Why isn't anyone talking about the context in which the proposed 4% cuts are to occur, i.e. that there were 4.5% cuts for the current fiscal year which were approved mid-year and the 14% cuts which will likely be proposed in 7 months for the next bi-ennium. Is it any wonder that people rank politicians below undertakers and dentists?

By pretending there is no context to these cuts we make it easier for the Republicans (whom you so nicely point out see budget cuts as red meat) to pretend that spending cuts are okay, that our state isn't hurt and that the sun will come up tomorrow (sorry Annie). The reality is that tomorrow is looking darker and darker and our 'leaders' aren't!

The one major defect in democracy as practiced in this country is the fatal need for extensive compromise. If Mr. Lanni were to run for governor he'd need the support of the elite to fund a run against an incumbent (even against a Gibbon [sic] incumbent) and that support would have a price attached. The only hope that Mr. Lanni could accomplish something that current politicians have not accomplished, haven't tried to acoomplish, is that the support of the Gaming Industry would be contingent on a positive solution which exempted or treated the Gaming Industry less unfavorably than either targeted solutions of the sort proposed by the teachers or more broad based solutions of the sort proposed by Chancellor Rogers. However the political reality isn't quite so neat and clean, and the likely impact of a Lannie administration would more of the same.

What Nevada needs is a charismatic leader who can inspire the kind of broad based participation of individual people along the lines of the 1,400,000 contributors that Sen. Obama has succeeded in enlisting (of course adjusted down to the state level). An administration of such a leader, especially with long 'coattails' would be one that might really accomplish something. Not just an overhaul of the revenue base on which the state relies but the system of governement too, including but limited to, something closer to a full time legislature or, at the very least, the right of the legislature to convene itself without governor approval. Then we'd actually have 3 co-equal branches with checks and balances. What a novel idea!

The irony of this issue is that is serves as a corollary to the old joke "How can you tell when a politician is lying?" Anyone who proposes what amounts to a 'trickle down policy' like low taxes to bring in business should be covered by the same rubric.

If you want more business in Nevada, you have make Nevada attractive to both business and PEOPLE and that doesn't happen when taxes are so low that meaningful governmental services are so underfunded that are virtually non-existent. Among other things, we need to have an education system with funding levels that won't scare business owners and decision makers. In attempting to set policies that will draw business to Nevada, you need to apply analysis more in the line of Newton Minnow's line, "the medium is the message" and look at who's making a statement or arguing for a proposition in order to judge who is really likely to benefit from the position being advocated. So when business leaders tell you that low taxes will bring in business, it is foolish to analyze such a position without considering how much those business leaders will benefit from a low tax environmentand from a low competition environment when other business don't flock to Nevada, especially in the context of their stock options being a huge piece of their compensation.

As a footnote, my apologies to Terry Lanni and Jim Rogers who shouldn't be lumped in with the Gibbon [sic] crowd as they are advocating positions that aren't 'trickle down' and should be viewed as the exceptions that prove the rule.

The problem with education in Nevada, both K-12 and Higher Education, is that Nevada is attempting to manage a 21st century problem with a 19th century taxation/political system. In more than 30 years as an attorney practicing in taxation and business transaction involved in transaction where I learned to operate in California, Colorado, Illinoi, Arizona and more recently in Nevada, I can say, authoritatively, that this state has a constitution and political mind-set that treats government worse than any fairy tale step parent treated Cinderella. And you get what you pay for. As a result,we are 'blessed/cursed' with a legislature that meets for one abbreviated session every 2 years whether it needs to or not, it cannot meet in special session without being called into session by the governor, and the power of the legislature is hamstrung by a mindset that the people of Nevada would rather have nothing than pay one cent in taxes.

As with Americans from all states, the economic right wing has us convinced a huge portion of the population of Nevada that government is the enemy, that taxation is our downfall and that we can live without the benefits of government spending. But that right wing isn't the people, it isn't even made up of true conservatives or libertarians, it is made up of corporate elite whose incomes adjusted for inflation have skykrocketed, while working people have been lucky to keep up with inflation, and lately lthat lucky streak appears to have ended. And we've been convinced of a lie.

The reality is that public education is the one element of government that gives people real hope that they and their children can have meaningful opportunities to improve their economic situation. Rather than talk about who should run for governor or arguing about whether we should cut the budget by firing teachers or re-arranging administrative personnel, the debate should be how do we find the revenue to fund education, not at current levels which are horrifically low even without putting these budget cutting proposals in place. But to accomplish that means overhauling a taxation system that was designed by business people to allow them to earn fantastic sums of money in Nevada, without contributing one cent towards the costs of operating a government for the benefit of the people of this state. Make your voice heard that you aren't being blinded by false promises that less government is good and let your Assembly and State Senate representatives know that you belive that taxation to support worthwhile government enterprise is appropriate and that you expect them to lead Nevada out of the desert.