Triumphs of 2010 May Serve Barbour Well in 2012
By MATT BAI
Published: November 18, 2010
SAN DIEGO — In a season when voters revolted against Washington and the establishments of both parties, you wouldn’t expect one of the main beneficiaries of the elections to be a former lobbyist and Republican Party chairman who used to own part of a Washington restaurant called the Caucus Room.
And yet, if Haley Barbour, the governor of Mississippi and the chairman of the Republican Governors’ Association, wasn’t the party’s biggest winner this election year, then he certainly emerged as one of the most formidable Republicans leaders eyeing the presidency in 2012....
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/us...pdate&emc=aua2
Barbour is a favorite among Republican's for his handling of the aftermath of Katrina. Mississippi seems to have recovered more quickly and fully than did the Louisiana of Gov. Blanco. In comparison with Blanco, Barbour looks like a saint. And, that popularity has translated into political influence both within the party and in Washington.
But, is it justified? Is Barbour something new and different, a stalwart conservative worthy of consideration for the party's nomination, or is he just another pro-business Neo-Con?
GULFPORT, Miss. — Federal and state officials and housing advocates announced on Monday the creation of a $133 million program to address housing problems that remain for poor Mississippi residents five years after Hurricane Katrina.
The announcement comes after months of negotiations by officials from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Mississippi governor’s office and housing advocates on the coast, and could bring to a close a long-running dispute about the state’s spending of federal grant money after the hurricane.
“We’re pretty happy about it,” said Reilly Morse, a senior lawyer at the Mississippi Center for Justice, a nonprofit group. But, Mr. Morse added, it did not come easy.
Housing advocates have long criticized the state for not spending enough of its $5.5 billion in federal grant money on low-income residents, but that criticism reached a fever pitch in 2007 when Mississippi announced it was redirecting $600 million of federal money to refurbish and expand the shipping port here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/us...er=rss&emc=rss
Not only the Port of Gulfport, but the casino's too.
Katrina seriously damaged the port and washed the floating casinos along the coast right out onto US-90, in addition to scouring neighborhoods clean for several blocks inland from Biloxi, through Pas Christian to Long Beach, which was effectively wiped off the map.
But, federal disaster relief money was directed to repairing and replacing the businesses along the coast before it was spent to re-build the homes of individual citizens wiped out by the storm. The casino operators and port managers had enough influence in Jackson to direct that money to their own selfish ends before the citizens of the Mississippi Gulf Coast received a dime of our money. As Governor, and public face of the disaster, Barbour had a huge role to play in that.
Right now, today, you can drive down US-90 west from Biloxi and see new land-based casinoes with full parking lots, an updated and busy port and, just beyond Gulfport, mile after mile of empty, abandoned concrete slabs where homes used to be. Those people are still somewhere other than home, but big business along the coast is vibrant and alive.
Yes, you may say that businesses which suffered from Katrina and have since been reborn are the engine which drives Mississippi, but where do The People figure into that? Where was Haley Barbour when The People who elected him needed him most?
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
