Majority Sports
****Bowl Picks are now posted!Much has already been said and written regarding the possibility of school consolidation since Gov. Haley Barbour released his FY 2011 budget recommendations. The Commission on Mississippi Education Structure has even been formed and appointed by the Governor, with its goal being to outline how to best achieve consolidation, capitalize on cost savings, and identify a process by which the 152 school districts can be paired down. The Governor’s vision is to merge the 152 districts in Mississippi’s 82 counties into close to 100 districts saying that “by consolidating districts, we can make sure state and local tax dollars are spent on educating our students and increase the quality of educational opportunities for Mississippi’s children.”
I would agree that there would seem to be a duplication of services (primarily in administration) in our current school district format, especially when you consider the number of students being served in some of the more rural, sparsely populated areas in our state versus the denser, urban regions. It would seem obvious to contend that some level of cost savings would be gained by consolidating school districts given the amount that is spent on hiring highly educated, experienced superintendents and other administrative staff. At first blush, such an idea as consolidation has merit. It is only until you begin to talk through the practicality and impact of the issue that the subject takes a turn.
I have seen the idea of school district consolidation work all of my life. Here along the coast, where most cities enjoy their own school district, the children in the cities of Pascagoula and Gautier have for decades been guided by one school district, the Pascagoula Municipal Separate School District. While there are some obvious factions of rivalry that exist between the two citizenry, the students, parents, and school staffs all have allowed this system to work and work well. What other school district can tout not one, but two national Blue Ribbon high schools?
When you talk school district consolidation, there are more than just dollars and cents to figure; you have to account for the communities you are affecting. The elected leaders and the general public of the cities and counties must be willing to enter into school consolidation, or it will never work. While cross town or county rivalry is all in good fun, there must be an overarching sense that such merging is beneficial to all involved and doesn’t adversely impact one area more than another. Believe me, people keep score even in the best of environments.
Continue reading Guest Commentary: Mississippi and Education in 2010 >>
While we may still be in 20009, we are certainly talking about the 2010 mid-term elections and a group of new national polls may signal trouble for Democrats in red and purple districts- including Travis Childers in the First District. There are four specific polls from Rasmussen that came out over the past week that show warning signs for the incumbent.
The first poll looked at the impact of Congress on the day-to-day lives of voters. Today, 74 percent say legislation being debated would have a significant impact on the lives- the highest level since Democrats regained control of Congress in 2007. As a reference, the number was at 52 percent in June. Why is this important? Because Republicans are more concerned about what Congress is doing than Democrats.
Under similar measure, 57 percent of voters now say it is important which party is in control. And while 57 percent of Democrats feel that way- 67 percent of GOP voters believe that to be true. These polls underscore the enthusiasm factor we will see in 2010. Republicans are not happy with the direction of Congress, want a Republican Congress, and may no longer be willing to accept a conservative Democrat who will vote for Nancy Pelosi. At the same time, Republicans have an eight-point edge (44 to 36) in the most recent generic vote poll.
Continue reading New Nationally Polling Shows Danger Signs For Childers
Haley Barbour has continually said that next year’s state budget will not be “business as usual” in reference to the projected revenue shortfalls the state will continue to face. This has led Barbour and others to bring up many delicate issues- such as education consolidation- which may or may not see any action in the next legislative session. But the fact that these issues have surfaced detail just where the budget for FY2011 is.
Another controversial idea that has been mentioned in the past but never seriously debated is a state lottery. State Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (D-Brookhaven) told the Daily Leader that it will be “more seriously discussed than it ever has been.”
The surrounding states of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee all have their own lottery. The revenue is generally used to fund education programs. Alabama, like Mississippi, does not have a lottery, and voters most recently rejected an initiative that was pushed by former Gov. Don Siegelman in 1999.
Continue reading Will Lottery Talk Gain Traction In 2010? >>
State Rep. George Flaggs (D-Vicksburg) made headlines this fall when he admitted that the state can not afford to continue funding 152 school districts and eight state universities under the current economic conditions. This drove the hot-button issue of consolidation back into the conversation, and gave supporters reason to believe 2010 might be a year of action.
And there was good reason for that. Flaggs, a Democrat, is also a leading member of the Black Caucus. If the LBC was supportive of the move, consolidation may be possible- and even likely.
Soon after Flaggs statements, Haley Barbour released his budget proposal which outlined both K-12 consolidation (without specifics) and reducing the number of universities from eight to five. Today, however, Flaggs is backtracking and the LBC is firmly against any consolidation moves.
