Crazy In Alabama
Mar 8, 2010 Alabama politics, alabama, alabama constitution, alabama constitutional reform
Don’t you hate it when reporters bury the lede? From my local daily:
But Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, Senate General Fund budget committee chairman, said he expects more problems even before the 2011 budget year begins in October.
Bedford said because unemployment is 11 percent and state tax revenue is down, he expects the governor to declare proration for General Fund agencies within 30 to 90 days. He adds he does not expect the Legislature to raise taxes in an election year, especially property taxes.
“Low property taxes are sacred in Alabama,” Bedford said.
And how. The state faces an enormous budget hole and there’s no fat left to trim — as voiced by David Bronner in the lede to the article — yet Alabama refuses to face up to the reality that its racist 1901 constitution enforces low property taxes for the benefit of an extinct southern aristocracy that just didn’t want to pay for their Negro field hands’ education.
How low are property taxes? We’re only #49 because of Louisiana. It would be all right if the state had some other stream of revenue (for example, a lottery or bingo), but we don’t. Aside from football, Alabama’s largest religion is Grover Norquist-style bathtub-drowning non-taxation; and this church is so powerful that our part-time (30 days/year) legislature is too scared to try and change things.
Ask the religion’s representatives why, and you’ll hear that Alabama is a poor state that can’t afford taxes. See how that works?
Alabama, Welfare State
Mar 7, 2010 alabama
Alabama ranks 7th among states for sucking the Federal titty, taking in about $1.66 for every dollar it sends to Washington, but remains captive to a brand of politics that distrusts federalism. See how that works?
Call It The Teabag Terror
Feb 28, 2010 Golden Memes, O'Neil's Law, Sunday Sermon, The Teabag Terror, The Teabagger Fail, alabama
Frank Rich says what needed to be said:
Stack was a lone madman, and it would be both glib and inaccurate to call him a card-carrying Tea Partier or a “Tea Party terrorist.” But he did leave behind a manifesto whose frothing anti-government, anti-tax rage overlaps with some of those marching under the Tea Party banner. That rant inspired like-minded Americans to create instant Facebook shrines to his martyrdom. Soon enough, some cowed politicians, including the newly minted Tea Party hero Scott Brown, were publicly empathizing with Stack’s credo — rather than risk crossing the most unforgiving brigade in their base.
NO ONE should condone a man who burned down his house with his wife and kids inside, drove to the airport, and flew his PRIVATE AIRPLANE INTO A BUILDING. A commercial building, by the way, with 200 innocent Americans inside it. The first floor was mostly empty, but the IRS shared the upper floors with software companies and other private businesses.
Truthers and healthers alike have latched on to the killer as a hero. Republicans are flirting with disaster when they pander to this nonsense. This blog has tracked the strange dance on America’s right for a full year; last April, I predicted this moment in the right’s new permanent revolution. The teabag terror has emerged and the Grand Old Party is in its thrall.
We have seen this movie before:
But the internal dynamics are finally coming full circle as the establishment opens fire. POLITICO has an actual scoop for once:*
“I don’t believe we should be giving [extremists] a platform or empowering them to do anything based off their conspiracy theories,” said Ned Ryun, president of American Majority, “because they give the left ammunition to try to define the tea party movement as crazy and fringy.”
The attempt “to clean up our own house,” as Erick Erickson, founder of the influential conservative blog RedState, puts it, is necessary “because traditional press outlets have decided to spotlight these fringe elements that get attracted to the movement, and focus on them as if they’re a large part of this tea party movement. And I don’t think they are.”
Problem: They ARE a large part of the tea party movement. At least, the one that’s turning into a for-profit right-wing televangelism tour. Both the Tea Party Convention in Nashville and CPAC featured special wingnut training from folks like Andy Breitbart, Orly Taitz, and the Johnny Birch boys. RedState has apparently banned the birthers, but what about the freepers?
Which brings me to this discovery:
That’s the Rush Limbaugh of Huntsville taking on Parker Griffith.
Now I’m not saying there won’t be any tea party favorites elected in November, I’d say there won’t be many; and the reason why is plain to see in the strange career of Mr. Griffith, who in the course of one year transformed from an advocate of single-payer to a right-wing zealot. He has adopted every right-wing meme but the wingnuts are not impressed. Meanwhile, his opponent only has to point to Griffith’s record of achievement in office.
