Yall Politics

Turning trees into gasoline

2010-09-02T22:35:00Z

Turning trees into gasoline

DR. SUMESH ARORA
SEPTEMBER 1, 2010 11:10:00 AM
Two centuries ago, wood served as our energy fuel for the American frontier, providing home heat and powering commercial furnaces and eventually steam engines. Last week, the Legislature approved an incentive package for facilities to advance wood - an abundant renewable energy source in Mississippi - from the old blacksmith's furnace to modern automobiles. Once refined, the final product is not an additive or blend like ethanol or biodiesel; it is indistinguishable from traditional gasoline except that it will be cleaner.

There is nothing magical about making petroleum-like oil from wood, because the basic building blocks are the same carbon and hydrogen molecules found in fossil fuels. The trick is to convert these molecules into useable fuels economically and efficiently in a few seconds, just as nature did under heat and pressure over millions of years.

Commercial Dispatch
8/1/10

MAJORITY - Interesting Scenario If Childers And Taylor Win

2010-09-02T13:13:00Z

Interesting Scenario If Childers And Taylor Win

I continue to believe that national winds will be the deciding factor in the Congressional elections in the First and Fourth. Meaning, if Republicans disappoint and maybe gain a dozen seats I could see Travis Childers and Gene Taylor both winning another term (Taylor more easily than Childers). If Republicans have gains from the two to three dozen range, there is little hope for Childers while Taylor most likely wins. If we have the gains of 50 plus and the GOP really does win by 10 points, both Taylor and Childers are gone. That is just the nature of House races. That said, we will also most likely see members or candidates buck the trend.

Let’s say both Childers and Taylor do that- and win re-election- while there party drops around three dozen seats. Republicans need 39 seats to capture the majority and guarantee a Republican Speaker (assuming all Republicans stay in line and we have no reason to think otherwise).

Majority
9/2/10

Bill Minor - Miss. slow on woman’s rights

2010-09-02T13:03:01Z

Bill Minor - Miss. slow on woman's rights

Last week marked 90 years since the 19th Amendment — women’s suffrage — was adopted. In an op-ed piece in the New York Times, feminist historian Christine Stansell, related how the South, not surprisingly, had for decades resisted ratification of the amendment.

Mississippi, she reminds, was one of the most relentless foes. As a matter of fact, Mississippi brought up the rear, only ratifying the amendment in 1984, some 65 years after three-fourths of the states had made it a part of the constitution.

wPerhaps that negative attitude toward political equality for women expressed back then accounts for Mississippi’s record of never having elected a woman governor or sent a woman to Congress, even as several Deep South neighbors have long ago elected women to those high offices.

Both Louisiana and Arkansas presently have women U.S. Senators. Three years ago, Louisianans were represented by both a woman governor and a woman U.S. Senator. Alabama elected a woman governor back in the 1970’s. South Carolina, which was very much like Mississippi in not electing women to high office, is now on the verge of electing a 40-ish woman as governor in November. She, incidentally, is the daughter of Indian immigrants. Texas long ago has elected women both to the U.S. House and Senate. Notably, in the 1970s, a black woman--Barbara Jordan--was elected for several terms to the U.S. House. She distinguished herself for intellect in the impeachment of Richard Nixon. Since then Texas has elected several black women to the House.

9/2/10

WSJ - Outlook Dimming for Democrats

2010-09-02T12:59:00Z

Outlook Dimming for Democrats

Among those seats now regarded as up for grabs are more than a dozen—including Mr. Marshall's—that analysts from both parties saw as safe as recently as June.

The Cook Political Report, a newsletter that tracks congressional races, now lists 68 Democratic House seats as being at "substantial risk," up from 62 in July and 58 in June, and the group plans to raise the figure to more than 70 this week. Other pollsters and analysts have also increased their list of Democrats they now consider imperiled. By comparison, less than 10 Republican-held seats are thought to be in jeopardy.

Wall Street Journal
9/2/10

Hoover Institute video with Barbour - Lobbying experience would help the 2013 president

2010-09-02T12:53:01Z

POLITICO - Haley Barbour, ‘most powerful republican,’ lays 2012 defense

2010-09-02T12:47:00Z

POLITICO - Haley Barbour, 'most powerful republican,' lays 2012 defense

Barbour, in his most open discussion yet of presidential run, sought to make the best of two of his most glaring liabilities with the Hoover Institution's Peter Robinson.

