“I’d bet I hadn’t talked to this dude since well before he was fired by Ole Miss,” tweeted Gov. Tate Reeves.
“This dude!”
Really?
The “dude” referred to was Dr. Dan Jones, the highly respected and much beloved former Chancellor of the University of Mississippi, the University’s former distinguished Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of the medical school, the accomplished physician and former medical missionary to Korea, and the recently retired director of the Mississippi Center for Obesity Research.
Also, Dan was never fired by Ole Miss. The IHL Board chose not to renew his contract as Chancellor in 2015 when he unwaveringly stood behind his successors at the medical center in the face of strong board intrusion into its operations.
The Governor issued his caustic tweet after Dan revealed a conversation he had with Reeves during his time as Chancellor.
“A little while after I began explaining the benefits of Medicaid expansion, he (Reeves) put his hand up and said, ‘Chancellor, I recognize it would be good for Mississippians, good for our economy, good for health care if we expanded Medicaid,'” Dan recalled in a recent press conference. “I had a big smile on my face and said, ‘I’m so glad to hear you’re going to support expansion.’ His response, ‘Oh no, I’m not going to support it because it’s not in my personal political interest.'”
Reeves’ tweet called Jones’ comments an “obvious lie,” adding “I never would have said this.”
Unfortunately, the Governor may well have said something like that. He has had similar conversations in private about PERS’ financial woes.
A self-proclaimed numbers guy, former State Treasurer, former Lt. Governor, and now Governor, Reeves understands more than most the financial plight of hospitals, the true costs and benefits of Medicaid expansion, and the never ending funding dilemmas at PERS.
While Lt. Governor he once said, “The fact our pension funding levels are weak and getting weaker, that’s a real issue. But heretofore, there has not been the political will to do anything about it.”
An early supporter, I began to doubt Tate’s competence to lead when he as Lt. Governor ducked the PERS issue after Gov. Haley Barbour’s PERS study commission issued its detailed report. He confirmed that doubt when he ignored the plight of hospitals.
The sad truth is that none have lacked the political will to tackle PERS and health care issues more than Tate Reeves. He has feared, as Dan Jones recounted, potential negative impacts on his political ambitions.
Had Dan been more of a political creature like the Governor, enraptured with his own ambitions, he would still be Chancellor at Ole Miss. Kudos to the “dude” for speaking out.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit” – Philippians 2:3.
Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.
