Lies, lies, and damned lies
Every once in a great while, I wonder why everyone thinks the Las Vegas Review-Journal is such as crap paper. Then I read things like today's editorial and it all becomes so clear. The RJ can endorse who it chooses to endorse, that's fine. I may not agree, but, hey, not my paper and I can think for myself, so no worries here. However, don't you fucking lie to me to do it.
On the flip side...
RJ endorsements for Senate, Congressional seats
Let's start at the top with Ensign and Carter.
In this year's race for the U.S. Senate, Democratic challenger Jack Carter -- son of former President Jimmy Carter -- can at least claim some success in the business world, leading him to espouse more laissez faire economic views than are typical from that side of the aisle.
A successful commodities trader, and that's the best you can come up with? Some success? And just because most liberals gasp want businesses to be regulated against little things like, I don't know, pollution that exacerbates global warming trends, doesn't mean we prefer communistic business practices.
But to believe that a resurgent Democratic Party in control of the U.S. Senate would somehow magically abandon its 70-year legacy of punitive regulatory excess and tax-and-spend redistributionism would be folly. Indeed, Mr. Carter embraces universal health care.
Well, we've established that we're going to have to disagree on things like "punitive regulatory excess", so I'll leave that one alone. However, if by "tax-and-spend redistributionism" you mean leaving the Paris Hilton tax intact, revoking Bush's tax cuts for the rich and alleviating the tax burden on the poor and middle class, then all I can say is, "Gods above and below, I hope so!"
And what universal health care has to do with that, I'm not sure. However, with more than 100,000 children in Nevada lacking health care, I fail to see that as a deterrent.
Fortunately, Nevadans have in incumbent U.S. Sen. John Ensign a steady, reliably conservative voice who's long favored federal tax and spending cuts and reasonable tort reform.
And, don't forget torture, spying, and pissing on the Bill of Rights.
Sen. Ensign has also been among the upper house's leaders in recent moves to curb pork spending, seeking to eliminate anonymous "earmarks" that saddle legitimate bills with frivolous tax-funded payoffs that would never stand scrutiny in the light of day.
Nevadans can confidently stick with Republican Sen. John Ensign.
And yet, you brag about things like this: Senator John Ensign today announced more than $3.1 million for the widening and reconstruction of the Blue Diamond Highway (State Route 160) between Valley View and Rainbow Boulevard. The funding is the first installment of $20 million that Ensign secured in the Highway Bill last year and is paid from the Department of Transportation.
Not that we can't use the money, Senator, but this smells like a pig to me. Face it, Senator, the only thing you can be proud of is fighting Yucca Mountain.
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Next up, we have NV-02, Heller vs. Derby.
In the 2nd Congressional District -- the seat being vacated by Jim Gibbons -- current Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller won a close and costly GOP primary. He has since emerged as a talented and affable campaigner, as well as a strong voice demanding that a slimmed-down central government get back to the job for which it was constituted.
Since I'm not in the 2nd district, I'll take your word for it that he's a "talented and affable campaigner". Why no say he's a snazzy dresser, too? It's about as meaningful. As for his stance on the issues, it reads like a Republican cheat sheet. Wait, it probably is.
The illegal immigration issue "defines the difference between me and my opponent," says Mr. Heller. "I've always supported ID at the polling places. ... I'd make it a felony to be here illegally. ... Our cops know where they are but they can't do anything till they commit a felony. To me, that's an absolute breakdown in the system. ... I do not support amnesty. I will not support it. You do not work your way to amnesty."
Mr. Heller, you're right. Your stance is very different than Ms. Derby's. Hers, well, makes
sense.
Jill Derby on Illegal Immigration:
"Our immigration policy has as many holes in it as the proposed new fence along the southern border. We need a real immigration solution not just more empty rhetoric. We need to secure the border now with more border agents and better technology. There should be tougher penalties for employers that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. There should be no amnesty for people who have broken our immigration laws."
Furthermore, Mr. Heller calls for "less taxes, less regulation, and more competition. I would repeal the estate tax. I support the line-item veto. I support a balanced-budget amendment. I would end all pork" -- including earmarks.
See, those regulations you don't like, they include rules against hiring illegal immigrants. Best think about that one for a while. And, Mr. Heller, how would you pay for your balanced budget, your "increased efforts to defend America's borders and protect us from anyone that wants to do harm to Americans"? Well, apparently, not with taxes.
