SILVER STATE CONFIDENTIAL 04/20/2015

A GOP MAJORITY IS NOT A CONSERVATIVE MAJORITY Conservatives thought, after 40 years of wandering the political wilderness, that we had reached the Promised Land with the 1994 GOP takeover of Congress.  Only to have the legs cut out from under us by moderates, led by Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, in the Senate. Conservatives in Nevada are suffering a little of that déjà vu right now.  Although Republicans have complete control of the Legislature this session, the limited government agenda is either being watered down or blown off completely by the moderates in leadership – (mis)led by Senate Majority Leader Tax Hike Mike Roberson and Assembly Speaker-in-Reality Paul Anderson. Conservatives need to understand that while there’s a Republican majority in both houses, there isn’t a CONSERVATIVE majority in either house.  Reminding us once again that it’s not enough to just elect more Republicans. We need to elect better ones, as well. MONSTROUS MISSED OPPORTUNITY Reporter Sean Whaley did a story headlined “Faction in GOP sets pace” that was published in Monday’s Las Vegas Review-Journal.  For some reason, I found this excerpt particularly prescient (whatever “prescient” means)… “MUTH WANTS MORE Conservative political activist Chuck Muth, president of Citizen Outreach, said he is disappointed that Republicans have not pushed an even stronger conservative agenda since gaining full control of the process in the surprising Nov. 4 general election. Part of the reason is the fractured Assembly GOP caucus, where there aren’t even two clear camps of conservatives and more moderate members, he said. There are fractures within the conservative group, too. “There is no real unity; there isn’t a strong leader at all,” he said. “There is a lot of hostility. So if they get anything out of this, they are going to be lucky.” There will be some accomplishments when the session is said and done, but Muth pointed to the school choice bill signed into law last week by Sandoval as a halfhearted effort. The new law will give businesses tax credits for donating to a fund to provide scholarships to low-income students to attend private schools, including religious schools. The new program is very modest, he said. “It’s better than nothing,” Muth said. “But they should have done more. They went for the bare minimum on school choice. It was not a bold school choice bill. “It’s nowhere near what it could be, or should be, having this majority for the first time, and maybe the last time, in a long time,” he said. Muth, an avowed anti-tax activist, said there are at least a dozen votes in the GOP caucus against Sandoval’s proposed business license fee that would raise about $250 million a year to fund his ambitious public education programs. But there have been claims that as many as 20 members of the caucus are opposed, he said. If true, the caucus should have publicized that fact early in the session to force Sandoval back to the drawing board. “The longer they wait to declare that they have the 15 votes against it, the stronger the governor’s hand is because everybody is going to pressure them to get out of here and not have a special session,” Muth said. “There are just a lot of missed opportunities here,” he said. “Our team is lousy at messaging.” CLICK HERE to read the full article THE TESLA GIGA-MISTAKE Only a handful of us conservatives voiced concern and objection to the rushed approval of Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval’s tax credit giga-giveaway to Tesla last fall. From a policy standpoint, it wasn’t fair to give this newcomer tax giga-benefits when longtime Nevada businesses got squat.  From a practical standpoint, we hadn’t even had a one-night-stand with Tesla before walking down the aisle with it.  It was like one of those mail order bride schemes. Legislators who approved the deal with near-zero scrutiny last fall should have heeded the age-old wisdom of, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”  And those chickens are starting to come home to roost. Recently there was a brouhaha over whether or not Tesla was meeting its promised construction timeline, with a number of Nevada contractors crying foul over delays and hold-ups.  And now Tesla is running like a scalded dog from its promised “average wage” of $25 an hour.  Read all about it in this USA Today story and weep. Republican legislators who deferred to Sandoval’s will simply because he has a misleading “R” after his name are gonna pay the price for this boondoggle for years to come.  As will taxpayers. Just as we’re all gonna pay to clean up his mess on Medicaid expansion – long after he’s left office. Will many of those same Republicans be stupid enough to now go along with the governor’s Billion Dollar Tax Hike?  Bank on it.  Bring on the primaries! MUTH’S TRUTHS For those who love to “bag” on America’s home-grown, job-producing traditional energy companies, our friends at the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) have new video out showing exactly why Congress should be encouraging them rather than standing in their way.  CLICK HERE NEVADA NEWS & VIEWS Let local governments opt out of collective bargaining – Mitchell Why does there always have to be a law? – Mitchell Tricky Dicky Hillary – Root Parents gather at Incline Village to discuss “Opting-Out” on the heels of the Common Core Test Failures – Nevadans Against Common Core Attorney General Laxalt pursues Fraudulent Health Care Providers – Nevada AG Nevada’s Business Lobbyists are acting like Hannibal Lecter – Muth Fiore: Don’t Tax Me! Tax Him! – Fiore Gingrich: Lessons from Panama Canal – Gingrich Dickman Tax Restraint Initiative would close Tax-Hike Loophole – Muth A reading recommendation from the master of the twist ending – Mitchell As the caucus turns - Muth Advertising NOW AVAILABLE!  Click here for additional information. FAMOUS LAST WORDS “The number of conviction politicians – those who run not to become someone but to do something – is exceedingly small.  In our lifetime: Ronald Reagan.” – Columnist Charles Krauthammer 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…