April 19, 2017
We in the Deep South have a unique history of political theatrics. The only northern states that rival our colorfulness are New Jersey and Illinois. In those two states you are expected to be corrupt, especially Chicago.
Our most colorful southern state has always been Louisiana. The parishes and bayous of the Pelican State gave us Huey Long and other characters. No other states can hold a candle to Louisiana’s brazen corruption. They not only expect their politicians to steal and cavort, they frown on them if they do not. The environment of Louisiana politics is bred towards corruption and debauchery. They not only gave us the glamour of the King Fish, Huey Long, they are proud of their infamous reputation.
Well folks if you look at us here in the good old Heart of Dixie over the past few years we are probably giving Louisiana a run for its money. A cursory look at the record reveals that our Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Hubbard, was caught and convicted of taking bribes for sponsoring and passing legislation. Our 74-year-old doctor Governor Robert Bentley fell in love with his 44-year-old number one advisor, lost all his wits, and has resigned from office in disgrace. He pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge and agreed never to run for office again. The House of Representatives was poised to impeach him had he not resigned.
Ole Bentley had become an irrelevant clown and fodder for late night talk shows. The State is better off with Lt. Governor, Kay Ivey, serving out the remaining 20 months of Bentley’s term.
Bentley, in a charade promulgated by his desire to not be indicted for his shenanigans, gave the U.S. Senate Seat vacated by Jeff Sessions to the sitting Attorney General Luther Strange to avoid prosecution. Therefore, our new junior U.S. Senator is in Washington with the taint of Bentley’s scandal hovering over his head with the appearance that he is there due to audacious collusion.
We have an even richer novel that has transpired in Jefferson County, our most populous and supposedly urbane county. It made national news a year ago when the Mayor and President of the City Council got into a fistfight in the Birmingham City Hall. However, a new development is even more bizarre. During the fall elections, Democrats won all of the Jefferson County judgeships. Along with the judgeships, Jefferson County voters elected a Democratic District Attorney. Democrat Charles Henderson beat incumbent Republican Brandon Falls by over 10,000 votes. Get this folks, the sitting DA trumps up a perjury charge against the new DA a few days before he was to take office. Falls convened a grand jury on January 12 and returned an indictment the next day on January 13. Henderson was to take office the following Monday.
As anybody knows, a prosecutor can indict a potato for anything at any time. This scenario proves that point. The loser, Falls, got the winner, Henderson, indicted for perjury.
This is so bizarre and corrupt a situation that it makes the aforementioned stories pale in comparison. It makes Jefferson County and Alabama look like a third world banana republic. There are rampant rumors that the State’s top watchdog, Prosecutor Matt Hart, is camped out in Jefferson County and massive indictments are on the way. It has been over 70 years since Louisiana had a similar scenario. Nobody has been as brash in between.
The Louisiana King Fish Huey Long was assassinated on the steps of the capitol in Baton Rouge. Huey Long’s brother, Earl Long, followed his famous older brother as governor. Earl was one colorful character. His opponents decided to seize power from Earl. They took control of the state police and had Earl arrested and put in the state insane asylum. One of the best political movies ever is entitled “Blaze” starring Paul Newman and it illustrates this story of Louisiana political lore. I recommend it for entertainment.
These past two years in Alabama politics would make for a good movie. This latest Jefferson County fiasco would have to be a part of the plot. Look out Louisiana; we’ve got some good theater in the Heart of Dixie.
See you next week.
April 12, 2017
Well our good ole Dr. Governor, Robert Bentley, is headed to the same fate as Guy Hunt and Don Siegelman. Folks, we are building a legacy that may put us in a league with good old Louisiana when it comes to corruption and debauchery.
Bentley’s story is sad. I still really believe he is a good guy at heart. He had a tremendous legacy etched for his life if only he hadn’t run for governor. He had established one of if not the largest and premier Dermatology practices in the state in Tuscaloosa. He had been brought up in modest means in rural Shelby County. He was a brilliant student in High School, in undergraduate school at the University of Alabama, and then on to medical school at UAB. He met his wife, Dianne, while in medical school. He was truly a Horatio Alger story. If only he had retired and gone to the beach.
