Chuck Muth, the conservative activist who left the Republican Party because it was filled with squishy compromisers, has become a star! KTNV Channel 13 announced today that Muth has joined the station as a political commentator.

“We are excited to have Chuck join our team,” said Karin Movesian, news director for the station. “With his background, he will provide our viewers with expert, insightful commentary during the election year.”

Expert, insightful commentary? Who’s Muth going to quote for that?

Only kidding! We love the Muth. In fact, back in the days when we had a little-watched show on that very station called Political Insiders, Muth was a frequent guest. We had him on the Muth Phone, which was such a popular item, people wanted them for Christmas gifts.

Hey, now that we think of it, we gave the Muth his big break! We made the Muth! So this is how it feels to be a powerful media mogul! Sweet!

Anyway, we wish our friend the best of luck. Although we don’t always agree with Muth, he’s always agreeable, which makes him a fun debate partner. And, like us, he loves the beer and bratwurst, so he can’t be all bad. Plus, he’s got a cool haircut!

Gov. Jim Gibbons is talking again. And that’s always a mistake. But what the hell? Let’s take a look at his latest release, and dissect it. As usual, the comments in italics are ours, as if you couldn’t tell since they’re the ones that don’t look like the ravings of a madman!

When I announced my intention to call the Legislature into a Special Session to address an additional state budget shortfall of nearly $275 million, I said I would keep an open mind and give lawmakers all available options when considering how to meet that shortfall. The Proclamation I signed calling the Special Session did just that, and I’m pleased that lawmakers came together to balance this shortfall without increasing taxes.

The governor apparently isn’t familiar enough with the Constitution to know that the Legislature couldn’t consider a tax increase, since lawmakers are limited to considering only what he, the governor, brings before them during a special session. And judging by some of the things we heard up north, we’re guessing taxes may not be off the table for long.

In the end, the agreement lawmakers reached was very similar to my recommendations. With the discretion I gave them, though, they included some measures that I would have preferred been excluded, particularly reducing the funding for textbooks for our school children. I believe it would be more prudent to have targeted reductions to operating budgets of state agencies and protect these valuable resources. Still, I commend the Legislature for their willingness to make these difficult choices in these tough economic times.

Here, the governor is lying. In fact, he DID have elimination of textbook money — of ALL the textbook money — on his 21-point plan for balancing the state budget. But that plan was not unveiled until my colleague Jon Ralston e-mailed about it moments ago in his FLASH. To repeat: The governor wanted to cut textbook money, and apparently changed his mind before giving a speech just before the special session convened, in which he said he DIDN’T want to cut textbook money. It’s another famous Gibbons flip-flop, like the time he said he wouldn’t call a special session before he did 24 hours later, and the time he embraced elimination of COLAs and teacher signing bonuses (also, according to Ralston, on his 21-point list) before he abandoned that idea (and state Sen. Bill Raggio, who’d advocated for it). The point? This governor can’t keep to a consistent stance for more than 24 hours, unless it’s “no taxes, ever!”

I also believe it would have been appropriate for the Legislature to examine the possibility of bonding the revenue the state receives from the tobacco companies as part of the Master Settlement Agreement. By simply providing the permissive language to sell bonds based on this money, the Legislature would allow further consideration of this concept moving forward, should it be deemed necessary. I believe this option must be kept in mind if our General Fund revenue continues to decline.

Isn’t that nice? Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki weasels himself right into the McCain for President campaign ahead of Gibbons, yet the governor is still willing to give credence to Krolicki’s risky idea, which is about as smart as going to a payday loan shop to get grocery money. Forget Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton! Gibbons and Krolicki define unity!

I am also committed to getting a handle on our spending practices in this state. During the 2007 Legislative Session, the Legislature and I created a budget, which I signed, that was, in hindsight, simply too large. We have to share the responsibility for this. However, I believe it’s important that we create a stronger cap on state spending that will help us avoid these shortfalls in the future, and that will be a component of my agenda moving into 2009.

Anybody hear echoes of Bill Clinton, saying “I raised your taxes too much”? Or of offended Republicans, such as Raggio, cursing the governor’s self-serving statements? We’re convinced that Gibbons truly has no idea what he’s asking for when he talks about a zero-growth budget. But even if he did, he’d probably not care. His promise is all he has in life to hold onto, and he’s not letting go. Which makes us wonder if Assembly Bill 2 of the 2009 regular session shouldn’t be a bill of impeachment.

