New Feature
You will notice on new posts, and a couple older ones, we will now include related posts from Majority. At the end of each post, we will have two or three links to other stories we have written that tie in with that new post. Hope y'all enjoy that.State Sen. Alan Nunnelee spoke with the Daily Journal yesterday and all indications point to a run for Congress after the Tupelo Republican completed his recent listening tour.
From the Daily Journal:
State Sen. Alan Nunnelee of Tupelo is waiting for the right time to announce that he’ll run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010, a Daily Journal Editorial Board conversation revealed Tuesday.
“I do think now, I’m ready to step up things a notch to begin the planning process,” the Tupelo Republican said, noting the encouragement he received during a series of “listening” sessions throughout the region this spring.
“Over the next several months, we will get in a more formal process,” Nunnelee noted.
There has been a lot of talk about the cost of the special session, and I believe those concerns are real and not just populism run wild. According to Paul Gallo, the Senate comptroller confirmed that Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant and Senators Billy Hudson (R-Purvis), Chris McDaniel (R-Ellisville), and Giles Ward (R-Louisville) all refused pay for the latest special session. While I am not criticizing other legislators for not refusing their pay, those four should be recognized.
Also worth pointing out that while the Senate and governors office took pay cuts, staffers in the House enjoyed pay raises (the Clarion-Ledger reported on this a week ago).
But hey, if you worked for the likes of Billy McCoy or George Flaggs everyday- you deserve a raise…
That is part of this week’s editorial from the Tate County Democrat. I know 2011 seems like a long ways away, but it also seems to be the sooner the better these days when it comes to political campaigns.
The sentiment from The Democrat is right on: know who the person you are voting for to be your representative will vote for to be the Speaker. The answer “I don’t know” or “we’ll see” can’t cut it in 2011. I hope every candidate- pro-McCoy (or one of his allies) or anti-McCoy- states their position before we vote them into office for another four years.
Who is responsible for the Public Service Commission not receiving funding before the new fiscal year began on July 1st? A reasonable person might argue that Rep. George Flaggs (D-Vicksburg) shares a heavy burden since he delayed the vote for two hours by forcing a reading of the Medicaid bill last Monday before lawmakers could vote on it and send it over to the Senate.
But our attorney general has a different view. The man who predicted doom and gloom should no budget be passed is blaming his longtime foe Entergy for the inability to secure funding for the PSC.
According to WLBT, Jim Hood said:
It just shows you Entergy’s kind of like the mafia, if you try to regulate us we’ll shut you down and that’s what happened they have shut down the actual functions of the Public Service Commission to a bare minimum and they’ve shut down the agency that assists them completely. From what I was told, senators and Governor Barbour were right in the middle of the shutdown, I guess he’s carrying the water for Entergy.
Correction, Hood is blaming Entergy lobbyist and Republican senators and a Republican governor. What a shock, the Democrat run House did not get mentioned by the last remaining Democrat to hold a statewide office.
I have not talked about the AG much, but this is just part of his latest PR campaigns against a company he does not like so he can go tell the voters “hey look what I did to this big, bad business that is ripping you off.”
AGs across the country, whether Democrat or Republican, have one of the most cushiony jobs in politics. They can go after people and or companies that the public might have a negative view of and then cut campaign ads spotlighting their work; and when things do not go their way they can simply say there was nothing they could do because of the law. Jim Hood has become a master of this.
By all accounts, Entergy is a good company, and employs a lot of Mississippians. However, they have not given in to Hood’s Jesse Jackson-like shakedown, and are the object of his latest campaign.
Here is the response from Entergy to Hood’s baseless claims:
The Attorney General’s allegations are false and highly irresponsible. We have not intervened in the M.P.S.C. funding issue. If the M.P.S.C. could not operate in a normal and efficient manner, it would have a negative affect on our company and our customers.
Y’all Politics has an interesting note about the makeup of the redistricting committee in the Senate. Lt. Governor Phil Bryant, who has control to pick the members, decided to take the bipartisan approach with 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans.
Billy McCoy now has the same responsibility for the House. We know which path he choose to take with budget negotiations when he choose zero Republicans to occupy the seven seats on that committee. McCoy has been bitter since he was challenged, and maintained his position by a 62-60 vote, just two years ago.
It is interesting that McCoy complains about the partisanship of the governor and Republicans in the legislature, yet he is one of the most partisan men in Jackson. However, he now has a chance to prove he is “bipartisan” instead of just talking about it.
Thank you for reading Majority In Mississippi, and to honor the 4th here are a couple of my favorite songs:
Welcome to the 4th of July weekend as we celebrate Independence Day. Hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoys celebrating in their own special way. Lets look back on the week that was.
The Sky Did Not Fall in Mississippi
As evidenced by the fact that I am typing this right now we are well aware that the world as we know it did not come to a grinding halt here in Mississippi despite the efforts of the Democratic Propaganda Machine (aka MS Democratic Party). I commend the Legislature for almost getting everything done, minus the Public Service Commission, but I hope that in the future we won’t have to wait till the very last minute on the last day to get something done. Nobody likes special sessions and it is unfair to the taxpayers of this state to have to foot the bill because our leaders in Jackson can’t accomplish the single most important thing in the state in a reasonable time frame. I realize that politics is involved, but at some point you gotta say enough is enough and let’s do something about this and not put it off till the very end.
