Romney & Ryan, Jumping the Shark...

He did it. He really did it. So where's the shark?



Oh, he's right here!

For now, Romney is still mainly running on an “I’m not the other guy” message. But his party is getting frustrated, because he’s running behind Barack Obama, and there are hints that the gap may be worsening. This is unacceptable to Republicans, who believe Romney should be leading, given the lousy state of the economy. And as with Dole 16 years ago, they’re now turning up the heat on their presumptive nominee to make their specific policy agenda the centerpiece of his fall campaign.

This is the backdrop for the growing calls from the right for Romney to choose Rep. Paul Ryan as his running-mate. The Wisconsin Republican is the author of a budget plan that serves as the Holy Grail of Tea Party-era conservatism. Where Romney is tolerated by the right, Ryan is beloved. The case for going with Romney is essentially the same as the case for Dole embracing supply-side and teaming up with Kemp back in ’96 – reassure and motivate a party base that’s apprehensive and suspicious and wake up the rest of the country by running on a Big Idea with a “bold” running-mate. [...]

Of course, as with Dole and supply-side, this is a move Democrats are dying for Romney to make. Ryan’s plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program provided them with priceless material last year, and they’re already at work tying his budget blueprint – which would necessitate deep cuts in the social safety net and produce “the largest redistribution of income from the bottom to the top in modern U.S. history” – to every Republican on the ballot this fall. For Romney to voluntarily build his general election effort around that plan would be a dream come true for Democratic ad makers.

Here in Nevada, Dean Heller and Joe Heck are learning the hard way. Yet for some reason, Mitt Romney refuses to acknowledge this.

Instead, Romney looks to be doubling down on busting Medicare, shredding Pell Grants and other forms of college financial aid, blowing up Medicaid, and all around destroying the social safety net that has made America's middle class AND economic success possible. As we discussed earlier this week, Mitt Romney has already defined himself as "Mr. 1%". Now that Paul Ryan is officially his running mate, that definition is getting plenty of cement.

And without a doubt, we'll have a stark contrast at the top of the ballot this fall. I just can't believe this is the contrast that Mitt Romney actually wants to make public! But since he's now made that choice, President Obama can now open the political gift that's set to keep on giving (to Democrats).

Last Chance for Summer Fun

That's one reason why I'm leaving for Orange County today. The other is "family affairs".

So I may go quiet... For perhaps a couple days. But fear not, I will soon return. And even before I return home to "fall back" into life as we know it in Sin City, I'll keep an eye on all things Nevada once I've finished my weekend to-do list.

Thanks so much for continuing to read the blog and check in with my musings on what's happening in our fine state. It's things like this that make me WANT to sing, "Home Means Nevada".

And yes, it won't be too long before I make my way back home.

Harry Reid's Other Bold, Badass Moment

Harry Reid has been speaking up quite a bit lately. While the media are still running in circles over what he's been saying about Mitt Romney's tax records, he made even more news when talking about an issue that affects the entire planet. And yesterday, he didn't hold back.



And here's the ultimate kicker.

The seriousness of this problem is not lost on your average American. A large majority of people finally believe climate change is real, and that it is the cause of extreme weather. Yet despite having overwhelming evidence and public opinion on our side, deniers still exist, fueled and funded by dirty energy profits.

These people aren't just on the other side of this debate. They're on the other side of reality.

It's time for us all – whether we're leaders in Washington, members of the mea, scientists, academics, environmentalists or utility industry executives –to stop acting like those who ignore the crisis or deny it exists entirely have a valid point of view. They don't.

Virtually every respected, independent scientist in the world agrees the problem is real, and the time to act is now. Not tomorrow. Not a week from now. Not next month or next year. We must act today.

As Americans, we have the power to choose the kind of world in which we live. Every decision we make – large and small – matters. Some choices are as simple as turning off the light when you leave the room. Others are more ambitious -- such as committing the Department of Defense, the largest energy consumer in the world, to transition to clean, renewable energy.

But every choice has benefits -- or consequences.

And we all know he's so right about this.

We have discussed the powerful potential of clean energy that we can unleash to renew our economy and create more & better jobs. We have also discussed the frightening reality of climate change. We can no longer afford to ignore either.

Even the "Tea Party, Inc." funded climate study concluded that climate change is real, and that it's happening at a more accelerated pace than scientists had earlier expected. The scientific consensus is now even more overwhelming than ever before. July was the hottest month on record. Yes, that's right. Just last month, our planet had the hottest month on record!

So if anyone takes issue with what Harry Reid said yesterday, one is certainly not basing it on science.