Many of us had pointed to April 5 as a day of reckoning for the governor. His reputation had been dreadfully tarnished by his affair. Ole Bentley just doesn’t look the part of a philandering playboy. His plain, grandfatherly look was the reason folks liked him. His simple country look and gait gave the appearance of a trusted family man and Baptist deacon. It was his calling card so to speak. Folks felt betrayed by their old country doctor.
Poor ole Bentley wore a white hat and rode a white horse and there’s an old saying that if you ride a white horse you better not get mud on it.
The old guy totally fell in love like a little schoolboy. He allowed Mrs. Mason to take control of his life and the reigns of the governor’s office. She has essentially been the governor. She played the old fool like a fiddle. There’s no fool like an old fool.
Late Wednesday night after the Ethics Commission opinion came down; I did an interview with a national news network. They had not heard of nor did they know the lurid details of our Dr. Governor’s saga. When I shared it with them and they heard the story of a 74-year-old simple man falling in love with a 44-year-old married woman who gave her husband a vague position making $90,000 a year and that she cajoled and coerced our poor ole governor into transgressing the Ethics Laws to sustain and perpetuate their adulterous relationship, they thought this was as colorful as a soap opera. It is definitely fodder for another book.
My last book, “Goats and Governors,” highlights the exploits of ole “Big” Jim Folsom. Bentley may make for a new book.
The April 5 Ethics Commission ruling that found that there was a reasonable cause that the governor violated the Ethics Law is the coupe de gras to the Bentley/Mason regime.
This Ethics panel is stellar and well versed in the law. You have two of the four voting members who are distinguished retired Circuit Judges, Charles Price and Jerry Fielding. Another prominent attorney, Butch Ellis, appropriately recused himself because he and Bentley are related by marriage. The vote indicted the governor on four counts with overwhelming votes. They concluded that the governor had broken the law. By the way, Bentley appointed three out of four of the members of the Ethics Panel.
Their recommendation that Bentley be prosecuted puts the wolves at Bentley’s door. He can’t overcome this blow.
The best thing for Bentley to do is to make a deal with the prosecution. It would be best for Bentley and the people of Alabama if the prosecutors would simply allow Bentley to resign and avoid a costly trial and removal from office. Alabama doesn’t need any more of this mess. Mrs. Mason should show some semblance of decency and allow ole Bentley to leave office with some dignity.
Ole Bentley is nothing more than a clown. Nobody in Alabama takes him seriously and this latest chapter has made him a National cartoon character.
He really should parlay this story into a Soap Opera or even a movie.
See you next week.
April 05, 2017
Lots of folks are still mad about our lame duck governor Robert Bentley naming Attorney General Luther Strange to Jeff Sessions Senate seat.
If the sitting attorney general of a state openly states that he is investigating the governor for misfeasance and then that governor appoints that attorney general to the senate seat it looks funny. It gives new meaning to the word collusion.
This brazen move has incensed legislators who have heard from their constituents back home. It has especially upset members of the House Judiciary Committee. They were asked to cease the impeachment proceedings last year in deference to Strange’s request to lead an investigation of the governor’s shenanigans. Needless to say they have reinstated their impeachment proceedings against old Bentley with renewed vigor.
Several legislators have taken issue with the governor’s calling for the senate seat election in 2018, rather than immediately. The constitution says the election should be held forthwith. That is open to interpretation. The more prudent path is 2018, since there are elections anyway. That is traditionally the way it has been done in the state in the past. However, most seats in bygone days were vacated by the death of one of our senators and the governor usually appointed the deceased senator’s widow for the remaining year or so on the term. She was considered a caretaker to the seat. There has been so much grief and acrimony to Strange’s appointment that he may be a caretaker.
I have never before seen a governor treated with such disdain and irreverence by a legislature as ole Bentley. They probably will not technically impeach the ole fellow. He only has about 20 months left in his tenure and he is essentially impeached from power anyway. Most of them look at him as a buffoon or clown. He has about as much relevance in the legislative process as one of the former goats that used to graze on Goat Hill.
