Geoffrey Lawrence
Your move, Carson
Alternative budget shows tax hikes are unnecessary
For months we've heard legislators, lobbyists and union officials decrying the impact that the economic downturn might have on their wallets and not ours. In order to prop up government spending, many legislators have spent the past few months privately, but not publicly, discussing a range of ideas for increasing taxes on families in Nevada who are already reeling from the impact of economic recession.
Nevada’s Freedom Budget 2009-2011
The Road to Recovery
A line-by-line Nevada budget based on principle and priorities. Cost to taxpayers over two years: $5.1 billion.
Foe of the environment? Back ‘renewable energy’
Government production quotas impose costs and increase emissions
"Renewable" energy is all the rage in the halls of Congress and the Nevada Legislature. Lawmakers are pushing for higher and higher production quotas for the centrally planned electric utility industry. They would require government-controlled electric utility monopolies to produce greater shares of electricity through renewable energy sources such as wind or solar power. The problem with this so-called "visionary" approach to energy policy is that it isn't visionary at all.
Forcing you to buy what you don’t want
Governor pushes for higher, hidden energy tax
Gov. Gibbons went before the Senate Committee on Energy, Infrastructure and Transportation on Tuesday to testify on behalf of his administration's bill, SB 395. The bill would, among other things, expand the scope of renewable-energy projects within the state that qualify for tax abatements.
Leading by example
Timothy Geithner's national leadership on fiscal accountability is inspiring state lawmakers across the country.
Government failure
Higher tax rates correlate with deteriorating government services
Advocates for big government often try to justify themselves by declaring they're simply trying to cope with instances of "market failure." Thus they rationalize government displacing the free exchange of goods and services between individuals and sabotaging the livelihood and freedom of those individuals.
Smokes and booze for the children
Lawmakers want to make Nevada more dependent on “sins”
Policymakers in Nevada think they have found a taxation scheme analogous to the Keynesian principle of spending — one that encourages a lack of restraint by taxpayers as they pursue their carnal desires.
Setting up the 2011 spending spree
New taxes in 2009 will lead to new programs for 2011
Despite the ravages of recession, Carson City appears to be exuding an air of optimism. The big buzz around the legislature concerns the potential new taxes on Nevadans and all the new government programs those new taxes will allow lawmakers to create, assuming an eventual economic recovery.
