Transparency is an essential part of a representative government; without it, some would rule while others would simply be ruled over. This is why the federal government and every state in the nation has passed laws that explicitly address the public’s right to access government records and information. For more than 100 years, Nevada has had some form of public records law … [Read more...]
Big Government’s Largest Cheerleader Is Itself
Let’s be honest: Both major political parties seem to be fans of growing government. Politicians, however seem to know that most voters aren’t quite as anxious to hike taxes or increase spending. After all, hopeful lawmakers continually promise to make government leaner, trim excess and curb waste in the public sector — and politicians are masters of telling voters what they … [Read more...]
America’s ‘Socialist’ Generation Is More Capitalist Than It Thinks
Kids today ruin everything. Socialism, for example, just isn’t what it used to be. Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, for advocates of the free market system, the evolving understanding of what it means to be a “socialist” in modern America isn’t nearly as dire as it sounds. The newly empowered generation of young Americans — millennials certainly … [Read more...]
What Does PERS Have to Hide? Over $1.8 Billion of Public Money Each Year
Nevada’s Public Employee Retirement Systems (PERS) has a history of protecting their data and blocking the public’s access to information, even though the public (you and I) are footing the hefty bill of almost $2 billion a year. That’s more than 10 percent of state and local government’s combined own-source revenue, and the second highest percentage in the nation. It’s bad … [Read more...]
Free Speech? Social Media and its Gatekeepers
What happens when the “public square” is guarded by gatekeepers eager to censor anything they view as inappropriate political speech? That’s a question many conservative and libertarian activists are now asking, as “progressive” social-media companies accelerate their crusade against anything that gets labeled as hate speech, online bullying and fake news. At its outset, … [Read more...]
America’s Revolution: It Wasn’t About a Tax or Tariff – It Was About Consent
The America Revolution was not about a tax or tariff. It was about the consent of the governed or, more precisely, the lack thereof. Many Americans today seem to chalk the revolution up to years of oppressive government from a tyrannical English king. Punitive and unfair taxes, human rights abuses and crippling tariffs — so the simple story goes — led oppressed colonists to … [Read more...]
The Teacher’s Union Civil War: Worker freedom Needed
The union infighting across Nevada and especially in Clark County shows a real need for policy changes that empower workers, not union bosses. Last month, the Clark County Education Association (CCEA) voted to separate from its parent union, the Nevada State Education Association (NSEA). The decision was made, according to CCEA, because the state union regularly fails to … [Read more...]
Just Because It’s Bipartisan, Doesn’t Mean It’s a Good Idea
During the tumultuous presidential primaries in 2016, one candidate promised to impose huge tariffs on Chinese goods, “until they stop dumping steel into the United States,” thus restoring the American steel industry to its former glory. The candidate I’m thinking about was actually the self-described socialist senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders — but it just as easily … [Read more...]
Encourage Businesses to Invest in Education: Expand Educational Choice
Democrat gubernatorial candidate Steve Sisolak unveiled his education platform last month and, despite his best efforts, he unintentionally made a strong case for expanding Nevada’s only funded educational-choice program: Opportunity Tax-Credit Scholarships. “People want to help” improve education, said Sisolak, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Businesses want to … [Read more...]
The Doublethink of Modern Politics
In George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, he introduced his readers to the concept of “doublethink” — the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. Orwell concisely illustrated the concept with his fictional government’s contradictory slogan for the people: “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is … [Read more...]
The ‘End of the World’ Comes with a Bump in Pay
One wouldn’t know it listening to many media loudmouths, but the recently passed GOP tax reform bill is producing results that should earn the applause of “progressives.” Unfortunately, as is now par for the course, political tribalism — not legitimate policy concerns — has encouraged the political left to protest a tax plan that’s poised to benefit every income bracket and … [Read more...]
Where’s the ‘Progressive’ Outrage over Government’s Failures?
Fifty-four years ago this month, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced the beginning of what would turn out to be America’s longest running war: the “War on Poverty.” “This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America,” boomed Johnson, basking in the applause the grand declaration guaranteed him during his State of the Union … [Read more...]
Political Contempt is Chilling Free Speech
Americans still largely believe in the right to free speech — but they are simultaneously less likely to exercise it than they have been in the past. And it’s not hard to see why. According to a recent Cato survey on the topic, nearly three-fourths of Americans say that “political correctness” has significantly silenced political speech on important issues. A quick … [Read more...]
Be Thankful for Our Ability to Fail
The late Steve Jobs once explained that “A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” This is clearly the mentality of a successful entrepreneur. Part of this mindset is the ability to see the world, and the marketplace, with fresh eyes — to spot new ways of doing things and then exploit those opportunities while the rest of the world is … [Read more...]
Taxpayers Already Said “No” Once Before
Much like government entitlement programs, it seems there is nothing more permanent in this world than a newly-enacted tax. However, soon, Nevada taxpayers might have an opportunity to create an exception to this rule. The Commerce Tax — the state’s ill-advised tax on gross-receipts — might finally be brought before the voters. Currently, signatures are being gathered to … [Read more...]
Stop Calling Higher Taxes a ‘Reform’: Property Taxes in Nevada
It’s not very often that a bad tax system actually benefits taxpayers — but that’s the case with Nevada’s property tax. Both policy experts and local governments have repeatedly called for reform to the state’s convoluted property tax structure — albeit for entirely different reasons. Many policy experts dislike the current system because it’s unnecessarily complex, and … [Read more...]
Right-to-Work: Improving the Value of Labor Unions in 28 States and Counting
Union bosses often try to portray right-to-work laws — which allow workers to decline or opt out of union membership — as a direct attack on unionization itself, arguing that supporters of employee freedom secretly wish to see workers enslaved under a harsh and punitive employment system. The truth is, if right-to-work supporters were actually trying to destroy unions, … [Read more...]
Special Interests Wanted ESAs Dead: More Than Sandoval Wanted the Program Funded
Teacher unions care more about their share of tax revenue than they do about the quality education of children. More than anything else, that should be the takeaway from the 2017 legislative session — when opponents of educational choice called the Governor’s bluff on Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). Of course, the word “bluff” implies that, ultimately, Sandoval was not … [Read more...]
We Shouldn’t Have to Get Government Permission Slips to Earn a Living
Music therapy, according to Nevada law, is “the clinical use of music interventions” within a therapeutic relationship — including dance, song writing, lyric discussions and even simply listening to music. Nevada law also states that, without the government’s express permission, practicing “music therapy” is a criminal offense. So too is giving professional interior … [Read more...]
The “Green Energy” Lobby is About Cronyism —Not Polar Bears
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...]
