By: Chuck Muth
Nevada News and Views

CHACHAS LUNCHEON CANCELLED

We were just informed that GOP senatorial candidate John Chachas’ flight to Las Vegas from Washington, DC, this morning was cancelled; therefore today’s lunch with Mr. Chachas will need to be rescheduled. Sorry of the last-minute notice and inconvenience to those who RSVP’d.

And just to clear up any misunderstanding, our featuring of candidates at lunches and other events are an effort to give people an opportunity to learn more about them and ask questions directly of the candidate without opinions and responses being filtered.

Inviting candidates to speak at such events should NOT be construed as an endorsement by me or any organization I’m affiliated with. – Chuck Muth, Publisher

TODAY’S NN&V HEADLINES

  • Harry Reid’s History Lesson (John Fund) – Majority Leader Harry Reid tarred opponents of his health care bill yesterday as the equivalent of those who opposed equal rights for women and civil rights for blacks.
  • Gibbons: State of the State Budget (Gov. Jim Gibbons) – As Governor, I recognize we have shortfalls and need to begin making plans for spending reductions to protect jobs and protect services.
  • Oversight Report on Economic Stimulus finds 100 Low Priority Projects (NN&V Staff) – U.S. Senators Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) and John McCain (R-AZ) today released a new oversight report on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or economic stimulus bill. The Coburn-McCain report “Stimulus Checkup” examines how $7 billion in stimulus funds have been wasted, mismanaged, or directed toward silly and shortsighted projects.
  • Taxpayers Won’t Recover TARP Money if Congress Passes Obama’s New Bailout (Americans for Limited Government) – Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today urged members of Congress to reject Barack Obama’s plan to bail out state governments with taxpayer funds paid back by banks through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), saying “taxpayers won’t recover one cent of TARP if Congress goes along with Obama’s bailout of public sector unions.”
  • Gibbons to Approve Real ID Regulations Despite ACLU Objections (Sean Whaley/Nevada News Bureau) – The ACLU of Nevada has sent a letter to Gov. Jim Gibbons asking him not to approve emergency regulations to bring the state into compliance with the federal Real ID Act.

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

SURVEY SAYS!

Does Harry Reid owe Republicans an apology for comparing their opposition to ObamaCare to opposition to ending slavery?

  • Yes
  • No

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

MUTHS TRUTHS

  • David McGrath Schwartz of the Las Vegas Sun reported yesterday that “Gov. Jim Gibbons said layoffs will be part of the next round of budget cuts if state tax revenues continue to fall below projections.” It’s..about..time.
  • Like his predecessor (Jim Rogers) almost exactly two years ago, University Chancellor Dan Klaich stomped his feet, held his breath and threw a hissy fit yesterday in a letter to Gov. Jim Gibbons in which he essentially told the governor to take his request for budget reduction recommendations and shove ’em up his keister.

    Klaich wrote that “an operating budget reduction at this time is virtually impossible to implement” while continuing to whine about last year’s cuts and urging the governor to abandon his promise to the voters not to raise taxes. Does anyone have a pacifier they’re not using?

  • Jack Finn, a former Las Vegas television news reporter and anchor, who served as spokesman for former Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn and Senator John Ensign, has launched a communications consulting firm specializing in media training, crisis communications and government affairs. Jack Finn Communications, will also offer public relations, political consulting and business writing services. Contact Jack at (702) 290-1487 or by email at [email protected]

OTHER NEWS & VIEWS

If it wasn’t bad enough being slapped down by Judge Valerie Adair this week which threw out her witch hunt against Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, Attorney General Catherine Cortez-Masto got a scolding from Gov. Jim Gibbons on Tuesday as well.

“Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons lectured Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto over her request to exempt 33 employees within the Bureau of Consumer Protection from state mandated furloughs, then voted to approve them,” the Associated Press reports. “The Republican governor questioned whether the employees qualified as public safety exemptions, adding he feared it could lead to a ‘slippery slope’ of more exemption requests.”

TUBE TIPS

Gov. Gibbons’ chief-of-staff Robin Reedy, Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley and state Sen. Randolph Townsend go Face to Face with Jon Ralston tonight. The program airs on Las Vegas ONE on Cox Channel 19 at 5:30 pm, 6:30 pm and 8:00 pm.

Sam Shad’s guest on today’s Nevada Newsmakers program will be State Senator William Raggio, Washoe District 3. 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.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

“No state over-performed for Obama in ’08 as much as Nevada, especially among Latino and new voters. If they don’t turn out in ’10, Dems up and down the ticket will suffer.” – The Hotline, 12/8/09

“If I were Harry Reid, I would want to eliminate me in the primary. Because I am his greatest fear, I believe, in the general. I’m the biggest contrast he has, I can raise the money that needs to be raised. I believe I have the name qualifications to take him on in the business world and legislatively, and I’m not afraid of the camera.” – Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sue Lowden on the possibility of Harry Reid’s campaign trying to hurt Lowden in the GOP primary next year (Hat Tip to Ralston’s Flash)