August 10, 2016
As anticipated, a special Legislative Session has been called by Governor Robert Bentley. The Session is set to begin this Monday, August 15.
Dr. Bentley has bemoaned the fact that the legislature refused to grant Medicaid the $85 million they said they needed in the budget fiscal year, which begins October 1.
In the Governor’s call he is requesting that the super majority Republican legislature reconsider their refusal to keep feeding Medicaid, which is a money eating monster. It grows exponentially every year and is eating the state out of house and home. However, the Federal government matches our state dollars almost 3-to-1. Therefore, an $85 million cut in state funding results in almost $240 million less to Alabama Medicaid recipients. Fifty percent of the babies born in the state and 66 percent of the nursing home residents in our state are on Medicaid.
Even with the dire threats of cuts to physicians, hospitals, and pharmacies, as well as possible deaths due to the loss of some dialysis care, these guys really do not want to raise new revenue. They are real Republicans. They believe that the least government is the best government. If truth were known they would probably do away with Medicaid, as well as state government, all together.
The governor is proposing a state lottery to bolster Medicaid and the General Fund. The legislature cannot institute a state lottery by themselves. All they do is vote to allow you to vote on a lottery. The vote would be at the same time you vote for president this November 8. That is the most prudent date for the referendum. A special election would cost Alabamians $4 million. However, they cannot dilly dally around. They have to get it on the ballot by August 24.
A lottery would bring in about $240 million. That is not a lot of money when you consider how much revenue is budgeted by the state each year, but it is not so much about the amount of money it brings in. It is the fairness factor to our state that is the issue.
It is hard to understand how a legislator would refuse to allow their constituents the right to vote on this issue. If they have been listening to their folks at home at all, they have heard a hue and cry from their people that they would like the opportunity to vote on a lottery.
Recent polls reveal that over 75 percent of all Alabamians would vote for a lottery if their legislators would allow them to vote on it. This includes Republicans, who would vote for it simply because they want their money to stay at home. We are one of six states in America who derive no revenue from this source. All of our surrounding states have a lottery, except Mississippi which has full fledge casino gambling from which they derive a good bit of their state revenue.
Alabamians buy lottery tickets. They just have to drive to our neighboring states to get them. The most tickets sold in Georgia, Florida and Tennessee are bought on their borders by Alabamians.
If I were a Republican legislator running for reelection in 2018, I would hate to have to defend a record of casting my first vote of the quadrennium for Mike Hubbard for Speaker and then voting to refuse you the right to vote to keep your money home rather than sending it to our surrounding sister states.
Speaking of electing a Speaker, the first order of business in the House of Representatives on Monday will be the election of a new Speaker to replace Mike Hubbard. Under the super Republican majority rules, the House GOP members must vote for the candidate selected in a caucus meeting. They held that meeting last week and selected Representative Mac McCutcheon, a Republican from Monrovia near Huntsville, to be their choice for Speaker.
McCutcheon has been in the House for 10 years and defeated five other candidates within the caucus. The 70 Republican members will vote unanimously lockstep for McCutcheon, the former Chairman of the Rules Committee. They will essentially lock the 33 Democrats out of the election of the Speaker process.
It should be an interesting session. I will keep you posted.
See you next week.
August 03, 2016
Now that the national conventions are over and we have had a glimpse of what to expect in the upcoming fall presidential contest, let us turn our attention back to our good ole state politics.
Even though we do not have any good state races this year, it does not mean that we have not had our share of political happenings. We have been so active that we have garnered national publicity.
Let us reminisce and get you caught up on our soap opera, As the World Turns in Alabama Politics. As the year began we knew that the Mike Hubbard corruption trial would finally unfold. It ended in a convincing conviction and the removal of the once powerful speaker from office and legislative leadership.
We all knew of our good old Dr. Robert Bentley’s illicit relationship with his political advisor Rebekah Caldwell Mason but it seemed that it had maybe settled down. However, his fired former friend, Spencer Collier, came after Bentley and his girlfriend with a vengeance. There is an old saying that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Well you can add another adage that could be applied to best male friends scorned. Bentley and Collier were best buddies while in the Legislature. Most of Bentley’s Cabinet has come from guys that served with him in the House of Representatives.
