Friday, June 20, 2008 | 2:01 a.m.
Some questions and answers about the 24th special session, aka the Save the Governor Telethon:
If Speaker Barbara Buckley says deferring the pay raises is dead and state Sen. Bob Beers says they are stillborn in the upper house, and if Gov. Jim Gibbons can execute other cuts without legislative ratification, why do we need a special session?
A. We don’t.
B. The governor may want to drain the rainy day fund now, rather than waiting until next year — and that takes the Legislature — even though the state treasurer believes the cash flow is there.
C. Gibbons needs to save face after Pearl Harboring lawmakers with his call for the session one day after he said he wouldn’t — he can’t back out now.
D. It would be prudent fiscal policy to debate how to create new, more stable revenue streams, so even if the economy comes back, the next recession won’t hit so hard.
Why won’t Gibbons reveal what bills he will propose, after first saying he would propose only the COLA deferral and leave everything else up to the Legislature?
A. He doesn’t know what he is doing.
B. He is waiting to see what the Economic Forum decides today, so he knows what the target number is.
C. He likes secrets and is really good at keeping them.
D. He forgot.
Why are the Democrats so opposed to a special session — that is, what are they afraid of?
A. They really care about saving the state the cost of the session — $300,000 if it lasts a week.
B. They are Democrats — complaining is what they do best.
C. They don’t want to have to take positions because most of them are running for reelection.
D. They are afraid the governor might look good. Or better.
How could the legislative fiscal analysts ($100 million) and the governor’s fiscal folks ($200 million-plus) be so far apart at one point this week?
A. Someone is cooking the numbers.
B. Predicting these things is not an exact science and it depends on how pessimistic you are.
C. The Legislature has calculators and the governor’s office has a Ouija board.
D. One group works for people who don’t want a special session and the other works for someone who does.
Why would Jim Gibbons, of all people, call anyone a “moron,” as he did in the Sun’s wrapping paper Thursday in reference to those who believe he called the session to divert attention from his multifarious problems?
A. He is what he says.
B. He is frustrated that 80 percent of the public doesn’t think he’s doing a good job.
C. He likes blaming external forces for his difficulties.
D. He thought “moron” meant “fact-teller.”
What is the reason the man who once proposed empowerment schools and then acknowledged he didn’t know a lot about them, the same man who said the COLAs were off the table shortly before he put them back on the table and the very same man who once recommended a dump supporter to an anti-dump panel before having to withdraw that idea (among myriad examples) would say the following to the same interviewer about lawmakers and the media?: “So all I can tell you is they should learn to do their research and their homework before they open their mouth.”
A. He has no sense of irony.
B. He is angry a lot these days.
C. He hates the Legislature and the media.
D. He forgot.
If the governor and lawmakers reached bipartisan agreement on a series of cuts and approved them next week, the most common public reaction would be:
A. Gibbons and the Gang of 63 would be greeted as liberators, with bouquets of flowers.
B. “There was a special session? How did I miss that?”
C. “At least they didn’t raise taxes. Thank God for Jim Gibbons.”
D. “They could cut a lot more. Who needs services anyhow?”
Doesn’t it make sense to have a special session despite the cost — $300,000 is worth it to save the state $100 million or more?
A. Yes, because they can take a close look at the budget and get rid of some of the fat.
B. Yes, because that way the damn media will stop covering all the governor’s personal silliness.
C. No, unless they take a look at the long-term structural budget problems and do something substantive.
D. No, it’s never worth it to have them up there.
How long will the session last?
A. Five days.
B. One day.
C. More than five days.
D. It will be canceled.
Answers, please?
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