Statement of Principles


Nevada government keeps getting bigger and BIGGER. We deserve minimum, strictly limited, constitutional government in this State.

Forget all this blather about a $3B "shortfall". The budget for the '12/'13 biennium should be no more than $200M.



Sunday, February 28, 2010

University Studies == Interdisciplinary == JUNK

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

UNLV announced a few YEARS ago that 'University Studies' (ie Jockology) was going to be phased out, in response to indefensible USA Today criticism that some huge percentage of UNLV "student"-athletes were declared majors in it, that it had no real objective standards, and yet even after six years most *still* never completed the program.

The real sleazy part of all this is that UNLV isn't really eliminating University Studies. It has just RENAMED it to "Interdisciplinary". Same nonexistent standards. Same jock appeal.

The True Cost Of College Sports

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

In the current biennium the state appropriation for UNR Intercollegiate Athletics (Division 1) is $5.8M/yr. The corresponding appropriation for UNLV is $7.9M/yr.

See AB-562 Section 17 (2009).

The intangible costs are even higher. Compromised admission standards (nonexistent, really), junk departments maintained to provide jocks with academic cover, distraction for Administration, etc. Indeed, the true cost of Division 1 is closer to the ENTIRE cost of UNLV, since without sports popular support for the school would be severely damaged. Voters might decide UNLV is not worth keeping.

Hey UNLV jocks. Enjoy the taxpayer provided steak and potatoes while you can. Your teams are going to be cut! You'll be relieved to know that your Jockology degree programs (like University Studies) are safe. That can't eliminate your basketweaving requirement without making you guys academically ineligble to play.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Gibbons Caves

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Ahead of the meeting, Gibbons was taking a hard-line barganing position.

What the heck is this reporter talking about?

The fact that Fibbons even *called* the session is a SOFT-line bargaining position. He could have just kept cutting budgets across-the-board and the Legislature would have been powerless to stop him. But then Fibbons would have been unable to maintain government at the BIG level he feels comfortable with. This is called "Conservatism".

We have one-party rule in this state. The left wing Socialists and the right wing Socialists.

CCSD Customer Satisfaction

Originally posted in a LVRJ forum

Most parents are happy with CCSD. They only need it for daycare, football, or other fluff. The constituency for the 3R's is too busy volunteering at their private schools or homeschooling to worry about CCSD.

Investigate CCSD!

Originally posted in a LVRJ forum

Those who call for a CCSD investigation must first answer "By whom?" The government is not in the business of exposing itself, though there is another way.

Regularly operating CITIZEN grand juries -- not empaneled or controlled by political hack DAs and AGs -- used to be the norm. Private citizens could take their complaints DIRECTLY to it. It could investigate, supoena, call witnesses, issue indictments and all the rest. No politically controlled middlemen could get in their way. That's right.

Another approach (also strangled by the government) is incorporated in Article 1 §8.1.

No person shall be tried for .. [an] infamous crime .. except on presentment or indictment [by a grand jury, DA, AG] ...

Normally the DA calls a grand jury and makes his case. It votes up/down. Proceedings sealed. However some DA/AG empaneled grand juries have more latitude, wherein they can venture far BEYOND the scope of where the politically controlled prosecutor wants to keep them. When it completes its probe it issues a PRESENTMENT, which is a public record of their findings (DA/AG can't bury it) which might include all sorts of indictments not imagined by the DA/AG who empaneled them. Maybe even one calling for an indictment of the DA/AG himself! This was the traditional way for the public to fight government corruption.

Here's a tip. Only vote for a AG/DA who you can count on to support citizen grand juries. Good luck. They're all hacks and NRS has probably outlawed it.

Patronage Education

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

School board members say the Clark County School District will suffer if legislators take away funds used to make small capital improvements throughout the district.

Public education is used as a pretext to:
  • impose tax increases (ie government services tax) to pay for *other* programs (bait-&-switch)
  • reward politically connected bond salesmen
  • enrich politically connected construction contractors

Why Horsefurd Wants More Kids In NSHE

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

How can your businesses grow if you have to look outside the state for college graduates?

An astonishing display of economic ignorance. Better to ask "How will government grow if we don't tax you to pay for it?"

Stealin Horsefurd: Economist

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Horsefurd said How can your businesses grow if you have to look outside the state for college graduates?

An astonishing display of economic ignorance. Better to ask "How will government grow if we don't tax you to pay for it?"

Friday, February 26, 2010

Horsefurd & Raggio: Can Taxpayers Get A Break?

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

The Democrat Party is really just the CPUSA. This guy Horsefürd's contempt for the private sector knows no bounds. He himself earns a nice living by mooching taxpayer dollars to provide job training in how to craft buggywhips. Horsefürd has a personal financial stake in BIG government.

To be fair, he's not the only guy in Carson City like that. Government agencies and rich private sector special interests from across the state generate a LOT of billable hours for Rinoggio's law/lobbying firm.

To name just two examples.

Busybody Politicians Want Annual Sessions

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Article 4 §29 limited regular sessions to 60 days. That's right. Unfortunately, in '58 the BIG government special interests convinced voters to repeal it.

If we had small government in this state biennial sessions would last only four to five days. Like a business conference. Even guys as busy as Wynn could afford to take time off from work to serve. Legislators would get paid $200; no PERS or per-diem. Like their counterparts in New Hampshire.

Of course, since our busybody lawmakers try to control as many aspects of the lives of 2.7M Nevadans as they can think of, even a 24x7 365 legislature would feel time constrained to them.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

N$HE Roll Call

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum
 
  • UNLV Basketball Head Coach Kruger makes $1M/yr.
  • UNLV Football Head Coach Hauck makes $450K.
  • UNR President Glick makes $400K.
  • Thienhaus (Med School) $395K [best guess]
  • White (Boyd) $339K
  • NSHE Chancellor Klaich makes $330K.
  • UNLV President Smatresk makes $300K.
  • UNLV Athletic Director Livengood makes $285K.
  • NSC President Maryanski makes $250K.
  • Harter (BMI) 248K
  • West (Dental School) $218K
  • VP Smith $192K.
  • Provost Bowers $189K
  • Division 1 assistant coaches make $125K.
  • Unionized professors overpaid.
  • and on and on and on.
Higher education was set up in this state as sort of a public benevolent society to train the next generation of applied scientists in fields relevant to this state. Now it's more like a professional sports training camp whose beneficiaries are dunderhead coaches, jocks (on scholarship), administrators, and staffers who vote for Democrats.

No more Division 1 sports.
No more athletic scholarships.
No more NFL/NBA/MLB payscale coaches.
No more junk departments (like Interdisciplinary) maintained to provide jocks with academic cover.
No more staffers paid more than the Governor.
No more liberal arts programs at less than full fee ($800/credit).
No more buildings and roads named after Raggio.
No more NSHE lobbyists.


Big Government Convention

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Fibbons was attending that National Governor's Association meeting. Why do Nevada taxpayers permit this? I wouldn't want my governor attending that BIG government photo-op even if this were Maryland.

I watched a portion of it on C-SPAN. Why do so many Governors look like slimeball used car salesmen?

The Secretary of the unconstitutional US Dept of Education was there too. Dictating. You'd think maybe one of those egomaniacs would tell him to get lost.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The 24x7, 365 De Facto Legislature

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

We don't need an *adjournment* strategy. We need a *convening* strategy.

This guy Fibbons has now given us FOUR special sesssions, the last three of which were called (at least officially) due to inhospitable economic conditions. Three events of the same type within 24 months hardly qualifies as "extraordinary". Economies fluctuate. Like the weather. Special sessions were meant for 6-Sigma events. Like foreign invasions.

Keep in mind that in between all this we've had two *regular* sessions. This guy Fibbons won't be content until we have a 24x7, 365 legislature.

Now that Fibbons has restarted the BIG government engine he can't stop it (even if he wanted to). Especially since he has given them an agenda which would fill a kitchen sink. Not unless the two legislative bodies can't decide among themselves.

Of course no modern special session commences without an understanding of its ground rules and the predetermined outcome so the Horsefürd birthday party is safe.

The BIG government juggernaut rolls on.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Not Paying Their Fair Share

Originally posted in a LVRJ forum.

Gold *above* ground is worth ~$1,100/oz. Gold *below* ground in a proven mine is worth $1,100/oz minus cost of production. The Mother Lode yet to be discovered in Eureka County is worth ZERO. Those early(est?) stages of production are where Gold Mining companies come in, so get off this Communist notion that the miners are "robbing us", or that we're being "plundered" by foreigners. It's not like these companies are excavating entire mountains intact and hauling them down to Argentina!

Bipartisans For BIG Government

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

In one sign of bipartisanship, Buckley met privately Monday with Raggio and Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno.

An ultra left wing Democrat agglutinating with two left wing Republicans. That's not bipartisanship. It's trinary asexual reproduction.

Mining is one of the few industries where we have natural, competitive advantages. You'd think maybe *someone* in Carson City could provide a cogent defense of it?! The folks who attack Mining are the ones who scream loudest about "diversifying" our economy. What do they propose to replace it with? Organic lobster fishing?

Do you have any idea what it costs to bring a mine into production? No divining rods here. It's like oil exploration. Satellite imaging, test drilling, geological analysis, etc. Hit or miss.

After you've expended all that money to finally prove a site you have to invest a FORTUNE to extract the mineral. Specialized earth moving equipment, processing machines (refining a whole other issue), trained personnel, OSHA compliance; I think firms often have to build their own MegaWatt power generating stations on-site. It's the middle of nowhere. You can't just plug into a wall outlet.

At anytime the commodity price could COLLAPSE, causing you to abandon your entire investment. The last thing these firms need is the uncertainty caused by Communists who threaten to nationalize their profits -- Castro style -- after they've already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in fixed assets.

