January 17, 2013
The year 2012 did not come to an end with a whimper when it comes to newsworthy happenings. A number of significant events occurred in December.
VictoryLand, the State’s premier privately owned casino, reopened quietly on a Tuesday afternoon with very little fanfare. However, it appears that publicity and advertising are not necessary to attract patrons to the glamorous facility located along interstate I-85 in Macon County. Public officials and the local citizenry have been awaiting the reopening of their largest employer and economic engine for over two years.
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January 10, 2013
During the 2012 elections, Republicans denounced the President’s Affordable Care Act as pure socialism. They proclaimed that they were going to repeal it if President Obama was defeated at the polls.
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January 03, 2013
As we begin the New Year, let us take one last look back at the 2012 presidential year in Alabama politics.
Our forefathers must have been clairvoyant to perceive that we in the Heart of Dixie would be more interested in state and local politics than presidential contests. Unlike many states, who elect most of their officials in presidential years, we in Alabama are just the opposite. There were very few state races on the ballot in 2012. Only five seats on the Alabama Supreme Court were up for election and only one of those was contested.
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December 27, 2012
As the end of the year approaches the story of the year has to be the state of the economy. Therefore, the political story of the year has to the sad financial state of the State.
The legislature and governor spent 2012 wrestling with the state of the general fund of Alabama. It has been an uphill battle that does not appear to dissipate or subside as we approach 2013.
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December 20, 2012
During the 2012 presidential year we enjoyed observing the presidential race nationwide as well as judicial races statewide. However, probably the most important races to many of you occurred during the dog days of summer. We had mayor’s races throughout the state this year. All municipalities with the exception of Montgomery, Birmingham and Mobile elected their mayor for the next four years.
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December 13, 2012
Now that the dust has settled from the 2012 presidential contest we in Alabama are ready for the real horse race. Unlike most states where the race for the White House is the marquee event every four years, our focus has always been on the governor’s race and our local races.
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December 06, 2012
The Roy Moore victory continues to reverberate throughout the state. Whenever the subject of politics comes up it is the first subject of conversation.
Undoubtedly it is the political story of the year. Moore’s amazing resurrection triumph was astonishing. He was written off as an “also ran” candidate after dismally losing two races for governor in the past four years. Moore rode his horse to vote in Etowah County in both his primary and general election victories, and then watched the results flow in, especially from North Alabama. On both occasions it was evident that he was riding a wave of fundamentalist evangelical voting that carried him back to his old job as chief justice. He had been written off as dead, then lo and behold, to quote and old Baptist hymn, “Up from the grave He arose with a mighty triumph o’er his foes.”
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November 29, 2012
It would appear that being a state legislator is an exciting and challenging experience. Some of you might think that a legislator’s average day is spent molding pubic policy and debating important measures that could have dramatic effects on the lives of their constituents. However, let me tell you from experience that much of a legislator’s day in Alabama is spent voting on mundane local bills that only apply to our 67 counties.
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November 22, 2012
In surveying the results from the election returns from two weeks ago, you realize that the country is deeply divided. It is as though we live in two Americas.
Voters nationwide are definitely in two different camps, especially on social issues. Democrats are fervently in favor of same-sex marriage, legalized abortion and social welfare programs. The Republicans are totally opposite on these issues just as adamantly, if not more so.
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November 15, 2012
The 2012 Presidential Election year is now history and nothing has changed. There is absolute status quo in Washington. You have the same president, the same Democratic majority in the Senate and the same Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. That, my fellow Alabamians, is a recipe for continued gridlock.
Our federal government has to find a way to get along and end deficit spending. We have to come to grips with our spending more money than we bring in or we will continue to exacerbate our vulnerability and decline as a nation.
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