MHA's Executive Briefing

Pickering to assist McCain with campaign

Third Distric U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering will serve as Southern co-chairman of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign.

The Arizona Republican is among nearly two dozen candidates seeking the White House post in 2008.

Pickering also will serve as McCain's 2008 Mississippi chairman.

Pickering, a six-term congressman, served as co-chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaigns in Mississippi in 2000 and 2004. McCain, who has family ties in Mississippi, ran unsuccessfully for the White House in 2004.

Thad Cochran Recognized for Making a Difference in D.C.

In the April 16 issue of Time magazine, Thad Cochran was named one of the ten best Senators of the 109th Congress.

Described as the “quiet persuader,” Cochran is credited with getting the Gulf Coast’s Katrina appropriations passed when Senators from Louisiana failed miserably. Mississippi has a long history of Senators who wielded influence on the state’s behalf. Though he’s not flashy, Cochran is no exception. The man who was credited for single-handedly getting his constituents the largest federal appropriation in history by having a “quiet, courtly manner that is evident whether he is playing the piano in his office or using his experience and mastery of the issues to persuade his colleagues privately rather than making demands on them in public” has certainly served Mississippi well.

The list also included: Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, Jon Kyl of Arizona, Carl Levin of Michigan, John McCain of Arizona, Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Taylor most conservative Democrat

With 100 percent being the most conservative score and zero the least conservative, Mississippi 4th District Rep. Gene Taylor received a grade of 54.3 from the National Journal in its annual rating of Congress.

The National Journal compiled its report by analyzing 186 key congressional roll-call votes for 2005 - 75 for the Senate and 111 for the House. The publication classified them as relating to economic, social or foreign policy issues.

Second District Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat, was ranked most liberal in the Mississippi delegation, receiving a score of 26. More than half of the House's 201 Democrats were ranked more liberal than Thompson.

With a score of 88, Republican Sen. Trent Lott was rated the most conservative member of the delegation, followed by 1st District Rep. Roger Wicker, a Republican, who earned a score of 87.8. Republican Sen. Thad Cochran had a conservative score of 83.2. But that was largely the result of his votes on economic issues. He scored 64 on social issues. According to the National Journal, 3rd District Rep. Chip Pickering, a Republican, was fairly moderate on economic issues and more conservative on social issues. That earned Pickering an overall score of 76.

For the full story from The Clarion-Ledger, click here.

Clarksdale lawmaker files papers to seek 2nd Congressional District post

Chuck Espy

State Rep. Chuck Espy, D-Clarksdale, filed paperwork Friday to challenge 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson in the Democratic primary. Thompson, a 13-year incumbent, welcomed Espy to the race and any other challengers who qualify by the March 1 deadline.

For the full story from The Clarion-Ledger, click here.

Keast leaves Wicker for Cornerstone Group

John Keast, U.S. Rep. Roger Wicker's chief of staff, announced Jan. 27 he will leave the position in February to become vice president of the Cornerstone Group, a lobbying and advocacy firm.

Keast said Wicker has tapped Michelle Barlow, the current deputy chief of staff, for the position. Barlow has worked seven years for the congressman.

The chief of staff heads the Washington and district staffs for Wicker. Keast and Barlow both live in the Washington area.

[ via The Daily Journal ]

Mississippi lawmakers react strongly to State of the Union address

The response of Mississippi lawmakers on Jan. 31 to President Bush's fifth State of the Union address followed party lines. For the full story from The Sun Herald, click here.

Lott Eyes Reelection, And Maybe Leader's Post

Sen. Trent Lott (R) on Jan. 17 announced that he will seek a fourth term. Lott, a former majority leader who lost his Pascagoula house to Hurricane Katrina, had toyed with the idea of retiring to make more money in the private sector. But he told hometown supporters that he wants to stay in Congress, and he hinted that he may try to regain the leadership post he lost after a costly gaffe three years ago.

For the full story from The Washington Post, click here.

Daughdrill joins Pickering staff

Congressman Chip Pickering recently announced the addition of Meg Daughdrill as staff assistant in his Washington DC office. Daughdrill, a Jackson native, is a 2001 graduate of Jackson Preparatory School and 2005 graduate of Vanderbilt University with a B.S. in Human and Organizational Development.

Daughdrill comes to the office with previous experience at Vanderbilt's Office of Undergraduate Admissions, work with the Education Department of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville and most recently an internship with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Pickering, Wicker to be honored Feb. 20

Congressmen Chip Pickering and Roger Wicker will be honored during a gala in Jackson.

The event, sponsored by the Madison County Republican Party, will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 20 at The Hilton Hotel in Jackson. The keynote speaker for that night will be Asa Hutchinson.

Tickets for the event are $50. For more information or to purchase tickets, call John Taylor at 601.201.3692 or visit www.madisongop.org. You can also order your tickets online.

Pickering votes against appropriations bill that had stripped out priorities for rural health and Mississippi healthcare facilities

On Nov. 17, Congressman Chip Pickering voted against the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2006 (HR 3010) because the version under consideration had been stripped of Mississippi priorities and rural health care measures.

Congressman Chip Pickering said, "The current legislation stripped out tens of millions of dollars for rural health and Mississippi health priorities. For a state like Mississippi, especially in our current situation still in the midst of recovery from Hurricane Katrina, those are cuts we can not afford to lose."

Pickering noted the state's top healthcare research and medical training facility, the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMC), faced millions of dollars in cuts as did healthcare partnerships around Mississippi.

Priorities which this version of the bill stripped out included $25 million for the Delta Health Alliance (a partnership of Mississippi State University, Delta State University and UMC) which is an association that increases access to care for low-income and rural patients with conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease; $4 million for the National Center for Obesity Research at UMC; $4 million for medical informatics (medical imaging and medical data at UMC); $1.5 million for a telemedicine partnership between UMC and the University of Tennessee Memphis to provide quality medical consultations for rural and underserved populations; $1.5 million for a medical workforce development partnership between Mississippi State University, Hinds Community College and UMC.

Title VII funding to provide scholarship assistance for minority and low-income students to attend education and health related schools was also absent from the bill which cut rural health care nationwide by over $107 million.

"My hope is we can revisit this bill and make some improvements so that Mississippi healthcare and rural medicine do not take the brunt of spending cuts," Pickering said.