Democrat Panel Increases Cost of Doing Business

A Nevada legislative panel approved regulations sought by Secretary of State, Ross Miller to limit business license fee exemptions for some home-based businesses.

In a party-line, 4-2 vote, the Legislative Subcommittee to Review Regulations approved the measure that Secretary of State Ross Miller said was needed to fix an error discovered after his office took over collecting the $200 state business fee in 2009 from the Department of Taxation.

Notice what the story carefully avoided. The “party-line, 4-2 vote” meant that the four Democrat members of the panel voted to raise the taxes on the productive citizens of Nevada and to support Democrat, Ross Miller in his lust for more of our resources.

Miller estimated 60,000 entities claim to be home-based businesses, and that the state is losing about $10 million annually.

Everyone knows that $10 million annually would always be better spent by our bureaucrats and politicians than by us mere mortals.

This matter was under consideration by the 2011 Legislature but it died when the Legislature failed to complete the action and get it to the governor.

What I find puzzling is if a matter required legislation and the Governor’s signature to make law, then how can a group of Democrats make it happen without the Legislature and the Governor. Silly me, the answer is right in front of me. They’re Democrats. They don’t need no stinkin’ badges.

Read more: http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20120309/NEWS/120309787/1070&ParentProfile=1058

Foreclosed Homeowner Fined for Uncut Grass after Two Years

When government gets desperate it has no concern for who or what harm it may cause along the way.  Now, I'm not suggesting that the Reno government has sunk to this level – yet. But remember, Reno's is still a government and always interested in its own interest.

Besides, the growing season here in Reno is so short the grass may not grow enough for the city to learn that it has not been cut.  And the standard color of foreclosed lawns is dead grass brown.

But, a Fort Worth man, whose home was foreclosed two years ago was fined for not cutting his grass and for having an alarm without a permit.  This is even when he hasn't lived there in the past two years.  The City of Arlington doesn't care that he no longer owns the property.  They just want money. 

Evidently, the foreclosing bank never transferred the title so the former owner is still on the hook, as far as the city cares.

Read for more on foreclosure.

Sen Raggio Dead at 85

Former Nevada State Senator Bill Raggio died yesterday while vacationing in Australia. He was 85.

Sen William Raggio

R.I.P. Sen Raggio.

Nevada Succumbs to Political Correctness Disease

Nevada Department of Transportation in feeling flush and has decided to spent $88,000 to protect our sensitivities. They think Our highway historical markers present things in an improper light and want to correct it. After all, what would people think?

The text on many of the blue and gray, Nevada-shaped roadside markers that note historically significant events and locations will be updated in the coming months and years to fix errors and terminology that could be read as insensitive or even racist, Nevada State Historic Preservation Officer Ron James said.

Phrases like “Chinese hoards stormed” Tuscarora and “Before the coming of the white man, roving Washoe and Paiute bands inhabited the Truckee Meadows” were a couple of examples, James said. Date inaccuracies, physical wear, spelling and grammatical errors will also be corrected

Nevada is rapidly succumbing to the disease of political correctness.

Nevada Approves Rules for Self-driving Vehicles

Nevada is the first state in the nation to approve self-driving vehicles. Google as well as Audi and Volkswagen have been experimenting and developing vehicles that drive themselves.

“Nevada is the first state to embrace what is surely the future of automobiles,” Department of Motor Vehicles director Bruce Breslow said in a statement. “These regulations establish requirements companies must meet to test their vehicles on Nevada’s public roadways as well as requirements for residents to legally operate them in the future.”

The autonomous vehicles will carry a red license plate.

Read more: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2400400,00.asp

RGJ Publishes Dem Campaign Document

The RGJ published this breathless AP article proclaiming how great the new GM is and how much profit it made this past year. The profit was $7.6 billion, a new record for GM. But there seems to be another concern.

The profit won’t stop the debate about spending $49.5 billion in taxpayer dollars to save GM. But it did drive up the company’s stock price, which could help the government get more of its money back.

Notice their focus: the profit “could help the government get more of its money back.” Apparently, to the RGJ and the AP it’s all the government’s money. The taxpayers have no say. We are mere pawns and the sooner we recognize it the better.

They were very excited that each of the blue-collar (union) workers received a $7,000 bonus check. But did you notice how they mentioned that all of the non-union workers had their pay frozen? Neither did I. I guess it’s all right for the union to get revenge on the non-union bums. GM was also doing away with the pensions of the non-union workers.

I also missed the RGJ reporting that while the bonus was paid to the union workers GM still owed the government (taxpayers) $12 billion through Ally Financial, formerly known as GMAC.

And don’t forget that GM will pay NO taxes for ten years. That’s even less than Warren Buffett’s secretary. We could probably do very well ourselves if we didn’t need to pay the IRS for ten years.

Way to go RGJ.

Read more: http://sweetness-light.com/archive/uaw-freezes-pay-of-non-union-gm-workers

The RGJ Still Pushes Global Warming

The RGJ is sure trying hard to keep the global warming hoax alive. Their evidence is slim at best and this article even admits that. But, why waste the opportunity?

Linking this dry winter and the fires it helped spawn to climate change is “probably kind of a stretch” but as temperatures warm it’s likely there will be an increasing number of large and destructive blazes across the region, said Roger Walker, a forestry and wildfire expert at University of Nevada, Reno.

Their argument is that the fires this year were caused by the extreme, which in turn was caused by global warming. How did they explain last year when we had an abundance of snow?

Read the story: http://www.rgj.com/article/20120204/NEWS/120204004/-1/nletter01/Winter-wildfires-a-rarity-for-Reno-area-but-warming-climate-could-make-them-more-common?source=nletter-news
And be sure to check out this supporting story: http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2012/02/warmal-colding-strikes-europe-record.html