3BP Analysis: Haley Barbour the man to beat in 2012

Haley Barbour is running for President.


No, he hasn't announced yet, but his intentions are well understood.

The best thing that happened to Haley Barbour and his aspirations for the presidency came when Mark Sanford decided to be an idiot. When Sanford was knocked from his post as head of the Republican Governors Association, Barbour took over and turned it into a powerhouse.

When all was said and done, the RGA had plenty to brag about come November 3rd.

Republican Governors have won control of the majority of 2012 swing states. The following states that held gubernatorial races are considered swing states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The RGA spent $49.5 million in these 10 swing states we deemed critical to 2012.

And while it's not a swing state, the RGA also was forced to move into South Carolina and provide some reinforcements to ensure Nikki Haley's victory.

Hmmm.

There's something awfully interesting about some of the states listed above.

Iowa. Nevada. South Carolina.

Well, it just so happens that the GOP primary calendar undertook some slight revisions this past year in order to guarantee four states had the first primaries.

New Hampshire. Iowa. Nevada. South Carolina.

Additionally, the new calendar emphasizes the importance of delaying the beginning of primary season and ensuring there isn't a kind of national primary that provides a candidate with an insurmountable lead.

Now no one would think a man with as heavy a drawl as Barbour could compete in New Hampshire. But Iowa, Nevada, and South Carolina? Those seem like decent possibilities.

Now take into consideration the massive amount of political capital Barbour gained among the new Governors in each of those three states by investing so heavily into their races. Branstad, Sandoval, and Haley all owe Haley Barbour. And they owe him big.

Is it enough to bring a hugely important endorsement? That much is unclear, but Barbour clearly has every reason and right to put the pressure on all three.

Now consider what happens if Barbour is able to finagle the early endorsements of people like Corbett, Kasich, and Scott in PA, OH, and FL. In the horserace that is primary politics, that provides quite a momentum shift.

No one doubts Barbour can raise money. No one doubts his abilities as a tactician. His record in Mississippi is exemplary. The only question is his background as a lobbyist and I'm not quite convinced that's the Achilles Heel many seem to believe.

If Barbour can manage to pull down these endorsements, watch out. Without a doubt, he'll be the man to beat for the 2012 GOP nomination.

3BP

Harper meets with President of Taiwan in Taipei

President Ma Ying-jeou said Thursday that his administration's cross-Taiwan Strait policy, including signing of an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between the two sides, has won recognition worldwide.

During a brief meeting with visiting American Congressman Gregg Harper (R-MS) and his wife at the Presidential Office, Ma said he feels pleased that the China policies implemented by his administration since he took office in May 2008 have gained the support of United States President Barack Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush.

In addition to serving to consolidate business and trade ties between China and Taiwan, Ma said the ECFA, which is something like a free trade agreement, has also helped ease tensions across the Taiwan Strait, formerly considered one of the world's flash points.

Ma told his visitors that he believes the peace-maker image that Taiwan has built will be conducive to its integration into the international community.

The president also took time to reiterate his aspirations for closer ties between Taiwan and the U.S., including Taiwan's acquisition of advanced F-16C/D jet fighters from the U.S., the signing of an extradition agreement between the two countries, and the U.S. waiving visas for visiting Taiwanese.

FT

Seale says he'll answer a few questions . . . so let's ask a few.

Seale

Madison County Lobbyist C. Stephen Seale's latest response to our fun little back and forth continues. He says:

"I can't explain each and every action or the propriety of my fees to every taxpayer in Madison County."

And why not? It's really simple, just answer the questions.



Seriously though, I do understand. If he doesn't take direction from anybody but the Board of Supervisors, that's fine. I feel like we're making a little progress here. So, I'll be flexible. 

Seale Says:

"What I will offer to do is to explain the work I do to you and give examples of the work and fees charged by similarly-situated entities for the same kind of work in Washington and Jackson. This is the same thing I've done for the Board since I was hired and have been supported in every instance by a 4-1 vote. It will then be up to you to make your own conclusions if you choose to participate and to report on what we've discussed for your benefit and for the benefit of your readers. Call me if this interests you."

