Government Spending, Labor, Taxes

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John Tsarpalas

This week in the Nevada legislature

This week in Carson City was extremely busy, as an avalanche of new bills were being introduced. Notably, Nevada’s teachers unions are pushing key policies, now that they appear to have a compliant legislature. A bill was introduced to put a moratorium on charter schools, even though thousands of Nevada families have placed their names on waiting lists for the charters that are already operational. (Read more about that here.) Nevertheless, a few good bills also appeared this week. Assembly Bill 420 aims to protect the due-process rights of Nevadans by reforming the state’s Civil Asset Forfeiture laws. (Read more about that here.) Nevada Policy even testified in support of the bill, and was specifically thanked by lawmakers for the Institute’s past studies that highlighted the need for reform.

Keep up with everything that is happening by visiting Nevada Policy’s online Legislative Bill Tracker by clicking here!

 

Minimum wage

Twenty-one states — including Nevada — are poised, reportedly, to raise the government-mandated minimum wage this year. That’s despite honest economists’ knowledge that such state-imposed hikes harm consumers and kill jobs for low-skilled employees. Already, restaurants in many states are laying off workers, while others are rapidly raising prices. In San Diego, for example, many restaurants are adding a highlighted surcharge of 3 to 5 percent on all meals, in an effort to offset their increased costs and inform customers why those costs are rising. (Read more)

 

Socialism

Socialist Venezuela continues to crumble. Fresh water is considered a luxury, as the nation with the world’s largest oil reserves continues to struggle through power outages and mass blackouts. Life for most people living in Venezuela has been described as “medieval.” The chaos, poverty and government failure is extraordinary — especially given that the nation was once one of the wealthiest in the region. (Read more)

 

Government overreach

The most important thing to remember when it comes to an ever-growing government is this: Government has a monopoly on the legal use of violence. What is meant by that, is that every law, every mandate and every regulation government imposes, is backed up by the threat of violence. Take for example the recent case in Arizona, where cops broke through the door of a family’s home in the middle of the night, stormed in with their guns drawn, handcuffed the father, and took custody of the family’s three kids — all because the mom had decided her toddler’s fever was not serious enough to merit a trip to the hospital. (Read more)

John Tsarpalas

John Tsarpalas

President

John Tsarpalas is the President of the Nevada Policy, and is deeply committed to spreading limited government ideas and policy to create a better, more prosperous Nevada for all.

For over three decades, John has educated others in the ideals and benefits of limited government. In the 1980s, John joined the Illinois Libertarian Party and served on its State Central Committee. Later in the 90s, he transitioned to the Republican Party, and became active in the Steve Forbes for President Campaign and flat taxes.

In 2005, he was recruited to become the Executive Director of the Illinois Republican Party where he graduated from the Republican National Committee’s Campaign College, the RNC’s Field Management School, and the Leadership Institute’s activist training.

Additionally, John has served as President of the Sam Adams Alliance and Team Sam where he did issue education and advocacy work in over 10 states, with a focus on the web.

John also founded or helped start the following educational not-for-profits: Think Freely Media, the Haym Salomon Center – where he served as Chairman, the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity and Midwest Speaking Professionals.

A native of Chicago, John now lives in Las Vegas with his wife of more than 40 years.