Monthly archive

At its heart, the story of the Department of Justice grabbing journalists’ phone records is of an abuse of power – an attempt by an administration to discourage leaking by seeking the source through a fishing expedition of reporters’ private communications. Like any journalist – and, I hope, many non-reporters – I am outraged and sickened by this revelation. But I am also reminded of a similar fishing expedition right here in Nevada designed to chill reporting, undertaken not by the government...
The Motion Picture Association of America has written a letter to oppose the proposed admissions tax, saying it could raise the cost of movie tickets as much as a dollar. The MPAA letter is among several missives posted before Tuesday's joint Assembly/Senate hearing and all of them can be found here. The speedway has gone all out, with letters and a PowerPoint. And the Reno Rodeo wants an exemption. This could be quite the spectacle at 1 PM.  
If you golf in Nevada, get ready to panic. Your world is about to end -- or close to it. Get to Carson City, but don't bring your clubs! Here is the breathless email that went out today: The Nevada State Legislature Committee on Taxation, chaired by North Las Vegas Marilyn Kirkpatrick has introduced a potential bill that could seriously impact the golf industry in the State of Nevada. The outline of the bill is below:   The tax rate will be 8%, This tax would include gyms, golf courses,...
The Democrats just keep getting smaller in Carson City. I don’t mean literal height – but certainly in stature and the size of their tax plans. Two years ago, they proposed a visionary $1.5 billion broadening of the tax base with a services tax and a franchise tax. It was too much too late and went nowhere. At the beginning of this session, they talked about a new kind of tax discussion, starting early and developing something grand. Those promises were as empty as a strip club where the women...
The state Senate Democratic caucus will release a tax plan Monday based on adjusting the Modified Business Tax to hit mining and larger businesses, a reliable source said today. The plan would raise the payroll tax to 2 percent on mining, making it commesurate with financial institutions. Every business with a quarterly payroll of more than $62,500 will pay 1.5 percent (it is now 1.17 percent). The source says the tax changes will result in $255 million over two years. Additional changes from...
The Las Vegas Metro Chamber is vacating its Town Square office space to make way for a solar energy company that is moving here. That's according to a missive -- posted below -- that went out to members today. The company, SolarCity, announced in March it was moving to Nevada and was "scouting locations." I guess the scouts liked the chamber's digs. SolarCity already has lobbyists in Carson City -- The Capitol Company. And now it has space to operate, as the chamber helps contribute to the...
Much has been written about how the Hispanic vote helped Democrats in 2012, from President Obama to many down-ticket races. It was certainly true in Nevada, where the Latino vote helped many candidates and almost elected Rep. Shelley Berkley to the U.S. Senate. But in a piece Friday in National Journal, Hotline Editor Reid Wilson showed just how many Hispanic votes were left on the table in 2012. The premise of the piece is how the Latino vote lagged far behind the white vote in many states,...

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