"If I run for president, what you see is what you get, and I am from Mississippi, I do have a Southern accent," Barbour said. "I was a lobbyist and a pretty damned good one. And I'm very proud — we were talking before the show came on — I am happy about my life. I've got a great marriage. I've got great family, and I've had a great career. Wouldn't do anything differently."

As for his years on K Street, the governor said the skills that made him one of Washington's most powerful lobbyists would actually be an asset for him were he elected president.

"The next president of the United States on January 21, 2013 - - is going to start lobbying," Barbour said. "He's going to be lobbying Congress, he's going to be lobbying other countries. He's going to be lobbying the business community. He's going to be lobbying the labor unions, the governors, because that's what presidents do, and I feel like it's an advantage for me to have the chance to do that."

Read more in Politico
9/2/10

Clarion Ledger ED - Attorney General Jim Hood’s skepticism justified over BP claims

2010-09-01T22:42:00Z

Clarion Ledger ED - Attorney General Jim Hood's skepticism justified over BP claims

Kenneth Feinberg controls British Petroleum's $20 billion escrow fund for the benefit of oil spill victims and his appointment to that post was for the express purpose of expediting payments and avoiding needless protracted litigation.

But in administering claims, Feinberg both assets the power to pick and choose among claims while at the same time talking about executing "blanket waivers" for those who settle with the fund not only from BP but for Transocean and other companies connected to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig as well.

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood along with Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and Alabama Attorney General Troy King have expressed concern about Feinberg's protocols for interim or emergency claims as well as for the blanket waivers.

Hood is right to be skeptical and to interpose his office as a watchdog over the settlement process.

Clarion Ledger
9/1/10

Franks asks court to dismiss Scott’s lawsuit

2010-09-01T22:40:00Z

Franks asks court to dismiss Scott’s lawsuit

TUPELO – Jamie Franks’ attorneys on Tuesday asked for the dismissal of a lawsuit against him by Lee County Superintendent Mike Scott.

Jason Herring of Tupelo, Franks’ lawyer, filed the Circuit Court motion, which says Scott’s claims aren’t covered by the legal rules he cites.

The document claims Scott hasn’t been specific enough in his accusations against Franks.

“It is convincingly clear and undisputed” that Scott “cannot prove the element of damages” required by state law, it adds.

Read more: NEMS360.com - Franks asks court to dismiss Scott’s lawsuit

AP - Reform candidates taken off Miss. US House ballot

2010-09-01T22:37:00Z

Reform candidates taken off Miss. US House ballot

JACKSON — Mississippi election commissioners on Wednesday removed all four Reform Party candidates from the November congressional ballot because of questions about the state party's leadership.

The candidates have until next Tuesday to appeal their removal. They are Barbara Dale Washer in the 1st District, Ashley Norwood in the 2nd, Tracella Lou O'Hara Hill in the 3rd and Anna Jewel Revies in the 4th.

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann says their qualifying papers were submitted by Thomas Randolph Huffmaster, who called himself chairman of the Reform Party of Mississippi.

AP
9/1/10

REMINDER - Roger Wicker: Combat ending in Iraq couldn’t have happened without Bush surge

2010-09-01T12:42:00Z

Wicker Statement on the End of the U.S. Combat Mission in Iraq

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) today issued the following statement regarding the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq:

“The United States has the strongest and best-led military in the world. I am proud of the courage and excellence of the men and women in uniform that helped pave the way for Iraq’s ongoing transition to a more stable democracy.

“We have made great economic and security advancements in Iraq. The country is now the 12th fastest growing economy in the world and it is anticipated that the country will have a budget surplus in the coming years. As a result of American security training, violence is down 90 percent since the troop surge, and there are now more than 600,000 Iraqi police officers and soldiers.

“There have been many factors that have contributed to the progress made in Iraq, but it would not have been possible without the determination of President George W. Bush and his administration. It was the success of President Bush’s troop surge in 2007 that allowed his administration to sign the security agreement with Iraq that would end our overall presence in the country.

“Although the U.S. combat mission in Iraq comes to an end today, our work is not done. We should honor the sacrifices of those who served by not turning our backs on the efforts and progress made. President Obama should work to ensure that our hard-won gains from the surge policy, and the bravery and sacrifices of our troops since then, are not lost.”

“I pray for the safe return of our troops and for the men and women moving on to fight for our country in Afghanistan.”

