Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves took a strongly political tone when he attacked state Attorney General Jim Hood (a Democrat), as well as President Obama and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. He also criticised the U.S. Supreme Court. Reeves said that the liberal media was not pleased with their pro-Mississippi and pro-family agenda. He was referring to the religious freedom bill (HB 1523) which is currently under appeal after it was blocked by a U.S. district judge. Reeves called U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, not related to the lieutenant governor, an “Obama appointee”, referring to his refusal to allow Brandon High School to play “How Great Thou Art” during halftime football games. Reeves said that Hood was perhaps preparing for a head-to-head race in the state. It sounds to me that Hood is auditioning to become Hillary Clinton’s next (attorney General).” Reeves closed the political speeches Wednesday morning and spoke just after Hood. Reeves started slamming Hood just seconds after Hood left the stage.
Reeves stated, “I’m happy to be in Philadelphia (Mississippi) for the second consecutive day.” “The previous speaker was in Philadelphia yesterday supporting Hillary Clinton.” Reeves said. Many other speakers touched on the religious objectionions bill. This allows government officials and businesses to use religion to refuse to provide marriage-related services to individuals. The tax-cut passed by the speakers was also discussed. Also, there was no proposal to inject additional funds into state road and highway repairs. And legislation that transferred so-called special funds from state agencies to the state’s overall fund. “Different agencies came up to my office and asked me what this means. Hood stated that it swept special funds and trust funds. “About $79 million couldn’t be used to fill a budget gap. We also learned about the $56million error made in creating the budget. This means that we now have a budget deficit of $130 million. This bill creates a lot of problems. Ask Mike Chaney, Lynn Fitch or Delbert Hosemann if you don’t believe my claims.” Hood spoke prior to Reeves, but did not mention the lieutenant- governor in his remarks. The time all speakers had was 10 minutes. Chairman of the Mississippi Transportation Commission Dick Hall gave what felt at times like a corporate earnings call to explain the need for a highway bill. Hall suggested that the 18 cent gas tax, which was established over three decades ago and still provides the bulk of funding for road projects, should be raised because costs have increased by 488 percent in the intervening years. It is time to fix what we have. Hall said that it was time to rebuild what we have. D-Preston Rep. Michael Evans struck a similar note, stating that he was embarrassed by the fact that the Legislature had neglected Mississippians. Evans criticised the tax cuts. He said that the banks and multinational corporations would receive the majority of the tax cuts. Evans stated, “That is slam selfish and slam embarrassing we gave Walmart all these tax reductions.” “We have to do what’s right to the Mississippi working people.” Make a regular donation to support this work today as we celebrate our Spring Member Drive. This will allow us to continue important work such as this one. Our reporters give a human face to policy’s impact on everyday Mississippians by listening more closely and understanding those who live in Mississippi. To ensure that our work is aligned with the priorities and needs of Mississippians, we are listening to you. Click the button below to let us know what you think. Republish this Story You can freely republish our articles online or in print under a Creative Commons licence. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.