Jackson Jambalaya

Can they at least give us an accounting of where the $75 million of our money was spent? Doubt it.

If they invested it in plant and equipment and new hires and then the thing tanked, so be it. But I sense nobody knows where it went.

It's too bad this didn't work out the way they had hoped. You can't blame cities and states for wanting to bring good paying jobs and industry to the area but all to often they gamble with tax payer money and it doesn't work. It's easy to back a deal when it is someone else's money. It is also very hard to see where all the money goes when a city contributes $75 million to a project that would never happen without the city or state intervention.

Sooooo, where's our State Auditor? Where's the money Stacey? Crickets. He's probably on guard duty out of the country.

Ok, all you arm chair auditors. What's the basis for accusations that money loaned for construction and equipment wasn't spent on construction and equipment? Just how in the hell do you figure that the plant was built and equipped, by some magic pixie dust sprinkled on the site? Not arguing that it wturned out to be a good deal, but where is any evidence that the money wasn't spent as designed?

What a great reference for MSTop50 winner, Haley Barbour.

In addition to Stion, there is (was) Twin Creek Technologies, Kior, GreenTech Automotive, and of course, Kemper. This is what happens when your flagship university turns out lawyers and politicians instead of Mississippi-grown entrepreneurs, and the uneducated populace sits around thinking that their government will bring jobs for them to the state.

Mississippi is cursed, doncha know? Blood soaked land and all. You’d be better suited to go fetch an Amazonian Shahman to tell you what will work and where you can put it instead of a business analyst or a bond attorney.
It’s the only logical explanation. YUP.
And if you can’t find a shahman, Louisiana is next door. A Voodoo priestess might do just as good.

mr fish, i wouldn't worry about haley getting hustled.....if i had to guess, my guess would be he got his buck$ up front. at any rate, he's not hurting right now....too busy lobbying for Russia, Iran and Qatar

6:50, you stopped your list short, didn't you? Ignoring the fact that the state had no money in Kemper) a pesky little fact to folks who like good stories and can ignore facts) you failed to include in your list Eurocopter, Serverstal, Airbus, Yokohoma, and of course Toyota among many others that were and are absolute successes. But hey, you are,a member of the 100% agree or your opinion and politics are crap, so you probably expect 100% perfection in everything.

@8:02 Boss Hogg doesn't get a pass for his disasters using the state treasury as an investment bank. He crowed loud and long about the Beef Plant debacle and then exponentially blew that loss out of the water during his tenure. There is no room for error when using taxpayer money and Haley Barbour's blunders are more than fair game.

Nor does Barbour get a pass for the ruthless dictators he represents as a lobbyist. You probably don't want to discuss that.

8:02, Relative to the rest of the Southern states, or for that matter a number of third world countries, just what percent of perfection do you think Mississippi has actually achieved over the past fifty years?

Corporations exploit cheap labor and politicians!

Not 100% sure 8:02 but I think some of those you listed were post-Barbour. Not arguing your point though.
And 6:50, I think you are in a bit of a stretch listing OM as the "states flagship university..."...
PUHLease.

Okay 9:36, I should have put “flagship” inside quotes so you would have recognized the sarcasm. Many of us outside of Mississippi know very well what a phony place Ole Miss has become.

I was hoping one of the leg humpers could throw in a Hugh Freeze joke and somehow relate it.

They are blaming foreign companies for taking business away from them, but that's a bunch of malarkey!

Due to the current Dumbass in Chief trying to save coal country - we are going in reverse to clean energy. Instead of moving in that direction towards clean energy, America is now running away from it.

Oh well cut off your nose in spite of your face.......................

There ARE no Hugh Freeze jokes. Sadly, everything we thought was a joke is now known to be reality. You can yuck that one up if you like, though.

"Clean energy" is a Trojan horse of bullshit.

GO GREEN !!!!!

I think "green" needs to be defined. Because someone is laughing all the way to the bank.

Billy McCoy and the beef plant dont have anything on haley's subsidies.

Are there any “clean energy” industries that survive without taxpayer subsidies?

"someone is laughing all the way to the bank." Yep. 2.3 Billion in tax breaks for the rich. Private Equity firms. Dems, like Terry McAuliffe, riding in the cart with Haley. Local politicians squawking about all "them jobs."

BTW, where was ole Chrissy McDaniel, from nearby Laurel, setting himself on fire to protest this STION plant? Hmmmmm. Must been out voting for pork barrel road projects around his alma mater and Laurel. That "eerie silence" is so loud on this from Mr. Aint' No Pork Barrel Man in his Mercedes. Oh, wait...

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2011 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Senator(s) Kirby, Blount, Butler (38th), Carmichael, Chassaniol, Collins, Davis, Dawkins, Dearing, Dickerson, Fillingane, Frazier, Hopson, Horhn, Jackson (11th), Jackson (32nd), Jordan, Lee (35th), McDaniel, Montgomery, Powell, Simmons, Stone, Ward, Watson, Wilemon
Senate Concurrent Resolution 644
(As Adopted by Senate and House)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING AND COMMENDING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF MISSISSIPPI DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GRAY SWOOPE..... Swoope is leaving behind an organization that is better off than it was when he first took over. .....Twin Creeks Technologies' and Stion's solar panel manufacturing facilities; Soladigm, a producer of energy-efficient dynamic insulated glass units; and biofuels producer KiOR. ... "He and the Mississippi Development Authority have led the way in creating thousands of high-paying jobs, and our citizens will benefit from his effort for decades to come," Governor Barbour said.

I reckon Chrissy was "for it before he was against it"

A pox on all their houses

6:29 FYI there was no construction on this project. Stion occupied and existing building

When will we (and I include conservatives like myself) acknowledge that aside from his effective handling of Katrina recovery and rebuilding, Haley was a failure as both a conservative and a governor?

Every time I see the sign at Ole Miss for the "Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence " I think that's either an Oxymoron or one Hell of a sick joke!

it is sad. I looked into that company a while back for a second home that was all electric. The base cost for a 5 killowatt array with their proprietary stuff was about 20k. It would have taken the lifespan of the panels to recoup the initial investment. Until the power companies will agree to pay the homeowner for power at a reasonable rate, there is no reason to invest unless you are trying to live off the grid.

go one state over and drive through New Orleans east and every house is covered in solar. It makes sense if the utility companies are on board, fuck Entergy.

1:42: Ole Miss should rename the building