Jamie Franks Goes After Phil Bryant

Didn’t the voters have the final say in this battle about 18 months ago? As you probably remember: then-Auditor Phil Bryant defeated then-State Rep. Jamie Franks to become the next Lieutenant Governor; a position considered by some to be the most powerful in the state. And the race wasn’t close with Bryant winning 58 percent of the vote

But Franks is apparently unhappy with Bryant’s criticism of the federal stimulus bill passed earlier this year. Bryant apparently referred to the bill as “wasteful spending.” Check out this link to see some of what Bryant may have been talking about.

Here is more of what Bryant said:

“Of course, it will be a help on the state level,” he said. “There are some concerns about how we go about using the money, what strings are attached, and then, of course, what debt burden it’s going to put on the federal government.”

“So while we might be using it here to benefit local governments and even our general fund, there is a price to pay in years ahead as we look at deficits.”

I would say that’s a pretty fair statement.

However, Franks took it a step further by issuing this call to arms:

“If creating jobs and rebuilding our roads is a waste of money to Phil Bryant, then perhaps we need to protest his leadership in the Senate.”

I challenge Franks to try to remove Bryant from leadership. The Democrats do hold a slim majority in the Senate, but fortunately several conservative Dems are more aligned with Bryant than Franks.