NV-Sen/NV-03: Heller's & Heck's "Bad Romance"

Earlier this month, many Southern Nevadans had themselves a "fabulous gay old time" at Las Vegas Pride. Yet while many political candidates came by to court local LGBTQ voters. However, there were some notable absences. Perhaps most notably, Dean Heller and Joe Heck (and their "Team Nevada Shadow GOP") were MIA at Pride.

Hmmm, I wonder why. Could it be?

1. Heller has opposed marriage equality and even domestic partnership benefits for same-sex couples —but no longer wants to talk about it. In 2006, Heller said on his campaign website that he “supports traditional marriage between one man and one woman and will work to defend Nevada values in Congress.” This year, he reaffirmed his belief that “marriage is between one man and one woman” and said he “would not support changing that.” But, he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “I don’t want it to be the issue in the campaign. I truly don’t want this to be the issue.” He also voted for a 2007 amendment restricting the District of Columbia government from using any federal funding to provide domestic partnership benefits.

2. Heller voted against Hate Crimes protections for LGBT Americans. In both 2007 and 2009,he voted against adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the federal hate crimes laws.

3. Heller thinks it should be legal to fire someone just for being gay. He voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in 2007, which would have banned employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

4. Heller opposed letting LGBT servicemembers serve openly. He voted against Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal twice in 2010. In 2009 he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he supported continuing the discriminatory policy.

5. Heller has been a total zero on LGBT equality. Over the course of the 110th and 111th Congresses, the Human Rights Campaign rated him as voting against the interests of the LGBT community 100 percent of the time.

Notice Heller's downright flippant attitude toward Nevada's LGBTQ families.



Now contrast this with Shelley Berkley and her steadfast commitment to securing equality for all Nevada families.





As we've discussed before, Mitt Romney is leading Dean Heller, Joe Heck, and the rest of the G-O-TEA in embracing teabaggers' bigotry and doubling down on endorsing wrongful discrimination. They're doing this because they still think they need to shore up their "TEA" fueled base. Yet while they're doing this, they're alienating the rest of our increasingly diverse and multicultural state. And with the newest CBS/New York Times poll showing a strong national majority favoring marriage equality, it's quite likely that Nevada voters are trending quickly towards embracing equality as well.

Joe Heck may still be calling marriage equality "a distraction" while he & Dean Heller dutifully stand by the G-O-TEA agenda of belittling and even endangering (!!!) LGBTQ Nevadans, but they increasingly look anachronistic and incredibly out of touch. Just contrast Heck's cold and downright rude remarks with John Oceguera's heartfelt support for marriage equality and full civil rights for LGBTQ Nevadans.



This is a bigger problem for Nevada Republicans than Dean Heller, Joe Heck, and their slick campaign consultants want to admit. And this is the real reason why Heller and Heck refuse to talk about it. But as long as they keep trying to hold down Nevada's LGBTQ families, a growing and strengthening number of Nevada voters may ultimately decide to just hang up on them.

Mitt Romney Just Imploded... Into My Mailbox

He did it again. No really, Mitt Romney sent me another campaign mailer. This time, he feigns his "concern for the middle class".






And yes, believe it or not, this mail piece arrived yesterday... Just as this was unfolding.



Here's what makes the mailer so awkward.

During a private fundraiser earlier this year, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told a small group of wealthy contributors what he truly thinks of all the voters who support President Barack Obama. He dismissed these Americans as freeloaders who pay no taxes, who don't assume responsibility for their lives, and who think government should take care of them. [...]

Here was Romney raw and unplugged—sort of unscripted. With this crowd of fellow millionaires, he apparently felt free to utter what he really believes and would never dare say out in the open. He displayed a high degree of disgust for nearly half of his fellow citizens, lumping all Obama voters into a mass of shiftless moochers who don't contribute much, if anything, to society, and he indicated that he viewed the election as a battle between strivers (such as himself and the donors before him) and parasitic free-riders who lack character, fortitude, and initiative. Yet Romney explained to his patrons that he could not speak such harsh words about Obama in public, lest he insult those independent voters who sided with Obama in 2008 and whom he desperately needs in this election. These were sentiments not to be shared with the voters; it was inside information, available only to the select few who had paid for the privilege of experiencing the real Romney.