I do not own any shares in natural resource companies. I do not work for the industry. I oppose BIG government and the high taxes necessary to pay for it.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Townhall With Smatresk

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Nobody asks Smatresk the obvious questions.
  1. Why do you deserve to be paid $300K/yr? Are you worth >twice what we pay Gibbons?
  2. Why do you pay your head football coach $450K/yr and his assisants $125K? Is UNLV a NFL farm team?
  3. Why do you pay your head basketball coach $1M/yr and *his* assistants $130K? Is UNLV a NBA farm team?
  4. Isn't true that the decision to phase out "University Studies" was made a few YEARS ago, after critics and media noted that only JOCKS majored in it, that it had no objective standards, and yet few completed it?
  5. Isn't it true you simply RENAMED "University Studies" as "Interdisciplinary Studies"?
  6. Why do you preserve *that* JUNK department? Isn't it true that Interdisciplinary only serves to provide academic cover to jocks?
  7. What percentage of your football and basketball players ever graduate? Isn't it significantly < non-athletes?
  8. How much do your sports marketing partners -- t-shirts, posters, TV, etc -- make off your teams?
  9. Why do you fund a law school? Are there too few laws and lawyers in this state?
  10. How many UNLV buildings named after state politicians?
  11. How many of your employees are related by family or marriage to current or ex state legislators?
  12. How much money does UNLV spend on lobbyists?
Tick tick. I'm pretty good with numbers so don't try to baffle me with statistics.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Seperate Sports & State

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

If some wealthy alumnus wants to donate a weight room, charter a jet for the team, pay kids money under-the-table or even construct a 17,000 seat arena, I really wouldn't complain. But under NO circumstances should a few sports fanatics be allowed to hijack the mission of a state university.

No more athletic scholarships. No compromised admission standards. No ridiculous basketweaving majors. No special privileges for jocks. No more athletic departments with $1M hoops coaches, $450K football coaches, $285K AD's, $125K assistants, etc.

Division 1 does NOT pay for itself. You sports nuts mindlessly repeat the BIG LIE disseminated by sports marketers.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Real Estate Collapses But Government Still Strong

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

when the real estate market tanks the money to fund the state government dries up.

You don't know what you're talking about.

The biennial budget relies mainly on sales taxes ($730M), gaming taxes ($639M), and increasingly business taxes ($371M). Property transfer taxes ($47M) are typically <5% of general fund revenues.

State general fund tax revenues are currently running ~$2.4B/yr. That's down from the $3.2B run rate of Fibbons first budget, but still strong by historical standards. We're back at 2005's tax take. Then a blowout year.

Some crisis.

Not Enough Fascism For His Taste

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Chris Comfort, president of the Nevada GOP, slammed the stimulus for not doing what he said it promised

Democrat Communism bad. Republican Fascism good.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

We Already PAID For Public Education

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Perpetual funding for K-12 was provided through interest-bearing Trusts and an ongoing share of proceeds from fines like traffic tickets. Donations gladly accepted. We shouldn't be arguing today over how to pay for it.

If we eliminated compulsory attendance laws probably >80% of CCSD students wouldn't show up. <10% of those leftover would be severe poverty cases. ~6,000 kids, but probably a LOT LESS after you filter out illegals, mentally challenged, etc.

They represent CCSD's maximum, limited constitutional mission.

Right now CCSD spends >$10,000 per student (including debt service and PERS). Maybe only 20% of that is used for instruction. The rest is babysitting.  Focusing on basic skills (instead of fluff) means that kids would only have to attend ~8 hrs/wk, 26 wk/yr. DONE by 8th grade.

Even at a rich funding level of $4,000 per student (~$20/hr, though we could probably get by on half that) CCSD's budget would be only $24M per year. Tops. A pretty manageable budget. Trust interest and fine revenues would cover much (if not all) of it. Close *hundreds* of schools. Layoff *thousands* of employees. Save BILLIONS. That's right.


It's anyone's guess how well a more focused CCSD would do those kids. I wouldn't be optimistic.

What The Nevada Constitution Requires

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

For every dollar the government taxes it spends ~$1.10. Everybody knows that except the Socialists who lurk in RJ Fora.

The Nevada Constitution *requires* the state to fund a small number of functions

  1. The three branches
  2. Prisons and juvenile hall
  3. Assorted bureaucracies (ie AG, Sec of State, Treasury)
  4. One public school per district (18 statewide)
  5. Three UNR applied science departments (Mining, Agriculture, and Engineering)
  6. Institutions for mental and physical disabled
  7. A militia (to repel invasion from CA)
While personal income taxes and a lottery are off-limits, the Constitution still gives the Legislature plenty of leeway in deciding how to pay for its obligations. In the case of public education (K-16) perpetual funding was provided through interest-bearing Trusts and an ongoing share of proceeds from fines like traffic tickets. For the few remaining things the General Fund burden is not severe. Probably no more than $100M/yr.

Small, Constitutional minimum government.

Unfortunately, the crooked politicians relentlessly expand government. BIGGER and bigger government requires HIGHER and higher TAXES to fund it. When revenue and spending growth are the same, nobody notices. However when spending growth (inevitably) *exceeds* revenue growth the politicians scream "GAP!" and boost existing taxes to maintain balance.

