Where are jobs that low taxes create?

John W. Battenfield, Las Vegas

Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011 | 2:02 a.m.

Regarding your Sept. 24 editorial on a poll about Nevadans’ view on taxes:

Since the poll you mentioned deals with Nevada taxpayers, I will only address Nevada’s government and taxes.

If I am a taxpayer and the government raises my taxes for “health care and education,” how do I know that’s how the money will be spent? In most places that question doesn’t have a good answer, but Nevada spends far less on welfare payments than most states. Fifty-five percent of the state budget is spent on education so legislative accountability is fairly easy to achieve.

During the last legislative session, Republicans often said that we must keep taxes low to attract new businesses to the state. Pundits from the other side of the aisle countered that taxes have been low for 40 years. California has Silicon Valley and Hollywood, but we don’t — even with low taxes and a business-friendly regulatory climate. So why hasn’t it worked? If low taxes create jobs, why is the unemployment rate in Clark County over 14 percent? The short answer is California has a strong university system, and every time there is budget trouble in Nevada, we shoot ours in the kneecaps. You get what you pay for.

UMC will lose another $70 million this year. This is after cutting services during the past two budget cycles. This is our only public hospital. A year and a half ago when they closed the oncology department, I read an article about a doctor doing that treatment in vacant space in a Henderson strip mall. Do we support UMC, or watch our neighbors die? You tell me.