Jackson Jambalaya

Hard to disagree. Bryant was O.K. with medicaid before he became not O.K. with it.

Where would you increase taxes 11:43?

The point of this discussion is not where one might increase taxes. The point is that Bryant never spoke out about this until NOW! Either he was in agreement for years or was oblivious. But he did have a FOUR OH ONE KAYE!

Did either of you speak with him directly or are you just going on what is read in the paper?

My favorite part of this post is Moak (D-Annandale) that is priceless.

Gov. Bryant has been learning on the job as all chief executives do. It takes a while to find all the levers of state power available to a governor and whats really going on behind the scenes. He has broad investigative powers to uncover the truth behind the numbers like the PEER committee arm of the legislature. If he has a good relationship with the state auditor he has an additional window to state and county matters. The executive branch is full of bureaucrats that answer to lawmakers more than the executive. Our governor is a figurehead or a chief magistrate with a veto power. The balance of his power comes from courting lawmakers, lobbyists, and other state officers. He has, of course, the bully pulpit which he has used to make his ideological statements.

"Gov. Bryant has been learning on the job as all chief executives do. It takes a while to find all the levers of state power available to a governor and whats really going on behind the scenes"

Good lord, he was Lt Gov. We are supposed to think he hadn't noticed Medicaid is within the Guv office?

The apology angle is lame. Bryant is a fool, and only a fool wastes breath asking a fool to apologize for being a fool.

But 9:02 is lamer. The Guv has few powers, sure ... but he IS in charge of Medicaid.

Well, Bob Robinson was a fraud and he's gone.

Oh, pardon me Haley

He already did.

Haven't heard one Donkeycrat yet detail how they would pay for the Medicaid expansion.

Having that tub of lard Moak as your spokesperson isn't going to win the PR war.

Perhaps if Bobby Moak actually lived in the district he purports to represent, he could be taken seriously.

I'd like some third party advice on this deal. I think Bryant is playing politics and speaking to the tea partiers to prevent a three way race with Reeves and a tea party backed candidate splitting the vote.

I'v heard some smart voices saying that it is a no brianer for our state to take the Medicaid funds- but this should be easy to verify. We can either afford it, or we can't. We can leave all of the non-sense Tea Party neo-Bircher bullshit at the door.

If we can't afford it- fine, lets acknowledge it without the ideological baggage.

Tea Party harpy craps on the lawn again.

10:57. Reeves is a nonissue. He wil go down in his own primary. This position is way over his head. LMS has set in.

Does Medicaid have a problem with waste, fraud and abuse? If so, then it's certainly okay for the Governor to point that out, regardless of whether he pointed it out previously. Rep. Moak is stretching as far as he can to 1) criticize the Governor, and 2) get his own name in the paper. McCoy is gone, Hood is unwilling, Bennie sticks to his own district, Luckett would rather be mayor of Clarksdale, Rickey Cole is just the paid staffer. The Democrats need someone to step up and become the state leader, and Moak is only too happy to volunteer for the job. Look for him to issue plenty of press releases in the next couple of years.

Yes, that is true but Moak whines too much.

The suggestion that Phil Bryant or anyone else who held the same positions he did could not obtain information about " fraud and waste" in this state's program or any other program is laughable.

It is simply a matter of taking the time and energy to gather and read information...something FEW elected officials of either party seem willing to do.

No one seems to be bothering to examine the consequences of this decision.

For those of you who are assuming that it will simply be that the shiftless won't get freebies from us hard working, deserving folks will find the " unintended consequences" affect your medical care.

Medicaid and Medicare reimburses the care givers and hospitals or had you forgotten that?

Medicaid makes sure children of the poor aren't contagious.

The GOP , at every level, is doing their best to look like a bunch of sore losers who , rather than try to offer constructive solutions, will just refuse to cooperate. Or who, just don't like the guy who won so much that they will sabotage anything and everything just to make sure he fails.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the Presidency,the whole country suffers the failures.

At best, it's laziness at its worst. Reform involves knowledge of the details and getting down to specifics to eliminate what doesn't work without inadvertently destroying what does work.

Cutting spending means you have to find out how the money is spent and by whom to the penny .

Here's an idea. Everyone reading this knows that a business should not be able to own private residences and vehicles used solely by the owner so he can write off all associated expenses off as business expenses and so a gardener and maid becomes an employee of the business and a plumber a paid contractor. The rest of us have to pay for our homes and cars and maintenance and insurance out of our incomes.

Where would you increase taxes March 11, 2013 at 8:28 AM?

I just love it when the "gimme more" (and you pay for it) crowd squeals fowl over someone elses money! My gawd ya'll! Aren't we throwing enough money at the slackers already? These bottom feeders have positioned themselves for a free ride from the cradle to the grave with help from people like Mr. Moak. NO MAS Mr. Moak!

Moak is an idiot.

Those wanting more on med--answer one very important question: WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING TO COME FROM TO COVER THIS?

Dont say--Feds are paying for it. that's short term and it still doesn't answere WHERE ARE THE FEDS GETTING THAT MONEY.

Where is state going to come up with the money to cover it.

Joint budget committee Medicaid recommendations:
FY2012 $762M
FY2013 $821M
FY2014 $980M

Speaker Gunn must know where he's going to get the money because his name is all over this recommendation.

KF; How can you possibly say "Bob Robinson was a fraud"? Back that up. The man has served in many state government roles for forty years, apparently, and to my knowledge, without scandal, investigation or impropriety.

Whatta YOU have against Robinson?

While we are discussing DEMOCRATS, respectfully so, I have a question. Maybe a few questions. I read three candidates in the Vicksburg election for Mayoral who were running as Democrats were disqualified. While I understand they can appeal the decision, I question the true motive on one or two. Especially hearing Marie Thompson who is the current mayor "Paul Winfield (a democrat)"'s assistant and I hear is also playing an active role on the Vicksburg Mississippi Democratic Party Committee. Actually, I was told she is the head of the committee. If so, isn't that a conflict of interest? Can you think of where my concerns are going?

9:57; It's not clear where you're going, but it's clear where you ARE. On a dead-end street. Party affiliation, party volunteerism, party office and committee position do not disqualify one from running for public office. In fact, those are often rather stepping stones.

I'm March 11 at 8:28am and I'd start with tax reform as my post implied.
Eliminating the tax write offs I mentioned would be a good start and generate revenue. Some of the houses, including resort properties results in millions in write offs.
A business buys houses and apartments and cars for their CEO/owners. Housekeepers,cooks,gardeners become company employees. It's a business expense out of the profits. The CEO also gets a salary but NONE of it has to go for personal expenses so his real income is much higher. He either gets lifetime rights ( which can include his entire family in a trust) or else he can buy the residence and contents at depreciated value at retirement ( GE's Walsh was given as a bonus his 5th Ave. apartment).
I'm all for people getting rich. I just think the rich shouldn't have tax privileges the rest of us don't have!