Comments On A Constitutional Rewrite
If you can't view the video the text of the article is here.
Byrne Wins Lee County GOP Straw Poll
Kudos to Bradley Byrne for winning Lee County GOP straw poll tonight. He had a great debate performance and a much-deserved win. Here are the final numbers:
Byrne: 59%
Bentley: 16%
James: 15%
Ivey: 8%
Here are the actual numbers:
Byrne: 311
Bentley: 86
James: 79
Ivey: 42
Schoolhouse Rock On Out of Control Spending
Alabama Legislative Update
1. Rep. Paul DeMarco's bill requiring mandatory ethics training and closing loopholes in the current ethics law.
2. Rep. Cam Ward/Alvin Holmes' bill to give the Alabama Ethics Commission subpoena power.
Senator Lowell Barron is pushing a constitutional amendment to raid the Alabama Oil and Gas Trust Fund to the tune of $1 billion over 10 years for road construction and repair. Republican Senators have been able to stall a vote thus far. The bill is SB 121.
Marcel Black's pro-gambling bill passed out of the Travel and Tourism Committee yesterday. This bill gives casino owners amnesty from paying taxes and amnesty from civil and criminal prosection for breaking state and federal laws. The bill has been amended to terminate in November so it's goal is to protect the casino owners until a constitutional amendment can be voted on. The constitutional amendment has not yet been introduced, but it is expected soon.
Economic Freedom Is Shrinking
2010 Index of Economic Freedom
Even more disparaging are President Obama's comments today re: Bank Regulations. He wants to chip even more of that economic freedom away by regulating how large banks can get and stopping banks from proprietary trading, i.e.-hedge funds. This is in addition to his plan for a special tax on banks to pay for TARP. The tax will apply to all banks even those that didn't participate in TARP.
November 2010 can't come fast enough. I hope Republicans have learned their lesson on spending and regulating.
Hitler Finds Out Scott Brown Won
Legislative Update
House Judiciary Committee will be considering HB 81 (England) which allows a person charged or convicted of certain felony or misdemeanor criminal offenses to petition the court in which the charges were filed or in which the conviction occured to have his or her record expunged. Certain conditions have to be met such as fulfilling all parole or probation requirements, at least three years must have passed since the conviction, and others. You cannot petition for expungement under this law if you have been convicted of a sexual offense involving a minor, you are a convicted sex offender, and other convictions laid out in the statue.
Proponents of the bill argue that everyone makes mistakes and people deserve a second chance. I have a serious problem with it for the following reason: Imagine you are the manager at a bank and you are responsible for hiring a new teller. Susie Q, who has previously been convicted of embezzeling money from her employer, applies for the job. This law will allow Susie to have her record wiped clean and she will not be required to disclose her conviction on her job application. Then assume you hire Susie Q. Several months later you discover money missing from your accounts. All of this could have been avoided if you would have known Susie had been convicted of embezzelment to start with. No one in their right mind would hire her to work with money. Now you are liable to your customers for the money she stole and possibly vulnerable to a civil suit for hiring her in the first place given her prior conviction.
This bill actually passed the legislature last year and Gov. Riley vetoed it. Hopefully it won't get to that point this year.
Rep. Paul DeMarco's ethics bill (HB 278) will be considered in the Judiciary Committee tomorrow morning as well.
Tomorrow afternoon the Tourism Committee will consider one of the pro-gambling bills, HB 154 sponsored by Rep. Marcel Black. The bill will grant amnesty for casino/electronic bingo operators from paying taxes--taxes they already owe and haven't paid--and exempt them from paying future taxes. It also grants casino/eletronic bingo operators immunity from both civil and criminal prosecution, even if they are fixing their machines in their favor. Finally, the bill will allow non-tribal operators to do as much as the tribal operators (Indians) even if what the Indians are doing is illegal under the Alabama law.
State Senator Lowell Baron is making a big push to raid the state's Oil and Gas Trust Fund to the tune of one billion dollars over the next ten years. I'm hearing from Republicans who are worried he has the votes, but since the bill is a constitutional amendment it will still have the pass a statewide vote of the people. Baron's actions are definitely consistent with Democrats nationwide--spend, spend, spend.