Spencer Collier was a State Trooper by profession. He cherished the post of heading ALEA. Therefore, when Bentley fired him he turned on his doctor/governor buddy. He has filed suit and spilled the beans on all of the sordid details of Bentley’s affair.
It does not appear to me that Collier has much of a case. Cabinet members serve at the pleasure of the governor and the governor can remove them for any reason. It is not a bureaucratic merit system position.
Regardless, the damage has been done to Bentley and Mason. Our homespun, pious governor has been relegated to a national punchline. He continues to be fodder for late night talk shows and cartoonists. He has rendered himself totally irrelevant. Therefore, his legacy will more than likely be the salacious tapes that Collier released. We probably have not heard the last of this story. All of the media hype has spurred the interest of federal investigators.
The third saga of the year has been the removal of Chief Justice Roy Moore from his high tribunal office by the State Judicial Inquiry Commission. This commission has set a hearing for next week, August 8, to decide the fate of our renowned religious judge.
This vague Judicial Inquiry Commission brought six charges of misconduct against Moore, which triggered his automatic suspension on May 6. The charges stemmed from Moore’s January 6 order telling probate judges they had a ministerial duty not to issue same sex marriage licenses. This came after the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled such bans were unconstitutional.
The Commission said that Moore’s directive placed all 68 probate judges in an untenable position and forced them to violate the state’s cannon of ethics. Moore contends that his marriage order was simply advice and they did not have to follow his advice. Most of them did ignore him. They had sense enough to know that the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion trumps a state court judge’s opinion.
Moore also argues that the Commission has no power over administrative orders. I tend to concur with Moore. It appears to me that this group has overstepped their bounds. My perception of this group’s mission is to police true misconduct by judges like egregious acts of illegality and immorality. Moore has not done anything illegal or immoral, he just simply has a different opinion than the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of gay marriage.
His opinion is also the same as the vast majority of Alabamians. This group ousted Moore over complaints brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center and ACLU. Folks, in the Heart of Dixie, you could not find two better boogeymen to run against. Moore has got the ACLU, SPLC and the liberal same sex marriage mandating U.S. Supreme Court to run against for governor. George Wallace would have loved that scenario. He always said find me a good boogeyman to run against. They may be electing Moore governor.
See you next week.
July 27, 2016
As we have watched and participated in the presidential foray this entire year, an equally important event occurred. The death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in February is a very important event in American government.
Scalia’s unexpected death at 79 could affect the ideological tilt of the Supreme Court and could essentially have a profound impact on our nation’s public policy.
Our founding fathers created a three prong government triumvirate. The three branches, executive, legislative and judicial, are all designed to balance each other and work congruently to give us a functioning democracy.
In the past eight years we have experienced a dichotomy of acrimony and thus gridlock between our extremely liberal president and very conservative U.S. House and U.S. Senate. The liberal Democratic President and conservative Republican legislative branch have been at polar extremes, which has created havoc and stalemate between the two branches.
President Obama has attempted to circumvent constitutional restraints to get around the congressional roadblocks to his agenda. In the meantime, Congress has evolved into a partisan quagmire that leaves it without decisiveness, which leads to nothing being accomplished.
This partisan divide has rendered the Congress and Presidency powerless. Therefore, the U.S. Supreme Court has become the benchmark and pivotal decision making and public policy setting entity in the nation.
Scalia was the Court’s most reliably arch conservative. His death leaves the Supreme Court tilted to the left. The Constitution provides that the President is to appoint vacancies to the Supreme Court with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. The Republican majority Senate, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), has vowed to block President Obama’s appointment to replace Scalia for the remainder of the year. This is unprecedented. However, they can and will thwart Obama’s nominee.
The Republicans are hopeful that a Republican will win the White House and that they will retain their control of the U.S. Senate. Both of these occurrences may be wishful thinking.
Scalia’s death is a major loss for the nation’s conservatives. The Court is now evenly divided four to four between liberals and conservatives. However, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has been considered the one moderate middle swing vote on the Court, has swung more to the left in recent years. Thus, for the remainder of the year the Court has a liberal tilt and there are numerous major decisions set to be made this year.
On course to be decided are landmark issues regarding abortion rights, affirmative action, voting rights and immigration. Under ObamaCare religious and non-profit schools and hospitals are mandated to pay for contraceptives. These groups are essentially pro-life and want to be exempted from the Obama mandate. With Scalia on the Court they would have probably won. However, the likely outcome is a 4-4 tie.
