March 23, 2016
In the literary classic, “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” the author draws parallels to a nation that was on top of the world and because of perverse, grandiose and pompous behavior that dynasty self-destructed and destroyed itself. It was from reading this documentary that the Russian premier Khrushchev believed that we, the United States, would destroy ourselves thus causing him to brashly declare, “We will bury you.”
One of the travails of Rome, as illustrated in the book, was the power and arrogance of the Roman Senate. Roman Senators were given immense power and prestige and allowed to live lavishly at the public’s expense. They, with the concurrence of Caesar, were allowed to control the Roman purse strings and thus dispensed the public funds generously among themselves. They lived a royal life with lavish luxuries and opulence generally reserved for royalty. It led to a life of comfort and debauchery that Solomon warned about in Proverbs, “pride goeth before a fall.”
Many people believe that members of congress today are following this pattern. Maybe not to the same extreme as the Romans, but in some ways similar. U.S. Congressmen vote on their own annual salary increases, which are now up to $175,000 annually with a health plan that would be the envy of any corporate employee and could not be afforded by a corporation yet it cost the congressman nothing. Many congressmen will argue that $175,000 per year is not exorbitant considering that they must maintain a residence in their home state and in Washington. This argument does not seem to hold water with the average American who earns less than 20 percent of that salary.
Congressmen do not have much of a challenge in getting reelected. No matter how good a job they do for their constituents the advantage of incumbency gives 97% of all congressman another term if they choose. However, unlike Roman senators, their power has diminished significantly because of the partisan divide in Washington. Today, congressmen simply vote their party line, making them like members of British Parliament. They are no longer individuals but pawns of their party. They are members in the process and fall in line with party dogma and dictates, losing much of their individualism and, in the process, their power.
Even though one Alabama congressman or congresswoman represents approximately 635,000 Alabamians and an Alabama state senator represents around 130,000 Alabamians, I would argue that a least a dozen state senators have more impact over public policy than any of our seven congressmen. There are 435 members of Congress and 35 members of the Alabama Senate. If a state senator is well placed and in a position of power, they are unquestionably more influential and powerful than a congressperson.
The only exception in our delegation would be Congressman Robert Aderholt. Of our seven members of the U.S. Congress, Aderholt is the only one with any seniority or clout. He is on track to be as powerful one day as his predecessor Democrat Tom Bevill. Aderholt got to Congress at a very young age and he is on the right committees and on the right track.
A couple of years ago, Congressman Jo Bonner left the Mobile/Baldwin first district of congress. A medley of candidates emerged. State Senator Trip Pittman of Baldwin County could have possibly won that seat. But guess what? Sen. Pittman chairs the Senate Finance and Taxation Committee. He would have become much less powerful as a freshman member of congress than controlling the state budget.
In 2010, State Senators Dick Brewbaker of Pike Road, Harri Ann Smith of Slocomb, or Jimmy Holley of Elba could have captured the GOP nomination for congress in the 2nd District and ultimately gone to Congress. However, all three, especially Holley, have much more influence as one of 35 State Senators than as a back bench member of Congress.
In many cases a state senator is more powerful than a congressman.
See you next week.
March 16, 2016
A good friend and loyal reader suggested to me that he would like to see a column entitled, “Where Are They Now?” Then I ran into former Gov. Albert Brewer at a Birmingham restaurant and it prompted me to do that column.
Gov. Brewer has always been admired by Alabamians as one of the finest people to have ever served in state government. I got to know Gov. Brewer when I was a young page in the Alabama House of Representatives and Brewer was a youthful Speaker of the House. In fact, he has the distinction of being the youngest Speaker in state history. He was elected to the House from Morgan County at 28 and became Speaker during only his second term at age 33.
In 1966, he was elected lieutenant governor. While serving as lieutenant governor, Lurleen Wallace succumbed to cancer and Brewer became governor in 1968. He ran for a full term in 1970. In the most memorable and momentous governor’s race in history, Brewer and George Wallace clashed. He led Wallace in the initial voting but Wallace overtly played the race card and overcame Brewer in the runoff to become governor again. Brewer made another run for governor in 1978 but Fob James came out of nowhere to defeat the three B’s, Bill Baxley, Jere Beasley and Albert Brewer.
