It is not too often a judge’s ruling is greeted by all sides as a victory, but that is what happened after federal Judge Andrew Gordon issued a 39-page opinion in the fight over the Clark County water agency’s bid to tap groundwater beneath White Pine, Lincoln and Nye counties. Judge Gordon said the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) could grant the right-of-way for a 300-mile n … [Read more...]
Reaction is revenge; action is justice
There is indeed a very short list of moments wherein it’s good to be reactive: If there is a tiger in your house. If your house is on fire. If your dog, your spouse, or you are on fire. When you are halfway home from Chuck E Cheese, and your spouse says, “Where’s the baby?” When your platoon leader shouts, “Incoming!” If you are a major news outlet and our Commander-i … [Read more...]
Here’s another chance to repeal the Commerce Tax
In 2014 Nevada voters rejected by 79 percent to 21 percent a proposed margins tax, effectively an income tax on state businesses. Despite this unequivocal rejection at the ballot box, lawmakers a few short months later passed a similar, though currently somewhat smaller, tax called the Commerce Tax. The Commerce Tax passed with a two-thirds majority in the … [Read more...]
There’s no escape plan in love
She’s falling in love. And, yes, that’s a joy. But an inconvenience, too, because she’s spent her whole life more or less making sure that never happens. She says something so honest that it takes me aback: “If I fall in love with him, I don’t know what will happen to me.” And I think, “Well, yeah, that’s what falling in love is for, right? It’s supposed to yank us quite impo … [Read more...]
Western congressmen seek monument size reductions
Recently the 17 members of the Congressional Western Caucus — which includes Nevada’s Rep. Mark Amodei — took Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke up on his request for feedback on what to do about all the national monuments created in the past two decades, sending him a letter with specific recommendations about 27 of those monuments. These recommendations called for vastly scali … [Read more...]
Great love? Stare down your fears
He’s stingy. Stingy with his loving reassurance. When she needs it is when he’s least likely to offer it. He scolds her for being insecure. She insists she has every reason to be insecure. Because he’s stingy with his loving reassurance. She scolds him for being withdrawn and distant. He insists he has every reason to be withdrawn and distant. Because she’s insecur … [Read more...]
Another public pension warning flag raised
Researchers at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University have published their annual “Ranking the States by Fiscal Condition,” and Nevada ranked a respectable 14th among the states in overall fiscal health and accountability. The study ranked each state based on short- and long-term debt and other obligations, such as unfunded pensions. The unfunded pension debt is wh … [Read more...]
The deal that never should have been
In all the second-guessing and navel gazing over the Faraday Future flop, no one is bringing up the real reason that the deal should never have been made in the first place. Yes, it was an ill-conceived idea for gullible Nevada lawmakers in a special session in 2015 on blind faith alone to agree to dole out $215 million in tax abatements and credits to entice Faraday Future … [Read more...]