Speaker Buckley’s earnestness

Wed, Oct 1, 2008 (2:01 a.m.)

Only 100 or so people showed up, and at least a fifth were lobbyists or Democratic legislators hoping to curry favor with the speaker.

Most of the two dozen folks who approached the microphone to tell Barbara Buckley how to fix the state’s finances proffered shopworn solutions: a state lottery or a much higher tax on gaming.

And yet as I sat in the Spring Valley High School auditorium Monday evening, listening to Buckley’s presentation about the state’s financial structure and watching the Assembly speaker be so solicitous with the parade of concerned citizens and clueless gadflies, I imagined this could be the beginning of something special.

Don’t misunderstand — it takes no effort to be cynical about Buckley’s series of town hall meetings that began this week. I hear the whispers: This is the kickoff of Buckley’s gubernatorial run, and she is laying the groundwork to raise taxes.

Maybe, and maybe. But ... so what?

The reason I can suspend the reflexive cynicism most political observers have about this endeavor is twofold. First, Buckley has done her homework — her PowerPoint presentation Monday was replete with detail, yet it was cogent and easy to understand. (Read it at www.nv2020.com.) Second, even if you think this listening tour is a Hillarylike stunt, a dialogue is better than a monologue — especially when the monologue is simply repeating three words, “no new taxes,” whenever a question is asked about the budget crisis.

Unlike Gov. Jim Gibbons, who sits in his office with a calculator and a broadsword as his tools in his thoughtless, myopic effort to deal with financial distress, Buckley has decided the solution might not be so simple — substantively or politically. Instead of pandering to the lowest common denominator, as Gibbons continues to do, Buckley is trying to expand the discussion from liberal to conservative, from South to North, and all points in between.

She may not succeed. But, unlike the governor or anyone else out there, at least she is trying.

Indeed, I did not see a representative of the governor at the Buckley event, nor were any Republican legislators present. Heaven forfend that they should listen to another perspective.

Amid the amen chorus Buckley had in the auditorium were some interesting faces, including ex-Boyd Gaming executive and community leader Don Snyder, prominent developer Richard Plaster and state Senate Minority Leader Steven Horsford, who is holding his own set of community discussions and who graciously praised the speaker for her leadership.

Buckley’s message was simple: The state is in dire financial straits, the governor is about to make cataclysmic cuts and it’s time to find a third way. She deliberately laid out what had been lopped off the various budgets with the governor’s mindless across-the-board hacking — too much of it as lawmakers stood by or ratified. And then she laid out what the consequences will be if Gibbons slices 14 percent to 18 percent from critical budgets.

“We can do better,” Page 28 blared, in all caps as if to emphasize the obvious. And Page 30: “This is about what kind of state we want to be. And we must decide this together.”

Some will say she has opted for sophomoric over soporific — not much improvement there. But Buckley backs up the sound bites with pages and pages of ways to measure effectiveness and hold government accountable — phrases that Democrats do not often use and when they do, it’s mostly lip service. So she has a lot to prove there.

Buckley also detailed plans to review tax abatements and exemptions, which lawmakers have avoided for years because of pressure from special interests that obtained the breaks. And she also wants to be more aggressive in collecting existing taxes, revamp the rainy day fund and find “innovative public/private partnerships.” Ugh — where have I heard that before? (Cynicism in this business, alas, can never be fully suspended, like a John McCain campaign.)

I hope in the coming sessions Buckley receives better ideas. The only one she should seriously consider was brought up by several audience members — and received rousing applause: finding a way to tax mining, which hasn’t been done for 20 years.

“Thank you for taking the first step,” Buckley concluded as the crowd, which had thinned out considerably after a couple of hours, applauded. The speaker will need plenty of patience to see this through, and she surely understands that many difficult steps will be necessary. I am sure Buckley knows that you have to crawl before you walk, and you have to walk before you can run.

And I don’t mean just for governor.

Discussion: 11 comments so far…

By KDR81

10/1/08 at 8:25 a.m.

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...and that was the only good idea?
By RegularJoe

10/1/08 at 12:33 p.m.

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I have no idea if Buckley is the right choice or not, but I do know that my wife and I are done with Nevada. We're out. We came here for opportunity and found a state unprepaired to offer basic quality of life measures like roads, schools, and public spaces. Crime is outrageous, we have had two vehicles stolen in the last year alone. With Metro patrolling the Strip instead of our neighborhoods we are not sure how to best protect ourselves. To me, Nevada looked to attract people like my wife and I in order to bolster its economy. We came with the promise that this was a better place. The state has failed to meet minimum QOL standards in large part due to its historic backwardness. The budge is just one sign of things that need to change if Nevada is to become the place it promises to be. Yes, there is no corporate tax, but who cares if business don't want to move here due to the lack of parks, high crime, poor roads, and inadequate education. I don't profess to know the answers, but by the time Nevada figures them out I will be living somewhere else.
By seasinger

10/1/08 at 3:07 p.m.

