Category: National
Here’s A Surprise: Lott Is Weighing Lobbyist Offers
Trent Lott’s son has told Bloomberg that his daddy may ... drum roll ... become a lobbyist.
We coulda told ‘em that.
Bloomberg:
Senator Trent Lott is weighing a new career as a lobbyist when he retires from Congress and may team up with his former colleague John Breaux, the Mississippi Republican’s son said.
``He was a lawyer years ago, and a lot of the lobbying law firms are calling,’’ Chester Lott, who heads a Lexington, Kentucky-based lobbying firm, Lott and Associates, said in a telephone interview. ``It’s all over the map.’’
He said his father is considering a partnership with Breaux, a former Democratic senator from Louisiana who announced today that he is leaving the Washington lobbying firm Patton Boggs LLP to form his own company with his son, John Jr.
Posted by ladd at 03:35 PM on 11/28/07. Discuss (2)
Trent Disliked By Blogosphere, Left and Right
For a roundup of reactions to Lott’s resignation, head to Beltway Blog:
By his own account, Trent Lott was the “first pelt” of the blogosphere. Although Lott’s political career was revived somewhat last year with his elevation to Senate minority whip, the Mississippi Republican has been a bit player on the Washington scene since bloggers helped force him from the Senate majority leader’s post five years ago next month.
Posted by ladd at 09:00 AM on 11/28/07. Discuss (1)
Trent Lott to Resign by End of Year
Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott is stepping down, as predicted by political-watchers. He’ll be out at the end of the session, to be temporarily replaced by Gov. Haley Barbour, followed by a special election.
Posted by ladd at 08:43 AM on 11/26/07. Discuss (0)
[Minor] Barbour Trying Failed Rovian Strategy in Mississippi
In his column this week, Bill Minor argues that Gov. Haley Barbour is trying to turn Mississippi into the latest K Street Project, at any cost:
Evidently Haley Barbour is attempting in Mississippi what Karl Rove failed to do in Washington: create a permanent Republican majority.
Barbour, who believes in top-down management of political power, has obviously set out to elect Republicans to all state offices, creating a Cabinet beholden to him, unlike anything ever seen in Mississippi.
His reach doesn’t stop with putting GOP loyalists in state offices but also into both houses of the Legislature, even by subtly undermining the election of the House speaker.
Posted by ladd at 05:07 PM on 10/31/07. Discuss (1)
[JFP] Obama Preaches to the Choir in Jackson
Read Kate Royals’ exclusive story from inside an Obama appearance at the TelCom Center last week:
Responding to a question about Democrats and religion, Obama said he believes the two can work together. “I think it would be a strategic mistake to abandon the field of faith,” he asserted. “But you canӒt make arguments based on just one faith. ... Also, it’s necessary to maintain the separation of church and state, even if just to maintain the independence of the church.”
As for the issues of gay marriage and abortion, Obama said Americans may not be able to come to agreement on some issues. “But I never understood why a couple of lines in Romans are more important than the Sermon on the Mount,” he said of gay marriage.
Posted by ladd at 09:13 PM on 06/21/07. Discuss (1)
[C-L]Mississippians protest Lott’s push for immigration bill
According to the Clarion Ledger, protest escalates as Lott continues to push for Senate votes in favor of a controversial immigration bill. Lott, who the article names “the second most powerful Republican in the state,” has promised to lobby Republicans to support the bill. The bill would toughen the security at the U.S.-Mexico border and offer a process for illegal immigrants to live legally in the U.S.
Posted by kate at 10:55 AM on 06/20/07. Discuss (0)
[C-L]Bush Responds to Critics of the New Immigration Bill
After opponents of the immigration deal criticized the law for being too soft on illegal immigrants, Bush spoke at the nation’s largest training center for law enforcement, emphasizing the fact that these new options would not be instituted until a more stringent security is in place. He also asked the public to “do what’s right for America” by being patient and letting the government attempt to fix immigration problems.
The bill would give temporary legal status to millions of unlawful immigrants, provided they came forward, paid a fine and underwent criminal background checks. To apply for a green card, they would have to pay another fine, learn English, return to their home country and wait in line.