The ultimate fallout from Bentley’s actions and unpopularity may accrue to Luther Strange in his election race in 14 months. Winning the GOP primary in this Senate race is tantamount to election in Alabama. Therefore, the race is in June of next year.
Big Luther stands a good 6’9”. His height is daunting. He was actually a college basketball player at Tulane. Luther spent the first 20 years of his career as a corporate lobbyist in Washington. Seeing the power and deference of being a U.S. Senator made an impression. He came home to run for a secondary constitutional office and get ready to run for a Senate seat vacated by either of his friends, Richard Shelby or Jeff Sessions. He chose the right stepping stone job, Attorney General.
Big Luther is basically a shy and reserved fellow. He is not a natural politician. He was on the right course when he initially said that he would not seek nor accept Bentley’s appointment and that he was running for the post independent of the discredited governor’s appointment. He changed his mind and met with Bentley and took the appointment.
His trusted advisors convinced him that folks have short memories and that over the next year as a sitting U.S. Senator he can raise so much Washington campaign cash that he can outspend his opposition to such an extent that it will wash away the taint of the Bentley appointment. He may be right. That may be a good bet.
However, folks may be smarter and more cognizant of bold brazen backroom deals than some think. Just ask Bill Baxley how that worked out in 1986 when some Democratic Party leaders got behind closed doors and selected Baxley to be the Democratic nominee over Charlie Graddick who got the most votes. The people were so incensed they elected an unknown Republican named Guy Hunt as Governor.
However, there is the pragmatic side of the equation. During that 1986 debacle Bill Baxley, who was lieutenant governor, had become close with the King of Alabama politics, Gov. George Wallace. Wallace was in his last term as governor and Baxley had sensed a backlash might occur with such an audacious brazen move by his Democratic Party buddies, so he went to Wallace for his advice. Ole Wallace took a puff on his cigar and looked at Baxley wryly and said, “Bill you know what they call a governor who gets to be governor by a backroom deal?” Baxley asked “What?” Wallace said, “They call him Governor.”
See you next week.
March 29, 2017
Last week we handicapped some of the potential horses in the upcoming 2018 Governor’s Race. We mentioned Judge Roy Moore, PSC President Twinkle Cavanaugh, Agriculture Commissioner John McMillan, Secretary of State John Merrill, State Treasurer Young Boozer, State Senator Del Marsh and Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle. Some others that may be considering pursuing the brass ring of Alabama politics are Lt. Governor Kay Ivey, Supreme Court Justice Jim Main, Jefferson County Commission President David Carrington, Trump’s Trumpeter in the State Perry Hooper, Jr., Huntsville State Representative Jim Patterson and ADECA Director and former Prattville Mayor Jim Byard. You can also add former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville to the mix of possible gubernatorial candidates.
All of these aforementioned horses would run as Republicans in the 2018 Gubernatorial Derby. It is assumed that only a Republican can win statewide office in Alabama and that next year’s June 2018 GOP primary is tantamount to election. Therefore, it is only a 15 month race to election for governor.
The late Lucy Baxley was the last Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama. She lost reelection to the PSC in 2012. It has been almost two decades since a Democrat has captured the Governor’s office. Donald Trump carried Alabama with almost 63 percent of the vote. It is thought by most political prognosticators that a Democratic candidate can at best get 40% of the vote in the Heart of Dixie. However, there are several brave souls who are diehard Democrats and may be bold enough to test that theory.
One of these emboldened is Parker Griffith, who ran as the Democratic nominee against Robert Bentley four years ago in 2014 and received 36% of the vote. Griffith is a personable, former oncologist, State Senator, and Congressman from Huntsville. He seems dedicated to making the plunge.
The most mentioned Democratic candidate is former Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb. She was elected to the State Supreme Court in 2012, which was the last time a Democrat won statewide in Alabama. She is seriously considering the race for governor. She could be handicapped by the fact that she quit in the middle of her term on the Court and a Republican was appointed by the Governor.
State Representative Craig Ford who has served as House Minority Leader is considering a run for governor. Like Griffith, Ford is likeable. He is one of the few remaining white Democrats left in the Alabama House of Representatives. In fact, if Ford vacated his seat to run for Governor a Republican would probably take it.
