Yall Politics:Yall Politics - The Definitive Guide to Politics in Mississippi 2010-03-15T18:12:18Z Copyright (c) 2010, Staff of Y'all Politics ExpressionEngine tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:03:15 tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:index.php/yp/post/1.22042 2010-03-15T17:10:00Z 2010-03-15T18:12:18Z Staff of Y'all Politics Dr. Seuss's birthday celebrated with Green Eggs and Ham

March 2, 1998 the National Education Association (NEA) commemorated the calendar day Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in an effort to observe the subject of reading. According to the NEA, 45 million adults and children alike participated in Read Across America 2010 after only 13 years since its inception.

While a public official here entertained East Dover Elementary students with a Dr. Seuss tale, the First Lady Michelle Obama, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and NEA President Dennis Van Roekel also gave their afternoon time to Washington D.C. students at the Library of Congress.

At the afternoon event, the NEA asked members of Congress to share their favorite books with children. Mississippi Congressman Travis Childers said his favorite is The Little Engine That Could by author Watty Piper. “It is a story about determination,” he said. “This book emphasizes the importance of persistence when aspiring toward a goal and it teaches us that anything can be done when we work hard.”



Asbury Park Press
3/14/10 ]]> tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:index.php/yp/post/1.22041 2010-03-15T17:06:00Z 2010-03-15T18:07:22Z Staff of Y'all Politics

JACKSON - Lt. Governor Phil Bryant, Chairman of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, has called a meeting of the Committee for 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 17, 2010.


The Joint Legislative Budget Committee will hear a report from the Revenue Estimating Group regarding possible revisions to the General Fund revenue estimates for fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011.



The meeting will be held in the Old Supreme Court Chamber, Room 216, New Capitol Building, Jackson.


Lt. Governor Phil Bryant Press Release
3/15/10
]]> tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:index.php/yp/post/1.22040 2010-03-15T15:31:00Z 2010-03-15T16:31:53Z Staff of Y'all Politics
The Washington Post ranked MS-01 as the 11th most likely House race to switch parties in 2010. To read more go to http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/the-line/four-days-in-may.html



Campaign Update



Our race is in full swing and I can feel the momentum building. One of the most enjoyable aspects of our campaign, is getting to know you and the many people from all walks of life across North Mississippi.



As I travel from one campaign stop to another, it's encouraging to see bumper stickers on cars throughout the district. We need to continue expanding our visibility by getting more bumper stickers on cars. If you have already placed one on your car please ask your friends and family to do the same. If you need any materials please email Cadley with our campaign staff at cadley@nunneleeforcongress.com and he will be happy to get them to you.



Just as enthusiasm is growing in the campaign so is our grassroots organization. We're seeing more and more people joining our efforts to take back Washington but we continue to need your help. If you have a few hours to spare to write postcards, hand out materials, make calls to friends, or put out signs we need your help. Please email Mabel with my campaign team at mabel@nunneleeforcongress.com if you are interested in helping us in any way.



Also, forward this newsletter to family and friends and ask them to sign up for email updates from the campaign at http://www.nunneleeforcongress.com .





As I've stated many times, I am running because I believe we need someone representing our district that will stand up for Mississippi values. It's also my job to tell you why I am the best candidate in the race. I want to tell you what I'm for and not just what I'm against. That's why I released a policy statement on healthcare this week. I want you and the voters of North Mississippi to know where I stand on the important issues facing our country.



Healthcare



The discussion of healthcare is a perfect example of what is wrong with Washington, D.C. Our congressman has been unwilling to tell us where he stands on the Senate version of Obamacare. Citizens of this district deserve to know where their elected officials stand on issues and what they are doing to impact the outcome of legislation.



Obamacare increases government spending at a time when we have record deficits, it raises taxes on families and small businesses, it destroys jobs at a time of record unemployment, it cuts Medicare funding for seniors, it allows tax payer funding of abortions and it forces Mississippians to abandon health coverage they like in favor of government-approved coverage.



