Wednesday, June 6, 2007

The Preview

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry, Step Right Up. The Circus is in town again. Oh wait, that isn’t Barnum and Bailey leaving Carson City. As Porky the Pig might say “That’s all folks”. The Nevada State Legislature adjourned this week and will now be officially “Out to Lunch” for the next two years.

To this observer it appears that there was just a lot more political feuding and not a lot of real action taking place. Sure, they sent some money to help with Autism (a big hooray for that!). And the Las Vegas Convention Bureau will not be suing the state for taking too much money as a compromise bill came out about how to fund the state’s roadways.

The sad thing is that the biggest winner in the fiasco we in Nevada call a legislative session is probably Governor Gibbons. You see, Governor Gibbons promised to veto any potential tax increase and used his “political power” to try to stop folks from placing items for vote during the next election. How could the least popular governor in the country have political power to do anything? I wouldn’t be more surprised if I saw George W. Bush campaigning for Hilary Clinton. Out of the hat, Gibbons pulled a pilot program that would provide$10 million pay for performance education initiative, $4.5 million for gifted and talented and after school programs, and incentive pay for hard-to-fill subject areas.

Speaking of presidential elections, the races are really heating up across the nation. This means more and more political preening will be taking place throughout the state. I guess the candidates know where to come to get money. Of course, these politicians should be careful as they may run into the same ethical problems that plague so many of our local and state politicians. I would think it is tough for the national candidates to decide whom they should get their picture taken for since there is a good chance that one of the Nevada politicians may end up serving 4 to 8 right alongside them. Oh, not right beside them, but serving time nonetheless.

Who knows, but that’s how I see it.

4 comments:

David said...

Greg,
i love this blog.
it is really great for me because i know absolutely nothing about lv politics. i realized while reading this that i know more about what is happening nationally than in most places in the country. i also realized that most other places in this country must be pretty much like it is here, well almost, this is miami after all.
i remember the first week that i moved her, almost 15 years ago now,i remember seeing the mayor of miami being taken out of city hall in handcuffs. he was later convicted and sent to jail, probably spent no more than a week there, these guys all protect one another.
well just wanted to say job well done.
? - lv must really have some divisions. there must be some great divides between the people who have moved to lv and the people who have lived all their lives in the little towns throughout the rest of nv. what do that argue about?
david

vegasviaiowa said...

David,
Thanks for responding to my blog. You are right, there is a lot of division between different groups.
We have the North vs the South, North Las Vegas, Henderson, and Las Vegas all competing for things. And then when you throw in the Clark County Commission (which really is the biggest driving force here in Southern Nevada)it can be a hysterical process. Recently several commission members have been sent to prison because of a bribe for votes controversy that first brought down many public leaders in San Diego.
One of the better Mafia lawyers is our Las Vegas Mayor. He is always entertaining but quite controversial. And then to top the entire thing off, people moving here and the locals are often up in arms against each other too.

Greg

luckylucas said...

ok, with my job, can't say much... presidential.

as for the small town. simple town. lol oh for the memories. nice hair. thanks. welcome.

:D

Josh (Vernon) Loehr said...

Good post..a lot has changed since I grew up on a farm back in the mid-west, St. Louis to be exact. I had the best of worlds, growing up with farm values, but by the time I reached Junior High, the area had transformed to suburbs..so I had a taste of both worlds.
Unfortunately, many home grown values haven't reached the politicians in Las Vegas or Nevada. The governor is under investigation for illegal acts and one doen't now which county commisioner will be thrown in jail next. This makes the evening news interesting, but doesn't help our community..especially our children who look up to these idiots?