State Sen. Steven Horsford is Majority Leader and argues that the answer is yes.
When times are tough it helps to know you’ve got someone looking out for you – someone like Sen. Harry Reid. Reid has been a champion for Nevada throughout his career, and has passed important legislation to create and protect jobs, spur clean energy development and cut taxes for our state’s families and businesses.
Sen. Reid led passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), pro-business legislation that has created or saved tens of thousands of jobs already and is bringing home more than $1.5 billion for Nevada. This legislation has kept teachers in classrooms, construction workers on the job and dealers on the casino floor. In fact, Harrah’s executives said the debt cancellation provision Sen. Reid personally inserted into the legislation protected 31,000 Nevada jobs. But it wasn’t as simple as just putting it in the bill. He had to fight to keep it there when members of the House and even the Administration wanted to take it out. That’s something only the Majority Leader of the Senate can do.
ARRA also brought hundreds of millions of dollars in investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, including $144 million for geothermal projects and $138 million to implement smart electrical grid technologies. That means jobs all across the state are headed our way.
Sen. Reid knows that Nevada families and business – and small firms in particular – have been hard hit by this economic recession. That’s why he made sure small businesses would be able to use their losses during 2008-09 to recoup taxes paid in the last five years, a measure that will help spur the growth that will help pull Nevada and this nation out of the current economic slump.
Harry Reid led passage of the 21st Century G.I. Bill of Rights, providing veterans with the educational opportunities they deserve, and has been a advocate for Nevada’s military bases. He also championed the passage and extension of the Homebuyer Tax Credit, which is spurring home sales in Nevada’s struggling real estate market.
And his work to pass comprehensive health insurance reform will save small businesses money. If we maintain the status quo, small firms could see premiums rise 15% in the coming year – double the rate of last year’s increase.
Sen. Reid’s efforts on behalf of Nevada businesses and families aren’t new – he has long been an advocate for the policies that secure a better future for our great state. And that brings us to the number one reason to support Sen. Reid’s reelection in 2010: he delivers for Nevada like no one else could.
Nancy Ernaut is Nevada Republican Party Chairwoman and argues that the answer is no.
In 1983, Nevadans sent Harry Reid, who they thought was a true moderate Democrat from Searchlight, Nevada to Washington, D.C. but over the course of the last 27 years – especially the last three years during his tenure as the Senate Majority Leader – he has put the needs of the Democratic Party ahead of what’s best for Nevada. Nowhere is that more evident than his track record on creating jobs for Nevadans.
Earlier this year, in an effort to address the economic unease in our country, Congress took up an economic stimulus bill. When the process began, President Obama was hoping for a bipartisan bill that could gain around 80 votes in the Senate. Once Senator Reid decided that “economic stimulus” meant doling taxpayer money out for congressional pet projects, it was quickly realized that the president would never get the broad bipartisan support that he wanted for his economic recovery package.
Now, 10 months since this legislation was signed into law, Senator Reid finally realized that the so-called economic stimulus never “created or saved” the 34,000 jobs in Nevada that he promised. So in a desperate attempt to save face, Senator Reid took full credit for a debt cancellation amendment into the stimulus that he claimed saved over 31,000 jobs for Harrah’s.
But according to a recent article in the Las Vegas Review Journal, it was revealed that Senator Reid was not straight-forward with Nevadans, as the legislation was actually championed by Senator Ensign and Reid grossly exaggerated the number of jobs saved from this amendment. University of Nevada, Las Vegas political science professor David Damore went so far to say that if Senator Reid continues to make incorrect assertions, then more problems will lay ahead for him.
The truth is since Harry Reid became the Senate Majority Leader, Nevada’s unemployment rate has gone from 4.4 to 13.3 percent. Furthermore when it comes to our economic issues in Nevada, Senator Reid has consistently tried to take credit for saving jobs while avoiding any responsibility for the state’s rising unemployment rate.
Our economic situation is quite grim. Next November, our state will have an opportunity to choose between a fresh new leader who is committed to getting our state back on track or they can opt for more failed economic policies from Harry Reid.