Letters to the editor Feb. 15

What's with the Nevada Appeal's liberal commentaries?

Sue Morrow, on Jan. 11, aped the media pack with a me-too column that contrived to connect her most hated conservatives to the Tucson shootings. Eugene Paslov's Feb. 12 column accused Congresswoman Michelle Bachman in her tea party State of the Union address response of raving about ObamaCare and the failed stimulus. Hmmm, a tax attorney versus Paslov on financial matters, who's more credible?

Elliott Parker, on Feb. 5, proved that Nevada should have a bigger public sector without acknowledging that smaller government, lower taxes, would be a competitive advantage in attracting job-producing businesses. Parker might want to get some tips from his UNR colleague Brad Schiller, whose Feb. 10 Wall Street Journal column explained why we're having a jobless recovery.

Banging your spoon on your high chair isn't punditry, it's the absence of intellectual rigor.

Contrast this with Chuck Muth's Feb. 4 column explaining how Gov. Sandoval can cut big education's budget by eliminating some bureaucrats and imposing a modest shared sacrifice on teacher salaries.

Each Muth column contains at least one valuable analytical concept, like his famous DNA diagnostic for non-essential government functions.

Taxes trickle down to hurt those without the economic power to avoid them. The Legislature and Congress are back in session, and the readers need some grown-up journalists to provide perspective on the self-dealing politicians and their public employee union pals.

Lynn Muzzy

Minden

State lottery could help fund Nevada's education system

A Nevada education lottery is another case of state government ignoring its constituency.

Without detailing his reasons, Gov. Sandoval has stated many times that there will be no lottery, but (there are) plans to drastically cut education. A state lottery can help fund education. The idea of an education lottery has been floating around since California voters passed a measure for an education lottery 25 years ago.

Four out of the five states surrounding Nevada have state education lotteries. Nevada citizens flock to stateline convenience stores to purchase lottery tickets. In the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Inside Gaming Column, Howard Stutz wrote about Las Vegas residents standing in line for more than two hours in California to buy a lottery ticket for a chance at $380 million. The bulk of Nevada's population lives within one hour of the California state line and Nevada residents are choosing to purchase lottery tickets.

The gaming industry opposes a lottery, saying it would mean less revenue to casinos and fewer taxes paid to the state. We are losing tax revenue to the lottery and tribal casinos in California. Nevada needs the two largest multi-state lotteries, Powerball and Mega Millions.

The Mega Millions lottery revenue can be kept here, and the Powerball lottery would attract Californians. Nevada relies on gaming and tourist tax revenue and the lottery can increase both.

Art Redmon

Carson City

Don't balance budget of backs of Douglas school employees

It's news when (Douglas County) Commissioner Lee Bonner resigns his regular job in favor of his position as a county commissioner and will make only $26,672.78 per year. I'm sure this is a sacrifice, but for many, (it) is heaven.

Take the Douglas County School District's classified staff as an example. These are the people who clean your schools, maintain the buildings and grounds, and keep the district's buses and vehicles on the road. They are instructional aides, special education aides, playground aides, hearing-impaired interpreters and teaching assistants.

DCSD classified employees feed your children and nurse them when they are sick. They are the school secretaries, who any parent can tell you, are the hearts of a school. And they are the computer and information services departments, who are instrumental in our technology-driven society. Warehousing, security, librarians, administrative secretaries, all of these wonderful people provide the support so that teachers can teach and children can learn.

Despite the importance of their work, 54 percent of the district's classified staff makes less than $26,000 per year. And due to budget shortfalls, they are facing a possible 5 percent reduction in pay or even loss of jobs.

I applaud Commissioner Bonner's sacrifice. However, it is also time to applaud the dedicated DCSD support staff employees who work for this amount of money or less every year. Think of them when the state and our school district try to balance their budgets on the backs of these workers.

Nancy Hamlett

Minden