Politics

10,000 Nevadans daily to get pro-Harry Reid robo-call
By Lisa Mascaro
WASHINGTON -- The progressive group that ran TV ads critical of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's leadership as it pushed him to include the public option in the health care bill now says it has the leader's back as he potentially comes under pressure to change the bill as the health debate begins in the Senate.‬‪
DAILY MEMO: HOUSING $60 million to stabilize neighborhoods buys five homes
By Timothy Pratt
The Sun recently found that the three local governments receiving most of the money sent to the valley to buy, fix and resell foreclosed houses had been able to close deals on only five houses to date even though the program is nearly halfway into its 18-month time frame.
Auditors note problems in Recovery Act jobs numbers
By Lisa Mascaro · Thursday, November 19, 2009
WASHINGTON -- Government auditors have found significant problems in reporting the number of jobs created or saved by the Recovery Act, the Obama administration’s signature effort to improve the economy, according to a report released Thursday.
Long-sought, Harry Reid's goal of health care reform a step closer
Senate Majority Leader drew cheers with a tightrope act
By Lisa Mascaro · Thursday, November 19, 2009
After weeks of crafting the Senate health care bill behind closed doors, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid finally unveiled it. The bill weighed in at $849 billion over 10 years, would cover 31 million uninsured and cut the federal budget deficit by $127 billion.
Union leader says ‘card check’ is on Senate’s back burner
By Michael Mishak · Thursday, November 19, 2009
As unions continue to push for legislation that would make it easier for workers to organize, one of the labor movement’s most progressive leaders is sending a message to his colleagues: Don’t hold your breath.
2,074-page health bill includes surgery, payroll tax hike
By Lisa Mascaro · Wednesday, November 18, 2009
WASHINGTON -- Ready for a little light reading? The new Senate health care bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is now posted online at www.democrats.senate.gov.
Petition seeks amendment requiring secret vote in union elections
By Cy Ryan · Tuesday, November 17, 2009
CARSON CITY – An initiative petition has been filed to amend the Nevada Constitution to require employees to vote secretly when deciding whether to be represented by a union.
Gibbons: Special session would target test scores law
By Cy Ryan · Tuesday, November 17, 2009
CARSON CITY – Gov. Jim Gibbons said Tuesday that if he calls a special session of the Legislature he might ask lawmakers to repeal a law preventing Nevada from competing for up to $175 million in federal funds for public schools.
New city hall bonds have given project stimulating effect
By Sam Skolnik · Tuesday, November 17, 2009
President Barack Obama’s federal stimulus bill might bail out Mayor Oscar Goodman’s new city hall project. In recent weeks each of the three major rating agencies, Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, gave the city hall financing plan their fourth-highest rating — increasing the likelihood that the city will be able to raise the $179 million needed for the project.
Lawmakers look at past appropriations to learn for future
By David McGrath Schwartz · Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The list of projects approved by the 2007 Legislature looks like a collection of receipts from a Christmas past, when mommy and daddy still had jobs and the house wasn’t in foreclosure.
19 citizens' goal: What should Nevada be in 20 years?
By Cy Ryan · Monday, November 16, 2009
Nineteen citizens have been selected by a legislative committee to draw a road map of where Nevada should be in five, 10 and 20 years in commerce, education, health and human services, infrastructure and public safety.
Police probe of clinic cases in hepatitis outbreak nears end
Prosecutors expected to get results next month
By Jeff German · Monday, November 16, 2009
At long last, Metro Police are winding down one of the Las Vegas Valley’s most complicated and anticipated criminal investigations in recent years.
Joe Biden visit signals hard race for Dina Titus
Democrats see her reelection as key to retaining House
By Michael Mishak · Monday, November 16, 2009
Bracing for a tough election cycle in 2010, the White House sent Vice President Joe Biden to Las Vegas Sunday to boost the campaign coffers of Democratic Rep. Dina Titus.
COMMENTARY Running the state revenue structure meeting through a truth filter
By Jon Ralston · Sunday, November 15, 2009
If only someone spiked the java with truth serum before Thursday’s meeting of the Subcommittee to Conduct a Review of Nevada’s Revenue Structure, which will appoint members of the Nevada Vision Stakeholder Group (what’s in a name?).
HEALTH CARE DEBATE Just getting health care bill to floor will be tough for Reid
History indicates reform will be slowed by the quirks of the Senate
By Lisa Mascaro · Sunday, November 15, 2009
To understand just how difficult it is to get anything done in the Senate, a dose of history can help. Long before President Lyndon B. Johnson became champion of civil rights, he was during his early years as majority leader a key Senate architect in obstructing civil rights legislation that many of his fellow Democrats desperately wanted to pass.