QE3 Is Here!

Last week, we were wondering what could be done next to encourage economic recovery. Now, we're seeing a curveball being thrown by The Federal Reserve. And believe it or not, this is a very good thing.

Let me... No, I'll let Ezra Klein explain.

It’s a big deal because of what they’re doing. They’re buying $85 billion in assets every month through the end of the year, and then they’re potentially going to keep doing it in 2013. They’re promising to keep interest rates low through the recovery, and then keep them low after the recovery strengthens.

But it’s a bigger deal because of what they’re saying. Thursday, the Federal Reserve said, finally, that they’re not content with 8 percent unemployment and a sluggish recovery, and they’re willing to actually do something about it. If you’re an investor or a business owner trying to decide what the market is going to look like next year, you just got a lot more optimistic.

That’s the weird thing about the Federal Reserve. We don’t just care about what they do. Because their power is so vast —the ability to make as much real, American money as you want is quite a superpower — we care about what they want in the future. And, until Thursday, we weren’t getting much clarity on what they wanted in the future, or how far they were willing to go to achieve it.

Before we get too excited about this Fed announcement, let's keep something in mind. As Kevin Drum reminded us, monetary policy takes a while to take effect. And while the size of this move looks big, we'll have to wait and see how much impact we'll ultimately see in 2013.

So we shouldn't set expectations too high. However, this is nonetheless a much welcomed move from the Fed. Even if QE3 itself won't take effect until December at the earliest, it may actually help the economy now just by reassuring investors and consumers that help is on the way. After all, when we feel good, we do good.

NV-03: The Women... & The Enthusiasm

Of course last night, President Obama addressed a crowd of 8,000 at Cashman Center in Las Vegas. While there was a need to change the schedule, the event went on and tons of Democrats emerged enthusiastic.

Meanwhile across the valley in Henderson, a more low key affair was happening. At the increasingly famous Nevada State Democratic Party Henderson office, organizers were hosting a "Women to Women" phone bank for John Oceguera here in NV-03.







As you can see above, the office was packed with enthusiastic Democratic women (and a few men, too). So what was thus about? Let me explain.

Today is the the 18th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act. Just over six months ago, Rush Limbaugh fired the first shot in the G-O-TEA War on Women. And last week, we were all reminded of how much Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and their acolytes have escalated the War on Women. This is what Nevada women have had to endure this year.

And all along the way, Joe Heck has led the way in fighting the G-O-TEA War on Women. Instead of working on actual policies to encourage more job creation, he's been fighting these "culture wars" and catering to his "tea party" base. And not surprisingly, Southern Nevada women are getting fed up with his actions.



Last week in Charlotte, President Obama and his fellow Democrats took the unprecedented step of fully affirming their support for full women's equality. Even before the convention, John Oceguera was noting how he'd drop the "culture war" nonsense and instead work on policies to help Nevada's working women. And in such an important election featuring such a stark choice on matters important to working women, this is the message that Democrats have to keep delivering.

This is why so many women made it to the Henderson phone bank last night. And this is why Joe Heck is more politically vulnerable than he wants to admit. And this is why Democratic women in NV-03 are more enthusiastic about this election than many pundits want to admit.

Commander in Chief

So President Obama's planned speech in Las Vegas tonight got pushed back to after 6:00 PM. I'm sure it must be frustrating for people lining up to see him tonight, but it's really the best move. After all, he's had to handle a major transnational crisis.

What certainly wasn't the best move was what Mitt Romney has been doing today. Even some REPUBLICANS were repulsed by what he said and did.

"They were just trying to score a cheap news cycle hit based on the embassy statement and now it’s just completely blown up," said a very senior Republican foreign policy hand, who called the statement an "utter disaster" and a "Lehman moment" — a parallel to the moment when John McCain, amid the 2008 financial crisis, failed to come across as a steady leader.

He and other members of both parties cited the Romney campaign's recent dismissals of foreign policy's relevance. One adviser dismissed the subject to BuzzFeed as a "shiny object," while another told Politico that the subject was the "president's turf," drawing a rebuke from Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol.

"I guess we see now that it is because they’re incompetent at talking effectively about foreign policy," said the Republican. "This is just unbelievable — when they decide to play on it they completely bungle it." [...]

"It's bad," said a former aide to Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. "Just on a factual level that the statement was not a response but preceding, or one could make the case precipitating. And just calling it a 'disgrace' doesn't really cut it. Not ready for prime time."

Wow. US Embassies in Egypt and Libya were attacked. The nation needed to know the situation was under control, and the families of those lost needed a chance to grieve and pay proper respect to those lost. Yet instead of showing any kind of respect, Romney just went apeshit and performed the equivalent of opening a tank of gasoline at the site of a raging wildfire.