It's easy to talk the talk in Austin and Elko, of course -- harder to tilt alone at Washington's giant windmills of corruption. But it would be hard to find a starker contrast to this outlook than in Mr. Heller's sound-bite Democratic opponent, Jill Derby, who wants to follow the lead of Massachusetts in forcing employers to fund "health insurance for all," but who sees no need to reform Social Security -- who certainly wouldn't allow Americans to place some portion of their own retirement savings "in the gamble of the stock market."
Republican. Against corruption. Pull the other one. It's got bells on.
As for Jill on healthcare:
"We have to be willing to look at what's happening in other states to see what models work and how we can adapt that in other states. Massachusetts plan - supported by a Republican governor and a Democratic legislature - makes it a requirement to have health insurance and is one we should watch to see how it works. The point is that there are solutions out there, if we can wrest control away from career politicians who are too busy looking out for their buddies at the pharmaceutical companies to do what's right to help Nevadans".
`Nuff said.
Ms. Derby -- an 18-year member of the state Board of Regents -- believes the answer to Islamic terrorism and Iraq is to "stage an international conference, get some other nations involved."
And, let's not mention her time in Saudi Arabia, her bachelor's degree in cultural anthropology, her masters and doctoral degrees in cultural anthropology with an emphasis on Middle Eastern studies. Because that would, you know, lend weight to her opinion.
She favors tax subsidies for alternative energy -- literal windmills -- to wean us off Middle Eastern oil, yet opposes tapping America's own proven oil resources. She would retain some version of the death tax "because of the fiscal consequences" should American families be allowed to keep their own after-tax wealth.
Nevada has untapped alternative energy resources that could be used to the profit of this state, such as natural gas, geothermal energy, and yes, wind and solar energy. It would be foolish, as a state, to ignore those resources in favor of Alaskan drilling.
As for the Paris Hilton tax, Jill's site says, "First, we need to reform the Estate Tax so that family business - like Nevada farms and ranches - are protected." So, where did you twist that quote from again?
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Now, let's look at NV-01, Berkley vs. Wegner.
In Nevada's other two House races, 1st District Rep. Shelley Berkley has not faced a serious challenge since her initial run against District Judge Don Chairez. This year's self-funded Republican challenger, Army retiree and volunteer bail enforcement agent Ken Wegner, continues that trend.
Make no mistake, Rep. Berkley's political outlook is not always to our liking. But she is a reliable vote on American foreign policy interests in general, a tireless advocate for her constituents, a committed and accessible delegate with an admirable work ethic. Look for a replay of Ms. Berkley's last, 66-31 win.
You can't support Berkley because she's a Democrat. Okay, fine. But how about at least calling Ken Wegner the crazy SOB he is, like your own columnist Erin Neff did
on Sept. 19th.
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Finally, NV-03, Porter vs. Hafen.
Finally, in the 3rd District, when no more experienced candidate stepped forward to challenge Republican Rep. Jon Porter, Tessa Hafen, a 30-year-old aide to Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, decided to run.
Actually, I think 8 years working with Harry Reid in DC makes Tessa Hafen very qualified.
Ms. Hafen wants to raise taxes (like most Democrats, she prefers to put this in terms of opposing an extension of the Bush tax cuts) and believes the purpose of government is to "make sure we have a good society ... to make sure people are protected ... we have to take care of people."
We're not going to play this game on taxes again, are we? Tell you what, you watch your taxes go up every year under BushCo and see who's raising taxes.
And I'm not addressing your quote until you can cite it. Anything with that many obvious cutouts tells me you've twisted the quote out of context.
Actually, government is not a wet nurse, has neither the authority nor the ability to "create a good society" with money seized from the mouth of labor, and is empowered only to guarantee the people's liberties. Never having held private-sector work since her teen years -- having spent most of her adult career working in Sen. Reid's tax-funded office in Washington's halls of power -- Ms. Hafen's outlook isn't surprising.
Role of government differences not withstanding, nothing on
Tessa Hafen's Issues page strikes me as wet nursing. But then again, I believe in socially and fiscally responsible government.
Meanwhile, Jon Porter has voted repeatedly to crack down on illegal immigration, strongly supports the Bush administration's war on terror and would extend the president's tax cuts.
That's certainly all the reason I will ever need to vote against Jon Porter.
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Look, RJ, your reputation as a craptastic paper has now been upheld. Just do me a favor next time: don't lie to do it. Oh, wait, you can only endorse a Democratic ticket when you tell the truth. Now it all makes sense.