Recent editorials from Mississippi newspapers:
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Aug. 9
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal says the state must share online tax money:
Mississippi’s retail businesses won a significant victory earlier this year when the U.S. Supreme Court gave states the ability to collect taxes on internet sales.
The ruling allows states to remove a competitive advantage that has long favored online retailers. Because those companies were not required to collect sales taxes, as brick-and-mortar stores were, consumers had a financial incentive for shopping online. It created an uneven playing field for businesses that can now be leveled.
The ruling also was a victory for states, who will now receive new tax revenue they can divert to various areas of their budgets.
For municipal governments, however, the rise of internet sales remains a significant threat. Under current practice, cities keep 18.5 percent of the sales tax revenue on brick-and-mortar purchases made within their limits. They don’t get any tax dollars from online sales. That money stays with the state government.
Tupelo’s City Council is trying to change that by joining an effort championed by the Mississippi Municipal League.
Recently, the seven-member council voted unanimously to approve a resolution requesting that the state do two things. First, it calls on lawmakers to act on the Supreme Court ruling and pass a law that requires online retailers to collect that tax. Secondly, it asks for them to share those proceeds with Mississippi’s municipalities.
We believe these are both reasonable requests.
As more retail activity shifts from brick-and-mortar stores to online retailers, cities face the prospect of losing one of their biggest sources of revenue.
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The continuing trend of sales moving from traditional brick-and-mortar stores to online retailers means cities will see their sales tax dollars dwindle. That will significantly hamper those like Tupelo that have relied heavily upon that money.
The recent Supreme Court ruling will allow states to continue to collect taxes on those sales. It only makes sense that money should be split with cities in a similar fashion to the current practice for sales taxes.
We realize there are logistical questions about how to split online revenues. One solution would be to send the revenue to the shipping address where the purchase was made.
One way or another, the state must find a way to share this new revenue with cities that are seeing a previous source shrink.
Online: http://www.djournal.com
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Aug. 12
The Oxford Eagle on mascots at Ole Miss:
Ole Miss mascots have been providing drama, water cooler conversation and news stories for 15 years now.
You would be hard pressed to find an Ole Miss fan who doesn’t have an opinion on what the University should and shouldn’t do regarding the figurehead for Ole Miss Athletics.
We admit that we’ve watched the drama unfold for over a decade with no small bit of head-scratching; after all, a mascot is just someone dressed up in a costume. Mascots do their part in showing team spirit and pumping up the crowd during games but, on the whole, how integral are they to the fabric and day to day of an athletic program?
Don’t get us wrong, we love a good mascot, but we also don’t understand the ire that came with the removal of Colonel Reb in 2003 and the subsequent reaction to the unveiling of Rebel the Black Bear in 2010.
However, with hindsight being what it is, we do think that removing Rebel has been the right move for Ole Miss. The bear was perfectly serviceable, but aside from the children who were eager to run up and hug the animal, the fanbase never truly got behind it.
Putting aside the debate about resurrecting Colonel Reb, it can’t be overlooked that in 2010 there really wasn’t much to cheer for when it came to Ole Miss football. That season marked a two-year span where the Rebels won six games and just one conference matchup and, at the end of the 2011 season, then-head coach Houston Nutt was shown the door to make way for Hugh Freeze.
Clearly, the six years that followed under Freeze now leave a bitter taste in the mouth of most Ole Miss fans, but with an impressive defensive and an explosive offense giving people reasons the cheer, the landshark began to take a life of its own.
Marshall Henderson took the “Fins Up” gesture to the basketball court to incense opposing teams and, over the course of the 2012-2013 school year, the movement and the motto became almost as integral to the Ole Miss faithful as Hotty Toddy.
It only makes sense that the University and Ole Miss Athletics officially adopt the movement and give it permanence.
Being journalists, we also have to admire a good story, and the history behind the Landsharks and the new mascot is a pretty good one.
As you’ve likely read on page one, former Ole Miss linebacker Tony Fein nicknamed the Rebel defense the Landsharks in 2007 and coined the “Fins Up” phrase and signature gesture. Fein was a veteran who chose to join the U.S. Army after high school rather than continue his football career.
After three and a half years of service, Fein got his shot at collegiate football when he enrolled at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona, gaining the attention of several Division I programs.
Fein played for Ole Miss as part of two of the most successful teams in recent memory, and then he got his shot at the NFL, playing as a free agent in the 2009 season before his death in October of that year.
Fein was only 27.
Now, Fein will be remembered for (hopefully) decades to come as the Ole Miss mascot will bear his name and his Rebel jersey number: 47.
If mascots are supposed to unify a fanbase and make use want to cheer, this is a decision we can get behind.
Finally - and thankfully - Ole Miss got it right.
Let’s hear it for Tony.
Online: https://www.oxfordeagle.com
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Aug. 15
The Greenwood Commonwealth on U.S. Supreme Court rulings when the court had a conservative majority:
Barring something completely unexpected, President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court will be approved by the Senate. If that happens, the court will have a conservative majority for the first time in decades.
It’s then logical to assume that such a court will start issuing conservative rulings that would help the Republican Party. But an interesting piece by The Associated Press uses history as a warning that the GOP should “Be careful what you wish for.”
Put another way, conservatives should not count on any court to win their political battles. Two examples from the last 80 years underscore this point.
“In the 1930s, a conservative Supreme Court knocked down many of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs aimed at hoisting the country out of the Depression,” the story said. “Statutes letting industries and unions set wages and prices, raising farm income and regulating the coal industry were declared unconstitutional, as was a New York minimum wage law.
“That helped fuel a 1936 FDR landslide that also gave Democrats 76 Senate and 334 House seats, Election Day majorities neither party has ever matched. The triumph paved the way for congressional control that Democrats didn’t relinquish until after World War II.”
The same thing happened in the 1960s, when expansive rulings from a far more liberal court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren helped elect a conservative law-and-order candidate, Richard Nixon, in 1968. Democrats kept control of Congress that year, but Republicans won four of the next five presidential elections.
The AP noted that the “disconnect” between the ideology of the Supreme Court and the mood of the voters can be different because justices are appointed for life.
“With turnover on the bench infrequent, the court’s views often lag behind the election results of the presidents and senators who pick them,” the story said. That is an excellent point, one that affirms the wisdom of the Founding Fathers and their desire for the separation of powers in American government.
If a Supreme Court indeed falls behind the times, it serves as a necessary counterbalance to movements for great and rapid change. The judiciary is the only branch whose leaders are not elected, and this is one reason why.
Using history as a guide, if Kavanaugh’s confirmation leads the court to reliably conservative rulings for a number of years, at some point the public mood will change, putting Republican electoral majorities at risk.
Given the GOP’s dominance in recent elections - with the notable exception of the two presidential victories by Barack Obama - that risk today is difficult to envision.
It has happened before. But human nature is unpredictable, and it may not happen this time.
Online: http://www.gwcommonwealth.com
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