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Democratic lawmakers made the case Tuesday that there are two causes for Mississippis budget woes: the first a struggling economy, the other, tax cuts and lots of them. Wochit

Mississippi State Capitol(Photo: File photo/The Clarion-Ledger)

Democratic lawmakers made the case Tuesday that there are two causes for Mississippis budget woes: the first a struggling economy, the other, tax cuts and lots of them.

In recent years, the Legislature has doled out some 43 tax cuts or breaks, nearly half of which were for sales taxes.

During a news conference at the Capitol, leaders of Mississippis Black and Democratic Caucuses sharing figures from the state Department of Revenue. The agency estimated that corporate tax cuts had resulted in the loss of $350 million for the current fiscal year. The figure could be higher, however, as the department was not able to determine the impact for several tax credit programs.

Citing the states burdened infrastructure and underfunding of schools, Sen. Bill Stone of Holly Springs, who chairsthe Senate Democratic Caucus, postured, we dont have enough money to fund the core and basic functions of government.

SEE ALSO: MS tax cutswhat do we really know about them?

"At the end of the day, we are rearranging chairs on a sinking ship, he said.

So far, revenue in fiscal year 2018 has not meteconomists projections, leading to three rounds of budget cuts.

The shortfall has put lawmakers in a crunch as they work to finalize the states budget in the waning weeks of the session. Many of the states agencies are likely to lose funding in the upcoming fiscal year, according to an FY 2018 Action vs FY 2017 report.

And though theres been much handwringing over the size of the revenue pie lawmakers have to divvy up, Senate Democratic Caucus Chairman David Baria of Bay St. Louis said the lack of acknowledgment by Republican leadership of the loss of revenue resulting from tax cuts remains the elephant in the room.

He pointed out that the House has passed tax breaks this session.

One of those proposals, House Bill 1601, is on its way to the governor. On Tuesday, senators approved the measure, which would give certain tax exemptionsto first-time homebuyers.

The states largest tax cut, a more than $415 million package that includes the phasing out of Mississippis corporate franchise tax, is set to start in 2018.

Baria said the caucuses will champion the postponement of the cuts through talks with legislative leadership. The likelihood is slim the efforts would secure the blessing of House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, or Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves.

"Legislative leadership will not allow input on the budget process," Democrats said in a news release.

"Democrats in Mississippi are trying to impress their liberal counterparts in D.C. by fighting for higher taxes and bigger government, while my Republican colleagues and I work to lower taxpayers' burden and reduce the overall size of government," Reeves said in a statement Tuesday. "Republicans believe individuals know best how to spend their money more than any government agency ever will."

Still, the party is ready to push for a delay, possibly through the use of amendments.

Legislators are crafting a more than $6 billion budget for fiscal year 2018. Wednesday is the deadline for lawmakers to pass revenue and appropriations bills originating in the other house.

ContactBracey Harrisat 601-961-7248 orbharris2@gannett.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Democrats sound alarm on Mississippi's 'financial crisis' - Jackson Clarion Ledger

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (left) looked on as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke to reporters during a new conference on the GOP health care bill.

After railing against Republicans for years for being the party of no, Democrats these days are proudly wearing that label -- and members of the Democratic grassroots are demanding their leaders keep saying it.

And so it is. No to repealing Obamacare. No to practically everyDonald TrumpCabinet nominee. No to Trumps Supreme Court nominee. No to Trumps travel ban and whatever changes he makes to it. Over the weekend former US attorneyPreet Bhararaof New Yorkwas even praised by liberals because he said no, hewouldn't stop working for Trump.

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Democrats are united around no. Politically, no is an easy organizing principle. It is certainly easier than getting more people to say yes.

Just consider Obamacare. It was easy for Republicans to unite in opposition toit for years. (It was even difficult to get enough Democrats to pass the bill at the time.) It is much harder for Republicans now to craft a replacement bill that will have enough in their party saying yes.

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In fact, Democrats have little choice but to be the party of "no." First, they have no power in Washington to enact anything anyway. Second, the Democratic Party has become decentralized, without a major leader or a key issue to push. In other words, there is no consensus on what Democrats should say yes to, much less any power to do anything about it if they did.

So, "no" it is.

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Democrats wear the 'Party of No' label proudly (not that they really have a choice) - The Boston Globe

To quote an excerpt from author Michael J. Knowles new book, the main reason to vote for a Democrat is .

The above is not a typo.

Knowles tome, Reasons to Vote for Democrats: A Comprehensive Guide, is 266 pages of absolutely nothing. Clean, blank, snow-white pages. And as of Thursday morning, it occupied the No. 4 slot on Amazon.com's "Best Sellers" list.

Whats really great about this book, you can go cover-to-cover in about 15, 20 seconds, Knowles told Fox & Friends on Thursday.

Billed as the most exhaustively researched and coherently argued Democrat Party apologia to date, the spoof book was Knowles' attempt to razz the party for a lack of direction. The conservative journalist released it last month and the book was listed at $9.99 on Amazon -- but you can pick up a paperback on sale for $7.08.

The project does, curiously, contain an extensivebibliography and a table of contents. But nothing else.

It took a very long time to research this book, Knowles said Thursday. Ive been observing the Democratic Party for at least 10 years now and when I observed their record and reasons to vote for them on reasons of economics or foreign policy or homeland security or civil rights and so on I realized it was probably best to just leave all the pages blank.

A chapter on civil rights? Blank. Values? Nothing there.