As Y’all Politics noted at the end of last week, a group of Republican state AGs are looking into the constitutionality of the special deals for certain states in the Democrats healthcare legislation. South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster is heading up the charge after a request from the two U.S. Senators from the state- Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham.
One AG who you should not look to jump on board in the possible lawsuit is Jim Hood. Hood made the argument that we currently do not have uniformity in taxation with certain states- like Mississippi- getting a better deal than other states.
The only similar calls from Mississippi Republicans have come courtesy of a South Mississippi state Representative. Senators Cochran and Wicker have not issued statements on the issue.
Here are my thoughts on Hood: it should come as a shock to no one that he would not join a group of Republican AGs in looking into this. Hood has been a partisan Democrat in office, so we should not expect much to change. As I have said many times, the state party is fully behind the healthcare reform and Hood is their standard bearer.
Continue reading Hood Not Interested In Questioning Constitutionality of Healthcare Bill >>
State Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Biloxi) sent a letter to Jim Hood last week asking him to take action against the healthcare legislation that recently passed the House and Senate. Palazzo, like other Republicans throughout the country, is arguing that portions of the bill are unconstitutional.
Here is the letter from Palazzo to Jim Hood
Palazzo questions the special funds for a limited number of states. That includes Nebraska, which will have their portion of the Medicaid expansion covered by taxpayers throughout the country. This was done in exchange for an aye vote from Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE). Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) also agreed to support the bill after receiving $300 million for her state. Other states, such as Mississippi, received no special funding.
While the two houses have passed separate bills, one specific bill will need to be signed into law before any legal action can be taken.
Continue reading State Rep Wants AG to Look At Constitutionality of Healthcare Bill >>
We will be taking a break throughout the weekend to spend some time with family. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas.
We will be back on Monday with some new stories on George Flaggs and school consolidation, as well as Jim Hood and healthcare. And, of course, the latest news. Thanks for a great year.
Whenever a party switch is announced, the next question inevitably leads to who is next. While it remains to be seen if anyone will make that announcement, the speculation is out there and political pundits are looking at the possibilities.
It should be noted that there were five former Democrats who defected to the GOP after the 1994 elections. They did not come in bunches, but were spread out over the following year including the November decision by Mississippi Rep. Mike Parker from the old fourth district.
Politico is reporting that the GOP has been secretly courting another Democrat for a party switch. The story looked at Pennsylvania Rep. Chris Carney who represents a traditionally Republican district John McCain carried by nine points in 2008.
Interestingly, the speculation has centered on a number of other Democrats (here and here). This includes Alabama Rep. Bobby Bright and Idaho Rep. Walt Minnick. They are both freshman, have voted against their party on big-ticket liberal items, and represent conservative districts. They both told Politico they will not be switching parties.
Continue reading Childers Mentioned As Possible Party Switcher >>
For all the talk about Congressional Democrats from GOP-leaning districts, Rep. Gene Taylor usually gets passed over as a potential GOP pickup. And the reasoning is obvious. Serving since 1989, Taylor has never faced major competition for re-election.
In his last four elections, Taylor has won with totals of 75 percent, 64 percent, 80 percent and 75 percent. At the same time, his district gave 64 percent of the vote to George W. Bush in 2000, 68 percent in 2004, and 67 percent to John McCain in 2008. Because of that, MS-04 is ranked as the 21st most Republican district in the country- yet a Democrat has cruised to re-election year after year.
All the political insiders rate his seat as Safe Democratic. The general consensus appears to be that this is Taylor’s seat for life, but as soon he gives it up the GOP should easily be able to take over.
According to a new study by The Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, Mississippi is the most religious state in the nation.
Here are the survey’s findings:
- 82 percent said religion is very important in their lives (national average was 56 percent)
- 60 percent said they attend religious services at least once per week (national average was 39 percent)
- 77 percent said they prayed frequently (national average was 58 percent)
- 91 percent said they believe in God (national average was 71 percent)
Alan Nunnelee, who hopes to defeat Travis Childers in a little more than 10 months, published a lengthy blog post yesterday where he argued that conservative Democrats can not serve in Washington, particularly in the House led by Nancy Pelosi.
This was on the heels of the announcement by Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith that he was leaving the Democratic Party because of the liberal agenda the leadership has taken. Further, a number of Blue Dogs have already announced their retirement at the end of this term rather than seek a difficult re-election.
