When news broke Tuesday that Las Vegas ranks 146th out of 150 cities worldwide in terms of economic strength — ahead of Dublin, Dubai, Barcelona and someplace in Greece — the obvious question arose: What can those lagging cities learn from us?
After all, ranking between 147-150 in a new study by the Brookings Institution and the London School of Economics has to be embarrassing, right? So those cities are clearly poised to learn a few lessons in prosperity from No. 146. And because Nevada is among the top 50 states when it comes to education, we’re naturally eager to teach.
First thing first: You need a leader who won’t let the effects of deep, painful cuts — including, for example, the end of home health care for many disabled people — stop him from making deep, painful cuts. Especially if it means avoiding new or extended taxes, which would hurt much worse. Check out this recent Sun headline: “Brian Sandoval sticking by ‘no new taxes’ pledge.” Some are surprised the supposedly moderate Sandoval isn’t softening his no-tax rhetoric, while others have assumed the magnitude of the budget crisis would force him to consider all options. As Assemblyman John Oceguera said last month, “When you take $3 billion out, even hard-core Republicans cannot stomach what those cuts are.”
No comments:
Post a Comment