President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and the extreme liberal factions in Washington are using every trick in the book to push this unhealthy package through Congress and I think the citizens of North Mississippi deserve to know where we as candidates stand before the votes are taken.

While Obamacare is not good for our economy and would not be good for healthcare in America, there is no question that our healthcare system needs adjustments. We need leadership who will be willing to listen and accept common sense solutions that will make our healthcare more affordable and more accessible and this is one of the reasons I could never support Nancy Pelosi as speaker. She does not, nor will she ever, represent the views of North Mississippi.

When elected I will work to make common-sense changes that will make healthcare more affordable and more accessible without hurting our economy. I have a record of converting our conservative values into effective public policy and I want to take that experience to Washington. Here's how:

1.Individuals and families should be able to keep the same insurance when they change jobs.

2.Individuals and families need to be able to select coverage that is right for them.

3.Insurance should not be restricted by state lines.

4.Self-employed individuals and families should be able to join a group plan and enjoy the same tax advantages as corporations.

5.Insurance companies should not be allowed to drop individuals or families because of illness.

6.Small businesses should be able to purchase coverage at similar rates as large corporations and government agencies.

7.Medical bills should be more transparent and easier to understand.

8.We must pass comprehensive tort reform.

9.Elected officials should not have special coverage.

These simple solutions will help make healthcare more affordable and accessible and I will work every day to take a common-sense approach to the United States House of Representatives.

As always I want to hear from you. It's important that I keep you the voter informed but also that you the voter keep me informed and address any concerns or questions you might have. Please email me at info@nunneleeforcongress.com . I look forward to hearing from you soon.



Alan Nunnelee
]]> tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:index.php/yp/post/1.22039 2010-03-15T14:10:00Z 2010-03-15T15:12:27Z Staff of Y'all Politics CL - Pickering recoups more than $3.6M in last 2 years

When State Auditor Stacey Pickering took office in January 2008, there were 184 open cases. Since then, the agency has opened 189 more.

Apparently there is a lot of corruption in public office, said Tougaloo College political science professor Steve Rozman.

During these tough economic times, people may be more prone to misuse taxpayer money, Rozman said. Once they do it once or twice, it may become addictive, he said, and if the oversight isn't there, they will be tempted to continue.

Pickering's office has increased collections from people misusing public dollars, recouping more than $3.6 million in the last two years for an average of $1.8 million annually.

Clarion-Ledger
3/15/10 ]]> tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:index.php/yp/post/1.22023 2010-03-15T04:15:00Z 2010-03-15T05:17:25Z Staff of Y'all Politics Sun Herald slams Blackmon for killing open meeting bill

Blackmon has been citing various objections to the legislation for weeks. He thought imposing larger fines on ill-advised officials was “a sledgehammer” approach.

Especially since some of those officials may be ill-advised by Blackmon, whose law firm represents the city of Canton. On Feb. 10, Canton Mayor William Truly told a citizen to stop videotaping a Board of Aldermen meeting. The mayor later said he shouldn’t have blocked the taping.

But what really seems to have gotten Blackmon so steamed up was the audacity of his colleagues to tinker with legislation after it had left his committee.
“I don’t expect you to be out here throwing amendments in when you haven’t brought the amendments up in committee,” Blackmon told The Associated Press of action being taken on the floor of the House.

So Blackmon got even.

And as a result, city and county and institutional governance will remain secretive in Mississippi.

Sort of makes your blood boil, doesn’t it?

This editorial represents the views of the Sun Herald editorial board, which consists of President-Publisher Glen Nardi, Vice President and Executive Editor Stan Tiner, Opinion Page Editor B. Marie Harris, Associate Editor Tony Biffle, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Flora S. Point and Marketing Services Director John McFarland. Opinions expressed by letter writers, columnists and cartoonists are their own.

3/14/10 ]]> tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:index.php/yp/post/1.22022 2010-03-15T04:12:00Z 2010-03-15T05:13:36Z Staff of Y'all Politics Lawmakers nibble at pension problems

Mississippi lawmakers want to cut down on state employees who are double-dipping — drawing a state retirement while continuing to be paid either as contract or part-time workers.