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I'd be very interested to learn where you are going to go where it's better. I've looked around and the other places with the good schools and roads have much higher taxes. Or they are too cold or have hurricanes, etc. So I guess I'll have to stick it out here.
By KDR81

10/1/08 at 3:57 p.m.

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We have all sorts of monopoly programs you think are great measures of QOL. Tons of government schools, tons of government roads and our public space amount owned by the government is second only to Arizona I believe.

Maybe...maybe if we had less government we could have more choices. Maybe more choices will get private companies to provide us with solutions...solutions we might actually like.

He it works with car companies. If Buckley and Ralston had their way I bet we could only buy Fords....at least in the private market we can get Hondas, Toyotas, BMWs etc etc etc etc.

BTW, Buckley analysis from the other side: http://npri.org/publications/spending-li...
By RegularJoe

10/1/08 at 6:07 p.m.

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Sigh, this is what I am talking about. We don't have a large state government. In fact our state government is too small to be of real help. We need to move beyond the rhetoric of cut, cut, cut. Yes, keep business taxes low, but we need more for roads, schools, and public parks that make any place livable. As for the weather, I would like to have some Fall here soon. :) Like I said, I am not sure that Buckley is the answer, but refusing to have the conversation is not working. And so we are looking for greener pastures were the public is willing to pay for basic services.
By KDR81

10/2/08 at 8:29 a.m.

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You assume that government actually helps. I believe beyond a certain point it doesn't help unless your the one recieving the paycheck from them.

Why not private toll roads, and private schools?

If people REALLY want basic services then let them pay for them.

If you want better public schools donate out of your own pocket.

Public everything isn't an answer.
By RegularJoe

10/2/08 at 11:56 a.m.

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"I believe beyond a certain point it doesn't help unless your the one recieving (sic) the paycheck from them."

And that is the frustrating thing about this state. I am not saying we become California, but come on we don't even come close to providing basic services. Government is how society does pay for things that are necessary for all but not affordable for the individual. A healthy cynicism is good when it comes to government regulation, but Nevada has cut off its nose to spite it face.
By KDR81

10/2/08 at 1:54 p.m.

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I disagree, I think spending as usual means throwing good money after bad.

Take education for one. Nevada has tripled per pupil spending since 1960 and what do we have to show for it? 43 percent of our 4th grade students can't read at grade level.

Rather than spending more money we need education reforms.

We can't raise taxes to fund solutions every problem without creating entirely new problems, like lower wages, fewer jobs, and more poverty.
By RegularJoe

10/2/08 at 2:17 p.m.

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Yes, we need to reform. That is my larger argument. The problem is that no one in the state is willing to do this, and even if they were there is not enough cash on hand to make and meaningful reforms. The two go hand in hand. I disagree that higher taxes lead to lower wages, fewer jobs, and more poverty. But taxes are not the main issue. Revenues and spending are. Lets focus on maximizing revenues, and spending them on what matters rather than gutting our education, transportation, and public safety systems. Of course I am still saying we, but have no expectation that the debate will move on to these more meaningful measures while a great number of Nevadan's remained solely focused on a "No taxes" mantra. Thus, things will continue to get worse, and people like myself will move on.
By KDR81

10/3/08 at 9:09 a.m.

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I disagree again, Nevada's government is funded 25th in the nation when looking at revenue collection per capita (resident).

We are not under funded. We are funded well, but spending poorly.

We need reforms, not taxes.

If you still want taxes, please move on. Go to the states which raised taxes and increased poverty and still have not solved education and transportation problems.
By KJones033

10/7/08 at 12:22 a.m.

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Taxes are not the answer. Increased taxes delay recovery. I think the government needs to do like we do. Trim the budget and keep only those things that are current and have a high demand. It should includes cutting benefits and wages. Everything keeps going up. This is just a sign that it is time to adjust to lower everything.
We keep building new schools. We don't have enough money to provide the quality programs that are needed to really help the kids. The parents protest every time a school declares it has to go year round. In reality we need to focus on using our buildings more efficiently and do double sessions, do year round and whatever else we can. There isn't much growth in the younger population right now. Its time to slow the building and focus on the inside. Teachers need more money. Offer them extra classes with double session and year round. This would save on more teachers more benefits. I think it is a win-win situation for the teachers and us. Parents are just going to have to suck it up. As long as we are providing our children quality education it shouldn't matter. It is also proven that double session is effective in cutting juvenile crime by staggering the nmbers and times when all kids are out of school without supervision.
I heard some one talking about all day kindergarten and they were paying extra for it. That's a great idea. Include a safe key program and that would be a replacement for those spending on Day care.
I think that all the way down to Metro there is a lot of waste and fat that can be cut from the budget. In every government budget there are obsolete programs and excess employees. There are going to be areas that we can cut back in because no one is able to afford do as much. Maybe even the courts. I heard that personal injury attorneys are getting less cases. Maybe it will reflect across the courts all the way. Someone needs to do the work and go over the budget, line by line and extract all of the fat. This period is a cleansing period. Its time we all cut a little fat.