BARBWIRE by ANDREW BARBANO Pirate Laureate of the High Desert Outback of the American Dream

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The plan to beat the teachers' tax petition is worthy of Karl Rove.

The onetime Sparks schoolboy would appreciate a strategy so smooth that it doesn't look like one.

TV spin for Gomorrah South: Nevada generates plenty of tax money for education. The problem lies with those greedy northerners and rural cowboys who take what should go to Las Vegas. Our lawmakers just need to get our money back.

TV spin for Sparks-Reno-Washoe: Ignore statewide statistics. Our local schools are among the best in the nation. Every time its budget gets cut, the Washoe County School District improves its graduation rate.

The outlines of this campaign emerged over the last few days.

At a meeting of an outfit imposingly named the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, its president, Tom Skancke, said “We’re fixing the wrong problem. We don’t need any more taxes. We’ve got to get our laws into the 21st century. This (education funding) formula is broken.”

The Las Vegas Sun reported this justification: "In 2011, Esmeralda County received $17,508 per student while Clark County received only $5,068 per student."

Remember the old advice that figgers don't lie but liars figger?

Newly appointed Clark County school boss Pat Skorkowsky was in attendance and agreed with Skancke.

Smart politician.

Nevada's smallest county, rural Esmeralda averages about 75 students total.

Clark County/LV has about 320,000, far more over whom to average the substantial fixed costs of running a school district.

Before this November's balloting, education tax opponents will spend millions selling LV voters on that very creative but false dichotomy.

Up north, the taxophobes will sing a different song.

Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN) boss Mike Kazmierski pulled some stats out of his sales manual and turned them into a guest editorial for the Reno Gazette-Journal. (You know them, that friendly chain newspaper which last year complied with orders from Reno auto dealer/advertisers to kill the proposed tax increase for school repair and maintenance.)

Citing an EDAWN-funded study, Mr. Kazmierski asserted that Washoe schools rank among the best in the country.

"College readiness in all subjects: 18th in the nation, ahead of California and most other states."

  These guys are concocting a perfect storm of divide and conquer.

  Las Vegas just needs a bigger piece of the existing pie and Washoe can easily do with less because Sparks-Reno schools improve as budgets are slashed. (The local chamber of intercourse noted exactly that almost two years ago.)

No one will let the facts get in the way of a good story, like the fact that due to one of the late Sen. Bill Raggio's, R-Reno, worst screwups, Sparks-Reno has lost money to Las Vegas for the past 23 years. (See the 6 Nov. 2006 Barbwire/)

For details, go to the ever-expanding We Don't Need No Education section of NevadaLabor.com/

Nevadans love education. We just don't want to pay for it.

If you've got kids to educate, do them a favor and move somewhere else.

LIGHT-GUV LIGHTNING. Assemblymember Lucy Flores, D-Las Vegas, will announce her candidacy for lieutenant governor early next month, a move that Democrats spin as a pre-emptive strike against Gov. Brian Sandoval running against Sen. Harry Reid, D-Searchlight, in 2016.

"Sandoval has never shown any reluctance to quit a job in order to advance his ambition," said one cynical political veteran.

Indeed, Gov. Veto El Obtúse even quit his lifetime federal judgeship to accept gubernatorial coronation from the gambling-industrial complex.

"He doesn't care if it makes Lucy Flores governor," said the old warhorse. "He'll run against Harry Reid and beat him."

As Lily Tomlin once opined, "no matter how cynical you become, it's hard to keep up."

Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)

WEB EXTRAS...

BARBANO BACK ON SAM SHAD'S STATEWIDE NEVADA NEWSMAKERS TV SHOW, 12:30 p.m. PST today and Monday, Feb. 24—>KRNV TV-4/RENO, KENV TV-10/ELKO. Click here for lineups, statewide TV reruns, on-demand, radio and webstreaming.

RENDER UNTO CESAR: Northern Nevada César Chávez Celebration XII happens on the great labor leader's birthday, March 31, 2014.

Commit for tickets and tables now at CesarChavezNevada.com.

I'm planning a TV special about César Chávez's days in Nevada.

Stay tuned.

ANTE INTO THE GAME: Support the new season of Barbwire.TV by putting your money where my mouth is.

PayPal monthly subscription software is now operational at the website.

A thousand thanks to those who already responded.

Keep sending show suggestions.

Current frontrunners include (pardon the pun) wild mustangs as canned goods, education,  i-Guns and gay Olympics with César Chávez in Nevada recently surging.

Now come queries about ballot questions. After the Jan. 30 column came a surge of questions about the Nevada State Education Association corporate tax petition on this November's ballot.

Stay tuned.

  Please forward additional ideas or vote on the above.

  I encourage you to donate to the cause at Barbwire.TV/

The medium that shapes public opinion needs at least one refuge where it is not filtered through the distorted green eye shades of prissy corporate accountants for whom profit is the only priority; where self-censorship is the journalist's normal work environment and where all sins of omission are tacitly encouraged and forgiven with the wave of a balance sheet.

This is important.

We've got work to do.

HONOR YOUR DON. Keep sending comments supporting legendary Nevada photographer Don Dondero (1920-2003) for the Nevada Press Association Hall of Fame.

His life's work appeared worldwide, including the Tribune and most probably every newspaper in Nevada.

Enlist in the campaign to install Big Don.

Please send me your memories and endorsements via e-mail or to P.O. Box 10034, Reno NV 89510.

