Nye County Assessor Shirley Matson

If you live in Nye County, Nevada, particularly in Pahrump, the name Shirley Matson is probably familiar to you. Ms. Matson is the Nye County Tax Assessor. She was elected Assessor of Nye County last November for a four-year term.

According to Doug McMurdo of the Las Vegas Review-Journal Matson on March 11, 2011 e-mailed Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo requesting he investigate the citizenship or work visa status of workers building a new county jail near the Assessor’s office. She wrote her staff and the public

"can plainly see that the construction employees are all Mexican/Latino non-English speaking and I’m getting complaints."

DeMeo responded telling Matson her comments were blatantly racist and her request unconstitutional.

The Nye County Commissioners called a special meeting on March 25 to address the issue.

Commissioner Joni Eastley said:

"Your racially charged and insensitive comments were wholly inappropriate and volatile and they were sent under the seal of Nye County," said the longtime commissioner from Tonopah. "Your subsequent statements have served to distract citizens from the real problems of illegal immigration because the focus has shifted. We don’t tolerate racists."

Commissioner Dan Schinhofen asked Matson whether she could see how her statements might be construed as racially insensitive.

Matson answered it never dawned on her they could have.

Schinhofen replied “Its bigoted to me.”

Former Assessor, Sandy Musselman, is quoted as saying:

"We had Hispanic workers working near us for the 12 years I was assessor, and for the 26 years I worked in the assessor’s office and we never had a complaint in all that time," said Musselman. "She’s delusional."

But Matson named Ben Gully, a retired volunteer with the Sheriff’s Office, as a complainant to her. Called to testify at the special hearing Gully denied he complained to Matson or questioned the citizenship of the construction workers.

"I made no complaint at all," said Gully, explaining that he spoke with Matson on March 11 after ”Mrs. Matson flagged me down (and asked) why were all the Mexicans working over there. She said she was a Tea Party Minuteman. She was excited."

Matson ran for election partially based on her views of illegal immigrants. She outlined her experiences in San Diego in other emails broadly circulated in Nye County before last fall’s election. In those messages, which resurfaced last week adding fuel to the fire, she calls illegal immigrants locusts that devour the nation’s resources, says pregnant Latinas are the nation’s "greatest enemies" and says "other things the dirty filthy Mexican/Latino illegals do is steal Social Security numbers."

Another e-mail from Matson said, “These young girls will spread their legs to anyone to get an anchor baby growing in their bellies so they can illegally cross the border and suck up the U.S. citizen tax base resource everywhere they go in the U.S.” [Free Arizona]

I was trying to protect Nye County, explained Matson. “She recounted once working for a San Diego construction company that was fined "millions of dollars" for hiring illegal immigrants,” reported McMurdo, “I wanted to save the county embarrassment," she said.

The Nye County Commissioners formally reprimanded Matson on a 5-0 vote following the hearing. [Nye County Website]

Matson’s daughter, Brooke Matson, formerly married to an Hispanic man, told the Pahrump Valley Times “In my opinion she is a racist.”

Recall Matson papers were filed July 6, 2011 with the Nye County Clerk by Pahrump resident, Stephanie Lopez. [Pahrump Valley Times] Signatures on the recall petition began July 9, 2011 in front of Romero’s Restaurant in Pahrump. Lopez, organizer of the recall movement, said 3,700 signatures were necessary for a successful recall, but 5,000 are being sought. 50-60 volunteers have expressed their willingness to help the recall. Organization for the recall is being primarily conducted by Lopez on her Facebook page, Positive Pahrump. In a press release Lopez announced:

“Around March 2011, Matson made communications containing racially charged and insensitive comments concerning the immigration status of workers at the County jail construction site, the nature of which were wholly inappropriate and volatile and caused public backlash,’ the press statement says. “She used the county email system under the county seal in her official capacity to make these communications. These communications and other statements to defend her actions have served to distract citizens from addressing the real problems with illegal immigration because the focus has shifted to outrageous generalizations such as those made by her.”