Now, Mitt Romney is not just an embarrassment to his own party. He's become an embarrassment to the entire country. And what makes Romney even more embarrassing is that he flat out lied about what US diplomats were doing in Egypt and Libya. As always, here's Desert Beacon with the real rundown.

Yes, indeed, the attacks were outrageous, but notice that the Romney statement fails to differentiate between official State Department statements and a release by the Cairo Embassy well in advance of the protests which sought to explain that the motion picture so offensive to some Muslims was not indicative of American attitudes toward members of the Islamic faith. A point raised by President George Bush after the September 11, 2001 attacks and maintained by his successor. Both the Bush and Obama Departments of State repeatedly sought to sustain cooperation with Middle Eastern, African, and Asian nations by emphasizing that the American government dislikes terrorists but does not vilify all Muslims. The previous point should be repeated: Those briefing are as informative as the host government is cooperative. [...]

Unfortunately, the only initial message from Governor Romney is that he is angry and doesn’t think the President is doing a good job. It doesn’t take diplomatic credentials to figure that out, but it also doesn’t give our friends and enemies any hints about how he might address similar issues in subsequent talks with them.

There was a message in the President’s remarks: “We’re working with the government of Libya to secure our diplomats,” he said. “I’ve also directed my Administration to increase our security at diplomatic posts around the world. And make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people.” (emphasis added) The collaborative nature of the activities is on notice. The United States has received the assurance of the Libyan government that it will “fully” cooperate, and will act in concert with the Libyan government to secure what we want — bringing the perpetrators of the attack to justice.

And, while the U.S. works with the Libyan government Americans may learn that there are 22 shabiyats or districts in Libya, and four significant political parties. However, the most important word is “with” — we will not act on them, or independently of them, but WITH them — sending the message that we accept them as a full partner and equal on the world’s diplomatic stage. The right responses help send the right messages.

Mitt Romney was actually trying to (mis)use this tragedy to score political points. And in trying this, Romney lied about what President Obama said. And in trying this, Romney just pissed all over White House efforts to diffuse and ultimately resolve this situation.

What Romney seems to advocate is terrible foreign policy... If it can actually be called "policy" at all. But is it also bad politics. Salon's Joan Walsh seems to think so. And she may actually have a valid point.

So Romney wasn’t criticizing Obama’s Libya policy with his statement. He was lying. He was making cheap political points out of the killings of four American public servants. From his tin-eared criticism of our closest ally during the Olympics, to his bluster on sensitive dealings with China and Iran, to his failure to even mention troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq during his Tampa speech, Romney is proving he would be a disaster as president.

Critics (and even some admirers) have pointed to Romney’s success at Bain Capital and noted that it was predicated on his willingness to do anything it took to close a deal. Mr. Bain will do or say anything to close the deal on his presidential run, including lie. It’s ugly, and it won’t work. Romney will pay for his cruel Sept. 11 opportunism in November.

I've always known Mitt Romney was willing to stoop as low as possible to score some kind of political advantage. But in pursuing this campaign to "de-American-ize" President Obama and play "tea party" fueled bigotry against Obama, Romney may ultimately be hurting himself. It certainly looks that way now.

What President Obama has done today is what we expect of a President. Sometimes, a campaign trip to Las Vegas has to be delayed because The President needs to handle a situation brewing in The Middle East. On the other hand, what Mitt Romney has done today totally disqualifies him to be Commander in Chief.

NV-Sen: Still Mediscared

Surprise! As the 2012 campaign approaches the home stretch, Shelley Berkley releases this ad. Not only does it respond to the recent (false) accusations made by Dean Heller, but it also reminds viewers of Heller's own record on Medicare.



Heller has been peddling the same lies his G-O-TEA colleagues have been saying about the Affordable Care Act and its effect on Medicare. But this time, Berkley isn't letting the lies fly.

Last September, Joe Heck tried to make the same argument. What he tried to do then, and what Heller is trying to do now, is fudge numbers in hopes of obfuscating their support for the Romney-Ryan plan to destroy Medicare by privatizing and "voucher-izing" it.

The problem for Heller, just as it was for Heck, is that his rhetoric doesn't match reality. In fact, the Kaiser Family Foundation recently released a report showing how repealing the Affordable Care Act (as Heller advocates) would actually CUT Medicare benefits for seniors while simultaneously raising costs by reinstating insurance company bailouts that the ACA eliminated. In reality, the ACA actually extends the life of Medicare and strengthens it by providing seniors with more health care while also cutting the waste and abuse in the "Medicare Advantage" insurance industry giveaways.

Again, Dean Heller is just trying to confuse voters by muddying the waters on Medicare. Here is what he doesn't want you to remember about the Romney-Ryan-Heller-Heck G-O-TEA plan to gut Medicare.

