Speaker of the House Philip Gunn joined the list of politicians who made remarks at the 2021 Neshoba County Fair.
Gunn started off giving insight as to where Mississippi is in comparison to the rest of the nation. He said things he’s hearing from D.C. and national leaders have caused concern to him in relation to the state.
Gunn said he believes that socialism has increased in the country over the last few years causing animosity and discord between Americans with an “us versus them” agenda, he believes will destroy the country.
He said the Mississippi Legislature has not adopted that mentality, and that has proved to be the right path to good bipartisan legislation.
“We know we are stronger together than we are apart,” said Gunn.
Gunn said in order to fight that mentality Mississippians continue to believe in freedom over free stuff, economic development and opportunity, free enterprise
“The socialist agenda being pushed in our nation today threatens to dismantle that free enterprise system. We must reject any politics that seek to do that,” said Gunn.
He said that is why the House of Representatives has made it a priority to eliminate the income four percent individual income tax. Gunn said if that can be accomplished it will result in greater economic growth for the state.
Gunn pushed a plan in the 2021 session that was not able to make it out of the Senate. He said they will make that proposal again in 2022.
Gunn also encouraged Mississippians to go back to work. He said that is why they appealed to the Governor to end the federal unemployment benefits that were brought on due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He made his stance clear when it comes to Medicaid expansion. Gunn said the House opposes any attempt to add more people to government rolls. He believed introducing competition into the system in order to drive down prices for the consumer.
Lastly Gunn touched on the push for Critical Race Theory to be added to school curriculum. Gunn called it an attempt to introduce racism into schools.
“We know the devastating effects racism can have on a society… that is exactly why we should fight this attempt to invite racism back into our schools,” said Gunn.
Gunn closed with a push to protect the lives of the unborn and the previous laws passed by the Legislature to do just that.
“If we are going to preserve our country and the values that make it great we must fight against this push for socialism,” said Gunn.
Sarah Ulmer