Without mentioning the incumbent he will face in November (should he win the GOP primary), Nunnelee was able to take a couple indirect shots at Childers. He said those conservative or Blue Dog Democrats who remain are not conservative.
Continue reading Alan Nunnelee: Washington is no longer a place for a Conservative Democrat >>
Rep. Travis Childers spoke with the Daily Journal yesterday and here are some the highlights:
- Childers predicted the House would reject the Senate’s version of healthcare reform. Some of the liberals in the House have complained about the lack of public option and abortion restrictions in both bills. Pro-life Democrats in the House have countered that the Senate bill does not go far enough in restricting abortion. A number of Democratic Senators have already said they can not secure the 60 votes if the House tries to move the bill left of the Senate bill.
- Childers still says he wants to support healthcare reform, but can’t do it with this bill for many reasons, especially the cost of it.
- Childers opposes the expansion of Medicaid to age 55.
- Childers said he was “discouraged” by the deals cut for individual states in the Senate to win support from wavering Senators.
- Childers continued to defend his support for the stimulus bill arguing that it brought jobs for various projects to the First District and helped the state’s ailing budget.
I reported with interest earlier today the party switch by Rep. Parker Griffith, who represents the Fifth Congressional District in Alabama. Griffith has been at odds with the Democratic leadership for some time, and the healthcare legislation seemed to drive him over the edge to the GOP’s side.
What should be of interest for Mississippi political observers are the similarities between AL-05 and Mississippi’s First Congressional District. Needless to say, when you cross over Highway 72 into Alabama, there is not a noticeable difference from Tishomingo county.
The two districts are in the Northern portion of their state and are largely rural. MS-01 has Memphis that has created the Desoto county suburbs. AL-05 has Huntsville and Chattanooga, TN which have given life to suburban living. But that is the exception rather than the rule. In addition to the rural tint, residents are also on the lower end of the economic scale with a median income of $38,000 in AL-05 and $36,000 in MS-01. The demographics are fairly similar where 77 percent of AL-05 is white, while 70 percent of MS-01 is. The breakdown of blue and white collar workers is also similar.
Most pundits are currently predicting Republicans to pick up seats in both the House and the Senate in 2010 as the anti-GOP tide has turned in the face of unpopular policies pushed by the president and Democratic leaders. As with most political changes, it isn’t so much the minority party giving you a reason to vote them in but the majority party giving you a reason to vote them out.
The Democrats had a lot of success over the past two election cycles and recruiting moderate and conservative Democrats who could win in red districts (see MS-01 for example). They essentially have a majority thanks to those Democrats yet leadership that is far to the left asking members to make difficult votes, such as the health care legislation.
Besides Childers, another conservative Dem to win in 2008 was Parker Griffith who represents a conservative Huntsville based district. He has been one of the few Democrats to oppose every major initiative put forth by the leadership. Today, he is set to announce he will join the Republican Party.
Griffith is a radiation oncologist and has been a vocal opponent of the pending healthcare legislation. He cites that bill as prime reason for his switch.
Yesterday, I wrote about the large gathering for Saturday’s Tea Party in Starkville. The event was highlighted by keynote speaker Angela McGlowan who has made several Tea Party speeches over the past year in North Mississippi.
As I alluded to yesterday, not all who were in attendance were in support of the ideals of the Tea Party movement. As opponents have done throughout the country (including on the editorial pages in Mississippi), one person wondered if those in attendance had problems with not necessarily the president’s policies- but with the president’s race.
Sule Alli, owner of Boardtown Insurance in Starkville, submitted a question asking why the Tea Party chose this particular time in history to form. The question was meant to illustrate how a faction of the country is becoming active just as the first black President is beginning his term.
“It’s an indictment of the new President,” said Alli. “The government has been taxing too much since the ’80s, and there has not been this kind of protest. I came here to see if there’s some reason.”
What makes this comment (and others like it) ironic is the fact that Saturday’s rally was headlined by McGlowan, an African-American. McGlowan does not make race an issue, and has been a conservative and GOP ally long before Barack Obama had much recognition outside of Hyde Park.
WLOX had a feature on the interim minister at the First Baptist Church of Gulfport who has a story that is different than most. Dr. Jake Roudkovski, who holds a doctorate in theology, grew up in the communist Soviet Union.
His father and grandfather were Baptist ministers and imprisoned many times through the years because of their faith. They were beaten and asked to renounce Christianity. Follow the link to see the interview with Roudkovski.