On a happier note, both the House and Senate have passed the State Sovereignty resolution declaring our rights under the 10th amendment to the Constitution. I suspect Democrats were willing to let this bill pass because it has no legal teeth. However, as more and more states begin to pass these types of 10th amendment resolutions, Washington will get a clear message that the states aren't just going to roll over and die.
I'll continue to update as I hear more.
Interview with Senator Steve French on Charter Schools
Bradley Byrne Releases First Commercial
Faith and Family
More News on the Apple Tablet
Apple Fuels Buzz Over Tablet Computer
Can't wait!!"The consensus is that the tablet will have a large screen, perhaps 10 inches on the diagonal, and run the same operating system as the iPhone and iPod, as opposed to the Mac computers.That means that it would be able to handle many of the more than 100,000 applications – or apps – that are designed to run on the smaller gadgets. A touchscreen would be a significant feature."
Welfare Recipients Now Eligible For Cell Phones
Welfare Recipients Now Eligible For Cell Phones
Welfare recipients in approximately 20 states–with more to follow– are currently eligible to receive a free cell phone with a limited number of monthly minutes. All individuals that qualify for state or federal welfare–food stamps, Medicaid, etc.–and have an income at or below 135% of the poverty level, are eligible. According to a Fox News report, the cell phone service is currently the fastest growing welfare program in the country.Full story here.
Reminds me of the Benjamin Franklin quote: "When people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."
Resisting the Statist Impulse
A few months ago, I walked into a restaurant in Naples, Florida, and said, “A nonsmoking table for two, please.” The greeter replied, “No problem. All restaurants in Florida are nonsmoking by law. Follow me.”For a brief moment as we walked to our table, I thought to myself: “Good. No chance of even a whiff of a cigarette. I like that!”And then I felt shame. I had fallen victim to the statist impulse. For 40 years, I thought I was a passionate, uncompromising believer in the free society. Yet for a few seconds, I took pleasure in government trampling on the liberties of consenting adults in a private setting.This incident troubled me enough to think about it a long while. I wanted to know why my first instinct was to abandon principles for a little convenience. And if a committed freedom-lover like me can be so easily tugged in the wrong direction, what does that say for ever getting nonbelievers to eschew similar or more egregious temptations?
For the last couple of years, Sen. Vivian Figures (D) has introduced legislation in Alabama that would ban smoking in all public places including private offices. My coworkers and I had a discuss a while back on this specific legislation. As Reed encountered, the most common arguement I heard was:
"secondhand smoke harms other unwilling patrons and therefore must be banned"
I argued as does Reed that it is an infringement on the property rights of the owners of the establishments. I suggested they could choose not to patronize restaurants, etc that allowed smoking. Their reply was "but what if I want to go to a place that allows it but I don't want to have to smell smoke." I told her that that falls under the category of tough luck.
I find it interesting that so many freedom-loving conservatives are willing to go along with the smoking bans for their own comfort. I often wonder what happens when the populace finds some other habit it deems abhorent and decides the government needs to outlaw it. The slippery slope is getting icier. Now states like New York are considering bans on trans fat and higher taxes on soft drinks.
As Reed rightly points out, freedom is eroded one small bit at a time. When free people don't kick up a fuss about smoking bans, it sets the stage for the statists to come up with their next public health concern. Kind of reminds you of that old poem by Dr. Martin Niemoller:
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--because I was not a communist;Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--because I was not a trade unionist;Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--because I was not a Jew;Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak out.
If we desire to remain a free people, we must constantly be on guard against the erosion of our liberty--no matter how small it seems. If we aren't, they will slowly chip away at that freedome until it no longer exists. So the next time you visit a restaurant with a smoking ban and sigh with relief, I hope you'll think about what it means for the bigger picture. As Reed so eloquently put it:
Societies rise or fall depending on how civil its citizens are. The more they respect each other and associate freely, the safer and more prosperous they are. The more they rely on force — legal or not — the more pliant they are in the hands of demagogues and tyrants. So resisting the statist impulse is no trivial issue.