This doesn't exactly sound like a willingness to answer questions, but rather to "explain things" to me. In fact, "examples of the work and fees charged by similarly-situated entities for the same kind of work" sounds eerily like that inner government audit done by the county that tried to explain away Mr. Warnock's engineering fees, doesn't it?

But, when I said I wanted to turn this into "food for thought" I meant it. So, you have my attention, Mr. Seale.

Of course, we'll have to set some ground rules. But, I'm going to move ahead on the assumption that I get to ask a few questions. And, since I had hoped my readers here could ask a few in an open thread, what I'll do instead is offer this up as a thread for readers to send the questions to me. If I can get Mr. Seale to answer them, I'll do my best.

We'll see. Mr. Seale, I'll be in touch.

You ask 'em, I'll ask 'em, readers. So shoot.

Grassroots conservative movements will move Mississippi's local officials to GOP

BY: B. Keith Plunkett

Last night I attended a lecture by Andy Taggart and Jere Nash at Millsaps. The lecture was part of Millsaps Art and Lecture Series, something I was completely unaware of until late last week. That’s when I found out about this particular appearance by the two proprietors of the Red/Blue Review. Andy and Jere have grown their partnership into quite the informative franchise, with books, a popular blog and a regular weekly appearance on WLBT. Last night’s lecture had a particular focus on analyzing the elections from last week, and a look ahead to Mississippi’s 2011 statewide elections.

I was somewhat disappointed to find that I and only a few others were easily the youngest in the room of about 50 people. I won’t go into detail except to say that I am firmly planted now in the category of “middle-age.” With the exception of my 18-year old son, there appeared to be no one under the age of 25 in the room, and only a few that may have been under 40.

This is a sad state of affairs. Where are all the young Political Science majors? Where are the same young people that are easily found mulling about and schmoozing with cocktail in hand at any number of political fundraising parties? Where are the young professionals? The answer to that question may also give an idea of why, even in a huge turnout year for mid-term elections, we still have an abysmal number of actual voters participating in the process. Citizen engagement drives the debate, and drives participation by people who will be true public servants.

The lack of citizen-representatives, and the continuing progression towards exclusivity in party-centric ideas was part of the reason for a huge backlash this year from the TEA party, 9-12 groups and other grassroots efforts. The movement has registered huge numbers of disaffected and first-time voters in the past two years. Those in political circles that dismiss the TEA Party as a fad or as simpletons do so at their own peril.

In his opening remarks, Democrat Jere Nash made the same mistake that the Dems keep making: he made light of the TEA Party, even going so far as to call the movement “a gift” to the Dems for future elections. His lack of understanding about who these people really are is why the Democrats will have a long road back in Mississippi.

To be sure, some of the TEA Party leadership in this state has become quite enamored with their new found celebrity. Some (and I highlight the word “some”) have found themselves standing atop the heap and think that this “revolution” affords them the right to be demanding, and more than a little indignant. Because it is such a loose confederation, there are a few shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later sensibilities at play, and many are not yet very adept at realizing that everything that comes at them through an email may not be the gospel truth. But, however unstable the movement, these are by far core conservative voters. The GOP must walk beside them, albeit gingerly.

Nash called into question Taggart’s opinion that North Mississippi’s First Congressional District turning back to the Republican’s during this cycle is a sign that many officials statewide will now be moving to the GOP in local elections. Nash rightfully asserted that this district was “Red” before when now Senator Wicker was the Congressman there, and local officials by and large were running as Democrats statewide then. But, what went unsaid is that Nash fails to recognize the significant shift that has occurred at the local grassroots level. He and other state Dems make light of TEA Party anger. If they hope to make it back to some semblance of power in his lifetime, they shouldn't.

The people that live and work in the rural communities throughout Mississippi every day, in towns like Ackerman, Maben, Leakesville, Silver Creek and Magnolia feel like they don’t have a voice. Many of these towns are not regular stops on the political circuit, and people who live and work in small towns are no longer accepting that they are left out of the equation. These are the people who have become active in ways that we haven’t seen before. New technology has allowed people to find like-minded friends within their own communities in ways that was not possible 10 years ago. It is loosely organized, but it is organized.