Remember O’Neil’s Law: all of politics is local.
The Teabagger Fail has begun…in Alabama.
*Maintaining my boycott of POLITICO links:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33621.html
Goat Hill and Big Mules
Feb 22, 2010 alabama
Alabama’s state legislature sits on a piece of property affectionately known as “Goat Hill.” The name has stuck despite attempts to change it; the land was pasturage owned by a real estate speculator who lobbied to move the state capital there. That story says a lot about how a state that began with the most democratic constitution in the country wound up with a racist 1901 constitution and a regressive tax structure.
Back in the days of Jim Crow, the “Big Mules” — an alliance of industrial and agricultural interests — frankly owned the state government of Alabama. They were responsible for many of the worst habits and practices of government, many of which still afflict Alabama. Worse, they’re still around and screwing up the future. From my local daily:
Anita L. Archie, who chairs the Environmental Management Commission, said she does not believe she should resign from the commission now that she is being paid to represent the interests of the 5,000 businesses and industries that are BCA (Business Council of Alabama) members.
As the editors put it:
Frankly, it’s hard to think of many issues that come before the commission that she could discuss or vote on without at least raising the possibility of a conflict.
I’d go further and say this is a prime example of how lobbyists have managed to gain full ownership of our state agencies. Archie should be required to resign her seat on the Environmental Management Commission altogether, but no one will make her. The Big Mules saw to that: we have the loosest disclosure and ethics rules in America, and wonder why we never make any progress.
My First “Professional” Interview
Feb 11, 2010 2010 Elections, AL-5, Alabama politics, Interviews, Morning Video, Taze Shepard, alabama
I wore a suit and told them my press credential was in the mail. Which is even true.
I have to say, overall Taze (pronounced “taz”) is a very encouraging candidate. I want to meet the other candidates now and offer them the same opportunity.
As for the screen capture, it’s kinda random hilarity, innit? But it was a pretty good first interview, I thought. I didn’t press on the green energy bit; he’s probably still not sure what to say about the topics, but he’s very good at the smashing of stupid when he has the kryptonite. He’s restrained and not too easy to rattle. He rattles back, which is good — a soft touch, and always aiming for the center.
I have to say, as the man who made a video about George Wallace I am gratified to see he can take a rightward position on Pelosi without actually committing to an anti-Pelosi agenda. He’ll need that with a Democratic majority, but he’s not committing himself, and that’s enough for now. He can “modify” his positions later.
He had a weakness: he’s not up on his green energy and green tech talking points. But he’s a fighter, and I like that. He’ll be popular with government employees in Huntsville-Madison-Decatur.
I’ll be interviewing the other two soon. In the meantime, I think the Democrats stand a better than even chance of winning Parker Griffith’s seat. The early field looks promising, because it can only get better and we’re pretty close to excellent.
My judgement as a trained political scientist and a linguist: if Taze (pronounced “taz”) keeps working on it and finds a way to make peace with the unions, he can definitely beat Griffith or Mo. But we’ll see.
Is”Taze-Mania” coming? Is MoRan right around the corner? Stay tuned…
Richard Shelby
Feb 5, 2010 Alabama Republicans, Barack Obama cabinet picks, Defense Procurement, Richard Shelby, alabama, republicans suck
I’ll give Jeff Sessions credit: he at least wrote back to me about his gang-rape vote. Richard Shelby, on the other hand, has yet to acknowledge the complaint. Now Shelby’s put an unprecedented “blanket hold” on 70 Obama nominees, and again refuses to explain himself:
The hold means no nominations can move forward unless Senate Democrats can secure a 60-member cloture vote to break it, or until Shelby lifts the hold.
And what, pray tell, does Shelby want to extort from the administration? The Mobile Press-Register reports:
- A $40 billion contract to build air-to-air refueling tankers. From CongressDaily: “Northrop/EADS team would build the planes in Mobile, Ala., but has threatened to pull out of the competition unless the Air Force makes changes to a draft request for proposals.” Federal Times offers more details on the tanker deal, and also confirms its connection to the hold.
