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Published Thursday, March 25, 2010 | 4:11 p.m.
Updated Thursday, March 25, 2010 | 4:13 p.m.
So Gov. Jim Gibbons said in a new letter demanding action by Monday from the AG to sue the feds on health care and accusing her office of being too slow on other pressing matters, including a mining case and the maglev train.
See letter at right.
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"How long will the people of Nevada have to wait?"
How long have we been waiting for the Governor to produce a plan to increase tax revenues enough to sustain the State for the coming decade?
Find a comfortable chair, Governor, and you can wait with us.
Maybe Gov. Gibbons should have tried a different approach.
"Big-G to AG-Gal: Text me!"
Partisan or no partisan, the AG is the state's lawyer, if the Gov directs her to embark on lawful tasks then it's up to her to respond in a timely fashion. Perhaps she's all tuckerd out after the Brian Krolicki prosicution. Get'er done AG!
Find out what health insurance means for you.
http://harryreid.com/ee/index.php/landin...
What an ass. Almost every Constitutional scholar indicates that the likelihood of success is almost nil due to the Commerce Clause. Yet this idiot of a Governor wants to latch onto the Tea Party Express. WTF? I say one of the budget cuts we need is to eliminate the governor's salary because clearly he hasn't been doing his job and now he wants to waste the State's money. Can't wait till November when we won't have Gibbons to kick around any more.
Go get em JIM!
Jim thinks he can get re-elected by aligning himself with the baggers. He is in lame duck land and even if he gets himself a hat with tea bags strung around it, there is no way he will get the nomination. Gibbons started screwing up when he took the oath of office at one minute before midnight out of the public eye and he hasn't stopped screwing up since. The AG doesn't have to sue the federal government just because goofy Jimbo tells her to.
Hey posters, I have a question for you. I once read that Jim Gibbons actually went to law school, and passed the Bar Exam.
If that is true, what law school did he go to? The Nashville YMCA Night Law School? (Yes it really did exist at one time.)
If Governor Zero really IS a licensed lawyer, his other alternative might be to draw up the complaint himself, and do all the litigation work himself. That task might help him polish his skills and resume for future job hunting.
By the way, in this dispute, the real question is "What does the Nevada Constitution say?" In many states, a Governor cannot tell an elected Attorney General what to do, or not to do.
Here's what I found in the Nevada Constitution:
Article 5. Section. 1. Supreme executive power vested in governor. The supreme executive power of this State, shall be vested in a Chief Magistrate who shall be Governor of the State of Nevada.
Article 5. Sec: 6. Transaction of executive business; reports of executive officers. He [the Governor] shall transact all executive business with the Officers of the Government Civil and Military; and may require information in writing, from the Officers of the Executive Department, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective Offices.
Article 5. Sec. 19. Other state officers: Election and term of office; eligibility for office.
1. A Secretary of State, a Treasurer, a Controller, and an Attorney General, shall be elected at the same time and places, and in the same manner as the Governor. The term of office of each shall be the same as is prescribed for the Governor.
2. Any elector shall be eligible to any of these offices, but no person may be elected to any of them more than twice, or more than once if he has previously held the office by election or appointment.
Article 5 Section 22. Duties of certain state officers. The Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Controller, Attorney General, and Superintendent of public instruction shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law.
There there's nothing else in the Constitution which tells the Attorney General what he has to do, other than be a member of the Board of State Prison Commissioners.
As a result, unless there is some express Nevada statute requiring the Attorney General to file whatever lawsuit the Governor, as the Chief of the Executive Branch, tells the Attorney General to file, I think Ms. Cortez Masto can take her time, do what she thinks is right, and Governor Gibbons is out of luck, unless he decides to sue her to resolve this issue.
Just my thoughts. I would be interested if anyone has any Nevada statutory or case citations to resolve this question. Are you out there tonight LawyerGal?
The maven just called and said this is the Nevada Revised Statute Governor Gibbons is hanging his hat on:
"NRS 228.170 Commencement or defense of action to protect interest of State; prosecution of prisoners and persons acting in concert with prisoners.
1. Whenever the Governor directs or when, in the opinion of the Attorney General, to protect and secure the interest of the State it is necessary that a suit be commenced or defended in any federal or state court, the Attorney General shall commence the action or make the defense."
So paste together the phrase "Whenever the Governor directs...the Attorney General shall commence the action." Apparently, Governor Gibbons in-house lawyers believe the section means that the Attorney General has to file any lawsuit the Governor directs.
Conversely, apparently the Attorney General's staff thinks "shall commence the action" is qualified by the prior phrase "to protect and secure the interest of the State it is necessary that a suit be commenced or defended in any federal or state court", and thus if the suit is frivolous or unlikely to succeed, it is not necessary that a suit be commenced to protect and secure the interest of the state.
So will Ms. Cortez Masto go to the mattresses on this one, or will Governor Gibbons file a writ of mandamus against her, after the March 29th deadline he set, seeking a court order compelling her to intervene in the existing health care lawsuit?
Actually, the Republican Attorneys General from around the country may not want a loyal Democrat like Ms. Cortez Masto in on their private "joint prosecution privileged" conversations and stategy sessions, for fear she will spill the beans to the Justice Department, who will defend the lawsuit. Even worse from the Republic Attorneys General point of view, is to have a Democrat Attorney General who intervenes in the case, and then tries to undermine what they are doing by filing pleadings which undercut the force of the their legal arguments. An ambitious, contrarian Democrat Attorney General might even have fun doing that.
So we are back to the beginning. Under NRS 228.170 the Governor might be able to order Ms. Cortez Masto to file the lawsuit, or join in the existing lawsuit, but neither the Nevada Constitution nor Chapter 228 gives him any authority to "tell her what to say in the court pleadings".
