There’s More To It Than Just One Election
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
Amidst the flurry of last minute Get-Out-The-Vote activity and unfolding drama (some of which is created to get out the vote) we need to retain the focus on staying the course in order to turn around the current messed up mindset of Big Government thinking we owe them and that serving Big Government should be our primary purpose in life. It is going to be a lot more than what can be accomplished with one election (even if we end up being successful and sending a bunch of the problem elected officials home). If you haven’t gotten out to vote in support of smaller government (by electing representatives who will work to accomplish that worthy end-result) we aren’t rushing you, but are anxiously waiting your actions to get that done.
For those of us who have voted attention now turns to looking beyond November 2nd and figuring out the things we need to do to press forward the agenda of shrinking government at the national, state and local level. As has been a consistent theme with this blog – fixing the way that government spends money has to be a central and core push going forward. Government hasn’t and can’t buy our way to improved economic well-being. The sooner we get that foundational believe changed the quicker we are to not having so many misguided efforts attempting to confiscate the resources of those who grow our economy in order to satisfy those who take the resources, redistributed by government’s “generosity”.
Looking ahead to the 2011 Nevada Legislative Session, correction of our state’s budget process and replacement of the current “add more spending” method has got to be an outcome no matter what else is accomplished. The new system must establish a priority approach for making funding decisions and include provisions which accent the role of what state government will be, giving due consideration to those areas where spending will not be directed if there isn’t enough to go around. The cycle of spend and tax, without consideration of the ability to sustain the ever-escalating pace must be fixed.
Another point of emphasis in going forward involves our encouragement to those who are elected to represent us to reform our education system and start getting us our money’s worth for the dollars being spent. Yes, education is a priority that deserves recognition and appropriate levels of financial resources. At the same time, given the degree of the dollars being spent already (54 percent of Nevada’s General Fund) we ought to be getting better results than what we’re receiving on those investments. Pouring more money into a badly performing system isn’t going to change much beyond bigger tax bills. The educational reform proposals, developed by the group who put together Nevada’s “Race to the Top” application, are a starting point for meaningful improvements that the 2011 Nevada Legislature need to enact.
Although we’re still a few weeks away from knowing who will be sitting in the chairs and pushing the buttons for voting “Yes” or “No” on specific legislative proposals – it is not too early for each of us to make the commitment that we are not going to stand idle without giving them input on which button they should be pushing. Get to know the person who gets elected to be your representative and plan to reach out to them, sharing your input. Say “thanks” when they get it right and let them know when you would have preferred them to have voted differently. Keep track of whether progress is being made and be in a better position in the 2012 election to do a better job of un-electing the Big Brother Government Champions and returning us to a limited and responsible level of self-government.
Amidst the flurry of last minute Get-Out-The-Vote activity and unfolding drama (some of which is created to get out the vote) we need to retain the focus on staying the course in order to turn around the current messed up mindset of Big Government thinking we owe them and that serving Big Government should be our primary purpose in life. It is going to be a lot more than what can be accomplished with one election (even if we end up being successful and sending a bunch of the problem elected officials home). If you haven’t gotten out to vote in support of smaller government (by electing representatives who will work to accomplish that worthy end-result) we aren’t rushing you, but are anxiously waiting your actions to get that done.
For those of us who have voted attention now turns to looking beyond November 2nd and figuring out the things we need to do to press forward the agenda of shrinking government at the national, state and local level. As has been a consistent theme with this blog – fixing the way that government spends money has to be a central and core push going forward. Government hasn’t and can’t buy our way to improved economic well-being. The sooner we get that foundational believe changed the quicker we are to not having so many misguided efforts attempting to confiscate the resources of those who grow our economy in order to satisfy those who take the resources, redistributed by government’s “generosity”.
Looking ahead to the 2011 Nevada Legislative Session, correction of our state’s budget process and replacement of the current “add more spending” method has got to be an outcome no matter what else is accomplished. The new system must establish a priority approach for making funding decisions and include provisions which accent the role of what state government will be, giving due consideration to those areas where spending will not be directed if there isn’t enough to go around. The cycle of spend and tax, without consideration of the ability to sustain the ever-escalating pace must be fixed.
Another point of emphasis in going forward involves our encouragement to those who are elected to represent us to reform our education system and start getting us our money’s worth for the dollars being spent. Yes, education is a priority that deserves recognition and appropriate levels of financial resources. At the same time, given the degree of the dollars being spent already (54 percent of Nevada’s General Fund) we ought to be getting better results than what we’re receiving on those investments. Pouring more money into a badly performing system isn’t going to change much beyond bigger tax bills. The educational reform proposals, developed by the group who put together Nevada’s “Race to the Top” application, are a starting point for meaningful improvements that the 2011 Nevada Legislature need to enact.
Although we’re still a few weeks away from knowing who will be sitting in the chairs and pushing the buttons for voting “Yes” or “No” on specific legislative proposals – it is not too early for each of us to make the commitment that we are not going to stand idle without giving them input on which button they should be pushing. Get to know the person who gets elected to be your representative and plan to reach out to them, sharing your input. Say “thanks” when they get it right and let them know when you would have preferred them to have voted differently. Keep track of whether progress is being made and be in a better position in the 2012 election to do a better job of un-electing the Big Brother Government Champions and returning us to a limited and responsible level of self-government.
Posted by Doug Busselman at 10/21/2010 5:19 AM 
Categories: 2010 Elections
Tags: Nevada Budget State Spending Taxes 2010 Election Government
Categories: 2010 Elections
Tags: Nevada Budget State Spending Taxes 2010 Election Government
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