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!

It’s Medicaid Again!

All the cig smokers have been targeted in the past as the “sole” financiers of the medicaid program…..but all the taxes imposed on tobacco uses has done NOTHING to help the system at all.  And now the gov wants a tax on hospitals to help cover the program shortfall.

Barbour has pushed the proposed hospital tax as a way to fix a shortfall in the state’s Medicaid budget, but Democrats and the Mississippi Hospital Association have opposed it. Without the tax, Barbour has warned of severe cuts affecting vital state services.

Barbour has said he is asking hospitals to pay their “fair share,” but opponents have said the cost would be passed down to paying patients and have tarred the idea as a tax on the sick.

Brown said the House has agreed to a $60 million hospital tax – an increase over the MHA’s drop-dead figure of $45 million – but the tax would have to come with an agreement that Medicaid reimbursement rates would be frozen.

This all is so damn silly!  The state keeps raising taxes, some of them hidden, to pay for Medicaid abnd turn around and give away millions and in some cases billions to corporations…..why?  Let me guess…as an incentive to buil;d in the state, right?

That is silly too!  The way labor is suppressed in the state is enough to make it attractive without all the tax incentives.

Eventually, someone will realize that taxes MUST be paid if the state is to operate and that all concerned, including the corporations, which pay little as it is now, has got to be involved.  The people of Mississippi are asked to do MORE than their part while the vultures in government and business reap the benefits.

There Is Always Bad News For Revenue

It constantly amazes me that the state and local administrations continue to have a difficult time finding the money to fund the needed programs.  Yet there is a way and a way that could lead to a self-sufficient community, but stupidity comes into the equation.

Year after year after year, funds are not available and year after year the legislature tries to find ways to come up with the cash.  Most times it involves the bulk of the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the working class in Mississippi.

It is time for the state and local entities to find a better way to raise funds that are needed.  As the economy keeps getting worse, funds become smaller and smaller, the people of the state become less and less safe and secure.

The only way to keep the much needed cash rolling into the coffers is by finally accepting the need for Land Value Taxation.  (read page on LVT)  Why?  Easy answer…it fits all the requirements of a perfect tax.  These are:  1–the distribution of the burden would be equitable, 2–tax should minimize the effect on economic activity, 3–the structure should facilitate stabilization and economic growth, 4–should be simple and easily understood by the taxpayer.

If you want the governmental services for your community then a new system of taxation must be found.  It can be done and the people can make it happen.  But as long as they depend on the stale thinking of the past then their community will suffer and possibly wither and die.

It is your choice.

Mississippi Moronocracy–The UGLY

This is part 3 and the finally part to my annual posts of Mississippi Moronocracy.  These are bills offered up in the 2009 legislature, some were passed while others died a death.  All in all these are just flippin’ ugly.

HB 349–exempt ad valorem tax on pollution control equipment.

HB 374–casteration for convict sex offenders–this is silly–what happens if the person is found not guilty after the preceedure–how do you repay that guy?

HB 540–phase out corporate income tax–anything for the corporations, but the people suffer.

HB 631–tax deduction for private school–helps only the wealthy.

HB 790–mandatory drug tests for students grade 6-12.

HB 800–good health video for recipients of assistence.SB 2378–state to compensate landowners for certain loss of value.

SB 2390–provide protection of doctors from lawsuits brought by Medicaid patients.

These were absolutely the ugliest of bills that could have been offered….no where was any of it good fopr the people of Mississippi.

I will be watching and reading and if the legislature returns for an emergency session I will write and bitch.  Until next session…peace out.

Bend Over The State Is Here To Help

Oh goody!  We can be sure now that the State’s Medicaid program will be slovent for the first time in many years.  How can this be?  The infusion of new capital to be paid by smokers.

Mississippi’s Legislature has approved the first cigarette tax hike in two decades, voting to raise the tax by 50 cents a pack in a bid to reap millions of dollars in new budget revenues amid the nation’s economic slump.

The Senate voted 40-4 and the House 102-18 to approve the bill to boost the state’s excise tax from 18 cents to 68 cents per pack. The tax has remained unchanged since 1985 and is the third lowest in the country.

Lawmakers said revenue from the tax would replenish a fund that helps lower the cost of car tags and help pay for other state services. Barbour hasn’t said when he would sign the bill.  Oh damn!  Sorry it is not Medicaid that will benefit but all Mississippians with lower car tags.  Another joke waiting for a punchline.

The argument for the tax was that it only effected a small percentage of citizens…so that makes it alright?  How about a larger tax on luxury SUVs?   That would only effect a small poercentage also.

This is also an attempt to get the people to stop smoking….let us say that succeed……where will the theives in Jackson get their blood money once they have killed the tobacco indusrty?  Alcoholics will be safe for the state monopoly on booze will never be touched.  So who will be the next victim of the intrusion into people’s lives?

Mississippi Moronocracy–The Bad

These bills that were introduced in the 09 kegislative session that were just bad for Mississippi.  These are the BAD bills of Mississippi’s Moronocracy.

