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July 2009

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BEERS VS. GIBBONS: THE DEBATE
BY MIKE ZIGLER

Jim Gibbons has refused to give interviews with various media outlets, including Liberty Watch: The Magazine. Voters have been cheated from Gibbons' silence. The differences that have emerged between Gibbons and state Sen. Bob Beers deserve to be debated. Liberty Watch believes voters can use this information to make an informed decision at the polls. In this issue, we let the frontrunners' records (and words) speak for themselves.


The TASC amendment is a great idea - taking authority away from politicians and special interests to expand government faster than we the people are expanding. It makes more sense to put that authority in the hands of voters and taxpayers. New taxes and increased tax rates would also have to be approved by voters. Jim Gibbons says that he is not in support. I do not understand his reasons. Nevada's state and local government spending has been increasing at twice the rate of population growth and inflation since the turn of the decade. We've got to get a handle on it, or it will eat us alive. TASC does allows us to get a handle by making lawmakers come to us voters before growing government faster than we the people grow. All new taxes - and spending hikes that are faster than population growth and inflation - will need voter approval under TASC.	What is your position on the Tax and Spending Control Amendment?	Gibbons has said repeatedly that he does not support TASC, but cannot (or will not) explain why. Rather, he said in February that the measure is "lengthy, vague and confusing." Gibbons was named "Porker of the Month" by the Citizens Against Government Waste in 2003 for stealing $225,000 in federal dollars to repair a swimming pool in Sparks, Nev. He also voted in March to raise the nation's debt ceiling to nearly $9 trillion. For someone with these financial habits, we understand why TASC is confusing. How would he be able to spend so lavishly if he had to gain approval by the people? Gibbons has also aligned himself with several groups who oppose TASC - government unions that fear losing standard raises greater than inflation, and our state's elite special interests, who believe they can more easily avoid tax hikes on their industries through their lobbying relationships.
Nevada's gas tax is the earmarked and sole source of funding for building and maintaining our state network of highways. Two problems render it a bad strategic source for this purpose. First, it is expressed in pennies-per-gallon rather than a percent, so their is no increase in proceeds as inflation increases prices over time. Second, we're using fewer and fewer gallons of gas for each hundred miles driven due to increasingly fuel efficient cars. The pinch on roads funding is so bad that Gov. Guinn has called a "blue ribbon" panel together to find alternatives. My idea is to repeal the state portion of the gas tax, which is forecast to produce $400 million in revenue, and replace it with our general tax structure, which is forecast to produce a surplus of $550 million. Replacing the gas tax with our general structure, which grows faster than population growth plus inflation, gets us out from under this strategic problem, while giving Nevadans and our visitors alike a little break at the pump.	What is your position on suspending the state gas tax?	Forty-five minutes after Beers came out with this plan, Gibbons labeled it "irresponsible." He still hasn't offered any solution to the problems (either of high gas prices or the strategic deficiency of the gas tax). One side effect of Beers' plan - using up the surplus via gas tax rebates - runs counter to the multiple promises Gibbons has made to special interest groups on how he'd spend the state's surplus.
This is a special set of laws that the legislature extended to local government employees, taking away the ability of county commissions and city councils to manage wages. In the 20 or 25 years since we've done this, local government compensation has risen to the point that according to the U.S. Census Bureau, our local government employees in Nevada are ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th, depending on the job category you're looking at, of 50 states in compensation. That doesn't include retirement. This is unlike you and others in the private sector who pay half of our social security costs and your employer pays the other half. The public sector has negotiated with local governments so that taxpayers pay both halves. Every legislative session, the state union brings a bill to extend this to them. I've voted against it each time this has come to the floor because we'd have to raise taxes to fund it.	What is your position on collective bargaining for government workers?	Last October, after taking a $5,000 check from one of the state unions, Gibbons came out a week later in favor of extending collective bargaining to state unions. When Beers pointed this out in front of Gibbons at the Nevada chapter of the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting in March, Gibbons did not respond. Nevada doesn't treat its state unions badly by the way; they rank somewhere around 20th, except for teachers, who rank 25th. After Republicans got on Gibbons' case about his position, he backtracked. A couple months later, he said that he only favored extending collective bargaining to that one union that gave him the check. He has declined to share how he's going to keep the rest of the camel out of the tent.
The culinary amendment would double-index Nevada's minimum wage and exempt unions. The first index is to the federal minimum wage, so that Nevada's would always be at least $1 higher. When the federal minimum wage increases, Nevada's would automatically increase commensurately. The second index is to inflation. Now, I've got an 18-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son, and they will be looking for their entry-level jobs in the next decade. This proposal will reduce the number of entry-level jobs, and hurt Nevada's youth. I oppose it. My opponent, however, tells the Women's Chamber of Commerce of Nevada that you can't raise a family on minimum wage, then turns around to the Nevada Restaurant Association, saying he doesn't support inserting this issue into the Constitution or indexing it to inflation. His audience obviously affects his opinion.	Do you support the Culinary Union's minimum wage hike amendment for Nevada? (It will be on the ballot for the second time this November)	Erin Neff of the Las Vegas Review-Journal quoted this Gibbons gem in her March 26 column: "No person that I know of in this state can afford to live, can afford to buy a house, can afford to buy gasoline or even groceries on minimum wage. Something's got to be done. We need to raise the minimum wage." According to the U.S. Department of Labor, only 2.2 million people earned exactly $5.15 an hour or less. Half of those people were under 25, indicating not many Americans, let alone Nevadans, are supporting themselves on minimum wage. Republicans again reminded Gibbons that such a position isn't exactly Republican, or business friendly. He clarified to the Nevada Restaurant Association that he doesn't support inserting this issue into the Constitution or indexing it to inflation. However, he is fine with indexing it to the federal minimum wage and is OK with exempting unions. This is just another sign of Gibbons' allegiance toward union bosses.