Herein lies Romney's problem, which is the same problem he's had all along. Basically, Mitt Romney continues to reveal himself as an out-of-touch plutocrat who just doesn't care about the middle class and working poor. And no matter how many glossy mailers he sends to me and to other Democratic households, he can't convince us to vote against our best interest. In fact, he keeps making sure of that whenever he opens his mouth and goes "off the cuff"!

The growing Beltway consensus seems to be that this may very well be "The Beginning of the End" for Romney's campaign. Well, at least I got a memento in my mailbox. I got some shrapnel from the Romney campaign's implosion.

Democrats "Secret to Success" in Nevada

Earlier today, Jon Ralston broke some interesting news.

As of this morning, the Democratic advantage over the Republicans is 61,443 voters, or 5.4 percent.

That’s larger than close of registration in 2010, when it was 60,108.

This is having an effect down the ticket, too, where three critical state Senate districts now have greater Democratic edges than in 2010.

Remember what we've been discussing all this summer? Yes, indeed, field matters. While Nevada Republicans have been very bust fighting each other, Nevada Democrats have been busy working the field. With all the voter registration, door to door canvassing, and volunteer to voter phone banking Nevada Democrats have been doing, there shouldn't be any wondering why they're gaining a key advantage.







Just since the August Secretary of State report (released early this month), Democrats have made even more gains in voter registration. Just in looking at the new Clark County, we can see that Democrats have expanded their advantage in the new NV-03 from 0.17% early this month to 0.54% now. (Just last month, Republicans had a slight voter registration edge in NV-03!) In the bellwether 5th State Senate District in swingy, suburban Henderson, Democrats have expanded their voter registration advantage from 3.70% to 4.02%. And in the must win 9th State Senate District in the fast growing and diversifying Southwest Valley suburbs, Democrats have increased their edge from 5.61% to 6.09%. Overall in Clark County, the most populous county in Nevada and home to over 70% of the state's population, Democrats have increased their already healthy lead from 12.53% to 13.02%. And looking at the whole state, just so far this month Democrats have increased their statewide voter registration lead from 4.97% to 5.40%!

Wow. What a feat. And as the above numbers show, President Obama isn't the only beneficiary here. The key battleground districts in the (Clark County) Las Vegas suburbs that may very well determine the control of Congress and the Nevada Legislature this fall, Democrats have been making huge gains throughout the summer. And with just one month left until voter registration ends for the 2012 general election, it's increasingly looking like Nevada Democrats have no plans to let up while Nevada Republicans keep scrambling to pick up their broken party.

Herein lies Nevada Democrats' "secret to success". And funny enough, it's not actually a secret. For all the "tea party" attacks describing the Democratic base as "lazy", the fact of the matter is that the Obama Campaign, the Nevada Democratic Party, local Democratic candidates, and local Democratic volunteers are just plain working hard and outworking the G-O-TEA by so many miles that Mitt Romney's operation just can't keep up.

Mitt Romney's Boomerang Through My Mailbox

In recent days, the issue of China and its many exports has come toward the forefront in the Presidential campaign. In fact, Mitt Romney even tried to win my vote with this very issue! Take a look at the mail piece his campaign sent me last weekend.







So we're supposed to believe President Obama is "shipping jobs to China" and Mitt Romney will magically restore them? Here's the problem with this fable: It's just that. It's simply not true. And in fact, President Obama is announcing action on this.

