The Fourth (or Fifth) Largest City in Nevada

10.1% - Unemployment Rate in Nevada as of March 2009 - Stateline.Org

8.1% - National Unemployment Rate as of March 2009 - US Bureau of Labor Statistics

“Unemployment is so high in the state that if the jobless formed their own city it would be the fourth or fifth largest in Nevada.” – Spokesman for Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, describing the Governor’s disappoint with the level of unemployment insurance help provided in the stimulus package.

Jim Gibbons, the Republican Governor of Nevada seems a little more confused than most of his colleagues on what to do with the money allocated in the Obama stimulus package. Gibbons originally opposed the stimulus package because he felt the $77 Billion Obama targeted for unemployment assistance was not enough to help the State. At that time a spokesman for Gov. Gibbons said “the Governor was surprised and a little disappointed we didn’t receive more in the stimulus package for the state. Unemployment is so high in the state that if the jobless formed their own city it would be the fourth or fifth largest in Nevada. The Governor feels Nevada deserved more because our state was particularly hard hit.”

With this background you would think Gov. Gibbons would take the money and run – but you would be wrong.

The New York Times reported Governor Gibbons is prepared to reject unemployment assistance funding. If he does, Nevada’s unemployment insurance program will run out of money by the end of the year, and the State will have to borrow from the Federal Government to keep it going. (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/21/us/21nevada.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Gov%20Gibbons&st=cse).

The Governor said he was turning down the funds because Nevada would have to change its eligible rules to accept the funds. This, according to Gibbons, is an unacceptable intrusion into the State’s sovereignty. Gov. Gibbons’ earlier demands for more money has destroyed the credibility of this explanation.

His current position has set off a major backlash. The Nevada legislature is scheduled to vote on a bill Monday, taking the stimulus money anyway. The pro-business Nevada Chamber of Commerce has come out strongly for taking the stimulus unemployment money. As a result of his decision, at least two Republicans are lining up to challenge him in the primary for re-election.

What was Gibbons thinking?

There is no political upside to his position. South Carolina’s Mark Sanford, Alaska’s Sarah Palin, and Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal are all three in some phase of running for President. Only Sanford seems to have reaped any political benefits from his position. But, it will be interesting to see how long that lasts – in February, Michigan was the only state with a higher unemployment rate than South Carolina.(http://www.stateline.org/live/issues/Economy+&+Business)

Gov. Palin is taking hits for turning down education funds. A portion of that money was going to support students with special needs. Gov. Palin made support for special needs children a central theme of her VP Campaign, using her own Down’s syndrome child as a way to spotlight the issue. Now she is turning back education money for special needs children like her own.

Jindal quietly announced he would take the funds he had earlier so loudly refused. He changed his position after his disastrous response to President Obama’s State of the Union speech – which many saw as dealing a fatal blow to his Presidential aspirations. This only underscored people’s perception he had his political interest more at heart more than their financial welfare.

In 1968 The Republicans were able to break the South with the message “we care about the little guy, who gets up, goes to work, and plays by the rules.” These people were the “Silent Majority.” The Democrats were protesters, hippies, and liberals who were elitists and did not understand the concerns of real people. They used this message between 1968 and 1992 to build a strong national party.

In 1992 Clinton won by painting the first President Bush as out of touch with the concerns of the average person. Like the Republicans who broke the grip of the Democrats on the South by playing up their concern for the little guy, the Democrats are now breaking the grip of the Republicans on the West and Midwest using the same themes.

Gov. Gibbon’s refusal of stimulus money plays into the Democrat’s hands. Along with Palin, Sanford and Jindahl, the Republicans can be painted as more interested in their own political future than in the welfare of the people of their respective States. The backlash against Gibbons also highlights that the standard Republican arguments against big government and for states’ rights have run out of gas. People need help, and are turning away from the Republicans as the party offers up the same old ideas it has used since 1980.

The Democrats can build on this by highlighting the Republican’s apparent callous disregard for the voter’s needs and suffering, and commitment to its outdated and discredited ideas. This strategy can tighten the Democrat’s Electoral grip on the rest of the country.

The confused actions of Gov Gibbons only serve to reinforce the Democrat’s argument and to speed his Party’s retreat.