The Campaign To Raise Nevada Taxes Continues
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
Week three of the Nevada Legislature began as the last 5 weeks have played out. Since the announcement of the proposed no-tax increase budget for the coming biennium the leader and members of the majority party (who really, really, really want an increase in taxes) continued their bashing of the proposed no-tax increase budget. We’re told that this exercise is their work of finding out the details of what is in the budget, but it amounts to a process of excoriating the proposed budget, which doesn’t include tax increases.
To further assist in the public lambasting process, the majority party’s primary support base, the unions, took advantage of having the President’s Holiday off to show up for a rally on the front steps of the legislative building. Part of the theme of this rally was a show of solidarity for their union brethren in Wisconsin, who also apparently aren’t getting as deep into taxpayer wallets there as they would like either. Members of the Nevada Legislature’s majority party had the stage to play to their crowds and play their politics over policy assault, still not having an actual proposal put forward to solve the problem they want everyone to fall into line for.
Reductions in government spending do not seem to be an approach members of that particular party consider as being legitimate. Taxpayers are supposed to be handing over whatever it takes to provide the ability to spend ever-increasing amounts. In a recent newspaper article from the Las Vegas Review Journal I read one leader within the majority party unabashedly saying that corporations should be forced to pay higher taxes in Nevada – they are making money, lots of money. Which seems to indicate that the tax policy of that party is whoever is making money should be required to give what they make to the government. Once taxes have been increased the spending binges can continue and the resources acquired from those who have earned the money can be properly redistributed.
The first day of the third week of the Nevada Legislature also saw the continuation of the reports being given to the Nevada Senate’s Select Committee on Economic Growth and Employment. In gathering information to launch their program of putting Nevada citizens back to work, this committee heard a presentation by a group of out of work architects who read the Nevada Vision Group’s report, pulled out excerpts that fit their hankering for public work projects – added a few pictures and cool animation to their power point presentation – and perhaps made a point about something… Naturally, the presentation included the exhortation of needing to better fund education, providing not only larger amounts of funding for K-12 and Higher Education, but pre-school as well. Another important must in such a presentation for economic diversification is to flash slides of all kinds of companies with impressive and high-tech sounding brand names and tell legislators that those enterprises aren’t in Nevada.
In conducting their campaign to increase taxes, the members of the majority party are developing their themes well, seeking to demonstrate the hardship of those who receive the money spent by government and portraying the economic advancement of Nevada as being something that only government can provide. While we’re only seeing hints of coming attractions, expect villains soon to be presented as those who ought to be paying their fair share…but for now those specifics will be kept behind the closed doors where true Nevada legislative policy is crafted.
Week three of the Nevada Legislature began as the last 5 weeks have played out. Since the announcement of the proposed no-tax increase budget for the coming biennium the leader and members of the majority party (who really, really, really want an increase in taxes) continued their bashing of the proposed no-tax increase budget. We’re told that this exercise is their work of finding out the details of what is in the budget, but it amounts to a process of excoriating the proposed budget, which doesn’t include tax increases.
To further assist in the public lambasting process, the majority party’s primary support base, the unions, took advantage of having the President’s Holiday off to show up for a rally on the front steps of the legislative building. Part of the theme of this rally was a show of solidarity for their union brethren in Wisconsin, who also apparently aren’t getting as deep into taxpayer wallets there as they would like either. Members of the Nevada Legislature’s majority party had the stage to play to their crowds and play their politics over policy assault, still not having an actual proposal put forward to solve the problem they want everyone to fall into line for.
Reductions in government spending do not seem to be an approach members of that particular party consider as being legitimate. Taxpayers are supposed to be handing over whatever it takes to provide the ability to spend ever-increasing amounts. In a recent newspaper article from the Las Vegas Review Journal I read one leader within the majority party unabashedly saying that corporations should be forced to pay higher taxes in Nevada – they are making money, lots of money. Which seems to indicate that the tax policy of that party is whoever is making money should be required to give what they make to the government. Once taxes have been increased the spending binges can continue and the resources acquired from those who have earned the money can be properly redistributed.
The first day of the third week of the Nevada Legislature also saw the continuation of the reports being given to the Nevada Senate’s Select Committee on Economic Growth and Employment. In gathering information to launch their program of putting Nevada citizens back to work, this committee heard a presentation by a group of out of work architects who read the Nevada Vision Group’s report, pulled out excerpts that fit their hankering for public work projects – added a few pictures and cool animation to their power point presentation – and perhaps made a point about something… Naturally, the presentation included the exhortation of needing to better fund education, providing not only larger amounts of funding for K-12 and Higher Education, but pre-school as well. Another important must in such a presentation for economic diversification is to flash slides of all kinds of companies with impressive and high-tech sounding brand names and tell legislators that those enterprises aren’t in Nevada.
In conducting their campaign to increase taxes, the members of the majority party are developing their themes well, seeking to demonstrate the hardship of those who receive the money spent by government and portraying the economic advancement of Nevada as being something that only government can provide. While we’re only seeing hints of coming attractions, expect villains soon to be presented as those who ought to be paying their fair share…but for now those specifics will be kept behind the closed doors where true Nevada legislative policy is crafted.
Posted by Doug Busselman at 2/22/2011 5:42 AM 
Categories: 2011 Nevada Legislature
Tags: Nevada Budget and Taxes
Categories: 2011 Nevada Legislature
Tags: Nevada Budget and Taxes
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