tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91592019319221272562024-03-05T08:01:42.997-08:00THE SAUSAGE FACTORYThe Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-55678140168566142082012-08-07T18:09:00.001-07:002012-08-07T18:24:50.017-07:00Tark thinks Blacks are stupid and will vote for him because of basketballNone of us at Team Sausage Factory have had the time to blog lately, but I had to write about what went down today.<br />
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Today perennial candidate Danny Tarkanian sat down with the editorial board of the Las Vegas Review Journal for a candidate interview.
Conservative <strike>activist</strike> columnist Glenn Cook tweeted some highlights, including this gem:
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The video hasn’t been made available yet, but there is no reason to believe Mr Cook took Mr Tarkanian’s words out of context or fully misquoted him. And as of now, the Tarkanian campaign has only tried to cover their ass, so safe to say, he said it.
As a matter of fact, according to 8 News Now investigative reporter Nathan Baca, the campaign doubled down:
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I wasn’t alone in being highly offended by his “if you dribble it, they will come” remarks, and I’m only half Black.<br />
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There was a flood of tweets, lots of facebook posts and Black elected Democrats and candidates sent out a joint release demanding an apology (No word yet if any Black elected Republicans will have there say, or if any exist).<br />
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At Hispanics in Politics last month he said Black people have been fooled into voting for Democrats, and he was here to help. You know, cause us colored folk are ignorant and child-like, lacking the sophistication to make important political decisions, thus we need the helpful hand of non-Blacks to keep us on the straight and narrow.<br />
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The Tarkanian campaign truly believes that because he played basketball and his dad led many a Black man to victory, that somehow that will lead Black folk in congressional district four to vote for him.<br />
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Do Black people love basketball so damn much, they're willing to totally forget that Mr Tarkanian is an aggressive supporter of the Tea Party (the same Tea Party the NAACP* said was racist) with policy positions that rival Sharron Angle’s?<br />
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Do Black people love basketball so much that they’re willing to overlook the fact that Mr Tarkanian thinks racial profiling is effective police work?<br />
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Do Black people love basketball so much that they won't care that Mr. Tarkanian's wife complained just yesterday about people tweeting about the Voting Rights Act?<br />
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Team Tarkanian thinks that answer is yes, because again: Team Tark thinks Black people are stupid.<br />
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--
Laura<br />
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*Yes, the President of the Las Vegas chapter of the NAACP endorsed Danny Tarkanian, that's the campaigns #OneBlackFriend defense. But this is the same NAACP chapter who is partnering with Americans for Prosperity and the same president who does business with the chair of the Republican party. I doubt many of the members even know their president supports Tarkanian; I talked to two today who were shocked and outraged when they found out.The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-76548128289170405172011-12-29T16:51:00.000-08:002011-12-29T17:34:14.563-08:00Blog round up suckas!!! 12/29I love my progressive blogging community, I really do, and you should too. Check out some blog entires from this week, and add their blogs to your readers and bookmarks!<br /><br />Andrew "Nerdrock" Davey at the Nevada Progressive breaks down 2012.it will be an extremely important election year for Nevada. Control of our state senate hangs in balance as well as Harry Reid's status as Senate Majority Leader. <br /><br /><a href="http://nvprogressive.blogspot.com/2011/12/10-of-11-is-it-2012-yet.html">Is it 2012 Yet?</a><br /><blockquote>Since hardly anything could be accomplished in Congress as our own Legislature kept kicking the can further down the road, focus turned quickly to the big election year that will begin in just 5 days in the snowy fields of Iowa. And back here in Nevada, the G-O-TEA is in full panic mode after the last R-J/8 News/UNLV poll delivered plenty of holiday cheer for President Obama and Shelley Berkley.</blockquote><br /><br />Desert Beacon's blog is the kind of blog other blogs aspire to be when they grow up. Her blog about the tax situation in Nevada is another example of her ability to throw out all the platitudes and partisan bullshit and get right to the point:<br /><br /><a href="http://desertbeacon.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/nevada-tackles-the-t-word/">Nevada Tackles the T-Word</a><br /><blockquote>If we move beyond the No-Tax, or The We Want Something For Nothing, Crowd the questions might be focused more productively on how Nevada taxes can be structured to raise revenue while relieving the burden on small independent businesses and families. The big box retailers have been successful beating back attempts to tax their operations, and the resulting modified business tax reflects a win for the giant national franchises and a relative loss (or greater burden for) smaller independently owned businesses.</blockquote><br /><br />The Gleaner has long been my favorite blogger, but he is becoming more cynical and more critical of the Democratic party than any GOP operative, but he does make good points (especially the one about Harry Reid not having the need to "meddle" if the state party would take a Wellstonian approach to politics). The most amazing news for our dear Gleaner: his punchy progressive commentary is now available few times a week on My News 3's "The Agenda". He called Dean Heller "His Accidency" hahahaha.<br /><br />Gleaner still has his City Life gig, check out <a href="http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2011/12/29/opinion/damned_pundit/iq_49894095.txt">The Year That Wasn't</a>, his "counter-factual narratives of things that might have been."<br /><br />Assemblyman and minority whip Mark Sherwood--who is extremely strange and has hilariously taken on a <a href="http://idiotmuth.com/">one-man jihad against Chuck Muth</a>--has decided not to run again. It's funny when redistricting makes your district a little more Democratic and suddenly you discover the policies you think will help Nevada won't even get you reelected in your own district. Nevada State Employee Focus has <a href="http://nvemployees.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/mary-kate-aka-mark-sherwood-will-not-run-again/">the scoop on Sherwood retirement</a>, as well as the Assemblyman's drag name.<br /><br />The next blogger is not from Nevada, but her blog is a must read. Joy Reid writes for the Miami Herald, blogs, is the managing editor of thegrio.com and an MSNBC contributor. Her blog is pointed at Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald, but <a href="http://blog.reidreport.com/2011/12/should-glenn-greenwald-have-to-own-the-ron-paul-blue-plate-special/">all you idealistic Ron Paul supporters need to read it.</a> You wanna support Paul? You're accountable for everything he's about, not just the stuff you agree with:<br /><blockquote>his racist newsletter business and opposition to civil rights legislation, his desire to outlaw abortion, his extreme gun nuttery, or his belief that not only was World War II not worth fighting just to save a few (million) Jews, that the civil war wasn’t worth the lives it cost, when Abe Lincoln could have just bailed out the slave owners by having the federal government buy up the 4 million slaves still in shackles as of 1865 … thus saving 600,000 lives. He has yet to weigh in on Paul’s apparent heebie jeebies over people who, like Greenwald, are gay, including not wanting to use their bathrooms or shake their hands, and freaking out when he thinks one is coming onto him.</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqM6WN0kq87w6ldbVWAAEkGyQWXZcDwVFd5vRBObYaKp3SzMYrOFqL2DyQ67_7hHzo6ExECgKSYFuucw7H7cEpUjNcaxv_6PA3w3CjiETUW_zm6bIc_rTWiaS19GC6smZf9f1rXUFQ6opy/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-12-29+at+5.31.24+PM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 243px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqM6WN0kq87w6ldbVWAAEkGyQWXZcDwVFd5vRBObYaKp3SzMYrOFqL2DyQ67_7hHzo6ExECgKSYFuucw7H7cEpUjNcaxv_6PA3w3CjiETUW_zm6bIc_rTWiaS19GC6smZf9f1rXUFQ6opy/s400/Screen+shot+2011-12-29+at+5.31.24+PM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691727959364296978" /></a><br /><br />Happy reading :)<br /><br />--<br /><br />LauraThe Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-44246825082990985372011-12-29T16:39:00.000-08:002011-12-29T16:51:45.102-08:00Where the heck have we been?Yuck! I can't believe there hasn't been an update for three months. Might be something to think about when writing out those New Years resolutions.<br /><br />The last blog was about Governor Brian Sandoval's endorsement of Rick Perry. With the Iowa caucuses just a few days away, that choice still looks like an enormous blunder. Perry has <a href="http://www.thefrisky.com/2011-12-29/rick-perry-flip-flops-on-abortion-twice-in-one-week/">flip-flopped and flapped</a> on abortion, released an <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoore/rick-perrys-bizarre-anti-gay-ad">anti-gay 30 ad</a> (where he's hilariously wearing the same jacket as Enis, the closest gay cowboy from the movie Brokeback Mountain) and is now battling Rick Santorum--the ex senator from Pennsylvania who lost his reelection in 2006 BY 18 POINTS--for fourth place in Iowa.