Jackson Jambalaya

Louisiana did the same thing with Jindal in office. It's the Republican playbook. Starve the state and drive it in to bankruptcy all while giving their cronies tax breaks.

Louisiana, Kansas, and soon, Mississippi. It's not that a business friendly, low tax approach can't work, but taxes are such a small portion of attracting business to the State. We are already one of the most tax friendly and cheapest states in the country.

When the State infrastructure is crumbling, the only airport has about 3 connecting flights, the workforce is uneducated, and you couldn't pay people enough to relocate to Jackson; how are you going to hit the insane growth numbers that Tater uses in his projections?

And while our supermajority is passing discriminatory legislation and waving a Confederate flag, we're never going to get anywhere.

What 'discriminatory legislation' and please cite a reference as to who has suffered discrimination in particular. Not asking for maybes and what ifs and perhaps-this might happen down the road. Be specific. Where are your facts?

For it to be a "lesson for Mississippi," you have to assume that our Republican policymakers are willing and able to learn lessons.

And they manifestly aren't.

Just like Dems in deep blue states who kept digging public pension and other financial holes --math be damned-- the MSGOP isn't concerned with fiscal reality when they charge in the opposite direction.

It's about ideology, not sober utilitarian calculus of what will actually work and make lives better. (If you want to make yourself laugh, just say the phrase "sober utilitarian calculus" while picturing Tater and/or Phil.)

In our case, it's what the nice man from the American Enterprise Institute told us to do, and what Rush Limbaugh said we should do, so we're doing it.

1:01 doesn't understand he's the problem...

Certain taxes do have an affect on business location - at least its part of their evaluation. The INVENTORY TAX. The FRANCHISE TAX. Both are good examples. And when we are the only people competing that charge these two ridiculous taxes that other states eliminated decades ago, that does hurt us.

Once you get past the elimination of those two taxes (which I'll bet most JJ readers don't have any idea of who paid them, how they were calculated, or the net effect on the total revenue), the other tax reduction was the elimination of the lowest bracket for income taxes.

I know it has been said before, but the problem is not the taxes or their elimination. Over the past decade the state's general budget has grown from $4.5 billion to over $6.0 billion. Sorry folks, very few businesses or individuals has faced a 33% increase in business over the past decade. But Mississippi has - based on its built-in costs, set itself up to 'need' that amount of income to fund its Medicaid (increased from $500M to over $1B), Mental Health, and without naming all the growth programs we can't forget the demand for more, and more, and more for education.

Bitch about this leadership all you want. But they have at least started the program of cutting spending as well. That's the other side of the ledger and they are doing it - while all the beneficiaries and employees are crying croc tears. Mental Health: Time for it to start taking some hits. DOH: Close those regional offices. Keep it going and bring the spending back down to a reasonable level.

Of course the one other area that is overlooked is that this set of 'leadership' has quit spending one-time money to fund recurring expenses. Yes that hurts the annual approps process and makes it harder to live within your budget. How well did y'all do with that concept back during your term, Mr. Crawford.

I'm 1:01 and asked a very simple question when you posted this 11:20 and 2:42:

"...And while our supermajority is passing discriminatory legislation and waving a Confederate flag..."

It's alright that you can't answer the question; however, deflecting by saying I am the problem makes no more sense than your original claim of discrimination. You really should consider purchasing a villa in New Orleans.

Yes, we will blow past what Kansas and Loosiana did. No amount of tax cuts will bring more businesses here. Too much racial strife (both sides fault), crumbling roads and bridges, and dumb fat employees. Excuse me, I should say under educated population with health habits that come in 50th every year. But wave that flag baby! Heritage! Ain't nothing gonna change as long as rankin county runs this state.

Mississippi could eliminate every tax that current exists and still would be unable to attract business and new jobs to this state. This state is a category much lower than Kansas and Louisiana. We have a failed infrastructure for transportation, healthcare, education, and everything else down the list and a mostly uneducated work force in every county in the state. Every legislative session we send a clear message to the world that we do not want new jobs or new people coming to this state by passing every controversial, hate oriented bill they can. We still have the flag though so life is wonderful here.