“She was formally reprimanded for negatively impacting the public’s perception of our county. Her actions make her unfit for public office and have eroded the public trust and confidence in her office. Her refusal to accept responsibility for her conduct make this recall necessary to remove her from public service in order to restore dignity to the office and county as a whole,” the statement says.

If any volunteers want to help Lopez and her cause, she can be reached at 775-727-8229 or through Facebook.

Related posts:

1. Recall of Matson Fails
2. Recall Nye County Assessor Shirley Matson
3. Stephanie Lopez: Recall Matson or Resign

Caitlyn May of the Pahrump Mirror (March 17 issue, front page) reported on a meeting last Monday, March 14 by Nye County Commissioners who voted 4-1 not to put dissolution of the Pahrump Town Board on the 2012 general election ballot.

“If you want to put this on the ballot in 2010, let’s call this what it is. This isn’t the will of the people, this is a threat, so let’s call it what it is. It’s a threat. You’re right when you say anyone has a right to sign a petition. Yes, they have the right but we have the obligation to make the right decision…39 signatures, some of whom don’t even live in this valley is not a mandate,” said Commissioner Joni Eastley.

The Mirror characterized the public hearing on dissolution of the town’s board as “the anti-climactic culmination of an ongoing war between Nye County and the Town of Pahrump. The Pahrump Valley Times described the 39 people as “the aptly named Old Farts Breakfast signed a petition last October seeking to put a question before voters in 2012 that could have abolished the Pahrump Town Board.

That group of “Old Farts” complaint was “The Pahrump elected town board is ineffective and unwilling to work with just about anyone, especially the county officials,” reported the Mirror. “It also goes on to point a finger at the Pahrump Valley Fire Department, alleging that the department does not function as effectively as Nye County Emergency Services.”

The petition of the “Old Farts” was signed by the Director of Nye County Emergency Services, Brent Jones. Jones “begs the county to allow Nye County’s emergency department to take over for the Pahrump Valley Fire Department, noting the large price tag associated with the Pahrump service,” according to the Mirror. Commissioners Butch Borasky, Dan Schinhofen and Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo attended the meeting at which the petition was initiated at a breakfast meeting.

John Bosta, an Amargosa resident, challenged the legality of the petition to dissolve the town board. “I attended a grumpy old man’s meeting and a petition was passed around. They said it was for a vote for incorporation. There were no documents with the signature paper. I pointed out I was not a registered voter in the Town of Pahrump and they said, ‘that’s ok because you own property in Pahrump.’ I question the legality of the petition that was circulated. Mr. Borasky and the sheriff were at the meeting and that petition was passed throughout the meeting to be signed. Now it comes up as a petition to dissolve the town board of Pahrump.”

The March 14 meeting of the commissioners then addressed “the issue of surrounding the dueling fire services,” reports the Mirror.

Anthony Greco “summed up a dozen public speakers” saying “I don’t think they have a problem with the town board as much as the fire department and town manager. I’ve been at town board meetings where someone from the fire department got an award and was bragging they were on a triple. They’re getting triple pay, more than double time. I think that’s a problem when you have people in the fire department making four, five times than the average person in the town. We have a town manager that makes more than four of the commissioners sitting here. Eighty percent of the U.S. is under volunteer fire departments. We don’t need a paid fire department. Volunteer firefighters are just as well trained as paid firefighters.”

“Blame also flew between the governing entities with Pahrump Town Board members taking on commissioners, addressing the board,” reported the Mirror.

Town Board member Carolene Endersby cited a history of the town board noting her research showed other Nye County communities with new facilities and infrastructure. Commissioner Gary Hollis asked, “What infrastructure are we not providing for you? I don’t know of any community center, I’ve been in this county for 43 years. I know no community center built by this county. Beatty and Tonopah built theirs.”

Town Board Chairman, Mike Darby, said, “You talk about not representing the people. We try and make ourselves available. We live here, shop here, leisure time here. We answer phones and respond to emails. A lot of the problems are a lack of representation on the next level up. Like the prison, people and RPC (Regional Planning Commission) spoke out against the location and the wishes were overridden by the county commissioners.”

