THE LOWDEN LINE

Nevada state Sen. Bob Beers (R-Las Vegas), perhaps the state’s most consistent and principled fiscally conservative legislator in Carson City today, noted in his blog this week that “compared to a year ago, there are 4,100 more government employees and 2,800 fewer private sector employees.” What’s that tell you?

Sen. Beers understandably worries about “paying for all these new employees with reserves built up back when property taxes weren’t capped.” When the money’s gone, especially as property values continue to drop, those employees will still be around. And when reality sets in and we realize we can’t afford them, we’ll hear wails of agony about “layoffs,” as though each and every one of those government employees are absolutely necessary to run the government and should be immune to the economic reality the average taxpayer faces.

This is exactly how the state government got into its current budgetary mess. In times of plenty, the Legislature went on spending sprees. Now, in times of drought, the money is no longer there to sustain the level of government which increased well beyond what was responsible in the times of plenty. Republicans should take this opportunity in the economic downturn to shrink government back to a reasonable level and then make sure the liberals in both parties don’t bloat it back up when the economy turns around again. And that’s the Lowden Line.