July 24, 2024 - Donald J. Trump Probably Will Be The 47th President of the United States
I was watching the Trump rally on television the late Saturday afternoon of July 13, and saw the horrific assassination attempt on President Donald Trump. I followed the aftermath and discussions for the next 48 hours and knew that I was watching the revelation of history. The scenes of the horrific incident will be seen for years in historic documents and films. The reaction by President Trump, rising above the Secret Service detail and heroically pumping his fist into the air shouting to the immense throng of worshippers, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” will be seen millions of times between now and November 5.
The mere fact that Trump had the strength and presence of mind to get up and react was amazing after being hit by a bullet and tackled by five Secret Service agents. He actually wanted to continue his speech to the tremendous Pennsylvania audience. He revealed a resilience that I do not believe even his most ardent followers thought he had. That picture of him with blood on his face, defiantly pumping his fist, and saying, “Fight!”, will be an indelible iconic image forever in the annals of presidential politics.
The Secret Service did a good job of getting to Trump and covering the President. However, the Secret Service and its director became villainized by the inexplicable inability to secure the rally surroundings from a person carrying a rifle onto the top of a building with a clear view less than 150 yards from where the President was delivering his address.
The most remarkable unfolding of the event was the fact that if President Trump had not turned his head to the right at that exact moment, the bullet would have hit him right in the head and killed him rather than simply grazing his ear. That was without question, divine intervention.
It was obvious when Trump appeared at the GOP Convention on Monday night, a mere 51 hours after almost being murdered, he had a quiet, calm redemptive composure. He had the same mellow demeanor as he gave his acceptance speech on Thursday night. He looks and sounds presidential. He realizes that God spared his life. A mere millimeter difference in the bullet’s trajectory, caused by the exact timing of his turning his head, saved his life. The former and probably next President had a Damascus Road experience.
The entire country, including Republicans, Independents, and even Democrats, have seen the cognitive decline of current President Joe Biden over the last three years. It has accelerated over the last three months, and it will not improve. Even the most ardent Democratic politicians and pundits have overtly acknowledged that he cannot lead the country for four more months, much less four more years.
Lights are out on the reelection of Joe Biden. His reluctance to leave the race revealed that a small insular group of close advisors, including his wife Jill, were keeping him isolated because they liked running the White House and remaining in the limelight.
There is complete discord and disarray within the Democratic Party. Democratic leaders in the Senate and House have been urging Biden’s handlers to allow him to step aside as their presidential candidate. Their fear was that Biden’s name atop the ticket would not only assure the loss of the White House but would cause the Democrats to lose the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.
Biden’s recent departure from the race will allow the Democrats to field a potentially viable presidential candidate, probably Vice President Kamala Harris. However, regardless of whoever is selected to be the Democratic nominee, the assassination attempt on the life of President Trump and his iconic fist pump has galvanized the Republican Party base and probably made Donald J. Trump the 47th President of the United States.
See you next week.
July 17, 2024 - “Krazy Kristi” Noem
As the Republican National Convention unfolds this week, you will see all the GOP stars on stage and featured all week, especially on Fox News.
You will probably not see one of the former potential rising political show horses featured or interviewed. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem may be there but will be shunned and snubbed by the GOP faithful and media. She has been relegated to the political graveyard, now and forever. She is now a comedic laughingstock and punchline in political circles.
This time, six months ago, the spectacularly attractive South Dakotan was actually being considered to be Donald Trump’s running mate. Indeed, our Senior Senator Tommy “Coach” Tuberville, who has become one of Trump’s closest allies and confidantes, recently shared with me that while he and Trump were golfing at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year, Trump referred to Noem often and inferred that she was being considered as his running mate.
Noem was aspiring to be on the national stage. She was the keynote speaker at the Alabama GOP Winter Dinner in recent years. About a year ago, she began running ads on Fox News promoting South Dakota, which primarily featured her in jeans and a hard hat. Ostensibly, these ads were to attract business to the small, obscure, sparsely populated, western state. They were really designed to promote her as the Governor of South Dakota and to help build her name identification with an eye towards national politics.
As is the case with aspiring governors and senators, who begin being touted as potential presidential aspirants, they come out with a book. Governor Kristi Noem was relatively unknown except in small Republican circles. However, her book made her nationally and even internationally known.