Commissioner Eastley responded, “I sat through every single one, public hearings by CCA, we had many, many including representatives from town board and chamber of commerce approach the board and on the record, said they supported that project. It wasn’t until after we approved the project that people came forward and said they didn’t support the detention center. There were representatives from the town board who testified on the record for their strong support of the facility.”

An additional argument arose between Pahrump Town Board Manager William Kohbarger and Sheriff DeMeo reported the Mirror.

Kohbarger is quoted as saying, “There were some comments made here. We do not have a gangster union. It’s made of professionals. They come to the table whenever we ask. Asking for this community to have a volunteer department is absolutely ridiculous. It’d be like the sheriff’s department operating with just an auxiliary. It’s not safe, it’s absurd. If you’re going to vote on this I’d ask you let this die right now. Thirty nine signatures aren’t anything.”

DeMeo answered, “Let me straighten the facts out. First of all we can’t do our job without volunteers, we have over 55 volunteers that service the people of Nye County. Let me say this. I come from New Jersey, the majority of the firefighters are volunteers. They are dedicated. I don’t see why we can’t have a combination of both. He has no business speaking to the sheriff’s office, he has no idea what we do with our volunteers. I take offense at that.”

Commissioner Eastley closed the public portion of the meeting with a motion, “Pahrump is too big and too important not to have an elected town board. These people were elected in November, took their seats in January and we need to given them a chance to govern. You would not be happy having an advisory form of government and having these five people making your decisions for you. Be careful of what you wish for when you’re asking for the town board to be abolished. Advisory boards have no authority. None. If you think you don’t like what’s happening now, you wait until we’re making your decision for you. I make a motion to take no action.” Commissioner Lorinda Wichman seconded the motion.

Commissioner Dan Schinhofen argued that the entire Town of Pahrump should be able to vote on the issue. He lost his argument 4-1, being the sole vote against Eastley’s motion.

Commissioner Borasky concluded, “I hear a lot of discussion of working together. I’ve been trying to work with the last three boards, not just this one and it doesn’t seem to go too far. I would say I’m having better success right now. I’ve put the gauntlet down. I’m here to work with you but to keep blaming the county for everything that goes wrong, you need to look in the mirror once in awhile. In Nevada Revised Statutes, I really wish the town board would look at 269 that deals with unincorporated towns. That tells you what authority you have and what you can do. You can sit out there and laugh all you want. I keep offering, you keep rejecting. The voters should know that.”

Video Source: http://nyecounty.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=3&clip_id=64 (Video is 3 hours, 59 minutes, 57 seconds long)

Related posts:

1. Pahrump Town Board and Nye Commissioners Meet and Talk?
2. Carolene Endersby: For Pahrump Town Board
3. Pahrump Town Board Meeting

The primary election in Nye County is just ahead. Those not registered to vote that intend to vote have until May 8 to register by mail. Between May 9-18 they can register in the Nye County Clerk’s office. Early voting will begin on May 22.

So, now that the time for candidates to register for the elective offices they’re running for is closed who is running for what? Here is the list I consider to be the most major offices up for the Nye County election:

For Nye County Assessor:

• Kathleen L. Bienenstein—Democrat
• Shirley Matson—Republican
• Sandra M. Musselman—Democrat (incumbent)

For Nye County Clerk:

• Andrew “Andy” Alberti Jr.:–Republican
• Sandra “Sam” Merlino—Republican (incumbent)
• Norma Jean Opatik—Republican

Nye County Commissioner, District IV:

• Andrew “Butch” Borasky—Republican (incumbent)
• Donna C. Cox—Republican
• Sandra D. Darby—Libertarian
• Carl L. Moore Sr.—Republican

Nye County Commissioner, District V:

• Paul Holder—Democrat
• Laurayne Murray—Democrat
• Fely A. Quitevis—Republican (incumbent)
• Dan Schinhofen—Republican

Nye County District Attorney:

• Bob Beckett—Republican (incumbent)
• Nicholas Anthony Del Vecchio—Democrat
• Ron Kent—Republican
• Brian T. Kunzi—Democrat
• Nancy Lord—Republican
• Michael Root—Republican
• Charles G. Watkins—Republican

