Dude, Where's My Grant?

Medications Development for Cannabis-Related Disorders

Jim Hood: Who needs Jerry Mitchell?

Jerry Mitchell received a great honor for his work at the Clarion Ledger unearthing new facts about cold-case civil rights crimes. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation awarded him a "genius grant" of a $500,000 fellowship over five years which he will use to continue his investigative journalism and complete a book. He is the Clarion Ledger's most recognized investigative journalist and his efforts have led to the prosecution of criminals who otherwise would have never been brought to justice. The New York Times reported this interesting item.

Jim Hood, the Mississippi attorney general, who has handled some of the cold cases, said most of them would have been prosecuted eventually, even without Mr. Mitchell’s contributions, “but he’s kept the issue on the front burner out there for a lot of years now.”

Huh. So I guess Jerry Mitchell's work wasn't that important after all, as Jim Hood suggests the case 'would have been prosecuted eventually' anyway.

I wonder what other people think. I wonder about the case of Medgar Evers.

"It never would have happened without Jerry," Evers' widow, Myrlie Evers-Williams, said.

Biden and Pelosi on History and Jobs

Some old quotes that deserve attention again.

"When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the princes of greed, he said, 'Look, here's what happened.'" - Joe Biden

Other than the fact that Franklin Roosevelt was not president when the stock market crashed in 1929, and the fact that televisions were not in use, he got it right.

"Every month that we do not have an economic recovery package, 500 million Americans lose thier jobs." - Nancy Pelosi

Yikes. With there only being about 300 million Americans, I must have lost my job several times.

Political Populism not Partisanship Divides PSC

I guess we could increase the alliteration to say "Presley's Political Populism not Partisanship or Posey Divides PSC."

Brandon Presley (D) is at it again. It seems every month the Northern District Public Service Commissioner not only disagrees with his colleagues, but feels he must be disagreeable. It isn't enough for him to lose a vote, he has to attempt to score political points against his fellow commissioners and mislead the press while he is at it.

June - (Y'all Politics covered it well) Presley announced he had voted against a rate hike and went on the radio to say, "The proposed rate increase is $14.5 million that comes at a terrible time for Mississippi consumers. So, this rate increase is going into effect during the hottest months of the year, and I felt that it just wasn’t a justified rate increase." Presley lost the vote 2-1. Funny though, Public Service Commission Chairman Lynn Posey (D), who was joined by Commissioner Leonard Bentz (R) in voting against Presley, released a statement announcing a reduction in rates. Eventually WLBT caught up with Presley who admitted that yes, in fact, it was a rate reduction. For this, Presley lost not only the vote, but credibility.

August - Presley "lashed out" at Posey and Bentz over the Ratepayers Bill of Rights. Again came the dueling press releases. Again Presley looked foolish as he whined about not getting his way, while his colleagues took the high road and actually praised him.

September - Time for Presley to make the scene again. This time after again losing another 2-1 vote, he fired off a press release accusing a regulated utility of effectively contributing to the hardships of "Mississippi families" as they "struggle through some of the worst economic times since the Great Depression". He proudly claimed to have cast the lone vote against this scheme. What he didn't say was his plan to pull these families out of "the Great Depression" amounted to less than $3 a month for three months. In other words, Brandon Presley envisions himself Franklin Delano Roosevelt by letting someone order not quite three things off the McDonald's Dollar Menu once a month. What would we do without him?

Again, Posey follows up with a statement of his own. It seems Presley left out a major item...a rate reduction! In addition to the rate reduction, the PSC deferred some returns to ratepayers for a quarter to help stabilize rates. During that deferment, ratepayers will be earning interest at the prime rate plus one percent. Presley somehow neglected to mention that as well. Posey said, “In my judgment, this plan will reduce the burden on customers by providing reasonable rates with stability and eliminating dramatic fluctuations in bills which customers have not budgeted for. Since natural gas costs are now at their lowest in several years, I think it is wise to prepare now for these costs rising next spring when electricity usage goes up.”

Posey argued for rate stability. Something most families and businesses appreciate when it comes to a budget. That is not partisanship. That is being reasonable.

