Seeing Florida Green

He's at it again. He's unloading his very overloaded wallet. And G-O-TEA politicians are rushing to worship at his feet to get in on the SuperPAC action.

G-O-TEA kingmaker Sheldon Adelson is back... With a vengeance. He's already writing the big checks again. "TEA" flavored politicians are flocking to Adelson's not-so-little corner of The Strip to curry favor. And Adelson is already trying to set the terms of debate for the 2016 Presidential Campaign.

So are we to expect a bunch of G-O-TEA Presidential hopefuls decry "reefer madness" next year? Believe it or not, Sheldon Adelson is now bankrolling the campaign to defeat a medical marijuana ballot initiative in Florida.

Why is Adelson pushing so hard against medical marijuana in Florida? He isn't funding the anti campaigns in the other states with marijuana on the ballot (such as the full legalization initiative in Oregon). And Adelson's medical research foundation has been funding medical marijuana research in Israel! So what's Adelson actually doing in Florida?

Apparently, he's looking out for Governor Rick Scott (R). Scott is locked in a difficult race for reelection, and some Republican consultants have worried that the medical marijuana ballot initiative will boost turnout this fall... Along with Charlie Crist's (D) hopes for a political comeback.

Of course, Sheldon Adelson is also looking out for himself. It just so happens that Las Vegas Sands wants to open casinos in Florida. But as of now, legislation to expand legal gaming in Florida (beyond the Seminole tribal holdings) remains stalled. Adelson seems to hope Rick Scott will try to revive gaming expansion if reelected... And make sure Las Vegas Sands emerges with shiny new contracts for shiny new Florida casinos.

We've been wondering why Sheldon Adelson has been so quiet about medical marijuana proceeding right here in his own state while he's bankrolling the anti-marijuana campaign in Florida (and funding medical marijuana research in Israel). Yet the more we sniff into this, the more we sense Adelson cares more about the kind of green he rakes in at his casinos than the kind of green Florida patients hope will finally become more accessible. And now, we're left to wonder if we'll be seeing more of these crafty political maneuvers as Adelson prepares to ramp up his 2016 political shopping spree.

Perspective

Hey, someone had to it. Fortunately for us, Jon Ralston did it. Last Wednesday, he attended the glitzy & glamorous Four Seasons premiere party for "Las Vegas Perspective". And what is "Las Vegas Perspective"? Why, it's the ultimate Southern Nevada insiders' cheat sheet to all the inner workings of Southern Nevada's economy and society.

And jeez, was there high society at Four Seasons last Wednesday! First Lady Kathleen Sandoval gave a keynote speech on the state of Nevada's public education system. Numbers guru Jeremy Aguero gave more details on Nevada's economic recovery. And all the movers & shakers in this soirée oohed & awed at all the facts & figures inside the actual publication.

So what's in the actual publication? It turns out that it's a collection of what we already know. The gaming industry is as erratic as ever. Our unemployment rate is down, but it's still above the national average. The housing market is improving, but many local homeowners are still struggling to stay above water. Our economy is improving, but the fundamentals of our economy still point to epic dysfunction and continued missed opportunities.

This is what was so ironic about last Wednesday's posh premiere party for "Las Vegas Perspective". Even as the uber-insiders of the "Gaming-mining-lobbying Industrial Complex" slapped each others' backs and sang the praises of Nevada's hallowed status quo, even their own sacred cheat sheet couldn't completely deny that the status quo keeps us stuck in a "bubble based economy" that hasn't even fully recovered from the bursting of the last bubble.

Funny enough, one of the sponsors of "Las Vegas Perspective" happens to be none other than the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance (LVGEA)? Remember them? They've gone from "Kiss Your Assets Goodbye" to "Say Hello to Our Esmeralda Straw Man". And they're still running scared from the solution to our core economic problem.

The uber-insiders who attended last Wednesday's Four Seasons shindig did not want to discuss The Education Initiative (TEI)... Just as they didn't want to acknowledge our continuing economic difficulties. After all, if they were to acknowledge the unhealthy truth of our "bubble based economy", they'd also have to acknowledge the need for a realistic solution to this problem. And that would completely undercut their rather "sunny" case against TEI.

Last Wednesday's Four Seasons event was supposed to be about "perspective". Perhaps it was... In that attendees celebrated their perspective of Nevada. But what about ours? Fortunately for us, they're not the only ones who will make the final decision on TEI this fall.

Our perspective also matters. Our struggles also matter. And our future also matters. And we should keep this in perspective.

Good Unemployment Report... But Economy's Still at Risk?

We ran into quite the pleasant surprise this morning. Believe it or not, unemployment dropped last month!

The economy in February added 236,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate dropping to 7.7% from 7.9%. As is usually the case, austerity measures undermined the employment landscape -- America's private sector added 246,000 jobs in December, the public sector lost 10,000 jobs. (It'd be easy for Washington to improve the latter number and lower the unemployment rate, but congressional Republicans still won't allow it.) Update: the 7.7% jobless rate is the lowest in the U.S. since December 2008.

While we're accustomed to looking at jobs reports relative to where we've been --figures only look heartening when compared to how dismal they were at the height of the Great Recession -- today's report is genuinely good news on its own terms. The 236,000 jobs created in February is the second best total in a year, and the seventh best month of the last five years. Glancing through the report, it was also encouraging to see improving data from the construction and housing sectors.

The stronger job creation comes immediately on the heels of January's tax increases. I'll look forward to Republicans explaining how this is even possible, or whether there's been some kind of tear in the space-time-economic continuum.

What's more, we've now created 2.23 million jobs overall in the last year, and 2.33 million in the private sector alone. All Congress has to do is stop punishing the country on purpose, and 2013 may very well deliver a more robust economic recovery.

So what happened? Simple: Consumers kept spending. And because consumers continue to spend, private sector employers continue to hire.

However, it wasn't all great news. As usual, public sector employers continued shedding jobs last month. Remember that this was before Congress' latest manufactured crisis became law.

The numbers offer ample support for the idea that some of the headwinds that have held the economy back since the technical end of the recession in mid-2009 are finally abating. The construction sector added a whopping 48,000 jobs, the most in a single month since March 2007. That is a sign that the housing market is finally surging enough to start to put construction laborers back to work.

And the American consumer, having made progress reducing debt burdens over the last several years and benefiting from higher prices in the stock market, apparently kept spending enough that retailers added 23,700 jobs. That despite an increase in payroll taxes Jan. 1 that economists have feared could wallop consumer spending.

A third major area for job creation was professional and business services, which added 73,000 jobs, with the strongest gains in a category that includes workers for temporary employment services; that could presage more improvement in the private sector to come, as companies often bring on temporary workers before adding to their permanent staff.

The data show a continued schism between the private sector, which is growing nicely, and government, which is still shrinking its employment level —even before the sequester took effect. The federal government excluding the post office shed 4,200 jobs in February, state governments cut 8,000 jobs, and local governments cut 2,000.

Again, keep in mind that this was before the manufactured crisis officially kicked in. So we don't know yet how hard it's hitting the economy. And it may especially hit hard depending on how much the private sector is affected by public sector driven austerity. January's Nevada casino winnings (off 12.5% from January 2012) were not pretty, so we'll have to wait and see if that was just a temporary blip on the radar... Or if increased austerity is leading to less travel & gaming.

Still, today's national unemployment report is an encouraging sign. The private sector overall continues to improve. It's just frustrating to see that constantly hampered by public sector austerity. If it weren't for austerity, our economy would be recovering more quickly without so much risk of dipping back into recession.

The Big Picture

One would think that last Thursday's pomp & circumstance surrounding AB 114 becoming law meant Nevada did something truly revolutionary. And it actually did address an important aspect of gaming policy. However, we need to put this into proper perspective.

Ralston got us off to a good start...



But I'd like for us to expand on this.

