Wall Street Journal Wrecks Mississippi

[OG Goat Holder]

I have an idea. Get rid of sports at community colleges and let the community colleges do what they are supposed to do - fix Mississippi's workforce.

Mississippi, Kansas, Iowa, Arizona and some of Texas are the only states that have junior college football. And of course Mississippi is the hotbed.

So get rid of one of the few things we have done right? Nice.

JUCOs are already training the workforce.

You have some good ideas here and there, but you seem overly angry.

 

[HopInMyDakPak]

Yeah ill say it.

I got my engineering degree and split. Mostly because:

1. Nothing paid within $50k of what I was offered in state
2. Small town cliques were worse in MS than any state I've lived in
3. Did not want to raise my child in a state that still clings to ideals from 80 years ago


I will not return:
1. As look as that crook Reeves is governor.
2. Until somebody is elected governor who instead of syphoning funds from education and poor do something to bring industry into the state


and yes, I generally vote blue before some of you kids start throwing accusations around.

 

[Darryl Steight]

Massachusetts has Dem leadership. It also has high taxes. It also has industry and pretty much does better on every standard of measure for life outcomes. It also gets a lot of federal dollars.

I didn't blame anything on Democrat governors. Was just pointing out that we haven't had Republicans running this state for 60 years.

 

[Darryl Steight]

Yeah ill say it.

I got my engineering degree and split. Mostly because:

1. Nothing paid within $50k of what I was offered in state
2. Small town cliques were worse in MS than any state I've lived in
3. Did not want to raise my child in a state that still clings to ideals from 80 years ago


I will not return:
1. As look as that crook Reeves is governor.
2. Until somebody is elected governor who instead of syphoning funds from education and poor do something to bring industry into the state


and yes, I generally vote blue before some of you kids start throwing accusations around.

#3 - what ideals from 80 years ago are who clinging to? I'm genuinely interested in this one.

 

[HopInMyDakPak]

#3 - what ideals from 80 years ago are who clinging to? I'm genuinely interested in this one.

not going down that road or the thread will get locked. But if you live out of MS then you will realize its a state still stuck in the past.

 

[Darryl Steight]

not going down that road or the thread will get locked. But if you live out of MS then you will realize its a state still stuck in the past.

I think that's a mighty shallow view. It's easy to pick on Mississippi as "stuck in the past" from the outside. It's like saying all Texans are cowboys, everyone in San Fransisco is gay, or everyone in Wisconsin smells like cheese. That's the Hollywood trope.

Suffering our sins of the past - maybe so. Bad demographics that still contribute to poverty and political rifts? Absolutely. But as a state still clinging to "ideals from 80 years ago"? I don't think so.

 

[dudehead]

Mississippi has elected 4 Republican governors since 1882. The rest were Democrats. From 1882-1992, the governors were all Democrats.

Then Fordice (R) was elected, then Musgrove (D), then Barbour and Bryant and now Reeves.

To say Republicans have run the state for 60 years is a bit of a stretch.

Technically, you are correct. But the makeup of the parties reversed with the Republican party being "born" in the South beginning with LBJ's passage of the Civil Rights Act (in the early 1960s). Conservative whites began moving from the Democrat to the Republican party with the Democrat party evolving into the party of blacks and white liberals/progressives. This is basically the composition of the parties today which leaves a middle of the road white guy like me without a political party home.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

They keep having to expand Bennie Thompson’s district because of people moving out of it. I would suspect that it gets more Federal money per capita than the majority of the US.

 

[was21]

Jackson Jambalaya

Mississippi faces a shrinking workforce problem—with people of working age on the sidelines and younger people moving away—as it also struggles to attract new residents. Economic and population growth is transforming other Southern states such as neighboring Tennessee.


State and local leaders worry Mississippi’s civilian labor-force participation rate—the nation’s lowest, at 53.9% in October, compared with 62.7% overall in the U.S.—as well as a substantial brain drain of young people moving away and a shrinking workforce are hurting the state’s chances of joining in the region’s bonanza.

Mississippi's population only added 750 residents during the last year while the South grew by 1.4 million residents.

Thanks Tater

 

[BoDawg.sixpack]

The Jackson police department is recruiting well. The new police chief is doing a better job than his pred. Also, the Fondren area is as nice and vibrant as it's ever been. Baby steps.. Glad to hear the new judges were approved to process the dockets faster.

