By: Chuck Muth
Nevada News and Views

TODAY’S NN&V HEADLINES

  • Team Tark Pulls Boner, Starts Spinning Tangled Web of Deception (Chuck Muth) – Late yesterday afternoon, political pundit Jon Ralston reported that the Tarkanian for U.S. Senate campaign sent an email out yesterday asking for money. Nothing unusual about that. However….
  • Assemblyman Goedhart: The Only Legislator to Lead by Example (Chuck Muth) – “Earlier this year, lawmakers rejected Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons’ recommendation to cut state worker salaries by 6 percent, opting instead for 24-day furloughs that will reduce salaries by 4.5 percent for two years,” reports Anjeanette Damon of the Reno Gazette-Journal this morning.
  • Random Thoughts on Excuses for Not Laying off Government Employees (Chuck Muth) – An excellent Las Vegas Sun story today regarding layoffs of state workers – or, more accurately, the lack of layoffs of government workers – ought to open some eyes; even among many state legislators who usually prefer to remain blind to reality. Here’s the “money quote” from the first paragraph of the story.
  • Why We Can Never, Ever Trust the Government (Mark Noonan) – From the news: “Nevada’s budget woes aren’t only coming from the revenue side, where tax collections for the first quarter of this fiscal year are already off by $53 million.
  • Massive Failures (Paul Jacob) – How many times, in the last year, have I heard praise for FDR’s banking reforms, even down to the specifics of federal deposit insurance?

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

SURVEY SAYS!

Should Congress get involved in the fight over college football’s BCS (Bowl Championship Series) controversy?

  • Yes
  • No

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

MUTHS TRUTHS

Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Glenn Cook nicely encapsulates the problem with Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto’s persecution of Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki today with this:

“On a corruption scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is former Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny taking huge bribes and being caught on a wiretap begging for cash, this case was a zero. It would put a jury to sleep.”

What he said.

OTHER NEWS & VIEWS

  • Our very own Sen. John Ensign made it on Saturday Night Live last night. Well, sort of. And Nevada’s embarrassment continues…
  • John McCain, Arizona senator and failed presidential candidate (twice), is up for re-election next year. J.D. Hayworth, former conservative congressman and current Phoenix talk-show host, is mulling a challenge to McCain for Barry Goldwater’s seat in the GOP primary next year. So the McCainiacs have been out doing an underhanded “push-poll” to tar Hayworth. Read all about it HERE

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

  • “If you’re a ‘Reagan Republican,’ as Sen. (Bill) Raggio claims to be, the last thing you want to do in this economy is raise taxes – something Sen. Raggio supported in 2003 and again this year.” – Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial page, 12/13/09
  • “MGM Mirage has laid off 9,000 employees during the past 18 months. General Motors has cut 13,000 hourly workers during the past year. Nevada government, in contrast, has laid off just 60 employees over the past 18 months.” – David McGrath Schwartz, Las Vegas Sun, 12/13/09

CALENDAR

  • December 15: Center-right coalition meeting co-hosted by Citizen Outreach and the Nevada Policy Research Institute at 8:30 am. Invitation only.
  • 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
  • January 19: Center-right coalition meeting co-hosted by Citizen Outreach and the Nevada Policy Research Institute at 8:30 am. Invitation only.
  • February 5: First Friday Happy Hour Brewhaha. Visit www.FirstFridayNevada.com
  • February 6: Citizen Outreach’s “Reagan Tribute” in Las Vegas. Details to come.
  • February 16: Center-right coalition meeting co-hosted by Citizen Outreach and the Nevada Policy Research Institute at 8:30 am. Invitation only.
  • March 1-12: Candidate Filing Period
  • March 5: 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
  • March 16: Center-right coalition meeting co-hosted by Citizen Outreach and the Nevada Policy Research Institute at 8:30 am. Invitation only.
  • March 28: Wrestlemania
  • April 2: 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
  • April 20: Center-right coalition meeting co-hosted by Citizen Outreach and the Nevada Policy Research Institute at 8:30 am. Invitation only.
  • April 24: Republican State Convention in Las Vegas
  • May 7: 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
  • May 12-13: Conservative Leadership Conference in Las Vegas co-hosted by Citizen Outreach and Americans for Tax Reform. Details to follow.
  • May 18: Center-right coalition meeting co-hosted by Citizen Outreach and the Nevada Policy Research Institute at 8:30 am. Invitation only.
  • June 8: Primary Election
  • November 2: General Election