Nevada

Nevada Republicans
by Jennifer Cronin

           The state of Nevada is an ever-growing state with a population in 1990 of 1,201,833 at a 50% increase over the population in 1980. That is a more than considerable increase. Nevada has experienced the fastest rate of population increase of any state, more than doubling it’s size, in mostly Las Vegas and Reno. Over 88% of this population live in urban areas. In 1990 84% of the populous is White, 7% African American, 3% Asian.
           The Federal Government controls over 80% of the land. The Government has built huge water projects and military installations. A huge expansion of high technology industries in the 70’s and 80’s helped Nevada to be one of the fastest growing states in the Sunbelt. Mining formed the backbone of the economy. Today Nevada leads the country in the extraction of gold, silver, mercury, berite, and gravel. The industry is dominated by the manufacturing of gaming devices, and aerospace products.
           The Nevada Constitution provides for a Governor elected to four-year terms. The legislature consists of a Senate whom 20 members serve four-year terms, and an Assembly with 42 members elected to two-year terms. Nevada is represented in the U.S. Congress by 2 Senators and 2 Representatives, and has 4 electoral votes. The Senate has 12 Republicans and 9 Democrats. The Assembly has 28 Democrats and 14 Republicans. The Governor Kenny Guinn is a Republican.
           The Republican Party feels that the issues of “People’s money, personal integrity, honesty, and hard work” are very important. Other important issues mentioned were balancing the budget, public safety, ethics, and most importantly, education. To the Governor Kenny Guinn, education is very important, since he was a teacher, and the Superintendent of the Clark County School District.
           Taken from the State Party Platform in the 1998 State Convention
           When dealing with the issue of Foreign Policy, the Republican Party in the State of Nevada feels that maintaining a strong, capable, modern, motivated National Defense should be a primary obligation of the Federal Government. They feel that all international transfers of first line technology and fissionable material should be banned. As far as military capability goes, they believe that the country must restore the ability to fight military actions on multiple fronts. They support missile defense development and restored funding for SDI and anti-satellite defense programs. The party feels that the nation must remain a sovereign nation, not subordinate to the United Nations or any other “one-world” government or organization. They also support the repeal of the Emergency War Powers Act.
           The party urges a clear and consistent foreign policy favoring the vital and economic interests of the United States and their citizens. All foreign aid should be eliminated to any nation or group engaging in actions or policies contrary to the best interest of the United States and their citizens. In regard to The United Nations, they believe that all members of the United Nations should provide an equitable share of support and favor reducing the financial participation of the United States. They do not recognize any authority of the United Nations to tax or regulate the United States citizens or businesses.
           With the issues of Equal Rights and Opportunity, the Nevada Republican Party was very vague and information was limited. They believe that every person has a right to, and an individual responsibility to strive for equal opportunity. They feel all persons are entitled to equal opportunity for advancement, equal pay for equal work, and freedom from all forms of discrimination. They oppose affirmative action. They oppose same sex marriage.   The stable family unit is woman and man. “ We support the sanctity of marriage between man and woman, this is the pattern that God set forth on this Earth.” (Quoted from the party platform) They feel parental rights are important, and that parents should be responsible for their children and not the Government. They also oppose any federally mandated standards on prices or wages, and support raising the minimum wage.
           With the issues of Social Policy a lot was mentioned, but most things said were very vague and unspecific. Crime and punishment is a very important issue on the State and National Level. They support truth-in-sentencing and minimal sentence reductions on cases involving violent crime. They support changes that would allow for quicker final adjudication of criminal cases with a limited number of appeals. They support the death penalty.   They support strong measures of control and punishment for those convicted of trafficking in and or use of any illegal drug. They oppose any actions designed to legalize the use of any illegal drug. They support string laws against pornography, especially involving children and violence. They support the reforming of the federal prisons, to reduce the cost of maintaining prisoners, eliminating luxuries.
           In regards to social policy and immigration issues, the Republican Party feels very strongly about immigration reform and laws. They want current immigration laws to be strictly enforced, including the following: They oppose paying public assistance to illegal aliens. Borders should be better protected against illegal aliens entering the country for our economic security. They support legislation declaring that children born in the USA of parents who are not in this country legally are not automatically American Citizens. Illegal immigrants should depend on their sponsors and not the American Taxpayers for assistance. This party feels that the English language should be the official language of the U.S, and that English, and the knowledge of English should be a pre-requisite to naturalization as a citizen of the U.S.
           The Party supports the idea of getting Americans off of the welfare program and back into the working community, but does not say how. They mention healthcare, saying they support a free market approach which emphasizes individual choice and responsibility, considering such concepts as medical IRA’s and malpractice liability reform, yet this is very vague and does not specify what a free market approach means to their party.
They were clear in saying that they are against abortions, partial birth abortions and, opposed to funding abortions. They support reforms to Medicare, such as taking measures to take an active pursuit to fraud.
           Veterans are very important to the Republican Party of Nevada. They feel we owe our men and women of our military a debt of gratitude for their sacrifices they have made for this country. They are extremely patriotic. They believe our country must be able to provide them with adequate health care, designed for them. They support VA/Medicare subvention, and feel veterans should be entitled to reasonable treatment for Agent Orange and Gulf War Syndrome. They oppose the contracting of space in VA Hospitals to Prison Authorities.
           The Republicans did not go into length on the issues of Social Security, Medicare, or Gun control, and was very vague about Health Care. But, they did speak about economic issues like the Budget and Taxes. They talk a lot about balancing the budget, and doing it with real and permanent controls placed on spending. They “demand” retirement of the national debt without raising taxes. They support a Constitutional Amendment requiring a balanced budget. They oppose the diversion or lending of trust funds earmarked for specific purposes. They support zero-balanced budgeting at all levels of government, and a requirement for strict accounting of allocated funds and a return of all unspent funds to the general fund. They support legislation to sunset the current Federal Tax code by December 31, 2001. They support reform of the current tax system, including but not limited to reduction of capital gains taxes and elimination of inheritance taxes, and taxes on tips. They support a “national retail sales tax” or a “flat tax.” They oppose any mining taxes, federal taxes on gaming and disguised taxation. They believe it should be a violation of the Law of The United States to order or require the IRS to investigate any citizen or organization from the order of the President, any member of the Administration, or member of Congress.
           States Rights and the Constitution Issues: The party supports the strict interpretation of the Constitution. They feel the ultimate contract with America is the Constitution of the United States. They clearly support the right to bear arms. The Second Amendment is something very important to them, and they support repeals on legislation infringing on these rights. They support strict interpretation of the Fifth Amendment rights regarding compensation for the taking of property by physical occupancy, regulation or other means. They feel all people should be held accountable to the laws of the respective states, and to the US. Including all government agencies, Congress, and the Senate. They support reforms that move police powers of government to state and local levels. They support existing legislation prohibiting federal agencies from lobbying Congress.
           In regard to environmental protection, they support efforts to preserve and protect our enviorment in order to balance interests between the public and private rights.   They encourage industry to research and develop better ways of recycling waste into useable products, rather than dumping or storing waste. Specifically nuclear waste. For example, Yucca Mountain Project: a nuclear storage facility; a man made mountain. They feel no environmental law should be imposed until a financial analysis is completed.
           Education is a big issue for Nevada Republicans. The Governor, Kenny Guinn, who is a Republican, was also a teacher and a school Superintendent. They support the elimination of the Federal Department of Education and allow administration to be handled locally. They oppose the testing of national standards and national testing. They support school vouchers, freedom of choice in education, true charter schools, and/ or educational savings accounts. They support random audits of schools and the elimination of automatic tenure for teachers.   It should be based on merit and ability. And schools need to spend money properly. They oppose bilingual education and support all classes being taught in English. They oppose the teaching of homosexuality as a viable alternative lifestyle in our public schools, and want to restore teaching traditional ethical values.
           Kenny Guinn in his State of the State Address, in January 1999, spoke about Education and balancing the Budget at length. He also talked about allocating a lot of the state budget towards education. For example, putting money onto K-12 education, saying that Nevada schools are one of the fastest growing in the Nation. From the general fund revenues, they will have approximately 238 million dollars in their budget. For K-12 education he will spend about 130 million. For college education, 50 million. The rest of the money will go to insuring public safety, for example, a new juvenile detention facility. Also, from a National settlement from the Tobacco Industry, Guinn plans to use the forty million to pay for “Millennium Scholarships,” so all children to get a higher education. He plans on finishing the building of a new prison in Cold Creek, and lease out the old one to other states to help the budget. Privatizing the prison medical services, and privatizing the state insurance system, also will help save money.