Phil Bryant Wants to Pick Your Legislator

The first round of General Election mail in this year's House races didn't come from a legislative campaign at all. Governor Phil Bryant has offered what appears to be a blanket endorsement of all Republicans running for the House.

Remarkably, these candidates from remote parts of the state all seem to have embraced the same education and business agendas.

Governor Bryant has a rocky history in the endorsement game. In 2013, Bryant endorsed Republican mayoral candidates in cities like Ocean Springs, Tupelo, Meridian, and Starkville; all of Bryant's candidates lost. Just this past summer, Bryant meddled in the special elections for mayor of Biloxi and the open First Congressional District seat. Once again, Bryant's preferred candidates were defeated. Yet, the copy and paste feature on the printing press at Republican headquarters seems to be operating as usual.

More Republican Campaign Emails to State Employees Come Forward

In emails obtained by Cottonmouth, it seems agencies beyond the Rankin County School District have received campaign emails from Republicans without the consent of the recipient. This time, employees of the Mississippi Development Authority have been put on the Republican Party's email list without them signing up for it. As a reminder from previous posts, employees of the Rankin County School District received emails from the Mississippi Republican Party and Governor Phil Bryant dating back to 2012.

Public emails sent in this manner are in likely violation of state law, and the Republicans know it. A major question to consider is whether Republican State Auditor Stacey Pickering will investigate this matter, as this is something his office has standing to review. Pickering has been notified of this situation, but public employees continue to receive emails to which they never subscribed. The public has been denied access to emails between legislative Republican leadership and the Legislative Budget Office regarding language for Initiative 42, while, at the same time, public employees get unsolicited fundraising emails from the Republicans.

Political Emails to State Employees Only Legal for Republicans

What better way to remind our public school employees that they are underpaid than to receive constant email reminders from Mississippi Republicans?

Governor Phil Bryant, a native of Rankin County, and the Mississippi Republican Party have quite possibly violated state law by sending emails to public employees through a school district email server in Rankin County.

Mississippi Code Section 23-15-871 clearly states that

It shall be unlawful for any employer, or employee having the authority to employ or discharge other employees, to make any statement public or private, or to give out or circulate any report or statement, calculated to intimidate or coerce or otherwise influence any employee as to his vote, and when any such statement has obtained circulation, it shall be the duty of such employer to publicly repudiate it, in the absence of which repudiation the employer shall be deemed by way of ratification to have made it himself...

The prohibitions of this section shall apply to all state, state district, county and county district officers, and to any board or commission and the members thereof by whatever name designated and whether elective or appointive, and to each and every one of those employed by them or any of them. And no state, state district, county or county district officer, or any employee of any of them who directly or indirectly has the control, or in any way the power of control, or who asserts or pretends that he has such power, over the expenditure of any public funds in this state, whatever the purpose or object of said expenditure may be, shall state, suggest or intimate, publicly or privately, or in any manner or form, that any such expenditure shall in any wise depend upon or be influenced by the vote of any person, group of persons, or community or group of communities, whether for or against any candidate or group of candidates at any election.

To add insult to injury, Republicans have the nerve to ask for money from these hard working women and men even though Mississippi's public school employees are among the worst-paid in the country.

Interestingly, it was House Education Committee Chairman and Rankin County Republican John Moore who authored House Bill 449 this year which would have created criminal penalties for teachers and school personnel who engage in political activity while at work.

Phil Bryant Violating NCAA Rules?

In an email to supporters yesterday, the Mississippi Republican Party highlighted a statistic talking about how well Mississippi is doing in digging up dinosaurs to power our homes and cars. The graphic used by the state party originated in Governor Phil Bryant's office but was later picked up by the Mississippi Republican Party.

The response from the Mississippi Republican Party is pretty characteristic of their "it ain't my fault" mentality.

Mississippi GOP communications director Bobby Morgan said he sent the email and didn't see a problem with it.

"I didn't create that graphic, I took it from the governor's Twitter page," he said. "It didn't create any controversy then, I don't think it should create controversy now.

A problem is that having these football players in Bryant's propaganda is that it implies that these football players and the Bulldogs and Rebels support being used for Phil Bryant's purposes. I imagine Dan Mullen and/or Hugh Freeze would not appreciate being put in a campaign commercial without their permission. Additionally, the NCAA's rules find it inappropriate for this type of thing because it has a policy against advocating for controversial issues.

What's more is that Phil Bryant steals the spotlight from the successes of Mississippi State and Ole Miss to deflect attention from his own failed economic record. If Bryant was making a ranking system of his time in office, he should highlight that Mississippi - under his watch - ranks first in economic insecurity for children, second for the highest unemployment rate in the country, and has the second highest incarceration rate in the country. No wonder Phil Bryant does not want to run on his record.

Change in Command Coming to Mississippi GOP?

Sources within Republican ranks are reporting that Governor Phil Bryant is sending his former chief of staff and former Cochran campaign manager, Kirk Sims, to be the new executive director for the Mississippi Republican Party.

For those unfamiliar with Sims, he served as Governor Bryant's chief of staff before leading Cochran's 2014 Senate primary. After Cochran's near defeat in the June 3 Republican Primary, the decision was made to not keep Sims on Cochran's campaign staff. On top of that, he is the son-in-law of U.S. Senator Roger Wicker.

What should outrage Tea Party supporters is that Bryant's rumored handpicked executive director, along with Chairman Joe Nosef, have done everything they can to diminish and discredit the U.S. Senate campaign of Chris McDaniel.

Furthermore, the Haley Barbour establishment and their big-money donors should be frightened that Bryant is permitting the person who nearly lost Cochran his re-election to be the next executive director of the Mississippi Republican Party.

Stay tuned as rumored staffing hire develops.

More thoughts: I am puzzled why Phil Bryant is allegedly sending Kirk to work for the state party and rather than hiring Kirk to run his re-election campaign for governor. Perhaps Kirk did such a poor job that not even Bryant wants him on his own campaign staff.

Republicans Offer More Empty Words on Labor Day

A tweet from the Mississippi Republican Party was a token gesture to those who are the backbone of our communities and economy: the labor force.

Consider, if you will, a few examples of what Mississippi Republicans have done to show their gratitude.

• In 2012, the Republican legislature passed and Governor Phil Bryant signed a law to weaken worker's compensation rights in the state. Rep. Gary Chism (R-Columbus) argued that the bill was the "biggest vote for business since tort reform."
• This year, the Republicans passed a law that would handicap the ability of individuals wishing to organize or have a demonstration. Even Rep. Dennis DeBar (R-Leakesville), the manager of one of the bills being referenced, acknowledged that unions do not have much of a presence in Mississippi, but he wanted to "make a statement."
• Under Phil Bryant's watch, Mississippi has the highest unemployment rate in the country.
• Governor Bryant and the Republicans have done everything within their power to prevent hundreds of thousands of working Mississippians from obtaining health insurance coverage. 
• Governor Bryant and the Republicans have done nothing to raise the state's minimum wage, provide paid sick leave for a worker's to tend to an ill relative or to take leave when she or he is sick, or to ensure that women earn the same salary as a man does for the same job.

It takes a lot of nerve for the Republicans to claim they are thankful and proud of our workers when Republicans do so much to make life difficult for the state's labor force and their families.

Takeaway Regarding new Arrests in Cochran Photography Case

Cottonmouth isn't the first to break this news, and you've probably seen this from other sources.  Mark Mayfield, a Madison County Republican has been arrested in connection to the Cochran photography case. Per Geoff Pender and Sam Hall:

The vice chairman of the Mississippi Tea Party and one other suspect have been arrested in connection with the photographing of the bedridden wife of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran.

Attorney Mark Mayfield, a vice chairman of the Mississippi Tea Party and an officer with the Central Mississippi Tea Party, was arrested Thursday by Madison police. The second suspect arrested has not been identified.

But what hasn't been reported speaks to a larger issue in the narrative of this brutal Republican primary. Local journalists, national reporters, and Cochran supporters have been quick to point out that Mayfield was active in the Tea Party, but none have mentioned his longstanding connection and membership with the Madison County Republican Executive Committee.

The Cochran campaign would like you to view these people as radicals and outside of the mainstream.  And they are correct.

What is truly unfortunate is that this does not exempt them from the establishment. Republicans (in Mississippi and elsewhere) have used the value of the Tea Party brand until it has worn thin; they are now looking to shed that brand. But as we've seen across the country, the only difference is how the words are spoken. Don't be fooled.

Meet the new Republican Party. Same as the old one. 

Here's how the Mississippi House voted to reject $1B/year in new federal spending

This is the roll call vote in the Mississippi House of Representatives on whether Mississippi should receive an additional $1 billion in federal spending each year at a cost of no more than $65 million to the state budget.

Mississippi House of Representatives vote on receiving $1B in new federal spending

55% of Mississippi students pick Obama for President

In a rather stunning turn of events, Mississippi students voted for President Obama over GOP nominee Mitt Romney 55% to 45%.  According to Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann (R), the student mock vote usually closely follows the actual Mississippi voting results on Election Day.

I don't think there's any way the students' trend will continue and that President Obama will win Mississippi.  But it does say a lot about the current student population, and none of it good for the angry white guys who make up the core of the Mississippi Republican Party.

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.

ALEC convention wraps up in Salt Lake City, Mississippi Republicans head home with marching orders from Corporate America

Well, this summer's meeting of the American Legislative Exchange has concluded, and several Mississippi Republican elected officials, including Speaker of the House Philip Gunn (R - Clinton), have returned home with new marching orders from the big corporations who make up ALEC's Board. In celebration of that, here's a music video that explains ALEC:



For more on ALEC and Mississippi, click here for a collection of previous posts.

Putting Rubel Phillips and the modern Mississippi Republican Party into proper perspective

The week before last, James Hendrix over at Jackson Jambalaya published a piece about Rubel Phillips, the man who made the first serious runs for statewide elective office in Mississippi as a Republican. Phillips is regarded by many as the founder of the modern Mississippi Republican Party. (The modern Mississippi Republican Party is much different than the Mississippi Republican Party that last held sway during Reconstruction. The current Mississippi Republican Party, the one who claims Rubel Phillips for a founder, is lily white.)

Hendrix's piece is mostly a republication of a speech by Ambassador John Palmer. Ambassador Palmer knew Mr. Phillips for a long time, and grew to be a close friend of his. The speech was given at a function (presumably Republican in nature) honoring Phillips as a pioneer of the modern Mississippi Republican Party. It is a glowing endorsement of the man, and should be, considering the nature of the event and Palmer's status as Phillips' longtime friend.

But there's much more to the picture of Rubel Phillips than what Ambassador Palmer painted. Most importantly, Mr. Phillips wasn't exactly a racial moderate in his first run for governor, and the stances he took in his second race probably wouldn't be endorsed by a majority of modern Mississippi Republicans. This is worth a much closer look.

WARNING: BOOK LEARNIN' PEOPLE INVOLVED - Harvard study shows Medicaid expansion improves health

In a study sure to be derided by our Mississippi Republican cognoscenti (here's a link so they can look that word up) as something from the northern-librul-iv'ry tower-socialist-smarty pants gays, Harvard researchers have documented a decline in death rates in New York, Arizona, and Maine, three states that expanded Medicaid coverage in 2001.  From the Bloomberg article:

Three states that expanded Medicaid in 2001 and 2002, New York, Arizona and Maine (BSTIME), collectively saw a 6.1 percent decline in the death rate for people age 20 to 64 compared to neighboring states, according to the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, led by assistant professor Benjamin Sommers, found larger reductions among minorities and low-income people.

Mississippi Republicans and trickle-down taxes

Mississippi Republicans love to talk austerity.  After all, it plays well on the national scene where there are $1,000.00 hammers to talk about and whatnot.  But when creating the our state's budget, Mississippi Republicans flat out ignore that Mississippi's budget isn't full of pork like the federal budget.  They do things like slash funding for education, as if that's some sort of luxury item that we can get by without.  (But hey, maybe they're right. Republican Speaker Philip Gunn will appoint you to lead the Education Committee even if you're a college dropout.)

