Barbour Web site offers 33 pages of ideas on issues

By Staff
from staff and wire reports
Sept. 16, 2003
JACKSON Republican gubernatorial candidate Haley Barbour launched a new campaign Web site on Monday touting his ideas on education, economic development and other issues.
But the campaign manager for Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, Barbour's chief opponent in the Nov. 4 general election, says Barbour's site includes ideas for projects Musgrove already has accomplished.
Barbour, who has had a general campaign Web site for months, said the new site was created so people could find his platform information more quickly. He said his 33-page platform offers a more detailed examination of issues than television and radio ads.
Barbour started promoting the platform Web site with TV ads last weekend. Most of the proposals on the site are ideas Barbour has discussed the past several months in news conferences and public appearances.
Musgrove's campaign Web site outlines the governor's own record on education, economic development and other issues.
It says that during his first year in office, Musgrove pushed lawmakers to adopt his Advantage Mississippi economic development package which helped lure a Nissan auto plant to the state.
The Barbour site says: "To create more and better jobs in the near term, we have to end lawsuit abuse; we have to manage our state budget better so that we won't raise taxes; and we have to reform our job training programs so that Mississippians can get the training they need and deserve."
This is not the first time for Barbour to publish policy papers. As chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1993 to 1997, Barbour edited a 1996 book called "Agenda for America, A Republican Direction for the Future."
Barbour said the 318-page book was written by hundreds of people, from think-tank employees to private citizens. It included essays on taxes, health care policy, international trade and other subjects.
Musgrove has been hammering Barbour for supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement, which passed with bipartisan support in 1993 when Democrat Bill Clinton was president.
Musgrove contends NAFTA has cost Mississippi 41,000 jobs, and he cites contracts that show that the Mexican government paid Barbour's Washington lobbying firm $35,000 a month starting in 2001 to lobby for issues related to NAFTA implementation.
Barbour said his firm lobbied for cross-border trucking issues. An essay in Agenda for America'' says NAFTA was initiated by Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush.
On the Net:
Haley Barbour platform: http://www.haleysplan.com
Ronnie Musgrove campaign: http://www.ronniemusgrove.com