Another thing that is discounted by state Democrats is the number of small municipal officials who run as Democrats locally, but vote as Republicans. Poll any number of municipal or county officials in rural areas that have heavy Black Voting Age Population (BVAP) districts or wards, and you will find a large number that will tell you they “have to run Democrat.” The new found friends in the grassroots efforts that swept Mississippi last week can give these DINO’s the cover they need to join in on a year-long “coming out party” in 2011.

If Mississippi Democrats continue to stick their head in the sand, they will wake up and realize the world has changed around them. In fact, it’s already begun. Grassroots organization has changed with the dawn of Social Media. With state elections and redistricting around the corner, and a highly motivated base of new conservative voters there is a lot on the line. In light of all this, referring to conservative voters and TEA Party Members as “ignorant”, as State Democrat Leader Jamie Franks did a few weeks ago, even insinuating it, as Nash did last night, is not good strategy.

‘Gatemouth’ Moore honored with Blues Trail marker in Yazoo City

Bishop Arnold Dwight “Gatemouth” Moore, a former national blues star who left the nightclub stage for the pulpit, is being honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail.

The marker was unveiled Monday in Yazoo City.

During the 1930s, Arthus Dwight "Gatemouth" Moore was one of the better-known blues singers in the country. But, in the 1950s he abandoned this kind of music to take up vestments in the Baptist Church. He underwent a very personal journey from being one of the preeminent blues singers in the 1930s and 1940s to becoming a minister in the 1950s.

Moore, known as one of the most elegant and charismatic blues singers experienced a dramatic conversion when he went onstage at the Club DeLisa in Chicago in 1948. No blues came from his mouth, only the spiritual “Shine on Me.” Moore soon became not only an ordained minister but also one of America’s top gospel radio announcers on WDIA in Memphis. He did not miss a beat in transferring his flair for showmanship from the blues to the church, and remained one of the country’s most colorful personalities. He once delivered a sermon from a cross and gave his own eulogy from a casket. Although he devoted himself to church and community work, he still enjoyed singing the blues on occasion, and kept in touch with B.B. King and other bluesmen he had inspired. In the 1992 documentary on Moore’s life entitled “Saturday Night, Sunday Morning,” King described the lyrics to Moore’s hit “Did You Ever Love a Woman”: “No blues gets any stronger than that.”




 

Born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1913, Moore grew up in an impoverished environment. By the time he was nine, he was singing soprano at church but abandoned that at 16 to tour the country with Ma Rainey, performing in tent shows. Beginning nightclub work in Chicago, he ultimately reached the pinnacle of fame on Beale Street in Memphis. This mecca for black singers and musicians was a college for entertainers who could learn anything desired: showmanship, musical presentation, public relations, and much, much more. In the heart of the black community, the Beale Street area supported a separate black culture of nightclubs, churches, social organizations, schools, and businesses. Outside of this enclave, Moore and his colleagues performed in "white man's land." But they entertained well, and, as one cohort said, we "roll with the punches and take the money."

He served as pastor of several churches in Mississippi and Louisiana.

He died in Yazoo City in 2004.

Mississippi utilities recoup charity donations from customers

Entergy Mississippi and Mississippi Power Company have been reimbursed by customers for more than $3.1 million in charitable contributions to schools, colleges, civic organizations and businesses over the past three years, according to public records. These regulated public utilities plan to recoup even more in 2010.

Credit for donations to entities such as Boy & Girls Clubs, cities, museums, private and public schools and universities, neighborhood associations, Junior Auxiliary chapters, state agencies, chambers of commerce, theater and arts associations and more have gone to Entergy and Mississippi Power, when the majority of the tab was picked up by customers.

State law allows public utilities to recover charitable contributions that were made “in the public interest” in rate base, provided the donations are approved by the Mississippi Public Service Commission.

Other Southern states, such as Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and Georgia, do not allow this practice. Louisiana does.

Many ratepayers are unaware that the Mississippi Public Service Commission, and its counterpart the Public Utilities Staff, allow utilities to donate ratepayer money.

MBJ

Growing Clout: South to gain more Congressional seats than earlier projected

It's been clear for a while that the South's political clout will grow after the 2010 Census data was released next year and used to redo the nation's Congressional districts. But a new projection suggests the region's gains will be even bigger than had been estimated earlier, with Southern states picking as many as eight House seats and Electoral College votes for president.

