April 10, 2014
Alabama has seen its share of industrial recruitment coups in the past few years. In fact, 20 years ago the landing of Mercedes was the impetus that has catapulted us to the top of the nation in automobile manufacturing. Mercedes, Honda, Hyundai and the peripheral support manufacturing companies have placed us in the top three states in America when it comes to automobile manufacturing jobs.
The announcement of the mammoth Airbus plant in Mobile will create over 1,000 jobs for the state. We will now build the largest airplanes in the world in the Heart of Dixie.
However, when all is said and done, Alabama’s most important industry is still agriculture. The economic impact of Alabama’s agriculture, forestry and related industries is staggering. The total output and employment impact of agriculture and related industries was over $70 billion last year and accounts for over 580,000 jobs. Folks, that's not just whistlin' Dixie.Read more
April 03, 2014
The Gallup poll has come out with their ranking of the most conservative and most liberal states in America.
Last year we were ranked as the most conservative in the country. We lost that mantle to Wyoming this year. In fact, we fell dramatically to number ten. In past years either Alabama or one of our sister southern Bible Belt states took home the title. This year the Western states made inroads into our group in the top ten rankings.
The most conservative states are always located in the South and West, while the most liberal states are found on the East and West coasts. Thus the label that we like to bestow on Californians is that both they and their philosophy are from the left coast.
Following number one Wyoming in order of conservatism are Mississippi, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and number ten Alabama.Read more
March 27, 2014
There is a cadre of politicos in Birmingham who are approaching their 60’s that have been a close knit group of true blue Republicans since the get go. They have probably never been or needed to run as Democrats. More than likely, they were Goldwater Republicans when they were little boys. Most certainly they were Nixon and Reagan Republicans in their youth.
This group is close knit and numbers about 12. The face cards are former legislator, State DHR Director, Hoover Mayor and now Jefferson County Administrator Tony Petelos, former State Representatives and now lobbyists Mark Gaines and Allen Sanderson, and current State Representative and former Jefferson County Tax Collector Jack Williams.Read more
March 20, 2014
A while back I wrote a column entitled “The State Legislature Is A Good Training Ground For Governor, But Not A Good Stepping Stone To Governor.” The essence of my hypothesis was being one of the 105 members of the House of Representatives or even one of the 35 members of the State Senate does not lend itself to building name identification, which is essential to election to statewide office.
The perfect example in support of this argument occurred several years ago when Covington County State Representative Seth Hammett was Speaker of the House. Seth contemplated a race for governor. The position of Speaker of the House of Representatives is probably the second most powerful position in state government. Seth had served 20 years in the House and had garnered unfathomable knowledge of the machinations of state government. He was immensely popular and universally known in his home district.
One of the first steps when seeking a major statewide office is to conduct what is called a benchmark poll. This poll measures how well you are known statewide. Seth’s name identification was only 3%. If the Speaker of the House has 3% name identification, what do you think a backbencher from Wedowee’s would register? Seth decided against making the race.Read more
March 13, 2014
Last week we highlighted and handicapped the statewide races for the top five constitutional offices of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer and agriculture commissioner. All of these offices are held by incumbent Republicans. Therefore, it would be an upset if any of them went down to defeat.
In fact, currently there are 31 statewide elected offices in Alabama and all 31 are held by Republicans. However, the Democrats have fielded a respectable slate of candidates. We will see if indeed winning the GOP primary is tantamount to election in the Heart of Dixie.
The scene is set for there to be donnybrooks for the two low profile secondary statewide offices of secretary of state and state auditor. There are three gentlemen seeking the GOP nomination for secretary of state. Whoever wins the Republican primary will waltz to election in November.Read more
March 06, 2014
For the past year it has appeared that this year’s election was going to be less than exciting. Now that the dust has settled it looks like that will pretty much be the case. This lackluster year has been created by the fact that incumbents hold all five of the top constitutional offices and all five, especially the governor, are pretty popular.
The field is set and the lineup card is in the hands of the scorekeeper. The primaries are set for June 3 with the runoffs coming six weeks later on July 15. The general election will be November 3. More than likely the governor, attorney general, lieutenant governor, agriculture commissioner and treasurer, all Republicans, will be reelected to a second four-year term.
That means that 2018 will be looming as a watershed year. You should see six or more big name thoroughbreds seeking the governor’s post that year when Gov. Bentley cannot seek another term constitutionally. There are some naysayers who are saying, “Not so quick, my friend. I am not so sure that Bentley will be reelected.”Read more
February 27, 2014
Last week’s column expounded on the two different concepts that members of congress perceive their roles to be in Washington. Our two senators are classic but different examples. Jeff Sessions is the quintessential ideologue and Richard Shelby is the classic caretaker.
What about our seven members of congress? We have seven congress people, six Republicans and one Democrat. All seven pretty much toe the party line. All six Republicans vote straight down the party line and our lone Democrat votes with the Democratic leadership. Therefore, you would have to classify them all as ideologues.
We have no congress people with the power to be a caretaker like Richard Shelby. It remains to be seen whether any of them will become rainmakers in the future. It is not really their fault; they just have not been on the Potomac very long. The key to power in the U.S. Congress is seniority. The longer you stay the more powerful you become. It usually takes 20 years in Congress before you wield any power. It is actually closer to 30 years before you are powerful and then only if you are chairman of a committee and your committee spends money from the U.S. Treasury.Read more
February 20, 2014
There are two schools of thought as to what role a U.S Senator should play on the stage in Washington. One model is called the caretaker. This senator believes that he or she should bring home the bacon. If there are any pork projects for roads, schools, bridges, universities, parks or any grant money in the annual federal budget then that senator’s state should receive its share or more.
The second model should be referred to as the ideologue. He or she should be known as either a right wing or left wing philosophical zealot. For example, if you are from Texas, Oklahoma or Alabama you should be known as the most conservative or reactionary member of the senate in Washington.
Our two U.S. Senators are the clearest examples of these two models in present day Washington. It is brought up by Washington insiders every time I have a conversation with a friend on the Potomac. They marvel at how different each of our senators is in their outlook of their role for Alabama. Both men are very diligent and even though they are different they get along remarkably well.Read more
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