This is not a partisan split. Posey is a real Democrat. Bentz is a real Republican. But they also respect their roles as quasi-judicial regulators. Presley on the other hand sees this as his opportunity to exercise his political ambitions. That is unfortunate to ratepayers and to Mississippi.

Our advice to the media in the future is to wait on the truth from Posey and Bentz before jumping on the populist spin of Brandon Presley.

Obama's Change: Jobless Teens

The Greenwood Commonwealth says in a recent editorial:

Here’s an item of interest for any adult who worked as a teenager, or for any teenager who’s trying to find a part-time job: The Associated Press is reporting that $1.2 billion in stimulus money spent to help teens find jobs this summer failed miserably.

We should say so. As we blogged earlier this month:

The teenage unemployment rate is at 25.5 percent, its highest level since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the data in 1948.

Unemployment. Yes we can.

NRA stands up to opponents of the Wicker Amendment

The National Rifle Association responds that the usual liberals are attacking Senator Roger Wicker's efforts to protect the Second Amendment rights of Amtrack users.

Last week, we reported on the Wicker amendment—a NRA-backed amendment to H.R. 3288 (the FY 2010 Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development appropriations bill) that would reform policies regarding the transportation of firearms on Amtrak trains. The measure was adopted by the Senate on Wednesday, September 16, by a vote of 68-30, and would allow law-abiding Amtrak passengers the ability to securely transport firearms in their checked baggage while traveling by Amtrak train. Currently, passengers who choose to travel by passenger rail in the United States cannot transport a firearm in checked baggage as they can on airlines.

Not wanting to miss any opportunity to grandstand and show off his vehemently anti-gun views, New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine (D) sent a letter to Congressional leaders asking them to oppose the Wicker amendment.

The Governor said in his letter, “I am outraged by a provision included in the Senate FY10 Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development ("THUD") appropriations bill that requires Amtrak to accept passengers who carry firearms and ammunition in their checked baggage. This provision creates an unacceptable threat to the safety of New Jerseyans.” Corzine, of course, ignored the fact that American citizens safely transport firearms in checked baggage on airlines every day.

Corzine went on to say that he “will not allow the NRA to force guns to be transported or carried into places like Newark and New Brunswick Stations, the gateways to our major universities.”

“Force guns to be transported or carried” into New Jersey? That’s sensationalism at its finest. So much for the option of exercising our Second Amendment freedoms.

Hattiesburg American on MDOT Secret Meeting: "how many other times have they violated it?"

The Hattiesburg American has chimed in with criticism of the alleged violation of Mississippi's Open Meetings Law by MDOT Commissioners Wayne Brown and Bill Minor.

[T]he Mississippi Ethics Commission has been asked to investigate. There was a quorum with two of the three commissioners at this dinner/meeting and they were talking about a highway project. It doesn't sound like a social meeting to us.

If it looks, sounds and quacks like a duck ...

Minor, Wayne Brown and Butch Brown have 14 days from the date of Hall's complaint to respond.

Unfortunately, even if they are found guilty of violating the open meetings law, the penalty is less than a slap on the wrist. It's a $100 fine. And the question must be asked, if these officials violated the law on this occasion, how many other times have they violated it?

Until Mississippi takes open government seriously - meaning real penalties for those who violate the open meetings and open records laws - the good old boys that have run this state for generations will continue to be in charge.

If they are found guilty of doing business in secret, hopefully the voters of Mississippi will do more than give them a slap on the wrist.

Greenwood, Cleveland papers support 27% gas tax hike

As we've discussed, Butch Brown at the Mississippi Department of Transportation is advocating a 27% gas tax hike. Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant is opposed to it. And the Clarion Ledger has editoiralized agains it.

But the Greenwood Commonwealth and the Bolivar Commercial newspapers have both come out in favor of the gas tax hike.

The Greenwood Commonwealth not only advocates for the hike, but suggests that the legislation make it an automatically increasing tax every year.

The initial reaction when someone starts talking about raising taxes is a knee-jerk negative. That response is not just predictable, but understandable. People feel taxed enough already. In Mississippi, it takes on average almost three months of work to pay all of the state, federal and local taxes for the year -- and that’s a shorter time frame than in most parts of the country.

