Compounding Tragedies

Nearly three days have passed since the verdict was issued in the George Zimmerman trial. Yet even now, protests in honor of the late Trayvon Martin continue nationwide.

After legendary soul singer Lester Chambers dedicated a song to Trayvon Martin, someone jumped onto the stage and attacked him. Stevie Wonder has already vowed to stop performing in Florida and other "Stand Your Ground" states. And major rallies continue across the nation.

Since Saturday night, we've been forced to pay attention to the intersection of racism and radically flawed gun policies. ALEC, the NRA, and the rest of "Tea Party, Inc." pushed hard for "Stand Your Ground" in Florida and in other states. And as a result, George Zimmerman is a free man again despite admitting he shot Trayvon Martin dead.



This is the brutal reality of our broken gun policies. This is what happens when we allow the likes of the NRA and ALEC to eviscerate even the most basic of gun safety laws. This is what we've come to.

And it's not as if we're immune to this here in Nevada. In fact, we know all too well here in Nevada what happens when "Tea Party, Inc." and the gun lobby get their way. Tragedy occurs. Case in point: the latest scandal to hit the Reno Police Department.

The mentally ill 19-year-old who bought a gun from an on-duty Reno police sergeant was found by a judge last year to have a mental disability, which makes him prohibited from possessing a firearm under state and federal law, a Reno Gazette-Journal investigation found. [...]

Sgt. Laura Conklin did not ask for a background check when she sold the young man the firearm on July 2. Those checks are not required for private party sales under state or federal law.

The case has re-ignited the debate about background checks for private gun sales. The Nevada Legislature argued during the 2013 session about the need for background checks for all sales and passed a measure requiring them, but Gov. Brian Sandoval vetoed the bill, saying it would “erode Nevadans’ Second Amendment rights.”

Adding to the controversy, Washoe District Court clerk Joey Orduna Hasting said late Monday that they made a mistake in their coding system and the man’s case was not sent to the Nevada Department of Public Safety to be included the background check system. That means his name has been missing from the list for more than a year.

Oh, yes. That's right. A Reno police officer actually sold a weapon to someone who wasn't supposed to own it! Apparently, this is the kind of "freedom" that Governor Brian Sandoval (R-NRA) wanted to protect when he vetoed SB 221 last month. And apparently, this is the kind of "freedom" that Senator Dean Heller (R-NRA) felt compelled to protect when he joined the G-O-TEA veto of an even more modest federal background checks bill in April.

These are the consequences we face for inaction on gun safety reform. A police officer can sell a firearm to someone who had already been found unsuitable for firearms ownership. A man can "legally" shoot to death another young man because "he looked suspicious" (read: black). A man can open fire in an elementary school and gun down twenty children & six adults to death. And throughout this state and across this country, many more people can meet their untimely demise. And we can thank the NRA, ALEC, and the rest of "Tea Party, Inc." for these compounding tragedies.


Do we really want more?

Climate Charade

Lately, we've been seeing yet another outbreak of manufactured crises in Congress. Fortunately, one of them is being solved today. Yet even with that happening, we still have a whole lot of hot air polluting Capitol Hill.

So what about the real crises emerging today? In particular, what about the very real crisis threatening our very existence? We've been seeing even more evidence of it lately as massive wildfires have ripped through Nevada forests north and south. Climate change is clearly here, and there's still far more to do for us to survive it.

Yet despite all the mounting evidence of the fast approaching climate catastrophe, the 21st Century Know Nothings continue to deny reality. This is why President Obama has had trouble getting any kind of climate action through Congress. And now, one prominent Congressional Republican staffer writing under the pseudonym Eric Bradenson is finally asking his party to stop denying reality and come to the table with real solutions.

Someone in the GOP needs to say it: conservation is conservative; climate change is real; and conservatives need to lead on solutions because we have better answers than the other side. [...]

Republicans don't have to choose between conceding to the left and denying the science. There are genuine pro-growth solutions that align with conservative values. Republicans can admit that 97 percent of scientists just might be right without having to embrace Democratic ideas that would grow government.

Well, this looks encouraging... But is it really? Here's Steve Benen with some ice cold water to throw onto this hot new item.

In 2013, with the threats posed by the climate crisis intensifying, a Republican staffer on Capitol Hill is only willing to acknowledge reality if he can do so pseudonymously.

[Joe] Romm added that article "was awarded second place in the 'Young Conservative Thought Leaders' contest from the Energy & Enterprise Initiative at George Mason University." The organizers at the Initiative agreed not to publish the author's real name "for job security reasons."

In other words, to write a piece making the case that Republicans can "win the climate debate" by pushing conservative solutions to a real problem, is to put one's job in Republican politics in jeopardy.

This really isn't healthy.

It truly isn't. Even with the overwhelming scientific consensus and growing physical evidence all around us, the only way a DC Republican could ask his party to get real on climate change was with a pseudonym?! Is this for real?

Sadly, it is. Because G-O-TEA politicians are too afraid to admit the truth, we see this ongoing game of climate charade in DC. Can we afford to continue with this? We keep missing out on opportunities to improve our economy and save ourselves every time we fail to act. Do they really want to risk greater catastrophe by continuing the great climate charade?