 

[The Cooterpoot]

MS is just now getting high speed internet. It's 17ing 2024 and a lot of the state is still not connected to the rest of the world. Then look at the ****** wages and relatively high taxes. Then take a look at terrible education.
****, you can't even order alcohol from OOS. Again, it's 20 17ing 24.
And so many Mississippians are fine with it all because the rest of the world is sooooo much more evil than here in their uneducated, backwards *** minds.

 

[Rupert Jenkins]

Europe puts its violent poor people in the suburbs. That's what should happen in our cities. Build government housing there, move people in and give them something to live on. You're not finding an incredibly productive workforce in Jackson and there are historic reasons and other factors for that.

Yeah move them into a new place to ruin things and create crime and drive down property values. Maybe we should put violent people in prison for a long time. And I mean "old school" prisons

 

[Mjoelner]

Pretty much what many of us have been saying for years.

We'll have democratic elected governor elected in 20 years or so. When the same type politicians who have ruined Jxn, get in charge of the whole state, it'd go down even faster. Make no mistake, Rs aren't much better, but it will be slightly more of a controlled descent with them in charge. The state is doomed no matter what.

Been that way forever. I remember my Mississippi History teacher at State (yeah I took it to get an easy A) said that the Republican reconstruction government put in place by Washington after the civil war robbed the state blind. The democrats controlled the press in the state and broadcast that fact front and center until they got elected then they proceeded to rob the state blind.

 

[Mr. Cook]

MS is just now getting high speed internet. It's 17ing 2024 and a lot of the state is still not connected to the rest of the world.

In more ways than one....********

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Yeah move them into a new place to ruin things and create crime and drive down property values. Maybe we should put violent people in prison for a long time. And I mean "old school" prisons

Parchman used to be self sufficient when the inmates worked the fields. Six days a week working crops in the Mississippi Delta would be a heck of a deterrent.

 

[was21]

Jackson Jambalaya

Mississippi faces a shrinking workforce problem—with people of working age on the sidelines and younger people moving away—as it also struggles to attract new residents. Economic and population growth is transforming other Southern states such as neighboring Tennessee.


State and local leaders worry Mississippi’s civilian labor-force participation rate—the nation’s lowest, at 53.9% in October, compared with 62.7% overall in the U.S.—as well as a substantial brain drain of young people moving away and a shrinking workforce are hurting the state’s chances of joining in the region’s bonanza.

Mississippi's population only added 750 residents during the last year while the South grew by 1.4 million residents.

Raise the tax on tobacco products, Cut the tax on groceries...ain't rocket science...and BTW expand Medicaid. Keep the personal income tax.

 

[Drebin]

Massachusetts has Dem leadership. It also has high taxes. It also has industry and pretty much does better on every standard of measure for life outcomes. It also gets a lot of federal dollars.

There are lots of reasons Mississippi isn't Massachusetts and not one of them is because it's run by democrats.

 

[Drebin]

Yeah ill say it.

I got my engineering degree and split. Mostly because:

1. Nothing paid within $50k of what I was offered in state
2. Small town cliques were worse in MS than any state I've lived in
3. Did not want to raise my child in a state that still clings to ideals from 80 years ago


I will not return:
1. As look as that crook Reeves is governor.
2. Until somebody is elected governor who instead of syphoning funds from education and poor do something to bring industry into the state


and yes, I generally vote blue before some of you kids start throwing accusations around.

This post is proof that you don't have to be overly smart to get an engineering degree, and political bias transcends common sense far too often.

 

[Drebin]

not going down that road or the thread will get locked. But if you live out of MS then you will realize its a state still stuck in the past.

You already went down the road. Might as well finish the job.

 

[Podgy]

There are lots of reasons Mississippi isn't Massachusetts and not one of them is because it's run by democrats.

I agree. My point is that neither Dems nor Republicans have a monopoly on what ideas work best to improve the economic life of a state and improving the standard of livings of people. Leaders who are center left or center right tend to do fine, depending on who the citizens are. The best standards of living are enjoyed by people in states closest to the Canadian border. Governments aren't likely to increase the prison population significantly nor are they likely to stress the importance of self-discipline and sacrifice needed to be a good citizen. Republicans used to talk about the importance of family, the key factor in a host of positive outcomes. Now they think cutting taxes is what makes states and localities livable.

 

[Drebin]

Technically, you are correct. But the makeup of the parties reversed with the Republican party being "born" in the South beginning with LBJ's passage of the Civil Rights Act (in the early 1960s). Conservative whites began moving from the Democrat to the Republican party with the Democrat party evolving into the party of blacks and white liberals/progressives. This is basically the composition of the parties today which leaves a middle of the road white guy like me without a political party home.

