If we all just dig deep, state deficit will go away
To the editor:
It is very disturbing to hear our state politicians talking in generalities about our budget shortfall, how we have to make cuts in services, and how we can't raise taxes to pay for essential services in today's business climate. But when asked to define "essential services," one Republican lawmaker laid out every program that we now fund. Clearly, cutting services is not going to work.
Gov. Jim Gibbons says he sees the deficit as an opportunity to reduce government to the size he thinks is needed -- without, of course, asking the citizens what they think about that.
Politicians should do the math. Our state has a population of about 2.7 million. The current shortfall is about $880 million. If the three-quarters of the population that is older than 18 would voluntarily send about $450 to the state treasury, we could cover the shortfall for the year and have a small surplus.
Is $1.25 a day from each taxpayer too much to ask to put our state on a firm footing and keep our people working for the next year? I think not. That is less than a cup of coffee.
Charles Parrish
LAS VEGAS
Curb spending
To the editor:
Everyone is saying that the governor is wrong in blaming the Legislature for our state running in the red. Well, aren't lawmakers the ones who raised taxes and kept on spending, even after the governor put his veto on the tax increases?
You don't raise taxes in the middle of a recession, and lawmakers found that out the hard way. If taxes are raised or if new taxes are introduced in the future, it will discourage new businesses from coming here, and some that are already here will leave. Instead, we need some sort of incentive to attract new businesses so they will relocate here in Nevada.
Government needs to curb the spending on unnecessary projects.
Gary Sodervick
HENDERSON
Not singular
To the editor:
I saw a photograph in Tuesday's Review-Journal showing the teachers and union activists who were groaning in response to Gov. Jim Gibbons' speech surrounding themselves with posters declaring "Courage and Leadership ... it's what our kids need."
I was groaning, too.
What our teachers need: remedial lessons in grammar, diction and punctuation.
Stephen Salchenberger
NORTH LAS VEGAS
Super misplaced values
To the editor:
Something is radically wrong.
All day Sunday, the media were filled with sound bites, comments, programming of all sorts and, ultimately, the televising of the Super Bowl. Millions of dollars were spent on advertising and other activities related to the game.
On Monday, the governor of Nevada, in his State of the State address, discussed our sad economy and mentioned the impending cuts in many state services, including education. He tried to call it a restructuring of the school districts, but we all know what he was really saying.
What kind of society are we living in? What kind of legacy are we preparing for the future when we can support sports activities with millions of dollars, but our bottom-ranked educational system is being reduced? How can we sit by and watch ballplayers, many of whom cannot write a paragraph, get paid salaries in the millions while teachers with advanced degrees are earning a pittance and are facing salary and position cuts?
Try doing the math. A ballplayer receiving about $1 million a year (many earn more) gets about $83,000 a month, while a Nevada teacher earning $35,000 a year sees about $3,000 a month.
This has nothing to do with politics or party loyalty. It's just common sense. A civilization can survive without one ballplayer but not one can go forward without teachers.
When are we going to come to our senses? When are we going to properly place our values?
Sheila Morse
HENDERSON
Sell UNLV
To the editor:
After listening to the governor's speech on Monday, I have a very simple solution to our current deficit: Sell UNLV and UNR to a private concern, possibly a hedge fund.
This is similar to what other states have done in selling their freeways and ports to private investors. After all, why does every state in the union have to have its own university system?
And, by selling, we would get out from the cost of running these schools as well as the hidden costs for pensions, etc. And we would receive the sales price.
Nevada has been a leader in legalizing gambling. Let us be the first to privatize our university system.
GLEN KANER
LAS VEGAS
No planning
To the editor:
How can the tourist capital of the world run out of money? Let's look at the planning and the lack of vision for this city.
The economy is based on people having extra money. How many casinos do you think the city needs? Obviously, we had enough during the good times, but with the mindless expansion of the gaming industry, look at the results.
Then there is the endless building of strip malls, apartment complexes and resorts. Who did the planning? Gaming can only sustain a state for so long.
The measures that are being discussed now are reactive. This town needs people who are proactive to run the government and replenish the cupboards of a bare treasury.
Freddie Rosser
NORTH LAS VEGAS
