While Others Made a Show Out of Their Announcements Yesterday, ...

While others made a big deal out of their politically predictable announcements yesterday that they were running for Governor, I announced back on December 13th - the anniversary of Mississippi statehood - to show my support for
and my respect for our State Constitution, and my intent to uphold it, and yesterday I took my son deer hunting early in the morning, and then he and I spent the afternoon teaching karate to inner-city kids in Jackson, like our family does two days a week. We also teach karate to affluent kids one day a week. We don't care what your skin color is, or how rich you are - or aren't.

According to the Clarion-Ledger, Phil Bryant said in a speech in Pearl today (I'm sure he said the same thing at every one of the many other places where he's stopping yesterday and today) that he "wants to maintain a business-friendly climate in Mississippi by keeping taxes low, developing charter schools, and improving the state budget process." Well, let me tell you that we don't have a business-friendly climate. The Mississippi Department of Revenue collects 75 different taxes. And as far as I know, we don't have a single charter school in the state, and I don't know why he thinks that starting them would be such a big help.

I want to implement what I call the Mississippi "FairTax," which would eliminate 74 of those 75 taxes that we currently collect, keep only the sales tax, lower the sales tax to five percent, and close down the Mississippi Department of Revenue. As a homeschool dad, I don't believe that charter schools will solve every problem. I believe in privatizing education, mandating that the Holy Bible be taught to all children (both the children and all of society suffer because it is not taught in our public schools), giving parents school vouchers to offer real choice in education, and keeping government out of education as much as possible. And "improving the state budget process" is just political talk. As a state employee, I can tell you that what needs to be done is to fire every one of the state employees who is presently getting paid for doing absolutely nothing at all, and reward the rest - who have been carrying the load for entire agencies for far too long. The implementation of the Mississippi FairTax would increase state revenues, solving part of our problem. And I would fight corruption in our state government, which we all know exists, and eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse. That's dealing with the other part of the problem - one that has been allowed to grow and fester because inept and sometimes corrupt leadership on the part of both major political parties.

Bryant also said, "I will be there to veto tax increases." Well, I believe in actual tax decreases, Mr. Lieutenant Governor. I heard Phil Bryant on Saturday, July 3, 2010 at a TEA Party rally in Tupelo that we both spoke at brag about the two-day-a-year "sales tax holiday" that he and the Legislature had given us. Well, whoop-de-do! A fat lot of good that does us. We need real tax reform, and being the poorest state in the union, we need it now.

Also according to the Clarion-Ledger, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Luckett "said he wants to increase educational offerings in day-care centers as a step toward eventually developing a state-funded pre-kindergarten system." Translation: he wants total Communist/Socialist/liberal/Democrat indoctrination of all of our children. He is business partners with Morgan Freeman, the actor who has played in movies and on liberal PBS. I've read that the restaurant and blues club that they own together in Clarksdale only stays afloat because of Freeman infusing his own personal money into it. The only actor I've ever liked who got into politics is Ronald Reagan.

The way I see it, people who work hard for a living and are usually one paycheck away from financial difficulty have a real choice this year, because I have been, and I am, where they are. I share their values. I believe in ending abortion and protecting all innocent human life from conception until natural death. I stand up and speak out for marriage and family, and oppose homosexuality. I believe in bringing in the Mississippi FairTax, and I believe I am the only candidate who will even propose such an agenda item. I believe in enforcing all of our laws. And I believe in a lot of other things which I think are good for all of us, that you can read about on the "Issues" page of my website at http://www.broadwaterforgovernor.com.