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Barbour Details ‘Streamline' Budget

[verbatim statement] (Jackson, Miss.)-- Governor Haley Barbour was joined today by Lieutenant Governor Amy Tuck and scores of legislators as he filed the bill that represents his budget-fixing plan, "Operation: Streamline." "Operation: Streamline recognizes that we cannot move forward as a state until we confront our budget problem," Governor Barbour stated. "Workforce development, job creation, education and economic development all depend on keeping Mississippi's budget deficit under control. "Operation: Streamline" has a simple goal and that is to cut Mississippi's budget deficit * all $709 million of it * in half in one year, and eliminate it altogether in two years. It took many years to get in this budget hole and we will not get out overnight."

Barbour Faces Budget Opposition

... especially on education cuts. The Clarion-Ledger reports today: On Tuesday, dozens of lawmakers — mostly GOP allies — gathered with Barbour to pledge support for the changes. "I'm willing to make the tough decisions ... if you'll join me and you'll let me," said Barbour, who distributed small calculators to legislators as symbols of his cost-saving intentions. The Senate has 28 co-sponsors of Barbour's legislation — more than the majority needed for passage.

High Tech, Free Trade and ‘New Labor'

The blogosphere seems a bit a-flutter over the dawning awareness that an increasing number of "knowledge worker" jobs -- mostly high-tech -- are being outsourced by American corporations to other countries such as India. Democratic presidential primary candidates are bring it up in their stump speeches and materials. Meanwhile, White House econ adviser Gregory Mankiw is getting slapped around by some bloggers and columnists for making the argument that outsourcing these jobs has long-term merit. (It may, in an economists' world-view sense, but not in a "they're closing the plant and we can't money out of our house and how are the kids going to eat" sense.)

PEER slams state veterans' homes

Andy Kanengiser of the Clarion Ledger reports "Mississippi's watchdog agency today slammed the state's four veterans homes in a hard-hitting report that says residents' health and safety is at risk."

Amendment opposed

The AP reports "Same-sex marriages are already banned by Mississippi law. The legislation proposed by Sen. Alan Nunnelee of Tupelo would protect that law from court challenges by making it a part of Mississippi's Constitution."

Bush "Dead Even" with Kerry; on Defensive

AP is reporting: "Republicans have a lot to worry about; hence the reason Bush has been on the defense, says national pollster Mark Schulman."

Smooth Talk: Barbour on the Budget

The former lobbyist was smooth. Gov. Haley Barbour touched on a lot of issues that many Mississippians think are important in his first State of the State address last month. He also glided on by a few on which some say he should have dwelt. Barbour talked about education, creating jobs and developing the workforce. He spoke about quality health care, tort reform and cost-cutting measures, like making Medicaid more efficient and using private prisons.

[Lott] Doing Our Job

The U.S. Senate is considering highway legislation that will improve public safety, make transportation easier and help create new jobs. Since the beginning of our republic, Congress has been charged with establishing and maintaining roads. This duty stands shoulder to shoulder with other charter federal responsibilities like national defense, currency, law enforcement and the courts. Roads are a basic part of what makes our country a country, and it's Congress' job to make sure America's roads and bridges are good.

Senator says he won't approve local and private taxes

Bryd of the Associated Press writes:"The chairman of the Senate Local and Private Committee says he won't approve any tax increase bills, including those from cities that are trying to fund special projects. Sen. Ralph Doxey, D-Holly Springs, is head of the committee that handles legislation dealing with requests from cities. Doxey on Wednesday said he wouldn't support the city of Jackson's request for a 1 percent tax increase to fund an $85 million convention center. 'It's not just Jackson. There are many local and private bills being introduced that call for 1, 2 and 3 percent tax increases for various specific purposes,' Doxey said. 'Right now, under the current spirit of this Legislature, I will not pass any tax increase out of Local and Private.'"

Young People to Pols: Don't Forget Us

Scott Beale writes for Alternet: "Dean's campaign was the first ever to reach out to young Americans, not just as campaign runts, but as participants in a discussion of political issues, as small financial contributors, as canvassers knocking on doors, as volunteers at service events, and as major leaders on the campaign. He appealed to young progressives with his willingness to stand up against the Iraq war, as an executive who had balanced budgets and as a courageous leader willing to fight for what is right, even if it is not popular."

Bill will open schools

Sun Herald reports : "The bill would still let children take most of their classes at home. But they could go to public schools for classes that might be difficult to teach at home, such as chemistry lab or foreign languages. Nunnelee's bill also would let home-schooled students participate in any extracurricular activities available to public school students in their grades."

White wins Senate election

Posted from the Associated Press: "It's been a struggle, but I'm telling you it's been a learning experience, Republican White said Tuesday night. I did the job before, but I'm going to be a little bit more active now."

Andy Sullivan Turns On Bush

Andrew Sullivan, the (mostly) conservative warblogger and pundit, has written a piece for the New Republic called Attention Deficit, vigorously taking issue with Bush's recent appearance on Meet the Press.

5 Questions to Ask President Bush

Joe Conasan at Salon outlines 5 questions he'd like to ask the president. I'd love to hear the answer to these, too.

Support for Bush Dropping

The presidential elections this year may actually be interesting, if the Democrats have a shot at winning. It seems like Bush has hit a rough patch:AP poll notes sharp decline in support for Bush.

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