A "crisis" occurs when existing taxes have reached their economic maxima. The politicians must scramble to find a new source of revenue -- usually "small" at first. With the budget back in balance spending growth continues unabated. Then in a few years, when *that* source has maxed-out they look for yet another. And so on and so on.

The tax-&-spend vortex of death.

UNLV Bistro

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

UNLV has NO constitutional authority to operate sports teams as a funding source. If you disagree then what's to stop them from paying Lagasse $10M/yr to operate a Rebel-themed bistro? Money from tuition, fees, ticket sales, hot dogs, creme brulee, etc MUST go into the state's General Fund. Then it's up to the crooked politicians to decide how to spend it.

Hey Lynn Warne. Use your influence with the Buckley, Horsefurd and the DEMs to have Division 1 football revenue redistributed to K-12!

Non-Athletes Who Choose Jock Majors ...

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

.. are just filling up classes for the jocks. The Athletic Department appreciates your support. It looks really bad when 100% of the majors in a degree program are jocks (who dropout anyway).

Smatresk Sets Speed Record For Sports Hires (Other Depts Frozen)

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

On Tuesday, [Smatresk] froze all [UNLV] hiring

Notice how Smatresk put out (and filled) a RUSH ORDER to hire a new Athletic Director ($295K) and Head Football Coach ($450K). The latter then rushed to round out his assistant coaching staff (~$125K each).

Smatresk himself makes ~$300K.

The only departments which are SAFE from cuts are the ones that provide academic cover to dunderhead JOCKS. Departments like Sociology, Kinesiology, and University (AKA Interdisciplinary) Studies.

The idea of charging higher tuition to science students is perhaps most outrageous of all. The mission of the University is to train the next generation of applied scientists. Indeed, as UNR was set up, applied science majors were supposed to pay ZERO (or maybe just nominal tuition). Liberal arts majors -- if there was even a place for them -- would be the ones required to pay the full, unsubsidized cost of their educations. Of course, the political ideology of egalitarianism led to both groups paying the same.

But *now* the redistributionist scheme is to make science majors pay the *most*. And only the JOCKS ride for free.

Coalition For BIG Government

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

This article reads like a "Who's Who?" of the Coalition for BIG government.
  • Steve Horsefürd is a Socialist.
  • Jim Gibbons is a RINO.
  • Alan Feldman is a Protectionist flak.
  • Jim Wadhams is a Mining industry lobbyist.
  • Daniel Burns is a BIG government mouthpiece.
  • Heidi Gansert is a RINO.
  • Bill Raggio is a RINO's RINO.
  • Lynn Warne is President of the Communist Labor Party.
  • David Morrow is a bureaucrat environmentalist.
A total scurvy crew. Is there *anyone* involved in these discussion who can defend the free market?

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Abolish Gaming Taxes

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

The crooked politicians always threaten us with park closures -- relatively small savings -- in order to protect their high cost pork barrel projects.

The Democrat Party is just another name for CPUSA.

If we had small government in this state, we could ABOLISH the gaming control board and the high gaming taxes necessary to fund it. But then casinos would have to establish fair "reputations" without us vouching for them. Somebody's worthless brother-in-law gaming regulator would have to find employment in the private sector.

Oh, the horror!

Big Government Backer: Save NSC

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Glenn Christenson, chairman of NSC's foundation said several misguided individuals have suggested [closing NSC]

This political hack beancounter Christenson is BIG government all-the-way. I'm so tired of mealy-mouths like him smearing us as "misguided", "extremist", whatever.

Does Christenson have *anything* negative to say about NSHE's funding of Division 1 sports? For instance, UNLV's $1M hoops coach, its $300K Athletic Director, the ridiculous departments maintained to provide jocks -- who get free rides -- with academic cover? Closer to home, does he consider NSC President Maryanski's $250,000 salary to be "misguided"?

Nope.

Here's a mealy-mouthed recommendation for the Regents. Both Christenson and Maryanski should be DOWNSIZED.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Fibbons Calls Another Special Session

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

In Fibbons' upcoming (4th!) special session he'll be taking care of the Socialist coalition. From the extreme left (mining taxes) to the extreme right (warrantless searches to enforce victimless crimes) to the broad, BIG government Republicrat consensus in between. The only political faction he's willfully ignoring is the small government wing of his own party. Granted, that's a tiny (~1%) minority but he does so at his renomination peril.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Public Libraries Are Political Institutions

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

The LVCCLD is a *political* institution. Its mission/goals include:
  • programs and services that promote appreciation and understanding of their personal heritage and the heritage of others in the community. (MORE diversity)
  • [provide citizens the] information they need to support and promote democracy (ie MORE government).
  • connect the past with the present through their family histories. (MORE LDS conversions)
  • a central source for information about .. programs .. provided by community agencies. (MORE government services)
  • [providing] the resources [needed] to identify .. risks .. that affect their lives. (MORE busybody paternalism)
  • succeed in school. (MORE public education)
  • Services for New Immigrants (MORE welfare magnets)
  • develop a Marketing Pan to [build awareness] of the Library District. (MORE government spending of taxpayer dollars to advertise for customers)
The Executive Director (mentioned in this article) adopts policy, approves the annual budget and ongoing expenditures, and sets an annual property tax levy. Gee. Nothing in the article about *that* power. According to NRS 379.0227 that power resides with the county commissioners.

Political Hack Regents

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Regent Chair Leavitt believes the state college has clearly gone beyond its original mission.

Not true. It's original mission was to redistribute money to Perkins' district. After all, why should Raggio's district (UNR) get all the money?

That mission is INTACT.

The Regents are just a bunch of political hacks. They play a very sordid game with their crooked cousins in Carson City. The Regents ascertain how best to buy political support from the various higher education constituencies (ie football fanatics, nurse and teacher wannabes, construction contractors, etc). The legislators appropriate the money.

NSHE funding is all very repulsive. Like sausage making and redistricting. It wasn't meant to be that way.

The original University of Nevada (now UNR) was chartered to provide practical instruction in three fields relevant to this state (Mining, Agriculture and Engineering). It was endowed with capital (in Trust) to fund it in-perpetuity. No further taxpayer obligation necessary. Over the years, in order to secure their re-elections, the crooked politicians have expanded that very limited state university mission into what is now known as NSHE, with the waste and corruption therein.

Public Projects: Buy Now Pay Later

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Library District executive director Jeanne Goodrich mentioned that libraries will buy fewer books .. patrons will wait longer for popular books, some printed materials will be eliminated, fewer events, and library hours could be shortened.

But Goodrich's sinecure will be safe.

The crooked politiicians always sell these (patronage jobs/contracts) spending programs (libraries, transit, community colleges, etc) to us by promising the sky. Which is what they have to do, because nobody will vote to fund these things unless they come with all the bells-&-whistles. When the cutbacks inevitably occur, the hot-button, attractive features are the first things to go.

Taxpayers are stuck paying for the high fixed costs of these programs -- with little to show for it.


*Public* libraries ARE Socialist. So are public pools, public education, public transportation, and all the other public this-&-that's. We used to have PRIVATE libraries in this country. I imagine they always had several copies of Mark Twain's latest novel in-stock, in good condition, at competitive rates. The proprietor (librarian) didn't have a degree in Library "Science" and he voted for small government.

Meet Nevada Socialist: Carole Vilardo

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Carole Vilardo, president of the Nevada Taxpayers Association called this a double-edged sword .. it just exacerbates the [government] shortfalls ..

Can you believe this Socialist?! Oh, pity the poor, deprived government! The "downside" is that ordinary folks are hurting, not that government is shrinking. But what would you expect from this protectionist queen? Her membership FEEDS off government favors. Lower tax revenues mean less money redistributed to *them*. Tough times indeed.

The NTA is BIG Government advocacy group. Their Board is a "Who's Who?" of Nevada Socialism, representing special interests in banking, railroads, real estate, energy, lawyers -- even ex-crooked politicians turned lobbyists.

The usual corporate welfare suspects.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

CCSD Goes Green

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Public education is a *political* institution. Environmental cases use it to indoctrinate kids with ultra left wing notions about:
  • Green technology (politically correct corporate welfare)
  • Mass transit (politically correct tax subsidies)
  • Mass warming (carbon taxes)
  • Recycling (burial rights for junk)
  • Composting (burial rights for vegetables)
  • and on and on and on
The kids can recite this gibberish chapter and verse yet their science scores are are at the bottom of the septic tank.

We can't expect CCSD to do anything about this, though. It's too busy operating a shuttle service, a logistics firm, monitoring highway air quality and accepting awards from the Lung Association and the School Administrators Association.

Friday, February 12, 2010

CCSD Should Teach ..

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

We need to emphasize more study of ..

Here we go again! Public education is a *political* institution.

  • Conservatives want it to teach abstinence
  • Liberals want it to teach sex ed
  • Bankers want it to teaching checkbook skills
  • Puritans want it to teach about the Pilgrams
  • Federalists want it to teach about the Founding Fathers
  • Southern Aristocrats want it to teach about the Confederacy
  • Jews want it to teach about the Holocaust
  • Christians want it to teach Creation "Science"
  • left wingers want it to teach about the man-made climate catastrophe
  • right wingers want it to teach about the man-made jihadist catastrophe
  • and on and on and on
The constituency for the 3R's fled to the private schools long ago.

Hey "should teach" busybodies. I recently reviewed some State of CA approved reading/history materials (~3rd grade). A section entitled "Inventors". Thomas Edison was almost *incidental*. He merited equal mention to one Pedro Flores!

What did he invent? The taco shell?

Give the government the power to do something and they'll abuse it every time. CCSD has a constitutional mission to teach the 3R's to poor kids. Let me know when it figures out how to do that. In the mean time don't ask them to teach anything else.

Townhall With Voters

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

"Oh, yes. You poor thing. I'm soooo glad you brought that to our attention. I'm going to do everything I can .. blah blah blah "

How patronizing.