Get it Together George
The “esteemed” rep from Vicksburg almost brought the state down all by himself. The idea that one man can be so stubborn and uncompromising is absolutely stupefying to me. Mr. Flaggs wasted 2 hours and almost cost the Legislature the chance to get any budget passed and sent to Gov. Barbour by having an 82 page bill read aloud. Good job George keep up the good work. The fact is though that he is virtually invincible in his own district and his constituents could really care less about the stupid decisions he makes in Jackson. As a result I am sure Mr. Flaggs will have the opportunity to pull antics like this in critical situations for the foreseeable future.
Mississippi is King
Mississippi has once again retained its crown as the Most Obese State in America. This comes as no surprise and is nothing to brag about, but it is something to worry about. However, I don’t think its the governments place to intervene and try to tell people what they can and cannot eat. It is something that has to be dealt with on a more personal level and some will respond while others will not. It is also obvious that these researchers just don’t understand how good the food is down here in Mississippi and the south in general. I’ll take my fried catfish and Coke over grilled tofu and wheat-grass juice any day of the week.
Happy Independence Day
We hope that you have a wonderful holiday weekend and enjoy the independence that is afforded to you on a daily basis that others in our world are not as lucky to share in.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned Fox News analyst and conservative author Angela McGlowan as a dark horse candidate for the First District seat currently held by Rep. Travis Childers.
Being African-American and female, McGlowan does not resemble your typical Republican politician. I am not sure if that is a positive or negative in both the primary and general election should she get that far.
And while McGlowan has not said what her intentions are, she will be highly visible at Saturday’s Tea Party protests. She will speak at 10 a.m. in Hernando and at 12:30 p.m. in Tupelo. Desoto county represents the base of the primary voters, while Tupelo represents the capital of the Eastern/ rural part of the district that a Republican must win to unseat Childers.
For those of you not familiar with McGlowan, here is a clip of her on The O’Reilly Factor in 2007:
Note: If you are viewing via e-mail or RSS feed, you may have to click on the post to see the video.
Brian Perry has a lot of good information on last month’s mayoral elections throughout the state in his weekly column.
Related Posts:
The Clarion-Ledger did a good job of slamming Rep. George Flaggs (D-Vicksburg) for what they called his self-serving attempt to delay passage of Medicaid funding. Flaggs held up the process for over two hours by demanding a reading of the 82 page bill. I am not sure what Flaggs was trying to prove, did he want to be known as the man who single handily shut down government?
However, another interesting tidbit has surfaced following the Flaggs publicity stunt, and that is the issue of funding for the Public Service Commission. As you may know, a special session will be needed to fund the department who is operating without a budget. Paul Gallo is reporting that members of the legislature are blaming Flaggs for the failure to fund the PSC. A new special session will cost an estimated $60,000. Can the taxpayers send the bill to Mr. Flaggs?
Related Posts:
Live Evening Updates: Meridian Special Election and Budget Negotiations
If it’s good enough for Rep. Taylor, it’s good enough for me. Enjoy Rep. Boehner’s now infamous hour long speech opposing the Democrats cap-and-trade bill.
Below is part one (the next five parts are linked below so you will have to click through to see them):
Part two, Part three, Part four, Part five, Part six
Related Posts:
You can find information on HB 71, which was the vote on Medicaid, here at the website for the state legislature. While the Senate roll call vote has not been posted yet, here is a link to the House vote. You can see that most of the opposition came from the Black Caucus while Republicans and Rural White Democrats supported the compromise.
Update: Here is the roll call from the Senate. Not one Senator opposed the bill.
Here are some details on the bill from the Clarion-Ledger.
Hospital Tax:
A hospital tax to help pay for Medicaid has been the main point of contention in budget talks. But lawmakers, Barbour and the Mississippi Hospital Association settled on House Bill 71, which includes a $60 million hospital tax that could gradually increase to $90 million as federal stimulus help expires.
Future cuts:
House Bill 71 gives Barbour authority to make limited cuts to hospitals and other Medicaid providers. A previous plan Barbour rejected would have exempted hospitals and nursing homes from future cuts.
Objection by Flaggs, other LBC members:
Lawmakers’ concerns about a managed-care provision in the bill delayed its progress. Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, said the provision limits patients’ medical-care choices, and he delayed passage by more than two hours by asking that the entire bill be read to the House.
From Jackson:
10 p.m.: The Medicaid agreement clears the Senate and is now on the governor’s desk, reports the Clarion-Ledger.
8:30 p.m.: I am following Natalie Chandler and Rep. Greg Snowden on Twitter for the latest updates. Earlier, Democrats Steve Holland and George Flaggs decided to read the Medicaid compromise; essentially a delay tactic. The bill did clear the House and is now headed to the Senate.
From Meridian:
9:00 p.m.: Jones is declared the winner of the special election. Democrats hold the seat.
8:30 p.m.: With two-thirds of the precincts reporting, Wilbert Jones is leading Bill Marcy by a 66 to 34 margin. As expected turnout is low, but it looks like the Democrat will pick up about the same percentage that Charles Young received in his last election, and prevent the Republicans from picking up their 50th seat in the House.
You can see my previous posts on the special election here.
The Clarion-Ledger has the latest on budget progress.
