State of the State

OK. First and foremost, I'll apologize on the front end for an number of things. First, I'll apologize for not posting as much as I used to. I am still trying to find a good balance between work, family and blogging. Second, I'm diving straight into a topic that no doubt will bore a number of you - our state budget and our Governor. Today's post was inspired by Jon Ralston's column in today's Las Vegas Sun. Instead of posting an anonymous comment, I figure that I would use my own corner of the blogosphere to discuss this topic.

As we get ready for the the biennial legislative session, Gov. Gibbons is getting ready for his "State of the State" address. It is true that the economy is the worst than most of us have seen in our lifetime and now isn't exactly the time to be raising taxes, however the situation before us has presented us with an usual opportunity to make the changes to our revenue structure and there are ways to reduce state spending without taking a machete to it. Instead, a careful, thoughtful examination of state spending is needed. Not all government spending is created equal. Where can we consolidate agencies? Where is there waste? Is our revenue structure setup so that it will provide the least amount of peaks and valleys?

I have no confidence in either of the two branches of government to come up with an actual long-term solution. Our elected officials are too caught up in looking ahead to the next election to actually do something proactive. Our Governor can't get past "No New Taxes." In addition, most Nevadans don't give a hoot about state government. In fact, I bet most people don't even know who their elected officials are in the legislature.

The answer to this lies with the people of the state of Nevada. Write and call your Assemblyperson and state Senator. If you don't know who they are, you can find out here. Write the Governor. Write the Speaker of the Assembly, the Assembly and Senate Majority and Minority Leaders. Write Letters to the Editor. Hold your elected officials accountable. I know many of the readers of this blog don't consider themselves "political," but we need our elected officials to know that we mean business, otherwise the political elite in this state will never learn. I know I am getting started on my letters, how about you?

Thanksgiving Hangover

So another Thanksgiving is in the books. Our crew was a little lighter this year with Mom and Dad in Albany this year helping out my sister. Our guest list this year was Andy, Dana, MaryAnn and Nana. As usual, I was in charge of the turkey and Keds had many of the sides. What was different this year is that we had our guests bring some. Andy and Dana brought the stuffing, while MaryAnn brought her signature spaghetti squash.

This was Nana's first trip to our house. For those that don't know, Nana is 94 and while not a blood relative, someone we really care about. She was so excited to be coming to our house for Thanksgiving. Typically, her daughter and son-in-law will take her out for dinner, but due to some volunteer commitments were not going to take her out until Friday. She had a blast, even though her hearing aids were on the fritz, which made for some interesting conversations. However she understood enough when Andy said he was thankful for his partner Dana. She promptly asked "so what kind of business are you in?" They handled it well, but Keds explained it - without having to resort to pictures.

The meal was just awesome. The turkey was moist, and had a good flavor. Andy's stuffing and Armenia Rice Pilaf was nummy, the spaghetti squash was interesting and Keds' sides were stellar.

It was an interesting mix of people. It could have been a disaster, but it ended up being nice. I have a lot to be thankful for this year, and was just happy to spend it with my soulmate and people I cared about.

So Internets, how was your Turkey Day?

Weekend Recap

Sorry Internet peeps, I know it's been a while since I posted, so I figured that I'd take a few minutes and at least catch you up on my weekend.

This weekend was relatively uneventful. I think I'm still in political withdrawal, though. I've taken to filling this time with watching reruns of the West Wing. I love that show, and it's amazing how strikingly similar the final season was compared to this past election. There were clearly some things planned, some things were just eerily similar.

One of the good things that came out of being politically active is that we have made a number of new friends. Saturday night, we went over to Sherri and Paul's for dinner and some board games. Dinner was amazing. It was a tag-team effort and just yummy. We played Trivial Pursuit 90's Edition. I forget how long it can take if you play it they way it was intended. We didn't even finish because it was too late and our brains just weren't working anymore. But it was still a good time.

Sunday we met our friend Kara out in Green Valley. We went to a technique class at William-Sonoma where we learned about making pie crusts. The best part was sampling the pies! After that, it was lunch at Lucille's, the site of our first date. After wishing Kara a Happy Thanksgiving, we headed back home. The afternoon was mostly a mix of football and West Wing, but not in a bad way. Our Sunday Dinner was much more laid back this week with Mom and Dad helping Beth out after the birth of the twins.

