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Kings of Pork 2007-08-14 11:18:48 When it comes to pork, it is apparent that no one in the Mississippi delegation has taken steps to end this wasteful spending. For those who are not familiar on the term “pork,” it refers to just that- wasteful spending. Probably the most infamous example of pork is the Bridge-to-Nowhere in Alaska. Examples from 2007 include: - $2 million to establish the “Rangel Center for Public Service” at City College of New York, requested by Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY). - $34 million for the Alaska Native Education Equity program, requested by Rep. Don Young (R-AK). - $1 million to the Center for Instrumented Critical Infrastructure in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, requested by Rep. John Murtha (D-PA). - $50,000 for the National Mule and Packers Museum in California, requested by Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA). One organization who is dedicated to fighting pork is the Club for Growth. They have recently released their 2007 RePORK card. It calculates how legislators voted on 50 key anti-pork measures. ...

Trouble in Wilkinson County 2007-08-13 18:59:56 For many readers from rural counties, voting fraud may still be commonplace although we like to pretend that it no longer exists. Unfortunately, there are Ike Brown’s all over the state- including Wilkinson county where a strange story has become dangerous. I was tipped off on this story where rumblings within the Wilkinson County Democratic Committee may have led to arson involving one of those in the story. I will admit this story still confuses me, and if you are more familiar with it feel free to comment and add details. Like many other counties with high black populations, the Democratic Party is deeply split between black and white members of the committee. In this case, Easter Prater (the former committee vice chair) assumed the position of chair after the previous chairman had died. However, only 19 of the 31 committee members showed up to vote on who the new permanent chair should be. The reason, according to her main opponent Ann Greer and her supporters, is that that Prat ...

George Dale Continues His Hard Work 2007-08-13 18:05:54 Less than a week after losing his bid for a ninth-term, George Dale continues to work for the people of Mississippi, despite knowing that come January he will have to give up his post. The latest announcement from Dale is that State Farm has paid out nearly $30 million in claims since agreeing to re-evaluate hundreds of Hurricane Katrina related cases this past April. So far, 904 of the 934 requests for re-evaluation of “foundation-only” claims have been accepted. This equals nearly $24 million in settlement offers to those policyholders, with nearly $14 million paid out to 552 policyholders who have accepted the offers. And for non-slab claims, 2,579 of 2,660 requests have been re-evaluated with offers totaling nearly $24 million. Some 1,591 policyholders have accepted those offers paying out nearly $16 million. It is not surprising that Dale continues working for the people of Mississippi even though he is facing an early retirement. That’s how he has worked since 1975, and wh ...

Facebook Groups 2007-08-13 17:52:06 For those younger readers, I have decided to post the links to Facebook groups supporting Republican statewide candidates for 2007. (Any body can now join Facebook, an affiliation to a school is no longer required). Haley Barbour: I Support Haley Barbour Re-elect Haley Barbour as our Governor of Mississippi 2007 Phil Bryant: Phil Bryant for Mississippi Lt. Governor Al Hopkins: Al Hopkins for MS Attorney General Delbert Hosemann: Delbert Hosemann for Secretary of State Stacey Pickering: Stacey Pickering for State Auditor Nothing yet for Reeves, Chaney or Spell. ...

Pelosi to Visit Taylor 2007-08-13 07:20:42 I’ve had no problem mentioning Gene Taylor when he does good and votes against the left-wing fringe that dominates his party’s House leadership, and I have also made note of his support for some of those policies. Well, I read Sunday morning that his next town hall meeting will feature none other than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi, who represents San Francisco, is one of the most liberal members of Congress. I would imagine that her views on abortion, gay marriage, taxes, national security, etc. differ with two-thirds of Taylor’s constituents. Hopefully when she is down there, 4th district residents can see just whom the Congressman is supporting when he is in D.C. ...

Closed On Sundays 2007-08-12 08:43:39 Gone to church. See you on Monday. ...

District 20 Senate Update 2007-08-11 06:55:28 In local election news, Charles Porter and Lee Yancey are in a run-off for the District 20 Senate seat (the one Charlie Ross presently holds). There is no Democrat in this race so the winner of the August 28th election will win the seat. I just read on Lee Yancey’s website that the two men who did not make it to the run-off- Bobby Blake and Harvey Dallas- have endorsed Yancey. I had previously endorsed Bobby Blake and am not sure yet on whom I will be voting for in the primary. You combine that with my support of Jimmy Foster in the PSC race and I am not sure a candidate would want me to publicly make an endorsement. Anyway, if you want to learn more about Charles Porter you can do so by clicking here. If you want to learn more about Lee Yancey you can do so by clicking here. ...

