For months, Nevada Republicans have giddily anticipated how today’s nationally televised presidential debate and subsequent Western leadership conference would draw the eyes of the nation to the state and establish its first-in-the-West caucuses as a key contest for GOP contenders.
Instead, most candidates spent the past week pledging to boycott Nevada’s Jan. 14 caucuses over a dispute the state is having with New Hampshire related to its primary date. [...]
But Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, who placed first and second in the Nevada caucuses four years ago, were the only candidates to hold public rallies by the eve of the debate (which will be aired at 5 p.m. on CNN).
“Most of the candidates, they’re going to use us as a great backdrop ... but you start looking at their plans, and there isn’t really much in there for Nevada,” UNLV politics professor David Damore said. “My fear is that we get sort of taken as a prop.”
Think about it. Will we hear anything of consequence at tonight's debate? Are the Republican candidates really taking Nevada's economic worries seriously? Remember what we talked about yesterday on perception and reality. I'm sure the GOP candidates who actually bother to show up at The Venetian tonight will claim ability to wave a magic wand and make all our problems disappear, but look closer. Look past the empty rhetoric. And realize that actions speak louder than words, and that their actions clearly indicate they're just not that into us.
Finally, all eyes will be on us this week... Oh wait, they're not? Who are those candidates looking at? Are they lusting for New Hampshire again (while they're supposed to be with us)?
When Nevada elbowed its way toward the front of the presidential calendar, the idea was simple: No longer would candidates ignore the West and its issues. Rather, they would come here and speak to the concerns of people like Victor Tingley.
At 56, the former assistant casino manager has been jobless for nearly three years. His home in North Las Vegas, purchased more than a decade ago when the neighborhood was more desert than development, is worth less than a third of its former value.
Yet Tingley, a Republican-leaning independent, has heard nothing meaningful from the GOP hopefuls about the collapse of the housing market or the resulting implosion of Nevada's building industry, which, experts say, may take decades to recover. Not even from Mitt Romney, who took a well-publicized tour of Tingley's foreclosure-wracked neighborhood in April and held it up as an example of the nation's struggling economy.
"They don't give a [damn] about us," said Tingley, as he stood in his front yard surveying a gloomy landscape of empty and abandoned homes, many worth far less than their outstanding mortgages.
There's a reason why the Republicans are largely ignoring Nevada's economic woes. Since most of the rest of them don't expect to win here, they're deliberately downplaying our concerns and drumming up the kind of extreme rhetoric that excites the hearts of teabaggers in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. And perhaps more importantly, the Republicans' campaign donors don't really care about things like home foreclosures.
The virtual silence from the GOP field is not just frustrating to Tingley and his neighbors — "They're not really talking about it. Nobody is," said Republican Shirley Ayala, 77 — but also puzzling to business and economic analysts. They say the economy will not fully recover, here in Nevada or elsewhere across the country, until housing rebounds and the construction industry mends.
"Job creation" — which the candidates have emphasized — "is not, in and of itself, the answer," said John Restrepo, who runs a Las Vegas economic consulting firm. "You have to deal with the housing market, since that's one of the biggest assets most people have."
[... T]he GOP hopefuls have little incentive to raise the issue — or, for that matter, visit Nevada all that much. Compounding the snub, several said last week that they wouldboycott the state's Jan. 14 caucuses in a dispute over their timing.
Although Nevada is tentatively third in line to vote, Iowa and New Hampshire are still far more consequential. So the candidates are spending the bulk of their time in those two states, where the housing issue rarely comes up. While Nevada ranks first in foreclosures, New Hampshire and Iowa rank 15th and 33rd, respectively. Joblessness in the two states is less than half of Nevada's 13.4% rate, which also leads the country.
So we're in this weird pickle of a situation where we can't get the attention of these GOP hopefuls, even when we're supposed to be taking center stage. But really, is anyone taking Nevada's economic concerns seriously?
Right now, the focus seems to be largely on which big power players are supporting whom in the next election cycle. Who's raising money for Romney? Who's headlining the next Perry event? Who's still packing the room for Obama? Who's in? Who's out? Who's getting the best consultants? In a state like Nevada, where our "elite" are so tight it seems incestuous at times, it's easy to just speculate on who the power players are gravitating towards.