The long standing University of Texas affirmative action case was decided a few weeks ago. Scalia had already shown his hand against affirmative action in oral arguments. He suggested from the bench that African Americans may do better at “less advanced” or “slower track” schools. With Scalia gone the Court ruled against Texas and in favor of affirmative action.
In a case regarding voting rights, Alabama is front and center. The Court will consider changing the way state districts are drawn based on the number of eligible voters rather than total population. A favorable decision would be a major victory for Republicans. It would enhance the power of more rural and mostly white districts. In oral arguments in December with Scalia leading the charge it appeared the conservative justices may have had the edge. It is uncertain now.
President Obama’s immigration plan would prevent deportation for four million undocumented immigrants. An appellate court had ruled this unconstitutional. With Scalia on the Court the appellate court ruling would have been upheld. Now it is totally up in the air.
The bottom line is this election is extremely important when it comes to where the country is heading philosophically because the presidential race as well as senatorial races around the country will significantly affect the makeup of the Supreme Court.
See you next week.
July 20, 2016
Sometimes when I observe national politics I am enthralled by the magnificent creation of our American government. When our forefathers founded our democracy it was grounded in British parliamentarian philosophy with a unique American blend, which of course omitted a monarchy. Now, 240 years later, it is a very representative democracy.
As our founders designed, we have three very independent and equally important branches of government, Executive, Judicial and Legislative. The Executive Branch is the most visible with the election of a U.S. President every four years. In earlier times, military men ascended to the presidency. George Washington was first and foremost a General. Our last military Chief Executive was Ike Eisenhower.
Our first President, George Washington, disdained political parties and warned that they were harmful to a functioning democracy. He had a lot of wisdom, as did many of our earlier presidents.
Indeed, political partisanship has created a good amount of discord and disharmony among the American electorate. Party alliance, along with a cumbersome and archaic relic of a system of selecting our president within the confines of the Electoral College, makes the presidential race completely undemocratic. Under the Electoral College system only about 10 to 12 of the 50 states matter in a presidential race. It is almost a one state presidential election with Florida having inordinate and almost omnipotent power.
Demographic changes within the country favor a Democrat being elected president. However, the way the minority populations are concentrated into urban enclaves, the U.S. House of Representatives favors the Republicans controlling that legislative chamber.
The U.S. Senate is now the ultimate balance of power. Therefore, the U.S. Senate races around the country are probably more important, as well as more in doubt, than the presidential race. The Republicans took control of the Senate a few years ago with an anti-Obama sentiment. A good many of those GOP Senators are up for reelection.
Republicans currently hold a 54-46 advantage in the Senate. In this current presidential election year Republicans are much more vulnerable to losing their majority simply because there are more GOP seats at risk. Of the 34 Senate seats up for election this year, 24 are held by Republicans and only 10 Democrats are up for election.
The second major problem for Republicans is that many of those GOP seats are in states that voted for Obama in 2008 or 2012 and are considered blue or Democratic leaning states. There are nine states that are the battlegrounds for control of the Senate. In order for Democrats to take the Senate they must hold onto all their seats and win five seats from the GOP.
In Illinois, Republican Sen. Mark Kirk, who won with only 48% of the vote in this blue state, is the most endangered GOP incumbent Senator. In Wisconsin first term Republican Sen. Ron Johnson faces former Democratic Senator Russ Feingold in a rematch of their 2010 race. Colorado, which is a swing state in this year’s presidential contest, will also be a crucial part of the senate puzzle. Democratic Sen. Michael Bennett won reelection to a second term with just 48% of the vote, which makes him vulnerable to a GOP challenge. The retirement of veteran Democratic leader, Harry Reid, has left his Senate seat in play for each party in Nevada. This state is also a swing state in the presidential contest. GOP Senator Pat Toomey won a very close election in the blue state of Pennsylvania in 2010. This could be a Democratic pickup.
The two ultimate swing states in the presidential race will also be pivotal in control of the U.S. Senate. In Ohio, Republican Sen. Rob Portman will have a tough challenge from former Democratic Governor Ted Strickland. This will be a key race. Sen. Marco Rubio originally abandoned his Florida Senate seat to run for President. However, in a last minute dramatic move in June, he backpedaled and decided to seek reelection to his Senate seat.
In Rubio’s statement he said, “Control of the Senate may very well come down to the race in Florida.” National political experts tend to agree with him. Although he lost to Trump in his home state in the GOP presidential race earlier this year, polling indicates that Rubio is the only GOP candidate who can beat either of the two Democrats in the Sunshine State.
Florida could be the deciding factor in both the presidential contest as well as for control of the U.S. Senate.
See you next week.
July 13, 2016
As if we have not been inundated enough with politics this year, hold on to your seats. Over the next few weeks that is all you will hear, read or see. The Republican Convention is set for July 18-22 in Cleveland and the Democratic Convention will begin on July 25 in Philadelphia.
After a full year of primaries, caucuses and delegate collecting, the field is finally set for the fall campaign for president. After the July conventions are over, the race is on between Democrat Hillary Clinton and the Republican standard bearer Donald Trump.
Trump has been the story of the year. He vanquished a field of stellar and sterling Republicans. It was quite a quest. He locked up the GOP nomination in May.
It took Hillary a little longer to put away socialist Bernie Sanders. In fact, Sanders won more primaries than Clinton and got almost as many votes.
The results of the primaries throughout the country reveal that there are two extreme political parties in America. The Democratic Party of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is extremely liberal and the Republican Party of Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions is extremely conservative. George Wallace would be hard pressed to run around the country today running for president as a third party candidate spouting his famous line, “There ain’t a dimes worth of difference in the national Republican and Democratic parties,” because there is a vast difference. In fact, they ought to simply change the name of the Republican Party to the Conservative Party and the Democratic Party to the Liberal Party.
There is a good reason we are a reliably red Republican state. We are indeed one of the most conservative states in America. Donald Trump will carry Alabama overwhelmingly in November and we will proudly cast our nine electoral votes for the GOP nominee for the tenth straight presidential election. We have voted for the Republican nominee in every election since 1980. A Democrat has not carried Alabama since Georgian Jimmy Carter in 1976.
The race for the White House will be fun to watch. You have a matchup of two brash, blustery New Yorkers. Hillary Clinton, the former First Lady, U.S. Senator from New York, and Secretary of State is making history as the first woman to be the nominee of one of the two major political parties. She will also enter the fray as the favorite. The demographic changes in America and the slant of the Electoral College System favors a Democrat in the presidential selection process.
However, I contend that Donald Trump, the flamboyant New York billionaire is the best candidate the Republicans could have fielded. His contentious, bold, provocative and uninhibited statements and behavior appeal to nonpartisan independents and blue collar men in the pivotal Rust Belt states of Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
One thing is for certain, Clinton and Trump have the highest negative ratings of any presidential nominees in polling history. For years political experts have professed that a candidate cannot win an election with a negative approval rating of over 25%. Unbelievably, the polls show that Trump has a negative rating of 60% and Clinton has an unfavorable rating of 54%. That is amazing, yet one of them will be elected President of the United States.
Experts say that Trump has to tone down his rhetoric. He must build a campaign infrastructure and he must be more specific with his campaign promises and not just use slogans and code words. Hillary, first of all, needs to warm up some, if possible. She comes across as remote and distant. She must woo and attract young voters. Millennials do not trust her. She also has to fight back when Trump blasts her because believe me he will. We are probably in for the most negative presidential campaign in your lifetime.
As the campaign evolves, remember national horserace polls are irrelevant. Under the Electoral College System it is winner take all in each state. Therefore, about six pivotal swing states are the important cog in the equation. You need to know what the polls are saying in the key battleground states of Ohio and Florida.
See you next week.
July 06, 2016
The conviction and downfall of Alabama Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard is the political story of the year. It has not been the most profound conviction of an Alabama public official in my lifetime. We have had two governors convicted of crimes while in office and removed in fairly recent years, Guy Hunt a Republican and Don Siegelman a Democrat. Siegelman is still in federal prison in Louisiana. However, Hubbard’s trial has been the most anticipated and most dramatic.