Since leaving politics, Gov. Brewer returned to the practice of law then began teaching at Samford’s Cumberland School of Law, where he has counseled and mentored students and young lawyers, including my daughter Ginny, for more than 20 years. Gov. Brewer has remained active in governing in Alabama through the Public Affairs Research Council. At 87, he is in good health and enjoys his life in Birmingham.
Another former governor, John Patterson, is 94. He lives on his ancestral land in Goldville in rural Tallapoosa County. Patterson has the distinction of being the only man to beat George Wallace in a governor’s race. Wallace was a fiery circuit judge from Barbour County and Patterson was a squeaky clean law and order segregationist young attorney general. Patterson beat Wallace soundly in that 1954 race and became the youngest governor in state history. He was only 33 years old when he took office as governor in January of 1955. He was dubbed the “boy governor.”
Patterson was later appointed and then elected to the Alabama Court of Appeals and served with distinction as a jurist for over 20 years. He is enjoying is golden years on his farm and has a pet goat named Rebecca, who came to his house out of the blue and took up with him. Rebecca follows Patterson wherever he goes. She watches him intensely and animatedly seems to engage in conversation.
Former Gov. Fob James is enjoying his retirement years at his Butler County farm and at Orange Beach. Fob actually retired about 40 years ago at age 40 when he and his brother, Cal, sold their Opelika industry, Diversified Products. Fob chose to spend his personal money to surprise Baxley, Beasley and Brewer in 1978 to win the governor’s race in one of the most notable gubernatorial contests in state political history. Fob was elected governor again in 1994. He is the only person in state history to win the governor’s race first as a Democrat then as a Republican.
Bill Baxley was elected Attorney General of Alabama in 1970 at age 28. He became not only the youngest person elected attorney general in Alabama history but he was the youngest state attorney general in the nation’s history. Baxley served two terms as attorney general from 1970-1978, then came back as lieutenant governor from 1982-1986. Baxley has a successful law practice in Birmingham and is doing well at age 75.
At age 66, Jim Folsom, Jr. is the youngest former governor. He and Marsha live in their native Cullman. They both look great, as always, and are enjoying their life.
Perry Hooper Sr., who was one of the founders of the modern Republican Party in Alabama, is 90. He is retired and living in his beloved Montgomery. He became probate judge of Montgomery County with the 1964 Goldwater Republican landslide. He later became the first Republican Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and paved the way for our current day all Republican Supreme Court.
See you next week.
March 09, 2016
One of the finest men to ever serve in Alabama government is Albert Brewer. He is one of the most quality and highest caliber individuals to ever rise to the Governor’s office.
Brewer hailed from Morgan County in the heart of the Tennessee Valley. He was first elected to the legislature from Decatur in 1958 at the very young age of 28. He was identified early as a rising star. In fact, his star was meteoric. During his second term in 1962, he was elected Speaker of the House at age 32. An unheard of feat.
Besides being on a political fast track by the time he was in mid-30s, Brewer was also considered one of the best attorneys in Decatur. He is a kind, considerate, and genuinely sincere man with the most pleasant and contagious smile and countenance. Once you meet Albert Brewer you immediately warm up to him and like him. His smile and disposition can melt the most hardened enemy.
Gov. Brewer became especially dear to me. When I first met Gov. Brewer, I was a 12-year-old page from Troy and Brewer was Speaker of the House. My mentor and sponsor was my representative from Troy, Mr. Gardner Bassett. Mr. Gardner was in his 70s and he loved Brewer. Since Mr. Gardner and I were close, he got me acquainted with the young Speaker from Morgan County. Brewer graciously took me under his wing and would let me run special errands for him. Occasionally he even let me sit next to him in the presiding officer’s chair. This pleased Mr. Gardner because he had told Brewer of my love of politics and that when Mr. Gardner retired that I would run for and take his house seat and that is eventually what happened.
Therefore, it was no secret to Brewer that I aspired to get into politics and eventually run for the legislature. He and Mr. Gardner would share legislative stories and history with me. When Brewer became Lieutenant Governor in 1966, he took me over to the Senate with him to be head of the Pages. This allowed me to work in the legislature during the summer while growing up.
