Pro-Yucca, anti-gaming fanatic speaks for Nevada GOP

Las Vegas, NV. – In a feeble attempt to distract from President Barack Obama’s visit to Nevada, the state GOP is trotting out anti-gaming, pro-Yucca Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

The Nevada Republican Party has once again shown how out of touch it is with ordinary Nevadans, bringing someone who so clearly stands for everything Nevadans are against and against everything Nevadans are for. Pawlenty thinks gaming is “destructive” and favors “permanent storage (of nuclear waste) at Yucca Mountain.”

In 2002 Pawlenty told the Minnesota Pioneer Press that Yucca should be fast-tracked to be complete by 2007, in order to accept nuclear waste from his home state.

And in 2003 he opposed gaming in Minnesota, saying it was a “sad commentary” for government to turn to gaming for revenue, and said gambling had a “negative impact on people’s lives.”

This hypocrisy is typical of Nevada Republicans, who stood by silently while George W. Bush blacklisted Las Vegas for government travel and rigged their 2008 nominating convention to pave the way for John McCain, one of Yucca Mountain’s most outspoken supporters.

So, after leveling ridiculous attacks at Pres. Obama for supposedly hurting our tourism economy with one comment, will Republicans stand by Tim Pawlenty’s long record of anti-gaming and pro-Yucca rhetoric?

“The fact that Nevada Republicans are relying on Tim Pawlenty – an anti-gaming fanatic who wants to ship dangerous nuclear waste from his home state to our backyard – to be their mouthpiece proves they just don’t get it,” said Phoebe Sweet, communications director from the Nevada State Democratic Party. “This is a classic example of Republican hypocrisy, and Nevadans should be outraged that the state GOP thinks Tim Pawlenty represents their interests.”