This is why it's so refreshing to see Harry Reid speak out like this. Once and for all, we need to cut the "climate denial" crap and acknowledge reality. And then, we need to start taking action!

As Senator Reid said yesterday, now is the time to end our addiction to dangerous fossil fuels. The Reid-Gardner coal plant has to go, along with other fossil fuel relics that are holding us back. If we want to succeed in transitioning to a clean, green, lean, & mean economy, we need to cut the crap and take action. And if we want to survive as a human race, we need to cut the crap and take action.

NV-04: Delusions of Grandeur? Or Just Plain Demented?

There he goes again. Danny Tarkanian is back. And this time, his delusions of grandeur are more ridiculous and offensive than ever before!

Last time we checked on Baby Tark's quixotic quest for NV-04, he was busy lying about his own record on immigration in a disgustingly craven attempt to "woo Hispanic voters". This time, he's working to "woo black voters".

At Hispanics in Politics last month he said Black people have been fooled into voting for Democrats, and he was here to help. You know, cause us colored folk are ignorant and child-like, lacking the sophistication to make important political decisions, thus we need the helpful hand of non-Blacks to keep us on the straight and narrow.

The Tarkanian campaign truly believes that because he played basketball and his dad led many a Black man to victory, that somehow that will lead Black folk in congressional district four to vote for him.

Do Black people love basketball so damn much, they're willing to totally forget that Mr Tarkanian is an aggressive supporter of the Tea Party (the same Tea Party the NAACP* said was racist) with policy positions that rival Sharron Angle’s?

Do Black people love basketball so much that they’re willing to overlook the fact that Mr Tarkanian thinks racial profiling is effective police work?

Do Black people love basketball so much that they won't care that Mr. Tarkanian's wife complained just yesterday about people tweeting about the Voting Rights Act?

Team Tarkanian thinks that answer is yes, because again: Team Tark thinks Black people are stupid.

So now, Danny Tarkanian thinks African-American Nevadans will just love him because he's the son of "Tark the Shark" and knows how to shoot hoops himself?! Now I know Baby Tark himself is vapid enough to believe that, but I'm even surprised to see that his campaign staff really believe that this is "effective black community outreach". After all, there's nothing that historically oppressed minority communities appreciate more than being treated as complete imbeciles. (/snark)

The voters of NV-04 truly deserve better than this. Why on earth would any candidate believe he's winning voters by insulting their intelligence? And why on earth should Southern Nevada's communities of color be subjected to someone like Danny Tarkanian who believes he knows what's best for them more than they do?

The way Baby Tark is going, I can't wait to see how he tries to appeal to Asian-American, disabled, and LGBTQ voters! (/snark)

A Tale of Two Public Projects

Here in Henderson, we have a very important election this fall. In addition to all the federal races receiving the bulk of the attention, there's something else we will vote on this fall which will determine the future of our community. Now that Henderson District Public Libraries face such a giant budget deficit that they will have to close two whole libraries if they don't find more revenue, and possibly close a third in the new Heritage Park Library as well (!!!), the district is now asking Henderson voters for a few extra cents (per person) in property taxes just to keep all the libraries open.

Geraldine Brurs left the Paseo Verde Library into the midday heat Tuesday with two audio books in hand. The frequent visitor to Henderson libraries had no idea that two of the system’s six branches will close at the end of the year if a tax initiative on the November ballot does not pass.


Those like Brurs who already use and appreciate the libraries, and are supporters of the property tax increase, are the easy targets.

“Oh, I would definitely vote for the tax,” Brurs said after hearing the details. “The Henderson libraries have already cut back. They are closed on Sundays and their hours are shorter than before. This library is packed all the time.”

Proponents of the initiative see three groups of voters when it comes to the tax initiative, which would increase Henderson property tax by 2 ents per $100 in assessed property value, a $14 annual hike for property worth $200,000. There are the regular library users who are expected to provide strong support; those who will never approve of any new tax, especially during a down economy; and those in between who may support the tax if they are reminded of the value of a community meeting place and research hub. [...]

“Libraries serve the function of promoting reading and literacy, but they are also community places where people get and share information,” said Danielle Miller, a member of the PAC and principal at El Dorado High School. “People access the Internet at libraries. They search for jobs at libraries. There is no other resource in the community like it. I think a lot of people just don’t realize how close they are to closing branches.”

We've talked about this before. Public infrastructure isn't something to dismiss in importance. Libraries are critical meeting places for the community, and they are places that are critical for our community's growth and education. Especially now, as Southern Nevada is being forced to transition to a new economy that isn't so addicted to the whims and fancies of gaming and real estate bubbles, we need public infrastructure more than ever before.