<br /><br />That information has nothing to do with the intent of this entry, I just felt like pointing out Sandoval's endorsement failure :)<br /><br />Anyway, a blog round up is on its way.The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-21955778763746172352011-09-13T17:58:00.000-07:002011-09-16T15:51:35.368-07:00Governor 'Sunny' endorses unethical, ineffective governor of TexasTonight was supposed to be Mark Amodei's night, but that all changed this afternoon when Governor Brian Sandoval announced he was endorsing Texas Governor Rick Perry in the Republican presidential primary. <br /><br />I'm sure I'm not the only one who was a little surprised. As the highest ranking Republican in the state, it's kind of bitchy to step on what's supposed to be a fellow Republican's good news night. And many of Nevada's Republican elected officials (and activists) have already glommed onto Mitt Romney. <br /><br />And no, Sandoval endorsing Perry had nothing to do with Perry being the chair of the Republican Governor's Association because Perry was not chair while Sandoval was running for office in 2010. And even if he was, Mitt Romney was chair of the RGA when Sarah Palin was elected governor of Alaska in 2006. Quite a bit of RGA resources were devoted to the race (<a href="http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/frank-bailey-sarah-palin-knowingly-broke-election-law">some illegally</a>) and Mitt even traveled to Alaska to meet with Palin. How did she repay him? By <a href="http://wonkette.com/438917/leaked-book-sarah-palin-voted-for-mike-huckabee-in-2008-primary">voting for Mike Huckabee in the 2008 Republican primary</a> and taking several swipes at poor Mittens this go around. Being RGA chair has little to do with loyalty later on. <br /><br />But what's more important is who exactly has Governor Sandoval just endorsed. The press release Sandoval sent out was full of GOP talking points that would probably get a "pants on fire" from one of those fact-checking websites.<br /><br />So who is the real Rick Perry? <a href="http://www.citizensforethics.org/worstgovernors">Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington</a> rated Perry as one of 11 governors "who pride their self-interests over their states'." Describing Perry as "unethical" and "incompetent".<br /><br />What did Perry do that's so bad? Take a look:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9w4DwJ7KikvK_Z9q0-W-dNvr-TOg_SD4Q4o6o501_-FrWKtihUle0VzhfSQMDo-sxlQIAKFYq-HlUefUwdth2JXaGw8ViFpgMbs9xmlNO8xi6vUhlO9HqXwucL2oUC3UFqUVeycw2mQob/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-09-13+at+6.55.52+PM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9w4DwJ7KikvK_Z9q0-W-dNvr-TOg_SD4Q4o6o501_-FrWKtihUle0VzhfSQMDo-sxlQIAKFYq-HlUefUwdth2JXaGw8ViFpgMbs9xmlNO8xi6vUhlO9HqXwucL2oUC3UFqUVeycw2mQob/s400/Screen+shot+2011-09-13+at+6.55.52+PM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652026015088203314" /></a><br /><br />[<span style="font-style:italic;">And just a side note, on CREW's list is Haley Barbour and Mark Sanford, RGA co-chairs when Sandoval was ran in 2010, and Sandoval's predecessor Jim Gibbons.</span>]<br /><br />And another great website, meetrickperry.com gives a rundown of Perry's achievements that Sandoval thought worthy of endorsing:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtz3Ke7IE0TdM0-EVV9IDkt6YjcNA-lAs5KNmWxoTLbMwvc5pr5V65dzpGLxDwB11kMkJitdpSAErb5K4-qbpYc0_5XKmTkd8a5ib-5dDSUsWGDyUTmNTmpn5WY6zQwlmhqZcOm8dq_KR/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-09-13+at+6.36.48+PM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtz3Ke7IE0TdM0-EVV9IDkt6YjcNA-lAs5KNmWxoTLbMwvc5pr5V65dzpGLxDwB11kMkJitdpSAErb5K4-qbpYc0_5XKmTkd8a5ib-5dDSUsWGDyUTmNTmpn5WY6zQwlmhqZcOm8dq_KR/s400/Screen+shot+2011-09-13+at+6.36.48+PM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652021079058195282" /></a><br /><br />The insider game of what Sandoval's endorsement means--what it means for Perry, what it means for Nevada and what is means for Romney--is inconsequential. The questions that should be asked are what does Brian Sandoval want for Nevada? His endorsement shows he wants the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/30/texas-sonogram-law-judge-abortion_n_942628.html">federal government to make it rain</a> on Nevada. Brian Sandoval wants Nevadans to be employed but only at or slightly above <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/06/16/246892/perry-minumum-wage-jobs/">minimum wage jobs with no benefits</a>. <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/09/02/310875/rick-perrys-execution-record-includes-the-deaths-of-juveniles-and-the-mentally-disabled/">Brian Sandoval wants to kill Nevadans who break the law</a>, including juveniles and the mentally disabled. Brian Sandoval wants to <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/texas-people/rick-perry/facing-new-scrutiny-perry-walks-back-hpv-decision/">force your tween to be vaccinated</a> but <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/30/texas-sonogram-law-judge-abortion_n_942628.html">won't allow your family to make their own decisions</a> when it comes to family planning. <br /><br />Brian Sandoval didn't endorse Rick Perry because they're buddies. He endorsed him because he felt his policies and record as governor of Texas would be good for the United States. If that doesn't have you second-guessing the "Governor Sunny" persona, you're hopeless.<br /><br />--<br /><br />Yep, I spelled governor wrong<br /><br /><img src="http://www.deviantart.com/download/208653213/kurt___deal_with_it_by_doinnrrrfong-d3g85ul.gif">The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-70728541867476139142011-08-12T13:54:00.000-07:002011-08-15T10:13:30.562-07:00Joan Walsh needs a reminderJoan Walsh, former editor of Salon and MSNBC contributer, has been in a lot of trouble lately. From her embrace of the 'Professional Left', to trying to subdue and beat back Black Obama supporters and openly howling that someone (re: Hillary Clinton) would've been a better president than Obama.
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<br /><a href="http://twitter.com/#!/joanwalsh/status/101314726054735874">This week she whined</a> that it was the Obama campaign who "accused" the Clintons of attacks during the 2007/08 Democratic primary.
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<br />Miss Joan, no one has to "accuse" anyone of anything. Attacks on Obama's religion and teenage drug use are easily traced back to the Clinton campaign.
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<br />Lets take a trip down memory lane:
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<br />Hillary Clinton's campaign passes around this photo of then-Senator Barack Obama in traditional Somali clothing:
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<br />Hillary Clinton campaign co-chair accuses Obama of dealing drugs:
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<br />Hillary Clinton says Obama is not a Muslim "as far as I know."
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<br />Hillary Clinton campaign advisor accuses Barack Obama of being an affirmative action candidate:
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<br />Keith Olbermann had to put together a Special Comment to try and put a lid on the Clinton campaign dirty tricks:
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<br />Yes Joan, that's your girl, Hillary Clinton.
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<br />--
<br />ETA: The original blog said Joan worked for The Nation, it's actually Salon. Thanks to Joan for pointing it out. I guess i'm on the list of mulattoes who disappoint her. At least I'm in good company :)The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-39674093406387919192011-08-02T15:26:00.000-07:002011-08-02T15:35:03.666-07:00We Made the List!A few weeks ago <a href="http://inthesausagefactory.blogspot.com/2011/07/vote-for-best-blog-in-nevada.html">we asked you to vote for u</a>s in Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza's <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/the-fixs-best-state-based-political-blogs-2011-edition/2011/08/02/gIQApaWvpI_blog.html">"Best State-Based Political Blog</a>" contest.<br /><br />He was compiling a list of the best political blogs in each state. We asked you to vote for us, and you came through, we made the list!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDH4fjN4Z1-ut3O_2t9ak3BOtXMlo954bQv08iXt1ZjJMbnevgxuhBJ0IUmnXyqJJ8X4if4G5UHYN8gi577huzz_ON7W_1M5lCcWUywn_QZnTmH0tEZi0kiCCmPE9SUlh_8CIGgW0igsZl/s1600/Picture+12.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 174px; height: 318px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDH4fjN4Z1-ut3O_2t9ak3BOtXMlo954bQv08iXt1ZjJMbnevgxuhBJ0IUmnXyqJJ8X4if4G5UHYN8gi577huzz_ON7W_1M5lCcWUywn_QZnTmH0tEZi0kiCCmPE9SUlh_8CIGgW0igsZl/s400/Picture+12.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636390074306921970" /></a><br /><br />Thank you for your support and readership. Chris, Derek and I try our best to provide regular updates while juggling our "real" jobs and other obligations. We hope to have The Sausage Factory show back up and running real soon too.<br /><br />Stay tuned!The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-48350734541355912862011-07-25T16:57:00.000-07:002011-07-25T17:26:47.903-07:00Twitter spam accounts for dummiesIf you're going to create a fake account to mock Democratic candidates, don't use your own personal information in the profile.