By: Chuck Muth
Nevada News and Views

TODAY’S NN&V HEADLINES

  • Townsend’s Excuses for Raggio Way Off Base (Chuck Muth) – A petition to launch a recall of Republican state Sen. Bill Raggio is expected to be filed later this week. At that point, organizers will need to collect around 15,000 signatures in 90 days to force a recall vote.
  • She Who Shall Not Be Named vs. Lowden/Tarkanian (Rolando Larraz/Las Vegas Tribune) – The Las Vegas Review-Journal, the only daily and “largest newspaper in the state” may be confusing, misleading or misinforming the few people that read its newspaper when it comes to news in politics.
  • Tax Pledge Could be ObamaCare’s Undoing (Alexander Bolton/The Hill) – The Senate healthcare bill presents a tricky political challenge to Sens. Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Arlen Specter (Pa.), the only two Democrats in the Senate to have signed anti-tax pledges.
  • Could losing House seat make Hayworth the McCain Slayer? (E.J. Montini/AZCentral.com) – Losing his seat in Congress was the best chance J.D. Hayworth had to advance his political career.
  • Audit the Fed Attached as an Amendment (Ron Paul) – I was pleased last week when we won a vote in the Financial Services Committee to include language from the Audit the Fed bill HR1207 in the upcoming financial regulatory reform bill.

Click here to read these stories at the Nevada News & Views site!

SURVEY SAYS!

Should former Arizona congressman J.D. Hayworth challenge incumbent Sen. John McCain in the GOP primary next year for the Arizona U.S. Senate seat?

  • Yes
  • No
  • Not sure

To cast your vote in today’s online survey, click here!

MUTHS TRUTHS

Kiddie Korner: Yo, parents in the Las Vegas area. Looking for something fun, different and unusual to do with the kids? Here are two suggestions based on first-hand experience this weekend:

1.) Take ’em to the giant Christmas tree in front of Santa’s house in the middle of Town Square just before 7 pm. Tell ’em you think it might snow. Or better yet, tell ’em you’re gonna do a snow dance and try to make it snow. And at 7 pm..it will. Hard to describe the squeals of delight and joy on their little faces when the snow-making machine kicks in and white flakes begin floating down from the sky.

2.) Take the one-hour drive to the new Roos-n-More zoo in Moapa, just off I-15 north of Las Vegas. This isn’t your average zoo. Not by a long shot. Unless you’re somehow used to zoos where you can pet a porcupine, talk to an otter, hold a baby kangaroo, pet a lemur, race a three-legged tortoise, cradle a three-toed sloth in your arms and watch a capuchin monkey drink a diet Coke. Oh, and there are sheep, miniature ponies, zebras, camels and other exotic animals I’ve never even heard of. Check ’em out at www.roosnmore.org or call (702) 467-3585.

P.S. The owner is not exactly a fan of government bureaucrats. More on that story later this week!

OTHER NEWS & VIEWS

TUBE TIPS

  • U.S. Sen. John Ensign will be a guest on Alan Stock’s morning talk-show on KXNT 840 AM in Las Vegas for an entire commercial-free hour beginning at 8:00 am tomorrow. Listen in live via the Internet at http://www.kxnt.com.
  • Sam Shad’s guest on tomorrow’s Nevada Newsmakers program will be Assemblywoman Heidi Gansert, Washoe Dist 25. The program airs on KRNV-TV Channel 4 at 12:30 pm in Reno and on Cox Cable Channel 123 at 4:30 pm and 11:35 pm in Las Vegas. http://www.nevadanewsmakers.com/

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

“Earmarks, those lines in bills that bring home money to Senate and House members’ states, can be a political Rorschach test. Do you see in them a politician delivering projects for constituents? Or wasteful spending saddling future generations with debt, all to help a politician get reelected? So it is with Sen. Harry Reid’s ranking for the amount his earmarks are worth. In 2008, he ranked 15th among the 100 senators in joint and solo earmarked dollars delivered to his state, according to the nonpartisan watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. In 2009, he ranked 28th.” – David McGrath Schwartz, Las Vegas Sun, 11/29/09

CALENDAR

  • December 4: First Friday Happy Hour Brewhaha and CHRISTMAS (not “Holiday”) Party in Las Vegas. Tentative invited VIP guests include Nevada Congressman Dean Heller and Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform. Visit www.FirstFridayNevada.com
  • December 5: Pachyderm Poker Party/No Limit Hold ’em Tournament. Grand Prize: $1,000. The fee to enter this event is $100. Santa Fe Station Poker Room in Las Vegas starting at 10 am. Refreshments: Pizza Party starts at 11:30 AM – All players eat Free. For more info go to http://www.myclarkgop.org/pokerparty
  • January 8: First Friday Happy Hour Brewhaha (we know, a week late – need to let people recover from their New Year’s Eve parties!). Visit www.FirstFridayNevada.com
  • February 5: First Friday Happy Hour Brewhaha. Visit www.FirstFridayNevada.com
  • February 6: Citizen Outreach’s “Reagan Birthday Party/Reception” in Las Vegas. Details to follow.
  • May 12-13: Conservative Leadership Conference in Las Vegas co-hosted by Citizen Outreach and Americans for Tax Reform. Details to follow.