But when one looks beyond the power players to the rest of the state, one sees a different picture. For most Nevadans, none of the insider horse race matters because they fear losing their homes, losing their jobs, losing it all. Outside the glitzy Vegas Strip casinos and posh Tahoe estates, it's a grim picture out here.
That can explain why the Occupy/99% movement seemed to pick up momentum this past weekend. Larger than expected crowds turned out in Las Vegas, Reno, and Carson City. Nationwide, local Occupy chapters are forming and protests are emerging. And now, we are finally starting to see a common message emerge, one of people fighting back and directly challenging the reign of powerful elite.
But is anyone in power really paying attention? Perhaps. Notice these new ads from the House Majority PAC, and notice President Obama's barnburning campaign speeches? National Democrats may now be realizing the angry mood of the electorate and the return of economic justice as a winning populist message. When people are angry about lagging economic recovery (that they don't even believe is happening) after allowing the G-O-TEA to gain a strong hold on Congress last year, this may really be the best way for President Obama to respond.
And thank goodness he is responding. I just hope he will be willing to step outside the cozy confines of The Strip to see for himself the painful reality of Nevada's broken economy when he campaigns here again. Lordy knows the Republican candidates apparently don't care for that when they're here.
What we perceive isn't always what's real. Studying Nevada's political scene today makes one learn this lesson the hard way, and all the attention we will be getting this week should make us think more about what's really happening when the GOP candidates take the stage at The Venetian tomorrow.
Carrying a sign that read, “We are the 99 percent,” Michael Gonzalez shouted to passing motorists, “Jobs on Main Street, not Wall Street.”
He was one of about 75 demonstrators in Carson City on Saturday who joined the global Occupy Wall Street movement, protesting corporate greed and a disenfranchised public.
“It's multifaceted,” he explained. “It's a lack of jobs. It's our economy. It's deficit trading with China. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue, this is a people's issue.”
That was the scene in Carson City yesterday. Yes, believe it or not, #OccupyWallStreet has now reached Carson.
Andrew Hamby is one of the many faces of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
The 23-year-old Las Vegan went from having a job at Mandalay Bay, a home and a car, to living on the street.
“I became homeless in 2007 when I got laid off along with 2,700 other people,” Hamby said. “Lost my house, lost my car, moved in with my mom for a little while until she got kicked out of her home. Then I lived under a tunnel for a couple months. Now I’m staying with friends.”
So Hamby, along with men and women and children from all walks of life, took to the streets Saturday to protest corporate greed. The group joins the core Occupy Wall Street development that has sparked similar protests in many major U.S. cities for the past few weeks.
The hundreds of Fremont Street demonstrators shared similar stories. An elderly woman who is on the verge of losing her house, a disabled vet whose friends can’t find work, and a union steward who says she’s standing up for “the working man.”
“We’re all standing together now,” Hamby said. “It’s not every man for himself anymore, or at least that’s what I hope to try and make happen here.”
The frustration of people such as Rodgers is exactly the driving force behind the Occupy Wall Street-type rallies now occurring nationwide, said Jared Lowell, a 26-year-old UNR student who helped organize the Occupy Reno movement. While a lot of people have lost their jobs and homes, big companies continue to get away with a lot of shady behavior while enriching their pockets, Lowell said.
“We’re upset with the extremely unjust distribution of wealth in this country,” Lowell said. “What we’re doing in Reno is not so different from what people are doing worldwide. We’re bringing people together to show that we’re united and not all that different from one another.”
At the same time, Lowell and his colleagues stressed that their movement is a non-violent cause that aims to raise awareness and educate people. Lowell pointed to several workshops they have planned on topics ranging from the global financial system to the importance of buying local. They also stressed that while they might talk about the problems with corporate influence on politics, their movement is apolitical and does not favor one party over another. Their focus is not about right or left, it’s about right or wrong, supporters said.
It's looking increasingly obvious that this budding movement isn't leaving center stage any time soon. So what can we expect in the days and weeks to come? Is this "The Tea Party of the Left" that some progressives have been longing for? Is this an effort to take down the American capitalist system as we know it? Will this root out the corporate money at the center of political corruption today? Or will this go in another direction?
The Occupy/99% folks say they're nonpartisan now. Does this mean they are off limits to Democrats, too? Will these people even vote next year? Do they have any real political goals for the next year?
