The Nevada Policy Research Institute may as well seek funding for a new full-time position -- liaison to the Review-Journal.

In just two business days so far this year, NPRI has gotten two hits in the RJ. On second thought, forget the staff position, it seems unnecessary.

That may as well be the Nevada Policy Research Institute's Bible. The Review-Journal today reports about a guy who will sue to challenge his tax evaluation.

The Review-Journal has once again turned over its Sunday editorial page to the right-wingers over at the Nevada Policy Research Institute.

That, in and of itself, isn't too troubling given the editorial page Libertarian views.

But the commentary by Steven Miller http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/defrauded-by-the-state-78063267.html is simply more of NPRI's spin to try to gin up an uprising by property taxpayers in northern Nevada that could spread statewide during these tough economic times.

I mean, when the property looks like the one at left with views of Lake Tahoe, there's no question about their value.

But, NPRI would rather none of us pay taxes. And when there's a pocket of those who hate tax assessors like those in Incline Village whose property rates have soared, NPRI keeps riling those folks up to produce more news stories out of the think tank's whole cloth.

As the rest of Nevada worries about foreclosures and skyrocketing health care costs, NPRI seeks to stoke the anti-tax teabaggers into such a froth that Starbucks baristas would be jealous.

The fact the RJ is party to this game makes it simply just a willing pawn in NPRI's well-funded game. Sadly, it's become increasingly clear the Sunday Opinion page doesn't rent for much.

Meet NPRI, the Review-Journal's new tax reporter.

On Nov. 16, reporter Ed Vogel writes an entire story from the perspective that a tax study panel has critics. The critic he quotes is from NPRI. http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/Nevada-tax-study-panel-nominations-criticized-70241432.html

And what the critic says is that a tax panel can't be trusted if it includes no "taxpayer advocate." Truth is, NPRI would complain if Ann O'Connell, Carole Vilardo and Dean Rhoades were on the panel. Then it would just be complaints that the panel intends to recommend tax increases.

Three days later, on Nov. 19, Vogel covered the conference call that was put together by the liberal policy group in the state -- the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. He gives NPRI a chance to bark back at the report on tax burdens by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

The most telling part of the back-and-forth between PLAN and NPRI is that they both have valid points when it comes to taxation here. PLAN is correct in that the tax burden falls harder on those making less money. NPRI is right to say we have a regressive system.

So, maybe we can all agree that we do need widespread changes to the system. Sorry, had to dream for a moment.

On Nov. 23, NPRI gets a whole news item, completely unchecked, in the Political Notebook. http://www.lvrj.com/news/union-backs-lone-democrat-campaigning-for-governor-71406762.html

What a trifecta. Made possible by the right-wingers at NPRI.

Ever wonder why the Review-Journal hates science?

Well, the paper's parent company gives loads of money to big oil, big natural gas and similar industries trying to block any change to energy policy. And then there's the paper's little partnership with the Nevada Policy Research Institute.

The Nevada Policy Research Institute appears to have a direct line into the Review-Journal’s newsroom. The non-profit institute, which promotes “free market” principles in core areas of education and fiscal policy, gets the bulk of its media hits in the Review-Journal.

There’s certainly value to providing information and NPRI’s perspective to news sources. Local media outlets can certainly tap NPRI’s reports and analysts for this perspective. But it appears the Review-Journal has grown dependent on NPRI as a source.

In a previous post, we talked about Chuck Muth's new little "independent" wire service. We just left off Muth's regular tagline "Unfair, unbalanced, always right."

It may be true that Nevada could use an independent news service. But putting Chuck Muth in charge of one is hardly setting the stage for independence.

Muth recently launched Nevada News Bureau, calling it a nonpartisan, independent source of local and statehouse news in Nevada. The operation states it is needed because: "Budget constraints caused by falling ad revenue and paid subscriptions have forced the publishers of Nevada's major print newspapers to lay off staff. This has resulted in cut backs to both statehouse reporting and investigative journalism and has diminished their ability to be an effective reporter and 'watchdog' for the voter and taxpayer."

We couldn't agree more with that premise. But should the Review-Journal really rely on the news bureau's reporting, even if it is a free service.

Muth, after all, isn't what you'd call a nonpartisan. His Citizen Outreach certainly espouses a conservative-libertarian political philosophy. And it's Muth who has become the go-to consultant for the Nevada GOP during its struggle to create an identity, message or following.

Citizen Outreach gets its funding from political ideologues. We would find that as troubling if ProgressNow Nevada launched a "news service" aimed at filling voids in the mainstream press. But Muth doesn't just run Citizen Outreach.

He is the creator and administrator of the Dump Reid political action committee -- clearly no nonpartisan entity. We don't know who funds the PAC, whether they even live in Nevada, or whether the name is actually legal. He hopes to raise $5 million for the PAC. Did we mention Citizen Outreach has a PAC here and a foundation to boot.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/oct/04/right-new-source-news/

All that aside, there's no problem with the Nevada News Bureau doing exactly what it is doing. For one thing, it's actually created a job for one of those laid off journalists it mentions in its mission. The problem with the News Bureau is that it is already regurgitating reports by the Nevada Policy Research Institute and Muth is already a fairly regular contributor to the Review Journal's editorial pages http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/tied-hands-make-pickpocketing-more-difficult-59930767.html and a pretty good tipster for its reporters.

We can already see the day when the Review Journal decides it's easier to let the news bureau cover some legislative news than it is to actually have staff in Carson City.