For you see, this western girl told the whole world that she took her pet dog out to a gravel pit and shot it dead and left it there just because she did not like it anymore. She more than likely did not write the book, a ghost writer did. However, she had to have read the book, and approved it, and given the writer that gruesome aspect of her life. A chapter was devoted to it.
My first thought was, is this for real? Then, what kind of aspiring political person would tell the world this in not only an interview, but in her own book? Her so-called biography. What kind of stupid political adviser would allow that to go into a book? What kind of publisher would allow that passage and think that the book would be bought and make any money?
Bless her heart, Kristi Noem was set to promote the book, and the book was leaked, and the passage posted prior to her appearances. The greeting was so savage and brutal from all news sources, even Fox, that within a day of total ridicule and abject obvious hatred toward her, she and her advisers tucked their tails and hightailed it back to South Dakota. She will probably never be heard from again.
If Noem ever goes anywhere to a political or social event, the rest of her life she will be met with a laugh or sneer as a joke. She will forever be known as the woman dog killer. She will be the brunt of jokes for life. She is through, politically, and to think she did it to herself. She not only shot her dog, she also shot herself in the foot with the same bullet. In fact, she did not shoot herself in the foot, she shot herself in the head, politically. Kristi Noem committed political suicide.
I have been scratching my head for the last three months since Noem’s unbelievable revelation, trying to think of another example of overt political suicide in my lifetime. I cannot remember anything similar.
About this same time, it occurred to me that every older, white Republican I came in touch with had a dog that they loved and adored. Senator Richard Shelby has a new dog named Tallulah. Governor Kay Ivey has a beloved dog named Missy. My older brother, Scott, just lost his 13-year-old collie Jessie at about this time. He is still in mourning.
The same week as Kristi Noem’s horror story, ironically, I’m watching Fox News and Kristi’s South Dakota ad is sandwiched between an ad for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and gourmet dog food, which older Republicans are obviously buying for their dogs. They are probably not buying Kristi Noem’s book that tells of her adventures of killing her dog in a gravel pit.
In political circles, she will be forever known as “Krazy Kristi” Noem.
See you next week.
July 10, 2024 - Donald Trump Will Be Coronated by GOP at Republican Convention Next Week
The Republican National Convention begins next week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Milwaukee was selected as the home to the GOP Convention for a reason. Wisconsin is one of the sixmajor pivotal battleground states in the presidential race. The others are Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia,and possibly Pennsylvania.
In bygone years, presidential candidates campaigned in 40 or so states because 40 states were in play. Today the candidates will concentrate in these few swing states and will really focus their efforts on certain locales and precincts within these handful of states. Even the media, both right and left, discuss and reveal polling in these swing states and disregard the national horserace polling numbers because they are irrelevant.
Under our electoral college system of selecting our president where the winner of each state’s popular vote gets all of those states electoral votes, there is no reason to campaign in 40 states because those back 40 are already predisposed to vote for either the Republican or Democratic candidate. As I have often said, if Mickey Mouse were the Republican nominee he would win Alabama and Kansas. By the same token, if Donald Duck were the Democratic nominee he would carry the states of California and New York, and get all of their boatload of electoral votes. You might say that the “hay is in the barn” in Kansas and the“cannabis in the halo” in California.
Donald J. Trump will be coronated by the GOP delegates at the Milwaukee confab July 15-18. Republicans are hoping that by giving deference to Wisconsin, it will help the former Presidentcarry the state in November. Trump won the state narrowly against Hillary Clinton in 2016 and lost narrowly to Biden in 2020.
Currently, Trump and Biden are knotted at 45/45 in Wisconsinwith third party candidate Robert Kennedy getting a substantial 10%. In fact, as the convention begins, current polling has Donald Trump ahead of Joe Biden in most of the battleground states, including Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, and even Michigan.
Trump is ahead and will be favored to win the General Election for three reasons. First, Joe Biden’s aged demeanor is an Achilles heel that he cannot overcome, and it will only get worse. Pivotal Independents are not comfortable that he is capable of being Commander in Chief, and young Democratic voters are not enthused to vote for someone for President of the United States that looks like their great grandfather who is running for president of his nursing home. Secondly, the candidacy of third-party candidate Robert Kennedy is siphoning off these young Democratic voters. The third and primary reason is that the Democratic plan and ploy to indict former President Trump on trumped up ridiculous court cases in primarilyDemocratic venues around the country, has incensed American Republican and Independent voters to such a degree that this mockery of the court system has made Trump a martyr.