However, it seems like not all infrastructure is created equal in the eyes of the powers that be in Carson City.
This is also something we've discussed before. And this is something that's coming back to the forefront as
a new project opens up north.

Nevada’s most expensive highway will open this month — an 8 1/2-mile stretch of pavement that most Southern Nevadans will never use, unless you’re a politician or lobbyist commuting between Reno and Carson City. [...]

And the cost? More than a half-billion-with-a-b dollars.

The new highway, Interstate 580, was paid for primarily with federal and state gas tax money. It has been planned for decades.

“This project is not just a home run, it’s a grand slam,” Gov. Brian Sandoval said at the ribbon cutting last week.

He said it would improve safety, promote commerce and ease commutes.

But to critics, the project was a boondoggle — our own “bridge to nowhere,” as Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani called it when she was in the Assembly. The route was heavily influenced by not-in-my-backyard politics back in 1983. The residents along the current road, U.S. 395, didn’t want an expansion. The project couldn’t be moved to the west because that would run into a tony development. So the Washoe County Commission decided to have the highway hug a hillside overlooking Pleasant Valley to the west.

Some Southern Nevadans say the highway was built so Northern Nevadans could strut.

“I think it’s widely acknowledged as primarily a flex pose in the mirror, designed to celebrate the political might of a couple of Washoe County legislators,” said Las Vegas City Councilman Bob Beers, who was also a legislator as this project was approved. (The late state Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, and late Gov. Kenny Guinn were both honored at the groundbreaking.)

Bill Raggio may no longer be with us, but he will certainly never be forgotten.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't think we should neglect critical infrastructure needs in Northern Nevada. I just think it's foolish to ignore critical infrastructure needs in Southern Nevada. Really, the entire state needs better public infrastructure in order to develop a more sustainable economy. Yet when over 70% of the state's population continue to be shortchanged and forced to fight each other for mere crumbs of the state's fiscal loaf, we shouldn't be surprised when our economy faces severe structural problems.

It's just plain maddening to see our state approach public infrastructure as a matter of "juice" and "wheeling & dealing". And it's saddening to think that critical resources like public libraries are at risk of closing indefinitely just because they're not as politically well connected as contractors looking to build a highway from the state capital to the historical epicenter of political clout.

Again, I don't want to deny anything that Reno and Carson City need. It would just be nice if Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and Henderson didn't always have to fight tooth and nail just to prevent losing what we need. Is that too much to ask?

Frog, Meet Scorpion.

This morning, I was reminded of this fable.

The Scorpion and the Frog is a fable about a scorpion asking a frog to carry him across a river. The frog is afraid of being stung during the trip, but the scorpion argues that if it stung the frog, the frog would sink and the scorpion would drown. The frog agrees and begins carrying the scorpion, but midway across the river the scorpion does indeed sting the frog, dooming them both. When asked why, the scorpion points out that this is its nature. The fable is used to illustrate the position that the behaviour of some creatures is irrepressible, no matter how they are treated and no matter what the consequences.

Believe it or not, this fable is coming to life right here in Southern Nevada. But alas, how could this be. Well, this is why I'm writing about it today. Here are The Scorpion & The Frog.

The Nevada Policy Research Institute filed a complaint with the 8th Judicial District Court on Friday alleging the Clark County Debt Management Commission violated the Nevada Open Meeting Law.

The commission — composed of three Clark County commissioners and representatives from local city governments and the School Board — voted during its June 7 meeting to approve a ballot question that seeks voter approval on a new property tax to fund school construction and rehabilitation projects.

The cash-strapped School District is pursuing a new capital improvement plan to address $5.3 billion in school maintenance needs over the next decade. The School Board — supported by four former first ladies of Nevada — are pushing for a six-year capital levy that is expected to raise property taxes as much as $74 a year on a home with an assessed valuation of $100,000.

CCSD administrators really believed NPRI's spinmasters when they "offered to help" them "take care" of all those "pesky teachers". So CCSD admin went out of their way to please their new political soulmates. Even if it meant hurting CCSD students, they cut and cut and cut away while continuing to find new ways to deny teachers their fair pay.

So what are CCSD bosses getting in return? Oh, just a law suit from NPRI aiming to block that capital bond initiative they so direly need from ever reaching this fall's ballot. I know, what a way to show gratitude!

Frog, meet scorpion.