One day, Brewer said I want to tell you a campaign secret. He began his lesson by explaining that when you get ready to run for the legislature you should start your campaign in the country. He then explained why. It was based on the old bandwagon theory. He said people in the rural towns and hamlets have more time on their hands. They like politics better than their neighbors in the city, they talk more, they appreciate your interest more and they want to be asked for their vote. Therefore, if you work the rural community first, they talk about you being there and they will commit to you early. At that time, if a person in a rural area told you they were going to vote for you, you could take that to the bank. Therefore, if you got there first, you could wrap up that area early and forever.
Another big plus of working the country first was that whenever any person from that rural box came into the larger town or county seat to shop or get their haircut and the city folks asked about politics out their way, the rural man would say, “I don't know about the other races but that Brewer boy is going to get all the votes up here for that open Legislative seat.” Then the bandwagon domino theory was on. The city folks assumed that if all the country folks were for someone that candidate was bound to win in a landslide so they better get on board too. That was a good lesson. I took Gov. Brewer’s advice in my first race and I got 82% of the vote over two opponents.
By the way, Governor Brewer is doing well today. After years as a successful practicing attorney, he went on to become a professor at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law. My daughter had the opportunity to get to know the Governor while she was in law school at Cumberland. She took several classes he taught, worked with him on the Alabama Constitutional Law Project, and still looks to him as a mentor. Gov. Brewer still has that endearing warm smile and personality. He is a prince of a fellow.
See you next week.
March 02, 2016
You know the outcome of our presidential preference primary yesterday. I do too, today; however, this column had to go to press a few days prior to the primary. Therefore, I will have to report and analyze your voting in a later column.
One thing I do know is that we had a lot more attention paid to us in the Heart of Dixie because we had an early primary. The legislature is to be applauded for moving us up to participate in the March 1st SEC primary.
It was fun while it lasted but we can say goodbye to presidential candidates in the Heart of Dixie for the remainder of the campaign. Whoever wins the GOP nomination will have to concentrate on the 10 battleground states during the fall.
Under our Electoral College system of selecting a president, we do not elect a president by a direct vote whereby the presidential candidate who gets the most votes nationwide is elected president. The votes in each of the 50 states are tallied and the candidate who carries each state gets all of that states electoral votes.
Let us use Alabama as an example. We have seven Congressional seats and two U.S. Senate seats. Therefore, we have nine electoral votes. California, the largest state in the union, has 55 electoral votes. They amazingly have 53 Congressional seats, which means they have nearly eight times as many people in the Golden State as we do in Alabama.
The bottom line is that the Electoral College system favors the larger states, which tend to be liberal and Democratic. This system also gives inordinate importance to states that are demographically blended to make them swing states. They are unpredictable and can swing to the Democratic or GOP candidate in the presidential race. The other 40 states essentially become irrelevant. We in Alabama are going to reliably vote for the Republican nominee even if it is Donald Duck. California is going to vote for the Democratic candidate even if it is Mickey Mouse.
Therefore, simple math tells you that if the larger states like California and New York are going to vote for the liberal Democratic candidate and smaller states like Alabama and Kansas are going to vote for the conservative Republican candidate, then the advantage goes to the Democrat. You might say that the hay is already in the barn in about 40 states, us included.
Because the Electoral College favors a liberal Democrat, Hillary Clinton will more than likely be our next president. A Republican almost has to have a straight flush in all 10 swing states and must carry Florida and Ohio, the two king key swing states.
Less you feel cheated, our forefathers appear almost clairvoyant with their foresight in evening the playing field between the small and large states. We have an inherent inordinate advantage in the U.S. Senate. We have two U.S. Senators and California has two U.S. Senators, even though each of their senators has eight times as many constituents as ours. So before you complain, put yourself in the shoes of a Californian. Their vote does not count in a presidential race and they have about as much representation in the U.S. Senate as a cow in Montana.
However, our constitutional fathers left them one bastion of power. The U.S. House of Representatives calls for each congressional district throughout the country to have the same number of people. Everybody counts the same. Therefore, an assumption can be made that presidential politics favors a Democrat and the U.S. Senate favors the Republican Party.
