Announcement

While GSFP is still up and running i will be posting on my main blog  Info Ink for awhile….please go to there for my posts which will include Mississippi news and interests.

Some Beliefs Die Hard

Is there any doubt that racism is still alive and well in the state of Mississippi?

From an article written by Ward Schaefer in the Jackson Free Press:

State Sen. Lydia Chassaniol’s decision to speak at the annual conference of the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens last week drew disapproval from her constituents, as well as a defense from her state party chairman. As reported first by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch blog, Chassaniol, R-Winona, spoke to the racist, anti-Semitic group about “Cultural Heritage in Mississippi.”

“I wouldn’t associate myself with any hate group,” Lewis said. “For someone to do that sends a message to me that they somewhat or totally agree with their agenda.”

For Chassaniol, that would mean agreeing with the CofCC’s opposition to interracial marriage and “race-mixing” and the claim that black people are “genetically inferior.” Columnists in the CofCC’s newsletter have hyperventilated that non-white immigration to the U.S. was transforming the country into a “slimy brown mass of glop.”

The senator added in the e-mail that she has spoken at the all-black Greenwood Voter’s League, which some could consider racist for lacking white members: “I do not abide by labels such as this, and I hope you will forgive me for taking exception to the insinuation that I am racist, because I choose to belong to a conservative organization. Conservative is a term which also applies to fiscal matters.”

Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Brad White admitted that he would not have attended. “I wouldn’t have went,” White said. “Seeing the turmoil that it’s caused and some of the bad light that it’s put on her—I think unjustly and unfortunately—I wish that circumstances would have been different.”

Her attitude is a good indication of why Mississippians voted overwhelmingly for McCain in the last election.  Race will be denied as the reason but voters in the state would have voted for Attila the Hun over Obama.

I am not saying that all voters in Mississippi are racists but the older more likely to vote regularly…are.

Do Not Look To Alabama For Help

The AP is reporting on the next hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast:

Alabama has a message for its neighbors: Don’t count on us next time you need shelter from a storm. And it’s not because Louisiana evacuees made a mess last time they came.Gov. Bob Riley said Tuesday that Alabama will take fewer out-of-state evacuees into shelters this year, so that shelter space will remain available for Alabama residents. He said the state will be especially cautious about filling shelters if there’s a chance another hurricane could affect the Alabama coast.

More than 6,500 evacuees, mostly from Louisiana, filled 28 shelters at community colleges across Alabama over Labor Day weekend last year as Hurricane Gustav neared the Louisiana coast. Most came in buses, many from the New Orleans area.

Riley said the decision to limit the number of out-of-state evacuees in shelters was not related to complaints by some community college officials that school buildings used for shelters were left in disrepair after the evacuees returned home.

I was wondering how long it would take states to get around to this……after all the bad press that evacuees got after Katrina it was only a matter of time.

Will Energy Costs Go Up?

If you listen to Repubs, it will.  They pick some obtuese figure to use and scare the public into submission.

Recently Gov. Barbour made this observation:

“Instead of a policy of more American energy, the proposed Obama policy is to establish a cap and trade tax, increase taxes on oil and gas companies by $81 billion and create a requirement that a certain percentage of electricity be generated with renewable fuels … a so called renewable portfolio standard,” Barbour said. “These policies have in common that they would all inevitably and substantially increase the cost of energy to the American families and American businesses, especially manufacturing.”

This should not effect manufacturing in the state….why?….they are given a free ride at every turn….so Barbour BS concerning industry is just so much crap.  Barbour is just repeating the playbook and daily talking pointys issued for Repubs to use in their count-offensive against “clean air”.

The Barbours have been champions of eliminating litter in Mississippi…good idea…but some how clean air means NOTHING to them.  Eliminating litter would involve getting free labor out of the the residents…..eliminating air pollution would require the govs donor base having to do the work…something we cannot have (that is sarcasm, in case you missed it).

Time To Make The Coast Presentable

Recently I read an article in my local paper about the “program” to Clean-up the Coast ahead of the National Governors Conference to be held on the Coast in the coming weeks.

It is all about appearance….we would not want the nation’s govs to get the wrong impression of Mississippi….and besides this will cost no or little cash…and that is what the governor and the politicians want.

If they think they will embarrass Bubba into playing ball and not littering…they are on CRACK!  Bubba cares less about what the Coast looks like as long as he can drink beer, riding around wasting gas in his boat and going to Hooters.

What these moronbic politicians should be worried about is the condition of the people in the state.,..that is a never ending embarrassment….low education…high amount of poor…high teen preggies…..crappy health care…these thing is what should be worked on and not how many years Toyota gets a free ride on taxes.

Mississippians are slobs and they will seldom change…but good luck with trying to bullshit the other governors.

Gulfport On The Sly

Gulfport city leaders, after a closed-door meeting, announce plans to annex 2.5 square miles north of the city. The plan is expected to draw fire from neighboring Biloxi and Harrison County and from residents in previously annexed areas who believe the city hasn’t provided adequate services there even years after annexation.

Can you feel the wool being pulled over your eyes?  Take a trip through North Gulfport sometime……check out the streets and such….after 20 years they still have not done right by the poor in the city.