Summary of Today's Legislative Activity
- The Senate passed a resolution congratulating the University of Alabama football team for winning a national championship (Roll Tide)
- The House passed a resolution congratulating Mark Ingrahm for winning a Heisman Trophy (Roll Tide)
- The State Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution urging the state legislature to adopt a charter school law for Alabama
- The Senate passed a State Sovereignty resolution
- The legislature continued to block the proposed Teacher's Code of Ethics claiming it is too subjective
- Democrats rejected Governor Bob Riley's proposed state budget
Interview with Rep. Greg Canfield Part 2
Interview with Rep. Greg Canfield Part 1
Candidate for Attorney General Luther Strange Makes Statement on Houston County Happenings
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2010
Contact: Jessica Garrison, Campaign Manager 205-568-4371
Luther Strange Commends Houston County Officials, Warns Troy King Will Try to Have it Both Ways on Gambling
BIRMINGHAM, Ala-- Requests by leaders in Houston County for attorney general Troy King to litigate the legality of electronic bingo machines at Dothan's Country Crossing development are commendable calls for King to enforce the laws of the State of Alabama, according to Republican candidate for attorney general, Luther Strange.
“I’ve been calling on the attorney general for months to enforce the laws of the State not only in Dothan but in every city in Alabama where electronic casino style gambling is taking place, something Mr. King has consistently failed to do.
“According to news reports, Troy King has a tangled web of relationships with gambling owners and investors that some suggest have impeded his ability to enforce the law. In fact, Mr. King’s attendance at lavish parties and fundraisers thrown by the very people who he would be investigating certainly raises that question. Unfortunately, I suspect that Troy King will continue his practice of trying to have it both ways on this issue by refusing to enforce our existing laws and then endorsing some sort of legislation to outlaw gambling. “
"The issue of enforcing the laws of the state is not as complicated as Mr. King would like us to think. The answer is for Mr. King to listen to the people of Houston County, the governor, district attorneys, law enforcement officials and others and do the job the people elected him to do. Enforce the law," Strange said.
More Legislative News
*API has a great video explaining the game of PAC to PAC transfers:
Rep. Greg Canfield also has a bill that will take a stab at the Democrat's Employee Free Choice Act. HB 3 will guarantee individuals the right to vote by secret ballot. Fortunately we've been able to hold off the Employee Free Choice Act in Congress, but it's certainly not dead and this bill will hopefully give us a line of defense in the event it passes.
Representative and Gubernatorial Candidate Robert Bentley is introducing two abortion-related bills. One requires information and consent prior to the procedure, and the other is a constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is at stake.
Rep. Bridges is introducing a bill that will prevent colleges and universities from offering benefits to same sex couples.
Rep. Knight is once again trying to raise your taxes with his grocery sales tax bill (more information to come on this bill)
As more information on legislation rolls in, I'll be sure to post it here.
United Liberty Podcast Now Up
the Dodd (D-CT) and Dorgan (D-ND) retirements and what they mean for the Democratic party
Obamacare being hashed out behind closed doors, and
the impact of free trade on our jobs and overall economy
You can download the podcast here.
Thanks to Brett Bittner and Jason Pye from United Liberty for having me on the podcast panel!
Podcast
Looking Ahead to the Coming Legislative Session
2010 Legislative Session
Rolling Reserve Budget Act (Canfield): This legislation will change the way we budget in Alabama. The legislature currently bases its budget on projections for next year’s revenue from the Legislative Fiscal Office. The erratic changes in ETF revenues from any given year to the next have resulted in projections and budgets that are prorated 30% of the time the legislature enacts a budget in Alabama. To address this problem Rep. Greg Canfield has proposed budgets be based on a 15 year rolling average. In years where the actual revenues exceed the rolling average the bill applies 80% of excess funds above what is necessary to maintain 30% of the ETF budget in the Budget Stabilization Fund to the unfunded liabilities in the TRS and PEEHIP retirement plans. The remaining 20% of those excess revenues flow into a capital fund for public education, increasing the funds available for construction and renovation of public schools.
HB 47 Alabama Health Care Freedom Act (Beason/Gipson): This bill would propose an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901 to preserve the freedom of Alabama residents to make decisions about and provide for their own healthcare.
Sovereignty Resolution (Canfield/Beason): This is a resolution that would declare Alabama's sovereignty under the 10th amendment. It requires a copy of the resolution be sent to Alabama's Congressional Delegation and the President. It's a great symbolic statement to make.
SB 202 Alabama Innovative Charter Schools Act (French): This bill would provide for the creation of charter schools authorized by registered local school boards and the State Board of Education under certain conditions.
