It did not take long for partisanship to surface as lawmakersresponded to Gov. Haley Barbour’s plan for his next four yearsfollowing his second term inaugural speech Tuesday.

Placing job growth on the top of his list drew jeers from somelawmakers who disagreed with the governor’s assessment of reasonsbehind economic problems in the Delta and SouthwestMississippi.

Following the speech, Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, said hewas appalled by Barbour’s comments and suggested the governor didnot understand the issues.

Barbour used his speech to comment on the negative effects onjob creation due to socioeconomic issues related the increasingnumbers of babies being born to single parents. The governor saidthe “scourge of illegitimacy and a decline in the family structure”make job creation difficult.

Unfortunately, like it or not, the governor’s comments arecorrect and his take on the difficulty in creating jobs due to suchissues is right on target.

There are no racial lines to the growing problem of singleparent birthing. Contrary to what Flaggs seems to suggest, thesocial issue knows no racial boundaries.

We need help in Southwest Mississippi finding new industry tocreate new jobs, and Gov. Barbour understands the need. Flaggs’partisan and racial comments hurt that effort for all of us here -as well as our friends in the Delta.