But last Friday, the gambling-industrial complex got the result it wanted from cooking the books, courtesy of the state's two largest newspapers. Anyone who read further would have discovered the shell game. But many would retain only the headlines. Roughly half a million readers, about a third of the state's population, were thus exposed to corporate propaganda presented as fact under color of government office. Sen. Neal need not be bothered.
Initiative petitions allow citizens to circumvent the system.
A couple of weeks ago, I reported an oblique letter from former Congresswoman Barbara Vucanovich, R-Nev., to rural county residents. She warned of some nefarious Las Vegas senator trying to raise taxes on the poor gambling industry. That was the second-best of all the lies. Initiative petitions, such as Neal's or the teachers', can be modified by the legislature three years after passage. Vucanovich sunk to her lowest by threatening local health clinics should Neal's initiative pass.