Brian Greenspun on how our governor made sure we’d stay at the bottom

Sunday, June 3, 2007 | 7:10 a.m.

The governor has kept his promise.

I am not talking about his promise not to raise taxes in the face of growing and practically insurmountable challenges in one of the fastest-growing states in the country. He apparently has kept that one - mostly - because the deck was so stacked against legislative progress that it was an easy one to keep.

No, I am talking about the unstated, yet obvious, promise that was made to the voters that despite facts and evidence to the contrary, despite people with real needs and no real means to meet them, and despite proof positive that in practically every quality-of-life indicator available in which Nevada is at or near the bottom - yes, behind Mississippi and Alabama - our governor would fail to lead. And, yes, our Legislature would fail as well.

The good news, if there is any, is that this legislative session will very shortly be over and the people of this state can take a rest - not from the hectic days of legislative action but from the fear and angst that accompanies a session in which the people we elect to act in our interests fail to do so.

History will judge just how inconsequential the 2007 Legislature will actually have been, but there are early indicators that any hope of placing among the top performers is long gone. It is only a question of how close to the bottom this one will get. And, because we are still a few hours away from sine die, there is every good reason to believe a new bottom can be reached. How pitiful.

There are some, like the newspaper that is delivered with the Las Vegas Sun, that will hail the governor's tax-promise-almost-kept as a victory for the David-like taxpayer over the Goliath of those who want to raise taxes for the sake of raising taxes. They would, of course, be wrong.

Unless you consider it wrong to be selfish. Selfish is what the out-of-state behemoth that owns the Las Vegas Review-Journal is because it so consistently berates anyone and anything that would cause taxes to be increased. Especially its taxes, because it just hates paying a dime in Nevada, where it continues to make a fortune. And selfish is what some people who have it are like when they want to keep others from getting it.

Take, as an example, the transportation debacle in this state. Specifically, the snail-paced, parking-lot-like movement that characterizes Las Vegas traffic during rush hour in town and on weekends to and from our city on the interstates. Whether you are a tourist intent on spending some of your hard-earned money on our No. 1 and only major industry, or a resident trying to spend some of your hard-earned money at the grocery store, it is getting harder and harder and, with the soaring price of gasoline, more expensive, to venture onto our overcrowded roads.

A blue-ribbon committee of some of the finest and more fiscally conservative members of our community studied this problem for a long time and came up with thoughtful, painful and workable solutions. They gave their recommendations to the governor, who promptly ignored them because ... they would cost money. Close to $4 billion. And, now, with construction prices constantly on the rise, that number is closer to $5 billion and climbing.

So what does the Review-Journal's David (that's our governor, in case you got lost) do? He takes his peashooter and scores a direct hit on the Goliath of gridlock. He hits him right square in the ankle! And what do the legislators do? They applaud, they bow in adulation and they tell all of us at home that they have accomplished the impossible. They have fixed gridlock.

Let me tell you something about promises. People who make them should keep them, and people who demand them should understand what it is they are demanding.

Did anyone who demanded of Gov. Jim Gibbons that he not raise taxes do so with the understanding that it would keep Nevada at the bottom of the list in every category that measures the health and well-being of our children?

Did anyone who demanded that the governor not raise taxes do so with the understanding that it would move Nevada from its place nearing the top of the list of states that are advancing the fight against global warming backward toward the bottom group of states that don't even acknowledge it exists?

And did anyone who demanded that the governor not raise taxes do so with the understanding that it would do nothing to end the interminable gridlock on our streets and highways - causing a continued waste of our time, our money and our lives while we sit helplessly in our cars cursing the darkness?

Only those who failed to think could answer that question in the affirmative. Rather, the people of Nevada elected a governor and legislators to think for them. By that, I mean, it is our elected leaders' job to gather the facts, understand the issues and then vote on our behalf for solutions based on what is best for the people of this state, not just for the selfish few.

Can any reasonable person believe throwing $1 billion at a $5 billion traffic problem is a solution? It is just a Band-Aid designed to fool all of the people all of the time as they are sitting in traffic with places to go and no way to get there.

Did the governor keep his promise? If his promise was to do nothing to advance the quality of the lives of Nevadans, he kept his word.

So, if you can't fault a fellow for keeping his word, who can you fault? This is the part where you look in the mirror.