February 2009 Message from the Chair
Democrat Leader is Talking Like
a Republican
In an exclusive interview with CityLife
editor Steve Sebelius released today, Democrat Senate
Majority Leader Steven Horsford sounded like Republican
Gov. Jim Gibbons in discussing the state’s budget
and overspending problem. “There will be cuts,”
Horsford admitted. “So we just have to decide
what areas will be cut, which programs can be scaled
back, and which things must be funded.”
Which is exactly what Gov. Gibbons has
been saying for more than a year now.
The difference, of course, is that Gov.
Gibbons has presented a written budget proposal outlining
specific areas to cut, specific programs to scale back,
and specific things which must be funded. Sen. Horsford,
on the other hand, has offered no alternatives himself
while criticizing the governor’s plan.
Later in the interview, Sen. Horsford
had this to say:
“Um, now, that said, you’re
gonna have to figure out a way to work with less ‘cause
you’re not gonna have all of what you need. But
there are some things that have to be a priority and
we’re gonna fight like hell to make them a priority.
Some other things, non-essential areas, things that
maybe government shouldn’t be involved in right
now, we’ve got to scale back, we’ve got
to review it, we’ve got to possibly even eliminate
some of those things in order to fund the things that
matter most.”
If you didn’t know better, you’d
swear it was Gov. Gibbons and not Sen. Horsford who
was being interviewed. After all, Gov. Gibbons has been
saying all along that government needs to tighten its
belt and do more with less; that we need to set spending
priorities; that non-essential areas and things the
government shouldn’t be doing in the first place
need to be scaled back and maybe even eliminated in
order to fund truly essential areas which matter most.
So the governor and the Senate Majority
Leader are in complete agreement on what has to be done.
The difference is in the details. The governor has responsibly
put a detailed plan on the table. The Majority Leader,
however, continues to bob, weave, spin and duck the
specifics.
One final note, Sen. Horsford also said,
“I believe that there has to be new revenue identified
in a way that makes sense.” Of course, “new
revenue” is Democrat code for “higher taxes.”
But again, as with spending cuts, the Majority Leader
refused to say exactly whose taxes should be increased
and by how much.
So much for the Leader providing “leadership.”
Bernie Zadrowski,
Clark County GOP Chairman
chairman@clarkgop.org
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