It has definitely made the Trump Republican base mad and fired up. The Democrats overplayed their hand with this court charade. This circus abuse of the judiciary for political purposes has truly angered the Republican base. It has assured Trump the GOP nomination and it has even made the pivotal Independent voters sway towards Trump.
Alabama is a Trump state. The Alabama delegation will fervently cast 50 delegate votes for Donald J. Trump next week. Senator “Coach” Tommy Tuberville will be the one who gets to reply to the Chair of the Convention when they call the roll for the vote. Alabama will be the first to vote as they call the roll alphabetically. Senator Tuberville will rise and shout that the great state of Alabama proudly casts all of its 50 delegate votes to the next President of the United States, President Donald J. Trump.
It is appropriate that Tuberville is Chairman of the Alabama delegation. He and Trump are close. Indeed, if Trump becomes President, our Senior Senator Tuberville will be the President’s closest ally in the Senate. They talk consistently, and golf together regularly.
Our 50-member delegation is star-studded. Our Senior State Senate Legend, Senator Jabo Waggoner (R-Vestavia), will be a delegate to the National Convention for the ninth time. Jabo is 87. He will be joined by the youngest delegate ever elected, 22-year-old St. Clair native and lifelong resident of Chandler Mountain, young Logan Glass.
See you next week.
July 3, 2024 - Midyear Political Observations
Now that we are midway through the year, allow me to share some thoughts on Alabama political events. There have been some significant elections already this year in the Heart of Dixie as we await a titanic presidential election in the fall.
The race for the newly drawn second Congressional district has been the major political attraction of the year. The primaries attracted a plethora of candidates on both political spectrums. There were 11 Democrats and 8 Republicans running for their party’s nomination. Most, if not all, of the Democratic aspirants lived outside the district. Half of them represented Democratic legislative districts hundreds of miles from the new bailiwick. It was actually comical. The winner of the Democratic nominationhas spent his entire adult life in Washington. Shomari Figures at only 38, came home to Mobile with a ton of Washington liberal and crypto currency money, and trounced the field, impressively. He parlayed his Mobile roots and his parent’simmense name identification in the Port City. He also beat JoeReed’s vaunted ADC machine in Montgomery. In the first primary, he beat Reed’s man, Napoleon Bracey, 40 to 15 in Joe’s backyard.
The biggest surprise and most impressive performance was turned in by young Caroleene Dobson, who won the GOP nomination for the new district. She not only won, she trounced veteran Montgomery State Legislator Dick Brewbaker, who had led her in the first primary. She ran a brilliant campaign spearheaded by the sensational political guru, Paul Shashy, who also masterminded both Senators Tommy Tuberville’s and Katie Britt’s campaigns.
Caroleene is a 37-year-old lawyer, mother, and wife. She crisscrossed the district from one end to the other. She is very poised and exudes class and integrity. She is originally from Monroe County, which is in the center of the new district, geographically. Her family has deep roots in the cattle industry.Caroleene Dobson would make a good congresswoman.
Marshall County has become the new center of Alabama politics. It is the new Barbour County of state political lore. This economically affluent enclave in the heart of Sand Mountainboasts breathtaking scenic views and pristine lakes. It is also home to our current Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth and Attorney General Steve Marshall.
Those of us who follow Alabama politics saw two juggernaut rising stars emerging in Marshall County. Wes Kitchens and Brock Colvin came to Montgomery at extremely young ages, both under 30 from Marshall County. Both were and still are considered rising stars. When Clay Scofield, the popular State Senator and Republican Majority Leader from Marshall County,left his senate seat earlier this year to join the Business Council of Alabama it left a vacancy, which created an open senate seat special election. Guess who ran? The two new superstars Wes Kitchens and Brock Colvin collided. Kitchens bested Colvin 55 to 45. Wes Kitchens is now a 35-year-old State Senator from Marshall County.
Jeana Ross, a very well-respected educator won the Special Election for Wes Kitchens’ old House seat. She defeated five other Republicans to capture this very Republican Seat.
Speaking of women winning open Special Election seats this year, Marilyn Lands, a Democrat, won an open seat in Huntsville. This House seat is considered one of the few purple swing seats in the state. She ran a campaign espousing women’s reproductive rights. She won 62 to 38. This should send a message to the Republican Party nationwide. The reversal of Roe v. Wade has been devasting for Republicans in the last three elections.