Beginning 2023, the guaranteed Medicare benefit would be transformed into a government-financed “premium support” system. Seniors currently under the age of 55 could use their government contribution to purchase insurance from an exchange of private plans or traditional fee-for-service Medicare. But the budget does not take sufficient precautions to prevent insurers from cherry-picking the the healthiest beneficiaries from traditional Medicare and leaving sicker applicants to the government. As a result, traditional Medicare costs could skyrocket, forcing even more seniors out of the government program. The budget also adopts a per capita cost cap of GDP growth plus 0.5 percent, without specifying how it would enforce it. This makes it likely that the cap would limit the government contribution provided to beneficiaries and since the proposed growth rate is much slower than the projected growth in health care costs, CBO estimates that new beneficiaries could pay up to $1,200 more by 2030 and more than $5,900 more by 2050. Finally, the budget would also raise Medicare’s age of eligibility to 67. Some seniors who would no longer be eligible for Medicare would pick up employer coverage—but they would pay more in premiums and cost sharing. And since the budget would scale back or eliminate other coverage options, hundreds of thousands of seniors would become uninsured.

The budget would eliminate the exiting matching-grant financing structure of Medicaid and would instead give each state a pre-determined block grant that does not keep up with actual health care spending. This would shift some of the burden of Medicaid’s growing costs to the states, forcing them to —in the words of the CBO —make cutbacks that “involve reduced eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP, coverage of fewer services, lower payments to providers, or increased cost sharing by beneficiaries—all of which would reduce access to care.” The block grants would reduce federal Medicaid spending by $810 billion over 10 years, decreasing federal Medicaid spending by more than 35 percent over the decade. As a result, states could reduce enrollment by more than 14 million people, or almost 20 percent—even if they are were able to slow the growth in health care costs substantially.

This is the brutal reality that Dean Heller doesn't want you to see. So instead of describing what's actually in his party's plan to decimate "reform" senior health care, he's continuing to peddle lies about the Affordable Care Act. However, it now looks like he won't be able to get away with it any more.

Desperado Mittens

Whenever I wonder how low Mitt Romney can go, he seems to find a way to sink even lower. Yesterday in Reno, it looked like he would actually try to be civil during such a solemn day.

Well, that didn't last long. In the wake of the tragic turn of events in Libya, Mitt Romney is rushing to stoop as low as possible to sling mud at President Obama.

The foolishness of Romney’s reaction is glaring. Pretending that the statement from the U.S. embassy in Cairo was anything other than a completely understandable and reasonable attempt by its occupants to save their own lives borders on disgraceful. Romney’s implication that the statement was issued at the height of the attacks is also false; it was actually released earlier in the day, a preventive measure aimed at keeping the protests from turning violent.

But this hasn’t stopped other Republicans –including RNC chairman Reince Priebus and Sarah Palin –from echoing the Romney line. Again, it probably shouldn’t be surprising. This is the kind of nonsense you’ll get when one party spends four years convincing itself that a president is something he isn’t.

Right now, the State Department is working its hardest to properly handle what's happening in Libya and Egypt right now. As I'm writing this, President Obama is preparing to speak on the tragic loss of life in the Benghazi Consulate Attack. This is the time to console the families of the fallen Ambassadors, and to ensure the whole country that America will get this situation under control.

Frankly, I'm appalled by what Romney is doing now.

They "Won't Back Down"... & Neither Should We.

Earlier today, The Sun posted a gushing review topical piece on "education reform" and the conversation being sparked by the new Michelle Rhee approved propaganda film, "Won't Back Down". If this seems like deja vu, that's because it is. Consider "Won't Back Down" the (even more) fictionalized version of "Waiting for Superman".

Fortunately, Desert Beacon then exposed the fallacy of the "magic elixir" being offered by both "Waiting for Superman" and "Won't Back Down". Basically, what they claim to be a "school choice movement" is really a back door effort to privatize our public schools. And beneath the premise of "giving parents a voice" is actually a concerted effort to turn our schools into engines for corporate profit at the expense of real public education.

The proposed legislation rationalizing the privatization of our public schools rests on the highly questionable premise that parents have “no voice” in the operation of their schools. Not True. At worst, this premise discourages parents and guardians from active participation in school district discussions by informing parents in advance that they are powerless in the face of overwhelming bureaucracy. After spending many a less than thrilling hour attending school board meetings, I can say without much fear of too much contradiction, a packed room works wonders in terms of the enlight in enment of school committee or board members. Nothing so moves a recalcitrant principal to action as a few telephone calls from parents, and nothing is more appreciated by classroom teachers than calls from parents asking what they can do to get Johnny or Susie’s arithmetic grades up.