Closure? Cloture?

Yesterday, news broke of Senator Harry Reid (D) preparing to change filibuster rules if President Obama's executive nominations remain indefinitely blocked. The entire Senate held a private caucus last night to try to reach some sort of last minute deal. While Senator Reid rejected Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Kentucky) "offer" of some confirmations in exchange for unilateral disarmament, Senator Reid is now looking to other Reoublicans to reach a possible solution.

It remains possible the nuclear option will be avoided this time around as a group of Republicans, led by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), are easing up on the stalled nominees. As Reid sees it, he’s calling the shots over McConnell.

“We’re fighting for the principle that executive nominees should get up-or-down votes,” the senior Democratic aide said. “If Republicans will give us that, there’s a chance we won’t go nuclear, but we will maintain the ability to go nuclear if they start filibustering nominees again.”

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) all but admitted that Richard Cordray had the votes to be confirmed to the CFPB. The remaining discussions are about confirming the two NLRB picks — Sharon Block and Richard Griffin. If they go through, Reid will have no incentive to go nuclear this time around, but people close to him say he refuses to give up his right to do what’s needed to make sure the Senate functions in the future.

“This would also be a rebuke to McConnell from his caucus,” the aide continued, “since the group [of Republicans] we’re talking with is so sick of the obstruction themselves that they’re basically willing to give us everything we’re asking for with no conditions on future action.”

In recent years, Senator Reid has tried several workarounds to try to move legislation in the Senate. While this has resulted in a few legislative victories, Senate gridlock has nonetheless hit an all time high. And Senator Reid seems to be ready to start changing this.

Already, Senate Republicans seem to be buckling under pressure.

As of now, the votes are still on. The first test vote will happen around 11 ET this morning for Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Board. If he gets more than 60 votes, which is likely, then there will be eight hours of "debate" on his nomination. Republicans could choose to give their time back and not use up the eight hours, but that's highly unlikely. Negotiations on the remaining nominees will continue. The next two up are the key to the current impasse, the National Labor Relations Board nominees.

Republicans have essentially relented on all of the nominees except the two NLRB picks, Sharon Block and Richard Griffin. They want substitute choices for those nominees, reportedly any two new nominees of President Obama's choice. What that gives the Republicans is the continued dysfunctional NLRB. The deadline for confirmation on these appointments is August 27. Two new candidates would have to be vetted, passed through committee and brought to the floor in record time, all before the Senate goes into its August recess beginning August 5. That's essentially impossible.

Now, it's just a matter of whether Senate Republicans are finally willing to let President Obama govern. Will they do it? Or will they force Senator Reid to finally "go nuclear" to get something done?

It may ultimately come down to the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that oversees labor practices. Senate Republicans have been indefinitely blocking President Obama's choices for NLRB. And so far, Senator Reid continues to insist their confirmations are the final keys to diffusing this filibuster showdown. So are Senate Republicans willing to deal?

8:15 AM UPDATE:

And a deal has been reached. TPM has more details.

In short, Republicans would confirm nominees to all seven positions, a big concession for the GOP. But in a concession for Democrats, they would replace two recess-appointed nominees to the National Labor Relations Board — Sharon Block and Richard Griffin — with new nominees under the following condition: Republicans pledge to confirm any two replacements by President Obama to the board by Aug. 27.

The deal, outlined by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) office, also ensures that Reid retains his right to revert to the nuclear option in the future to change filibuster rules by a simple majority vote.

So President Obama will have to pick two new NLRB nominees. Then, all the vacancies will be confirmed and filled. So I guess this means crisis averted.

Of course, this also means major reform is also averted. But at least this time, Senator Reid has something to show for it.

Filibusted... No More?

Every so often, we're reminded of the epic dysfunction of the 113th Congress. If it's not another outburst of insani-TEA in the House, it's the struggle to accomplish anything in the Senate. That's largely thanks to the unprecedented abuse of the filibuster by the G-O-TEA clan there.

Until very recently, US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) was very hesitant to radically alter Senate rules. But now that he's having to admit the Senate is broken, he may finally be ready to push for new rules.

“This is a moment in history where circumstances dictate the need for change,” Mr. Reid, the majority leader, said in a speech at the liberal Center for American Progress. He suggested that there was only one way for Republicans to avoid the rules change: give Democrats a straight up-or-down vote on all seven of President Obama’s nominations that are in question and stop filibustering executive nominations going forward.“

I love the Senate, but right now the Senate is broken and needs to be fixed,” he said.

Senator Reid is giving the entire body one last chance to hammer out an agreement on President Obama's executive appointments tonight. If this is not successful, then Senator Reid will push for a rule change on executive appointments tomorrow. He has already said he has 51 votes for this rule change.

Even this is not a major change. Filibusters on legislation and judicial nominations will continue. Clearly, change does not come easily to the US Senate.

Still, something must be done. As of now, there is no permanent Labor Secretary or EPA Administrator. And on top of this, many more executive branch positions are vacant. And another high profile vacancy is happening is Janet Napolitano is stepping down as Homeland Security Director.

