Democrats + Public Education = Greater Support

Republicans must be feeling the heat from public education supporters on the campaign trail. Given the Republicans' shortchanging of Mississippi's public education system, it makes perfect sense.

Take a journey with me to 2011, the most recent year where Democrats had leverage in the appropriations process, to see for yourself which party truly supports public education and which does not. 

In 2011, the Democratic-led House of Representatives passed its Department of Education appropriations bill funding the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) to the tune of $1,835,713,885. Republican leaders such as now-Speaker Philip Gunn, now-Speaker Pro Tempore Greg Snowden, and now-House Education Committee Chairman John Moore were among a small number of members who joined their Tea Party colleagues (the Tea Party used to be a thing) and voted against higher levels of public education funding passed by the Democratic leadership.

Meanwhile, in the Phil Bryant-led Senate, Republicans unsuccessfully attempted to cut education funding to $1,754,374,491, a proposal roughly 4.5 percent lower than the Democratic plan.

The final product hammered out between House Democrats, Phil Bryant's Senate Republicans, and Haley Barbour resulted in funding MAEP at $1,808,129,050 - an amount closer to the Democratic position than the Republicans'. In short: Democrats' negotiating strength led to more support for public education funding than would have passed under the Republicans.

This is another example of Democrats putting their money where their mouths are while Republicans accept less support for public education and call it a success. We now find ourselves in an election year where Republicans like Speaker Gunn and Greg Snowden champion education spending while they have voted against greater support for public education. One could say that the flip flopping by Gunn and Snowden constitutes being "full of it." As has been stated, "You can be a Republican in Mississippi, or you can support education, but you can't do both."

Conservative Republicans Suffer First Loss of 2015

We reported two weeks ago that Haley Barbour and his clients are determined to preserve their Republican majority on the Public Service Commission. Our prediction turned out to be correct as the first Republican to enter the Central District Public Service Commission primary is the first to drop out.

Jackson attorney Mitch Tyner fell to the pressure from the Haley Barbour political machine by announcing he is withdrawing his candidacy for the Public Service Commission while calling for "party unity." This strategy seems to run counter to what happened last year when conservatives, sick of the doctrine which Tyner has now adopted, challenged Thad Cochran for his senate seat. Additionally, party unity is what typically occurs after a party primary - not before.

Food for thought: Tyner notes that he and Haley Barbour had a discussion. If they weren't discussing the Public Service Commission race, what else would they talk about? Haley doesn't strike me as the type to pick up the phone and chit-chat with the attorney for the guy who almost defeated his friend who happens to be a United States Senator, and Mitch Tyner doesn't strike me as someone who would initiate a conversation with Haley Barbour.

Phil Bryant's Beef Plant Keeps Bleeding

It looks like a pet project of Haley Barbour and Phil Bryant is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.You and I will be left to pay for Haley and Phil's mess.

The KiOR project in Columbus has been plagued with cost overruns that would make Wall Street blush. Haley Barbour and Phil Bryant expect you, me, and other Mississippi taxpayers to pick up the tab for this debacle.

What started as a $75 million loan from the state of Mississippi (standing by for outrage from all those who say we shouldn't spend money we don't have and the government shouldn't pick winners and losers) has turned into a disaster which now requires Mississippi taxpayers be immediately repaid over $300 million! In fact, the total cost of the project has now exceeded $6 billion, tripling its original cost! It is cheaper to send probes to Mars (powered by engines tested in Hancock County) than it is to keep Haley and Phil's mess in operation.

KiOR has delayed repaying its loans to Mississippi taxpayers; the Bryant administration has let them get away with it, so far at no penalty. Other than a letter from the Mississippi Development Authority, no enforcement of the loan repayment has taken place.

If you operate under the theory that corporations are people, why hasn't this company been taken to collections or court yet? Ordinary citizens like you and me would have been taken behind the woodshed for negligence like this. Most folks like you and me would call this special treatment unfair, yet friends of Phil Bryant don't event get a slap on the wrist.

Get ready, Mississippi. Phil Bryant's mess is about to hit your wallets and electricity bills big time.

The Best Government Money Can Buy

The state of Mississippi is throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at what it likes to call, “economic development.” Results are mixed, as Mississippi recently boasted the second highest unemployment rate in the nation while our poverty rate ticks upward. 

