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Derby most likely
to effect change
If you believe the polls about the upcoming mid-term elections, it appears that Americans are in the mood to abandon the one-party government dominated by the Grand Old Party.
The question for Nevadans is whether to ride the wave of change - or stand in the way.
No place is this question more relevant than in the race for Congress between Democrat Jill Derby and Republican Dean Heller.
We suggest the best course is to ride the wave by voting for Jill Derby.
By most accounts, Derby is the underdog in Republican-dominated Northern Nevada. Nevertheless, Nevadans have demonstrated in the past that they have an independent streak and are capable of crossing party lines under the right circumstances.
Heller has pinned his hopes on attaching himself to President George Bush, who has already come to Nevada once to stump for Heller and is scheduled to do so again this week. With Bush's popularity waning and opposition to the war in Iraq rising, that may not be a winning strategy.
Derby says her primary motivation for entering the campaign is to push for a measurable exit plan in Iraq whereas Bush, and by extension his proxy, Dean Heller, are content to aimlessly carry on while more and more Americans die in what has become a quagmire reminiscent of Vietnam.
If Heller wants to attach himself to Bush, then he must accept the Republican mantra that terrorism is the single most important issue currently facing the United States. That is by no means a foregone conclusion. In a recent interview on MSNBC, Bill Gates, arguably the world's preeminent capitalist, stated that he believes the biggest threat to the U.S. is failure to modernize its education system. We believe Gates got it right.
That said, Derby, an experienced educator as a member of the Board of Regents, is on the right course by calling for an overhaul of the ill-fated No Child Left Behind Act, which in our opinion is one of the worst pieces of legislation ever foisted on the American people. Not only is No Child Left Behind punitive for school districts that don't meet arbitrary standards set by the federal government, it has cost the state of Nevada tens of millions of dollars. Not only is this a colossal unfunded mandate it has, as Derby correctly points out, created a "teach to the test" mentality. Eventually, failure to modernize our schools will wreak havoc on our competitiveness in a global economy, our health care systems and, yes, our national security. We need leaders who will take the long view and offer alternatives to the politics of "No (read my lips) new taxes."
All of this is not to say Derby does not have her faults or is on the right side of every issue. As a member of the Board of Regents we do not appreciate her failure to uphold Nevada's open meetings law and the transparency of government that it was designed to protect. We also think she is flat wrong, as are most Democrats, in opposing privatization of Social Security, which has been looted time and again by politicians.
Still, given the choice between Derby and Heller, Derby is the most likely to help change a failed status quo and bring back a sorely needed two-party government.
to effect change
If you believe the polls about the upcoming mid-term elections, it appears that Americans are in the mood to abandon the one-party government dominated by the Grand Old Party.
The question for Nevadans is whether to ride the wave of change - or stand in the way.
No place is this question more relevant than in the race for Congress between Democrat Jill Derby and Republican Dean Heller.
We suggest the best course is to ride the wave by voting for Jill Derby.
By most accounts, Derby is the underdog in Republican-dominated Northern Nevada. Nevertheless, Nevadans have demonstrated in the past that they have an independent streak and are capable of crossing party lines under the right circumstances.
Heller has pinned his hopes on attaching himself to President George Bush, who has already come to Nevada once to stump for Heller and is scheduled to do so again this week. With Bush's popularity waning and opposition to the war in Iraq rising, that may not be a winning strategy.
Derby says her primary motivation for entering the campaign is to push for a measurable exit plan in Iraq whereas Bush, and by extension his proxy, Dean Heller, are content to aimlessly carry on while more and more Americans die in what has become a quagmire reminiscent of Vietnam.
If Heller wants to attach himself to Bush, then he must accept the Republican mantra that terrorism is the single most important issue currently facing the United States. That is by no means a foregone conclusion. In a recent interview on MSNBC, Bill Gates, arguably the world's preeminent capitalist, stated that he believes the biggest threat to the U.S. is failure to modernize its education system. We believe Gates got it right.
That said, Derby, an experienced educator as a member of the Board of Regents, is on the right course by calling for an overhaul of the ill-fated No Child Left Behind Act, which in our opinion is one of the worst pieces of legislation ever foisted on the American people. Not only is No Child Left Behind punitive for school districts that don't meet arbitrary standards set by the federal government, it has cost the state of Nevada tens of millions of dollars. Not only is this a colossal unfunded mandate it has, as Derby correctly points out, created a "teach to the test" mentality. Eventually, failure to modernize our schools will wreak havoc on our competitiveness in a global economy, our health care systems and, yes, our national security. We need leaders who will take the long view and offer alternatives to the politics of "No (read my lips) new taxes."
All of this is not to say Derby does not have her faults or is on the right side of every issue. As a member of the Board of Regents we do not appreciate her failure to uphold Nevada's open meetings law and the transparency of government that it was designed to protect. We also think she is flat wrong, as are most Democrats, in opposing privatization of Social Security, which has been looted time and again by politicians.
Still, given the choice between Derby and Heller, Derby is the most likely to help change a failed status quo and bring back a sorely needed two-party government.
