37°F
weather icon Partly Cloudy

Assembly GOP should tell Sandoval to go back to drawing board

I remember a time back in the 6th grade when I turned in a book report. Mr. Levanis reviewed it, handed it back to me and said, “This isn’t acceptable. Go back and do it over.”

And that’s EXACTLY what Republicans in the Assembly should tell Gov. Brian Sandoval about his $7.3 billion budget and corresponding Billion Dollar Tax Hike. Instead, they’re feverishly and foolishly working on alternative budgets and alternative tax hikes.

This is the price Nevada taxpayers are being forced to pay for the John Hambrick Screw Job done to conservative Assemblywoman Michele Fiore before the start of the session when the Speaker unilaterally removed her as Chairman of the Taxation Committee.

With Fiore out of the way and a number of GOP legislators sidelined by political threats or political “bribes,” Sandoval felt free to officially launch this week his Gruberesque propaganda campaign to pass his Billion Dollar Tax Hike – “Gruber” being a reference to the now-infamous MIT professor who admitted to lying to the public in order to pass ObamaCare.

Now, I’m reliably told there are as many as 20 Republicans in the Assembly who will not vote for the governor’s tax hike. And it only takes 15 – thanks to the Jim Gibbons Tax Restraint Law! – to kill it. Problem is, too many of them have nerves of rubber and are scared to tell the governor that his budget is DOA and to go back and do it over.

And make no mistake; doing it over is the governor’s responsibility, not the Legislature’s.

The governor has an army of taxpayer-funded professional budget analysts at his beck-and-call. Legislators have an old Texas Instruments pocket calculator.

Legislators have neither time nor staff to produce in a matter of weeks what Sandoval’s army has been concocting for over a YEAR. So if Assembly Republicans have the 15 votes to kill the Billion Dollar Tax Hike, they should tell the governor that, publicly, NOW.

Those budget number-crunchers are paid by taxpayers to do what the governor tells them to do. And if Assembly Republicans tell Sandoval to go back and come up with a budget that meets the $6.3 billion allowance the Economic Forum has given him, that’s exactly what they’ll do.

It’s not that Assembly Republicans don’t have the power to force the governor’s hand. The problem is they don’t have the…um, well, you know.

Indeed, only four Republicans in the Assembly have told me they’re a definite “no” on the Billion Dollar Tax Hike: Fiore, John Moore, Shelly Shelton and Jim Wheeler. The rest have to be assumed at this point to be “yes” votes unless or until such time as they publicly declare otherwise.

It’s time for these fence-straddlers to pick a side – and for taxpayers to break out the pitchforks and light the torches!

Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Outreach and the publisher of www.NevadaNewsandViews.com. He personally blogs at www.MuthsTruths.com.

MOST READ
THE LATEST
Letters to the Editor

Vern Jewett’s recent letter espousing solar farms has me scratching my head for so many reasons.

Investing in Health Access for Nevada’s Rural Communities

Rural living means we face unique challenges that urban areas often don’t, especially when it comes to accessing essential services like health care.

Letters to the Editor

Why is it that those with Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) will never take the time to research the other side of an issue before opening mouth and inserting foot?

Letters to the Editor

In Wednesday’s Letters to the Editor, two letters were inadvertently combined. Our apologies to both writers. Here they are in their correct form.

A tribute to a great town and travel buddy

Just like towns, our lives are boom and bust, and this holiday season I’m just thankful for the time that we had together.

Letters to the Editor

Dr. Waters does not speak for the majority of military veterans when he disparages Donald Trump.

Letters to the Editor

It seems the narrative is, “if you can afford solar power you must be rich, so you can pay more too.”