What's the result of reduced funding at the state level?

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:

Gov. Barbour in 2009: Look at cutting PERS benefits

Here's an interesting find from a loyal reader. In his FY2011 Budget Letter, Gov. Haley Barbour said the following:

To ensure pension sustainability, consideration should be given to modifying the current benefit structure, including accrual rates and automatic cost­ of­ living adjustments, for current and prospective state employees.

Still think Republicans won't decimate PERS if they gain control of the House? Mighty big gamble to take there....

Legislative Republicans say they'll protect PERS and the 13th check; don't be fooled

The PERS support group Honor Your Promise released an email today in response to the Republican statement yesterday that they'll protect the 13th check. In short, the Republicans pledge that they won't make any changes to the yearly PERS cost of living adjustment, commonly referred to as "the 13th check." Well, here's the problem. A bunch of those same Republicans have already voted against protecting PERS.

I'm sure that these Republicans will go against the recommendations of Governor Barbour's Study Commission. I'm absolutely positive. After all, they never do what Gov. Barbour tells them to do, ever. Enough sarcasm. Here's the Honor Your Promise email with the names of the Republicans who voted against protecting PERS once already:

Yesterday several state legislators issued a joint press release pledging not to eliminate the 13th check. However, nineteen of the lawmakers taking the “pledge” actually voted against the PERS system in 2009. A Constitutional Amendment to protect PERS from political influence (HR 31) passed the House of Representatives despite opposition from these lawmakers. The following legislators should explain their flip flop to retirees and PERS members and their families. 

House Republican Leader Rep. Mark Baker (R-Brandon)
Republican Conference Chair Rep. Philip Gunn (R-Clinton)
Republican Floor Leader Rep. Bill Denny (R-Jackson)
Rep. Sid Bondurant (R-Grenada)
Rep. Gary Chism (R-Columbus)
Rep. Ted Mayhall (R-Southaven)
Rep. Scott Bounds (R-Philadelphia)
Rep. Bobby Howell (R-Kilmichael)
Rep. Alex Monsour (R-Vicksburg)
Rep. Rita Martinson (R-Madison)
Rep. Jim Ellington (R-Raymond)
Rep. Greg Snowden (R-Meridian)
Rep. Bobby Shows (R-Ellisville)
Rep. Becky Currie (R-Brookhaven)
Rep. Sam Mims (R-McComb)
Rep. Harvey Fillingane (R-Sumrall)
Rep. Larry Byrd (R-Petal)
Rep. Herb Frierson (R-Poplarville)
Rep. Frank Hamilton (R-Hurley)

 You want to know what's worse?  Rep. Mark Baker, Rep. Philip Gunn, and Rep. Sid Bondurant all have aspirations (Gunn may even have a PAC, more on that to come) to become Speaker of the House should Republicans gain the majority of seats in the House next month.  A House Speaker that's already voted against protecting PERS?  That's not a scare tactic...that's just plain scary.

PERS Study Commission legal brief uncovered; tells Study Commission PERS can be "substantially impaired" if so desired

Wow.

Yeah, Republicans will tell you over and over that they aren't after the 13th check, or really aren't up to anything at all with this whole PERS Study Commission. In fact, it's such a non-issue that legislators shouldn't be able to ask questions of the Study Commission's leader.

Well, guess what made its way into public view, thanks to HonorYourPromise.us?  A legal brief from the Mississippi Center for Public Policy written for the PERS Study Commission that tells the Commission it's perfectly O.K. to "substantially impair" PERS.  What's more? It actually tells them what the Legislature would need to "find" in order to shield the attack on PERS from judicial scrutiny.  Read it here and weep.

That brief brings to mind three questions:

1. Who paid for the brief? (I bet George Schloegel could tell us, if Gov. Barbour would let him testify.)
2. Who actually wrote the brief? (It just says "GW" at the end, and there's no one with those initials on MCPP's website.)
3. Who is footing the bill over at the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, anyway?