The new analysis by Election Data Services predicts that burgeoning growth in the South and West will pull 12 Congressional seats away from states in the Midwest and Northeast. Here are the states that would gain:

STATE / CONGRESSIONAL SEATS GAINED

Arizona +1
Florida +2
Georgia +1
Nevada +1
South Carolina +1
Texas +4
Utah +1
Washington +1

The gains in the South are bigger than had been estimated a few months ago, when the Great Recession and housing market collapse were slowing migration to Florida and Texas.

But the new analysis suggests Florida's population will grow enough to comfortably pick up a second Congressional seat. Texas is right on the bubble, winning a fourth seat by a margin of just 38,000 people.

These are just estimates: If Texas falls short when the official 2010 Census numbers are released on December 31, EDS says there are 16 states that could overtake Texas to pick up the final seat, lead by New York, California, Arizona, North Carolina and Illinois.

North Carolina's chances of gaining a seat may be even higher, thanks to U.S. foreign policy.

As EDS notes, their analysis doesn't account for military personnel -- which ended up being the decisive factor in 2000, when N.C. beat out Utah in adding a Congressional seat. Over the last decade, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have brought thousands of members of the armed services to North Carolina's military bases, which will be credited as their official U.S. address for Census purposes.

On the flip side, Louisiana's massive displacement from Hurricane Katrina will likely cause it to lose a district.

Here's a map from EDS showing which states are projected to win and lose from the new 2010 Census numbers:

FS

Oklahoma Is Sued Over Shariah Ban

A Muslim activist in Oklahoma City filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging a voter-approved measure that bars Oklahoma state judges from considering Shariah, the Islamic religious code based on the Koran and the Prophet Mohammed's teachings, in formulating rulings.

State Question 755, which passed Tuesday with 70% of the vote, declares "the legal precepts of other nations or cultures" off-limits to Oklahoma courts. "Specifically, the courts shall not consider international law or Sharia Law," it reads.

The suit, filed by Muneer Awad, director of the state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, asks the federal district court to block officials from certifying the referendum. Mr. Awad says the measure violates the First Amendment, which protects "free exercise" of religion and prohibits official "establishment of religion." A hearing was set for Monday.

The complaint alleges Oklahoma has singled out Islam for "profound stigma," consigning Muslims such as Mr. Awad "to an ineffectual position within the political community."

Oklahoma's Legislature voted overwhelmingly to place the Save Our State Amendment before voters. A co-sponsor, state Sen. Anthony Sykes, denied it sought to stigmatize Muslims. "We're not trying to send any sort of message here," said Mr. Sykes, a Republican.

Rather, he said, Oklahomans wanted to insulate their judiciary from un-American influences. While no Oklahoma court ever has cited Shariah law, "we are on a slippery slope," he said.


Read More: WSJ

Now in Power, G.O.P. Vows Cuts in State Budgets

Republicans who have taken over state capitols across the country are promising to respond to crippling budget deficits with an array of cuts, among them proposals to reduce public workers’ benefits in Wisconsin, scale back social services in Maine and sell off state liquor stores in Pennsylvania, endangering the jobs of thousands of state workers.

States face huge deficits, even after several grueling years of them, and just as billions of dollars in stimulus money from Washington is drying up.

With some of these new Republican state leaders having taken the possibility of tax increases off the table in their campaigns, deep cuts in state spending will be needed. These leaders, committed to smaller government, say that is the idea.

In some cases, that may mean not just greatly changing state policies on taxing and spending, but also loosening regulations facing businesses, restricting access to abortion and rights for illegal immigration, and, perhaps, slowing the Obama administration’s health care overhaul.


Republicans gained more than 690 seats in state legislatures (leaving them with numbers last seen more than 80 years ago), at least five more governor seats, and, perhaps most significant, across-the-board power in the legislatures and governor’s offices of at least 20 states — more than twice as many as before the election. Included in that group were Maine and Wisconsin, which the day before the election had been entirely in Democratic hands.

Read More: NYT

Chickens Are Coming Home To Roost: AARP Raises Insurance Costs for Employees

This would be funny if it weren't so damn sad for so many people who trusted these idiots!

