Penny Press Nevada, USA Volume 16 Number 7 OCTOBER 18, 2018 THE PENNY PRESS,OCTOBER 18, 2018 PAGE 2 www.pennypressnv.com The Penny Press is published weekly by Penny Credits: Far West Radio LLC All Contents © Penny Press 2018 Publisher and Editor: Contributing Editors: Fred Weinberg Floyd Brown Al Thomas Letters to the Editor are encouraged. They should be Press emailed to: [email protected] No unsigned or Doug French Robert Ringer Logotype unverifiable letters will be printed. Pointedlymad John Getter Pat Choate licensed from: Ron Knecht Byron Bergeron 775-461-1515 Rich Gast Penny Press NEVADA USA 16 PAGES VOLUME 16 NUMBER 7 OCTOBER 18, 2018 Maybe The Little Buttheads Won't Ruin Us After All By MICHAEL SCHAUS In fact, according to a national that has not only utilized but also In every corner of the economy, Special to the Penny Press Reason-Rupe survey, more than half advanced the free market unlike it is clear that America’s youngest of 18- to 29-year-olds (53 percent) any other. generations demand a constant Kids today ruin everything. view socialism “favorably.” Discontented with the flow of innovation, customization Socialism, for example, just isn’t To generations that are old monopoly-like power of cable and (above all else) choice when what it used to be. enough to remember when a companies, young Americans it comes to how they interact with Of course, that’s not necessarily socialist uprising in Cuba resulted happily embraced online-streaming the world. in a handful of nuclear missiles alternatives such as Netflix and In other words, we’re talking Commentary being parked 90 miles off the coast Amazon — allowing them the about a demographic that has of Florida, this modern embrace of freedom to pick not only what they imbedded in its consciousness a socialism can be alarming. watch, but when they watch it. sound rejection of anything billed Thankfully, what’s considered Feeling underserved by as a one-size-fits-all solution. a bad thing. In fact, for advocates of “socialism” in today’s pop-econ expensive taxicab companies, Instead, they demand a seemingly the free market system, the evolving terms bears little resemblance to America’s youth turned to market- endless supply of options, progress understanding of what it means to the textbook definition. disrupting ridesharing competitors and market competition. be a “socialist” in modern America In fact, judging newly- such as Uber or Lyft. And this isn’t just some isn’t nearly as dire as it sounds. empowered young Americans by By embracing sites like Etsy, academic observation based off The newly empowered the way they act, one could easily Amazon and countless others, the consumer habits of young generation of young Americans mistake them as more pro-capitalist these young consumers not only Americans. We’re seeing this pro- — millennials certainly fall than many of the generations transformed the way we shop, but choice mentality shine through in into this group — increasingly before them — their fondness for a they have unleashed an untold public policy as well. describe themselves as so-called growing welfare state aside. number of young entrepreneurs School choice, for example, is “Democratic Socialists.” This is a generation, after all, into new markets. Continued on page4 The Conservative Weekly Voice Of Nevada RON KNECHT PAGE 5 Penny Wisdom FRED WEINBERG PAGE 6 Inside: ROBERT RINGER PAGE 7 This country has gotten where To Understand Us it is in spite of politics, not DOUG FRENCH PAGE 9 by the aid of it. That we have JENNIFER CARROLL PAGE 10 Go To Kitty Hawk carried as much political bunk as we have and still survived ROBERT ROMANO PAGE 11 shows we are a super nation. CHUCK MUTH PAGE 14 See Editorial Page 6 —Will Rogers THE PENNY PRESS,OCTOBER 18, 2018 PAGE 4 They Want Choice...But Don't Want To Call It Capitalism Continued from page 3 one of the most libertarian policy changes to sweep the nation in recent the droves of young activists showing up for Bernie Sanders or Alexandria decades — and millennials are overwhelmingly supportive, with roughly Ocasio-Cortez — aren’t really pro-socialism, as much as they are pro- 75 percent supporting the concept, according to a recent survey conducted welfare. by Beck Research . Driving the movement is a growing belief that taxpayers should foot That’s a lot of supposed socialists embracing the idea of a market- the bill for an ever-increasing list of government programs. It’s a call for driven education system. Such support, however, shouldn’t be too more government spending — not necessarily a dismantling of the market surprising. economy. Instinctively, this generation expects corporations, governments and And that’s a sharp departure from the traditional understanding of pretty much the whole of society to cater to their unique needs, compete socialism — where government technocrats and commissars replace for their attention and respond to the market forces of their generation. organic market