Many tried to warn CCSD administrators not to get too cozy with NPRI. After all, NPRI's goal is to starve public education to death! What on earth made Dwight Jones and Amanda Fulkerson believe that Victor Joecks and his merry band of "think tank" teabaggers cared one iota about improving public education? No matter how often they'd let NPRI stooges "slip" into CCSD's secure email network meant for official school business only, NPRI would eventually reach this point and sting them like this.

And now, our kids may end up suffering even more thanks to CCSD's idiocy and NPRI's pure evil.

Suspect is the timing of NPRI’s lawsuit, which comes just five days shy of the 60-day deadline to file a complaint on open-meeting law violations, Haldeman said. Today is the deadline for open-meeting law violations on the June 7 debt management commission meeting.

“If (NPRI) were really interested in the open-meeting law, why would they wait until now to file this lawsuit?” [Joyce Haldeman, the School District’s associate superintendent of community and government relations] said. “It sounds to me like a political maneuver.” [...]

Brager said the commission will hear the ballot initiative again in August to conduct a re-vote “in an abundance of caution.” Both Brager and Haldeman said they were confident the lawsuit would not impact the ballot measure in November.

“It’s important for the children of Clark County because we have AC units that are old and have no lifetime in them anymore,” said Brager, who has had four generations of her family attend Clark County schools. “Children in our community deserve to be able to sit in a classroom that can contain heat and cold.”

They really should have known better. NPRI doesn't give a shit about our kids suffering under excessive heat and cold in decrepit public schools. If that means its PR hacks can spin the "OUTRAGE!!!" into further dismantling CCSD altogether and privatizing even more of what should be public education, then NPRI is happy. Frog, meet scorpion.

NV-03: Oceguera Hits the Airwaves... & Uses a Familiar Message

It's official now. The race for Nevada's swingiest of swing districts is on. Joe Heck was apparently already planning to go on air, but today John Oceguera is launching his first ad.



As you can see above, Oceguera talks quite a bit about the fate of the middle class. And as we've talked about before, the fate of this election may ultimately rest on how strongly Americans want to save it. So it's interesting to see Democratic candidates like Oceguera tap that anger and channel it into a message of saving the middle class.

We've already seen what Joe Heck thinks of Nevada's middle class. Long story short, he just doesn't care. He's regularly ignored his own (middle class) constituents so he can focus on pleasing his dirty 1% BFFs.

Just as we figured, this election will be decided by working class Nevadans because they don't want to see the middle class disappear. John Oceguera may really be onto something here.

Actually, Silence Is NOT "Softening".

This morning, The Sun has reposted an article from DC's favorite gossip rag about the Republican Party "softening" its opposition to LGBTQ equality. So what's their evidence to prove this? Oh, they're being awfully quiet about it!

Well, actually they're not being as quiet as the article suggested at first.

Since talking about the issue in the heat of the primaries, Romney largely has steered clear of it. He referenced defending traditional marriage in his recent NAACP speech, to the delight of social conservatives with whom he met in Denver last week, but it’s not a frequent talking point.

There is no question that the RNC platform will codify traditional marriage, as a spokeswoman affirmed last week.

“The Republican Party is committed to the timeless, foundational values of family, traditional marriage and life,” RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said. “Gov. Romney and the party’s platform are clear: Marriage is between a man and a woman.” [...]

A spokesman for Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who is spearheading the GOP’s platform committee, would say only that “The Republican Party is committed to the timeless foundational values of family, traditional marriage and life. The party’s platform will reflect those principles.”

Just because Republican candidates from Mitt Romney on down aren't talking about marriage discrimination as often as they used to doesn't mean they're now "softening their (wide) stance" and embracing queer Americans. Rather, it just means they're afraid of simultaneously pissing off the teabaggers they need as their base along with swing voters who aren't really into H8 any more. There's really nothing "bold" or "courageous" about this. Rather, it reeks of cowardice.

After all, it wasn't too long ago when Mitt Romney's campaign stated this?



Does that sound like "softening" to you? It doesn't to me.

And Romney is not alone. Remember when Dean Heller let this slip?

Heller is even trying to have it both ways on marriage equality. He claims he "doesn't want to talk about it", but he still managed to (again) state his support for marriage discrimination against LGBTQ Nevadans. So he "doesn't want to talk about it", except when he wants to reassure the radical religious right that he's still "one of them". Lovely.

And don't forget Joe Heck.

Joe Heck just this week called marriage equality "a distraction". Oh, and Heck also belittled LGBTQ Nevadans by saying their relationships should not be respected as "traditional marriage". He cited Question 2, but that was enacted a decade ago. Nevada voters have evolved on accepting LGBTQ equality alongside Harry Reid and President Obama. Yet instead of listening to his fellow Nevadans on accepting LGBTQ families and treating us all equally, Joe Heck is joining hands with Mitt Romney and the rest of the G-O-TEA in encouraging discrimination.