I guess we will find out as this goes on. We will have to see what kind of role Occupy/99% plays on the political stage. But without a doubt, they don't want to leave the stage any time soon. They will be a part of this play, and we will be seeing more of them here in our acts here in Nevada as campaign season rolls onward.
So I played with the numbers last night to get a better sense of the political state of play in redistricting. Now that Judge Russell and his special masters have given us districts, we can get a better sense of who will end up with what. Here are my rough estimates of the partisan makeup of each district after drawing each one as close to reality as possible on Dave's Redistricting App:
Democrats who live here- Steven Horsford, John Lee, Larry Brown
Republicans who live here- Ed Goedhart, Shari Buck
Race Rating- Leans Democratic
So this is what we have so far: one solidly safe Democratic seat, one Democratic leaning seat, one tossup seat, and one Republican leaning seat. As it stands now, Nevada Democrats likely have at least two seats (NV-01 and NV-04) firmly in their pocket while Republicans have a good leg up in one seat (NV-02). NV-03 will probably be the barnburner that both sides will have to fiercely contest again.
Earlier this afternoon, we caught a first glimpse at Judge Russell's panel's first draft of redistricting maps.
Incumbent Rep. Joe Heck’s congressional seat would have more Democrats than Republicans and one central Las Vegas congressional district would be almost 43 percent Hispanic, according to maps released by the Nevada District Court today.
The masters decided against drawing a district with a majority of Hispanic voters, as Republicans wanted.
“The Special Masters concluded that bloc voting by the white majority was not shown to usually defeat a minority’s preferred candidate,” they wrote.
The three “special masters” appointed by Judge Todd Russell drew the maps after holding hearings and taking public testimony this week.
- NV-01 is now 42.8% Latino (in general population I believe, not VAP) and centered in Las Vegas' urban core. Its voter registration breakdown is 52% Democrats to 25% Republicans.
- NV-02 now narrows to Greater Carson-Reno and Northern Nevada. Its voter registration breakdown is 42% Republican to 35% Democratic.
- NV-03 narrows to mostly just the Southwest side of the valley and Henderson-Boulder, along with some of Summerlin and all of the southern rurals (Searchlight and Laughlin). It's 40% Dem and 37% GOP.
- And NV-04, the brand spanking new district, takes in Ely and Tonopah, then gallops its way down to Clark County to take most of North Las Vegas, the Northwest end of the valley, and Summerlin. It's 46% Dem and 33% GOP.
So far, it looks like Dina Titus, Ruben Kihuen, and Barbara Cegavske all live in the new NV-01, while Mark Amodei lives in the new NV-02, Joe Heck and John Oceguera live in the new NV-03, and Steven Horsford and John Lee live in the new NV-04. And so far, it looks like Horsford may get to breathe a nice sigh of relief, Kihuen gets to do a good fist pump, and the rest have huge political headaches awaiting them.
Tomorrow morning, I'll have more analysis of this late breaking development... But in the mean time, here are my quick observations:
- Judge Russell probably dodged a HUGE legal bullet, as his panel split the difference on the Voting Rights Act issue by giving NV-01 sizable Latino influence without unduly packing it.
- Nevada Democrats overall dodged HUGE political bullets in getting two safe Dem Congressional seats, along with a State Senate map that favors Democrats (more on that later, too!).
- However, two particular Clark County Democrats will have to bite painful bullets. Dina Titus' base is now split between NV-01 and NV-03, so she will have to choose whether to fight a bloody primary with Ruben Kihuen in NV-01 or agree to challenge Joe Heck again in NV-03. And if she chooses the latter, then John Oceguera had better watch out.
- At this point, Nevada Republicans look to be the biggest losers. Joe Heck is far from safe in the new NV-03, NV-04 looks quite out of reach from them, the State Senate will probably be less likely to flip with Shirley Breeden's and Alison Copening's districts made more Democratic (along with Elizabeth Halseth's too, haha!), and the Assembly still looks firmly out of reach for them as well.
And unless the Nevada Supreme Court somehow decides to invalidate this map, which I see as increasingly unlikely (judging by their recent smoke signals in letting this panel call the shots for now), these new Congressional and Legislature maps are probably here to stay. And so far, I'm mostly liking what I'm seeing. Let the games begin!
