Race-based study group attempts to sway states on Medicaid expansion with polling data.

Editors Note: The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, founded in 1970, is a non-profit institution that conducts research on political, economic, and social policy issues of concern to African Americans.

A poll by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, released Tuesday, says a majority of people — 62 percent — across five Southern states including Mississippi support Medicaid expansion as called for in the Affordable Care Act, despite opposition from Southern states’ governors to expansion.

In the poll, support for Medicaid expansion in Mississippi was lower than that in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina, pollsters said, but still at 59 percent.

“I hope the leaders of these states will hear the will of the people,” Ralph B. Everett, president of the Joint Center, said during a teleconference from Washington on Tuesday. The center is a Washington-based public policy organization that deals primarily with minority issues.

Mississippi PEP’s Conservative State of the State survey results from January of 2013 shows conservative Mississippians reject Medicaid expansion in large numbers.

Bryant spokesman Mick Bullock said, “Last year, Mississippi spent more than $1.4 billion in state dollars on the existing Medicaid program — more than one quarter of our total state support budget. I’m sure the survey results would have been different had taxpayers been asked if they wanted to foot the bill for a drastic increase to this already enormous cost. Mississippi cannot afford it, and as Gov. Bryant has said many times, any expansion of Medicaid would result in tax increases for Mississippians or cuts to critical spending in areas like education, public safety and economic development.”

The poll showed a large difference in support between races — with African American support at 85 percent to 53 percent for whites — economic classes and political parties. Only 38 percent of Republicans supported expansion, compared to 87 percent of Democrats.

Recently, a poll sponsored by the Mississippi Republican Party, requested by Bryant, showed 76 percent of registered Republicans opposed expansion. Some questioned the validity of that poll, as well, noting the chief Medicaid expansion question included the term “Obamacare” and that 13 percent were unsure.

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Supreme Court won’t hear Mississippi NAACP challenge to legislative redistricting.

The Supreme Court won’t order new legislative elections in Mississippi over complaints about the timing of the state’s redistricting.

The Mississippi NAACP had challenged the state’s 2011 state elections because the Legislature did not immediately use the 2010 census to draw new district lines in 2011. The state House and Senate instead argued for several weeks before ending their 2011 session without adopting new maps.

The NAACP had asked for that election to be set aside and special elections to be held under a court-ordered plan. It said that using the old maps violated the one-person, one-vote principle by diluting African-American voting strength.

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DOJ and Meridian Public Schools reach agreement on discriminatory disciplinary practices.

Seal of the United States Department of Justice (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Meridian Public School district have come to terms on a consent decree to address allegations of past racial discrimination in using harsh school discipline policies that the DOJ said created what has been called a school to prison pipeline in Meridian.

If approved by the court, the proposed consent decree will resolve the department’s investigation into complaints that the district unlawfully and disproportionately subjects black students to suspension, expulsion and school-based arrest, often for minor infractions, according to Jocelyn Samuels, principal deputy assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.

Samuels conducted a telephone conference press briefing on the issue Friday from Washington, D.C.

The Meridian Public School District was not named in a lawsuit filed by DOJ in October, but the department worked with the district through a longstanding federal school desegregation decree which prohibits the district from discriminating against students based on race.

Those named in the lawsuit included the Meridian Police Department, Lauderdale County, the Mississippi Division of Youth Services and two youth court judges in Lauderdale County. The consent decree between DOJ and the school district does not change the status of the federal lawsuit, Samuels said.

In the course of the investigation, the department found that black students frequently received harsher disciplinary consequences, including longer suspensions, than white students for comparable misbehavior, even where the students were at the same school, were of similar ages, and had similar disciplinary histories, Samuels said. Black students were disproportionately given harsher punishment than white students, Samuels said.

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SCOTUS hears arguments for dismantling discriminatory Section 5 provision.

Voting districts designed to increase the chances of electing minority candidates, a fixture in the South, could be dismantled if the Supreme Court invalidates a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.

The court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a case that challenges Section 5 of the 1965 landmark law. The section bars all or part of 16 states, including Mississippi, from making any changes to their election procedures without first proving the changes wouldn’t discriminate against minority voters. A ruling is expected in a few months.

If the court rules Section 5 is no longer necessary, states, counties and local governments subject to the provision would not have to submit new election maps to the Justice Department for review.

Civil rights advocates say that would open the door for jurisdictions like many in the South — where blacks tend to vote for black candidates and whites tend to vote for white candidates — to redraw districts in a way that makes it harder for minorities to get elected.

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Senate dispute over Voter ID holds up approval of Secretary of State’s budget.

Mississipi state senator David Blount (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mississippi senators rejected the secretary of state’s budget Thursday over an argument about paying lawyers to defend a proposed voter identification law.

It’s probably just a temporary setback in setting an overall state spending plan for fiscal 2014, which begins July 1.

Appropriations Chairman Eugene “Buck” Clarke, R-Hollandale, said he’ll bring the secretary of state’s budget bill back up next week and he expects it to pass when attendance is better. Several senators were out of the chamber and didn’t vote Thursday.

“I think some of them went to lunch early, to be honest,” Clarke told reporters.

Mississippi needs federal approval for any election changes, and a voter ID proposal was submitted to the Justice Department months ago. If it’s rejected there, Republicans want to ask federal judges in Washington, D.C., to approve it.

Senate Bill 2901 says the secretary of state could spend up to $695,000 for voter ID litigation during the budget year.

Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, said it’s the attorney general’s job, not the secretary of state’s, to submit election proposals to the Justice Department. He said there’s no point in paying two agencies to do the same job.

“You can be for voter ID and against wasting money,” Blount said.

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Plunkett: Medicaid Expansion Arguments Bypass Reality.

BY: B. Keith Plunkett @Keithplunkett

Some time today the Mississippi House of Representatives is expected to take up House Bill 560, the Medicaid Technical Bill that would extend the life of the current Medicaid program.

Speaker Philip Gunn announced yesterday afternoon that the Senate version of that extension was tabled in the House and wouldn’t come to the floor for debate. That version, SB 2207, allows for amendments, which would allow Democrats to continue to demagogue the issue of Medicaid expansion through ObamaCare. Medicaid expansion has been deemed “dead on arrival” in the Senate and at the Governor’s office.

Speaker Gunn, in essence, is telling Democrats to vote for the clean bill that forbids ObamaCare Medicaid expansion or get ready for the governor to run the program by executive order.

Gunn’s move is a good one. He is forcing some much needed discipline in the House to keep oversight of the Medicaid program in legislative hands, and to keep current Medicaid beneficiaries receiving health care. Apparently Democrats are ready to throw those most in need under the bus in order to try and force a political debate over ObamaCare that they will lose in the end, anyway.

Democrats don’t have the votes. So, they’re opting to try and make it as messy as possible.

But, this subject is much deeper than political comeuppance or gotcha. The entire stance on Medicaid expansion is one that seriously hampers long term aid to the most needy, and they are being lost in this argument.

Much of the focus of those that oppose expansion has been over the very real fact that the state can’t afford it even with the feds kicking in much of the up front costs. But, even if we could afford expansion the real losers of such a move in the end are those that would participate in the program.

The Medicaid program is supposed to take care of the most indigent and poor among us. It does that, fraud notwithstanding. Those fighting for survival on the low income/no income end of the spectrum are far removed from the actual costs of the health care they receive through Medicaid. An expansion of Medicaid throws in another group of beneficiaries and further insulates direct consumers from costs of services.

Health care doesn’t just happen. It costs money to provide services.

The more that people are given for free, the less they have to be concerned about the costs. The less they are concerned about costs, the more costs will rise and the more it will end up costing taxpayers who are footing the bill.

The argument for Medicaid expansion from some corners is the same as the argument for a state-run insurance exchange: The private industry supports it. But, that alone doesn’t make it a good thing for consumers nor taxpayers.

In the case of Medicaid expansion the industry that would benefit is the larger hospital groups. They want these Medicaid dollars to help grow their share of the health care market. The problem with that is that the more taxes that are required to fund it takes more money out of an already ailing economy. This leads to larger and larger percentage of GDP being taken up by transfer payments to cover entitlements.

The more people added to the rolls through expansion, the more hospitals will lobby the government for tax increases to fund the expansion of services, driving out competition and contributing to more and more regulation that prevents personalized care. That leads to monopolized health care that then must be further regulated to continue to “correct” problems.

And, THAT is where price controls and rationing must come in to “control” the out of control system. That’s when we end up with the “single payer” system liberals have always wanted.

Conservatives understand this even if they are unsure of how to effectively communicate it.

It’s a self fulfilling prophecy. Examples of government intervention that require more government intervention are all around us. Government intervention stifles innovation, reduces services and increases bureaucracy, which in turn reduces the likelihood that the most vulnerable among us will get the service they need. And wasn’t providing help to the needy the point of Medicaid in the first place?