This is just no way for the country to function. Something must change. And now, finally, Senator Reid feels ready to pursue that change. This won't instantly solve all Congress' woes, but someone must start somewhere.

Signs & Letters

Last week, I noticed something quite fascinating. While we here have known Astrid Silva and her amazing work for some time, the LA Times finally noticed what she's been up to here in Nevada. And they noticed her interesting "pen pal".

A lover of old movies and the way notes were passed during an earlier era, Silva thought the majority leader, being older, might feel the same way. She wrote her first letter. Then another. And another."I ... have never even stolen a piece of gum from a 7-11, yet I feel as though my forehead says 'FELON.' I long for the day when that stigma will be gone and I can make my parents sacrifices worth it and be an asset to MY country."

As Silva became known around party headquarters, she was asked to introduce the senator at a public event. She was making her way off the stage when he told the audience she was one of his favorite Dreamers. She stopped cold. Reid had just unintentionally outed her as being here illegally.

Her mother became worried that the family would face trouble with the authorities. Her dad took another view. "You have to face it at some point. Just go forward," he told her.

Silva gathered her friends and they formed a Dreamers group, Dream Big Vegas. Every chance she found to put a note into Reid's hand on his visits home, she did.
She realizes how odd she must have seemed to the senator she started calling "abuelito," grandpa.

Astrid and her continuing letters inspired Senator Harry Reid (D-Searchlight) to deliver this moving speech on the Senate floor late last month.



And that's not all. Over the course of time, Senator Reid listened to even more immigrants' stories. And he realized just how serious of a problem this is. He realized the consequences of forcing these people to live life in the shadows of society.



Senator Reid and many of the other US Senators who have been working hard on comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) have been doing so because they've realized the real, human toll of inaction. They know who will pay the price of Congress' failure to act. They know the families who will suffer if CIR falls apart (again) soon.

Yet despite all this, Rep. Joe Heck (R-??!!) doesn't seem to care. The US Senate already passed S 744. Keep this in mind as Rep. Joe Heck attempts to whitewash the House G-O-TEA plan to kill the bill (S 744) by letting the Senate CIR bill languish as the House G-O-TEA clan cherry-picks draconian (and expensive) "border security" provisions to play with.

Just as the Senate completed its long process of passing CIR, the House G-O-TEA gang don't seem to care about any kind of rational governance. Instead, they're looking for a pretty face to cover their ghoulish agenda. As others worry about the human implications of CIR policy, they're only finessing the politics of continual obstruction.



So what will it take for Rep. Heck and other House Republicans to notice their politics is toxic beyond the realm of the G-O-TEA? Last month's Harper poll found that 71% of Nevadans support the principles of S 744. On top of this, a new PPP poll specifically shows that 40% of NV-03 voters are less likely to vote for Rep. Heck if he stands against CIR. Oh, and the latest national Gallup poll shows more Americans favor the Democrats' CIR agenda than what most Republicans are advocating.

Republicans ignore the signs at their own political peril. It remains to be seen if Rep. Heck will have to learn this lesson the hard way. He can only keep living in the past for so much longer before reality bites.

It's just tragic that he and too many other House Republicans fail to notice the letters of Astrid and so many other Americans who are hurt by the failed status quo of our immigration system. They are ultimately the ones who matter most here. And their letters can't be ignored forever, either.

Standing on Bitter Ground

On Saturday, a Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin. Since the verdict was announced, protests have broken out nationwide.

Thousands of demonstrators from across the country — chanting, praying and even fighting tears — protested a jury’s decision to clear neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager while the Justice Department considered whether to file criminal civil rights charges. [...]

The NAACP and protesters called for federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman, who was acquitted Saturday in Martin’s February 2012 shooting death. The Justice Department said it is looking into the case to determine whether federal prosecutors should file criminal civil rights charges now that Zimmerman has been acquitted in the state case. The department opened an investigation into Martin’s death last year but stepped aside to allow the state prosecution to proceed. [...]

In Miami, more than 200 people gathered for a vigil. “You can’t justify murder,” read one poster. Another read “Don’t worry about more riots. Worry about more Zimmermans.” Carol Reitner, 76, of Miami, said she heard about the vigil through an announcement at her church Sunday morning. “I was really devastated. It’s really hard to believe that someone can take the life of someone else and walk out of court free,” she said. [...]

In Philadelphia, about 700 protesters marched from LOVE Park to the Liberty Bell, alternating between chanting Trayvon Martin’s name and “No justice, no peace!”

“We hope this will begin a movement to end discrimination against young black men,” said Johnathan Cooper, one of the protest’s organizers. “And also to empower black people and get them involved in the system.”

A young man was gunned down for walking outside while black. He was carrying Arizona iced tea and Skittles. And he was wearing a hoodie. This is what George Zimmerman found "threatening".

Somehow, a jury of six in Sanford, Florida, found Zimmerman's story possible. So they acquitted him. And protests have since spontaneously emerged nationwide. When is the slaughter of an innocent teenager justified?