The AARP’s health insurance costs are going up next year due to rapidly rising medical costs that are partly fueled by the health overhaul, the AP is reporting.

Premiums for the group’s employees will rise by 8% to 13% next year, the story says. The association is changing co-pays and deductibles to avoid a 40% tax on high-cost health plans that goes into effect in 2018, according to the AP. About 4,500 people are covered by the group’s plans.

In an Oct. 25 email, Jennifer Hodges, the AARP’s director of compensation and benefits said, “Plan value changes were necessary not only from a cost management standpoint but also to ensure that AARP’s plans fall below the threshold for high-cost group plans under health care reform.”

The endorsement of the seniors’ lobby helped get the law passed back in March. According to the AP story, the association stands by that move and says the health law is a “small part” of why its employee health costs are going up.

“The impact on AARP employees is not a factor at all in our policy making, which is directed at the impact on our membership and on all older Americans,” the group’s legislative affairs director, David Certner, told the AP.

Other companies have cited the new law in making changes to their health offerings, including Boeing and 3M, which the WSJ wrote about here and here.

WSJ

How the GOP Can Stop the Spread of Obamacare

Progressive pundits and policy wonks boast that, despite Tuesday's Republican victory in the House, ObamaCare will be very difficult to eradicate. They correctly point out that, to get rid of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), both houses of Congress must pass repeal legislation and that a Democrat filibuster would more than likely forestall any such effort in the Senate. They further point out that President Obama would certainly veto any repeal bill that somehow found its way to his desk, and that there is virtually no chance that his veto would be overridden. All of this is absolutely true. Moreover, the PPACA infection has already been introduced into the health care system and has begun to spread. Nonetheless, when the Republicans officially take control of the House in January, they will still have the ability inoculate us against future outbreaks of this contagion.

The three-stage vaccine with which the GOP can stop the spread of PPACA has already been proven effective -- in Massachusetts of all places. It will come as a surprise to many that Romneycare was not the first "universal coverage" law to be inflicted on the long-suffering citizens of the Bay State. In 1988 that state's legislature passed a health care bill containing many of the provisions that later reappeared in the 2006 boondoggle signed by Romney. That "reform" program was signed into law by then-governor Michael Dukakis, who gave it a prominent place in his résumé during his unsuccessful bid for the presidency. Like polio, however, "DukakisCare" is all but forgotten. Why? Because a group of newly elected state legislators defunded the program, delayed its implementation and, for all intents and purposes, killed it after Republican William Weld was elected governor in 1990.

The many similarities between the DukakisCare and ObamaCare situations have not received any attention in the media, of course, but they have not been lost on everyone. Mike Stopa, who unsuccessfully sought the 2010 Republican congressional nomination for the MA-3 district, offered a PPACA repeal plan whose introduction declared, "[T]he experience of Massachusetts in the late 1980's… serves as a model in our current situation." Indeed it does. Not long after the Dukakis legislation passed, the GOP made significant gains in the state legislature and immediately set about dismantling the bill. There are also parallels in the executive branch. As Stopa put it, "Michael Dukakis passed universal healthcare in 1988 and his term as governor ended in 1990. Barack Obama passed PPACA in 2010 and his term ends in 2012." All of which suggests that the "MA vaccine" could work on ObamaCare.

For the newly empowered GOP, however, the most difficult stage of the vaccination process may be the first -- getting solidly behind the defunding project. Their vociferous denunciations of PPACA notwithstanding, many House Republicans have expressed reservations similar to those of Rep. Paul Ryan: "Well, yeah, technically speaking, we can put riders in appropriations bills that say, 'No such funds can go to HHS to do x, y, or z in implementing ObamaCare.' He's gotta sign those things. And he doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would sign those things." Similar noises have been heard in the upper chamber. Retiring Senator Judd Gregg recently said, "I don't think starving or repealing is probably the best approach here …"

These and other Republicans are understandably chary of fighting a PR war with the White House. Their shellacking by Bill Clinton in 1995 is still green in their memories. But much has changed since then. Fifteen years ago, the Democrat-friendly "news" media could exert considerable control over the public perception of a battle between Congress and the President. Now, the blogosphere and conservative talk radio can -- and will -- provide an alternate narrative. And the voters who came out in such impressive numbers to repudiate the Democrats are not likely to be patient with a pusillanimous approach on this issue. Most would likely agree with the chairman of DeFundIt.org, who responded thus to Ryan's squeamishness: "[I]t is a policy battle we must fight…. Make no mistake, the conservative base will revolt against a Republican Party that backs down in a funding fight over ObamaCare."