The passage of the Working for Alabama package of bills during the regular legislative session will be a gamechanger for job creation in Alabama. The behind-the-scenes masterminds of this significant project were Alabama Power CEO Jeff Peoples and Alabama Community College Chancellor Jimmy Baker. This collaborative effort will pay dividends for decades to come in our state. Chancellor Baker has transformed our community/technical college system into the incubator and matriculation for job creation in Alabama.
Our retired, iconic, United States Senator Richard Shelby turned 90 last month. A couple of decades ago when he was in his late 60’s or early 70’s, several of us would privately ask him if he was contemplating retirement. He quickly said, “No, I will probably stay to my mid-80s, I’ve got long genes.” He was not lying. I have never seen a 90-year-old as sharp or look as good as Shelby does today. He is enjoying his retirement in his home in Tuscaloosa with his beloved wife, Dr. Annette Shelby. The have a little five-pound dog, which he has named Tallulah, probably after the famous Alabama actress Tallulah Bankhead.
See you next week.
June 26, 2024 - Partisan Political Prosecution
Our First President George Washington advised that America should not have political parties. Washington was a very wise man. His leadership solidified the beginning of the bedrock of our Democracy. He was one of, if not our greatest presidents.
If he were here today to observe the bitter, tremendous, partisan divide in our nation, he would be amazed at how salient his admonishment toward political parties was 250 years ago. The partisan division in our nation is vast, deep and entrenched. We are basically two Americas. Our states are enshrined into red Republican or blue Democratic bastions.
We are tribal in our defense and allegiance to our party. Indeed, most Americans vote a straight ticket. Sixty years ago, 40 to 45 states were in play in a presidential contest. Today, only 5 to 10 states are truly swing states, and these handfuls of states are where the presidential election is held.
We have had a history of vicious political campaigns throughout our national political archives. Andrew Jackson “Ole Hickory” was one of the toughest Generals and Presidents in the annals of American history but his political enemies penetrated his very thick skin when they attacked his wife, Rachel. The venomousarrows directed toward Rachel drove her into a deep depression and caused her death.
However, never before has a political party used the courts as a political tool. This year’s use of the Judicial System by the Democrats against Trump is plowing new ground. It makes us look like a banana republic to the world. Any third grader can see that four indictments in four totally Democratic venues is political prosecution.
The Democrats’ underhanded plan was designed to make Donald Trump the Republican nominee because they perceived he would be easy to defeat. At the time of the first frivolous indictment in New York, Trump was not going to be the GOP nominee. However, the Democratic Party anticipated that the Republican faithful would rally behind the beleaguered Trump and the antagonism towards the Democratic misuse of the judicial system would accrue to Trump’s advantage. Man, did it ever work. They have made Trump the nominee, but they have overplayed their hand. They may have elected him. They have played right into his hands. They have made the election nothing more than a Vaudeville comedy or reality television show and, folks, Trump is a reality show TV star. He knows how to play that role. They may have just put Br’er Rabbit in the Briar patch.
Partisan political persecution is very wrong. If it continues it will keep any decent person from running for political office.We have had our share of political prosecution in Alabama. Two of our most recent governors, Guy Hunt and Don Siegelman,were removed from office by gross, unjust, political prosecution.
Guy Hunt, who was our first Republican Governor since Reconstruction and a Primitive Baptist preacher, was prosecuted by an overzealous Democratic Attorney General for taking a love offering for preaching a sermon because he flew on the state jet to the church event.
The most egregious, outrageous, cruel, unfair political persecution in Alabama history was the prosecution and imprisonment of former Governor Don Siegelman. He was sent to federal prison for almost a decade of his life for attempting to pass a lottery for the citizens of Alabama.
A political campaign committee simply solicited contributions from a legitimate Political Action Committee that was raising and spending money advertising to pass a lottery that would not benefit Siegelman one dime. He would in no way receive any of the funds personally or politically. Therefore, he was in no way guilty of violating the Ethics Law or any law. He benefitted zero, yet he was convicted and condemned to federal prison.
When young people come to me and ask if they should seek political office, I use this unbelievably unjust Don Siegelman story and ask them if they want this for their life. The man spent almost a decade of his life in federal prison for trying to get Alabama a lottery similar to Georgia’s that would give free college tuition for Alabama students to go to college and community colleges in Alabama.
See you next week.
