Prosperity requires sharing the tax burden

Amy Thomason, Las Vegas

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

Regarding the Las Vegas Sun story headlined “The future of Nevada: More cuts, or progress?”:

The article by J. Patrick Coolican and his colleagues, and especially the graphic depicting Nevada’s standing compared with other states’, was excellent.

I hope you will continue this as a series, and I would like to see such clear presentation of other comparisons, such as gross revenue generated by the largest businesses, especially those with out-of-state ownership, which pay little if any taxes to operate in Nevada.

What Jim Rogers, chancellor of the system of higher education, has preached for several years is only common sense. Let every enterprise that makes a profit in Nevada contribute toward the community that provided that profit.

I cannot believe that a recall movement to remove a governor as inept as Jim Gibbons would fail. He is our George W. Bush.

Reductions in expenses should start at the very top of the administration — a 10 percent cut in all salaried managers and 20 percent for the governor (the latter being the equivalent of forcing an employee to take one unpaid day off a week) before reducing wages for employees such as teachers, classroom assistants, clerks at the county government counters, etc., who actually deliver service to the community.

A competent, fearless governor and a Legislature committed to serving the public good are imperative.