Insights Of Our Future -- From 1835
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
As one carefully considers our present state and conditions, it is eerie to read the observations of Alexis De Tocqueville and his viewpoints of what he saw of our country when he visited it prior to writing “Democracy In America” in 1835.
Described in Benjamin Wiker’s book, “10 Books Every Conservative Must Read” we see that Tocqueville saw some things about the way our ancestors (and what would become our culture) viewed the world that led him to evaluate a future then (and a present now) where we would be susceptible to falling into the morass of a government that…
After all, Nevada government simply cannot be required to be constrained by the limitations of the present revenue stream – there is still so much more that this government “needs” to do!
As one carefully considers our present state and conditions, it is eerie to read the observations of Alexis De Tocqueville and his viewpoints of what he saw of our country when he visited it prior to writing “Democracy In America” in 1835.
Described in Benjamin Wiker’s book, “10 Books Every Conservative Must Read” we see that Tocqueville saw some things about the way our ancestors (and what would become our culture) viewed the world that led him to evaluate a future then (and a present now) where we would be susceptible to falling into the morass of a government that…
“…provides for their security, foresees and secures their needs, facilitates their pleasures, conducts their principal affairs, directs their industries, regulates their estates, divides their inheritances; can it not take away from them entirely the trouble of thinking and the pain of living?Further the French writer continued in his insights of society provided for through an all-powerful government…
So that it every day renders the employment of free will less useful and more rare; it confines the action of the will in a small space and little by little steals the very use of free will from each citizen.”
“…it covers its surface with a network of small, complicated, painstaking, uniform rules through which the most original of minds and the most vigorous souls cannot clear a way to surpass the crowd; it does not break wills, but it softens them, bends them and directs them; it rarely forces one to act, but it constantly opposes itself to one’s acting; it does not destroy, it prevents things from being born; it does not tyrannize, it hinders compromises, enervates, extinguishes, dazes and finally reduces each nation to being nothing more than a herd of timid and industrious animals of which the government is the shepherd.”I hope that you quietly re-read and then reflect on the highlighted excerpts of Mr. De Tocqueville. Consider his predictions and see around us the conditions we find ourselves. As you sit in the balcony of the Nevada Legislature (literally or figuratively) and focus on the words of those who exhort greater tax burdens on those "deserving" to pay more…the thoughts of what a soft despotism looks like becomes all that more crystal clear.
After all, Nevada government simply cannot be required to be constrained by the limitations of the present revenue stream – there is still so much more that this government “needs” to do!
Posted by Doug Busselman at 4/3/2011 5:55 AM 
Categories: Government
Tags: Nevada Taxes Government Expansion
Categories: Government
Tags: Nevada Taxes Government Expansion
Doug,
Any government can become too intrusive. However, as far as Nevada's government is concerned, it isn't. Our tax structure is a 19th century product that was inadequate even for that century. The anemic revenue it created was insufficient to keep Nevada's schools operating at even a basic level. The result was the initiative passed in the 1930s legalizing gambling. The sufficiency of funding legalized gaming created didn't launch the reputation of Nevada's schools into the stratosphere. Now that our gaming-tourism based economy is being challenged by neighboring states, we are now in a position of constant shortfall. Add to that picture the plunging property values that are dropping real estate values below what existed in the pre-bubble 1990s. While Nevada is losing population, we still have far more people here than we did in the 1990s. They use schools, highways, medical facilities, and fill our jails and prisons. The revenue to fund Nevada's obligation to maintain this infrastructure must come from somewhere. Finally taxing medium and large businesses is really the only answer.
If you want to hold up an example of a truly intrusive state government, look at Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has also legalized gambling. They take 50% of the profits from their casinos, making them defacto partners in the gaming industry. I would have to say that that is socialism. Yet, their casinos are dong very well.
We need to make sure we have the money to keep our schools funded and in good repair. Sandoval's insistence in robbing school maintenance budgets to fund operations is absurd. We shouldn't have to be in an either or situation. The fact that we are is directly attributable to Nevada's policy coddling big businesses at the expense of our children, and our future. Your constant harangue against updating our tax structure to provide badly needed funds is repugnant, and unrealistic. You have no suggestions to fix the problem, except to pass the costs on to individual Nevadans who can't afford them.
If you want to see a system that robs our state and country of its initiative and stifles creativity, you needn't look any further than the one that exists today, whereby businesses pay little to nothing in taxes, export our jobs, import illegal labor, and pay themselves huge salaries and bonuses at the expense of their employees and investors. Small businesses can't compete against monopolies like that. It's this model that is killing the American entrepreneur, NOT oppressive government regulation.
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Lamar…
Thank you for your continued readership and willingness to share your comments/perspectives.
I’m not too certain that the issue which you and others have with our tax structure is solely over the structure (although that is the most frequent contention). If structure was the problem, we would be able to have a public discussion of what taxes should be added and which should go away, resulting in a revenue neutral outcome.
From looking around the country, it would seem that those who have different types of taxes than Nevada are also enduring shortcomings in revenue.
While my Nevada experience only dates back to the 1989 Nevada Legislature, I’ve had the opportunity to have a close-up view of every session since that time and witnessed on more than one occasion the tax structure that is so terrible delivering significant surpluses – which were promptly spent beyond the amount of revenue available. Tax increases have been passed and new taxes instituted during that same time-frame…but, still we have a tax system which is lacking.
From my experience and point of view, there is no tax structure which would be considered ideal. Likewise, I doubt there is any combination of taxes which would ever generate the amount of revenue desired, since more revenue only prompts higher spending and then requires more taxes to surpass what was previously spent.
From the standpoint of education, again looking back over the past 20-some years, I would challenge you to find a regular legislative session (including the 2009 session) where K-12 funding was ever reduced from the previous budget cycle. Granted, the 2010 special session did require a slight decrease, but it was the only time where actual reductions took place. In the process of this ever-increasing level of spending…the outcome of the education community’s performance has declined.
We will need to see whether there will actually be budget reductions for the coming biennium in K-12 education and whether meaningful reform will be adopted.
Perhaps the best outcome would be to focus on what we get for the money spent as opposed to how much more should be expended.
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