The wildcard in a potential Democratic field might be the popular young Mayor of Tuscaloosa, Walt Maddox. He considers himself a Democrat. Maddox is well thought of in the Druid City, which is a more populous and vote rich area of the state than most folks realize. If he got a strong support from Tuscaloosa coupled with the ADC and New South endorsements, it could propel him to the Democratic nomination. He would bring to the dance a sterling record of achievement as Mayor of Tuscaloosa. However, if he has to go through a bruising primary he may come to the prom beat up and broke. Not to mention that the Prom King/Queen is highly favored to be a Republican. He would be hard-pressed to raise campaign money in the fall campaign. Most of the bets would be placed on the Republican.
This brings us to another chapter in the governor’s race. The folks who wrote our 1901 Constitution intended for the power in state government to be rested in the hands of the legislature. During the Wallace years, George Wallace had immense power over the legislature. This usurpation of power has incrementally declined over the years. It has culminated with a decimation of gubernatorial power.
The last two governors, Bob Riley and Robert Bentley, have been rendered irrelevant by the legislature. Special interests have taken note of this transfer of power and their money has followed. Campaign money that use to go to the governor’s race now flows to legislative races. It is not unusual to see House seats cost $300,000 and State Senate races rise to $1 million.
It is going to be a great election year.
See you next week.
March 22, 2017
We are on the cusp of one of the best political years in modern political history in the Heart of Dixie. Prior to the 1970’s our constitution disallowed succession of office for our state constitutional offices. In other words, you could not run for two consecutive four-year terms. That is why George Wallace ran his wife in his place in 1966. George and Lurleen campaigned side-by-side. George would wink at the crowds still drawn to courthouse squares by a country band and say, “I’m going to be her number one advisor.” By the way, she won in a landslide. She beat eight male opponents without a runoff, including two former governors, an agriculture commissioner, the sitting state attorney general and two powerful state senators.
However, you could serve a four-year term, wait out four years, and run for a second term. Only two men had done that in Alabama history. Prior to the constitutional change in the 1970’s Bibb Graves of Montgomery had done it early in the century and Big Jim Folsom did it in 1946 and again in 1954.
Now that governors can succeed themselves, it has become common practice for governors to serve eight years rather than four. Thus, the 2018 governor’s race will be a once in an eight year opportunity. Folks, we are in for one heck of a year and the bell rings on June 6. Therefore, the horses will begin lining up over the next few months. It will be a great cavalcade of characters.
The early favorite horse in the 2018 Derby is Roy Moore. The Chief Justice’s expulsion from the bench by the Judicial Inquiry Commission has propelled him to stratospheric levels in polling. Leading a horserace is a good analogy for Moore since he traditionally rides his horse to vote at his polling place in Gallant in rural Etowah County.
Some of you may question Moore’s popularity, but the numbers are there in every poll. The JIC has made him a martyr. Alabama is a very religious state and being thrown out of office by an unaccountable commission for being against homosexual marriages is a pretty good issue to run on in the Bible Belt.
Roy Moore is the wild card in the early 2018 jockeying. Most folks have him in the governor’s race. However, he has two other options. Attorney general or the U.S. Senate seat. He would probably win either of these posts. The governor’s office is another question. Historically, people do not think of him as governor. He lost miserably both times he ran, whereas he wins handily for a state judgeship. His best race is for attorney general or U.S. Senate.
Twinkle Andress Cavannaugh has a free shot in 2018. She was just reelected to a four-year term as Public Service Commission President. She is already out running for governor and sometimes the early bird gets the worm.
State Agriculture Commissioner John McMillan is term limited in that job that he has done well for eight years. He is well liked by everyone who knows him and is planning to run for governor.
Young Boozer has also served his two-term eight-year limit as State Treasurer. He is a wild card and gives no hints as to what his future political plans are for 2018. Young is not a natural politician. He is an erudite Stanford educated successful banker who was perfectly suited for the State Treasurer’s post and he has done an excellent job.
