Sen. Hyde-Smith uses first US Senate remarks to support SCOTUS nominee Kavanaugh
#MSSen: McDaniel releases new ad, uses Trump remarks on other race to hit Hyde-Smith
What does President Trump think of candidates like Cindy Hyde-Smith who hide from debates?
“That’s not good.” #MSSEN pic.twitter.com/nLsZLhQsvq
— Sen. Chris McDaniel (@senatormcdaniel) September 26, 2018
#MSSen: Espy pals around with Kamala Harris, MSGOP takes note
Look who Mike Espy is paling around with. Our favorite “abolish ICE,” Democratic socialist from California, Sen. Kamala Harris. Glad to see the 2020 hopeful found time to campaign for @espyforsenate when she’s not plotting delay tactics to keep Judge Kavanaugh off the #SCOTUS. pic.twitter.com/da0LSyIbAn
— Mississippi GOP (@MSGOP) September 26, 2018
CBN – A Godly Legacy: How a Retiring Congressman made Special Needs Interns Indispensable to Capital Hill
Almost 60 representatives in Congress plan to retire this year, and among them is US Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MS).
Rep. Harper came to Washington 10 years ago wanting to make a difference and looking back, he had no idea his greatest legacy would require no legislation at all.
“So as God indeed directs our paths, from the beginning I was on the Committee on House Administration, which has the oversight on the intern programs,” Harper told CBN News. “So we went to them and we started one.”
Harper’s idea turned into a program serving students with intellectual disabilities, who at that time had no opportunities to work on the Hill. It started small, with three interns and six different offices.
HAPPY NEWS FROM THE HILL! Check out my latest story about how retiring Congressman @GreggHarper made special needs interns indispensable to Capitol Hill @700club #FaithNation https://t.co/5qAHV8TMPa pic.twitter.com/kzsULw3D9F
— Abigail Robertson (@AbigailCBN) September 26, 2018
‘We Don’t Have Enough Students to Meet the Demand’
“We’ve now had eight years as a permanent program, over 170 House and Senate offices. Republicans and Democrats have participated to the point we don’t have enough students to meet the demand,” continued Harper.
WLBT – Hackers attempt cyber attacks on state voting system
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann maintains that your ballot will be safe from hackers, but he reveals that there are thousands of attempts each month to try to penetrate the Statewide Election Management System.
In the past few weeks, the agency that oversees elections reports that hackers have attempted to get into the systems of circuit clerks and election commissioners.
“They are sending out emails to my circuit clerks and my election commissioners telling them to open this invoice from a former employee who’s no longer employed here,” said Hosemann. “So I will tell you that’s the level of attempts we have going on.”
He said a dual authentication system is place preventing those efforts from gaining access.
Sen. Wicker working on comprehensive data protection plan
Many of the internet’s leading companies agree – the U.S. needs a national consumer privacy protection plan that can ensure Americans maintain the same protections across state lines. https://t.co/tL1QePrrlR
— Senator Roger Wicker (@SenatorWicker) September 26, 2018
DAILY JOURNAL – Insurance commissioner watching consumer issues
Vulnerable rural hospitals, surprise medical bills and emerging health insurance products are among the top issues the Mississippi Insurance Department is watching.
Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, along with Bob Williams, who heads the department’s life and health actuarial division, briefed the attendees at the 22nd annual Health Link Managed Care Conference on Wednesday about evolving health insurance and access issues in the state.
“We try to protect the consumer,” Chaney said. “That’s our mission.”
“They serve a community that tends to be older, sicker and more dependent on public insurance programs than their urban counterparts,” Chaney said. Because of declining reimbursements and increasing costs, these hospitals are particularly vulnerable.
WCBI – Commissioner of Higher Education Alfred Rankins Jr. visits MUW
CLARION LEDGER – Hood meets with Jeff Sessions on Google, other tech companies
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, who has filed litigation against Google, met Tuesday with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and others about the tech giant and other companies.
Representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice and about 10 state attorneys general joined in the meeting at the DOJ in Washington.
“We discussed technology companies, anti-trust issues and privacy,” Hood said Wednesday during a news conference in his office in the Sillers building. “That was our primary concern.”
No immediate decision was made on opening an investigation, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra told the Associated Press.
CLARION LEDGER – Sid Salter: Tweets and posts: How much does social media impact election outcomes?
So how much does social media actually move the needle in Mississippi elections? It is undeniable that social media plays a significant role in how campaign strategies are deployed and in both how candidates market themselves and how candidates in turn attack their political opponents. Likewise, online news sources are commanding an increasing share of eyeballs in the dissemination of campaign news and issue-oriented information that impacts elections.
The answer? First, Mississippi remains the second least-connected state behind Alaska with about 37 percent having no access to broadband. Up until the last three years, Mississippi was the least-wired state.
Second, the 2018 Pew Center study indicated a key fact – that while 20 percent of those online really like “seeing lots of political posts and discussions” there’s almost twice as many online (37 percent) who say they are “worn out by how many political posts and discussions they see” and a full 59 percent report that the experience of getting political information online is “stressful and frustrating.”
Then there’s this: The frustration expressed about online politics is bipartisan, according to Pew. Some 38 percent of Democrats and 37 percent of Republicans “feel that conversations they see on social media are angrier and less civil than in other venues where conversations occur.”
Like the yard signs and billboards of my youth, a long drive on the Internet can be illuminating and suggest certain strengths and outcomes. But we truly are at a point in the digital divide in Mississippi in which Facebook posts – no matter how angry or belligerent and no matter whose ox is getting gored – really doesn’t reliably translate into votes.
WTVA – Uber to pay Mississippi $716,861 in data breach settlement
Popular ride-sharing company Uber will pay the state of Mississippi $716,861.15 after reaching a settlement over its 2016 data breach.
This is part of an overall settlement with each state totaling $148 million.
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says Uber failed to address a data breach to its affected drivers for an entire year after becoming aware of the incident.
WTOK – More money for Mississippi classrooms