Assuming the Republicans can absorb this reality and summon the courage to face down the President on funding, they can move to the second stage of the vaccination process. In addition to the power of the purse, the new House majority will also have subpoena power that can be used to delay implementation. They can hold numerous and protracted public hearings, while demanding all manner of documentation from the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). They can summon HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to answer questions about her 2009 gag order to insurance companies and her growing reputation as an enemy of the First Amendment. It would also be instructive to hear CMS administrator Donald Berwick to elaborate on statements like, "Any healthcare funding plan that is just ... must redistribute wealth."

The third and final stage of the vaccine must, of course, be administered in 2012. The event that enabled Massachusetts legislators to finish off the 1988 universal coverage bill was the replacement of Michael Dukakis with Republican William Weld. The decision, by the former, not to seek reelection in 1990 made that process easier than might otherwise have been the case. Needless to say, Barack Obama is very unlikely to follow the Duke's example. However, if the President stays true to form and refuses to face the reality that the American people do want to "re-litigate" the reform issue, it is at least possible that a good Republican opponent can beat him in the 2012 presidential contest. And Tuesday's big GOP gains in key state houses and legislatures, particularly in crucial battlegrounds like Pennsylvania and Ohio, render an Obama defeat even more plausible.

Cynics will argue that, even if Obama can be given the bum's rush in 2012, that doesn't guarantee the success of this three-stage vaccine. And it is certainly true that it didn't permanently inoculate the Bay State from new and more virulent strains of health "reform." But that's hardly an argument for supinely allowing the PPACA to spread or waiting for the Supreme Court to provide a miracle cure. This contagion must be eradicated now. John Boehner was right when he said, "[W]e have to do everything we can to try to repeal this bill…" And, if outright repeal isn't possible, then the MA vaccine is the next best alternative.

AS

Ole Miss Political Professor says he wants the truth about Obamacare, but . . .

Robert Albritton is a professor of American and comparitive politics at the University of Mississippi. He writes in The Hill's Congress Blog that in essence the Democrat's inability to explain the positive sides of PPACA, and their sheepishness on taking to task the GOP naysayers led to there demise. He is "puzzled how this much-needed program to assist Americans with the high costs of medical care could become so demonized by the opposition."

I'm puzzled by how anybody could have ever thought it was about health care at all.

Mr. Albriton writes:

In hindsight, of course, the Democrats failed to handle this challenge adequately. Instead of ducking the issue, they should have asked the appropriate questions of Republican opponents, and these questions are no less appropriate for the coming Congressional debates: “Just what parts of the healthcare legislation do you want to repeal?” Prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions? Prohibiting companies from terminating coverage of chronic conditions? Providing portability of medical insurance coverage when the insured change employment or location? Coverage for the millions of Americans who have no access to healthcare, including millions of children who are not covered under CHIP, because they live in the wrong state? Prohibiting termination of coverage for persons with catastrophic needs? Yes, there is a huge price, but the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that, in the long run, the legislation will save billions of dollars in healthcare costs.

Maybe Mr. Albritton prefers the confusing and costly bill that cuts into the already dangerously fragile Medicare system. But, THIS ONE by the GOP seems to not only makes sense, but the price tag is easier to deal with too.

GOP Picks Up 680 State Legislature Seats

While the Republican gains in the House and Senate are grabbing the most headlines, the most significant results on Tuesday came in state legislatures where Republicans wiped the floor with Democrats.
Republicans picked up 680 seats in state legislatures, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures -- the most in the modern era. To put that number in perspective: In the 1994 GOP wave, Republicans picked up 472 seats. The previous record was in the post-Watergate election of 1974, when Democrats picked up 628 seats.

