National newspapers broke the story on two investigations into Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson recently.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that former Thompson staffers allege a hearing he conducted on the credit card industry was actually an attempt to get campaign contributions. He received $15,000 within weeks from the industry and its [...]
The Mississippi budget excites few, but it affects us all through government actions and through government collections: fees and taxes. It isn’t just overspending, but spending outside the necessary role of government. This week I write about priority in budgeting and take a clip from the movie Dave as [...]
The Rankin County Republican Party is hosting Newt Gingrich at a fundraiser Thursday night. I’ve posted the details below, but I decided to dig out this old photo of a previous visit Newt paid to the Magnolia State.
[...] The forthcoming book “Kings of Tort” by Alan Lange and Tom Dawson is a “must-read” for anyone interested in Mississippi legal and judicial politics. Here is an excerpt from my column this week, but to get the meat you have to read the full thing at the Madison County [...]
John Grisham’s latest book, “Ford County” features seven short stories and is dedicated to Representative Bobby Moak, a Democrat from Lincoln County, Mississippi. I make a few comments on the books (including a quick teaser on each story) and discuss a fundraiser Grisham hosted for Moak and what that possibly [...]
Chris Cillizza of The Fix at WashingtonPost.com also covers John Thune: The discovery of John Thune
For months — if not years — the Republican/conservative smart set has been looking for a fresh face on which to hang their hopes and dreams.
South Dakota Sen. John Thune may be that person.
Cillizza [...]
Governor Haley Barbour always tells Republicans to stay focused on 2010 and not to get to wrapped up on who will be our nominee in 2012. He is right. But if you’re looking for someone to keep on the radar screen, think Thune.
David Brooks writes in the New York [...]
During the Clinton Years (1993-2000) Republicans very effectively contrasted the differences between the Republican and Democratic parties. Newt Gingrich and Haley Barbour used that contrast in politics and ideas to capture the Congress for Republicans for the first time in forty years. And the Republican National Committee worked to translate [...]
Governor Haley Barbour gave the weekly Republican address this Saturday. He spoke about the Virginia and New Jersey races, health care policy, and the need to refocus attention on jobs.
I’ve met Charles Evers a number of times over the years, but when I sat down this week to interview him, it was the first time I had really gotten to know him and ask some questions I had wondered about. He has too many stories to tell in one post [...]
Doing a little catch up this week, so here are my two most recent columns.
Fans of Super Talk Mississippi may find my interview with Paul Gallo interesting. From a cotton farm in Shaw, Mississippi working for his first-generation American parents, to Chicago, to general manager of the Super Talk flagship [...]
I love a newspaper and a cup of coffee in the morning. Last week was “National Newspaper Week” and I wrote about my own feelings for newspapers: I love them. The reports of the demise of the newspaper industry are premature and I am convinced that local newspapers can thrive [...]
After several years of excellent service, Capstone Partner Brian Wilson will be leaving the Noxubee Alliance. His relationship with Noxubee County continues personally if not professionally, as it is his home and he is always looking for ideas to help that community. Because of his passion for the area, I’ve [...]
This month’s luncheon sponsored by The John C. Stennis Institute of Government and the Capitol Press Corps featured Dr. Mark Keenum, president of Mississippi State University. Keenum spoke on MSU’s efforts to deal with budget cuts, and his optimism at the future of the expanding university. Here is an excerpt [...]
Shortly after the Neshoba County Fair I made a trip to Kentucky and wrote about it on the blog.
One of the items that came out of the political speeches at Fancy Farm, Kentucky was a fun youtube video which was eventually yanked. It has been modified and has [...]
Governor Haley Barbour has been on a roll lately pushing his message of jobs through smart energy, health care, and tort reform policies. I write about it in my column this week, but below are links to some of the items I discuss. You can read the full column at [...]
A report released by Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann alleges illegal assistance, voter intimidation, improper registration, and voter fraud in this summer’s municipal elections. The Greenwood Commonwealth identified one violator as State Senator David Jordan. Here are some excerpts from my column this week that looks at [...]
I had some fun this week with my column ([tr.im]) that looked at the collision of celebrity politics and pop culture. Here are some excerpts.
Every year the MTV Video Music Awards program has some controversy whether true or created that attracts more attention than the actual program. (There is [...]