Parental involvement matters. Better still, parents don’t have to adopt proposals for expensive consultants, pricey Silver Bullets from corporate vendors, and for-profit “management solutions.” Corporate proposals for education are analogous to selling any other product —We, say the corporations, will do for you what you don’t want to do for yourself. And, that’s the premise of any private service, from selling carpet cleaning to lawn care — the corporation or firm will do for us what we do not wish to do for ourselves.

It’s ironic that while stoutly defending and “promoting” parental involvement in the education of their children, the proponents of the right wing privatization plans are essentially telling parents: Here’s a legislative answer to your desire for better education which allows you to outsource the education of your children to for-profit corporations. And, IF your local elementary school is transferred to the management of a private corporation answerable to their shareholders from an elected board of education who are members of the community — then which organizational structure is obviously more closely accountable to parents in the LOCAL area? In which structure do parents have more power?

Oh, and here's something else to keep in mind. The "trigger" law being championed in "Won't Back Down" is being introduced in the Nevada Legislature... By none other than Michael Roberson, the G-O-TEA leader whose stated goal is busting unions and attacking workers' rights! And that's the real goal of the "trigger" law.

"Trigger"/school privatization advocates are hoping "Won't Back Down" will "trigger" the "Rhee-form" they seek. They have already been attacking teachers in Clark County. And they're hoping we won't notice the "tea party" behind the scenes while they're trying to convince us they really care about our schools.

The real fact of the matter is that "Tea Party, Inc." won't back down until there are no more public schools. That's why true education activists shouldn't back down. And they shouldn't let these "TEA" fueled con artists get away with what they're trying to do.

The Next Threat

Today is September 11. Usually on this day, I've preferred to step back and blog about memories of the horrors of that day 11 years ago. However, I can't just do that today.

Why not? I can't help but think about the horrors of the next threat awaiting us. And this time, it's directly hitting Nevada.

“I think it’s pretty desperate in a lot of places for a lot of people. We’re in a dry state in the first place, so moisture is critical. If it doesn’t show up, it’s a problem. It is by far the worst (drought) I’ve seen, and it’s got to be worse than what most people remember.” — Bruce Peterson, state conservationist, U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service

“The dry conditions have certainly been a very big problem. It’s a very serious problem primarily for (ranchers) on the federal ranges. They are having to bring cattle in and sell some of those cattle off.” — Doug Busselman, executive vice president, Nevada Farm Bureau

“There just isn’t any water here at all. It’s really kind of scary. Anybody who has done seeding this year, that seed probably won’t make it.” — Carson Valley rancher Barbara Byington

“The vegetation is very, very dry. There really isn’t much forage for livestock or wildlife. It’s a tinderbox for fire. It catches very quickly.” — Mark Coca, vegetation management specialist, U.S. Bureau of Land Management

Nevada is already in the midst of a record setting drought. And this past summer has been a real scorcher. And it's not some innocent coincidence that it's all happening now. Rather, this may only be the the beginning.

Many people are asking whether climate change can explain the recent spate of extreme events. While we have not performed analysis connecting any of these events to climate change, many of these occurrences are in line with what scientists have predicted in a warmer world. Plus,the science of attributing extreme events to human-induced warming has improved significantly. We document this evolving science on the timeline as well.

It’s too early to tell how the rest of the year will take shape, and it’s true that every year is marked by floods, droughts, heat waves, and other extreme events. However, these past months are unusual in that numerous records have been broken around the world.

What we do know is that many extreme events will increase in severity and intensity if we continue on our carbon-intensive pathway. While it’s too late to reverse the course of past extreme events,there is much we can do –and must do –if we are to stop fueling the intensity and severity of our changing climate.

Especially as the Arctic Ice Cap continues to shrink its way to extinction, the risk of even more volatile, extreme weather greatly increases. And as weather we now see as extreme becomes more frequent, expect our drought to further worsen. And yes, expect even higher food prices, greater food insecurity, and a threat to our economic livelihood like we've never seen before.

Yes, you heard me right. Mitt Romney may be laughing at the climate crisis, but there's really no reason for anyone to take this so lightly. As Nevada's own Harry Reid alluded to last month, climate change is a serious matter that really shouldn't be "up for debate" any longer.

What's desperately needed now is action. If we don't act, we'll face the worst catastrophe humanity has ever experienced. And in fact, we're already starting to feel the pain right here in Nevada. So really, we can't afford to wait any longer to start dealing with the next threat.

#NVLeg: Lay of the Land in SD 5

We've talked plenty before about the fiercely competitive race to control the upper house of the Nevada Legislature. And perhaps of all the hot #NVLeg races not in Washoe County, the race in Senate District 5 will very much come down to what happens in the field.

Last Saturday, Joyce Woodhouse (the Democratic nominee in SD 5) did another precinct walk. However, this was not just any precinct walk. Twenty-five Henderson firefighters joined Woodhouse to walk about a dozen precincts in SD 5 in Henderson.