…

At the end of the day, I understand that this is a process that requires compromise. In many ways, the Legislature’s compromise is very similar to the proposal I outlined, and it is in this spirit of compromise that I am signing these bills to balance the state budget for the remainder of the current biennium. These are not easy reductions to state spending, and I appreciate all of those who have worked diligently to ensure a consensus could be reached.

Well, that’s true, depending on which proposal Gibbons is referring to: Was it the pre-session embrace of the COLA cuts? (No.) The 21-point plan embrace of the COLA cuts? (No.) The pre-session speech rejection of the COLA cuts, after the governor learned that even the Republican Senate thought it was a stupid idea. (Yes!) The 21-point plan’s call for cutting textbook money? (Yes!) The pre-speech rejection of cutting textbook money (No.) This could go on all day.

I would also issue a word of caution that this may not be the end of our fiscal struggles. Should additional reductions to state spending be necessary, I commit to continue working with Legislators to find fiscally responsible solutions for the citizens of the State of Nevada

We’re sure that thought fill most of them with joy. But since pretty much everybody left Carson City pissed as hell at the governor — and that’s members of both parties — or marveling at his incompetence, inconstancy and insensateness, really pretty much everybody wishes the guy would shut the hell up and go away.

Or so we’ve heard.

There was plenty of commentary this weekend on the Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. (No, the District wasn’t suing Nevada’s most newly minted right-wing nutcase, U.S. Rep. Dean Heller; it was a lawsuit over that city’s toughest-in-the-nation handgun ban!)

Our view is entirely out of step with the liberal establishment: We think the court — led by conservative Justice Antonin Scalia – got the case entirely right, striking down the gun ban as an affront to the Second Amendment. Here’s a couple relevant passages from the ruling, which you can read for yourself here.

The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.

The Amendment’s prefatory clause announces a purpose, but does not limit or expand the scope of the second part, the operative clause. The operative clause’s text and history demonstrate that it connotes an individual right to keep and bear arms.

The prefatory clause comports with the Court’s interpretation of the operative clause. The “militia” comprised all males physically capable of acting in concert for the common defense. The Antifederalists feared that the federal government would disarm the people in order to disable this citizens’ militia, enabling a politicized standing army or a select militia to rule. The response was to deny Congress power to abridge the ancient right of individuals to keep and bear arms, so that the ideal of a citizens’ militia would be preserved.

…

Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment
or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of
arms.

So there you have it, people: The answer to the longstanding question of “what does the Second Amendment really mean?” is “precisely what it says:” Law-abiding Americans have the individual right to own weapons.

We couldn’t agree more, and we’ve often been dismayed at the comments of otherwise sensible defenders of the Bill of Rights who recoil at guns. Juan Williams of National Public Radio, generally the most level-headed (and least scary-looking) member of the pundit panel on Fox News Sunday, tipped his hand when he disagreed with the ruling yesterday, adding, “Guns scare me.”

Well, then, don’t own one. But your fear isn’t enough justification to prevent others from owning them. Hell, country music scares us, but you don’t see us trying to ban it, do you?

Our point is this: There’s a perfectly acceptable way to ban guns in America, if that’s what you want to do (and plenty of people do). It goes like this: Amend the Constitution! It’s difficult, to be sure, but it has been done, no fewer than 27 times in the history of our country. But you cannot simply ignore the Constitution and pass laws that directly contradict it, without turning America into a despotic wasteland just waiting for its dictator, something early founders clearly feared far more than the musket. In fact, as the decision hints, the musket is the last line of defense against despotism.

Oh, a couple things, here and there. Let’s take a look, Quick Hits style:

• “I’m not saying open Yucca Mountain without regard to environmental requirements, etc. etc. — all the things that have to be done in order to ensure safety, security, environmental, all those kind of things.” — U.S. Sen. John McCain, on Yucca. Excuse us, but what the hell is that “etc. etc.”? Did he just “yadda yadda yadda” us on the issue of environmental safety of a nuclear waste dump? Hey, Johnny: We have to live near this shit, OK? So for us, “etc. etc.” is a little vague.
• We can’t wait to see how the Nevada Supreme Court of 2008 comes down on the issue of term-limits constitutionality. (Here’s a hint: The Nevada Supreme Court of 1994 totally screwed the legal pooch.)
• “I would be surprised if the [state] Supreme Court told more than 70 percent of the voters they were wrong. That would be a ballot box issue that would resonate for a long time.” — political consultant Sig Rogich, trying to protect one of his many gifts to Nevada, the term limits mess, with a threat to the justices. The Supreme Court already ignored the ballot initiative that calls for a two-thirds vote to increase taxes, so what makes Rogich think his equally inane initiative is special?
• We’ll expound in a separate post about the Supreme Court’s decision in the Washington, D.C. gun ban case, but we know one company that’s going to love it: Blackwater Worldwide!
• That’s a big surprise: Gov. Jim Gibbons’s climate change advisory committee was totally underfunded and turned in a report that doesn’t require polluting industries to do anything.
• So McCain’s campaign snubbed Gibbons by rejecting the governor as McCain’s presidential campaign state chairman not because he’s a bad governor, not because he can’t go a week or two without being photographed in public with women to whom he’s not married, and not because his sociopathic budget-cutting is callous even by Republican standards. No, Molly Ball says he got snubbed because he gave a speech wasn’t sufficiently pro-McCain.
• We totally buy that. Remember, Gibbons was the dude who wouldn’t endorse McCain because some weight-loss televangelist dude named Mike Huckabee was still in the race, saying “There are still people out there who are very passionate about Mike Huckabee, and I don’t want to tell them that their vote, their ideas and their enthusiasm for the electoral process is not important.” Hey, guess what, governor? Those people you were talking about? It turns out their vote, their ideas and their enthusiasm for the electoral process wasn’t that important.

If you didn’t see it (and we didn’t) you’ve got to check out Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley’s response to Gov. Jim Gibbons’s pre-special session address, both helpfully archived by KLAS Channel 8.

While Gibbons did OK (for a guy not given to excellent public speeches) we can’t help but notice that he finally changed his wording, saying he’s left “every responsible option” on the table. Because as you know from reading our myriad posts from Carson City, he most definitely didn’t leave taxes on the table, either for the special session or the future.

But Buckley is fired up, using all the right buzzwords, including discussing how a tax structure adequate for a small state in the 1960s just doesn’t work for the fastest growing state in the nation for nearly two decades. She’s totally right, of course. And we hope that her passion doesn’t diminish between now and what we’re hearing is going to be a session akin to World War III.

CARSON CITY — A gaggle of reporters marched into Gov. Jim Gibbons’s office as the Legislature was adjourning tonight, to pose a few uncomfortable questions. Just as we were coming in, we overheard the governor telling a trio of Assembly members, “We’ll issue our remarks. Thanks for the hard work and hopefully we won’t have to come back for another special session.”

Oh, God.

Asked if taxes were off the table in 2009, Gibbons replied succinctly: “With me, yes.” Gibbons said it was “poor judgment” to raise taxes in a bad economy, but allowed that in a good economy, there’s no need to raise taxes. “I’m not a pro-tax guy. I think you kind of got that,” he said, leveling his gaze on us. Yeah, governor, we figured that.

Gibbons was, however, to the left of the Legislature on one issue: He opposed the cuts to school textbooks. “I did not and do agree with cutting education funding, whether it’s textbooks or the COLAs,” Gibbons said. Alas, almost everybody in the Legislature did agree.

When asked about Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley’s remark that the cuts were “pathetic,” Gibbons replied, “I think it’s pathetic that our economy is not doing better than it is,” he said.

Oh, and no conversation with Gibbons about taxes would be complete without a slam on California, our beloved home state. Look at California, Gibbons said, with it’s $21 billion deficit. That’s because of spending, he said.

You know, we’re really tired of everybody beating up on California, which is a great state. And, like the governor, to paraphrase Winston Churchill: Tomorrow, California will have paid off its deficit, but Nevada will still be Nevada.

CARSON CITY — The Legislature has adjourned sine die. Woo hoo.

CARSON CITY — The speed session of 2008 is almost done. The Senate voted on is last bill and was ready to adjourn sine die at 9:37 p.m. There’s still a bill to be considered in the Assembly, and then this session that nobody thought would end in a day will.

And the announcement of the Assembly session just came over the loudspeakers. Sine die is almost here!

CARSON CITY — The state Assembly just finished the work the Senate began earlier today, cutting the textbook budget roughly in half from $95.9 million to $47.9 million. Only one lawmaker — Democrat Mark Manendo of Las Vegas — voted against the bill, although several lawmakers said they didn’t want to vote that way. (Assemblyman Bob Beers didn’t vote.)

