Commentary
The legislature’s 1st job should be stopping a 2nd Tesla giveaway
As the Nevada Current reported earlier this week, in a month, on March 2, a state economic development agency is scheduled to vote on giving Tesla new, additional tax breaks. Under Nevada economic development law, the agency may have no choice but to approve the “abatements.” And then a state where education, health, transit and […]
If state lawmakers want tenants protected, state lawmakers will have to protect tenants
“The House always wins.” While this phrase may be familiar in Las Vegas’ gambling industry, the aphorism also sadly describes the status of Nevada renters in disputes with landlords—especially in the eviction context. Nevada has the distinction of being the only state in the nation with a draconian summary eviction regime that forces tenants to […]
Independent voters are pretty unpredictable, not ‘shadow partisans’
In the end there was no red wave. And there was no blue wave. There was an independent wave. Pollsters and pundits were counting on independent voters in the 2022 midterm elections to swing to the Republicans as they did in 2014 when Barack Obama was president. That’s when independent turnout in the midterms added […]
Suspending Nevada’s gas tax for a year might save you an estimated nickel-ninety-eight, tops
It was a gimmick when Nevada Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen signed on to a federal gas tax holiday plan a year ago, it was a gimmick when Joe Biden floated the idea last summer, and the gas tax holiday remains a gimmick now that Joe Lombardo has proposed one. But gas […]
House Republicans go to bat for tax cheaters
The new House majority nearly came to blows in electing one of their own as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. But those deep fissures were nowhere to be seen days later, when they voted unanimously for a bill that would protect the rich and powerful at the expense of everyone else. Right out […]
Fifty years later, our lives still at risk
Fifty years ago, a very different U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade. Radical right-wing extremists control the Supreme Court and serve in elective office. We have fewer freedoms than we did a generation ago. We suffer, and women die because of it. When the Supreme Court ruled last June to strip away our rights […]
Former cop yells ‘freeze’
Your governor issued a couple executive orders last week of the anti-regulatory variety. One of the orders calls for somebody to explain why all occupational license requirements even have the right to exist, while putting a moratorium on any new licensing regulations. Occupational licenses can sometimes be goofy, and not just in Nevada. Sometimes they […]
What Biden should say and do about the classified documents issue
When crooning about love, The Everly Brothers (under 50, it’s Google time again) reminded us that, “She always breaks my heart in two. It happens every time.” With apologies to Phil and Don, when it comes to crisis management, we could write our own song about those in power, “They always screw it up, they […]
Animals should be treated with care, not cruelty
In recent years, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been under fire for its wasteful, unproductive, and cruel experiments on dogs. Most recently, we exposed that for 75 years, the NIH has spent tens of millions of tax dollars to fund a dog colony that breeds up to 150 puppies a year, including beagles, […]
How the distortion of Martin Luther King Jr.‘s words enables more, not less, racial division
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas is just the latest conservative lawmaker to misuse the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to judge a person on character and not race. In the protracted battle to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House, Roy, a Republican, nominated a Black man, Byron Donalds, […]
Lombardo campaigned on no more shutdowns. He better tell that to House Republicans.
Congress kept Nevada – and its state budget – afloat during Steve Sisolak’s administration. It may sink Nevada during Joe Lombardo’s. Long story short: If House Republicans refuse to approve legislation allowing the U.S. government to pay its bills, the economy could crash and burn. Long story longer: During his unconditional surrender to his party’s […]
Affordable health insurance empowers us all
Working for yourself has any number of perks, like having the freedom to follow your passion and controlling your own schedule. Unfortunately, there is also the fear of being on your own, and of being able to take care of yourself and those you love. The one question that loomed over me every day as […]