Category: National
[Desk] Barbour & Guvs Want Federal Broadband Auction
The Austin American-Statesman a fun exchange with Haley Barbour:
Members of the Southern Governors Association were discussing the need for national legislation regarding a federal auction of broadband spectrum. ?We?re not Congress; we can actually get something done,? declared Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.
?So much for your legislation up there,? quipped Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat.
?My legislation went out the window in November,? shot back Barbour, who chaired the Republican National Committee during the 1990s.
Posted by ladd at 06:43 PM on 02/26/07. Discuss (10)
[Desk] Lott Vows to ‘Bring Down’ State Farm, Industry
"The Corner” at National Review Online reported Feb. 23 that Sen. Trent Lott made a courtesy call to Chuck Chamness, the CEO of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, to let the insurance industry know what train was headed their way. Chamness later summed up the conversation in a letter back to Lott:
The key passage: “Your comment that you will dedicate your next term of office to ‘bringing down State Farm and the industry’ through all means available to you, including legislation designed to harm the property/casualty insurance industry, was very unsettling, to say the least.”
Posted by ladd at 06:27 PM on 02/26/07. Discuss (0)
[News] Barbour’s Insider Status Became a Boon After Katrina
The New York Times has a piece today examining Barbour’s political bump off Katrina:
But in one of those remarkable and perhaps ironic turnarounds that happen from time to time in politics, Barbour?s politically burdensome Washington ties suddenly became a huge political plus ? in the wake of the natural catastrophe wrought by Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast in August 2005. The contacts and alliances Barbour had built in the nation?s capital became major assets. He was able to secure a vast amount of funds from the federal government, working alongside well-placed members of the state?s congressional delegation ? including Republican Sen. Thad Cochran, then chairman of the Appropriations Committee; GOP Sen. Trent Lott, the former majority leader; House Appropriations Committee member Roger Wicker; and Rep. Bennie Thompson, then ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee.
Posted by ladd at 11:08 AM on 01/24/07. Discuss (0)
[Release] Hood Celebrates Insurance Settlement; Calls for Reform
Attorney General Jim Hood today help a press conference celebrating the State Form settlement over Katrina lawsuits. You can hear the audio from Athe press conference here, as well as view the settlement agreement. Here is the verbatim press release:
Jackson, MS--"After months of heated negotiations, I am happy tannounce that our office has reached a settlement agreement with State Farm in our state court litigation,” said Attorney General Jim Hood. “The settlement agreement will give Coastal policyholders an expedited alternative to waiting for a jury trial. In this litigation my goals were to require full disclosure of information in the claim files to the policyholders, change State Farm’s unfair claims handling practices, require the reevaluation of the claims without the use of adjusters and engineers previously used, make a minimum offer to the slab owners and a new offer to those with lesser damage, provide an administrative process of arbitration where the arbiters are chosen fairly by both sides, and preserve the option of policyholders to opt out of the process and file a suit in court.”
State Farm has agreed to the following demands in the Settlement Agreement filed in the Chancery Court of Hinds County:
Posted by ladd at 11:37 PM on 01/23/07. Discuss (29)
[Desk] AFL-CIO Has Good Mississippi Politics Portal
The Desk just found this page on the AFL-CIO Web site. It’s got a bunch of good Mississippi political links?and already links to StateDesk, so we’re appreciative.
Posted by ladd at 10:31 PM on 01/23/07. Discuss (1)
[News] Lott Wants More Funding of Amtrak
The Associated Press is reporting this week that Sen. Trent Lott, along with Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, is pushing for more funding of Amtrak:
The sweeping bill - similar to one that passed in the Senate 93 to 6 last year but was never voted on in the House - calls for $12 billion in federal funding for the next six years. Many Amtrak supporters believe it has a better chance this year with Democrats in control of Congress.
Posted by ladd at 01:04 PM on 01/17/07. Discuss (2)
[News] Lethal Injection on Trial
Stateline.org has a story today about the new controversies surrounding to use of lethal injections for executions:
Executions were put on hold in 2006 in 12 of the 38 states to adopt capital punishment since 1977 ? in nine states because of questions over lethal injection. [...]
Recent court rulings have narrowed the grounds for capital punishment, and public support generally has slipped. The U.S. public still favors the death penalty by a 65 percent-to-30 percent margin, according to USA Today/Gallup polls over the last three years, but that is down from 80 percent that supported capital punishment in 1994.
Since capital punishment was reinstated three decades ago, nearly 900 of the 1,056 U.S. executions carried out through 2006 were by lethal injection. It is the primary or exclusive form of execution in 37 of the 38 states with capital punishment. (Nebraska uses the electric chair.) [...]
Posted by ladd at 12:22 PM on 01/17/07. Discuss (0)
[News] Plea Agreement Issued in Beef Plant Mess
The U.S. Department of Justice released the news today that a plea agreement has been reached in the case of the beef-plant case (corporate welfare supported by both parties and the governor that went sour). Sean Carouthers pled guilty to one count of fraud and agreed to pay the state $250,000. The Magnolia Report posted a copy of the press release and agreement today.
Posted by ladd at 08:14 PM on 01/16/07. Discuss (0)
[Analysis] Ledger Favors Minimum-Wage Increase, But …
The Clarion-Ledger today editorializes in favor of the minimum-wage bill passed by the Mississippi House last week?but outright ignores the clause that discriminates about young workers in the bill. To read up on the dicrimination in the bill, read the StateDesk discussion on the issue from lat week.