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfi5_8o6liO9-TF12axgj6n9ub2mJ04hhQPPxc3PYKi7IYB9SarrmfEPJp3L3FvTtzG0Nrv_sVw8yBd_fRYuDz94jNC6sxdKL2grFlqftBEuyhk2Dh1vMwZMrQExq7mBzASNZywEMtdC4A/s1600/Picture+11.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfi5_8o6liO9-TF12axgj6n9ub2mJ04hhQPPxc3PYKi7IYB9SarrmfEPJp3L3FvTtzG0Nrv_sVw8yBd_fRYuDz94jNC6sxdKL2grFlqftBEuyhk2Dh1vMwZMrQExq7mBzASNZywEMtdC4A/s400/Picture+11.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633443619425233010" /></a><br /><br />http://twitter.com/youth4shelley<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLrrh0Qcw_FA2Ix5KzYqZHMAc60yxMiedxzcw2phlYJV9XTwurqvYZZXTU_8nn-frerFhsReDyVzi4-ybIEZ1jnZfbvTtrfaetEHVnF30hdRhUtCMaJ2vnxjyLr6-QMMoEk5kOKj8foyl/s1600/Picture+12.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 126px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLrrh0Qcw_FA2Ix5KzYqZHMAc60yxMiedxzcw2phlYJV9XTwurqvYZZXTU_8nn-frerFhsReDyVzi4-ybIEZ1jnZfbvTtrfaetEHVnF30hdRhUtCMaJ2vnxjyLr6-QMMoEk5kOKj8foyl/s400/Picture+12.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633443764932978402" /></a><br /><br />http://twitter.com/hipstervativeThe Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-82061042456467611622011-07-20T16:50:00.001-07:002011-07-20T17:08:41.598-07:00Nine registered voters in Wade Wagner's householdThis was sent to me earlier today. It's a voter data base screen cap of the nine registered voters in Wade Wagner's household. Either Wade's got a big house or--as was suggested to me by the sender--he's committing voter fraud by allowing people to register to vote using his address.<br /><br />The only change I've made is editing out his home address:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPystXANMpYS_8EPPnM2bpp_DzM9I6GyBnzGfCJK3NI2e8kAgbLjculWSLS11_AAIQIIuPLm7lR0DjP8FcbSIrTsVktupy3mTKimVhubEaY-oO0QJzZ9ygB4EDhyEKQUrtYJUeOdaYYHT/s1600/Picture+7.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPystXANMpYS_8EPPnM2bpp_DzM9I6GyBnzGfCJK3NI2e8kAgbLjculWSLS11_AAIQIIuPLm7lR0DjP8FcbSIrTsVktupy3mTKimVhubEaY-oO0QJzZ9ygB4EDhyEKQUrtYJUeOdaYYHT/s400/Picture+7.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631589723829930434" /></a><br /><br />Maybe those private detectives who staked out the Adriana Martinez residence(s) can pay a visit to the Wagners.<br /><br />And going on right now in North Las Vegas, a meeting with state officials to discuss <a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jul/08/official-its-possible-state-takes-control-north-la/">how completely fucked the once fastest growing city in the nation is. </a><br /><br />Why didn't you hear about this meeting? Mayor Shari Buck apparently forgot to send out a release and there's nothing on the city's website when I checked early this morning. But she did remember to send out a press release announcing the swearing in of Wade Wagner, who also just happens to be her dentist and her husband also just happened to be a Wagner paid campaign staffer, who was never listed on campaign finance reports...which happens to be illegal.<br /><br />But don't fret, you have another chance to hear from Mayor Buck and the council. Tonight at 6:00pm (July 20th) head down the the city hall on Civic Center and Las Vegas Blvd N. On tonight's agenda under "news business"? Mayor Buck is going to shut down all the recreation centers in North Las Vegas.<br /><br />North Las Vegas is starting to resemble <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14303473">my hometown of Colorado Springs.</a><br /><br />It's too bad Mayor Buck didn't put as much effort into being an effective mayor as she did trying to elect her dentist.The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-75282770323927337642011-07-07T16:22:00.000-07:002011-07-07T16:27:48.276-07:00Vote for the best blog in NevadaDo you love The Sausage Factory? Vote for us in this Washington Post poll so we can have a chance to be featured as one of the top blogs in the state!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/the-best-state-based-political-blogs-2011-edition/2011/07/07/gIQAejSB2H_blog.html#weighIn">The best state-based political blogs, 2011 edition</a><br /><br />Click the link above, log in and comment that The Sausage Factory is one of the best state-based political blogs in Nevada.<br /><br />Also, check out out blogroll for some more recommendations ---><br /><br />This blog has made news, it's made some friends and some enemies (and gotten us in trouble) but we always appreciate your readership and we'd really appreciate your vote!The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-55554161458202738202011-06-30T11:49:00.000-07:002011-06-30T12:12:59.048-07:00Mark Halperin's obsession with genitals -- our political discourseIn 2008 Mark Halperin had to apologize for claiming disgraced politician John Edwards called Barack Obama a “pussy” (he didn’t, it was Mark’s own character association) and today he’s apologizing for calling the President a “dick” live on MSNBC’s three hour brain drain, Morning Joe.<br /><br /><iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1-7io3OBoDQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Halperin, political analyst for Time and Drudge-worshiping Morning Joe troglodyte, apologized on air only after Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski giggles died down and they all realized the hyperbolic comment would not be edited out. <br /><br />Halperin also apologized on Twitter and MSNBC later suspended him indefinitely:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYJIqsxtFQyDOXgsRJeCHZATkG5cIbd0m6PNOgBgr8rTw2pK21PV_heCByyW4MSAE4isVkG_GIdx1YQDr9LDSYARQKQIcdbXC0ZKpVQriuDJeIfUy2qkKSVNWuYIN5zvBxkV4O_fqhNY4I/s1600/Picture+4.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 187px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYJIqsxtFQyDOXgsRJeCHZATkG5cIbd0m6PNOgBgr8rTw2pK21PV_heCByyW4MSAE4isVkG_GIdx1YQDr9LDSYARQKQIcdbXC0ZKpVQriuDJeIfUy2qkKSVNWuYIN5zvBxkV4O_fqhNY4I/s400/Picture+4.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624088425089363154" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheklALFm3i_fSjHIMl7erM1CuQbJXcpKRkcaZEJzFj16GOoyb98GsyGEhEK9isTEvXNP5BpVnsSfNoPSBILZCpM3GUjx1psz6JK8MCoRumTtrxxfKibNuMJqvtz2GbEeyXgEtDJowWq_vs/s1600/Picture+5.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 107px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheklALFm3i_fSjHIMl7erM1CuQbJXcpKRkcaZEJzFj16GOoyb98GsyGEhEK9isTEvXNP5BpVnsSfNoPSBILZCpM3GUjx1psz6JK8MCoRumTtrxxfKibNuMJqvtz2GbEeyXgEtDJowWq_vs/s400/Picture+5.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624088422662805842" /></a><br /><br />Why did Halperin call the President a dick? Because the President used his bully pulpit to call out Congressional republicans for their debt ceiling demagoguing.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/msnbcs-suspension-of-mark-halperin-is-way-over-the-top/2011/03/03/AGjCnAsH_blog.html">Washington Post blogger Greg Sargent missies the point of the suspension</a>. Halperin wasn’t suspended for calling the president a dick, he was suspended for saying dick on live TV which may very well result in an FCC fine. But Sargent does make some good points on our political discourse, what’s acceptable and who makes these unwritten rules:<br /><br /><blockquote>I care less about Halperin’s use of the word “dick” than I do about the argument he and Joe Scarborough were making — that Obama somehow stepped over some kind of line in aggressively calling out the GOP for refusing to allow any revenues in a debt ceiling deal. This notion that Obama’s tone was somehow over the top — when politics is supposed to be a rough clash of visions — is rooted in a deeply ingrained set of unwritten rules about what does and doesn’t constitute acceptable political discourse that really deserve more scrutiny. <br /><br />This set of rules has it that it should be treated as a matter of polite, legitimate disagreement when Michele Bachmann says deeply insane things about us not needing to raise the debt limit, but it should be seen as an enormously newsworthy gaffe when she commits a relatively minor error about regional trivia. This set of rules has it that it should be treated as a matter of polite, legitimate disagreement when Republicans continually claim that Dems cut $500 billion in Medicare in a way that will directly impact seniors, even though fact checkers have <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2010/oct/11/republican-exaggerations-about-cutting-medicare/">pronounced it misleading</a>, but it should be seen as “demagoguery” when Dems argue that the Paul Ryan plan would end Medicare as we know it.<br /><br />Halperin has certainly done his part to encourage these unwritten rules, and so maybe there’s a certain poetic justice in the fact that he’s now been suspended indefinitely for violating them, but still, this is over the top. I care that Halperin <a href="http://www.eschatonblog.com/2011/06/fucktard.html">uncritically claims that Drudge rules the media world</a>, and acts accordingly. I care that Halperin <a href="http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/political-media/umm-clinton-may-not-have-said-racially-charged-getting-us-coffee-quote/">published a book that accused public officials of using explosive, racially charged quotes</a> that were paraphrased, without guaranteeing their accuracy, in order to gin up media controvery. I care that Halperin does dumb things like parroting GOP predictions of a big victory when all available evidence is pointing the other way, as he famously did in the runup to the 2006 elections. I don’t care as much that he used the word “dick.” Suspending Halperin indefinitely for this only reinforces the bogus idea that a crass and dumb slip into foul language is worse than all this other stuff we see on a regular basis. </blockquote>The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-81084455552762330242011-06-29T14:17:00.000-07:002011-06-29T15:11:16.936-07:00Has the pundit class fallen asleep?I was going to post something about the photograph the Las Vegas Sun chose to accompany the <a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jun/29/3-reasons/">article about former Assemblyman Morse Arberry'</a>s misuse of campaign contributions, but I was distracted by this in the comments section:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVp3DKN5rTrW7xXoISxORNAnZ0p7cXIoLThoeMC5keGI1AXzz6mxQOD5JFFJf4JBfg65EPrnBAAs-4C4N8C9tx29SdGjGhiEdboFxKkR4m-QQMU0uqZdO84gFSA7SBYOmT9NuoKCSV-nf2/s1600/Picture+3.