Thus, the battleground is the U.S. House of Representatives. Political analysts suggest that the 58 seat Republican control of Congress will continue into the future. That is because of projected population shifts to mostly red states in the south and west and Republican dominance of state legislatures, which draw congressional district maps in most states. This Republican control of state legislatures, which not only occurred in Alabama but throughout the country, gave the omnipotent power of the pencil to the GOP. When liberal Democrats drew the line they created coalition districts of different liberal groups – blacks, Hispanics and progressive whites. The demographic changes occurring in the country favor a Democratic president, but the urbanization of the Democratic ranks has hurt their chances of regaining the U.S. House.
This scenario has entrenched the Republican control of Congress. There are packed districts that are very red Republican conservative seats and very blue liberal Democratic seats and very few moderate lawmakers on Capitol Hill. This is also a recipe for gridlock.
See you next week.
February 24, 2016
As our primary selection day approaches, it appears that we are seeing significant campaign attention from the presidential candidates. The move by the legislature to make us an early primary state was a good one.
As is generally the case, we are seeing negative ads. That is not unusual in politics. The reason that they are employed is because they work. Otherwise, the media consultants would not use them. Therefore, this is not a different approach. However, the unique factor in this year’s presidential contest is who is paying for the ads.
The disparaging attacks are being paid for by Super PACs and not directly by the candidates’ campaigns. These shadow campaign organizations have been created by a federal campaign loophole. They allow a candidate to organize a PAC with an innocuous name that allows them to circumvent the federal campaign contribution threshold and spend unlimited amounts of money. These Super PACs are created to allow wealthy individual contributors to write very big checks. Thus, in essence it allows the super-rich to control the Super PACs and have a super-size say on who sits in the oval office.
These Super PACs created for deep pocketed supporters are supposed to operate separately from campaigns but in this presidential contest the lines have become very blurred. The rules on what amounts to coordination have been so narrowly defined that Super PACs and candidates’ campaigns appear to be one in the same.
Federal Election Commission records reveal a good amount of correlation. Super PACs are paying staffers before they shift to campaign payrolls and individuals and groups are writing checks to the same vendors. Super PACs and other outside organizations have sponsored nine of every ten political ads aired this year.
Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, has appeared at fundraisers for a pro-Clinton Super PAC called Priorities USA Action. It is well documented that GOP candidate, Jeb Bush, delayed his presidential announcement by several months to allow his Super PAC, Right to Rise, to raise money. Right to Rise raised $103 million for Bush, while the Jeb Bush official campaign collected $11 million.
Last year’s surprise announcement by GOP House Speaker John Boehner to resign gave rise to the selection of a new speaker. Paul Ryan the 45-year-old Wisconsin Congressman, who was a former vice presidential candidate, appears to be a good choice. Ryan comes across as sincere and well intentioned. He comes across as direct, confident but not cocky or abrasive. He strikes you as someone who is doing the job for the right reasons. He obviously is living within his means on his congressional salary. He sleeps in his office rather than opting for an apartment or swanky Georgetown residence.
For years it was thought that being a governor was not only the best training ground for president but also the best stepping stone. That has not been the case this year. In a record size Republican field the first two horses to fade and fail were Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Texas Governor Rick Perry.
It has instead been a year for outsiders. The GOP field has been led by completely inexperienced political novices. Celebrity billionaire Donald Trump, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and former CEO Carly Fiorina have stolen the show. These three political newcomers have never won an election or even run for public office.
It appears that Donald Trump is poised to carry Alabama next week. He leads overwhelmingly in the polls and has garnered a good cadre of political face cards who have rallied to the frontrunner. Perry Hooper, Jr., a well-known establishment Republican figure, heads his campaign. Hooper is joined by State Representatives Jim Carnes, Tim Wadsworth, Ed Henry, and Barry Moore.
It will be interesting to see the outcome. Many national political experts predict that Trump may falter prior to the GOP nomination convention. They believe that at the end of the day the 2016 Republican nominee will be someone who actually has held office. Conventional prognosticators predict that Florida Senator Marco Rubio or Texas Senator Ted Cruz will ultimately be the nominee. We will see.
