Coffee and the Papers: Deals and More Deals

** Wonder what the “No Tax Grab” folks in Nevada are going to do now? The NSEA announced that it will drop efforts to raise the gaming tax by 3% in exchange for support from Wynn Resorts, Harrah’s Entertainment, and Station Casinos for an advisory question on the November ballot that would increase the room tax by 3%. Sheldon “Freedom’s Watch”Adelson has, no surprise here, not signed on, and continues his efforts to “divert room tax money from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.” [LV Sun]

** The fallout from real estate foreclosures in Las Vegas means that even renting can be a dicey proposition. [LV Sun] The Center for American Progress does some fact checking on the Bush Administration’s handling of the mortgage meltdown. When the President says he won’t sign a bill that “rewards speculators” or “bails out bankers” someone needs to remind him, “Speculative real estate investors who purchased homes purely for profit, not shelter, and did not live in them are not eligible for program participation in any legislation now under consideration by Congress. Arguments that this legislation rewards speculators are specious.” [CAP] (emphasis added)

** Best line from the Nevada Democratic Convention: Dina Titus – “Jon Porter spends a lot of his time back in Washington playing in a rock 'n' roll band," Titus said. "I say we've heard enough of his same old song. It's time to change the music." [Erin Neff, LVRJ]

** Timing is everything? This week the EPA is defending agency guidelines for radiation health rules that remain incomplete, in preparation for submitting a construction application early next month. [LVRJ] The current occupant of the Governor’s mansion has filed a motion to remain ensconced during the D-I-V-O-R-C-E. [RGJ] “Waning tax revenues, withering housing markets, soaring gas prices, and shrinking employment” are combining for grim economic numbers in Nevada,” [RGJ] The Department of Administration ought to be awash in bill draft requests for the 75^th session because the deadline for submission was May 1^st. [BDR] And…The governor decides this is the best time to meet and greet members of our National Guard in Iraq? [LVRJ] Certainly, the men and women serving there deserve support from the homefront – however, the timing of the Governor’s trip certainly does bring questions to mind.

** What about the other McCain 2008 national finance co-chair? One has resigned already under the ‘new’ campaign rules about lobbyists, the other is Wayne Berman of Ogilvy Government Relations which represents Chevron-Texaco, the American Petroleum Institute, Reliant Energy, AIG, AmeriChoice, AT&T, Verizon, VISA and Motorola. [link] What better way to say “Bush III?”

** If you were thinking that a GOP administration might keep you safer, consider what could result from being swept up in Main Core during a period in which Continuity of Government operations were in place. Digby explains. Combine this bit of news with the mailer sent out by Charter Communications to 2.7 million customers announcing a new “web tracking program” that is essentially “the ultimate third party tracking network,” [SourceWatch] and Big Brother can track your every little cookie. Phom tried this in Great Britain and the consequent outrage over the privacy violations prevented ISPs from implementing the system.

** “Once more, with feeling,” a GAO study confirms that health savings accounts primarily benefit high income individuals. [CBPP]

** “Wages fall behind inflation for seventh month” [Economic Policy Institute] Home Depot reports a first quarter net income loss of 66%. [MrkWtch] Something to watch: “Pension funds and other institutional investors are driving commodity prices to the moon by allocating massive amounts of money to energy and agricultural investments and sidestepping regulatory limits on big speculative bets, according to research expected to be presented to Congress on Tuesday.” [MrkWtch]

** “The Bush administration is illegally withholding the details of its offer accepted by the European Union to bind more sectors of the U.S. economy to World Trade Organization (WTO) jurisdiction as part of a settlement relating to a WTO ruling against the U.S. ban on Internet gambling, Public Citizen contended today in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.” [May 19, 2008, full story at Public Citizen]

** While the Republicans focus on the relatively impotent figurehead Ahmadinejad in Iran, the real power is held by the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the subject of a new Carnegie Report.