First Principles

Hey – don’t blame Nevada.  Santorum came in dead last here.  The Nevada GOP may be dysfunctional as hell, but at least we got that right.

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It’s a good idea, since it’s going to happen sooner or later when the current unsustainable system runs out of money.  (NVPERS is by all accounts astoundingly well run, but the best run investment program in the world can’t keep up with impossible future promises.)  The alternative is to wait until the bitter end, when folks on the cusp of retiring will really, really get screwed when municipalities start declaring bankruptcy.

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50 Years After John Glenn’s Flight, US Needs New Space Ride.

NASA channeled that momentum into a series of successes in human spaceflight. Over the years, the space agency has executed six manned moon landings, launched 135 space shuttle missions and helped build the $100 billion International Space Station.

But now, a half-century after Glenn’s flight, NASA lacks a way to get astronauts off the ground.

It is truly an embarrassment – what did we win the Cold War for, anyway?  I believe space exploration is critically important in the same way that the westward expansion of our nation was critically important to creating and sustaining ourselves as a nation of self-sustaining, individualistic, entrepreneurial innovators.  And I believe there is a role for the government in promoting such exploration and expansion, not to mention the military necessity of being able to service and protect our own communications, spy, and GPS satellites.  Newt Gingrich got a terrible rap for bringing this all up, frankly.

The silver lining, though, is that the neglect has opened the way for a lot of private sector entrants into the space industry, and that’s ultimately a great thing for everyone.  As I said, I believe there’s a role for government, but spending billions upon billions to send a few government employees into space for a few days at a time shouldn’t be the end-all-be-all of humanity’s skyward expansion.  Let’s just hope that the government partnerships that are inevitable in such enterprises (heh) will promote, rather than stifle this kind of innovation, even in the face the the very real risks these pioneers are taking.

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Jim Rogers asks an interesting question pertaining to Nevada’s higher education priorities:

The Medical School costs are $141,324 per year, per student.  The Law School costs are $26,794 per year, per student. The Dental School costs are $39,297 per year, per student.  I would assume spending $141,324 on a medical student who pays only $17,999 in registration fees, the least of all the professional schools, should cause you to ask, “How the hell did this happen?  How did the doctors get such a sweet deal?”

Uhhh – because educating doctors is a much better use of taxpayer dollars than educating more lawyers?

We hear all the time about how critical it is that we “invest” in education in this state, and I agree.  But “investment” assumes we’ll get a return on that investment, and that means that not all majors or professional degrees can or should be subsidized equally.  It’s not that we don’t need attorneys (lawyer jokes aside but appreciated), but as a member of that profession I can say with some confidence that the legal market in most of the state is pretty saturated.  I don’t think the same is true for doctors, which are frankly of higher value to society, in my opinion.  If we’re going to subsidize professional training as a society, let’s focus most on the areas where we need members of that profession the most.

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Mike Chamberlain has a great roundup of some of the political maneuvering involving the state Senate, as well as the Las Vegas City Council race.  He discusses the welcome return of Bob Beers to Nevada politics, a Conservative so effective the Dems had to literally defame him to defeat him.

I have to wonder, though, if he might be casting an eye back on the State Senate, now that Halseth has resigned.  If he lives in that district, or is willing to move, it would turn a crappy situation into an enormous opportunity for a huge net political gain for Senate Republicans.

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The Left opposes entry level jobs for young people, homeless.  Because standing on a street corner is unacceptably dangerous, apparently.

Just 4 generations ago, we were crossing the continent in covered wagons.  Sigh.

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I’m shocked – SHOCKED! – that there is Politics going on here!  The trouble with accurately reporting crime stats.

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If only we boasted the Senate’s most powerful member.  “Nevada loses millions of dollars from FEMA.“

We’re better off getting used to being on our own now, anyway.  One way or another, and probably sooner rather than later, there just won’t be any more of other people’s money to spread around from Washington.

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Oops.  “Uses for thousands of dollars of campaign funds going undisclosed by Nevada Democrats”There seems to be some ambiguity in the law here, but just from a purely political standpoint, why would you err on the side of non-disclosure and open yourself up to the appearance of shadiness when you were unsure enough that you had to get advice from your caucus’ lawyer to start with?

And please, lawmakers, let this be a lesson well learned.  That’s just one regulation in the law.  You’re smart people yourselves.  You involved lawyers, and still may have gotten it wrong, and wrong in a way which could have a significant negative impact on your profession.  Now think of the thousands of laws and regs currently out there that businesses large and small have to contend with on a daily basis, and think of your experience every time you’re tempted to pass a new one without thinking through the second, third, fourth, and fifth order consequences to the people whose livelihoods depend on understanding and complying with the rules you write and pass.