Bill Passes To Prevent Medicaid Cuts

djournal.com

Finally, the Special session is doing something positive.

Democrats predicting November win

Jackson Watch: Democrats predicting November win


This is pretty good prediction. McCain and his staff are running one of the strangest campaigns I can remember and I can remember many. The economy is crapping on many voters and McCain seems to focus on lame proposals and national security. I would guess that that is a losing combination at best.

FEMA Denies Asssistence

While Jackson residents may have received denial letters from FEMA in the weeks following the April 4 tornadoes and storms, they may still be able to get aid. Some residents were denied aid by FEMA because they were already insured.

“By law, we cannot duplicate what insurance already covers or pay for deductibles,” said Michael L. Parker, FEMA’s federal coordinating officer in a statement. “But in some cases, if insurance did not cover all your losses, we may be able to help. Residents who need help making ends meet can visit the FEMA/State Disaster Recovery Center at Willie Morris Library on Old Canton Road to discuss insurance claims and advice after getting their insurance settlement papers.

FEMA will cover hotel costs while homes are uninhabitable or inaccessible if insured victims’ policies do not cover temporary living. Other items such as septic tanks and wells, not usually covered by insurance companies, may be covered by FEMA.

MEMA director Mike Womack believes that they should try to talk with FEMA workers about help. “Even if you have insurance coverage, don’t wait for a settlement before registering with FEMA,” he said. “If you wait for your insurer to act, it may be too late to register for federal assistance. The filing deadline is July 27.”

SunHerald.com : Handsboro school site will get marker

SunHerald.com : Handsboro school site will get marker


About time they started recognizing the various parts of Gulfport. There has always been more to the Gulfport area other than the darn port.

Gulfport Library May Be Saved

The Gulfport Library got a reprieve from the wrecking ball on Thursday.

The permit committee for the state Department of Archives and History agreed Wednesday to consider designating the building a Mississippi Landmark because of its architectural significance, the role the building has played in the community and public sentiment.

If the library, built in 1965 in the New Formalism style of architecture, is made a landmark, it can't be torn down without permission from the department's board.

"The building is an example of a style of architecture not widely found in the city of Gulfport, the surrounding community or even in the state of Mississippi," said Bill Gatlin, architectural historian for Archives and History. "It's an iconic building for the people who grew up in Gulfport."

But several Harrison County supervisors said Thursday they will not use public money to repair or insure that building, no matter what its designation. Even if the library is made a landmark, the county isn't obligated to repair the building.

"The board doesn't have a burning desire to tear down that building," Supervisor Kim Savant said. Savant represents District 2, which includes the library. "But what we have said is that we will not put taxpayer dollars into the building."

Print their names and let the people decide if they keep their jobs.....they are crapping on a piece of history....time for them to go!

Wicker Runs Scared

And he seems to be avoiding a head to head debate with Musgrove.

Interim Republican Sen. Roger Wicker's campaign said Tuesday he has declined an invitation to debate his opponent, former Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, at the Neshoba County Fair later this summer.

Wicker campaign spokesman Ryan Annison said Tuesday the campaign had initially told fair officials they were interested and hoped a debate would work out. But as the date approaches, Wicker's staff learned it would conflict with his Senate schedule. The debate was to be held July 31, the last week before a Senate recess, when Wicker expects important votes.

"We welcome debates," Annison said. " But Sen. Wicker takes his job as a senator very seriously and doesn't want the taxpayers to be shortchanged with his salary."

The move drew a quick backlash from the Musgrove campaign. Tim Phillips, Musgrove's campaign manager, said it would be just as easy for a vote to come up on the day Wicker is to speak at the fair.

The Neshoba County Fair, held each year near Philadelphia, is known as "Mississippi's Giant Houseparty." It runs from July 25 to Aug. 1, and 28 politicians are expected to speak.

Z Magazine - Mississippi’s SB 2988

Z Magazine - Mississippi’s SB 2988


Mississippi is at the lower end of almost every thing, but they try....sarcasm intended.

SunHerald.com : Gulfport job outlook 8th-best in nation

SunHerald.com : Gulfport job outlook 8th-best in nation


This is good news to the local economy, but the down side is that MS is a right to work state and NO one will become wealthy working for the low wages of MS.

SunHerald.com : Teachers brush up on economics

SunHerald.com : Teachers brush up on economics


Sorry guys but I see this as another one of the mind numbing things that will give only the bright and the best. Will not cover the poverty, homelessness and such. It will be a distorted view of what really happens in economics.

McCain And Katrina

FactCheck.org: Katrina Kerfuffle


McCain has been pretty verbal about his position on the Katrina investigations, but is he being entirely honest?

Wicker And Health Care

As the campaigns get stronger and harder, I just wanted to add my two cents. Health Care in the nation's biggest and most pressing issue and here is Wicker's stands on health care.