October 22 is National Make a Difference Day. And if you'd like to make a difference locally (especially if you're in Henderson), Project GREEN would really appreciate you joining them for a local clean up project at the Pittman Wash Legacy Learning Trail, just east of Pecos and between Windmill and Wigwam. Local volunteers will be removing trash, repairing vandalized signs, and continuing to make the Pittman Wash trail system the envy of Southern Nevada by keeping it naturally beautiful.
We did plenty this year to save Pittman Wash by stopping the full concretization of it at the UPRR trestle. Now we need to preserve it by keeping the wash and trails clean and safe for all to enjoy. Please join us on the 22nd to make a difference and keep a great community treasure.
That's really the reaction I had after first seeing this.
A large group of Senate Republicans unveiled a jobs bill Thursday, saying they were tired of hearing President Obama assert they had not put forward a plan to spur hiring and jump-start the economy.
The bill is something of a greatest hits of Republican economic proposals. It calls for tax reform that lowers tax rates, repeal of the new healthcare law, a balance budget amendment to the Constitution and expansion of offshore oil drilling.
Seriously? Seriously? Where do I even begin? Perhaps with a quick debunk from Greg Sargent?
The Associated Press recently did a bracing fact check and concluded that Labor Department data show that under Obama, just two-tenths of 1 percent of layoffs have been due to government regulation. McClatchy recently canvassed small businesses across the country and found little evidence that it’s a factor.
And Bruce Bartlett, a top policy adviser in the administrations of Reagan and the elder Bush, recently concluded that worry about regulatory uncertainty “is a canard invented by Republicans” and “not a serious effort to deal with high unemployment.” Bartlett argued that the focus on regulation is rooted in the GOP’s lack of any real ideas to create jobs.
So for all the G-O-TEA talk of "SOE-SHUL-IZM!!!!" destroying any and every job in sight, the facts say otherwise. Actually, government regulation is needed to prevent a market economy from falling apart on its own... As it nearly did in 2008 after the first wave of financial industry turmoil.
And are Republicans serious about using the old Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) trick again? Seriously? Not even Paul Ryan's teabagger fantasy of a budget would be legal under it! No fewer than five Nobel Prize winning economists have begged Congress not to pass it and risk sending America into an even worse recession! The BBA game is really getting old and tiresome. We all know it won't pass, and we all know it would harm, not help, the fragile economy in need of more investment if passed.
And really, another cry for "Drill, Baby, Drill!!!"? What on earth are they thinking?! Desert Beacon explained quite well on Tuesday that future prospects for more and better job creation lie with small and mid-sized renewable energy firms, not with big, fat cat fossil fuel corporations that have misused current subsidies from us the taxpayers for far too long.
“…start-ups across a variety of areas — solar power, biofuels and energy conservation among them — are getting increased financing from venture capitalists and lenders at a time when other small companies are cutting back and being turned away by investors. And many are hiring more staff, boosting marketing efforts and expanding geographically.
Alternative energy “has been the brightest sector in venture capital over the last year,” says Brian Fan, research director at Cleantech Group, an industry trade organization in San Francisco. “Everyone is thinking it’s going to be a big priority of the incoming administration.”
While the overall volume of venture-capital deals sank last year, investments in clean-technology companies totaled $8.4 billion, up nearly 40% from 2007, according to Cleantech Group. In the third quarter alone, venture capitalists poured $2.6 billion into clean technology, a quarterly record. In the fourth quarter, they invested $1.7 billion.]
So what exactly is this "new" "jobs bill" from Senate Republicans held captive by the "tea party" fringe? Well, it just sounds to me like the same old s--t we're used to hearing from them. It's just presented in a "new" shiny package in hopes of distracting us from the increasingly popular American Jobs Act that Senate Republicans voted to kill this week.
Two-to-one. That's the margin by which Americans are united behind the president's ideas to create jobs - and specifically, to the progressive economic policies. While in last night's debate, Republican candidates did their best to groan and moan and whine that increasing taxes on the rich is a bad idea and we should instead abandon our social compacts, they are demonstrably fighting for the votes of the 30 percent. President Obama and his team has only turned up the heat on the Republican members of Congress, forcing them to choose between a political gamble to intentionally undermine the economy in the hopes that it would hurt the president in 2012 and actually doing something about jobs now.
