Change, [Gibbons] said, is inevitable. The state government he envisions will be a smaller, less efficient, less bureaucratic government.

And that’s good thing in his book; for it means less spending. (ElyTimes, emphasis added)

Yes, it’s yet another Gibbons WTF? moment. I thought the point of [...]]]> Yes, really. From the Ely trip we read:

Change, [Gibbons] said, is inevitable. The state government he envisions will be a smaller, less efficient, less bureaucratic government.

And that’s good thing in his book; for it means less spending. (ElyTimes, emphasis added)

Yes, it’s yet another Gibbons WTF? moment. I thought the point of smaller government was that it was supposed to more efficient than bad old big governments. You know, like private companies are said to be “more efficient” because they twist and turn in the winds of the free market.

Of course, that efficiency is a myth. Elementary economics tell us that corporations will tend to become monopolistic without government intervention, and thus very inefficient.

No doubt it’s another slip of the brain for Gibbons. Unless his new campaign slogan is: “Vote for Less Efficient Government! Vote Jim!” Has a goofy, gibbonsesque ring to it, don’t it?

Hooray!

Nevadans wear Napkin Hats on this luminous day because that’s what Jim Gibbons was wearing on the luxury boat ride paid for by a defense [...]]]> Tomorrow is Napkin Hat Day! It’s the special day when all Nevadans put on their napkin hats to celebrate the official beginning of the Re-elect Jim Gibbons Gubernor of Nevada campaign!

Hooray!

Nevadans wear Napkin Hats on this luminous day because that’s what Jim Gibbons was wearing on the luxury boat ride paid for by a defense contractor who was handing Jim campaign chips/cash in order to encourage the then Congressman  to include a project for software that never worked on the then-secret budget for secret squirrel military stuff that never works.

In fact, the deal was so hinkie, the FBI and the Congressional Ethics committee started sniffing around, but they got bored with the case after Jimbo left Congress to become Nevada’s most beloved napkin-hat-wearing Guv.

So, wear your Napkin Hats proudly Nevada! They represent the erratic state of your state, and your Guv!

Meanwhile:

• Gibbons signs bill designed to allow the state to apply for Fed “Race to the Top” education funds, despite the fact he still thinks the bill is flawed and he once threatened to veto it. (Sun,RJ) Another flip-flop, but, hey, who can keep count?
• Oh. Gibbons apparently broke that promise to veto bills quickly he made during the Reelect Gibbons Special Session, but, hey, who can keep count? (RJ)
• And, despite everything, the Guv can still get “a crowd” of 40 folks from Ely to sit in a room with him. (ElyNews) Say, that’s perty near the whole town, ain’t it? You’d think so, given the slant in that article, anyways.

Apparently the bill was so poorly vetted by the Gube’s crack staff/re-election committee that they decided that their own idea of forcing every office in [...]]]> Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons plans to defy nature and logic this week when he vetoes a bill which he himself proposed and supported during the Re-elect Jim Gibbons Special Session. (RGJ,Sun)

Apparently the bill was so poorly vetted by the Gube’s crack staff/re-election committee that they decided that their own idea of forcing every office in the state, including the DWV, into a four hour week was a bad idea.

Of course, there may be a few other things at play here, too. Namely, that Gibbons is suddenly not getting any press because nobody really cares what he’s doing when there’s no special session to fret about. Plus, he’s got no money for ads during the primary. So, why not veto a bill that he plans to use administrative gimmikry to institute anyway in order to generate a little press?

Timed the press release just when Rory Reid was signing up to run for Guv, too.

Plus, no doubt, he probably really, really wanted to try out the new veto stamp.

Meanwhile, a new poll indicates that the RIRO strategy is probably the way to go for the Rory Reid campaign. Reid can beat Gibbons, but not Sandoval, sayeth the poll. (Ras) However, Gibbons may be able to beat Sandoval in the primary cuz Sandoval’s just too normal for the GOP core.

In fact, the Reid campaign should look into contributing a couple hundred grand to the Gøøber. Seems like a good investment.

Mark your calendars! Thursday is Napkinhat Day! Rumor has it that Gibbons will be signing up for the election on March 11. Everyone is urged to wear a napkinhat to work to mark the event.