Nevada Revised Statute 228.170(1)
"Whenever the Governor directs or when, in the opinion of the Attorney General, to protect and secure the interest of the State it is necessary that a suit be commenced or defended in any federal or state court, the Attorney General shall commence the action or make the defense."
this smells like the justice department scandal a few years ago...
where w the scum liar loser clown and karl i have no morals whatsoever rove politicized the justice department and wrongly fired us attorneys that wouldn't do their political dirty work...
and we all know that gibbons monkey worships at the house of rove...
hey catherine...
here is the letter that needs to be written...
dear monkey boy...
you are acting like a child...
children need to be told "no" from time to time...
so listen up monkey boy...
the answer is "no"...
you can huff and puff all you want...
you can throw all the tantrums you want...
you can threaten until the cows come home...
the answer is still "no"...
any such lawsuit would be frivolous and a waste of taxpayers money...
i know you are dumb...
so I will necessarily dumb down the legal argument for you...
you see monkey boy...
the commerce clause is a bad mamma jamma...
always wins...
the supremacy clause means you can cry and cry and cry all you want...
you still lose...
and ultimately we are talking about a tax deduction...
do you have any idea how broad the powers of taxation and deductions are...
so you see you little child...
it's just a waste of time and taxpayer money...
finally...
if you ever try to politicize this office again...
i will bring the full force and power of this office down upon you...
you see monkey boy...
your conduct has been questionable at times...
my office can and will explore your actions in great detail if you would like...
the choice is yours...
other than that...
have a great day...
hugs and kisses...
catherine...
short and sweet...
just copy and paste...
problem solved...
by the way...
how is that hepatitis case going...
hmmm...
we have not forgotten...
we will never forget...
and we are watching...
and i have to tell you...
we are not impressed...
not with you...
not with david rogers...
not with the medical board...
Getting legal advice from Jimbo or the AG is just plain stupid. On what legal basis Jim? No child left behind and the illegal citizens in this State already deplete our States budget. What have you done to fix those problems? The AG still can't figure out what her office did wrong on the Krolicki case. As for the Teabaggers, wait until they split the vote and get Harry and possible mini me in as Gov. LOOK at the election process and the goal at the end. Gibbons or Reid equals more of the same.
The statute seems to be clear, but Cortez-Masto also has to abide the ethics laws that say she should not file frivolous lawsuits.
This is nothing more than a political ploy to appease the fringe in his party.
Gov'ner Gym is such a child.
"I'll hold my breath til' I'M BLUE IN THE FACE!"
"You HAfta! I'm the boss of you!!! I'll tell my MOM!!!
Catherine Cortez-Masto cannot get to it because her staff is overworked based on a hiring freeze? Then why did she hire ineffective attorney Paul Wommer during this alleged hiring freeze?
Does Cortez-Masto even vet her hires, or does she leave it to Chief Boob Conrad Hafen to do the hiring, and if so, does he just hire Wommer cause he is friends with Bob Giunta?
Cortez-Masto hires Wommer to prosecute mortgage fraud cases yet Paul Wommer was named by the Tennessee Securities Division in a complaint filed by the Tennessee Commissioner of Commerce and Insurance for his alleged role in a plan to sell worms to investors who claimed they were swindled.
See the Las Vegas Weekly article "Worming for Dollars" here:
http://www.happydranch.com/bitbucket/app...
See the Tennessee Securities Division Cease and Desist Order to Paul Wommer here: http://tn.gov/commerce/securities/docume...
Great job by Nevada Attorney General Cortez-Masto of doing a background check on Paul Wommer. She really has no clue what she is doing, or who works for her.
Dear Mr. Gibbons,
I'm writing you as Chief Medical Officer for the Great State of Nevada, to let you know that lately it has been brought to my attention, that other are concern about your behavior. If the reports filed with my office are true, then my first daignosis would be that you are suffering a mild case of schizophrenia which if not treated will lead to an acute case of delusions.
Let's explore the first complaint about your behavior. I understand that you have taken the position of demanding the Attorney General Ms. Masto to file a suit challenging the constitutionality of the resent passed Health Care Bill.
You cited a state law that says the governor has authority to direct legal action be taken "to protect and secure the interest" of the state. OK, let's stick with that argument. Then one can argue that as governor you have the responsibility "to protect and secure what is in the best interest" of the state.
I would also have to question the way you are treating Ms. Masto on this issue. Need, you be reminded sir that she is a "server" of the people, not your "servant".
Now, surely you must see how this erratic behavior can become alarming to some.
Mr. Gibbons, I must ask that you rethink your position or I might be forced to declare you 5150, for sure you will eventually become "a danger to yourself and a danger to other."
Your Truly,
Chief Medical Officer...Vikings
National security, "we are at war," therefore the country must have a viable hospital and emergency room infrastructure. Emergency rooms are closing. Waits are increasing. The Federal government has to subsidise many of the facilities. As a result the government has the right to use tax policy for the safety and security of Americans in the event of war, terrorism or epidemic. HA HA you lose teabags and dittoheads.
she has a perfect out just assign it to Conrad Hafen and anthony Ruggerio they can handle it.
It looks like somebody has already done legal research on the likelihood of success on the lawsuit Governor Zero wants filed, and that uber-conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia may have already written the opinion which will sink the 14 Republican Attorneys General's ships. See:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-w......
If he thinks that's a second-year law school analysis, he needs to repeat second year. AGAIN, and AGAIN, and AGAIN, the commerece clause has been extended by the US Supreme Court.
The lawsuits which have been filed are frivolous and will fail.
The issue some states have raised, that they already have health care legislation is so meritless it doesn't warrant response.