So here’s the question: If they didn’t want to vote this way, if they really thought it was so terrible, why did they do it?

Some said it was because they were trying to avoid layoffs, an even worse outcome.

“If you saw me a bit passionate last night, it’s because I believe we should never make these choices ever again,” said Speaker Barbara Buckley, who spoke Thursday night after Gov. Jim Gibbons gave his televised address on cuts to the budget.

Why do we think, however, that we’re going to be right back here, in this exact same place, with these exact same choices, in 2009, 2011, and every odd-numbered year thereafter? Again and again, concessions, cuts and compromises are made, and education falls farther and farther behind. (And roads, and social services, and health care…)

Everybody in this building knows that the state’s tax system is fundamentally broken. Most everybody knows what’s needed to fix it: New taxes, specifically new taxes on business. But nobody has come forward to suggest that formally.

Sure, pragmatists will say it’s not politically possible, in a state where you need two-thirds to raise taxes. Sure, they’ll say it’s political suicide. Sure, they’ll say we don’t have enough research, or consensus, or whatever the hell else they need to do the thing that everybody knows we need to do.

And in the meantime, a kid doesn’t have a book.

Assemblyman Bernie Anderson, a retired teacher, gave an emotional address about how he hates to cut book budgets. “Library books to a child is the end of the world,” he said. “This is the cut that bleeds.”

And bleeds, and bleeds and bleeds.

(Speaking of that, Assemblyman Garn Mabey, an O.B./GYN doctor, said that sometimes in surgery, a patient is bleeding, but no matter what the surgeons do, they can’t stop it. At that point, he said, you’ve got to stop and let the body heal itself. Memo to all women: Do not allow Garn Mabey to operate on you!)

But “letting the body heal itself” is apparently the uncomfortable, unwelcome choice the Legislature faced. But it wasn’t the only choice.

Throughout the state, Gibbons is derided as a punchline to a joke, a man too stupid to lead, beset by scandal of his own foolish making. But that same governor managed to call the Legislature to Carson City and get precisely the thing he wanted: budget cuts. And nobody stood up to say no.
Who’s laughing last at that joke?

CARSON CITY — Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio is pissed.

Red-faced, barely concealing his wrath, banging his committee gavel like a Democrat’s head was underneath it.

Raggio, who promised to have the business of the special session finished today, ran smack into partisan politics and, in his words, “campaign speeches” from Democrats looking for an advantage. And he’s most decidedly not happy.

The first brouhaha came during a debate over Senate Bill 5, which would cut the state’s budget for textbooks, instructional materials and hardware roughly in half, from $95.9 million to $47.9 million. The bill was ready for a vote when Senate Minority Leader Steven Horsford, sitting right next to Raggio in the hearing room, offered an amendment.

Horsford wanted to create a new Commission on Spending, Government Efficiency and Educational Equity, with 16 members. Twelve of those would be the members of Gov. Jim Gibbons’s Spending and Government Efficiency (SAGE) Commission, and four others, appointed by the Legislature. The new commission’s mission: “Determine whether the pupils enrolled in the public schools of this state are provided comparable educational opportunities, taking into consideration those pupils who are reside [sic] in rural or remote areas of this state and pupils who reside in larger urban school districts.”

The amendment was classic, for two reasons: One, it would remedy an incomprehensible gap in the mission of the SAGE commission — the fact that SAGE will not be examining education for potential efficiencies. Two, it strikes at the heart of a long-rumored lawsuit that may someday be filed in Nevada — one that argues children in Nevada aren’t receiving a fair, equal or adequate education. If this commission had been created, it could have provided compelling evidence in such a legal action.

Of course, the commission wasn’t created. Raggio initially objected because Horsford hadn’t even mentioned his amendment before the committee hearing. The issue could be considered in February, when the 2009 Legislature convenes, Raggio said.

Horsford, however, aggressively objected with points of order, and demanded a vote, which Raggio gave him, after a couple of lame objections from Republicans and some fairly cogent ones by Democrats, including state Sen. Dina Titus. “Everything that’s been introduced in this session has been a surprise, including the governor’s speech last night on the eve of the special session,” Titus declared.

When the roll was called, however, it was a party-line defeat, 11 Republicans against the amendment, 10 Democrats in favor. The underlying bill passed the same way, 11-10.