Secretary of State John Merrill is probably the best retail politician in the state at this time. Lots of people have encouraged him to run. However, he is one of the few constitutional officeholders who can run for reelection in 2018. He will probably bide his time and run for reelection.
State Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh of Anniston is itching to pull the trigger on the governor’s race, but being a powerful state senator does not translate into statewide name identification. However, Marsh is said to be wealthy. If he were to spend $3 to $5 million of his own money, he could be a player.
The very popular mayor of Huntsville, Tommy Battle, is seriously considering the race. If he joins the fray, he could be a player. He would come out of the Tennessee Valley with a strong start. There are a lot of votes in North Alabama.
We are in for a heck of a campaign year. I will keep you posted.
See you next week.
March 15, 2017
My tradition for over two decades has been to give my children money for Christmas. Under this system, there is no returning of items. They get what they want or need. There is no way that I would know what style of clothing, color or size they like. It works well.
The most illuminating thing that occurred to me this year is that both of my daughters and my granddaughter bought all of their Christmas gifts from me online. Without question, our country and state have changed dramatically technologically in my lifetime. Therefore, Alabama and other states have to change the way that sales tax is collected. States have to find a solution and the will to derive sales tax from online purchases.
The legislature has wisely set up a budget reform task force to study, evaluate and come forward with long-term solutions to problems and loopholes in the law like online sales tax. The committee is headed by two stellar legislators, Sen. Clyde Chambliss (R-Prattville) and Rep. Danny Garrett (R-Trussville). This blue ribbon panel will review and develop recommendations as to how Alabama can adjust to 21st-century budgeting.
This non-collection of sales tax on online purchases is a serious problem and it perfectly illustrates how our tax system is more designed for the 20th century than the 21st. We, like many other states, are not keeping up with the technology shifts in the world. Legislators unquestionably have to reevaluate the state’s tax structure to reflect the new online and digital economy.
Rep. Garrett has wisely acknowledged, “We used to tax about two thirds of the economy with the sales tax. Today, we tax one third of our economy.” He further observed, “We are leaning very heavily on the income tax, and our sales tax base is eroding due to online sales.”
Another issue, which will be discussed during this legislative session, is the deterioration of our transportation system in the state. This problem is not unique to Alabama. In fact, President Trump made this a hallmark issue of his campaign last year. Most Washington political observers fully expect to see a massive infrastructure package passed in a bipartisan manner early in Trump’s administration.
Alabama needs to be poised to take advantage of this bonanza. The last major federal highway initiative came in the 1950s during the administration of Ike Eisenhower. It was also passed with bipartisan support.
According to recent studies, 15% of Alabama roads and highways are in poor condition and 35% more are rated as fair, with 25% of our bridges deemed obsolete. The legislature may need to look at increasing the gas tax to take advantage of this federal windfall. More than likely, a state tax contribution will be needed to match the federal dollars. Alabama’s gas tax has not been increased since 1990.
We have Richard Shelby, but he may need some help. The new Speaker of the House, Mac McCutcheon is from the Huntsville/Madison County area. The Rocket City is Alabama’s crown jewel economically. They realize the importance that adequate progressive highways are to sustained growth and prosperity. McCutcheon spearheaded the effort to increase the revenue for roads and bridges last year. About a dozen states raised the gas tax in 2016 to keep up with inflation and growth. Our neighboring state of Florida was one of them.
Speaking of McCutcheon, he is adjusting well to his new role a Speaker. He is fair and evenhanded. His selection of Rep. Alan Boothe to be his Rules Chairman seems to be meshing well. The House leadership has changed even more dramatically since the session began. The Republican caucus has elected Rep. Nathaniel Ledbetter of Rainsville as their new Majority Leader. Ledbetter is a freshman House member and former mayor of Rainsville. Rep. Connie Rowe of Jasper will serve as Vice-Chairwoman of the Caucus. She is the first female to hold the position. Ledbetter replaces former Majority Leader Mickey Hammond of Decatur.
Sen. Cam Ward has become the good shepherd, chief cook and bottle washer of the prison construction project. He has scaled back the size and scope of the original proposal. The legislature is trying to stay ahead of the federal courts on addressing the state’s prison overcrowding problem.
See you next week.