Posted by ladd at 11:09 AM on 01/16/07. Discuss (1)
Vacuum Maker Hailed as Savior Quits Gulf Town
The New York Times has pick up on the inelegant departure of Oreck from the Coast. Why? At least in part because their workers don’t have housing in the Katrina-ravaged region:
The company says it cannot get enough insurance to cover its plant here, and cannot hire enough skilled workers to replace those who never returned after the storm, mostly because they had nowhere to live. [...] Finding workers is a challenge now along the Mississippi coast. In Hancock County, to the west of here, employers have booked all of the recruitment booths at a job fair scheduled for Jan. 25, seeking workers for jobs in casinos, factories or power companies. In Biloxi, to the east, the Gulf Coast Medical Center says it is struggling to find workers, and so are insurance companies, restaurants and trucking companies.
Signal International, which makes and repairs offshore drilling rigs, just announced that it had brought 200 welders and other craftsmen here from India to work in its shipyard in Pascagoula, on the eastern end of the coast. In a statement, the company cited ?chronic labor shortages? after the hurricane.
Workers who are available are more expensive. ?The cost of labor is a problem for everyone,? said Jim Craig, who directs local programs for the Mississippi Development Authority. ?It doesn?t matter if it?s a convenience store or a shipbuilder.?
Posted by ladd at 11:10 AM on 01/15/07. Discuss (0)
Mississippi In the Mix of National Minimum-Wage Bill
On Sunday, the Commercial Appeal in Memphis had a story on the growing minimum-wage movement in the country, including a focus on Mississippi’s bill passed last week:
You can choose the Capitol Street gang and vote with them,” said Rep. Ricky Cummings, D-Iuka, a main sponsor of the bill. “They’ll pat you on the back and they’ll tell you what a great job you’ve done, but you won’t feel good about it, I guarantee. ... On this question right here, you don’t have to ask what Jesus would do because it’s already been answered.”
This story demonstrates that Barbour’s quip about other states laughing at Mississippi isn’t exactly on target, considering that states around us are wrestling with the same issue.
Posted by ladd at 10:41 AM on 01/15/07. Discuss (0)
[Analysis] Rep. Gene Taylor Gets Ovation for Pelosi Vote
In an excellent column about Nancy Pelosi’s positive messages for women in politics, our friend Bill Minor tells a fun story about Congressman Gene Taylor:
Obviously she didn’t please some House Democrats such as Mississippi’s 4th District Gene Taylor, who in 2001 and 2003 voted for his “Blue Dog” colleague, John Murtha of Pennsylvania, for minority leader. That’s why this time when the conservative Taylor voted for Pelosi as speaker, his party colleagues gave him a standing ovation. “Just teasing me,” Taylor said later. Significantly, in December when House Democrats selected a new majority leader, Pelosi backed Murtha instead of Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland who won the post. Pelosi said she supported Murtha (some pundits called it a misstep) out of loyalty to Murtha, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and staunch defense backer. His call a year ago for the U.S. to begin disengagement in Iraq started a shift of public opinion against the war and helped Democrats on Nov. 7.
Gene Taylor, by the way, got a choice committee assignment out of Pelosi: chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee in charge of shipbuilding, a plum for him, since the huge Northrup-Grumman (Ingalls) shipyard is a major employer in his district.
Posted by ladd at 02:37 PM on 01/12/07. Discuss (2)
[Analysis] Will Sen. Lott Be a Thorn in Bush’s Troop Surge?
As the nation prepares to hear Bush try to convince the nation to send more troops to Iraq, Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott has said that he is skeptical about more troops. Here’s how one former Marine responded to Lott over at over at MSNBC Hardblogger:
My hat’s off to you, Senator Lott, for carefully considering whether or not to vote to send more troops to Iraq. After the death of more than 3,000 Americans, and the physical and psychological maiming of many thousands more, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to put more of our soldiers into proven danger on the roadways, alleyways, and deserts of Iraq. Whatever we do, let’s make safety for the troops already in Iraq America’s priority. Let’s start thinking about our soldiers first. Jim Murray (Honorable Discharge U.S.M.C.)
Posted by ladd at 06:50 PM on 01/10/07. Discuss (0)
[News] Newbie Sen. Tester Upstaged by Trent Lott?
From The New York Times:
Freshman Jon Tester, D-Mont., delivered his maiden speech Tuesday, addressing the chamber?s ethics overhaul legislation (S 1). ?The ?for sale? sign on Congress will be taken down, and the pay-to-play practices of past members will finally come to an end,? he said.
When he was finished, GOP Whip Trent Lott of Mississippi spoke on the same topic. He, however, cautioned members not to go so far in their efforts to redeem themselves in the public eye that they end up creating an unworkable system: ?Let?s not make criminals of ourselves and our staffs.?
When Tester emerged from the chamber after Lott had finished speaking, he grinned through his disappointment.
?I wanted to respond!? he said.
Posted by ladd at 06:44 PM on 01/10/07. Discuss (0)
[News] Cochran Backs More Troops, Lott Balks
From the Clarion-Ledger:
Sen. Thad Cochran was one of about a dozen Republican senators who was invited to the White House on Monday to preview the president’s plan.
“I was surprised I was the only one who said I would support him,” Cochran said. “I think the president should be given a chance to make this work.”
Cochran said many of his GOP colleagues are “kind of waiting to see what the details are.”
Sen. Trent Lott said he is willing to study the president’s proposal but won’t support a troop surge unless it’s part of a broader plan.
Posted by ladd at 09:55 AM on 01/10/07. Discuss (0)
