Yeah, I think the increase in profits is entirely related to my bill. Thank you, greenies, for hampering cost-effective energy production. Thank you, Dingy Harry, for shutting down coal plants. Now I get to decide what my family has to do without because of your idiotic agenda!

@Born2Run

Were you serious when you asked me to explain how Rory Reid mishandled the Clark County Firefighters? The reason I ask is that I assume that you know at least the most basic facts about Reid, and armed with such knowledge, your question appears to be facetious.

Primarily, you obviously would have to know that Reid was a County Commissioner who approved the abusive contracts between the County and the firefighters since January 2003. In other words, Reid is what created the mess.

Reid only became interested in cleaning up his mess (what you called "negotiation") when the taxpayers starting becoming aware of how he has abused them by paying an average annual compensation of nearly $200,000 per firefighter.

Also, for all the rhetoric about "negotiating" with the firefighters, please note that according to today's R-J, Reid and the other County Commissioners have eliminated 300 jobs in the past year. I cannot find any evidence that any County firefighters were among the eliminated positions.

Now that's playing hardball! Give 'em hell, Rory!

Dear Voters,
Please don't look at how I've mishandled UMC, the Clark County firefighters and the many other messes in Clark County. Look at something for which I have no track record: education. At least my resume will not prove me incompetent on that issue.
Wishfully thinking,
Rory Reid

That headline needs to be fixed. Hmmm, let's try this:

TITUS DESPERATELY TRIES TO HOLD ON TO HER REMAINING SUPPORTER

Much better!

On Aug. 16, 2009, the R-J reported that UMC loses over $20 million annually due to kidney dialysis provided to illegal aliens. That is one-fourth of this year's deficit. That is only what is reported for one program. Imagine what the numbers would be if all service lines were included in the analysis. Do not tell me that illegals are unfairly made the scapegoat.

And by the way, I wasn't blaming illegal aliens, I was blaming Congress, who has the responsibility to protect our borders, but refuses to do so due to politics.

Amen, Fred, lv702 and Planetearthcalling. Good to see that somebody gets it.

The major problem is illegal immigration; fix it and you fix a number (not all) of the issues in our health care system. Instead of fixing immigration, our Senate Majority Leader is busy passing so-called "health care reform", which is a euphemism for new restrictions on decent health insurance that will make it an unprofitable business and thus "force" takeover of insurance by the government to finally achieve what liberals want, socialized medicine.

Harry, why don't you and your majority fix illegal immigration? Is it that you are trying to co-opt the Hispanic vote? How does it feel to look in the mirror knowing that you are selling out America, turning it into a third-world country, all for political power?

Here's the political analysis:

1. Rory Reid is trying to distance himself from his record as the Chairman of the Clark County Commission.
2. The Sun is aiding and abetting Rory by running "stories" that unfairly smear current UMC management.
3. The supposed inept management is the impetus for Rory to ride in on his white steed and save the day, thus scoring him the political points he needs in his campaign for Governor.
4. With the exception of Steve Sisolak, Rory's fellow commissioners are upset that Rory is acting unilaterally on UMC.
5. Now, the Sun is running this story to "call out" Commissioner Weekly, who along with Chris Giunchigliani, is opposed to Rory's efforts to take UMC private.
6. Following this effort to smear and embarrass Commissioner Weekly, the other commissioners will want to avoid the same and will go along with whatever Rory proposes. Rory loses nothing by going after Commissioner Weekly because he did not have Weekly's support anyway.

Just more evidence that Rory's campaign and the Sun are coordinating stories to assist Rory in his run for Governor. Yellow journalism is alive and well in Las Vegas.

The Sun's narrative on this series of stories is embarrassing, or should be, even for the Sun. Rory has two major negatives going into this campaign -- his Reid name, and what has occurred on his watch as County Commissioner. While nothing can be done to remedy the name, the Sun is attempting to aid and abet Rory in his attempt to distance himself from his record.

Working hand in hand with Rory's campaign, the Sun wants to make it appear that hospital management is the sole cause of issues at UMC, and that Rory is riding in on his white steed to save the day. To that end, the Sun stooped to new lows when it attempted to tarnish current UMC management last week by resurrecting incidents which occurred under previous management (and conspicuously while Rory was Chairman of the County Commission).

The common element for the several UMC administrations for the past seven years is its Board Member/Chairman of the Board, Rory Reid. By the same evaluation the Sun has applied to UMC's current administration, Rory must not be very good at his job of overseeing the hospital, or else things would have been fixed some time ago.

By the way--only in a politician's world could one propose a top flight teaching hospital while only providing the hospital third-rate funding. Unless the County and the Nevada university system significantly increase funding, UMC this political pipe dream cannot become a reality.

Good luck trying to distance Rory from history!

For all of those that think that John Ensign doesn't attack Harry Reid because Ensign is classy, wimpy, too buddy-buddy, etc., there may be other motivation to consider.

Sometimes people are unwilling to attack because they know the counterattack would be exponentially more devastating. Suppose that a certain senator knew about numerous skeletons in another senator's closet. If such information could be used to show a pattern of conduct that would completely destroy the other's reputation, then one senator would have ultimate power over the other. From the outside, it would seem that the senators just get along well with each other.

When we consider whether character of elected officials is an issue, we may want to remember that a politicians who engage in extramarital affairs could make themselves vulnerable to manipulation by others who avail themselves of such knowledge. I am sure that there are those who might argue that some politicians have not arrived at their positions solely on the strength of their good looks and shining personalities.

Thank you, Marshall Allen, for your commentary presented as reporting. It is interesting that you have tarred Kathy Silver with issues in the transplant program that occurred in 2005 (when Lacy Thomas was CEO).

I am equally impressed that you have not included one single achievement of UMC during Ms. Silver's tenure as the CEO, such as:

- UMC was designated as a Certified Primary Stroke Center
- UMC is the only hospital in Nevada to earn double Gold Awards for Cardiac Care from the American Heart Association
- UMC is the only hospital in Nevada certified as a Children's Hospital by the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions

I suppose that I could go on and on with the achievements that would undercut your premise that Ms. Silver's tenure has been "loaded" with poor quality care. However, my adding balance would not come close to undoing the damage that your slanted "journalism" consistently seeks to do to the reputations of UMC and Ms. Silver.

For your next "column", you might want to just abandon all pretense of objectivity and go straight to the Op/Ed page.