That's what continues to be asked in Florida and nationwide. When did the victim become the suspect? When did racial profiling become "public safety"? Why is this happening?

Not only have the NRA, ALEC, and the rest of "Tea Party, Inc." succeeded in recent years in making so many dangerous weapons readily accessible (even to criminals), but they have also passed "Stand Your Ground" laws across the country (including a limited version here in Nevada) that encourage the very vigilantism that George Zimmerman engaged in. And on top of that, these "Stand Your Ground" laws allow vigilantes like Zimmerman to walk away free after shooting innocent people.

So where do we go from here? What happened over the weekend served as a stark reminder of the many loopholes in our gun laws... And of the long road ahead to remedy continuing racial discrimination across this country.

SNAP Out of It

Yesterday, we looked at what seems to be the start of the gruesome death of comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) legislation in Congress. Even though it's crystal clear that House Republicans are going out of their way to kill reform, they're nonetheless looking for someone else to blame (for their own inaction).

Unfortunately for Congressional Republicans, most Americans are not believing them. According to the latest Quinnipiac national poll, 51% blame Republicans in Congress for obstructing President Obama's agenda while only 35% blame President Obama for not cooperating with Congress. And on top of this, 54% support the kind of CIR that House Republicans are now blocking while only 28% (!!!) support the Mitt Romney/House G-O-TEA extreme deportation agenda.

Even conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks is horrified by this.

It’s beginning to look as though we’re not going to get an immigration reform law this year. House Republicans are moving in a direction that will probably be unacceptable to the Senate majority and the White House. Conservative commentators like my friends Bill Kristol and Rich Lowry are arguing that the status quo is better than the comprehensive approach passed by the Senate. The whole effort is in peril.

This could be a tragedy for the country and political suicide for Republicans, especially because the conservative arguments against the comprehensive approach are not compelling.

After all, the Senate bill fulfills the four biggest conservative objectives. Conservatives say they want economic growth. The Senate immigration bill is the biggest pro-growth item on the agenda today. Based on estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate bill would increase the gross domestic product by 3.3 percent by 2023 and by 5.4 percent by 2033. A separate study by the American Action Forum found that it would increase per capita income by $1,700 after 10 years.

And speaking of The Times, the editorial board penned a column putting into perspective the House CIR fiasco and the House's passage of an egregious "farm bill" that's all about pampering the super-rich with corporate welfare while soaking the poor

The House will refuse to consider a comprehensive immigration bill that could lead to citizenship for millions of immigrants, Republican leaders said on Wednesday, and will slowly and casually consider a few border-security measures that have no chance of passing on their own.

And, on Thursday, the House passed a farm bill that stripped out the food stamp program, breaking a pact that for decades has protected the nutrition needs of low-income Americans. It was the first time since 1973 that food stamps haven’t been part of a farm bill, and it reflected the contempt of the far right for anyone desperate enough to rely on the government for help to buy groceries.

These actions show how far the House has retreated from the national mainstream into a cave of indifference and ignorance. House members don’t want to know that millions of Americans remain hungry (in an economy held back by their own austerity ideology), and they don’t want to deal with the desperation of immigrant families who want nothing more than a chance to work and feed themselves without fear of deportation.

On both issues, in fact, many House Republicans are proudly asserting that they will stand in the way of any attempts to conduct a conference with the Senate. That might, after all, lead to a compromise.

So House Republicans refuse to even consider CIR, but they're willing to sock it to the working poor? What exactly are their priorities? Fortunately, Desert Beacon is here to point out what they just voted to do.

Representatives Heck (R-NV3) and Amodei (R-NV2) voted in favor of H.R. 2642, the Food Stamp Free Farm Bill, which passed the House on a 216-208 vote on July 11, 2013. Lovely. However, might I be excused for asking about the “Pro-Life” bona fides of the two conservative representatives from the Silver State when it’s laudable to decry a woman’s right to choose the medical procedures necessary to terminate a problematic pregnancy, or even to deplore the use of contraceptives  — BUT once the child is born it is equally laudable to criticize the profligacy of women who have “too many children” and therefore require public assistance to feed them?

That said, two of Nevada’s Congressional representatives have voted to cut food assistance to approximately 156,319 households in this state. [...]

What benefit has been slashed?  The average individual benefit in NV as of 2011 was $124 per month.   Who are the people assisted by this meager benefit?  71% of all SNAP participants are families with children. 26% of all Nevada SNAP participants are families with elderly or disabled individuals. 42% of all Nevada participants are WORKING.

The GOP’s stereotypical imagery of the food stamp recipient as a loafer consuming brew on the porch steps while “hard working” Americans underwrite his existence is just that — an marketable image for ideological consumption, a stereotype suitable for assuaging the I Got Mine You Try To Get Yours Sucker self-serving philosophy of selfishness.

Especially since the start of The Great Recession, many Nevadans of various backgrounds have been struggling to regain their financial footing. Programs like SNAP exist as a safety net to prevent these people from starving to death. And not only that, but SNAP also serves as a critical lifeline for the economy.

