Wow, What A Difference 10 Years Makes

When I left Nevada in 1996, I left behind a state that was run by a Democratic governor (Bob Miller), and had both the state house and senate run by Democrats. They were trying to figure out the best way to spend their surplus...SURPLUS of state funds. The state was operating completely in the black. New, state of the art schools were being built yearly in Las Vegas, the Carson City High School was completely remodeled from 1994-1996, highways were among the nation's best, snow removal was second to none in the snowy winters of Northern Nevada, and all of this was done with NO STATE INCOME TAX on it's citizens.

Miller's unprecedented 10-year run ended in 1999. He had filled Richard Bryan's last two years after Bryan was elected to U.S. Senate, and he won the next two elections. And rightfully so. The state was absolutely booming, and he was successful at fighting off the feds who were trying to locate a nuclear waste dump inside Yucca Mountain, a mountain which just happens to sit on a major fault line. He was a hero.

In 1999, due to an influx of disgruntled right-wing Californians infiltrating the Nevada borders, the GOP took over the state house, the state senate, and the governorship (Kenny Guinn). Their first line of action? "We've got to lower these darn taxes, what's with this surplus, what's with all these unnecessary new schools?"

Their second agenda: Legislating morality. Trying to put clamps on casinos (publicly, while privately cutting deals with and lining the pockets of the high-rolling casino owners to keep the funds rolling in). Then, there was the assault on the legal brothels. Never mind that the state has less crime against prostitutes and less STD outbreaks than any of the other 49 states. Never mind that the "pros" are kept in restricted "houses" and the johns go to them, with their security cameras, bodyguards, doctor exams, and strict code enforcement. Never mind the windfall of tax monies brought in by making the brothels and their employees pay taxes on their earnings (something that obviously DOESN'T happen in Peoria or all of Illinois or any of the other 49 states). It's bad, because a bunch of christians say so, so it must go away.

Their third...and most dangerous...agenda: Working with the federal government to get all that nuclear waste inside an earthquake-prone mountain. The funniest thing, of course, was the state's leaders (and I use that term loosely) saying "we need the money that this effort will bring to the state). Idiots!!!!! You had all the money you needed WITHOUT this boondoggle before you starting giving tax breaks to the rich (sound familiar?).

Fortunately, the good people of Nevada, the LONGTIME Nevadans and those who have moved there with a brain, have successfully fought off the onslaught on "morality". The same, sadly, cannot be said for the state's coffers, and of course, Yucca Mountain.

By 2003, after a huge GOP tax break and promises of "more money in your pocket" (sound familiar?), this is what Gov. Guinn had to do:

Gov. Kenny Guinn called for nearly $1 billion in new taxes, saying it would be “political cowardice” for lawmakers to oppose the biggest tax hike in Nevada history. The tax plan covers what would be a $700-million-plus shortfall and allows for expansion of some services, mainly in education and human services programs.

Hilarious! A Republican calling it "political cowardice" if legislators OPPOSED a tax hike. Oh...My...Supreme Being.

Oh, the casinos? Guinn had helped them get out of paying many taxes on entertainment, food, rooms and everything else they had payed (while raking in then-record profits) in the 1990's. Corporate welfare, the GOP staple. Now, the casinos rake in even more money by paying less in taxes, but the citizens are being told that taxes must again go up (most of my family still lives there).

How in hell anyone in their right mind can say that today's GOP - at ANY level, local, state, or federal - knows how to handle an economy or budget is beyond me. Time after time after time after time the GOP style FAILS. It happened in Minnesota. It happened in the 80's in Iowa, when the GOP governor and the vastly overrated Ronald Reagan oversaw the foreclosing of thousands of family farms (replaced by big corporate ones, of course), and it happened in Nevada.

I want my government to focus on one thing: running the business of the city/state/country in represents. Not the morals. The BUSINESS. I'm certainly no economic genius, I just look at the simple facts. And the simple facts are...right there on the surface for anyone to see...that the Dems in states that I've lived in and in the Federal government...have a much better handle on money issues than the GOP. I thought growing up (because we were told over and over and over and over again) that the Dems were the "tax and spend big government" party. But EVERYTHING I've seen in those three state cases I mentioned and in our federal government points to the opposite. Can't people see that?