Have a Cup of Tea Today & Saturday

Ahhh, conservative grassroots in action.

Thursday April 15

*Columbus: Columbus Tea Party - Lowndes Courthouse 5pm

*Greenwood: Lefore/Carrollton Tax Day TEA Party - Whittington Park 11am-1pm

*Gulfport: Mississippi Gulf Coast TEA Party - Gulfport Sportsplex 6pm

*Hattiesburg: Hattiesburg 912 Project - Town Square Park 2pm

*Hernando: Tea Party of Mississippi - DeSoto Courthouse 3pm-6pm (story)

*Jackson: "We the People" from Byram - State Capitol in Jackson 11am-1pm

*Starkville: The Starkville Tea Party - Oktibbeha Courthouse Noon

Saturday April 17

*Biloxi: Mississippi Gulf Coast 912 Project - Town Green 3pm

*Jackson: The Mississippi Tea Party / Central Mississippi Tea Party: Jackson Fairgrounds 9am; State Capitol 11:30am

*Oxford: The Oxford Tea Party - Avent Park 10:30am

WLOX Interviews Hood on Health Care

WLOX has this interview with Attorney General Jim Hood over whether he will file suit against Obamacare.



Here is the transcript. Hood says it is difficult and deals with the supremacy clause. He says he and other "attorneys general vehemently protect states rights when the federal government comes in to preempt our authority to use our consumer protection laws."

He says sometimes the commerce clause can be a "stretch" like when it gives congress the right to regulate the growth of marijuana for personal use.

And he says he isn't going to rush into it.

Hood: We're still researching the issue, you know, I mean there are some real complicated constitutional issues. I've sat down with constitutional scholars, law professors to talk about the commerce clause is a complicated issue as well as you're dealing with the supremacy clause of the United States Constitutional and the Tenth Amendment - states rights - we attorneys general vehemently protect states rights when the federal government comes in to preempt our authority to use our consumer protection laws. So I'm familiar with that aspect but the others, you know, people in our office are looking at it and soon we should be able to arrive at a conclusion as to what to do. We're just trying to find if there’s anything that the state has a leg to stand on in filing that suit.

WLOX: Do you think it is constitutional to ask everyone to get health care?

Hood: Well that's the question we're looking at. The body of law though, you know, I don't necessarily agree with it, that the case law of the United States Supreme Court has stated that, you know, that a person who grows marijuana, for example, for personal use in one state, uh, congress has a right to regulate that because they said that affects interstate commerce, because it would be buying it from something else, which seems like a stretch, but that's a law and so we'll have to deal with what the law is.

WLOX: And uhm you know some people may think ‘well it feels like Mr. Hood is stalling. You're just waiting.’ How do you feel about that? You talked about research right?

Hood: Well, you know, if you're going to file a suit against the United States government, you need to be right. You need to know what you'll be filing, you'll be successful at. And so we're going take our time. We're not going to let anybody rush us into making some decision. We're going to make a learned decision. That's what a lawyer's supposed to do. Let's take the emotion and politics out of it and make a decision based upon the dry law.

WLOX: Do you think it’s become more about politics and not about law?

Hood: Well our office is dealing with it from the point of view that it’s strictly the dry law that we're going to look at. We'll make a decsion and we'll do the right thing.

WLOX: One last question, I guess, how long do you think it will take?

Hood: Well, you know, we've had that issue for about two weeks now and so we're we're. You don't normally file a suit within a two week period. You work on it, you work on your complaint, you review it. Florida is about to file an amended complaint. I'd like to see what their allegations are in that amended complaint. So, we get all the information we can and we'll make a decision based on the evidence and the facts.

WLOX: Barbour says he might file one on his own, what do you think about that?

Hood: Well the statute allows him to do so if the attorney general refuses to or neglects to do so.

WLOX: Anything else?

Hood: That's it.

WLOX: Thank you so much.

Taxpayer Funded Abortions - A Travis-ty

Courtesy of the Nunnelee for Congress Campaign

In light of Rep. Childers’ strong opposition to repealing the president’s healthcare takeover, the Nunnelee campaign is highlighting various provisions of the bill and asking why the congressman wants them to remain law.

According to Travis Childers himself, Obamacare uses taxpayer money to fund abortions:

“Congressman Travis Childers says he will vote ‘NO’ on the Health Care Reform bill. In a press release this afternoon, the Democrat from Booneville says while he supports reform, the current bill...includes federal funding of abortion.” (Mel Carlock, “Childers to vote ‘No’ on Health Care Bill,” WTVA.com, 3/18/10)

And Congressman Travis Childers wants to keep it that way:

“Republican candidates for north Mississippi's U.S. House seat pledge to support attempts to repeal the new health care law. The man one of them will oppose on the Nov. 2 general election ballot terms their promises short-sighted and pure politics. ‘Calls to repeal the bill are politically motivated,’ U.S. Rep. Travis Childers said Wednesday. ‘I voted against the bill. It's time we move forward in working to make it better.’” (Patsy Brumfield, “GOP's House candidates push repeal of new health care law,” Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 3/26/10)

“Why, Travis, why?” – Sen. Alan Nunnelee

Pelosi - A Travis-ty

"Getting rid of Childers (and the Democrat majority) won't guarantee the return of sanity to the House, but it would be a good start." - Senatobia Democrat

A third strike against Hood's allegations regarding Entergy

Yesterday the Mississippi Public Service Commission adopted and certified to the Legislature an independent audit it had commissioned of Entergy Mississippi. This is the third indepdent audit of Entergy in two years and once again - surely to the chagrin of Attorney General Jim Hood's contingency fee contract lawyers - it says Entergy is clean and proper. Entergy issued this release:

Once again, an independent auditing expert, hired by the Mississippi Public Service Commission, has found no improper charges by Entergy Mississippi, Inc. to customers. This is the third MPSC-commissioned, independent audit in two years to reach this conclusion.

McFadden Consulting Group Inc. filed the audit report with the MPSC on Tuesday, March 30, which certified it shortly after. The audit report, which examined Entergy Mississippi’s operations, found that the processes and procedures utilized by Entergy in purchasing power help ensure that energy is procured for customers at the lowest practical costs.

McFadden’s finding is consistent with another Commission-ordered audit report of Entergy Mississippi’s fuel procurement policies and fuel adjustment clause. In that operations report, Vantage Consulting found that Entergy purchases energy, fuel, transmission rights and access, and other related products at the lowest reasonable cost.

The third Commission-ordered audit, by Horne LLP, an accounting and auditing firm, was a financial audit of the company’s energy cost recovery mechanism. Horne’s audit report confirms that Entergy Mississippi has properly accounted for fuel and purchased energy costs.

McFadden’s report points out that Entergy is one of the largest and most complex utilities in the United States, and that the review and analysis was thorough.

Three independent audits; three audits announcing Entergy is proper; three strikes against Attorney General Jim Hood's allegations.