These townhalls are just a way for crooked politicians put on a show and generate free publicity. They're stuffed with paid staffers (operatives) who applaud enthusiastically even when their boss comments on the weather. The scheme is a just a ruse to make gullible voters think the guy on stage really REALLY cares about their worthless opinions.

The real politicking is done over champagne and caviar. Or do you get invited to those intimate affairs?

Children's Section

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

About 58 percent of the district's budget goes to salaries and benefits.

Another Republicrat "jobs" program. Or are patrons supposed to checkout the librarian?

NO MORE public libraries! No more public money spent on subscriptions to BIG government propoganda sheets like NYT and WaPo. No more annoying anti-theft ring tones. No more eternities spent looking for books which were lost years ago. No more getting lost in poorly lit stacks.

No more caricaturish eyeglass chains!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Library District Shell Game

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

library officials did an end run

Big surprise. Give the government a little power and it's SURE to abuse it.

Why should CCSD's numerous illiterate "graduates" have to pay higher taxes to keep libraries open? If BIG government library patrons want to read Hollywood magazines in air conditioned comfort, let them pay user (admission) fees. The price of a movie ticket (~$14) sounds about right. Charge them $5 for popcorn.

Most can't read. The rest of us download. We have search engines; we don't need the card catalog. The Library of Congress organizing system is so 19th century. 98% of library material is junk. Seats are uncomfortable. The temperature is either too hot or too cold. Probably 90% of library workers vote for Democrats (the rest vote for Communists). Never ask a reference librarian a simple question like "Where's the bathroom?" She'll refer you to the plumbing section. The librarian in the children's section is rarely kid-friendly. She's more like a bouncer. Nobody steals books; that alarm sound is so annoying. The only place noisier than a library is perhaps a casino floor.

We don't want public libraries.

Better yet, no more public libraries!

Meet The RINOs

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

The Republicans have plenty of candidates to choose from. It's called the list of registered DEMOCRATS.
Randolt Townspend has been tax-&-spending this state into oblivion since the early 1980's. He, Hardy, Nolan and the other RINOs all voted to override BIG government Gibbons' $3.2B/yr budget and enact a $3.4B whopper of their own.

Hey Conservatives. Your standard-bearer Gibbons and his opponents AGREE on 94.1% of the spending. We have one-party rule in this state. The BIG government liberals and the BIG government conservatives.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

PLAN'ing For Higher Mining Taxes (and Bigger Government)

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

These PLAN thugs are *hard* core Socialists. Atavists from the Soviet era. That is why so many prominent state Democrats donate to them.

Democracy is NOT supposed to equal MOB RULE. No new taxes on mining firms. No mucking with their accounting rules. I don't own any shares in natural resource companies. I oppose BIG government and the high taxes necessary to pay for it. For every dollar the government taxes it *spends* $1.10.

I
propose a ballot initiative to impose a 10% excise tax on any money donated to PLAN.

The problem in this state (as in the rest of the country) is excessive government spending. If we had small government in this state the biennial budget would only need to be $100M/yr (and probably less). *Existing* mining taxes plus ~3 weeks of sales taxes would cover it.

Tax receipts are currently running ~$2.4B/yr. The crooked politicians should REBATE ~$2.3B of that to us directly instead of redistributing it in the form of vote-buying pork. That works out to ~$1,000 per adult resident.


Feel free to donate your share to PLAN (-10%). I have my eyes on a wide screen TV.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Billus Raggiowe

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Billus Raggiowe is a RINO's RINO. He has been tax-&-spending this state into oblivion since the 1970's! Raggiowe is a poster boy for term limits.

Raggiowe's primary beneficiaries have been NSHE/UNR -- they have several buildings and even a roadway named after him -- and his own Law/Lobbying firm. His firm generates a LOT of billable hours from public sector clients in this state. During the '09 regular session Raggiowe was even temporarily barred from voting on the Republicrat record-spending budget because his firm had a lobbyist in the Chamber representing a BIG government special interest. The recusal was very brief. Ethics rules suspend five minutes after they apply.

Homeschoolers Are Tax *Producers*!

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

We homeschool. We don't cost taxpayers a cent. We buy our own supplies, also. We're tax *producers*.

We tightly control TV time -- Super Bowl, what's that? -- and require 1-2 hours of reading per day. Right now, in the next room, a retired PS teacher is working with my young kids to teach them English composition. She has a very good track record (she's a Stanford mom). Since we don't hire consultants to study our brain color we can afford to pay her. But she doesn't charge a lot of money, anyway.

UNLV Students Protesting The Wrong Things

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Protest, huh? How about protesting your
  • Professors' thick foreign accents?
  • Teaching Assistants' miserable teaching skills?
  • basketball coach's $1M salary?
  • AD's $300K salary?
  • football coach's $450K salary?
  • President's $300K salary?
  • Chancellor's $335K salary?
  • jock departments like University Studies?
  • money spent on lobbying fees?
  • money spent on jobs for friends of politicians?
  • money spent on scholarships for jocks?
  • Faculty-student romances?
Hey UNR Applied Science Majors. You should ALL be getting free rides. That's the way our system was set up.

Hey Liberal arts students. You should all be paying the true cost of college. That's the way our system was set up. $800/credit sounds about right.