So why did Reps. Heck & Amodei vote to make over 150,000 Nevada households suffer? And will they demand that House Republican leaders allow a vote on real immigration reform? Both SNAP & CIR stand to benefit our economy. Is extreme ideological rigidity really more important to them than helping the economy?

None

Last I checked, we're now over halfway through 2013. I'm sure for some of us here, the 2012 Election has become a rather distant memory. Yet today, we were given a reminder of that fiercely fought cycle.

A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that voters in Nevada will continue to have the right to choose none-of-the-above on their ballot.  A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected a Republican-backed lawsuit that claimed the "none of these candidates" ballot option was unconstitutional. "The district court's ruling is a triumph for the voters of Nevada," said Secretary of State Ross Miller. "Voters who want to express their dissatisfaction with the federal and statewide candidates on the ballot should have the option and freedom to do it."

The Nevada Republican Party actually filed this suit last year in hopes of striking down a nefarious villain of Mitt Romney. No really, that's what they believed. I wonder if they've yet noticed the ironic twist of fate Ralston caught yesterday.

The lawsuit was filed a year ago to erase None of the Above is that it was filed by delusional Republicans who believed Mitt Romney had a chance to win Nevada and they needed to prevent those not thrilled with him from having a place to discard their vote. Forget that there were plenty of third-party options happy to accept a protest ballot. Suddenly, longtime Republicans such as ex-Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury had epiphanies that somehow the option disenfranchised voters. It was complete nonsense with a pathetically obvious political motivation.

The irony, though, is that Republicans may have needed None of the Above to save Sen. Dean Heller, who won his race by only 12,000 votes over Rep. Shelley Berkley. In that contest, None of the Above took 45,000 votes. Maybe a third-party candidate, who received 49,000 votes (most of them surely protests against both contenders) would have taken all of those None of the Above ballots if it wasn’t available. But I doubt it. If the GOP had won the suit, Romney still would have lost decisively and Heller might be out of a job.

Do Nevada Republicans actually want to continue pursuing this law suit? Have they thought of the consequences of taking this choice away from Nevada voters? Oh, and how does "None of These Candidates" disenfranchise anyone?

Or are they still unable to process any of this... Because they still haven't accepted the results of the last election?

How to Kill a Bill (& One's Party's Future)

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Republicans were supposed to be embracing comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) as they recognized their need to change. That clearly has not happened.

Even in January, we started noticing the warning signs. By May, it was becoming increasingly clear that the 21st Century Know Nothings want nothing to do with any kind of CIR. Even as S 744 easily passed the Senate last month, its future was quickly thrown into doubt as the G-O-TEA led House began looking for politically palatable ways to kill the bill.

And now, they believe they've found one.

House Republicans are embracing a step-by-step approach to immigration, in contrast to the sweeping plan passed by the Senate and backed by the White House. But they’re offering neither specifics nor a timetable — nor any mention of possible citizenship for an estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country unlawfully.

Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other Republican leaders said in a statement the administration “cannot be trusted to deliver on its promises to secure the border and enforce laws as part of a single, massive bill like the one passed by the Senate.”

House GOP lawmakers streaming out of a two-hour meeting on immigration Wednesday also shrugged off a long-distance nudge from former President George W. Bush, who called on Congress to reach a “positive resolution” on the issue. “America can be a lawful society and a welcoming society at the same time,” Bush said at a naturalization ceremony at his presidential library in Dallas.

“We care what people back home say, not what some former president says,” declared Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan.

Rep. Huelskamp then went on to insult another Former President with pediphilia laced "humor". Ummm... Stay klassy, G-O-TEA!

Of course, what's truly disturbing about this is that House G-O-TEA "leaders" are ignoring the plight of real families across the nation, their party's own political future, and even the recent action of their Senate colleagues! Comprehensive reform is supposed to be comprehensive. The only way any of S 744 can realistically become law is if the entire bill is passed. And the only way any kind of comprehensive bill can pass is if there's compromise on all sides. Progressives have already had to compromise quite a bit to pass any kind of comprehensive bill. Why won't this bloc of House conservatives do the same?

At least one Nevada Republican is now stepping forward to address this nonsense.

“My question is, who’s doing the earned status piece … for the 11 million? And it hasn’t been answered yet,” Nevada Republican Rep. Mark Amodei, a member of the House Judiciary committee, said in an interview this week. “I’m going to spend this week finding out who’s bringing a bill, and when are we bringing it. Because I feel like you have to have the discussion on both sides of the Capitol to do the issue justice.” [...]

“I don’t know what the definition of amnesty is, but listen, if you have to go through and do all these things that are tougher and longer than somebody who came here legally, and you’ve gotta succeed in those, that’s earned status, that’s not amnesty,” Amodei said. “I assume that we will be having that discussion in the House.”

So far, Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Carson City) has offered promising rhetoric on CIR. Unfortunately, he has not always offered the votes to match that rhetoric. So why can't he and Rep. Joe Heck (R-Henderson) can correct this by offering House legislation that can easily be reconciled with S 744.

