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Democracy in Peril

By Steve Sebelius

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?: If Jesus were a lawmaker, how would he vote on the budget and taxes? Or would he spend all his time locked in rhetorical debate on the Senate floor with Senate Majority Leader Beelzebub, R-Reno? ("Get thee behind me, Raggio!")

Well, the subject was raised by a full-page ad in last week's newspaper placed by Nevada Concerned Citizens, a.k.a. Richard Ziser and Lucille Lusk, who brought you such lovable hits as Question 2, the gay marriage ban. "It's time to stop the scary tactics," reads the ad, placed by folk who warned that homosexuality would be a required course in schools unless Question 2 was passed.

The ad includes a chart that shows tax revenue has closely tracked population and spending over the past 13 years, and quotes a "Dr. Robert Schmidt, J.D., Ph.D." saying that the budget can support current programs like sports and music programs without taxes, or with maybe just a couple more levies on demon rum and cigarettes.

"History shows growth pays for itself," the ad says. And then, quoting Schmidt, adds that the governor's budget relies on "...a perplexingly high estimate of future revenue needs and a very pessimistic estimate of future revenue growth from existing sources."

Well, the governor and his task force tax policy guys are just glass-is-half-empty kind of folks, we guess.

Two pages later, a two-page ad warns voters that "Gov. Guinn wants to raise your taxes by 33.9 percent. Why? To support the biggest spending increase in Nevada history!" This ad is accompanied by bar charts that show Nevada general fund taxes per person and an increase in general fund spending spiking if Guinn's budget is approved. "Real tax fairness requires responsible spending," the ad concludes. (It's a hit on "Nevadans for Tax Fairness," an ad hoc group of casinos and other organizations that want a broad-based business tax.)

One thing's for sure: The state's budget may be hurting, but thanks to these tax ads, the Review-Journal's doing just fine.

KNECHT IS A KNUCKLEHEAD: Assemblyman Ron Knecht, R-Carson City, may want to review that software manual for his e-mail program, that is, unless he intended to hit "reply all" to a message he received from Assemblyman Bob Beers. Shortly after noon last Wednesday, Beers wrote to the entire Assembly, Senate and staffers to notify them that he had updated his anti-tax website. Two minutes later, Knecht replied--to all of the above--with a jab at first lady Dema Guinn.

"Great joke--Muth & Dema for lunch. RK," says his brief message, sent building-wide on the Legislature's official e-mail system. It was a reference to a lunch Dema Guinn had with tax-fighting Republican activist Chuck Muth, who was visiting from Washington, D.C. Despite their differences on taxes and Gov. Kenny Guinn's Millennium Scholarship program, Dema Guinn and Muth remain good friends, which

apparently amuses Knecht.

Then again, Knecht's humor often uses government resources to get to the punchline. He once called for a bill to rename Nevada "East California," make the state song the Beatles' "Taxman" and make the state animal the RINO, or Republican in Name Only, a jab at Guinn, who, despite being a Republican, has called for the largest tax hike in state history. Confronted, the jokester Knecht initially lied to reporters and said he wasn't responsible, but later confessed.

Shouldn't somebody tell Knecht that if he wants to do standup, he shouldn't do it with legislative bill drafters or official e-mail as the stage?

Steve Sebelius writes a daily e-mail newsletter, the E-Briefing, from which "Democracy in Peril" is excerpted. Reach him at 383-0283 or by e-mail at ssebelius@reviewjournal.com. To subscribe to the E-Briefing at a Mercury reader special price of $20 per year, go to www.lasvegasmercury.com/ebriefing.