Tobacco taxes should be reformed, reallocated, and raised.

Kalshi makes a bet of its own. "I don't know how much Christie's getting paid to say all this stuff," former Nevada Republican U.S. senator, hapless 2022 Republican primary contender, and now Kalshi adviser(!) Dean Heller said on CNBC yesterday.

Heller was responding to a clip of American Gaming Association advisor Chris Christie blasting prediction markets not because they’re evil (i.e the right reason to blast them), but because they’re eating into profits of the equally grotesquely addictive (my characterization, not Christie’s) gambling apps pioneered by your legacy gambling industry.

"Both of you guys are getting paid," responded the CNBC Squawk Box host to Heller. "Maybe he's getting paid more. Is that why you're mad?"

And then Heller giggled like an idiot, just like he did that time Trump humiliated Heller on TV by saying "look, he wants to remain a senator, doesn't he?"

Heller was never renowned for being among the more eloquent or articulate members of the United States Senate, so maybe he didn't mean to say on CNBC that the Nevada and U.S. gambling industry has routinely and repeatedly presented "misinformation" on public policy issues over the decades. But that’s what it sounded like.

Anyway, here's some handicapping for you: If Kalshi posts a bet, er, a prediction market "trade," on whether hiring Dean Heller will be beneficial for Kalshi, the smart money would be on "No."

IN NEVADA CURRENT

There are oodles of common-sense reasons to raise Nevada's tobacco tax, and also fix it so that all the new doodads the industry keeps coming up with don't slip the noose. And the hit to state revenue, if any, would be negligible. April Corbin Girnus reports: NV tobacco taxes need to be reformed, reallocated, and raised, coalition says

Note: Any state tax increase in Nevada must pass both houses of the Legislature by two-thirds margins. So the industry and its lobbyists will have little trouble making sure this never happens, I'm guessing.

The BLM being slip-shod about public consultation with respect to industrial development is nothing new. So you can imagine how the agency might grease the skids now that the stock market, and gross domestic product growth, for that matter, are propped up mostly by outlandish AI bubble-related capital expenditures on data centers. But it can't hurt to call 'em on it. Jeniffer Solis reports: Titus demands answers on BLM data center approval process

Natural gas, electricity, and voters. "In 2020, voters passed Question 6, affirming their commitment to renewable energy” and “Nevada should not import more natural gas to supply data centers." Well-reasoned guest column here from Paulette Stauffer Henriod with the Nevada Chapter of Mormon Women for Ethical Government and the Nevada Conservation League. Nevadans voted for more renewable energy, not more natural gas

Mob boss's protection racket/midterm election strategy. Notices sent to states included “blatant attempts to force communities to comply with the Trump administration’s political demands” or risk losing $200 million in federal funds, the Democrats observed. Jacob Fischler reports: Trump administration targeting states’ DHS grants to force voting changes, House Dems say

Good Luck