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 64px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVp3DKN5rTrW7xXoISxORNAnZ0p7cXIoLThoeMC5keGI1AXzz6mxQOD5JFFJf4JBfg65EPrnBAAs-4C4N8C9tx29SdGjGhiEdboFxKkR4m-QQMU0uqZdO84gFSA7SBYOmT9NuoKCSV-nf2/s400/Picture+3.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623766135328254738" /></a><br />Have our journalists lost their way? Is a tip from a lobbyist more valuable than a gut feeling?<br /><br />The June 24th Nevada Week In Review roundtable agreed that Morse Arberry's campaign finance reports (and paperwork in general) have always been fishy. Las Vegas Review Journal columnist Jane Ann Morrison even said:<br /><blockquote> "When I started looking in the late 80s at his campaign finance reports they were always just hand-scrawled, you could hardly read them. But there was something-you know, when you go through as many as we do, some jump out at you as...suspicious and his always jumped out at me as suspicious."</blockquote><br />Always suspicious? Did she ever report her suspicions in the past 20+ years, or ask Arberry about them? Is it her role as a journalist to do so?<br /><br />What is certain, thanks to Secretary of State Ross Miller, it will be a lot easier for all of us to look through these reports and speak up when something looks fishy.The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-42242044221239284422011-06-27T15:00:00.000-07:002011-06-28T16:06:50.295-07:00Something shady is brewing in North Las VegasWhen North Las Vegas Mayor Shari Buck's dentist, Wade Wagner, won the Ward 4 City Council race by one vote over the Democrat incumbent, Richard Cherchio, North Las Vegas prepared itself for a recount.<br /><br />During the Clark County election department's audit, it was discovered that someone voted in the wrong ward. The election might be invalid. Shit got real.<br /><br />A city council meeting was called. The decision was made by the council to re-do the election in the precinct where the "mis-vote" was cast. Mayor Buck abstained from voting because not only is Wagner her dentist, her husband worked for his campaign. Cherchio also abstained from voting.<br /><br />As expected, the Wagner campaign is suing over the decision. And for some reason, former North Las Vegas mayor (and failed gubernatorial candidate) Mike Montandan filed a restraining order. But to be quite honest, as a resident of unincorporated Clark County, I didn't care. I don't live in North Las Vegas and I never plan to. <br /><br />I have nothing against Wagner because I have no idea who he is except that he's a republican. I had no opinion of Cherchio except he had a strike against him for hiring Bradley Mayer, a campaign manager to conservative candidates, including Carolyn Goodman. Mayer was running Carolyn's campaign for mayor of Las Vegas, and I knew not much attention would be given to Cherchio. Cherchio knew from the beginning his reelection was not going to be easy. He was going against the current mayor's personal friend and Cherchio needed a campaign manager who woke up in the morning and went to bed at night thinking about him.<br /><br />After a conversation with a friend in North Las Vegas who is emotionally invested in this election and is "in the know" when it comes to North Las Vegas politics (disclaimer: said friend works for neither campaign or any political campaign or consulting firm), I suddenly became very interested.<br /><br />You think the city of Las Vegas has problems? Let me tell you about what's going on in North Las Vegas:<br /><br /><blockquote>Wade Wagner is Shari Buck's Dentist, and hand-picked candidate for her former City Council seat</blockquote><br /><blockquote>The two PACs that sent direct mail pieces attacking Cherchio have never filed Campaign and Expense reports. They have been fined by the Secretary of State and the matter has now been referred to the Attorney General's office. [Delen Goldberg of the Las Vegas Sun with details <a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/may/28/unions-speaking-loud-nlv-race/">LINK</a>]</blockquote><br /><blockquote>The Precinct with the illegal ballot happens to be that of both Mayor Buck's parents and former NLV Mayor Mike Montandon</blockquote><br /><blockquote>An <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fethics.nv.gov%2FCOE_website_files%2Fcoe_ARCHIVES_main%2FRFO_archives%2F2010%2F10-99C%2F2011.03.09%2520Stipulated%2520Agreement%2520jj.pdf&rct=j&q=%22Jay%20L%20King%22%20cherchio&ei=ZwcJTsn-OdCbtwfG85jdDQ&usg=AFQjCNHFoNczMZ27EpTCw_Y9N1vyriqqDA&sig2=EdYu6WoAhVY-PUXohBWGJQ&cad=rja">ethics complaint was filed against Cherchio in December by a Jay L. King</a>. King lives on the same street as Mayor Buck, and shortly thereafter was appointed to two City Advisory Boards – the Citizens Advisory Board and the Utility Advisory Board. <br /></blockquote><br /><blockquote>On June 15th, when the City Council was slated to canvass the vote, the Mayor chose to abstain from the vote because she donated to the Wagner campaign and her <a href="http://www.lvrj.com/news/north-las-vegas-to-partially-redo-ward-4-city-council-election-123972079.html">husband worked on the campaign "and was paid</a>". On both of Wagner's C&E reports, Keith Buck, the Mayor's husband, is not listed as a Campaign Expense.</blockquote><br /><blockquote>On June 23rd, former Mayor Montandon and Jay King waited until after the filing deadline for Temporary Restraining Orders. As mentioned, Montandon lives in the contested precinct. Initially, <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Mike+montandan%22+disenfranchised&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=7WL&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=X&ei=uggJTp2vGcm5tgfYxZHkDQ&ved=0CBUQBSgA&q=%22Mike+montandon%22+disenfranchised&spell=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=141a96ac445531c3&biw=1397&bih=625">Montandon was claiming that he would have been "disenfranchised" by the new election</a> but in fact, he would be super-enfranchised. </blockquote><br /><blockquote>Wade Wagner has 9 registered voters in his residence. Six are clearly family, but three have different last names. Does the El Dorado HOA allow that? Might be a zoning violation.</blockquote><br /><br />It should be no surprise to anyone that there is now talks of recalling Mayor Buck. How realistic are those threats? We'll see.<br /><br />--<br /><br />LauraThe Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-27737233509252897432011-06-01T15:16:00.000-07:002011-06-01T16:14:56.157-07:00As #NVleg draws to a close, we finally have a budgetGovernor Brian Sandoval, surrounded by beaming legislators, announced that a balanced budget exists, the session would end on time. Legislators congratulated each other for being able to work together for a common sense budget, despite not even a week ago it seemed bitter partisan divides would keep this day from happening, and Governor Sandoval threatened to shut the state government down rather than call a special session.<br /><br />The #Mar21 and #Sandoville activists asked for it: a balanced approached to our state's budget and compromises on taxes and much needed reforms. Thanks to the Nevada Supreme Court, we got it. Legislators did their jobs, worked together and compromised. And I'm sure, everyone will do their best to take credit in some way. <br /><br />Our friends on the right will try their best to explain that by Governor Sandoval (R-Jones Vargas) raising taxes he is in no way breaking his pledge not to raise taxes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i51.tinypic.com/16ie9hh.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 185px;" src="http://i51.tinypic.com/16ie9hh.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">President Barack Obama takes a sip from a glass of cool, refreshing conservative tears.</span><br /><br />"Non-partisan" Nevada Propaganda Rhetoric Institute will fudge numbers and whine about Florida.<br /><br />Conservative purity police will have their say.<br /><br />And some lefties will still be upset with some of the cuts and the damage done to unions.<br /><br />But like the song says, you can't always get what you want.<br /><br />In the end, it's Nevada who comes out the winner. Our budget is balanced, some of the cruelest reforms softened, much needed education reforms are agreed on and the sunset taxes passed in 2009, that Nevada's fragile economy has recovered under, have been extended to 2013.<br /><br /><a href="http://media.lasvegassun.com/media/pdfs/blogs/documents/2011/06/01/budgetdeal.pdf">Here's the numbers via the Las Vegas Sun</a> (pdf)<br /><br />I'll update this entry as more news about the budget comes out.<br /><br />--<br /><br />LauraThe Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-88653601386754781962011-05-22T15:28:00.000-07:002011-12-29T13:58:37.504-08:00What actually happened at Sandoville<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF3YDxDbbgGpRg2l6EzB55PxNgsDmPi8BewcKy-NZCAHM2k65501Zf6dzwTiLpfr1XE3YDnIPiGOkt4yc4xomZQfVSeUAc875dEZ8LivJ94KSDIIZhd6kjqTEoBVTG-7rsSVZhp2IEMsvD/s1600/sandovilletenties.