In particular, we should look at this. It took just hours for the Legislature to fast-track AB 114 to the Governor's desk. Yet SJR 15 and The Education Initiative are already on legislators' desk, waiting for action... And #NVLeg leaders don't want to even act on those, let alone act as quickly as they did with AB 114.

While some in Carson City are just treating tax policy as bargaining chips and previews of future campaigns for higher office, there are real problems we're seeing out here. Poor Nevadans might actually faceunaffordable charges for health care that's supposed to be affordable & accessible. Our colleges & universities are fighting each other for (synthetically) limited resources. Many roads across this state remain tattered as mass transit operations in Clark & Washoe Counties continue cutting back. Nevada's working families are hurting, yet legislators are debating ways to inflict even more pain on working families.

What's wrong with this picture? Here's a hint: Look at the big picture. We need an economy that works for all Nevadans. And we need an economy that's no longer dependent on just one industry. We've known for decades that our only hope for a brighter future lies in economic diversification, yet we still haven't invested enough in the public infrastructure necessary to build that diversified economy of the future.

Why is this? Sure, the gaming industry has tons of clout in Carson City thanks to its countless lobbyists and endless campaign contributions. Legislators are quick to act on gaming industry demands because they want on that gravy train.

But what happens when that gravy train runs out of fuel? Again, our state's economy can't survive on one industry alone. Even gaming industry insiders recognize that, which is why they've occasionally paid lip service to aiding economic diversification.

But now, more than ever before, Nevada is at a crossroads. Either the state can begin shifting both the tax base and the economy away from overdependence on gaming, or we can continue making the same mistakes to our own detriment.

Now I don't want to belittle the big move on online gaming. It has plenty of potential, and the state should pursue that. The only way Nevada will continue to a be a gaming leader is if we innovate. Yet, the same truth applies to overall economic development... And we've yet to lead there. It would just be nice if the Governor and the Legislature felt the same urgency on improving the state's overall economic health as they did in pleasing casino lobbyists.

Look Who's Playing in #NVLeg Races Now

In case you thought Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson were too busy attacking President Obama with all their "PAC attacks" to bother with the rest of the ballot, there's more evidence proving that you're wrong. Just take a look at what they're doing now.

Companies controlled by Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson, the two most vocal casino operators who have been critical of national Democrats, particularly President Barack Obama, have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Republican group focused on state-level races, according to IRS filings and interviews with Republican operatives.

That committee, the Republican State Leadership Committee, has been funding mail pieces in the five competitive Nevada Senate races that will determine whether Republicans can wrest control of the state’s upper house from Democrats.

The Republican State Leadership Committee received a $475,000 contribution from Wynn Resorts in July, and $150,000 from the Las Vegas Sands, the company controlled by Adelson, in 2011.

Multiple Republican political sources confirmed that additional sums targeted at the state Senate level had been committed by the companies, though they would not provide exact figures. Tax documents for the group, which voluntarily reports contributions and expenses on a monthly basis, were only available for the period through Aug. 31.

In case you were wondering about the loads of mail, billboards, and other ads (attacking Democrats and/or promoting Republicans) that have been popping up lately, now you know how they've been paid for.

So why are they playing in #NVLeg races now? Basically, they know what's at stake. And they want to strengthen their grip on power both in Carson City and in Washington, DC.

Remember what we discussed in February.

So perhaps more so than ever before, the Legislature campaigns of 2012 will really matter. If one wants to fix the broken and outdated tax structure straight out of the 19th century, fully fund public education, improve our state's health care system, rebuild the rest of our state's public infrastructure, and properly invest in the kind of job creation that will benefit our economy for many generations to come, the choice will be crystal clear. And thanks to both redistricting last year and the major developments of the past week, we may actually have a unique and unprecedented opportunity to change the dynamics of Carson City for the better.

Wynn & Adelson are threatened by this, so they want to stop it. Expect even more of their big bucks to drop in the coming days, as we're now in the closing month of the 2012 campaign. It's all about maintaining their power and the status quo for them.

Mitt-pocrisy

Whoops. Apparently, Mitt Romney's attempt to show he's the guy who can "restore the Anglo-Saxon relationship" is totally backfiring on him. He's the one throwing ridiculous accusations at President Obama, yet he's the one insulting Britain and suggesting London can't handle The Olympics!

Yet while that affair "across the pond" is fun to watch , there's another one back here in "The States" that may be even more troubling for Mitt Romney.

Earlier this month, more evidence was unearthed on how Mitt Romney and Bain Capital were involved in outsourcing American jobs overseas. Now, Mother Jones' David Corn is back... And he's exposing another inconvenient truth about Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital.

When Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts he kept his distance from gambling. He turned down donations from the gaming industry for his privately underwritten inaugural gala. And though he initially supported allowing the establishment of slot parlors in order to close a $3 billion state deficit, he later announced he would not consider an expansion of gambling and decried the "social costs associated with gaming." On the presidential campaign trail this year, Romney similarly declared that he opposed online poker because "of the social costs and people's addictive gambling habits." He explained,"I don't want to increase access to gaming. I feel that we have plenty of access to gaming right now through the various casinos and establishments that exist."

As a onetime bishop of the Mormon church—which opposes gambling,including state-sponsored lotteries—Romney's lack of enthusiasm about legalized gambling is hardly surprising. Yet such reservations did not hinder him when he was a mega-financier. While Romney ran Bain Capital, the private equity firm he founded, he owned a Bain-affiliated investment fund that bet heavy on betting.

In March 1999, shortly after Romney departed Bain to run the 2002 Winter Olympics, Brookside Capital Investors Inc., a Bain-related entity wholly owned by Romney, filed a document with the Securities and Exchange Commission detailing the investments held the past quarter in its $559 million portfolio. On this roster were 1.2 million shares of GTECH Holdings Corp., then valued at $29 million. The company billed itself in its 1999 annual report as "a leading global supplier of systems and services to the lottery and gaming/entertaining industries." This description put it mildly; GTECH was the world's largest supplier of computer equipment for lotteries. It operated about 30 of 37 state lotteries in the United States, along with lotteries in England, Israel, Turkey, Australia, and other countries. It also was teaming up with big gaming firms to buy or revamp casinos and race tracks, adding and upgrading gambling equipment at these venues.

In 1998, GTECH had pulled in nearly $1 billion in revenue from its various gaming ventures. At the time Romney was investing in the firm, it was seeking to become a pioneer in Internet gambling.

The SEC filing reporting the GTECH investment doesn't state when Romney's Brookside Capital fund first purchased shares in the firm, but in the mid- and late-1990s the gaming company had a controversial reputation. In 1998, Guy Snowden resigned as head of the company a day after losing a bitter libel battle against billionaire Richard Branson, who had accused Snowden of trying to bribe him into withdrawing from a competition to run England's national lottery. Reporting on Snowden's departure, Fortune noted that "Snowden's often sleazy, win-at-all-costs tactics…have helped make GTECH the dominant force in the computerized lottery business." Snowden's exit followed a run of GTECH scandals. In 1996, a top executive of the Providence, Rhode Island-based firm was convicted in New Jersey of fraud, bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy. (The exec had hired lobbyists to push for expanding the New Jersey lottery and had received kickbacks.) In Texas, where GTECH paid a well-connected lobbyist $3.2 million, there were also allegations of kickbacks and shady wheeling-and-dealing.

Yet again, Mitt Romney says one thing while doing the exact opposite. He claims he despises the practice of outsourcing American jobs overseas, yet his company is a "pioneer of outsourcing". And while Romney claims to piously observe the teachings of his church and court the religious right by decrying the gaming industry, his company was investing in not just any gaming company, but a very controversial one at that!