LW: Hi Robert. This is Mike Zigler with Liberty Watch Magazine. I wanted to see if Jim had availability in his schedule in the upcoming week to have an
interview with us.

RU: I don't think so. I don't think that is a publication that has at all been
representative of the truth about Jim Gibbons. At least I haven't seen it in what I've read. What are you looking for?

LW: An interview.

RU: Well, I can check, but let me write your name down here and get back to you. Who's the editor?

LW: I am.
RU: You are the editor? OK, you know, just based on what I read in that, it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of fairness that comes out of that
publication. We don't get it here in
the office, but it is often sent to me.

LW: Well, Jim won't grant us an
interview. We'd like to cover his side fairly, but at this point, we've only been able to cover what we've been able to interpret.

RU: Alright, Mike. What you've been able to interpret based on what?

LW: Media reports; other opinions. Also, from unsuccessfully trying to get access to him.
RU: Alright, I've got your number and I'll get back to you.

Liberty Watch never received a phone call from Uithoven. On July 4 (and cornered at the Summerlin Fourth of July parade), Gibbons told publisher George Harris he would agree to interview with Liberty Watch the following day. It was another example of Gibbons' autonomous reflex action of saying what the person in front of him wanted to hear, because after a call on July 5, Uithoven refused to phone back Liberty Watch despite this commitment.

Talk to the voters?
Are you crazy?

So what did you think of the televised debate against Jim Gibbons and state Sen. Bob Beers? We wondered the same - "Why hasn't one happened yet?"

Nevadans have heard that Gibbons' busy Washington schedule has hampered his availability to debate. (Amusing excuse, considering he hasn't done anything there in 10 years.) Even in that in-depth profile, printed in the Las Vegas Review-Journal on July 3, Gibbons only offered words about his service and hopes for governing Nevada - not on his record or issues relevant today. Perhaps the congressman should have considered his ego, background and Washington lifestyle before announcing his candidacy.

He's also refused to speak to multiple media outlets, including Liberty Watch: The Magazine. Campaign consultant, Robert Uithoven, offered this nugget upon our request: "I don't think so. I don't think that is a publication that has at all been representative of the truth about Jim Gibbons. At least I haven't seen it in what I've read." If Gibbons would only speak to us - and Nevada, for that matter- would we take him seriously. But that's beside the point; Uithoven's words represent what Gibbons is relying on - a positive light.

Gibbons' words and history provide anything but. If Uithoven wants a story representative of Gibbons, then here it is.

Gibbons has missed congressional votes and has been absent from Congress on several occasions for reasons much less important than a gubernatorial debate. He doesn't seem to have any problems scheduling media interviews or speeches either. Even sitting presidents find time to debate issues important to the people they theoretically represent.

But Gibbons' hypocrisies are nothing compared to his record and actions.

In his first session, Gibbons enjoyed his position as a lawmaker to force Delta Airlines to give him his job back - a story he prided himself on in that July 3 article in the R-J. When Gibbons was fired from his airline job for not showing up in 1989 (following an election to the Assembly), Gibbons coincidentally was in charge of the bill to increase the cost in jet fuel. When a lobbyist got nowhere with Gibbons, Delta Airlines oddly let him have his job back, following a change in the company's public-service leave policy.

"We have often asked if Jim Gibbons has the moral compass to serve as governor and his own admission proves that he does not," said Andy Matthews, Beers' campaign manager. "He not only abused his position as a state legislator for personal gain, but he also freely boasts about it."

But his integrity is nothing compared to his reputation on a body that he served for 10 years. Not even his closest colleagues would appoint him to the House Intelligence Committee in 2004 - a position he wanted so badly that he committed to not run for Nevada governor in 2006. Apparently, Nevada is a runner-up in Gibbons' priorities.

Gibbons is a mediocre congressman. There's no dodging that fact. In 10 years, he's only introduced 16 bills that eventually became law. Three renamed post offices and another honored Ronald and Nancy Reagan.

And who can forget his timeless speech in Elko a few years ago? Not only did he wish fellow Americans to become human shields in Iraq, he plagiarized the speech.

In 2003, the Citizens Against Government Waste honored him as "Porker of the Month" for stealing $225,000 in federal dollars to repair a swimming pool in Sparks, Nev. Just so happens he clogged that same pool's drain with tadpoles as a teen. Odd that he's considered a fiscal conservative.

Gibbons won't debate before early voting because he has no consistency and holds no favorable record. He's a bought-over Washingtonian who intends to return to Nevada after 10 years - a decision that has interestingly convinced his wife to run for his seat in Washington.

Liberty Watch endorses Bob Beers for governor. The voters will be well-served by his openness, his integrity and his intricate knowledge of the state's finances. He is not a lawyer like his opponent; he is a Certified Public Accountant. And if Nevada ever needed someone to manage its money, now is the time. LW

FULL DISCLOSURE: Bob Beers was an initial investor in Liberty Media, LLC. He has since then relinquished ownership because he felt it would be a conflict of interest as a candidate for governor. However, Liberty Watch has never waivered in its support of Beers becoming the state's next governor. He has nothing to do, and has never had anything to do, with editorial content other than when he wrote a travel column for the magazine. We discolse this to ensure both the integrity of Beers and Liberty Watch: The Magazine.

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