Educrats Criticize Private Schools

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

state Department of Education officials testified that there are few openings available for students who want to enroll in private schools.

Yes and GM officials testified that they didn't see how Toyota would be able to fix its brake problems.

Abolish public education. Repeal compulsary attendance laws. Virtually OVERNIGHT good quality private schools would open to satisfy the real demand for education services. For all tastes and pricepoints.

Football schools. Drama schools. Science schools. Green schools. $25,000 per year schools. $25 per week schools.

The SPENDING Gap

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

As a rule, Republicrats spend faster than revenues rise. In this unusual economy, revenues are falling faster than Republicrats have been willing to cut. "Budget gap" is fuzzy. Better to say we have a SPENDING gap.

In the recent (inflated) boom years (2004-2006) Nevada tax revenues were growing at double digit rates. Government spending even MORE. In the '09 session, despite *falling* revenues (which are now back to '05 levels -- then a BLOWOUT year) Republicrats actually boosted spending ($3.2B/yr -> $3.4B). That's right.

It's funny to watch Buckfee, Horsefurd and the gang scrambling to look like TeaBaggers after RINO election victories in VA, NJ, and MA. Horsefurd still couldn't hide his contempt for the private sector, though. He promises revenge as soon as the economy turns. The DEMs really are the CPUSA.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Those Who Can't Teach ..

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Darrin Hardman, the state's writing and reading consultant for elementary education

According to TransparentNevada, this nincompoop Hardman makes $71,797.20/yr working for our state's education bureaucracy. Money which originated in a multimillion dollar grant from another bureaucracy (US Dept of Education).

Hardman is what public education is all about. Contracts for donors. Grants for political allies. Jobs for friends.

Educrat Small Picture

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

the Nevada Department of Education manual for the fifth-grade writing test

For education central planners this is the MOST serious of serious stuff. The need to control what goes on in the classroom to the smallest detail.

Carson City bureaucrats impose these regulations like they're going out of style. School district officials from across the state are summoned to the State Superintendent to hear his pronouncements. The commissars return from those unholy convocations and immediately hire lawyers to figure out what the policies mean and specialists to ensure compliance. Teacher training sessions are scheduled because their complete understanding of the new guidelines is essential for student success.

Results speak for themselves.

Public education is a CATASTROPHE and CANNOT be reformed.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

CCSD Gimmick #139: Empowerment

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

"Empowerment" is just another CCSD gimmick. The last series of RJ articles related to this artifice reported how CCSD had hired some retired insider as a consultant to oversee the District's empowerment program.

How can a school truly be "empowered" when it's controlled by a bureaucrat central planner?! If a few years we'll read how CCSD has abandoned its empowerment experiment as a failure. At the same time it'll be touting its new strategem of All Boys/Girls schools operating on Odd/Even calendar days -- and the highly respected, former CCSD Administrator it lured out of retirement to implement it.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Townhall with Klaich

Originally posted in a LVRJ forum

Nobody asks Klaich the obvious questions:
  1. Why do you deserve to be paid >twice what we pay Gibbons?
  2. Why do you pay Division 1 sports coaches as much as their professional league peer group?
  3. What happened to all that trust money (granted in 1868) which was set aside to perpetually fund UNR departments of Mining, Agriculture and Engineeering?
  4. Why do you continue to fund JUNK departments like "University Studies" which only serve to provide academic cover to jocks?
  5. What percentage of your football and basketball players ever graduate? [it's significantly < non-athletes]
  6. How much do your sports marketing partners -- t-shirts, posters, TV, etc -- make off your teams?
  7. Why do you fund a law school? Are there too few laws and lawyers in this state?
  8. Why are so many NSHE buildings named after Senator Raggio?
  9. Why do you pay clinical professors $400K? Do they use our resources to support their private medical practices?
  10. Your course catalogs describe NSHE's mission in very grandiose, pompous terms. Do you even *know* what NSHE's mission is supposed to be?
  11. How many of your employees are related by family or marriage to state legisators?
  12. How much money does NSHE spend on lobbyists?
Tick tick. I'm waiting.

RINOs Looking Out For Us

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Deputy Chief of Staff Lynn Hettrick said they're working on what they can do

If memory serves, Hettrick was one of those RINO legislators who voted FOR uberRINO Gov Guinn's HUGE tax increase. Hettrick is Raggio's long lost identical twin brother.

No more mining taxes. No mucking around with industry tax rules. I do not own shares in mining companies. I oppose BIG government and the high taxes necessary to fund it. If we had small government in this state, *existing* mining taxes plus ~3 wks of sales taxes would cover the biennial budget.

Nevada System of Higher Waste

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

This demagogue Klaich is too much. The Univ of NV was established as sort of a public charity. Mining, Engineering, and Agriculture students were meant to be the "beneficiaries"; FREE (or nominal) TUITION. Yep.