When I started researching the book and going through this exhaustive study process, at first I turned to the 2012 Democratic National Convention, and it turned out they were deciding whether or not to include God in their party platform, Knowles said. And the Democrats booed God. Thats not good. So I decided probably if Im going to make a good case to vote for Democrats, probably just leave that chapter blank.

Or maybe the pages are just supposed to be filled with the thoughts in the reader's head? John Cage would like that.

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Amazon best-seller 'Reasons to Vote for Democrats' book is ...

During the hour-long meeting, sources said Trump chastised the groups -- including Club for Growth, the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, FreedomWorks and the Tea Party Patriots -- for calling the House GOP proposal "Obamacare lite," warning the tea party activists, "you are helping the other side."

In true Trump fashion, the President jumped into salesman mode, sources at the meeting said.

"This is going to be great. You're going to make it even greater," the President told the group. "I'm going to work hard to get it done."

The meeting between Trump and the conservative leaders also included White House senior advisers Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, Kellyanne Conway and Marc Short, as well as other top West Wing staff.

Sources at the meeting said White House aides showed some openness to one aspect of the House GOP plan that has become an irritant to tea party aligned groups: the provision that pushes back an overhaul of the expansion Obamacare Medicaid funding until 2020.

The conservative groups at the meeting asked that the date be moved up to January 1, 2018. White House aides said they were "open to discussing" it, sources said.

Concerns were also raised about the tax credits in the House GOP plan which allow lower-income Americans to buy health insurance, financial assistance that tea party groups see as subsidies.

"They counter-punched hard on that," a source at the meeting said of the White House response.

Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney, a former member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, gave an impassioned defense of the tax credits, a display that surprised attendees from the conservative groups.

"He was very defensive about it," one attendee said about Mulvaney.

Confident that the health care plan will pass the House, Trump laid out his strategy for winning passage in the Senate, telling the meeting he will campaign heavily in red states featuring vulnerable Democrats up for re-election.

"Trump said he will have football stadium events in states where he won by 10-12 points and he is going to dare people to vote against him," a source at the meeting said.

As for prominent Republican opponents of the health care plan, Trump sounded optimistic.

On Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, the President was effusive about his one-time primary rival.

"I love him. He's a friend. He's going to end up voting for it," the President told the group.

A source at the meeting was astonished as to how White House staff could have been so blindsided by the initial conservative opposition to the GOP plan.

"We telegraphed it for weeks," one tea party official at the meeting said.

A WH official at the meeting said: "It was a legit policy meeting -- real discussion about specifics."

"The president expressed that he was open to things that could improve the bill, but was also clear that this is the vehicle -- this is the chance to repeal and replace."

More here:
Trump to GOP leaders: If this plan fails, I'll blame Democrats

Andrew Taylor, Associated Press

Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP

Democrats warn against funding border wall in catchall bill

WASHINGTON (AP) Top Senate Democrats are warning Republicans controlling Congress against adding billions of dollars for President Donald Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall to an upcoming $1 trillion-plus catchall spending package.

The warning from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and others came in a Monday letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. The letter also warns against adding other "poison pills" such as provisions to roll back environmental or consumer protections and urges additional money for domestic programs to match the administration's planned Pentagon increases.

"We believe it would be inappropriate to insist on the inclusion of (wall) funding in a must-pass appropriations bill that is needed for the Republican majority in control of the Congress to avert a government shutdown so early in President Trump's administration," said the letter, which was provided to The Associated Press. Trump crisscrossed the country last year campaigning for the wall, claiming the he could convince Mexico to pay for it.

At issue is a huge package of leftover spending bills for the fiscal year that began back in October. Congress faces an April 28 deadline to complete the measure and avert a partial government shutdown. It's separate from Trump's upcoming partial budget submission for the 2018 budget year that begins on Oct. 1. That proposal is expected on Thursday.

The funding issue is sure to prove difficult to solve a partial shutdown of the government late next month appears to be a real possibility and would require a capacity for bipartisan compromise that hasn't be on display yet in the Trump era.

The letter from Democrats implicitly threatens a filibuster showdown if Republicans try to attach to the must-do legislation controversial Trump agenda items. Any filibuster and shutdown confrontation would spark a high-stakes political battle.

While the letter says it would be "inappropriate" to include money for the border wall, it says Democrats would "strongly oppose" other provisions, including moves against Wall Street regulations or even an attempt to "defund" Planned Parenthood. Schumer demurred when asked last week whether he would lead a filibuster over funding for the wall, but Monday's letter appears intended to show that Democrats are unified against the idea. Trump also is preparing a request for additional border control and immigration agents.

"All 12 appropriations bills should be completed and they should not include poison pill riders such as those that roll back protections for our veterans, environment, consumers and workers and prohibit funds for critical health care services for women through Planned Parenthood. We strongly oppose the inclusion of such riders in any of the must-pass appropriations bills that fund the government," the letter states.

Democrats' votes are needed to pass the measure through the Senate, unlike the chamber's agenda so far this year, including Trump's Cabinet nominees, a looming measure to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act, and a spate of bills to repeal recent Obama administration regulations. But talks have barely begun, and the undermanned Trump administration has yet to weigh in with its expected request for money for the wall and Pentagon buildup.

Money for Trump's border wall is just the beginning of the political complications facing the must-do measure, which would advance as Republicans and Trump are grappling with their controversial health care law repeal. It could be difficult to avert a clash between Trump and Schumer, and tea party GOP forces are sure to be upset with whatever outcome Democrats eventually agree to.

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Democrats warn against funding border wall in catchall bill - SFGate