Fifty Million Smackers

Da-umn.

A mystery man receiving $50 million from prominent Mississippi attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs earned the money by paying off allies during Scruggs' epic battle with the tobacco industry in the late 1990s, said a former colleague turned government witness.
..........
Scruggs has said a $50 million cut from his fees will go over 20 years to P.L. Blake, a politically connected son of the Mississippi Delta who now lives in Birmingham. Scruggs and Moore have said Blake worked political cloakrooms, bringing his keen political knowledge and connections to their settlement efforts.

I used to think that this was all a Repub DOJ witchhunt and Scruggs was getting railroaded, a la Don Siegelman next door in Bamalammy. I still think it's basically a Repub DOJ witchhunt, but I'm slowly beginning to realize that Dickie is potentially a lot dirtier than I ever would have imagined. After all, how many legitimate enterprises have a bagman?

What does Mr. Blake say he did to earn the money? Glad you asked.

Blake has said he simply clipped newspaper articles, watched C-SPAN and kept Scruggs updated on political maneuverings.

Fifty million bucks to clip newspaper articles and watch C-SPAN?! Nice work if you can get it.

Note to Dickie: Not to critique your business acumen, but if newspaper clippings and C-SPAN monitoring was all you needed, I know a couple of burnouts in Oxford who would do it for Funyuns and beer.

Cheap beer at that.

The Anti-Cigarette Tax Man Former Senator Tommy Robertson Selected By Barbour?!?

From The Communities for a Clean Bill of Health blog:

Governor Barbour released the names of those appointed to his Tax Study Commission yesterday- Jan 23. The list included the infamous former state Senator Tommy Robertson. Robertson, as Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, blocked legislation that would have increased the cigarette tax up to a $1.00 while cutting the grocery tax by half. In August, Robertson was soundly defeated in the Republican primary largely due to his opposition of that popular piece of legislation.

The Complete List Of Tax Study Commission Members



Michael Watson who defeated him was asked about the legislation in the Mississippi Press:

Q. Sen. Robertson is responsible for the death of the grocery tax/tobacco tax swap legislation that would have lowered the tax on unprepared food items from 7 percent to 3 percent, and increased the tax on tobacco products to as high as $1 per product. Robertson refused to introduce the Senate bill in this year's session and the issue died in committee. Do you think the Senate should have been allowed to vote on the tax swap proposal and do you plan to support similar legislation in 2008?

A. The Senate definitely should have had a chance to vote on the proposal. A senator is there to represent the people who put him in office and that cannot happen if he or she isn't given the chance to vote on the issues. I think the tax swap is a great idea, but I think the numbers still need a little work. Replacing an increasing revenue with a declining revenue just doesn't make good economical sense. There are numbers that will make the swap work. It's our job to find them.

Charlie Ross Supported By Extremist Republican Economic Group

The Club for Growth has been most recently in the news for purchasing advertising against Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. In their advertising they lead off with attacking him for even being open to an increase in the tobacco tax. Perhaps that is a reason why they find Ross to be their man in the race for District 3.

Their Press Release:

Today, the Club for Growth PAC endorsed Republican State Senator Charlie Ross in Mississippi’s Third Congressional District, left open by Rep. Chip Pickering’s retirement.

Over the eleven years that Charlie Ross has served in the Mississippi Legislature, he has been a champion of pro-growth legislation and economic freedom, serving as a key leader in passing meaningful tort reform. He even won three national awards for his efforts on this important issue. Ross has been a vocal defender of private property, opposing eminent domain powers and an eager supporter of tax cuts, urging the governor to call a special legislative session in 1999 for the sole purpose of cutting income taxes.

Ross also has a history of voting against tax increases and supporting decreased government spending, arguing in 2003 that “the rate of growth in state government is not sustainable. I think it shows that we’re spending too much.” Overall, Ross is a strong believer in the principles of limited government and economic freedom with a proven track record of fighting to achieve those principles.

