Speakah of the House Phillip Gunn and Leftenent Governor Delbert Hosemann are holding a press conference right now. The presser is streamed below.
First Consul Tate Reeves responded:
This morning, the Lieutenant Governor said he believes we should change our emergency funding plan to delay using CARES Act funds for weeks or months to help people because “it’s not like we had a Katrina event here.” That’s wrong.
It misunderstands the severity of the crises for the 170,000 people who have lost their job. The small businesses that have vanished. The people who have died. And this kind of delay would seriously harm our efforts to keep people safe.
34 comments:
Tate had better issue an Executive Order under Emergency conditions, otherwise, apparently - Mississippi doesn't really need a Governor. Pure unadulterated politics.
Tate had also better flex the muscle he has, or Hoseman/Gunn will run things going forward. Didn't vote for ya Tater, but many are pulling for you on this one. Say nothing, and bring the hammer down on these two usurpers so they know good and well you won't tolerate dissension in the ranks.
Hosemann's actions speak louder than his words....so YES he and Gunn have demonstrated loudly through their action that they do not trust the Governor, nor respect him - or the office. Hoseman thinks he's the grand old man and professor who's always right. He's a pure bullshit artist.
I think the Gov has done a really good job so far, but it's not his role to spend money, it's the people's through the legislature.This is a tantrum that is going to make him look foolish in spite of all the good decisions he's made. He should sit back and turn up the heat on the Legislature through his daily press conferences - I believe he'd get more done that way and look like a better leader.
They just need to cut a check to every citizen for 416 dollars. Whether Reeves or the legislature gets the money it will go into political kickbacks, pet projects and otherwise wasted in supporting the bureaucracy at a time when every Mississippian is hurting.
You dumb asses that bought into the hokie Dilbert crap, now have what you deserve.This guy is an absolute egotistical maniac.
So Congress sends the money to the individual states. Did they send it to the governor? Did they send it to the state? If they sent it to the state, would not state law (constitution) dictate how it is distributed. Did Congress earmark the money so that it must be spent a certain way? These answers should be forthcoming immediately so that we can stop the bullshit and move on. Is it that complicated?
I'm tellin' ya, Dingbert is positioning himself to run for governor; perhaps next time.
@10:42 and @11:12, neither of you know Delbert, or anything about him. If he wanted to be Governor, he could have easily beaten Tater Tot. Instead, he ran for and was elected to the most powerful position in Mississippi.
Filbert can run for gov if he wants, I will never vote for him.
11:12 DUH All Lt. Govs position themselves to run for governor, including Tater. How is Dingbert different?
I can’t wait for them to settle this so the AG can do a press release taking a side.
Delbert knows the political game. Both Lt. Governor and Governor have two-term limits. You get the first before moving on to the second to maximize your power over time. I have no doubt he is positioning himself for a gubernatorial run. Whether it is in four years or eight depends on Tater's results and if it looks like he could be unseated in 2023.
I don't profess to know the law on this, but I am all for an appropriate court settling it. This type of thing needs legal clarity now and in the future.
11:01 - you are on the right track. The CARES act sends money to state and local governments (populations over 500,000). It's a question for lawyers, but it would seen to imply the money would be spent in accordance with each state's budget process. For some states that's the governor but here that's the legislature. The money can only be used for COVID-19 related expenses and not to make up for virus related revenue shortfalls.
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46298
Part of the CARES education money is allocated to the governor of each state to be used to help school districts. So, Tate can spend that money. The rest of the education money flows through MDE to help school districts with COVID-19 related expenses (such as expenses related to distance learning).
https://oese.ed.gov/offices/education-stabilization-fund/governors-emergency-education-relief-fund/
Who has ever trusted the legislature?
Biden will bring Lynn to the White House as his Attorney General. Biden needs a strong, seasoned constitutional, practicing attorney in that role. That'll get her out of Dibborts way and grease the skids. Dibbort will be too old in eight years to run so he's gotta put his arse in first gear beginning the end of next year. Gunn will be left flapping in the breeze, like two torn sails or two flopping elephant ear.
At almost 80, Willie Simmons will be your next Light Gubnor. Garreer Gobgert is still wundrin' what hit him.
I knoe my stuf.
Reeves is actually very lucky to have an event flush Hosemann out so thoroughly during his first year serving as Lt. Governor. Time isn't on the 72-year-old Hosemann's side. He has all along has planned to run for Governor in 2023.
No one is talking about the most important and only thing that Mississippians care about: Will there be a college football season?
Delbert is never without an opinion. His opinions are never wrong.
They should build a beef plant.
This is nothing less than Tate's draconian asshole chickens coming home to roost. His attitude and behavior as Lt Governor toward legislators and constituents alike set the wheels in motion for this showdown at the OK Corral.
We live in Mississippi so our political drama will be called House of Lards
Anyone can run for any office if they so choose.....I believe the mystery here is why on earth is Dinglebert supported by the media so pervasively?
get ready Mississippi, our freakin Einsteins including Tater are fixing to "Hose" the entire State of Mississippi for their buddies and special projects. Shock the world for once, DO THE RIGHT THING.....yeah right just like all the unicorns that are walking around at fairgrounds.....All of them are crooked as hell, "nice guys" but crooked as hell
God Forbid that anyone we elected might actually start gathering information and come up with a detailed plan how to best utilize those funds in the best interest of the State and it's people.
That'd be more " novel" than this " novel" virus!
Trump sent the money, maybe we should ask him who is in charge.