Does this sound like "softening" to you? It doesn't to me.

Again, there's a difference between genuine change of heart and craven silence. Do you really need me to tell you which one the G-O-TEA is engaging in?

Who's Afraid of Harry Reid? (Mitt Romney Certainly Is!)

While certain media pundits have been "flashing" their disgust for Harry Reid and what he's been saying about Mitt Romney lately, I have to wonder if they're (again) missing the point of all this. Wait, what am I talking about? Let me explain.

While Republicans are playing semantics games with Reid's statements on Romney's (not paying) taxes, they are clumsily avoiding the heart of the issue, which is Mitt Romney gaming the system to his advantage and refusing to admit what he actually did. Think about it. If Reid's accusations were really the scurrilous lies that Romney and his G-O-TEA media attack dogs claim they are, why won't they produce any evidence proving Reid wrong? Is it perhaps because they know there's truth to what Harry Reid is saying?

Yesterday, The Roosevelt Institute's Mark Schmitt brought up the real issue behind all the Beltway hype.

There are two important points about the tax system that Romney’s taxes, even what we already know about them, reveal: The first is that the creation of tax-deferred accounts can take huge amounts of investment income out of the tax system entirely. A major thrust of Republican tax policy has been to expand the number of opportunities to put money – and the income it generates —into accounts that fall outside the scope of taxation. These include various forms of IRAs, health savings accounts, education savings accounts, and others. Many of them benefit the middle class, although they provide little value for low-income workers. But as we see from the Romney example, they can provide huge benefits to the wealthy. Any serious tax reform should aim to reduce the number and scope of these accounts in order to bring as much income as possible under the purview of the tax system and keep rates as low as possible.

And second, Romney’s taxes reveal how misleading just looking at the rate paid by Romney or any other wealthy person really is. When we eventually see the returns, we won’t know what percentage of Romney’s income he pays in taxes because we aren’t seeing all of his income, as some large amount of it is flowing through this IRA. Again, that’s not a Romney problem; it’s an example of how ordinary high-end tax practices make it difficult to even judge whether the system is fair or equitable.

When we eventually see Mitt Romney’s tax returns, I hope that the debate about whether he’s a tax cheat or a mere tax-avoider won’t distract us from the fact that we’ve created a tax system that doesn’t make any sense and absurdly benefits the very well-off. There’s a choice between policies that would take the tax code even further in that direction and policies that would begin to restore sanity and fairness.

There's a reason why Mitt Romney's tax plan is structured the way it is. His economic policies are pretty much "Bush on Steroids" in that they favor the super-rich while crushing the middle class and working poor. This has really been Mitt Romney's MO for some time, so why are we really surprised that he doesn't want to pay his fair share in taxes now?

This is what Harry Reid knows. And this is why he refuses to be bullied by Romney & his media attack dogs into silence.

The latest salvo in the intensifying spat comes from Reid’s chief of staff David Krone, who upped the taunts by calling Republicans “a bunch of cowards” and “henchmen for Romney” in an interview with Politico late Sunday night.

“To turn it around, all their childish rants this weekend about calling Reid a ‘liar’ and all that, it just shows you how scared they are that Harry Reid was telling the truth,” Krone told the paper.

Top Republicans on Sunday flatly accused the Senate majority leader of lying when he claimed Romney didn’t pay taxes for a decade, something he says he learned of from an as-yet-unnamed investor to Bain Capital. Reflecting the frustrations of his party, an incensed Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called Reid a “dirty liar,” and has since repeated the epithet.

Reid wasn’t fazed. His spokesman Adam Jentleson responded in the afternoon by vouching for the credibility of the source and inviting Romney to disprove the claim by releasing a series of tax returns. Calling him the “most secretive candidate since Richard Nixon,” Jentleson told TPM: “It’s clear Mitt Romney is hiding something, and the only way for him to clear this up is to be straight with the American people and release his tax returns.” [...]

For Romney, it’s a lose-lose proposition because doing so comes with its own risk. The Republican nominee has amassed a fortune, mostly via investment income that allows him to pay a lower tax rate than many working Americans, and Democrats are eager to turn that into a liability with middle class voters.

And there we have it. Mitt Romney fears being outed by Harry Reid & others as a plutocrat who enjoys playing by his own rules while hosing the middle class and working poor. This is why Romney refuses to release more documents from Bain Capital, and this is why Romney refuses to clear the air on his own taxes.

