What's up in Nevada?

With 44% of the precincts reporting, Romney is the winner... with approximately 7000 votes state wide????

Even when the rest of the vote comes in, it's going to be a very underwhelming number.

Lame.

Obama uses prayer breakfast as an opportunity to speak against anti-gay bill in Uganda

From CNN:

President Obama on Thursday strongly criticized controversial anti-homosexuality legislation being considered by Uganda's legislature.

It is "unconscionable to target gays or lesbians for who they are," Obama said during an appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast.

The measure being considered in Uganda is "odious," he added.

The organization which sponsors the breakfast, the Fellowship Foundation, has been associated with efforts to pass the bill, according to the ethics group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The measure would punish sexual activity between persons of the same sex with long jail terms or death.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also criticized the bill during an appearance at the breakfast.

CREW had protested Obama's appearance at the breakfast, claiming in a statement that the event "designed to appear as if government-sanctioned, actually serves as a meeting and recruiting event for the shadowy Fellowship Foundation," also known as "The Foundation" and "The Family."

A Ugandan legislator who introduced the bill -- which has been roundly condemned by human rights groups -- was scheduled to attend the breakfast before his invitation was revoked, CREW claimed.

The Family, of course, is one of those holier-than-thou organizations that politicians like Nevada's philandering Senator John Ensign join. More on The Family from NPR's Fresh Air.

Democrats throw in the towel; I respond with disgust

It appears that Democratic leaders are throwing in the towel on pushing for healthcare reform legislation anytime soon:

With no clear path forward on major health care legislation, Democratic leaders in Congress effectively slammed the brakes on President Obama’s top domestic priority on Tuesday, saying that they no longer felt pressure to move quickly on a health bill after eight months of setting deadlines and missing them.

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, deflected questions about health care. “We’re not on health care now,” he said. “We’ve talked a lot about it in the past.” He added, “There is no rush,” and noted that Congress still had most of this year to work on the health bills passed in 2009 by the Senate and the House.

At the same time, two centrist Democratic senators who are up for re-election this year, Blanche L. Lincoln of Arkansas and Evan Bayh of Indiana, said that they would resist efforts to muscle through a health care bill using a parliamentary tactic called budget reconciliation, which seemed to be the simplest way to advance the measure....

Some Democrats said that they did not expect any action on health care legislation until late February at earliest, perhaps after Congress returns from a weeklong recess. But the Democrats stand to lose momentum, and every day closer to the November election that the issue remains unresolved may reduce the chances of passing a far-reaching bill.

And because of my disgust, I'm throwing my own towel onto the pile: I'm not lifting a finger to support any of those Democratic legislators who had no courage to move on their agenda even with large Democratic margins in both houses of Congress.

In 2008 I contributed heavily to President Obama's campaign as well as less liberally to Congressional Democrats. I walked precincts and walked on doors. I voted in every election. I worked in order to get them elected to do what they said they'd do.

And since they can't hold up their end of the bargain, I'm choosing to consider myself free to sit on the sidelines as well. Maybe I'm late to the party, but I'm sick of politicians more interested in being re-elected than getting anything done. As Ezra Klein commented today:

Politicians have a tendency of talking about the consequences of elections as if they're very real and the consequences of policy as if they're very abstract, and as we're seeing with the stalling of the health-care bill in the aftermath of Martha Coakley's loss, they legislate that way, too. And then they wonder why voters don't trust them and their initiatives.

During this past year I've been moderate in my expectations of Obama and the Democrats. But if they are this ineffective in achieving a key plank in their party platform, even with advantages of 256-178 in the House and a 59-41 in the Senate, then I'm at a loss as to why putting in the effort to elect Democrats matters.

Senator Ensign dodges for all he's worth

Under refreshingly persistent questioning by CNN's Rick Sanchez, Senator John Ensign of Nevada repeatedly refers to previous statements he's made and avoids answering any of Sanchez' queries. So, if you're so confident that everything will "work out in time," Senator, why can't you answer a question instead of suggesting the interviewer should do "research" rather than question his guest?