But someone is clearly benefiting from the state’s largesse. His name is John Correnti – and to no one's surprise, he’s a huge Republican contributor!

Correnti has been at the center of the mystery as to how Mississippi Silicon – a company that did not exist a few weeks before – wound up landing $25 million in state and local incentives.

According to FollowtheMoney.org, Correnti and his wife, Dawn, have given more than $100,000 to Mississippi politicians. Correnti’s companies have kicked in another $76,000 in political contributions. In return, Correnti and his companies have gotten over $200 million in state and local incentives. That's not a bad return on investment.

It's not just to the state’s Republican bigwigs – former Gov. Haley Barbour, Gov. Phil Bryant, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, and U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee – who have benefited. Substantial sums have also have gone to the state legislative and Congressional delegations. Each has been responsible for substantial funding opportunities for a bevy of Correnti projects – all of which financially benefited Correnti personally, or his companies. A search of Correnti and his companies on FollowtheMoney.org is illuminating:

• Haley Barbour received $14,000 from Correnti in personal contributions. In 2011, Barbour ushered in legislation that gave Correnti’s SeverCorr – now Severstal Columbus – $85 million in local and state support. That’s just the tip of financial giving. Barbour received another $28,250 from companies associated with Correnti.

• Phil Bryant received $5,000 from the Correntis. Companies associated with Correnti have been even more generous to Bryant over the course of his career, handing over $24,500. It is no coincidence that Bryant has been a public supporter of Correnti’s latest project: Mississippi Silicon, currently under construction in Tishomingo County. In fact, Correnti’s partner in the project, Ricardo Vicintin, President and CEO of Brazil’s Rima Industrial, credited Bryant with bringing Rima to Mississippi, something which happened only after Bryant took a junket to Brazil with the Mississippi Development Authority. As we have previously noted, Rima Industrial is currently under indictment in a Brazilian court for:

"falsification, counterfeiting (material and ideological) of financial documentation unlawfully used in the transportation and marketing of charcoal, in such manner that all the coal produced from illegal deforestation, and extracted from native forest, was transported and marketed as if it were originating from planted forest with the knowledge and support of the directors and managers of steel industry beneficiaries" as well as "the practice of environmental crimes, crimes against the public trust, money laundering and conspiracy to commit crimes."

• Alan Nunnelee appears to have been a Correnti favorite, receiving $36,400 from Correnti and his wife dating back to his time in the state legislature. Nunnelee is currently sponsoring legislation that will allow the Tennessee Valley Authority to hand over to Yellow Creek Port 172 aces of federally-owned land. Correnti’s newest project, Mississippi Silicon, is adjacent to Yellow Creek Port. Sen. Thad Cochran introduced similar legislation in the Senate earlier this year.

• Roger Wicker, who served in the U.S. House from 1995 to 2007 before taking his seat in the U.S. Senate, received a mere $4,500 from Correnti. He also received $7,500 from Navistar. Correnti has sat on that company’s board since 1994.

State legislators, including Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, former state Sen. Charlie Ross, and the late state Sen. Terry Brown have been on the receiving end of the Correnti’s giving. In total, the four received $22,000 to help pursue their political aspirations.

• Terry Brown, the former president pro tempore of the state senate, benefited from $10,000 in Correnti money. The Columbus native represented Lowndes County, the site of a much ballyhooed – but failed – 2011 Correnti project. The promised silicon metal purification and production facilities would have created an estimated 950 jobs. It was to be funded in part with a $75 million incentive package approved by the state legislature, along with $19 million in financial incentives from Lowndes County. A previous project, Severstal Columbus LLC, formerly known as SeverCorr Corporation, which, coincidentally donated $1,000 to Brown. The plant was successfully built by a team of entrepreneurs, including Correnti. It cost a reported $980 million to build and employs about 550 people. It was purchased in 2008 by Russian steel giant Severstal.

• Charlie Ross, who served in the state legislature until 2007 and ran unsuccessful campaigns for U.S. Congress and lieutenant governor, received $9,000 from Correnti and his wife. He got another $6,250 from Nucor – a former Correnti company, and $1,000 from Severcorr.