The Barbwire got the late Reno Gazette-Journal columnist Guy Richardson elected in 2012.

Let's double down.

Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)

____________
Andrew Barbano is a 45-year Nevadan, chair of the Nevada César Chávez Committee, producer of Nevada's annual César Chávez Day celebration, first vice-president and political action chair of the Reno-Sparks NAACP, labor/consumer/civil rights advocate, member of Communications Workers of America Local 9413/AFL-CIO and editor of NevadaLabor.com and JoeNeal.org and DoctorLawyerWatch.com/ As always, his opinions are strictly his own. Check local listings for other Nevada cable systems. E-mail barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us. Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Sparks Tribune since 1988.

Smoking Guns... Nevada State Legislative Counsel Bureau Education Publications 2013 Nevada Education Data Book Study of a New Method of Funding for Public Schools in Nevada 8-22-2012 The potential for success of an educational adequacy lawsuit against the State of Nevada From then-Nevada System of Higher Education Chancellor Jim Rogers 7-15-2008 The Smoking Gun: Leonard Cohen proven right again 2005-2007 Nevada legislative study documents what everybody knows Suing for Schools: The 20-year shuck Expanded from the 2-21-2010 Daily Sparks Tribune Updated 2-24-2010, 2-27-2010, 3-4-2010, 3-8-2010, 8-30-2011 Education funding lawsuit gains support Daily Sparks Tribune/ AP 3-18-2011 We Don't Need No Education The continuing Barbwire series ...and more ammo.. Nevada Day Required Reading The Lady in the Red Dress The Barbwire's classic Nevada Day column written in 1983 The compleat history of the Silver State in 500 words SO WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Sparks Tribune 10-31-2013 and previously Barbano on the Barbwire plots new TV season Barbwire Special Web Edition / 10-21-2013 Barbwire: Nevada not really a state No, we were not Battle Born in Kenya Top 10 reasons Nevada lives in the 19th Century Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 10-17-2013 Sparks Tribune Low-income penalty: Nevada socks it to the working poor BARBANO: Nevada is one big company town Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 10-10-2013 State of Health National health care comes up against a very sick state. WHAT'S IN IT FOR US? Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 10-10-2013 USA at crossroads: New Deal or new Confederacy? Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 10-10-2013 Sparks Tribune UPDATE—>Bill Moyers: Shutdown is simply secession by other means ...and more ammo yet The Post-Dated Recession: Pay me now or pay me later Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 9-6-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune The Post-dated Recession By Joshua H. Silavent / Daily Sparks Tribune / 5-3-2011 Union decline and rising inequality in two charts by Colin Gordon Economic Policy Institute / 6-5-2012 Used in journalist Mark Robison's extensive Hard Labor: Nevada unions tout role in helping workers, firms, economy (Sunday 2 Sept. 2012 Reno Gazette-Journal, page one, Reno Rebirth section of the print edition). Union men Jim Burrell, Paul McKenzie and Guy Louis Rocha did the movement proud. Not included in the RGJ online edition. WOMEN AND UNIONS — ORPHAN MAJORITIES The Barbwire Labor Day column Reno Gazette-Journal / 9-3-2012 Nevada Press Assn. Better Newspaper Contest HAT TRICK: Barbwire takes first place three years in a row. The winning entries Suing for Schools: The 20-year shuck Expanded from the 2-21-2010 Daily Sparks Tribune Click here to view the show on your desktop RED flags flying low over Sparks Expanded from the 1-10-2010 Daily Sparks Tribune The wrath of self-righteous racism Expanded from the 11-8-2009 Daily Sparks Tribune Government contacts Nev. congressional delegation Nevada Legislature State of Nevada Secretary of State Carson City Clark County City of Las Vegas Douglas County Reno City Council Sparks City Council Washoe County Commission Washoe Registrar of Voters The campaign against forcibly-paid newspaper obituaries And they wonder why the newspaper business is dying?   The Dean's List    The Dean of Reno Bloggers could very well be Andrew Barbano, self-described "fighter of public demons," who started putting his "Barbwire" columns online in 1996 and now runs 10 sites. RENO NEWS & REVIEW, 11-9-2006 The 2009 first-place Nevada Press Association award winners Tony the Tiger & the flaky NFL Barbwire / 11-30-2008 Deregulation is never having to say you're sorry Barbwire / 8-3-2008 Nevada: A good place to visit, but do you want to live here? Barbwire / 6-15-2008 The 2008 first-place Nevada Press Association award winners The price of a piece / 6-17-2007 Boxing Pandora /9-23-2007 The Lady in the Red Dress 10-28-2007 1997 Pulitzer Prize entries The life and times of Travus T. Hipp The best who ever was

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Copyright © 1982-2014 Andrew Barbano

Andrew Barbano is a 45-year Nevadan, editor of NevadaLabor.com and JoeNeal.org; and former chair of the City of Reno's Citizens Cable Compliance Committee, He is producer of Nevada's annual César Chávez Day celebration and serves as first vice-president, political action chair and webmaster of the Reno-Sparks NAACP. As always, his opinions are strictly his own. E-mail barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us.

Barbwire by Barbano moved to Nevada's Daily Sparks Tribune on Aug. 12, 1988, and has originated in them parts ever since.
Whom to blame: How a hall-of-famer's hunch birthed the Barbwire in August of 1987
Tempus fugit.

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