August 15, 2013
When Robert Bentley ran for Governor in 2010, he made a campaign promise that resonated with voters. He declared that he would not take a salary as governor until the state’s unemployment level reached a certain low bar.
Bentley inherited a ship of state that was sinking. He rolled up his sleeves and went to work to bring jobs to Alabama. He has done a reasonably good job. We have led our sister states in job creations over the past two years and Alabama currently has the lowest unemployment rate in the region. However, Bentley is still refusing to take a salary.
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August 08, 2013
Last week we predicted that all three of our top constitutional officeholders will win reelection to a second four-year term in next year’s election. The election will be in June next year. Since we are now a one party state when it comes to statewide political races, winning next year’s June 3rd Republican Primary is tantamount to election. Folks, that is only ten months away. The actual bell to begin campaigning rang out two months ago when candidates could officially begin raising money.
Gov. Robert Bentley, Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey and Attorney General Luther Strange should have smooth sailing in their efforts to garner another four years in their posts. In addition, Sen. Jeff Sessions is a prohibitive favorite to win reelection for another six-year term in Washington.
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August 01, 2013
Last week we handicapped the 2014 Governor’s Race but it is definitely not the only race on the ballot next year. In fact, all constitutional offices are up for election as well as all 140 seats in the legislature and all 67 sheriffs. Indeed, this is the big election year in Alabama.
Many states in the union point to the presidential year as their big year. They have their governors running concurrently with the president. That is not the case here in the Heart of Dixie. Our founding fathers appear intuitive in retrospect. They somehow perceived that we would be more interested in who is our governor, sheriff or state representative than who is president when they put all of our good races in our gubernatorial years.
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July 25, 2013
Whether you realize it or not the 2014 Election is upon us. The call to arms began in June. That is when campaign fundraising could officially begin.
Under Alabama law, candidates can begin raising money exactly one year prior to the elections. That has been interpreted to mean one year prior to the primaries. The primary next year is in early June. That is proper and fitting since we are now a one party state. Winning the Republican Primary next June in any statewide race is tantamount to election in the Heart of Dixie. The November election will be a formality or coronation.
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July 18, 2013
When Barack Obama first ran for president, he campaigned on a pledge that his tenure in office would be a new day in American politics. It was perceived that the policies of prior presidential years of graft and political favoritism would be a thing of the past. The reality of this administration has revealed just the opposite. This Obama team has painted a portrait of political cronyism unparalleled in the annals of American political folklore. The fact is that Obama has made many of his predecessors look like novices when it comes to favoritism and chicanery.
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July 11, 2013
Alabama and the Deep South have now become the heart and soul of the Republican Party in America. We are the most reliable base of support for any GOP presidential candidate. We and our sister southern states of Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Carolina and Louisiana are the bastion of the GOP.
Our loyalty to Republican presidential candidates is not only unquestionable and predictable, it has been going on for quite a while. Alabama has been a safe haven for the GOP for close to five decades when it comes to national politics. Since 1964, we have voted for the GOP candidate for president 11 out of 13 times. The Republican candidate has carried Alabama the last nine presidential elections going back 36 years to 1976.
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July 04, 2013
A recent survey rated Alabama as the most conservative state in the Union. More than half of our residents describe themselves as politically conservative. The poll was done by the vaunted Princeton, New Jersey Gallup polling firm.
Four of our sister states, Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana and Arkansas, also ranked in the top 10 of the 50 states in conservatism, according to Gallup. All five of us are predictably, reliably Republican. The states of North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma and Nebraska rounded out the top ten. All these states are rural and also very Republican. Therefore, all ten of the most conservative states are Republican states.
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June 27, 2013
Five days before Christmas in 1976 a beautiful, bright Birmingham-Southern coed named Quenette Shehane was going to a convenience store near her home close to the campus in Birmingham. She was making a quick trip to get salad dressing to go with the steaks she and her boyfriend were cooking at his fraternity house. Quenette never made it back. She was kidnapped from the store parking lot. Her body was found the next day.
After several years of anguish and justice system logjams, Quenette’s murderers were found and finally tried. One was executed nearly 14 years after the crime. Another was sentenced to life in prison and the third was also sentenced to life in prison but without the possibility of parole.
Even though this heinous crime received sensational publicity, without the determined efforts of Quenette’s mother, the culprits would probably still be walking around free today. She made it her mission to get justice for her daughter’s tragic horrible murder. She was relentless in her pursuit of justice. Today, thousands of Alabama families can and have received justice and peace of mind through the efforts of Quenette’s mother.
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June 20, 2013
Alabama’s beleaguered budgets could receive some relief if congress passes legislation to allow states to collect the online sales taxes due them.
These are not new taxes. They are taxes being avoided and are already owed. It is simply a basic fairness issue. It is not fair that retail stores, who build buildings and hire employees, are made to collect sales taxes while hotline online companies are not required to collect these taxes owed to Alabama.
Currently, the law of the land is that online sellers who have a nexus, link or connection through retail or other operations in a state must collect and remit online sales tax but retailers that have no physical presence in a state cannot be required to collect the sales tax owed. This was the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1992. However, the Supreme Court did not exempt online buyers from the obligation to pay taxes owed to their respective states for online purchases. Many folks either do not know they owe the taxes or simply choose not pay them.
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June 13, 2013
The 2013 Legislative Session is now history. The super Republican majority has continued their conservative march to the sea leaving dissident Democrats in carnage the way Sherman left Atlanta.
A cloture petition leaving very little room for debate accompanies each semi controversial measure. Most legislation is decided on by the House or Senate leadership in a cloakroom. The Governor is kept abreast but he is not leading the parade. That is not to say that the governor is being ignored or run over. He is on the same page with 90% of the issues. They are all singing out of the same hymnbook. These folks are not RINOs. They are real Republicans.
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