If any business drives here to take a tour we have zero chance that they move here. Best bet is if they take a private jet (not Delta!). Meet at a Rankin hotel and then ask the Rankin delegation for tax credits.

Why would any business ever move here. I'm asking democrats and republicans

I REALLY hate ReCaptcha

Reading these comments one would think we have gravel roads and can't travel from one end of the state to the other.

8:37....anybody that reads the bitter comments on this blog by 70 year old has beens from Jackson knows this state is hopeless.

Surely any business considering moving to Mississippi would locate in an all white community with brick interstate exits. It has nothing to do with tax policy. Look at all the fast food joints and gas stations opening in Madison. Economic development baby!

we ain't gone let Kansas show us how it's done. Hold my drink, watch this......said our next governor.

Got news for Straw Man Crawford, it is moderate Republicans running Mississippi.

"8:37....anybody that reads the bitter comments on this blog by 70 year old has beens from Jackson knows this state is hopeless."
June 17, 2017 at 9:01 PM

Actually, you should have written, "Anybody WHO reads the bitter...".

And maybe you should consider discovering commas and hyphens.

Give it a rest Grammar Nazi.

A person doesn't get rich just by keeping his money in his pocket. He has to invest the money he has wisely.
If I spend my last $500 on something that will grow in value, it becomes an asset. If I use that asset later as collateral to start a business and the business succeeds, I have turned that asset into hundreds of thousands in a few years. I actually did just that.
We don't spend money in Mississippi on those things that can become assets. Natchez could be as much of a tourist attraction as Charleston or New Orleans, but you can't get there from anywhere easily. Vicksburg could have been a tourist attraction, but the efforts to preserve it's history didn't happen. Development ideas to help Jackson like adding river development to attract tourists never got anywhere. All these places still have some potential, but none city have the money to develop on their own and we know for damn sure any suggestion to help them would be met with nastiness.
Yes, we can travel very nice roads to any university football game but our highways don't lead to our airport from all directions and don't lead to airports that or transportation routes to points of interest. That's because we don't have a professional highway department, we have a political one where the commissioners compete politically. They aren't focused on the development of the State as a whole.
Building a Costco is not going to get more business from them. Building casinos got us more casinos, but without other attractions being supported as assets, we got very little from that. Giving tax breaks to businesses with no growth potential means only that owners will be buying a condo in Destin or new toys.

Tax reductions need to be targeted as do spending reductions. Norquist has certainly personally prospered and gained power as have all these other political" angry cause leaders, most of whom have zero expertise in what they are advocating. But, they create a job for themselves. They lack the perspective to look at the Nation as a whole If Norquist bothered , he'd know that taxes are a necessity for a nation and it's all about how tax money is spent!

8:37 obviously talkin bout 9:54. Get a life

1:01 Here's your answer though I'm not the one you asked.

Most recently, bill HB 1523 and the federal lawsuit filed against Mississippi regarding discrimination against the mentally ill are examples. You can learn that N.C. has had to walk back their version of HB 1523 because they lost business ( and the NCAA basketball tournament ) but we didn't have anything to lose. But, there's the problem of what we don't stand a chance of getting now.

We dodged the bullet that has hit N.C. on Voter ID thanks to our Secretary of State's attention to detail in implementation but the effort by the legislature had the same potential for another lawsuit.

You should watch N.C. They ended up with a Democrat as governor and when the gerrymandering case is finished, you'll find that the extreme right cookie is crumbling in that State.

But, what you really have to do is look at those discrimination lawsuits filed against the State of Mississippi .

You could have informed yourself and you still can by doing a "search". Try " Federal discrimination lawsuits filed against Mississippi". You could also look up how many sexual harassment lawsuits are filed in States per capita and compare Mississippi's stats. You might even try to figure out how much time and money we have spent defending such suits and wonder how that money might have been better spent.