We’ve already heard from some Democrats in the House that rejecting this expansion is akin to racism. That’s a tired old method that unfortunately still works with some who would rather play the victim than educate themselves on reality. I would put the odds somewhere around 70/30 that we hear it again over the coming weeks.

Conservatives in Mississippi rule the roost right now. You won’t hear many Democrats claim to be a “liberal”. That doesn’t play well to Mississippi voters. But, it hasn’t stopped Democrats from promoting liberal policies like Medicaid expansion. The age-old disagreement of more or less government has a well worn track record in favor of the conservative argument.

Another Missed Opportunity by Republicans.

The missed opportunity here, as in many other cases, is that Republican leaders aren’t communicating that it is the most vulnerable that are better protected and served by conservative policy. In turn, Democrats can continue to do what they do best: whip people into a frenzy with the false narrative of evil Republicans in bed with big business to take away the rights of the impoverished. In reality, it is the opposite that is true.

Democrat leadership should suggest a “Yay” vote on HB 560. If they don’t–if they continue to put expansion before this Medicaid extension–it’s just more proof that Democrats are willing to sacrifice those most in need at the alter of their disproved big government ideology.

About Keith: Keith Plunkett has worked on communications issues with a range of public officials from aldermen to Congressmen, and a variety of businesses, governmental agencies and non-profits. He serves or has served as a board member of several non-profit, civic and political organizations. Contact him by going to HorizonMediaMarketing.com or follow him on Twitter @Keithplunkett

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Keeping Racism Alive with Section 5: Mississippi Civil Rights Lawyers argue for keeping restrictions in place.

The state of Mississippi and veterans of the civil rights movement are urging the Supreme Court to keep in place a key provision of the Voting Rights Act aimed at preventing discrimination at the ballot box.

Mississippi and three other states — California, New York and North Carolina — filed court papers Friday opposing a challenge to the provision.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Feb. 27 on that challenge, brought by officials in Shelby County, Ala.

The county says the 1965 Voting Rights Act’s “pre-clearance” provision is unconstitutional. It requires all or part of 16 states to get federal approval — either from the Justice Department or a federal court — before making any changes to their elections procedures because they have a history of discrimination.

Shelby County officials argue the provision, part of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, is outdated and unfair, and should be eliminated.

Read an article on Section 5 by Mississippi PEP Managing Editor Keith Plunkett.

In court papers, officials from Mississippi and the other three states counter that the provision is still needed.

“Pre-clearance has historically been a vital safeguard, and it remains today an essential tool for preventing voting discrimination,” the states wrote.

Armand Derfner, a lawyer who argued a Mississippi Section 5 case before the Supreme Court in 1968, said the provision is still needed 45 years later.

“They want to put an end to that,” he said of officials in Shelby County. “That is such an outrage.” Derfner and other civil rights lawyers also have filed court papers opposing the county’s challenge.

Mississippi officials also said the “substantial benefits of the pre-clearance process have outweighed its burdens on covered jurisdictions.”

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Plunkett: Education Reform is about allowing morality to rule.

BY: B. Keith Plunkett @Keithplunkett

“If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values-that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.”–Martin Luther King

In the discussion about charter schools and education reform we see two sides going at each other from behind a curtain of statistics, facts and figures. They want to convince you, John and Jane Q. Public, of what works and what doesn’t. Students are just another variable in this equation. Or, if you are the director of the Mississippi Association of Educators, they’re dollar signs ($$$$).

The one thing that neither side has done a very good job of doing is explaining what Education Reform in Mississippi is really about in the end, and how that should inform actions. What all this discussion comes down to–despite worry over should we or shouldn’t we, what works and what doesn’t, who will be short of money and who will get more–is morality.

Reforming education in Mississippi is a moral imperative. Those that are protecting a failed government system are protecting an immoral system. Education is not about adults. It’s about children. It’s not about teacher pay. Nor is it even really about student performance on this test or that. It’s about children’s futures.

The more we all hear the likes of the Parent’s Campaign Director Nancy Loome cherry pick facts to talk about protecting what works; the more we hear news of Desoto Superintendent Milton Kuykendall and Superintendent Association Executive Director Sam Bounds talk about protecting certain so called “high performing” districts; the more we hear Kevin Gilbert at MAE talk about protecting employee retirement by keeping more kids in the government system; the more we hear legislators and bureaucrats talk about making sure only so called “professionals” at the Dept. of Education or on school boards have authority to approve or veto types of schools; then the more we know exactly where they stand. It’s not with children. It’s with those who are making money by continuing to crush those children’s futures, OUR children’s futures.

