ALABAMA BOUND
I’m heading out this morning for a 9-day road trip starting
in Alabama for the annual Alabama Republican Party winter dinner and ending up
at CPAC – the “Super Bowl” of conservative conferences – in Washington, DC.
There likely won’t be as many e-newsletters coming out while
I’m gone, but follow me on Twitter at @chuckmuth for quick hits during the
trip. And hold down the fort until my
return!
WIRE-GATE UPDATE
A hearing on GOP activist Rob Lauer’s motion for the return of his property seized in a raid
of his home in search of evidence backing up Assemblyman Chris “Let’s Make a Deal” Edwards’ complaint that Lauer and/or
others were trying to extort/bribe him into changing his vote in various
leadership disputes in December involving members of the Republican Assembly
Caucus.
The hearing is scheduled for March 3rd in
District Court 8, Department 15 at 9:00 a.m.
Bring popcorn.
DRIVE-BY MUTHINGS
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, exploring a bid for president in
2016, came to Las Vegas on Wednesday for what I hear was a scantily-attended
book signing event.
At the event he
suggested that Republicans need to cave in and fund Homeland Security even
though the “deal” was to fund the rest of government but not HHS until
President Barack Obama’s “executive amnesty” was reversed or overruled.
That might explain why the Rubio for Prez bandwagon isn’t
exactly taking off like a rocket.
* * *
* *
An extensive story in today’s Las Vegas Review-Journal
outlines all the states around the country where taxes are being cut –
including states with Democrat governors and Democrat legislatures. But, hey, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval knows
better than every other governor in the country, right?
Again, if it wasn’t for Sandoval’s stupid billion dollar tax
hike proposal, Republicans would be united in Carson City on a conservative
agenda with barely a scintilla of dissension.
A true divider, not a uniter.
* * *
* *
Moderate Republicans in the Legislature have spin doctors
who burp up inside-the-beltway style pabulum that says nothing in an effort to
mislead the public and the media about tax hikes.
Democrats have at least two polished,
hard-hitting, articulate spin doctors – Zach
Hudson and Andrew Davey – who
rarely miss an opportunity and only occasionally miss their mark.
Conservative legislative Republicans have bupkis.
* * *
* *
In response to conservative Assemblywoman Michele Fiore’s
assertion that one way to deter rapes on campus would be a bullet to the rapist’s
head, Daniele Dreitzer of the Rape Crisis Center threw a hissy fit, declaring
that “violence is never an answer to violence.”
Um, yes it is.
Otherwise, we should give the colonies back to England since
our violent revolution in response to the Boston Massacre was not an acceptable
answer.
Oh, and I guess entering World
War II after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor was wrong, too, right? We should have sent the Emperor a box of
chocolates and some flowers and just let bygones be bygones, right?
On what planet do people like Ms. Dreitzer come from?
* * *
* *
Nevada Attorney General Adam
Laxalt took a lot of heat for not asking Gov. Brian Sandoval for permission to join a lawsuit to block President Barack Obama’s “executive
amnesty.” But the rule of law won in the
opening round of the legal battle – and Obama has announced suspension of his
program of granting amnesty to certain illegal immigrants by fiat.
Thank goodness Laxalt’s his own man.
* * *
* *
The Legislature is weighing tax credits for data storage
company Switch, which operates a huge facility in Las Vegas and intends to expand.
But for some reason, they’re planning on
building and opening a new facility in Reno, which doesn’t make sense. If you’re going to expand, why wouldn’t you
do it a lot closer to your home base?
Why do I suspect Switch was forced by Steve Hill and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development to
build in Reno against its will or lose those tax credits it’s seeking?
* * *
* *
So career government employee Jacob Snow, after spending the last three years in government
service as city manager for the city of Henderson, will be retiring at the
tender young age of 50 and collect around $170,000 PER YEAR from taxpayers for
the rest of his natural born life.
That’s enough money to hire around 5 full-time school
teachers. Yet Gov. Brian Sandoval says
we need to raise taxes by more than a billion dollars to boost education
funding?
No we don’t. We need to end government spending insanity
such as the outrageous retirement benefits many of our “public servants” are
enjoying.
Nowhere to cut in the budget? In a pig’s eye!
* * *
* *
Government officials and Nevada legislators want to tax and
regulate electronic cigarettes just like tobacco even though e-cigs contain no…tobacco.
Nannies and tax-hogs never quit.
* * *
* *
AB 165 would give companies a tax credit if they donate
money to a private scholarship fund that would allow low-income students to
flee public schools. It is a very small
step forward on school choice, but a step forward nonetheless.
Still, the education establishment and
the teachers union are in full-throated opposition.
Causing me to wonder why Republicans, with majorities in both houses,
didn’t just push through a more aggressive, universal school voucher bill
instead.
RALSTON RANTS
On Tuesday, POLITICO published a Harry Reid story inked by Jon Ralston, Nevada’s #2 liberal
blogger-still-without-a-TV-show in which he declared his tax-hiking buddy, Sen.
Moderate Mike Roberson, to be the
leading GOP candidate to run for Reid’s seat in 2016.
Ralston closed out his column with this…
“Jon Ralston, contributing editor at Politico Magazine, has covered
Nevada politics for more than a quarter-century. He has worked for both major
Las Vegas newspapers and now has his own site, email newsletter and television
program.”
Like much of what Jon writes, this is inaccurate. He does not have a television program any
longer. Hasn’t since way back in
December. And his reported PBS deal to
return to the taxpayer-subsidized little screen hasn’t been inked yet.
But when has Jon ever let the truth get in the way of a good fantasy?
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“Bolstering public schools is important. But when those schools don’t get the job
done, it’s essential that students have the option to go to school somewhere
else.” – Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial
“We need a taxpayer union that represents the public at all
collective bargaining sessions. Since
taxpayers are saddled with the cost of public-sector unions, they should also
have a paid representative who has their interests at heart. Government officials certainly don’t.” – Brian
Aiken, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 2/18/15
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