June 19, 2024 - “Working for Alabama” Legislation is Monumental
As former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Sam Rayburn once said, and I’ll paraphrase, “Any fool can kick down a barn, but it takes a good carpenter to build one.” In our political landscape today, from Washington, D.C. down, we have plenty of folks kicking down barns, but not nearly enough carpenters building them.
During the most recent legislative session, the legislature passed a package of bills called “Working for Alabama,” which is a prime example of building good, effective policy that will serve to address several real problems facing Alabama’s economy – a package that has the potential to pay out in dividends for generations to come.
Anyone who is familiar with the legislative process knows that killing a bill is easy, but passing a bill of consequence is very difficult. Of the six ambitious bills included in the Working for Alabama package, every single one was passed within 50 days of their introduction – that is a real feat.
One of the primary goals of this package was to solve Alabama’s demonstrably low labor force participation rate, which, ranking at 47 in the nation, puts us at the bottom of the list when it comes to having folks working and engaged in our economy. Any small business owner in our state is well aware of this issue, as it is one of the leading problems they face every day. We know this by the sheer number of “now hiring” signs on store fronts across our state.
Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth recognized this problem and worked with elected officials and leaders in the private sector to lay the groundwork to create a solution aimed at solving this problem. In 2019, Ainsworth led a new commission to identify the problems causing Alabama’s low workforce participation rate and, more importantly, to develop ways to solve it. After several years of diligent work, which included input from fellow elected officials and private sector leaders,such as Alabama Power’s President and CEO Jeff Peoples and Power South Energy’s President and CEO Gary Smith – some of our state’s top employers, Ainsworth’s commission created a report that included ambitious policy solutions aimed to tackle this problem and create economic success for our state for years to come.
Ainsworth’s commission laid the groundwork for the policy solutions that comprised the “Working for Alabama “package, and they will serve Alabama’s economy well for years and even decades to come. The solutions in this package are common sense, well thought out, and represent policies that we should all be able to get behind. This includes streamlining and making more efficient Alabama’s workforce development strategies and programs, creating accountability to make sure that what our state is doing is actually working, a concept all too often lacking in government bureaucracy, and making sure that the people who actually employ Alabamians have a seat at the table when it comes to making these key decisions. That, along with resources such as a childcare tax credit, to make the ever-more expensivechildcare services affordable for working parents – demonstrate just a few key issues included in this package.
This past legislative session was contentious in many ways, with divisive issues such as gaming causing sharp divides between the Alabama House, Senate and the Governor’s Office. However, in large part thanks to Ainsworth’s leadership, a coalition of elected leaders – both Republican and Democrat, along with our state’s business community, the legislature wasable to put those issues aside and come together to get something done for our state that will impact virtually all Alabamians.
This package gave our state’s leaders, including Governor Kay Ivey, House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, and Democrat Leaders Anthony Daniels and Bobby Singleton, an issue in which they could put their partisanship aside and work together on addressing common sense solutions to very real Alabama challenges.
The instigation of this monumental Working for Alabama program came about in large part due to the efforts of Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth.
See you next week.
June 12, 2024 - Although Lottery Vote Failed, 2024 Legislative Session Successful
Even though the will of most Alabama voters was thwarted by a minority of Republican Legislators disallowing their constituents the right to vote on a lottery, the Session was a success.
The legislature was thrown a myriad of major issues and they dealt with them in quick order. The paramount factor in any session is whether the two budgets are passed and passed prudently. They were and they are prudent. Ever since Republicans took the majority in the Alabama House and Senate in 2016, our state budgets have been sound, balanced, and fiscally responsible.
There is an old tried and true maxim that it is more difficult to craft a budget when there is a surplus than when there is a shortage or lack of funds. This truism has been at play for the last three years. There has been a tremendous amount of money flowing into the state coffers for budgeting. Excess COVID federal money, along with rampant inflation, have given Budget Chairmen, Senator Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), Representative Danny Garnett (R-Trussville), Senator Greg Albritton (R- Poarch Creek), and Representative Rex Reynolds (R-Huntsville), a flush hand to deal with. They have done a good job of delving out the money wisely and prudently. They have set aside monies for rainy days in the future because what goes up will come down.
The first major issue to come up was the so called, “School Choice Bill.” This is a very popular political topic among Republicans. A good many Republican states have accepted this measure, and our super majority Republican legislature did not want to be left out. The new law sailed through both chambers of the legislature swiftly and easily.
