Editorial: Tax critics keep facts on the QT

Saturday, July 5, 2003 | 2:41 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: July 6, 2003

The editorial writers at the Wall Street Journal enjoy taking potshots at Nevada every so often. In February they opined that Nevada needs a "complete reorganization of state government before taxes are raised." It's understandable, considering their New York City vantage point, that they missed the complete reorganization that Gov. Kenny Guinn initiated when he took office in 1999. Their refusal to publish any portion of Guinn's letter responding to their misinformed editorial is not so understandable, however.

On Tuesday the Silver State experts from the Empire State were at it again, offering Guinn up as the worst Republican governor in the country because he "signed a budget raising state spending by more than 25 percent."

In advocating for increased taxation, Guinn chose the most public forum of all -- his State of the State speech in January, one that received bursts of applause from legislators. In signing the budget that reflects an increase of about 25 percent, Guinn had the approval of 71 percent of the legislators. Is there something the Wall Street Journal knows about our needs that has escaped the attention of the governor and Legislature?

The Wall Street Journal is not alone in resorting to sound-bite-style criticisms of Guinn's tax plan. During the regular session of the Legislature and for a month now while in special sessions, 15 Republican members of the Assembly have blocked the tax increases needed to balance the budget. Neither they nor their supporters have substantively justified their actions. Criticism and debate are generally healthy, but they they should revolve around facts such as these:

In our view, the Republican Party would be lucky to have more bad governors like Kenny Guinn.