Gibbons shines no light on solutions, puts politics ahead of people

For a moment Monday evening, I thought the light bulb of dubious wattage in Gov. Jim Gibbons' head had finally begun to shine.

Very early in his State of the State speech, he paraphrased the words of inventor Thomas Edison, who once said, "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

I like that quote. It speaks to the great things that are possible with hard work. Remember, it was Edison who also said, "Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration."

Perhaps naively, I briefly hoped Gibbons on Monday was headed down the road of a true statesman, a fellow who puts the people's interests ahead of his own political ambitions. Although Gibbons' popularity has been in a hole so dark that light can barely escape, it's clear the governor believes if he holds the line against any tax increase, he has a reasonable chance to win re-election during a recession that finds the state's unemployment rate at 13 percent and rising.

Instead, Gibbons turned the State of the State into a political stump speech. He pointed to a few of our many maladies -- rising unemployment, dropping personal income, plummeting home values, rocketing foreclosure rates and flagging tax revenues -- and recommended nothing special to solve our problems.

Instead, he vilified the Legislature for passing new taxes in 2009 that he said were largely responsible for putting us in this mess.

"I planned responsibly," he said. "They gambled on new taxes, and we all lost."

That's just plain disingenuous.

Without that tax increase, essential services and higher education would have been gutted. As it is, state government has undergone substantial budget cuts and will be hit with more.

On Tuesday, fellow Republican and Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio called Gibbons on his reckless rhetoric. Raggio said, "Partisanship and political stuff is not helping us getting through this difficult time."

Unless reauthorized, the $800 million in the new taxes of which Gibbons spoke will expire in June 2011. That begs the question: If that tax increase is so onerous, Governor, why not call for its repeal?

Because it would make the dark hole Nevada finds itself in about twice as deep.

Gibbons reassured listeners he will never raise taxes, which must come as a relief to Nevada's mining industry. Mining enjoys low taxes, record gold prices and apparently no real threat of contributing more at a time the state is deeply ailing.

Are all Nevada's cows so sacred we're willing to cut juvenile psychiatric care, trim 10 percent from the Clark and Washoe child welfare and protective services budgets, eliminate problem gambling funding, cut nursing home reimbursements, slash adult day care funds, and reduce money for everything from dentures and eye glasses to hearing aids and adult diapers for Medicaid recipients?

"We can't rely on Washington, D.C., to lead us out of this crisis. ... Nevadans will solve Nevada's problems," Gibbons said. But what passed for solutions had the ring of bureaucratic buck-passing. He pointed to the potential of green jobs and technology, which he failed to mention will only arrive in Nevada with help from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

He called for the state Commission on Economic Development and Commission on Tourism to present him their best ideas in 30 days. I wonder what economic uber-secrets those commissions have been hiding that will be revealed in one month?

In the end, Gibbons shrugged and said a lot of cuts would be painful. But, golly, we'll get through this because "We're Battle Born," "We're One Nevada."

Apparently, we're also out of fresh ideas that put people ahead of politics.

In a state with such a dim future, I'd be willing to accept 40 watts of compromise.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.