Nye County Public Administrator:

• Robin Dorand-Rudolf—Democrat
• Falkon Finlinson—Independent American Party
• Donna J. Jokinen—Democrat

Nye County Recorder:

• Deborah Beatty—Republican
• Byron P. Foster—Republican (incumbent)
• Cindy Wyrick—Republican

Nye County Treasurer:

• Gary S. Budahl—Democrat (incumbent)
• Darryl Lackey—Republican
• Michael W. Maher—Republican

Nye County Sheriff: (Non Partisan)

• Scott Cobel
• Tony DeMeo (incumbent)
• Ted Holmes
• Ray “The Flagman” Mielzynski
• Gerald “Bear” Smith

Pahrump Town Board: (Non Partisan)

• Bill Dolan (incumbent)
• Carolene Endersby
• Anthony Greco
• Isabel Isherwood
• Lu Komorowski
• Harley Kulkin
• Frank J. Maurizio (incumbent)
• Michael A. Miraglia
• Warren Pawliuk
• Jim Petell
• Amy Riches
• Don Rust
• Nicole Shupp (incumbent)
• Eric Vessella
• Tom Waters

There are other offices not on this list which will be on the ballot. Each are important, of course, but the ones I’ve listed are the ones I think are generally more important to follow.

First, let me say (or more accurately—write) that this election is a primary election. That means that you voters get to pick which candidates get to go on to the general election which will take place in November. The primary election allows you to pick what you consider to be the cream of the crop.

Second, I’ll be writing about the upcoming primary election in the weeks ahead. It is no secret that I am a Democrat and tend to favor Democratic candidates. So I head into this election season with that bias. However, I’ll also tell you I have and will in the coming election vote for at least one Republican on this list.

Past all that I hope to be as objective and factual as I can be. That is the best I can do.

I look forward to this election. I’m interested in why these people are running for the office they seek and what they hope to accomplish in doing so. We can all learn together.

Finally, I offer a tip of my hat to each of them. It takes somewhat special people to run for an elective office. Most of us never do. It is hard work. It is expensive. There is little thanks given for doing it. I thank each of you for doing what the majority of us would never do. So, show us what you’ve got.

So, if you are interested on my take on the election you are welcome to follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Featheriver. Every post I write on this blog goes out on Twitter also. You won’t miss anything that way.

Related posts:

1. Nancy Lord, Republican candidate for Nye County District Attorney
2. Pahrump election campaigns speeding up
3. Nye County Law Enforcement Association endorses candidates

It is Sunday morning, August 30, 2009. This afternoon between 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. there will be a “Town Hall Meeting” at the Pahrump Nugget about healthcare reform. I have been invited to attend as a “moderator.” The event has been sponsored and put together by Dan Schinhofen.

Dan is a columnist with the Pahrump Mirror, a weekly newspaper. So am I. Dan also has a weekly local TV talk show on Channel 30 on Fridays. I was his guest on the show last Friday.

I asked him how he was going to conduct the program this afternoon. He explained that those attending  the meeting will be provided an opportunity to come forward to the front of the room, five at a time, and address the Nevada Congressional Delegation with their view of healthcare reform. Each will have two minutes to make their statement. Then five more, until everyone has had their chance to speak up.

Dan and I will also be permitted to make a two-minute statement, just like everyone else.

The event will be video taped and the tape sent to the Nevada Delegation: Senators Harry Reid, John Ensign and Representatives Dean Heller, Dina Titus and Shelley Berkley.

The idea is to provide residents of Pahrump their opportunity to speak directly to those members of Congress.

Not a bad idea I thought. There is no other way I know of that residents of Pahrump can provide their input to Congress, unless they want to write.

So, being confined to two minutes to make my contribution I have been working on my “speech.” Here is my pitch:

Good afternoon to the Nevada Congressional Delegation.

It is regretful you cannot be here in Pahrump in person. But considering the acrimonious Town Hall Meetings being experienced in the nation your absence is understandable.

