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Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012 | 2 a.m.
Another view?
View more of the Las Vegas Sun's opinion section:
• Editorials - the Sun's viewpoint.
• Columnists - local and syndicated writers.
• Letters to the editor - readers' views.
Have your own opinion? Write a letter to the editor.
Dear reader,
Every election year, the Sun talks to candidates about the issues and their plans for office should they be elected. Two questions I like to hear candidates answer are:
1. What are the issues people are talking to you about?
2. What’s your vision for Nevada in 20 years?
The answer to the first question this year has been almost unanimous, no matter the party or position: improving the economy and education.
The answers to the second question vary greatly. However, I appreciate when people share their thoughts, regardless of whether I agree with them. We all come from different backgrounds and experiences, and we’re going to disagree. Given the way things are going, we could use more conversation about the issues.
As we noted in last Sunday’s paper, the Sun’s new project Nevada 3.0 is designed to look at questions like those being posed to the candidates, but the discussion shouldn’t end with the people running for office. Your thoughts are important.
So let me ask you the questions:
1. If you could set the agenda for the state, what would your top three priorities be?
2. What is your vision for Nevada? What would it look like in 20 years?
(Bonus points if you have ideas about how to get to your priorities or vision.)
We would like to hear from you. You can send a letter to the editor or post a comment on the website. We’ll publish a sampling of what we receive in hopes that we can start talking about your ideas and thoughts of what Nevada should become.
Best,
Matt
Number 1: Government worker union reform is urgently needed. The arbitation system is a joke.
Number 2: Give the school system back to the parents. Give the funding directly to them. Let them have the freedom to choose how their child is educated.
Sorry, Mr. Hufman, I can't help with these questions.
Only if the voters decide to get rid of the succession of radical and extreme Tea/Republican Party Governors that have destroyed Nevada for the past fourteen years or so, then I am prepared to entertain those questions seriously.
Right now, nobody can. It would be a fantasy. Something rejected. Because even if you come up with an idea that makes sense, Governor Sandoval will shoot it down.
Time to level the playing field. We need another Governor. From another political party. Or at least one that doesn't kowtow to mining/casino interests all the time at the expense of everyone else. Or one who doesn't worship at the altar of the His Most Benevolent Tax God Grover Norquist, Ruler of the Tea/Republican Party Supreme Edict of No Taxes for the Rich/Filthy Rich.
Then and only then can those questions be addressed and, more importantly, any concerted efforts and rational thought patterns to act upon them.
My top three priorities for Nevada would be:
1. Establish a state tax structure that is less dependent on cyclical tourism and meets the needs of Nevada citizens.
2. Make higher Education a priority and set, as a goal, not merely adequacy but innovation and quality with affordable costs.
3. Get smart about attracting new industry. We have tried to use low State taxes as bait to attract industry, but it hasn't worked well. Any company worth its salt can see our tax structure, but they can also see all of our unmet needs. Being at the bottom of the "good lists" and near the top of the "bad lists" doesn't inspire confidence that our tax structure is permanent enough to be reliable. Be creative in attracting new industry to areas outside the Las Vegas valley. We have natural resources, land, transportation assets, and underused infrastucture ouside the Las Vegas valley that could welcome new industry at low cost to the State. Cramming more people into one valley where infrastructure cannot meet current needs, resources are strained, and quality of life is an issue makes no sense.
TERM LIMITS! A much higher piece of the banking, gaming and mining revenue. These corporate giants are pulling tens of billions of dollars out of this state every single year without a single ounce of liability when they fail. Yucca Mountain.
Part 1
Twice in the past, Nevada has identified potential economic niches and moved to fill them. The first time, during a period of national peril and expansion, was to use our natural resources to fill the need of the rest of the country for a supply of precious metals. The second time was to provide a source for activities deemed by parts of society in the rest of the country as immoral: gambling, prostitution, minimal regulation of marriage, and "easy" divorce. This effort succeeded, in part, due to national development of reliable, cheap, and wide-spread transportation systems, and in part due to an increase in leisure time. We did so good at the second effort that other states followed our lead . . . and surpassed us, rendered us obsolete.
Our existing infrastructure still carries the marks of those past efforts: taxation favoring mining built into our constitution, where it is exceptionally difficult to change; an education system that handily meets the basic requirements of miners, prostitutes, and gamblers; two transportation hubs and population centers; one oriented toward gambling and quick marriage (Las Vegas) and one toward quick and easy divorces, with entertainments for those waiting for the process to complete (Reno and to a lesser degree Carson City).
What do we need? First and foremost an intensive push to identify a new niche. For example - alternative energy. It is a given that all fossil fuels WILL run dry - the only debate is exactly when. We are well endowed with sunshine; many areas have quite consistent wind; many area are not far from geothermal sources. Could we take the garbage from other states into Yucca Mountain and reprocess it into yet another source of energy? Solar - not just to generate electricity - could we build solar-heated furnaces to refine metals?
Part 2
We also need do something about our education system - coordinate it with that potential new niche. What we have is quite good for an economy relying largely on manual labor - such as pick and shovel miners. Any new niche will demand a high degree of technical skill - especially in using computers and computer-controlled machinery. Regardless of cost, we MUST improve our education system - indeed could education in designing, building, and operating computer-controlled machinery BE a new niche??
We need to reconsider our legal system. Do we penalize the right actions? Do we waste money? Yes, DUI should be banned. But should we do so by banning intoxicating substances? See the success of the 18th amendment. Do we tax the right people? (Per Willy Sutton - go where the money is...) In the right amounts?
Finally, sine qua non, we MUST be willing to do some serious investing. That includes taking some risks. President Obama is routinely panned for "his" Solyndra "fiasco." That had the potential to be a good idea. It crashed. So??? The only people who will not have the occasional idea come crashing around their ears are those fearful of pursuing any new idea.