Jackson Free Press

First, the back story: After a crazy week of watching the Republican National Convention, and yelling at chairs and TV screens, I decided to take today off, lounge and do some light reading. My guilty pleasure is reading fashion/decor magazines. So I spent much of the morning in bed with the huge September fall-fashion issue of Elle. On page 382, though, politics popped up--in a fabulous section where Elle editors declared a "War FOR Women." The pages are packed full of facts and inspiration for women voting, running for office, and donating to candidates with our best interests and rights front of mind.

Suddenly, I was inspired to join this War FOR Women force in every way I can—both blogging on the JFP site, in social media, in special sections and articles in the Jackson Free Press, and here on the site.

First, I'll start by sharing a statistic that everyone needs to understand, per Elle: "Of the 683,000 jobs lost by women since 2009, 64 percent have been public-sector jobs.

It simply makes me crazy that so many people do not understand that every cut to government spending affects jobs and, thus, our economy. That doesn't mean that I don't want cuts: I consider myself a fiscal moderate and I believe in smart, yet compassionate government spending. And smart spending that helps stimulate our economy and, like the smartest businesspeople, invest in the nation's future (as Bush and Obama did with the auto bailout, which turned out to be a very good investment of government money, although at the time we had to spend). Every actual business person knows that running anything like a business often means investing by borrowing money or having smart debt, although you wouldn't know to hear the political anti-government rhetoric from the right.

Anyway, I hadn't seen these numbers on the jobs that women have lost -- even though I had heard Mitt Romney's rhetoric about the recession hitting the women harder than men--which isn't actually true.

What Romney isn't saying, but Factcheck.org explains in detail, is that while women have more jobs in the recession since Obama came to office, most of those are government jobs--the very jobs Republicans want so desperately to cut. And think about it: Right here in MIssissippi, and Jackson especially, so many of our jobs are public sector, with no small number dependent on federal dollars. Imagine if the Paul Ryans of the world get their way and just start slashing. What happens to jobs of women and men right here in Mississippi? The same thing that has been happening. That's why stimulus is so vital.

Here's more of what Factcheck said about Romney's cynical "war on women" claim:

Looking back at the whole recession, men have lost many more jobs than women. But the biggest job losses for men came earlier in the recession, and recovery for men has come faster than it has for women. ... What the graph shows clearly, and …

College football finishes rounding the midway point this weekend. Last week was great for some and painful to watch for others. If you missed anything, check out the recap in this week's JFP or [with this link][1].

Mississippi Solar LLC, a solar panel installation company, sent an "urgent alert" today to media and followers regarding House Bill 1139 and Senate Bill 2089 in the Mississippi legislature, which they say would gut the power of the Mississippi Public Service Commission, reverse recent moves toward net metering and widely deregulate the companies that offer electric power in Mississippi.

In one section of the House bill, the authority of the PSC to oversee rates set by these corporations (which have a monopoly granted by the states) appears to be completely overturned, as well as the ability of the PSC to regulate consumer benefits such as net metering and smart-grid investment:

A corporation * shall have the power to fix, adjust, charge, collect and pay reasonable rates for electric energy and other facilities, supplies, equipment, products, commodities, goods and services furnished by, offered by or furnished to the corporation. All rates of a corporation formed or operating under the provisions of this article shall be established by the corporation's board and shall not be regulated by the Mississippi Public Service Commission.

The commission also shall not regulate nor attempt to regulate corporations formed or operating under this article with respect to the subject matters of standards established by the federal Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, including, but not limited to, those established at 16 USC Section 2621(d), and including, but not limited to, the following matters: cost of service; declining block, time-of-day, seasonal, and interruptible rates; load management techniques; integrated resource planning; conservation and demand management; energy efficiency; wholesale power purchases; net metering; fuel sources; fossil fuel generation efficiency; time-based metering and communications; interconnection for distributed generation; and smart grid investments and information.

The House bill was introduced by Republican Charles "Jim" Beckett, chair of the Public Utilities committee, whose 2015 campaign filings show nearly all of his campaign contributions were from corporations or PACs, many of which are subject to oversight from the PSC.

Rep. Beckett accepted $2000 from Entergy's PAC (and another $1000 in 2014), $1000 from Mississippi Power's PAC, $500 from the Electric Power Associations of Mississippi's PAC (pre-election in August); he also accepted money from Koch Companies Public Sector LLC, Cable PAC MCTA, Verizon and Comcast Corp., AT&T PAC, Chevron, North American Coal PAC, Atmos Energy Corp PAC and others.

Beckett began the year with $73,447 in the bank (including repaying a $10,000 loan on the same day he received it February of 2015, according to campaign filings) and ended it with $75,518, thanks in part to a post-victory $2500 donation from Electric Power Associations of Mississippi in December.