“It is clear from Charlie Ross’s record that he appreciates the importance of pro-growth, limited government policies,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. “If elected, we are confident Charlie Ross will be a committed defender of taxpayers in the House of Representatives just as he was in the Mississippi Legislature. The U.S. Congress could use a pro-growth champion like Charlie Ross.”

The Club for Growth is known for its extremism including targeting what few Republican moderates were left in the Congress.

Here are two quotes they've earned from moderate Republicans:

"It's unfortunate that they keep going after moderate Republicans. We thought it was time to stop them."
–Sarah Chamberlain Resnick, Republican Main Street Partnership

Rep. Jim Greenwood (R-PA) calls Club for Growth “cannibals” for its attacks on moderate Republicans.
–Wall Street Journal, 3/16/2000

Here's what former Club for Growth President Stephen Moore had to say about seniors:

“I can say this because I'm not an elected official: the most selfish group in America today is senior citizens. Their demands on Washington are: 'Give us more and more and more.' They have become the new welfare state, and given the size and political clout of this constituency, it's very dangerous. One of the biggest myths in politics today is this idea that grandparents care about their grandkids. What they really care about is that that Social Security check and those Medicare payments are made on a timely basis.”

They were one of the most enthusiastic groups supporting placing Social Security in the stock market which should also come as no surprise due to its membership being dominated by wealthy Wall Street financiers and executives.

They demand 100% agreement from those that they help and they get it or else.

"Draft Moore for US Senate" Campaign Begins

We at Cotton Mouth are attempting to "Draft" former Attorney General Mike Moore into the race.

The following is our press release that we just sent to hundreds of blogs and which we will send the dead tree media a little later.

“Draft Moore for US Senate” Campaign Begins

Former Attorney General Being Drafted to Run in 2008 Special Election

Today Democratic Party activists and editors of the state’s leading political blogs are beginning their efforts to draft former Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore as a candidate for US Senate.

John Leek, editor of Mississippi political blog Cotton Mouth said “ Mike Moore has been a tireless advocate for justice, both in his public capacities as District Attorney and Attorney General, and in his private practice where he represents those denied legitimate insurance claims as a result of Hurricane Katrina. It is this sense of compassion and integrity that our nation so desperately needs today, and Mike Moore will carry those values to the US Senate.”

The campaign is launching a website, http://www.wewantmikemoore.com that will provide a method for supporters to contact Moore. Efforts are underway to begin a media campaign to support the online organizing efforts.

In addition to serving for 16 years as the state’s Attorney General, Moore served as the district attorney in his native Pascagoula. In 1997 he was awarded “Lawyer of the Year” by the National Law Journal and portrayed himself in the Michael Mann film, The Insider, which focused on the tobacco law suit.

Local Democratic activists already involved include Victor Warnsley, Starkville; Jesse Johnson, Oxford; Renick Taylor, Biloxi; Mary Macki, Jackson County; Casey Hughes, Natchez; and Matthew Becker, Hattiesburg.

.....

I'd like to add that the effort is entirely independent of any candidate considering a run for that office. Anyone who thinks otherwise can go pout someplace else. - The Editors

Tied for 3rd; Addicted To Low Cost Cigarettes

Clarion Ledger:

As Mississippi politicians argue over whether to increase the cigarette tax, a new federal report shows the state is tied for the third-highest rate of adults who smoked in 2006.

A survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that in Mississippi and Oklahoma, 25.1 percent of adults ages 18-35 said they were smokers.

The figures, based on a random sample of 6,000 people, were published in Friday's edition of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

This is really sad when you think about how we had what was considered one of the best anti-smoking programs in the nation; a program that was killed by Haley Barbour.

In 2006, Gov. Haley Barbour vetoed two bills that would've increased the cigarette tax and decreased the grocery tax. Mississippi has the nation's highest state sales tax on groceries, 7 percent.

Eaves:

"Cigarettes are cheap, and our children are getting hooked on them because the taxes are too low," Eaves said in Biloxi.

The CDC report showed smoking among adults was highest in Kentucky, 28.6 percent, and lowest in Utah, 9.8 percent. Utah had the highest rate of adults who have quit smoking, at 47.9 percent.

