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.
Read more
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.
Read more
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.
Read more
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.
Read more
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.
Read more
June 06, 2013
The 2013 legislative session has come to an end. Our legislature, both the House and Senate, is Republican controlled. In fact, both chambers have super Republican majorities. They were elected in 2010. Therefore, this is the third year of their four-year reign. The GOP holds about a two to one advantage in both the upper and lower chambers. This will more than likely remain the same after the 2014 elections.
These GOP lawmakers have left an indelible conservative mark on state government and public policy. Their reactionary philosophy has resonated on both social and budgetary matters. Perhaps they are a reflection of the state. My perception is that they portray an accurate mirror of their constituency. Their actions over the past three years have not only been conservative, they have been decisive and functional.
Read more
May 30, 2013
Historically, the legislature has not been a good stepping stone to governor. In fact, Robert Bentley is the only person in modern Alabama political history to go directly from the legislature to the governor’s office.
However, the legislature is an excellent training ground for being governor. You learn how state government works and how to craft a budget. Regardless, it has been a difficult route from which to launch a statewide political career. Probably because it does not lend itself to garnering statewide name identification, yet you become saddled with a lengthy and detailed voting record on numerous controversial issues. However, with Bentley’s breaking of the ice, you may see a reversal of this precedent.
Read more
May 23, 2013
As the third regular legislative session of the quadrennium draws to an end let us look at the makeup of the new super Republican majority.
As we have often said, this legislative body may not be deliberative but they are very conservative. These folks are not Republicans in name only. They are real Republicans.
Who makes up the leadership of this group? Last week we discussed the Senate leadership. This week we will dwell on the House of Representatives. The Republicans own a 66 to 39 advantage over the Democrats in the House. This gives them a super majority and they have taken advantage of that power. They have run roughshod over the Democrats and ramroded a conservative agenda through the lower chamber. In three years, they have placed an indelible conservative stamp on state government.
Read more
May 16, 2013
We are at the end of the third regular legislative session of this quadrennium. They are closing in on the culmination of their four-year terms.
This is the first Republican majority legislature in modern Alabama history. The Republicans not only have a majority, they sport a super majority. That means that the remaining Democratic minority is incapable of stopping or even slowing down any GOP initiatives or budgets in either the House or Senate. Republicans own a commanding 66 to 39 advantage in the House. They have an even more lordly control of the House of Lords. They have an omnipotent 24 to 11 ownership of the Senate.
Read more
May 09, 2013
On the night of the November 2010 elections I was in my regular post as the political analyst for the Montgomery CBS affiliate WAKA Channel 8. Around midnight as it became evident that the Democratic ticket had been annihilated my cohort, longtime anchor Glenn Halbrooks, looked over at me pensively and asked, “What do you think the Democratic Party does now?” I candidly responded, “They can turn out the lights and leave the keys on the mantle. The Democratic Party is dead in Alabama.” My off the cuff response was not intended to be flippant or humorous but I had just witnessed the devastating denunciation of the Democratic Party in the Heart of Dixie.
Read more