Liberal pundits and Democrat lawmakers have widely crticized conservatives for simply naysaying and being bereft of alternative proposals. This is patently false at the national level and it most certainly is not the case in the Silver State.

Earlier in the year this blog reported on Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons' proposed budget, how it broke the promise he made to Nevadans to not raise taxes, and how it was based on an alleged $2 billion deficit that just wasn't there.

This week Nevada's premier free market think tank, the Nevada Policy Research Institute, released an alternative budget that does not raise taxes during a recession, cuts wasteful spending and ineffective programs, while focusing state resources on core government functions and priorities.

Gov. Gibbons and other politicians around the country craft their budgets in a way that would puzzle any business or family. They simply decide how much they want to spend and then figure out how much more they must steal from taxpayers in order to pay for the ensuing profligacy.

NPRI's budget proposal, titled "Nevada's Freedom Budget 2009-2011: The Road to Recovery," entails prioritizing and the state living within it's means, just as families all over Nevada and the country do everyday.

NPRI's Freedom Budget actually allocates $85 million more in care for the mentally ill than does the Governor's budget. Likewise, the Freedom Budget calls for $80 million more for learning materials to improve education.

The Freedom Budget proves that when wasteful spending and ill-performing programs are eliminated, there are more resources available for true priorities.

Furthermore, NPRI's Freedom Budget does not include federal stimulus funds and the onerous mandates and attached strings that come with it from D.C. Acceptance of stimulus dollars will only spell trouble for the Nevada economy. In fact, a recent study by Arduin, Laffer, Moore & Associates shows that the stimulus bill will result in the loss of 1.7 million jobs nationwide. This is not something that Nevada wants to partake in.

Americans for Tax Reform endorses NPRI's alternative budget and encourages those interested in the matter to check it out. For a copy of NPRI's Freedom Budget, Click Here.

Posted by Patrick Gleason on Thursday, April 30, 2009 6:33 PM EDT

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