March 08, 2017
The premier issue of this year’s legislative session will be whether to borrow a massive amount of money to build new prisons in the state. This initiative appears to be our lame duck Governor Robert Bentley’s primary agenda.
Last year Bentley proposed an $800 million bond issue for new prisons. He has come forward with a similar proposal this year. His plan would close all existing prisons and replace them with three new super men's prisons and one smaller women’s prison.
Folks, $800 million is a lot of money. There is no question that we have a prison problem. Alabama’s prison population is at 175% of capacity. It is among the highest in the nation. This overcrowding obviously causes violence and safety problems for our prison guards.
The federal courts are probably on the verge of dosing out some kind of remedy for our prisons. The courts took over the California prisons a couple of years ago with a lower overcrowding ratio than ours is now.
It is a tough spot for legislators. Funding prisons is not a popular reelection issue. There are several questions that would have to be answered if I were a legislator addressing this serious problem. First, if I were going to put this state in debt for that amount of money I would have to ask the imperative question, “How in the world are you going to pay for the debt?”
There needs to be absolute, concrete, valid, exact revenue sources to make the payment. It is doubtful that any banker would loan someone any money if the vague pie in the sky ambiguous reply was, “Well, the prisons will be more efficient and therefore the savings will probably be enough to pay the note.” Probably ain't going to get it is what I am afraid the banker would say to the borrower. The last time I checked there was no growth revenue in the General Fund. So hoping that there might be new revenue growth is also wishful thinking.
You simply have to put dollars and cents to exactly how much you save with these nuts and bolts and how you are going to pay the bond indebtedness. Otherwise, you are buying a pig in a poke. In addition, the crazy point is that these ultramodern new prisons still leave us with overcrowded prisons. Therefore, it does not solve the problem.
Another question that would have to be answered is why does the governor’s proposal require that the new prisons be designed and built by one company with a one-time exemption to the state bid laws. That just does not meet the smell test. That simply looks corrupt and, as they say, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck it must be a duck.
Finally, if I were a legislator from a county or neighboring county that had a state prison located in my area, hell would freeze over before I would let the governor close it. I would rather cast a vote dissolving my county than vote to borrow $800 million in order to close down one of my area’s largest employers. Just ask the people in Elmore, Escambia, St. Clair, Limestone and Bibb what it would mean for their county economics if they closed their prisons. The prisons in Barbour and Bullock counties are the largest employers in their counties.
Filibuster would have a new meaning if one of those prisons were in my Senate district. I would tell them in a New York minute, “that dog won’t hunt.” Besides, when the legislature last built new prisons in the aforementioned locales during the last Wallace administration they bought plenty of extra land around those prisons for future expansions. Gerald Wallace made sure of that.
The good thing for you, the Alabama taxpayer, is that this bond issue probably will not pass simply because Bentley is for it. He is essentially a deterrent to anything passing in the legislature.
See you next week.
March 01, 2017
We have unbelievable natural resources in Alabama starting with the Tennessee Valley and transcending to the beautiful white sands at Gulf Shores. Many of our natural resources have been exploited over the years. The prime example would be the exploitation of our rich vaults of iron ore discovered in Jefferson County in the early 20th Century. It created the city of Birmingham, the Steel City of the south.
U.S. Steel swept in, bought the entire region, and used cheap labor in the mines and steel mills and kept poor whites and blacks in poverty wages and shantytowns. They owed their soul to the company store. Finally, they organized into labor unions. The United Steel Workers Union Local in Birmingham became the largest in the nation. Alabama also became the most unionized state in the south.
The TVA workers and Reynolds Aluminum workers in the Tennessee Valley were all unionized. The tire workers in Gadsden, Opelika, and Tuscaloosa were unionized. The federal workers around Ft. Rucker in the Wiregrass were union. The largest employer in Mobile was the docks. The dockworkers were unionized. When you combine these locales with the steelworkers in Birmingham, we were a pretty unionized state.
In the course of our recent history, we have been more prudent with our natural resources. The prime example of that would be during the late 1970s when we sold the oil rights in Mobile Bay to Exxon Mobil. We got a fair price and we put the entire corpus aside and preserved the money into a trust called the Heritage Trust Fund.