The highlight of the evening, though, was a vist by the Bowens. I don't think I've seen Casey since Marshall's birthday party. That's just not cool. Paris and Marshall were cute as always. And Jennifer brought cookies. Always a welcome treat.

So Internet peeps, how was your weekend?

Oh what a night...

I remember Election Night 1992 like it was yesterday. It was my first presidential election as a registered voter. I had seen then-Gov. Bill Clinton three times in person. Sitting in Scott's apartment watching the Election Night returns come in was nothing close to amazing. I was inspired and excited. Very little drama and I remember that feeling of elation when Clinton won. I was so happy.

Fast-forward to last night. Once again, there was a candidate who did more to inspire than candidates past. The night did not hang on a single, to-close-to-be called state. No talk about disenfranchisement, hanging chads or butterfly ballots. It all seemed too good to be true.

As it became clear that Obama was going to be elected President, the attention focused to local races, specifically the race in Assembly District 13. The early returns looked good, but not great. As expected, the Democratic edge in Early Voting was apparent, and we were ahead, but closer than most of us would have liked. It was a harbinger of things to come. As the returns trickled in, the lead narrowed, with the incumbent pulling a slight lead around 10:30 p.m. Then, around 11:30 it happened. The final results were in. Andrew lost. By a little more than 1,000 votes or a little more than 1 percent. He amassed more than 37K votes more than any other winner of an Assembly and even some state Senate races. But alas, the incumbent had just a few more.

Keds and I were devastated. I can't believe Andrew lost. He seems to be taking it in stride. He is obviously disappointed but I know that he'll be OK. He'll run again, and I'll be happy to work with him once again.

Last night was still amazing. Barack's acceptance speech was awe-inspiring and McCain's concession was classy. How many days until Inauguration Day?

We'll just say this is from the "What?!?" department

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/10/sen-craig-appeals-foot-tap-arrest/

Putting politics aside

One of the most frustrating things about politics is that people get so entrenched in their positions that they won't give an inch because they don't want to yield their agenda even though it is probably for the greater good.

Let's take a current issue - teenage pregnancy. As it is playing out in the news right now, I won't rehash the current news story. However, I think that Roland Martin of CNN hit the nail on the head. Check out his link here.

We need to reopen discussion in this country and actually debate issues and act in the common good, without focusing on imposing. As Matt would say, we need more proposers, and fewer imposers.

Check out the link and let me know your thoughts.

An interesting theory

For the second time in a couple of weeks, I’ve seen stories that have linked the war in Georgia (the country, not the state) with attempts to influence the outcome of the Presidential Election.

Now normally, I would not buy into something that Vladimir Putin is pushing. Clearly, he wants to control the news cycle and spin within his sphere of influence. Second, I would like to believe that the US public is smarter than that, too. However, there was an article in The Nation that really started me thinking. While I’m not sure the US Government orchestrated the conflict in Georgia, I do think that members of a US Presidential campaign are involved.

I’ll just take a quick moment to recap events. On August 8^th, the Georgian government tries to re-establish authority over South Ossetia using its military. This provided Russia with the excuse it needed to go in and re-establish primacy in South Ossetia. The Georgian Army was simply overmatched.

Why would the President of Georgia do this? The conflict over South Ossetia was hardly new. South Ossetia was an autonomous region of Georgia prior to independence. He had to know that the Russian military would respond, given they had troops in the region as “peacekeepers.” My guess is that President Saakashvili assumed that “the West” would step in and help or it would help change world conditions in such as way to help his cause down the road.

Here are some interesting facts. President Saakashvili is good friends with a guy by the name of Randy Scheunemann, who, until March served as a lobbyist for the Georgian Government for four years. When Scheunemann left the service of the Georgian Government, he went to work as the Sr. Foreign Policy Adviser to the Sen. John McCain campaign. He also served in a similar capacity on John McCain’s 2000 campaign. In 2005, Scheunemann and McCain worked together on legislation pushing for Georgia’s entry into NATO and in 2006, accompanied McCain on a trip to Georgia where McCain re-iterated his support for Georgia’s policies.

It would make sense that by trying to re-establish control in South Ossetia, the Georgian government is doing what it can to act in their longer term interests. Influence the outcome of the US Presidential Election by changing the focus from problems at home to issues of foreign policy. And in making Vladimir Putin the second coming of Josef Stalin, they are creating a new bogeyman which Americans should be afraid.

Here's to hoping that Americans can see past the charade and focus on issues of real importance.