I just saw a Tweet by Assemblyman Scott Hammond (R-13) where he invited me to take a look at his new campaign website. Since Assemblyman Hammond is my assemblyman, I did go to take a look and I found it interesting. Right on the front page is an article titled "Clearing Up The Lies". You see, Assemblyman Hammond was recently on Face-To-Face with John Ralston in a debate with his Senate 18 opponent, Richard McArthur.
Ralston showed a video clip where then candidate Hammond stated, “I want people to look at me and if I tell them I won’t raise your taxes I want them to understand that I won’t. You know, I walk up to my commitments and I keep them. When I tell you face-to-face that I’m not going to raise taxes, I don’t think I have to sign a piece of paper to prove it.” (More info HERE)
In the 2011 session, Assemblyman Hammond did vote to extend the $620 Million in taxes which were set to expire or "sunset". The interesting thing about this is, on his website, Hammond states "The extension of the sunsets did not increase taxes."
Although the extension of these sunset taxes technically did not increase taxes, the point is that thanks to Assemblyman Hammond we are currently paying $620 Million more in taxes today than we are supposed to be paying!
If today we are paying $620 MILLION in taxes that we were promised we would not be paying today, how is that not a tax increase? Are you as tired of the "Doublespeak" as I?
Hammond goes on to say in his website "No one person, business or family is paying more in taxes now than they did before I took office."
Exactly.
We're not paying any MORE but the fact is WE SHOULD BE PAYING LESS!
I don't know about you but if our elected officials promised us a "temporary" tax that would expire in two years, shouldn't they keep their word and let the taxes expire when they were promised?
Assemblyman Hammond is currently running for the State Senate 18 seat against Assemblyman Richard McArthur. Hammond has already stated publicy that he supports making the $620 Million in "temporary" tax PERMANENT.
I think the taxpayers in Nevada would rather see these "temporary" taxes disappear as promised and have their elected officials keep their word, for a change.
I think you can see why you must tell the candidates that "If you don't sign the Tax Pledge, you don't get my vote!"
As a candidate for Assembly 13, I have signed the Tax Pledge and am the only Assembly 13 candidate to do so.
Assemblyman Richard McArthur is running for the Senate 18 seat, has one of the most conservative voting records in the Assembly and has also signed the Tax Pledge. He is also the only candidate for Senate 18 to do so.
The choice is clear, if you don't want your taxes raised and would want the "temporary" taxes to be temporary, tell the candidates, "If you don't sign the Tax Pledge, you don't get my vote!"
It's been all over the news, Facebook, Twitter, blogs today that because the Teachers Union refused to make concessions that the Clark County School District is going to fire 1,015 teachers. Pink slips comming soon.
I find this very interesting as no Administrators will be fired. It seems their Union made concessions so they will stay. This is where I get confused.
You see, there are approximately 18,000 teachers in CCSD. Firing 1,015 of them is a 5.65% cut in the number of teachers.
There are approximately 15,000 Administrators in CCSD. Yes, there is almost one Administrator for every teacher.
Since we will now have 5.65% fewer teachers, shouldn't we also have 5.65% fewer Administrators? Common sense would say yes.
5.65% fewer Administrators would mean firing 848 Administrators. After all, with 1,015 less teachers who are these 848 Adminstrators going to administrate?
Again, common sense would tell us that with 5.65% fewer teachers we could do without 5.65% fewer Administrators.
How much would CCSD save by also eliminating 848 Administrators? Let's do the math. An Administrator makes around $80.000 per year. Multiply that by 848 and you get $67,840.000. Yep, CCDS could save almost $68 MILLION per year by getting rid of 848 Administrators.
CCSD would save even more as Administrators do get a car, gas, cell phone and other perks. Think of how many more MILLIONS the TAXPAYERS could save by eliminating these useless positions.
Again, this is common sense to you and I, the taxpayer, but remember we're talking about CCSD and Unions. Common sense doesn't apply here.
Since the Administrators have their own Union, these 848 now useless positions will continue. CCSD will continue to cry that they don't have enough money and that taxes must be raised.
I say "Hogwash!"
For every teacher let go there MUST be at least one, if not two, Administrators also let go. We don't need them anymore! They no longer have anyone to administrate!
Who are the forgotten ones in this whole mess? The students, of course. In all of this I have not heard of one thing that will improve Nevada's education performance. This has been all about money. Money for the Union Bosses. Money for the top-heavy Administration.
The solution to improve the education is Nevada is simple. Fund the classroom and defund the Administration. Give parents choice in their childs education. This does mean more Charter Schools, more Empowerment Schools and Vouchers.