Here is my understanding of the facts with which we are faced:

The U.S. spends $7,129 per capita, twice as much as the other industrialized nations on health care.

Other industrialized nations have higher life expectancies, lower infant mortality and immunization rates.

Other nations provide comprehensive coverage to their entire populations, while the U.S. leaves 45.7 million completely uninsured and millions more inadequately covered. That 45.7 million is more people than the entire population of Canada.

The reason we spend more and get less than the rest of the world is because of our “for-profit insurance” system. Private insurers waste health dollars on things that have nothing to do with care: overhead, underwriting, billing, sales and marketing departments as well as profits and executive pay. Doctors and hospitals must maintain costly administrative staffs to deal with the multiple insurance bureaucracies. The cost consumes one-third (31 %) of money paid in premiums to the for-profit insurance companies. That leaves only 69 cents to pay medical claims.

Medical professionals in the group called “Physicians for a National Health Program” state that:

Single-payer financing is the only way to recapture this wasted money. The potential savings on paperwork, more than $350 billion per year, are enough to provide comprehensive coverage to everyone without paying any more than we already do.

Under the single-payer system, all Americans would be covered for all medically necessary services, including: doctor, hospital, preventive, long-term care, mental health, reproductive health care, dental, vision, prescription drug and medical supply costs. Patients would have free choice of doctor and hospital, and doctors would have autonomy over patient care.

Physicians would be paid a fee-for-service according to a negotiated formulary or receive salary from a hospital or nonprofit HMO / group practice. Hospitals would receive a global budget for operating expenses. Health facilities and expensive equipment purchases would be managed by regional health planning boards.

A single-payer system would be financed by eliminating private for profit insurers replaced by non-profit insurers and recapturing their administrative waste. I understand that modest taxes would replace insurance premiums and out-of-pocket payments currently paid by individuals and business. That costs would be controlled through negotiated fees, global budgeting and bulk purchasing.

The current health care system by for profit insurance companies does not work. For profit insurers  systematically “dump” their customers who they find are not profitable. They deny payment of medical claims on grounds of “pre-existing medical conditions” or for surgeries they can classify as “experimental.” Failing that they hike the premium payments beyond the reach of ordinary people or small businesses.

UnitedHealth, Aetna, Wellpoint, and CIGNA have accumulated corporate control of virtually all of the healthcare industry in the nation and have eliminated savings from competition. They constitute a monopoly. They also exercise far too much control over members of Congress.

I urge Congress to pass HR 676 and establish comprehensive non-profit insurance coverage for all American citizens.

I’m looking forward to hearing what the others who attend the meeting will have to say. I’m also curious about how many Democrats will show up and speak. Will anyone from the Nye County Democratic Central Committee appear and speak on behalf of the Democratic Party. Same curiosity exists for those of the Republican persuasion.

I’ll know in a few hours.

Related posts:

1. Votes of Nevada Congressional Delegation
2. Votes of Nevada Congressional Delegation
3. Nevada Congressional Delegation Votes

Dan Schinhofen

Received a phone call from my friend Dan Schinhofen this morning. Dan is a conservative and writes a weekly column in the Pahrump Mirror. He espouses the conservatives view of politics.

Jack Wood

I am a progressive Democrat. I also write a weekly column in the Pahrump Mirror. I espouse the progressive view of politics.

Dan and I can take different views and argue about them without either of us having a handgun strapped to our waists or an AR-15 slung over our shoulders.

Dan phoned me this morning to inform me that since no one else in Pahrump has done so, he has arranged with the Pahrump Nugget to hold a Pahrump Town Hall Meeting on the timely question of Healthcare Reform, here in Pahrump, Nye County, Nevada.

Nye County, for those of you who don’t live in the county or the state of Nevada, is a bright red county, as opposed to blue. The Republican Party owns it, runs it, and holds the political power.

It is as good a place as any for our own Town Hall Meeting. I tip my hat to Dan for getting it set up. The Democrats sure didn’t.

Here are the details:

When: Sunday, August 30, 2009 from 3:00 – 5 p.m.