Between recent "tea party" fueled attacks on firefighters (along with many other public servants) and State Senate G-O-TEA Leader Michael Roberson (R-Henderson; he himself narrowly defeated Woodhouse 51-48 in the old and slightly more GOP friendly SD 5 in 2010) announcing plans to attack workers' rights next year if he becomes Majority Leader, it looked like these Henderson firefighters were stirred into action. And they were ready to fight back. Although Roberson himself won't be up for reelection until 2014 (in the new SD 20 formed from the southern portion of the old, "super sized" SD 5), (the compacted Silverado Ranch to Green Valley north of I-215 to Old Henderson) SD 5 presents a key opportunity. Not only can they avenge Roberson's narrow of defeat of Woodhouse, but they may very well prevent Roberson from becoming Majority Leader by propelling Woodhouse back to Carson City.



Obviously, Nevada workers see a whole lot at stake in SD 5. That's why they took to the streets. And really, there's no better way for them to score a win here than to work the field.

After all, field matters. Democrats have already been working the field at the top of the ticket, but they haven't been alone. In fact, Joyce Woodhouse walks herself almost every day. And as she's been talking to voters throughout the district, she's been engaging in the kind of valuable face to face voter contact that just can't be replicated or imitated by any billboard, mail piece, or TV commercial.

So far, voters have been expressing their concern with the state of our schools, as well as what's happening with the overall economy. A few voters have even mentioned their frustration with the state's unfair tax code. And again, these conversations are so valuable because they allow for the kind of dialogue and interaction that one can not reach with TV ads or roadside signs. And believe it or not, many voters actually appreciate this dialogue (and prefer this to generic TV and mail ads).

Occasionally, I've seen flyers for Steve Kirk, Woodhouse's Republican opponent. They look quite generic, basically proclaiming him as "Generic Conservative Republican". While he clearly has some people out canvassing, it's unclear as to what kind of impression he's making on voters. While he's spent plenty of money on those flyers, as well as roadside signs and mail pieces, he hasn't really spent time engaging in any dialogue with local voters. If this continues, both he and Michael Roberson won't like the results in November.

Mitt Romney Wants Lift As "Culture Warrior"

Last weekend, there was certainly plenty of political fun at Las Vegas Pride. In addition to the slew of local candidates courting LGBTQ voters, President Obama's campaign made a big splash at Vegas Pride. And especially now that Obama and the Democratic Party are fully embracing full LGBTQ equality, Pride revelers were cheering on OFA and the Democratic candidates.



But now, it's not just Nevada LGBTQ voters embracing President Obama. In fact, one REPUBLICAN pizza parlor owner in Florida really gave Obama quite the embrace!

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

“Man, are you a power lifter or what?” the president asked.

The iconic photo only shows the back of the president’s head and his arms raised in supplication, so you’re not entirely sure how he feels about it. The video shows that Obama was shocked but seemed to enjoy the ride Van Duzer gave him. The restaurant owner says he told a Secret Service agent his plans, and the agent said “I was alright as long as I didn’t take him away.”

And so he didn’t. The photo was everywhere on Twitter and Facebook Sunday night, and I struggled to figure out why –and why I had such a strong reaction to it. I literally felt for the very first time that the president would win re-election —and of course that’s irrational. But the sight of this swing-state Republican small business owner (who admittedly supports Obama) pulling the president into a gravity-defying bear hug seems to thwart the conventional wisdom that guys like [Scott] Van Duzer don’t like our first black president. It makes me feel optimistic about what I’m saying in my book: that a lot of people we’ve written off as hopelessly Republican don’t like Mitt Romney and maybe against all odds find themselves fond of the president.

[...] Coming out of his convention with a bounce, watching Romney and Paul Ryan stonewall their way through the Sunday shows without a single human moment of connection, the president has to feel good about his chances as we move into the middle of September. It’ll be a long six weeks, but this photo tells us something about why people say, despite the sluggish economy, they believe the president can relate to them better than Romney can. It will be a powerful advantage in the weeks to come.

And here, we see Mitt Romney's worst campaign nightmare coming true. In many ways, what happened yesterday in Florida was a potent visualization of the new polling data suggesting significant movement in Obama's direction after a successful Democratic Convention.

So how is Romney responding to all this? Oh, he's just dipping back into that cesspool of G-O-TEA bigotry! He tried it again at his own convention in Tampa two weeks ago, and he's doing it again this week.

Mitt Romney suggested that President Obama has taken God out of his heart during a rally in Mansfield, Ohio on Monday, telling a crowd of manufacturing workers that unlike the current occupant of the White House, he will always be guided by the Almighty. The comments appear to be a new post-convention Republican strategy to paint Obama as anti-God [...]

