SILVER STATE CONFIDENTIAL 02/06/2015

HAS PAT HICKEY GONE OFF THE DEEP END? In a blog post Friday morning, liberal “Republican” Assemblyman Pat “The Appeaser” Hickey (Reno-RINO) suggested that maybe Assemblyman Paul Anderson’s wife’s recent accident, Sen. Debbie Smith’s brain tumor, and a separate accident involving Assemblyman Ira Hansen’s son-in-law is because of political disagreements in the Legislature… “Are we being punished, karma-like, for our discord?  Are the innocents among us paying a dear price for our politicking, from which something truly remarkable–or not–may come this Session?” This guy seriously needs to get back on his meds. LET’S TALK “WIRE-GATE” The following announcement came out today from conservative Assemblywoman Michele Fiore… “Be sure to join us bright and early tomorrow morning for ‘Walk the Talk with Michele Fiore’ on KDWN at a special time, 9am to 10am. This is not a show you want to miss. Learn about bribes, wiretaps and more when we hear from the newest target of the entrapment scandal Tony Dane. We will also have Assemblymen John Moore, David Gardner, and Brent Jones. I’m especially looking forward to Assemblyman Gardner’s legal perspective as an attorney.” If you live outside the Vegas area, you can listen in via streaming audio at: http://kdwn.com/ And this announcement came out today from conservative Assemblywoman Victoria Seaman about her own Saturday afternoon radio program… “Be sure to join us tomorrow on for ‘Nevada Speaks with Victoria Seaman’ with our special guests Assemblymen Brent Jones and John Moore. We will also be joined by Rob Lauer to talk wiretaps and why the facts may not be as they seem. Listen live online at http://www.radiotribune.com from 1pm to 2pm, and call in with your questions to 702-983-0711.” Interesting.  The folks who Assemblyman Chris “Let’s Make a Deal” Edwards has accused of extorting him seem unafraid to take questions and speak publicly about the matter, but Edwards himself has clammed up. TOP 10 POWER PLAYERS IN LEGISLATURE Sandra Chereb of the Las Vegas Review Journal wrote an article listing her “Top 10 players in the Nevada Legislature.”  One conservative made the list… “Michele Fiore:  A feisty, gun-loving legislative sophomore, Assemblywoman Michele Fiore was thrust into the spotlight when she was removed as majority leader and chairwoman of the Assembly Taxation Committee in a GOP dust-up amid revelations of tax liens against her. A vocal critic of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s tax plan, Fiore, R-Las Vegas, has said she is trying to line up votes to kill it. Fiore is a strong supporter of gun rights and has advocated for concealed weapons on college campuses. She will serve on the Assembly Labor and Commerce; Judiciary; Transportation; and Legislative Operations and Elections committees.” THE DAILY GRUBER The only way for Gov. Brian “America’s Worst Governor” Sandoval (R&R-Advertising) to sell his Billion Dollar Tax Hike is to mislead the citizens and taxpayers of Nevada – just as Jonathan Gruber did in snake-oiling ObamaCare.  As such, he’s warning ominously that if we don’t back his budget proposal, it will result in across-the-board 20 percent cuts in government spending.  This is a…crock. As our friend Jim DeGraffenreid pointed out to me in an email exchange, the current general fund budget is $6.6 billion.  A 20 percent cut would reduce the budget by around $1.3 billion.  That would take the budget down to around $5.3 billion.  Which is $1 billion less than the $6.3 billion the Economic Forum has set as the government’s allowance for the next biennium. To reduce the current budget  of $6.6 billion to the projected tax revenue of $6.3 billion would require a cut of less than 5 percent, not 20 percent. When your opponent has to lie and mislead the public to make their case, you know they’re wrong. DRIVE-BY MUTHINGS Although Nevada Sen. Harry Reid has continuously declared Yucca Mountain project dead, Sen. Lamar Alexander, Tennessee Republican and the new Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, says he’s committed to solving the nuclear waste storage problem and declared that “Yucca Mountain can and should be part of the solution.” I guess it all depends on your definition of “dead.” *   *   *   *   * According to an article by Cameron Joseph in The Hill this week, Nevada Gov. Brian “America’s Worst Governor” Sandoval’s refusal to announce whether or not he’s going to challenge Sen. Harry Reid next year “is costing Republicans precious time in their quest to oust the party’s biggest target in 2016.”  