LasVegans proudly continue to exhibit their hatred of all things beneficial to a society. Primarily education, compassion, a sense of community-along with a total lack of self awareness.
OMG these people are scary. Our kids can forgo UNLV and easily go to another university BUT our grade school kids can not do that. Stop sacrificing everyone else just to save UNLV. They cost us too much money and are a luxury not necessity. UNR and other states can do higher we for us until we have extra money in the state
By Teaser
5/2/09 at 11:26 a.m.
Why not close Nevada State College? That was never necessary in the first place. The whole thing started merely as an effort to raise property values.
By Harley
5/2/09 at 11:36 a.m.
Steven Horsford and Barbara Buckley can kiss their political careers goodbye.
By neiman1
5/2/09 at 11:45 a.m.
Suggest removal
Reality is a tough thing to face. Visitors to this state are as broke as anyone else. There are no rich executives in New York to fly out for a weeks convention. Income to this state is still coming down. The completion of new casino hotels only ends construction jobs. It creates no new visitors.
We are America's playground. Problem is no one can afford to play. Now fear of the swine flu is making all air travel scary and this month is set to be a disaster. Increased tax rates will not generate more taxes, just move it around.
By lvsun123
5/2/09 at 11:50 a.m.
Suggest removal
Nevadaapplslices,It is obvious from the the grammar in your last sentence that you do not have a college education. It is obivious from many of your other posts that you do not value education at all. You are an idiot, plain and simple.
I commend Steven Horsford for doing his job and trying to come up with a solution to the state's budget crisis. Hopefully, our leaders will be able to come up with a plan that will not devastate education and turn this state into a cesspool full of simpletons!
By lvsun123
5/2/09 at 11:55 a.m.
Suggest removal
Harley, you wrote:
"Steven Horsford and Barbara Buckley can kiss their political careers goodbye."
Why? Because they are actually doing their jobs, unlike our governor?
By Patrick_R_Gibbons
5/2/09 at 12:23 p.m.
Suggest removal
They are attempting to maintain a gross increase in spending just a few years ago. In 05-07 the state increased the budget 42 percent.
42 percent. That is simply unsustainable. http://npri.org/publications/legislature...
Lawmakers are clearly out of touch. As resort entrepreneur Steve Wynn recently observed, "Anybody who raises taxes now is purely psychotic. Every time they touch a tax now, you can increase the unemployment line at the Culinary union and every place else in this city."
Unfortunately, policymakers in Carson City hear less from honest taxpayers and more from thethat a entrenched interests lways hunger for more porky government spending.
Nevada's budget problem does not result from insufficient revenue. If Nevada's government had shown restraint and a little responsibility -- spending limits and a rainy day fund -- Nevada would not be in the situation we are in today.
The Silver State does not need billions in new taxes. It needs responsible, accountable and mature governance.
By nevadaappleslices
5/2/09 at 12:25 p.m.
Suggest removal
Lvsun, you do not know what you r talking about. Waive and scream all you want, but there is not enough money to go around. Gibbons is doing a great job.
By LasVegas2009
5/2/09 at 12:35 p.m.
Suggest removal
LvSun: You are one of the dirt bag pay me more teachers in this town that has cost the state way to much money. We dont care about your college education or your qualifications we want you to take a 50% cut in pay. These teachers are making over $50,000 a year. Fire 2000 teachers save the state $100,000,000.00 thats 100 million!!
Shut down 50% of the schools and kick the illegals out! Just like teachers feeding off the tax payers these illegals are feeding off our tax dollars as well. Teachers should make around $18-$24 thousand a year and thats it. We have teachers making $65,000 plus in this town.
Time to cut the state employee and teachers pay down to the amount the job is worth.
Make the government smaller! Cut the welfare roles and if you don't work you can't have any money. Make those on government assistance work for what they get.
By LVPaco
5/2/09 at 12:39 p.m.
Suggest removal
It is high time that mining industry pay there fair share... MINING MINING HELLO MINING MINING TAX THE Gold and Silver Mines of Nevada... And make the pay retroactively...
By DouglasDemocrat
5/2/09 at 12:57 p.m.
Suggest removal
LasVegas2009
Where do you come up with your ridiculous numbers? The average starting salary for a teacher in the State of Nevada is $31,703. And right now, because of the "brain drain" from changing retirement benefits, there are a lot more teachers at the low end of the pay scale.
Fire 2000 teachers? Do you WANT 60 kids in a class run by ONE teacher? Can you handle 60 7-year-olds? No? Then how do you expect someone else to do it?
If we paid teachers what they were worth instead of spending money on things like baseball stadiums and tax breaks for empty subdivisions, we might actually have something approaching a working system.