But, you prefer to challenge others, knowing how time consuming a list of bill numbers or legal cases would be, without challenging yourself first. How about you giving us a list of all the bills that have resulted in increased jobs and revenues for the State?

8:24; I specifically told you NOT to answer with what-ifs, possibilities or things that might happen down the road. None of the examples you gave has shit to do with actual discrimination, actionable complaints or anybody who suffered the first damned damage.

Voter ID? Trot out somebody who has suffered discrimination. Wedding Cakes? Trot out two people who have suffered discrimination.

If the feds had not been run by a bunch of liberals in the DOJ CR Division, we would have seen multiple gerrymandering lawsuits. But those would have displeased democrats such as yourself.

Crafting sensible law has little to do with people sitting around thinking they might get sued. Doing what's right often carries that weight. Ya reckon?

Please tell me 7:52 is coming off a night of drugs and drinking! Jackson as a tourist destination? Can't get to Natchez? Natchez has long been a tourist destination, even with its blue-blood unwelcome mat rolled out.

Vicksburg as a tourist destination? It was just that prior to casinos coming to town and closing down all the old restaurants and buying up all the available riverfront. And the National Park, Yankee stronghold as it may be, did its part to stifle tourism by pissing on the memory of Confederates. Can't bury 'um here and can't have a single replica of anything Confederate in the Gift Center or pamphlets.

And not to leave out New Orleans mentioned by 7:52 as a tourist destination....It's not a tourist destination any longer. It's a game of 'will I get shot or robbed'. It's the reality of all that is socialist and democrat with one crazy nitwit as mayor. It's a weekend trip for drunks and revelers who think they're bullet-proof. Oh, but Farish Street could be another Bourbon or Beale Street if we just used the Pearl River properly and didn't have that wedding cake thing hanging over our heads.

Here's your answer

You can learn

You should watch

you'll find

But, what you really have to do

You could have informed yourself

you still can

You could also

You might even try

But, you prefer to

How about you giving us a list

Increased jobs and revenue? If you mean excluding waitress and bar tending jobs, he can't because educated people are leaving in droves. Legislature is limited in what they can do but leave it to them to be sure and make it worse.

7:52 I hear you, having gone from $1.75 an hour when I was in 10th grade to the spouse and I clearing over $500,000 a year now - investing in education and hard work takes times but it certainly pays off, and I made sure our kids understand it.

But you don't seem to understand why no one here wants another failed culled cow/beef plant, losing millions of our tax dollars on a plan that only enriched politicians and the crooks (most of them now in jail, thankfully) over an idea no one in their right mind would have invested their own money in. (Attention grammar Nazi - I know I ended that sentence with a preposition - get over it).

Let the investors and entrepreneurs do their own due diligence and invest their own money in projects they think will eventually flourish and return a profit. Keep the government spending limited to things that are a social responsibility, such as education, public health, infrastructure, etc. Most politicians in either party are too dumb or too crooked to be trusted with much else, especially given the results they have given us for those essential public services.

9:03 check the stats in the tourist dollars pouring into Nola. It's a wonderful city compared to the metro area

No Bill, we are not in Kansas. BUT, we are not in Illinois either - a state that has raised, not lowered taxes; a state that hasn't done anything to control spending and watched their retirement system spin out of control. Likely to be the first state to fall into bankruptcy.

Given the choice, I'd rather have the leadership of our state, attempting to reign in spending before it gets totally out of control, and bringing revenues back in line with the economy ofthe state as a hole.

1:01, let me ask you a question: if your child was graduating college, would you want them to move back to Mississippi? I know I'm telling my children to run. The opportunities just aren't here. Why aren't those opportunities here? I think there are a lot of reasons, including (but certainly not limited to) the stigma with HB1523 and the Flag. You are being intellectually dishonest to refuse to acknowledge that truth.

