 BARBWIREby ANDREW BARBANO
From the 11-16-97 Daily Sparks Tribune Updated 6-17-2012
 The None
of the Above for Governor Political Action Committee will fly like the
Phoenix in 1998. After last
week's call to arms, past and potential NAGPAC conspirators responded
from throughout the country.Many transplants may
not be aware of the Silver State's status as the only place in the nation
where "none of these candidates" actually appears on the ballot.The provision was placed
into law in 1975 by former Assemblyman Don Mello (D-Sparks) and
current Assembly Speaker Joe Dini (D-Yerington), who is currently
testing the gubernatorial waters himself. It was not the most forthright
bill the Dondini clique ever worked on. Legislative and other non-statewide
races were pointedly excluded.At the time, many felt
that Mello pushed it just to push his weight around as assembly ways
and means chairman. Personal pique probably played a part as well. During
the '75 session, Mello raked Nevada
Supreme Court Chief Justice Al Gunderson over the coals to
the point of personal insult. The judge happened to be up for re-election
the following year.The weird new law put
even unopposed candidates in the position of raising and spending money
to keep the "None" vote to less-than-embarrassing proportions. Not surprisingly,
Gunderson was its first victim. He drew no opponent, but "None" scored
21.5% in the November '76 election."None" had actually claimed
its first victory in the September primary, winning the Republican congressional
nomination. (Back then, Nevada had only one statewide seat.)By the time I chaired
NAGPAC in 1982, many people felt that a loss to the mythical "None"
should disqualify all flesh-and-blood losers and force an election re-run.
I disagreed. I still think that the seat in question should be declared
vacant with the next officeholder appointed by random drawing of all
eligible citizens, not just voters, within the affected district.One of the 1982 NAGPAC
planks advocated just such a lottery system of election. (I didn't think
of it. My wife did.) We asked could
we do worse than what we've got now? That question is today more appropriate
than ever.NAGPAC caught the public's
imagination in '82 because the average Nevadan knew he/she was royally
screwed no matter who won. The lot of the average Nevadan has not gotten
any better in the intervening years.Workers have acquired
no rights, only more obligation and discrimination under our punitive,
medieval state laws. We continue to fracture families with the active
help of government as pawned by heavy payments from the gambling-industrial
complex and its cronies. We continually top the charts in suicide and
teen pregnancy while promoting ourselves as a tax free workers paradise.
In reality, we are not lowly taxed, just selectively whacked. In Nevada,
the less you make the more you pay in hidden levies and user fees.Here, then, I present
a personal populist platform, the key questions you should ask any candidate
who seeks to switch your vote from zilch.(1) REPEAL FIRE-AT-WILL
and make Nevada workers fireable only for just cause.(2) REPEAL THE BLACKBALL
BILL spawned by the gambling-industrial complex this year. Blacklisting
made easy, it allows gambling companies to trade information about workers
with no fear of getting sued.(3) REPEAL TAILHOOK
I AND TAILHOOK II, laws passed after the infamous 1991 Tailhook
Association sexual molestation incident at the Las Vegas Hilton. In
1995, the gamblers cashed in campaign contributions to make themselves
pretty much immune from lawsuits arising from similar incidents. This
year, the corporate dons expanded the law to include other types of
business, making it open season for sexual and other predators. This
presents dangers to both employees and customers, as businesses have
far less incentive to maintain a safe environment.(4) DEVELOP COMPREHENSIVE
HEALTH CARE covering all Nevadans.(5) CHANGE UNFAIR
UNEMPLOYMENT LAW. Right now, if a worker is terminated for union
activity, he/she cannot collect Nevada unemployment compensation although
such firing violates federal law. Carlene O'Neil and Jessica
Gomes were bounced by Bently Nevada Corp. for requesting that
other workers sign for UPS deliveries during the Hot August Strike.
Teamsters Union attorneys successfully appealed their state unemployment
rejections, which the Minden company is still fighting.ELECTROSHOCK:
NAGPAC '98 will fully utilize the Internet. If anti-land mine activists
could win the Nobel Peace Prize by mobilizing people worldwide through
electronic mail, we should be able to plant a few political land mines
of our own. There will soon be a NAGPAC section at www.nevadalabor.com.
Send me your e-mail address to be included on the NAGPAC nagging list.As before, NAGPAC will
operate as an anarchistic democracy. We accept anyone for membership,
especially the underaged or otherwise disfavored. Illegal aliens, extra-terrestrial
or not, are cool as long as you buy an occasional round.FINALLY, A FOND FAREWELL
to the recently deceased Steve Maytan, Reno's Music Man who graciously
rented the Maytan Music Center rehearsal hall to us for our '82 election
night party. Steve and I talked politics well into the night, one of
the most enjoyable of my life. I herewith name him honorary NAGPACker
emeritus. Adios.Be well. Raise hell.
Blackguards challenge Nevada's legendary None of the Above ballot option Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 6-17-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune Andrew
Barbano, a Reno-based syndicated columnist and 29-year Nevadan,
is editor of U-News. Send an
E-mail if you want to
join the inaction with NAGPAC '98.Barbwire by Barbano
has originated in the Daily
Sparks Tribune since 1988. |
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