It's time we cleaned up the education system from the top down, not the bottom up.
The Nevada Constitution is clear, it is unconstitutional to have a State income tax. Yet, we do have an income tax in Nevada. It's called a payroll tax. This is a tax that a business must pay based on the money, or income, they pay their employees. The more employees a business has, the more they have to pay. As this tax is based on the income of employees, it is an income tax. As Nevada continues to go through tough economic times, we need to be talking about ways for businesses to expand and hire employees. Eliminating the payroll tax is a huge step in the right direction. We need to reward businesses for creating jobs. Many of our current Assemblymen and State Senators are not only in favor of NOT eliminating this anti-hiring payroll tax, the want to increase it. This is why I am running for Nevada Assembly in District 13. It's time to bring some common-sense back to Nevada. It's time to eliminate job killing taxes, rules and regulations which do nothing except suck the money from hardworking small busines owners and prevents jobs from being created. Support me and my campaign. Support and vote for Leonard Foster Nevada Assembly District 13!
Dear Candidate Foster, The Nevada Animal Owners & Sportsmen - Voting Alliance has selected you as the candidate of choice for State Assembly District 13. Good luck in your campaign to represent the people of Nevada in your district. Ken Sondej Nevada Animal Owners & Sportsmen - Voting Alliance www.naos-va.com (A IRS section 527 Political Action Committee (PAC) Organization) Not affiliated with and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee
John Ellison Assemblyman # 33 P.O. Box 683 Elko Nevada 89801 775-738-6287 Fax 753-8503 ellisonelectric@frontiernet.net To whom it may concern: I hereby endorse Leonard Foster as the Republican candidate for Nevada Assembly 13. Leonard is a proven conservative, a small business owner, a parent and foster parent. He lives in a world where common sense needs to be applied every day. Leonard has a desire to improve the Nevada Education system, specifically Clark County. His goal is to give back to the teachers and the parents the ability to educate at the local level by allowing choices. Parents should have options for their children’s education. Leonard believes in accountability and transparency which is definitely needed in state government. Leonard Foster is a proponent of 2nd Amendment rights and will be a positive influence in the legislature when gun control issues arise. As an entrepreneur and provider to his family, Leonard understands balancing a budget and knows how to work within one, which will be a great advantage in governing our state I look forward to working in the NV State Assembly with Leonard Foster, who will prove to be an asset to the State Legislature. Sincerely, Nevada State Assemblyman John Ellison
I want to thank Veterans in Politics for their support in my campaign for Assembly District 13. I look forward to working together and making a difference in the lives of the men and women of the Armed Forces who protect our freedoms and the Constitution.
It is the goal of Veterans In Politics to teach, educate, organize and awaken our veterans and their families to select, support and vote intelligently for a better world and to protect ourselves from our own government(s) in a culture of corruption and to be the political voice for those in other groups that do not have one.
Yes, I really do have 10 children. 5 boys and 5 girls age 20 to 5. There are two sets of twins. The youngest two just turned 5 last week.
This is a story about Rachael, one of the 5 year olds.
The other day I was laying on the couch in the living room. I was just starting to doze off when I felt someone covering me with a blanket. I peeked with one eye and saw it was Rachael. She took her time and made sure that I was covered from my neck to my feet. When she was done, she came up to my head, leaned over and said "Good night, Daddy", she then kissed me on the forehead and said " I love you, Daddy".
As she walked away, I looked up and said "Thank you, Lord".
You see, children are the greatest blessing from God and I feel blessed to be given the task of raising these beautiful kids. They are special and I can truly say that, as more children came into our family, that my love didn't divide, it multiplied.
This is why I am running for Nevada Assembly in District 13. I want to make sure that my children, and all the children in Nevada, have the same opportunity for success that all of us old geezers did.
So, am I crazy? You tell me.
(Victor Joecks/NPRI) – I’m currently reading CCSD’s 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and came across this gem. In their transmittal letter, CCSD Superintendent Dwight Jones and CCSD School Board President Carolyn Edwards write (p. xviii): During fiscal year 2010, the Nevada legislature was forced to respond to continued declines in revenues and cut state aid to the district from their original budgeted amounts. The result was that the District only received an additional $10 per pupil in fiscal year 2011 over fiscal year 2010. (Emphasis added.) Two things are remarkable here. First, this is yet another example of how often government ‘cuts’ are actually spending increases. After assuming an increase in spending, government agencies turn around and label reductions in future spending as a “cut,” even if they receive more funding than they did the year before. Second, this description, sadly, is actually better than most. At least it notes that the “cut” in state funding was from the “originally budgeted amount.” Many times government officials, including Gov. Brian Sandoval, Sen. Michael Roberson, Assemblyman Pat Hickey, and Assemblyman Marcus Conklin, just assert that spending more on education is a “cut,” without any explanation that the state is, in fact, spending more. It’s time to acknowledge that Nevada has nearly tripled inflation-adjusted, per-pupil spending in the last 50 years and that spending more and hiring more teachers hasn’t increased student achievement. Yes, this is why I am running for Nevada Assembly in District 13. It's time we bring some common sense to the Nevada budget and stop the lies.
