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Governor Haley Barbour, center, emphasizes a point Tuesday during a forum at the University of Mississippi's Overby Center with journalists representing, from left, the Daily Mississippian, Oxford Eagle, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and Oxford Enterprise. (Errol Castens)
The comments came during a "Meet the Press"-style forum at the University of Mississippi's Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics.
"We have many more who come to the universities than earn degrees," he said, answering a question by Daily Mississippian editor-in-chief Alex McDaniel.
He noted that in neighboring Arkansas, the number of new students tripled during a period when the number of graduates stayed the same.
"Ole Miss and Mississippi State are the only two universities in the state system where more than half the students ... graduate within six years," Barbour said. "I don't think we have any business doing remedial work for freshmen at Ole Miss. Those kids, if they need that, ought to go to a community college system."
Oxford Eagle News Editor Jon Scott asked about Barbour's proposal to close most of the state's regional mental health centers. The governor said the state has had "an extreme bias toward institutionalization," noting such care costs an average of $500 per day and that many could thrive better at home with community-based care.
Daily Journal Capitol Bureau reporter Bobby Harrison asked Barbour's view on paying for highway construction in light of state budget woes. The governor said he wanted "a highway bill that's transparent."
"I'm not for a bill that just scatters pixie dust on the Transportation Department," he said.
Joe Meek, managing editor of the Oxford Enterprise, asked Barbour, "Are you going to run for president in 2012? And that's a yes-or-no question."
Barbour quipped back, "OK - yes or no." He added that his present political priority is to help elect as many Republican governors as possible this year.
"It is not likely that I would run for president," he said. "If I lose 40 pounds, you'll know I'm either running for president, or I've got cancer."
Barbour, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, declined to choose among the Republicans vying to oppose 1st District Congressman Travis Childers in November.
"I worked for Ronald Reagan," he said. "Ronald Reagan never endorsed a candidate in a primary - not even his own daughter."
Contact Errol Castens at (662) 281-1069 or errol.castens@djournal.com.
He's no Ronald Reagan!
And nice dodge on Bobby Harrison's question.
Haley's an egotistical idiot.
And I hope he does run for president. He'll finish dead last and maybe get a dose of humility in the process.
Not to mention that if he runs, they'll probably dig into his "questionable financial dealings" and he'll be shown for what he is, a crook!