2:13 as the parent of two children who have been both in and out of Mississippi since graduating school - and both very successful in their respective fields - I am happy to say that both have started working to move back to the state to spend their mid-life (35-40 year olds). The opportunities are not jumping out from behind every tree, but they aren't doing that in many other parts of the country now. But if you are good in your area, willing to work hard and smart, there are opportunities here in the state

LMAO the Droves commenter makes an appearance. Somebody please buy the harpy a thesaurus.

If people were 'moving out in droves', the census would show a dramatic head count reduction.

Every state has its unique set of pros and cons. EVERY state! Show me ONE pro regarding California, Oregon, Washington State, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Vermont, Florida, Louisiana, Kansas, Utah, Arkansas, D.C. and Texas and I'll show you FIVE cons.

And if you find that one pro so attractive, pack up and move there with your college educated kids.

7:27, Census numbers remaining stagnant have nothing to do with loss of college graduates. See https://nyti.ms/2f26TBn

@ June 18, 2017 at 7:52 AM

Well said - you made a lot of great points. I share the same sentiments as you.

To say there aren't opportunities in Mississippi is naive.

However, the state does not have any direction or a clear-cut identity besides being a haven for racist and bigots. So how can the state build off of that?

Mississippi has a branding problem and the big money players in this state know it, but you have a major voting block that hates change and is in love with the status quo. The super majority knows it and they figured the tax cuts would draw in more companies. Now while the tax cuts are great for the companies - it takes away money from investing in the state's infrastructure which is in very bad shape.

It is a shame Mississippi is not capitalizing on the gulf coast (G.C.) in regards to tourism and importing goods into the state. But due to piss poor logistics between the central Mississippi and the G.C. we are losing there.

Mississippi has legislators with the wrong priorities. They are too worried about legislating morality, instead of fixing roads, education, and health care.

This place is an easy fix, once we can get some legislators up in there that are tired of being the laughing stock in the country.

Yes, the educated and affluent ARE moving out in droves. Population is stagnant due to those staying behind multiplying to keep us at break even.

Dear 9:03am who said this:

And not to leave out New Orleans mentioned by 7:52 as a tourist destination....It's not a tourist destination any longer. It's a game of 'will I get shot or robbed'. It's the reality of all that is socialist and democrat with one crazy nitwit as mayor. It's a weekend trip for drunks and revelers who think they're bullet-proof.

You have no idea what you're talking about. New Orleans is a major tourist destination and is expecting over 10M visitors this coming year which will be a record. The streets of NOLA are teeming with out-of-town visitors every day, many of them from Europe. Only a tiny, tiny fraction of them have any issues with crime. The people being shot and stabbed almost always know their assailant and it's usually in the poor black parts of town, i.e., drug turf wars. Your assertions have literally zero validity.

@ June 18, 2017 at 9:03 AM

and I quote you per verbatim - "And not to leave out New Orleans mentioned by 7:52 as a tourist destination....It's not a tourist destination any longer. It's a game of 'will I get shot or robbed'. It's the reality of all that is socialist and democrat with one crazy nitwit as mayor."

Let's look at the tangible evidence that New Orleans IS A TOURIST DESTINATION

Mardi Gras
Host of the NCAA D-1 National Football Game
Host of the NCAA D-1 Men's Basketball Final Four
Host of the NCAA D-1 Women's Basketball Final Four
Host of the NFL's Super Bowl
Host of the NBA's All-Star Weekend
Voodoo Fest
Jazz Fest
Essence Festival
Countless National convetions for men's and women's collegiate sororities and fraternities
Host of National Masonic Conventions

If I missed any by any chance, feel free to add.

To add fuel to the fire, none of those things have ever been hosted in Mississippi - need we say more?

4:38 PM Mississippi does not even bother to host our own state groups. There is a long list of state professional associations and groups who meet in Destin and other places out of state every year. New Orleans has a very strong tourist economy and astronomical real estate prices as people buy second homes there.