forces in a top-down bureaucratic system. Indeed, the And why shouldn’t they? More than their parents or their grandparents, brand of socialism that Marx wrote about, isn’t the kind of socialism millennials have experienced a level of customization and innovation that young elite progressives would be willing to tolerate. couldn’t have been imagined just a few decades ago. Socialism in modern America just isn’t what it used to be — and The result is a generation that might not respect the economic nuances that means there is a Grand Canyon-sized opportunity for the liberty that have created such vast consumer choice, but have grown to expect movement to be heard by young Americans. and demand it nonetheless. After all, we’re talking about a generation that, more than any other, This demand for choice tells us something important about the has already embraced the core tenant of free-market capitalism: The so-called socialist groundswell among young Americans: “Socialism” freedom of choice. doesn’t mean the same thing in modern political discourse that it meant Michael Schaus is communications director for the Nevada Policy in the 20th century. Research Institute. The American generation now calling for “democratic socialism” — THE PENNY PRESS,OCTOBER 18, 2018 PAGE 5 Commentary: Ron Knecht & James Smack economy in state operations; better improving services. The budgets voter initiative to repeal it. We’ve Re-elect management of fiscal affairs; we subsequently submitted have made progress and had setbacks. support of public credit; and better been well lower than the one we However, we have a sound plan to Ron Knecht understanding of all these things. inherited. get it on the ballot two years hence Folks are probably aware of We also inherited a troubled so voters have the last word. things we’ve done to serve the information technology (IT) project Along the way, Ron published as Nevada latter charge and promote openness, intended to improve the dismal the first three Controller’s Annual transparency and accountability. record on collecting debts turned Reports (CARs), which won Controller Likely they’re not as aware of the over to the controller by other prizes and praise from a national equally outstanding record on the state agencies. Many IT projects professional organization. In 24 Please indulge us as we ask less visible but equally important experience great cost and schedule pages of data, charts, graphs, tables you to re-elect Ron as Nevada daily nuts-and-bolts ministerial overruns until the plug is pulled and clear text, the CAR details Controller. If Ron wins, James also functions and they produce no usable results. trends and issues in Nevada fiscal gets reappointed Deputy Controller. As with all public offices, We were determined ours would and policy matters, the challenges, Ron’s running on his record and the controller also must operate not be the next one. and some solutions from a public- qualifications. When we discuss economically and effectively. We worked diligently with many interest perspective. below things we’ve done, it’s both So, the first thing we did was cut of our staff, the attorney general, Ron is co-leading business of us, but also 39 other people in spending by 13.3 percent from the finance and other offices, and with process re-engineering for state the office. We’re blessed with an budget we inherited from Ron’s the contractor to implement two agencies and development of an outstanding team of professionals predecessor, as approved by the contract amendments. Just over essential all-functions (accounting, led by talented managers. legislature and governor. In our a year ago, the project came on payroll, administration, budget, Nevada’s controller has back- first 18 months, we turned back line. We’re very proud that in its etc.) enterprise resource planning office duties typical of state over $1-million to the state treasury first year of operation, this project and management IT system. It will controllers, but also an unusual to fund other services and help increased nearly $1.3-million, or fully integrate and modernize state charge to promote: frugality and keep down your taxes. All while 356 percent, instead of cratering business operations by 2022. like so many others. We have also recorded Thus, we proved government outstanding accounting and other spending can be cut while services, operations successes too. operations and revenues are Finally, Ron has led efforts Tips Of Our Cap enhanced. to bring badly needed openness, When the governor and transparency and accountability legislature planned to pass Nevada’s to Nevada’s public employee and largest spending and tax increases retirement system. In addition, he ever, Ron led a group of legislators, has used his economic, financial Bronx Cheers government and non-government and policy expertise to promote professionals, and citizens to craft more reasonable assumptions in the first ever alternative budget.