Where: Pahrump Nugget, intersection of Highways 160 and 372

Moderators: Dan Schinhofen and Jack Wood

Master of Ceremonies: Yet to be determined

Everyone is invited to attend and participate. Dan has undertaken to invite Senators Harry Reid, John Ensign, Congresswomen Shelley Berkley and Dina Titus and Congressman Dean Heller.

The event will be televised on Pahrump local TV channel 30.

Related posts:

1. Prosecute Town Hall Meeting attendees that speak words tending to cause a breach of the peace
2. Pahrump Town Board Meeting
3. President Obama’s Listening Tour in Pahrump

My colleague, Dan Schinhofen, a columnist in the Pahrump Mirror has announced he is a candidate for election to the Nye County Board of Commissioners. [Pahrump Mirror, July 23, 2009, page 1]

Dan is a Republican and resident of Pahrump. He plans to run to be the County Commissioner for district 5. The seat is currently occupied by Fely Quitevis, another Republican, who was appointed by Republican Governor Jim Gibbons to complete the term of former Republican Commissioner Peter Liakopoulos, who is awaiting sentencing following his conviction in which “The jury found Liakopoulos guilty of felony bribery and misdemeanor counts of offering a reward for an appointment and graft by a public officer.”

Dan is a former Nye County Regional Planning Commissioner. The Mirror reported Schinhofen says “He won’t be running on a particular political platform, instead he believes he will bring a sense of fairness and honesty to the role of commissioner….”

“I didn’t move from Vegas to make Pahrump like Vegas. I moved here for what it is, not to try to change it. I like where I moved to.”

Dan writes a weekly column in the Pahrump Mirror called Ramblings of a Madman. He has written two books “The Moses Stern Chronicles Vol I” and “The Ramblings of a Madman Anthology,” published by Robert’s Inadvertent Publishing.

We will soon have a PayPal account set up, but if you order now you will receive FREE postage. The first 100 orders will pay only the cover price. Moses Stern is $20 and The Ramblings of a Madman is $15.

Place your order or contact us by emailing us at rip@pahrump.com or snail mail us at:

PO BOX 4796 Pahrump NV 89041 Checks payable to RIP

Note to Dan: No charge for the plug for your books.

Related posts:

1. Carl Moore for Nye County Commissioner District 4
2. Featheriver vs Dan Schinhofen
3. Butch Borasky Candidate for Re-election as Nye County Commissioner

My friend, Dan Schinhofen, is a writer. We are of opposite political views. We each write a weekly column in the Pahrump Mirror and set out our differing political views.

But that is not the reason for this post. Dan and I are also Facebook friends. Today Dan wrote on Facebook:

Site up dated robertsinadvertentpublishing.net PLEASE check it out and maybe buy a book. I know we are all tight on cash, but you might enjoy the book.

Robert’s Inadvertent Publishing (RIP) is a privately owned company formed to publish the writings of Dylan Roberts. As Dylan is the father of the owners they thought that maybe if the old man finally got published they would not have to keep reading his stories.

I admire Dan’s entrepreneurship. Why don’t you go on over to his publishing site and look it over. Maybe buy a book. Tell Dan I sent you.

Related posts:

1. Virus on Facebook

Before you read the following post I should explain something so you won’t think I’ve finally lost my mind. I write a weekly column for a Nye County weekly newspaper called The Mirror, entitled, strangely enough, Nye-Gateway to Nevada’s Rurals.

A friend of mine, Dan Schinhofen, a Nye County Republican, also writes a weekly column in The Mirror.

Dan writes about his view of the world from a Republican perspective. I write from a Democrat’s perspective. Though we agree on some things, we disagree about many things from our respective political viewpoints.

What you are about to read is my response to Dan’s column last week.

Well, Dan, having read your “Obama knows best” column about healthcare reform last Thursday, June 18, 2009 in The Mirror I came away with the thought it sounds like “let’s keep on doing what we’re doing—i.e., retain the status quo.” If so, the status quo isn’t working very well.

