Monthly archive

The Top 10 Nevada political stories of the year
Picking the top 10 – it must be 10! – Nevada political stories of the year is always a tortuous task. But choose I must, and choose I have, as you will see below (along with a few extra honorable mentions, leaving out too many, I’m sure.) Please argue with my choices or rankings in the comments section. It’s always more difficult in a non-election year, but I expect not everyone will agree with me (he said with a bit of understatement). So what’s ranked too high? Or too low? What did I leave...
A rare glimpse inside the AGA: The group's strategic plan and budget
I have already told you about this memo about the American Gaming Association's new approach: More offense, an anti-web gaming push. There were two attachments to that memo, which I have now obtained and have posted here -- the AGA's annual budget and its strategic plan. Highlights: ►The group's 2014 budget is $2.2 million higher than 2013, coming in at $11.1 million. Most of that ($8.9 million) comes from revene garnered at the G2E gaming conference. (Wow.) ►You can see large boosts in "...
AGA chief: Time to go on offense to push agenda, including web gaming
The American Gaming Association's chief, Geoff Freeman, recently sent an update to his board. No, I'm not on the board. But I have it, with annotations: AGA Board of Directors – Thank you to those of you who joined us on December 12 for our final board meeting of 2013.  We had a thought provoking discussion that touched on many of the most pressing issues facing the industry today, including online gaming, the current regulatory environment and the AGA’s 2014 strategic plan.  Key takeaways from...
NV Energy purchase by Buffett is consummated with final approvals
It's a done deal. Warren Buffett can now flip a switch and Nevada will go dark. News release attached.
Teachers union hopes to build grass-roots structure to pass margin tax, influence Legislature
As the airwaves are soon inundated with ads about what state Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson reflexively calls “the job-killing margin tax,” the teachers union really has only one way to win the campaign. That method is as old as campaigns, one where an effective grass-roots organization defeats a moneyed array of groups. In this case, it’s the teachers and progressives vs. the gamers, the retailers, the miners, the chambers and more. So the union has begun to build what it hopes will...
Sandoval speaks on patient-dumping
The Brian Sandoval cocoon opened briefly Wednesday for News 3’s Kelsey Thomas, and here’s some of what the governor said, with my annotations: “When I learned about the issue...that happened a couple years ago, I was appalled. It was unacceptable and we were ere going to get to the bottom of it and ensure it doesn’t happen again ...As a parent it concerns me there was a sexual offender out in the community.” If he was appalled at the beginning, Sandoval didn’t show it. The administration...
Two Washington Post journos discuss Reid-Sandoval
"We're used to seeing these proxy battles in Nevada politics. Most of them involve Harry Reid."  Reid Wilson to Chris Cillizza. Warning: Beltway CW already sees the governor running against a Reid again. A two-time Reid-killer? I don't see it yet, but this just makes my point about all the pressure that will come down on Sunny after the '14 balloting. (Sunny vs. Cloudy?)
Coburn attacks Nevada brothels for tax breaks; brothels fight back
Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn has released his annual "Wastebook", and guess what's on it? Nevada's brothels! In a section cleverly (ahem) titled, "Pimping the Tax Code," Coburn outlines tax breaks granted to the brothels, including -- cover your eyes, children! -- for breast implants. The total cost: $17.5 million. "Even though prostitution is deemed illegal under nearly every law in the nation, Congress must explicitly disallow businesses – legal or illegal – from making such deductions from their...
Three major players join American Gaming Association
I'm reliably told that Wynn Resorts, Station Casinos and Churchill Downs will soon be joining the board of the American Gaming Association. All three companies are proponents of online betting, which means Sheldon Adelson, the crusader against web gaming, is increasingly isolated. Not sure Adelson cares. But the interests of the AGA, which is a fervent proponent of web gaming as a portal to the industry's future prosperity, and Adelson, who is spending a lot of money to kill Internet poker,...
My POLITICO piece on covering Harry Reid
The folks at POLITICO wanted to know what it's been like to cover Harry Reid for more than a quarter-century. So I told them.  

Pages