Quote Of The Day

"When this state was suffering a year ago during the special session, it was mining that stepped up and pre-paid their taxes... If you step up as a business and try and help, you are crushed. Which is what’s going to happen to mining. "
- Todd “Taxpayer” Bailey says no good deed goes unpunished when the state legislature is looking for tax revenue. - Tuesday, March 15, 2011.

"Everybody agrees that congress has never before required citizens of the United States to purchase a product, under the commerce clause or any other provision in the constitution. It is a very dangerous concept and a very dangerous precedent, if you believe that the federal government is a government of limited constitutional powers. "
- Mark Hutchison, Nevada's lead special counsel for the court challenge to federal health care reform, who believes that this is the major defining constitutional case of our time. - Monday, March 14, 2011.

"Right is right, and wrong is wrong. Those fees were taken for a very specific purpose, to benefit Southern Nevada and the quality of water. Because the legislature was short, they decided to come in and take that money. It’s taxation without representation. "
- Anthony Marnell III, President of the M Resort Spa and Casino, firmly asserts that $60 million collected for a sewer fund should have been used as planned or refunded, rather than swept by the state legislature. - Thursday, March 10, 2011.

"In 2006, which is really our peak year, we collected $188 million in regional connection charges. Last year, we collected three (million). "
- Pat Mulroy, General Manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, demonstrates that you can chart economic activity by looking at water use. - Wednesday, March 9, 2011.

"People come out like this idiot in Wisconsin, the present governor, and all at once he’s blaming it on the unions, and blaming it on the people who are the beneficiaries… and it was administrations before his that really caused this to get out of hand. "
- Jim Rogers, Owner of Intermountain West Communications, says the the problem was the public failed to notice as government bodies pumped up public wages and benefits. The sentiment was also tweeted by Rogers, who has recently taken a liking to Twitter. - Tuesday, March 8, 2011.

"We’ve seen the bottom, and now we’re coming up. There are going to be some challenges, like Cosmopolitan has a major challenge. How (do) you pay back four billion in debt? "
- Phil Ruffin, Owner of the Treasure Island Resort and Casino, reports the state of the Las Vegas Strip. - Monday, March 7, 2011.

"There’s a lot more activity now than there usually is in the early session of the legislature, and in meeting with legislators in private there’s a lot more tension. You can just feel the tension. "
- Former State Senator Ernie Adler former State Senator describes the atmosphere in Carson City. - Thursday, February 24, 2011.

"What a time to come after a pretty lucrative business in this state and try to make it illegal. I’m really questioning what’s going on here. "
- Washoe County District Attorney Dick Gammick, responding to Senator Harry Reid’s call to outlaw legal prostitution in Nevada. Gammick says he’d be OK with it in Washoe County under the right circumstances. - Wednesday, February 23, 2011.

"I’m going to be the guy with the personality that can go into California where they’re overtaxed and overburdened, and convince them to come to Nevada... We’re going to provide some tax abatements, we’re going to hopefully suspend business license fees... and permit fees, because if we don’t, none of us will survive. "
- Businessman George Harris has tossed his hat in the ring, hoping to become the Mayor of Las Vegas. - Tuesday, February 22, 2011.

"I think you’re going to see this going on probably for a long time into the future. People moving from house to house in changing positions and I’m not sure that’s entirely what the voters intended. "
- Lobbyist Mike Hillerby, on term limits, which he says should be decided by elections, not by law. Meanwhile, legislators extend their time in office by playing a game of musical chairs in the two legislative houses. - Monday, February 21, 2011.

"I don’t think it’s a negotiating ploy or tactic, and that is a different dynamic than I’ve ever seen in 20 years in the building. "
- Construction lobbyist and former State Senator Warren Hardy believes Governor Sandoval has abandoned the game of political posturing employed by his predecessors, and that the governor’s stated positions can be taken at face value. - Friday, February 18, 2011.

"You used to have an event happen and then you had to spin it. Now you spin up front and create the events. "
- Mary Lau, President of the Retail Association of Nevada, describes the narrative-building process politicians use to drive demand for legislative action – specifically tax increases. - Thursday, February 17, 2011.

"It terrified most of us who are involved on the gaming side of things. "
- Former State Senator and Nevada Gaming Commissioner Randolph Townsend recalls raised eyebrows all around, after Economic Forum included the highly- risky game of baccarat in its revenue projection. Baccarat wins create unreliable earnings. - Wednesday, February 16, 2011.

"I don’t know what it is, exactly. "
- Lynn Warne, President of Nevada State Education Association, claims not to know the amount devoted to K-12 in the current state budget. - Monday, February 14, 2011.

"Our concern is, can we be the anchor and catalyst that we need to be with these kind of budget reductions? "
- Milton Glick, President of University of Nevada, contemplates expectations that the institution should be a center of economic development while taking a $59 million budget cut. - Thursday, February 10, 2011.