So will they do this? Or are they really not all that upset with the impending demise of CIR in Congress? Only time (and their actions) will tell

Future on Fire

Is it just me, or does it feel like Nevada is on fire? Up north, the Bison Fire is breaking loose in Douglas County just as the Kyburz Fire near Lake Tahoe is nearing 100% containment.



Meanwhile down south, the Carpenter 1 Fire near Mount Charleston in Clark County actually dropped from 15% to only 10% containment as the massive 20,000 acre wildfire hopped across Kyle Canyon.




And it's not just here. Across the American West, we're seeing massive wildfires scorch the landscape. And as all this record heat and record dryness fuel these massive wildfires, it's becoming even more difficult to deny the brutal reality of climate change. We've already been noticing the parched land as a result of climate change. I guess it was just a matter of time (and incredibly hot weather) before this parched land was set ablaze.

Over time, we've seen growing evidence of human induced climate change leading to bigger and more destructive wildfires. Now, we have horrific evidence right outside our windows. How much longer can we deny reality?

As we keep emitting greenhouse gases, Arctic & Antarctic ice continues to melt. And as that ice continues to melt away at our earth's poles, meteorological mayhem ensues.

So keep this in mind as we see the fires outside. The future is in our hands. Do we really want to let it burn away?

Hail Mary, Full of FAIL

Earlier today, we were discussing the treacherous future of comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) in Congress. Unfortunately, our worst fears are finally coming to full fruition. House G-O-TEA "leaders" are now going all in on their plot to kill the bill.

At the Capitol, House Speaker John Boehner stated a specific policy preference Tuesday that will alienate the entire Democratic Party if he adheres to it, and thus doom the reform effort. And elsewhere in the Beltway, influential conservatives have grown more confident and explicit about abandoning the immigration issue, for at least a couple of years.

Taken together, it means that enacting new immigration legislation will either require Democrats to cave on a key demand, or require Boehner to abandon his preference and break his word to his conference that he won’t move ahead without a majority of his members in support.

“It’s clear from everything that I’ve seen and read over the last couple of weeks that the American people expect that we’ll have strong border security in place before we begin the process of legalizing and fixing our legal immigration system,” Boehner said outside the Capitol Monday afternoon. His spokesman Michael Steel explains that the statement is consistent with Boehner’s “long-standing emphasis on border security.

”But it amounts to a de facto endorsement of the conservative view that any steps to legalize existing immigrants should be contingent upon implementation of draconian border policies. As is Boehner’s custom, it also eschews the word “citizenship,” suggesting that even if Democrats agree to a trigger, he won’t guarantee that it would be aimed at a full amnesty program, and, thus, eventual voting rights for immigrants already in the U.S.

So this is what it's come to. Because House Republicans are so afraid of their 21st Century Know Nothing base, they don't want to pass any real CIR legislation. Yet because at least some of them also recognize the political risk of killing CIR, they're now trying to blame someone else for their own politically craven act(s).

This is why G-O-TEA "leaders" have been grasping at straws and blaming everything from Benghazi to the IRS to terrorism to LGBTQ civil rights to health care reform for their own decision to kill immigration reform. Funny enough, these are the same people who always lecture everyone else on "personal responsibility". Why won't they take their own advice?

Oh, yes. That's right. Rep. Joe Heck (R-"TEA" Drinker) is always here to remind us.

Heck wasn’t just pandering to his conservative audience; he had said something similar last year when he addressed the Hispanics in Politics group in Las Vegas. The 14th Amendment was added to the Constitution after the Civil War to overrule the Supreme Court’s notorious Dred Scott decision that denied citizenship to black slaves. The high court has subsequently ruled that the amendment confers citizenship on all children born on American soil, no matter the legal status of their parents. “We’re one of the only industrialized counties that grants birthright citizenship,” Heck added after the Republican meeting.

Hispanic leaders say it’s hard to reconcile Heck’s claim to be open to a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants with his willingness to question the widely held interpretation of the citizenship clause. That’s turf typically tread only by Republican hard-liners such as Rep. Steve King of Iowa and former Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado.

Heck also rattled the Hispanic community when he voted for King’s amendment earlier this month cutting funding to Obama’s popular policy to halt deportations of illegal immigrants brought here as children. The national Democratic Party responded with a scathing Spanish-language radio ad against nine vulnerable Republicans, including Heck, who defended the vote as a repudiation of the president for sidestepping Congress with an executive order. But the vote feels personal, not political, to some of Heck’s supporters.

Their preferred policies are incredibly toxic, and so are their politics. And now, House Republicans are going for this political Hail Mary of a blame game in hopes of making their own hot mess of killing reform magically go away. Do they really think we're all that stupid?

Craven Spin

Late last month, we were reminded of the people behind the policy. While we often hear about the politics of comprehensive immigration reform (CIR), we sometimes forget about the real people hurt by the broken immigration system. On Sunday, The Sun shared a few of their stories. Here's one.

The 23-year-old nursing student at the College of Southern Nevada came to the United States from the Philippines when she was 7 years old, graduated at the top of her Centennial High School class and has been recognized for her artistic talent.