See you next week.
February 17, 2016
The presidential primary parade has been colorful and fun to watch this year. It has been even more amusing because of the pervasive presence of one Donald Trump and the fact that those of us in the Heart of Dixie have a front row seat to the show.
Since we will have an early vote in the presidential fray, due to our being one of the seven southeastern states having our preference primary on March 1, we are able to participate. We will be voting for president in less than two weeks.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been asked on TV and radio interviews if the inevitable nominees will be Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. I would not use the word inevitable yet, but I would say they are the clear favorites.
Early on I thought that Donald Trump was a fad that would fade. However, folks he has been the frontrunner for about seven months now. He is for real and he is poised to carry Alabama’s GOP primary overwhelmingly.
We in the South have a history of enjoying our political characters. Over the course of our political folklore our politicians have been our entertainment. Louisiana had Huey and Earl Long. Georgia had the Talmadges. South Carolina had Pitchfork Ben Tillman and we may have had the best with George Wallace and the king of entertainment, Big Jim Folsom.
Big Jim would travel from town to town singing and dancing with his country band the Strawberry Pickers. He was a roadshow. At 6’9” he was the epitome of the words uninhibited and unfiltered.
Donald Trump is essentially nothing more than an entertainer. He is used to dominating the television stage with his game show. He is a huckster and promoter and loves the limelight. He is George Wallace and Big Jim Folsom rolled into one. He has Wallace’s flair for demagoguery and Big Jim’s colorful flair for unbridled quotes. National political analysts are even saying that his voters are of the same profile as the George Wallace voters in the 1972 Presidential Race.
Trump epitomizes the anti-establishment and race baiting politics that appeal to southern voters. He is a throwback to a bygone era. Indeed his presence on the stage this year could possibly pave the way for an epic event from another bygone era. Some are suggesting that we may see an old timey brokered convention at the Republican National Convention this summer in Cleveland.
The very large GOP field of well-funded candidates that are parading into Alabama may be able to stay on the stage longer than usual. It is a fact that Republican Party regulars perceive Trump as unelectable and find him unpalatable. Therefore, they will try to derail his train.
The rise of Super PACs and new political money raised online has put tons of money into campaigns never before seen in history. Therefore, while in past years when someone does poorly in primaries their money dries up and they winnow away, these candidates can continue to stay on the stage and cling to their delegates.
There has not been a protracted GOP convention that went beyond the first ballot since 1952. The last state primaries are on June 7. It takes 1,237 delegates to be nominated. If Trump does not have that number, then there will be a stalemate. This is a recipe for the conservative GOP regulars to have to deal with some chaos.
Trump has forged to the front and is the frontrunner but if there are still a host of candidates left by June it will prevent him from garnering the 50% needed to win. There may be a concerted effort by party insiders who generally believe that Trump is not the optimal candidate against Clinton in the general election. So they may try to block him.
However, they are overlooking the fact that Trump is the master of the art of the deal. The Don may deal them out and make a deal with either Cruz or Rubio or someone else to make them his VP running mate just prior to the convention.
It is a fun show to watch. We could wind up having old timey convention filled with multiple ballots, floor demonstrations, dark horses and favorite sons, minus the smoke filled rooms, because the halls today do not allow smoking. It would be a good show. We will see.
See you next week.
February 10, 2016
We are only a few weeks away from our March 1st primary. We have an early primary date this year due to the fact that we are in the SEC Presidential Primary. Therefore, we will have some say in who will be the GOP and Democratic nominees.
Indeed, the presidential fray, especially on the Republican side, has been the center of attention. However, we do have some statewide races on the ballot this year. Albeit they are not very interesting or competitive.
Public Service Commission President Twinkle Cavanaugh should waltz to reelection to her post. She has served six years on the PSC. The last four as president of the utility regulatory panel.
Only one member of our super Republican State Supreme Court is up for election and has opposition. Justice Tom Parker should coast to reelection.
