Fleming Says Lott Can be Beaten

Fleming Says Lott Can be Beaten

State Rep. Erik Fleming, incumbent Sen. Trent Lott's Democratic challenger, called for revisions to Social Security, No Child Left Behind, community health care and a minimum wage increase during a town hall meeting in Purvis attended by about 20 people Saturday morning.

The meeting at the Old Lamar County Courthouse was part of Fleming's uphill bid to oust Lott, who was elected to the Senate in 1988, after having been a congressman.

"We've got to dispel a myth out there that there's no way that this man, Trent Lott, can be beat," Fleming said. "Now we're about to shock the world."

Politicians Lott, Fleming said, "have what I call Potomac River Disease, they've forgot the meetings like this is what got them in office."

Fleming, who represents Hinds and Madison counties, touted his productivity in the Capitol, saying he introduced 150 to 200 bills annually and pushed legislation to move Mississippi forward.

"My opponent can't say that," Fleming said.

Fleming talked briefly of Iraq, saying U.S. forces should be deployed more widely instead of concentrating them in the center of the country as occupiers.

"The U.S. cannot be an occupying force," he said.

If elected, Fleming said he would push for a minimum wage increase. However, some of the people in attendance had different ideas.

"What we need in Mississippi is jobs, high paying jobs," Milton Bourn, alderman at large of the city of Purvis, said. "If you raise the minimum wage you hurt all of us on a fixed income."

Fleming agreed the cost of living would go up, but said it's probably impacted just as much by the rising cost of gas, which affects just about everything.

Fleming said there should be greater attention paid to preventive medicine in the community, especially in Mississippi where obesity is a major problem.
Preventing problems like obesity before they start would help cut cost the cost of health care later on, Fleming said.

If elected to the Senate, Fleming said he would work on more funding for No Child Left Behind to see "if it really works." The act has been an unfunded mandate that has forced states and school district to scramble to make up the cost, he said.

Fleming suggested expanding the investment base of Social Security, but choosing federally guaranteed investments instead of privatization.

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060917/NEWS01/60917006/1002