It will be said that, given the recession, this is no time to increase taxes. But when will there be a good time? When gasoline prices were $4 a gallon in 2008, it was said that was not a good time either. At least prices at the pump have moderated since then.

A better idea than the nickel increase would be to peg the excise tax to inflation, with an automatic adjustment every year. That way, the gas tax would keep up with the rising costs of road-building and repair.

The Bolivar Commercial calls it a "necessary evil."

We know that a tax increase is a politician’s most unfavorable task in Mississippi, and the public doesn’t think too highly of the idea either. One of Gov. Haley’s Barbour’s favorite expressions after he was elected, for example, was “No new tax increases.”

But sometimes—even in a recession—a tax increase is painfully necessary for the safety and well-being of our citizens. And we hope both Barbour and our legislators will realize the nickel increase on a gallon of gas is simply a necessary evil if Mississippi is to keep its infrastructure up to date.

Lets see...a 27% tax on a 50 cent newspaper is about 13.5 cents. Why don't we put a 13.5% tax on newspapers and send the revenue to education where one might argue the state is teaching people to read so they can consume the newspapers. Oh, and peg it to inflation so that newspaper tax increases with inflation. No one will notice. It will be a necessary evil.

MDOTer Minor admits quorum discussed business at dinner meeting

Last week Bobby Harrison wrote about Dick Hall's accusation that his fellow MDOT Commissioners violated the open meetings act. Now the Madison County Journal reports that Commissioner Bill Minor's response to Hall effectively admits the meeting violated the law.

Minor responded to Hall's complaint in a letter to the Ethics Commission dated Sept. 10 in which he claims multiple times that "there was no meeting" and it was only a dinner.

However, he does admit that the group discussed funding for the Reunion interchange, something experts say is a violation of the state's open meetings law.

"I will tell you that during that dinner we were asked, sinice the cost of the interchange at Reunion Parkway had gotten considerably higher, if we could put more money than the $6 million that we promised into it," Minor's letter reads. "We told him (Tim Johnson) no, that we did not have the money because we had just given $30 million to the Legislature for balancing the budget."

Hall called the letter an admission of guilt since it confirmed a majority of the commission was present discussing state business.

"He admitted they were there, admitted they discussed it (Reunion Interchange) and admitted they took action," Hall said. "There's no way they can't find them guilty of violating the open meetings law."

"I don't think the gentleman has ever read the law, or it hasn't been explained to him," Hall added. "He said everything I wanted him to say."

Attorney Leonard D. Van Slyke, who operates a legal hotline for the Mississippi Center for Freedom of Information, said he was unfamiliar with this particular case, but described what a violation would entail.

"A meeting occurs under the open meetings law, if a quorum is present and business is discussed," Van Slyke said. "That has been clearly established by the Mississippi Supreme Court."

There was a quorum. They discussed business. Case closed.

Happy Constitution Day

Happy Constitution Day



We couldn't blog without it.

Jim Hood Fundraiser

Just in case you didn't get your invitation. Ours must have been lost in the mail. But one was forwarded onto us.

Fight the Gas Tax Hike

As we mentioned earlier this week, Butch Brown, Director of the Mississippi Department of Tourism Transportation, wants to hike gas taxes by 27%. People are tired of higher taxes and taxing gas is not a wise move in this economy.

Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant went on the record opposing the gas tax hike.

When Garret McDaniel heard the state gas tax could go up, his first reaction was, "Another tax?"

"We're already getting taxed on everything else," McDaniel continued. "Everything's going up. I can barely afford to get enough gas to afford to drive."

But state leaders, like Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant, don't want to see the tax raised at all.

In a statement, Bryant said, "In these tough economic times, I am opposed to any further tax burden on the taxpayer."

The Clarion Ledger has also chimed in.

Now is not the time for a tax increase that would raise the price of gasoline.

Brown's call for higher gasoline taxes is highly unpopular and politically impossible in the current economic climate and rightly so. Higher gas prices, even a nickel higher, will have a negative impact on the economy. But it does make sense in terms of public policy.

In the short run, the benefit of a fuel excise tax hike isn't worth the economic pain.