But then again, we really shouldn't be surprised. This is really Mitt Romney's MO. After all, he's fully embraced Sheldon Adelson and all his Macau mafia (supplied) mega millions that he's pumping into pro-Romney Super PACs. Even though Romney won't publicly embrace Adelson and his "Chinese enterprise", he certainly won't turn down any campaign cash from Las Vegas Sands' head gondoliere.

Really, does Mittens have any core at all? Is there anything he will stand for (other than not releasing his tax returns)? I wonder what he will do next. Will Romney admit his like for the gaming industry in an attempt to warm up to us here in Nevada? Or will he keep denying his gaming industry ties in order to prevent further alienation of the radical religious right (who hate gambling)?

Wither Gambling? Wither Casinos? Wither Nevada? (Maybe Not.)

For the first time in nearly three decades, the Gaming Policy Committee met yesterday. Why? Need I tell you why?



As we had discussed last month, online gaming is looking increasingly like reality. So the State of Nevada is trying to neutralize the threat as quickly as possible... And perhaps turn this threat into an opportunity.

After all, "The Las Vegas Recovery" has already been factored into Governor Brian Sandoval's budget plan. If something like online gaming (authorized somewhere else) eats into big casinos' revenue, then his budget is further thrown into doubt.

Yet, the big casinos are fearing what happens if/when online wagering becomes reality. How will the gaming experience change? How can they continue making money? When they figure out how to profit off online gaming, they will jump on it.

And a growing chorus demands that the state jump on this... Or else face the severe economic consequences of being left in the dust.

The Internet gambling policy debate could be one of the most complex issues the committee has undertaken. The result of the committee’s work could yield either some of the most important polices ever produced for the state’s economic future or much ado about nothing if lawmakers fail to address the issue.

Most believe that the need for government entities to generate revenue will pressure lawmakers to act on Internet gambling eventually, but how it would be made allowable is an open question. Sandoval says he wants the state to be ready for any eventuality, including the prospect of Nevada offering intrastate wagering if federal lawmakers fail to act. [...]

Paul Matthews Jr., of Las Vegas-based IncuBET, a game designer, said the Internet gambling issue was critical to Nevada. It offers an economic opportunity if Nevada were to become a host jurisdiction or a regulatory hub for online gaming.

And that's perhaps the silver lining here. If we take the lead on this, we may just realize opportunity. As we discussed almost two weeks ago, Nevada can take the lead on this by taking the role of "Silicon Valley of Gaming". If we play our cards right, that means Nevada can become the I/T hub of the global gaming industry, foster innovation in online wagering, and provide critical infrastructure support for casinos around the world. But alas, that would require us to actually invest in public education so we have a workforce ready to take advantage of this opportunity.

Still, there's really no reason why we shouldn't embrace the future. After all, Nevada faced a difficult crossroads thirty years ago, when New Jersey was staring us down as Atlantic City rose to the top. Yet what ended up happening? Atlantic City is now faltering, and it's betting on everything from going down-market to opening a dazzling new upscale behemoth to change the game. Meanwhile here at home, Las Vegas casinos have actually managed to recover with less gaming activity by turning to night clubs/day clubs and other new "cash cows" to lure tourists.

If neither Atlantic City nor tribal casinos could kill Las Vegas (even if the latter have caused problems for Reno), then how can online poker? Only if we let it. Remember that. Nevada just needs to figure out how to take advantage of the next gaming trend. And if we actually bother to invest in our future by educating the next generation of innovators and leaders, we really can drop our fear and learn to love Facebook blackjack and Twitter roulette (if we can ever figure out how to compress a spin of the wheel into 140 characters or less). ;-)

Culinary vs. Station... & the High Stakes for the Entire State

This was the scene outside Red Rock Resort last night.



And this is the new local battle in the national "war" over workers' rights.

On Thursday, the Culinary again went sideways, scheduling a rally at Red Rock Resort the same night the property was hosting a big fundraiser for Bishop Gorman, the Catholic high school, at which the Engelstad Family Foundation was to be honored. [...]

To Taylor, however, this is all just noise.

“We have a very different view of time,” said Taylor, the union’s longtime leader.

“If somebody told me we’d have a six-year strike at the Frontier, I would have said, ‘I don’t think so,’” he said, referring to the legendary walkout of the now imploded property.

If the Fertitta brothers, who control Station Casinos, seem dug in, the workers are just as hunkered down, Taylor said.

“Those workers are not going anywhere, and they feel very strong and they’re extremely determined,” he said.

As Patrick Coolican noted in his Sun column today, Culinary and Station have been fighting this battle on some peculiar fronts. Culinary has gone after UFC (which is also owned by the Fertitta clan), while Station has gone from warm, fuzzy "We Love Locals" TV ads to brutal "We Hate the Union" 90 second commercials pounding Las Vegas airwaves.



And even some of the traditional splits of the labor vs. management fight have been shaken up. Harry Reid has apparently expressed concern about how an extended Culinary vs. Station fight court hurt Las Vegas' image to tourists and conventioneers, while Bishop Gorman's President actually reached out to Culinary to ensure their protest last night could go on as scheduled (without interfering with their fundraiser).

And this war is not just being fought in the media. Culinary has called out Assembly Member Marcus Conklin (D-Las Vegas) for doing a fundraiser with Fertitta family members (one of them being a former Station Casinos executive), This is increasingly high stakes because Conklin wants to become the next Assembly Speaker, but he must first survive a tough reelection campaign in what's now a tossup district. I'm sure he must have appreciated the Clark County Democratic Party passing this resolution in support of Culinary 226, collective bargaining, and workers' right to organize and form unions. (Snark... And by the way, I'll do a disclaimer and note that I'm a member of the Clark County Democratic Party Central Committee.)

Even the AFL-CIO, which once had hard feelings over Culinary's parent union joining with SEIU in breaking away from the AFL-CIO several years back, is now teaming up with Culinary to take on Station Casinos and prevent Station from encouraging union hotels on The Strip and Downtown from going after their unions when contracts are up for renewal. National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka was at the Red Rock Rally last night, and he told the media last night that the AFL-CIO is even considering a national boycott of Station Casinos. This is obviously becoming very high stakes for both sides.

And really, this is high stakes for Southern Nevada in general. On one hand, there is reason for concern as both Culinary and Station continue to up the ante in their ad wars and media skirmishes. As Las Vegas' gaming & tourism sector is finally starting to see a steady recovery, do we really want to put that at risk with an extended labor-management dispute?

However, we also can't forget this. Coolican finished his latest Sun column by noting this.

In the end, Taylor’s effectiveness can be found as plain as day in the contracts his members have secured. Our room attendants make 30 percent more than the national average, and unlike many of their peers, they have excellent health benefits secured by the Culinary contract. Those higher wages are also enjoyed by workers at nonunion hotels such as Station and Las Vegas Sands properties because they have to offer good pay to attract good workers.

Station has a lot of advantages in this fight. But don’t expect Taylor or the union to back down. Ever.

Believe it or not, we're unique in making these jobs ones with living wages. In almost every other part of the country, hotel workers are considered "lucky" if they're paid above minimum wage. And make no mistake about it, this is a big deal. Because union workers on the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas do earn a living wage, they can afford to spend more and contribute to the greater Nevada economy. Even the non-union shops, like Station and Las Vegas Sands, have had to raise wages and benefits to remain competitive with union friendly casino operators like MGM Resorts and Caesars. But if Station "goes nuclear" on Culinary and encourages other companies to turn anti-union, then our entire economy is at risk of collapsing over the collapse of well-paying, stable union jobs.

There's really a whole lot at stake for all of us in the Culinary vs. Station fight. And we simply can't afford for the workers to lose this one.

Will Sandoval's Bet Pay Off (for Obama)?

One line often used by Brian Sandoval's administration when asked about the state budget is that "we'll grow our way out", suggesting that future economic recovery and growth will fill up state coffers enough to avoid future program cuts or tax increases. Did Moody's just confirm what "Governor Sunny" has been saying all along?