President Obama will announce that his administration is cracking down on China's practice of subsidizing auto parts made for export with a new case they are taking to the World Trade Organization while campaigning in Ohio, Monday, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The administration says China's practices hurt states like Ohio which count on the auto industry for jobs. The administration will also ask the WTO to move forward with a review of a separate case in which the U.S. alleged that China is placing unfair duties on cars imported from the United States.

The auto industry rescue is a prominent feature of Obama's campaign, particularly in states like Ohio. According to the White House, 475,000 Americans --including 54,200 Ohioans -- work for the auto parts industry.

This latest crack down on China comes on the same day that the Romney campaign has released a new ad promising to "make trade work for America" and promising to "crack down on China" and "open up new markets." On the stump, Romney and running mate Paul Ryan regularly attack Obama for being weak on China.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney has a record of doing this.

Senator Reid was talking about this explosive Boston Globe story debunking Mitt Romney's claim that he wasn't in charge of Bain Capital when his company began massive layoffs early last decade. While Romney claimed he left Bain in 1999, the documents Bain Capital filed with the SEC listed Romney as 100% owner and CEO, and that Romney earned a $100,000 annual salary in 2001 and 2002 on top of his Bain investment earnings. [...]

This is even worse than I had originally thought. I just knew that Mitt Romney was/is a vulture capitalist who profited from destroying American jobs. Now we know he's caused even more damage to our economy by outsourcing formerly American jobs to China AND by hiding his money in offshore Bermuda based investments!

Remember that Mitt Romney himself invested in a Bermuda based corporation that was funding schemes to outsource formerly American jobs to China! Does Romney really think that I'm that forgetful? And does he really think that so many Americans are so stupid that they'll believe anything thrown onto a glossy mailer?

This is Mitt Romney's problem. Because he's increasingly looking like he's seeking the wrong office at the wrong time, he needs a "game changer" to save his flailing campaign. So now, he's trying to project his history of outsourcing formerly American jobs overseas onto President Obama. But not only did he make the mistake of filling this lie into my mailbox, but he's also making the bigger mistake of treating the American people like hopeless imbeciles. This will truly come back to hurt him.

No Se Puede, Republicanos

Look who's talking now. Desperate to look "moderate", Dean Heller is smearing Vaseline on the camera in hopes of deceiving Nevada Latinos. And guess who he's following down this path?

The Dean Heller and Mitt Romney campaigns seem to be taking their Hispanic voter outreach strategies from the same playbook.

Mitt Romney’s Hispanic supporter coalition is called “Juntos con Romney” (Together with Romney), and Heller’s is “Juntos con Heller.”

In July the Romney campaign released an ad featuring Craig Romney, the GOP presidential candidate’s son who spent time in Chile, addressing voters in Spanish about his father’s character.

On Friday, the Heller campaign came out with its own Spanish-language ad with a family member’s testimonial on the candidate’s core values. Heller’s wife, Lynne, in a similar style to the Craig Romney ad, speaks in Spanish directly to the camera.

So why are Dean Heller and Mitt Romney doing this? Look at their record.

In the past, Heller has sponsored legislation to limit election ballots to English-only, to mandate that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid only be filled out in English and to make English the official national language. He also previously supported a bill to end birthright citizenship.

Despite what his campaign spins, the fact of the matter is that Dean Heller has never really cared about Nevada's Latin@ communities. It's bad enough that he wants to take away many Americans' Constitutional right of birthright citizenship. It's even worse that he's often played to "tea party" xenophobia by pushing "ENGLISH ONLY!!!" nonsense. He's even gone out of his way to oppose the DREAM Act!





But again, it's not just Heller. And it's not just about immigration. Really, Mitt Romney has led the way for the entire G-O-TEA in setting an agenda that's downright hostile to Latin@ families. And unfortunately for him, the Obama campaign isn't letting him get away with it.



And what's even worse for Romney and Heller is that their own party continues to remind all of us of their true agenda. Joe Heck has continually worked against the best interest of all Nevada working families by voting to undermine Medicare, Medicaid, college student aid, and more. And in case that wasn't enough, he's declined to endorse the DREAM Act while speaking in support of Arizona's discriminatory SB 1070.

