February 13, 2014
Usually gubernatorial years are marquee political events in Alabama politics. However, this year is shaping up as a mundane affair. Not only is Gov. Dr. Robert Bentley headed for a cakewalk coronation, so are all the other four incumbent constitutional officeholders. Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey, Attorney General Luther Strange, Agriculture Commissioner John McMillan and State Treasurer Young Boozer, all appear to have smooth sailing in their reelection bids.
It appears that the best statewide race will be for the lowprofile office of Secretary of State. When I was growing up it was a post held by women. Two legendary female politicians, Agnes Baggett and Mabel Amos, would serve two perfunctory fouryear terms in the Secretary of State office, and then they would swap. Ms. Amos would be treasurer for eight years and then move to Secretary of State. Ms. Baggett would move next door to the treasurer’s office. They were political fixtures on Goat Hill for years.Read more
February 06, 2014
Over the years some of you have inquired about the use of the filibuster in the halls of the U.S. Congress and Senate. The word itself is not something that the average citizen is familiar with or totally knowledgeable of its meaning. A filibuster is simply a fancy word for talking a piece of legislation to death. It is a dilatory tactic that senators use to delay a vote on a bill and hopefully tire out the proponents of a prospective law.
The filibuster is most times associated with the Senate. Under the parliamentary rules of both the U.S. Senate and the Alabama State Senate, the length of time that a senator can debate a bill is longer than the time limits allowed in the House of Representatives. Therefore, the filibuster is primarily orchestrated in the Senate. Our forefathers designed these rules to allow the Senate to be the more deliberative body. They wanted the upper chamber to be more like the British House of Lords.
The ability to filibuster has long been a part of Senate history. The best depiction of the senate filibuster is the scene portrayed by Jimmy Stewart filibustering for hours on the floor of the U.S. Senate in the famous movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”Read more
January 30, 2014
It seemed to go under the radar last year but the Bentley administration quietly inaugurated the largest road-building program seen in the state in over six decades.
Gov. Bentley launched the Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (ATRIP). The ATRIP program, coupled with another road program, the Rural Assistance Match Program, will bring the total for road and bridge construction in Bentley’s first term to well over $1 billion.
This probably makes Bentley’s road program the largest since Gov. James E. “Big Jim” Folsom’s famous Farm to Market road program in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Big Jim’s Farm to Market road program was his greatest legacy. Folks in rural Alabama still talk about Big Jim’s roads today.
Bentley designed his road program to come to fruition and have the greatest political impact while he was running for governor this year. It appears that he will have smooth sailing and will not need the ATRIP program to propel him to victory.Read more
January 23, 2014
It looks like our good doctor Gov. Robert Bentley will escape a serious challenge to his reelection bid this year. The GOP primary, which is tantamount to election in a statewide race in the Heart of Dixie, is less than five months away. If Gov. Bentley were going to get a significant opponent they would have surfaced by now. In fact, in order to mount a credible race, an opponent would have to have started at least six months ago and raised over a million dollars. That probably would not have been enough. Bentley’s favorability and reelection polling numbers are out of the roof.
It appeared early on that legislative races and more specifically intraparty GOP battles for those seats would be the marquee matchup. There will be some but less than first expected. In addition, the legislative lines are drawn in a fashion to take advantage of the partisan proclivities in the state. Therefore, the state legislature, both House and Senate, are poised to remain in GOP control, probably by a two to one super majority status.Read more
January 16, 2014
The 2014 legislative session began this week. Speculation is that it will be short and may not last the full four months allotted.
The super majority Republican legislature will put their final touch on their four-year march to the right. They have made an indelible conservative mark on state government in both fiscal and social measures.
The GOP House will emphasize financial incentives for job expansion. They are calling their agenda “Common Sense Conservative.” It will include a bill to raise the threshold where small businesses have to pay a monthly estimated income tax from $1,000 to $2,500. They will also make filing state business taxes easier by creating an online tax filing system for all taxes.
Other bills in their conservative agenda will include a tax credit to encourage adoptions. They will address the issue of legislators exiting their terms early to lobby. They will tighten the current law that prohibits legislators from lobbying for two years after they leave office.Read more
January 09, 2014
The 2014 Legislative Session begins next week. The session starts early in the fourth year of the quadrennium because it is an election year. Legislators want to come in and get out early so that they can go home and campaign.
Usually legislatures do not do much other than pass the budgets in a campaign year session. They especially do not try to tackle any controversial issues that could stir up any ire with voters. However, this current group of legislators will tackle anything controversial as long as it has a right wing slant to it.
It would be hard to think of any major conservative issue they have not addressed in the first three years of their super Republican majority reign. In years one and two they passed a stringent anti immigration bill as well as dismantled the AEA.Read more
January 02, 2014
With each passing day it becomes less likely that Gov. Robert Bentley will get any serious opposition in his reelection bid. We are only five months away from the June 3, 2014 GOP primary. It would be very difficult for someone to mount a significant challenge to the popular incumbent in that time span.
It also appears that Sen. Jeff Sessions and Attorney General Luther Strange will have smooth sailing towards their reelections. Young Boozer and John McMillan also appear to be headed towards reelection to second terms as Treasurer and Agriculture Commissioner.
Under our state constitution, the aforementioned statewide incumbents are term limited after two four-year terms. However, U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions has no limitations on the number of six-year terms he serves. This lack of competition portends a quiet and dull 2014 election year. This is disappointing to those of us who thrive on following political races. Therefore, political pundits will begin their speculation of who will follow Gov. Bentley as governor in 2018.Read more
December 26, 2013
As the year 2013 comes to an end, as is our custom, we will reminisce and remember some of the great names of Alabama politics that have passed away this year.
Former Supreme Court Justice, John Tyson, passed away at 86 at his Montgomery home. Tyson was a revered, Montgomerian and a real gentleman. His best friend was Bubba Trotman of Montgomery. If I had to define the term Southern gentleman, Judge Tyson and Bubba Trotman epitomize this demeanor.
Former First Lady, Jamelle Folsom, passed away in Cullman. Mrs. Jamelle was the only lady in Alabama history to be the wife of one governor and the mother of another governor. She was the wife of the legendary Big Jim Folsom and the mother of Gov. Jim Folsom, Jr. Big Jim, who was a widower and a good bit older than Jamelle, was campaigning in North Alabama and making one of his legendary “suds bucket” speeches, when he looked out over the crowd and spotted Jamelle who was not even 20 years old. In his uninhibited manner he stared at Jamelle and said that’s the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, I’m going to marry her, and he did. She was a wonderful lady who loved Alabama politics.Read more
December 19, 2013
When I went to the legislature in 1982 as a 30-year-old freshman, there were two powerful organizations. The Alabama Farmers Federation (ALFA) and the Alabama Education Association (AEA) were omnipotent. The Farmers Federation had prevailed as the King of Goat Hill for decades and probably going back to when Alabama became a state in 1901.
You chose early which side you were on, either ALFA or AEA. It was almost like football in our state where you have to side either with Auburn or Alabama. My choice was easy. Being from a rural county and being a business person, I cast my allegiance with ALFA.
Most of us who were pro business chose ALFA. We became known as the conservatives. It may surprise some of you young folks to know that there were essentially no Republicans. We all ran under a Democratic banner even though we were really Republicans. Therefore, we were labeled as conservatives or liberals rather than Republicans or Democrats. The ALFA team and I quickly bonded because even though I was young, I was extremely conservative.Read more