The former Massachusetts governor began his address by thanking the audience for reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, which he recalled saying himself “as a boy in fourth grade.” Then, in what is a newer section of his stump speech, Romney implied that Obama and the Democratic Party have taken God out of their governance, referring to a last minute effort —made at the request of Obama himself —to reinsert the word ‘God’ into the platform at the DNC convention.

The campaign has tried to exploit the incident, with Romney promising, on Saturday, that “I will not take God off our coins,and I will not take God out of my heart.” Last week, Paul Ryan claimed that Democrats had “purged” God from their platform, ignoring the document’s long-standing section on “Faith.”

The new attack line is also reminiscent of Romney’s charge from January —when the candidate was trying to stave off a primary challenge from Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA). “Then of course there’s the assault on religion,” Romney said, describing the Obama administration’s policy expanding contraception coverage to women.

Ah, so here we are again! As we discussed last month, silence should not be confused for "softening". For quite some time, Mitt Romney and his Nevada henchmen (Dean Heller & Joe Heck) have said they "don't want to talk about social issues". Yet while they were saying that, they were actually doing something completely different.

Yet now, Mitt Romney has made a calculated move to fully embrace his role as the G-O-TEA's "Culture Warrior in Chief". Since the Republican Convention had the bounce of a lead balloon, he has to try something different to change the course of the election. And he's taking a calculated risk in embracing the standard G-O-TEA "CUL'CHUR WARZZZ!!!" playbook of focusing in on "god, guns, gays, and gynecology".

Tomorrow, Mitt Romney will be campaigning in Reno. And on Wednesday, President Obama will be campaigning in Las Vegas. And as Obama is clearly getting a lift after his uplifting convention, Romney is trying to put together a new plan to tear him down. Clearly, he thinks "TEH CUL'CHUR WARZZZ!!!" may be his last chance to do just that. He may soon be in for a very rude awakening.

NV-04: Delusions of Grandeur & Insults to Intelligence

So Danny Tarkanian's fan club didn't like me calling out Baby Tark for his cheap shots. Well, too bad. I have to call it as I see it. And frankly, I've seen nothing but duplicitous spin and empty, meaningless rhetoric that just confirms the gnawing suspicion I've had of the candidate and his campaign for some time.

I find it funny how he ran so far to the right when he found it politically convenient, but all of a sudden we're now supposed to believe he's better on comprehensive immigration reform than President Obama. Give me a break!

Believe it or not, the $10,000 donation from John Ensign's PAC and the ongoing personal financial scandals are not the worst stories for Danny Tarkanian's campaign. Actually, the worst story for his campaign is the ongoing saga of this incredibly vapid candidate who will stoop to the lowest levels and cravenly flip-flop as many times as possible to gain some kind of political advantage. Really, can Baby Tark run for anything without touting his famous last name?

And he keeps proving my earlier point. Sure, he's mired in some nasty financial scandal. However, what discredits his campaign even more is the incredible vapidity of it.

And we're seeing the vapidity on full display again today. Jon Ralston tweeted earlier this morning that Baby Tark is actually doing a fundraiser with none other than local scam artist and crackpot extraordinaire Wayne Allyn Root! Wow. All too often, truth can be stranger than fiction. And when one thinks about it, one can clearly see that Wayne Allyn Root and Danny Tarkanian make the perfect political match.

And all too often, politics can be reduced to such a farce. Such is the case with Danny Tarkanian. Since he doesn't seem to have anything else to fun on, he resorts to empty rhetoric, misleading mud slinging... And of course, his famous last name.

Really, has Nevada ever seen a campaign like this before? And will we ever have to endure something like this again?

NV-01/NV-03: A Word on R-J Endorsements

Next time someone tells you how important an endorsement from a certain "newspaper" is, remind that one to read this editorial from October 3, 2010. Two years ago, Nevada was facing a clear choice in our US Senate election. And so much was at stake for our state. Even REPUBLICANS like Dema Guinn and the late Bill Raggio endorsed Harry Reid because of what he's done for Nevada. In addition, the traditionally center-right Reno Gazette Journal endorsed Reid because his Northern Nevada (!!!) based opponent was just too unqualified and extreme. Yet despite all that, this certain Las Vegas "newspaper" went all in for Sharron Angle!

Since this "newspaper" actually endorsed such an extreme and unqualified candidate for US Senate just two years ago, why are we supposed to take its endorsements seriously now? If Nevada's supposed "leading newspaper" could actually endorse a candidate who actually wanted to take a wrecking ball and slam it right into Nevada's economy, why are we supposed to lend this "newspaper" any gravitas with its current slate of endorsements?

I ask because teabaggers are already buzzing over this "newspaper" endorsing Joe Heck for reelection to Congress in NV-03 and Chris Edwards for Congress in the now open NV-01 seat. Frankly, I'm not surprised this happened. In fact, this is just standard operating procedure for this "newspaper".