Oh, and that's not even the end of it for the Nevada G-O-TEA. Danny Tarkanian has actually tried to distance himself from his own record, but he only embarrassed himself further because he had earned the endorsement of the virulently anti-immigrant Minutemen in his last campaign for Congress (when he ran for US Senate in 2010). And just weeks ago, NV-01 G-O-TEA sacrificial lamb nominee Chris Edwards blew his own anti-immigrant cover after inartfully trying to smear Dina Titus as such.

All in all, there's really nothing about Mitt Romney, the leading Nevada Republicans, or their party's platform that's attractive to Latin@ voters. That's why they must deceive and distract. Yet despite all that Vaseline they want to smear onto the cameras, they can't fool an entire community to vote against their own best interest by voting for a party keen on xenophobia and anti-immigrant hysteria.

Library Closed... Forever?

Last month, we discussed the dire straits that Henderson Libraries have fallen into. Later that month, I got a first hand glimpse of how dire those straits have truly become.







As you can see above, the Paseo Verde Library was not ready for the recent round of Arizona Monsoon storms. Because of the leaky roof, not only was a large chunk of floor space closed off, but even some bookshelves had to be tarped over while the printers had to be shut down! Yes, believe it or not, this is the new reality of Henderson's flagship library.

And that's not all. All Henderson libraries will be closed on Mondays starting next month. Staff cuts have already taken a toll. And as I alluded to above, structural maintenance hasn't been able to keep up with increased use in the last decade.

That's why the "Rescue My Library" campaign is asking Henderson voters for just $7 per year per $100,000 in home value. No really, it's just that little. And for that little, Henderson Libraries will just be able to maintain current library locations and services.

Since all Clark County libraries outside North Las Vegas are funded directly by property taxes and state C-Tax revenue, the City of Henderson can't provide more city funding for the libraries. And since private fundraising has not been able to keep up with the community's needs, that's why Henderson Libraries have been backed into this corner.

So now, the future of not just the local libraries, but also of the greater community, rests in voters' hands. Do we want closed libraries? And do we want the remaining open libraries to continue to suffer from leaking roofs and even shorter hours? Throughout the year, we've discussed how tax policy in this state is about to change dramatically with the increased use of "ballot box budgeting". We'll see a major test this fall in Henderson.

NV-03: "Newspaper" Strikes Again!

Early this week, a local Southern Nevada "newspaper" embarrassed itself (again) with poorly reasoned endorsements. Today, the "newspaper" is out to embarrass itself some more. Oh yes, that's right. It's time for a new round of "polls" that make absolutely no sense!

In today's edition, the "newspaper" teamed up with the incredibly shoddy Survey USA to release this new "poll" showing Joe Heck leading by 13%. So why shouldn't we just take them at their word? Here's what Ralston tweeted.

"Newspaper" poll has @RepJoeHeck up by 13 over @JohnOceguera. Wow! Also wow: Dems have slight reg edge in #nv03; poll breakdown: 37-32, R.

And there's this.

Link to "newspaper" poll in #nv03 -- http://t.co/K86u6WHy. But look at goofy demographics here: http://t.co/OymyxoCW #2010redux #surveyUSA

Indeed, Survey USA's internals make absolutely no sense. The sample skews much older than the likely electorate we'll see this fall, and Joe Heck probably isn't winning that many minority voters. No really, they know what's going on. Oh, and since Democrats recently took the lead in voter registration in NV-03, it makes no sense to show 5% more Republicans in the sample.

So why did this happen? Well, when a "newspaper" becomes accustomed to accepting sloppy "reporting", this is the result. Believe it or not, its polls were actually starting to make sense when it teamed up with UNLV's polling institute. It's a shame that the "newspaper" actually dumped a solid local outfit for this garbage.

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.