Feb
29 - Mar 6, 2004 edition
- O P I N I O N -
NPRI
Mere Subjects
In the partnership between
government unions and government administrators, the Nevada taxpayer
is definitely the odd man out.
By Steven Miller
“All politics is
local,” the late Tip O’Neil, speaker of the US House of
Representatives, used to tell young congressmen.
His point was that
when all is said and done, what matters most to people is what
affects them right where they live.
There’s a notable
corollary to O’Neil’s insight: Because local government is the
level of government closest to the people, it must be considered the
most important stratum of the entire federal system.
After all, the whole point of America, historically
speaking, was to allow us all, as citizens, to govern ourselves.
And, as the most vital issues that we all face everyday are
primarily local issues—personal safety, for example—citizen
control of local government is absolutely necessary to the entire
American experiment. [more]
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LV R-J
Spotting
the creeping crab grass
It has long
been the expected role of newspapers to sound the klaxon in times of
immediate threat -- terrorist attack, pending storm or flood waters, major
legislation, Election Day and the like.
No less should be the expectation for spotting the
creeping-crab-grass threats -- droughts, crumbling infrastructure,
devolution of the culture, stagnant student test scores -- that have not yet
overwhelmed but surely will if ignored.
That is the category in which I'd place the recent news
stories by Review-Journal reporter Adrienne Packer -- as well as our
subsequent editorials -- on the burgeoning salaries of county employees.
Of course these have resulted in the usual squeals from
those who are the beneficiaries of all that taxpayer largess.
You can't compare public employee salaries to those in the
private sector, they retort. That compares the salaries of dealers,
ditch-diggers, barbacks, construction workers and lawn mowers with the
salaries of law enforcement officers, firefighters, regulatory analysts,
program administrators and those who handle complex statutory or regulatory
programs ... and who are ever in danger of really serious paper cuts. That's
comparing apples to oranges. (If I had a nickel for every time I've heard
that old saw ... )
The public employees conveniently forget that the private
sector salaries we cite also include lawyers, CEOs of casinos and banks,
doctors and various highly trained professionals, as well as the kid who
sacks groceries. more
LV R-J
Unions
doing
their lobbying
on taxpayers'
dime The Wendell Williams
double- dipping scandal is the gift that keeps on giving. Thanks to a tip from an
anonymous firefighter, Review- Journal columnist Jane Ann Morrison reported on a
long-standing Las Vegas city policy that allows firefighters to lobby the Legislature for
better pay and benefits ... all at taxpayer expense.
And there's more. The contract between the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police
Department and its union establishes four, full-time jobs at union headquarters for cops,
who aren't paid with union dues but instead earn tax-financed salaries and, presumably,
benefits under PERS ... more
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Vin Suprynowicz
Victim
disarmament traitors at it again
Sure enough, the
traitors to the Constitution who currently occupy so much of the U.S. Senate
now threaten to turn S.1805 -- a simple Senate bill designed to ban
frivolous lawsuits intended to bankrupt firearms manufacturers -- into a
Victim Disarmament Trojan Horse.
Since October 1998, 33 cities and the state of New York
have brought lawsuits against gun makers and retailers seeking to hold the
companies responsible for the misuse of their legal products. These suits
have been substantially funded by George Soros and the Brady Campaign
(formerly Handgun Control).
"The goal has not been to win these legally weak
cases but rather, with so many simultaneous suits, to bankrupt these
companies through massive legal costs," write Grover Nordquist and John
Lott Jr., the latter a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute
and the author of "More Guns, Less Crime," reporting last week for
Fox News.
"Unfortunately, despite most of the city suits having
been knocked out on pretrial motions, this strategy has had some
success," Nordquist and Lott write. "Litigation fears helped
discourage venerable companies such as Colt from continuing to produce
handguns, and K-mart, along with other retailers, have stopped selling
handgun ammunition."
And so the Senate appeared poised to pass legislation to
rein in many of those lawsuits. (The proposed legislation would, of course,
not end lawsuits against defective products that cause harm or injury.)
[more]
The Passion:
Worthwhile, But Disappointing
THE CONTROVERSY swirling
around Mel Gibson’s “The Passion” continues unabated, but after having
seen the film, the controversy is much ado about very little.
The overall impact of the movie is excellent; the
whole western world is discussing the life and times and the reality of
Jesus Christ, and this stimulus cannot help but be positive in outcome. Is
it worth seeing? Yes. But it’s not what I expected.