Got this from the Gibbons campaign just now:

In this time of economic challenge, we need a governor who can be relied upon to keep taxes in check and show leadership when it counts! When the Special Session hit an impasse, Governor Jim stepped up and brokered a deal.

His plan to cut the tax burden of higher education while maintaining the quality of education shows how our problems can be solved.  As he tackles each one of Nevada’s issues, we can rest easy, knowing that we are in the best possible hands.

Huh. Nothing there about him creating the impasse with veto threats and “no taxes” rhetoric. And isn’t “cut the tax burden of higher education” such a nice way to say “gutting the universities”?

The favored new name? The Toga Party of Nevada.

The idea is to entice disgruntled younger voters, especially college students angered by [...]]]> This just in: fearful that the popularity–real or imagined–of the Nevada Tea Party will bleed the faithful from their ranks, the Nevada Republican party will be considering a name change during its next party meeting.

The favored new name? The Toga Party of Nevada.

The idea is to entice disgruntled younger voters, especially college students angered by tuition hikes, into the party by referencing a movie only their grandparents remember, and then only if its running on the Depends channel before dark.

Relevance, thy name is GOP!

Anyways, the sure winner of the new Toga Party Gubernatorial primary will  be Jim Gibbons because, face it, Brian Sandoval just ain’t a party animal, while Gibbons has already demoed his partay creds.

In the spirit of the new party name, Gibbons offered up some reforms for the Nevada University system. The reforms actually sound half-way sane, which should lead one immediately to suspect plagiarism. Indeed, former University Chancellor and Gibbons fan Jim Rogers immediately pointed out that many of the ideas had been proposed over a year ago–back when the Legislature was in session and could actually do something about them.

Rogers also added the following words of encouragement to his dear friend the governor, who, in all likelihood will not be around to present his reforms in 2011, having frittered away his single term napping in the office and oiling the Gaffe-o-matic:

“The truth of the matter is, these things should have been done a long time ago,” Rogers said. “We went to the Legislature last year, and we couldn’t get it done.”

He compared Gibbons’ proposal to somebody who “beats your brains out and then gives you a cloth to wipe up the blood.” (RJ)

Meanwhile, everyone is left to ponder why the Gube has decided to make such proposals, especially since they are so out-of-sync with the campaign’s single-minded and single-issue appeal to the rotting core of the party. Having wrapped the no-taxes faithful around his pinkie, is Gibbons reaching out to what passes for the moderate wing of the GOP, the Sandovalistas standing agog in admiration of the silent judge?

But at what price? Won’t Gibbons scare away the core who think “spoiled” whenever their feverish minds darkly grasp the concept “university student”?

Or is it that the education Gov is trying to stuff into the unwilling heads of the Nevada electorate the notio rationi repugnans: Gibbons still Gube in 2011?

Meanwhile, Gibbons announces that he is willing to cut the state’s general fund in half if that’s what it takes to balance the budget, again, in 2011. (NevadaAppeal) Again, do you see his assumption? That he’ll still be around to carry out his threat to reduce UNLV to a single college devoted to erotic dance?

So, pull the toga out of mothballs, fill up the brandy snifter, and raise a glass to four more years, Nevada!

You might want to take a little arsenic with that.

[Update: Gibbons slow in signing special session bills. (KLAS) Wants to bask in the glow of the Re-elect Jim Gibbons Special Session, I'm guessing.]

]]> http://votegibbonsout.com/2010/03/toga-party-candidate-offers-higher-ed-reforms/feed/ 1 http://votegibbonsout.com/2010/03/the-siren-song-of-the-gop-and-various-gooberlets/ http://votegibbonsout.com/2010/03/the-siren-song-of-the-gop-and-various-gooberlets/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:17:18 +0000 Nevada Scandalmonger http://votegibbonsout.com/?p=3865

Who can resist the siren song of the Republican party these days? Consider the sideshow in the Senate that is Crazy Jim Bunning, holding up an extension of unemployment benefits out of sheer Gibbons-esque nuttiness. Add to that our own Dean Heller calling the unemployed “hobos.” How could anyone possibly resist voting straight Republican this year? What a clever philosophy: first, you create a recession (granted, with the whole-hearted support of Democrats) by removing regulation keeping nutty-professors from developing weird-ass financial monstrosities which implode the economy, and then you blame those who suffer most from the chaos to get votes from the trust-fund set. Brilliant!