After the voting, as the next issue kicked off, Raggio could be seen in animated, red-faced conversation. He later confirmed he’d upbraided Horsford for sandbagging him and for bringing politics into a session that’s short on time.

But the drama wasn’t over yet! One of the next bills to come up was Assembly Bill 2. A quick history, thanks to legislative lawyer Kevin Powers: Food sales are generally exempt from sales tax in Nevada, but food prepared for immediate consumption (i.e. what you get in a restaurant) is not. But meals served by casinos are taxed, not under the sales tax (since there’s no sale price) but under a companion “use tax.”

The problem? The state Supreme Court ruled recently that the use tax doesn’t apply. And the state is looking at about $100 million in refunds owed to casinos that have for years been paying the tax under protest.

So the legal solution was Assembly Bill 2, which essentially clarifies that the Legislature believes comped meals are subject to the sales tax, even if the use tax is rejected. (The sale isn’t for money; it’s for the “goodwill” of comped customers and the benefit to employers of having employees eat on site instead of leaving for the lunch break.)

Bottom line: Even as the Legislature’s lawyers argue the use tax should apply to the state Supreme Court — which has agreed to have another hearing on the matter — passing AB 2 would be a backup plan, ensuring that the state Tax Commission could refuse any refund request that’s filed.

So, of course, state Sen. Randolph Townsend recommended abandoning AB 2, saying he’s confident the legal case will be resolved, and even if it wasn’t, the Legislature could always come back in 2009 and pass something similar to AB 2. (How the state would handle the refund requests in the interim is a mystery.)

After state Sen. Terry Care mused aloud about a bill to repeal 2007’s most controversial legislation — the green building tax breaks — state Sen. Dina Titus came in with an actual written amendment. She wanted to strike a bizarre state law that requires Nevada’s gas tax to increase if the federal gas tax drops. (This law would have left Nevadans high and dry had a gas tax holiday proposed by U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain become law.)

She called it a “second stimulus package for Nevada citizens,” which is bullshit, since we once figured out what we’d save under that holiday, and it was less than $40. But the architecture of her amendment was beautiful: Republicans (such as state Sen. Bob Beers, who most certainly would have voted for this idea given the chance) like tax cuts. Titus likes tax cuts, too, since she’s running for Congress against a Republican who will most certainly accuse her of being a tax-and-spender. And if the GOP voted against a gas tax holiday, she could use that politically.

But the amendment never saw the light of day, after Raggio short-circuited debate by asking for a show of hands of who wanted to vote on the comped-meals bill in the first place. Once again, 11 Republican hands went up to toss it out, 10 Democatic hands to vote on it. And with that, AB 2 died.

“Any other campaign speeches before we proceed forward?” an obviously disgusted Raggio asked. Democrats asked for a roll call, Raggio said no. And with that, the committee meeting ended.

Why not at least vote on the bill in the main, even without the amendments, Raggio was asked by a small gaggle of reporters afterward. (He’d said earlier that he’d vote for the bill.) “I think it would have been appropriate for the legislative intent to be clarified,” Raggio said. “I’m not going to sit here for an hour while we hear a bunch of campaign speeches.”

No, instead, the Senate took up some bills in its chambers, where he heard Horsford, Titus and state Sen. Mike Schneider make speeches about how it was wrong to cut book money, how Nevada attracts cheap, greedy businesses with its cheap, greedy Nevada Development Authority ad campaigns.

Some days, you just can’t win. Except when the votes are counted, that is: The book-fund cut bill passed, 12-9 (with Democratic state Sen. John Lee joining the Republicans).

CARSON CITY — As we first reported today (after quoting another source that reported it after it was first reported by somebody else yesterday) Gov. Jim Gibbons has kicked his problem children to the curb.

Chief of Staff Mike Dayton is now looking for work in the private sector, and “Chief Operating Officer” Dianne Cornwall will take over as director of the Department of Business and Industry. Perhaps that means she’ll get to keep the new office furniture she recently had delivered, even as state lawmakers were being called the capital to cut $250 million from the state budget.

Gibbons’s legal advisor, Josh Hicks, will assume the chief of staff job, and the current head of the Business and Industry Department, Mendy Elliott, will become deputy chief of staff, according to a news release. (That makes it impossible to see Cornwall’s fate as anything than a demotion, but we’re cynical that way.)