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF3YDxDbbgGpRg2l6EzB55PxNgsDmPi8BewcKy-NZCAHM2k65501Zf6dzwTiLpfr1XE3YDnIPiGOkt4yc4xomZQfVSeUAc875dEZ8LivJ94KSDIIZhd6kjqTEoBVTG-7rsSVZhp2IEMsvD/s400/sandovilletenties.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5609672746724328258" /></a><br /><br />If a direct action you’ve planned doesn’t go accordingly, you should never admit it. At least not to the press. They will gleefully print your failures and ignore the accomplishments. And, you most likely take away the opportunity for that action to be accomplished in the future.<br /><br />But as I’m going through the clips of the coverage from our three day camp out on the grounds of the Nevada legislature, I've seen a few mischaracterizations and assumptions (some are just plain "untruths") about what we were planning to do. <br /><br />I want to take the time to clear a few things up.<br /><br />A few weeks after the now infamous March 21st student rally in Carson City one of the organizers told me that next time we go to Carson, we’re sleeping outside on the lawn. <br /><br />But Sandoville wasn’t just a bunch of students. And we didn't go to Carson City demanding Governor Brian Sandoval raise taxes to save education, as many reported. We wanted our legislators to break the gridlock, work together, compromise and come up with a balanced solution to Nevada’s economic crisis.<br /><br />We know that cuts have to be made. We know that there are needed reforms. We are willing to share the sacrifice. But it’s the wrong approach to only look for cuts while ignoring opportunities to raise revenue. And some cuts are simply too drastic and possibly unnecessary. What does it say about Nevada’s values if we’re willing to take away breakfast from poor children yet maintain extravagant subsidies for foreign mining companies who makes billions every year?<br /><br />And its also very suspect that the groups bearing the brunt of the cuts (public employees, teachers and Clark County) happen to be the same groups who voted overwhelmingly against Brian Sandoval in the 2010 election.<br /><br />But I digress.<br /><br />Here is what Sandoville planned to do:<br /><br />Originally we planned to stay a full week, but compromised with various agencies involved with the legislature to set up camp Monday and take it down Wednesday. <br /><br />We identified legislators--Republicans and Democrats---to target with lobbying teams or for individuals to target their own legislators who needed some prodding.<br /><br />Everyone was asked to give testimony during committee hearings that had to do with revenue and education. Some campers had prepared remarks, others read from statements they typed up on their smart phones and some just spoke from the heart. After committee hearings we stopped legislators in the hall, asking them to come to Sandoville or at least make a one on one appointment.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4oWyHkxxAHKb1MCcY0xHBxNTxYpvBkonA3oriLUttWdG6JEKSQy2ovohzRbfjnuDEj5BuZ9UcBggFuEKIDOxnD5eFEYZ0RWni6309uM2VsL_ALlp0hmUN4fPaeFou-t-HGk1A4cecdYmS/s1600/sandovillehearing.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4oWyHkxxAHKb1MCcY0xHBxNTxYpvBkonA3oriLUttWdG6JEKSQy2ovohzRbfjnuDEj5BuZ9UcBggFuEKIDOxnD5eFEYZ0RWni6309uM2VsL_ALlp0hmUN4fPaeFou-t-HGk1A4cecdYmS/s400/sandovillehearing.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5609673235017369538" /></a><br /><br />As for direct actions, we played with several options. <br /><br />Having been involved in an action that successfully shut down the Las Vegas Strip and resulted in about a dozen arrests last summer, I made the suggestion of shutting down Carson Street. <br /><br />I saw a report that we were going to block the highway. That’s not only wrong, but would be recklessly dangerous on our part. <br /><br />The symbolism of shutting down a street was: if legislators are willing to bicker and fight and block progress, we were going to block them from getting to work. We decided not to do that because of the collateral damage (Carson City residents).<br /><br />We also planned a sit-in at the Governor’s capitol office. It was scheduled for 3pm on Tuesday, but the Governor decided to take a quick trip to Vegas. So we set our sights on Senate Minority Leader Mike McGinness instead.<br /><br />We asked McGinness’ secretary when he’d be in the office (she didn’t know) and then asked for an appointment, which she refused because (she claimed) he has already met with students once this session. I’m sure he meets with lobbyists multiple times a day, I guess students only get one shot. 40 people crammed themselves into the Minority Leader’s office and sat silently on the floor. His secretary, shaking with anger, was taping out emails and calling security. Capitol guards swooped to the office and you could tell by the looks on their faces, they had no clue what to do. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6UqP2CB_pTSdNW_w8XAnXKBoqCGmPQ4Oa7vw5VzLvdMhUDjWbQVUuqgcfc62ArHgowjQV5TCarZgNQMbft16eXDrKKTH_yzziyLK5Gt7YcX-0I8U4XoTIXOXOdE0Y0a704oqkSH3yzaN/s1600/mcginnesssit.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6UqP2CB_pTSdNW_w8XAnXKBoqCGmPQ4Oa7vw5VzLvdMhUDjWbQVUuqgcfc62ArHgowjQV5TCarZgNQMbft16eXDrKKTH_yzziyLK5Gt7YcX-0I8U4XoTIXOXOdE0Y0a704oqkSH3yzaN/s400/mcginnesssit.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5609673843548951010" /></a><br /><br />McGinness’ secretary announced that he was in committee and wouldn’t be back in the office for at least an hour. Some people seated on the floor pulled out their laptops and logged onto NELIS to see if he was in committee, a few others went to the committee room. All came to the same conclusion, McGinness was not there. So everyone continued to sit in silence. <br /><br />A guard pleaded with us to leave. Some people moved into the hallway to allow more room for McGinness’ staff to go in and out of their offices. Eventually, McGinness appeared in committee and the sit-in moved to the committee room.<br /><br />I saw a report that one of our direct actions was cancelled because we didn’t want to get arrested. That is also wrong. People who were willing to be arrested signed up to do so. Several news crews filmed our “Sandoville Schedule” white board and some reporters even tweeted pictures of it. On the schedule was a “peace training” I was going to help lead to explain what would happen when folks got arrested, how to prepare and what to do. We had lawyers on stand-by. We were ready to be arrested in McGinness’ office.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhpoQHj4uyrUVLmL8nRZ951c5ZBoovegL_f2PPoQZcmxNan463BF2cj13cptu7SY6NIp818cPf13_IUeFOa_myJ7Uiw0sOzX80ERwHH0J2mVJ_1WYcM7pfLkwFOW5a0_8EQ-EM4luRFIW/s1600/mcginnmeet.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhpoQHj4uyrUVLmL8nRZ951c5ZBoovegL_f2PPoQZcmxNan463BF2cj13cptu7SY6NIp818cPf13_IUeFOa_myJ7Uiw0sOzX80ERwHH0J2mVJ_1WYcM7pfLkwFOW5a0_8EQ-EM4luRFIW/s400/mcginnmeet.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5609674191605600818" /></a><br /><br />The pressure we put on McGinness resulted in a meeting with him and Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford post-committee. We were able to talk about a balanced approach to the budget, asked the two men to work together, communicate and compromise.<br /><br />After the committee room we headed to other Senator’s offices. Much to his surprise and displeasure, we ran into Senator Gustavson in the hallway. He curtly answered our questions but after about five minutes he’d had enough and briskly walked away. <br /><br />We walked down the long hallway of senate offices, stopping at each to make an appointment. We eventually sat outside of Senator Barbara Cegavske’s office, waiting for everyone to come back committee, lunch, the bathroom or whatever excuse their secretaries gave us.<br /><br />What happened next was another first for the Legislature. Senator Michael Roberson brought us Girl Scout cookies then sat on the floor for a debate. He was soon joined by Senator Cegavske and Senator Ben Keickhefer. Senator Elizabeth Halselth and Senator Greg Brower stood and watched but did not participate. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgusEhwJuXY2VXFJKVChEGKpGdB-9tiNq9R4TDR_1OIexQ4odngm0lWRvsxhTqCTGz0BONmn86DfO78YvKiFuwO7U9tkeF6mLGUzfOy2YG-QJHUuLtn0TbCzoN_yhdBwZWjI4mQk82lrQp2/s1600/robersonflores.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgusEhwJuXY2VXFJKVChEGKpGdB-9tiNq9R4TDR_1OIexQ4odngm0lWRvsxhTqCTGz0BONmn86DfO78YvKiFuwO7U9tkeF6mLGUzfOy2YG-QJHUuLtn0TbCzoN_yhdBwZWjI4mQk82lrQp2/s400/robersonflores.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5609674744809995778" /></a><br /><br />There was a lot of back and forth. Mostly mutual understandings with a few heated moments (and some yelling) sprinkled throughout. Senator Roberson proved he was a text book conservative (blaming public workers for the state’s problems) with endless confidence. He complained that he’s shared more words with us than Senator Horsford. But much like the governor, he’s made himself irrelevant by refusing to compromise. <br /><br />Then there was the donut summit. <br /><br />It was mischaracterized as the governor winning over “students” with treats. No one was won over by anything the governor said or did. Sure, some people got in a picture with the Governor, but it was because his staff asked us to. Most of us refused. The Governor did not come to Sandoville to sell his budget, he came there to maintain his brand. Even his staff looks “sunny” and happy. A group of non-threatening people with warm smiles who, like the Governor, look like they were cast for the roles they play.