NoisyRoom.net

By: Chuck Muth
Nevada News and Views

TODAY’S NN&V HEADLINES

• Gibbons Announces Bold Proposals for Complete Education Overhaul (Office of the Nevada Governor) – Governor Jim Gibbons on Tuesday proposed bold changes to Nevada’s education system designed to tear down Nevada’s public education bureaucracy and give parents and local governments more control over how billions of dollars in state tax money are spent educating Nevada’s children.
• Get Off Stupid and Get on Gibbons’ Education Reform Bandwagon (Mark Alden) – I was extremely disappointed by the storm of criticism by certain political and education leaders in our state regarding the current proposals regarding K-12 education by our duly elected Governor Jim Gibbons.
• SoS Says Rumor of ACORN Involvement in Nevada Census is False (Sean Whaley/Nevada News Bureau) – Secretary of State Ross Miller said today a rumor circulating that ACORN is involved in the 2010 Census is false and could hamper Nevada’s efforts to count all of its residents, which in turn could cost the state millions in federal funding.
• Pot Advocates Submit Initiative to Tax and Regulate Marijuana (NN&V Staff) – On the steps of the State Capitol building on Tuesday, the campaign manager for Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws, Dave Schwartz, unveiled the details of a proposed 2012 ballot initiative to establish a taxed and regulated marijuana market in the state of Nevada.
• Thompson Tapped to Head Up NFIB Nevada (NN&V Staff) – The representative group for Nevada’s most important economic component has a new state director, it was announced today. In naming Randi Thompson to head its Silver State operations, the National Federation of Independent Business, America’s leading small business association, is tapping someone with wide experience and deep roots in Nevada’s political, governmental, and media vineyards.
• New solar pond system might help save Walker Lake (NN&V Staff) – Ecosystems of terminus lakes around the world could benefit from a new system being developed at the University of Nevada, Reno to desalinate water using a specialized low-cost solar pond and patented membrane distillation system powered by renewable energy.
• Drivers Must Carry Proof of Insurance on February 1 (NN&V Staff) – Driving without insurance will be even riskier next month when new laws take effect to crack down on the 20 percent of drivers who don’t carry auto insurance.

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

SURVEY SAYS!

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MUTHS TRUTHS

For political junkies, especially conservatives, WHAT A DAY yesterday was!

Start with the announcements that a sitting Democrat governor in Colorado and two sitting Democrat U.S. senators, one in Connecticut and one in North Dakota, all announced they weren’t running for re-election. In addition, the leading Democrat gubernatorial candidate in Michigan dropped out of his race.

Then there was the revelation that C-SPAN sent a letter to Democrats asking that they televise all the important negotiations on the health care bill; something the Democrats have decided not to do after all, preferring to hash out the details in secret, private meetings. Thumbing their noses at Republicans is one thing; flipping Brian Lamb of C-SPAN the bird is another thing altogether. This could turn out to be VERY damaging to Reid & Company.

Then there was the announcement that Florida’s Republican Party chairman was stepping down, having been forced out by conservative Republicans supporting conservative GOP senatorial candidate Marco Rubio over moderate GOP senatorial candidate Charlie Crist.

Meanwhile, back at the Nevada ranch, Gov. Jim Gibbons threw the political equivalent of the “Hail Mary” pass in announcing some MAJOR education reform proposals which have the Left squealing like stuck pigs. And the thing to keep in mind here is that once in a great while the “Hail Mary” works. Just ask Doug Flutie.

Gibbons’ announcement yesterday was a comprehensive and detailed proposal, to which Republican gubernatorial opponent Brian Sandoval responded thusly: “While I’m an advocate of school choice, expanding empowerment schools and increased parental involvement, I believe it is an extremely bad idea to be laying off hundreds of teachers in a time of record unemployment in Nevada.”

That’s about the lamest response I could possibly imagine. L-A-M-E.

We’ve had teacher shortages in Nevada for years. The notion that eliminating the class-size reduction boondoggle would result in massive teacher layoffs is ridiculous.

But even if so, how can anyone suggest that it costs more to pay a laid off teacher unemployment than it costs to pay his or her full salary with benefits? That just defies common sense. And even if the Gibbons proposal somehow DOES eventually result in a few teacher layoffs, why shouldn’t teachers be subjected to the same economic realities that workers in the private sector are? Why should their jobs be protected when thousands upon thousands of other Nevadans are being laid off?

Inquiring taxpayer minds wanna know.

Democrats, for their part, are complaining about the governor bringing these proposals forward during a Special Session rather than during a regular session of the Legislature. But as Anjeanette Damon of the Reno Gazette-Journal reports this morning, some extremely enlightened strategists “say it’s exactly what’s necessary to force a debate on the conservative principles in a Legislature controlled by Democrats.”

“Conservative activist Chuck Muth said the Democratic majority refused to give hearings to similar bills during the regular session,” Damon writes. “But the governor controls the agenda of a special session, dictating what lawmakers must consider.”

And as that Chuck Muth guy put it, “If the governor puts it on the agenda, then the Legislature can’t duck it anymore. They can’t hide.”

Exactly.

And boy, do you ever have to love this comparison of the governor’s education reform proposal to the Gipper, as reported in today’s Las Vegas Sun:

“Indeed, Wednesday’s announcement, with its talk of dismantling the elected State Board of Education and crushing unions is a reminder of a touchstone moment in the conservative movement, during the Ronald Reagan era.

“Reagan ran for president in 1980, promising to abolish the U.S. Education Department. Conservatives still look back fondly on the ire of labor supporters after Reagan fired air traffic controllers when they went on strike in 1981.

