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Stumblej. patrick coolican:
Horsford would be a waste in Washington
Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun
Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford talks to the media after a meeting of the Senate Revenue Committee on the second day of the 2011 legislative session Tuesday, February 8, 2011 in Carson City.
Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011 | 2 a.m.
J. Patrick Coolican
Sun archives
I received an important news release Wednesday: “BERKLEY RECOGNIZES 100th ANNIVERSARY OF LAS VEGAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN HOUSE FLOOR REMARKS.”
Later, another important item arrived from the ether: Video of Rep. Shelley Berkley’s floor remarks had suddenly become available and ready for broadcast.
State Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford: Welcome to your new life of inanity occasionally interrupted by frantic political fundraising.
Horsford will announce today he is running for Congress as a Democrat. Although the district lines haven’t been drawn yet, Horsford will likely be running in whatever district encompasses our urban core.
Horsford is bright, hardworking and capable, with a remarkable personal story.
His father was murdered, and he was forced to leave UNR after his first semester to care for younger siblings while his mother struggled with addiction. He is the head of the Culinary Training Academy, the management-labor partnership that prepares workers for their jobs on the Las Vegas Strip. He has deep legislative experience and is known as collegial but tough.
In short, he’ll make probably make a fine congressman, which is why I wish he wouldn’t run. The real work must be done here, not in Washington.
I made the same argument two weeks ago when state Sen. Ruben Kihuen announced he was running for Congress, but I guess no one was listening. I’m like a freshman congressman in the minority party.
At least Horsford had a decent answer when I asked what he can do in Washington that he can’t do here.
“What I see in Washington is no action. Our gaming sector won’t recover until the national economy grows, and we need strong leaders focused on that.”
(Freeing ourselves from the fortunes of the national economy might be something to shoot for. But that will be accomplished by diversifying our economy here.)
I asked him about the foreclosure problem, which continues to sweep through neighborhoods and will prevent any new housing construction here for years to come. As should be obvious from the federal government’s total failure on this issue, this is a difficult problem. And he had no real answer, other than putting people to work so they can pay their mortgages: “As we deal with that problem, and figure out ways to keep people in their homes and ways to prevent banks and corporations from taking advantage of middle-class families, while we’re doing that, we need to put people back to work.”
He pointed to his real-world experience at the training academy, which had a job fair recently; 300 showed up and 90 left with job offers.
Horsford, who backed then-Sen. Barack Obama early in 2007 and has friends in the White House, endorsed the president’s American Jobs Act, which would extend payroll tax cuts and introduce some new tax cuts, spend on infrastructure and prevent teacher layoffs.
He had some tough words for Republicans in Congress. He was a guest of Sen. Harry Reid during Obama’s recent address to Congress, and, Horsford says, “What I saw was a faction of those members of Congress — the conservative Tea Party faction — who are so focused on seeing this president fail, that they’re willing to see the rest of America lose. That’s not the America I know.”
(Tea Party members would say they just disagree with Obama about his policies, though there’s some factual basis for Horsford’s allegation: Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, said his top priority is beating Obama. Though why shouldn’t it be?)
I didn’t mean to pick on Berkley earlier. Those speeches are part of the job. (Happy birthday, Chamber of Commerce — I sent a very nice set of golf clubs.)
And obviously it matters who controls Congress. Sometimes Congress gets stuff done.
For the most part, however, Washington is broken, mostly because of the godforsaken Senate filibuster, which forces Reid to get 60 votes out of 100 in the Senate just to start debate.
End the filibuster, and then I’d encourage our best and brightest, Republican and Democrat alike, to head to Washington to craft policy that will get America out of this slump.
Until then, I hate to see our finest young leaders waste their talents in such a wasteland while pressing needs at home go unmet.
Discussion: 9 comments so far…
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You must be kidding - I always heard the LV Sun was in the back pocket of the Democratic Party, but this article shows it. Anyone who meets Mr. Horsford will quickly discover an arrogant man, who is self serving for himself and his party. I have meet Mr. Horsford on a few occasion, he showed up late, treated people with dis-respect, and that the world owed him something. This is evident when he was caught parking in a handicap space in Nov 2009 because the lot was full? I invite everyone who is a register voter to meet Mr. Horsford once, you can make your own determination.
When is he going to be prosecuted for excepting bribes from online gaming?
It would seem, that it is more about going UP the career ladder for CAREER POLITICIANS. They start with local government office, then county, then state, then national, and maybe then might return to run for Governor. There is a pattern.
Couple that with the superb pay and benefits of Federal Office service, and it becomes a no-brainer.