“President Obama is committed to working with Congress to pass comprehensive health reform in his first year in order to control rising health care costs, guarantee choice of doctor, and assure high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.” [Source: Whitehouse.gov]

During the presidential election campaign Obama’s theme was Campaign for Change. My friend, Kelly Almond and I, heard repeatedly from people living in Precinct 28 in Pahrump—they emphatically wanted change from the status quo. Part of that change they sought was reform of the healthcare system in the United States. And, though Obama did not win in Nye County, the people of Nevada and the nation picked Obama as their agent to effect the change.

Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama pointed out in their public debates that change was in the air, and perhaps now was the time to push for universal health care, that the political will seemed present. Both cautioned that changing the healthcare system to include all Americans would be extremely difficult at best.

Clinton and Obama recognized the entrenched medical care industry and your political party would tenaciously resist any change. But change, it must.

“Comprehensive health care reform can no longer wait. Rapidly escalating health care costs are crushing family, business, and government budgets. Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have doubled in the last 9 years, a rate 3 times faster than cumulative wage increases. This forces families to sit around the kitchen table to make impossible choices between paying rent or paying health premiums. Given all that we spend on health care, American families should not be presented with that choice. The United States spent approximately $2.2 trillion on health care in 2007, or $7,421 per person – nearly twice the average of other developed nations. Americans spend more on health care than on housing or food. If rapid health cost growth persists, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2025, one out of every four dollars in our national economy will be tied up in the health system. This growing burden will limit other investments and priorities that are needed to grow our economy. Rising health care costs also affect our economic competitiveness in the global economy, as American companies compete against companies in other countries that have dramatically lower health care costs.” [Whitehouse.gov]

I could see from your column last week that you subscribe to Frank Luntz’s “The 10 Rules for Stopping the Washington Takeover of Healthcare,” I wrote about in The Mirror on June 11 and 18. Specifically you followed Luntz’s Rule 4 when you assert Obama “is determined to have the Federal Government in charge of everything.”

You may want to re-think your position that “This time his [Obama’s] sight is on the best health care system in the world and remaking it into a third world model.” The World Health Organization in 2000 ranked the healthcare system of the United States as 37th in the world. [Source: Geographic.org]

We may be lower than that by now. Keep in mind that that ranking has been achieved by our current healthcare industry without “government in the middle of the healthcare industry.”

Dan, note that President Obama’s approach to healthcare reform doesn’t constitute “The biggest threat to our deficit.” Re-read what he says. His approach is to cut and contain healthcare costs, not increase the deficit.

Since I’m running short on space, permit me to quickly change gears here. A fundamental factor seems to separate our view of this whole topic. I see healthcare as a Constitutional right of the people of the United States. The Preamble to the Constitution reads:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” [Preamble to the United States Constitution]

To me the “general Welfare” includes health. I submit my view of the application of the “general Welfare” clause is buttressed by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads “no state shall … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” [14th Amendment to the United States Constitution]

Contrary to your apparent view, the matter of healthcare reform, is a Constitutional issue, not an economic one. The Constitutional right to healthcare for all is not dictated by nor controlled by insuring that the healthcare industry maintain a right to make a profit from the diseases, sicknesses, and health problems of the populace.

Related posts:

1. Support Healthcare Reform
2. Putting Americans In Control of Their Health Care
3. Healthcare Stories for America

As those of you who regularly read this blog knows I live in Pahrump, Nye County, Nevada.

The guy on the left is Dan Schinhofen. Notice I put his picture on the left side. I did that to annoy him because he is a right wing conservative Republican.

I’m of the Democrat persuasion politically. I’ve lived in Pahrump for six years. Am retired and got myself involved in local politics to keep me out of pool halls, bars and casinos.

I have had the good fortune to meet a fellow who also lives in Pahrump. He is a died in the wool Republican. His name is Dan Schinhofen. We are like daylight and dark, at opposite ends of the pole, politically. We both like to write. We both like to write about politics. We each write a column in a weekly newspaper called The Pahrump Mirror. Dan’s column is called Ramblings of a Madman; mine is Nye-Gateway to Nevada’s Rurals. Dan has a weekly local TV talk show. I write this blog. We’ve had a beer together. We’re friends.