The practice, say advocates of the change, has gotten more prevalent during the budget pinch, as state agencies try to cut their payroll costs by pushing part of them onto the state retirement system.

A bill working its way through the Legislature is intended to discourage the cost-shifting. It would require state agencies to continue to pay into the Public Employees Retirement System for these workers. It also would extend the waiting period before employees could return to work for a state agency beyond the current 45-day wait.

These changes are good ones, but they are only nibbling at the edges of the long-term financial difficulties facing the retirement system that covers some 373,000 state, county and city workers, including 80,000 current retirees.

Greenwood Commonwealth
3/14/10 ]]> tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:index.php/yp/post/1.22018 2010-03-14T14:41:00Z 2010-03-14T15:44:19Z Staff of Y'all Politics Longtime former state health officer seeks factual debate of federal proposal

Based on my past experiences in health care administration and current understanding of the proposed health insurance reform proposals, I would like to make a statement.

The proposals are complex, but the problems addressed are just as complex and difficult to solve. The program has been described as a "government takeover of health care" or even worse as a socialist plot.

On the other side, the proponents claim that it will solve all problems with the costs and availability of health care. Both sides are overstating what the actual outcomes will be.

First, a few facts: The costs of health care in our country are on a non-sustainable upward spiral. The average family of four, with an annual income of $40,000 to $50,000 expends about $12,000 to $15,000 on health insurance.

This amounts to approximately 23 percent of income. This cost is increasing about 6 to 10 percent each year. Our per-capita costs are about double those in other developed countries.


Alton B. Cobb, M.D., of Jackson served as Mississippi's state health officer from 1973-1993.
Clarion Ledger
3/14/10 ]]> tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:index.php/yp/post/1.22017 2010-03-14T14:37:00Z 2010-03-14T15:39:32Z Staff of Y'all Politics CL - Health care would benefit Mississippi, even though Barbour says we can't afford it

There is probably no single topic has been discussed longer and more often in Mississippi than the proposed federal health care reforms.

Gov. Haley Barbour maintains that Mississippi can't afford the proposed Medicaid expansion contained in the U.S. Senate health care reform package.

In December, Barbour said: "Such unfunded mandates would necessarily cause states to raise taxes or cut vital services like education and law enforcement - more than we already have. Mandating a one-size-fits-all solution for states and expanding a broken Medicaid system - without reform - is poor policy."

Barbour maintains that the Senate proposal would cause Mississippi "to have to find some $200 million a year to support the expansion of Medicaid."

...

The American health care system needs reform. There are more than 46 million Americans without health care insurance, mostly the working poor. It is too costly and continues to escalate. Any health care reform must cover the uninsured and control rising health care costs.

Unlike Barbour, Cobb's position is that federal health care reform will benefit Mississippi in greater proportion than most other states in terms of health care coverage, which is a compelling argument.

Clarion-Ledger
3/14/10 ]]> tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:index.php/yp/post/1.22016 2010-03-14T14:31:00Z 2010-03-14T18:10:12Z Staff of Y'all Politics NYT - As Democrats attempt reconciliation, accusations fly about "referee"/Parliamentarian

WASHINGTON — In the fall of 1968, a serious dark-haired young man arrived in the capital to do what serious young men here do: study law. Alan S. Frumin was calm, analytical and possessed of a dry wit. To his classmates, one trait stood out. He was a whiz at mastering the mind-numbing rules of civil procedure.

Today, Mr. Frumin puts his procedural acumen to use as the parliamentarian of the United States Senate. Most of the time, it is a quiet, under-the-radar kind of job. Not these days.

As Washington enters the final act of its long-running health care drama, Mr. Frumin — a nonpartisan civil servant who got his start as a precedents writer for the House — is in a starring role. His rulings on arcane procedural questions may determine whether President Obama winds up signing a health care overhaul or whether the administration’s signature policy initiative collapses.

