Friday, September 13, 2013

MUTH'S TRUTHS 09/13/2013

COMING THIS AFTERNOON…

A blockbuster report on an explosive confrontation in Lake Tahoe this past weekend that threatens the grip on power of a certain high-level GOP leader.
If you are not yet a subscriber to Silver State Confidential, get thee to the FREE 30-day trial webpage and sign up RIGHT NOW or you'll miss this exclusive, jaw-dropping story!


CITIZEN OUTREACH AND MOUNT REAGAN RISING

A well-balanced story by Henry Breen on the initial approval of Citizen Outreach’s Mount Reagan Project was published in today’s Las Vegas Review-Journal.  You can read all about it by clicking here.

And there is a lesson to be learned from this for activists engaged in all manner of issues: Citizen activism DOES make a difference.  Fact is our proposal was almost scuttled thanks to a last-minute email campaign to the Nevada Board on Geographic Names, as is explained in the article. 


So our effort isn’t a done deal by any stretch.  We fully expect even greater opposition by Reagan haters now that the proposal moves to the federal board in Washington, DC.

One final note on this: I can’t help but point out what former RINO Assemblyman Mark Sherwood wrote on his “idiot” blog a year ago about the Mt. Reagan Project. 

Ass. “SureWould” claimed I was “scamming” money for this “phony” initiative and went on to ask, “What does chuck muth have to show the donors who actually believed muth was either sincere and/or competent to get Ronald Reagan’s name on (a mountain)?”

Um, it’s called “success,” SureWould.  Not victory yet, to be sure.  But definite success. 

CITIZEN OUTREACH FIGHTS FOR CITIZEN INITIATIVES

The Nevada Legislature, protecting itself from the great unwashed, passed a bill in 2005 that has essentially made it near-impossible for the citizens of this state to get an initiative on the ballot.  Naturally, this “single subject” law doesn’t apply to the Legislature, only to us peons, an outrageous slap at the very concept of equality under the law. 

Fortunately, Las Vegas attorney Kermit Waters has filed a lawsuit, of which Citizen Outreach is a plaintiff, to overturn this law.  The suit is slated for oral arguments before the Nevada Supreme Court in the near future.  Read more by clicking here and here.

KIRNER SPEAKING WITH FORKED TONGUE ON THE “KIRNER TAX”

When a Republican starts dissembling over the “principled character” of his position in support of a tax hike, one immediately suspects the position is being articulated with a forked tongue coming out of two faces.  Such is the case of Assemblyman Randy Kirner’s (R-Reno) recent defense of the proposed “Kirner Tax.”

The Washoe County school district – like just about every other school district in the universe – is whining about not having enough money.  So it went to the Legislature this year to ask for a sales and property tax hike to fund school construction projects – including the must-have, super-critical installation of…wi-fi? - that would be built with over-inflated union wages.

And yet Kirner is now the leading champion of a bill (AB46) in which he, his legislative colleagues and the governor opted not to vote on the proposed tax hikes themselves – so much for profiles in courage – but instead passed the buck to the Washoe County Commission in an unconstitutional effort to circumvent the Gibbons Tax Restraint Law.

Kirner hopes the commissioners will send the Kirner Tax to a vote of the people, laughably referring to this end-run as “a principled approach to taxation with representation.” 

What a load of sheep-dip.  There’s no principle involved here.  This is simply an all too typical case of a weak-kneed GOP legislator bending to the whim of a liberal special interest. 

The fact is, Kirner was elected to represent the voters of his district, and those voters never demanded these tax hikes; the school district did.  Nor did Kirner run on a platform of “Elect me and I’ll vote to raise your taxes.”  So he has no electoral mandate whatsoever to do so.

Which is the reason for his butt-covering op-ed; designed to fool voters into believing up is down, night is day, and the Kirner Tax is somehow a “principled” proposal even though it is in direct conflict with the very Republican Party principles he supposedly supports.

If Assemblyman Kirner wishes to propose a sales and property tax hike, then he should run on the Kirner Tax next year in the Republican Party primary and see how well he fares at the ballot box.

And if some voters want to raise taxes on themselves, they can go out and collect enough signatures to demonstrate sufficient interest to put it on the ballot, just as former Gov. Jim Gibbons did with his tax restraint initiative.

And if Assemblyman Kirner wants to duck his responsibilities and not cast tough votes for or against local tax hikes, then give the local governments “home rule” so they have the power to make such decisions themselves.

Otherwise, perhaps Assemblyman Kirner could at least adopt the principle of being straight with the voters.  Or is that too much to ask?

THE WAY IT USED TO BE

For a minute there while reading this tweet by former University Chancellor Jim Rogers, I thought he was talking about MY family…

“My family didn’t have two cars until I was 14.  Our house had a one-car garage with no plans or ability to make it a 2-car garage.  My father had an excellent job that paid good wages and mother didn’t work until I entered the 7th grade.  Under today’s tests for determining success, my family was a failure. 

“Yet looking back over those one car, one garage, one parent working and one parent staying at home, it seems to me my family was far more successful than its counterpart today, which must have both parents working, often more than a 40 hour week, both parents being stressed to the limit, and their children being denied the necessary time and attention from the parents.”

Of course, part of the reason why both parents very often are forced to work full-time these days is just to pay the taxes sucked out of their households by the government!

GUN RAFFLE

For just five bucks, you could win an HRA Goldenboy 22LR rifle autographed by legendary rock star Ted Nugent! 

The raffle is sponsored by the Lyon County Republican Central Committee and the winning ticket (I hope it’s mine!) will be drawn at the party’s Lincoln Day Dinner at the Boys & Girls Club in Yerington on February 1, 2014. 

For more information, contact editor@lyoncountynvgop.org

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

“That the (single subject) law frustrates direct democracy is virtually undeniable.  The state and its allies argue the stricter standard is necessary because initiatives are otherwise subject to fraud, deception and abuse. But they should know better. Drop by the Legislative Building in the last 48 hours before final adjournment if you want to see real fraud, deceit and abuse: unread amendments voted upon; unvetted ideas snuck into final bills by clever lobbyists; and back-room deals the public never sees.” – Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Steve Sebelius

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