I didn’t watch all of President Obama’s address last night, and honestly the parts I saw I had already heard on the radio from his pre-speech release. I suspect it will not have the impact he hopes for. Today folks are talking about the speech, tomorrow is the commemoration of 9/11, [...]
Governor Haley Barbour is hosting a Small Business Forum focusing on “Healthcare & Energy for Small Businesses.” The forum is sponsored by the Mississippi Manufacturers Association, the National Federation of Independent Business, and the Mississippi Economic Council.
September 15, 2009
Jackson Convention Complex
1:30pm - 4:30pm
RSVP: rstaples@governor.state.ms.us or 601-359-3150
Lex Taylor, Chairman of Mississippians for Economic Progress, has authored a piece on the necessity of tort reform as a component of health care reform. Here are some excerpts:
Don’t take my word for it. Democrat Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus wrote in a health care reform paper, “Careful reforms [...]
Last week I wrote about some personal memories of Hurricane Katrina’s roar into Mississippi. This week, I look at the relief and recovery efforts by Mississippi’s people, federal delegation, and governor. When Katrina hit, I was working for then Congressman Chip Pickering so I discuss his efforts in particular, [...]
A few weeks after Hurricane Katrina, USA Today published this feature on Mississippi Power’s efforts to restore electricity on the Coast. At the time I was working for Congressman Chip Pickering and he made this article required reading for his staff. Here is an excerpt:
Melvin Wilson, 46, a marketing [...]
I started to write this week about the relief and recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina by Governor Haley Barbour and Mississippi’s congressional delegation. My introduction took up all my space so I’ll use the meat of the story for next week’s column. This week’s column was a little self-indulgent as [...]
I spoke with Nicholas Thompson (originally of Collins, Mississippi and now Vice President at The Tarrance Group in Alexandria, Virginia) about President Obama and Congressional poll numbers this week and looked at some recent polling data. A few items of interest:
Gallup Poll: Self-identified conservatives outnumber self-identified liberals in each of [...]
Long blog post title, but that is the gist of this piece at Economist.com: “Law of easy money - A 300-year-old example of quantitative easing.”
Basically, John Law, economic advisor to French King Louis XV, created a paper based money plan not backed by gold and silver as an economic stimulus [...]
Last month I wrote (MCJ 07/23/09: GOP pushing voter ID) about efforts to collect signatures to put a photo voter-ID measure on the statewide ballot. The column elicited several responses, among them one from Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (D-Brookhaven) who suggested I got one part of the column wrong. She [...]
The Mississippi Higher Education Initiative (MS-HEI) recently awarded a $10,000 Access to Higher Education grant to the Noxubee Alliance. The funding will be used for a new program that will help students plan and prepare for college and to increase the overall number of students from Noxubee County earning a [...]
[Update: 08/11/2009 - As you can see, they've pulled down the very funny video that targeted Jack Conway, but not before it got the attention of Kentucky political writers: WHAS-11: Jack Conway's "SOB" comment gets new life on Comedy Central, YouTube and the Louisville Courier-Journal: Online video pokes [...]
Much of the political fun at the Neshoba County Fair is off-stage by those not speaking. This year, some of those in the crowd included Bill Luckett, John Arthur Eaves Jr., Burns Strider, Dave Dennis, and Jess Dickinson. Luckett and Eaves have both been mentioned as candidates for the Democratic [...]
The Fair Times is the daily newspaper of the Neshoba County Fair and in it I wrote two pieces this year on the political speeches. Wednesday’s speeches featured Dick Hall, Phil Bryant, Lynn Posey, Stacey Pickering and Jim Hood. The speeches from Thursday featured [...]
I’ve been enjoying the Neshoba County Fair this past weekend and most of this week. On Sunday, U.S. Senator Roger Wicker went visiting around the Fairgrounds and I tagged along for my column. He joked with porch sitters, talked healthcare and energy policy with Jim Prince from the Neshoba Democrat, [...]
Senator Joey Fillingane and the MSGOP are working an initiative to get photo voter ID put on the statewide ballot for voters to decide yes or no. They have 25,000 raw signatures so far and need 90,000 certified signatures. My column this week walks through the process and [...]
Some describe political science more as an art than science. I’m prone to compare it to sports, with the outcome of the game more important than a trophy. But the science of politics, like statistics in baseball, provide a truer understanding of what happened than a “W” or “L”. [...]
