Editorials

Lots of lawmakers in Washington complain the rich don’t pay their “fair share.” Such petty gripes conveniently ignore the fact that Uncle Sam is the country’s richest land baron — and its biggest piker when it comes to property taxes.

It appears the comprehensive immigration bill making its way through the Senate might finally get some teeth with regard to border security. Furthermore, if after five years those teeth turn out to be false and the Department of Homeland Security fails to sufficiently tighten the United States’ border with Mexico, a federal commission will form to ensure security improves.

Clark County has a common-sense plan to spare Lee Canyon campers from outrageous fees while getting rid of county land that’s difficult to manage.

The death of a massive solar energy project planned for the Laughlin area is a timely reminder that all the political juice in Nevada can’t make green power pencil out.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and politicians are complaining that owners of hybrid and electric cars aren’t paying enough for the asphalt. Our elected officials are right, and it’s their own fault.

If you consider yourself a law-abiding citizen, think again. In the era of ever-expanding government power, the rockers of Judas Priest provide a perfect refrain for the plight of average Americans: “Breakin’ the law, breakin’ the law.”

North Las Vegas just got a lifeline from the Legislature, a bailout for fiscal woes caused by the recession, fat employee contracts and foolish capital expenditures. Now the City Council is poised to thank the state for that relief by gambling on a misguided, potentially unconstitutional housing rescue plan that exposes the city’s taxpayers to yet more risk.

What happened to a package of ethics and campaign reforms in Carson City this year would have broken new ground in an Eli Roth torture-porn screenplay. The filmmaker does unspeakably horrible things to his characters — generally involving sharp objects and power tools — but lawmakers went even further in protecting their own interests, disemboweling, amputating and snuffing out bills that would have created a more transparent and better government.

Last month, this page pointed out that when Nevada cuts back its mental health care system, we end up losing that savings — and then some — through other costs, from emergency room waits to burdens on jails.