Governor Fob James deserves credit for this accomplishment. It is the crowning achievement of his two terms as governor. It is quite a legacy. Not all governors leave a legacy. Ole Fob has one. Not as much can be said for our most recent governors. Don Siegelman, Bob Riley, and Robert Bentley cannot point to any accomplishment that will distinguish their time as governor.
Jim Folsom Jr., who only served two years as governor, can lay claim to having lured and landed Mercedes, which has been the crucible that has catapulted us into the second leading automaker in the nation.
Governor Bentley was given a golden opportunity to garner a place in history with the one-time BP oil spill money. Granted, it was not as much money as the Exxon Mobil oil rights nor did we get as good a settlement as could have been garnered. We will only see $693 million of the $1 billion settlement because we bailed out and sold out to get our money upfront. Compared to Louisiana and Florida, it was not a good settlement.
Essentially this one-time windfall will be squandered. The BP money was appropriated in a special session last September. The legislature spent the entire BP oil settlement proceeds with a compromise bill that divided the money between state debt repayments, roads for Baldwin and Mobile counties and Medicaid. The allocation was $400 million for paying off state debts, $120 million for highway projects in Baldwin and Mobile counties, and a total of $120 million to Medicaid over the next two years.
There had been a contentious battle over the funds for Baldwin and Mobile going back to last year’s regular session. Lawmakers from the coastal counties fought diligently for the road money because their counties received the brunt of the 2010 oil spill.
Lawmakers from North Alabama felt that the BP settlement should compensate all Alabamians equally. Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), who chairs the Education Budget Committee in the Senate, led the fight for North Alabama and Sen. Trip Pittman (R-Baldwin), who chairs the Senate General Fund Committee, spearheaded the battle for Baldwin/Mobile.
Senators compromised the final day of the special session. The money from BP is spent. The only thing to show from it will be some highway to the beach. They ought to at least name it the BP Expressway. It would be the only legacy from the windfall.
See you next week.
February 22, 2017
As I have suggested to you, we are looking at one momentous 2018-election year, and it has begun. Get this folks; we have an open governor’s race. We have openings at Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Treasurer, Agriculture Commissioner, three seats on the Supreme Court including the Chief Justice position, all 35 state Senate seats, all 105 House seats, one hotly contested congressional seat, as well as 67 sheriffs. Folks, that’s the most political marquee year in my long political life. If media outlets do not make money next year, they ain’t ever gonna make any money.
As though the aforementioned cavalcade was not enough of a circus, we’ve got ourselves an open U.S. Senate seat. I believe that Ringling Brothers Circus closed in deference to us in the Heart of Dixie and our road show Vaudeville act called Alabama politics.
Our good “ole” Governor Robert Bentley has been a great ringleader. He is quite a show. Poor ole Bentley has relegated himself to not only being irrelevant, but is considered a clown.
I have been around the state on a speaking/book signing tour and everywhere I go they ask about “ole” Bentley. I have to deflect the questions about his personal advisor following him to Washington or sitting in the gallery for his speech to the Legislature.
In fact, I try to put some levity to the situation by telling folks, “Well, you know my observation of Alabama politics over the past 50 years is that we really haven’t got to have a governor.”
Big Jim Folsom stayed drunk his whole second term, George Wallace was on pain pills his last term and did not know where he was, Fob James seemed disinterested and went duck hunting his second term, and they put poor ole Hunt and Siegelman in jail. At least Bentley shows up and does his duties to the best of his abilities. He just leans on one advisor, exclusively. They say she wrote his last State of the State speech. If she did, she ain’t much of a speechwriter.
Well, ole Bentley got himself a U.S. Senate seat appointment to grant. He milked it for what it was worth. He ultimately used it as a get out of jail free card. Even if his appointment of Luther Strange looks like chicanery and collusion, it was a shrewd political move by Bentley. It keeps him and his advisor out of the pokey.
The Luther Strange appointment looks brazen and audacious. The facts are clear, Strange as Attorney General of Alabama openly asked the House Judiciary Committee to cease their impeachment proceedings because he and his office were investigating the Governor and his advisor. Then all of a sudden, the Governor appoints him to a coveted senate seat. If that does not look like collusion, I do not know what does.