(Video link)

The House votes on healthcare reform as early as tomorrow

Democrats are still working to get the 218 votes needed to pass healthcare reform in the House with a vote scheduled for as early as tomorrow. More on the situation from the New York Times.

Call your representative today and urge them to vote "yes" on this important bill! With the vote this close, your call may make a big difference.

I just called my Nevada representative, Dina Titus, who confirmed she is planning to vote for the reform legislation. And when I checked my email, I found this message from her:

For the past six months, I have traveled around the district talking with my constituents about health care reform. I have heard from thousands of Southern Nevadans at town halls and Congress on the Corners. I have hosted three telephone town halls to listen to concerns and questions about the health care reform bill that the House is expected to vote on in the coming days. Through roundtable discussions with doctors, health care providers, and small business owners, I have listened to their needs and fought to make changes to the final bill that address their concerns. Finally, through surveys and asking you to share your health care stories, I have solicited input from the people I am in Washington to represent.

I have heard strong voices on all sides of this important issue and the common theme has been that the status quo is no longer acceptable. I believe the new version of the health care bill in the House of Representatives will go a long way toward addressing the problems of Southern Nevadans, and it is legislation I intend to support when it comes up for a vote. It will reduce costs, improve access to care, increase choices, and strengthen Medicare.

The Affordable Health Care for America Act, which has been endorsed by AARP and the American Medical Association, will help millions of Americans by:

• Banning the insurance industry practices of discriminating against those with preexisting conditions or withdrawing coverage for people when they get sick.


• Immediately beginning to close the donut hole that forces nearly 13,000 seniors in our district to pay high out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs.
• Eliminating co-pays for preventive services.
  
• Eliminating “gender rating” by insurance companies which has led to women paying up to 48 percent more in premium costs than men for coverage through the individual market.


• Ending the insurance industry’s exemption from anti-trust laws that has allowed it to stifle competition.


• Establishing a grant program to encourage states to implement alternatives to traditional malpractice litigation.


• Permitting states to enter into agreements to allow for the sale of insurance across state lines.

The new bill also addresses key concerns I had with the impact reform would have on small businesses in Southern Nevada by:

• Increasing the income threshold at which households must pay a surcharge from $280,000 to $500,000 for individuals and $350,000 to $1 million for families so that 98.8 % of small businesses will pay no surcharge.


• Including my amendment to allow more small businesses to enter into the Health Insurance Exchange to leverage their purchasing power to get lower rates.

With Nevada families and small businesses suffering under the weight of rising health care costs, it is time to take action to reduce costs and increase access to health care. I believe the legislation before the House, which is fully paid for and will cut the deficit by $30 billion over the next decade, will take great strides toward reforming our broken health care system and giving Nevadans peace of mind and assurance that they will have the coverage they need at a cost they can afford.

Sincerely,

Congresswoman Dina Titus

More trouble for Nevada's junior senator

Looks like Senator John Ensign and the husband of the woman Ensign was having an affair with may have broken ethics laws when Ensign helped the man get work as a lobbyist. Good to see that someone is taking the time to investigate everything that happened and keep the heat turned up on "Mr. Family Values."

... The senator arranged for Mr. Hampton to join a political consulting firm and lined up several donors as his lobbying clients, according to interviews, e-mail messages and other records. Mr. Ensign and his staff then repeatedly intervened on the companies’ behalf with federal agencies in Washington, often after urging from Mr. Hampton.

While the affair made national news in June, the role that Mr. Ensign played in assisting Mr. Hampton and helping the clients he represented has not been previously disclosed. Several legal experts say those activities may have violated an ethics law that bans senior aides from lobbying the Senate for a year after leaving their posts.

In acknowledging the affair, Mr. Ensign cast it as personal transgression, not a professional one. But an examination of his conduct shows that in trying to clean up the mess from the illicit relationship and distance himself from the Hamptons, he entangled political supporters, staff members and Senate colleagues, some of whom say they now feel betrayed by Mr. Ensign.