The GOP gained majorities in at least 14 state house chambers. They now have unified control -- meaning both chambers -- of 26 state legislatures.

That control is a particularly bad sign for Democrats as they go into the redistricting process. If the GOP is effective in gerrymandering districts in many of these states, it could eventually lead to the GOP actually expanding its majority in 2012.

Republicans now hold the redistricting "trifecta" -- both chambers of the state legislature and the governorship -- in 15 states. They also control the Nebraska governorship and the unicameral legislature, taking the number up to 16. And in North Carolina -- probably the state most gerrymandered to benefit Democrats -- Republicans hold both chambers of the state legislature and the Democratic governor does not have veto power over redistricting proposals.

NJ

Our taxdollars at work shrinking the private sector

While it might make sense for federal workers to perform certain jobs, other cases now coming under government control — and taxpayer responsibility — remain unclear.

Management of our nation’s armed forces, for instance, is best left solely to the federal government and is, in fact, mandated in the constitutional provision to “provide for the common defense.” But must those providing the troops with meals or uniforms also be federal employees? Should someone working the concession stand at a national park be on the government payroll?

Serving ice cream at Yellowstone or making combat boots can easily, and likely more efficiently and cheaply, be contracted out to a private company.

Yet, barely two months into his presidency, Barack Obama ordered all federal agencies to figure out how to make more private contractors into public employees. The Office of Management and Budget months later required such insourcing reviews occur “on a regular basis.”

This practice does not necessarily, as argued, provide taxpayers with more efficient service. Nor does it save money. The most obvious thing it does is increase the number of dues-paying union members. Over the past 25 years, the number of union workers in the private sector dwindled to just over ten percent. At the same time, unionization grew among government workers. Over 35 percent of government workers are now in unions.

Insourcing, at its core, is an attempt by big-government liberals to fill the coffers of organized labor at the expense of taxpayers and workers in the private sector. Over a period of time, Americans will have to pay more in taxes to pay the generous benefits and salaries of federal union workers, who will be impossible to fire regardless of their quality of work.

Nonetheless, over the past few years, liberals in Congress and Obama administration functionaries have been strategically inserting language into bills that fund the government. Obama’s $800 billion stimulus bill contained strict insourcing mandates, and must-pass spending bills forced private contractors to compete with government wages and benefits. While such language has had to pass every year on its own, attempts are now being made to make this policy permanent.

Ill-conceived policies such as insourcing will lead to a larger and more intrusive federal government that will take away more hard-earned taxpayer dollars to pay for it.

Everyone can’t be a federal employee, but everyone has to pay for them. How many more can America afford and at what cost to liberty?

DC

House GOP walking fine line with Tea Party in effort to keep Bachmann and her ‘antics’ out of leadership

House Republicans Thursday reacted strongly against Rep. Michele Bachmann’s decision to run for a top leadership post in the new majority, looking to nip in the bud any chance that she might attract support from the substantially large group of incoming freshman lawmakers.
The trick for Republicans is to keep Bachmann – the Minnesota Republican viewed by many in leadership as an unserious and unhelpful spokesman for the party – away from an elevated platform that many in the party feel would hinder or harm the GOP, without being viewed as not listening to the Tea Party movement, which supplied much of the energy that gave them a 61-seat pickup and control of the House.

Bachmann is loved by many in the conservative grassroots for her outspoken support for a wide range of conservative positions, no matter how politically incorrect. She has developed a national profile after only two terms in Congress by appearing regularly on TV. But she has attracted significant negative attention as well for comments deemed extreme or careless.

She is running against Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican, for the chairmanship of the House Republican Conference, which functions as a communications and logistics hub for the party.

Top House Republicans from Eric Cantor to Paul Ryan are firmly behind Hensarling, arguing that he is a solid conservative who will provide the very “constitutional conservatism” that Bachmann says she represents.

But Hensarling is far less well known beyond Washington and his home district of the southeast Dallas suburbs, so there is potential for average grassroots conservatives who know of Bachmann but not Hensarling to interpret the party’s support for the latter as a slight of the Tea Party.

And Bachmann could, in fact, gain traction, if a significant number of incoming freshman Republicans side with her. But Republicans made the case, strenuously, that that won’t happen.