In other changes, press secretary Ben Kieckhefer has been named director of communications, a job that has been unfilled since Reno TV veteran Brent Boynton left months ago. (Does that mean the Gibbons administration will be hiring a new press secretary? If so, we heartily endorse conservative activist Chuck Muth. He’s witty, smart and knows the issues. Oh, wait, in this administration, those are disqualifying factors.)

Also, in another rumored long-rumored move, Elliott’s son, Nick Vander Poel, will leave his job as the staffer in charge of board and commission appointments. He’ll get a new job as a program director at the Nevada Commission on Economic Development. Thank goodness the budget hasn’t been cut to the point where somebody with Vander Poel’s obvious talents can’t find a government job.

Ready for some bullshit quotes? Steel yourselves, because here we go!

“Mike has been a loyal, trusted and dedicated Chief of Staff,” the Governor said. “The opportunity for Mike to serve in state government over the past 18 months has given him the ability to work closely on some of the most important issues confronting our state, including transportation and energy. He has a strong passion for public policy issues and I am confident that he will have a great career when he returns to the private sector. My staff and I will continue to seek his valued advice and guidance.”

Since we understand the inestimable Robert Uithoven will be one of Gibbons’s advisers going forward, and since “struggling with Dianne Cornwall for control” will no longer be a public policy issue, we seriously doubt Gibbons or his staff will seek anything from Dayton, much less advice or guidance. And by the way, whoever talked Gibbons into listening to Uithoven (passed over for Dayton’s job when Gibbons came into office) and shedding Dayton did the governor a great service. Who knows? If Uithoven can work his magic, we might actually see — gulp! — leadership from the governor’s office!

More quotage? Let’s do it!

“Dianne is an incredibly talented leader and manager, and she will be a perfect fit for the Department of Business and Industry,” the Governor said. “Dianne helped lead my office through our successful 2007 Legislative Session, has managed the day-to-day operations of my Cabinet and been the point person in my office for most state business. While her departure is a loss to my office, her vast experience in both government and business makes her a perfect person to lead B and I.”

Did somebody change the definitions of “talented,” “leader” and “vast experience”? Because the way we understand those words, they only apply to Cornwall in the sense that she had some “talent” for “leading” the struggle with Dayton over power, and has “vast experience” in taking what was once a private matter between the governor and his wife and thrusting it into the state and national media. Yeah, she’s the perfect person to head B&I, if you hate B&I which Gibbons clearly does.

We know this is a lot to take, so we’ll only do one more. Ready? OK.

          In announcing the changes, the Governor emphasized the logical progression of turnover within governors’ administrations.

          “Working for the Governor of any state is a high-stress job that requires just about everything a person has to give,” Gibbons said. “I fully respect the demands this type of work puts on people, which is why turnover is a normal part of any administration. I again thank everyone who has worked with me for their service to the state of Nevada, and I appreciate the willingness of those moving up to take on the challenge.”                               

And that’s especially true when you’re working for the worst governor in America, dealing with the fallout of his myriad lies, indiscretions and ignorance. That can’t be easy, even for people such as Dayton and Cornwall who likely didn’t know they were working for the worst governor in America. Can you imagine the turnover with actual humans in those posts?

CARSON CITY — It’s 3:30 p.m., and here’s where things stand:

• Assembly Bill 1 (repealing a transfer of $36 million from the general fund to the Interim Finance Committee) has passed both the Senate and Assembly, and is on its way to Gov. Jim Gibbons.
• Senate Bill 1 (which drains $267 million from the so-called “Rainy Day fund”) has passed the Senate and the Assembly, and is on its way to the governor.
• Senate Bill 2 (which allows the Department of Health and Human Services to transfer money between accounts) has passed the Senate and Assembly and is on its way to the governor.
• Assembly Bill 3 (authorizing transfer of money from various accounts to the general fund) and Assembly Bill 4 (revising provisions regarding the use of generic prescription drugs in the state Medicaid program instead of generics) have been introduced in the Assembly and are awaiting action.
• The Senate is currently debating, line by line, a draft list of cuts that add up $275.4 million, including a reduction in the fund to buy schoolbooks, assuming the economy still sucks. The Assembly is currently doing nothing.

But the one interesting story is the mini-storm brewing over Assembly Bill 2, which easily and unanimously passed the Assembly this morning.  The bill would “clarify” that the intent of the Legislature is that meals provided as comps by casinos should be taxed. The bill doesn’t tax casinos, mind you. It just clarifies that the Legislature always intended to tax comped meals.