This "big switch" theory that democrats came up with to divorce themselves from their history is not reflected in actual history. It's a low IQ take that is rooted in dishonesty and believed only by people too stupid to know better.

The south was voting democrat until very recently relatively. It's already been demonstrated that MS has only had 4 republican govs. The US house was dem controlled for decades until 1994. Texas had a dem governor until dubya.

 

[Rupert Jenkins]

Parchman used to be self sufficient when the inmates worked the fields. Six days a week working crops in the Mississippi Delta would be a heck of a deterrent.

Plus it would save the taxpayers a lot of money. These prisons are way to nice. Should be no tv and no weight equipment. Read a book or be working to pay for your incarceration. There is no good reason I should have to pay more to house an inmate than raise my own child. Not my fault some low ig animal decided to rob the family dollar for $30 and killed the cashier.

 

[MSUGUY]

Expand Medicaid*

 

[FreshAsHail]

Jackson Jambalaya

Mississippi faces a shrinking workforce problem—with people of working age on the sidelines and younger people moving away—as it also struggles to attract new residents. Economic and population growth is transforming other Southern states such as neighboring Tennessee.


State and local leaders worry Mississippi’s civilian labor-force participation rate—the nation’s lowest, at 53.9% in October, compared with 62.7% overall in the U.S.—as well as a substantial brain drain of young people moving away and a shrinking workforce are hurting the state’s chances of joining in the region’s bonanza.

Mississippi's population only added 750 residents during the last year while the South grew by 1.4 million residents.

Mississippi don't need the Wall Street Journal help with that

 

[Podgy]

Parchman used to be self sufficient when the inmates worked the fields. Six days a week working crops in the Mississippi Delta would be a heck of a deterrent.

Plus it would save the taxpayers a lot of money. These prisons are way to nice. Should be no tv and no weight equipment. Read a book or be working to pay for your incarceration. There is no good reason I should have to pay more to house an inmate than raise my own child. Not my fault some low ig animal decided to rob the family dollar for $30 and killed the cashier.

Prisons are not nice places and it's expensive to house criminals. Civil rights laws, human rights laws, things both parties support, no longer allow inhumane practices. I'm o.k. paying taxes to keep violent criminals locked up.

 

[Podgy]

Parchman used to be self sufficient when the inmates worked the fields. Six days a week working crops in the Mississippi Delta would be a heck of a deterrent.

How much crime did that version of Parchman actually deter?

 

[Boom Boom]

Stop.

The MS Coast has been wrecked twice in the last 54 years. The water is shallow and susceptible to surge. The towns are built right on the water. Odds aren’t happens again.

I live in a house right off I10 that did not flood in Katrina. There is untold amounts of high land north of I10 that could be built on, with a solid base of nearby small cities and an educated workforce (by MS standards). It's as good as Tupelo. Hell, maybe that's why Leo Seal owns so much of it.

 

[paindonthurt]

And the only way to change it is a decent urban environment.

And the only chance to have this is Jackson.

And nobody cares about it.

Soooooo.....

Sounds like getting able body people to actually work would help some.

 

[Boom Boom]

I think that's a mighty shallow view. It's easy to pick on Mississippi as "stuck in the past" from the outside. It's like saying all Texans are cowboys, everyone in San Fransisco is gay, or everyone in Wisconsin smells like cheese. That's the Hollywood trope.

Suffering our sins of the past - maybe so. Bad demographics that still contribute to poverty and political rifts? Absolutely. But as a state still clinging to "ideals from 80 years ago"? I don't think so.

The main problem, clear in this thread, is to punish "that city" because it's filled with "those people". That was the attitude that killed Jackson (along with national trends), and that attitude hasn't changed. Just hire enough badass cops and hang em judges and the city will magically turn around.** Punishing a city into prosperity works about as well as taxing a city into prosperity. You can jail every criminal in Jacktown and all you'll end up with is more broken homes and ruinous tax rates, and nothing will change. No, you'll have to actually spend money on "those people" to improve things. And that will need to be state and federal money. But too many think the only way to success is to give public money to rich people, never poor people.

 

[bannerdawg]

Preaching to the choir, 615.

Mississippi doesn’t provide a welcoming environment to a lot of working age folks.

I agree with that second paragraph but I’ll add this thought:

The first Democratic Governor will be slightly different so things will work out for a bit (kind of like Chokwe the Elder was initially more pragmatic than a LOT of people thought — we don’t know if he would keep it up but still).

Subsequent governors though…

 

[Podgy]

Yeah move them into a new place to ruin things and create crime and drive down property values. Maybe we should put violent people in prison for a long time. And I mean "old school" prisons

Put them in their own suburb.