HB342–Repeal 3% tax on gaming winnings.

HB411–Smoking in non smoking area is a misdeamenor.

HB594–Revise where money from tobacco settlement will go.

HB670–home schooled children to use public extra-cirricula activities.

HB682–employers can give minimum notice of lay-offs.

HB695–state lottery to fund education (this was what casino gaming was gonna pay for)

HB721–exempt gold from sales tax.

HB791–give school children a body mass index test.

SB2633–ban all smoking in public

These are the bad bills thast were introduced in the ‘09 Miss. legislature.

Here We Go Again

The proponents of a cig tax increase are hitting the trail making their case for the tax increase.  They are showing up on most news or talk shows.  Of course, their argument is that they care about the children….which is BS pure and simple!

These cowards are looking to tax less than 25% of the population so they do not have to do it to the state’s best friend, big business.

Their lame arggument when hit with if everyone stops smoking your tax money will dry up and their reply is predictable, it will be offset by the health savings from Medicare.  That is lame at best, but then when you are dealing with a public that does not care about too much, that tactic will WORK.

When asked if the cost of cigs is too high, what would keep the people from going to another state to buy their smokes?  They say that it would be too expensive for the people to do so.  But of course the microsephalics have overlooked the internet.  As usual the “good old boys” have shown that they are oblivious to the fact that the worldwide web exist.

Sorry dipsticks….but smokers will get their smokes.

And the savings in medicare is a joke also…..the state is aging and with age comes catastrophic dieases and injuries and scuh…the savings will not be there.  The majority of the state is poor and with poverty comes bad health habits and medicare will be used….NO savings there.

The attaching of the smokes bill to the car tag bill was a ingenious move by the cowards trying to find a way to MAKE Mississippians accept the cig tax increase.

Bet the supporters of this political game would yell a different yell if the boats were taxed, after all it would only effect a small percentage of the population.  Or maybe tax people with Hummers or Escalades or other high end cars.

The argument that it will only effect a small percentage of the people is just political trickery.  It is lame…it is moronic and it will most likely be effective.

Will Mississippians be fooled yet again….most likely so!

Mississippi’s Highways and By-ways

There are some absolutely beautiful drives in Mississippi, very scenic and very interesting.  But do these highways and by-ways need special names?  Lots of drives in the state have been re-named this or that, “blues highway” for example.

Senate bill SB2735 renames highway 67 in Soiuth Mississippi as the “Biloxi-d’Iberville Scenic Expressway”.  The bill actually says:

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 65-41-57, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO RENAME THE “HIGHWAY 67 SCENIC BYWAY” AS THE “BILOXI-D’IBERVILLE SCENIC EXPRESSWAY”; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

How many have driven Highway 67?  Then will someone tell me what the scenic part is?  Nothing but pine trees and popcorn trees. with an occasional building of some sort, none of which would be considered an attraction.  So what did the state accomplish by re-naming this highway?

NOTHING!  This is just another waste of time by the legislature, kinda like the commending of half the state on some thing or the making of every other day as “National Whip-dicky Day”.  These jerks spend more time patting someone on the back or re-naming something than they do on the actually necessary business of the state.

So the legislature wastes money and time on superficial horsesh!t and how much will the cost be to make new improved road signs, the installation and so forth.

When the state finally get a group of representatives that actually want to work foir the better of Mississippi?  Probably never!   This type of bill makes the rep look like he is voting for substand when in reality he is just increasing his count, because about 80% of a reps vote total is on absolutely worthless, mindless crap.

I Vote….Wait!

Seems a Harrison County state representative has accomplished the impossible….he can be in two places at once.  I now look for a book on how he can do it.

Wait!  Here is how!  He cheated!  It seems that he was in capital of Jackson to vote on a couple of bills and in Biloxi, about 150 miles away at a bridge collapse.  It seems that someone voted for him.  It has been said that this is a usual occurance.

House Clerk Don Richardson said although the rules don’t allow lawmakers to vote for each other.  Maybe there should be an investigation into who is cheating and lying and who is not.

Janus is in favor of a statewide standard for counting, verfying and ensuring accuracy in voting.  Maybe that should be extended to include our crackerjack reps in Jackson.

Stop Wasting Precious Time!

My advice to the MS state legislature.  There are so few days left until next month and the close of the regulation session, most of the Reps are spoending the time patting someone on the back for something.  But the most ridiculous so far is HR 82:

A RESOLUTION COMMENDING AND CONGRATULATING JASMINE MURRAY, THE FIRST MISSISSIPPIAN TO ADVANCE TO THE TOP 13 ON “AMERICAN IDOL.”

Okay let me say from the outset that this person should be commended for the fact they she has made it to where she is and the state should be proud of her and the state should let her know of their pride in her.  But why not get a certificate of appreciation let it be signed by gov, lt. gov.  and speaker of the house and mail it to her.

Gee that is simple and avoids all the trappings of some legislature grand standing.  The person would be pleased, the state would be proud and time could be spent on really important issues, like finding ways to improve the lives of Mississippians.