Reasonably Right looks this week at the judicial races and other items on the ballot in Mississippi in 2010. In particular I look at the Supreme Court seat occupied by Justice Jess Dickinson and the Appeals Court seats currently filled by Joe Lee, Tyree Irving, Bill Myers, Donna Barnes, and [...]
Eighteen months after John McCain told Michigan voters, “I’ve got to give you some straight talk: Some of the jobs that have left the state of Michigan are not coming back” Barack Obama echoed those words and told Michigan workers yesterday “(The) hard truth is that some of [...]
I review five names in the rumor mill as potential Republican candidates against Congressman Travis Childers in Mississippi’s First Congressional District: Alan Nunnelee, Wesley Walls, Sam Haskell, Angela McGlowan, and Henry Ross. Nunnelee is the conventional wisdom front runner; Ross is the only announced candidate; Haskell and McGlowan both appear to be seriously consideirng [...]
This week I look at the results of mayoral races around the state with comments on Vicksburg, Ocean Springs, Lucedale, Starkville, Tupelo, Meridian, Gulfport, Pascagoula, Pickens, Greenwood and Philadelphia. The top 15 cities in Mississippi are fairly split between Republicans (9) and Democrats (6) and both had victories to crow [...]
“What do two former plaintiff-friendly Supreme Court justices defeated for re-election do in retirement? They proceed to sue one of the wealthiest businessmen in Mississippi.”
That’s the story in my latest column that looks at the latest development in the feud between former Mississippi Supreme Court Justices Oliver Diaz and Chuck [...]
Yesterday Sid Salter wrote about NPM fees in the Clarion Ledger citing this blog and quoting me. When you get a phone call that begins “Have you read what Sid wrote in his column about you” I can imagine it is a similar feeling to what folks once experienced [...]
Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris USA and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, will begin running radio commercials on Friday encouraging listeners to ask their legislators to close two loopholes to help fix Mississippi’s budget. They’re advocating a per pack fee on cigarette companies who do not pay into Mississippi’s [...]
In a week and a half, Meridian voters in House District 82 will turn out for a special election runoff to fill the seat vacated by the death of Representative Charles Young, Sr. My column looks at the campaign. Here are some excerpts:
Wilbert Jones (41 percent) and Bill Marcy (33 [...]
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour talks about the need for more American energy like clean coal and nuclear, and how important energy is to drive our state and nation’s economy. He also gets a question about running for President in 2012.
Hat/Tip to Kingfish at Jackson Jambalaya
[...]I write this week about the Supreme Court’s Caperton decision and its potential impact. Concerning Mississippi judicial elections, while I certainly expect folks will try to make it an issue in the press, I don’t think it will have much of an actual impact on how campaigns operate here. This [...]
This week I wrote about the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor. Essentially I believe that even if Republicans determine Judge Sotomayor should not be on the Supreme Court, I doubt Republicans could stop her confirmation. But they can use this as an opportunity to contrast judicial philosophy and confirmation process style. [...]
I spoke to Hastings Wyman at the Southern Political Report about how the First Congressional District race in Mississippi is shaking up for 2010. Basically I said any congressional incumbent has a huge advantage in Mississippi. But if Republicans want to take on Childers this will be the year [...]
I often tell people my column can be very cathartic and it certainly was this week. Everywhere you look, our governments are raising taxes exactly when we need it the least: during tough economic times.
It turns out, cigarette taxes are not enough, now special interest groups are urging the government [...]
This is a great read from the March 12 issue of the Economist.
For all its current economic woes, America remains a beacon of entrepreneurialism. Between 1996 and 2004 it created an average of 550,000 small businesses every month.
America was the first country, in the late 1970s, to ditch [...]
As the May 12 Republican Pioneer Dinner honoring Wirt Yerger approached, I was fortunate to spend some time and get to know better Mr. Yerger. I wrote about him and the dinner this week and here are a few excerpts:
I first met Wirt Yerger, Jr. in 1999. I was political [...]
Today is the primary run-off in cities and towns across Mississippi. In the capital city, former two-term mayor Harvey Johnson is making a comeback run facing off against city councilman Marshand Crisler. Its been a typical Jackson campaign with lots of accusations, allegations, and anonymous attacks. Some anonymous group said [...]
