Monthly archive
The governor has just started speaking (speech attached) , so here’s what you need to know:
►$1.1 billion above Economic Forum projections. About half from new taxes, half from not allowing sunsets to expire. Total general fund: $7.3 billion
►The new graduated business license fee, from $400 to $4 million depending on gross receipts, will raise about $450 million (designed to be $250 million a year). Also will be a cigarette tax boost of .80 a pack to $1.20 a pack; also a change in how slot...
I'll update this throughout the day with tidbits.
2:20 PM UPDATE:
We are about 90 minutes away from the biennial media briefing, which is where the governor's staff lays out the budget plan, we ask obnoxious questions but can't write about it or put it on TV until the speech. It's always fun as we test the sense of humor of the chief of staff -- in this case, Mike Willden, who is a veteran of such media needling.
But we all abide by the embargo -- not sure anyone has ever broken it, although I...
It will last anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour Thursday evening. And States of the State are usually like States of the Union: Laundry lists of programs sandwiched between rhetoric meant to be soaring. And always, always too long.
So here is some friendly advice: Have alcohol at your side as you watch (not in the chambers, if you are there) and take a drink every time these words are said:
EDUCATION
CHILDREN
FUTURE
REFORM
BIPARTISAN
TESLA
SUCCESS
COMEBACK
FEE (If he says the word "tax," it's...
UPDATED, 6:40 PM: SEIU has corrected the ad, replaced it with the one below and a spokesman tells me:
"Former Rep. Steven Horsford is a champion for immigrant and working families. We are grateful for his years of service and support for hard-working people in Nevada and across our nation. The digital ad with his name and pictures was a mistake and was pulled down as soon as the error was discovered. The correct ad featuring the intended target, Rep. Cresent Hardy, ran starting at 10 a.m. ...
I acknowledge that I had low hopes for Monday morning’s Las Vegas Metro Chamber/Las Vegas Review-Journal forum with the four legislative leaders.
I expected evasions, platitudes and mush. News? Not a chance.
I was wrong.
Oh, make no mistake: The lawmakers committed all the above rhetorical crimes. And there was the requisite and quixotic southern jingoism – UNLV will get its medical school, by gum, or at least some funding, even though we have no idea how much!
But the lawmakers also made news...
"Libelous personal attacks shouldn’t be part of politics"
That's the headline on a piece that the Las Vegas Review-Journal published today by Assemblywoman Michele Fiore. I assume the RJ doesn't let its "special" contributors write their own headlines, so the use of the word "libelous" by a news organization is puzzling, to say the least.
Fiore seems upset about coverage of her tax liens, which has been widepsread, including in the RJ, which has published reports of what it labeled "1 million"...
Welcome to the Weekly Report.
This week:
1. Interesting preliminary data from 2014
2. State of the State preview by the insider crew
3. What’s scary about Carson ‘15
4. Smartest/dumbest political moves of the week
My insiders did not disappoint as the year begins, and you premium subscribers will get your money’s worth from these folks during the session. They always give me great stuff. I am not sure this is right – “As a good friend and colleague said ‘it won’t be as bad as we think and it...
Good morning, everyone. If you missed it last night, Rachel Maddow’s excruciating and lengthy recap of the Ensign scandaland her interview with Doug Hampton were painful to watch. There wasn’t really much news, but the sick, creepy story and Hampton’s flailing for evanescent justice were sad.
On a lighter note: In the spirit of The Hotline’s “Shot and Chaser” feature, here’s one:
Shot: Harry Reid in that web video this week: ““The rich are getting richer; the poor are getting poorer and the...
Good morning, everyone. That horrific attack in Paris has sparked a lot of provocative and insightful commentary amid the usual Internet nonsense, some of which I thought I’d share with you in case you have missed it. The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg was his usual insightful self, The New Yorker’s George Packer was brief but brilliant and The New York Times’ Ross Douthat was quite piercing.
The media's increasing tendency to self-censor, which seems to follow such attacks or even threats, also...