By Friday, Mr. Frumin had become a major preoccupation for Democrats and Republicans, as they tried to divine his views on whether Mr. Obama must sign a health bill into law before Democrats can use the filibuster-proof budgetary tactic known as reconciliation to make changes to it. In the weeks to come, there will be a slew of Republican challenges to reconciliation.

New York Times
3/14/10 ]]> tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:index.php/yp/post/1.22015 2010-03-14T14:18:00Z 2010-03-14T15:20:33Z Staff of Y'all Politics WTOK - Snowden defends open bill amendment requiring officials to pay fines out of pocket

State Rep. Greg Snowden added an amendment that forced those fines to be paid by the officials themselves, and not the taxpayers.

House Judiciary A Committee chairman, Rep. Ed Blackmon, held up the bill, because he said Snowden should have added the amendment while it was in committee. The bill died for lack of action Thursday.

"Apparently the real reason he let the bill die is because he didn't like someone offering an amendment on the floor," said Snowden. "And, you know, that's my job, to do those things when they are necessary. And I had the majority of the House agree with me. So I feel good about what I did, but I'm sorry the bill died."

Blackmon said asking public officials who are not well-paid in some small towns to pay a fine would put an unfair financial burden on them.

WTOK
3/14/10 ]]> tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:index.php/yp/post/1.22014 2010-03-14T14:14:00Z 2010-03-14T15:15:35Z Staff of Y'all Politics HA - D-Ward killed animal cruelty bill so he could write his own version for 2011

Hewes said he was disappointed about the situation.

"It's ironic that we have a statute on the books creating a felony for the mistreatment of livestock but we don't have anything for dogs and cats," Hewes said.

Once the bill passed in the Senate, it was sent to the House where House Speaker Billy McCoy double-referred it to the Agriculture Committee and to the Judiciary B Committee.

The bill never left the Agriculture Committee.

MS-FACT members claimed on their site, ms-fact.org, that the Mississippi House Agriculture Committee Chairman Greg Ward, D-Ripley, killed the bill because he wanted to work on an animal cruelty bill personally.

Ward told The Hattiesburg American he believed SB 2623 was somewhat confusing, and he hoped to write a more clear and simple bill and introduce it in the 2011 legislative session.

Ward said he almost has the legislation written, and it will be concerned with only cats and dogs and no other animals.

Hattiesburg American
3/14/10 ]]> tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:index.php/yp/post/1.22013 2010-03-14T14:07:01Z 2010-03-14T15:09:47Z Staff of Y'all Politics NEWSWEEK - Liz Cheney excites Las Vegas crowd more than Haley Barbour or Lindsey Graham

When the Republican Jewish Coalition hosted its annual winter conference at Las Vegas's splashy Palazzo hotel earlier this month, party luminaries such as Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham showed up to hobnob with some of the GOP's most generous donors. But the guest who seemed to excite the audience the most was a diminutive, former mid-level State Department official who has never held elected office. Introduced by Miriam Adelson, wife of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, Elizabeth Cheney delivered a rousing attack on Barack Obama's foreign policy that won her a standing ovation. It was an impressive performance by Cheney, a policy wonk, law-school grad, and mother of five who may now be bidding to establish America's next political dynasty.

Newsweek
3/14/10 ]]> tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:index.php/yp/post/1.22012 2010-03-14T14:03:00Z 2010-03-14T15:05:52Z Staff of Y'all Politics
WASHINGTON — Mississippi’s GOP senators, prolific users of earmarks, will not be going along with the House Republicans’ one-year moratorium on directed federal spending.

“I do not agree with the efforts in the House to impose an earmark moratorium,” said U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“Earmarks are not about how much the government spends, but about who decides how appropriated funds are used. The Constitution gives Congress the responsibility to decide how to allocate federal funds.”

Similarly, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, who was a member of the House Appropriations Committee before moving to the Senate, defended the use of earmarks.