Wicker Press Release
8/31/10

Haley Barbour five part series in National Review

2010-09-01T12:38:01Z

Haley Barbour five part series in National Review

Haley Barbour, Florida gubernatorial candidate make up

2010-09-01T12:34:00Z

Haley Barbour, Florida gubernatorial candidate make up

SWEETWATER, Fla. -- Two Republican leaders sought to assure voters Tuesday that the party is united behind Florida gubernatorial nominee Rick Scott after the wealthy political newcomer bested a veteran state official in a divisive primary race.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, head of the Republican Governors Association, joined Scott and about 200 mostly elderly supporters at a Miami-area community center. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was scheduled to appear with Scott later Tuesday in Jacksonville.

Scott's campaign called the appearances a "unity tour," a week after a terse exchange between Scott and the governors' group over a primary ad attacking rival Bill McCollum.
Bush supported McCollum, Florida's attorney general, in the primary.

AP
8/31/10

Miss. leaders consider saving some stimulus money

2010-09-01T12:26:00Z

Miss. leaders consider saving some stimulus money

JACKSON, Miss. -- Republican Gov. Haley Barbour and a bipartisan group of Mississippi lawmakers are considering saving, rather than spending, one of the two pots of federal stimulus money Congress recently approved.

Doing so could make it easier for officials to craft a state budget during the 2011 election-year session when most lawmakers are either seeking another term or running for higher office, and when Barbour - a potential 2012 presidential candidate - is wrapping up his final year as governor.

Lawmakers said Tuesday that the state still plans to spend $97.8 million of education stimulus money this fiscal year, which ends June 30.

AP
8/31/10

AP - Miss. tax collections beat expectations in August

2010-09-01T12:21:01Z

AP - Miss. tax collections beat expectations in August

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi tax collections beat expectations in August for the second month in a row, but state leaders said it's too soon to declare the state economy has rebounded from the recession.

Department of Revenue spokeswoman Kathy Waterbury said Tuesday that preliminary numbers showed all three major tax categories - sales, individual income and corporate income - were up for the month.

Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant said this was the third time in the past 25 months for Mississippi's tax collections to exceed projections, and that it's a good sign.

"I think it is trending in the right direction," Bryant said in an interview. "But there are some things that could affect it. We'd love to see how the next several months go."

AP
8/31/10

Auditor Stacey Pickering announces indictment of a former Jackson County court clerk

2010-08-31T20:46:01Z

Former Jackson County Clerk Indicted for Embezzling Over $890,000

Former Jackson County employee Ginger Lashley has been indicted for embezzling $890,000. Lashley worked as the Accounts Payable Clerk for Jackson County.

“While holding the position of Utilities Payable Clerk for Jackson County, this individual repeatedly deposited checks payable to Jackson County into a personal savings account entitled Jackson County Food Drive,” said State Auditor Stacey Pickering. “This case was brought to our attention by the Sheriff’s Office in Jackson County, and we are appreciative of the work done by Sheriff Mike Byrd and District Attorney Tony Lawrence. This is one of the largest embezzlement cases we have investigated in the State Auditor’s Office and represents a significant loss to the taxpayers of Jackson County.”

“I appreciate the diligence and cooperation of the State Auditor’s Office in investigating the case and bringing it before the Jackson County Grand Jury,” said District Attorney Tony Lawrence. “Under the law, the citizens of Jackson County have a right to expect that their money is being handled properly and all is accounted for. Now that the indictment has been served, the case will be set on the trial docket and we will move forward towards a trial.”

“This arrest and indictment goes to show that we will not tolerate anyone who is holding a position of trust in our county government or elsewhere taking money or other assets from the county itself,” said Sheriff Mike Byrd. “ We did not tolerate it from the previous administration which had an employee who stole thousands of dollars from the Sheriff’s Office, and we certainly will not tolerate it from an employee of the Finance Department.”

Today, the State Auditor’s Office has filed a $1,232,579,73 demand against Ginger Lashley and her bonding company.

Lashley, 50, was employed by Jackson County since 1998, and most recently worked as Accounts Payable Clerk. She was terminated from her position with Jackson County on November 9, 2009. Lashley was arrested by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department following her termination by the County. After being arrested on an embezzlement charge, Lashley was released from custody on a $30,000 cash bond.

Auditor Stacey Pickering Press Release
8/31/10