Posted by Webmaster on February 13, 2010 under Spending
People have been moving away from Nevada because it no longer is an easy place to get a job.
As Nevada’s politicians gear up for a special session to reduce its plans for government spending down to the level of its tax revenue, the Las Vegas Sun this morning profiled politicians who want to raise taxes. Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce told the reporter:
We have the smallest government in the country and it’s not even close.
This is a whopper of a lie. Nevada has an average sized state-and-local government, although because it shifts a large portion of its government funding onto visitors, Nevada residents pay less than other states’ residents. But Nevada’s government spending, in study after study, is average.
Assemblywoman Pierce has been lying about stingy government in Nevada since she was elected. That’s not news. The more striking aspect of this story is the question it poses about the media’s responsibility to give Assemblywoman Pierce a platform to lie without any fact-checking.
Should the Las Vegas Sun’s reporter David McGrath Schwartz have corrected Pierce’s prevarication?
Posted by Webmaster on January 8, 2010 under Local Government, Salaries, State Government
Driven by the highest local government (cities, counties) pay in the United States and moderated by less lucrative state-level worker pay, Nevada overall ranks sixth-highest government worker pay in a new study by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.
Posted by Webmaster on December 28, 2009 under Economy
Thanks Harry – for kicking Nevada’s second largest industry while it’s down.
Posted by Webmaster on December 22, 2009 under News, Spending, Tax Structure
PLAN has ranked Nevada’s elected officials. The average grade is a D. Here’s the full story.
Posted by Webmaster on September 7, 2009 under News
July 13th, 2009
Congressman Tom McClintock offered remarks in Washington, D. C., on Friday to the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Pacific Research Institute that clearly illustrate why California is facing such a large fiscal mess. His beginning joke is so funny because it is so true:
“I know that everybody likes to poke fun at California – but I can tell you right now that despite all of its problems, California remains one of the best places in the world to build a successful small business. All you have to do is start with a successful large business.”
Here is the rest of the speech:
Laugh if you will, but let me remind you that when these policies finish wrecking California, there are still 49 other states we can all move to – and yours is one of them. I should also warn you of the strange sense of déja-vu that I have every day on the House floor as I watch the same folly and blunders that wrecked California now being passed with reckless abandon in this Congress.
We passed a “Cash-for-Clunkers” bill the other day – we did that years ago in California.
Doubling the entire debt every five years? Been there. Increasing spending at unsustainable rates? Done that. Save-the-Planet-Carbon-Dioxide restrictions? Got the T-Shirt.
To understand how these policies can utterly destroy an economy and bankrupt a government, you have to remember the Golden State in its Golden Age. A generation ago, California spent about half what it does today AFTER adjusting for both inflation and population growth. Read more of this article »
Posted by Webmaster on August 12, 2009 under Economy, Tax Stability, Tax Structure
ALEC – the American Legislative Exchange Council – has released a new study that completely discounts the Ralstonian math oft cited by socialists who want more government and less private sector.
Here’s the complete study, and here are some important highlights:
- Bigger government damages a state’s economy.
- Nevada’s tax structure is generally good for the economy because it offloads a good chunk of the cost of running government onto tourists and companies who cater to tourists (who merely pass their tax burden onto their tourist customers).
- Nevada ranks medium to high on lists that compare tax burdens on residents – again, because Nevada offloads its cost of government onto visitors.
Ralstonian math doesn’t consider government spending a valid measure of government (!). Instead, it only measures how much taxes residents pay. By that measure, Nevada fares poorly.
And that’s the continual harping you’ll hear from those who use Ralstonian math – mostly government unions, socialists and people who curry favor with elected officials in order to trade political influence for a living.
(Full disclosure: ALEC named the webmaster one of a handful of its “State Legislators Of The Year” a couple of years ago).