But MDOT's fuel excise tax hike policy argument is forced to operate in the shadow of the two-on-one political standoff between the state's transportation commissioners. Mississippi needs attention to transportation issues that transcend the gas tax. The Legislature should make reforming that state function more of a priority.

Amen.

American Spectator's Hypocrite of the Month

The American Spectator has named Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter "hypocrite of the month" saying, "Take it away, Carol, you maniac, you. You've really, really earned it."

NowHampshire.com explains:

Rep. Carol Shea-Porter lashed out at South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson for his outburst before a joint session of Congress last week and at Republicans in general for vocally opposing President Barack Obama’s health reform initiative while speaking at the Strafford County Democratic Party Picnic this weekend.

“They were behaving in a way we never behave,” Shea-Porter told the enthusiastic group of party faithful.

Shea-Porter claimed Democrats never interrupted President George W. Bush while he was addressing Congress.

“We sat there quietly and politely because that’s what we owe the President of the United States,” she said.

This is not true.

Democratic members of Congress lustily booed President Bush during his 2005 State of the Union Address.

What’s more, Shea-Porter herself once had to be forcibly removed from a Bush speaking engagement in Portsmouth, NH for causing disruptions and wearing a shirt that read “Turn Your Back on Bush.”

Prior to that, Shea-Porter was a permanent fixture at then-incumbent Republican Congressman Jeb Bradley’s town hall meetings where she regularly disrupted the constituent events to criticize America’s war effort. She actually boasted of this activity during her 2006 campaign for Congress.

This award could really go to lots of Democrats who have suddenly discovered decorum after eight years of bad behavior.

Why conservatives don't rule Hollywood

There are some notable conservative actors, but to a large degree, Hollywood is very liberal. There is something in the creative culture that lends itself to liberal conflict rather than conservative resolution. For example, a liberal would have made quite a horror movie out of this piece, but instead, a conservative got it and, well, its is much shorter.

Obamacare and Planned Parenthood

As we mentioned earlier, some Democrats (like Bennie Thompson) claim Obamacare will not impact abortions, but other Democrats (like Travis Childers) claim they won't vote for Obamacare because it does not protect the rights of the unborn.

Here is another item about Obamacare and abortion. The legislation could actually put Planned Parenthood in charge of school based health care clinics and use taxpayer dollars to pay Planned Parenthood expenses and salaries.

As the American Family Association said, "Putting Planned Parenthood in charge of a school’s health clinic is like putting ACORN in charge of the Electoral College or putting Rod Blagojevich in charge of the Federal Reserve. Not a good idea now or ever."

NRA License Plates

From my latest NRA-ILA Alert:

Support your NRA by purchasing a specialized tag today! NRA license plates are now available through your county tax collector's office. The cost is $31, with $24 of that going to the NRA Foundation State Account to promote firearms training, youth hunter education, shooting range development and other programs specifically in Mississippi.

For a list of county tax collectors and office locations, please visit
http://www.mstc.state.ms.us/info/offices/mvlinfo.htm

Butch Brown calls for 27% hike in gas tax

MDOT Executive Director Butch Brown, who used taxpayer dollars for trips to Puerto Rico, Brussels, Budapest and Vienna, now wants to hike gas taxes by 27% because he says MDOT is running out of money. On one hand, he says MDOT will soon be a maintenance-only department and on the other hand, he says the transportation expansion and improvement plan "Vision 21" is fully funded.

The executive director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation told a business group Friday that he supports a 5-cent-per-gallon increase in the gas tax to help fund the state’s road projects.

At the Community Development Foundation’s First Friday event, Larry “Butch” Brown said it’s “absolutely critical” that MDOT find new sources of income.

“If we don’t get new taxes, we’re going to be in trouble,” Brown said.

The primary source of state revenue for the Department of Transportation is an 18.4-cent tax on a gallon gas and diesel.

If MDOT doesn’t find new income, it will be a maintenance-only department in three years, he said.

However, Brown said after Friday’s event that “Vision 21 is already funded.”

Brown explained that MDOT’s originally proposed Vision 21 program – not the version passed by the Legislature – is funded.