Gulfport should not have been allowed to annex north up Hwy 49, they have dragged their feet on the promise improvements to the poorer neighborhoods.

A lawyer and expert on Mississippi’s open-government laws said Gulfport violated the law with its closed-door session on annexation and other matters. Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr, a lame duck who will leave office in weeks, responds that neither he nor the council did anything wrong with the secret meeting.

And his primary residence was an empty house during Katrina…….NOTHING Wrong?….yeah…right!

Mississippi’s Low Income Workers

There is a movement taking hold that would try to protect low income workers….and Mississippi has it fair share of those, as well as day workers and such.

Original source: civilrights.org

Organizations that advocate for working-class Americans, such as the Institute for Policy Studies and Jobs with Justice, recently formed a coalition called the Inter-Alliance Dialogue to address the needs of low-income workers, minorities, domestic workers, day laborers, and other groups most affected by the recession.

In recent months, employers have been eliminating jobs at a rate of about half a million per month, causing many people to lose their homes and healthcare, especially low-income workers and minorities.

The groups that make up the Inter-Alliance Dialogue are urging Congress to address the needs of low-wage workers, by:

* passing the Employee Free Choice Act to expand workers’ right to organize and improve working conditions;
* enhancing worker protection laws to prevent wage theft and workplace abuses;
* preventing the lending and credit industries from taking advantage of minorities and low-income people;
* implementing fair immigration reform that protects workers and their families; and
* providing equal opportunities for jobs for all workers in the emerging green economy.

The Mississippi Budget

The state legislature ended the regular session in early April, they came back in early May, recessed and now are back to see just how the Fed Stim cash will help the budget.

Forbes magazine is reporting:

Mississippi lawmakers said they did the opposite of what they intended Thursday as House and Senate negotiators moved farther apart, rather than closer together, in their budget talks.

Republican Gov. Haley Barbour has urged legislators to be cautious because the recession has caused a decline in state tax collections.  (Yes it has and thanx to Barbour’s BS of giving away everything to corporations.  If you want someone to thank then send Barbour a note.)

The session is now scheduled to end next Wednesday. If the budget is still not done by then, it would take a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to extend the session to allow more time for talks.

You would think that people that are suppose to be our leaders would show some cajones and tell the residents the truth…..that is that they will most likely have to pay higher taxes if they want state programs to continue.

That is a pipedream on my part…they guys and gals that I speak of are cowards and will do nothing that can be used against them in their re-election bid.  The state’s poor will suffer…the state’s workers will suffer…….and still nothing will get accomplished….AS USUAL!

Could This Be Mississippi’s Future?

All state’s are facing some critical decsions on their budgets and their shortfalls.  As always it is the poor and the elderly that will pay for the problems.  California’s new plan may become a template for other states, and especially Mississippi.  Why?

Mississippi has a large poor community and the programs that are earmarked for them are a huge drain on the state budget, at least according to the politicians.

But the Gov-in-ator has found a new way to deal wuith his budgetary problems.

Proposals to eliminate insurance for needy children, reduce Medi-Cal services for the poor and scale back assistance to the unemployed would choke off millions of dollars to Santa Cruz County and cripple access to health care and other critical services for thousands locally, advocates say.

In addition to the $248 million hit for Healthy Families, the governor has proposed a savings of $34 million in Medi-Cal expenses by eliminating breast and cervical cancer treatment for women over 65 and cutting all non-emergency health care for undocumented residents. The governor also is calling for $92 million of Medi-Cal savings by scaling back treatment and drug options for the mentally ill.

Here are the proposed cuts–it will be interesting to watch the Mississippi side of this to see if any ideas were gleemed from California.

The governor’s plans to reduce the state’s budget shortfall call for big hits to health programs. Among them:

Elimination of Healthy Families Programs ($248 million savings)

Reductions for Medi-Cal mental health programs ($92 million savings)

Elimination of Medi-Cal breast and cervical cancer treatment and non-emergency care for undocumented ($34 million)

Cuts to HIV/AIDS programs ($56 million savings)

Cuts to primary care services in rural areas ($34 million savings)

Reductions to maternal health programs ($10 million savings)

Reductions to CalWORKs programs ($1.3 billion savings)

The poor is being attacked, but what will the wealthy be asked to contribute?

A Wind Pool Death

Mississippi’s Rep. Gene Taylor has had his pet project pulling from his hands by the Obama admin.

His pet project is a new Federal Wind Insurance.

Napolitano’s letter to key House leaders stated the Obama administration position on the issue: Wind insurance is too costly and unnecessary to add to the federal flood insurance program. FEMA chief Craig Fugate also wrote senators in response to questions at his confirmation hearing that he, too, was opposed to the wind plan, which the Senate rejected last year.

Mississippi’s Gov. Barbour said he is looking at “multi-state solutions” with states combining wind pools, and hopes to make more progress by the National Governors Association meeting in Biloxi in July.

Now this is where I start to worry…..these people, state government, who cannot do naything but give business everything, will not run an insurance program any more efficiently.  When the money is not there, they will start taxing the working class to pay for any programs they want.

Look at Mississippi’s Medicaid program…..all the cash from lawsuits and special cig taxes has not made it anymore stable…I would trust a Federal program way more than anything that a state politician would have.