Free Republic

While Biden set to jumpstart push for gun control next week ...Stunning victory for gun rights in Nevada!You guys did a tremendous job bombarding Governor n Sandoval’s office with phone calls, and he has listened to your appeals.Governor Sandoval vetoed the Universal Background Check bill yesterday, and now, the anti-gun Left is in full-mourning.The Associated Press reports that, “It is a significant defeat for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's gun control advocacy group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns [MAIG]. The organization spent hundreds of thousands of dollars working to get the bill passed through to the governor.”Despite Bloomberg’s fortune, his...

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval on Thursday vetoed Democratic-backed legislation that would have strengthened gun-control rules by requiring background checks on customers in all gun sales in the state, including private transactions. The Republican governor said in a veto statement that the bill amounted to an erosion of Nevadans' constitutional right to bear arms that would do "little to prevent criminals from unlawfully obtaining firearms." The bill, which narrowly passed in the state Senate in May and was approved by the Assembly in June, would have also required Nevada courts to send information about legal defendants who...

Mayor Bloomberg has one upped our efforts by setting up a 1800 hotline that will re route your out of state call and assign it a local number to make it seem like a resident called in favor of this bill so do us all a favor and use his HOTLINE number to call which does 2 things.. 1. uses the antis money against them 2. makes our vote no vote look local. 1-888-966-9224 when the liberal talking head starts speaking just press 2 to skip it and wait to be redirected to the mayors office where you will press...

Environmental activist Erin Brockovich, portrayed by Julia Roberts in a 2000 movie about her fight over the pollution of a California town, was arrested on suspicion of boating while intoxicated at Lake Mead near Las Vegas, authorities said Sunday. Brockovich was arrested late Friday night after breath tests showed her blood-alcohol level was just over twice the legal limit of .08, said Edwin Lyngar, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. A game warden noticed she was struggling and needed assistance while trying to moor her motor boat at the Las Vegas Boat Harbor, he said. Brockovich had been out...

As the controversial "Universal Background Check" Senate Bill 221 awaits Nevada Governor Sandoval's veto, anti-gun forces have pulled out all stops in an attempt to persuade the governor to sign it. The latest is by deception through calls to the governor's office from out of state cronies, feigning the number to look like it originates in Nevada. (snip)Had SB 221 just contained the mental health provisions, even a dyed-in-the wool firearms enthusiast like myself could have supported it. Unfortunately this was not the case, a gun control poison pill was slipped into it.SB221 would force all private firearms transfers in...

Encourage the Nevada Governor to Veto Gun Control! Gov. Sandoval is sticking his finger in the wind, trying to decide whether to issue veto You don’t even have to live in Nevada. But you should know that Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval (R) is trying to decide whether he should sign or veto SB 221, a bill so extreme that the left-of-center United States Senate even voted down a version of it. If he signs this Universal Background Check bill, it will have ramifications for you -- even if you don’t live in the Silver State. So please call 775-684-5670 and...

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote this morning on a measure that will effectively end debate on the misnamed “farm” bill, cutting off opportunities to fix the deeply flawed legislation. At a cost of a nearly $1 trillion — 80 percent of which goes to the food-stamp program — American taxpayers deserve a robust debate. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) won’t let that happen. This isn’t the first time Reid has pulled this stunt. His iron-fisted approach to running the Senate is one reason Americans hold Washington in such low regard and have a strong distrust of politicians....

The Senate will begin considering the landmark immigration reform bill next week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday morning. “Even if we we’ve not completed action on the farm bill or the student loans proposals, we’re going to bring immigration to the floor next week. Immigration is broken, it needs to be fixed,” Reid said in his opening remarks Tuesday. Reid said it’s his understanding that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell won’t oppose bringing the immigration bill to the floor, and Reid said he is “grateful” to his Republican colleague. In his opening remarks, McConnell did not mention the immigration...