After all, it already endorsed the Angle-Heck "tea party" agenda in 2010. It's just doubling down on the crazy in 2012, so it has to double down on Joe Heck and his ideological objections to saving the middle class foundation of our economy. I guess the "newspaper" buys Joe Heck's argument that attacking women's health care is a far better use of a Congressman's time than cooperating with The President and other Members of Congress to actually put more Americans back to work.

And then, there's Chris Edwards. Like a certain "Sharrontology Obtuse Angle", he has a penchant for talking out of both sides of his mouth and shoddily hiding his allegiance to "tea party" extremism. Oh, and he's already doing a great job following Angle's lead on "Latino community outreach". Wow. Just wow.

Honestly, it's irritating to even have to discuss this Las Vegas "newspaper" and its silly endorsements now. But apparently since some in the media still want to pretend that there's anything rational and/or significant about these endorsements, we must remember how and why this "newspaper" totally discredited itself in the first place. When even the widow of a REPUBLICAN Governor and the REPUBLICAN State Senate leader acknowledge that their own party screwed up in choosing its US Senate nominee, a "newspaper" shouldn't be rushing to endorse pure batshit crazy.

And we shouldn't be subjected to this "newspaper" and its silly season of pointless endorsements now.

#VegasPride 2012: La Comunidad

So Las Vegas Pride Weekend has been quite the fun weekend. However, it's also been quite productive. Yesterday, we noted the interesting turn of events on the politics of pride. Today, I'm hoping we can dig more into some good policy.







On Friday, PLAN hosted a pre-parade party and welcomed several guest speakers to come over and discuss what's happening in our community. One guest speaker was Marco Castro-Bojorquez from Lambda Legal. And not only did he talk with us about Latin@/LGBTQ outreach, but he also shared with us this amazing short film about three Latina mothers and their children's coming out experiences.



It was a great way to show everyone how and why forging cross-community alliances is so important. Oh, and so was the little pep talk by the always fabulous Astrid Silva of PLAN Action. Since she knows a thing or two on community outreach, she shared her experience on forging alliances to work for the common good.

And getting back to Lambda Legal, they also provided an update on the Sevcik v. Sandoval marriage equality law suit. Already, court watchers are seeing it as potentially a major breakthrough case for marriage equality. This really sets up Nevada to take center stage in the ongoing struggle for marriage equality. But since we're talking about a federal law suit here, it will take several years before it heads to the US Supreme Court.

In the mean time, Nevada LGBTQ community activists have plenty of work ahead in educating people on the need for marriage equality. The same goes for workplace equality, even though the Legislature has acted on that, along with a host of other issues still facing our community. And again, that's why we need to reach out to other oppressed minority communities in order to work toward the common goal of ending all wrongful discrimination.

That's why it was beautiful seeing the diverse crowd at PLAN's Las Vegas office on Friday. Hopefully, this weekend won't be the last time we see a civil rights intersection like this.

#VegasPride 2012: The Parade (& The Candidates Who Joined Us)

There's just something special and something awe inspiring about Las Vegas Pride. Is it the glitter? Is it the the variety of wardrobes? Is it the backdrop of Fabulous Downtown Las Vegas? Or is it simply the people, the diverse array of people coming together to celebrate who we are, where we've come, and what lies next for our LGBTQ community?



As you can see below, we had quite the parade last night. And what made it all the more special were the guests who marched with us. It will make you wonder who's really a "political liability".







Both John Oceguera and Steven Horsford rode in the Las Vegas Pride Parade with HRC Las Vegas and our local Stonewall Democrats. And both candidates were more than happy to greet the parade watchers and share not just their standard campaign pitches, but also their promise to support full equality for Nevada's LGBTQ families. Oh, and did I mention they were riding by a bunch of "militant marching gays" who were dancing to the likes of (the late great) Whitney Houston and Lady Gaga? This was truly a sight to behold.

And what made this even more amazing was the fact that both Horsford and Oceguera face competitive Congressional races. Remember the days when many swing district Democrats preferred to shy away from "controversial issues"? Obviously, Horsford and Oceguera had no "controversial issues" with coming to Pride and openly proclaiming their support for LGBTQ equality. This really showed how far both national and Nevada Democrats have come, as well as the strong character of both candidates present.







In addition to Oceguera and Horsford personally marching/riding with HRC & Stonewall in Pride, Shelley Berkley (NV-Sen), Dina Titus (NV-01), and President Obama's Nevada campaign all had strong representation at Las Vegas Pride. And again, all campaigns were so proud to march with HRC & Stonewall and tout their pro-equality records. I guess now that the Democratic Party has made a bold move in embracing marriage equality and the LGBTQ community in full, Nevada Democrats are now making good policy into good politics.