The plan also would create a guest worker program. It would allow foreign laborers to come to the U.S. for temporary stints, yet with no guarantee they can eventually gain citizenship.
Both the new visa plan and the temporary worker program are contingent on other steps coming first. Those include fencing and barriers along the Mexico border, the hiring of more Border Patrol agents and the completion of an identification system to verify employees’ legal status.
The legislation would also reshape future immigration decisions. A new point system would prioritize skills and education over family in deciding who can immigrate.
Posted by kate at 01:34 PM on 05/29/07. Discuss (0)
[C-L]David Rubenstein Says President Bush’s Sanctions on Sudan are “Too Little, Too Late”
President Bush ordered sanctions on Sudan in order to pressure the government to cease the crisis in Darfur. The sanctions target 30 government-run oil companies and three leaders, one of whom is suspected of being involved in the bloodshed in Darfur. Along with the sanctions, Bush has ordered Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to compose a proposed United Nations decision to strengthen worldwide pressure on the Sudanese government.
Save Darfur Coalition director David Rubenstein welcomed the sanctions, but said they might be too little, too late.
“President Bush must not give further months to determine whether these outlines measures work - the Darfuri people don’t have that much time,” he said. “The president must set a short and firm deadline for fundamental changes in Sudanese behavior, and prepare now to implement immediately further measures should Khartoum continue to stonewall.”
Bush said he delayed imposing sanctions last month to allow more time for diplomacy, but that al-Bashir has continued to make empty promises of cooperation while obstructing international efforts to end the crisis.
“One day after I spoke, they bombed a meeting of rebel commanders designed to discuss a possible peace deal with the government.,” the president said. “In the following weeks he used his army and government-sponsored militias to attack rebels and civilians in south Darfur. He’s taken no steps to disarm these militias in the year since the Darfur peace agreement was signed. Senior officials continue to oppose the deployment of the U.N. peacekeeping force.
“The result is that the dire security situation on the ground in Darfur has not changed,” Bush said.
Posted by kate at 11:56 AM on 05/29/07. Discuss (1)
[C-L] Former Gov. Ray Mabus Becomes Middle East Adviser for Obama Campaign
A Clarion Ledger article reports that former Gov. Ray Mabus is joining presidential candidate Barrack Obama’s campaign as an unpaid adviser on Middle Eastern issues. Mabus, who was the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the Clinton administration, will additionally make appearances in support of Obama as he believes that the candidate, whom he calls a “new voice from a new generation,” is exactly what the country needs after the previous divisive administration. Mabus is a good choice as an adviser because of his credibility and previous experience in dealing with the Middle East.
“On the other hand, it doesn’t hurt to have a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia advising on Middle Eastern issues,” said Wiseman, director of Mississippi State University’s John C. Stennis Institute of Government.
Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Mabus will have “a leadership role in the campaign in Mississippi and across the nation.”
Mabus serves on the advisory board for the Center for Middle East Public Policy at the RAND Corp., a nonprofit research group. He’s also on the board of directors of America-Mideast Educational and Training Services, Inc., a Washington-based nonprofit group that works to strengthen ties among the U.S., the Middle East and north Africa.
Posted by kate at 11:02 AM on 05/23/07. Discuss (11)
[JFP] The ‘Mississippi, Believe It’ Campaign, Rethunk
Stop the presses. The Jackson Free Press is patting Clarion-Ledger folksy columnist Orley Hood on the back this week for challenging the “paranoia and xenophobia” of the “Mississippi, Believe It” ad campaign. Read a very long blog thread (in which we re-fight the War of Northern Aggression), and the editor’s note this week, “Of Paranoia and Xenophobia.”
By the way, this is what Orley said in his column about the campaign that the JFP agrees with so strongly:
It is, I suppose, all well and good, defending our territory, talking up our heritage of great writers while ignoring our heritage of illiteracy. As polished and professional as the campaign is, theres just that little bit of paranoia and xenophobia that shows through when we so vigorously stand up to what we see as unfair criticism from outsiders.
Posted by ladd at 06:50 PM on 04/05/07. Discuss (2)
[Blog] Wonkette Disses Mississippi Easter Egg
So, Wonkette Inc.--we hear there’s an Army of Wonkette clones over there these days--is dissing every state’s Easter Egg this week. Um, cute. But her/their comment about Mississippi’s egg seems to be about as original as selling your blog to a corporate blog entity.