• Tate Reeves, who served as state treasurer before being elected lieutenant governor in 2011, only received $3,000 from Correnti. He got another $18,500 from companies who are or have been associated with Correnti.

But while Corretti’s generosity has helped his political allies – as well as his balance sheet – it hasn’t always paid off for those who hoped to benefit from his often-grandiose schemes.

In 2008, he broke ground on a steel rebar plant in Amory. That facility, which had promised hundreds of jobs, failed to materialize and left taxpayers there to foot the bill.

He later announced a silicon metal production facility in Lowndes County. That project ultimately became Mississippi Silicon in Tishomingo County, but not before the Mississippi Development Authority was on the hook for reimbursing Lowndes County $238,000 it spent trying to lure the Correnti project to Columbus.

As noted at the start of this article, Correnti and his companies have gotten a remarkable return on the investment they have made in Mississippi politicians. Truth is, they have done this in a number of states. For Correnti’s it’s not personal – it’s business. Perhaps we should not blame him for knowing how to leverage a few thousand of his own dollars, in return for millions of our own. And it is our own. Those are our tax dollars we send to Jackson, expecting they will be spent in good faith. 

The millions the state of Mississippi has given to Correnti and his companies have come out of our tax dollars. It’s our money, which could have gone to investments in education; expand health coverage to hundreds of thousands of Mississippians, or any one of hundreds of other more worthy efforts. The fault lies with our elected leadership. They are the ones that rewarded their political friends with our money.

Haley Barbour: Deflector-in-Chief

Deflector Shields at Maximum, Governor

Another Republican controversy, another chance for former Governor Haley Barbour to come out of hiding. This time, he has come to the assistance of New Jersey's Republican governor. By now many of us are aware of an investigation taking place in that state over whether the governor and/or his staff abused their offices to punish political opponents.

“The liberal media is chasing this story as if it’s the Lincoln assassination and writing baloney about him being a bully,” Barbour said. “I think his effusive personality and enthusiasm is and will be an asset, and as he continues to lead, people will look back at this and shrug.”

The issue in the Garden State notwithstanding, Barbour has no high ground on which to stand. Again.

Barbour suggests that if all a leader has to do is have a flamboyant personality, the ends justify the means. He is no stranger to this style of leadership. For eight years, he put on a good show for the press, and the electorate bought what he was selling. He tried to make us feel good without having to justify anything he did. It's like pointing a flashlight against a wall while distracting a cat. Sometimes the distractions do not work.

It is well documented that moments before leaving office, Haley Barbour issued numerous pardons to convicted murderers and child molesters. In those instances, the "liberal media" (whatever that is) asked questions of Barbour about why he felt the need to take such reckless action. It seemed like such a simple request. Bear in mind that Barbour is the one who let assassins (to borrow from his quote) go free. In typical Barbour form, he shrugged, blamed the press, and went about his business.

Photo confirmation from Sun-Herald that Haley Barbour's brother was at Chris McDaniel's event in south Mississippi

First, here's Jeppie Barbour getting a pat on the shoulder from his little brother Haley:

and

Now from the Sun-Herald photo series of Chris McDaniel's visit to the St. Martin Community Center:

Guess my source was correct that Barbour was with McDaniel.

Senate Conservative Coalition Opposes: Haley Barbour

Haley Barbour, Conservative Republican?

A mouthpiece for the Senate tea party caucus has broken Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment: speaking ill of another Republican. This time, the Senate Conservative Coalition Opposes: Haley Barbour.

The same Haley Barbour who led the Republican rise in Mississippi has now drawn the ire of Senate conservatives. One of their arguments is that Barbour spends his time flying around the country hosting high-dollar fundraisers with his "cronies," "like clowns for hire," raising money for candidates who will work against those who can't afford to attend such fundraisers. I don't think anyone is surprised that after his service as the Republican National Committee Chairman, lobbyist, candidate, Republican Governors Association Chairman, SuperPAC consultant, and another round as a lobbyist that he isn't an expert on political fundraising.

A question posed in the article is whether folks recognize that the Republican Party is dying a slow death. Since the tea party caucus has announced the passing of the Republican Party, they are hosting a series of town hall events across the state to give you a sample of what they are proposing instead. You can expect a lot of Barbour and Tate Reeves bashing along the way.