My Predications on Who the Clarion-Ledger Will Endorse 2007-08-10 20:49:27 There was some talk over at Y’all Politics about Sid Salter’s column on Jamie Franks being the leadoff to a future endorsement for the Democratic lt. gov. hopeful. I don’t necessarily disagree with that; in fact I have decided to give what I think will be the Clarion-Ledger’s November endorsements. Remember this is whom I think the CL will endorse, not whom I will endorse or think will win. If you have different thoughts on who the paper will pick feel free to list them in the comments. Governor: Haley Barbour- I think they will cite a lot of what he is going over on the campaign- economic growth, Katrina rebuilding, etc. Lt. Governor: Jamie Franks- As mentioned on Y’all Politics they will talk about the need for a divided government. I think they will say how the Senate has basically gone along with everything Barbour had wanted the past four years and how that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Attorney General: Jim Hood- They will talk about his work handling (suing) insura ...

Updated Blogroll 2007-08-10 20:48:50 I have updated my blogroll on the right side of my blog. I have now organized them and they are separated into the following categories: Clarion-Ledger Blogs, From the Left, From the Right, MS News Source, and MS Organizations. If you would like to have your blog featured on my blogroll just let me know. I also want to add that I do not necessarily pick a blog because I agree with it, but because of the quality of content. ...

What the Clarion-Ledger Leaves Out 2007-08-09 18:25:15 The Clarion-Ledger ran an editorial declaring that the governor has no coattails and his name will not help the GOP one lick this November. The two examples they bring up would be fair if they would tell the whole story. They mentioned how Tommy Robertson, Senate Finance Committee Chairman, was defeated for killing the proposed tax-swap earlier this year. That’s a valid point, but I don’t think his two DUIs helped his cause. The man who beat him, Michael Watson, on the other hand emphasized his family values and the fact that his father was a preacher. He says the tax swap should be brought out of committee, but that’s all. The only taxes that he talks about (on his website at least) are a “back to school tax relief holiday.” Further the Republicans are still favored to hold this seat. As for Barbour openly supporting Robertson, that is not unusual when an incumbent faces a primary challenge. He did the same thing with Merle Flowers in DeSoto County. Flowers, of course, won. ...

Pick Up Your Signs…Or Else 2007-08-09 17:31:59 The Clarion-Ledger ran a story about some metro area policies regarding candidates picking up their signs after the election. For instance, in Jackson a candidate has 15 days following the election to claim their sign or they risk a $100 fine. In Clinton, you have seven days followed by a written notice. However, the town that caught my eye was none other than Madison. You have just one day to get your sign. Rules regulating signs will get even stricter for the next election when they are mandating red-brick signs. I made that last part up… ...

Election Results 2007-08-09 11:51:42 In case you are looking for results from any statewide, regional, or legislative race from Tuesday, you can find them here. If you want a more specific county by county by vote of those races, you can find them here. ...

Hosemann, Lott and Rupp 2007-08-08 18:43:24 A race I was paying particularly close attention to was the Republican race for Secretary of State. Delbert Hosemann was able to fend off Mike Lott and avoid a run-off. Jeffrey Rupp had a rather disappointing showing. I’m guessing most of his would-be-supporters voted in the Democratic primary. Hosemann had run an excellent campaign. He was well funded and produced one of the best campaign spots of the year. Before the election I talked to his campaign manager and they were spot on with their polling. Mike Lott, on the contrary, ran a campaign with basically no money. You just can’t do that in most cases (I am still amazed by Rob Smith and Mike Sumrall’s showing on the Democratic side). Considering the odds against it, I think his 35 percent showing is rather impressive. His hard work throughout the campaign showed off, but he would still come up short. Jeffrey Rupp had raised some funds but did not turn it into any support at the polls. His low numbers are one of disappointing s ...

Lester Spell and Max Phillips 2007-08-08 17:33:11 Lester Spell survived a primary challenge from Max Phillips yesterday, winning by about 10 percent. There was a lot of talk about Phillips around GOP circles, but in the end Spell’s money was too much to overcome. The reason this race has voters interest at all is because the failed beef plant occurred under Spell’s watch. Although he made it out of the GOP primary, the Democrats are going to be gunning for him. I think most GOP voters who supported Phillips did so because they felt he would stand a better chance in the general. That was my main reason for doing so, but I presume I will support Spell in the general. In the end, this is a position that Democrats have held for all but two years that it has been around. The Ag Commissioner is not an extremely political position, but I would like for it to stay in the R column. ...

Bryant and Ross 2007-08-08 16:13:24 I do not have a whole lot to say about the Bryant/ Ross race. It went as most people expected (maybe Bryant did better then some thought), but on the whole Bryant led most of the night and Ross conceded rather early. The two friends have now joined with Haley Barbour to form a united GOP front at the top of the ticket. Bryant was leading most of the year and was able to fend off any attacks by the Ross camp. He comes out of this primary in a very strong position. I don’t see many former Ross supporters jumping to join Franks’ team, nor do I suspect they won’t vote out of protest. I see them easily lining up behind Bryant. As for the candidate, he is battle tested, has campaigned at a statewide level many times, and is your early favorite. Bryant is also smart and won’t take Franks lightly, but it’s fair to say this is Bryant’s race to lose. Either way it will be fun, and Majority In Mississippi will have the race covered. ...