Rated 11% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record:
YES on establishing tax-exempt Medical Savings Accounts:
YES on subsidizing private insurance for Medicare Rx drug coverage:
YES on allowing reimportation of prescription drugs:
YES on capping damages & setting time limits in medical lawsuits:
YES on limited prescription drug benefit for Medicare recipients:
YES on denying non-emergency treatment for lack of Medicare co-pay:
NO on requiring negotiated Rx prices for Medicare part D:
NO on adding 2 to 4 million children to SCHIP eligibility:
NO on allowing tribal Indians to opt out of federal healthcare:
NO on means-testing to determine Medicare Part D premium:

My fellow Mississippians choose your next Senator wisely, your future depends on it!

Antiwar.com Blog · Daniel Pipes: If Obama Wins, Bush Will Attack Iran in November

Antiwar.com Blog · Daniel Pipes: If Obama Wins, Bush Will Attack Iran in November


Something to consider.......the way the the sentiment toward Iran is revving up...this is a very good possibliity.

SunHerald.com : FEMA: No ice after a storm

SunHerald.com : FEMA: No ice after a storm

Another crap on the face of the people of the Gulf South by the government.

Mississippi: Barbour And Medicare

The long-awaited report, the last in a series published over the past several years by the committee, found that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, in particular, frequently made assertions in the run-up to the war that key intelligence agencies could not substantiate or about which there was substantial disagreement within the intelligence community.

"In making the case for war, the administration repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when in reality it was unsubstantiated, contradicted, or even nonexistent," the Committee chairman, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, said on releasing the 172-page report. "As a result, the American people were led to believe that the threat from Iraq was much greater than actually existed."

During the special session, the House proposed a more modest 50-cent increase on the excise tax, combined with an equally modest drop in Barbour’s patient tax, though the Senate and Barbour oppose even that. Seeing no immediate compromise, the House then passed a bill using $90 million from Barbour’s prized $378 million “rainy day” fund if accountants decide Medicaid cuts are needed.

Barbour responded by promising a veto of the rainy day bill.

“[I]nstead of taking up the fair and reasonable solution to fully fund Medicaid passed by the Senate ... the House has voted to use $90 million in one-time money to pay for the recurring expenses of Medicaid. The purpose of this Special Session is to enact a permanent, sustainable solution for Medicaid funding. The nearly 600,000 Mississippians who depend on Medicaid don’t need a one year band-aid, but that’s what the House leadership has given them,” Barbour said in a statement.

The state’s current tobacco tax stands at 18 cents a pack, which generates about $47 million for the state every year, according to American Lung Association of Mississippi Executive Director Jennifer Cofer. Cofer added that Medicaid spends about $264 million on Mississippi residents with smoking-related health issues like lung cancer every year and called the tobacco tax increase logical.

Barbour said he opposes any tax increase in the state until a special tax study committee thoroughly studies the state’s overall tax structure later this year. Politicos predicted that Barbour—who opposes a tobacco tax increase every year lawmakers propose it—would use the tax study to mire a tobacco-tax proposal.

PopMatters Music Feature | Ten Reasons Bo Diddley Is the Forgotten Heavyweight Champion of Rock

PopMatters Music Feature | Ten Reasons Bo Diddley Is the Forgotten Heavyweight Champion of Rock


AS I have said, IMO, he and Chuck Berry were the fathers of R&R, not some guy with disjointed hips.

Father Of Rock And Roll Dies

With his stocky build and his thick glasses, Bo Diddley didn't look like a typical rock'n'roll star. The rectangular-bodied electric guitar he played didn't look like the instruments other rock'n'rollers played. The beat he favored, which came to be known as the Bo Diddley beat -- three strokes, then a rest, then two more -- was not a typical rock'n'roll rhythm.

But Diddley, who died yesterday at age 79, was one of the architects of rock'n'roll, his influence rivaled only by artists such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Fats Domino.

Songs he wrote, like "Who Do You Love?," "Road Runner" and "Mona," are part of the basic rock repertoire, while his 1959 hit "Say Man" -- a series of good-natured insults, traded with percussionist Jerome Green, over a beat -- looked forward a few decades to hip-hop. The Bo Diddley beat has been recycled endlessly, in songs like Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," the Who's "Magic Bus," U2's "Desire" and Bruce Springsteen's "She's the One."

Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. He had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.

Diddley's pounding, relentless beat, combined with his distorted guitar tone and howling vocals, gave his music a primal quality that made it rank among the deepest blues and the hardest rock.

Diddley was born Ellas Bates in McComb, Miss., but he later was adopted by his mother's cousin and took the name Ellis McDaniel. When he was 5, his family moved to Chicago.

His first instrument was the violin, but he soon switched to guitar and, as a teenager, became a street musician.

He will be sadly missed--his music got an old fart like me through a lot of crap! May he rest in peace.