This fracture in the Republican Party's foundation is another testament to how the tea party is expediting its takeover of the institution that Haley Barbour built.

You can read the article for yourself HERE.

Bryant to Brazil; Barbour Endorses Waste Storage

Governor "Three Mile" Phil Bryant is heading overseas again to drum up economic development opportunities for the state. After our report this morning about very sad job losses in the state, Bryant has his work cut out for him.

On this particular trip, Bryant and his economic development team are heading to Brazil. Why Brazil?

The United States has developed a good economic relationship with their government and they are one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Brazil has started a greater use of nuclear power to fuel its growing economy. By 2030, Brazil plans to build four new nuclear power plants in order to keep up with energy demands.

Sounds like history is repeating itself. During their trip to France, Bryant's team toured a nuclear facility and when asked about it, Bryant essentially shrugged and said "beats me." Many of the same folks who joined the French nuclear expedition are now in Brazil. When he returns, expect Bryant to be asked about the meetings in which he participated. Whether he will be transparent about his activities is solely up to him.

Also, this afternoon, former Governor Haley Barbour returned from his home in Washington to endorse nuclear waste storage in Mississippi, calling it a "Godsend." We have yet to hear Barbour endorse or pray for nuclear waste storage in Yazoo City. It is remarkable what one can say when his or her name will not be on a ballot again.

Notes from the Bar Convention

From Facebook earlier today:

David Baria Campaign

I just ran into Haley Barbour at the MS Bar Convention and he reminded me that the MS Senate voted for a state-run health insurance exchange 5 times under Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant. Now Phil is against it.

The Barbour-Christie Connection continues to cause trouble in New Jersey over AshBritt contract

We've posted about this before, but here's the recap:

AshBritt is a large debris removal outfit that was awarded the contract to clean up New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy.  Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour is AshBritt's lobbyist.  Barbour is close to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R).  Barbour recommended AshBritt for the job, and Christie chose them.  AshBritt is charging prices as high as three times that of other debris removal companies.

Now comes word that another debris removal company, Ceres Environmental Services, offered to do the same work as AshBritt for a much lower cost.  Gov. Christie, though, ignored the offer of cheaper prices and went forward with the AshBritt contract for a period of three months.  Ceres subsequently turned this matter over to the U.S. Treasury Department for investigation.

Now Newark's Star-Ledger newspaper has an editorial up calling for answers from the Christie administration, which came to power mainly by decrying pay-for-play political schemes.  Things are heating up for Christie, and will only become more interesting this Friday during a legislative hearing aimed at getting to the bottom of the matter. So how much influence did Haley Barbour exert over Christie in this matter?  Maybe we'll out later this week.

A Familiar Theme from New Jersey: Follow the Money

A New Jersey news site, www.newsworks.org has picked up an interesting tidbit of behind the scenes contracts between former Gov. Haley Barbour and Chris Christie. The full piece (which can be found here) encourages New Jersey's citizens to "follow the money," a phrase you've read from Cottonmouth a time or two.

So we felt that it was just as important to tell this story in Mississippi as it is for it to be heard in New Jersey.

From NewsWorks:

A debris removal company ripping-of New Jersey towns was suggested to Gov Chris Christie by Haley Barbour, who helped Christie get elected and is throwing a fundraiser for him at the end of this month.  Wasn't Christie elected to stop this type of nonsense?


During Chris Christie's successful run for Governor in 2009, Haley Barbour was Governor of Mississippi, and head of the Republican Governors Association. The two became good friends and Barbour directed $7.5 million in spending towards Christie campaign, a move Christie said was "probably one of the primary reasons that I'm governor of New Jersey."

Fast forward to October 2012, when Hurricane Sandy devastated the New Jersey shore. Barbour, now a partner at BGR Group, the lobbying firm that represents Florida debris removal company AshBritt, told Christie if he checked with AshBritt, they could start working in New Jersey the next day, due to an existing 2008 contract to clear debris in Connecticut that could be "piggybacked" in New Jersey. 

Hurricane Sandy struck on October 29. By October 31, AshBritt had a multi-million dollar contract in New Jersey. Days after that, AshBritt donated $50,000 to the Republican Governors Association now headed by Chris Christie.

