The never-ending Nuclear Projects Agency

The partly built nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain is dead.

So sez Sen. Harry Reid, D-Please-Vote-For-Me-One-More-Time, and so sez President Barack Obama, D-Master-and-Commander. Harry says he's going to reduce Yucca's budget this year to $0. And, Obama says Yucca's unsafe and will never open. End of story, right? Close up the state-funded anti-Yucca office, which is misnamed the Nuclear Projects Agency, and call it the end of a very good day.

Not so fast, partner.

Government jobs and agencies don't go away like that. In fact, they never really ever go away, do they?

Hence the almost comical "fight" in Carson City this week over Gov. Jim Gibbons proposed state budget, which calls for spending "only" $13 million on the Nuclear Projects Agency, instead of the "needed" $20 million.

That's right, weary taxpayers. The legislative debate is this: How much shall we spend on an agency dedicated to fighting a nuke project that's not going to happen? Shall we keep spending $20 million, or shall we back it down a bit and spend $13 million.

This is shameless, really. For all the pain and woe facing Nevada as the worldwide recession takes an especially tight grip on citizens here, our "leaders" in Carson City can only argue over how many millions we "need" to spend on a government office that has lost it's primary purpose.

Do to the Nuclear Projects Agency what Harry plans to do with Yucca's budget -- cut it to zero. Or, do we not trust Sen. Harry and President Obama to do what they promise?