I have no idea why we continue to call them Democrats, they might as well have been republicans for all the help they were. We need more revenue. Not just to meet current levels of funding, but to make up for the massive short falls in roads, education, public safety, and other programs. Was there any discussion on doing this? No.

Watching the special I was aghast at Metro's "shop" sting that allowed car thieves to walk out the door in order to keep the sting's cover. One thief returned after stealing a second car, this time at gun point. As a victim of car theft I now wonder if metro had already caught whoever stole my car, but let them go allowing them to victimize me. What sort of law enforcement is this?

"The only "obstacle" in the way of a larger tax increase was Barbara Buckley's gubernatorial ambition."

Couldn't agree more. Buckley act more like a Republican than the Democratic leader that we elected her to be. Nevada needs a comprehensive tax reform, not another round of band aid measures that push off the real weaknesses of our state's tax structure for another two two years. This was a missed opportunity to fix the many problems that plague this state, and the Democrats just kicked the can further down the road. As a registered Democrat I cannot vote for Buckley in the coming Gubernatorial primaries due to the fact that she shows no signs of actually being a Democrat.

Let's hope we can survive the next two years.

GregoryBrown,

Hate to tell you, but graduate students at UNLV have long been disgruntled over their meager pay in comparison to tenure faculty. Many of us have heavier teaching loads than full time faculty, has the same public service requirements, and also have to finish our dissertation. Maybe if we felt that the faculty were fighting for us in either decreasing our teaching load, increasing our pay to a livable wage, or both, than the growing schism will not occur.

It is not simply getting up and moving, or the profits "lost" by bars (most studies point out that the opposite is true). There is a much larger, and much more expensive, cost of smoking. One that hits all of us in the pocket books. Smoking causes cancer. Cancer that needs medical treatment. Treatment that costs money. Money that comes from insurance providers. Providers who pass on their costs to consumers. We all pay for the "right" of others to have cancer. And yes Mr Gibbons, second hand smoke causes cancer despite your sophomoric jabs.

Does this mean that they are going to pull their heads out and take the stimulus funds for higher ed?

As much as this jfnance32 character seems to be from another planet, they are hitting the point here. What is the point of electing a Democratic Legislature if they are not going to protect the very things we sent them to Carson to protect. Why not just let Gibbons gut the state. Hell, we might as not even have a state government, and follow the libertarian anti-tax zealots into chaos. Having "testified" before a legislative committee on the impacts of proposed budget cuts, they are as disinterested as they appear. Good luck to any of them, no matter their party affiliation, on winning re-election.

Obviously Buckley's statement was meant to keep the very vocal right wing demagogues in the state from foaming at the mouth and distracting people from Nevada's real need to provide an adequate tax system. Taxes are going to have to be raised folks. Now on who, and how much should be the debate. This is not going to be easy, especially during a recession, but it is necessary for the long term economic health of Nevada. We cannot continue to run a 21st century economy on a 19th century tax model.

Maybe the damn taxis will start showing up at residential calls now. I quit even bothering trying to set up a taxi ride to the airport years ago. If they showed up, which was rare, they were late. I realize that the Strip is the Valley's money maker, but it would be nice to look a little beyond the glitz to those of us who are trying to live here.

Does anyone find KDR81's lack of accounting knowledge as troubling as I do? Well, makes for better reading the the funny papers I suppose.