(Chuck Muth) – Hop in the Wayback Machine with me, Peabody (ask your granddad), and set the dial for 1995.
After wandering aimlessly for 40 years in the political desert, Republicans – under the leadership of Commanding General Newt Gingrich – snatched the majority in the House of Representatives from Democrats thanks in large part to the “Contract with America.”
That contract listed 10 things House Republicans pledged to vote on within the first 100 days if they got the majority. And they fulfilled their promise.
Nine of the ten passed in the House – the exception being a proposal for term limits (go figure).
But then the bills went over to the Senate where the Balanced Budget Amendment got killed by one vote – that of “Republican” Sen. Mark Hatfield.
It was then that conservatives learned a tough lesson: It’s not enough to simply elect more Republicans; they needed to elect better ones, as well. One bad apple and all.
Which brings me to former Republican State Sen. Scott Hammond.
In the 2023 session of the Nevada Legislature, Hammond first voted against a tax hike bill, thus denying the Democrats the one GOP vote they needed for a super-majority to pass the bill.
But then he flip-flopped, giving the tax-hiking D’s the 2/3 they needed to raise your taxes. It was déjà vu all over again.
Remember when Republican John Marvel flip-flopped and gave the Democrats the one vote they needed to pass what was, at the time (pre-Sandoval), the largest tax hike in Nevada history back in 2003?
So here’s the warning: Although Marvel and Hammond are (thankfully) no longer in the Legislature, the danger remains.
Democrats this year are only one vote short of the 2/3 super-majority they need to pass another tax hike and/or override any vetoes by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo – who was forced to whip out his red pen a record-setting 75 times in 2023.
And some of those vetoes are still sitting in the Legislature this very minute and subject to an override vote if the D’s can intimidate or buy off just one Republican in each house.
Don’t blow this off. As noted above, it’s happened before.
The bottom line is that while there are 15 Republicans in the Assembly and 8 Republicans in the Senate, there are NOT 15 conservatives in the Assembly and 8 conservatives in the Senate.
The danger is real. We’ve been screwed too many times before. So keep an eye on these Republicans. Some are Republican in Name Only (RINOs). They can’t be trusted.
Ye be warned.
