Rip that carpet up off of the floor, pack up your oil stove and head out the door …

The Nevada News Bureau reported Wednesday, "Nevada Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio said today layoffs of state employees should be a 'last resort' as Gov. Jim Gibbons and lawmakers seek ways to balance the Nevada budget." Sen. Raggio, R-Reno, made his comments in an interview on the Nevada NewsMakers" program.

And we still wonder why the Republican Party does such a lame-ass job drawing voters to a supposedly "smaller government" alternative in the Silver State? Who does the doddering Sen. Raggio believe constitute his main constituency -- the state employee unions?

A lawmaker with even minimal "smaller government" instincts -- a Libertarian, say -- would have vowed, "Tax hikes must be a last resort" as Nevada seeks to pare back its governmental spending to something a tad more affordable. Laying off state employees -- and youth-propaganda-camp administrators subsidized with state taxpayer funds -- should rank about second.

What option should top the list? Closing down entirely any state office or department created since 1959, of course -- starting with the administrators who oversee the pointless "smog checking" of cars that already accomplish this goal with internal computers. That way, they won't be able to ever hire them back.