Medicaid Responds to Bill Minor

Bill Minor's latest senile ramblings on Medicaid and how everything is always the fault of a secret Haley Barbour conspiracy drew the ire of Francis Rullan, Communications Director for the Division of Medicaid.

Rullan responding:

Bill Minor's most recent column...brings to mind what Germany's former Minister of Propaganda Paul Joseph Goebbels once said, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."

Bill wrote, "In his June 30 statement, the MHA's [Sam] Cameron made a point that got no attention: that the existing Medicaid Division 'has yet to demonstrate its ability to plan, project and administer any budget.'" The aspersion cast concerning the capability of this (or any other) Medicaid administration's ability to balance the books is a lie by omission. What's omitted are indisputable facts.

Rullan then lists and comments on 12 facts before concluding:

Perhaps the real reason "that we hear no outrage in the Mississippi news media about "[Governor] Barbour's heavy-handed tactics" is Mississippians are finally getting both sides of the story and can see through this columnist's spin.

Snap.

He could have just said, "Mr. Minor, this is Medicaid calling. You forgot to take your pills again."

(Tip o the Hat to Y'all.)

No April Fools Joke: Bill Minor Calls Democrats Suicidal

That's right, Bill Minor, the voice of the Mississippi Democratic Party decided to take sides with white Jamie Franks (a trial lawyer colleague of his son Paul. Paul by the way is appealing his conviction for bribing judges this week). He calls the Blackmon's black (no pun intended) faction a "rump" which I suppose is his way of saying "Blackmon got back."

A rump group of state Democratic Executive Committee members led by Vice-Chair Barbara Blackmon, who is black, held a special meeting on March 21 with a goal of ousting several previously-chosen white leaders of the state party- a move that had classic signs of driving white Democrats out.

Removal of state Democratic Chairman Jamie Franks was in the air, but the group decided only to sack their other target, state party director Sam Hall, and replace him with Blackmon's hair dresser.

Franks immediately disavowed the rump meeting and its actions.

Franks attributed the rump session to a "small faction" on the committee that, for whatever reason, "didn't want Sam Hall, or me for that matter." Later, Franks said, "we hope we've gotten the party straightened out." Still, he announced that a meeting of the full 80-member executive committee will be held April 4.

Rumblings of a revolt by the Blackmon faction against Jamie Franks' leadership of the party bears ominous signs of a new, self-destructive party split.

Not only would it be senseless for black Democrats to threaten a new party split at a time when Democrats have the best opportunity ever to finally build a viable state party organization, but renewal of fratricidal warfare within the party could endanger rural white Democrats holding on to their critical seats in the Legislature.

Marshall Ramsey said it best when he said

Bill Minor's Math

"But this time, Katrina has thrown a monkey wrench into the perennial Gulf Coast growth area of Harrison, Jackson and Hancock counties, displacing a still-unknown number of their residents to other counties or even out of state." - Bill Minor 08/21/2008

"About 97% of the population has returned to Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties, the three areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to a report by the Gulf Coast Business Council, a non-profit group of businesses formed in 2006 to promote recovery." - USA Today (08/20/2008)

Bill Minor's same song, second verse

Bill Minor's column in the Clarion Ledger on new Democratic Chairman Jamies Franks

"New Miss. Democratic Party leaders gear up for 'rebuilding'" - July 18, 2008

Bill Minor's column in the Clarion Ledger on new Democratic Chairman Wayne Dowdy

"Revitalizing state's Democratic Party goal of Chairman Dowdy" - July 18, 2004