The article also notes that there are currently no ethics investigations underway in the Senate. Guess it times to write those senators. Unfortunately it won't do much good for me... I don't think Mr. Ensign will be too receptive to my request, and Harry Reid will probably ignore it as well. Hey, I know: I'll write my new senators in Oregon! :-)

Domestic partnerships arrive in Nevada

Nevada's Domestic Partner Registry Act goes into effect today, allowing lesbians and gay men in the state to register their relationships with the state. From The Center in Las Vegas:

According to the Nevada Secretary of State's office, nearly 700 couples pre-registered their partnerships in the month-long pre-registration period ending September 24th in order to receive their certificates today. Many more couples are expected to file their forms today.

For GLBT couples, this opportunity represents the equalizing effect that state recognition offers for our relationships. We now enjoy many of the same rights and responsibilities in Nevada that opposite-sex couples enjoy when they choose to marry and share their lives together.

The Center sponsored multiple workshops to educate couples about their rights and responsibilities under the law—with hundreds of couples attending the seminars to be better informed about their choices and obligations. 27 couples registered one night, on September 14th at a Center sponsored seminar.

A special thanks to Senator David Parks for his hard work in sponsoring this monumental legislation and Secretary of State Ross Miller and his office for their commitment to making the process simple and accessible.

Thank you to all those community members and organizations, who organized, educated, lobbied and worked to make this law a reality.

And the Las Vegas Sun has an article about two women who worked to get this law passed:

Why do they love each other?

Carline, who is now 37: “She has the biggest heart I’ve ever met. I don’t know anyone who would take on all of that responsibility when she did. She was 18, she could have gone to college and only had one job. But she took three jobs and was with us. She’s always provided for us, making sure we have what we need. She’s always been there for us. She’s been really good to me and really good to the kids. She’s funny. She’s smart.”

Jodie, who is now 27: “She’s always there to talk to. We work well as a team. We get things done.”

Carline: “She’s a woman of few words.”

And then the whole scene dissolves in blushes and hugs....

Last spring Nevada’s Legislature debated a bill introduced by state Sen. David Parks, D-Las Vegas. It wouldn’t overturn Nevada’s ban and make us one of the four states with same-sex marriage. It wouldn’t provide federal recognition for same-sex couples. But it would make Nevada the 10th state with either domestic partnerships or civil unions. It would be a legal piece of paper for couples to show doctors and bosses.

Carline and Jodie consider themselves active in the gay community, but they don’t think of themselves as activists. As Carline says, “I’m a lesbian but that’s not the only hat I wear. I’m a mom, I’m active at my kids’ school.”

They also were among the couples who traveled to Carson City in April to lobby legislators to pass the bill.

More GOP hypocrisy on "family values"

This time right at home with Nevada's junior senator, John Ensign:

“When you take the social conservative banner, there’s a higher level of scrutiny on these kinds of things,” he said. “The public comes down a lot harder on people who carry that banner,” he added.

American social mores have become more tolerant in recent decades, and in the process, voters have become more accepting of different sexual orientations (see Rep. Barney Frank); drug use (see Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama); and extramarital affairs (see President Bill Clinton.)

But there’s still one unforgivable sin: Hypocrisy.

“People have survived extramarital affairs, but he’s got a hypocrisy problem to deal with,” said another Nevada Republican operative who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about a fellow Republican. “He’s got a serious hypocrisy problem.”

During his first Senate campaign in 1998 against Sen. Harry Reid, Ensign called for Clinton’s resignation in light of his acknowledged affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, saying Clinton “has no credibility left.”

Now we know that Ensign had an affair with a member of his staff. He also betrayed the woman’s husband, a close friend who also worked for him — not unlike San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Recall that Republicans like to use “San Francisco values” as an epithet.

Ensign also must now account for his prior defense of “traditional” marriage. In calling for a constitutional amendment to ban gays from marrying, he said, “Marriage is an extremely important institution in this country and protecting it is, in my mind, worth the extraordinary step of amending our constitution.”