And how can you work IF THERE ARE NO JOBS! If people are unemployed, they should get nothing? Are you kidding me? That's idiotic and borderline sociopathic.
By Patrick_R_Gibbons
5/2/09 at 1:05 p.m.
Suggest removal
Doug, I don't know about that number
Most teachers are in CCSD and CCSD starts new inexperienced fresh out of college teachers at $35,000. Brand new teacher with a masters degree gets almost $41,000
http://www.ccsd.net/jobs/LLPsalary.htm
Your number is probably done by county, bringing the average down.
By Patrick_R_Gibbons
5/2/09 at 1:08 p.m.
Suggest removal
Also Doug, don't be so dramatic. While firing 2000 teachers is a lot, it would only make the teacher to student ratio go up by about 4 students per teacher...and that is just for Clark County
(meaning no other county would be effected). 60 students per classroom would require about 60-70 percent of teachers to be fired.
By bill777
5/2/09 at 1:09 p.m.
Suggest removal
Unemployment high school drop outs = 14%Unemployment high school grads = 9%Unemployment college grads = 4%
67% of all venture capital startups are in California, New York, Texas, and Massachusetts. Three of those are top 10 highest tax states, but they are the four best higher education systems in the USA.
Yes, the university system needs to do a much better job with its resources. So does the state in general. But the future of this state, and this country, depends on education. Las Vegas has a third world college graduation rate, and a 45% high school graduation rate.
We are living with the consequences of having no attention paid to education, which has prevented economic diversification. The answer is not to hammer the future to simplify the present. The answer is to make corrections with both spending and revenue to put us on a course that makes the future better.
By Patrick_R_Gibbons
5/2/09 at 1:10 p.m.
Suggest removal
Doug,
Assume we did fire 2,000 teachers. They lose their jobs.
But we don't raise taxes. That means other people have more to spend, more profits to use to hire new people or increase wages. That helps the economy recover.
Assuming teachers are as productive in the private sector as any other job then there is no net loss in society.
You see, the money has to come from somewhere. You're logic above assumes that it pays for teacher salaries or vanishes into thin air. That is just silly.
By Patrick_R_Gibbons
5/2/09 at 1:12 p.m.
Suggest removal
Bill,
If you had a state of paupers, would your answer be to raise taxes on all them them? Your assumption is that taxes create wealth. Rather than wealthy people tend to get taxed more. I think you have the cause and effect backwards.
Texas isn't a high tax state either, btw. Nor does increasing taxes diversify the economy.
By Teaser
5/2/09 at 11:26 a.m.
Why not close Nevada State College? That was never necessary in the first place. The whole thing started merely as an effort to raise property values.
By Harley
5/2/09 at 11:36 a.m.
Steven Horsford and Barbara Buckley can kiss their political careers goodbye.
By neiman1
5/2/09 at 11:45 a.m.
Suggest removal
Reality is a tough thing to face. Visitors to this state are as broke as anyone else. There are no rich executives in New York to fly out for a weeks convention. Income to this state is still coming down. The completion of new casino hotels only ends construction jobs. It creates no new visitors.
We are America's playground. Problem is no one can afford to play. Now fear of the swine flu is making all air travel scary and this month is set to be a disaster. Increased tax rates will not generate more taxes, just move it around.
By lvsun123
5/2/09 at 11:50 a.m.
Suggest removal
Nevadaapplslices,It is obvious from the the grammar in your last sentence that you do not have a college education. It is obivious from many of your other posts that you do not value education at all. You are an idiot, plain and simple.
I commend Steven Horsford for doing his job and trying to come up with a solution to the state's budget crisis. Hopefully, our leaders will be able to come up with a plan that will not devastate education and turn this state into a cesspool full of simpletons!
By lvsun123
5/2/09 at 11:55 a.m.
Suggest removal
Harley, you wrote:
"Steven Horsford and Barbara Buckley can kiss their political careers goodbye."
Why? Because they are actually doing their jobs, unlike our governor?
By Patrick_R_Gibbons
5/2/09 at 12:23 p.m.
Suggest removal
They are attempting to maintain a gross increase in spending just a few years ago. In 05-07 the state increased the budget 42 percent.
42 percent. That is simply unsustainable. http://npri.org/publications/legislature...
Lawmakers are clearly out of touch. As resort entrepreneur Steve Wynn recently observed, "Anybody who raises taxes now is purely psychotic. Every time they touch a tax now, you can increase the unemployment line at the Culinary union and every place else in this city."
Unfortunately, policymakers in Carson City hear less from honest taxpayers and more from thethat a entrenched interests lways hunger for more porky government spending.
Nevada's budget problem does not result from insufficient revenue. If Nevada's government had shown restraint and a little responsibility -- spending limits and a rainy day fund -- Nevada would not be in the situation we are in today.