In the second congressional district, Rep. Martha Roby is running for her fourth term. She is facing a challenge from Becky Gerritson, the founder of the Wetumpka Tea Party, as well as Bob Rogers. The winner will face Nathan Mathis of Houston County in the fall. However, this is a Republican seat. The primary could offer a challenge for Roby but probably not.
In the third district, Rep. Mike Rogers is being challenged by former Phenix City School Superintendent Larry DiChiara. The winner of the Republican primary will have a Democratic challenger, Jesse Smith, also of Phenix City.
Alabama’s lone Democratic U.S. Representative, Terri Sewell, has no Democratic challenger. She has a token Republican opponent, David Williams.
In the South Alabama Mobile/Baldwin first district, Congressman Bradley Byrne will face a familiar primary opponent in Tea Party activist Dean Young.
Our senior U.S. Senator, Richard Shelby, is running for his unprecedented sixth six-year term in the Senate. He has been in the Senate for 30 years and the U.S. House for eight years prior to his election to the Senate in 1986.
Shelby’s seniority is invaluable to Alabama. Seniority equates to power in Washington. Sen. Shelby is Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He is also Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, which includes NASA.
Shelby has been a stalwart appropriator for Alabama, showering the state with federal money to finance buildings and biomedical research centers on college campuses. He has been the primary advocate for the Marshall Space Flight Center and defense community around Huntsville. He still holds a public meeting in each of Alabama’s 67 counties each year.
Shelby has a campaign war chest of over $18 million to ward off his unknown opponents. There are four folks brave enough to challenge him, ex-State Senator Shadrack McGill of Jackson County, along with Jonathan McConnell of Birmingham, John Martin of Dothan and Marcus Bowman of Fairhope.
Sen. Shelby and junior Senator Jeff Sessions have teamed up with Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson to try to put a final resolution to the decade long battle with Georgia over the so-called water wars. These four senators, led by Shelby, have asked a senate panel to intervene in the Army Corps of Engineers mismanagement of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin. They have asked the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development to protect users of the River Basin in Florida and Alabama from disproportionate water use by Georgia.
This water war with Georgia has been ongoing since 1990. Since then, the three states have argued and battled over the river system as metro Atlanta’s need for drinking water has skyrocketed. The Corps of Engineers has the authority to control the flow in the tri-state river system. A 2011 federal appeals court ruled that Georgia has a legal right to water from Lake Lanier, at the top of the system near Atlanta. However, Florida political leaders see the united front and power play of our Senators Shelby and Sessions and their Senators Rubio and Nelson as a game changer. We will see.
See you next week.
February 03, 2016
There are a good many stories about elections of the 1940’s and 50’s where vote were bought and elections stolen. The most brazen and blatant stealing of an election occurred in the 1948 race for the U.S. Senate in Texas. The players were Coke Stevenson versus Lyndon B. Johnson. Therefore, it can also be classified as one of the most relevant robberies in American history because if Johnson had lost, as he was supposed to, it would have dramatically impacted U.S. history.
Coke Stevenson was a legendary Texas icon. He was the epitome of a Texas gentleman and revered. He was Texas’ Horatio Alger and Davy Crockett combined. He raised himself from age 12, built a ranching empire, was Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, and a very popular Governor of Texas. Stevenson was above reproach. He would not lie, steal or cheat and Texans knew that about old Coke.
On the other hand, Lyndon Johnson had already earned the reputation in Texas that he would continue to earn in Washington, that is that he would do whatever it took to win. He was totally corrupt and ruthless, without any semblance of a conscience.
Johnson had been a congressman from East Texas for six years. When the U.S. Senate seat came open in 1948, he made the decision to roll the dice and go for broke. Lyndon did not know that the legendary former governor, Coke Stevenson, would enter the race.
The initial poll had Stevenson about 68% to Johnson’s 18%. However, Stevenson had no idea to what limits Johnson would go to be a U.S. Senator. Johnson applied modern day politics to that era. He introduced polling and what it meant in detail. He even used a helicopter to fly from town to town and land on court squares to speak and shake hands, but mostly he used negative and false campaign mailings to destroy the stellar Stevenson’s reputation. Stevenson was from a different era. He refused to go negative and would not reply to any negative accusations no matter how maliciously false.