Ensign was head of Senate Republican election efforts last year, an effort that failed badly. He tried to get Sen. Larry Craig to resign his seat after the Idaho Republican pleaded guilty in 2007 to soliciting sex from a man in an airport bathroom.

Ensign called Craig “a disgrace.”

A few months later, Ensign’s own affair began.

I've always thought this guy was an empty suit. Turns out he's worse.

Another razor thin margin

This time in the Henderson mayoral race. Democrat Andy Hafen won:

With all of Henderson’s 15 vote centers reporting by about 9:40 p.m., combined with the early vote, Hafen won 9,700 to 9,655, according to unofficial figures from the Clark County Elections Department. That was 50.18 percent to 49.88 percent -- or a razor-thin difference of 0.24 percent.

Nevada legislature overrides governor's veto of domestic partners bill

Nevada today became the 17th state in the nation to pass domestic partners legislation. Worst-governor-in-America Jim Gibbons had vetoed the bill, but the Senate overrode him yesterday and the Assembly followed suit today:

CARSON CITY — On a 28-14 vote, the Assembly today overrode Gov. Jim Gibbons' veto of a bill to allow domestic partnerships in Nevada. With the override Saturday in the Senate, the domestic partners legislation will become law in Nevada on Oct. 1. The law allows same and opposite sex couples to secure domestic partnership contracts through the secretary of state's office. The contracts give couples the same rights and responsibilities as married couples.

Another step forward...

Obama back in Vegas, stumping for Reid

The President was here tonight to give a speech at a sold-out Caesar's Palace fundraiser for Senate Majority Harry Reid.

Amazingly, I didn't go!

Seriously, the tickets were only $50, but what I really wanted was one of the $2400 VIP tickets, and I just didn't feel like stopping by an ATM. ;-)

I'm on an electoral roll

My candidates for Henderson mayor and city council were the top two vote-getters in today's primary, though reached the 50% mark to avoid the June 2nd run-off.

First Obama, now this! LOL

Election day in Henderson, Nevada

Governor Gibbons sees the light

I am sure it was my call that made the difference. :-)

Nevada's governor has decided to accept all of the federal stimulus funds allocated for our state. He had previously stated that he might not take money for extended unemployment benefits.

Here is the press release his office sent me:

Governor Jim Gibbons today announced he will accept all unemployment funds available to Nevada in the Stimulus Package. The total amount available to Nevada in unemployment insurance stimulus dollars is over $291 million. Governor Gibbons has already accepted a large segment of Stimulus Package funds to provide extended benefits to unemployed men and women in Nevada . The Governor was reluctant to accept $77-million dollars that would require an expansion of coverage to people not previously eligible for unemployment benefits. The Governor was concerned that Nevada businesses would be left to cover the cost of expanded coverage when stimulus dollars run out. However, the federal government has recently assured states that the expanded coverage base can be retracted in the future, before funding for such coverage becomes a permanent state obligation.

“As our economic crisis deepens, Nevadans are suffering because of layoffs, business closings and other cutbacks,” Gibbons said, “We have the responsibility to do everything we can to help our unemployed workers get through these difficult times, even if that means passing legislation that we would not necessarily approve during prosperous times.” Gibbons noted, “I’m willing to approve this expanded coverage with the understanding that the issue will be revisited in a future legislative session before federal dollars expire. Our citizens deserve all the help we can find while they try to cope with unexpected misfortunes.”

Governor Gibbons will work with legislators to develop a plan that will provide financial relief to those in need now, without penalizing businesses in the future.

Letter to Governor Gibbons

Here is the letter I sent to Governor Gibbons regarding the possibility that he may reject some of the federal stimulus money:

Governor Gibbons,

I was outraged when I read in the Las Vegas Sun yesterday that you were considering rejecting some of the federal stimulus money that recently become available through ARRA.

I read your letter to President Obama, and I agree with you that Nevada is getting less than its fair share on a per capita basis.