Seems they're already big fans.

[Note: The above was corrected; I originally thought the $10,000 repaid in February was loaned in the previous year. If you know of some clever political accounting reason to loan yourself money the same day you repay it, clue me in.]

Here's the text of Mississippi Solar LLC's …

The New Orleans Saints ended the preseason doing something they haven’t done since 2006 and achieved something the team had never done in franchise history: It played quarterback Drew Brees in the final preseason game for a series.

Brees hadn’t played in the final preseason game since 2006, which was his first season with the team. That year, he was coming off a shoulder injury and was trying to find his groove again.

As shocking as Brees playing might be, even more shocking might be the fact the Saints would go winless in back-to-back preseasons for the first time in franchise history. Before the 2015 preseason, the last time New Orleans went winless in the preseason was 1971.

When the Saints went winless during the 2015 preseason, they finished the year with a 7-9 record in the regular season. The 1971 team went 0-6 in the preseason and finished the regular season with a 4-8-2 record.

Every preseason you hear, “Don’t put too much stock in preseason games,” but you can glean certain things during these games, such as the fact that most teams that look bad and have issues in the preseason will have issues in the regular season.

When starters are facing starters, it’s another good indication of how well a team could be in the regular season. Plenty of teams win games in the third and fourth quarter of the preseason with players who won’t be on the roster when the regular season starts.

The scores don’t matter. Unless it is first- and second-string players, it is the look of a team that is worth the watch. This season, the Saints have given glimpses to several questions going into the season.

Can the starting and backups on the offensive line protect the quarterback and make holes in the running game?

Can the defense make tackles, stop the run and cover receivers in the passing game?

Can the team force and avoid turnovers?

New Orleans has struggled on the offensive line in pass and run-blocking. Overall, the offense has struggled to keep drives going and score points.

If this team is going to reach the playoffs, the offensive line must play better. Brees needs the running game to help take pressure off him having to make every play.

The New Orleans defense wasn’t terrible in the first two preseason games. Then came the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first-string offense, which took the Saints defense behind the woodshed.

Pittsburgh did whatever it wanted, for the most part, against New Orleans. The Steelers’ passing game torched the Saints’ pass defense.

New Orleans has forced three turnovers but has committed 10 turnovers for a minus-seven turnover margin. It is hard to win games in the preseason when you can’t keep the ball.

Still, winning at least one game in the preseason is a good idea.

Since 1990, 49 teams …

New Orleans just did a major solid for ESPN. Breaking news this morning, Tuesday, April 25, is that is the Saints are signing former Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.

It just so happens that the Saints travel to Minnesota in week one of the 2017 NFL season. That game will also be the first in a double-header for Monday Night Football on ESPN. The “worldwide leader” network now can hype the hell out of Peterson facing his former team to get eyeballs on a game that starts at 6 p.m.

New Orleans ends up with a future Hall of Fame running back on a team-friendly two-year deal. Peterson disclosed the details of the deal, which will pay him just $3.5 million this season between a $1-million salary and $2.5 million signing bonus. The whole $3.5 million is guaranteed for this season at signing.

The second year of the contract is also for $3.5 million, but none of it is guaranteed for the 2018 season. If Peterson is with the Saints, he will make $2.4 million in a roster bonus that includes $750,000 guaranteed on the third day of free agency plus $1.65 million per game, $1.05 million in salary and a $50,000 workout bonus.

Before signing with the Saints, some media sources suggested that Peterson wanted $8 million a year, which the running back debunked, and other reports said the running back wanted $4 million to $6 million per year or $5 million to play this season.

New Orleans got the 32 year old for less than any of the reports that were out in March. Peterson is the 22nd-highest-paid running back behind 33-year-old Indianapolis Colt Frank Gore, who is making $4 million this season. Peterson is also making less than the Saints’ No. 1 running back, Mark Ingram.

Peterson went on the market after the Vikings decided not to pick up an $18-million team option on the running back. It took Peterson two months to find a new team, and with the upcoming draft featuring a strong class of running backs, it seemed like he might not find a new home until after the draft.

Peterson is second on the active list of running backs with 11,747 yards for 16th on the all-time rushing list, again behind Gore, who has amassed 13,065 yards and is 8th on the all-time rushing list.

Peterson missed most of last season with injuries, and in 2014, he missed time due to a suspension. However, he has proven his value on a few times in recent years. He rushed for 2,097 yards in 2012, earning the MVP Award for that season, and he rushed for 1,485 yards to lead the league during the 2015 season, as he has fought back Father Time.

This won’t be the first time Peterson has played with a Hall of Fame-worthy quarterback. While in Minnesota, he teamed with quarterback …