Oh, and here's one more serving of food for thought. Some in the media are now making ridiculous allegations about Harry Reid, even comparing him to Joe McCarthy (??!!) What's really nonsensical about that is that Reid is simply saying something that Romney can't seem to refute. He isn't actively lying about Romney or calling him "un-American" for his political views. However, Mitt Romney has so far refused to condemn Michele Bachmann's insane and incredulous allegations about the staff of the State Department. While Mitt Romney is throwing a juvenile temper tantrum over someone calling out his own record on taxes and tax fairness, real people are being hurt simply because Romney's G-O-TEA allies in Congress want to score political points with their teabagger base.

Maybe that's the other reason why Mitt Romney has been so afraid of Harry Reid lately?

Obama's Ace in the Hole

In case you haven't yet heard, Nevada Democrats made big gains again in voter registration last month. Democrats now have a 41.13% to 36.70% advantage over Republicans statewide. And not only have Democrats gained statewide, but in key swing areas as well. Republicans' registration advantage in NV-03 has almost entirely vanished, and Democrats' registration advantage in the new NV-04 district is back over 10%.

So how are Nevada Democrats doing this? Take a look below.





OFA Nevada and the Nevada State Democratic Party have been doing voter registration since the spring. Last Friday, I wanted to see what was happening for myself, so I went to the epicenter of all the local voter registration action: the Henderson DMV.

As people were streaming in and out, 5 Democrats (2 OFA, 3 NVDems) were outside, holding clipboards, and registering anyone who wanted to. Meanwhile, there were 3 Republicans (From the real Nevada G-O-TEA? Or "The Shadow Party?) conducting a "survey"... And using that to determine who to register to vote. Basically, people who sounded anti-Obama were chased into the parking lot while people who sounded pro-Obama were tossed aside.

While the Democrats kept asking everyone and stood ready & available for anyone who needed to register or change address, DMV customers were complaining to DMV staff about the Republicans' behavior. Pretty soon, security guards were asking the Republicans to stop the annoying "survey" and stop chasing people into the parking lot. And in case there wasn't enough drama there, the Republicans' supervisor soon arrived in a full suit and proceeded to tell his staff NOT to pay attention to what the security guards are saying!

And while all that drama was unfolding, the folks from the Nevada State Democratic Party continued with voter registration. Now, everyone is just hoping that the G-O-TEA's bad behavior won't force everyone out of the DMV for good.

But wait, there's more! On a lighter note, OFA also celebrated President Obama's birthday on Saturday. In addition to doing that round of voter registration on Friday, local volunteer leader Linda hosted a birthday party for Mr. President the following evening! Here's a glimpse of what happened.







While everyone was having fun there, some important work was also being done. Volunteers were being recruited for future voter registration shifts and phone banks. Local OFA organizer Alison was explaining to the group why they will soon need volunteers to canvass the neighborhood. And Linda reminded them why they were all there.

And in case that wasn't enough, Nevada State Democratic Party Chair Roberta Lange and NV-03 Democratic nominee John Oceguera stopped by to remind everyone that there's even more at stake this fall. President Obama will surely need more allies in Congress next year, so electing Oceguera & Shelley Berkley (who's running for US Senate) will be just as critical as Obama's own final score in Nevada. Really, the entire balance of power in Washington may ultimately be determined by my neighborhood 8 miles southeast of the Las Vegas Strip.

This is why Nevada Democrats have been working the field so hard. They're now starting to reap the rewards. And if they keep at this pace, Nevada may end up Bluer than ever before... And Mitt Romney will really be screwed here, and Dean Heller & Joe Heck will be dragged down with Romney.

And ultimately, all of this may be determined by how many more Democrats are registered to vote at the Henderson DMV, as well as how many doors are knocked & how many phone calls are made in the next month. Yep, Nevada Democrats' field operation may prove to be President Obama's "Ace in the Hole" here.

Why Do Joe Heck & AFP Want the Wind (Energy Jackpot) to Pass Us By?

Back in June, we were reminded of Joe Heck's odd opposition to efforts to bring more green jobs to Nevada. Today, we were reminded again. Despite other Republicans supporting the wind energy tax credit, Joe Heck is following Mitt Romney's lead in opposing it.

And of course, Mitt Romney is following Americans for Prosperity's lead in opposing clean, green energy. So of course, Sierra Club and ProgressNow Nevada decided to go to the source of all this. They went to AFP Nevada headquarters.







