[Speech] Mabus: Republicans Bad for Mississippi’s Health
Following is the verbatim transcript of the speech Gov. Ray Mabus gave at the Jefferson Jackson Hamer Day Dinner on Oct. 27, 2007:
Mabus: Just like cigarettes are bad for health, REPUBLICANS are bad for Mississippis Health. We let ourselves get distracted and divided. DonҒt go after each other, save the fight for the real opponents, the REPUBLICANS. There is no reason why a party like the DEMOCRATS, shouldnt win every time. We are a party that puts Education first. We are a party that provides affordable Health Care for all kids and all Mississippians. We are a party that believes we are all one state, and we do better when we are United, than when we play the race card that divides us. We are a party who believes that everybody should follow the rules, and the rich and powerful should not be exempt. We are a party that believes our kids should be given the tools and opportunities for success, that where you are born, does not determine your destiny. We are a party that thinks we should tax cigarettes more and groceries less.
Mississippians this is a really important election. You have the chance to make Mississippi a state where the government puts Mississippi first, and not their own pocketbooks. You have a chance to make Mississippi a state where the government is open and ethical, and thinks kids are worth something; and not a government that views disaster as a chance to make a quick buck, rather than helping people get back on their feet. We need to help people like Cecil Brown, Haleys worst nightmare, a man who is smart, honest, and hardworking, who looks out for average Mississippians, and whoҒs not just in it for himself.
Lets look at the State Wide Races: Agriculture & Commerce Commissioner Җ Lester can you even Spell Beef Plant? When accused of incompetence and maybe corruption, you switched parties. But Rickey Cole, he actually knows about agriculture and farming and openness. Insurance Commissioner We need to be there for Gary Anderson. The Republicans thinks we should worry about the insurance companies, and not the policyholders. You talk about the fox guarding the henhouse. Let֒s talk about being in the pockets of those you are supposed to be regulating. Do you want an insurance commissioner that is for the insurance companies, or an insurance commissioner for the policyholders? It looks more than a little suspicious when the industry being regulated is financing Mr. Cheneys campaign. Secretary of State Җ Delbert Hosemann promises to make it harder for the wrong kind of people to vote. That sounds like code words to me. We ought to be making it easier for people to vote.
The barriers the Republicans are talking about, are designed to keep honest, legitimate people from voting. Rob Smith has made a career standing up for the little guys and for what is right. State Auditor Two offices the Republicans and Haley don֒t want Democrats in are: State Auditor and Attorney General, because they dont want to be checked upon. They donҒt want anyone blowing the whistle on shady deals. They want lapdogs and not watchdogs. Mike Sumrall worked for me. He is the only candidate with an Accounting Degree. He has served 28 years of State and Local Public Service, and 23 years of Auditing experience with the State Auditor֒s Office. Stacey Pickering has promised to work for those folks he is supposed to be auditing.
Attorney General All Jim Hood has done was go after people who has broken the law, strengthened victims rights, and the rights of helpless people like those in nursing homes. Jim recovered $100 million in taxes for the state, and he thought the insurance companies should pay when people lost their homes after paying premiums for years and being told they were covered.
His opponent attacks him for getting that $100 million for the state, because the attorneys he hired to get it got money for their efforts from the companies that owed the taxes, and not from the taxpayers. The State got $100 million and the folks who collected it got ten from the companies who owed the taxes֗thats a deal we should take every day of the week. His opponent would have settled for no money at all for the state. Talk about incompetence and not sticking up for the taxpayers, thatҒs it. Finally, the guy that is running against Jim is from the coast and is yet saying, We are being unfair to those poor insurance companies.Ӕ
Lieutenant Governor Having been governor, I know how important Lieutenant Governor is. The Republicans running for this office are the ones who can suck up to Haley the most. Once again, lapdogs. Phil Bryant has had lots of experience being a lapdog. I was auditor from 1984-88, and I recovered almost as much money in 4 years as he has in 10 and those were 1980 dollars too. Phil says we need to hire a private firm to look at state taxes. You would think that after a decade as State Auditor he would know something about the tax structure in Mississippi and could make up his own mind. This is just more ducking and sucking up. By the way, Phil, your job is things like the Beef Plant. The Legislature gave Phil money to oversee this plant and he didn֒t do anything. Now he says, The Legislature wouldnӒt listen, so why bother. Why bother? Because itԒs your job, thats why. Maybe if you had done your job we wouldnҒt be out of more than $50 million. He was not competent as an auditor, so why should we make him Lieutenant Governor?
Jamie Franks he is smart, tough, and he represents the people that are hurting. Jamie stands for everything that is right about Mississippi, and he is the easy and only choice for this job. You don֒t even have to think about it. Governor John Arthur Eaves. We have a really good candidate for governor. He has represented the working people. He has taken stands he believes in, and he has stuck with them. John has worked to better Mississippi in many, many ways. He has proven that he can do the job.
Now let֒s talk about our present governor, Haley Barbour. First of all, we have a governor that is from Washington D.C. and not Mississippi. Hes like a colonial governor. When he chose where to live and what to do, he chose based on how much money he could make from folks like tobacco companies, instead of seeing what he could do to help our state. He does have symmetry and consistency about his stand on Health Care though. He came in his plan to cut people off of Medicaid, and now in his last year he is opposing CHIPS. The people he tried to cut off of Medicaid were people getting chemotherapy, the disabled and many more. Nearly every governor in the country wrote and asked for the expansion of CHIPS, but not ours. As if we didnҒt need it more than any other state. Careful, Haley, we might actually cover some kids with health care. How could he do this with a straight face? There must be money in it for kids, and not any for him or his clients. Hes not consistent on Education. He has been against it up until election year. He has been against early childhood, against teachers, and against following the law on funding. Now heҒs running ads about Education. Just how dumb does he think voters are? He says hes against raising taxes, but raised them on hospitals and called them fees. He says heҒs against wasteful spending, but pays his chief of staff more than Bush pays his, or Schwarznegger. The cost of running the governors mansion has skyrocketed. Oh, yeah, he even bought a new airplane, so he could go home to DC in greater style and comfort. He gets back at his opponent by insulting his opponentҒs wife.
But lets get to the really important stuff. Haley refuses to release his income taxes saying that, ғIt is held in some Blind Trust. But now we have a problem, because Mississippi doesnԒt have one. How blind is it, if it is only one asset? Now when Haley had the opportunity to increase taxes on tobacco and lower the taxes on grocery, he vetoed it. Does this have anything to do with him representing tobacco companies? Or, is he still getting money from the firm that supported these tobacco companies, and vetoing tobacco tax? Another name for that is: CORRUPTION. If it is not true, then prove it. It is easy to do. Release your income taxes. I was the first governor to do this. Even Fordice released his income taxes.
The same with Katrina, the greatest natural disaster ever to hit Mississippi. It has been over two years now, and we still have thousands of people living in trailers. The companies that his firm represents are doing real well and his niece has done well, the insurance companies he sided with are doing well, the only people who arent, are homeowners. He said just a couple of weeks ago in a debate that he was ғProud of Bush in Katrina. What was he proud of? Incompetence? Uncaring? We the voters and residents of Mississippi have to do this now. We must demand better, because we deserve better. Mississippi, work and vote like your future and your kidsԒ future depends on it. Because it does!!!
Governor Ray Mabus
Posted by ladd at 05:54 PM in Democrats, Governor, Elections, Republicans | Email this entry
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