Assemblyman Ty Cobb sure likes to join groups. To be more specific, he likes to create groups. During December’s special session, Cobb created the “Assembly Conservative Caucus,” which silently abstained from voting on Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley for speaker. And now he’s formed an all-new club, to be known as the Nevada Republican Study Committee, or NRSC.
Now, for those of you who follow politics, you’ll recognize those initials as belonging to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the group formerly headed by our very own U.S. Sen. John Ensign. (Those were the guys who lost seven, no, make that eight Senate seats to the Democrats in 2008.) So, right off, we see copyright, trademark infringement and other legal problems.
What is the study committee going to study, you ask? Good question. Let’s let Cobb answer by quoting his release:
Carson City, Nevada – A group of Republican members of the state Assembly announced today the formation of the Nevada Republican Study Committee (NRSC) dedicated to advancing a constitutional, fiscally conservative, limited government agenda in the 75th session of the Nevada Legislature.
The founding members are state Assemblymen Ty Cobb, Ed Goedhart, Don Gustavson, Dick McArthur and John Hambrick. Cobb will serve as chairman and Goedhart as vice chairman.
“The NRSC will focus on developing legislation and policy positions on key issues which will provide meaningful solutions to the problems hardworking Nevadans and their families face each day” said Cobb. “We’ll especially concentrate on issues dealing with the budget, appropriations, taxes, education, deregulation and general government reform.”
The NRSC will generally review and evaluate legislation using the following five guiding principles:
1) Does the bill reduce government regulations, reduce the size of government, eliminate entitlements, or eliminate unnecessary programs?
2) Does the bill reduce taxes or fees?
3) Does the bill encourage responsible behavior by individuals and families and encourage them to provide for their own health, safety, education or general welfare?
4) Doest the bill increase opportunities for individuals or families to decide, without hindrance or coercion from government, how to conduct their own lives and make personal choices?
5) Does the bill enhance the power of parents and guardians to rear their own children without excessive interference from the government?
“The NRSC was not created to compete with or replace the established Republican Assembly caucus,” concluded Goedhart, “but to help develop and advance a bold conservative agenda in the Nevada Legislature. We fully intend to work cooperatively with all members of the Legislature, both Democrat and Republican in both chambers, whenever possible without violating our core philosophical beliefs.”
Now, you may be asking yourself this: Since the libertarian-leaning Republicans in the lower house probably think that nearly every bill — in one way or another — violates these rules, what the hell is left for them to work cooperatively on? Maybe some small thing, a ceremonial gesture, something that they don’t have the votes to change anyway, like, oh, say, election of officers for the chamber?
Oh, right.
Well, anyway, they formed a study committee today, and Ty Cobb gets to be in another group. We’ll bet his resume is thick!
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