Rumors of a grand jury investigation surrounding Hubbard started in the summer of 2013. In October of 2014, Hubbard was indicted by a Lee County grand jury of 23 counts of felony ethics law violations. His indictment has been the subject of political and media conversation for over 20 months. It culminated on Friday night June 10th, when a Lee County jury returned guilty verdicts on 12 of the 23 counts. Hubbard faces 2 to 20 years in prison on each charge and a maximum $30,000 fine. Given the magnitude of the overwhelming conviction, Hubbard is probably looking at real prison time in a state prison. Sentencing is set for this Friday in Lee County.
As a perfunctory course of action his defense lawyers will file an appeal. However, Hubbard would be better off to forego this process. It is very improbable that an appeal will be given any credence.
The judge in the case, Jacob Walker III, presided flawlessly without any hint of prejudice. He has been on the bench in his lifetime home of Lee County for 15 years and did a good job of running an efficient and errorless trial. He is rightfully very well respected by the folks in Lee County and throughout the state. He even read the detailed instructions to the jury straight from the book without any deviation or emphasis.
The jury listened intently throughout the grueling 12-day trial, even during the monotonous charge from the judge and the boring half day accountant’s discussion of Hubbard’s finances. There was no error in this case. An appeal is a waste of time and probably what little money Hubbard has left. Bill Baxley did not defend him for free.
I have not watched that many jury trials. However, I have never seen a more diligent jury. They paid rapt attention to every detail and took extensive notes and came back with a verdict similar to precisely what most reasonable men and women throughout the state would have rendered. They only deliberated seven hours and came back with their convictions, which were a clear as the nose on your face.
They convicted their fellow Lee Countian and Republican Speaker of the House. He was found guilty of using his office as Speaker to secure numerous consulting contracts. Sometimes these contacts brought in totals of over $30,000 a month and totaled over $2 million. For one of the clients, the American Pharmacy Cooperative (APCI), Hubbard inserted language in the budget that gave them an exclusive contract to provide pharmaceuticals for Medicaid and then voted on that budget.
Not only did Judge Walker and the jury do an exemplary and thorough job, the lawyers in the case did also. The prosecution team, led by Matt Hart, Van Davis and a young prosecutor Michael Duffy, were excellent. Bill Baxley was superb for the defense.
So what are the ramifications of the Mike Hubbard downfall? First of all, Hubbard’s seat in Lee County is vacated. A Special Election will be held. The Auburn area obviously loses clout in the Legislature. Hubbard, who is credited with leading the Republican takeover of the Alabama House in 2010 was the most powerful Speaker in memory. His removal leaves the House rudderless because the Republican super majority followed him like sheep.
Victor Gaston, the Speaker Pro Tem, ascends to Speaker. A new Speaker will be elected when the House convenes again. Several names are mentioned as Hubbard’s successor, Steve Clouse, Mac McCutcheon, Lynn Greer and Mike Jones. It will be an interesting evolvement.
This crisis of leadership in the House comes at a time when Medicaid, which covers more than 20 percent of Alabamians, received $85 million less than it says it needs to survive and the state’s prisons are at 182 percent capacity and facing possible federal takeover. Ironically, one of these state prisons will probably be where Mike Hubbard soon calls home.
See you next week.
June 29, 2016
The older you get the more you realize that old adages you heard as a child are true. There is a political maxim that says, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” It could very aptly be applied to the Mike Hubbard saga.
Mike Hubbard was born and raised in north Georgia. He went to college at the University of Georgia and majored in journalism and landed a job in the Bulldog Sports Information Department. About that time an amazing athlete came from rural Georgia to play football at the University of Georgia. His name was Herschel Walker. Hubbard was assigned the task of spearheading the media promotion to win Walker the Heisman Trophy. Indeed he won the prestigious award as the nation’s greatest football player.
A few years later, Auburn University landed an unusually talented athlete in Vincent “Bo” Jackson. Pat Dye had gotten the coveted Jackson after Bear Bryant dismissively told Jackson he would probably make him a defensive back or linebacker. Jackson did not like hearing that and he made Bryant regret it.
Bo Jackson became the best football player in the country. Pat Dye, who is a Georgia grad and an all American guard, reached out to his alma mater to find out who promoted Walker and learned that is was Mike Hubbard. Dye brought Hubbard to Auburn and Hubbard soon had a resume that made him the prime promoter of two Heisman Trophy winners.