He called America a nation blessed by God, but said he worries about the future of the country. Roudkovski said: “Just in the past 15 years, I am seeing how the country is moving more toward socialism. That is what I escaped in the Soviet Union.”
Continue reading Soviet Born Gulfport Pastor Warns Of Creep Toward Socialism >>
The important cloture vote cleared the Senate around 1 a.m. this morning (and what great legislation doesn’t get passed by a party-line vote in the middle of the night the week of Christmas?) after Democratic leaders bought secured the necessary 60 votes. Final passage will be voted on Christmas Eve. The House and the Senate will then need to work out the differences between the two bills each chamber passed which will be done after the first of the year. While I do not see any Democrats holding this up in the end, so-called pro-life Democrats in the House remain the last possible obstacle to passage of this “reform.”
Sen. Roger Wicker called the bill a “colossal mistake:”
“Despite a majority of Americans saying ‘no’ to this $2.5 trillion bill, Democrats continue to force it through Congress,” Wicker said. “This enormous government expansion plan would increase taxes, slash Medicare by nearly half a trillion dollars, raise the cost of health care, and cripple already cash-strapped states through its unfunded Medicaid expansion.”
“Higher taxes, more spending, and cuts to Medicare are not the reforms Americans want. This bill is a colossal mistake. It should be scrapped so that we can start over and get this right.”
Wicker has said a step-by-step approach is needed to provide Americans with health care that is more affordable and accessible. Those steps include expanding competition by allowing patients to cross state lines to buy insurance, allowing small businesses to pool together to provide health coverage for their workers, and implementing medical liability reform
And Sen. Thad Cochran added this:
“I believe the Senate’s legislation, like that which passed the House of Representatives, is flawed and overreaches in the scope of the reforms it is trying to force on the American people and our health care system,” Cochran said.
Continue reading Statements From Wicker and Cochran on Obamacare >>
Angela McGlowan, who has spoken about her interest in running for Congress from the First District, was the keynote speaker at the Saturday Tea Party rally held at the Starkville Sportsplex. More than 400 people were in attendance.
McGlowan was joined on stage by Dr. Phillip Ley, a Jackson surgical oncologist and Grant Sowell, the head of the Tupelo Tea Party movement. Rep. Gregg Harper, whose district includes Starkville, made an unexpected appearance and spoke briefly as well.
The speakers focused on a variety of topics including healthcare reform, the size of government, the Blue Dogs, and activism, among other things.
The Commercial Dispatch covered the event extensively, including comments from a couple of people who were there to let the organizers know they don’t agree with them- or what they are doing.
Jamie Franks, the state Democrat Chair and go-to-guy at the Jackson Free Press for quotes, has had a run of making comments that question whether Franks thinks before he talks.
About a week ago, Franks complained about the money the state spent on the Toyota plant in North Mississippi. This is the same Jamie Franks who whole-heartedly supported this effort in 2007, voted to spend the money, and bragged about it during his 2007 Neshoba County Fair speech.
And yesterday Franks said this when speaking with the JFP about Haley Barbour: “This is a man who still carries state-funded bodyguards around with him for these trips of his to the governors association while asking the state of Mississippi to merge its black universities to cut costs.”
As Dan Turner, Barbour’s spokesman, pointed out, this is the same security detail that previous governor’s have received.
Continue reading Jamie Franks: Why Does The State Pay For Barbour’s Security? >>
If you don’t believe me, you could ask Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and now, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE). Landrieu agreed to support healthcare legislation after Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) agreed to send $300 million to her home state. And for Nelson, the taxpayers will pick up the tab for Nebraska’s Medicaid program- forever.
Landrieu and Nelson were both on the fence, handed taxpayer money, and in return for money agreed to vote yes. Prostitution? Well Reid is from Nevada so he should know a thing or two.
Continue reading Did You Know Prostitution Was Legal In DC? >>
Fox News analyst and conservative author Angela McGlowan, who has been a prominent Tea Party speaker in North Mississippi, said she might enter the GOP primary for the First District congressional seat held by Travis Childers.
When asked if she would run, McGlowan said she was “looking at that right now” but had no definitive answer. She said her decision would depend upon whether she felt a Republican challenger has emerged that could be competitive against Childers.
That seems to be a dig at state Sen. Alan Nunnelee who has already announced his intentions to run. He is the front-runner for the GOP ticket and has the backing from the state and national party.