So why again is anyone taking as "serious" any of the same old lame excuses for "ideas" coming out of the G-O-TEA? When will they agree to any sort of jobs bill that will... You know, create jobs?
In case you've been hiding under a rock this past week, the big news is now official. Count Horsford in!
Steven Horsford, Nevada's Democratic majority leader, plans to run for the U.S. House in a bid that could see Nevada elect its first African-American to Congress and put the state Senate under the GOP's control.
Horsford told The Associated Press he will formally declare his candidacy Thursday in North Las Vegas. He hopes to succeed Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley, who is running for the U.S. Senate in 2012.
"It's a decision that I've taken very seriously," Horsford said Wednesday. "I'm very proud of many of the things we have been able to accomplish in the state Senate and I would like to build on some of those accomplishments in Congress." [...]
As the majority leader, Horsford was an early critic of Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval's efforts to reduce education dollars and lobbied for higher taxes to pay for social services. He is a loyal Democratic player, serving as a national Democratic committee member and campaigning for President Barack Obama in 2008. Horsford's campaign website features a picture of his family with Obama in the Oval Office.
Republicans and Democrats alike describe him as charming, but a tough negotiator. In one instance, Horsford ordered all senators into their chamber and told sergeants-at-arms to find three missing lawmakers after the Legislature failed to compromise on public employee and retiree benefits during the 2009 session.
"We could argue all night and get up and shake hands," said Republican Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea. "He definitely has political savvy and clarity."
While the political powers that be have known this for several weeks, now everyone knows. And it's really not a bad thing.
Why has Patrick Coolican been in such a foul, lousy mood lately? I know we've seen some frustrating headlines, both locally and nationally, lately, but I don't get why he's been lashing out at Nevada's Congressional Candidates so harshly over it. He threw a fit last month when Ruben Kihuen announced he's running, and now he's doing the same to Steven Horsford. What, are no sitting legislators allowed to run for Congress?
I typically have great respect for Coolican and what he writes, but I don't get his logical pretzel twists over this. He says:
[... O]bviously it matters who controls Congress. Sometimes Congress gets stuff done.
For the most part, however, Washington is broken, mostly because of the godforsaken Senate filibuster, which forces Reid to get 60 votes out of 100 in the Senate just to start debate.
End the filibuster, and then I’d encourage our best and brightest, Republican and Democrat alike, to head to Washington to craft policy that will get America out of this slump.
Until then, I hate to see our finest young leaders waste their talents in such a wasteland while pressing needs at home go unmet.
But here's the thing: If we don't send better legislators to Washington, Congress will remain broken and "stuff" will never get done. And Coolican admitted himself that Horsford has a proven track record as a good legislator. So isn't someone like Steven Horsford exactly who we need in Congress right now?
Last month, he was saying that the likes of Horsford and Kihuen "can't solve our problems from Washington". Well, I have a news flash for him: On many issues, the solutions MUST start in Washington. Last I checked, Congress controls the federal purse strings. And Congress sets health care policy. And Congress can set in place new home foreclosure assistance. And perhaps most importantly, Congress can make the most difference in putting people back to work!
Yes, Coolican does have a point about Nevada needing tried and true leaders in our own legislature. However, I think we can find them even with Horsford and Kihuen gone. Hell, I think we caught a glimpse of one yesterday when Kyle Hansen, one of Coolican's colleagues at The Sun, profiled Senator Shirley Breeden (D-Henderson). I see strong progressives like Senator Sheila Leslie (D-Reno), and Assembly Members Peggy Pierce (D-Las Vegas) and Teresa Benitez-Thompson (D-Reno), as emerging leaders who can do plenty of good in Carson City in the not-too-distant future. I especially believe Horsford will leave Senate Democratic leadership in good hands (and hands that won't easily lose grip to a sleazeball like Mikey Roberson [R-Jerk]).
However, Nevada also needs to send tried and true leaders to Washington if we want to see progress on our policy priorities. And if Coolican still thinks they "can't solve our problems from Washington", I have two words for him: HARRY REID.
Harry Reid has led the way on many issues Nevadans care deeply about, such as creating green jobs now and building our renewable energy future. Really, where would we be without having the US Senate Majority Leader? Does Coolican really think that "doesn't matter"?