The photo above on the right is me. It was taken while I was canvassing door to door in Precinct 28 of Pahrump for Barack Obama. I’m a left-wing Progressive Democrat.

Dan and I are living proof Democrats and Republicans can co-exist. We are about to launch something which doesn’t exist in Pahrump. We are going to write and argue politics with each other in our weekly Mirror columns. Then we’ll go have another beer together. Dan will buy when we go because I bought the last time.

Related posts:

1. Dan Schinhofen is candidate for Nye County Commissioner
2. Pahrump Town Hall Meeting on Healthcare Reform to be held August 30
3. Featheriver Enterprises — Helps political candidates win elections

Republican Congressman Dean Heller, Nevada Congressional District 2

Democratic Senator and Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid

I enjoyed reading Jon Ralston’s column yesterday in the Las Vegas Sun. He has a way with words. “Let us turn our attention today from the train wreck unfolding in Carson City” he began, inviting our attention to Nevada Senator and Majority Leader of the Senate, Harry Reid.

Senator Reid is of diminutive size, with a soft voice. Nevertheless, make no mistake; he is commanding increasing attention of Nevada politicos, particularly the Nevada GOP. In disarray in Nevada, the GOP desperately wants to find someone within their ranks to beat Senator Reid in the 2010 election. As Ralston noted, they are bantering about the names of Sharron Angle and John Chachas as possible candidates to run against Reid.

Angle is sort of a fringe possibility. She has a following. But it is small and composed of anti-tax advocates. A one-issue group. I met Angle once at a Pahrump Fall Festival. Very attractive woman, but a one-issue candidate.

Chachas I have never heard of. However, I am not wired into the internal workings of the GOP. Ralston says Chachas is a New York Banker. Nevadan’s seem to prefer candidates that have been bred, born and lived a lifetime in Battle Born Nevada. I do not know how being bred, born and raised in Nevada makes them any more competent, but that seems to be the view. Maybe it is something in the Nevada water that makes the candidate more capable. I doubt that.

Ralston mentioned Chuck Muth. I blogged about Muth a few days ago. His dream of Dean Heller running against Senator Reid somehow leading the way for the GOP to overthrow the Democrats’ political influence in Nevada.

Ralston thinks Heller would be the GOP candidate with the best chance of ousting Reid. “He is telegenic and has a rock-solid base and few negatives,” he wrote. He has a point. Voters are naive and tend to look no deeper into the competency of candidates than their good looks. The GOP has a way of selling candidates, like a brand of toothpaste. Bumper sticker politics. Heller is handsome. Has a good smile. Probably an affable demeanor. He may cause GOP women’s hearts to flutter. That has nothing to do with the ability to fill the shoes of a senator. The GOP in Washington, says Ralston, think Heller is God. I find that amusing, since the GOP think Democrats see Barack Obama as the messiah. That is what Dan Schinhofen told me. Dan only smiled when I responded Obama can walk on water. Heller is really more of a Dan Quayle or another Jim Gibbons. “All hat—no cattle” as Putin once noted about George W. Bush.

With due respect to Mr. Heller, he doesn’t have the capability to be a United States Senator in these times of complex problems of the economy, two wars, job losses in the millions to name a few.

Heller, during his term in the House of Representatives, tends to vote against the interests of ordinary people and in favor of big business. He voted to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood, opposes the Employee Free Choice Act, repeatedly voted against tax policies needed for development of renewable energy, voted no on mortgage restructuring in bankruptcy, voted no on oversight of TARP, voted no on reauthorization of Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), no on prescription drug imports, again voted no on the Lilly Ledbetter Pay Act, no on the National Volunteer Program Expansion, no on the Equal Pay Bill, no on Alternative Energy Tax Incentives, and no on Expansion of the G.I. Bill. There is more but you get the idea.

He gets most of his campaign money from the Finance, Insurance and Real Estate industries.

Related posts:

1. Republican Congressman Dean Heller’s Dilemma
2. Voting records of Dean Heller, Harry Reid and John Ensign
3. Recent Harry Reid and Dean Heller Votes