Oh, and by the way, no prominent Nevada Republicans were to be found at Pride last night. Is this what they mean by saying they're "silent on social issues"? Well, it's not like Mitt Romney, Dean Heller, Joe Heck, and Danny Tarkanian really have anything to be proud about when it comes to LGBTQ outreach.

And that, my friends, was Night 1 of Las Vegas Pride Weekend in the heat of the 2012 election cycle.

The Rude Awakening

I certainly had my own thoughts on what happened last night, but what about the people who were actually there?

[Delegate Laurie Haley from Reno] said she is anxious to go home and start making phone calls and knocking on doors for Obama and for U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Las Vegas, who is running for U.S. Senate.

“I’m ready to go home and make a difference,” she said. “I’m so energized that my husband probably won’t be able to live with me for the next 60 days until the election.”

Haley said she is better off than she was before Obama took office, in part because of his support for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which makes it easier for women to sue employers for paying them less than men for the same jobs. The law was the first that Obama signed after taking office.

“It means that women like me won’t be paid 23 cents less than men for doing the same work,” Haley said. “That adds up to a lot of money per week,per month, per year and over the course of a career. It affects the quality of our lives.”

And this is exactly what the Democratic Convention was aimed to accomplish. With all the pundits' talk of "enthusiasm gaps" and "disillusionment", Democrats wanted to dispel that talk and show how Democrats are still fired up and ready to go. This week's convention in Charlotte went a long way in doing this.

But today, it looks like the economy is chiming in... And frankly, it isn't sounding all that great. However, we can't forget that exactly one year ago, President Obama offered a solution.

The American electorate was clamoring for action on jobs; the Obama White House crafted a credible plan that would be helping enormously right now; and congressional Republicans reflexively killed the Americans Jobs Act for partisan and ideological reasons.

With this recent history in mind, how are we to assign responsibility for high unemployment? Should we condemn the person who threw the job market a life preserver, or those who pushed it away? Or put another way, are we better off now as a result of Republican obstructionism and intransigence, or would we have been better off if the popular and effective job-creation measures had been approved?

By any reasonable measure, the GOP argument, which will be trumpeted loudly today, is completely incoherent -- they were wrong a year ago and now we're paying the price.

When we really think about it, we're lucky the economy created 96,000 jobs last month. Despite the constant G-O-TEA obstruction and economic sabotage, we're still seeing some kind of economic recovery.

However, it can be better. That's precisely why President Obama proposed the American Jobs Act last September. It would have created 1.9 million more jobs and an extra 2% worth of GDP growth this year. Yet instead of working with President Obama to speed up economic recovery, G-O-TEA politicians just kept obstructing.

Oh, and some G-O-TEA acolytes actually went further in proposing legislation to worsen our economic problems and throw America into depression! In fact, Nevada's own Dean Heller and Joe Heck both proposed bills last November aimed at slashing public investment in our economy precisely when our economy needed that investment the most.

Again, when taking this into consideration, it's actually a bit of a minor miracle that our economy is still growing and creating jobs. And it's become increasingly clear that our economy needs more investment, NOT LESS. This is what we started to hear from President Obama last night in Charlotte, and this is what we need to hear more from him about next Wednesday here in Las Vegas.

But let's face it, we still won't see enough progress if we don't see significant change in Congress. And this is the case President Obama and Congressional Democrats must make in order to sweep away the austerity nonsense and work on delivering real economic growth.

Obama Electrified Charlotte... & Is About to Light Up Las Vegas!

What a difference a week makes! Last Friday, we discussed Clint Eastwood and his hilarious "interaction" with an empty chair. Tonight, we're talking about Barack Obama and a fully enthusiastic Democratic Party that he fired up last night so they could be ready to go (win the election).



Next Wednesday, President Obama will be returning to Las Vegas to give us Nevadans front row seats to a glimpse of what to expect in his second term.

So what will Obama be saying to us? Well, I think he just gave us a good idea when he addressed the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. Here it is in a nutshell.

#YouWereTheChange & #YouDidThat totally blew up whole premise of #rnc2012 Sorry #teaparty . darn that @BarackObama #DNC2012 #p2

Tonight, President Obama brought back "Hope & Change". He made inspiration cool again. And he pretty much slayed the ugly cynicism that the "tea party" has championed for these past three years.

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of President Obama's speech was that he turned the "patriotism" charge on its head. Come on, how many times have we heard teabaggers call progressives "unpatriotic"? Tonight, President Obama reclaimed patriotism for progressives by explaining how and why investing in a stronger middle class makes for true American patriotism. That was simply brilliant.

And this is what Nevada Democrats can look forward to next Wednesday. So who's fired up & ready to go now?