So why are some of the state’s top gambling lobbyists irked? Why were they meeting with Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio on the bill? Because it just so happens that there’s a state Supreme Court case going on at this very moment on this very subject. Holy coincidence, Batman!

See, the court has already ruled in a case involving the Sparks Nugget that comped meals are not taxable, since there’s no sale to tax. (Kind of makes sense, we must admit. And we’re talking big bucks here, in the millions.) But the government has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision, and the court has agreed and asked for legal briefs on the subject.

So, the gambling industry rightly sees AB 2 as an attempt to influence the court, by reminding it that the Legislature always intended to tax comped meals, and thus is agitating against it. (They’re calling it a tax increase, which is sure to get the attention of Gibbons.) And that proves what we’ve long believed: No session — special or otherwise — can take place without some concession to gambling!

Thanks to a story we’re working on over here at the CityLife lab, we know band paraphenelia does not come cheap, especially for a young band such as The Stript. Which makes the recent theft of all its instruments and live gear just shy of tragic. I know what you’re thinking: “Outside of Guitar Center gift cards, how can I help keep these young musicians artistically motivated?”

Well, funny you should ask. This Sunday, Jillian’s is hosting a benefit for the hard rock band, featuring a long list of its local peers. For $10, you can pitch in, and in return you get to watch Fletch, Hang Em High, Serene, Lydia Vance, Love It Or Leave It, Searchlight, Amarionette, Ministry Of Love and Save The Her in action. Wait, I know what you’re going to say next: “Um, is The Stript not playing?” Nope, not until your hard-earned tenners enable them to buy more gear! So, give the church’s collection plate a rest this week and come help some kids keep their dream alive.

The Stript benefit show

Sun., June 29, 5 p.m.

Jillian’s

450 South Fremont St.

759-0450

$10

CARSON CITY — Too harsh? Not when you learn what’s been going on up here in the last few hours. First, the Nevada Appeal newspaper published a photo of Gibbons embracing a woman not his wife during some kind of rural, agrarian ritual called a “rodeo.” (WARNING: These photos contain graphic images of an awful gubernatorial shirt. What’s up with the governor’s fashion sense? Seriously, people!)

An accompanying column by Appeal Editor Barry Ginter commented on the situation, asking a variant of this question: What the fuck is Gibbons thinking?! Despite being under intense scrutiny, he’s carrying on like a playboy (no pun intended; the woman in question is a former Playboy model).

Anyway, Las Vegas Sun super-scribe Cy Ryan asked Gibbons about the photo, and the carrying on, to which the governor replied:

“She is helping me get through a very troubling time in my life by being a friend. What troubles me is all these people speculating every time I bump into somebody that happens to be of the opposite sex. You can talk to [the woman], but I think she will tell you if (there’s something that) takes the romance out of a friendship it’s being there when her child is born. I held her hand when her child was born.”

We are absolutely not making that up. And there’s even more:

“I put my arm around her shoulder. I was talking to her. I had to get close because I had to get over the noise of the crowd.”

Asked about the photographs, he replied, “I think this is about my private life. I’m focusing on balancing the budget. I think this is such nonsense. The public wants to know what we’re doing to preserve and protect the people of the state of Nevada.”

Yes, if by “focused on balancing the budget,” you mean, “publicly chasing chicks through the rodeo until I can hug them in the parking lot outside.” Whatever, dude.

Anyway, there is some bright news for the governor: His two top aides, the ones who are constantly feuding and making really bad decisions, are on the way out. Could it be that wiser counsel has finally broken through the barrier of stubbornness that is the nearly impermeable Gibbons cranium? Time will tell, readers!

CARSON CITY — Fulfilling promises of quick action, the Assembly just passed its first two bills unanimously with hardly any discussion whatsoever. Assembly Bill 1 simply repeals a transfer of $36 million from the general fund to the Interim Finance Committee, for contingency expenses. Assembly Bill 2 clarifies that the Legislature intended to apply the sales tax to complimentary food served by casinos to patrons or employees.

Now, those bills go to the Senate, which at this moment is thanking people, introducing guests, and doing various other things. We’re totally sure they’ll get down to business momentarily.

Told you! They’re just approved the rules that will govern the session. Like we said, progress!