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Opponents: Barbour Helped Mexico Steal Miss. Jobs

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports on assertions by both Tyner and Musgrove yesterday at the Neshoba County Fair that Haley Barbour's lobbying for Mexico cost jobs in Mississippi. "The primary criticism of Barbour centered around his representation of Mexico as a lobbyist. Musgrove said Mississippi had lost 41,000 manufacturing jobs to Mexico since the North American Free Trade Agreement was passed by Congress in he early 1990s."

Plea to Candidates: Prosecute Civil Rights Murders

John Gibson writes: "Please call the candidates for District Attorney for Mississippi District 8 (includes Neshoba county) and ask will they and how will they aggressively pursue prosecution in the murders of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman and others whose bodies were found before, during, and after the search for the three civil rights workers . Please call or write others, especially residents of District 8 (Leake, Neshoba, Newton, and Scott counties), and ask them to contact the candidates. Assistant district attorney Mark Duncan (601 656-1991) of Philadelphia and Johnny Pope (601 267-5636), a Carthage attorney and former justice and municipal court judge, will meet in the Democrat primary. There are no Republican challengers. The vote is on August 5, 39 years and one day after the finding of the three civil rights workers bodies. The state of Mississippi has never charged anyone in the those murders as well as many other murders."

Take That, Joe Lieberman

After all the talk-show babble of the last couple days about Howard Dean being such a "far-left" candidate, it's a relief to see a New York Times story today that actually explores his hard-to-define independence—which may well be drawing much of his surge of support: "But in Vermont, whose political center of gravity lands left of the nation's, one of the secrets to Dr. Dean's success was keeping the most liberal politicians in check. Over 11 years, he restrained spending growth to turn a large budget deficit into a surplus, cut taxes, forced many on welfare to go to work, abandoned a sweeping approach to health-care reform in favor of more incremental measures, antagonized environmentalists, won the top rating from the National Rifle Association and consistently embraced business interests."

Haley Barbour's New "Democrat-Lover" Nastygram

July 30, 2003: Gubernatorial hopeful, and former national GOP party head, Haley Barbour seems more stressed about Davidian challenger Mitch Tyner than you'd think. A rather breathtaking nasty-politics flyer landed in the JFP PO box this morning. In a tone worthy of Ann Coulter, the four-color (read: expensive) Barbour fold-out shows Mitch Tyner in the backseat of a stretch limo driven by a donkey (you'd think that'd be hard to afford with the $209,484 Tyner has raised to date, compared with Barbour's $5,316,884) with "Liberal Trial Lawyer and Democrat-Lover Mitch Tyner." With a huge photo of a zebra on the front, the headline reads: "A zebra can't change its stripes and neither can a donkey!!" READ MORE ...

Haley Barbour Issues Statement Posted

Go take a look at Barbour's positions on a list of issues just posted on his JFP candidate blog.

New answers up from Max Phillips

I have to say, two of the agriculture commissioner candidates, both Republicans, are leading the pack on substantive questionnaires as far as I can see. You've got to go read the very thoughtful answers of Max Phillips and Roger Crowder and about very important issues for Mississippians (pesticides, organics, grocery-store safety and so on). Go on to the Ag page. These are the kind of thoughtful answers we're looking for; I applaud them. On a lesser note, I don't think that anyone's running for lieutenant governor, and I thought the treasurer field was crowded and competitive, but only two have been in touch about their answers. Oh well. To Haley Barbour's credit, his campaign staff has called repeatedly to apologize for not getting answers in, yet. Until they get them done, we're going to post issues information from his Web site. But the campaign has promised a full and substantive line-up of answers in the next couple weeks at least. (You get the feeling they're not worried about primary challenger Mitch Tyner.) We do look forward to the answers, and we appreciate them communicating with us about them. A point added to the Barbour column.

Musgrove statement to JFP, more Klotz answers posted

This morning, we posted a statement from Gov. Musgrove on the Politics Blog addressing several of the substantive issues in our questionnaire. And House 66 candidate Chris Klotz sent over his free-expression answers, which we added to his page. (We're rather impressed with how Klotz is making time to answer our questions, even in chunks. We haven't heard from his opponent at all, yet.) Head on over and check out the latest round of answers.

Fun Politics? Imagine ...

Right now, over on Howard Dean's blog, there's a fund-raising "bat" marathon going on to beat the $250,000 that Dick Cheney is going to get from a few wealthy contributors Monday night. As of right now, they're up $130,000 since last night in small contributions—and has two days to go. Go check it out: Whatever you think of Dean, this energetic grass-roots movement is something to behold. Sure beats the hell out of conventional political, er, "wisdom."

Tyner Accuses Barbour of Gambling Ties

From a Tyner statement, quoted by the Magnolia Report: "'Somehow, Mr. Barbour believes it is morally sound to expand gambling nationwide, even within miles of our state's border, but we should give him a free pass if his efforts failed to expand gambling in Mississippi,' Tyner states while smiling and shaking his head in the negative. "I do not accept that proposition and I also question the integrity of his representation that he has not been paid to help get more gambling in Mississippi,' says Tyner."