Hotel numbers in particular are looking better, Moody's said in a report Monday titled "Las Vegas Strip Gaming Recovery Brightens."

The report notes several improving trends in 2011, including a 4.3 percent rise in Las Vegas visitor volume from 2010 thanks largely to the improving U.S. economy. Nearly 40 million people visited Las Vegas in 2011, close to the city's 2007 peak.

Moody's noted that in 2011 there was a 3.5 percent increase in slot machine revenue and a citywide 3.4 percentage point increase in hotel occupancy, to 83.8 percent, the first increase since 2007. [...]

''The improvements are supported by low growth in hotel room supply [since no new hotel-casino projects are set to open any time soon], which gives (existing hotel) operators more pricing power,'' Moody's said in its report.

"After suffering through a deep trough during the recession when visitor volume declined as new capacity came online, the Las Vegas recovery is under way," Peggy Holloway, a Moody's vice president - senior credit officer, said in a statement. "Hotels are benefiting from increased visitor numbers that permit higher room rates, while gaming revenues are recovering, albeit more slowly."

And the good news isn't limited to The Strip. Las Vegas' oldest hotel is apparently feeling confident enough about Las Vegas' comeback to make a big investment Downtown.



And since Clark County contributes 80% of what goes into the state budget, Sandoval's inner circle must be doing the happy dance today. After all, their scheme budget plan depends on strong economic recovery. They need strong economic recovery to avoid another budget shortfall that could rip apart Sandoval's delicate plan.

However, whoever's monitoring Nevada for the RNC should hold off on doing any happy dance. Remember, gaming and tourism numbers on The Strip rise and fall with the state of the overall American economy. And remember who will be blamed/credited most with the state of the overall American economy.

Well, we know what the economy is escaping from: the Republican commitment to make America fail. And we are approaching escape velocity because of the captain of this ship: President Barack Obama. How do I know that this is not just a coincidence? Look at the sectors of the economy that added the most jobs.

The president invested in students by expanding Pell grants and student loans, and people could go to school to get skills. The president did everything in his power get consumers back to buying - through his American opportunity tax credit, the payroll tax cut and prior to that the Making Work Pay tax credit, and by guiding the economy through the worst times since the Great Depression. Consumers are buying again, and businesses are hiring again for various professional services is growing. The economy added 82,000 jobs in business and professional services last month, and 1.4 million since September 2009.

Consumer confidence is helping people do other things, too: like eat out more, go on vacations more, etc. The food services and hospitality industries added 44,000 jobs in February. Since its low point in February 2010, food services has added over a half a million jobs.

The president's health care reform invested in training health care professionals and providing health care facilities and providers with the incentive to focus on patients instead of just profits. Health care reform created incentives for utilizing primary care. Last month, health care and social assistance jobs grew by 61,000. Over the last year, health care employment has grown by 361,000.

And last, but perhaps most significantly, manufacturing. In an economy where manufacturing is growing for the first time since 1997, American manufacturers added 31,000 jobs in February, bringing the total manufacturing jobs growth over the last two years to 444,000.

In the mean time, the people who would love for the economy to turn back are doing everything they can to tear it down. Mitt Romney is flip flopping on - and is now against - raising the minimum wage. You know, because Heaven forbid the working poor have more money that they can spend in the economy, thus accelerating growth even more. John Boehner is busy lying about "tax increases" and trying to spin the jobs recovery into not-good-enough-ism. Yet more Republicans are beating the one-trick-pony of drill, baby, drill, while domestic production is up, foreign oil dependence is down, and energy independence is within greater reach thanks to President Obama.

Funny enough, Governor Brian Sandoval (R) may have President Barack Obama (D) to thank the most for the turnaround in Nevada's gaming and tourism numbers. Thanks to the Recovery Act, the payroll tax cut, the Affordable Care Act, and the expansion of student financial aid, which were all policies President Obama championed and the bulk of G-O-TEA Congresscritters crapped upon, the national economy is improving. And as the national economy continues to improve, more Americans in other parts of the country will have more disposable income available to spend on a Las Vegas vacation.

So strangely enough, Brian Sandoval's good fortune is turning out to be Mitt Romney's bad luck. And both Mittens' campaign and the RNC are still trying to find a way to stop us from noticing the improving economy.

[...F]rom the moment Obama took office, the GOP seemed intent on stressing one theme: He made [the economy] worse. This was an easy one for them. Even though Obama took over during a crisis that began under his Republican predecessor, it was only a matter of time before voters held him accountable for their economic anxiety. That’s just how it works for presidents, who get too much credit for strong economies and too much blame for weak ones. And given the depths of the crisis he inherited, there was no way Obama was going to be presiding over a healthy economy for most of his first term.

This allowed Republicans to spend 2009, 2010 and 2011 shaking their heads while pointing to one discouraging piece of economic news after another, lamenting how Obama’s “failed” policies had ruined the country. As cynical as this was, it was basically effective, as the 2010 midterms showed.

But the past few months have produced the best economic headlines of Obama’s presidency. Since September, unemployment has declined ever month, and it now sits at its lowest level since Obama’s first full month in office. And this week, the Dow crossed 13,000 and the Nasdaq reached a 12-year high. The hopeful signs have had a clear effect on Obama’s popularity, with his approval rating and standing against potential Republican opponents improving along with the economy.

Increasingly, Obama’s message has shifted from promising that his policies will eventually work to bragging that they are working, while Republicans have been forced to deemphasize “He made it worse!” and adopt “It could be better!” as their mantra. The recovery is tenuous (and so are Obama’s polling gains), but for the moment, the roles have been reversed and it’s Obama who now has the stronger message on the economy.

So perhaps Brian Sandoval ultimately will be at least let off the hook somewhat as The Las Vegas Strip roars back to life... But he can't escape the fact that he at least owes some credit to President Obama and his policies that aided the national economic recovery. So Nevada Republicans shouldn't get too giddy just yet (even as Nevada Democrats try to figure out just how feasible running against Sandoval will be in the next two years).

Recovery Is Here? The Strip Feels It, But What About the North?

Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation just gave us some (mostly) welcome news to start the week. Our state's unemployment rate fell from 13% in December to 12.7% this past January. Thanks to recent improvement in gaming and tourism on the Las Vegas Strip, those sectors are adding jobs again. However, not everyone is experiencing improvement.

Nevada’s jobless rate fell from a revised 13 percent in December to 12.7 percent in January, down
from 13.8 percent a year ago and a peak of 14 percent in October 2010. The number of
unemployed Nevadans remained relatively flat at 174,700, but is down 16,300 from the same
month last year.

“Employers added a seasonally adjusted 1,800 payroll jobs. It marks the 12th time in the past 13
months that employment has grown on a year-over-year basis,” said Bill Anderson, chief
economist for Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation
(DETR). “Nevada’s labor markets continued on a path of moderate improvement in January, but
Nevada’s unemployment rate is 4.4 percentage points higher than the nation’s 8.3 percent.”

Changes in the unemployment rates in the State’s urban areas were mixed in January. In Las
Vegas, the unemployment rate declined from 13.3 percent in December to 13.1. Over-the-year, the
rate is down by 1.3 percentage points. In the State’s northern metro areas, the unemployment rate
increased by six-tenths to 13.0 percent in the Reno-Sparks area and by seven-tenths to 13.5 percent in Carson City. Reno’s unemployment rate is down by 1.2 percentage points from the previous year and Carson City’s is down by one percentage point. The unemployment rate in the Elko area increased from 6.4 percent to 7.3 in January and is down three-tenths from the previous year.

Again, this largely has to do with gaming and tourism. Las Vegas has been recovering there, but the gaming sector has been much shakier in the Reno-Tahoe market. We've been seeing those signs, but now that picture is looking clearer. And it's other reminder that gaming alone can't save us.