[Senator Harry] Reid [D] quoted a Sun profile of [Anna] Ledesma and other non-Hispanic immigrants in his first day of floor speeches on immigration, noting how Ledesma would try to tell herself that because she was working so hard to become a nurse, “they’re not going to deport me” — but never quite believed it.

“Like Anna, the Dreamers are talented, patriotic young men and women who want to defend our nation in the military, get a college education and work hard to help their communities and our country,” Reid said, noting that because of last year’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Ledesma could now believe in her mantra: “They’re not going to deport me.”

Anna, Ricardo, Blanca, Astrid, and many more immigrants have important stories to tell. Are we listening? It seems like House Republicans still refuse to. Instead, they continue hawking excuses for killing CIR.

Get a load of this.

“If you look at this Obamacare debacle that they have right now, this administration is actually deciding when and where to actually enforce the law. And that’s what some of us in the House are concerned about,” Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID), who until recently was a leading immigration reform negotiator in the House, said Sunday on Meet the Press. “If you give to this administration the authority to decide when they’re going to enforce the law, how they’re going to enforce the law … I can tell you that Janet Napolitano has already said that the border is secure. So what’s going to happen is that we’re going to give legalization to 11 million people, and Janet Napolitano’s going to come to Congress and tell us that the border’s already secure, and nothing else needs to happen.

”Labrador is referring to the Obama administration’s decision to delay the health care law’s employer mandate by one year — a move intended to smooth Obamacare implementation, but that in itself reflects the fact that Republicans will block legislative Affordable Care Act fixes, and that administrative actions are the only way to make sure the law rolls out as smoothly as possible.

Meanwhile, the Senate’s bill is now idling in the House, and with no legislative deadline forcing Speaker John Boehner to hold a vote on it, there’s a real chance it could die quietly as members gear up for midterm elections next year. Labrador says this outcome would really reflect Republicans’ lack of faith that Obama will enforce its strict border security provisions, rather than their objection to its promise of amnesty for current immigrants.

Never mind that this is exactly what Speaker Boehner's Chamber of Commerce allies have been calling for! Now that they got it, the House must schedule another useless Obamacare (or Affordable Care Act) repeal vote. They somehow always have time to vote to take away people's health care, yet they never have time to pass immigration reform. And now, they're trying to blame their inaction on immigration reform on President Obama delaying implementation of the ACA employer mandate?

Who are they kidding?

"Tea Party, Inc." is already trying again to spread misinformation (and outright lies) on Obamacare. And now, the House G-O-TEA Caucus is hoping for a "two-for" in using the ACA scare campaign to sink CIR as well. Why?

Well, they're scared. They're afraid of the polling, yet they're also afraid of their own base. So what will House Republicans do when wedged between a rock (the bulk of the American people, including quite a few Senate Republicans!) and a hard place (the "tea party")? So far, it looks like they're looking for someone else to blame for their failure to pass CIR.

This whole time, Rep. Joe Heck (R-???) has been hoping to have it both ways on CIR. And as long as there's no CIR bill reaching the House floor, he can continue talking out of both sides of his mouth. Yet as he's worrying about his political future, families across America are wondering if they will have any type of future together. Think about that.

No More Names

It may be gone for now, but it's far from forgotten. When Governor Brian Sandoval (R-NRA) vetoed SB 221 last month, the gun lobby declared "Mission Accomplished". They did the same in April, when US Senator Dean Heller (R-NRA) joined in the Senate filibuster of (very) modest federal gun safety reform legislation.

What they failed to realize is that gun safety advocates refuse to give up. They want no more names. And that's why the Demand Action campaign and local activists gathered at Paradise Park today. They wanted to remember those who have recently died due to gun violence, and they were ready to call again for action to demand no more names are added to this list.








Yep, these people showed up at Paradise Park on a hot Monday morning. They baked under the sun... And sent a message to Nevada's Members of Congress, especially those who promised to take action but ultimately did not. (We're looking at you, Senator Heller and Rep. Joe Heck [R-???].)

And not only that, but a few Nevada legislators also showed up to ask Nevada's Members of Congress to do what Governor Sandoval refused to do. Assembly Member Ellen Spiegel (D-Henderson) began the rally by sharing her harrowing personal story of gun violence. She clearly had this in mind when she voted for SB 221. Why should other Nevadans face such unnecessary risk?




State Senator Justin Jones (D-Enterprise) also addressed the audience. He fought hard to pass SB 221. And against so many odds, it passed the full Legislature. But then, Governor Sandoval vetoed this bill to expand background checks for gun purchases. Senator Jones had choice words for Governor Sandoval, the gun lobby, and Nevada's Members of Congress who have yet to deliver on their promise to support the most basic of gun violence prevention measures.




And then, the group began reading names (of those who died due to gun violence). Ultimately, they were the reasons for today’s event. And they keep us asking why we allow this unbridled bloodshed to continue.

It happened at a "Congress on Your Corner" in Tucson. It happened at an IHOP in Carson City. It happened in a gated community in Sanford. It happened at a theater in Aurora. It happened at an elementary school in Newtown. It happened right here on the Las Vegas Strip. And it continues to happen all across the country.

Can we afford more? Do we want more names added to this roster?

