Bryant's special session idea not very popular

House Speaker Billy McCoy is saying no thanks to Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant's idea of a special session.

From this DJ article:

"Why call a special session in October?" McCoy asked in a prepared statement. "Simply wait two months and we'll be back in regular session at no additional costs."

It gets better over at the C-L, where McCoy drops this line:

"Seems like (Bryant) is fast moving into the governor's position. ... But he's not governor yet," McCoy, D-Rienzi, said, referring to widespread speculation that Bryant will seek the office in 2011.

Even some of Bryant's top supporters are less than enthusiastic about the idea:

Sen. Terry Brown, R-Columbus, said, "If I'm called, I'll show up. But we've been in enough special sessions already."

Now that it is clear that some sort of tobacco tax is likely, the fight will be centered on what how to use the money:

Bryant told reporters that a debate over what to do with the revenue could be postponed until January. But an argument over how much to tax tobacco also appears likely.

State Rep. George Flaggs, a Democrat who has authored several bills to increase tobacco taxes, said he'll push for a $1 hike and split the revenue to pay for Medicaid and services in the general budget. Flaggs' last bill would have hiked the tax by 44 cents.

But Bryant's spokesman said the lieutenant governor disagrees with using a tobacco tax hike as part of a long-term funding solution to Medicaid.

Why would Bryant compromise when he can try to get everything his way?

Haley Barbour is Guilty of Tax Hypocrisy

Thursday John Arthur Eaves, Democratic candidate for governor, supported the call of Reps. Steve Holland and George Flaggs for a special session to fully fund Mississippi’s eight colleges and universities to combat a 6% tuition increase recently adopted by the state college board.

Eaves began his speech by addressing his race for governor. He said: “People tell me I’m running against a Goliath. . . . The real Goliaths in this state are mediocrity, corruption, poverty, injustice, and low expectations. . . . Putting higher education out of reach . . . makes the Goliaths harder to beat back.”

Referring to the recent tax cut package for the Toyota plant in Tupelo, Eaves continued: “We have provided tax relief to big corporations who want to build plants in our state, and we have an obligation to provide tax relief that makes a quality education affordable to all Mississippians who work hard and play by the rules.”

According to Flaggs and Holland, the state will have more than $200 million in reserves at the end of the fiscal year. Only $25 million is needed to fully fund Mississippi’s colleges and universities.

To this the candidate replied: “It is wrong to hold onto hundreds of millions in the treasury when these kids have to begin their adult life with huge debt. We should not tax our future.”

Our students need the money. We have the money. Where is the governor?