Monte Miller, a highly-respected conservative businessman from Las Vegas, is proposing a pair of ballot initiatives which would raise taxes on gaming and mining. Why would a conservative do such a thing?
Speculation from the left and the media (but I repeat myself) is that Miller wants to confuse voters at the ballot box so they’ll not only reject his tax hike proposals, but those being put forward by organized labor and various liberal groups (but I repeat myself) which would sock Nevada’s small business community with a new corporate income tax.
I’m not so sure.
The leading entities behind the effort to impose a new income tax on Nevada corporations - other than the unions - are…gaming and mining. They’ve been at it for years.
In an effort to escape tax hikes on their own profitable ventures which are, in so many ways, unique to Nevada, those industries have been trying, for a long time, to “tax the guy behind the tree” rather than shrink the government so that NOBODY’S taxes need be raised. Maybe Miller is just sending a shot across their bow: If you come for us, we’re coming for you!
The result of which could be that gaming, mining and all of Nevada’s small businesses come out on the short end of the stick. The winners: Organized labor and big government liberals. So this is one hell of a dangerous game of chicken these folks are playing. And the rest of us could end up paying for it.
THE “WHERE’S WALDO?” REPORT
Morning Score reports that the Republican presidential candidates were all over South Carolina yesterday, like white on rice:
“The big political event of today in South Carolina is a 6:30 p.m. candidate forum in Duncan. Gingrich, Huntsman and Santorum are confirmed. Romney rallies in Aiken and Hilton Head. Perry spends the day on the coast: Hilton Head, Bluffton and Charleston. Santorum goes north to Rock Hill and York (for a cookout). Gingrich breakfasts in Orlando, opens his campaign office in Miami and returns to South Carolina for the evening forum.”
All of that activity could have been occurring here in Nevada instead. Instead, bupkis.
THE RALSTON RANT
Nugget #1: Responding to Thursday’s press release from the Ron Paul campaign announcing a number of Mormon supporters – Mormons being members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or LDS – liberal “journalist”/political activist Jon Ralston tweeted: “Ron Paul LDSers are from LSD wing of Clark GOP.”
Get it? LSD. Druggies. Jon’s so clever, isn’t he? What a wit.
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
* KDWN 720 AM conservative radio talk-show host Alan Stock debuts his new television show next week in Las Vegas, featuring ½-hour interviews on Cox Cable Channel 14 starting on Tuesday. The week’s first interviews will be with former Las Vegas City Councilman/would-be Nevada GOP chairman Michael McDonald, attorney/would-be state senator Mark Hutchinson, would-be U.S. congressman Danny Tarkanian…and yours truly.
* Speaking of the Nevada GOP and the Family Tarkanian, lots of angst being expressed in back channels over rumors that Nevada Republican Party Chairman Amy Tarkanian is having second thoughts about resigning on February 5, the day after the Nevada GOP presidential caucus. That would be a BIG mistake.
You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. Plus it would hurt her husband’s primary campaign, as well as the party, by being a lightning rod for controversy and unnecessary distraction. Indeed, some party activists are already buzzing like hornets over a simmering brouhaha having to do with a couple thousand dollars worth of expenses for food, drink and travel they don’t think the chairman should have been reimbursed for.
Stick with the original plan, Amy. Exit…stage right. And don’t look back. Believe me, the best kind of chairman to be anyway is a FORMER chairman!
* The Nevada Policy Research Institute's Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation will announce on Jan. 16, 2012 that it will represent and seek justice on behalf of the Ministerio Roco Solida Church and pastor Victor Fuentes. Attorney Joseph Becker will speak briefly about the case and Mr. Fuentes will also make a brief statement regarding the damage the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has done to his church's camp in Amargosa Valley.
* The Las Vegas Valley Tea Party will be hosting an event Monday night, January 16, at the old Tommy Rockers nightclub on Dean Martin Drive in Las Vegas. The featured speaker will be David Keene of the National Rifle Association. 6-8 pm. Open to the public. Just $10 per person. I’ll definitely be there…and hope many of your will join me. RSVP to Vicki Dooling at vickid@lasvegasvalleyteaparty.com
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“Private equity companies that specialize in turnarounds don't usually get involved unless the company is already struggling. And like all companies, the purpose of private equity firms is to earn a profit for investors who have risked their own money. The alternative would be to treat companies as if their primary purpose is to provide employment rather than turn a profit.” – Columnist Linda Chavez
“This is an absurdity. The over-reaction of people to questioning a presidential candidate's record, as though I was now engaged in an assault on free enterprise, is one of the most absurd things I have ever seen.” – Newt Gingrich on criticism he’s received over the Mitt Romney/Bain Capital documentary
“(I)f Mitt Romney wins here (South Carolina), he will win the nomination. And it's likely he will win here.” – Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan
"He's Mormon. That's hard for me as a Baptist. I grew up being taught, you know, it's a cult ... I don't want a president that supports that mystical, cult-like thing." - Jane Morgan, a stay-at-home mom in Greenville, SC, on her difficulty supporting Mitt Romney (H/T Morning Score)
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UPCOMING EVENTS
January 14: Citizen Watchdog training seminar at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson
January 19: Third Thursday center-right coalition Leadership Lunch (invitation only)
February 3: First Friday Happy Hour from 5-7 pm at Swingers Club, Plaza Hotel in downtown Las Vegas
February 4: Nevada Republican presidential caucuses
February 9-11: CPAC at the Marriott/Wardman Park in Washington, DC.
February 16: Third Thursday center-right coalition Leadership Lunch (invitation only)
February 25: Clark County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner
March 2: First Friday Happy Hour from 5-7 pm
March 5-16: Candidate filing in Nevada
March 10: Clark County Republican Party Convention
March 15: Third Thursday center-right coalition Leadership Lunch (invitation only)
May 2: Campaign Training Seminar, Libertarian Party National Convention at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada
May 3-6: Libertarian Party national convention at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, NV
May 4-5: Nevada Republican Party state convention a the Nugget in Sparks, NV
June 8-10: 2012 Conservative Leadership Conference in Las Vegas
June 12: Nevada Primary Election
November 6: General Election
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