All this law does is take education dollars from public school districts and give tax breaks to well heeled parents to send their children to private schools. Privately most mainstream and majority of Republican legislators held their noses and voted for this even though they were not totally sold on it. Many told me this was a tougher vote than voting “yes” to their Constituents being allowed to vote on a lottery.
Understandably, Republican legislators who hail from excellent public schools like Vestavia, Auburn, Enterprise, all North Alabama, including Huntsville, Madison, Athens, and Decatur, are being asked to steer money away from their proud public school system to folks in Montgomery to send their children to private school.
The most significant legislative package passed was the “Working for Alabama” laws. These job-creating and futuristic economic development initiatives were all passed expeditiously. They were introduced halfway through the session, and Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter and Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed did a yeoman’s job of shepherding them towards passage.
These workforce bills were truly a bipartisan effort spearheaded by the Business Council of Alabama. The photos of the introductory rollout of the bills included both the Republican leadership and the Democratic leadership. In the photo were BCA Head Helena Duncan, Gov. Kay Ivey, Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth, Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, President Pro Tem Greg Reed, Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, and House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels.
The bills included a tax credit program to help remedy a shortage of quality affordable childcare that makes it harder for single mothers to work or return to work. The bill authorizes tax credits for employers who invest in childcare centers for their employees. Another part of this initiative creates an Alabama Workforce Housing Tax Credit. These credits are intended to be incentives for developers to build housing that offer rent that would be affordable for people entering or returning to the workforce.
Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth led a commission that developed many of these ideas, and House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter appointed a labor shortage study group. Ainsworth’s and Ledbetter’s collaboration worked well to accomplish passage of this important legislation.
The Education Budget was the largest in state history. It provides a 2% raise for education employees across the board and makes the starting pay for teachers more than $46,000, which is the highest starting salary in the region.
The General Fund Budget is also a record high. It gives a 2% cost of living raise to all state workers. Under Alabama State Employees Association Executive Director Mac McArthur’s watch, state employees have garnered a COLA raise six out of the last seven years.
See you next week.
June 5, 2024 - Legislative Session Fails to Let Alabamians Vote on a Lottery
The regular Legislative Session ended on May 9, with final passage of both budgets, which is the only constitutionally mandated requirement of the legislature during its annual legislative session.
However, there was another constitutional question that dominated the session – the perennial issue of whether Alabamians will ever be allowed to purchase lottery tickets in Alabama and keep Alabamians money within our state. This money could help educate Alabama children, pave Alabama roads, and remedy the closing of our rural hospitals. However, these Alabama dollars currently are going to our four surrounding states of Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi, who all allow the purchase of lottery tickets.
Alabama is now one of only four states in America that do not have a lottery. It comes as no surprise that most Alabamians – both Republicans and Democrats – find this absurd. In fact, 80% of Alabamians, when polled, say they adamantly want their legislators to vote in favor of simply giving Alabamians the right to vote on whether to keep their lottery dollars at home. This same reliable polling reveals that the Alabamians in favor of a state lottery, also attend church up to two times a week and already gamble on sporting events and drive out of state to purchase lottery tickets. This is especially true of people under 50.
Today, most Alabamians see nothing irreverent or wrong, much less sinful, about buying a lottery ticket or betting on a football game. What they do find appalling is that their children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, who are successful in school, could go to college tuition free if they lived next door in Georgia.
Georgia’s Hope Scholarship Program, created 25 years ago through a statewide lottery bill, provides free college education for their students. At this point, Alabamians have educated untold numbers of Georgia students. It is no coincidence the largest outlets for purchasing lottery tickets are located along Georgia’s Alabama border.
The same holds true along Florida’s Alabama border. The people in Dothan and the Wiregrass, alone, have probably paved most of the roads throughout the panhandle of Florida.
Therefore, the question remains, if 80% of Alabamians want the right to vote on a lottery and our state leaders are fully aware that unregulated and untaxed gaming already exists in our state, why did the lottery vote fail yet again during this year’s annual legislative session? Because Special Interests got involved.
Unfortunately, most of the 140 members of the legislature are being falsely accused. The vast majority voted in favor of allowing Alabamians the right to vote on whether to keep gaming/lottery dollars in Alabama. However, because the creation of a lottery requires a constitutional amendment, a three-fifths vote is needed for the measure to pass. That means 63 votes are needed in the House and 21 votes in the Senate. The bill passed the House comfortably with a 72 to 29 vote but failed in the Senate with a final vote of 20 to 15. While most Senators voted in favor of the bill, it needed one more vote to pass.
