Free to Offend

Politicians in Nevada might seem eager to emulate the absurdity of California politics – but is that really the fate of this great state? John Tsarpalas, president of Nevada Policy, joined the program to talk about the culture, history and people that make Nevada so distinct from our neighbor to the west – as well as all the hard work we have to do in the upcoming year to make sure we remain that...

At first glance, it seems like divided government should make it harder to get meaningful reforms passed into law … but the truth is, there are still plenty of opportunities.   Geoffrey Lawrence, director of research for Nevada Policy and the Reason Foundation, joined the program to talk about the policy solutions we should focus on in the 2023 legislative session – and why a politically divided g...

Guest: Aaron Withe, Freedom Foundation     As unionization rates continue to decline across the nation, union bosses are getting increasingly political in an effort to reverse the trend.    Freedom Foundation Chief Executive Officer Aaron Withe joined the program to talk about the political business model both private-sector and public-sector unions are using to increase their revenue – and why su...

The elections are finally over!   So … what happens now? Nevada Policy President John Tsarpalas shares his take on the 2022 election outcome and gives his prediction of what comes next in Nevada as a Democrat-controlled legislature and Republican governor prepare to face off on numerous policy battles in the coming year.  

With ranked-choice voting on the ballot in Nevada, many eyes turned toward Alaska to see how the system actually works in practice. Sarah Montalbano from the Alaska Policy Forum joined the program to discuss the troubles Alaska had in its recent special election, including the way ranked-choice voting impacted the election outcome. Unlike backers of Question 3 in Nevada , Montalbano argues the pro...

Guest: Andrew Roth, State Freedom Caucus Network   While everyone likes to pay most of their attention to national politics, it's actually the local politics that usually matter the most for limiting the size and scope of government.    After all, there's a reason so many people from over-regulated and high-tax states are flocking to low-tax western states — it's because, regardless of what's goin...

For decades, people's trust in journalism and "the news" has been declining—and probably for good reason. Wayne Hoffman, president of Idaho Freedom Foundation, is a former journalist and believe the changes we've seen within the media have made much of this declining trust inevitable. Wayne joins the program to discuss how journalism has changed in recent decades, how it's poisoning public policy...

Let's face it, most public policy debates come down to one thing: How are our tax dollars actually being spent? Nevada Policy Research Institute Director of Open Records Shelby Fleshood joined the program to talk about the importance of greater financial transparency in government — and why, despite bipartisan support, it remains such a struggle to actually implement in the real world.

Culturally, we're definitely experiencing a "wave" of educational freedom throughout the nation. Not only are states like Arizona going "big" when it comes to educational-choice programs, but parents across the political spectrum are demanding it more than ever. Erin Phillips, co-founder and president of Power2Parent, joined the program to discuss when Nevada will finally come around to expanding...

Politicians seemingly live by the motto "never let a crisis go to waste." From Coronavirus to the financial crisis of 2008 to 9/11, one crisis after another has resulted in an explosion of the regulatory state, mountains of government debt and political predation from electeds eager to implement their pet projects. Wayne Crews, vice president for policy and senior fellow at the Competitive Enterpr...

How optimistic should we be about Nevada in the long term?   Marcos  Lopez, Nevada Policy's new director of coalition s  and outreach, joined the program to talk about the unique opportunities we have for the liberty movement in the Silver State  –  regardless of what happens in November.   

As unionization in the private sector continues to decline, many labor activists are getting ever-more desperate to  force  workers into union representation.    From the federal "PRO Act" in the private sector to state-level "opt-out" periods for public sector workers, unions are increasingly trying to make it more difficult for workers who don't want union representation to say "no" to  membersh...

Guest: William Estrada, President of the Parental Rights Foundation Should parents or government officials be in charge of raising our children? Who should be in charge of making decisions on behalf of that child? If these seem like simple questions to answer, you're not alone. An overwhelming percentage of Americans believe parents should have a constitutional right to raise and make decisions fo...

Education today is largely treated as an industrial affair—as if curriculum and syllabuses should be rigidly structured to push kids through a K-12 conveyor belt toward higher education. In fact, much of parenting has adopted a similar notion that children should be micromanaged through most of their formative years. However, is this really the best way to ensure a generation of healthy and produc...

What happens when the public-school establishment — or even individual teachers — decide it is their duty to do more than merely instruct children, but also tell them how to think? From "Critical Race Theory" to sexual identity curriculum, many parents have raised concerns that certain classrooms are going beyond merely teaching about controversial topics — instead presenting certain cultural or p...

No matter how much the teacher unions, politicians and special interests fight it, education is changing—and it's going to continue to do so. Eric Wearne is Director of the National Hybrid School Project, associate professor with the Education Economics Center at Kennesaw State University and author of: Defining Hybrid Homeschools in America. He joined the program to talk about the way changing ex...

Guest: Valeria Gurr, American Federation for Children Despite the frustrating lack of educational options in Nevada, there's one blindly obvious reason to be optimistic about the future of education reform in the Silver State: Parents aren't about to give up! Valeria Gurr, Director of External Affairs for the American Federation of Children, joined the program to discuss why educational choice is...

Guest: Dan Greenberg, Competitive Enterprise Institute The idea that police can seize property — cash, jewelry, cars or even houses — without ever charging someone with a crime seems like something that would happen in some corrupt soviet satellite rather than American cities. And yet, it happens every day with police using a practice known as "civil asset forfeiture." Billions of dollars are seiz...

Guest: Emily Hamilton, Mercatus Center Nevada politicians are starting to toy with the idea "rent control" policies as a way to give relief to families facing skyrocketing housing costs. Sheesh… "Do you want California's housing issues? Because that's how you get California housing issues." Despite the obvious failures of such policies elsewhere, politicians who are eager for quick political wins...

Guest: Mike Noble, OH Predictive Insights It's true that more people than ever are getting fed up with partisan politics—and one of the consequences of that partisan exhaustion is a huge swell in the number of "true, true" independent voters. Mike Noble, from OH Predictive Insights, joined the program to talk about the way Nevada's electorate is quickly becoming a case study for how truly undecide...

Critical Race Theory is creeping into school curriculums, corporate trainings and even government policy… but what exactly is CRT, and why should anyone really care? Jonathan Butcher, the Will Skillman Fellow in Education at The Heritage Foundation, joined the program to talk about the origins of CRT, the progressive movement's obsession with viewing everything through the prism of racial oppressi...

Prohibitionists, cultural scolds and Nannycrats exist in both major political tribes—and it's making us a significantly less-free society as a result. Steven Greenhut, western regional director for R Street Institute, joined the program to discuss the way legalized marijuana has been one of the great examples of where both conservatives and progressives tend to get things wrong. As we explore the...

Could there really be a "free market solution" to moving forward criminal justice reform? Part of the problem is that the status quo makes it nearly impossible to hold individual officers accountable when they violate someone's constitutional rights. And even when individuals do face settlements or judgements for their bad behavior, it's usually taxpayers who actually end up paying the bill. Could...

Pretty much everyone seems to agree that our political world is pretty broken right now… How to fix it, however, is a matter of some debate. At least one group in Nevada believes changing the way we elect our representatives could have an outsized impact to improve political collaboration. Dough Goodman, founder and executive director of Nevadans for Election Reform, is one of the backers of an ef...

As we enter year three of pandemic hysteria, the tsunami of parents looking for alternatives to government's education monopoly continues to grow. Indeed, parents are fed up with the state of our public school system, and the chaos of the last few years has incited an exodus among families looking to take matters into their own hands. Kerry McDonald, senior education fellow at FEE and adjunct scho...