The fact of the matter is that who Nevadans send to Congress really does matter. And considering the outsized influence of the current crop of G-O-TEA crazies in Congress now, I would much rather have strong legislators who have learned to put their principles into practice in a pragmatic way than continue to suffer under extreme ideologues who only got to where they are now thanks to a few ideologically extreme billionaires who want to control, then destroy, every aspect of American government. And considering all the madness that's taken hold on the GOP side, it's good to see Nevada Democrats fielding strong Congressional Candidates who will be able to work with President Obama in 2013 and beyond on getting Nevada and the country back on track.
So with Horsford now in, it looks like the Democratic field is pretty much set. And as decor diva Martha Stewart would say, this truly is a good thing. Steven Horsford, Ruben Kihuen, John Oceguera, and Dina Titus are all experienced legislators, and especially Horsford and Titus have exceptionally strong track records of making progressive policy wishes into reality. So what's to complain about? And for that matter, why can't Nevada Republicans cough up more of their own candidates for Congress? Really, what are they afraid of?
Perhaps by the time you read this diary, I will already be back in my cozy air-conditioned condo, enjoying a late night bubble bath and cup of green tea. It can be incredibly easy sometimes to insulate oneself from the brutal reality of the outside world... But for only so long. At some point, reality finds a way to disrupt one's insulated fantasyland. That's what's happened to me in the last month.
As I write this now, one of my aunts is changing the TV channel to get the latest updates on a mass shooting in a Seal Beach salon (not far from my dad's house, at least nine were shot and six killed). My grandmother sometimes remembers to eat, but other times won't eat as she closes her eyes and slouches on the side of the living room sofa. On Monday, my dad and I barely missed a car accident in Costa Mesa. And this morning, my dad was flipping out over his cousin just undergoing an open bypass surgery after barely surviving a heart attack (and she's still in the ICU now).
What's happening? Why does it feel like death surrounds me? It's hard to avoid depression when there's so much to be depressed about.
But then, there's this:
And this:
And I'm reminded of the strange sense of perfect zen calm I could always tap into here on the majestic Orange Coast. I enjoyed the best Italian lunch I've had in a long time in Laguna, and I noshed on pizza while seeing the surfers do their magic in Huntington. My dad and I experienced the start of the perfect sunset, as well as the departure of the perplexing marine layer. The Pacific Ocean really gives this place life, and I could notice this at every glimpse of the amazing coastline here.
It's been a strange juxtaposition. The climate and scenery feel like paradise, but the human suffering here has amounted to hell at times. I remember to smile when I see the sea gulls marching under the pier, then I return to my dad's house to see certain ungrateful relatives neglecting my ailing grandmother yet again. What a strange juxtaposition this is.
In this last week, I've had to confront some facts about my own life. After all, I'm not getting any younger. What am I doing? Have I been living successfully? What happens when my last remaining grandparent is gone? How will my father survive this? And what will happen to the tenuous bonds that barely hold my father's side of the family together? Are they already killing themselves? And are they even killing themselves softly?
This last Southern California Sojourn has left me with many mixed feelings, and it's made me rethink what I thought I knew about life and death. Who would have thought losing my grandmother would cause all this?
Chairman Tom Sheets at one point urged Democratic and Republican lawyers to “make us irrelevant” by crafting a deal, which really would be special. But that seemed evanescent as the two days of hearings came to an end, especially with Gov. Brian Sandoval telling the capital press corps: “I have confidence in the judicial process.”
If I thought Sandoval was being serious — as opposed to politically correct — I’d be worried. But I still believe he would call the Gang of 63 back in a nanosecond if they reached an agreement — but not a nanosecond sooner.
What would be least special of all is seeing the lawmakers return to Carson City without an accord, thus creating chaos and obnoxiousness I had hoped we left behind in the spring. I’d rather be doing stand-up outside the Legislative Building in February than have to return to the capital to watch the partisan antics redux.
Sandoval’s pose, though, is perfectly in sync with everyone else involved in this travesty as constitutional provisions are flouted and laws twisted by poseurs — paid and otherwise. At least attorneys for the Democrats and Republicans are being compensated to do what they have been doing, which is to shamelessly pander to a burgeoning Hispanic minority as if they care — truly, madly, deeply — about its aspirations and needs.
For the political parties, this is about one thing and one thing only: Power. All of the rest is trappings, window dressing, bait-and-switch.