I watched it at the Sparks Cinema on opening day and
quite frankly it was a bit of a disappointment. Frankly, I’m not sure what
I was expecting, but the plot based on the last 12 hours of Christ’s life
seemed to focus on the wrong things.
I’m very familiar with the New Testament and the
accounts in the four gospels describing all the events leading up to His
crucifixion, none which dwell almost wholly on the physical suffering of
Jesus Christ.
Yet, the movie focuses almost entirely on that, with
seemingly unending scenes of Christ getting beaten, whipped and scourged by
everyone from the Sanhedrin’s police force to the Romans to the populace
lining the path to Calvary. Gibson also had an excessive number of slow
motion scenes of Jesus passing out and tumbling to the ground, generally
face first.
[more]
LV R-J
Taking
(civil) liberties
By Steve Sebelius
A tough, principled campaigner came to Las Vegas at the tail end of last
week. He was here to talk about the issues, and to take the Bush
administration to task on a number of fronts. A veteran of Washington, D.C.,
politics, he knows he faces an uphill battle against a well-financed
incumbent president. But he knows that the more people hear the truth, the
more will come to his side.
That's why I relished the chance to sit down for a
few minutes with former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga. (Who did you think I was
talking about?)
Barr has been at the forefront of one of the oddest
confluences in American politics: The convergence of left and right in
opposition to the erosion of civil rights in the name of the war on terror.
Talk to Barr for even a few minutes, and you'll find things are far worse
than just the USA Patriot Act. [more]
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| Gov.
Guinn should resign
By W.W. Anderson
GOVERNOR KENNY GUINN should step down.
His mental deterioration -- long an open
secret among Las Vegas insiders -- is now so pronounced as to
seriously interfere with the public performance of his official
duties.
This was obvious to hundreds of people in
Las Vegas last Wednesday when the governor "spoke" to us
(this writer was a guest) at the annual meeting of the Nevada
Taxpayers Association.
The word spoke gets quotation marks
above because really what happened was that the large audience, for
a prolonged period, was subjected to an angry, incoherent jumble of
rambling assertions -- most of which never even reached the stage of
fully formed arguments or thoughts.
In the words of one businessman, interviewed
by Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Erin Neff as he was
leaving, to be in Guinn's audience was a "punishing"
experience. [more]
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Las
Vegas Review-Journal
Guinn's
point
lost on crowd
Gov. Kenny Guinn's speech at the Stardust convention center Wednesday
left many in the audience at a loss to understand what Guinn was trying to
say.
Las
Vegas Sun
Transfer
of fuel
rods 'not necessary'
Officials say on-site storage
of waste safer than thought
WASHINGTON -- The risks of storing more used radioactive fuel rods from
nuclear power plants in onsElectric Nevada, Feb 15 - 22, 2003 editionite pools are less than previously thought
despite the new specter of terrorism, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
officials said Thursday.
Elko Daily Free Press
Enviro
mentals
target gold mines
ELKO - Environmental activists launched a "No Dirty Gold"
global campaign today that targets gold jewelry consumers to call
attention to the worldwide gold-mining industry. "This is not a
boycott of gold," said Radhika Sarin, campaign coordinator.
Las Vegas Sun
GOP
chief: Nevada
'ground zero' for '04
Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie went on the
offensive in Nevada on Thursday, saying that Democrats have made it clear
they plan to run one of the "dirtiest campaigns in modern
politics."
Elko Daily Free Press
Millennium
Scholars
face higher standards
ELKO - Next year's freshman class will be facing tougher requirements
to become eligible for Nevada's Millennium Scholarship. But, according to
Joe de Braga, director of curriculum and instruction for Elko schools, the
proposed changes still aren't as tough as the existing advanced diploma
requirements.
Nevada Appeal
Funding
sought for
wild horse roundup
RENO - Gov. Kenny Guinn is pressing Congress for funding to thin wild
horse herds in Nevada, saying their large numbers endanger the state's
wildlife and ranching.
Las Vegas Sun
Reid stirs up
Yucca dust
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to call and write letters to Labor
Secretary Elaine Chao and Environmental Protection Administrator Mike
Leavitt this week to air his concerns on dust dangers to workers at Yucca
Mountain.
Las Vegas Sun
But
state says
no such problem
CARSON CITY -- The state Division of Environmental Protection said
Friday an investigation at Yucca Mountain Thursday showed there were no
violations of blowing dust regulation.
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Moncrief:
'I'm innocent'
An upbeat Las Vegas City Councilwoman Janet Moncrief said Friday that
she hopes to put swiftly to rest allegations of wrongdoing in her campaign
for office last year.
