JACKSON — Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Jamie Franks today released the following response to Gov. Barbour’s State of the State address:

“Mississippi is like a lot of other states right now: We’re facing dire economic times. For that reason, it is imperative that our leaders on both sides of the political aisle work together to help craft a budget that funds key services, spends wisely from our reserve funds and puts us in a position to grow once the economy improves.

“Gov. Barbour has already signaled that he is not readily willing to compromise. This became evident during the first week of the session when the governor requested unfettered authority to cut any state budget at his discretion. When the House leadership offered him 90 percent of what he wanted, he said it was not enough.

“If our leaders are to pull the state from this financial brink, then Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant and Gov. Haley Barbour must take a bi-partisan approach to legislating. Their our-way-or-the-highway approach is not healthy for the state, and it will not be productive.

“After all, six years of Haley Barbour and four years of Phil Bryant have led the state into this financial crisis. Their failed economic policies — both in bringing in new jobs and diversifying our revenue streams — have left us at a great disadvantage as unemployment in Mississippi has skyrocketed to record levels and tax revenues have hit record lows.”

“Our goal should be not to recover but to flourish. If we cut public education to the bone, if we decimate our health care systems and if we destroy the programs that help those who can’t help themselves, then we will have failed the people of Mississippi.

“I believe in a Mississippi where we invest in our young people in order to realize a brighter future; where our first thought for the sick is “how can we help”, not “how much does it cost?”; and where hard work is rewarded but the less fortunate are never punished.

“I know the people of Mississippi to value hard work, moral principles and opportunities to succeed. We want good schools, safe homes and good-paying jobs. Riches here are good friends and healthy families. And in the toughest times, Mississippians stand tall and face adversity head-on.

“Our leaders in Jackson have a choice: They can punish our school children by cutting public education; they can lock up the sick by cutting mental health; they can shatter the hopes of our poorest citizens by cutting Medicaid. In short, they can take the easy way out by slashing government services and hoping things get better before there are no services left to cut.

“Or, our leaders can seek every alternative to the slash-and-burn policies proposed by Gov. Barbour. They can spend wisely from our Rainy Day funds, for the economic forecast is stormy. They can bring our fee structure in line with our cost structure. They can accept the help of the federal stimulus package in these difficult times. They can work together to weather this storm, because tomorrow can be a brighter day.

“Without doubt, tough decisions must be made. Budget cuts cannot be avoided. We will have to reign in our spending, prioritize and go without. But we must do this as one, with both sides working together to forge the best path for recovery.

“I hope our Republican leaders will join the Democratic leaders in this spirit of bipartisanship. I hope that we can work together to do what’s best and what’s right, without regard to political advantages. Too much is at stake, and the times are too tough to be successful any other way.”

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I’ll be tweeting about the State of the State address for the Democratic Party. If you want to catch it, or if you want to read what we said, visit us at @msdemocrats.

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You need less than 20 minutes to spare to listen to Dr. King’s famouse I Have A Dream speech.

While nowhere near the length of most oration today, it remains one of the most insightful, forward-thinking speeches our nation has heard.

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Wow. I knew the far right would go too far. I knew they would one day equate their movement to the sacrifices, the great fights, the true bravery of the men, women and the movement that gave birth to our nation.

I didn’t know they’d do so in a special election for U.S. Senate. And I didn’t know it would have this soundtrack.

It takes some audacity to equate the Obama Administration with the tyrannical government our young nation faced in the Revolutionary War. But these nutjobs have gone and done it.

H/T: Y’all Politics.

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The Mississippi Business Journal has a few telling photos about what the governor thought of the water shortage in Jackson this week.

While businesses were shut down and families were living without water, he had his employees washing his cars. So much for that whole water conservation alert stuff.

Shame on you, governor.

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Gov. Haley Barbour was on Neil Cavuto’s show Friday, during which he joined the chorus of Republicans claiming that there was never another terrorist attack on American soil after the 9/11 attacks while George W. Bush was president.

From News Hound:

As Media Matters points out, in 2001, Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber” tried to blow up an American Airlines plane bound for Miami, in order to “carry out terrorist operations for Al-Qaeda.”

In 2002, there was an attack at the El-Al ticket counter at LAX airport. Two years later, the Justice Department said the attack, which killed two people, was an act of “international terrorism.”

In 2006, a University of North Carolina man drove an SUV onto campus striking 9 people. Mohammed Reza Taheri-Azar wanted to “follow in the footsteps of one of my role models, Mohammed Atta, one of the 9/11/01 highjackers.”

Host Neil Cavuto should have corrected the record (as Bill O’Reilly sort of did when Monica Crowley tried to make the same claim).