How the Left Lost Teen Spirit

Read a Salon interview with Danny Goldberg, author of the book, ""Dispatches From the Culture Wars: How the Left Lost Teen Spirit." The reviewer writes: "As Goldberg points out -- and no other political pundit, to my knowledge, has noticed this -- in 1996, Bill Clinton beat Bob Dole by 19 points among voters under 24. In 2000, George W. Bush and Gore were dead even in that age group, a total of about 9 million votes. Restore even half of Clinton's '96 edge with youth, and the result of the election is clearly different, with or without the much-debated Nader factor." He adds: "But would it really be so daring for Democratic candidates to make it clear that they support free speech, and that what Americans want to watch and listen to is entirely their own business? Wouldn't it be OK for candidates to the left of Bush to admit that fact, and to point out that they represent a party that, at least historically, has stood alongside the civil rights movement, the abortion rights movement, the environmental movement and the lesbian and gay liberation struggle?"

Amy Tuck's $510,000 Question

Press statement from the Mississippi Democratic Party: Recent press accounts of $510,000.00 in "unexplained loans" to the Amy Tuck campaign raise serious questions that must be answered: 1) Does she still owe the debt? 2) Is she paying off the debt? 3) Has the debt already been paid off? 4) If there were personal loans made to her, who provided those personal loans? 5) What were the terms of any personal loan agreements? 6) If the loans were secured, who secured the loans? 7) Were there written or verbal promises or commitments made in exchange for the loans? 8) Did the bank give Tuck the same consideration that would have been given to an individual of comparable financial standing who was not a candidate for high public office? 9) Do the loans or the repayment of the loans involve anyone giving or donating $200.00 or more to Tuck or to her campaign? 10) Was the money loaned from Tuck's personal assets? If so, will those assets be publicly disclosed? 11) What does Tuck mean exactly when she says that she is "honoring financial commitments over time?" Does that mean quid pro quo arrangements or political paybacks? 12) Were any legislators, lobbyists, state or federal officials, or other prominent public figures involved in helping Tuck secure or pay these mysterious loans?

Chip Pickering Celebrates Medgar Evers

Press statement: Congressman Chip Pickering: CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF MEDGAR EVERS ... House passes resolution commending the lives and accomplishments of Medgar Evers and Myrlie Evers-Williams ... (WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Today, the US House of Representatives passed House Concurrent Resolution 220, commending the lives and accomplishments of Medgar Evers and his widow Myrlie Evers-Williams. Discussion on the House Floor followed a special ceremony held at Arlington National Cemetery. The resolution was sponsored by Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS, 2) and co-sponsored by Congressman Chip Pickering (R-MS, 3). A similar resolution passed the US Senate last week, sponsored by Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran (R) and co-sponsored by Senator Trent Lott (R-MS).

Myths of War

This reminds me of the "myths" story the JFP ran as the Iraqi war began:

Knight-Ridder reports on the factual misconceptions many Americans hold about the war: "A third of the American public believes U.S. forces found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, according to a recent poll, and 22 percent said Iraq actually used chemical or biological weapons. But no such weapons have been found, nor is there evidence they were used recently in Iraq. Before the war, half of those polled in a survey said Iraqis were among the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001. But most of them were from Saudi Arabia. None were Iraqis. How could so many people be so wrong about information that has dominated the news for nearly two years?"

Seeing the Light? Challenging ‘Compassionate Conservatism'

Ala. Gov. Riley is causing serious discussion and though by arguing that the Bible supports raising state taxes to care for the poor. He is arguing for--drum roll-- a progressive tax system. The New York Times reports: "If Governor Riley's tax plan becomes law — the voters still need to ratify it in September — it will be a major victory for poor people, a rare thing in the current political climate. But win or lose, Alabama's tax-reform crusade is posing a pointed question to the Christian Coalition, Focus on the Family and other groups that seek to import Christian values into national policy: If Jesus were active in politics today, wouldn't he be lobbying for the poor? ... Alabama's tax system has long been brutally weighted against the least fortunate. The state income tax kicks in for families that earn as little a $4,600, when even Mississippi starts at over $19,000. Alabama also relies heavily on its sales tax, which runs as high as 11 percent and applies even to groceries and infant formula. The upshot is wildly regressive: Alabamians with incomes under $13,000 pay 10.9 percent of their incomes in state and local taxes, while those who make over $229,000 pay just 4.1 percent. ... Governor Riley's plan, which would bring in $1.2 billion in desperately needed revenue, takes aim at these inequalities. It would raise the income threshold at which families of four start paying taxes to more than $17,000. It would scrap the federal income tax deduction and increase exemptions for dependent children. And it would sharply roll back the current-use exemption, a change that could cost companies like Weyerhaeuser and Boise Cascade, which own hundreds of thousands of acres, millions in taxes. Governor Riley says that money is too tight to lift the sales tax on groceries this time, but that he intends to work for that later." For more info, see Riley's Web site. National Review fires back.

Mississippi Dems Uniting?

The Petal News reports: "Mississippi Democrats held their annual pep rally, the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner in Jackson this past weekend. And Party Chairman Rickey Cole reported the largest turnout in recent years. It appears at this point that the party has survived the disruptive events of the past two years and is making a recovery."

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