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Rory Reid provides a blurry vision for Nevada under his leadership
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Rory Reid's vision for Nevada's future is quite blurry
Rory Reid’s declared opponents in the race for governor have yet to respond to his just published vision document. They might choose to ignore it altogether, or perhaps they'll take it head on. If they choose the latter, conservatives in the state hope they focus attention both on what issues Mr. Reid has addressed as well as those he conspicuously chose not to. Here’s how they might address the former…
Bigger and more bloated
More than half the pages of Mr. Reid’s vision document are consumed with him offering "a fundamentally new direction for our state," and explaining "a new approach to economic development that captures the full potential of Nevada…” If by "new approach" he means bigger and more bloated, he has hit his mark in this document.
Reid expounds on businesses and ideas he knows very little about, making overly broad generalizations about technology hubs and data centers, and logistics and shipping. And of course, as might have been expected, he can’t resist spending an inordinate amount of attention on climate change and all things green. He launches into his plan for the future under his leadership with the following quote:
“Creating jobs should be job number one for every public servant today.”
Public servants are not—or at least should not be—in the business of job creation. Rather, their job is to create an environment in which the private sector can flourish—and create the jobs. Managing the state’s tax revenues, providing better management of public education, emergency services, transportation infrastructure, health care delivery and social services should be job number one for every public servant. If the free market can’t create jobs, it’s likely because the public servants are getting in the way.
Mr. Reid proposes that the state boost access to capital for small businesses by providing capital and loan guarantees for banks. Forgetting for the moment that the state faces immense budgetary problems and has no cash for such arrangements, loan guarantees simply redistribute the risk of default to the taxpayers. Such schemes are what caused the massive failures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and contributed mightily to the housing bubble and present recession. Why should we repeat this mistake now on the state level?
Mr. Reid suggests that “…Nevada needs to start attracting every possible federal dollar…” Well, if Nevada can’t do better than it has with his powerful father in the US Senate, it’s unlikely that he will be the game changer garnering more D.C. bucks for the state going forward.
Green ideas bump into economic realities
In the green department, Mr. Reid again demonstrates that his knowledge of economics is severely challenged. He proposes to “make state government lead by example on sustainable building practices and energy efficiency and require major new private-sector buildings to do the same.” This will simply provide a disincentive for new building construction by raising costs. Where new construction must adhere to green mandates, the costs will have to be passed on to tenants, who will have to raise prices for their goods or employ fewer workers in order to compete. Or, new development may just stay away altogether. So inconvenient, this Economics 101 stuff.
Reid also proposes to “capitalize a Nevada Energy Independence Fund to establish Nevada’s leadership in clean technology investments.” Where, one wonders will that money come from? He also cites California’s move into solar power generation and professes a desire for Nevada to catch up, not once mentioning the cost of solar power in terms of water usage.
Reid as the Nevada Ben Bernanke
As Governor, Mr. Reid would create numerous “incentive funds” a “capital investment corporation” and a “Research Commercialization Matching Grant Program” among other expansions of government and spending. After a while, it seems like Mr. Reid believes himself to be Ben Bernanke, complete with his very own printing press.
Regarding education, Mr. Reid proposes holding teachers and principals accountable for their performance and making our universities the best in the nation. He offers no suggestions for how he might do so where others have failed. Again, however, he proposes expanding government through the formation of a “technology development corporation” and, remarkably, proposing increased sabbatical leaves for university staff.
At the end of every major category of Mr. Reid’s vision document, he concludes with a statement that he “will lay out [his] detailed program for [fill in the blank], which [he] will release later in this campaign.” The people in Nevada should be thankful that Mr. Reid has taken the time and effort to present his ideas on policy and leadership, raising the bar of political campaign discourse. Unfortunately for Mr. Reid, the broad ideas he presents are not likely to spark voter enthusiasm in the present, or keep voters at the edge of their seats while awaiting his promised publication of the details.
For More Info: Learn why candidates for Nevada governor would be wise to read Henry Hazlitt's classic, Economics in One Lesson
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