This comes back to what we discussed in January about our need to realize Nevada's economy can no longer afford to be a "one trick pony". During the worst of the recession, Clark County was taking the brunt of it because we were most susceptible to the real estate bubble bursting, along with global financial crises drying up tourists' disposable income. But even as economic recovery has brought many of these tourists (and some of their disposable income) back to Las Vegas, Reno continues to suffer as newer gaming destinations (like California's tribal casinos) are eating into a tourist market that used to be almost exclusively Northern Nevada's to tap.

If Governor Sandoval and state business leaders are serious about adding 50,000 jobs in this state in 2012, they have to realize that Nevada can't succeed in that by continuing to be a "one trick pony". Whether it's global turmoil affecting tourism to Las Vegas or new regional competition hurting tourism to Reno or online gaming posing a new threat to everyone, there will always be something that could harm our gaming industry. That's why it no longer makes sense to put all our proverbial eggs into that one basket.

Why Do We Need Tax Reform?

Yesterday, we kicked off "Tax Week" here at Nevada Progressive with a look at the intersection of our past and our future. This morning, we'll take a closer look at why tax reform is so badly needed here in Nevada.

Yesterday, I had to book a room at the Silver Legacy in Downtown Reno for a meeting I have to attend early next month.



Strangely enough, after I booked I found this RGJ article noting Silver Legacy's troubles in paying off the mortgage. This seems so awkward for such a big, flashy casino... And it must be painful for those in Reno who had high hopes for Silver Legacy and what it would do for Downtown Reno.

When it opened in July 1995, the Silver Legacy Resort Casino was going to be Reno’s chance to revamp a gaming market that had not seen a major new property open in 17 years.

The Silver Legacy was the result of a partnership between the family-owned Eldorado Hotel & Casino and Circus Circus Enterprises run by Don Carano and CEO Clyde Turner respectively. [...]

And for awhile, the plan worked. For example, the Reno-Sparks gaming market pulled in $834 million in 1995 and by 2000 that revenue grew to nearly $1 billion, according to UNLV gaming statistics.

The idea behind the Silver Legacy was to create a “downtown synergy,” said Guy Rocha, Nevada’s former state archivist. It featured sky-walks connecting the Eldorado and the Circus Circus as well as dome that would house a 127-foot mining rig as the Silver Legacy’s center piece.

“And it really moved a lot of the casino focus to the north side of the railroad tracks and the north side of Commercial Row,” Rocha said. “It really changed the downtown focus a lot. And I think they did for a period of time, and perhaps still do, but the landscape has changed with gambling.”

And then, everything changed. And yes, we again have California to thank (or blame) for it.



California voters approved Proposition 5 in 1998 and gave the green light to tribal casinos. But after the California Supreme Court overturned Prop 5 as unconstitutional, then Governor Gray Davis (D) and several Native American tribes went back to the ballot in 2000 with a constitutional amendment, Prop 1A. But once Prop 1A passed with 65% of the vote in March 2000, tribal casinos were finally approved for good. And ever since then, California gaming has increasingly become a serious threat to Nevada gaming interests. Northern Nevada especially felt the brunt of competition from Sacramento and San Francisco area tribal casinos as fewer Northern California gamblers were making the drive through the Sierras to Reno.



And it's not just California that's posed a threat to Nevada casinos. Right now, it looks like Las Vegas is faring better. Air traffic at McCarran continues to improve, and key Strip player MGM Resorts has narrowed its losses and found firmer financial footing. However, look at the details and see where MGM is faring best. And look at what's landed both Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands into a giant tub of legal hot water. Macau is now the largest gaming market in the world, and Las Vegas will have to get used to growing competition from abroad... And perhaps from the internet as well.

So why am I bringing up everything from a Downtown Reno casino near foreclosure to Macau to online poker? Simple. These stories should all be a wake-up call to Nevada. We can no longer rely only on casino revenue to survive.

This really shouldn't be news. Two years ago, we were being warned. And late last month, UNLV's Robert Lang was trying to remind us again of what needs to be done to fix Nevada's (and especially Southern Nevada's) failing infrastructure, diversify our economy, and allow for a healthier and more balanced economy to grow.

However, this doesn't come cheap. Our colleges badly need investment. So do K-12 public schools. So do our roads and mass transit operations. And so does our health care system. And we simply can't do this without new revenue.

As it is now, Nevada is dangerously over-reliant upon casinos and the gaming industry. During "the boom years", it may have been easy to dismiss this as silly "negative nelly" talk. But now that we're facing chronic budget woes and inadequate public infrastructure that hasn't kept up with population growth for some time, we can no longer ignore the obvious.

So this is why we're embarking on "Tax Week" here at Nevada Progressive. I'd like to do my part to help foster discussion of what we must do to secure a better future for Nevada, so expect multiple ideas and perspectives on how best to fix Nevada's broken tax system and fill those pesky budget holes for good.

Mark Amodei to Nevada: Drop Dead (You Red!)

(Also at Daily Kos)



So Mark Amodei, just after being crowned the GOP nominee in NV-02 (we'll see how long that lasts!), releases some silly ad full of xenophobia.

But the debt, THE DEBT!!! What about THE DEBT??!! Well, here are some facts about the national debt that Mark Amodei doesn't want you to know.



When George Bush was President, Republican Congressional leaders voted 19 times to raise the national debt ceiling by $4 trillion! Funny enough, I don't remember Mark Amodei screaming then about REPUBLICANS "surrendering to China"... But I do remember REPUBLICANS in Congress chiding anyone who tried to negotiate budget reforms into any debt ceiling vote.



So what changed? President Obama is now in office. And we're just barely getting out of a brutal recession that would only worsen if Mark Amodei has his way and we reduce public investment exactly when the economy needs more investment.

And by the way, why does Mark Amodei hate China? Clearly, he hasn't received the memo from the great titans of Nevada industry!



Yes, that's right. Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts International, and Las Vegas Sands all have huge investments in Macau... Which happens to be a part of "BIG BAD COMMUNIST CHINA!!!" So is Mark Amodei ready to call these great Nevada capitalist institutions "COMMUNISTS!!!" for investing so much in China?

And is Mark Amodei also ready to hurl that same insult on the entire Las Vegas Strip corridor? As international tourism continues to pick up and the weak dollar continues to lure even more tourists to visit America, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA) plans to invest another $3.5 million in international promotion, including opening an office in CHINA (!!!), in hopes of encouraging more of those international tourists to include Las Vegas in their itineraries.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board of directors [last week] approved contracts for 10 international offices and an extension of its advertising agreement with R&R Partners as it said goodbye to five elected officials, including its chairman, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

The two-year deals for international representation run from July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2014, and will cost the authority $1.7 million in fiscal year 2013 and $1.8 million in 2014.

In addition to approving offices in Canada, Mexico, Japan, several western European nations, Australia, China, Brazil and Russia, the board authorized a request for proposals for representation in South Korea, India and France.

The authority is developing a strategy to increase the percentage of Las Vegas visitors from other countries from the current 18 percent to 30 percent within 10 years. Last year, 6.7 million international visitors came to Southern Nevada and spent an estimated $6.6 billion, which would support 58,000 jobs.

International visitors stay longer and spend more money than their domestic counterparts. The U.S. Commerce Department says international visitation to the United States is expected to grow by 49 percent through 2016 and LVCVA President and CEO Rossi Ralenkotter said Las Vegas needs to take the opportunity to get a good share of those visitors.

So when will Mark Amodei call out the BIG BAD COMMUNISTS!!! at LVCVA?

Let's face it: Our nation will suffer immensely if the debt ceiling is not raised very soon. We simply can't afford for the federal government to shut down after defaulting on its debt. All it would do is cause a global economic catastrophe unseen since The Great Depression.