"Effective, comprehensive tobacco-use prevention and control programs should be continued and expanded to further reduce smoking initiation by young persons and to encourage cessation as early in life as possible," the CDC report said.

So we need something like say The Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi?

We need a governor who understands the needs of Mississippians and who won't stand in the way of progress.

Killer Haley Barbour Diary on Kos

Check It Out and if you have a DailyKos account Recommend It!

An excerpt:

Our Democratic candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor are running on trying to cut the regressive grocery tax, the highest in the country. Barbour, a former top tobacco lobbyist, still with financial ties to his former lobbying firm, has repeatedly killed the tax swap legislation that would cut the food tax and offset the revenue loss with a raise of the third lowest tobacco tax in the country. Even the current incumbent Lt. Governor, Republican Amy Tuck has championed the tax swap.

I wonder why?

Barbour had been among the tobacco industry's top lobbyists prior to returning to Mississippi. Between 1998 and 2002, such tobacco companies as Phillip Morris, RJR Nabisco, Brown and Williamson, and U.S. Tobacco paid his firm $3.8 million. The firm has collected more than $2 million in tobacco revenue since Barbour became governor.

Barbour’s grip on power here has even members of his own party scared of him:

To this day, few in the GOP have dared cross Barbour on the matter. Recently, lobbyists from the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program asked several Republicans to pledge to raise the tobacco tax. They encountered near-universal resistance. "A lot of Republicans are saying, Do you know what you're doing? If I sign this thing, then Haley will come and dump more money into my opponent's campaign,'" says Roy Mitchell, the program's director.

And he rewarded his friends with Katrina money for towing the line on the food/tobacco tax swap legislation:

This year, legislators tried again, introducing two more bills that would have halved the state's grocery tax and raised the cigarette tax by $1. Barbour didn't even lift his veto pen this time around--the bills died at the hands of Senate finance committee chairman Tommy Robertson. Oddly, Robertson had been a vocal advocate of previous tax-swap bills. Earlier this year, however, he and two other Republican legislators--who, in their day jobs, are lawyers--had received a $1.2 million contract from the Mississippi Development Authority, which is overseen by the governor, to help homeowners finalize their Katrina grants. The contract raised more than a few eyebrows. (In an interview, Robertson said the contract--which was cleared by the state ethics commission on a party-line vote--had "absolutely nothing" to do with his stance on the tax swap.)

Sure Tommy.

Again go Check It Out and if you have a DailyKos account Recommend It!

John Eaves Responds to the Mississippi Economic Policy Councils Report

John Eaves:

“Mississippi has the highest grocery tax in the nation and our hardworking, God-fearing families deserve a tax cut,” said Eaves. “It is embarrassing and wrong to charge working families the highest tax rate in the country on basic food items, while I see tobacco companies preying upon our children. Barbour vetoed a cut in the grocery tax paid for by increasing our tobacco tax to help the tobacco companies who have paid him millions of dollars as a lobbyist. As governor, I’ll make it one of my top priorities to cut our grocery tax right now and pay for it by increasing the tobacco tax.”

Jamie Franks Responds to the Mississippi Economic Policy Council

Jamie Franks issued a response to the Mississippi Economic Policy Council study saying:

"Their report provides further proof that that our current state tax system penalizes Mississippi's working families. It's appalling that Mississippi, the poorest state in the union is one of only two states that fully tax food without any offsets. Mississippi's working families need tax relief and cutting the regressive food tax is the most direct way to have a positive impact. My opponent sides with Governor Barbour and Big Tobacco and refuses to support the tax swap that will cut the food tax in half, an issue that has overwhelming statewide support."

I agree with Jamie Franks when he says on the stump and in his ad (below) that it is apalling that the poorest state in the union has the highest tax on groceries.

Barbour Gets the ThinkProgress Treatment

After noting that Giuliani said that Haley Barbour would be on everyone's list for VP, Think Progress goes into detail on why he might not be the best choice for any ticket offering up these "lowlights":

Family members and lobbyists profited from Katrina tragedy: “Among the beneficiaries are Barbour’s own family and friends, who have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from hurricane-related business. A nephew, one of two who are lobbyists, saw his fees more than double in the year after his uncle appointed him to a special reconstruction panel.”