And round and round we go on a carousel where money buys influence, secures contracts and gets politicians reelected, all at the expense of taxpayers at home...

This is New Jersey business, for sure. But follow the money. It would be wrong to wonder if another hurricane-prone state with connections to Barbour (like, you know...Mississippi) might have this troublesome deal...

Right?

Update to Pardongate killing

I have just learned that the prosecutor who saw to it that Wayne Harris was convicted of sale of marijuana was none other than Atty. Gen. Jim Hood.

Harris is under investigation for shooting and killing another man last night in Calhoun County.

Some brief thoughts on the Newtown massacre, and how it relates to Mississippi

There have been many people saying many touching, eloquent things about a tragedy from which our nation will recover, but never quite heal.  The Newtown massacre is an event horrible beyond description.

But the event does force us to deal with something we have avoided; something we have been too lazy or disinterested to handle before.  And like any matter we avoid in our individual lives, our society's problems don't go away simply because we pretend they don't exist.  You probably think I'm talking about gun control, but I'm not.  Our society as a whole, and our state in particular, has a problem with mental health.

Liza Long has a compelling piece on The Huffington Post entitled "'I Am Adam Lanza's Mother': A Mom's Perspective On The Mental Illness Conversation In America."  In a touching, frightening, and important read, Long describes the difficulties she has obtaining adequate mental health treatment for her teenage son.  While he is intelligent and at most times loving, her child suffers from mental health issues that can make him a danger to himself and others.  Her son's mental health issues are not being adequately treated, and honestly, won't be.  The only entity with the resources to handle the mental health issues Long's son faces is the State of Idaho, where they live.  But the only way the state will be interested is if her son is charged with a crime.

I wish I could say things are different here in Mississippi.  The Mississippi Department of Mental health was one of former Gov. Haley Barbour's frequent budget-cutting targets.  (The Mississippi Economic Policy Center has a look at what's happened to the Department of Mental Health's budget over the last few years.)  In fact, our mental health system is so poorly run, the U.S. Department of Justice has found that we are actually operating in violation of federal law.  (Here's a letter with their findings from December last year.)

In Mississippi, most folks think that our mentally ill go to the State Hospital at Whitfield.  Those of us who spend our careers in the criminal justice system know better, though.  The mentally ill in this state actually go to our jails. Instead of getting the treatment they need in facilities established to help them be productive citizens, they suffer from their diseases and wind up committing crimes.  Crimes certainly (and thankfully) on a smaller scale than what we saw in Newtown last week, but real crimes nonetheless, with real victims.

I know this because these people with mental illnesses, our fellow Mississippians, have been my clients.  In some cases, I have seen with my own eyes the pictures of their bloodied, lifeless victims; I have held in my hands the gun, the knife, or the hammer that did the damage.  In others, I have witnessed the recorded statements of the grandmother kidnapped and robbed, of the child beaten and burned. And nearly every time, my client had a mental illness that was going untreated.

There's always a lot of talk in Mississippi about being "tough on crime", as if harshly punishing the criminal somehow makes the victim whole again.  It doesn't.  Ask anyone who has ever lost a loved one to crime.  Ask the parents of those children in Newtown if they would rather have their child back or have been able to kill Adam Lanza themselves.

You want to know how to really be tough on crime?  You want to know how to really be on the side of victims?  Support our state's mental health system so that they don't become victims in the first place.

The Legislature is getting ready to go back into session next month.  Will they pass legislation to give teachers guns?  Or will they do something that actually matters and prevents crime?

Turnabout's fair play: Mississippians, are you better off than you were 8 years ago?

Back on August 26th, former Gov. Haley Barbour (R) went on CBS's Face the Nation and, seeking to focus the American electorate on the economy, asked the question "Are you better off than you were four years ago?"

Glad you brought that up, Governor.

Judge dismisses Obamacare suit filed by Gov. Phil Bryant

You may well have heard by now that United States District Court Judge Keith Starrett has tossed out the lawsuit filed by Gov. Phil Bryant (R) over Obamacare.  Judge Starrett ruled that, since Gov. Bryant has health insurance (that you and I already subsidize), Bryant has no standing to maintain the portion of the lawsuit dealing with mandatory insurance coverage.  In effect, the only way Bryant could sue would be to drop his health insurance.  But hey, why would someone want to do something silly like drop their health insurance?  Especially when you get such a good deal on it through your government job?