“Once we complete the Vision 21 program as it was originally conceived, we will move forward with other projects,” Brown said.

Butch Brown spends money on building new offices around the state and manages a leviathon of bureucracy in Jackson. He spends MDOT money on trips around the world for himself. And in this recession, he wants to raise taxes on us to pay for his over spending.

Remember

Did MDOTers violate Open Meetings Act?

Bobby Harrison at the Tupelo Daily Journal catches the Brown Boys in an alleged violation of the Open Meetings Act.

Central District Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall said Northern District Commissioner Bill Minor, Southern District Commissioner Wayne Brown and Transportation Department Executive Director Larry “Butch” Brown met at a Jackson restaurant on Aug. 10 with Madison County officials to discuss what is known as the Reunion interchange planned for I-55 in Madison County.

“How do you work with somebody you can’t trust?” asked Hall, who filed a complaint with the Ethics Commission last week. “Obviously, it was a pre-arranged meeting to discuss a project in my district, and I was excluded from the meeting....There is a reason for having the opening meetings law.”

Tom Hood, executive director of the Ethics Commission, said the two commissioners and Butch Brown have 14 days to file a response if they so choose.

Tim Johnson, a member of the Madison County Board of Supervisors, was at the Aug. 10 dinner along with Jackson attorney Ed Brunini Jr. and Madison County engineer Rudy Warnock.

At the dinner, Johnson said, “We were talking about Reunion, and Dick has made it clear he is against the project.”

Minor said the Madison County officials asked the commissioners to consider providing a larger state match for the project.

No American Should Have to Choose Between Health Insurance and Getting Drunk

Obama: Healthcare or More People Will Die

Our favorite part of President Barack Hussein Obama's speech was when he said if Congress does not pass healthcare reform that more people will die. Seriously Obama. More people will die? And you accuse Republicans of scare tactics. Pass my bill or people will die. Hell, that's almost a threat.

It reminds us of his Democratic Nomination victory speech when he told America, "this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal." Again, really Obama?

So he will heal the world and make it so fewer people die (by the way, the mortality rate is pretty consistent over the past several centuries at 100%). What's next? Will he use the Hubble Telescope to direct a cosmic symphony that brings all the comets of the galaxy into undestructive orbits? Nah. He is saving that for his second term.

Really Obama? "More will die." Really?

NOW Democrats condemn dissent?

The Democrats need a thicker skin. Yesterday we shared how the Democrats flipped out when parents criticized President Barack H. Obama's speech to school children...even though when President George H.W. Bush did the same thing the Democrats ordered an investigation and hearings over the matter.

It is really driving them nuts that anyone would criticize Obama. They just can't take it.

Now they share their indignant moral outrage over South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson's outburst during Obama's speech saying "you lie" after Obama claimed universal health care would not extend to illegal immigrants. First of all, Joe Wilson is right on the issue. Illegal immigrants get health care now. How will they not when it becomes universal? And if Democrats were serious about it, they would allow a specific exclusion in the legislation (which they won't). Second, he should have showed more restraint and not yelled out during the speech. We're not Brits after all.

But this is the best part. The Democrats are all out there calling Wilson a redneck for his behavior. But as Drudge points out today, the Democrats were not exactly polite to President Bush. This video records Democrats booing and heckling the President of the United States during a State of the Union address.

Democrats, spare us the outrage and hypocrisy. We think Joe Wilson behaved boorishly, but after the way Democrats behave, they have no place to criticize.

When Bush spoke to schools, Dems ordered investigation, hearings

Excuse us if we show little pitty to Democrats who whine and sob about how President Obama is being treated unfairly and how those big, bad parents object to his speech to school children.

Memo to Democrats: This is the big league. Step up.

As Majority in Mississippi points out today, when President George H.W. Bush spoke to school children in 1991, Democrats in Congress ordered an investigation and held Congressional hearings on the event.

So if Democrats have any complaint, it should be that Republicans are playing too nice with the President.

Obama's Change: Record Teenage Unemployment

The teenage unemployment rate is at 25.5 percent, its highest level since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the data in 1948. (Economix - New York Times)

Young people voted for change with Obama, we've certainly gotten it.

