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.

A New Coast Tax

Following Ocean Springs' lead, Moss Point's mayor is contemplating a 2 percent food and beverage tax to build a new facility to house the police department, courtrooms and a jail.

Xavier Bishop said the police department is one of several municipal buildings near the waterfront that must move out of the flood zone.

"The plans are for the municipal building currently downtown to be relocated. That includes the current police station," Bishop said.

Ok people think about this...your tax dollars are paying for a war...a stupid war.....all the while the infrastructure is suffering from a lack of funds. Now the people must pay higher taxes to do something that should be a program of domestic relief for the states.

If you vote for someone that will keep the war going, then I sincerely hope that you enjoy paying your higher taxes for services that should already be funded.

Peace and Out!

What War Costs Mississippi

We all know that the war is costing the US lots of cash but just thought I would let Mississippi know what could have been done for the state with this money.


Taxpayers in Mississippi will pay $1.8 billion for the cost of the Iraq War through 2007. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

399,174 People with Health Care OR

1,313,801 Homes with Renewable Electricity OR

56,769 Public Safety Officers OR

35,083 Music and Arts Teachers OR

385,648 Scholarships for University Students OR

122 New Elementary Schools OR

26,134 Affordable Housing Units OR

1,046,075 Children with Health Care OR

295,841 Head Start Places for Children OR

36,414 Elementary School Teachers OR

Now where do you think the money should have been spent?

Casinos Win Again

The casinos have lots of friends in Mississippi and most of them are your reps in the state legislature. They will now get more tax cuts for building anything not casino related. Now we will see just how much more they give the Coast with the ability to keep more of the cash.

The bill was part of a deal between the House and Senate. The Senate, which has a large anti-casino faction, agreed to the incentives package. The House, where there is more support of casino gambling, agreed to pass the Senate's moratorium on casino counties.

House Bill 1196, offered by Rep. Diane Peranich, D-Pass Christian, provides tax breaks to casinos that invest more than $10 million on non-gambling developments. It covers theme parks, water parks, cultural or historical centers, motor speedways or other large, non-gambling tourist attractions. The bill would also provide incentives for hotel investments of more than $40 million, as well as golf courses with investments of more than $10 million.

Sen. Billy Hewes, R-Gulfport, Sen. Tommy Gollott, R-Biloxi, and Sen. David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, championed the bill in the Senate Wednesday. They sparred with Sen. Gary Jackson, R-Kilmichael, who is a Baptist pastor, as well as Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, and Sen. Alan Nunnelee, R-Tupelo.
Hewes said the incentives plan would allow a casino group to take advantage of incentives already offered to other businesses through past legislation that excluded casinos. The bill would allow a casino to recoup up to 30 percent of the project's value over a 10-year period, by giving it access to a percentage of the sales tax the project creates. Coast senators said the incentives would likely cause much investment on attractions in the state from casino groups.

We will see just what they will do with the tax money they do not have to pay and that the state needs to cover the cost of "real" programs that benefit ALL Mississippians.

Barbour's Tax Study Proposal

Barbour said state and federal taxes, as well as local taxes, figure into the discussion, and commission members would remember that as they work on the code.

"We have to keep that in mind as we work to have a system that is fair to all Mississippians, generates the amount of money we need to run our state government and is pro-job creation and pro-economic growth," Barbour said.

Barbour promised on the campaign trail last year he'd look into tax changes. It was his answer to criticism about his vetoing - twice - a bill that would have cut grocery taxes and raised cigarette taxes.

Barbour's political opponents, primarily the House Democratic leadership, has said he would likely champion pro-business tax breaks rather than those to help lower-income Mississippians. They said the state's taxes are already considered "regressive" toward those of modest means.

These proposals have almost always favored business over Mississippians and now the people are told that this one is different, that it will take into consideration of growth with jobs. This is bovine fecal matter. It will be about tax cuts to attract more corporations to the state. BTW, tax cuts creates few jobs and the ones that are lucky enough to have one it will be a short lived job.

I jus hope Mississippians have finally opened their eyes to lies and misdirections, but I am probably just having wishful thoughts.