Taxes
Less Is More
How Government Caused the Financial Crisis
Public authorities in Nevada and across the globe are pointing fingers in the wrong direction. They are blaming private investors and entrepreneurs engaging in free enterprise for the faults of Washington. Senator Harry Reid's website claims that a lack of government involvement in transactions between private individuals "caused the current financial crisis hurting Nevada families."
Is the tax structure broken?
No, but the spending structure is.
An economic slowdown in Nevada has state and local governments considering tax increases to cover declining revenues. At the state level, much ado has been made about a supposed "budget shortfall" while the Nevada Association of Counties is pushing legislation that would allow counties to increase property taxes.
A modest proposal
Outsourcing education?
Throughout the year several Nevadans, including Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley (D-Las Vegas), former governor Bob Miller, casino mogul Steve Wynn and higher-ed chancellor Jim Rogers have claimed that budget cuts to education in would be "devastating" for the children. These advocates of "Big Education" would like to see Nevada increase spending based on the notion that we "underfund" education relative to other states.
Spending limits or bust
Nevada must look at both sides of the boom-bust issue.
Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley (D) hosted a town-hall forum Monday, ostensibly to discuss challenges facing Nevada and hear residents' ideas about solving our problems. Her central message was that state government's tax inflow is highly susceptible to larger boom and bust cycles.
The Nevada Piglet Book 2008
Open-records requests made of state agencies and local governments around Nevada reveal that wasteful government spending is rampant throughout the Silver State.
No Magic Beans
Nevada cannot buy progress in education
Students are back in school now, and pundits, reporters, policy wonks, bureaucrats and politicians are back to debating what the state's budgetary shortfall means for the future of Nevada public education.
New taxes, same old tune
Reasons for more taxes fall flat.
Jon Ralston recently joined the chorus of politicians and pundits calling for a "restructuring" of Nevada's tax code, which, in plain language, means "raising taxes."
The high cost of renewable energy
The world's poor suffer most.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), along with former President Bill Clinton and oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens converge on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas this week for the National Clean Energy Summit.
How much for a gallon of education?
Arguments for more education spending are out of gas.
When gas prices climbed over $4 a gallon earlier this summer, many Americans were outraged. Whether it is through government action or private solutions, citizens are demanding relief. But the rise in fuel prices over the last four decades pales in comparison to increases in per-pupil spending on public education in America. From 1961-2007, per-pupil spending increased by 293 percent after adjusting for inflation.
Waste, hidden spending and records destruction
Lots of taxpayer money is being spent but not reported.
Further open records requests and audits have revealed that some local governments destroy their intergovernmental lobbying records so quickly that no public account remains to reveal exactly how taxpayer dollars are spent each year.