It would take more convincing that ANY LAWMAKER from Nevada who just served in the 76th Nevada State Legislative Session should be going to Washington, D.C., when IMPORTANT UNFINISHED business was left (their job of dividing lines for voting districts!). We certainly do NOT need people who care so little about the voters to go off running to D.C.!
What Ms. Berkley can get done in the way of important legislation is directly related to whether the Democrats are the majority party in the House. All Congressional Representatives do this kind of thing in the interim. Right now the Republicans are intent on taking as many stupid actions as possible to dismantle mechanisms that protect the general public from harm of all kinds in favor of profit for the 1%.
Seriously, please do ask him why he thinks he is entitled to use handicap parking. I do not want politicians who believe they are above the law, and/or believe they are more important than anyone else. Whoever runs against him will be the second republican I ever vote for.
Finally I agree with something the uber lib wrote, the headline (but he probably didn't even write that). But the rest of the article is his typical leftist garbage. Mr. Horsford should understand the value of hard work and responsibility but those lessons seem to have been lost on him.
Comment removed by moderator.
"The real work must be done here, not in Washington."
Horsford has been in charge of the real work here. How has that been working out for Nevada?
The Democrats, unlike the Republicans, have an abundance of excellent candidates. This is why Republicans have to go meaner and dirtier election after election. They are a closet full of empty suits.
Horsford is a horrible in any office. He ran the worst legislature I have ever seen. This was the leader of that mess.
Chandler- I completely agree!!! Horsford is NOT one of the "excellent" candidates we have. The Republicans are empty corporate suits and will get beat on election day so long as we do not give them flawed candidates like Horsford. Can you imagine the Bahamas commercial or the handicap commercial Horsford will have to overcome?
"I asked him about the foreclosure problem, which continues to sweep through neighborhoods and will prevent any new housing construction here for years to come. As should be obvious from the federal government's total failure on this issue, this is a difficult problem. And he had no real answer, other than putting people to work so they can pay their mortgage..."
Coolican -- another good piece from you. And this bit shows Horsford is completely clueless about the root cause of foreclosures. He assumes, like most, its people not paying their mortgages. Not so -- its huge monolithic banks pretending they have the right to properties they're taking when they usually can't prove to have any right. BofA, Wells Fargo and HSBC have been nailed on that point, the last two by our Supreme Court last July.
Considering his position in the legislature and all his grandstanding, this is inexcusable. If he doesn't understand the problems in his own state he doesn't deserve a seat in Congress.
"Why don't the banks want us to see the paperwork on all these mortgages? Because the documents represent a death sentence for them..... in America, it's far more shameful to owe money than it is to steal it." -- an article from the November 25, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone by Matt Taibbi "Courts Helping Banks Screw Over Homeowners"
The title of this article should read:
"Horsford is a waste of oxygen, that should go to more deserving people"
The guy is a typical liberal career politician. Never accomplished anything in his life. Never had a real job. (oh wait am I talking about Barry Hussein now???)
I'm sure he'll do a FINE job if he ever makes it to Washington.
How's that 70 million dollar "D STREET UNDERPASS" project going? The one he got pushed through the state legislature so that "his people would not be cut-off from the downtown".
Just what we need. More tax and spend.
I'd like to see this guy make it in a REAL job.
The real Occupy Wall Street movement are career politicians like Horsford that can't wait to get closer to the Big Nipple.
He couldn't change Nevada, but yet he is going to change Washington?
Dave,
For the life of me I couldn't find a single fact in your post, just name calling and empty rhetoric. Are you a lawyer by chance?
Where are all the liberal zombies to defend their "hero of the left" Horsford??
mschaffer, that was a pretty pathetic defense.....
Patrick, you just don't get it. Being a House member from the party-not-in-power is a great gig. You get a big pay check, super benefits, a staff to do all your work for you, and there's no penalty if you don't show up for mundane votes. The situation is a golfer's or tennis player's dream job. Just why do you think the Congressional Country Club exists?
And if you show up for votes, and play the games on the House floor, instead of playing golf, you get rewarded with some excellent all expense paid trips to Europe on "bi-partisan fact finding missions".
You have got to be kidding. This guy lacks the intelligence to be in Congress or the State legislature. A good position would be gym teacher at one of the local high schools.
Yes, I agree Horsford would be a waste.
Whose a more corporate democrat titus or horesford ? You want more of that Larry Summers, Nancy Ann Deparle stuff- vote for you know who !
Does Nevada really want to send Horsford to congress where he'll only become a member of that racist group...the Black Caucus?
Horsford doesn't belong in Congress nor the State Legislature. All he does is pander to high dollar lobbyist contributors. You have to spend $21,000 just to have dinner with him.
I've seen him sell out citizens again and again for high powered special interest groups. He's nothing but a crony