Hubbard parlayed this notoriety into building a media empire around Auburn athletics. He controlled television and radio rights to Auburn games and even started his own radio station and printing company. He got elected to the legislature to represent Auburn in 1998.
Hubbard followed the legendary Pete Turnham in the Auburn House seat. Mr. Pete served 40 years in the House from 1958-1998. He had the record for legislative tenure in state history and was known as the Dean of the House.
Mr. Pete and I sat beside each other for 16 years in the House. I watched Pete over the years and every vote he cast and every action was geared toward helping Auburn University. He did it without fanfare. I saw him get untold millions of appropriations for Auburn. I always thought it was a travesty that not one building at Auburn was named after Pete. In fact, I observed him get the money for a new veterinarian building on campus. Therefore, it would have been most appropriate to name the building after old Pete. However, he would not have had it any other way.
Ironically, after only 12 years in the House, Hubbard became Speaker. He had a building on campus named for himself. He also became known as an inside manipulator when he orchestrated the bidding of the Auburn football games to favor his Auburn Network to retain the exclusive contract while he was the Auburn State Representative.
Hubbard became a stalwart state Republican leader soon after his election to the legislature. He became chairman of the Party and then in 2010 was instrumental in helping to recruit and elect the first Republican majority in the House. Indeed it was and still is and will continue to be a super majority. His minions elected him as their Speaker. He took control of the House of Representatives and ran it with an iron fist. Some would say that he became a dictator and that is not far from the truth.
In my lifetime, I have never seen a Speaker garner the power and total control that Hubbard wielded. It was a though he was the King of the House and the other Republicans were his loyal subjects. Thus, the adage “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
The much anticipated trial that ended on June 10, 2016, culminated in Hubbard’s conviction on 12 of 23 counts of felony ethics law violations. It was great drama. It was everything that was anticipated. The outcome was what most folks expected. His sentencing is set for July 8. He will probably get prison time given the overwhelming number of convictions.
There is very little likelihood that an appeal will get much traction. The Judge in the case, Jacob Walker III, did a flawless job and ruled fairly and within the law on all issues. He read the charges to the jury verbatim from the law. The jury was extremely diligent and ruled on every count exactly the way almost any jury in the state would have ruled after hearing all the facts and the law.
We will discuss the ramifications of the Hubbard downfall next week.
See you next week.
June 22, 2016
One of my most cherished lifetime memories is the almost two decades I served in the Alabama House of Representatives. It was because of the lifetime friends made during that era.
The House was not as partisan as it is today. This day and time it seems like legislators do not mix and mingle with different party members. They get in their caucuses and stay put. When I was in the House, although we were of different parties, we all got along regardless of whether we disagreed on issues.
My seatmates were my best friends and still remain my buddies. Seth Hammett, Jimmy Holley and Mr. Pete Turnham were great friends. We represented similar districts and we all voted pretty much alike.
It is a fun and exhilarating experience now to visit the House and see old buddies and meet the new members. My most treasured friend in the House now is Steve Clouse from Ozark. We have been lifelong friends. In fact, I have never not known Steve. His mom and mine were best friends growing up together in Troy. We used to play together as boys; although Steve is quick to point out that I am four years older than him. I am not sure our mothers did not get together and name their children the same names. Ironically, I had a sister named Kay and Steve has a sister named Kay. We represented adjoining districts within Pike and Dale Counties. People would get us confused and still do because our names are so similar.
Steve has done a stellar job in the House. He has represented Dale and Houston Counties with distinction for the past 26 years. He is Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and has done a yeoman’s job. Even though I am a little prejudiced, I believe that Steve is the most outstanding, diligent and ethical member of the House. He leads an excellent Wiregrass delegation comprised of Paul Lee of Dothan, Donnie Chesteen of Geneva, and Dexter Grimsley of Henry County.
Victor Gaston of Mobile came to the House with me in 1982. Therefore, he has now been in the House for 34 years. Victor serves as Speaker Pro Tem and will move up to Speaker with the conviction of Mike Hubbard. Victor has mentored a good many young legislators.
Richard Lindsey from Cherokee County also came with me to the legislature in 1982. He is a good man and a real gentleman who always greets you with a smile.
John Rogers is also one of my buddies from the class of ’82. He has made his mark for 34 years. He is always quick with a smile and handshake. In fact, when I was in the House I started an informal fraternity that was nonpartisan. John always remembers and gives me the fraternal handshake.