“The push to end collective bargaining for public employees, which would essentially crush the unions, echoes Reagan’s dramatic move, which is widely viewed as the beginning of a sharply anti-labor turn in American governance.”

Amen and hallelujah!

The only real criticism conservatives can mount about these proposals is that they weren’t championed and introduced three years ago when Gov. Gibbons was first sworn into office. But as the saying goes, better late than never.

There’s also been some grousing from some of Mike Montandon’s GOP supporters that their candidate has been talking about these reforms for a long time. So what? Who cares whose ideas they may or may not have been originally? As a wise former president with the initials RWR often said, “There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

The point now is for all conservatives and Republicans (not necessarily the same thing) to rally behind the governor’s proposals, because the Left – especially the rabidly anti-education teachers union – is going to come after us like, like – dare I say it? – like an enraged ferret in a phone booth!

Meanwhile, in other news, James Dean Leavitt, chairman of the University Board of Regents for Nevada’s System of Higher Education, declared emphatically on Face-to-Face with Jon Ralston last night that he supports “revenue enhancements” rather than additional belt-tightening in the university system to help balance the state’s budget in the midst of the ongoing economic recession.

When pressed, Leavitt acknowledged that he was, indeed, calling for higher taxes, insisting that it would be just a little bit more – “miniscule” – from people who, frankly, these days have a whole lot less. Unfortunately, Regent Leavitt didn’t tell us exactly whose ox he wanted to gore and by how much. Perhaps it’ll come up the next time he’s on the ballot. Or at my scheduled lunch with him next week!

And finally, the Las Vegas Review-Journal published a story yesterday about how some boxer and martial arts injuries have taxpayers on the hook for their medical care. Isn’t that the same excuse nanny-staters use to justify mandatory helmets for motorcycle riders? If so, then doesn’t that mean professional boxes and UFC fighters should be REQUIRED to wear helmets in the ring? If not, why not? Why the hypocrisy?

Boy, I can hardly wait for tomorrow!

OTHER NEWS & VIEWS

• Sun: K-12 cuts proposal could help — or hinder — Gibbons
• AP: NV governor proposes major education overhaul
• Appeal: Gibbons budget plan eliminates arbitration, class size reduction funding
• RGJ: Gov. Jim Gibbons seeks sweeping education changes to save money
• Ralston: Chamber study: Nevada public employees sixth highest paid in nation
• Sun: Titus slams Napolitano over ‘blunder’

TUBE TIPS

Clark County Commissioners Steve Sisolak and Chris G, along with LV Chamber chief Steve Hill go Face to Face with Jon Ralston tonight. The program airs at 4:00 pm Monday through Friday on KVBC Channel 3 in Las Vegas, as well as NBC affiliates in Reno and Elko. http://www.lasvegassun.com/videos/face-face/

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

• “Our idea is to take power and control of destiny of public schools and education and take state out of it, except for the academic standard part.” – Gibbons Deputy Chief-of-Staff Stacy Woodbury on the administration’s new education reform proposals
• “Unions do NOTHING to help educate our children.” – Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, 1/6/10
• “The manner in which education is delivered to children should not be dictated by unions, which by definition promote only the interests of their members to the exclusion of other interests and stakeholders such as parents, school boards, and most importantly students.” – Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, 1/6/10
• “It’s time to stop whining that education in Nevada doesn’t work because of lack of funding. We need to quit throwing money at programs which have not accomplished their stated purposes despite two decades of funding.” – Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, 1/6/10
• “Utah has one of the lowest per student expenditures in the nation and the highest student per teacher ratio. Utah students consistently achieve above average levels. Washington, D.C. has the lowest student per teacher ratio and the highest per student expenditures, and yet they consistently rank in the bottom for student achievement.” – Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, 1/6/10
• “Despite 20 years of class size reduction, 23 percent of Nevada schools are rated as underperforming. It’s time for change.” – Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, 1/6/10
• “If class size reduction is the answer for improving K-12 in Nevada, why haven’t student test scores improved dramatically in the last 20 years?” – Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, 1/6/10
• “The cookie cutter approach has not worked in K-12 education. Not all schools need class size reduction programs. Not all schools need full-day kindergarten. School districts must be empowered to choose the right programs for the students in each of their local schools.” – Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, 1/6/10
• “Today is a day of hope for Nevada’s children thanks to the governor’s proposed education reforms. For 50 years, Nevada education policy has misallocated spending to create union jobs, rather than educate our children. The results speak for themselves. While Nevada’s inflation-adjusted, per-pupil spending has nearly tripled over the past 50 years, student performance has been stagnant.” – NPRI analyst Patrick R. Gibbons
• “This is not a serious effort at education reform. It is a fundamentally flawed effort to solve a fiscal problem.” – Democrat gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid on Gov. Jim Gibbons’ education reform proposals, 1/6/10
• “State and local government employees in Nevada made an average wage of $55,700 in 2008, placing the state sixth highest in the nation in terms of public worker salaries, according to a new study released today by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.” – Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1/6/10
• “Harry Reid is not the most vulnerable Senator in Washington because of the recent retirement announcements of his Democratic colleagues. Harry Reid is the most vulnerable Senator because he turned his back on Nevada and the nation with his failed stimulus bill, reckless spending, backroom bribes and out-of-touch policies.” – Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sue Lowden

REID WATCH

Sen. Harry Reid will pontificate, spin and mislead folks on his health care reform bill in Las Vegas this afternoon at the Judy Bayley Theatre at UNLV at 5:00 pm. Join him to learn more about what this important legislation will do for Nevadans. To attend this event, you must RSVP with your name and telephone number to rsvp@nvdems.com or 702-737-8683. Parking for this event will be in the large parking garage off of Cottage Grove Avenue and Maryland Parkway. Please park ONLY on floors 2-6.