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikZlh7pTaJy9ir2kKs9VxuSTC-Yx_ax3LdBRoM00QLskzhFfDbskDMzaL-mFaP9Lzrbed4es4Rfy7dRCpcoC-muq-2q7nIufafgqatjJ28vi7oWuzEPdukYLnaNkeBCyRLcTL6K4zg2K6d/s1600/sandovalpic.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikZlh7pTaJy9ir2kKs9VxuSTC-Yx_ax3LdBRoM00QLskzhFfDbskDMzaL-mFaP9Lzrbed4es4Rfy7dRCpcoC-muq-2q7nIufafgqatjJ28vi7oWuzEPdukYLnaNkeBCyRLcTL6K4zg2K6d/s400/sandovalpic.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5609675025305395090" /></a><br /><br />Governor Sandoval was unable to provide any perspective or answer questions with anything other than useless empty GOP “we hate taxes” rhetoric. And if the whole thing wasn’t ridiculous enough, he was wearing cowboy boots with his suit.<br /><br />It’s safe to say that donuts are the only thing of substance the Governor will deliver to the people of Nevada this legislative session.<br /><br />Sandoville is no longer on the lawn of the legislature, but it is not gone. On the bus ride down we were planning out next trip up north. At the end of each day in Sandoville we had checkin-in and planning meetings and a major wrap-up meeting was held Friday once everyone was back home.<br /><br />We have new friends, a wider network, new targets and better perspective. With less than three weeks to go before the end of the session, and with the Governor threatening to shut down the state government, we have a lot of work to do.<br /><br />--<br /><br />LauraThe Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-72051640966882613262011-05-15T12:40:00.000-07:002011-05-15T14:08:35.300-07:00Why you should ignore Carolyn Goodman's pollA bit of controversy erupted last week in the mayor's race (I know, shit breaks out every other day) over some dueling polls. Chris <a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/may/11/poll-shows-tight-mayoral-race-carolyn-goodman-stum/">Giunchigliani's campaign released a poll</a> conducted by Beneson Strategy Group showing the race statistically tied. Carolyn Goodman's campaign was forced to release their own Magellan Strategies conducted poll--after spending the weekend telling reporters they can't release the numbers because they're so good no one would vote--that showed Carolyn up 53-31.<br /><br />Freelancer Steve Friess was skeptical of Chris G's poll, <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/thestrippodcast">airing his frustration on Twitter</a> that Goodman's numbers weren't being reported as breathlessly as Giunchigliani's. But anyone familiar with Magellen Strategies knows they have a poor reputation. And that could explain why no one is giving Carolyn's polling numbers any credibility.<br /><br />Take for example:<br /><blockquote>“Tom Tancredo will become Colorado's next governor,” predicted David Flaherty, president and CEO of Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies, a Louisville, CO, pollster that works for Republicans around the country. </blockquote><br />That statement was made Friday before the 2010 gubernatorial election in Colorado. Democrat John Hickenlooper went on to beat Tancredo 51-36 four days later. Magellan also predicted Meg Whitman would win the governor's race in California. She lost to Democrat Jerry Brown.<br /><br />Another "oopsie" in 2010 by Magellan, they had to <a href="http://www.pageonekentucky.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/magellanrelease.pdf">issue an apology</a> for their flawed polling in the Kentucky senate race. Their polls showed Republican candidate Rand Paul beating his closest competitor by 20-30 points. What they forgot to mention: the poll they conducted did not mention any candidate but Rand Paul. Rand Paul went on to win the election 55-44.<br /><br />In 2010 Magellan released a flurry of poorly conducted polls, all benefiting Republican candidates. Their website at the time had the tag line: Magellan Strategies Helping Republicans Win Elections. Magellan is on the payroll of the Republican National Committee and Koch-funded astroturf conservative organization, Americans for Prosperity. <br /><br />I've been told that Magellan's bad results are due to bad methodology. One person was polled by Magellan at an office number. They pollster did not ask for a specific person nor did they ask any screening questions ("Are you registered to vote in Las Vegas?") either. Magellan is simply a disaster.<br /><br />I should start my own polling firm. Get paid tens of thousands of dollars to produce crap? Light Skinned Polling is open for business.<br /><br />But hey, if you want to trust Magellan, be my guest. <br /><br />Everyone else who lives in a place called reality, keep knocking those doors and making those calls. It's making a difference.<br /><br />--<br />LauraThe Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-49614747219325807272011-05-07T07:38:00.001-07:002011-05-07T08:18:16.292-07:00Governor Brian Sandoval welcomes Urban Outfitters and their legacy of racism and anti-semitismOn May 4th Governor Brian Sandoval "proudly tweeted" ("proud to" and "honored to" is Brian Sandoval's "this one time, at band camp" twitter tick) that Urban Outfitter's would be setting up an "internet fulfillment center" in Reno.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSVW2syZKdbTI-_2YKUkuPYwQOiQJ1FIyrGnJ-KLAbjQiBD2XtQHxax4E-itfcZBsq6q52s8UnIt8fNPkwinFgbqbH5dOUmqB2X-acLMDvp_LEsPEjvchMz6Jf5oubaPXsAGOl_Lwp8ufb/s1600/Picture+3.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 301px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSVW2syZKdbTI-_2YKUkuPYwQOiQJ1FIyrGnJ-KLAbjQiBD2XtQHxax4E-itfcZBsq6q52s8UnIt8fNPkwinFgbqbH5dOUmqB2X-acLMDvp_LEsPEjvchMz6Jf5oubaPXsAGOl_Lwp8ufb/s400/Picture+3.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603992704427144786" /></a><br /><br />The gov claimed the 650 news jobs would come to Reno. But the reality is (Gov seems to have a problem with that) this "internet fulfillment center", aka warehouse, will provide maybe 150 full-time jobs and 650 temporary construction jobs.<br /><br />150 jobs <span style="font-style:italic;">is</span> better than no jobs. But why is Sandoval happy about gaining 150 when he plans on firing 7,000 teachers?<br /><br />Also, why is Sandoval proud of a warehouse being built in his hometown by a company known for its racism and anti-semitism?<br /><br />2003: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghettopoly">Ghettopoly</a>: Get your neighborhood addicted to crack, you earn $50. A parody of Monopoly labeled "racist" by the NAACP and African American clergy organizations.<br /><br />2003: 'Everyone Love a Jewish Girl' t-shirt. Jewish girls are pretty awesome, but a t-shirt with that phrase, coupled with dollar signs caused the Anti-Defamation League to express "outrage and disgust" at this and other incidents of Urban Outfitters insensitivity. The shirts were discontinued.<br /><br />Read a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Outfitters#Product_controversies">full list of products that were pulled from Urban Outfitters shelves</a>. The company our governor is so proud of.<br /><br />Is this what Nevada values?The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-3711526550465436442011-05-04T17:24:00.000-07:002011-05-04T17:38:08.705-07:00Governor CreeperIt appears Governor Brian Sandoval has been placed under the same <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-5jksDb-lw&feature=related">trance as Michelle Bachmann</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://inthesausagefactory.blogspot.com/2011/01/nevadas-pathetic-state.html">Pitiful performances like this</a> are why I roll my eyes and laugh when people call Governor Sandoval a "strong leader". He obviously has many people orbiting around him (painfully apparent that Michelle Rhee and/or her staff had a hand in crafting this speech) helping <a href="http://inthesausagefactory.blogspot.com/2011/04/brian-sandovals-trained-dogs.html">herd his doggies in line</a> and outside groups are more than willing to kick the asses of Nevada's weak GOP legislators.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiefbrHMKcpp7ETwJPQAJT0FWmPoZQSlPwlT0N_tRGXyTe8vKqJ66HrenLfFqaSdEJ7pkrT0U8Ic8brQAejMWXFzp0u3ZIulmQKPnFEQZeLv2ThgEXRVf9f4iik6NohytqlD-XWmGPy6vwj/s1600/creep.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiefbrHMKcpp7ETwJPQAJT0FWmPoZQSlPwlT0N_tRGXyTe8vKqJ66HrenLfFqaSdEJ7pkrT0U8Ic8brQAejMWXFzp0u3ZIulmQKPnFEQZeLv2ThgEXRVf9f4iik6NohytqlD-XWmGPy6vwj/s400/creep.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603022359793085474" /></a><br /><br />Watch for yourself, Governor Sandoval's speech where he tries to convince us he cares about education, but instead, through forced smiles and wandering eyes, shows us that he just might be <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLPZmPaHme0">Nevada's #1 Creeper</a><br /><br /><iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fs3OiKa6mUo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Side note: It's painfully obvious he's reading from a teleprompter, so why is he shuffling papers? More pomp and showmanship from our creeper gov.The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-41395311760081891992011-04-26T14:41:00.000-07:002011-05-06T15:49:06.477-07:00The College Republicans are full of shitIt goes without saying. I know.<br /><br />A former Joe Heck staffer, who is in his mid-thirties, decided to enroll at UNLV after the campaign ended. As a sophomore he is now the new president of UNLV's college Republicans. Since his election, this student organization has launched a full-scale attack on Dina Titus. Complete with bird-dogging, a media campaign and website. How they find time to go to class between disrupting Dina's classes, harassing her in her office and tabling in UNLV's student center is a mystery.