It comes as no surprise that the Nevada legislature is, yet again, going to try to micromanage the energy market through a variety of new renewable energy mandates and subsidies. Sadly, it is even less of a shock that opposition to these initiatives is scarce, to say the least. After all, the “green energy” movement has done a fantastic job portraying itself as the … [Read more...]
‘Obamacare Lite’ Is Not the Free-Market Solution We Were Promised
When Republicans recently unveiled their first attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, it became obvious the leadership was more focused on repackaging and rewriting than repealing and replacing. Certainly, some changes were suggested that would have boded well for businesses and individuals. While the individual and business mandates would remain a part of the law, … [Read more...]
Lawmakers Should Focus on Consequences of Minimum Wage Hikes – Not Mere Intentions
It didn’t take the new Nevada legislature long before it started toying with the idea of raising the minimum wage. Introduced within the first week of Nevada’s 79th legislative session, SB106 would incrementally increase the minimum wage from the current $8.25 per hour to a grand total of $12 per hour. Another more aggressive proposal — AB175 — was introduced the following … [Read more...]
Federal Land Is About Control, Not Conservation
In the final months of his presidency, President Obama used his executive authority to place millions of acres of western lands “off limits” to development — and big-government environmentalists cheered the move. Certainly the protections put in place by declaring large swaths of western lands “protected” is a policy result that pleases the ecologically concerned — but … [Read more...]
Thanks to Capitalism, the Future Is Quickly Arriving
The future is apparently upon us. It’s true that we don’t yet have flying cars, cities built on clouds or Back-to-the-Future-style hover boards. But we are on the verge of having self-driving cars. And we already have telephones with more computing power than the system that successfully landed men on the moon. And now, thanks to retail giant Amazon, we will soon have … [Read more...]
Transferable Tax Credits
Private hands in taxpayers’ pockets It might be illegal under the Nevada Constitution for the government to give any private business a direct “gift” or subsidy — but since when does the ruling class let little things like constitutional intentions get in their way? The purpose of the constitutional ban on giveaways and subsidies to private corporations makes sense. Such … [Read more...]
The Elections Aren’t the End: They’re Just the Beginning
For far too long now, Nevada has been increasing the regulatory and tax burden on businesses, while simultaneously giving special handouts to politically connected companies and industries. It’s an environment that is ripe for corruption, abuse and political shenanigans. It breeds “protectionist lobbying,” allowing politically connected companies to squeeze out small … [Read more...]
The Immoral Crusade for More: Government Intervention Needs to Stop
It seems that whenever someone attacks the core principles of free-market capitalism, they do so with a self-righteous attitude of moral supremacy. After all, the push for redistributing wealth, regulating businesses and expanding government always seems to be “for the greater good,” so it’s easy to see why big government advocates are so smitten with themselves. As such, … [Read more...]
Political Elites Send a Message: ‘Dissent Will Not Be Tolerated’
Nineteen U.S. senators, organized by global-warming alarmist groups, took to the Senate floor recently in an attempt to smear anyone who dares publicly criticize Big Government’s “green energy” schemes. Harry Reid led the charge — singling out the Nevada Policy Research Institute (NPRI), by name. “Those who ignore the climate crisis, or deny it exists, do not have a valid … [Read more...]
Public Sector Unions: Not pro-worker, rather Anti-Freedom
What level of service would private businesses provide if they knew their consumers had no choice but to purchase their product? In the real-world of private-sector industry, customers are retained by providing them with a good or a service at a price they are willing to pay. In the world of public-sector unions, however, coercion, cronyism and deceit are the favored methods … [Read more...]
If Cronyism Is the Problem, Maybe We Should Stop Empowering Its Enablers
America’s young adults don’t seem nearly as turned off by socialism as do their parents and grandparents. Actually, they seem pretty receptive to the concept. No doubt decades of class warfare have helped make younger generations feel more inclined to “soak the rich.” But, it also seems likely they’re more prone to flirting with socialism because of general disillusionment … [Read more...]
Teacher Unions Put Unions First, Not Students
Teachers in Detroit went on strike last month — demonstrating once again that union bosses are not nearly as interested in quality education for children, as they are in maintaining the political power of their unions. Of course, union apologists will argue that what happened in Detroit, where teachers are legally barred from striking, was not technically a “strike.” … [Read more...]
ESA’s Aren’t About Politics — They’re About the Students
If Nevada is serious about improving education throughout the state, it needs to begin focusing on children — not taxpayer-funded bureaucracies. By using students and teachers as little more than political props, the established public school system routinely pressures voters, taxpayers and politicians for an ever-increasing amount of funding. Governor Brian Sandoval used … [Read more...]
The Discriminatory Law Being Used to Torpedo Educational Choice in Nevada
It seems ironic that a group named something as benevolent as “The American Civil Liberties Union” would be using a discriminatory law from the 1800s to prohibit disadvantaged Nevadans from obtaining quality education. But, that’s exactly what is happening. In one of the two court cases aimed at stopping Nevada’s innovative Education Savings Accounts, the ACLU is arguing … [Read more...]
History Repeats Itself
One of the problems with “progressive” ideas is that they often turn out to be the recycled remains of already tried-and-failed concepts. Nevada’s Commerce Tax — set to take effect this summer — is a prime example. Billed as an innovative tax on large businesses, the Commerce Tax will soon slap a new cost of doing business on any company with more than $4 million in … [Read more...]
Good or Bad Financial Times, Government Just Keeps Growing
Many government workers are probably wondering what all the fuss is about when they think back to the “great recession.” Sure, home values dropped and things seemed to slow down a bit, but it wasn’t really that bad, right? Well, not for them. It’s no secret that government employees enjoy considerably more job security than their private-sector counterparts, but the … [Read more...]
The Minimum Wage is not Just Anti-Business – It’s Anti-Worker as Well
Workers who make the least are hit hardest by short-sighted minimum wage hikes As economist Murray Rothbard once put it, there is only one way to describe a minimum wage law: “It is compulsory unemployment.” If the activist group The Committee to Raise the Minimum Wage in Nevada gets their way, Nevadans will see exactly what Rothbard warned against. The group has filed a … [Read more...]
Report Card Shows which Lawmakers Stood up for Taxpayers: Only 20 of 63 Kept their Commitments to Taxpayers
It’s easy for elected officials to pay lip service to how well they’re doing and talk about their achievements but, just as in school, report cards show the world what actually happened. To that end, the Nevada Policy Research Institute (NPRI) has just released its 2015 Legislative Review & Report Card, which includes a narrative overview of the session and scores every … [Read more...]
The Issue of Land: A Key Discussion for Nevada’s Future
As Presidential candidates make their way to Nevada, the economy will undoubtedly be among their talking points, and in the West, the future of the economy has much to do with land. The issue of land ownership is perhaps nowhere more important than in Nevada, which is overwhelmingly hogtied by the federal government. Holding title to over 81 percent of Nevada land, the … [Read more...]
Businesses Needed for Scholarship Program: At No Net Cost to Firms, Donations will Improve the Lives of Students
Despite the spin from some, Nevada business people care deeply about education in Nevada and routinely donate millions towards K-12 and higher education. Unfortunately, politicians also routinely force “contributions” by raising taxes, including the largest tax hike in Nevada history during the last legislative session. For decades, business owners and employees have paid … [Read more...]