Based on these numbers, 92 of our legislators voted to let Alabamians vote. Only 44 voted to thumb their nose at their constituents. That is a tough vote to defend, and I suppose most of these legislators are being met by irate constituents. These 44 legislators will have to defend their “no” vote in less than two years. Some of these legislators are veterans, who are entrenched for reelection. However, many of the “no” votes came from newly elected first termers, who now run the risk of not being reelected over this indefensible vote.
Governor Kay Ivey could decide to give these 44 legislators a chance to redeem themselves by calling a Special Session and spotlighting the lottery/gaming vote. However, at this point, I suspect Gov. Ivey is fed up and frustrated with this issue. If that is the case, she could step aside and let the lion of the legislature, Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, take the bull by the horns. It is possible. Only one vote is needed in the Senate. Believe you me, there are three or four freshman, back-bench senators, who are feeling the heat at home for their “no” vote.
Gov. Ivey and Speaker Ledbetter are listening to the outcry from Alabamians. Neither are being deterred by special interests. Kay Ivey has built her legacy by being one of the most honest governors in my lifetime. She has always sided with and acted on what is in the best interests of her fellow Alabamians.
Hopefully, for Alabama’s sake, you have not heard the last of this issue.
See you next week.
May 29, 2024 - Roads Important and Political
Many of you took to the roads to travel over Memorial Day. I am sure this resulted in rumblings and discourses about the deplorable conditions of Alabama’s roads. Most of you, if you went anywhere, had to travel on I-65. Most Alabamians livealong the I-65 corridor.
I-65 is approximately 366 miles from the Tennessee-Alabama line to Mobile. It is a nightmare. I can attest to the frustration of being stuck on this highway. I travel on I-65 from Montgomery to Birmingham at least 100 times a year. My guess is that I am relegated to being in a parking lot four out of 10 times. I am delayed for important meetings and television interviews. In recent years I have begun to start my journey an hour early in anticipation of a delay. When I call to apologize for my tardiness, I end my call with if there is a worse road to travel in the country, I want to see it.
Indeed, I-65 south of Hoover is the busiest road in the state. According to ALDOTS traffic count, they average 130,000 vehicles per day. Many of you have experienced this I-65 nightmare, including Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth.
The Lt. Governor and the majority of state senators are advocating for six lanes for the entire I-65 thoroughfare. The Alabama State Senate recently approved a resolution that urges the Alabama Department of Transportation to prioritize improvements and additional capacity along I-65. This needs to be a priority for our state. As the main artery in the state, I-65 is traveled by tourists, truckers, businesspeople, and everyday Alabamians, who simply need to get from Point A to Point B in a timely manner in order to live their lives. When people are at a standstill on I-65 for hours on end, it hurts our tourism, our economy, and our industrial recruitments.
In defense of Governor Kay Ivey, she has worked to make a difference in regard to Alabama’s roads. She made passage of a gas tax a priority of her administration and tenure in office. She has put her legacy in place by rebuilding Alabama with her gas tax/road building initiative.
She was criticized by some for raising taxes. She displayed political courage and statesmanship, and knew we had to have infrastructure to keep up with other states in growth and economic development.
However, we may not have gone far enough. We may not be keeping up with other states. If she was going to be criticized for a 10 cent a gallon increase, she should have gone for 20 cents. Then maybe we would be able to compete with our sister states like Florida.
It has recently been brought to my attention an unbelievably amazing fact. The State of Florida Department of Transportation has 10 divisions and all 10 have the same amount of money. The panhandle of Florida adjacent to Alabama is one of the 10 divisions. The panhandle Florida division alone has more money than the entire state of Alabama highway budget.
Florida has built four lanes from the beach to almost the Alabama line. They are awaiting Alabama meeting them with a four-lane highway 167 through Enterprise and to 231 in Troy. Many of you who traveled to the Florida coast this weekend probably wished that four lane was completed and you were also wishing that I-65 had six lanes.
Speaking of the Florida coast, for many years both political history students and readers have asked me why the panhandle of Florida is not part of Alabama. When looking at a map it appears the panhandle should be a part of our state. Indeed, both politically and demographically, as well as topographically, the panhandle of Florida and south Alabama are one and the same.