Alvin Holmes from Montgomery is the dean of the House with 42 years of seniority. Alvin has made his mark on Alabama political history.
There are two members remaining in the House who came in 1978, thus giving them 38 years of service. Ron Johnson from Talladega County has made a mark as a health specialist in the legislature. James Buskey of Mobile has been a real leader. He is very well-respected and one of the men I revere in the legislature. He is diligent, calm and humorous. Some of us refer to him as “Admiral”.
Steve McMillan from Baldwin County is one of my all-time favorite legislators. He has represented his county for the past 36 years. Baldwin has changed and grown exponentially during the past four decades Steve has represented them. Steve’s brother John McMillan is the Agriculture Commissioner. Both are known for their integrity and class.
Mike Hill is another one of my favorites. He has represented Shelby County for 30 years. He, like Steve, represents one of Alabama’s fastest growing and now largest counties. Like McMillan in Baldwin, Hill is a native Shelby Countian. He is always positive and upbeat.
There are several more old friends I served with who are still in the House, Howard Sanderford from Huntsville, Thomas Jackson from Thomasville, Laura Hall from Huntsville, Johnny Mack Morrow from Red Bay, Kerry Rich from Marshall, Jim Carns from Jefferson, John Knight from Montgomery, George Bandy from Opelika, Thad McClammy from Montgomery and Chris Pringle from Mobile.
One of my all-time favorites is Marcel Black from Tuscumbia. He has now been in the House for 30 years. We are almost exactly the same age. We went to Boys State together. He has been an outstanding legislator and has made his mark on Alabama politics. He is also a heck of a good lawyer and a good friend.
See you next week.
June 15, 2016
A few Friday nights ago, a large throng of people gathered at The Club in Birmingham despite a torrential thunderstorm. The event was called Jubilee for Jabo. It was a commemoration of Jabo Waggoner’s 50 years of service in the Alabama Legislature.
Jabo Waggoner Jr. has made his mark in Alabama political history. He began his career in the Alabama House of Representatives in 1966, as a 29 year old freshman House member from Jefferson County. He served 30 years in the House. He has now represented Jefferson and Shelby Counties in the Alabama Senate for over 20 years. The speakers who lauded Jabo were former Governor Bob Riley, former Lt. Gov. Steve Windom and Dr. Swaid Swaid. It could have included hundreds of friends who have served with Jabo over the years, yours truly included.
The resounding theme was that Jabo is always calm and resolute with a friendly smile and greeting, who never meets a stranger and is always unpretentious and down to earth. He has met a lot of people over the years and seems to remember them all by name.
He has set the record for legislative tenure for anyone in Alabama history from Jefferson County. He made it clear to everyone in attendance that night that he plans to add to that record. At 79 he is in great shape. He plans to run for reelection in 2018.
The event was very well done. Former Secretary of State Beth Chapman did a marvelous job as the emcee. The Jefferson County Republican Party did a fantastic job. Amazingly there were over 500 people in attendance. Most people would hope that a faction of that number would attend their funeral. Jabo was gracious as normal and paid tribute to his beautiful wife of 57 years, Marilyn.
There are more of my former legislative colleagues and friends who are also breaking records for seniority in the Alabama Senate. State Senator Jimmy Holley of Elba, who represents Coffee, Covington, Dale and Pike Counties in the Senate, served 20 years in the House before moving to the Senate in 1998. Jimmy and I sat together in the House for most of those 20 years. I never saw a more diligent or capable legislator than Jimmy Holley. He has now served 18 years in the Senate. He and his wife, Marry, are close. She is able to come to Montgomery with him. They enjoy their two sons and grandchildren.
Another icon in the Senate is Gerald Dial. He, like Jabo, has set some records for longevity in the legislature. Sen. Dial has a combined 39 legislative years. He has served eight years in the House and 31 years in the Alabama Senate. He represents a sprawling district that covers the east Alabama counties of Cleburne, Chambers, Randolph and his home county of Clay. His wife, Faye, is always by his side. Like Jabo’s Marilyn and Jimmy’s Mary, she has been his anchor throughout the years.
