challenges that lie ahead for Nevada's economy. But as usual, after about 24 hours of pointing out its existence, this was quickly forgotten. It seemed like that was regularly the case throughout 2011, despite the growing mountain of evidence showing Nevada must change in order to survive in the 21st century. And already one month into 2012, the Nevada Cancer Institute is being swallowed up by a CALIFORNIA college, and hardly anyone raises an eyebrow.

How many more times must reality bite us in the ass before we realize our collective Nevadan ass is bleeding so profusely that our underwear is being dyed red?

In case you missed it last week, I want to show you what Desert Beacon wrote last week that explains Nevada's economic conundrum in a nutshell. We've been underfunding higher education for far too long, and this problem only continues to worsen as we continue to force UNLV and UNR to cut investment even more. Yet when we look at our most promising areas for economic growth, they're areas that require an educated workforce. We have plenty of growth potential in high tech (especially when it comes to green technology), as well as in biotech & medical research, but we're cutting the very programs at our institutions of higher learning that could give us a much needed leg up in these sectors.

Just last week, The Sun posted an article detailing how UNLV has lost both faculty and students in the last three years "thanks" to state budget cuts. How much more of this can we handle?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Tourism alone can no longer save us.

What makes this even worse is that over many years and many legislative sessions, "the powers that be" in this state have mostly looked the other way despite all the growing evidence pointing to these serious problems. "The Great 2000s Real Estate Bubble" was always doomed to burst, but hardly anyone in Carson City wanted to talk about how to get past it until it was too late. Of course, they probably didn't want to talk about it because the bulk of the state's budget was built upon the bubble, and that everything from fire stations in Tonopah to community centers in Eureka to freeway projects in and around Reno depended on tourist dollars from the Las Vegas Strip. And even as the state had been able to fund some public infrastructure in Central and Northern Nevada thanks to "bubble" money from the last decade, Clark County still lacks sufficient higher ed opportunities at UNLV, sufficient health care, and plenty other areas of infrastructure that are critical to a successful community. Strangely enough, money from the primary economic engine of Nevada (Clark County) hasn't been used to properly maintain that engine. And because that engine has been neglected, the entire vehicle (Nevada) is in trouble.

And this brings us back to Dr. Robert Lang's segment on KNPR's "State of Nevada" this morning. The typical "powers that be" in Carson City have failed the entire state, but especially Southern Nevada has been neglected, and that's ultimately been to the detriment of everyone in Nevada. As this election season heats up and we eventually hear candidates talk about what they want to do in Carson City next year, we need to make sure that they follow through on their promises once elected, and that they finally stop avoiding what has to be done to heal our state and let Las Vegas become more self-sufficient.

Did Santa Come Early (for Nevada Democrats)?

In case you were wondering, our 10 of 11 series will continue after Christmas. Don't worry about that. But in the mean time, I just have to interrupt our reminiscing to show you the 8 News Now/R-J UNLV poll that's giving Nevada Republicans "the vapors". (Trust me, we'll tie it all together at the end of this diary!)

President Barack Obama would handily defeat any of the Republican presidential candidates in Nevada if the election were held now, according to an 8 News Now/Las Vegas Review-Journal poll conducted by UNLV's Cannon Survey Center.

With a sample size of 600 registered voters and a 4 percent margin of error, Democrat Obama would defeat his closest rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 45.7 percent to 39.8 percent.

In a presidential caucus, Republicans favor Romney but his closest foe, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, trails within the 6.5 percent margin of error in that particular contest. This result reflects registered voters, but not likely caucus-goers.

The telephone poll, conducted Dec. 12 through Dec. 20, had Obama topping Texas Congressman Ron Paul 45.4 percent to 35.7 percent, Gingrich 47.3 to 35.4, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum 49.3 to 30.9, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman 48.8 to 30.1, Texas Gov. Rick Perry 50.8 to 31.1 and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann 50.2 to 27.1.

Whoops. I guess Americans really are getting tired of "tea party" madness... And realizing that sanity really is a good thing. Hell, the G-O-TEA is now turning voters AWAY (especially if they're gay or not super-rich)!



But wait, it gets worse for Nevada Republicans. It also turns out that Dean Heller isn't all that popular, either.

Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley would defeat Republican Sen. Dean Heller in a nail-biter to represent Nevada in the U.S. Senate if the election were held now, according to an 8 News Now/Las Vegas Review-Journal poll conducted by UNLV's Cannon Survey Center.

The poll of 600 registered Nevada voters showed Berkley edging Heller 44.4 percent to 43.2 percent. But the contest, which will be decided in the November 2012 general election, is well within the poll's 4 percent margin of error. The telephone poll was conducted Dec. 12 through Dec. 20.

Now Heller isn't doing as poorly as Romney-Gingrich-Paul at the top of the ticket, but he's nonetheless in real danger. As we noted on Tuesday, he's fallen from a double digit lead to a tie... And now, perhaps falling behind Shelley Berkley in the US Senate race. Hmmm, I wonder why?



Apparently, Nevadans are smart enough to realize his unbalanced nonsense means less work and more suffering. And they're smart enough to know that the source of Washington's problems lies on Capitol Hill (not The White House). So maybe 2012 won't bring the G-O-TEA another "Red Tide" after all? And in the mean time, Nevada Democrats should probably enjoy these nice stocking stuffers from Santa Claus... Then work their behinds off in 2012 to really make it come true.

Nope, The Teabaggers Can't Muck Up the Clean Energy Summit

(Image courtesy of Las Vegas Sun)

Oh, joy! The teabagger/birther brigade has finally come down to Vegas!

About 75 conservative activists waved signs and shouted at passing cars.

Shawn Moshos, a union carpenter and Ron Paul delegate to the Nevada state Republican Convention in Reno last year, said he was on hand to protest policies that he believes will edge America toward socialism. "This is about controlling America's prosperity, when we should be in charge of our prosperity." Recently passed legislation that would limit carbon emissions by insitituting a system for trading and selling emissions credits would destroy more jobs than it would create, he charged.

The conservative demonstrators were outnumbered by progressive activists who chanted, "What do we want? Clean energy! When do we want it? Now!"

Heh. And I really thought there would be more of them, as three of their most hated politicians (Harry Reid, Al Gore, and President Clinton) are here for the National Clean Energy Summit. Btw, I have the live stream upstairs if you'd like to watch it live (but can't be at the Thomas & Mack Center today).

Hopefully, people will look beyond the noise and actually listen to ideas on how we can combat the climate crisis, retool our economy for the 21st century, and finally put Nevada and the entire nation on a more sustainable path of smart growth.