Gambling Ban (Beason): This bill is a constitutional amendment banning all forms of gambling, even paper bingo. The people of Alabama will only have the option to vote to make bingo illegal. If the vote fails we keep the status quo.
Ethics Reform Bill (DeMarco): Rep. Paul DeMarco is introducing legislation to close some of the loopholes in our ethics laws—including mandatory ethics training for legislators and electronic filing requirements.
Ethics Commission Subpoena Power (Ward): This legislation will grant subpoena power to the Alabama State Ethics Commission. Currently, all other state boards possess this power including the Alabama Cosmetology Board and the Alabama Board of Licensed Massage Therapists.
Medicare Fraud (DeMarco): This bill will require online disclosures to be posted from the Medicaid office so that Alabamians will have access to where their money is going. It will also close loopholes regarding liability for corporations and LLC’s. Finally, it will change the wording of Alabama’s Medicaid fraud law to reflect the ruling by the court on the unconstitutionality of Florida’s strict liability wording.
Slot Machine Stiffer Penalties (Beason): Sen. Scott Beason will introduce a bill to impose stiffer penalties for operators of bingo halls with illegal slot machines. Specifically this bill will make it a felony to have 20 or more illegal slot machines at a venue.
Conscience Bill (Bentley): This legislation will provide a conscience exception for health care providers and pharmacists who believe in the sanctity of life and choose not to perform procedures or provide medication that do not comply with that belief.
HB 48 Firearms Protection Act (Gipson): This bill would exempt from federal regulation under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution a firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition manufactured and retained within the borders of Alabama.
Ethics Reform (Gov. Riley's bill): Gov. Riley has a more comprehensive bill than Rep. DeMarco. His ethics reform package includes a ban on PAC to PAC transfers and other major ethics initiatives that may be hard to pass.
Cam Ward ReCaps Education Budget
- The cost of retirement benefits for all education personnel went from $300 million in 2004 to an estimated $780 million in 2010.
- Overall the cost of the entire health insurance benefits package for education employees will cost $960 million in 2010.
- From 2005 to 2010 the state saw the cost of health insurance per education employee go from $6,996 to $9,024 per employee.
Alabama teachers have one of the best benefits packages in the nation. The state MUST do something to address the rising costs. Raising taxes is not an option--especially in this economy. Cuts are going to have to be made. I just hope legislators will face the cold, hard facts.
You Know You're In Trouble When...
Obama's Fiscal Fantasy World
Mr. Obama is thinking of tapping another pocket of cash. Now that the banks are repaying—with interest and dividends—the $240 billion the Bush administration lent them, the Obama administration is considering recycling those dollars into new spending on "green" technology and more stimulus, despite provisions Congress wrote into the law creating the Troubled Asset Relief Program that requires that repaid TARP funds be used exclusively for deficit reduction.
Everyone knows that once Congress has its hands on money it NEVER gives it back. But the TARP dilemma will be especially fun to watch Democrats try to navigate in an election year. According to most polls moderate Democrats and Independents are overwhelming concerned about spending, jobs and the economy. This seems to be a situation where you give the liberals enough rope and they'll hang themselves with it.
More on the Democrats' Exodus
The Democrats' Sinking Ship
The back-to-back Senate retirements of Byron Dorgan and Chris Dodd may be just the beginning. The people have seen the future of health care reform and found it doesn't work. Apres moi, le deluge.We don't know what the Mayan calendar says about 2010, but it's starting to look like the end of the world for Democratic electoral prospects. Americans who watched in shock as government tried to step between them and their doctors, may have the last laugh. The tea party isn't over until the angry mob votes.
Democrats Exiting En Masse
Recent polling shows Senators Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Evan Bayh of Indiana in trouble. In addition, the latest polls from the Senate race in Massachusetts now show Republican Candidate Scott Brown pulling within single digits of Democrat Martha Coakley. Massachusetts is not exactly a bastion of conservative values. If Scott Brown wins, the game will really change.
Democrats seem to be getting the message that 2010 will not be a good year for them. Unfortunately for them, President Obama doesn't seem to have gotten the memo. He and Pelosi/Reid continue to shove unpopular legislation down the throats of the American people. Wonder how long it will take Democrats to turn on their messiah?