<br /><br />What's also a mystery: they attack Dina for her salary and the fact that she teachers one class, yet they fail to mention that their own academic adviser is <a href="http://www2.8newsnow.com/salaries/search.php?type=all&limit=100&agency=unlv">THE HIGHEST PAID FACULTY MEMBER at UNLV's College of Business</a>, excluding the chair.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV442aHbtY7UImq8xCZYaa9NdC9CEfGNEorpai1PeWIz23FM0Gt1gOrvqjjM71LdSVg9aguWOLOMHT08oUx0Z0h9xs2XtkNTrIhcVUu7uhEsRd0-BiqgjzEd15iSRrYRDLaseRKZKMplP4/s1600/Picture+64.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 28px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV442aHbtY7UImq8xCZYaa9NdC9CEfGNEorpai1PeWIz23FM0Gt1gOrvqjjM71LdSVg9aguWOLOMHT08oUx0Z0h9xs2XtkNTrIhcVUu7uhEsRd0-BiqgjzEd15iSRrYRDLaseRKZKMplP4/s400/Picture+64.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600017949125776770" /></a><br /><br />Associate Professor Ken Peffers raked in $173,376.54 (that's $67K more than Dina!) in 2009-2010 school year. And guess what? HE IS ON PAID LEAVE. You're mad Dina teaches only one class full of students? HE TEACHERS NO ONE and has no other assignments.<br /><br />Why would College Republicans leave that out? Rumor has it they have no one else to advise them. I am told that no other professor will touch the group. And if they have no faculty adviser, they have no organization.<br /><br />The UNLV college Republicans are nothing more than a Joe Heck re-election shadow campaign using up UNLV's resources and good name.<br /><br />--<br /><br />LauraThe Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-34519688710861049742011-04-26T10:15:00.000-07:002011-12-29T18:09:22.007-08:00Brian Sandoval's trained dogsMy mom used to cover the cops beat for our local paper. I was in elementary school at the time and she would drag me to many different ceremonial police activities. One of the most festive events was the graduating class of the police K9 unit.<br /><br />German shepherds who were trained to perform were paraded in front of the adoring public and given their diplomas. The crowd would “ooh” and “aww” and clap as the dogs were taken through a few training exercises to show off to the crowd.<br /><br />I thought the whole thing was sad.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizuQ2x5hy6gmp7QCt44mDPG2NzcEAVYSEUZc9Ftyd3CHrH1vgt0kQGm1AuuEH-PjDlZzrXB16vg7GDmUmFi2nw3BzTHjf0gDBkkiK2KjNovgWj2TIPM6bvt6NYwF8GAQ8VYehG1TLhnnTZ/s1600/ed.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizuQ2x5hy6gmp7QCt44mDPG2NzcEAVYSEUZc9Ftyd3CHrH1vgt0kQGm1AuuEH-PjDlZzrXB16vg7GDmUmFi2nw3BzTHjf0gDBkkiK2KjNovgWj2TIPM6bvt6NYwF8GAQ8VYehG1TLhnnTZ/s400/ed.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599943986865874418" /></a><br /><br />These dogs were so convinced that they had no role in life but to do whatever their trainers said, they’d whine and squirm while anxiously waiting for the next command. Some would even pee on the floor in anticipation for the next order.<br /><br /><br />Legislative Republicans remind of those dogs.<br /><br />Some are eager to please, like Senator Michael Roberson who yelps “GOV REC!” whenever asked about the budget. Or Mark Sherwood, who when given the challenge of thinking for himself and providing his opinion for all who are upset with cuts to education, simply replies<a href="http://www.lvrj.com/news/democrats-gop-far-apart-on-state-spending-bill-120589459.html"> “WE DON’T CARE</a>! *ROO-ROO-ROOH*” <br /><br />If anyone gets out of line, if someone wants to <a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/aug/23/nv-assembly-gop-leader-consider-tax-on-food/">tax groceries</a> to raise revenue or admits the truth that <a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/feb/02/senior-senator-bucks-governor-no-taxes-pledge/">we must raise our almost non-existent taxes</a> to meet our budgetary needs and keep the state running, if Governor Sandoval’s persistent phone banking of the Republican caucus (the other thing he does when he’s not reading to children), there’s always someone who will yank that choke chain. Sending the wounded legislator, whimpering and broken, back to their caucus. Eagerly awaiting their next chance to prove how well they've been trained.<br /><br />--<br /><br />LauraThe Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-71750942047739979802011-04-21T15:59:00.001-07:002011-04-26T15:26:16.505-07:00You won't have John Ensign to kick around anymoreI saw a tweet from <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/news/John-Ensign-Resign-205087-1.html?pos=hftxt">Roll Call's Shira Toeplitzi</a>, and Senator Ensign made it official <a href="http://ensign.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Media.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=7a45f991-d28d-3d49-a832-153b2305910b">on his website</a>:<br /><blockquote>Press Releases <br />Media<br />April 21, 2011<br />ENSIGN TO RESIGN FROM OFFICE<br /><br />Washington, D.C. - Senator John Ensign today announced his resignation as the 24th United States Senator from the state of Nevada. In a letter to Vice President Joe Biden tomorrow, Senator Ensign will state that his resignation from office is effective as of May 3, 2011.<br /> <br />"It is with tremendous sadness that I officially hand over the Senate seat that I have held for eleven years," said Ensign. "The turbulence of these last few years is greatly surpassed by the incredible privilege that I feel to have been entrusted to serve the people of Nevada. I can honestly say that being a United States Senator has been the honor of my life.</blockquote><br /><br />So now Governor Brian Sandoval has to appoint someone (re: Dean Heller) to that open Senate seat and a special election for the the now open congressional district 2 seat must be called in 180 days.<br /><br />Why did this all happen, when only a month ago Senator Ensign said he'd finish his term? No one knows for sure. Ensign says it was to protect his family, but if he really cared for his family, he would've never cheated on his wife then given money and jobs to his mistress and her family.<br /><br />Maybe Ensign knew the ethics investigation would not go well. If he's no longer a senator, there is no investigation.<br /><br />Maybe Ensign was pressured by Governor Sandoval (side note: When Harry Reid involves himself in state politics he's called a meddler; when Brian Sandoval does it, he's a strong leader. I hate Nevada politics sometimes.) to get out because Dean Heller knows he can not defeat Congresswoman Shelley Berkley on his own merits. Being an incumbent adds some panache to your campaign, I'm told. Don't know if I believe that.<br /><br />Now, who will run for #NV02? Sheila Leslie is the best option in my very humble opinion. I hear Debbie Smith is interested. And Jill Derby (two-time #NV02 loser) has been popping up at party events lately. She might want it too.<br /><br />So much drama.<br /><br />My dear friend Rhett sums it all up. I hope the Dems are smart enough to use this:<br /><blockquote>John Ensign resigning is a political stunt for Republicans to try to retain his Senate seat! First you cheat on your wife, now you cheat on Nevadans!</blockquote><br /><br />--<br /><br />LauraThe Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-25328854170484332392011-04-14T17:01:00.001-07:002011-04-14T17:07:24.204-07:00Results of our reader pollSausage Factory readers voted for their favorite Nevada journo who covers the legislature (#nvleg) full time:<br /><br />Here are the results:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilRFrzI62BwGxls_GyG3WHuik2kmlJ-IF5VhDw_3Vl7XtPU-WHFQBgzqVHlsZzW7aL4g269gBUZD5XEWIKQT1x2bOjeWtvdMho4KZos9PYEAvQPxHLvyXW-0AYl47aT3z5jTlKch_J8hoo/s1600/Picture+29.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 333px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilRFrzI62BwGxls_GyG3WHuik2kmlJ-IF5VhDw_3Vl7XtPU-WHFQBgzqVHlsZzW7aL4g269gBUZD5XEWIKQT1x2bOjeWtvdMho4KZos9PYEAvQPxHLvyXW-0AYl47aT3z5jTlKch_J8hoo/s400/Picture+29.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595594087584416626" /></a><br /><br />Congrats to Andrew Doughman for taking first place!<br /><br /><br />Side note: I'm gonna guess that our readers either 1. Don't care about polls 2. Don't care about journos covering #nvleg or 3. Don't live in Nevada<br /><br />A few hundred people visited the blog in the past 12 hours, but as you can see, only 36 people voted in our poll. <br /><br />I was going to do a post with several polling questions (best #nvleg tweeter, best #nvleg analysis, etc...) but it looks like TSF readers aren't really into polls.<br /><br />What are your thoughts?The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-25849143284270970662011-04-14T13:18:00.001-07:002011-04-14T13:30:20.786-07:00Diversity failThe Assembly republicans <a href="http://nvgopassembly.blogspot.com/">have a blog</a>, and for some reason they decided to post a picture, featured right at the top, of all their GOP assembly members.<br /><br />Reminding everyone that the NV GOP is a Grand ol Party of old white men.<br /><br />And Melissa Woodbury<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmbnNJWBJ23pysNqnE1ZGuw4RVtXC1G1jLeq5U-AX9cSjhEGNI1XX75bSuZubHd8lYMnp8YhUfq6RUlBnHyN2ds2uLp2Z69YM-vEpUqOQhBW7XGYClUDYVhOn3k5L1N5HzK110MczkBOys/s1600/Picture+11.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 135px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmbnNJWBJ23pysNqnE1ZGuw4RVtXC1G1jLeq5U-AX9cSjhEGNI1XX75bSuZubHd8lYMnp8YhUfq6RUlBnHyN2ds2uLp2Z69YM-vEpUqOQhBW7XGYClUDYVhOn3k5L1N5HzK110MczkBOys/s320/Picture+11.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595537363208847778" /></a><br /><br />Does Nevada's GOP even try to recruit candidates of color? Or is Brian "my kids don't look hispanic" Sandoval enough for them?