If given those facts the average fisherman in Mobile Bay would say that it looks fishy. A baker in Birmingham would conclude that it does not pass the smell test. As a political historian, I will have to record these very facts for posterity. Folks can draw their own conclusion.
Luther Strange will probably go on to be a good U.S. Senator. He is imminently qualified for the role, and has planned meticulously for this seat for the last 20 years. However, the taint of Bentley will follow him to Washington and could come back to bite him in the June 2018 GOP primary, which is tantamount to election.
Big Luther is betting that as the incumbent senator for the next 15 months, he will be able to raise so much Washington campaign cash that he will be unbeatable. That is probably a good bet. However, Alabamians may have a longer memory than he thinks. Just ask Bill Baxley how getting the governor’s nomination from the Democratic hierarchy when Charlie Graddick got the most votes in 1986 turned out. Folks in Alabama do not like appointments, especially one that comes with a cloud that appears to be collusion.
We have a great 15 months of Alabama politics ahead of us, folks.
See you next week.
February 15, 2017
This third year of the quadrennium Regular Session of the legislature has recently gotten a lot more complex. These next four months will be trying times for the Alabama legislature. They will not only have to deal with a beleaguered General Fund Budget that has to feed a money-eating monster named Medicaid, they have an overcrowding problem in the state prisons to deal with as well as major public school systems being taken over by the state because of mismanagement and underfunding.
They now have been dealt a body blow that affects their own backyards. They will have to draw new legislative lines that will need to be in effect by June because legislative elections essentially begin this June. The primaries for 2018 political offices will be held in early June next year. All 105 House seats and all 35 Senate seats are up for election.
The bell rings this June 6 for all state races to begin raising money. Folks, money is the mother’s milk of politics. It usually determines who wins a race. Campaign money equates into name identification and in most legislative races it really boils down to name identification. Therefore, they will covertly make dealing with this reapportionment wrench a paramount priority.
Almost five years ago a lawsuit, which appeared at the time to be a perfunctory Hail Mary, was brought by the Alabama Legislative Black Caucus and the Alabama Democratic Conference. At the time it seemed like a vague and nebulous concept of a case. The Legislative Black Caucus and ADC argued that the Republican controlled legislature drew lines that moved black voters who vote Democratic into overwhelmingly populated black districts that prohibited them from forming alliances with like-minded white voters. The crux of the case, is that it diluted their influence in the legislature.
The case surprisingly meandered through the courts all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court broke new ground when it even heard the case and set new precedent with its ruling. Prior to this, the Supreme Court had held a state legislature could draw lines along political paths as long as it did not discriminate against black voters.
The case was remanded back to the 11th Circuit to seek a remedy. The Supreme Court sets the law. The federal judges in Alabama had to decide how to implement the ruling. When you look at the districts there is no question that the lines were drawn politically to put all black voters into almost all black districts to be represented by black Senators or black Representatives. This stacking also placed most whites in almost all white districts represented by white Senators and white Representatives.
The federal judges ruled on January 20, Inauguration Day, that 12 districts in Alabama must be redrawn in order to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court decision. The 2 to 1 majority of U.S. Federal Judges Keith Watkins and Bill Pryor ruled that only 12 districts were stacked. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson wrote that he would have found 12 more districts unconstitutional. Regardless of whether 12 or 24 of the districts are out of sync, the legislative districts will have to be redrawn. When you tinker with even one district it affects the whole map. There is a ripple effect which will require redrawing most if not all of the districts in both the Senate and the House.
However, the bottom line is that most of the districts in the state will change very little and more importantly it will not change the party make-up of the legislature. You will probably have the same overwhelming Republican super majority in both chambers of the state legislature.
In Alabama politics essentially whites are Republicans and blacks are Democrats. There is very little deviation. Therefore, the redistricting will have minimal or no partisan effect. However, long-term it lays the foundation for a possible future coalition between black Democrats and moderate Republicans to bridge a bipartisan coalition leadership.
See you next week.