June 14, 2012
The U.S. Constitution requires each state to redistrict their congressional districts every 10 years. That is why the U.S. Census is taken every decade. Each of the nation’s 435 seats in Congress are required to have the same number of people.
Concurrently our 1901 Alabama Constitution calls for the same mandate for our 105 legislative and 35 state senate districts. Each state mirrors the federal constitution’s reapportioning requirement for their state legislatures.
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June 07, 2012
The American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary sponsor one of finest programs for high school students in Alabama. Boys State and Girls State is an event every June. Rising seniors in high schools all over the state are invited to these week long leadership confabs, which are held at major universities for the top high school leaders throughout the state. It is a lesson in civics and first hand politics for these future leaders. The students are taught about government by practical experience. During their week at Girls and Boys State they build city, county and state governments and then they run them. They form political parties and run for every office. They draft and pass mock legislation. They culminate their week by visiting the Capitol and Statehouse and running state government.
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May 31, 2012
At the conclusion of each annual session of the Legislature I am invariably asked to grade the legislators’ performance and assess the accomplishments of the session.
Most journalist fall prey to the popular and convenient position of giving the Legislature a perfunctory “F”. Legislative bodies are generally held in contempt and disdain. They are perennially grouped together and branded as totally incompetent.
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May 24, 2012
The two prominent political trials in Alabama in the past few years have boiled down to one paramount issue, “Is it bribery or is it politics?” In the most recent bingo gambling trial the pivotal issue revolved around whether a campaign contribution is a bribe. The jury answered with a resounding no.
In the first trial there were nine defendants. None of the nine were convicted. The jury found that there was no validity to 99 of the 138 original charges. In the second trial there were six remaining defendants, VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor, lobbyist Tom Coker, State Senator Harri Anne Smith, former casino spokesman Jay Walker, former State Senator Larry Means and former State Senator Jim Preuitt.
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May 17, 2012
All of the horses are in the barn for the fall derby. They are resting awaiting the opening gun. The official start of the fall campaign begins on Labor Day, which is September 3rd this year and culminates with Election Day on November 6, 2012.
With Obama heading the ticket for the Democratic Party most Alabamians will probably simply pull the lever of either the Democratic or Republican Party. My guess is that more folks will pull the Republican lever than the Democratic one in November. My prediction is that the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, will carry the Heart of Dixie by a 63 to 37 margin. That, my friends, is what is called in political vernacular a landslide.
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May 10, 2012
On the morning of the March 13 Alabama GOP Primary, former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore rode his horse to the polls to vote. As the day wore on it became apparent that he was riding a wave of evangelical support to be returned to his old job.
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May 02, 2012
Alabama may be on the lower end of the financial spectrum when it comes to the per capita income of our population. However, our public employees have one of the most sound retirement programs in the nation. One group of state employees, our judges, have what is probably one of the most lucrative retirement programs in the entire country.
The benefits accrued by members of our judiciary are nothing less than amazing. The judges can thank the late Supreme Court Chief Justice and U.S. Senator Howell Heflin for spearheading an effort to streamline and update our judicial system in the 1970’s. This Judicial Article not only upgraded the court system and judicial compensation, it created unparalleled retirement benefits.
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April 26, 2012
This week marks the one year anniversary of the devastating tornados that struck the state on April 27th of last year.
The tornados that ravaged the state that day are considered the worst natural disaster in Alabama history. There were a total of 62 tornadoes that pummeled Alabama. The storms left 250 people dead, over 2,800 injured and 23,500 homes damaged or destroyed. These figures could have actually been worse. Some of the funnel clouds were over a mile wide with record breaking high winds. Some of the worst damage was done in Tuscaloosa.
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April 19, 2012
Last month’s bingo gambling trial ended as expected. All six of the defendants were found not guilty by a Montgomery federal jury. The first trial lasted almost the entire summer of 2011. Federal prosecutors put on elaborate testimony and tapes and brought 138 charges. The jury in that case found no validity in 99 of those counts against nine original defendants. Even in the face of this humiliating defeat, where they spent over $30 million and got no convictions, they astonishingly sought a second trial. The second jury, which mirrored the first one demographically found the remaining six defendants not guilty on the 27 remaining counts.
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April 12, 2012
Last month’s Republican Primary was exciting because for the first time in decades we were relevant in the presidential contest. When our March 13 primary date was set it was thought that the GOP nominee would be in the bag by that time, especially given the fact that a Super Tuesday Primary extravaganza was taking place one week earlier on March 6th.
It has been an interesting race on two fronts. First of all, most followers of presidential races have never seen such an ebb and flow in frontrunners like this year’s GOP marathon. It is almost like a flavor of the month kaleidoscope. First, Michelle Bachman jumped out front, and then came Texas Governor Rick Perry with rugged Marlboro man looks and an impeccable Southern conservative pedigree. He amazingly faltered right out of the gate. After Perry’s demise, Herman Cain grabbed the spotlight and led in the polls for several months. He fell and his fellow Georgian, Newt Gingrich, grabbed the lead for a short while. Now, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum has garnered the religious right’s favor and is the current darling of the evangelical and Tea Party wing of the Republican Party. Romney has remained the candidate of the moderate, pro-business, Wall Street wing of the Party. His mainstream platform and business background has attracted the big money.
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