You’ll notice I didn’t mention the teachers. That is because they, like the students, are caught in the middle of all of this.

That is why this conversation about Education Reform is only beginning with charter schools. That is why full school choice should be the ultimate goal. Because many of these so called education leaders aren’t arguing on behalf of the future of Mississippi’s children. They care only for appearances and keeping the gravy train rolling.

Unfortunately, pro-reform supporters have been drawn into a tit-for-tat statistical game. They have been tricked into playing defense about grading systems and funding formulas, authorizers and non-profit vs. for-profit.

That is not to say there should be no consideration for such things. There should be a preparation for every argument.

However, every statement regarding MAEP funding, charter schools, virtual online education, authorizers, grading systems and whatever else is thrown up, questioned and answered, should be followed with a simple and emphatic statement:

“WE OWE Mississippi children, because OUR entire government school system has gotten it oh-so-wrong for way too long.”

It is the status-quo supporters that are to blame for high unemployment among young people. It is the years of government-school “give-us-our-damn-money-or-we’ll-raise-hell” tactics that are to blame for railroading generations into poverty. And, it is our elected officials that have allowed them to do it.

It is time for someone to point the finger and say clearly:

It is the government school system that is to blame for much of the grinding poverty among black Mississippians. It is time for our children, our future generations, to be free. Let them out of your failed system.

Holding someone against their will has a name. Our country and our state long ago determined it to be an immoral practice. We are often told that we should never forget that. We should also not forget that to allow the theft of a child’s future based on the greed someone has today is the same thing, and should be called for what it is.

About Keith: Keith Plunkett has worked on communications issues with a range of public officials from aldermen to Congressmen, and a variety of businesses, governmental agencies and non-profits. He serves or has served as a board member of several non-profit, civic and political organizations. Contact him by going to HorizonMediaMarketing.com or follow him on Twitter @Keithplunkett

January 6–On This Day in Mississippi History . . .

Image via Wikipedia

In 2005, a Neshoba County grand jury indicted Edgar Ray Killen on three counts of murder. When the Mississippi Attorney General prosecuted the case, it was the first time the state took action against the perpetrators. Rita Bender, Michael Schwerner‘s widow, testified in the trial. Afterward she said to the press,

“You’re treating this trial as the most important trial of the civil rights movement because two of these three men were white,” she said. “That means we all have a discussion about racism in this country that has to continue. And if this trial is a way for you to all acknowledge that, for us to all acknowledge that and to have that discussion openly, then this trial has meaning.”^[19]

On June 21, 2005, a jury convicted Killen on three counts of manslaughter; he was described as the man who planned and directed the killing of the civil rights workers.^[20] Killen, then 80 years old, was sentenced to three consecutive terms of 20 years in prison. He appealed, claiming that no jury of his peers would have convicted him at the time on the evidence presented. The Mississippi Supreme Court confirmed the verdict in 2007.^[21]

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Harrison: When it comes to Mississippi education, race still the elephant in the room.

In the final days of the 2011 Republican primary for lieutenant governor, the campaign of then-Senate President Pro Tem Billy Hewes, R-Gulfport, accused then-Treasurer Tate Reeves of “race-baiting” by sending out mailers in predominantly white school districts pointing out Hewes supported legislation that would have merged their schools with districts that were majority black.

Reeves did not use any racial references in his mailer. He just pointed out to the residents of Clinton, for example, that Hewes supported merging their school district with the Jackson Public School District.

Similar mailers were sent out in other areas of the state, such as Lowndes and Lauderdale counties.

What Reeves, who won the race for lieutenant governor in 2011, was referring to is the fact that Hewes introduced legislation to have only one school district per county. On paper, that makes a lot of sense. If each of the state’s 82 counties had one district, the number of systems would be reduced by almost half.

But in many counties, there is, generally speaking, one district that is relatively successful and one that is failing or near failing.

In far too many instances, the unsuccessful district is predominantly African-American.

In much of the recent spate of school choice proposals made by Gov. Phil Bryant and others, race is the elephant in the room. Bryant does not propose countywide mergers. He does propose open enrollment –allowing students to cross boundaries to attend the district of their choice.

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