Break the Cycle.

Last year, the typical (corporate lobbyist) powers that be in Carson City were suing their darndest to kill The Education Initiative. Ultimately, they didn't succeed.

Earlier this year, they then took Carson City by storm to kill it. Ultimately... They didn't succeed at that, either. Although the Nevada Legislature declined to pass IP 1, this only means We the People will have the last word on The Education Initiative next year.

We've known for some time that Nevada's tax system is broken. And we've known for some time that Nevada's constant underfunding of public education is hurting our economy. And while Governor Brian Sandoval (R) wants us to believe his status quo approach will let us "have it all" (while paying for none), even members of his own administration can no longer deny reality.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment for progressives this year was the Legislature's failure to break the fiscal status quo. Despite many past promises of change, and even a surprise announcement from another top Nevada Republican, we ended up with yet another biennium of the same old status quo. How can we ever break this cycle of FAIL?

We'll uncover the answer next year. That's the difference this time. And this may be the one chance Nevadans have to break the cycle of FAIL.

Sure, this may not be the ideal way to enact major change to the tax system. But as long as the (corporate lobbyist) powers that be in Carson City continue to refuse to even consider change, this may be the only way to begin saving our state. And no matter how much Governor Brian Sandoval and his inner circle (of corporate lobbyists) protest, they can't hide the fact that their demands for endless status quo led to this.

Next year, Nevada will finally have the opportunity to break the cycle. Nevada will have the opportunity to better fund our schools and put in place the foundation for a better economic future. This opportunity will present itself on our ballot next year. Will we take it?

Old Ways vs. New Direction

Last week, we explored the intersection of needed policy and smart politics as we examined Republicans' internal wrestling over comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). We were asking why they couldn't see the humans suffering... Or the voters who don't appreciate it.

Yesterday, Fox demonstrated why this is a major problem for the Republican Party. They just continue to deny reality. After all, it's easier to deny reality than to recognize something wrong (and change it).



And it's not just Fox pundits denying reality. It's also G-O-TEA politicians closer to home. A prime example of this is Rep. Joe Heck (R-Delusional). While his constituents are demanding reform, he's hamming it up with his country club besties.

Regardless, Heck’s speech could clearly be heard from the confines of the country club’s bar, filled with men unwinding from their morning round of golf. He sought to reassure the crowd that the immigration bill would not mean amnesty for 11 million people. Under the Senate version, he said, it could take undocumented workers 13 years to earn citizenship. “It’s not like the old days,” Heck said. He also tried to assuage concerns about “anchor babies” receiving automatic citizenship under the 14th Amendment. “If we’re going to have a debate over immigration reform, it should be part of the debate,” he said.

Heck wasn’t just pandering to his conservative audience; he had said something similar last year when he addressed the Hispanics in Politics group in Las Vegas. The 14th Amendment was added to the Constitution after the Civil War to overrule the Supreme Court’s notorious Dred Scott decision that denied citizenship to black slaves. The high court has subsequently ruled that the amendment confers citizenship on all children born on American soil, no matter the legal status of their parents. “We’re one of the only industrialized counties that grants birthright citizenship,” Heck added after the Republican meeting.

Hispanic leaders say it’s hard to reconcile Heck’s claim to be open to a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants with his willingness to question the widely held interpretation of the citizenship clause. That’s turf typically tread only by Republican hard-liners such as Rep. Steve King of Iowa and former Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado.

Heck also rattled the Hispanic community when he voted for King’s amendment earlier this month cutting funding to Obama’s popular policy to halt deportations of illegal immigrants brought here as children. The national Democratic Party responded with a scathing Spanish-language radio ad against nine vulnerable Republicans, including Heck, who defended the vote as a repudiation of the president for sidestepping Congress with an executive order. But the vote feels personal, not political, to some of Heck’s supporters.

Even as recent polling has shown overwhelming support among Nevadans for CIR, and even though Rep. Joe Heck himself had expressed willingness to consider CIR earlier this year, Heck is now back to his old ways of pandering to the 21st Century Know Nothings. Perhaps that's all he knows. Perhaps that's all he feels he can do.

Whatever the case, it's counterproductive. Rep. Heck may be stuck in his old ways, but those old ways are coming back to bite him and his party. Even as they continue denying Nevada's and the nation's new demographic reality, our state and nation continue to evolve. And even as they continue denying the need for real, comprehensive reform, immigrants continue to contribute to America's economy and shape America's future.

And speaking of future, there's a new twist coming soon to Joe Heck's political future courtesy of Erin Bilbray.



Even the National Journal piece (linked and quoted above) acknowledged the fast demographic changes of Nevada's 3rd Congressional District (or NV-03 for short). Not only did the district rapidly become more urban and suburban last decade, but it also became more ethnically diverse. And NV-03 continues to diversify today. Joe Heck may be accustomed to only paying attention to a certain subset of constituents, but he won't be able to get away with that forever.

America is moving in a new direction. Nevada is most certainly moving in this new direction. Yet Joe Heck seems stuck in his old ways. How much longer can he afford to remain stuck in his old ways?