Haley Barbour’s Bodyguard Boondoggle

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Mississippi’s roads are some of the most dangerous in the nation. According to the head of Mississippi’s Department of Public Safety, that’s the case because the state Highway Patrol is so short staffed and underfunded—in 2010, the patrol filled only 527 of 650 possible positions—in responding to crashes and injuries that “people’s lives are at risk.”

But the grim finances of Mississippi’s Department of Public Safety roads haven’t stopped Governor Haley Barbour from using state-funded highway patrollers as bodyguards on his many trips around the country and the world. While it’s not uncommon for governors to use state troopers as bodyguards, it’s Barbour’s all-too-frequent jet-setting that’s unusual. In 2010, Barbour, who’s eyeing a presidential run in 2012, was traveling at least 175 days of the year, jetting to Israel; Park City, Utah; Washington, DC; Napa, California; and a dozen other cities, according to records obtained by the Jackson, Mississippi Clarion-Ledger (PDF). From January 2010 to January 2011, the amount Barbour’s bodyguards billed back to the Department of Public Safety—and ultimately Mississippi taxpayers—was $121,457 for hotels, food, and travel costs.

Barbour’s extensive use of taxpayer-funded bodyguards comes as his state struggles to adequately fund critical public services used by most Mississippians. For instance, the Barbour administration and Mississippi’s state legislature have underfunded the state’s public schools by $520 million since 2004, when Barbour became governor; Barbour’s 2012 budget recommendation (PDF) would reduce K-12 funding by 4.5 percent and higher ed funding by 3 percent. Other agencies, including the departments of Human Services and Mental Health, could be forced to cut back on child welfare and mental treatment services if the Barbour administration doesn’t beef up its budget recommendations.

Barbour’s jet-setting, and the taxpayer-borne costs that come with it, have lawmakers fuming. “He shouldn’t be traveling 175 days a year—that’s beyond the pale,” says Cecil Brown, a Democratic legislator in Mississippi. “This is a guy spending his time fundraising for Republicans and running for president, and we don’t think that’s good public policy.”

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate