Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (RINO) challenged folks who oppose his Billion Dollar Tax Hike to put forward their own alternatives.
Nevada State Treasurer Dan Schwartz (R) accepted Sandoval’s challenge and did just that. On Thursday Schwartz appeared before the Senate Finance Committee and, for his trouble, was verbally ripped to shreds by Sandoval’s political henchmen.
Here’s how Reno Gazette-Journal reporter Ray Hagar described the ambush…
I’ve never seen an elected constitutional officer of Nevada get ripped so badly in the Legislature in my past 15 years covering Nevada politics than what happened to Treasurer Dan Schwartz Thursday in the Senate Finance Committee.
No respect was given Mr. Schwartz, Nevada’s newly-elected treasurer, before this usually politically-correct and high-ranking group of senator. And the most vociferous criticism came from members of Schwartz’s own Republican Party.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, raised his voice loudly — OK, he yelled — at Schwartz, saying, “You are an embarrassment, sir!”
Roberson added some equally derogatory statements that made me think I was in a bar in Rock Springs, Wyo., and a fight was gonna break out.
The volume of Roberson’s voice was memorable. I have not seen that kind of volume since Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, took apart Washoe school Superintendent Paul Dugan back in ’05 or ‘07 in a committee hearing about a tax proposal for schools.
Roberson’s anger seemed unbecoming of his position. He’s the most powerful man in the Legislature. Did he really need to roll over Schwartz like a road grader?
Roberson’s a thug and a bully whose word isn’t worth the proverbial warm bucket of spit. So what do you expect?
Hagar concluded with this…
Former GOP Gov. Bob List, who was in Carson City Friday, is also a lawyer. He noted that any citizen of Nevada has the right to suggest a plan or idea in writing to the Legislature.
Gov. Sandoval said before the Legislature that he would be “all ears” if someone came up with a plan that is better than his proposed $7.3 billion general-fund budget.
That offer apparently did not apply to the Senate Finance Committee. To this group, it is Sandoval’s plan or take the highway.
“We don’t require any new budget proposals,” Finance Chair Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, told Schwartz.
There you have it. It’s like the old saying, “You can have your car in any color you want, as long as it’s black.
Nevada taxpayers can have any budget proposal they want, as long as it’s Sandoval’s.
And these people will stop at nothing, including destroying any and all opponents, to get their way.