Owned controlling interest in 2002 New Hampshire phone jamming company: For nearly two hours on election day 2002, subcontractors for the telemarketing firm GOP Marketplace tied-up Democratic and union phone banks with repeated hang up calls. Multiple GOP officials eventually either pled guilty to or were convicted of criminally violating federal communications law. Barbour’s investment group, Helm Partners, was not only a major investor in GOP Marketplace, but it also held a controlling interest in the firm.

As a lobbyist, he represented firm indicted in Tom DeLay’s money laundering scandal: As a lobbyist for Barbour Griffith & Rogers, Barbour represented The Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care Inc., “a corporate coalition of 14 of the country’s largest for-profit nursing home companies.” The Alliance wrote a check for $100,000 “ended up illegally funding Republican candidates for the Texas statehouse” in 2002. The check was eventually used as evidence in the case that led to indictments for money laundering against former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX).

A former tobacco lobbyist, he killed Mississippi’s successful anti-smoking program: From 1998 to 2002, Barbour’s lobbying firm “was paid a total of $3.8 million by the tobacco companies.” As governor of Mississippi, he led an effort to defund and ultimately kill the state’s anti-smoking program, considered to be “the nation’s most successful anti-smoking programs.”

Directed large amounts of reconstruction funds to wealthy homeowners: Barbour and Mississippi’s two Republican Senators steered an “unprecedented” $23.5 billion in federal reconstruction aid, but by waiving a HUD requirement that “70 percent of the funds are supposed to be allocated to low- and moderate-income people.” Barbour “badly skewed” the funds towards “wealthy homeowners,” with only 25 percent reaching “the poorer segments of the population.”

Most of the quotes are hyperlinked on their site to supporting documents or articles and you can check that out at ThinkProgress.org

Barbour's New Ad "From Day One" (Haley Was Screwing Us)

"from day one Haley Barbour has worked for all of us"

That is unless you have kids who might start smoking, need healthcare, care about ethics, or even eat.

"doubled workforce training"

I wonder how much of that is specific to Katrina and then how many of those programs Barbour actually had much of a hand in.

"i want people to look at my record" (over a billion wasted dollars, thousands in FEMA trailers, communities struggling, vetoed ethics and anti-tobacco legislation, family members profiting, etc.)

Well good, I look forward to covering it in the coming months. It sure ain't sunshine and lollipops.

Bill Minor's Take on Bloomberg and Blind Trusts

Bill Minor:

As expected, Gov. Haley Barbour shrugged off as "election-year politics" the detailed expose' by Bloomberg News Service on how his relatives and his campaign have profited off Katrina recovery money...What puts a highly sensitive stamp on this money is that it was generated by the nation's worst natural disaster, and was intended to help its victims.
Thus it is purely cynical for Barbour to equate as election-year politics the story showing how two of his nephews, his old lobby firm, and his own campaign war chest (to the tune of $45,000) benefited from Katrina money...

A bill to disclose sources of income paid to a blind trust passed the Mississippi House in February, but was killed by Barbour forces in the Senate.


This column and others have questioned whether his so-called blind trust includes a stake in his old lobby firm, Barbour, Griffith & Rogers, from which he said in 2003 he severed connections... Since one of BG&R's clients is tobacco giant P. Lorillard, it could be seen that Barbour, in vetoing the bill to raise Mississippi's pitifully low cigarette tax, was shielding the tobacco industry. Burger points out two of Barbour's ex-partners in BG&R have kicked in $30,000 for his campaign.

Read the rest at The Clarion Ledger

Franks: Cut Taxes For Everyone VS. Bryant: Look Quickly, Brown People!

Franks may be gaining traction. Even Barbour lovers like Sid Salter recognize that Jamie Franks is the real deal and has a clear chance at becoming our next Lt. Governor.