The answer is we were offered the entire panhandle, including the beaches and coastline more than once for almost nothing over a century ago. We refused to take it. At that time, the South and especially Alabama, were totally agriculturally oriented. Everything was about could you grow crops on land. Folks looked at the sandy soil and thick brush in the sparsely underdeveloped territory and said anybody would be crazy to want that land. Plus, it was occupied by Seminole Indians who were fierce and protective of their territory. Alabamians said hell no to fighting Seminole Indians and thorny bushes for land that was nothing but sand and you could not grow anything onit.
Well, that sand and beaches are worth something today. It is estimated that within the next seven years one million new people are going to move to the panhandle of Florida.
See you next week.
May 22, 2024 - Liberal Democrats in Washington Fear Katie Britt
Senator Katie Britt has quickly established herself as one of the most effective, well-respected members of the United States Senate.
In all my years observing state and national politics, I have never seen someone gain esteem on both sides of the aisle as quickly and as genuinely as Britt during her first 16 months in office. Furthermore, she has done it all while being a steady, strong champion for Christian conservative values and priorities that Alabamians hold dear. In recognition of her staunch conservative voting record, Senator Britt was honored with CPAC’s Award for Conservative Achievement this year.
In my pre-Christmas column this past December, I wrote about Senator Britt’s early mastery of her roles on the Appropriations, Banking, and Rules Committees. Through Appropriations, she secured the ninth-most funding out of 100 U.S. Senators – despite the fact she was a freshman member and ranked dead-last in seniority at the beginning of the year. This prowess in bringing Alabamians’ taxpayer money back home and making wise investments in the state’s future is the hallmark of a senior stateswoman, far surpassing Britt’s status as the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the upper chamber of Congress.
Outside of her impressive appropriations acumen, Britt is already running laps around her colleagues when it comes to the art of legislating, too. In recent weeks alone, Britt has seen a handful of her co-sponsored pieces of legislation be enacted into law in overwhelming bipartisan fashion. This includes complex foreign policy bills that crack down on America’s greatest adversaries: China, Iran, and Russia. Britt has emerged as a stalwart advocate for Alabama’s military bases and communities. Britt helped ensure that training funds were not taken away this month by the Biden Administration from the Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker in her native Wiregrass. Britt’s intervention was seen as integral in saving a flight simulation training program from being halted.
It is no secret that Senator Britt has quickly cemented herself as one of the foremost pro-border security, anti-illegal immigration hawks in Washington. She helped lead the FEND Off FentanylAct, which was signed into law in April, alongside Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina.
Katie has been a champion for rural housing affordability and rural infrastructure. She has also made it a personal mission to increase health care access and improve health care outcomesfor rural Alabamians. First, Britt recently partnered with Senator Laphonza Butler, a Democrat from California, to introduce the NIH IMPROVE Act. This bipartisan bill would provide consistent support and resources to conduct important research into America’s maternal mortality crisis and improve health care outcomes for women before, during, and after pregnancy. This type of effort is especially needed in Alabama, where over a third of our state’s 67 counties are classified as “maternity care deserts.” Britt’s introduction of the comprehensive MOMS Act with Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida also speaks to her commitment to solving the challenges facing so many women, children, and families. Sadly, Alabama has the highest maternal mortality rate in the nation. That reality is why Britt has also joined Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire, in introducing the Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act.
Additionally, Britt has co-sponsored a major bipartisan bill to expand coverage of telehealth services through Medicare and make it easier for patients to connect with their doctors. That’s not even to mention the two pieces of bipartisan legislation she has co-sponsored to help all Alabamians access affordable insulin.
Finally, Britt, partnering with Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, introduced the Youth Mental Health Research Act. Britt is a member of the honorary congressional working group for the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Task Force, underscoring her national leadership on a critical topic for America’s children and families.
Unfortunately, you will not hear or see most of these bipartisan efforts by Britt covered by the liberal media. The Nancy Pelosi left wing of the Democratic Party lie and distort the bipartisan pro-women work of Katie Britt. They fear our Katie Britt. The left wing ultra liberals only shoot at worthy targets, and they have Alabama’s Katie Britt in their sights. If you want to know another person’s value, just look at who is attacking them.
Britt is an incredibly bright rising Republican superstar, and she is shining a light on the best of Alabama every day. We are fortunate to have a stalwart senator, who simultaneously fights for Alabama’s Christian conservative values and is an effective mover-and-shaker behind the scenes. That is why she was invited to sit at the Senate Republican leadership table. Britt is not only building Alabama’s future – she is our state’s greatest asset today.
See you next week.