Taxes
If it is not sustainable, it won't be sustained
SustainLane Media recently ranked Las Vegas 47th out of 50 U.S. cities in terms of "sustainability." After looking at the subcategories of what constitutes "sustainability," I have to say: whoopty-do.
Read morePaying taxes doesn't mean you care
Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden recently echoed the thoughts of many on the Left - that rich people need to pay more in taxes. In many people's opinion, rich people need to give more because it is the moral and right thing to do; in Biden's opinion, it's patriotic.
The Government can't create jobs
Recently the Center for American Progress and the Nevada Conservation League partnered to report on the economic impact of federal investments in clean energy in Nevada.
What if we increased education spending?
Increasing funds for public education won't result in drastic increases in student achievement. In fact, there is no significant relationship between spending and student achievement. Nevertheless, the advocates of education spending pray that Nevada will summon the "courage" to raise taxes.
Does more spending increase student performance?
When one takes capital outlays, school debt and other payments into the equation, Nevada's K-12 per-pupil spending was $10,420 in 2006 (in 2008 dollar values), which moves Nevada's per-pupil spending ranking up to 31st in the nation from the 44th ranking often cited. As interesting as this is, the per-pupil ranking is still useless.
Nevada is No. 1 in the nation
Recently I reported that Nevada ranked No. 1 (excluding D.C) for under-reporting per-pupil spending in K-12 education. I recently discovered Nevada has another No. 1 education ranking in which it smashes the competition: debt-to-expenditure ratio.
Moving on up
Nevada's actual per-pupil spending in 2006 was $9,738 (total expenditures divided by student population). That figure is 32.5 percent higher than the state's reported official figure of $7,345.
My bad
Well, you can't be right all the time; I'm not omniscient, after all. Last week I reported Nevada's per-pupil spending to be $8,926. But I was wrong: It's higher.
Sunburned by the facts
The Las Vegas Sun continues its assault on education budget cuts, this time claiming that the cuts will destroy our economy. Not so fast, Las Vegas Sun editorial board. Let's inject some facts into this debate.
Just the facts
The Las Vegas Sun has published several articles and op-eds, almost one a day over the last week and a half, lamenting our budget and educational funding "crisis." Despite all these articles few real facts are actually offered.