Johnson was able to utilize this massive media blitz because he had more campaign funds than any candidate in Texas history. He had unlimited financial backing from the giant Brown and Root Company of Texas. They are now the Halliburton Corporation. They were then as now the recipients of gigantic government construction contracts. Johnson was their boy and would do their bidding as their senator so they poured money into the race like water.
Johnson outspent Stevenson 10 to 1, but it was not enough. When the votes were counted on election night, Stevenson had won by a narrow margin. However, the election was not over. Stevenson was about to be counted out.
The Rio Grande Valley along the Texas and Mexican border was known as the region where votes could be bought. Most close elections were decided in these counties, which would come in days after the original count with just the right number of votes needed to win the election. This is how Johnson won by only 87 votes in a race where over one million votes were cast.
Johnson became known as Landslide Lyndon in Washington because of this 87 vote victory. It was also an allusion to how he had stolen the seat. Some people think that Johnson’s title, Landslide Lyndon, stemmed from his landslide victory over Barry Goldwater in the 1964 Presidential Race, but it was actually from the 1948 Texas Senate Race.
A legendary tale that is attributed to Johnson in this infamous race claims that in the days following the election, while garnering enough votes for victory, Johnson and the political bosses of the Valley counties were going through cemeteries and taking names of dead Mexicans off of tombstones to register as voters. They could not decipher one of the names and asked Lyndon what to do. Johnson quickly replied, give him a name, he’s got as much right to vote as the rest of them in this cemetery do.
See you next week.
January 27, 2016
As discussed last week, several of the headline Alabama news stories of 2015 may also be the blockbusters of 2016. The Mike Hubbard trial and the decision of the federal courts on Alabama’s legislative district lines will be determined in the first half of this year.
The biggest news and political story of this year may be a continuation of last year’s major issue and it also surrounds the Alabama Legislature. The State General Fund woes will again be front and center.
As the quadrennium began in 2015, state officials were told that in order to simply level fund the woefully funded General Fund, the legislature would have to come up with between $200-300 million. Everyone agreed that the shortfall was a problem. Gov. Robert Bentley began his second term proposing $541 million in new taxes as a solution. His proposals were repeatedly rebuked by the legislature. That battle and wrangling over the budget lasted most of the year. It wound through the four month session and three legislative sessions.
The final 2015 legislative solution was to raise limited revenue by increasing the cigarette tax by 25 cents per pack, which will bring in about $70 million in new revenue. They also shifted $80 million in use tax money from the Education Trust Fund to the General Fund. Therefore, they essentially kicked the proverbial can down the road once again.
As the 2016 Legislative Session begins next week, the chronic problems are looming in the anemic General Fund. In the Senate, the Finance Committee chairs have changed hats so to speak. They have swapped posts. State Sen. Arthur Orr of Decatur, who previously chaired the General Fund Finance Committee, will head the Education Finance panel and Sen. Trip Pittman of Baldwin will leave Chairman of Education to be head of the General Fund writing committee. A good swap for Orr.
Sen. Pittman will join hands with Rep. Steve Clouse, who chairs the House General Fund Committee. Clouse and Pittman have unenviable tasks. Clouse is already predicting two percent cuts across the board, including the sacred cows of Medicaid, Courts and Prisons.
Resistance to taxes is still prevalent in both chambers and Senate President Del Marsh of Anniston, who sponsored a casino/lottery bill last year, said he would not come with that proposal again this year. However, a clean pure lottery bill could be discussed. If it clears the legislature it must be approved by the people in an election. Alabama and Utah are the only two states that derive no revenue from gambling. The casino/lottery proposal would raise $330 million for the state. A pure lottery would generate about $225 million.
There may be a move to unearmark some of Alabama’s taxes as the Session looms. Alabama currently earmarks more than four fifths of its tax revenue for specific purposes. This idea perpetually raises its head in times of budget crisis. Indeed legislation has been pre-filed to transfer a greater portion of wine and liquor revenues and profits to the General Fund.