However, I must say in the strongest possible terms that it would be a grave mistake to turn down federal funds for extending unemployment benefits. This money is meant to serve as a temporary solution to a real and current problem: high unemployment in this terrible economy. Nevada already has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, and it would be cruel and unusual punishment to forego money that could help both individuals and families whose breadwinners are out of work.

I will be watching your actions carefully. I urge you to accept all federal money to which Nevada is entitled. Any other path will be disgraceful.

I also called his Carson City number, (775) 684-5670. His email form is here. You can also sign a petition here.

OUTRAGEOUS: Nevada's governor may reject federal stimulus money

Jim Gibbons, worst governor in America, has joined the idiotic chorus of Republican governors who are talking about not accepting some of the dollars allocated to their states as part of the federal stimulus package that just passed. One pool of money he might reject: dollars for extending unemployment benefits. And that in a state with unemployment over 9% and rising! In a state that already has a very low per resident share of the overall stimulus package:

In total stimulus funds, the state [of Nevada] has a per capita rank of 50th out of 51 (that's 50 states plus Washington, D.C.); in education funding, it's 51st; in transportation, it's 48th; and in Medicaid funds, it's 47th.

From the Las Vegas Sun:

Gov. Jim Gibbons sent a letter to President Barack Obama today notifying him that Nevada might reject part of the federal stimulus package.

Governors have a 45-day window, beginning Feb. 17, to claim funds allocated to the states. In his certification letter today, Gibbons said he is a believer in smaller government and has concerns about the size of the stimulus package.

"With these concerns in mind, I would like to also provide notification that there may be portions of the stimulus package that Nevada will reject, due to the constraints and current matching or future funding expectations that the funding would require," Gibbons wrote.

You can share a piece of your mind with this dope by email here or by calling (775) 684-5670 or (702) 486-2500.

Simply outrageous.

UPDATE

You can read the letter that Gibbons wrote to Obama here. I just did, and I will agree with him on one point: Nevada isn't getting its fair share of the stimulus money. The state has been really hard hit by the downturn, and Gibbons makes the case that we are sending more money to Washington than we are getting back. I don't know if he is correct on that, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Worst governor in America watch

Nevada's Governor, Jim Gibbons, has put another feather in his cap by proposing a budget with a nearly $300 million tax increase (specifically, an increase on the hotel room tax). The budget that passed in the legislature includes a smaller ($233 million) increase, but the Governor is saying he will stick to his "no tax increase" pledge and refuse to sign it, instead allowing the bill to become automatically after five days.

Talk about spineless.

Is Yucca Mountain dead?

It sounds like it may be. I'd be against the project even if I didn't live 90 miles away in Las Vegas. Keeping our nuclear waste in place at power plants is, I think, the best option until better technology is developed (spent fuel recycling?).

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29534497/

Nevada's budget crisis threatens higher education

Governor Jim Gibbons' current budget proposal would gut higher education in Nevada:

Gibbons has left us with the false choice of avoiding severe layoffs or making serious budget cuts. Incapable of vision or leading the state in this time of economic crisis, Gibbons instead chooses a political stunt over a sound public policy. We would decry his budget at length if we thought it actually stood any chance of approval. What kind of leader supports killing his state’s higher education system and bankrupting K-12 of its most valuable resource – its teachers.

There is no way Nevada’s higher education system can exist if the type of cuts Gibbons proposed were enacted. There is no way Nevada’s school children could ever improve achievement as the lowest-in-the-nation funding is slashed again. The governor’s State of the State showed him to be in altered states. He defended his 50 percent cut to our universities by suggesting he values education more because it is a larger percentage of the state’s budget. Well, we learned enough in math to know that two percent of nothing is still nothing.

You can weigh in against his disastrous proposals by signing a petition here.

Stimulus money for green jobs in Nevada

State Senate Majority Leader Steve Horsford has introduced the Green Jobs Initiative to invest some of the federal economic stimulus money in creating green job training centers here in Nevada. People trained in the program would then be put to work weatherizing homes and other energy-related projects.