First Principles

Robert Fellner has an interesting piece on the GOP’s platform plank to resist the expansion of on-line gambling: The stated justification for this horribly intrusive, un-Constitutional, un-American, nanny-state action that the most hardcore Progressive would be proud of, is that “compulsive gambling is a serious disease” blah blah blah, Why is there no call to […]

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So today Nevada’s delegation to the National Republican Convention stole the votes of thousands of Nevada Republicans.  Caucus goers were promised that their delegates would honor their votes, and would vote on the floor of the convention in proportion to the vote in the caucuses.  The national delegates promised they would “play by the rules” […]

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Sadly, it seems clear from their actions that the answer is “no.”  Recently, Washoe County GOP Chair Dave Buell filed paperwork to make the Washoe County GOP a distinct entity from the State Party, disclaiming any intention to coordinate with or be controlled by the State.  While this Declaration of Independence has the advantage of […]

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There was a lot of news today about the continuing implosion of the State GOP.  The Clark County (Vegas) Central Committee voted to condemn the RNC chair for (gasp!) supporting the (yes, “the”) Republican Presidential candidate, erroneously claiming rules were violated.  Outside conservative organizations like Americans for Prosperity are overtly announcing themselves as alternatives to […]

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Ron Paul supporters in Nevada had their crowning achievement this weekend – they “took over” the state party.  It took them four years of planning, coordination, and subterfuge, but they won a smashing victory over the weekend by sticking it to “The Establishment”. And in doing so, they (at best) did nothing.  At worst, they […]

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The goal of my last post on the Ron Paul Campaign’s exhortations to lie, cheat, and steal was to shine as bright a light as possible on their dishonorable and ultimately self destructive tactics.  I’m not alone amongst principled conservatives – Ned Barnett in particular has been doing yeoman’s work in ferreting out the hypocrisy […]

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Party That Allegedly Opposes Unethical Payoffs to Political Cronies With Taxpayer Dollars Elects Unethical Tax-dollar Wasting Crony “Capitalist” to Lead Party Taken in the kindest possible light, new GOP Chair Michael McDonald’s past and current “property development” activities proves that he’s all for government-forced redistribution of wealth.  A more honest assessment would be that he’s […]

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My friend Elizabeth Crum shared a press release the other day from the “Ron Paul Nevada Team,” bragging about their continuing “takeover” of the state Republican party.  I have to ask – what’s their point? Fortunately, like all would-be-tyrants, they’re pretty open about it: “Republicans understand Ron Paul is the only candidate who can challenge […]

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This weekend I attended the Washoe County Republican Convention, and I have to say it was the smoothest, best organized one I’ve ever been to yet.  Once again Dave Buell, the Washoe Party Chair, proved he knows how to plan, build a great team, and put on a tremendous event.  The turnout was phenomenal – […]

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I only got home last night in time to see the second half of the Presidential debate.  I didn’t hear anything unexpected, although overall I thought it was substantive and good.  Will it matter?  Who can say.  But here are my thoughts. ~~~ The most compelling thing to me was in the part I missed, […]

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So much great stuff around the Silver State’s Intertubes (and beyond) today… ~~~ Attorney General Cortez-Masto says that the presence of a middle man cures otherwise Unconstitutional transfer of money from government to private industry.  Interesting. I really hope NPRI files a lawsuit over this, if for no other reason than I always get a […]

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Here’s a roundup of some of the happenings of Nevada’s blogosphere over the weekend, in case you were off having a life or something. ~~~ Will NPRI’s separation of powers lawsuit continue forward?  There are clearly grounds for moving forward, even if the original defendant is no longer directly impacted, and eventually, a sitting legislator […]

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Or, How To Lose $100,000 For the Party You Want To Lead in a Single E-mail! Back in October, a small group of paranoid fools with their priorities completely out of whack “took over” the Nevada GOP by getting themselves elected to several key positions on the state Executive Board.  I wrote an incredibly frustrated […]

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In a word, no, in spite of ridiculous and baseless allegations from various folks, including these national Ron Paul folks who make the accusations pretty directly. I take these allegations a little personally, since I was in the counting room in Washoe County.  So let me just say for the record that in Washoe we […]

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Four years ago, I attended (and wrote about) my first caucus at Galena High School.  In spite of the chaos that marked most of the precinct meetings that year, I had a lot of fun.  Indeed – the reasons my precinct was successful that year when most of the others were a mess is that […]

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My blogging’s been pretty sparse of late, on account of my involvement with the Washoe County caucuses yesterday.  I’m happy it’s done, and even happier that Washoe County’s caucuses were smooth and successful, even if the turnout was disappointing.  But the overwhelming consensus from caucus goers county-wide was that the planning and organization of this […]

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I wish this debate had happened sooner.  Although it definitely helped that there were fewer candidates on stage – it’s not an accident that fewer candidates and no absurd timeclock led to a far more substantive debate than we’ve seen in the past. I haven’t seen a lot of the post-debate spin from other people […]

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A reader recently E-mailed me with this question, and I thought the night before the Iowa caucus would be a time to reflect on it here. Is there a good “conservative” “Republican” in the race? As much as I’d like to think the guy currently in office is vulnerable, the Republicans seem to be trying […]

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If you’re a Republican living in Washoe County, be part of the conversation and the solution.  Register for the 2012 Caucus today!  Remember, the caucuses will be Saturday, February 4, 2012, with registration/check-in starting at 9:00 AM. All the info you need to learn about the caucus – your location, times, and how to conduct […]

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Republicans in Clark County have been up in arms over some new election regulations being pushed through by the Secretary of State’s Office over the holidays.  I admit, the timing is very suspicious, and should alone raise all kinds of red flags.  But the article on it is frustrating, because nowhere is there any hint […]

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