August 2 is my birthday. The big 60 is finally here. Old age awaits. My first thought is that I made it. Not an easy task. I think of all the close calls. Surely, my guardian angel has been at work.
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Survived my 60th
August 7, 2018 by
Legislative committees need to regain their old authority
August 1, 2018 by
Since the Republicans replaced the Democrats as the dominant party in Mississippi a lot has changed in our state. The Republicans have been good at cutting, but not so good at governing.
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Facebook, Google can’t watch government like newspapers
July 24, 2018 by
Thomas Jefferson said, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
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Pondering the Fourth of July
July 2, 2018 by
July Fourth marks the beginning of the Big Bake for most Mississippians. Get ready for two months of humid heat. Most people think the further south you go, the hotter it gets, but that’s not necessarily the case. As you move toward the equator, the summer days get shorter, offsetting the more direct sun rays.
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State government growth has come to a halt, not sure if good thing
June 19, 2018 by
For Better or worse, Mississippi Republicans are fulfilling their promises to cut state government. This is a dramatic change from the doubling each decade since 1990.
Based on the annual reports from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, total state spending grew 124 percent from 1990 to 2000, 99 percent from 2000 to 2010, but only four percent from 2010 to 2018. That’s a huge shift.
In other words, after two decades of doubling in size, the growth of state government has come to a screeching halt since the Republicans booted out the Democrats as the dominant party in the state.
Interesting time in Memphis
May 22, 2018 by
Every time I go to a music festival, I figure it’s my last one, but somehow I ended up at the Memphis in May music festival recently. My role at these festivals is essentially teen chaperone. What is it about teenagers and music festivals? They love them. I liken it to a herd of antelopes with a smart phone stuck on their horn.
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Mississippi needs to embrace genetic testing
May 8, 2018 by
Mississippi spends about $350 million a year on prescription drugs through its Medicaid program. Unfortunately, a huge percentage of that money is wasted because the drugs don’t work. A mouth swab genetic test could fix that, but progress is slow in our state. Expensive drugs such as statins, diabetes medications, blood thinners, antidepressives and the like are covered under Mississippi Medicaid but the genetic tests that can determine whether they work aren’t covered.
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Roads, bridges require a gas tax
May 1, 2018 by
When the state legislature voted 30 years ago to vastly improve Mississippi’s highways, they passed an 18 cent gas tax. It was the most logical way to fund the program.
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Locking up the mentally ill and throwing away the key is wrong
April 17, 2018 by
Two hundred and twenty-six years ago, the Federalists were having trouble getting the states to ratify the new Constitution of the United States. The anti-Federalists, led by Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Patrick Henry, feared the proposed constitution did not adequately protect the individual rights of the common man.
As a result, James Madison drafted the Bill of Rights. The rest is history.
Regulated monopolies are not the best model
April 9, 2018 by
Competition is the lifeblood of success, so it’s good news to finally see some competition in the bidding for statewide landline telecommunication services to state agencies, schools, libraries, universities and other governmental entities. After decades of a virtual AT&T monopoly, Mississippi-based C-Spire has won the bid and will save the state $32 million.
“For decades, AT&T was the only real statewide landline provider,” Hu Meena, C-Spire CEO, told me in a telephone interview. “Over the last 15 years, we’ve being putting in thousands of miles of fiber network in the state of Mississippi, so we were able to compete and put in a very attractive bid that allowed us to win most of the services over the next eight years.”
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