On that last point, Ralston is totally correct. This process typically IS all about power, as the rest is just the usual bait-and-switch. However, redistricting doesn't have to be this way. All we have to do is look to our next door neighbors for good inspiration.
Under Arizona's Prop 106, the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) is legally required to start from scratch every ten years, take into account proper communities of interest and potential competitiveness, and protect voters' right to choose their legislators rather than incumbents' wishes for "ideal voters". Even though its process is far from perfect, Arizona's IRC nonetheless offers the hope of drawing districts that better reflect the state's population, regardless of incumbents' demands and party politics on steroids.
Under California's Props 11 & 20, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) is also legally required to start from scratch every ten years, and that body is supposed to take into account proper communities of interest and municipal boundaries rather than incumbents' wishes or political party demands. And regarding the latter, California Republicans are so furious about (the lack of) it that they're filing a ridiculous law suit to overturn the new districts. And while this new process in California may lead to unintended consequences there, such as the stripping of seniority and experience in DC and Sacramento, California's CRC also provides many new opportunities for voters to retake control over elections.
So is independent redistricting perfect? Nope, just look at what's happening next door. But by the same token, we can also look next door and see an overall better functioning process that gives voters more control than the usual powers that be. And that would be quite the "special" departure from the usual politics that surrounds redistricting here in Nevada.
I honestly don't know if the current judiciary mess or retrying the Legislature is the better path to take for this current round of redistricting here. But moving forward, we really need to reexamine our State Constitution (which currently requires the Legislature to redraw its own districts and Congressional Districts) and ask if we really want to endure this kind of nonsense ten years from now.
In case you were wondering, I'll be returning home tomorrow night. And later this week, I'll be resuming my usual blogging schedule.
It's certainly been an interesting journey back "home". I've had to confront death on multiple levels, and I've had to think more about life. What's happening? And why? I'll also have to talk more about that this weekend.
Monday’s hearing was the first of two public hearings held by the court masters before they submit maps for Nevada’s new political districts to Carson City District Judge James Russell later this month.
Under the new [Democratic] proposal Nevada’s new 4th Congressional District would combine the Hispanic-heavy urban core of Las Vegas with the state’s southernmost rural counties — a district that likely would favor Kihuen, who, if elected, would be Nevada’s first Hispanic in Congress.
In previous maps, Democrats proposed making the 3rd Congressional District the so-called “hybrid district” that would combine parts of Las Vegas with the rural counties.
Democrats say the new proposal would respect CD3’s tradition of being a Clark County-only district. But it would also tilt the seat now held by U.S. Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., more Democratic, which would favor Oceguera’s candidacy.
The 1st Congressional District would include many of the black neighborhoods that would form Horsford’s base. Under the new proposal, U.S. Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas, could face a primary against Horsford, who hasn’t yet made his expected bid for Congress official, instead of Oceguera.
In this new Democratic plan, Oceguera, Horsford, and Kihuen all get the districts they want... But Dina Titus would be left in the cold and forced to decide which of the other Dems to challenge in a primary.
Meanwhile, Republicans are looking at ways to subtly screw with minority communities by trying to pack them into as few districts as possible.
The fight over minority representation has largely become a proxy battle as the political parties aim for their more fundamental goal of controlling the district maps. On the congressional level, Democrats want three of the four districts. Republicans want the split to be two and two.
If Republicans succeed in persuading the court to draw majority Hispanic districts, they succeed in concentrating a significant population of Democratic voters in a small number of districts.
On the other hand, Democrats win more political influence by disbursing Hispanic voters across many districts.
For all the Republicans' talk of "championing Hispanic representation", all they really care about is maintaining a stronghold on at least two Congressional Districts and enough Legislature districts to keep a chance of recapturing the majority in Carson City. After all, why hasn't Joe Heck bothered to hold a town hall in Latino dominant northeast corner of his district? Why does Dean Heller continue to champion xenophobic anti-immigrant legislation? And why do Republican state legislators keep introducing more bills to stop Latinos from showing up at the polls, shut down schools in their communities, and turn their communities into de facto police states? Why do they only "care so much" about Latinos when redistricting comes up and they see a chance to concentrate Latino influence into as few seats as possible?
And why are leaders in both parties trying to pick winners and losers in each district? Why not just let we the people decide who we want to represent us?
