NEVADA - CITIZENS OUTREACH 08/20/2015

Propaganda Prince Unleashed to Attack Conservative “Cuckoos” By Chuck Muth Early on in the World War II classic film, Patton, we’re shown the scene of a just-concluded battle with Arabs stripping U.S. soldiers of their clothing and valuables.  A pair of jeeps carrying American military personnel roll up to survey the carnage.  As the officers review the battlefield and the casualties, there’s this horribly annoying little mongrel dog Yip! Yip! Yip!’ing incessantly.  The dog had nothing whatsoever to do with the battle itself, but he just wouldn’t shut up. In Nevada politics, liberal blogger Jon Ralston is that dog. Back in June, Ralston wrote a blog post attacking “anti-tax duo” Nevada State Controller Ron Knecht and Las Vegas City Councilman Bob Beers for leading an effort to repeal the new gross receipts tax – a.k.a. Commerce Tax - passed by the 2015 Nevada Legislature and signed into law by “America’s Worst Governor,” Brian Sandoval. Ralston called Knecht and Beers “losers” and those of us supporting the pair “a nest of cuckoos.”  In pooh-poohing the Knecht-Beers’ group’s tax repeal effort, the Perfumed Prince of Liberal Propaganda declared:  “These people would have to be upgraded to (reach) Washington Generals (a reference to the “set up” team that always loses to the Harlem Globetrotters) status.” Ralston continued, dripping with disdain for the average Nevada taxpayer who might vote for the tax repeal referendum.  To wit… “Only a small, ignorant bunch on the far right who bow to tax pledges more than thoughtful lawmaking, who believe in the continual dumbing-down of the legislative and political processes are likely to be hypnotized by the Beers-Knecht-Muth nonsense.” Yes, in this yapping dog’s mind we’re all nothing but a bunch of ignorant cuckoos following a pair of elected losers who are dumbing down the governing process by using the constitutional referendum option to attempt a veto of the largest tax hike in state history that not one single candidate ran on in 2014. That was then.  Back in June.  This is now. And now that the referendums are actually being filed and are real, Ralston – acting as the unofficial spokesbabe for SandRINOoval – is yapping a different tune. In his most recent blog post Wednesday, Ralston referred to the coming battle over the repeal of the tax hikes “the battle of (Sandoval’s) career.” Wait, um, I thought us “losers” and “cuckoos” would have to be upgraded to reach Washington Generals status?  And yet somehow we’re now going to give America’s Worst Governor the “battle of his career”?  Make up your mind, Jonny Boy. Ralston went on to declare that “Sandoval is the one person who must lead the resistance, who must do all in his power, behind the scenes and in front, to rebuff the political arsonists who want to burn down everything that was accomplished a few months ago.” Hilarious. Congratulations.  Y’all have been upgraded from “cuckoos” to “political arsonists.”  And frankly, I can live with that.  In fact, I take it as a compliment.  Indeed, what was "accomplished" was a massive expansion of government with a giga-normous tax hike to fund it. Burn, baby, BURN! But never let it be said that Ralston’s not a “useful idiot.”  Indeed, later in his blog post he telegraphed the strategic tactic SandRINOval & Company are likely to use to stop the tax repeal effort… “(T)he coming campaign cannot be about defeating the petition at the ballot in November 2016. It has to be about ensuring enough signatures are not obtained by educating the populace about what the tax/education plan really accomplished. Some kind of ‘Decline to Sign’ campaign, in the air and on the ground, must be launched – and relatively quickly.” Since Ralston is just a tool of the Republican establishment, they have clearly already told him that this is exactly what they intend to do. So rather than let the people  themselves, the ones who will have to pay the higher taxes, simply have their say at the ballot box – you know, democracy – Ralston is calling for a Soviet-style propaganda campaign to stop Nevada’s citizens, voters and taxpayers from participating in their own government. That Ralston’s even talking about a multi-million dollar campaign funded by special interests to chill any effort to let the people decide if they want these tax hikes tells you that, unlike his pooh-poohing of the idea back in June, he and SandRINOval are scared down to their skivvies that the repeal effort might succeed. He closed his rant with this… “Think about that: One of the more skillful and persuasive Nevada politicians in history, bolstered by major special interests and common sense, could lose a political war to folks who have been serially unsuccessful and whose campaign toolbox overflows with crayons.  A frightening thought.” Yes.  How frightening that those who have to pay the tax bill might have a say in how much that tax bill is.  What is the world coming to? TONIGHT’S TELE-TOWN HALL WITH CONTROLLER KNECHT POSTPONED Filing of the Knecht-Beers referendum on the “Commerce Tax” is still pending legal review and won’t be filed today.  So I will NOT be hosting a tele-town hall with Controller Knecht tonight to discuss his “political arson.” I’ll reschedule the briefing once we get a firm idea on when the referendum will be filed. In the meantime, Citizen Outreach Charter and Silver Circle members will be invited to listen in on the call, along with the members of the We Decide Coalition. So if you’re not a Charter or Silver Circle member of Citizen Outreach yet and would like to be invited to participate in the tele-town hall meeting with Mr. Knecht – as well as others that we’ll be doing on a regular basis with elected officials and public policy leaders - go to www.CitizenOutreach.com right now for more information. WE DECIDE COALITION UPDATE As you know, more than 800 Nevada citizens of the We Decide Coalition filed a referendum on SB483 seeking repeal of the entire $1.4 billion tax hike, including the new gross receipts tax, on August 10, 2015.  Yesterday I received a letter from Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske advising where the referendum goes from here… “Pursuant to NRS 295.061, the Referendum Petition may be challenged by other parties by filing a complaint in the First Judicial District Court, not later than 15 days, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays excluded.  Please be advised that the date to challenge single subject, description of effect and matters relating thereto is August 31, 2015.  Once a challenge has been filed, the Court shall set the matter for hearing not later than 15 days after the filing, with priority given over all other matters pending with the Court, except for criminal proceedings.” So Gov. SandRINOval and/or various special interests have until the end of this month to file a complaint alleging that our referendum – which was written EXACTLY as passed by the Legislature – violates the state’s single-subject law, which is the same as the single-subject constitutional requirement that applies to the Legislature. In essence, what SandRINOval & Company have to argue is that there are two sets of rules: One that applies to the rulers and a different set that applies to the ruled.  And a court will somehow have to find a way to agree that the people themselves can’t be trusted to have the same rules applied to them that apply to the geniuses who are elected to the Legislature.  Good luck with that. On the other hand, should lightning strike and a miracle surpassing the 1980 U.S. hockey team occurs, a court could (and should) strike down SB483 as an unconstitutional breach of the single-subject rule, forcing SandRINOval and the Legislature to go back to the drawing board in a special session to pass a balanced budget without $1.4 billion worth of tax hikes. Hey, a girl can dream, can’t she? The Conservative Voice.  The Conservative Choice. FREE e-SUBSCRIPTION: CLICK HERE Citizen Outreach is a non-profit, non-partisan grassroots lobbying organization which promotes limited-government public policies and legislation