The Silver State does not need billions in new taxes. It needs responsible, accountable and mature governance.
By nevadaappleslices
5/2/09 at 12:25 p.m.
Suggest removal
Lvsun, you do not know what you r talking about. Waive and scream all you want, but there is not enough money to go around. Gibbons is doing a great job.
By LasVegas2009
5/2/09 at 12:35 p.m.
Suggest removal
LvSun: You are one of the dirt bag pay me more teachers in this town that has cost the state way to much money. We dont care about your college education or your qualifications we want you to take a 50% cut in pay. These teachers are making over $50,000 a year. Fire 2000 teachers save the state $100,000,000.00 thats 100 million!!
Shut down 50% of the schools and kick the illegals out! Just like teachers feeding off the tax payers these illegals are feeding off our tax dollars as well. Teachers should make around $18-$24 thousand a year and thats it. We have teachers making $65,000 plus in this town.
Time to cut the state employee and teachers pay down to the amount the job is worth.
Make the government smaller! Cut the welfare roles and if you don't work you can't have any money. Make those on government assistance work for what they get.
By LVPaco
5/2/09 at 12:39 p.m.
Suggest removal
It is high time that mining industry pay there fair share... MINING MINING HELLO MINING MINING TAX THE Gold and Silver Mines of Nevada... And make the pay retroactively...
By DouglasDemocrat
5/2/09 at 12:57 p.m.
Suggest removal
LasVegas2009
Where do you come up with your ridiculous numbers? The average starting salary for a teacher in the State of Nevada is $31,703. And right now, because of the "brain drain" from changing retirement benefits, there are a lot more teachers at the low end of the pay scale.
Fire 2000 teachers? Do you WANT 60 kids in a class run by ONE teacher? Can you handle 60 7-year-olds? No? Then how do you expect someone else to do it?
If we paid teachers what they were worth instead of spending money on things like baseball stadiums and tax breaks for empty subdivisions, we might actually have something approaching a working system.
And how can you work IF THERE ARE NO JOBS! If people are unemployed, they should get nothing? Are you kidding me? That's idiotic and borderline sociopathic.
By Patrick_R_Gibbons
5/2/09 at 1:05 p.m.
Suggest removal
Doug, I don't know about that number
Most teachers are in CCSD and CCSD starts new inexperienced fresh out of college teachers at $35,000. Brand new teacher with a masters degree gets almost $41,000
http://www.ccsd.net/jobs/LLPsalary.htm
Your number is probably done by county, bringing the average down.
By Patrick_R_Gibbons
5/2/09 at 1:08 p.m.
Suggest removal
Also Doug, don't be so dramatic. While firing 2000 teachers is a lot, it would only make the teacher to student ratio go up by about 4 students per teacher...and that is just for Clark County
(meaning no other county would be effected). 60 students per classroom would require about 60-70 percent of teachers to be fired.
By bill777
5/2/09 at 1:09 p.m.
Suggest removal
Unemployment high school drop outs = 14%Unemployment high school grads = 9%Unemployment college grads = 4%
67% of all venture capital startups are in California, New York, Texas, and Massachusetts. Three of those are top 10 highest tax states, but they are the four best higher education systems in the USA.
Yes, the university system needs to do a much better job with its resources. So does the state in general. But the future of this state, and this country, depends on education. Las Vegas has a third world college graduation rate, and a 45% high school graduation rate.
We are living with the consequences of having no attention paid to education, which has prevented economic diversification. The answer is not to hammer the future to simplify the present. The answer is to make corrections with both spending and revenue to put us on a course that makes the future better.
By Patrick_R_Gibbons
5/2/09 at 1:10 p.m.
Suggest removal
Doug,
Assume we did fire 2,000 teachers. They lose their jobs.
But we don't raise taxes. That means other people have more to spend, more profits to use to hire new people or increase wages. That helps the economy recover.
Assuming teachers are as productive in the private sector as any other job then there is no net loss in society.
You see, the money has to come from somewhere. You're logic above assumes that it pays for teacher salaries or vanishes into thin air. That is just silly.
By Patrick_R_Gibbons
5/2/09 at 1:12 p.m.
Suggest removal
Bill,
If you had a state of paupers, would your answer be to raise taxes on all them them? Your assumption is that taxes create wealth. Rather than wealthy people tend to get taxed more. I think you have the cause and effect backwards.
Texas isn't a high tax state either, btw. Nor does increasing taxes diversify the economy.
The ignorance, hatefulness and lack of compassion only reflects, sadly, on the continued demise of the city of Las Vegas.
Keep it up-companies who care about employees won't touch this town.
I can't imagine a town the size of Las Vegas without a University, but many of you sure can. Wow.