Anyone think for one second that a Republican-led House would do anything other than walk in lock step with the recommendations of Barbour's PERS Study Commission?  If so, I've got some oceanfront property in Panther Burn I'd like to sell you.

Proof that the Republican attack on PERS is from a national playbook to shift PERS management into private hands ***UPDATED 10/12/11***

In an earlier post, I said that Mississippi Republicans were just taking a page out of the national GOP playbook when they began their attack on PERS under the guise of a Study Commission. Their plan, of course, is to ultimately shift management of PERS to private hands so that GOP donors in financial institutions can make a pretty penny off of managing them.  (More on that connection later.)

Here's the proof. I give you articles on Florida, Colorado, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kansas that all mention Republican desires to change public pensions into 401(k)-type plans.  And here's a bonus article from the New York Times article on Utah, Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Virginia switching to 401(k)-type plans.  For the record, I found all of those in about 20 minutes of Googling around.

***UPDATE 10/12/11*** - A legal brief prepared for the PERS Study Commission has been uncovered. There are two new articles on it here and here.

Tuesday Afternoon Mississippi Republican Party Propaganda Update

The Mississippi Republican Party has been issuing "Liberal Democrat Alerts" on Tuesday mornings, taking aim at legislative Democrats.  You might expect them to accuse folks of voting for abortion on demand or socialized healthcare (you know, actual liberal things), but instead they generally just call some proposal to entice social workers to underprivileged areas or a bill to make sure Mississippi gets its share of stimulus money "liberal."

They also seem to have a bent towards talking about how elected officials get paid for their jobs. Well, this morning, they went after Sen. Debbie Dawkins (D-Pass Christian) and Rep. Dirk Dedeaux (D-Perkinston) for the "shocking" amount of money they've made from their "part-time jobs" as legislators over the last four years.  I agree that it would be shocking if their compensation was somehow inexplicably out of line with Republican legislators.

Of course that's not the case.

The Republican hit piece says "Since her last election in November 2007, Deborah Dawkins has taken in just shy of $190,000 in taxpayer dollars for her 'part-time' job as a State Senator." (Emphasis in the original.)  So how much did Sen. Dawkins earn during that four-year period? $189,641.90.  That total includes her salary, travel, and per diem.

Well, what about Sen. Merle Flowers (R-Southaven)? $211,093.20.

Or, say, Sen. Terry Brown (R-Columbus)? $202,656.75.

Then how about Sen. Tom King (R-Petal)? $204,962.06.

And what about Sen. Nolan Mettetal (R-Sardis), who is now leaving the Senate and running for the House? $213,085.60.

Or, maybe, Sen. Billy Hewes (R-Gulfport), who is now running for Lt. Governor? $248,923.53. (His salary is higher because he served as President pro tempore of the Senate for the last four years.  That, too, is a part-time job.)

So, on average, those four Senators drawing the same salary as Sen. Dawkins brought in $18,307.50 more than her apiece during that four year period, or $4,576.88 more each year per senator.

Now let's get back to Rep. Dedeaux who the Republican hit piece said "took in over $208,000 in taxpayer dollars for his 'part-time' job as a State Representative." (Emphasis in the original.) In fact, Rep. Dedeaux earned $208,194.46 over the last four years in salary, travel, and per diem.

Now, by statute, representatives and senators draw the exact same salaries.  So while Rep. Dedeaux drew more money in travel and per diem than Sen. Dawkins, he did have more in expenses.  That, of course, is understandable, given his position as Chair of the House Medicaid Committee, which has been more than a little busy over the last four years.  By comparison, Sen. Flowers and Sen. Mettetal, who chair the Senate Ethics and Public Utilities, respectively, both got more in compensation than Rep. Dedeaux.  Sen. Brown, Chair of the Senate Fees Committee, got slightly less than Dedeaux, as did Sen. King, Chair of Senate Transportation.

So, I wonder: since Hewes, Mettetal, King, Brown, and Flowers all got more than Dawkins, shouldn't they be the ones on the Tuesday Morning Liberal Alert from the Mississippi Republican Party?