Back in the 2009 Session, our Legislature raised taxes by $620 Million. These taxes were "temporary" and set to expire, or sunset, in 2011. However, in the 2011 Session, our elected representatives voted to extend these "temporary" taxes for another two years, again promising they would disappear in two years. Just last week, Governor Sandoval publicly stated that the new budget for the 2013 session would include keeping the full $620 Million. I guess this is how "temporary" taxes become permanent. The reasoning for not allowing the $620 Million to sunset , Jeff Mohlenkamp, the governor’s budget czar, stated that demand for “safety net (welfare) services” has supposedly “increased dramatically and continued high demand is expected.” So, according to Mr. Mohlenkamp, the $620 million is to go to essential services. Or is it? Mr. Mohlenkamp goes on to say, “All executive branch agencies must limit their agency request budget submissions to amounts listed in the attached General Fund target sheet. … These General Fund targets are…adjusted for pay-related reductions that sunset effective July 1, 2013. These reductions that have been added back include furloughs, pay rate reductions, suspension of merit salary increases, and suspension of longevity pay.” Did you get that? The $620 Million isn't going to go to "essential services", it's going straight into the pockets of public employees in the form of pay raises. As has been well reported, State and local government employees are already paid up to 30% more than the equivalent private sector worker. Here in Nevada State employees average $50,125 per year, local government employees $52,088 while the same job in the private sector average only $40,899. So, the reason for not allowing the $620 million to sunset as promised is so we can give the higher paid government employees a raise. I'm sorry, but I believe it's time for our elected officials to do what they say. We were promised the $620 Million would end in two years, we've had them for four. Now our Governor and State Senate "leaders" tell us they want to make them permanent. As your Assemblyman, I will vote against any attempt to increase taxes and will vote against any attempt to extend the $620 Million we were promised would already be gone. You can read more on this topic HERE.
Support and elect Leonard Foster for Nevada Assembly District 13!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Candidate Leonard Foster for NV Assembly 13 (NW Las Vegas) is busy meeting the voters in his district. While walking door to door, Leonard is asking his potential constituents how he can best represent them when he goes to Carson City.Leonard Foster Campaign LogoPRLog (Press Release) - Feb 18, 2012 -
Las Vegas businessman and candidate for Nevada Assembly District 13, Leonard Foster, has been busy knocking on doors since he announced his candidacy on November 11, 2011 and is on target with his goal to meet every voter in the district.
"I look forward to the opportunity to serve the people of Nevada." Foster stated. "I know that most candidates don't start knocking on doors until after they file for office, but I started early to introduce myself to as many voters as possible."
In 1978, Leonard enlisted in the US Navy and took an Oath to defend the Constitution of the United States. As your Assemblyman, Leonard says that's exactly what he will do... follow the Oath of Office.
Leonard added, "Nevada is #1 in unemployment, #1 in home foreclosures and dead last in education. We must turn these numbers around. The people in Assembly District 13, and Nevada, are tired of 'politics as usual' and are looking for someone who will fight against more taxes, job killing regulations and fight for keeping the money in the classroom and out of the hands of the union bosses."
Leonard moved to southern Nevada in 1990. Leonard, his wife Charlene, and family live in Centennial Hills in NW Las Vegas. Leonard & Charlene are proud to say they are foster parents to 6 of their children. Leonard is keenly aware of the challenges that face the children, parents and school officials in Nevada as they struggle with the fact that Nevada is one of the lowest rated states in the nation in education. Leonard Foster believes in putting education back into the hands of parents and teachers. "Who better to make decisions regarding the children than those that care for them the most." he says.
Leonard has worked in the casino industry and is currently the owner of a water treatment business in Las Vegas which he started in 1999. Leonard is intensely aware of the challenges that small business owners face every day - over regulation and an uncertain economic climate- these are issues that Leonard will work to change when he is elected and goes to Carson City to represent those that have sent him there.
Leonard is a "common sense" husband, father, business owner and candidate and will bring that "common sense" into the legislature.
You can visit his campaign website at www.LeonardFoster.com
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