Employment Help Coming

Thanks to the Federal Stim package.

Mississippi officials hope to parlay $44.3 million earmarked for training programs in the economic stimulus package into job opportunities for the state’s residents.

The money comes as thousands of Mississippians are receiving pink slips and unemployment in January was 9.2 percent.

The amount of money allocated to each state for work-force and job programs under the stimulus package is based on a formula that includes population, unemployment rates, number of economically disadvantaged youth and other factors, according to the Labor Department.

In Mississippi, the money largely will be divided among the state’s four designated work-force regions.

Roughly $22 million will go toward helping displaced workers and other adults seeking assistance and training for finding new jobs.

One potential use could be in helping the state’s WIN Job Centers enhance their on-the-job training programs, in which employers are reimbursed up to 50 percent of a new hire’s wages for up to six months.

We Do Not Want Your Stinking Money!

It seems that it is only the Southern governors that are having a problem with the stimulus cash for their state’s ….why is this?  There is Jindal and my fav, Barbour and now…….

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford on Wednesday became the first governor to reject some of his state’s share of President Obama’s economic-stimulus money, spurning $700 million that Sanford said would harm his state’s residents in the long run.

Sanford turned down the federal money despite new data showing that his state’s unemployment rate had risen to 10.4 percent, the second-highest in the country.

Claiming the stimulus money would destabilize South Carolina’s economy, Sanford said, “We need to look longer term and much more holistically at the notion of economic stimulus.”

I say if these guys do not want the cash then do not give them any of it.  I am sure states with horrible economic crises like Michigan will take all that they can get.

Just would like to hear why these Repubs think that any cash will be bad for ailing economies.  Just remember…YOU voted for these idiots!

Stimulus Cash Comes To Mississippi

Agencies in Mississippi are still cautious about saying exactly what they’ll get from the federal stimulus package or what they’ll do with it, but one group of Mississippians has already benefited — the unemployed.

Beginning the last week of February, the unemployed got $25 more a week.

The money, which runs out in 2010, has no state match, but Gov. Haley Barbour signed an agreement with the Department of Labor to get it rolling. How does that stimulate?

Ed Sivak, director of the Mississippi Economic Policy Center, quoting Department of Labor research, said that for every $1 of unemployment benefit money injected into local economies, $2.15 is generated in economic activity.

The Mississippi Department of Education received new information from the U.S. Department of Education last week and school districts were given solid numbers on what they would receive for Title I and special education, but then they learned Tuesday that the money will be funneled through the state, which could change the totals.

Mississippi will get $132 million for Title I, which funds services for children from low-income families. It will receive a total of $117.8 million for special education and $8.5 million for education technology.

Mississippi will receive $44.3 million through the U.S. Department of Labor for employment and training programs funded by the stimulus package. That’s a portion of $3.5 billion nationwide.

The DOL money will be used primarily through the state’s WIN Job Centers. Some solid figures for Mississippi include $3.6 million for job training, work retraining and working with employees who have been laid off. There will be $18.7 million for youth summer employment and other activities, $7.8 million for adults and $14.2 million for dislocated workers.

And Medicaid?

Dan Turner, spokesman for the governor’s office, said though there are reports that the state has received $137 million in stimulus Medicaid funding, it hadn’t as of Monday, but it’s expected soon.

Turner puts the total for Medicaid for Mississippi at around $414 million.

In the past our governor did not want the cash for the unempoloyed for whatever reason that he could make up, but here is something to think about…..for every $1 of benefits it will create $2.15 of economic activity….why would anyone be opposed to getting a 100% economic bang for the buck spent?  Maybe these are the types of questions people should consider before voting for the next “good old boy” governor.

Screw Mississippi’s Unemployed!

Gov. Haley Barbour said Wednesday that if the state accepts economic stimulus money related to unemployment benefits, it would cost business owners an additional $16 million each year once the federal government’s money is spent.

