Everyone likes tax reform
The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again — if you were looking for evidence that the population likes Bush’s tax cuts and reforms we’ve noticed one example. This might not be a true ‘cause and effect’ but we think the timing is quite interesting. Now that the marriage penalty tax has been removed (two married people now pay the same as two single people instead of more), suddenly the gay community wants same sex marriages to be OK and they are stampeding the courts. Like the wise man said, follow the money — remove the disincentive to marriage and marriage becomes popular. Makes you wonder what would happen if two married people got to pay a lower total amount of taxes than the same two as singles, doesn’t it? DBJ

Staplcotn
As Staplcotn celebrates the expansive renovation of its downtown Greenwood facility, we at the DBJ felt it was appropriate to pause and recognize the many contributions this company has made on the landscape of the Mississippi Delta. Staplcotn is the “gold standard” of cotton marketing companies and is the largest producer-owned cotton cooperative in the world. It consistently ranks as one of the top private businesses in the State of Mississippi in terms of annual sales, and its steady leadership has been an asset to Delta farmers for over four generations. Because they do not seek it, Staplcotn does not get the publicity that other businesses in our region receive. But, you can be assured that the Delta is a better place because of them. DBJ

Bern Keating
Bern Keating, longtime Greenville resident and Pulitzer Prize winning photo journalist, passed away in early March. The work of Keating, and his wife, Franke, has been featured in Town and Country, Saturday Evening Post, Reader’s Digest, The New Yorker, The New York Times and countless other prominent newspapers and magazines. Keating’s Pulitzer Prize came from the photos he took of Civil War battlefields. A native of Canada, Keating arrived in the Delta in the early forties and never left. He and his wife helped put the Delta on the map in many ways and in many circles throughout the world. He will be greatly missed. DBJ