opinion

“Job growth was about 227,000 in June but 46 percent of the people surveyed say they are not better off. Democrats claim the 50 percent growth of the stock market does not help the common people because most do not invest in stocks, except those with 401(k) plans. But the stock market indicates companies are willing to invest, which leads to job growth. Please explain.”

A thoughtful reader’s good points.

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

Those are the last lines of the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776. The technology of the day – hand-writing in cursive – delayed the final copies until July 4.

Chautauquan Kim Harris will portray Lizzie A. Borden on Wednesday, July 10, at 6:30 p.m., and historian Mark McLaughlin will speak on “Lake Tahoe and the Comstock Era; Stories, Facts and Fun” on Saturday, July 13, at 10 a.m., at Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park.

Once I heard someone say, “expectations are pre-meditated resentments.” I used to LOVE that statement. I proceeded to throw my expectations out the window and delight in what I got. Unfortunately, what I got was all over the place. It was unfocused. It was sometimes unacceptable.

UPDATE WEDNESDAY: The Carson City School District Board of Trustees approved last night to send a letter of intent with $50,000 earnest money. The school district will have 90 days to do all the surveys and inspections as well as decide what the campus could be, including another elementary school, middle school, fine arts center or GATE program.
***
At the Carson City School District Board meeting tonight, Tuesday June 25, Superintendent Richard Stokes will be giving a presentation about a possible acquisition by the school district of the old Capital Christian Center, most recently known as Redemption Church.

Prescription drug costs have skyrocketed at an alarming rate, rising faster than other goods and services in the U.S. since 2014. The increase in prices has left consumers with higher health care costs forcing them to make difficult decisions regarding their health. It has specifically hurt some of our most vulnerable populations – including our older generations on fixed incomes. This is especially concerning in my district, Assembly District 22, given its large aging population.

This is my final column on the sad legacy we Boomers are leaving our children.

The first one defined the public interest as mainly maximizing economic growth. That piece and the next showed that the economic policies, practices and institutions that maximize growth also promote fairness among individuals. They also debunked obsessions with income inequality. The third part focused on the 21st Century revival of progressivism and statist liberalism, plus the addition of political correctness (PC).

Here I offer directions for some solutions.

This is the third in my series on the sad legacy we Boomers are leaving our children.

The first column defined the public interest as mainly maximizing economic growth. That piece and the second showed that the economic policies, practices and institutions that maximize growth also promote fairness among individuals. They also debunked obsessions with income inequality.

Here I focus on the revival of progressivism and liberal statism, plus the addition of political correctness (PC).

Sierra Lutheran High School sophomore Annalynn Mueller was honored Monday during a surprise ceremony at the school for taking second in the nation in the Fleet Reserve Association’s (FRA) Americanism Essay Contest.

As we head into Tuesday, May 21, 2019 there seems to be some debate brewing about the weather. Is the persistent series of cold weather systems normal or not? We spoke with a forecaster from the National Weather Service about it and he noted that everyone has an opinion. Some folks swear this happens every Spring, storm after relentless storm through the entire month of May. Some swear the month of May in western Nevada is usually sunny, in the upper 70s to low 80s and comfortable. Whichever you believe, go with it and enjoy. Here's what's ahead Tuesday:

Carson City Ward 2 Supervisor Brad Bonkowski will host “Breakfast with Brad” on Friday, May 3 beginning at 7: a.m. at the Cracker Box restaurant. All Carson City residents are invited to attend to ideas and concerns about issues facing the city.

Holman W. Jenkins, a great columnist, recently speculated something I had also imagined: Some organ of the lamestream media will soon decide it has made a cosmic mistake in following the anti-Trump story line, perhaps issue a mea culpa for its biased and corrupt coverage to date, and at least get on the truthful side of the story.

This is the sixth in a series of columns summarizing my Controller’s Annual Report (CAR) for fiscal year 2018 (FY18).

The first two columns showed that since FY06 state spending has grown faster than Nevada’s economy, thus imposing an ever-larger real burden on Nevada families and businesses, whose real per-capita incomes are lower now than in FY06. The next two analyses reviewed spending on health and social services and on K-12 education, the two largest budget items by far and the only major areas on which spending has grown faster than Nevada’s economy.

The 80th session of the Nevada Legislature is underway with over 1,200 bills up for consideration. With so many bills it is nearly impossible to give each one the proper consideration required, as was intended by the founders of our great state. This means we are considering a great number of laws; however, what we should be focusing on is producing well thought out legislation.

This is the fifth in a series of columns summarizing my Controller’s Annual Report (CAR) for fiscal year 2018 (FY18).

The first two columns showed that since FY06 state spending has grown faster than Nevada’s economy, thus imposing an ever-larger real burden on Nevada families and businesses, whose real per-capita incomes are lower now than in FY06. The other two analyses reviewed spending on health and social services and on K-12 education, the two largest budget items by far and the only major areas on which spending has grown faster than Nevada’s economy.

American ISIS bride Hoda Muthana wants to return from Syria. Guy Farmer agrees with Trump that she shouldn’t be allowed to come home because on the day of her birth her father was a UN diplomat exempt from US citizenship laws. Farmer believes “we should slam our golden door right in Ms. Muthana’s photogenic face.”

Recently, I enjoyed a very thoughtful talk by the eminent scholar and public servant, Jerry O’Driscoll. He spoke to Reno’s Hayek Club, a group that promotes limited government and individual freedom and has endowed area high schools with a fine curriculum and materials on managing personal finances.

His talk and the discussion following it addressed, among other things, similarities and differences among socialism, communism, Nazism, fascism and progressivism.

Americans love choice. We love the freedom to choose what we want and when we want it. Ford or Chevy, Coke or Pepsi, Apple or Samsung, we thrive on the multitude of options at our fingertips that we feel best meets our needs. The essence of it all is the opportunity we have to choose the type of life we want and how we get there. This is, of course, unless you’re talking about education in the State of Nevada.

The very first act of our new state legislature a couple of weeks ago was to pass S.B. 143, a bill that revived ballot Question One, passed by Nevada voters two and a half years ago but never implemented by former Governor Sandoval.

This is the fourth in a series of columns summarizing my Controller’s Annual Report for fiscal year 2018 (FY18).

The first two columns showed that since FY06 state spending has grown faster than Nevada’s economy, thus imposing an ever-larger real burden on Nevada families and businesses, whose real incomes are lower now than in FY06. The third one noted Health and Social Services spending, the largest budget item, has grown most rapidly by far, driven greatly by federal health care mandates and funding.

A month after the November 2018 election, I wrote an analysis of the results of recent statewide elections. From total statewide voter turnout data, I came to one clear conclusion: 2014 was the outlier year and the most recent results were quite in line with the long-term trends in Nevada.

It’s big news: female lawmakers now hold 32 of the Nevada state legislature’s 63 seats. Thus, Nevada has the distinction of being the first state in the country to seat a female majority to its legislative assembly.

But, that this momentous occasion has transpired first in Nevada oozes with irony. After all, Nevada is the only state in the country that legally sanctions the buying and selling of women for sex.

The most emblematic measure of women’s true status in any society is reflected in its prostitution laws: are women public sexual commodities under the law or not?

Entitlement, grandiosity, arrogance overlying insecurity, sensitivity to criticism, as well as hunger for acclaim are traits identified by Jerrold M. Post, George Washington University professor of psychiatry and political psychology.
This pattern of political narcissism is observably bipartisan as well as applicable to nearly all elected, be it local, state or at the federal level.

Our new governor and legislature have begun to meet in session and show their true colors. It is not a pretty sight. One of their first acts this past week, by a party-line vote, was to pass legislation they characterized as “closing the gun show loophole” and “common sense gun regulation.” With a title like that, you know there’s nothing “common sensical” about it.

Carson City’s own Miles Construction has set itself apart in its field of being at the forefront of Nevada’s future industries, as well as preserving the buildings with historic significance to our community.

Miles Construction has been around since 1986, and recently has been behind many of the projects making the news time and again for both innovation and preservation.

UPDATED WITH VIDEO LINK: Here is the State of the City address delivered Wednesday by Carson City Mayor Robert "Bob" Crowell. The annual presentation highlights activity and successes within city government in 2018 and goals put forward to accomplish this year.

While the media and House Democrats will focus their attention on investigating President Donald Trump in 2019, Senate Republicans will concentrate on the long game of reshaping the federal judiciary by confirming as many of President Trump’s judicial nominees as they can in 2019-2020.

Lone Mountain Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 1,700 military veterans dating back to the American Civil War.

Today they are honored this Christmas season for their service and sacrifice with Wreaths Across America, a nationwide event placing wreaths at the graves of fallen military personnel and veterans.

New York Yankee catcher Yogi Berra is being reincarnated as an interactive digital avatar at the Baseball Winter Meeting in Las Vegas this week.

We’ve seen analyses of what happened in Nevada’s 2018 general election and heard various claims and characterizations. Under our leadership, the controller’s office has been known as nerd central because we rely on numbers, facts and quantitative analysis, instead of glittering generalities and snappy narratives. So, let’s do that for the election results.