Here’s the snipe: “If you just said, Hey that looks like something the doctors pulled out of Trent Lott, then give yourself a racist pat on the back, because this egg is from Mississippi!” It would be one thing if the egg had the Stars & Bars on it, or “We Heart Strom” or even the embarassing Mississippi state flag, but it’s just a flowery egg design. It seems the mere mention of Mississippi brings to the Wonki’s minds the idea of Trent Lott and racism. To their small-stuck-way-up-their-butt minds, that is.
Put it this way: It would at least be funny if it was, well, funny.
Posted by ladd at 06:25 PM on 04/05/07. Discuss (15)
[S-H] Lott Ready for Insurance Battle
The Sun-Herald is reporting:
[Lott] said insurers assumed they could mistreat Mississippians after Hurricane Katrina, as they have done to customers in Florida and Alabama.
“You may try it and you may get away with it, but you’re going to go through the wringer before you get there because we’re not going to take it,” Lott said as Rotarians applauded. He decried record industry profits and an 82 percent pay increase for State Farm CEO Edward Rust Jr. while the industry denies claims, cuts back on coverage and raises rates.
“We’re not looking for war,” he said. “We’re looking for peace and a solution. But sometimes, to get a good result, you have to be prepared to take on the fight and take some of the flak that comes with it. In Washington, if you take on the insurance industry, you better bring your lunch. I’ve got mine.”
Posted by ladd at 05:31 PM on 04/05/07. Discuss (0)
[Release] Children’s Rights Seek Foster Care Settlement Today
New York/Verbatim—Children’s Rights, a national advocacy organization, and local Mississippi counsel, along with lawyers for the state of Mississippi, are submitting today for preliminary court approval a settlement agreement reached to reform the state’s child welfare system and resolve a federal class action lawsuit, which was scheduled for trial beginning May 7.
Children’s Rights and local Mississippi counsel filed the federal suit in 2004 on behalf of approximately 3,500 foster children in Mississippi Department of Human Services (DHS) custody. The May trial would have determined whether the constitutional rights of the children had been violated. In the settlement agreement, Governor Haley Barbour and Attorney General Jim Hood did not dispute that children’s constitutional rights were violated, and agreed that the case should move immediately into the remedial stage to determine the relief required to protect children in the state’s care.
Posted by ladd at 06:15 PM on 04/03/07. Discuss (0)
[Release] AG Hood to Testify Before Congress Wednesday
Verbatim from AG’s office:
Jackson, MS--Attorney General Jim Hood is set to testify before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations in Washington, D.C. tomorrow, Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. (EST) in room 2128 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing will investigate insurance adjustment claims issues affecting residents in the Gulf Coast area after Hurricane Katrina. For the latest on committee proceedings, please visit http://www.agjimhood.com. Attorney General Hood will be available for interviews immediately following his testimony.
Posted by ladd at 04:39 PM on 02/27/07. Discuss (0)
[Analysis] Barbour Lobbying Firm Staying Blood Red
The Politico in Washington is reporting that Barbour’s old (?) lobbying firm is holding steady against Democratic business even in a new D.C.:
Barbour Griffith & Rogers was founded by political infighter and now Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R), and his old partners are now bucking the post-midterm trend of bringing in a Democrat. It’s a counterintuitive strategy that carries obvious risks, not the least being diminished access to the emerging power centers on Capitol Hill. But the firm’s path, which plots a decidedly different course than most other GOP shops in town, also rests on a gamble: that at a time of razor-thin partisan margins in Congress and increasingly complex public policy, what you know can be as important—and lucrative—as who you know. That helps explain why Barbour Griffith & Rogers was signing on a handful of policy experts last year when many Republican-controlled lobbying shops were scooping up key Democratic aides and operatives.
Among the firm’s new hired guns: Stephen Rademaker, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s national policy director; Mary Lacey Reuther, a health care expert from the Bush administration; and Celeste Ward, a military operations and Iraq expert who worked at the Pentagon.
Posted by ladd at 06:46 PM on 02/26/07. Discuss (0)