Well *that* modest mission could not stand! The applied science students now have to pay full fee. Can't discriminate against liberal arts students (who had NO place in the original university). Welcome to the "new" UNV charity:

  • Klaich ($335K)
  • UNR Pres Glick ($435K)
  • UNLV Pres Smatresk ($300K); other top officials slightly less
  • new UNLV Head Football Coach Hauck ($450K); his assistants $125K
  • new Athletic Director Livengood ($300K)
  • Head Basketball Coach Kruger ($1M); his assistants $125K
  • Clinical professors ($400K)
  • unionized Basketweaving professors -- some of whom are related to Legislators ($80K)
  • JOCKS get free rides.
The public sector is NOT supposed to be a place to get rich. Taxpayers might have other priorities for their money -- like making THEMSELVES rich. NSHE receives federal funding. Where's Obama's Pay Czar when you need him?

Make the UNV a small A&M (+mining) school once again. Those students pay NOTHING. No more Division 1 sports. Teams can be recruited from the >2m tall applied science majors. Coaches from their faculty; assistants their grad students. No more athletic scholarships. No more liberal arts, or at least make THEM pay full (user) fee. $800/credit sounds right. No more research-driven (politically funded) faculty. Research is an uncertain activity best left to the private sector. No more expensive career professors. If need be recruit emeritus professors who have retired here to work for token honoria. Teaching the next generation is sort of a sacred duty which Phd's took upon themselves the moment they accepted their Black Belts.

No more GM pay scale university administrators.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Oh, No! Higher Tuition Will Put a College Education Out of Reach ..

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Are you implying that higher education should only be for the rich?

Egalitarianism. Here we go again. Public education is a *political* institution.

When you look at the annual cost of attending notable public universities like Cal (>$10,000 in-state) and Michigan (~$6,000 in-state) you must conclude that public colleges are quickly becoming entitlement programs for the wealthy. That's just undergrad. The professional schools are completely BANANAS.

It shouldn't matter to anyone (except busybodies) whether good students leave this state. Mobility ISO better opportunities is what built this country.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Klaich: Turn Corn Fields Into Football Fields

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Close the .. agricultural experiment station at UNR.

ALL the options are attractive, through the Agricultural Research station is probably the ONLY item on Klaich's list which actually *furthers* the original purpose (politics aside) of UNR as a land grant institution (Morrill Act). The rest are completely POLITICAL expenditures, designed to pump money into Districts other than Raggio's (UNR).

First on the list for elimination should be Division 1 sports. You can always field teams from the ranks of the applied science majors. Put the student back in "student"-athlete. Dump the $1M/yr basketball coach, and the newly acquired $450K/yr football coach and $300K AD.

What Crisis?

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

The biennial budget -- K-16, mental hospitals, prisons, 3 branches, etc -- represents only ~1/3 of state government spending.

One third.

The FY '10/'11 (biennial) budget is ~$3.4B/yr. Therefore, TOTAL state appropriations -- including roads and Nevada spending reimbursed by the Federal government -- are actually ~$10B/yr.

$10,000,000,000 per year.

Current revenues are ~$2.4B/yr. About $1B/yr less than what the Republicrats schemed but still impressive by historical measure. That was FY05's record-high tax haul.

The point is, using the same 2:1 ratio, total state appropriations are still ~$7.2B/yr and likely HIGHER. The federal government must have granted us all sorts of matching fund indulgences.

Some crisis.

Small Government Manifesto

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

I oppose BIG government and the high taxes necessary to pay for it. If we had small government in this state, the biennial budget could be set as low as $80M/yr. Existing mining taxes and ~3 weeks of sales taxes would cover it. That's right.

The Nevada Constitution REQUIRES that the State fund:

  1. The 3 Branches. A small government legislature would only need to meet 1 wk per 2 yrs. Token honoraria; no PERS. ($50K)
  2. One public school/district (18 statewide). $125K/school. (~$2M).
  3. Prisons and juvie. Budget opaque. Too many non-violents in jail. Release them.
  4. A militia. One CO ($50K); the rest Reserves.
  5. Institutions for mental patients and handicapped. Budget opaque. Could probably be cut by 80%.
  6. Three endowed UNR departments (Mining, Agriculture, and Engineering). Tuition pays for everything else. ($0).
  7. Assorted bureaucracies like AG, Sec of State, State Superintendent, etc. (<$10M)

That's all. The legislature could simply vote everything else out of existence. Bye bye NSHE dunderhead jocks, junk depts, NFL/NBA/MLB-pay scale coaches, GM executive pay scale campus officials, etc. Bye bye $400K mental hospital shrinks and prison doctors. Bye bye Dairy Commission, Taxicab Authority, and dozens of other ridiculous bureaucracies.

Bye bye Rulffes and his *catastrophic* CCSD. No more sinecures for DEM union members and lucrative contracts for GOP service firms. No more left wing indoctrination of "tolerance". No more right wing indoctrination of "abstinence". No more RD-certified junk food in cafeteria, and Phd-certified junk science texts in classrooms.

Tax revenues are currently running ~$2.4B/yr. The legislature spends ~ALL of it on pork. Send us REBATE checks instead. ~$1,000 per resident. Either that or eliminate business taxes, gaming taxes, entertainment taxes, etc.