Then there’s the stuff you’ll hear on Gibbons’ recent visit to Pate to Pate:

• You’ll discover Gibbons basic and oh-so enthralling philosophy: Minimize expectations.
• You’ll learn that the erratic Mr. Gibbons has never changed his basic philosophy, except that he’s contradicted the very idea of his own 2/3rd’s supermajority requirement in the Legislature for new taxes by saying a majority of Nevada voters are now needed in addition to that supermajority to support a tax increase, unless, of course, Mining, Gaming, or the Chamber are agin it.
• You’l see what fun it is to rub Gibbons’ nose in his own “education first” rhetoric.
• You’ll enjoy the double entendre of watching Gibbons admit he’s a product of Nevada public schools.
• Gibbons appears almost giddy at times. And why shouldn’t he? The Re-elect Gibbons Special Session has achieved its main goal: make Gibbons look re-electable.
• Most fun of all, though, was the occasional, pained WTF? looks that would pass across Ralston’s pate during the interview.

All in all, the Re-elect Gibbons Special Session seems to have fulfilled its purpose: to give the Gube’s re-election bid a, shall we say, jump?

Indeed, it has [...]]]> Ah yes, it’s been a Kafkasque day up in Carson as the Legislators and the Guberator grind out the last few hours–maybe–of the Re-elect Jim Gibbons Special Session. (Sun,Sun)

All in all, the Re-elect Gibbons Special Session seems to have fulfilled its purpose: to give the Gube’s re-election bid a, shall we say, jump?

Indeed, it has prompted, for about the four thousandth time in the Governor’s term, whispers of a Gibbons’ resurrection.

Granted, some of that noise is coming from the knee-jerk righty crowd–the kind that would vote for an ax-murderer just as long as they cut taxes. But even Jon Ralston labels Gibbons metamorphosis from a wannabe Don Juan lying about the gal pal to conciliator as a “reverse Gregor Samsa,” which sounds like some maneuver out of an Olympic Skating Event. (Sun)

I try to picture that to the right.

And while we all stare agog at a Gube, who has decided finally to play the “inside” and “outside” game at the Legislature after three years being AWOL, let’s recall what else we learned about the Governor: that he will lie to the people of Nevada without the least compunction in order to cover his ass.

Remember, he didn’t lie just once to Jonathan Humbert at the Reno Airport, he lied twice.

• He lied when he said Kathy Karrasch wasn’t on the Vegas to Reno flight.
• Faced with proof that she had in fact been on that flight, he lied again, saying she had not made the trip the Washington D.C. with him–when she did.

His lying didn’t end there. Chuck Muth will be happy to tell you Gibbons lied about not raising taxes. Gibbons will certainly do that by the time the session ends. Ralston puts it diplomatically, if that word has ever appeared in the same sentence with his name before, when he said the no tax pledge has more fine print than an insurance policy.

The egregiousness of the recent spate of mendacity just raises the question: how often has he lied to us before? He’d lie to save a little face over what may have actually been an innocent trip with a putative old friend. How much more so to cover up an assault, or crossing the line over taking gifts from campaign supporters?

You see, that’s the problem with liars. Once you know they are liars, the only question is: how much?

So, enjoy the new/old Gibbons my friends. Rejoice now in the success of the Re-elect Gibbons Special Session, crassly and pointlessly perpetrated at the expense of the good citizens of Nevada.

Remember, too, that the primary is in June, and Gibbons now faces three months of the sort of freedom of speech those without campaign cash enjoy: that is, basically none. Will we remember the fleeting victories of February after three months of Sandoval and Reid campaign ads?

And for the truly masochistic: the news conference after the budget bill was glued together from KLAS TV.

University of Nevada, Reno political science professor Eric Herzik expressed surprise “at that much of a gain” for Gibbons, especially after [...]]]> First up: news that Gibbons is still within striking distance of Brian Sandoval, with Gibbons at 30% and Sandoval at a measly 37%. But hey could even an ax murderer do as well?