RENO, Nev. — A Nevada powerbroker who headed a billion-dollar real estate company and pulled the strings of state politics as a prominent lobbyist for more than a decade was convicted Wednesday of making illegal campaign contributions to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid. Harvey Whittemore, 59, could face up to 15 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines after a federal jury returned guilty verdicts on three counts tied to nearly $150,000 illegally funneled to Reid's re-election campaign in 2007. **SNIP** Whittemore stood with his arms behind his back and shook his head slightly after the verdicts...

Harvey Whittemore, with his wife, Annette, on his right, jokes with his lead defense attorney, Dominic Gentile, during a news conference in Reno, Nev., on Wednesday, May 29, 2013, shortly after he was convicted of three federal counts of breaking campaign contribution laws by funneling nearly $150,000 to U.S. Sen. Reid, D-Nev., in 2007. Photo: Scott Sonner RENO, Nev. (AP) —Harvey Whittemore's lawyer says despite his client's illegal campaign fundraising conviction, the man prosecutors called "King of the Hill" in Nevada politics is a long way from prison.Whittemore, former head of a billion dollar development company, was convicted recently of...

CARSON CITY, Nev. — John W. Griffin is a fast-talking, whiskey-loving, fifth-generation Nevadan who spends his days as a lobbyist courting lawmakers in Stetsons. He advocates for luxury casinos, once brokered a dispute between a brothel and a nightclub, and has helped feuding families resolve tussles over cattle crossings. Now he is representing the ultimate city slicker, Michael R. Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, who, undaunted by defeat in Congress, is taking his campaign for stricter gun laws to the nation’s state capitals, including here, where a bill to expand the use of criminal background checks is before the...

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s long-anticipated plan for the Oregon & California Railroad trust lands amounts to a bold call for — input. Anyone who thought that Wyden would propose something specific has to be disappointed. Nevertheless, people as prominent and impatient as Gov. John Kitzhaber dutifully issued stilted remarks thanking Wyden for his “leadership.” Tongues had to be firmly in cheek. No one dared point out that the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee had again failed to do anything to help the people who inhabit a large part of his state. Instead of legislation, Wyden offered...

Is Harry Reid in Trouble?In the previous post, we noted the basics of the Harry Reid-Harvey Whittemore story. What Whittemore did may or may not have been illegal (a court will decide) and Reid may or may not have known what he was doing.But one thing is for sure: Harry Reid has used his power and influence to help Whittemore. More than once.Check out the headlines below. There are several clear instances of Reid using, and attempting to use, his influence to help ease the skids of Whittemore.First, with the Coyote Springs Project: “Over The Last Four Years, Reid Has Used...

Berkshire's MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co said on Wednesday it will buy NV Energy for $23.75 per share, a 23 percent premium to NV's Wednesday closing price. NV Energy shares rose to $23.90 in after-hours trading on Wednesday. It is not uncommon for shares in Buffett's target companies to trade slightly above the offer price, even where there are no competing bids and Buffett has said explicitly the offer is his best and final one.

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- A Nevada powerbroker who headed a billion-dollar real estate company and pulled the strings of state politics as a prominent lobbyist for more than a decade was convicted Wednesday of making illegal campaign contributions to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid. Harvey Whittemore, 59, could face up to 15 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines after a federal jury returned guilty verdicts on three counts tied to nearly $150,000 illegally funneled to Reid's re-election campaign in 2007. Later in the day, U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks declared a mistrial on a count of...

(CNN) -- Human error is to blame for a mortar round explosion that killed seven U.S. Marines and injured eight other service members during a training exercise in Nevada this year, the Marines said on Wednesday. An investigation of the March 18 incident at Hawthorne Army Depot revealed that "the Marines employing one of the mortars did not follow correct procedures, resulting in the detonation of a high explosive round at the mortar position," the Marines said in a statement. "The investigation also determined that the mortar section had not conducted appropriate preparatory training leading up to" the nighttime training...

