The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed a lawsuit this past week in Carson City attempting to block the voters from having a say on an initiative petition that would amend the state Constitution to prohibit sanctuary cities in Nevada. ACLU of Nevada Executive Director Tod Story was quoted in a press release as saying, “This pointless, poorly crafted petition would … [Read more...]
Nevada’s Own Sex Scandal Needs a Full Airing
The year 2017 will go down as the year sexual harassment claims erupted — from Hollywood to D.C., from Harvey Weinstein to Kevin Spacey, from Senate candidate Roy Moore to Sen. Al Franken. Lest we forget, this year Nevada had its own sex scandal, but, unlike the others, this one was buried in secrecy and the accused allowed to resign and slink away. State Sen. Mark … [Read more...]
Constitution Stretched to the Breaking Point
If words can mean anything anyone says they mean, then words are meaningless. That is what the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has done with the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. The appellate court overturned a federal judge who found that the Commerce Clause does not give Congress the power under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to regulate a species that exists only … [Read more...]
Va Health System Continues to Need Bandaging
A month ago USA Today published the results of a months-long investigation of the Department of Veterans Affairs that found the agency covered up mistakes and misdeeds by doctors, nurses, and staffers, often by cutting secret severance agreements and then writing large severance checks. “In some cases, agency managers do not report troubled practitioners to the National … [Read more...]
Tax Reform Bill Divides Nevada Delegation Along Party Lines
Like everything else to come out of Washington, the House tax reform bill introduced this past week has turned into a partisan hissing match in a fact-free zone. Republicans hail it as an economy-stimulating second coming, while Democrats decry it as a sop to the wealthy and a death knell for the middle class. The bill lowers the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 … [Read more...]
Wildfires: an Ounce of Prevention Worth a Pound of Cure
Wildfires have become an increasingly costly and devastating problem in the West over the past decades as federal land managers have increasingly restricted logging and road building and maintenance. The average number of acres burned each year in the past decade has topped 6 million, compared to 3 million a year in the 1970s. As of the end of October of this year, there … [Read more...]
Federally Funded Fun Study Misfires
Spend enough money, crunch enough data — you can “prove” anything. A recent study out of the hallowed halls of the University of California at Berkeley found a 70 percent increase in gun deaths and injuries in California communities after gun shows in nearby Nevada cities, but no increase in gun violence following gun shows in California. If research shows it, it must … [Read more...]
Time to Relax Professional Job Licensing Burden
We have ranted and railed for years about the excessive and job-killing professional licensing requirements in Nevada — to no avail. Nevada has long ranked among the worst locales in the nation for limiting competition for jobs in certain professions — and not just doctors and lawyers, but also bricklayers, makeup artists, bus drivers, painters, manicurists and animal … [Read more...]