<br /><br />I wonder how many LCB staff or Republican attaches up in Carson are people of color.The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-88680566021387370822011-04-11T11:13:00.001-07:002011-04-11T13:11:38.757-07:00#OscarsWife doesn't know anythingMaybe the title is a a little unfair, but it seems that every time Carolyn "Oscar's Wife" Goodman is asked a question the response is either I don't know (re: DREAM Act) or some strange off-topic answer. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGLObJfHhRqeJ6jGOw5VIO5xBGhJgw3FpS-PJViKssnp_7MYhIJtzJjJJHfo9s6GoEJnviHJipbAqUsstvB5NXicQDrfxzBEptjpo8yp8O_mifC8UMPyh2cPeqrxxJ9kJ3SzdE7UTDIZkD/s1600/Picture+61.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGLObJfHhRqeJ6jGOw5VIO5xBGhJgw3FpS-PJViKssnp_7MYhIJtzJjJJHfo9s6GoEJnviHJipbAqUsstvB5NXicQDrfxzBEptjpo8yp8O_mifC8UMPyh2cPeqrxxJ9kJ3SzdE7UTDIZkD/s320/Picture+61.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594400186894561762" /></a><br /><br />Carolyn Goodman is not good with details or facts. Perhaps she was too busy molding the young minds of the elite class' offspring to pick up a newspaper or watch the news and actually learn something about the outside world and how it might affect the city she now wants to be mayor of.<br /><br />Local journalist Steve Friess was one of the first to <a href="http://thestrippodcast.blogspot.com/2011/03/carolyn-goodman-on-dream-act-domestic.html">expose her staggering ignorance</a>. Despite claiming to be an educator and friend to Las Vegas' Latino community, she had no clue what the DREAM Act was and had no official position (and seemed to have no knowledge of) Las Vegas' Domestic Partnership law or gay marriage in general.<br /><br />And now #OscarsWife has inserted her foot in her mouth once again.<br /><br />Given a chance by Univision to clarify her DREAM Act remarks, she claims that students can find a pathway to citizenship by participating in the Teach for America program.<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" id="cs_player" width="425" height="330"><param name="movie" value="http://eplayer.clipsyndicate.com/cs_api/get_swf/3/&pl_id=23711&wpid=9217&page_count=5&windows=1&va_id=2357545&show_title=0&auto_start=0&auto_next=0" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://eplayer.clipsyndicate.com/cs_api/get_swf/3/&pl_id=23711&wpid=9217&page_count=5&windows=1&va_id=2357545&show_title=0&auto_start=0&auto_next=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="330" /></object><br /><br />Teach for America does not provide you with a pathway to citizenship. Right now, the only way a non-US citizen can became a "legal" citizen is by going through the US' archaic, drawn out citizenship process.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.teachforamerica.org/about-us/">From Teach for America's website</a>:<br /><blockquote>About Us<br /><br />Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates of all academic majors and career interests who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become leaders in the effort to expand educational opportunity.<br /><br />Our <a href="http://www.teachforamerica.org/what-we-do/our-approach/">mission</a> is to build the movement to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting our nation's most promising future leaders in the effort. <a href="http://www.teachforamerica.org/admissions/who-were-looking-for/">Learn more about who we are looking for</a>.<br /><br />In the short run, our corps members work relentlessly to ensure that more students growing up today in our country's lowest-income communities are given the educational opportunities they deserve. In the long run, our alumni are a powerful force of leaders working from inside education and from every other sector to effect the fundamental changes needed to ensure that all children have an equal chance in life. <a href="http://www.teachforamerica.org/what-we-do/our-impact/">Learn more about our impact</a>.</blockquote><br />Nothing about citizenship. At all.<br /><br />I attended almost all of the mayoral debates during the primary, and I noticed whenever Chris Giunchigliani talked about legislation or ordinances she worked on, #OscarsWife would roll her eyes or pass a look to her staff as if to say "Now here she goes with all those facts and shit"<br /><br />Why the hate from OscarsWife? <br /><br />Every time Chris G talks about her experience, OscarsWife if forced to admit that she has none. Every time Chris G describes in detail a bill, proposed legislation or policy, OscarsWife is exposed as not just a political neophyte, but a Sarah Palineqsue character who has no knowledge of current events and no ability to articulate any of the little knowledge she does have.The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-43069434864522415462011-03-30T12:40:00.000-07:002011-03-30T13:56:11.517-07:00We're still keeping an eye on thisCollective bargaining back in the news in Nevada (see TSF blog <a href="http://inthesausagefactory.blogspot.com/2011/03/revisiting-sb41.html">here</a>): <br /><br /><a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/mar/30/fight-collective-bargaining-looming/">Fight over collective bargaining looming in Legislature</a><br /><br /><blockquote>But Sandoval’s newly unveiled education reform package might bring the collective bargaining fight to him.<br /><br />Under the legislation, teachers unions couldn’t bargain for higher pay based on educational attainment or years of service. They would also be limited in bargaining on the processes for layoffs, other workforce reductions and termination.</blockquote><br /><blockquote>The Nevada State Education Association sees Sandoval’s bill, Assembly Bill 555, as an end run around its collective bargaining rights.<br /><br />“We certainly didn’t take the governor at his word that he was not going to mess with collective bargaining,” association President Lynn Warne said. “He said he wasn’t going to move to eliminate collective bargaining, but there’s lots of mischief to be made within the statute of 288. And he’s picked on two very important issues to us.”</blockquote><br /><br />I wonder why no mention of <a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/mar/03/republicans-issue-list-demands-be-met-theyll-talk-/">Legislative Republicans issuing a list of demands</a>, including derailing collective bargaining. <br /><br />Is it due to lack of resources or lack of will that no one is pointing out what Governor Sandoval and legislative Republicans are doing in Carson is happening in Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin and other states? <br /><br />Conservative think-tanks and news services have been slithering around Carson for almost two months as part of a string of "non profit" franchise-type operations that have popped up in states with new Republican governors.<br /><br />This is not all just a coincidence.The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9159201931922127256.post-83796150676392428682011-03-21T18:18:00.000-07:002011-03-21T19:11:58.453-07:00Early voters are lazy and uninformed. They must be stoppedLast Friday someone told me the Republicans in the Nevada legislature have a bill that would end early voting. I assumed they were kidding.<br /><br />Nevada covets early voting.<br /><br />But go to the website, look for assembly bill 311: <span style="font-style:italic;">AN ACT relating to elections; eliminating early voting in elections; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.</span><br /><br />...yeah.<br /><br />My friend Andrew over at the <a href="http://nvprogressive.blogspot.com/2011/03/just-what-nevada-needs-fewer-voters.html">Nevada Progressive</a> blogged about the bill first. What blows me is the bill's sponsor, Crescent Hardy R-Mesquite, claiming an unnamed group for unknown reasons asked him for this bill.<br /><br />The fuck? Is this real life?<br /><br />Just more evidence of Republicans attacking the least among us. <br /><br />They know they can't win elections with high turn out. All across the nation Republicans are doing what they can to knock registered voters off the official record and suppress turnout. Remember the voter suppression <a href="http://inthesausagefactory.blogspot.com/2011/02/nevada-republicans-introduce-bill.html">bill I blogged about</a> early this session? The one where Jodi Stephens <a href="http://inthesausagefactory.blogspot.com/search/label/jodi%20stephens">whined</a> that the evil Liberals didn't like that she and her Republicans friends wanted to prevent the poor and people of color from voting?<br /><br />None of these bills will go anywhere. Aren't the Republicans the fiscally responsible ones? This is a huge waste of tax payer money and time. So why bother?<br /><br />Because they can go back to their districts and toss this red meat at the seal-clapping masses: "I tried, but it was the Liberals and ACORN and SEIU and those illegals who stopped me. I was on your side!"<br /><br />That's right you lazy, ignorant, good-for-nothing teachers, grandmas, students, single parents and government workers. You've had your fun participating in Democracy, now the Republicans and their allies are going to take those privileges back!<br /><br />And your little dog too!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrjOt1e1rZwmuEDwjJXMcKPEEXtCIBMMUqI9NhVpPrtVRXuQtZR0Tpkg7dPcwi8fplXO5mc_iVe1o8qJ6Ku5Am_ZNX9GsyD091RXaQMQAuWMK4NwmXnf5LECSmWP4T0Gm_GUx1y-RjtTfH/s1600/Picture+51.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrjOt1e1rZwmuEDwjJXMcKPEEXtCIBMMUqI9NhVpPrtVRXuQtZR0Tpkg7dPcwi8fplXO5mc_iVe1o8qJ6Ku5Am_ZNX9GsyD091RXaQMQAuWMK4NwmXnf5LECSmWP4T0Gm_GUx1y-RjtTfH/s400/Picture+51.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586717271630827138" /></a>The Sausage Factoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463171132237265813noreply@blogger.com0