And guess what? If all that comes to pass and the world falls into deeper recession, maybe even depression, following a failure to raise the federal debt ceiling, then I doubt Las Vegas will be able to bring in all those foreign tourists we had hoped for. And last I checked, Las Vegas tourism and gaming are the biggest source of revenue for the entire State of Nevada.

So does Mark Amodei really want to further cripple our state by killing what just happens to be propping up Nevada's sickly economy at the moment? Think of all the jobs Nevada would lose if Mark Amodei and the teabaggers had their way in holding our country hostage over the debt ceiling. And think of what prospective international travelers think of people in our government essentially spitting on them and their culture (which is what Mark Amodei is essentially doing). And again, why are they so gung-ho to push the economy off the cliff now when they refused to do anything about George Bush's deficit spending five years ago?

I smell something fishy here. Am I the only one?

All About Dotty's

In case you missed it, there was a huge fight at The Clark County Commission this week over Dotty's.

Some taverns came under fire from big casinos that argued Dotty’s and some similar establishments weren’t in compliance with regulations that allowed taverns to have a “restricted” gaming license if slot machines were “incidental” to the main business.

The Nevada Resort Association argued that some of the taverns used gaming as their main business, while Dotty’s said its business model was already approved by the Gaming Control Board and previous commissioners.

New ordinances initially were proposed by the Resort Association, the Nevada Tavern Owners Association and commissioners Giunchigliani and Steve Sisolak.

After more than three months of discussions, the two associations and some of the other interested parties came to an agreement on the proposed changes, but Dotty’s and a handful of other tavern operators still argued against the ordinance, saying they had done nothing wrong.

So what got passed? After a series of confusing votes Tuesday, this is what finally emerged.

The ordinance requires new taverns to be at least 2,000 feet apart, have a minimum of 2,500 square feet of space open to the public, a bar with at least eight slot machines built in, a kitchen, and a restaurant with at least 25 seats that serves food for at least 12 hours a day.

The changes also require existing taverns that don’t have a bar with machines to add one within two years. Existing establishments don’t have to add a restaurant or meet the other requirements.

Commissioners did add a line to the ordinance allowing existing taverns that are more than 20 years old to be grandfathered in and not have to meet the bar requirement.

But the changes essentially end Dotty’s business model of small establishments that only serve basic food and drinks.

So what is this about? Is there a real issue here? Or is Dotty's forced into a competitive disadvantage?

Believe it or not, there may really be a serious issue here.

Not even Dotty's own lobbyists and consultants can deliver a straight answer as to who and what they are. If they're casinos, then they need to abide by the same laws as other casinos. If they're bars, they need to obey the same laws as other bars. But until this week, they've been able to grow in this very murky legal environment where they make money on slot machines while escaping most of the legal regulation of casinos. And until this week, they've been able to enjoy the the more favorable regulations of grocery stores (with slot parlors near the entrance) without offering much more than slots.

So starting this week, everything changes... But is it fair?

There really are important issues to be resolved with "tavern" casinos, like Dotty's, that have skirted the law for the last 16 years. How many casinos, whether they be official or "incidental", should be allowed in a mostly residential neighborhood? Are local bars and other small businesses hurt by "taverns" like Dotty's? And are these "taverns" just more venues for gambling addicts to fuel their dangerous habit?

Unfortunately, this whole matter gets clouded when The Nevada Resort Association enters the scene and questions are raised over whether this new law fairly addresses the Dotty's problem, or if it's just another attempt by big gaming to snuff out competition.

Endure THIS! Everything They "Know" Is Wrong.

Well, isn't this lovely? Nevada's biggest beneficiaries of government largesse now bite the hands that built them and tell us to "endure the pain".

“You can’t argue gloom and doom. People don’t want to hear it right now, not when hundreds of thousands remain out of work or have had their hours cut.” [...]

In a March 8 letter to faculty and students at UNLV’s Boyd Law School, Smatresk wrote of likely tuition increases to counter lost revenue from budget cutting: “These additional increases will undermine the law school’s successful formula and render it a mediocre institution.”

He’s also been quoted as saying “we’ve already squeezed the blood from the stone. This is horrific to talk about people like this.”

The Strip [casino executive] counseled Smatresk that UNLV should endure the pain during the current legislative session, then he should reach out for a communitywide commitment to rebuild the university during upcoming sessions.

“Neal heard the message, and he’s seemed to have softened his approach,” the second executive said.

Corporate executives and education reform advocates want to hear talk of academic, spending and administrative reform by the university and School District. They do not want the debate to be purely focused on the spending side of the equation.

"Endure the pain"? Really? I don't remember MGM Resorts doing that when they came close to bankruptcy and losing CityCenter. Nope, instead they reached out to Harry Reid and had him call the banks to secure the funding needed to save the project (and the company, and The Las Vegas Strip!).

"Endure the pain"? Seriously? I don't remember Caesars Entertainment doing that when they came close to going bankrupt as all their debts were catching up to them. Nope, instead they reached out to Harry Reid and had him insert a provision in The Recovery Act so they can restructure their debt and stay afloat (which also helped keep The Strip afloat!).

"Endure the pain"? The gaming industry didn't have to do too much of that, and they've always been able to snatch a life preserver when needed. But when our state is failing, our schools are about to be obliterated, and our chance at basic survival is iffy at the moment, we're told to just suck it up and "endure the pain"?

No more. We the people have endured enough.

Why is it that casino execs and their Wall Street corporate fat cat buddies can roll in the bailout money provided by our tax dollars, but then whey whine and scream and throw a fit and demand "reform" when we're trying to stay in school, get better jobs, and make better lives? We the people are being responsible, yet we have to "endure the pain" while they get help whenever they need/want it?

UNLV tuition has nearly doubled in the last 3 years, and it's slated to be raised even higher if "benevolent butcher" Sandoval's budget is adopted. In the mean time, 6 academic departments have been eliminated and more are slated to be axed if Sandoval gets his way. Many teachers and staff have already been laid off, and 350 more may be out of work if Brian's brutal budget is passed. Sorry, anonymous casino executive, but we have already "endured the pain" and we shouldn't be forced to endure our own community's death because a few big mining conglomerates and other
multinational corporations refuse to pay their fair share.

If that anonymous gaming exec were serious about making those "endure the pain" who have been sheltered for far too long, he would call his Carson City lobbyists and at least tell them not to whip against AB 336 and AB 428, simple bills that would respectively enact a long needed net-profits tax on large corporations (AB 336) and reduce the most heinous mining tax deductions (AB 428) that allow the mining industry to get away with getting something for nothing.

Elliott Parker, esteemed economist at UNR, had to go to Nevada Appeal last week to appeal to Governor Sandoval to remember common sense.

[... W]e are deciding which faculty to fire, and which students will lose their degree programs. These are productive faculty who have worked hard, to help us improve this university. We have been cutting budgets by firing many good people over the past four years. This is really getting old, and it is completely reversing years of effort to make Nevadans proud of their oldest university.

My university alone has already lost 350 positions, mostly very educated people who then left the state — and Nevada already has too few of those. Now we have 150 more jobs on the block, and many more to come since we are less than halfway to your target. We aren't that big of a university, and these cuts are starting to cripple us. Your proposals will do incredible damage.

You are mistaken when you say these cuts are best for the state's economy. As an economist who looks at the data, I know these cuts are bad for the economy. Cutting state expenditures during a recession, especially educational expenditures, makes the economy worse, not better.

We know that education matters for the future of the state, both K-12 and higher education. Without our monopoly on gambling, Nevada doesn't have many resources, but nowadays the most productive resource is in the knowledge and skills of the workforce. It will take many years to undo the damage we are doing now.

This is a death spiral. If we gut higher education, productive people and productive investment will flow out of the state, not in.

We know this is not a temporary problem. Gaming is a much smaller share of our economy than it used to be, even though our state budget still largely depends on it. We have known for years that we need a tax system that better reflects our economy, a tax system that can apply low rates to a much, much broader base. Yet we keep procrastinating on the solution.