Recently Franks invited reporters and the public to join him at the grocery store to demonstrate how under his plan the average family would save $273 dollars. He then broke down how that money could go to feeding a family which you can find HERE.

Bryant quickly responded by saying "the burden would be shifted to the wage-earners and property owners." That doesn't make a lick of sense since "the burden" is shifted to cigarettes which people don't need to live.

After coming up nearly empty when asked to differentiate between himself and Franks, Bryant plans to go on the offensive next week with a press conference on illegal immigration. Forced to act on a campaign quickly losing momentum Bryant will chose the politics of fear over the politics of progress and possibility.

I'd like to know how a candidate for Lt. Governor can make any real progress on the national issue of immigration when the leaders of both parties tried to find a solution and were unable. Does Phil have any new ideas or is he just recycling the same old, same old for votes?

Tommy Robertson: "Tax It"

You may have seen the stories about this ad, but Cotton Mouth is the first to bring it to you online. :)

Tommy Robertson will likely be defeated in the primary. He has an able opponent in the primary in Michael Watson who is a slightly less corporate loving Republican. Robertson already had high negatives due to a history with drunk driving and his obvious opposing the will of the people on this issue should be enough to push Watson over the top.

Tobacco-Free Kids Find No Ally In Barbour

Mississippi Supreme Court Ruling Puts Obligation on Legislature, Governor To Continue Funding Tobacco Prevention

Statement of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

It is deeply disappointing that Governor Haley Barbour’s single-minded campaign to destroy Mississippi’s highly successful tobacco prevention program has resulted in a state Supreme Court ruling denying continued funding for the program without legislative action. Governor Barbour, a former tobacco lobbyist, bears responsibility for destroying one of the nation’s most successful tobacco prevention programs.

If Governor Barbour’s real concern was legislative authority over tobacco settlement funds, as he claims, he would not have vetoed legislation approved last year to provide legislative authorization and oversight for the state’s tobacco prevention programs or vigorously opposed similar legislation this year. With the Legislature having completed its work for the year, the state Supreme Court ruling means that a program that was making an enormous difference will no longer be funded. Governor Barbour’s actions have benefited the tobacco companies he used to represent at the expense of Mississippi’s kids, health and taxpayers.

Unless the Legislature and Governor act, this decision means that Mississippi is no longer keeping the promise it made to the state’s children to dedicate a significant portion of tobacco settlement proceeds to fund programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. We urge the Mississippi Legislature at its earliest opportunity to enact legislation providing $20 million in annual funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs and to override Governor Barbour’s veto if necessary. Unless funding for these programs is reinstated, Mississippi will pay a high price with more kids smoking, more lives lost to tobacco and higher health care costs paid by taxpayers.

By dedicating $20 million in tobacco settlement funds for tobacco prevention programs, Mississippi had become a national leader in protecting kids from tobacco. The state’s programs reduced smoking by 48 percent among public middle school students (from 23 percent in 1999 to 12 percent in 2004) and by 32 percent among public high school students (from 32.5 percent in 1999 to 22.1 percent in 2004). Unless funding is quickly restored for the state’s tobacco prevention programs, these dramatic health gains will quickly come to a halt and begin to reverse.

Mississippi must continue its aggressive and well-funded tobacco prevention programs because thousands of lives and millions of dollars are at stake. Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the state, claiming more than 4,700 lives and costing the state $719 million annually in health care bills, including $264 million in Medicaid payments alone. Government expenditures related to tobacco amount to a hidden tax of $561 each year on every Mississippi household. Unless the Legislature and Governor quickly restore funding for tobacco prevention, tobacco’s terrible toll will continue to mount.

(The bolding and coloring of letters has been added for emphasis)

- Cotton Mouth

Eaves Takes On Barbour Over Partnership (WLBT)

"We can expand the Partnership. It will save the taxpayers money. It will save our kids a lot of misery. It will save lives."

This is from the Friday evening news on WLBT out of Jackson.

(The 4 million dollar figure is how much Barbour's firm was paid by tobacco companies, not direct campaign contributions. WLBT is in error on that point.)