State Senator Hank Sanders has represented the good people of Selma, Dallas County and the Black Belt region as their Alabama State Senator for 34 years. This is a record surpassing prior Black Belt legends Walter Givham and Roland Cooper. Hank is an icon who chaired the powerful Finance and Taxation Committee during the Democrat’s reign.
State Senator Rodger Smitherman has represented Jefferson County in the Senate for 20 years. He is very effective and works across the aisle. He attended Jabo’s event, even though they are philosophically opposite and of different parties. They have a deep respect for each other and work together for the good of Jefferson County.
State Senator Vivian Figures has now represented Mobile in the Alabama Senate for close to 20 years. She followed her late husband. Michael, in 1997. She has had a distinguished career as a very respected and effective member of the State’s upper legislative chamber.
Houston and Geneva’s popular State Senator Harri Ann Smith has now represented the Wiregrass well for 18 years.
There are several who have a couple of terms under their belt and have the potential to be legends but may leave the Senate because of statewide aspirations. That list includes Del Marsh, Arthur Orr, Cam Ward, Bobby Singleton, Gerald Allen, Clyde Chambliss, Clay Scofield, Steve Livingston, Rusty Glover and Greg Reed. Senator Trip Pittman could make greatness but has decided to call it quits in 2018.
See you next week.
June 08, 2016
While observing the legislature the other day, I fondly remembered a very eventful day as a youth. As a teenager, I grew up working at the Capitol as a Page in the House and Senate.
Albert Brewer had been elected to the House from Morgan County in his late 20’s and became Speaker in only his second term. He would eventually let me sit beside him in the Speaker’s box and tell me why certain bills were assigned to the proper committee and the probable fate of the proposed legislation.
Brewer ran for lieutenant governor and won in 1966. At that time, the lieutenant governor not only presided over the Senate, he controlled it with help from Governor George Wallace. Brewer took me with him over to the Senate and made me head of the Senate Pages. Brewer confided in me and made me somewhat of an aide de camp at age 15.
I had also become acquainted with our young, fiery, dynamic governor, George Wallace, who will go down in history as probably Alabama’s greatest politician. Wallace had a remarkable ability for remembering people’s names.
On this particular day, I was roaming around the Capitol with one of my Page buddies from Anniston when Wallace bounced out of his office and asked if I and my friend wanted to have lunch with him. He was swarmed by people as he ate his lunch in the old cafeteria in the basement of the Capitol. Wallace’s practice was to campaign in barber shops and beauty parlors all over the state. He asked me about every barber in Pike County by name and then turned to my friend and asked him about every barber in Anniston by name. It was amazing. He also had a habit of eating a hamburger steak every meal. It is not uncommon for folks to put ketchup on hamburger steak, but I watched in amazement when he poured ketchup all over his black-eyed peas, turnip greens and cornbread too. He put ketchup on everything he ate. Heinz missed a good chance by not using him in a commercial.
I was on cloud nine after getting to have lunch with the Governor of Alabama. I bragged to every state senator and then meandered out to the rotunda where the legendary Miss Mittie sat on her bench knitting. She knew where every state senator and representative was at all times. We had become friends and she trusted me. As the lieutenant governor’s aide and head senate page, I needed to ask her where senators were from time to time. I proudly told Miss Mittie that I had eaten lunch with the Governor. Without missing a beat she said, “I guess that little sawed off so and so put ketchup on everything he ate.” The old lady not only knew where everybody was, she knew how the governor ate his food. This also told me she did not like Wallace.
The Senate was debating a bill that was important to Gov. Brewer and Wallace. A decision had to be made whether to break for supper. I had gotten to know the Senators pretty well. One was the most powerful member of the Senate, Joe Goodwyn from Montgomery. Old Joe had a serious drinking problem. Most nights he headed to his favorite spot, the Sahara Restaurant, for dinner and libations.
Gov. Brewer called the restaurant and old Joe headed back to the Capitol. Since Joe had been told his vote was urgent, he drove his Buick up the Capitol steps and made it almost to the Jefferson Davis star. His car’s transmission was on the second step. Minutes before we heard the news of old Joe’s spectacular arrival, I ambled out to ask Miss Mittie if she knew where Sen. Goodwyn was. She said, “Somebody parked in his parking place and he had to park on the Capitol steps.” It was obvious to me that she did not like Wallace, but she liked old Joe Goodwyn.
See you next week.