CARSON CITY — Gov. Brian Sandoval said Tuesday that he opposes and would veto a bill requiring private party background checks for gun purchases that Democrats support. Hours after a legislative hearing concluded for Senate Bill 221 from Sen. Justin Jones, D-Las Vegas, Republicans introduced a last-minute bill on the senate floor to compete with Jones’ background check measure. The move draws a clear partisan line between Democrats and Republicans with the governor now supporting the bill from Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson. Roberson’s bill, Senate Bill 520, duplicates the provisions in Jones’ bill that would require the courts...

CARSON CITY —  U.S. Sen. Harry Reid said Tuesday he was surprised he wasn’t called to testify in the trial of former lobbyist and real estate mogul Harvey Whittemore, who is accused of illegally funneling $133,000 in contributions to Reid’s 2010 campaign. “If I’d been asked I would’ve been happy to come,” Reid said in an interview taped for the television program, "To the Point." “Do you think I should’ve volunteered?” Whittemore is accused of reimbursing his employees for campaign contributions they made to Reid’s campaign in 2007, a violation of federal campaign finance law. The jury began deliberating a...

RENO, Nev.—A jury began deliberations on Tuesday in the case of a former Nevada developer and political powerbroker who was called a greedy "ultimate insider" by prosecutors accusing him of illegally funneling nearly $150,000 in campaign money to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid Harvey Whittemore, 59, a former lobbyist and head of a billion-dollar real estate company, faces four felony counts tied to claims that he gave money to family members and employees to make contributions he had promised to Reid without revealing himself as the source. "He kept his promise and he broke the law to do it," Assistant U.S....

Apparently the Nevada Assembly, Judiciary Committee has secretly added SB221 to it's agenda for TUESDAY - yes the day after tomorrow. This is a bad bill and needs to be stopped. SB221 is the worst assault we have seen on the second amendment in Nevada and every gun owner needs to get involved! We are fighting against the infamous Mayors Against Illegal Guns who has spent a lot of money to blast print, radio, and TV with ads in support of SB221. We as NV residents have done very little to oppose this bill and we are about to pay...

The bigger they are, the harder they fall. That could be the title of the colorful biography of Reno attorney/developer/lobbyist Harvey Whittemore, who is on trial in federal court on charges of making nearly $140,000 worth of illegal campaign contributions to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Once the most powerful and influential lobbyist in the Legislative Building, Whittemore is now fighting to stay out of federal prison. It’s a long fall from his glory days here in Carson, when he pretty much got everything he wanted from the Legislature, thanks in part to generous campaign contributions. Testimony at his...

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Two long-time associates of a developer and high-powered lobbyist charged with making illegal campaign contributions testified Friday that he is well known for his generosity and integrity.State Assemblyman Ira Hansen said he and defendant Harvey Whittemore were rarely on the same side of issues when Hansen lobbied the Legislature as a citizen for more than two decades.Still, the Sparks Republican said during the federal trial that Whittemore was considered the most prominent and successful lobbyist in Nevada because people respected his opinion."He's always been straight-forward," Hansen said. "He's always been very generous in our community and always well-respected for...

CARSON CITY — Perhaps nobody at the Legislature this year has been more insistent than Nevada Senate Majority Leader Mo Denis that the state must immediately put more money into Nevada’s education system. And Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval could hardly have been more clear when he said he opposes and would veto Denis’ bill to increase payroll taxes for education. But Denis will make the case today that his payroll tax hike proposal is the best way to help Nevada’s schools next school year. Noting that Nevada consistently ranks near the bottom of state-by-state education comparisons, the Las Vegas Democrat...

On Friday, former acting IRS Commissioner Steve Miller, testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee, said that America’s tax system is “voluntary.” Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) agreed. Miller offered this perspective as he was grilled about his involvement in the IRS scandal wherein the IRS targeted conservative groups, particularly Tea Party organizations. This line has been used before by none other than Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Interviewed by Jan Helfeld in 2008, this is how the conversation went: Helfeld: If the government is in the business of forcefully taking money from some people in order to provide welfare...

Well, Harry Reid is resorting to desperate measures in order to try and regain some power in the Senate. Reports say that he is getting ready to use the so-called “nuclear option” to change the senate rules so that 60 votes are no longer needed to block a filibuster. And it looks like President Obama will support Reid’s efforts if the Republicans try to block upcoming nominations. “If Senator Reid decides to do something on nominations, the president has said he’ll be there to support him,” a Democratic aide told the Post. "This would take away the right to...

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Wednesday "House Republicans have truly lost their minds" under a popular definition of insanity. Reid, speaking of House GOP leaders' plan to hold a 37th vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act -- commonly known as "Obamacare" -- cited a statement often attributed to Albert Einstein, that insanity is defined as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.""If that's true, the House Republicans have truly lost their minds," Reid said in a speech on the Senate floor.Noting that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said after the 2012...

CARSON, NV - Thelma Kessler is 86, her husband Stanley, 87. They've been married for 36 years, but now in the sunset of their lives they are allowed to see each other for just one hour a week and a court order gives others the power to file for their divorce. Thelma no longer has control of her husband's life. That's responsibility now rests with Carson City Public Guardian Debi Marzoline. After a series of court hearings, Stanley was removed from their home and put in a nursing home. There was an allegation Thelma was starving him and she was...

Funding Will Research How To Make Solar Panels More Efficient & Minimize Water UseNSF Grant Expected To Employ 100 Technicians, Scientists and StudentsWashington, D.C.- Nevada Senator Harry Reid today joined Chancellor Dan Klaich and officials with the National Science Foundation  in announcing a grant for $20,000,000 which will be awarded to the Nevada System of Higher Education to improve the effectiveness of large-scale solar installations in arid desert lands. The grant comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the project, called  “The Solar Energy-Water-Environment Nexus in Nevada,” will be a collaborative effort between the University of Nevada, Reno, the...

The last time O.J. Simpson was in a Las Vegas courtroom, he stood next to defense attorney Yale Galanter before being handcuffed and hauled off to prison for up to 33 years. On Monday, the former football hero returns to Clark County District Court with a different set of lawyers hoping to convince a judge that Galanter shouldn't have been handling his armed robbery-kidnapping case — that the lawyer who was paid nearly $700,000 for Simpson's defense had a personal interest in preventing himself from being identified as a witness to the crimes and so misled Simpson that the former...

The Mini-Golf Tax. The “Iron Man” Tax. The Burning Man Tax. I’m pretty sure most Nevadans enjoy one or more of those activities, which means if Democrats in the Legislature pass their new Nevada Entertainment and Admissions Tax, every Nevadan will curse them when they try to enjoy themselves on the weekend after a long workweek. Wow, this is stupid. So, instead of imposing a corporate tax on Wal-Mart like nearly every other state in the country, you’re going to tax me when I go to the movie theater? So I’ll pay $11.88 instead of $11? I love carrying 12...

The Legislature’s attempt to craft an entertainment tax in 2003 read a little bit like the children’s story of the hen who couldn’t persuade her barnyard animal friends to help her gather and grow grain for the winter. Lawmakers then considered a proposal by the Nevada Taxpayers Association to tax admissions to nearly every form of entertainment and recreation. But when it came time to write the bill, a common refrain was sounded by many targeted for the tax. “Not I!” said the movie theaters. “Not I!” said the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “Not I!” said the baseball parks, bowling...

By the end of Tom Coburn's Morning Joe appearance today, a panel member could be heard, off-camera, whistling in astonishment. Not surprising, since the plain-talking Republican Senator from Oklahoma had just unloaded on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Coburn called Reid "dishonest" in his dealings with him, saying that Reid was "not truthful" and had "not kept his word." For good measure, Coburn added that Reid had been a "failure" as Majority Leader. View the video here.

"Superficial" "A source close to the Senate negotiations [says] that two senators who voted against the background check bill would vote for it after minor, superficial changes." - Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC, May 6, 2013ACTION: Senators who voted pro-gun last month are under intense pressure - by Senate Democrats and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s hit ads - to switch their votes.  We need to keep applying the heat and let them know that gun owners are ready to help in any Senate campaign, no matter which state, to defeat ANY SENATOR who votes for gun control.LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FROM WASHINGTON, DC. It’s...

State and university employees may see a temporary 2.5 percent salary reduction solidified into a permanent pay cut. Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget director Jeff Mohlenkamp told a legislative committee Saturday that the administration may amend a bill to make those salary reductions permanent. As written now, Senate Bill 483 extends current 2.5 percent salary reductions until June 30, 2015, at which time they’d go away and employees would get 2.5 percent of their salaries back. “We would seek to modify that bill to make the pay cut permanent, and then we would make the affirmative decision to restore the pay...

CARSON CITY — Freshman Assemblyman Jim Wheeler’s favorite thing to do at the Legislature: Argue with liberals. From where he hails — the rural ranching town of Gardnerville — there aren’t many of those for the cowboy hat-wearing, retired businessman with a deep, gravely voice to argue with. “It’s so much fun,” the exuberant lawmaker said from his fourth-floor office at the Legislative Building last week. “Where else can you argue with a liberal every day? You argue with one, you can turn around and, look! There’s another!” This session, Wheeler appears to be one of a dwindling breed in...

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid has essentially agreed with Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul that the Senate should address weaknesses in the U.S. immigration system in light of last month’s attack in Boston. U.S. Senator Rand Paul had sent a letter to Senate Majority leader Harry Reid after the Boston bombing expressing concern over the refugee program. That program allowed two individuals to move to Bowling Green where they were planning a terrorist attack. “I am not for saying no to an immigration bill, I think the immigration system is broken and we do need immigration reform and I am...

Democratic leaders are wooing staunchly pro-gun candidates to run in pivotal Senate races at the same time they are discussing a strategy for bringing gun control legislation back up for debate. The two-pronged effort has prompted Republicans to accuse the Senate Democratic leadership of hypocrisy, but Democrats say it is simply smart politics. The question is whether two of the Democrats’ most promising potential candidates in Montana and South Dakota will pay a price for the leadership’s political maneuverings in Washington. Or will recruiting candidates who do not support President Obama’s gun control agenda have any effect on Democratic fundraising...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) believes the Tea Party is ideologically similar to anarchists and that government is "inherently good." Speaking on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Reid said he was frustrated that, "We have a situation where this country has been driven by the Tea Party for the last number of years." He then insinuated Tea Partiers were like anarchists. "When I was in school, I studied government and I learned about the anarchists. Now, they were different than the Tea Party because they were violent," Reid said. "But they were anarchists because they did not believe in...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday introduced a bill that would require background checks to be run on anyone buying explosive powder, a reaction to last week's Boston Marathon bombing. Reid introduced the bill, S. 792, for Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who has been out sick for much of the year. But in a press statement, Lautenberg said the Boston bombing shows that background checks are needed for explosive materials. "It defies common sense that anyone, even a terrorist, can walk into a store in America and buy explosive powders without a background check or any questions asked,"...

Harry Reid and Wal-Mart hope nobody will notice their online revenue raid. Every time Congress has taken a serious look at proposals to boost Internet sales taxes, it has rejected them. That's probably why pro-tax Senators are trying to rush through an online tax hike with as little consideration as possible. As early as Monday, the Senate will vote on a bill that was introduced only last Tuesday. The text of this legislation, which would fundamentally change interstate commerce, only became available on the Library of Congress website over the weekend. And you thought ObamaCare was jammed through Nancy Pelosi's...

LAS VEGAS, April 19, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Mayors Against Illegal Guns announced today that concerned Nevadans will gather with Mayors Against Illegal Guns, ProgressNow Nevada, and veteran and gun owner Johnathan L. Abbinett on Saturday for a "Shame on You" protest against Senator Dean Heller, who voted with the Washington gun lobby and against the 90 percent of Nevadans who support commonsense, life-saving background checks for all gun sales. This week Senator Heller was among those who voted against bipartisan legislation proposed by Senators Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey that would have closed the loopholes that make it easy for...

A state online sales tax fix may leapfrog its way right to the Senate floor. Majority Leader Harry Reid began the process late Tuesday that would allow the bill, known as the Marketplace Fairness Act, to come before the full chamber without first going through the Senate Finance Committee — whose leaders largely dislike the proposal.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday that he would support a new ban on assault weapons as an amendment to pending gun control legislation. ""I will vote for Dianne Feinstein's assault weapons ban," Reid said in an impassioned speech on the Senate floor. "I will vote for assault weapons ban because maintaining law and order and saving lives is more important than preventing imagined tyranny." "Today I choose to vote my conscience, not only as Harry Reid, a United States Senator, but also as a husband, a father, a grandfather, and — I hope — a friend to lots...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that he will support the Assault Weapon Ban against what he calls conspiracy theorists, black helicopters and false flags: “I’ll vote for the ban because saving the lives of police officers, young and old, and innocent civilians, young and old, is more important than preventing imagined tyranny,”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, an NRA supporter, announced on Wednesday morning he will vote for bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines being offered as amendments one month after pulling those bans from a package of overall gun-reform legislation.

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) issued the following statement in opposition to the Manchin-Toomey amendment to S. 649. “When it comes to national policy choices on issues such as Constitutional liberties, gun violence and public safety, the stakes could not be higher. The enormity of this issue has weighed heavily on me. While I was home this past weekend, my family and I ate at the Carson IHOP where four people lost their lives and several were injured. The survivors of that senseless shooting in the morning hours of September 6, 2011, deserve this debate. “I...

The White House and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are shy of the 60 votes they need to move the bipartisan compromise bill on background checks for gun sales. Vice President Joe Biden has been personally calling senators to urge them to support the measure, Democratic aides say. Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) began a whip count on Monday, Democratic aides said, and Biden has been pressuring his fellow Democrats to fall in line. Biden’s office did not return an email seeking comment. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) are co-sponsoring the proposal that would expand background checks...

Dozens of resorts with permits to operate on national forests have bought or acquired rights to use nearby bodies of water for snowmaking. The Forest Service had adopted a clause that said those resorts had to transfer their water rights to the federal government ... After the National Ski Areas Association sued, a judge ruled last year that the agency violated procedure in not seeking public comment before adopting the clause. The agency now plans open houses April 16 in Lakewood, Colo., on April 17 in Salt Lake City, and April 18 in Lake Tahoe, Calif., to get input.

The Republican plan to block debate on Senate Bill 649, which requires background checks on almost all gun purchases and transfers, failed spectacularly Thursday morning when sixteen Republican Senators joined almost all of the Democrats to vote in favor opening debate on the bill. Among those voting to defeat the filibuster were 9 Democrats with “A” ratings from the National Rifle Association, and 12 A-rated Republicans (out of 16 Republican “ayes”). Two Democrats, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK), joined the majority of Republican Senators who tried to prevent debate, much less a vote, on the bill....

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) told reporters on a conference call moments ago that his compromise bill with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on gun background checks “doesn’t change in any way” his “conservative record or views.” The former Club for Growth president acknowledged he was out of his usual legislative area on the issue, but “it became clear to me a bill of some sort was very likely to reach the floor” that would be “badly flawed,” so he reached out to his friend and neighboring state senator Manchin to sit down and talk. “You’re probably used to hearing me talk...