“Bachmann will have a tough time convincing anyone that Hensarling isn’t conservative enough,” a House Republican aide told The Daily Caller. “She’ll have an even tougher time convincing the conference that she wouldn’t take our whole team down in flames with her antics.”

Another House Republican staffer aligned with the most conservative elements of the party called Hensarling “literally unbeatable.”

“A Bachmann win would be possible were she running against a no-name do-nothing member,” the Republican said. “But Jeb Hensarling has been one of the most active members of the Conference in recent years–as [Republican Study Committee] chairman, as [National Republican Congressional Committee] fundraiser, as financial services and budget guru, and as media maven.”

Bachmann aides did not respond to requests for comment.

DC

Another Vanishing Civil Rights Landmark

On my recent trip to the Delta, I decided to take the county road north of Greenwood, instead of Highway 49. I wanted to check on the old Bryant Grocery Store in the Money community to see if it was still hanging on. The answer, I guess, is both yes and no.

Passing this building on the highway without knowing its story, you probably wouldn’t give it a moment’s thought–a typical brick two-story commercial building common to the early 20th century and usually forming the heart of rural communities. In this case, the building is so far gone down the road of collapse that you might experience a glimmer of melancholy at the decline of our agricultural communities. But this seemingly insignificant and decaying building is at the center of one of the most important stories in our state’s recent history: it was the site of the beginning of the Emmett Till saga, a murder of a young black teenager that brought the world’s attention to the violent racism that was all too common in Mississippi and in the South generally.

PIM

Madison Stein Mart one of 3 new U.S. stores

The new Stein Mart opening this month in Madison is one of three new company stores nationwide.

Stein Mart will expand its presence in the United States with the opening of three new stores on November 10.

Stein Mart was founded in 1908 by Sam Stein, a Russian immigrant who opened his first store in Greenville, Mississippi.

Mississippi’s new Stein Mart is opening at The Forum at Madison Grandview.

Read more at MBJ

Thanks for the memories

34 warships sent from US for Obama visit

New Delhi: The White House will, of course, stay in Washington but the heart of the famous building will move to India when President Barack Obama lands in Mumbai on Saturday.

Communications set-up and nuclear button and majority of the White House staff will be in India accompanying the President on this three-day visit that will cover Mumbai and Delhi.

He will also be protected by a fleet of 34 warships, including an aircraft carrier, which will patrol the sea lanes off the Mumbai coast during his two-day stay there beginning Saturday. The measure has been taken as Mumbai attack in 2008 took place from the sea.

Arrangements have been put in place for emergency evacuation, if needed.

Obama is expected to fly by a helicopter -- Marine One -- from the city airport to the Indian Navy's helibase INS Shikra at Colaba in south Mumbai.

Two jets, armed with advanced communication and security systems, and a fleet of over 40 cars will be part of Obama's convoy.

Around 800 rooms have been booked for the President and his entourage in Taj Hotel and Hyatt.

The President will have a security ring of American elite Secret Service, which are tasked to guard the President, along with National Security Guards (NSG) and personnel from central paramilitary forces and local police in Mumbai and Delhi.

Similar arrangements will be in place in Delhi, with the Air Force One to be kept in all readiness throughout Obama's stay here from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday morning.

Maurya Hotel, where the President will stay, has already been swarmed by American security personnel and protective measures have been put in place.

Security drills have already been carried out at the hotel as well as Rajghat, where he will visit.

Sources said 13 heavy-lift aircraft with high-tech equipment, three helicopters and 500 US security personnel have arrived in India ahead of Obama's visit.

The US would be spending a whopping $200 million (Rs. 900 crore approx) per day on President Barack Obama's visit to the city.


"The huge amount of around $200 million would be spent on security, stay and other aspects of the Presidential visit," a top official of the Maharashtra Government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit said.

About 3,000 people including Secret Service agents, US government officials and journalists would accompany the President. Several officials from the White House and US security agencies are already here for the past one week with helicopters, a ship and high-end security instruments.

"Except for personnel providing immediate security to the President, the US officials may not be allowed to carry weapons. The state police is competent to take care of the security measures and they would be piloting the Presidential convoy," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Read more at: NDTV

If we could only find the murder weapon . . .