University of Nevada, Reno political science professor Eric Herzik expressed surprise “at that much of a gain” for Gibbons, especially after the governor was caught on videotape earlier this week lying about whether a woman with whom he has been accused of having an affair had accompanied him on a trip to Washington, D.C.

The governor’s courting of “the most conservative wing of the party” appears to have paid off, Herzik said. “I think that’s the boost he’s gotten. For a third of the Republican party, no new taxes is the only thing they care about.”

Gibbons “could be an ax murderer” as long as he doesn’t raise taxes, Herzik said. (RJ)

So, so, true.

Ralston:

[The Re-elect Gibbons Special Session] could have been so quick, but: This session should not have lasted more than 48 hours, and both branches are at fault for it extending into the weekend. The problem is relatively simple: Find a way to fill an $871 million hole. They have known the general size for weeks and should have been able to come up with a combination of cuts and fees/taxes (what’s in a name?).

Why didn’t they? One word: Politics.

The governor saw an opportunity to burnish his leadership bona fides while also larding the proclamation with stuff that had no business in a session that should have dealt only with the budget. Period. No education system overhaul, no water rights court decision overturn. If those are needed, call a separate session or wait until next year. (Sun)

“Burnish leadership bona fides”? Can you burnish something you don’t have?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Could it be that he’s really like Reagan in that old Saturday Night Life sketch where Ronald Reagan acted like a befuddled granddad with a speech impediment when in public, but, behind the scenes, was a genius speaking multiple languages and [...]]]>
Is it possible that Gibbons is a-fooling us all with his gaffe-o-matic style of leadership?

Could it be that he’s really like Reagan in that old Saturday Night Life sketch where Ronald Reagan acted like a befuddled granddad with a speech impediment when in public, but, behind the scenes, was a genius speaking multiple languages and orchestrating the end of the cold war and saving the world–like in right-winger fantasies?

Just consider: Michael Mishak notes that the Gov’s inclusion of a deadline for the Re-elect Gibbons Special Session in his rewrite of the agenda has angered legislators from both political parties. (Sun) They’re all upset cuz they think they are in charge.

Should they think again? Consider: Just before the special session Gibbons is “caught” transporting alleged 15-year-sexless-streak-busting paramour from the airport. First he lies about taking her with him to the DC winter meeting of the National Gube Association, then recants, but not before cursing out a member of the fourth estate. Then, he angers legislators with the completely unnecessary deadline. Add to that the Gov’s impossible agenda with its goofy education proposals. Most of that agenda had been already swept aside by most everyone in the Legislature by the second day of the session. (RJ) Then there’s the needless ruffling of Raggio’s feathers, making their meeting today no doubt especially delightful for all in attendance. (RJ) Next up, and we’re still only in day two, pictures of the Gube and the paramour on their little trip, posing with Skantard Mark Sanford no less, show up on the Internets. (8News)

What’s the one thing that seems to result from Gibbons’ continued goofiness? Why the very thing he’s been pushing from day one of the Reign of Terror: One Nevada. He’s united Nevada and the Legislature in ways it has never been united before: against him.

How else to get the Legislature to act quickly on budget bills? How else to unite them in a pledge of “no new taxes”? Except, of course, when they united for tax hikes in the regular session last year.

How else to herd cats except to get them all to agree that they are pissed off at you?

This hypothesis explains everything! The multiple swearing-ins, the texting, the divorce, everything. Gibbons has made himself into a universal object of disgust and bemusement. Note: universal. Everybody agrees, except a few folks in Incline Village hopped up on Geritol  and Fox News.

What’s the alternative? That Gibbons is entirely a random force, and the world consists of a completely pointless, unconnected conglomeration of random events, utterly meaningless and signifying nothing.

You pick.

Or, you can click on the picture and help Gibbons veto stuff, as he has already promised to do. My, how quickly that generated a veto proof majority, eh?

Ah, stupid internet graphics. How they soothe the existentially troubled soul.

“Back” story at the RJ, if that’s the appropriate word.