Like my posts on crony capitalism in Mississippi? Check out Bigger Pie Forum

The other day, I was contacted by Amy McCullough of The Bigger Pie Forum, who alerted me to their website's existence and mission.  With a board made up of reliable Mississippi Republican donors like J. Kelley Williams, Ashby Foote, Joel Bomgar, and Bruce Deer, and including Y'all Politics founder Alan Lange and the Republican-leaning MS Center for Public Policy's Forrest Thigpen, I didn't expect much of anything besides bland stories in support of whatever Haley Barbour was pushing on Mississippians at the moment.

Boy, was I wrong.

Mississippi Power seeks end run to raise rates, Mississippi Supreme Court says no

In connection with the ratepayer-funded construction of their Kemper County lignite coal power plant, Mississippi Power sought to raise rates for their customers an additional $20 a month to cover cost overruns. The Public Service Commission voted to disallow the increase, so Mississippi Power decided to appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court. The Court rejected Mississippi Power's request to raise rates yesterday in an 8-0 decision (Chief Justice Waller did not participate). Here is the Order from the Supremes:

Think the Beef Plant was a disaster? Wait until you get a load of this

For years now, Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley (D) has been leading a fight against the construction of the lignite coal Kemper County by Mississippi Power. Presley had some pretty powerful enemies in this fight, with both then-Gov. Haley Barbour (R) and then-Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant (R) leading the charge for the plant's construction. It's not that Presley hates coal, or is anti-energy. It's that he's firmly against fleecing the ratepayers of Mississippi. Which is, of course, exactly what is now happening.

Here's some background: Mississippi has fairly large quantities of lignite coal. As far as coal goes, lignite ain't good for much. But a new, untested technology hopes to change that. The idea is that rather than burning the lignite, it is gasified instead to produce energy to harness and send down transmission lines to ratepayers. Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of the Southern Company, started throwing its political weight around to get the Public Service Commission to allow them to raise rates to fund the construction of a lignite plant in Kemper County. And it worked, and the rates for Mississippi Power customers went up.

But on the road to cheap energy paradise, things went very predictably haywire.

Chaney buckles to Tea Party, suspends work on health insurance exchange

Meet Mississippi's new Insurance Commissioner

For over two years, Mississippi's Insurance Department, like other insurance departments across the country, has been working to implement its own health insurance exchange.  A healthcare exchange would allow Mississippians to select health care plans from a group of plans eligible for federal subsidies.

The concept of healthcare exchanges is not new and has been promoted by left-wingers like former Governor Haley Barbour and the Heritage Foundation.  As late as Wednesday, Commissioner Mike Chaney was spearheading an effort to bring a healthcare exchange to Mississippi. 

Under pressure from the Mississippi Tea Party and "America's First Tea Party Governor" Phil Bryant, Commissioner Chaney has suddenly announced that Mississippi's exchange will be shelved until "after the November election." 

This is the latest example of knee-jerk politics overwhelming sound public policy and the impact for the state could be severe.  Under federal law, states that do not have an operational exchange by January 1, 2014 will have one provided for them by the federal government.  If this were to happen, Mississippi would have missed an opportunity to tailor a program to our unique healthcare needs.

This appalling lack of political courage by Chaney has prompted some serious chest pounding by the Tea Party who, according to Y'all Politics, is circulating an e-mail titled "Under pressure from us, Chaney has surrendered".  Indeed.

Thanks, Haley: Mississippi's economy falters again

Just in case anyone was wondering, Mississippi's economy is still the worst in the country.  According to an AP article, newly-released federal statistics show Mississippi's economy shrunk 0.8% in 2011, at a time when only six states saw their economy contract.  In fact, Mississippi's economy performed worse in 2011 than all others except for Wyoming.

But don't worry.  Mississippi can still claim the bottom rung with the lowest per capita economic output at $28,293 per person.  (The national average is $42,070.)

In keeping with the theme, here's a look at Mississippi's unemployment rate over the last 20 years: