Will Phil Bryant hijack the tobacco tax?

No one is better than Republicans at "if you can't beat them, join them" politics.

And so, it comes as no suprise that Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant is calling for an October special session to discuss a tobacco tax.

Here's my prediction if we in fact do get a tobacco tax passed in October:

1. The House will have to settle for a much lower increase than will be beneficial to the state, but they'll still be able to claim victory in forcing Barbour to sign one.
2. Barbour will sign the tobacco tax because it is so low that it won't really hurt his buddies at the tobacco companies.
3. The bill will come with no spending ties, and then during the regular session Bryant and the Senate will pass a bill that diverts the tobacco tax increase to pay for rising tuition costs.
4. Bryant will walk away with all the credit because he called the special session and recommended that the increase be passed and he recommended that it go toward tuition, which gives him the education plank for his gubernatorial run.

But here's another scenario, where the Republicans do what they do best, which is confuse the hell out of the general public to the point that the voters think they are trying to accomplish something when in fact they are doing nothing more than playing "gotcha politics".

The scenario:

1. Bryant and the Senate propose a miniscule tobacco tax increase, floating inflated numbers on increased revenue for the state and hypothetical uses for this money, such as offsetting tuition increases.
2. The House refuses to cave because they know the value of this tax increase, and if they pass a 25-cent increase now, they'll never get the modest -- much less ample -- increase that will actually benefit the state.
3. The GOP spin machine will go full force talking about how Democrats are obstructing the path to a cigarette tax that everyone -- including good ol' Bryant -- wants. The GOP will accuse Democrats of being the reason for the state not being able to provide relief for Medicaid or higher tuition.
4. Bryant will have his education plank for his gubernatorial run.

Granted, I may be reading too much into the tution thing. It probably is unrelated to the tobacco tax plan. But little reason exists for Bryant's not wanting to decide how the tax will be spent in October except for they want to spend it in an area that will be more politically beneficial to them.

College tuition instead of health care fits that bill, folks...