Columnist Jeff German: President may be Nevada’s biggest enemy

Friday, Feb. 4, 2005 | 6:21 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

WEEKEND EDITION

February 5 - 6, 2005

Historians tell us that Nevada had a special relationship with President Abraham Lincoln.

Our entrance into the Union on Oct. 31, 1864 came during the Civil War and gave Lincoln the ability to demonstrate to the Confederacy that the North was gaining in numbers. We also helped re-elect Lincoln.

And so over the years celebrating Lincoln's birthday in February has always been a special event for Nevada Republicans.

It has been more than just paying homage to the man who founded the Republican Party. It has been an affirmation of their patriotism.

Today, 140 years later, it's sort of ironic that, while Lincoln is remembered as Nevada's greatest friend, another Republican president, George W. Bush, could be regarded as its biggest enemy.

Bush will forever be known as the president who, without having the scientific facts, determined that it was safe to store the nation's deadly nuclear waste in Nevada. He's the president who persuaded Congress, against the overwhelming will of the people of this state, to send the waste to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles from Las Vegas.

That alone is enough to put Bush at the top of Nevada's enemies list.

But this is a president whose disdain for us seemingly has no bounds.

Bush is repaying his fervent Republican supporters for helping re-elect him last year not by rethinking his ill-advised stance on Yucca Mountain, but rather by trying to siphon away money that rightfully belongs to the state.

His budget, as of late last week, included a plan to divert $700 million a year from land sales in Clark County to the federal treasury to help make up for the multitrillion-dollar federal deficit the president created.

Under the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998, profits from the land sales are supposed to stay in the state. The money goes toward a variety of purposes, including education. But the majority of the funds are used to improve parks and recreational areas and create countless conservation and environmental projects.

The act has been a godsend for state and local officials who are constantly trying scrape up money to fund projects for the public good.

Back in August, during a Nevada campaign visit for Bush, Interior Department Secretary Gale Norton said the Land Management Act had been so successful here that it should serve as a model for other areas of the country.

"The Nevada congressional delegation deserves to be commended for showing great vision in developing a law which provides this money," she said.

Norton praised the project again during another campaign stop for the president in October.

But where is Norton now that Bush is firmly entrenched in the White House for another four years?

If Bush is successful in funneling these millions of dollars to Washington, the Land Management Act will be nothing but a model to once more force Nevadans to pay the price of the president's poor decisions.

"The president is serving up a double whammy," says former Sen. Richard Bryan, one of the co-sponsors of the Land Management Act. "He not only wants to dump nuclear waste here, but now he wants to take our money. I just wish he'd leave us alone." You're not alone on that wish, senator.

The Nevada delegation is confident that it will be able to thwart this latest attempt to disrespect our way of life.

But how do we get the president to start treating us with the dignity we deserve?

If only President Bush valued Nevada as much as President Lincoln.