Jackson Free Press

Children's Defense Fund Executive Director Oleta Fitzgerald spoke at a May 18 rally calling for the adequate funding of the school's education system, which has been more or less relegated to the status of side item in the 2005 special session agenda. As Fitzgerald addressed the crowd on the basement floor of the State Capitol, she demanded that Gov. Haley Barbour, who had not initially put education or the 2006 budget on the agenda, give proper priority to education. She then referred to him as a "dictator," raising more than one eyebrow in the audience.

Fitzgerald said Barbour was behaving like a dictator by intimidating individual lawmakers to either jump behind a united Republican front against no new taxes or face the black knight of Barbour's campaign money in the next round of elections.

"He is bullying members of the Legislature by calling their districts, by threatening their re-election campaigns, by threatening to make sure they don't get money for re-election. He's bullying people," Fitzgerald said. "My understanding is that he's kept his campaign apparatus in place so that when people go home that he's having trouble with, he'll turn on the phone banks in their district and turn the campaign against them."

Fitzgerald said Appropriations Chairman Sen. Jack Gordon, D-Okolona, and Education Chairman Mike Chaney, R-Vicksburg, had changed their views on a tax increase because Barbour "had pulled them in."

"Jack Gordon came out for a tax increase, and they pulled him in and told him he better shut up. So has Mike Chaney. But they got muzzled. He's threatened their seats, and they backed down real quick," Fitzgerald said. "Right now there aren't any Democrats down there. They feel like Barbour's got the juice, and they don't know whether to play with him or play with us."

Last year Senate Bill 2861, authored by Gordon, called for a 40-cent tax increase. Gordon has denied any intimidation, however, discrediting such talk as rumor. Chaney, who said he still openly backs a tobacco tax to this day, also called the accusation "nonsense" started by "people just mad at Haley."

"It's a bunch of poo-hoo," Chaney said. "Barbour has never put any pressure on me about whether I would vote for or against the tax hike. I would vote for a tobacco tax in the morning if I got an opportunity to do it. I've said it publicly for over a year, and (Barbour) says 'well, you're one person I can't count on if it came up for a vote.' We laugh about it. It's not a big deal."

One legislator, who chose to remain anonymous, said Barbour has been known to rally opponents to face him in his own district when he crossed the governor on key conservative issues. He says the governor has made it known that he has displeased him on several occasions and has sought to influence opinion against him in his traditionally conservative district through liberal name-calling.

"He's a good governor, but he's got to trust us to make the right decisions," said the lawmaker. "We were elected just like he was. The voters trusted us all to make the right decisions. That's why they elected us."

Another lawmaker who chose to remain anonymous said he's also heard about the governor's intimidation tactics, and said the tactics threaten to squash real democracy.

"We see this kind of thing up in Washington all the time, but now it's here in our state, and I think it works to undermine our government in a lot of ways. It's like a Washington wind that somehow blew in from Yazoo. I don't like it," the lawmaker said.

House Speaker Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi, who says he doesn't scare easily, acknowledged that this kind of intimidation has been increasing since the arrival of the governor.

"This has been the most divisive governor we've had in my years here," McCoy said. "What you're hearing about individual legislators getting beaten into compliance is all a fact. This is not malice (aimed at Barbour). This is just what people are telling me. Republicans who don't toe the line and follow the governor with absolutely no deviation from his plan get calls from the (election committee) in their areas. It's that simple."

McCoy said shoring up support is the way of politics, but added that he did not approve of this means of going about it.

"Of course, I like to push for unity among my House members, but I would not like to do it through intimidation," McCoy said. "I'm not saying the governor is absolute evil or anything like that. I don't like to talk about people when they're not here (to defend themselves), but I do know this kind of thing is going on. As speaker of the House, I hear what (lawmakers) are talking about, and that's what they're telling me is happening."

Barbour press secretary Pete Smith called McCoy's statements and the strong-arming accusations "too ridiculous to respond to."