The budget problem is not too big to solve. While the state's budget gap is a large fraction of the general fund, it is only 1 percent of our state economy. For the average resident, it is roughly the cost of eating out once a month.

And he's correct. We can't endure any more of this pain. It's killing us, and it's time to start letting our state and our people heal.

Ultimately, a diversified economy will help the gaming industry in that it will lessen their tax burden here in Nevada. I guess that's why this strange rant surprised me. I know MGM and Caesars and other Nevada gaming companies haven't had the easiest of times, but we're not asking anything unreasonable from them. In fact, none of the bills mentioned above even affect them!

So instead of forcing working class Nevadans to endure any more lethal "pain", why not let our state heal, make us less dependent upon the casinos, and invest in our schools that we so badly need to produce the kind of educated workforce that will make our economy healthier in the long run?

WTF??!! I'm Right Again?

This week, we've had some great news on the economic front. Las Vegas October 2010 visitation numbers rose 5.7% over October 2009, and Nevada casino winnings rose a whopping 11% in October 2010 over October 2009. So are we really there yet? Are we recovering?

Perhaps so, but don't expect everything to come up roses just yet.

Gaming industry leaders are confident visitors will return in greater numbers in 2011, benefitting hotels, restaurants and resort amenities, but they’re less confident about whether their casinos will see a similar increase.

“I feel good about the pricing environment and rates in ’11,” said Jonathan Halkyard, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Caesars Entertainment. “But it won’t even be close to what we had in 2007.” [...]

“It’s a little more difficult to predict what will happen with gaming, but it’s not looking great right now,” Halkyard said.

The reason is that most consumers have seen their net worth or those of close friends and family members plummet, he said. The downturn in gaming revenue correlates more with consumer net worth and what has happened to the housing market than today’s unemployment rate, he said.

“We’re going into ’11 cautiously, but as far as gaming is concerned, I think we’re in for more tough sledding,” he said.

Again, The Great Recession has changed many consumers' spending habits. These people used to be able to visit Las Vegas perhaps three or four times a year, but now they're lucky if they've been able to come any time since 2008.

Come on, let's face it. Feeding the family, trying to avoid foreclosure, and saving some cash just in case that dreaded pink slip arrives may be far more important priorities for most Americans than fitting in another Las Vegas or Reno/Tahoe vacation. That's just the awful truth of our "new (economic) reality".

So what can we do? Well, haven't we talked about this before? Seriously.

And guess who agrees with me now?

“Touting ourselves as a low tax state as the only reason people want to come here has proved to be a failure,” said John Restrepo, principal of Restrepo Consulting Group and a member of the study group. “If low taxes were all we needed, and we have been touting that, we wouldn’t have a 15 percent unemployment rate.”

The group’s report, “Nevada: 50th in the Nation for Education,” emanated from a round-table discussion among representatives of banking, architecture, law enforcement, education, real estate and government.

They met in August under the sponsorship of UNLV’s Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies and have published their findings. Dominant among them: Nevada won’t diversify its economy and prevent another deep recession unless education is valued in the community and more money is invested in public schools and colleges.

People and businesses leave Nevada or never move here because the educational system fails to meet their needs. The region is particularly off-putting to innovative, cutting-edge employers who seek excellent schools, the report said.

“We can no longer shortchange the state’s public schools, colleges and universities because of a lack of financial, political, social and economic will,” the report said. “To do so is shortsighted and will simply find us falling further behind Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah and other states in the push to lure the innovative entrepreneurs, investors and workers of the coming decades. To do so will relegate Nevadans to continued cycles of boom and bust that are heavily dependent upon the uncertain fortunes of the gaming, construction and government-employment sectors.” [Emphasis mine.]

Get it now? We have to. We have no other choice at this point.

10 of '10: Are We There Yet?

This week, I'm introducing 10 of '10, aka the ten most memorable Nevada stories covered here in 2010. Haven't we been through a lot this year?

And without a doubt, one of the biggest ongoing stories of 2010 was our brutal recession and whatever signs emerged of potential recovery. It seems the worst is finally over, but that's cold comfort to those here in Nevada who still can't find jobs.

Back in January, there was our first sign of hope when Goldman Sachs turned bullish on MGM Resorts as Vegas visitation numbers started rising again.

So is everything looking up from here? Apparently.

But is all the bad news over yet? Not so fast. Room rates are still hovering under $93 per night, and total spending is still down.

But at the very least, more signs are finally appearing and telling us that the worst is over and recovery is arriving. This is the third month in a row with year-over-year gains in tourist volume, and this is the first time since 2007 that Nevada casino winnings have actually seen year-over-year gains. Also remember that this is for November 2009... Before CityCenter opened!

And now with Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs betting on MGM Mirage's and Las Vegas' overall success, it's no longer looking so "crazy" to invest in Southern Nevada's future.

But still, we've had to deal with the changing dynamics of this town. In March, I wrote about the challenges posed by casinos investing more in emerging markets and less here in Nevada.

It's the law of diminishing marginal returns, plain and simple. As the 1990s Strip construction boom came to a close and the 2000s "luxury megaresort craze" began, Las Vegas began to reach the point of saturation with high-end megaresort casinos. The law of diminishing marginal returns began to take hold as the potential for profit decreased as the number of megaresorts vying for tourist dollars continued to increase.

This is why the Las Vegas of 2010 is a whole new ball game. We're no longer that tiny outlaw outpost in The High Mojave, but rather a maturing resort destination that already attracts over 37 million visitors annually. And while there are still some possibilities to expand that tourist pool, we don't have as much growth potential in gaming these days, like we did in 1950 or 1990. [...]

Now contrast this to newer markets, like Florida and Pennsylvania domestically and Macau globally. Pennsylvania and Macau are nowhere near full saturation yet, and Florida is a potential gold mine with already desirable tourist destinations that haven't yet been tapped by casinos. Now we can see why all the big casino companies are rushing to build abroad as they only agree to minor spruce-ups at their respective Las Vegas home bases.

So what does this mean? No, it's not the end of the world! Las Vegas will go on, albeit now as a more mature gaming destination rather than some place with unrealistic "limitless" growth potential.

And two days later, I wrote the rant I just can't stop using.

[... T]he casinos can no longer be counted upon as a "free ride". We can't just expect new casino construction to prop up demand for construction jobs, which props up demand for new housing, which props up demand for housing construction, which props up the rest of Southern Nevada's economy. We may have lucked out in seeing this model work from 1989 to 2007, but all it really did was hide the weaknesses in this shaky economic model that ended up being exposed when "The Great Recession" hit and all the artificial demand for new casinos, new homes, new whatever fell like a row of dominoes. [...]

Yes, there are signs of hope here. We're no longer seeing the mountain of foreclosures that seemed so mind-numbingly painful a year ago. We're no longer seeing the unemployment rate rocketing up to dangerous new highs, even though it's bad enough that it's still hovering around an already too high 13.8%. We are starting to see a return of economic growth, however so slight and lagging behind the rest of the country it is.

But again, I have to point out that we are lagging behind. We're especially lagging behind metro areas that have better PreK-16 education systems and more stable employment sources. Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah, both have GMP (gross metro product) growth rates exceeding the national average and unemployment below the national average. Same goes for Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. So why is this? All of these areas boast a highly educated workforce employed in stable sectors like high-tech and biotech, and none were as dependent on the housing bubble and artificial "construction for the sake of construction" as Southwest areas, like Las Vegas and Phoenix (which is also lagging behind in economic growth).

So again and again, we come back to this dilemma. As long as our education system is broken and as long as we continue to make ourselves overdependent on the casinos and casino-fueled development, Las Vegas will continue to suffer under this radical boom and bust cycle that lives and dies on discretionary consumer spending. Sorry, but this is not how a major metropolitan area with 2 million residents and a state with over 2.7 million residents can survive!