 

[bannerdawg]

Preaching to the choir, 615.

Mississippi doesn’t provide a welcoming environment to a lot of working age folks.

I agree with that second paragraph but I’ll add this thought:

The first Democratic Governor will be slightly different so things will work out for a bit (kind of like Chokwe the Elder was initially more pragmatic than a LOT of people thought — we don’t know if he would keep it up but still).

Subsequent governors though…

Chairman Mao was initially more pragmatic than Lenin…

 

[bannerdawg]

And the only way to change it is a decent urban environment.

And the only chance to have this is Jackson.

And nobody cares about it.

Soooooo.....

Jackson cannot be fixed. Put that out of your mind. Spend your time and money where it can be utilized. Jackson is dead.

 

[Podgy]

The main problem, clear in this thread, is to punish "that city" because it's filled with "those people". That was the attitude that killed Jackson (along with national trends), and that attitude hasn't changed. Just hire enough badass cops and hang em judges and the city will magically turn around.** Punishing a city into prosperity works about as well as taxing a city into prosperity. You can jail every criminal in Jacktown and all you'll end up with is more broken homes and ruinous tax rates, and nothing will change. No, you'll have to actually spend money on "those people" to improve things. And that will need to be state and federal money. But too many think the only way to success is to give public money to rich people, never poor people.

Raise taxes on billionaires and millionaires. Imprison violent people.

"You can jail every criminal in Jacktown and all you'll end up with is more broken homes and ruinous tax rates, and nothing will change."

Imprisoning violent criminals improves the lives of others who live near criminals. I'm rich enough that I don't have to live near violent criminals. Maybe give law-abiding poor people a crime free, or a neighborhood with less crime than they have to endure now like the one I live in. I'm sure their lives will improve. Regarding broken homes, I'm not sure criminals make good family members. It's time to stop defending riff-raff.

 

[Boom Boom]

Raise taxes on billionaires and millionaires. Imprison violent people.

"You can jail every criminal in Jacktown and all you'll end up with is more broken homes and ruinous tax rates, and nothing will change."

Imprisoning violent criminals improves the lives of others who live near criminals. I'm rich enough that I don't have to live near violent criminals. Maybe give law-abiding poor people a crime free, or a neighborhood with less crime than they have to endure now like the one I live in. I'm sure their lives will improve. Regarding broken homes, I'm not sure criminals make good family members. It's time to stop defending riff-raff.

Most people in prison aren't violent criminals. Most of the people the new CCID will be imprisoning won't be violent criminals.

We need well paying jobs for Jacksonians.

 

[coach66]

This is true. Fix Jackson and fix Mississippi. Unfortunately it's a near impossible situation.

We have a city that either doesn't want to be helped, or only wants help in which Jackson sets the terms for the help it will receive.

And in the rest of the state you have so much animosity toward Jackson that significant state investment is a non-starter.

The young folks want a vibrant city. They don't want to move to Columbus, Hattiesburg, Tupelo, or Bude.

It’s all about money and power, not doing the right thing for all the citizens. Jackson’s a third world African country basically and that’s just sad.

 

[coach66]

Rankin County is a great place to live. Its per capita income is second only to Madison. It has solid public schools and very little crime. Brandon the city has a ton of momentum.

There is that sheriff issue though.

Yep the sherrif thing is ridiculous

 

[HRMSU]

Technically, you are correct. But the makeup of the parties reversed with the Republican party being "born" in the South beginning with LBJ's passage of the Civil Rights Act (in the early 1960s). Conservative whites began moving from the Democrat to the Republican party with the Democrat party evolving into the party of blacks and white liberals/progressives. This is basically the composition of the parties today which leaves a middle of the road white guy like me without a political party home.

Don't want to lock this thread but please do some hard research on this topic. It's a convenient story.

 

[bannerdawg]

The main problem, clear in this thread, is to punish "that city" because it's filled with "those people". That was the attitude that killed Jackson (along with national trends), and that attitude hasn't changed. Just hire enough badass cops and hang em judges and the city will magically turn around.** Punishing a city into prosperity works about as well as taxing a city into prosperity. You can jail every criminal in Jacktown and all you'll end up with is more broken homes and ruinous tax rates, and nothing will change. No, you'll have to actually spend money on "those people" to improve things. And that will need to be state and federal money. But too many think the only way to success is to give public money to rich people, never poor people.

Some people need to leave Mississippi.

 

[WilCoDawg]

So build more houses in and around Nashville.

You don’t understand the real estate market here obviously. One has to move an hour away to actually live affordably.