Barbour spoke to the Gulfport Business Council and after the meeting said there are too many strings attached to some of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package, particularly unemployment benefits.

Mississippi stands to receive about $2.5 billion in stimulus money, and about $50 million of that is for unemployment benefits. Mississippi requires people who get these benefits to be willing and able to work a full-time job.

But, according to the rules associated with the stimulus money, the state would have to give benefits to anyone who is unemployed, whether or not they are able to work full time.

If Mississippi accepts that portion of the money, the program would have to continue once the federal funds are spent. That would mean raising unemployment taxes on businesses by 20 percent each year, and Barbour said he’s not willing to do that.

Yep…why take the cash for unemployment?  Mississippi does not need the cash, its unemplyed are well cared for by the state.  (that is sarcasm)  We already know that hungry children are of NO concern to Barbour and his ilk…as long as business can have their tax incentives then all is right in the state.

I Told You So!

Gov. Haley Barbour said today he doesn’t want to accept part of President Barack Obama’s stimulus money because it would mean raising unemployment taxes.

Barbour spoke to the Gulfport Business Council and after the meeting said he will not accept about $50 million of the stimulus money related to unemployment benefits.

If a person is unemployed, he can get unemployment benefits if he is willing and able to work full time. The stimulus money requires that everyone who is unemployed receive benefits, not just people who can work full time.

Barbour said that would have to continue even after the stimulus money is gone. That would require the state to raise $16 million each year to continue paying those benefits.

That means that if you were hurt on the job and cannot work full time…then you do not deserve benefits….workers?  Who needs stinking workers? (sarcasm)

God forbid that the state actually do anything to help its residents.

Is this what you elected a governor to do?  If it is then this state is in sad shape and will NEVER amount to anything.

Remember Earmarks?

There is a huge debate going on in Washington right now about all the ear marks that are being attached to bills……the latest number is 9000.  These are bad, according to the Repubs, since it is an Obama bill.  But guess what?

Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker are ranked first and second, respectively, among senators in securing earmarks for their state — a negative according to a watchdog group, but not necessarily for the Gulf Coast, which will get $10 million for the Port of Gulfport and $2.25 million for Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport improvements.

The Senate is expected to vote Thursday on the House-passed Omnibus Appropriations bill, which will provide funding through the 2009 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

“Analyses of how the executive branch spends discretionary federal dollars when left to its own devices show that rural states like Mississippi, states that often have a great deal of need, are largely ignored,” said Cochran, the ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This is why our founding fathers gave Congress the explicit power to direct spending: so that those who are elected by the people, not bureaucrats, decide how funds are spent.

Well sports fans…they are only pork if theyt are in someone else’s district.  I pooint out the hypocrisy of politicians…they arall against the pork…until it is needed for their district…pork is pork, people.

Barbour And The Obama-Bucks

As you have heard…several Southern governors are considering not accepting some or all of the new stimulus money. In these critical times why would anyone even consider such a proposal?

Glad you asked.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, attacked the Obama stimulus plan on Saturday by saying, “It’s filled with social policy and costs too much. You could create just as many jobs for about half as much money.”

That is right, “It is full of social policy” and we in Mississippi realize that has NO place in state government, at least in Mississippi.  Mississippi is for business not for its people.

Personally, I would not want Barbour to break a fine tradition in the state of totally ignoring the plight of its people, by accepting money that would improve their lives, at least for awhile.  I mean in a state that treats its workers with respect and compassion, why would it need any help from Washington?  (I case you missed it…that was total sarcasm)

The really sad part of this saga is that the voter in Mississippi does this to themselves…they continue to elect lying moron after lying moron…and then they bitch loudly when their lives go to hell…..maybe they should spend more time in school so they could read a newspaper and then they may be  wise enough to make an accurate decision in the elections……Just a thought.

