Editor's Note: The $300 guilt trip

So, what are you going to do with Guinn's gift?

Gov. Kenny Guinn, citing a tax revenue surplus, wants to give Nevada car owners a registration rebate, up to $300 per vehicle.

Pretty nifty, eh?

Okay, but how're you going to use it? Be honest: You're not going to deposit it in your savings account or Billy's college fund. Not enough to make much difference. And forget about giving it to charity. You dropped several dollars in Salvation Army kettles just last month. This is free and clear money, right? It's an unexpected windfall, and that means only one thing: shopping spree. Wal-Mart Supercenter, here we come!

Or, this being Nevada, it could mean a hardcore gambling session. Those video poker machines at the Suncoast are hot and ready to deliver. You can feel it.

That's the way it is in George W. Bush's America. We're a bunch of self-centered, instant-gratification bastards, and we're fine with it. We're not fazed by the whining about the state's mental health crisis, and we don't want to be bothered about the underfunded public education system. We DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT.

Pissed? Good. But I don't see any steam coming out of your ears yet, so let's keep going.

Gov. Guinn says it's your money, so you should have it. We all paid more than the Legislature expected when it passed a bunch of new and higher taxes in 2003, so you deserve a refund. Simple as that.

This is simple, too: Las Vegas is a stupid city. Hey, don't blame me. I didn't say it first. A Men's Health magazine study recently ranked Las Vegas the fourth stupidest city in America, based on a range of statistical criteria.

This, of course, is not surprising. We enjoy warm weather and a good economy, but we're not exactly the most literate, intellectual crowd, are we? In fact, we're downright anti-intellectual, almost proud of our ignorance.

Here's another simple thing: Nevada ranks 48th nationally in education funding, according to "Quality Counts 2005," an Education Week annual survey. With just 50 states in the union, clearly we're not getting the job done. And wouldn't you know it, our test scores also lag well behind the national average.

While we're focusing on basic societal functions, let's talk about mental health care. Generally speaking, Nevada doesn't give a crap about the mentally ill; we'd rather they just huddle under freeway overpasses or hitch a ride to Bullhead City. This is exemplified by the fact that local emergency rooms are constantly crowded with mental cases. They shouldn't be there. There should be facilities where they can receive proper treatment, but we don't have enough of them. As a result, the mentally ill jam up the emergency rooms, and so when Li'l Joe busts his arm while terrorizing the neighborhood on his motorized scooter and needs a cast, he has to wait nine excruciating hours to see a doctor.

But guess what? You really need some junk from Wal-Mart, so you've thrown your support behind Guinn's clever rebate plan.

When the state Legislature convenes next month, it should scuttle this irresponsible proposal so none of us has to decide how to spend our refund check. Guinn, who can't run for re-election, may have pure motives here, but the effect is pure politics. Voting for the refund would be a nice campaign issue for Nevada lawmakers, and voting against it could be politically risky. Nevertheless, in the interest of good governance, the extra tax revenue should be allocated for mental health care and/or education--two of the state's most glaring deficiencies--because they are MORE IMPORTANT than you and me pocketing $300 we never expected to have.

At some point, Nevadans have to realize that this isn't the every-man-for-himself frontier anymore. Like it or not, we have thousands of mentally ill people here with real needs--and they're not all street people. We have hundreds of thousands of kids who need a good education to make it in the modern world. We don't all live in sublime suburban comfort with our H2s and private schools. Nevada has real cities now, not overnight mining camps that can be picked up and carried to the next gold strike. We need to stop acting like a me-first adolescent and take responsibility for this fast-growing, problem-plagued state we have created.

By the way, sorry for the heavy-handed approach this week. I guess I'm still grumpy about the Packers' dismal playoff performance. Maybe I'll use my $300 to buy them a defense.

--GEOFF SCHUMACHER