Sierra Club has already been mounting a big grassroots and media campaign to save the wind energy tax credit along with thousands of well paying green collar jobs. And this morning, the campaign arrived in full force in Downtown Las Vegas. AFP Nevada may like to "astroturf" its way onto the evening news with overhyped "bus tours" and "rallies", but they clearly weren't ready for some real grassroots action that literally landed at their doorstep!

Again, Joe Heck clearly takes his lead from AFP. How else can one explain why he'd oppose a tax break to encourage job creation here in Nevada?

If it's because "clean energy is nonsense", then he's the one spouting nonsense. After all, Nevada now has the largest wind farm in the country. And we still have more potential to harness even more of our wind for clean, green energy. Oh, and global wind generation is set to grow another 40% by 2017, so why shouldn't Nevada be a part of that action? Really, why are Joe Heck, Mitt Romney, and their ideological bosses at AFP opposing common sense efforts to create more good Nevada jobs?

That's what the grassroots Sierra Club & ProgressNow activists were asking at AFP headquarters today.

An Apple a Day...

In June, we had questions about Apple's planned data storage center for Washoe County. Now, it's starting to look like we're not the only ones.

Hill, the director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, approved the abatements worth $89 million over 10 years on Wednesday. That was after a separate meeting in which the board unanimously recommended approval of the deal.

But their role was purely advisory — a break from the way Nevada has historically given out tax breaks. [...]

There is still no contract between the state and Apple, Hill said, only a short list of terms laying out the property and sales tax abatements and conditions to which Apple has agreed.

That drew sharp questions from Secretary of State Ross Miller, a member of the board.

“It appears the board is largely ceremonial,” Miller said after the meeting. “This is a significant departure from the past.”

He took issue with the property tax provisions that could last up to 30 years.

“My daughter, who’s in kindergarten, will be my age and still subject to the deal approved today,” Miller noted.

Remember, Apple is being given $89 million worth of tax breaks. The state discounted 85% of property taxes for up to 30 years. The state also discounted all but 2% of the state sales tax for at least 4 years and up to 12 years. And Washoe County reduced Apple's effective county sales tax to a mere 0.5%. Apple got quite the sweet deal... And there's still no official contract?

Perhaps Brian Sandoval and Steve Hill think that if CCSD can try breaking a contract with teachers, they might as well try doing no contract at all with Apple?

I don't know what else to say. I'm just reminded of what I said back in June.

Let's be real here. If this were an everyday working class Nevada person getting a sweetheart deal like this, many if these same politicians would be aghast in horror as they'd be taking their queues from teabaggers screaming, "WELFARE!!!! WELFARE!!!!!" Well, where are the teabaggers to call out the corporate welfare that the State of Nevada, Washoe County, and City of Reno are about to bestow upon Apple? So "WELFARE!!!!!" is evil if it's a working poor family trying to survive in this rough economy, but it's A-O-K for a multinational corporation like Apple? Sorry, but this is the most blatant and disgusting double standard I've ever seen!

Let's be honest here. Apple struck while the iron was hot and took advantage of Brian Sandoval's willingness to cut any kind of deal to save face and show Nevada that "he means business". Apple wins in opening a new data storage facility and paying hardly any taxes on it, while California continues to lose in not being able to collect the corporate income tax it's otherwise owed. Nevada, meanwhile, continues to be satisfied with mere economic crumbs.

So we're willing to shower all this corporate welfare on Apple, but we're not willing to invest in our own people? We're willing to give Apple all the tax evasion bailouts welfare "special deals" it wants, but we're not willing to look out for our own long term economic health? Nevada, we have a problem. And it's more serious than you think.

Turn of the Tide at Lake Tahoe?

Earlier this week, Senator Dean Heller's office announced the 16th Annual Lake Tahoe Summit happening August 13 in Stateline. There will certainly be plenty to talk about this year. Climate change certainly poses a greater risk to the region than ever seen before. And in case that isn't enough to tackle at this year's summit, there's another issue that may just rise back to the surface.

Last year, we saw the passage of SB 271, which is also known as "The Trash Tahoe Bill". Why? Oh, it just endangers the entire ecosystem of the region just to enrich "juiced up" corporate developers and pay back political favors.

The bill was originally authored by John Lee. Oh yes, you heard me right. John Lee made SB 271 happen.

But now, all of a sudden, John Lee is no longer in the picture. And to complicate matters further, California has refused to agree to the terms of SB 271. And without agreement from California, there can be no agreement on a badly needed and much delayed new Tahoe Compact to guide future development.