Despite the redistricting case going to court, it looks like bare knuckle partisan politics may still be a major force in this case. Perhaps SoS Miller is right that Judge Russell screwed up on election law yet again. (Remember that he's also the judge who nixed the "ballot royale" in the CD 2 special election before the media found his close ties to Mark Amodei.) And perhaps we need to (again) look to our next door neighbors for inspiration. California's new independent redistricting commission may or may not be the perfect fit for us, but at this point it's at least worth a closer look... And I suspect it may ultimately be shown as far superior to the hot mess we're stuck with now.
Last Thursday, we saw people flooding The Strip in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. And in marching on Las Vegas Boulevard, Occupy Las Vegas showed tourists a different face of Vegas, a face of Vegas they're not used to seeing on this street run by casinos promising nothing but hedonistic fun. Instead of that, tourists caught a glimpse of "The Real Vegas": the unemployed, the working poor, the struggling students, the struggling seniors. This is the side of Vegas that LVCVA would rather not advertise. But in this rare moment, reality came crashing down on fantasy.
Why? It probably doesn't help that despite economists marking the official end of "The Great Recession", household income continued to fall nearly 7%. No matter how much we say the recession is over, for many Americans, and a whole lot of Nevadans, it rages on as they live in fear of losing everything. But in the last couple of years, that fear has been turning into anger. In the beginning, "Tea Party, Inc." was hoping to co-opt that anger and direct it at "LIB-RULZZZ!!!" But now that Occupy Together is offering a non-corporate alternative to the "tea party" corporate front groups, people are realizing they now have a chance to redirect their anger at the forces that really caused this mess.
This is why Americans are angry, and this is why Occupy Wall Street may become more than just one protest. People want jobs, but Congress does nothing. People are feeling ignored. Even while the 99% suffer, no one cares as long as the top 1% continues to prosper. Though people are demanding real economic solutions now, all they're seeing on Capitol Hill is more bickering about policies that do nothing to help formerly middle class workers.
This is why Americans are angry. They feel like the system is broken. And really, can we blame them? Can we blame them for being angry at Koch Industries buying as much "free speech" as they want with each upcoming campaign while they were continually ignored?
So can we blame these people for taking to the streets? And can we blame them for wanting to send a message to the corporate powers that be by occupying the very symbol of American capitalism? And can we blame them for doing the same to Nevada's own version of this?
And he talked about the difficulties of serving in Nevada's Legislature, and how that prepares him for Congress. Dina Titus was also there last night, so a little later you should be able to detect the differences in campaign style.
And FYI, I'm at McCarran right now, waiting for my flight to Long Beach. I'll be busy with family affairs this weekend, but I'll occasionally check back in with goodies like that Dina video. Stay tuned.
Can this really happen to one of Nevada's most powerful (if not THE most powerful!) unelected public officials? Apparently, so...
Though Pat Mulroy's employment contract as the region's water czar has already been automatically renewed through 2014, the Las Vegas Valley Water District's board of directors wants to begin evaluating her performance to avoid potential legal issues.
Hired as the districts chief in 1999, Mulroy has never had a performance review. [...]
Every board member agreed except County Commissioner Tom Collins, who likened good managers to good horses and said that you stay on a winning horse.
"As far as I'm concerned Pat's won the Triple Crown and all the other derbies as well," Collins said.
Board member Chris Giunchigliani, however, said she doesn't believe in automatic contract rollovers.
"I'm a firm believer in evaluations," she said. "This is not about Pat. It should not be. The intent is whether or not our contracts do what is in the best interest of the government and the people we're here to serve."
Of course, Tom Collins has been in the headlines himself recently for some unsavory reasons. But not that long ago, his attitude was pretty much the norm throughout Nevada. But apparently now, Clark County wants to prove it's finally "growing up" and maturing in making county government more accountable. But really, will Clark County take a closer look at what Pat Mulroy has said and done?
Maybe not, since Snake Valley is "out of sight, out of mind" for most in Clark County. However, the ultimate cost (both life and monetary) of the proposed Snake Valley SNWA pipeline will be plain and clear for all to see if approved. Can we really ignore that? And can we ignore possibly superior "win-win" alternatives to it? Even though Pat Mulroy has led SNWA to pursue aggressive water conservation, it's baffling at times to think she may ultimately be remembered most for "The Great Water Grab" that's yet to be determined.