“I support shrinking the size of the federal budget,” Wicker said. “But once spending levels are determined, elected officials who are accountable to the public should be able to direct spending to projects with the most need and potential for economic impact. The alternative is to leave those decisions to bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., who are unaccountable to no one and know very little about local needs in communities across the country.”

Sun Herald
3/14/10 ]]> tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:index.php/yp/post/1.22011 2010-03-14T14:01:00Z 2010-03-14T15:02:48Z Staff of Y'all Politics Voters won't toss Thompson, but Pelosi could


U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., has escaped blame in the same ethics inquiry that has at least temporarily cost U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., his Ways and Means Committee chairmanship.

Both men accepted a Caribbean junket paid for by some of the big corporations they usually profess to loathe. It was a clear violation of the latest set of House rules, but both also employed the familiar “plausible deniability” claim, saying they didn’t know who picked up their tab. As the organizer, Rangel, who said his staff might have known but didn’t tell him, took the hit. Thompson and other members on the trip were given a pass.

Commendably, it appears House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-N.Y., might actually be trying to keep her pledge to “drain the swamp” of congressional corruption, which has no party lines. She faced down a defiant Rangel, which was no small feat.

For his part, Rangel faces six other ethics inquiries, most related to his admitted failure to pay taxes owed on vacation properties, also in the Caribbean.

Thompson has one additional complaint pending — specifically that he, as Homeland Security Committee chairman, threatened hearings against credit card companies in order to receive campaign contributions that were, in fact, paid before the hearings were canceled. Thompson says the allegation is pure rubbish and that, as usual, he is completely above reproach.

Mississippi Democrats did not offer an alternative candidate for this fall’s election in the 2nd Congressional District. Thompson advances to the November ballot to face one of three Republicans and a smattering of independents. Most see him as a shoo-in once again.

So the biggest career threat he faces could be from his fellow House Democrats. If he becomes more of a liability than an asset, they’ll toss him overboard. If he doesn’t believe it, he can ask Charlie Rangel.

Vicksburg Post
3/14/10 ]]> tag:yallpolitics.com,2010:index.php/yp/post/1.22010 2010-03-13T22:48:00Z 2010-03-13T23:50:26Z Staff of Y'all Politics Jim Hood comes out against having qualified forensic pathologists

There’s a state statute that allows counties to group together to form a district and have a medical examiner from that pool of counties as a district. Several county coroners asked Jim Hood for an opinion whether they could form a district and hire Dr. Hayne (well, hire a hypothetical doctor) even though he was not on the state list. Hood obligingly opined that, because the statute provides that such a district medical examiner will have the same powers as the state medical examiner, those district examiners are not subject to the authority of the state medical examiner and therefore didn’t have to qualify by being on the list of qualified pathologists. This effort was the subject of an excellent article by Radley Balko at Reason, and was virtually ignored in Mississippi media (except for some parts of the blogosphere).

I’ll interject here that the hypothetical doctor apparently didn’t have to meet the qualification for state medical examiner– that the examiner “be certified in forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology” (Miss. Code Ann. § 41-61-55), a qualification Dr. Hayne does not hold.

The opinion also threw in that this “district” examiner could use the state morgue facility, which would be reimbursed the costs of using the facilities, equipment, and supplies.

I’ve made this all sound almost rational. But look at what is being done here: We have a list of qualified forensic pathologists, established by the Department of Public Safety. The county coroners (elected officials who are required to hold no more medical qualifications than I hold, or, for that matter, than my English setter holds) would be allowed to end-run around that by hiring a district medical examiner who did not have to be on the list and did not have to meet the qualifications for state medical examiner (that is, of being board-certified in forensic pathology).

And it was all to the end of putting back into business the doctor responsible for debacles like this.

So, as noted at the head of this post, a bill almost passed the legislature to close this loophole (and block disgraced former pathologist Stephen Hayne from reentering the business) and Attorney General Jim Hood is attempting to kill it at the last moment. I hope he fails.



NMC
3/12/10 ]]>