So all of this just barely lies beneath the surface now, but may just end up at the forefront once the Tahoe Summit begins. Climate change has already become a serious problem for Lake Tahoe, and the continuation of SB 271 further imperils the lake. Perhaps Dean Heller had something else in mind when he announced this year's summit, but it looks like we'll have a real opportunity this month to discuss the serious issues affecting the future of Lake Tahoe... And the recent turn of events has made this more possible than ever before.

NV-01: Shades of Fiore

Remember Michelle Fiore? Before she set off on her current mission to jeopardize a GOP held Assembly seat in Northwest Las Vegas, she was on an incredibly (and hilariously!) quixotic quest to unseat Shelley Berkley in NV-01 in 2010. Since she couldn't even win the G-O-TEA primary, she went nowhere fast.

Even though Michelle Fiore has moved on to give Nevada Republicans many headaches in another race, her spirit lives on in NV-01. This time, the Nevada G-O-TEA finally succeeded in securing their "chosen one", some dude by the name of Chris Edwards, on the November ballot. And not only is Chris Edwards some dude, but he's a crazy teabagger who's trying to drive wedges against Dina Titus on immgration and the Recovery Act... Despite the fact that he's some teabagger dude who opposes the Recovery Act and hasn't made any complaint about his own party's extreme anti-Latin@ xenophobia.

He may now beating his chest and strutting his stuff and challenging Dina Titus to at least three debates, but Chris Edwards can't seem to get his natural allies in Nevada's G-O-TEA "illuminati" excited about his campaign at all. In fact, Chuck Muth begged local teabaggers to stop wasting time on Edwards' pointless campaign! Yep, it's really that bad.

So why are they still poised to ignore "Papa Chuckie Muth" and revel in Chris Edwards' extremely loud and incredibly toast(ed) campaign? Here's my theory. For some reason, they just can't give up NV-01. Yet while it's good for state parties to maintain presence throughout the state, it's not worthwhile to throw tons of resources away on an unwinnable race. But since Nevada teabaggers' frothing hatred of Dina Titus is incredibly overpowering for them, they're willing to drop everything else just for another chance to annoy her in the new NV-01.

Oh, and perhaps Nevada Republican Party "leaders" are willing to tolerate this insani-TEA because they think a Chris Edwards "TEA" fueled NV-01 food fight will distract us all from Danny Tarkanian's embarrassing delusions of grandeur and Joe Heck's scandalous hypocrisy. That may be what they think, but in reality Chris Edwards' ongoing NV-01 temper tantrum is just giving Nevada Republicans even more reasons to be ashamed of their own party.

Another Reason for Nevada to Take ACA Medicaid Expansion: It Saves Lives!

You can't say I didn't warn you. Surely enough, the New England Journal of Medicine now has new evidence from a study conducted by Harvard's School of Public Health showing we'd be incredibly stupid to turn down the Medicaid expansion program of the Affordable Care Act.

The study compared Arizona, which expanded Medicaid coverage to adults without dependent children in 2001 and to parents of children earning up to 200 percent of federal poverty in 2002, to Nevada and New Mexico, which did not opt for expansion.

“State Medicaid expansions to cover low-income adults were significantly associated with reduced mortality as well as improved coverage, access to care and self-reported health,” according to the paper. [...]

The study estimated that 2,840 deaths per year were prevented for every 500,000 people who received additional Medicaid coverage. According to those statistics, Nevada could potentially prevent 700 deaths a year if it opts to expand Medicaid coverage to 140,000 currently uninsured Nevadans under the Affordable Care Act. [...]

“Our study suggests that expanding Medicaid enables people to access the care they need and their health improves, even to the point of potentially saving lives,” said [Benjamin Sommers, the lead author of the paper]. “While states have many factors to weigh in deciding whether to expand Medicaid, it should be clear from our study and others ... that this is a program that succeeds in its goal of helping improve health care and health for poor Americans.”

It is now painfully obvious that Nevada gains absolutely nothing from turning down ACA Medicaid expansion. Rather, we just get more deaths and a more inefficient & costly health care system. Yes, you heard me right. Ultimately, we pay more by NOT expanding health care coverage for more working poor Nevadans!

So why are we still debating this? It's just plain shortsighted not to go through with ACA Medicaid expansion. We save money and save lives by simply fully participating in the new health care law.

Perhaps it's time for Nevada to finally cut the penny wise/pound foolish nonsense and join civilization for a change. Again, remember that the feds fully pay for the first three years of the program, then pay for 90% of it from 2016 onward. Despite what some on the radical right want us to believe, it's really not that costly. Rather, we waste more money by forcing uninsured Nevadans to access "primary care" in the hospital emergency room. And of course, there's the social cost of letting people die for no reason.

Why again are Brian Sandoval and state legislators still debating this?