Jackson Free Press

The Jackson Free Press was pleased, a little anyway, to see that Gov. Haley Barbour finally caved this week and proposed a 24-cent-per-pack tobacco tax hike. Maybe he is finally getting the memo that even Mississippians of all parties support higher taxes on tobacco products, which would both help finance our health-care costs, as well as discourage smoking, especially among young people.

That is, he took a step toward doing good.

Thankfully, the political winds are shifting away from naked greed and the pandering to big industry and corporations that Haley Barbour has so long been good at. That is, as the 2008 holiday season (and a new president) approach, Americans are in the mood to do for others—in fact, to do unto others as we would want them to do unto us.

Hopefully, in our state, this means that Barbour and his followers stop playing games with Adequate Education and Medicaid (so far, so good), and stop selling out our state to the U.S. Chamber. A healthy state needs incentives to be healthy and to stop bad habits (like higher tobacco taxes), and we need leaders who look out for us before the corporations. We could be cynical and say that Republicans like Barbour are going to be rewarded less for selling out our state as the climate in Washington changes, but we hope that he has simply had a change of heart.

That change of heart needs to extend to his political tricks to get whatever he and his party wants. Barbour has called many expensive special sessions, and then tried to blame it on the other party when the Legislature doesn't fall in line with him. This is an unconscionable expenditure of dwindling taxpayer dollars, and he needs to stop it. Barbour is over the executive branch of Mississippi government, and he needs to learn to keep his greedy mitts off the Legislature and the judiciary. Those are separate branches for a reason. He wasn't elected king of the jungle.

Meantime, the rest of us should heed President-elect Obama's call for service and sacrifice. In our current economic crisis, brought on by greed and deregulation, we need to think about those who have less than we do, and there is always someone you can help regardless of your economic situation. Volunteer, mentor, read to a child regularly. Recycle and re-use. Shop in local businesses. Spend less on junk (food or otherwise). Buy vintage.

As the recent Era of Greed passes, it is time like never before to be in solidarity with the poor. We can be good stewards of our planet and the people who live on it. We can reach out across political, economic and ethnic divides.

We can be the good we wish to see in the world. Every single day.