Stimulus For The MS Gulf Coast

A measure Coast leaders want to prop up the wind pool insurance program with an extra $20 million became a little more likely when President Barack Obama signed a large federal stimulus bill this week, as it may have eased some apprehensions in the fiscally-conservative Mississippi Senate about spending the money.

After Hurricane Katrina, lawmakers set aside $80 million for the program, $20 million of which had already been set aside this year. But late last month, members of the Gulf Coast Business Council petitioned the government for an additional $60 million, $20 million in additional money next year, for a total of $40 million, to help offset rate increases.

But some feared the extra funds were a long shot and some even worried that the funds that already were set aside could be cut because of the tight state budget, which has prompted cuts in some agencies.

If the stim plan helps the economy of the Coast in this time of falling markets then the one thing to remember are those that voted against the help for the Coast….I have heard that both sides of the stim argument that neither had read the massive document before they voted….something to think about.

State’s Slice Of Stim Pie

Mississippi stands to receive $2.26 billion from the economic stimulus package signed into law Tuesday by President Barack Obama.

The White House estimates that the $787 billion package, designed to create or save 3.5 million jobs nationwide, will save or bring to Mississippi 30,000 jobs, 7,500 of them in the southern part.

On the national level, jobs created will be in industries from clean energy to health care, with over 90 percent in the private sector, according to a study by two national economic advisers.

But the package is still getting mixed reviews in Mississippi, with only two of the state’s congressional delegation voting for it.

A spokesman for Gov. Haley Barbour said Tuesday evening the governor’s staff was going through the hundreds of pages of the law “looking at each segment to make a conscious decision whether it’s best for Mississippi.”

“For instance, unemployment,” said Dan Turner. “We believe it will require Mississippi to provide unemployment for people who won’t accept full-time employment.”

“When you look at the amount of money that could be used to offset the cuts in Medicaid, education and public safety … it couldn’t have come at a better time,” Flaggs said. “It is the best thing that I have been able to witness from the federal government coming down to the state government in my 22 years of service in the Legislature.”

Mississippi’s unemployment rate was 8 percent in December. Lawmakers are expected to work until late March or early April on the state budget for the coming fiscal year.

Hopefully Mississippi will not be as stupid as Louisiana and turn down the stimulus cash.

Government Plan For South MS

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proposing to spend about $1.2 billion on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast to buy some 2,000 seaside properties, relocate a small town’s public buildings and restore hurricane-damaged wetlands and beaches.

A draft proposal released Tuesday follows in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when Bay St. Louis, Waveland and Biloxi were destroyed in 2005 by a storm surge 20 feet or higher over most of this coastline.

The draft of the corps’ 40-year plan will now undergo a series of reviews and face public scrutiny before being presented to Congress, possibly by November.

Unlike efforts in Louisiana, the corps’ plans for Mississippi do not envision enormous levees and flood barriers to protect against future hurricanes. But under the plan, the corps would use $400 million for voluntary buyouts of up to 2,000 parcels of land. The remaining funds would go to restoring fragile barrier islands, reviving eroded marshes and other measures.

Taylor, D-Bay St. Louis, said that the Mississippi Coastal Improvements Plan has some excellent aspects, such as restoration of the barrier islands. And even though the plan has shrunk somewhat in scope since its origin, it is “still a very, very ambitious project,” he added.

Taylor said he has told officials in the corps’ top echelon that any property buyouts must be voluntary on the part of the sellers, and any mandatory buyout by the government will not fly. “Given the sensitivities, there was a very high level of concern. They got the message,” he said.

When the corps brought its buyout proposal to public meetings in the past, some property owners and public officials feared from comments they heard that citizens may be forced to sell their land to the government. “At least one person at the corps misspoke,” Taylor said. “I want to make it abundantly clear. This is strictly voluntary.”

At this point, the MSCIP is not even funded. “The question mark is, where is the money going to come from?” Taylor said. For the plan to fly, it would need both enabling legislation and funding from Congress, he said.

As things now stand, the MSCIP is a long process.