This unearmarking has been unsuccessful in the past. The best historical example was a classic battle between Gov. George Wallace and Alabama Education Associations icon Dr. Paul Hubbert. Wallace went on television with two jars of pennies – one full and overflowing symbolic of the Education Fund and one half full representing the General Fund. Wallace said he simply wanted to borrow a few of the pennies from Education and put into the half empty glass jar. Hubbert thwarted Wallace’s plan. However, Hubbert is gone and so is the power of the AEA. It died with Hubbert.
This legislative body has shown keen interest in and indeed the propensity to raid the Special Education Trust Fund Budget. With the death of the AEA there is nobody to guard the Education dollars hen house. Therefore, the legislature sees robbing the Education Fund to pay for the General Fund as an easy solution.
During the heyday of flush Education funding higher education benefited tremendously from the power of Hubbert’s AEA, “A rising tide sails all ships.” It may be time for higher education to step up to the plate and thwart the raid on their education dollars.
See you next week.
January 20, 2016
A good many of the news stories that were the most noteworthy events of 2015 will continue into this new year of 2016 and may repeat as the major headlines of this year.
Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard will go on trial in his home of Lee County in early spring. Hubbard, the Republican Speaker, is the architect and leader of the GOP takeover of the Alabama House. Ironically, one of the cornerstone issues heralded by Hubbard in his coup was ethics reform. Interestingly, one of the most incriminating emails revealed during discovery was one in which Hubbard essentially asked his buddy, former Gov. Bob Riley, why in the world did we pass that ethics law?
Hubbard has been indicted on 23 felony counts of ethics law violations. These ethics canons were passed and heralded by Hubbard and his leadership team in the House, which has remained loyal to Hubbard throughout the course of his trial. Hubbard was indicted in 2014. The GOP dominated House reelected him Speaker in January 2015 as the new quadrennium began. Their justification was that in America you are innocent until proven guilty.
During 2015 there were ongoing legal battles between the state prosecutors and Hubbard’s attorneys. These skirmishes filled the news periodically throughout the year. The case continuation seemed to cause some disintegration of Hubbard’s political hold on the House. In addition, the protracted budget fight that lasted most of 2015 created tension and discord.
During the last Special Session, while dealing with the General Fund Budget, some of the GOP backbenchers challenged Hubbard and some actually called for his resignation. Rep. Phil Williams of Huntsville actually launched a campaign to run against Hubbard as Speaker.
Hubbard’s trial is set to begin in late March so the Speaker will be absent from the presiding post for most of the Regular Session while attending his trial. If he is convicted on any of the 23 counts, not only will he have to vacate the Speakership but he will also be forced to leave the House entirely. Hubbard’s successor would be elected among the House of Representatives. Regardless of the outcome this story portends to be one of the leading news stories of 2016.
Speaking of the legislature, an issue that arose in 2015 and should be resolved this year has strangely gone completely under the radar screen. Alabama’s House and Senate district lines, which were drawn and adopted in 2013, are up in the air. Our current legislature was elected in 2014 under these lines. When drawing the lines, the Legislative Reapportionment Committee meticulously complied with every aspect of the existing Voting Rights Laws and judicial holdings. Minority districts were preserved and even enhanced. Under Alabama’s 2014 redistricting the state’s racial compliance, as called for under the Voting Rights Act, is one of the fairest in the nation.
It was thought by most observers that a perfunctory appeal of the lines by the Alabama Legislative Black Caucus and the Alabama Democratic Conference was nothing more than a Hail Mary. Indeed, a three judge federal panel approved the state’s plan. However, the U.S. Supreme Court heard the case on appeal and in a surprise 5-4 decision in March remanded the case back to the three judge panel to reconsider.
Justice Stephen Breyer, in writing for the majority of the Supreme Court, said the judges should look at the individual districts to determine whether they were racially gerrymandered. The Supreme Court is plowing new ground in Alabama and in other southern states by saying that black voters were “packed and stacked” in majority-minority districts stifling their power in the legislative process.
In August, the panel asked the plaintiffs to submit maps to comply with the ambiguous Supreme Court ruling. They did so in September. The three judge federal panel could rule on the maps at any time. Even though most of the changes suggested by the plaintiffs are minor and subtle and do not affect most existing lines, the federal courts could very well call for new legislative elections this year. If that happens it would be as big a story as the Hubbard trial.
See you next week.