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SHOOTING DOWN ELK TAX ARGUMENTS
There’s some continued confusion among some Republicans over
AB78 – the Elk Tax. Some are under the
impression that the additional tax on elk hunting tags will only be paid by
those who actually win an elk tag. Not
so.
According to the actual wording of the law as passed in the
Assembly, the tax will be added to every APPLICATION to receive an elk
tag. So even the thousands of unlucky
hunters who don’t win an elk tag get to pay this new tax if passed by the Senate
and signed by the governor.
And again, this is a TAX, not a user fee.
A tax is defined as “a compulsory contribution to state
revenue, levied by the government on workers' income and business profits or
added to the cost of some goods, services, and transactions.”
The additional cost in applying for a government-issued
hunting tag is, no matter how some Republicans are trying to rationalize it
otherwise, a tax hike.
RINO WATCH
AB190 would bring some desperately-needed reform to Nevada
public employees’ retirement program.
And while I have considerable problems with Assemblyman Randy “Kirner Tax” Kirner (R-Kirner
Tax) on the tax issue, he’s been a mensch on PERS reform and pretty much THE
expert on the issue in Carson City.
AB190 is his bill. It
is co-sponsored by a number of conservatives, such Assemblypersons Jim Wheeler, Jill Dickman, John Ellison
and Ira Hansen. But liberal freshman Republican Assemblyman Stephen Silberkraus advised a
constituent this week that “I will be voting against it.”
As will every Democrat.
Birds of a liberal feather…
Meanwhile, the liberal Republican appointed by the seven
Democrats on the Clark County Commission to replace former conservative
Republican Assemblyman Wes Duncan
has been yanked off the Government Affairs Committee where AB190 is being
heard, and shipped off to the Judiciary Committee.
It’s generally suspected that Assemblyman Glenn Trowbridge’s appointment came
only after promising that he would oppose any efforts to reform the PERS
system. On the Government Affairs
Committee he was a “swing” vote. If/when
he voted with the Democrats, he could kill any such legislation before it even
had a chance to get a floor vote.
Trowbridge was replaced by conservative Assemblyman Jim Wheeler, but what passes for GOP
Assembly “leaders” say the move had nothing to do with Trowbridge’s penchant
for voting with Democrats.
But as we all have learned, painfully, in recent months,
Assembly GOP “leaders” aren’t exactly known for telling the truth.
Speaking of which…
RALSTON RANTS
Jon Ralston,
Nevada’s #2 liberal blogger-with-an-unwatched-
If what Ralston claims is true, the natural question is why he
waited so long to publish the column himself on his blog. Something smells fishy here.
I mean, it might be different if Ralston’s integrity was
never in question. But that sure ain’t
the case. So you have to wonder why
Ralston himself spiked his own column after Greenspun allegedly did.
Odds of ever getting a straight answer to this question from
Jonny Boy?
About the same as UNLV winning the National Championship
next year.
DRIVE-BY MUTHINGS
Senate Majority Leader Tax
Hike Mike Roberson (RINO-Clark)
will need Democrat votes to get the 2/3-super majority to pass Gov. Brian SandRINOval’s Gross Receipts
BLT. But I’m hearing the votes aren’t
there because Tax Hike Mike refuses to essentially put the revenue in a “lock
box” so that it can only be (mis)spent on education.
* * *
* *
More of Assembly Speaker-of-the-Weak John Hambrick’s anti-conservative chickens are coming home to
roost.
Conservatives, clearly, want to pass a voter ID bill. Liberal Republican Gov. Brian SandRINOval does not want to see such a bill reach his
desk.
So it appears what passes for “leadership” in the Assembly
has moved the voter ID bill to the Ways & Means Committee where liberal
Republican Majority Leader Paul Anderson
– who Hambrick appointed as Majority Leader after canning Assemblywoman Michele Fiore from the position - can
kill it by simply refusing to even bring it up for a vote.
* * *
* *
Heard it through the Grapevine: Ass. Chris “Let’s Make a Deal” Edwards has reportedly fired his Carson
City attaché (office manager).
The attachés are hired and managed by the Legislative
Counsel Bureau (LCB), but Edwards, I’m told, demanded the ouster. Scuttlebutt
is that the brouhaha has something to with the Bundy family visit this week. Regardless, controversy continues to swirl
around the carpet-bagging freshman.
* * *
* *
SJR21 urges Congress “to enact comprehensive immigration
reform” including “a clear path to citizenship” for illegal immigrants.
I’m all for comprehensive immigration reform, including a
way to allow some of those who have lived in the U.S. illegally for a number of
years to remain her legally. But
rewarding them with citizenship? Too big
of a pill for too many legal citizens to swallow.
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FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“Raising taxes is a sign of incompetence in a politician.
He/she cannot manage. A willingness to raise taxes is telegraphing such
failure.” – Grover Norquist, president, Americans for Tax Reform
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