You can watch the video of Barbour here:

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Gov. Barbour is proving once again that the rank partisanship in the Legislature is because of his style of slash-and-burn politics.

The governor has asked for additional power to cut agency budgets to offset the budget deficit we are facing. NEMS Daily Journal reporter Bobby Harrison explains in his column:

Under current law, when revenue collections do not meet projections, the governor can cut any agency up to 5 percent. But he cannot cut any agency more than 5 percent until he cuts all agencies 5 percent.

Plus, if he takes more than 5 percent, the cuts must be the same percentage for all agencies.

Barbour wants the authority to make cuts of his choosing up to 10 percent.

Barbour already has trimmed $225 million. To make the additional needed cuts, he said, he would have to take money from areas like debt service, which the state is legally obligated to pay, and items the state must fund because of court orders.

House Appropriations Chairman Johnny Stringer, D-Montrose, proposed a bill last week that would give Barbour most of what he wanted. The only caveat was that all agencies would have to be cut equally. Nonetheless, it exempted the areas of the budget that needed to be exempted and provided the governor with more budget-cutting authority.

That was not good enough for Barbour. And it appears not good enough for Senate Appropriations Chairman Alan Nunnelee, R-Tupelo. Again, from Harrison’s column:

Nunnelee said he plans for his committee to take up legislation next week that gives the governor the authority he wants to make cuts.

In other words, Nunnelee plans to do the governor’s bidding. After all, Nunnelee is running for Congress in the First Congressional District. He can’t win without the governor’s help. So Nunnelee is proving to be a kept man, so to speak.

The reason Stringer and other Democratic leaders are refusing to give the governor absolute budget cutting authority is to protect larger agencies such as public health and public education — two agencies the governor has shown a propensity toward fiscally destroying.

Nunnelee, it seems, cares little to protect public education and public health. He’s voted for the governor’s budget plans most every year, and these are budget plans that usually grossly underfund education and health care agencies.

For Nunnelee, underfunding public education and public health seems to be an odd choice. He hails from Tupelo, which is home to both one of the strongest school districts in the state and one of the largest, most well respected hospitals in the state.

That’s just more reason we don’t need dictatorial leaders in Jackson and blind followers in Washington.

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This from the Public Service Comission:

Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley (D-Nettleton) was elected Chairman of the state Public Service Commission (PSC) by fellow Commissioners Lynn Posey and Leonard Bentz during the Commission’s monthly meeting in Jackson yesterday.

Presley, a former two-term Nettleton mayor, said serving as Chairman is an honor. “I thank my colleagues for their support. I look forward to 2010 being a very productive year for the PSC and one in which we make giant strides for the consumers of Mississippi.”

Commissioner Presley will serve as Chairman for the full year in 2010.

Read the press release here.

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In the midst of the legislative session kicking off, it seems the petition drive to place Voter ID on the 2011 ballot has been lost a bit in the shuffle.

Never fear, however, that the Republican Party is working hard to gather as many names as possible. If an email sent out yesterday by the Harrison County Republican Party chairman is any indication, they are a long way from making their goal.

Here’s an excerpt from the email:

Message from a Conservative trying to change corrupt elections:

I need your help on the Voter ID petition drive. This is a state-wide ballot initiative to require a photo ID when voting in order to prevent voter fraud.

Our goal for Jackson County is 5,547 signatures. So far we have collected 2,799. We need 2,748 more signatures in order to meet our goal. In order to achieve this, we need 70 people to collect one sheet (10 signatures) per week for all 4 weeks in January.

You’ll note the fear-mongering (and lying) that starts the email. The truth is that Republicans and Voter ID proponents have yet to point to ANY voter fraud that would be solved by Voter ID.

That said, having about half of Jackson County’s goal to go with a little over a month left seems a bit shocking. One would have thought Jackson County would have been one of the first counties the GOP would have signed up.

Could it be that people down there are more concerned about real issues instead of wedge issues? That’s a thought.

To be honest, I would have thought they were closer to their goal. I’ve been working under the assumption that the state GOP would not fail to get Voter ID on the ballot.

We’ll find out Feb. 14.

Edited by author to change name of county from Harrison to Jackson.

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The governor wants to essentially tax state workers more by forcing them to pay more into their pension plans. (Here’s the C-L story on the governor’s wishes.)

It’s ironic. The governor wants employees to pay more as he continues to demand more and more cuts to the state retirement funds. In other words, the governor wants employees to pay more now and receive less later.

Here’s a bet: The governor will support charging workers more, but he will fight to have unemployment taxes for businesses cut. Any takers?

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