When the legislature convenes this time they will finally have some appropriate pictures to hang on the capitol walls for posterity. They will all be wearing masks like the bandits they are. And Tater should wear one too!
Delbert claims he has repeatedly asked the agencies if they needed any money now. And because they say they didn't, he thinks there is no problem.
The reason they don't need any money today is because their budgets have been escalated by the Governor, under the existing law that allows that, to use the federal money they they want to grab today.
The escalation is what has made this work over the past month. The legislature, because of these two power hungry egos, is fixing to screw all that up.
Thanks Delbert.
Bill Dees, I realize you think you are omnipotent and can discern who anonymous posters are and what they know so I will defer to your statement that those two individuals that commented "don't know Delbert".
Well, I do. I have known him for over 40 years, and evidently you do not know the man.
He absolutely wanted to be Governor. Said so many times both before and after the filing deadline.
And of course that was after he wanted to be US Senator.
He chose to run for LG because he was chicken shit, just like he was in 1981 when he wanted to run for Congress, but backed out. And in 2003 when he filed to run for Attorney General and withdrew the day after the filing deadline (effectively giving our poor state Jim Hood as our AG for 16 years)
He is an egotistical, power hungry individual that thinks he should be in charge no matter what office he holds.
And, your prediction in hindsight that he could have beaten Tate has nothing to support it other than your opinion. If Delbert had thought he could beat Tate, he would have run. But his problem there was just like always, he let his alligator mouth get his chickenshit ass in trouble. And he found that many of his money backers were already committed to Tate, and would stay there.
So, not willing to give up any symbolism of importance, he ran for the seat that was unoccupied by a legitimate opponent - following the Stacy Pickering and Phil Bryant model of advancement.
@1154, you are close to correct, at least in your beginning thoughts. Each state has its own laws and regulations on matters like this - but our laws are not the constitutional ones that these two powerhungry politicians are claiming, especially Phillip who probably knows better but is being a good lawyer and trying to muddy the truth with a good sounding argument.
These dollars are not 'appropriated' dollars in the sense of the constitutional argument the Speaker is making. They were appropriated by the federal government, the Congress, and are Grant Funds to the state.
It is true that the appropriation of our states tax dollars is to be done by the legislature - that's the constitutional provision that the Speaker kept on repeating while trying to equate these CARE ACT dollars to be the same. He constantly referred to them as being 'tax dollars from the citizens of Mississippi'. Actually, that's a stretch - just as with all other federal dollars, Mississippians paid a small portion of them. But in this case, they are not even tax dollars paid by anybody - the federal government just printed them and went into deep debt for them. Forgetting that little detail though, they are not 'Mississippi's tax dollars' as repeated over and over - they are grant dollars.
Assuming your argument, the state does have a provision for dealing with these federal funds - and that is that they are directed by the Governor. That is what these two folks are getting directing to change - similar to changing the rules of a football game in the middle of the third quarter.
If this was such a serious constitutional question - then why haven't Phillip and Delbert moved to change this existing statute prior to the state receiving these dollars (in case you have missed Delbert saying it the total is $1.25 billion; he repeats that number at least every other sentence, which shows that the only reason they are worried about this now is that the amount is large and they want to stick their thumb into the pie.)
For several decades there has existed a state statute that provides that funds such as these were to be spent at the direction of the Governor, and are not subject to 'appropriation' by the legislature. In 2005, Speaker Billy McCoy (certainly no slouch in trying to protect the power of the Legislature) agreed that the legislature had no legal role to play, but just wanted a seat a the table to discuss what happened to those Katrina monies.
These two politicians are wanting nothing more than to project their power. Don't quite know what is driving Phillip other than just the pure greed of power and playing to his Republican caucus in the House. But I'll bet once all the cards are dealt, you'll find a particular individual with ties to Delbert and who made millions from the Governor's control of the hundreds of millions of BP Oil money. He knows he is on the outs with Tate and will not be able to such on any of the tits that will come from this spending unless he can siphon parts of it off through his Delbert connections. And since his dream of having the Tourism Department removed from MDA and put under a legislative dominated board is certain to disappear with the attention of the legislature having changed since the advent of COVID, he won't be able to keep his lucrative media contract with MDA/Tourism that Delbert tried to salvage with his bill creating more government.
Watch for it - if this power play succeeds, MR G will have his fingers back into the lucrative gravy that he discovered in the Bryant days.
Go look at the $ already spent with vendors in the state. Who was awarded the contract to provide support to MESC? Where’s the RFQ for that work? Who bidded? There has to be oversight because there’s good ole boys in every level of politics.
8:26; Not that it matters, but MESC (now MDES) is funded 100% with federal dollars, not state. Always has been.
And Digburt waited until the filing deadline to drop out of the AG race because, simply, he did NOT want a strong republican in that race. And look at what we have now...just what Digburt hoped for...a weak one that presents no challenge, no authority and no experience in any kind of courtroom...only a squeaky voice of dissent.
Yes all the LLC’s & Ponzi schemes that were opened & not investigated are a great example of the trust he is asking each citizen for! Ain’t happening!
@ 8:07 pm
Your comment includes “ the state does have a provision for dealing with these federal funds ”
Could you share this provision? Where is it the content available to read
?
" 8:26; Not that it matters, but MESC (now MDES) is funded 100% with federal dollars, not state. Always has been."
@ 9:24:
Technically you are correct.
But to simplify, in the end we all pay for this program.
Yes, Unemployment is paid by the Feds to the States for disbursement, but the money comes from a tax each state assesses against local employers.
Don't think for one minute the employers don't pass this selective tax on to us in some creative fashion.
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