Voting for Jim Gibbons is a given for reasons I have outlined [...]]]> As some of you may know, I am registered as a Republican for reasons that johnny-come-latelys like  Dan Hart and the Democratic Governor’s Association well understand. This has left me with a difficult and unaccustomed choice: whom vote for in the GOP primary.

Voting for Jim Gibbons is a given for reasons I have outlined elsewhere. But what about the rest of the ticket? Particularly troublesome is the crowded field for CD 1, where so many candidates have what the ‘Monger’s really looking for–the crazy. Who out there has that teabagger, shrink government to the size of a walnut, privatize the fire department goofy that will attract my vote?

Turns out that Michele Fiore and Craig Lake, the fellow that the Nevada GOP perversely believes is not as strong a candidate as Fiore, had a little scuffle via press releases recently. These were posted over at the Nevada News Bureau, and I thought I’d share some bits, since some of you will be headed to the GOP primary, too.

Fiore started the dust-up with a tax-day piece that seemed to encourage Nevadans to break the law by not paying their full taxes:

It’s tax day, and as millions of Americans rush to file their 2009 tax returns, Michele Fiore, Republican candidate for Congressional District 1, is still battling the IRS over a disputed personal income return from 2006.

“I am happy to pay the government what I owe, but I refuse to pay the government what I don’t owe. I can’t imagine any American blindly handing over their hard-earned money just because the government demands it,” Michele said.

“My case is a perfect example of an over-reaching government using its power and bureaucracy to intimidate its citizens. They give themselves the right to apply a lien on all disputed cases, even though when this is finally resolved, the IRS will end up owing me money. The IRS has nothing to lose by dragging this out, hoping that I will eventually roll over. I will never cave. I will stand up for what I believe is right, and I will never back down.

“It is unfortunate that my primary opponent doesn’t realize that if elected, an enormous responsibility of a Member of Congress is to represent your constituents and act as a liaison between them and the federal government. Is Mr. Lake suggesting that as a Congressman, when District 1 taxpayers come to their Congressman seeking help in a dispute with the IRS, he will blindly take sides with the feds over the taxpayers he represents?

“As your next Congresswoman, the taxpayers in District 1 will always have the benefit of the doubt when they visit me on an issue they need help with. If Mr. Lake is elected, unfortunately he will side with Washington, DC bureaucrats. It says a lot about who he is and what kind of judgment he brings to this race. (NNB)

Fiore is referring to a $47,351.26 lien against some property for which she apparently didn’t pay taxes on time. Or at least, that’s what the IRS thinks.

Ms. Fiore next calls Mr. Lake “young, careless and dangerous” for criticizing her for having an IRS lien on her property. Her campaign site, from which I borrowed the rather suggestive photo above, seems oddly committed to purveying her as armed and dangerous as she claims Mr. Lake to be.

Mr. Lake responded:

As “tax day” approaches it appears as though the “anointed one”, Michele Fiore, has not been properly vetted or forthcoming about her personal history.

As the Nevada News Bureau blog is reporting it appears that Ms. Fiore has a nearly $50,000 IRS tax lien. Just what America needs, another politician that does not pay their taxes. Perhaps Ms. Fiore should jump offices again and try to get a post on the Obama Cabinet.

Ms. Fiore has been trying to paint herself as the experienced candidate…well she sure seems to display a level of hypocrisy usually only shown by politicians with years of experience in Washington.

She is calling herself “a successful business woman” and someone who “signs the front of checks not the back”. Well it seems she’s got a little problem with signing the front of checks as well.

With the current economic conditions affecting southern Nevada, voters need to be assured that their elected officials are people that can be counted on and trusted. Southern Nevada voters have a reason to be concerned, because rather than pay her taxes Fiore plans to invest her own money into her campaign to “find a new job.” As she said in a recent interview, “I will contribute and invest as much as I can afford.” The fact is that if Fiore donates one penny to her campaign before paying her back taxes she is contributing to the problem with our economic situation, not the solution.

“Fiore has made the main focus of her campaign her qualifications as a business owner and fiscal responsibility,” said Craig Lake, Candidate for Congress. “Ms. Fiore has clearly not kept her personal finances in order, so how can we trust her to get our nation back on track? Nevada needs a representative who at a minimum pays their taxes and has their personal financial situation in order. They should feel assured that their representative is not looking for a better job, but rather looking out for them,” Lake continued. “I hope as this tax day approaches Ms. Fiore will join with me and the thousands of hardworking residents of CD1 and actually pay her tax bill,” Lake concluded. (NNB)

All fun and games, of course, but perhaps more interesting to Nor’townies is the question about where Ms. Fiore lives. There is one report that she actually lives in CD 3:

It may also be worth nothing that Fiore actually lives in CD-3 and not at this address [stated in the lien] in CD-1. (NNB)

Which begs the question: what is she doing running in CD1? Is she yet another carpetbagger? If so, inquiring minds want to know: does she own a pink bathrobe?

First, Elizabeth Halseth pulled out of the busy Nor’Town Assembly District 13 race to take on Dennis Nolan for Senate District 9. She made the [...]]]> Yeh, yeh, I’ve got to update the final list of candidates for Nor’Town spots and environs over in Election Central. However, two last minute switches should be entertaining to Nor’Townies.

First, Elizabeth Halseth pulled out of the busy Nor’Town Assembly District 13 race to take on Dennis Nolan for Senate District 9. She made the switch because Nolan’s original opponent, Michele Fiore, decided on a suicide run against Shelley Berkley. The theory is, apparently, that since there is a growing anti-incumbent sentiment among voters, even a well-entrenched Congressgal like Berkley could be vulnerable. Well, good luck with that.

Anyways, Fiore’s move into the race agin Berkley was not too thrilling to the up-to-then best positioned candidate against Berkley: Craig Lake, the closet Republican. The Republican party brass even asked former Nor’Townie Mayor Mike Montandon and Nor’Townie Assemblyguy “Hanging” Chad Christensen, now dementedly taking on Harry Reid and a boatload of other candidates for the U.S. Senate, to take on the run against Berkley much to Craig’s chagrin.

You can go read up on the fun over at Nevada State News Bureau and some rants about it over at Nevada News? and Views.

Aren’t we having fun, so far this election season?