Joseph reports that Sandoval “has frozen the field for other GOP hopefuls and left national Republicans in a holding pattern.” That our tax-hiking governor, who has successfully crippled the state Republican Party so that his consultants control everything political to his benefit, and who barely lifted a finger to elect Republicans in the last election cycle, is now hampering the ability of the GOP to oust Reid is shocking (not). *   *   *   *   * In a tweet last week, conservative Assemblywoman Jill Dickman (R-Washoe) linked to a Wall Street Journal story highlighting all the Republican governors from around the country who are CUTTING taxes, adding, “If only Nevada were on this path!” I think I’m going to put Ms. Dickman down as a “No” on Gov. Brian “America’s Worst Governor” Sandoval’s (R&R-Advertising) Billion Dollar Tax Hike. *   *   *   *   * In response to an email request from constituent Gary Gladwill about Sandoval’s proposed gross receipts tax, moderate Assemblyman Randy “Kirner Tax” Kirner (RINO-Kirner Tax) wrote… “As you might imagine, the governor's recommendation was startling and odd given Question 3 went down 4:1 in defeat.” Dear Governor, if you’ve lost Mr. Kirner Tax… *   *   *   *   * Jon Ralston, Nevada’s #2 liberal blogger-without-a-TV-show, is having a conniption over people comparing Gov. Brian “America’s Worst Governor” Sandoval (R&R-Advertising) gross receipts “fee” with the Question 3 gross receipts “tax” that was overwhelmingly rejected by voters in November (see Mr. Kirner Tax above)… “(T)oo many people already are saying the governor’s proposal is the same as what voters obliterated at the ballot last year, including national Norquistian know-nothings.” Ralston is ignoring the fact that people are saying they are essentially the same because…well, because they ARE essentially the same. *   *   *   *   * Not only does this blog post by Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Steve Sebelius remind partisans on BOTH sides of the political divide that elections have consequences, it also demonstrates just how badly Gov. Brian “America’s Worst Governor” Sandoval’s (R&R-Advertising) has blown the potential harmonic GOP agenda in this historical session by stupidly sticking with his planned Billion Dollar Tax Hike despite the fact that Republicans, not Democrats, won control of the Legislature in November. If not for Sandoval’s insane tax hike proposal, pretty much all the GOP oars would be rowing in the same direction right now.  Indeed, it was the prospect of Sandoval’s Billion Dollar Tax Hike that so roiled the post-election leadership fight in the Assembly in December that continues to this day. So yes, blame Sandoval.  He’s not known as America’s Worst Governor for nuthin’. *   *   *   *   * Like a weather vane, when Jon Ralston, Nevada’s #2 liberal blogger-without-a-TV-show, declares someone a “real conservative,” there’s a pretty good chance they’re not.  Such is the case with just such an assertion about Reno blogger Orrin Johnson over a column OJ wrote on Sandoval and the Billion Dollar Tax Hike. In the column, Johnson writes that additional tax revenue might well be needed for education, but that Sandoval’s gross receipts tax “is too destructive to economic growth.”  So instead, he suggests taxing haircuts and auto repairs, as well as a mining tax hike similar to the plan rejected by voters at the ballot box in November. Yeah, this guy is a “real conservative” all right! THE FURTHER (MIS)ADVENTURES OF LI’L NATE I just learned that Nathan Emens…Speaker-of-the-Weak John Hambrick’s brain and useful idiot for Democrat candidates…was interviewed by a detective in Assemblyman Chris “Let’s Make a Deal” Edwards’ “Wiregate” investigation. The questioning didn’t take long… Detective: What is your date of birth? Li’l Nate: July 18th. Detective: What year? Li’l Nate: Every year. At that point the detective realized he was questioning a complete idiot and ended the interrogation. FAMOUS LAST WORDS “I want you to be the first to know my new office rules. Get naked, get frisked or get out because no wiretaps are allowed!” – Assemblywoman Michele Fiore in her Friday e-newsletter, a clear reference to her colleague Assemblyman Chris “Let’s Make a Deal” Edwards and reports that he’s been wearing a wire HOW TO SUBSCRIBE Silver State Confidential is an email newsletter on Nevada politics, public policy and current events published (usually) daily by Chuck Muth, Nevada's #1 Renegade Conservative and the man voted "Most Likely to Irritate Liberals!"  Click on the link below for subscription information…