Elko Daily Free Press
Free
Press owner
names publisher
ELKO - Rhonda Zuraff, a nationally honored circulation and marketing
manager for Lee Enterprises, has been appointed publisher of the Elko
Daily Free Press.
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Ex-Agassi
teachers,
activists complain
Teachers who've been fired or resigned from the Andre Agassi College
Preparatory Academy publicly question whether the school is operating
outside the laws addressing special education students, test security, and
the expenditure of federal grants.
| The Other Side of the Story THE DEMOTION of two high Community College of Southern Nevada (CCSN)
officials, President Ronald Remington and his 'counselor' John Cummings -- said by
many to actually have been running the college -- has touched off a firestorm of criticism
of the state higher education system's board of regents. There is much evidence, however,
that the regents have a far better case than media reporting has indicated. The deeper one
penetrates into the 1,026- page investigation report (which Electric Nevada has
obtained and is studying), the more it appears that the furor is scripted to defend a
long-standing community-college system of nepotism and political corruption.
Statement by Three Regents
Statement
by Topazia Briget Jones. |
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Regents
set to
discuss demotions
The university Board of Regents has scheduled a special open meeting
for later this month to discuss community college officials who were
demoted following a controversial closed meeting late last year.
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Arrested
investigator
got pardon in 1989
CARSON CITY -- A Clark County investigator arrested this week by the
FBI had supporters in high places when he received a full pardon in 1989
on his conviction in connection with an $8,000 casino theft
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Report:
Eight priests
accused in 45 years
Eight of 521 Catholic priests who worked in Nevada from 1950 to 1995
were accused of sexual abuse of a minor in connection with 13 victims
statewide, according to the Las Vegas Archdiocese.
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Dead
man's sons
file federal lawsuit
Three sons of a man who died during a February 2002 struggle with Las
Vegas police filed a wrongful death lawsuit Friday in federal court.
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Reno
judge okays
shafting taxpayers
RENO -- Rejecting a request by a group of Incline Village property
owners upset over soaring property taxes, a judge has ruled a Washoe
County board can continue to hold tax appeal hearings.
Valley
activists:
Leading the call
From varied backgrounds, government critics based in Southern Nevada
formulate methods to take on establishment
Knight
Allen prefers privacy
But he stands at forefront of
effort to
ban public employees from Legislature
Although he's become the man leading the movement to ban public
employees from the Legislature, Knight Allen doesn't relish the public
role.
Dan
Burdish is unrelenting
against government growth
Dan Burdish is difficult to label, a former executive director of the
Nevada Republican Party, he opposes most tax increases and the growing
government bureaucracy they finance.
George
Harris is
unwavering against taxes
George Harris was incredulous. His disbelief wasn't about the record
tax increase approved by the Legislature or the moderates in his
Republican Party who approved the levies.
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Nevada
banks hit
hard by payroll tax
Levy may be disaster for many small
businesses
The payroll tax that the Nevada Legislature enacted into law last year
is an annoyance to some big employers but a disaster for some small ones.
Las Vegas Sun
Building lease will
cost state millions
State Treasurer Krolicki
chairs firm that gets contract
CARSON CITY -- With its first lease-purchase of a new building, Nevada will wind up
paying $71.5 million, once the figures are adjusted for inflation, for the structure that
is expected to cost nearly $24 million to build.
Las Vegas
Review-Journal
Hard
numbers: Tax
hikes were unneeded
Critics of Guinn, , tax-and-spend politicians proven
correct
CARSON CITY -- Spending by Nevada
consumers and tourists greatly exceeded officials' expectations for the first four months
of the fiscal year, with sales tax revenue growth more than doubling what was projected
for the budget.
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Court tosses
bogus charges
Corrupt Las Vegas Metro police, state gaming agents help
casinos bully winning gamblers
A district judge threw out a conviction against an advantage gambler and professional
personal trainer who was convicted earlier this year of disorderly conduct for allegedly
resisting arrest while being detailed, handcuffed and roughed up at the El Cortez.
Associated Press
Supreme questions detaining gambler
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Execs knew of Mirage's lawbreaking
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Nevada Gaming
Control: Crooked
Gaming control officers, Metro cops help
Nevada casinos kidnap, intimidate players who win legally
Steve Bernier is terrified every time his doorbell rings and he has been
ever since Gaming Control Board agents interrogated and threatened him in his own home.
Money laundry rules reviewed
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