The Irony of Tax Increases

The Wisdom of Id on Cig Taxes

The Clarion Ledger notes tobacco taxes did much better in August than July. In August they came in above expectations by 3.52% and in July they missed expectations by 17.99% which according to the Ledger translates to "meeting expectations for the most part." If an 18% deficit is "meeting expectatoins for the most part" then Governor Haley Barbour's 5% budget cut announced yesterday should be no big deal.

Over the first two months of this new budget year, tobacco taxes have failed to meet projections by an average of 7.46%. We'll see how things turn out.


New Jersey actually saw a net loss of tobacco revenue when it increased tobacco taxes last year. While that won't happen in Mississippi, we think we will see less revenue than some expected. In other words, Mississippi is keeping the Golden Goose alive, but it isn't laying eggs as frequently as the farmers would like.

Bennie Thompson on Abortion

A number of reporters mentioned U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson's recent town hall meeting where abortion opponents asked him his position on the health care bill in regards to abortion. He glazed over it saying it was no where mentioned.

WLBT:

People stepped up to the microphones to ask Thompson questions that ranged from whether abortion was contained in the bill and if illegal immigrants are covered.

The congressman said the answer to both was no.

JFP:

Skeptics of the bill voiced their questions regarding including abortion funding and the cost to taxpayers. When asked if abortion would be covered in the bill, Thompson replied: "Abortion is not mentioned anywhere in this bill." Many in the crowd shouted back at him that it is mentioned.

Clarion Ledger:

One of the most common concerns among opponents at Thompson's meeting on Monday at the M.W. Stringer Grand Lodge on Lynch Street was that abortion or death counseling for elderly would become a part of the plan.

"Can you tell me that federal dollars will not go to abortion?" Jim Chamblee asked.

As Thompson told the crowd that abortion was not mentioned in the bill, skeptical audience members nodded disapprovingly and yelled back at him, saying it was.

The Jackson Free Press rightfully criticized this answer.

When asked about abortion, he would only say that it is "nowhere mentioned in the bill."

According to http://www.factcheck.org, while the main bill does not mention abortions, the Caps Amendment adopted July 30 states that some abortions "shall" be covered by the public option plan. This amendment is modeled after the Hyde Amendment under Medicaid in which the government pays for some abortions in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of a mother.

Elected officials should tamp down rhetoric, hold respectful forums and give us the complete information we need to make intelligent decisions.

More than that, Thompson's colleague in Mississippi, U.S. Rep. Travis Childers, actually makes "abortion" the cornerstone of his possible opposition to the health care bill.

Congressman Travis Childers (D-Mississippi) was among a group of 19 pro-life Democrats who wrote a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, informing her that they would only support health care legislation that "explicitly excludes" federal funding of abortions.

"When I was a candidate, since I've been in Congress, and today, I have said and I continually say, and I will not veer from this -- federal funding for abortion is a deal-breaker for me on any health care reform bill, period," he states. "If it is included, that's automatically lost my vote on anything. I'm very firm on that."

Democrats in Mississippi can't have it both ways. Either their health care push in Congress includes abortion and Thompson tried to mislead his constituents and the press, or it does not and Childers is playing political games with the abortion issue.

Democrats Criticize Health Contributions...to people like Travis Childers?

The Mississippi Democratic Party blogs that campaign contributions and not "some noble calling" are driving Republicans to oppose Obamacare. I guess they need to explain their accusations to Travis Childers and Bennie Thompson.

Childers leads state delegation with health-care dollars

A look at Mississippi's members shows Reps. Travis Childers and Bennie Thompson lead the delegation in health-related contributions, with Sen. Thad Cochran not far behind.

On CRP's list for the 435-member House, Childers ranks at 142 with $12,500 in health contributions; Thompson at 186 with $7,400. The list contains information on 432 of the members and some tied in rank with the same total receipts.

A Daily Journal check of FEC reports puts Childers with $40,450 including insurance companies, which would rank him at No. 32. The same examination puts Thompson at $13,900 or 131.

Democrats pointing their fingers should be careful standing by a mirror.

Hitting the Taliban from Neveda

Simulation or the real thing, either way, its pretty cool.