So it all comes back to this. Will Nevada remember the lessons learned the hard way during The Great Recession? I have a feeling we have no other choice. Gaming revenue likely won't return to pre-recession levels until 2014. And moving forward, there's no more chance of "limitless" "growth for the sake of growth", as there just isn't much room left for The Strip to grow and competition can now be found almost everywhere.

Looking forward to 2011 and beyond, Nevada needs to look to more stable job sectors to find the stable economy we've always been looking for.

Looking Ahead: What's Next for Nevada? And for Vegas? (Part 1)

2010 has definitely been a wild ride... But what might 2011 possibly have in store for us?

Soon-to-be-Governor Sandoval is already loading up his future staff. Education activists are already threatening law suits if Governor Sandoval and/or The Legislature try to cut too much. And speaking of that budget, it will be quite brutal and internal GOP strife may cause a number of additional headaches and/or opportunities.

Nevada's unemployment rate is finally dropping... But that doesn't mean happy days will be here again so soon. Sheldon Adelson may be feeling bullish about the future, but that's largely because he's now investing in Asia... Only 15% of Las Vegas Sands' revenue actually comes from Vegas, and word has it the numbers at Wynn Resorts look awfully similar. Harrah's Entertainment will soon become Caesars Entertainment, but that still doesn't answer the question of when Harrah's/Caesars will finally finish the Octavius Tower at Caesars Palace, along with that "entertainment district" near Harrah's that they've promised for some time. Apparently MGM Resorts' bookings are up and Wall Street is feeling more bullish about MGM and Vegas these days, so things are looking better. Just don't expect a return to the mythical "glory days" any time soon.

So where am I going with all my wild and crazy ramblings? Come on. I laid it all out for you in March.

[T]he casinos can no longer be counted upon as a "free ride". We can't just expect new casino construction to prop up demand for construction jobs, which props up demand for new housing, which props up demand for housing construction, which props up the rest of Southern Nevada's economy. We may have lucked out in seeing this model work from 1989 to 2007, but all it really did was hide the weaknesses in this shaky economic model that ended up being exposed when "The Great Recession" hit and all the artificial demand for new casinos, new homes, new whatever fell like a row of dominoes.

The Cosmopolitan will be opening next month, but once that opens we probably won't be seeing any new Strip casino-resorts opening for at least five years. We've really learned the hard way that we can no longer rely upon an unsustainable "growth begets growth" model of construction being fueled by artificially inflated "demand" fueled by real estate speculation. Those days ended three years ago, and it makes absolutely no sense to even try to return to that model. Even though the gaming industry will most certainly improve, that and the "growth industry" that has come with it can no longer be our sole source of sustenance.

Nevada needs to change, that much is clear. We need to change dramatically. We need to change our priorities. We need to change the way we think of our economy. We need to go beyond our "comfort zone" of relying upon the casinos for everything, slapping together "quick fix budgets" loaded with "legislative band-aids and duct tape", continuing to delay the building the kind of infrastructure our state needs to move forward, and putting so much effort into making today's "quick fix" that we forget about the challenges facing us tomorrow.

So how do we change? Later, I'll be talking about where I think we need to go.

Sharrontology Wants to Drain Our Economic Lifeblood?

Another day, another Angle scandal...

Former Republican National Committee Chairman Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. has endorsed Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, saying it would be a mistake for Nevadans to elect Republican Sharron Angle and lose Reid's clout to protect the state's lifeblood gambling industry.

Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, suggested Angle should distance herself from the anti-gambling Campaign for Working Families, which has endorsed her and begun running television advertisements attacking Reid.

The political action committee's founder and chairman is Gary Bauer, a former Republican presidential candidate affiliated with several Christian right groups over the years.

"It's disturbing that she (Angle) is taking money from people who oppose gambling," Fahrenkopf told The Associated Press. "She may not even know it, but Gary Bauer has been a longtime, outspoken opponent of legalized gambling. I did a double-take when I read she was receiving assistance from someone who has opposed Nevada's chief industry for so long."

So let's recap this. Sharron Angle is being supported by Gary Bauer's PAC, which OPPOSES legalized casino gaming. So she's happily being supported by an extreme religious right group that wants to shut down the lifeblood of our economy? WTF??!!

No wonder why even sane Republicans, especially those in the gaming industry, are rejecting her dangerous extremism.

Fahrenkopf said Nevadans need Reid's power to protect an industry that has been hard bit by the recession and likely will be tapped as a revenue source to deal with the budget deficit. Reid is the most knowledgeable member of Congress about gambling issues, Fahrenkopf said, and has the ability to control what bills reach the floor for votes as Senate majority leader.

The leisure and hospitality industry, which includes hotel-casinos, is Nevada's largest employer, accounting for 304,300 jobs statewide.

"We just can't take any more assaults on us tax-wise or otherwise," Fahrenkopf said. "We need someone strong to protect the state and the industry. No freshman senator would have clout. To trade the most powerful position in the Senate for a freshman senator doesn't make sense."

MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren, a Republican, agreed.

"For a small state like Nevada to have the most powerful person in the Senate is not something we should be willing to let go," he said in a statement. "Simply put: Harry Reid is a better choice for Nevada's future. He has far more experience and can wield far more authority and influence on our behalf than any freshman senator."

So we have someone who's worked hard to promote and protect the best interests of our state... And we have someone who's nothing but a tool of outside forces that essentially want to shut down our state. The choice can't be clearer.

Why on earth would we want to lose our biggest advocate? And instead get someone "representing us" who actually wants to destroy our economy? Sharron Angle just doesn't get it...
Yet again...

Sharrontology Makes No Sense, Makes No Cents

Once again, Sharron Angle is contradicting herself. She says she supports the very things she's been opposing, and she says she opposes the very things she's been supporting. And she's not a "typical politician"?

Well, maybe not in one way. Without a doubt, she's gone off the deep end in terms of her radical right "insani-tea". Even Republicans run away from it! And even the teabaggers are having to cancel their Las Vegas convention over it!

But you know what just makes Sharron Angle's campaign even worse? These days, she's trying to distract us from her extremism by trying to blame whoever she can for "The Great Recession". She may say she wants to "talk about the economy", but she never offers any real solutions.

She mocks green collar jobs as "designer" energy, but many real Nevadans have benefitted from Harry Reid's work to encourage more renewable energy development in this state.









She dismisses Reid's work to help save CityCenter as "shifting the decks of The Titanic"...



And mocks his and others' efforts to save the entire tourism industry here in Nevada by preventing the dangerous Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump from opening right along active fault lines (prone to earthquakes) and less than 100 miles away from Las Vegas!



And if you think that's bad enough, it just gets worse. Harry Reid worked to pass the Small Business Jobs Act and the HIRE Act to help small businesses hire workers again.



Sharrontology opposed this help to small businesses, instead favoring the same "billionaire bailouts" that George Bush championed and helped cause the budget deficit we're dealing with today.

And wait, there's even more. When $83 million in aid for Nevada schools was on the line, Sharron Angle blithely dismissed this as solely "an emergency in Harry Reid's mind".



Really? Even though we know that strong schools and good education are essential to a sound economy and more good jobs.





So just to sum up how Sharron Angle wants to "talk about the economy", she wants Nevada to forfeit our green jobs opportunities. And she wants to destroy our tourism and gaming industry by mocking the work done to save CityCenter and supporting turning Nevada into a giant, dangerous, radioactive waste dump that tourists would be sure to avoid. And she wants to let Nevada schools fail because she wouldn't fight for funding to keep teachers on the job.

Well, now we know why she just thinks we're "spoiled".



Seriously, Sharrontology makes no sense AND makes no "cents". In more ways than one, Nevada can't afford her batsh*t crazy.