- An improvised explosive device testing lab for the FBI. From CongressDaily: “[Shelby] is frustrated that the Obama administration won’t build” the center, which Shelby earmarked $45 million for in 2008. The center is due to be based “at the Army’s Redstone Arsenal.”
The story of the tanker planes is ridiculous. Northrop wants to team up with Airbus to build them in Alabama; rival Boeing wants to build them in Washington. Now Northrop wants the Air Force to change its criteria for selection or else it will take its football and go home. The second one is new to me, but just how bad is the problem of improvised explosive devices in the United States? Because I don’t see the FBI deploying to Pakistan anytime soon.
Maybe I’m wrong; maybe Northrop/EADS should have the contract and the FBI desperately needs this facility to be in Huntsville. Or maybe Shelby is just a pig at the trough in Washington taking “the party of no” to petty extremes. As I noted back in September amid the “czars” nontroversy, the GOP obstructionism is aimed at hampering Obama’s ability to govern. Effective leadership consists of delegation to competent subordinates; block the subordinates, and you block the leader. As of August, Obama still didn’t have half his team in place:
While career employees or holdovers fill many posts on a temporary basis, Mr. Obama does not have his own people enacting programs central to his mission. He is trying to fix the financial markets but does not have an assistant treasury secretary for financial markets. He is spending more money on transportation than anyone since Dwight D. Eisenhower but does not have his own inspector general watching how the dollars are used. He is fighting two wars but does not have an Army secretary.
He sent Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to Africa to talk about international development but does not have anyone running the Agency for International Development. He has invited major powers to a summit on nuclear nonproliferation but does not have an assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation.
All of which suits Shelby and the GOP just fine, I’m sure. After all, they were willing to block Obama’s nomination for head of the Transportation Security Administration just to keep the people at the x-ray machines from unionizing. The funny thing is, I remember when Shelby was the Democrat who unseated Denton by accusing him of overconsuming pork.
Stupid in Alabama
Jan 28, 2010 Alabama politics, alabama, alabama constitution, alabama constitutional reform
Here’s an example of what I’m on about: the city of Florence, Alabama and the surrounding Lauderdale County rely on a 7-mill property tax to fund local education. This tax has to be re-voted on every so often; teachers always overwhelm the ambitions of anti-tax zealots and opponents of public education, yet hundreds of those people manage to show up at the polls and make things interesting in what ought to be a slam-dunk.
Mind you, Alabama has the lowest property taxes in the country. In order for Alabama to climb to the 49th place nationally, we would have to TRIPLE our millage rates. Meanwhile, ours is the most regressive income tax in the world — a flat tax would actually be more progressive than the current law, which taxes the poorest at ten percent and millionaires at three percent. Meanwhile, Alabama faces a gigantic hole in the state education budget due to an over-reliance on sales taxes.
But raise these issues in a public forum, and here’s what you’ll get: Alabama is a poor state. We can’t afford taxes. Never mind that education is the single most important factor in economic growth; this attitude has been passed down by the landowners behind our racist 1901 state constitution, who simply didn’t want to fund education for black children and poor whites. Never mind that Alabama’s poorest residents could certainly use an adjustment to the income tax scales — taxes’re bad, m’kay? is a constant refrain among reactionaries here.
So maybe you can understand why I have no patience for the progressives who whine that Obama hasn’t farted a socialist green-energy paradise out of his armpits yet. Anyone who’s lived in the Heart of Dixie for a while gains a new appreciation for the meaning of “progress.”
Music In The Morning
Jan 19, 2010 Alabama politics, George Wallace, Music in the Morning, The Drive-By Truckers, alabama
My video for January is a combination of two Drive-By Truckers tracks from Southern Rock Opera. It’s also a ten-minute video about the history of Alabama’s most infamous politician, George Wallace, and the strange arc of his career from segregationist leader to winning reelection with 90% of the black vote. It’s also a little bit about football and two great southern rock bands. Enjoy!
ECM ER IRE
Jan 11, 2010 alabama, health care reform
My local hospital is having debt problems:
The bulk of Coffee’s debt, around $120 million, comes from the 1999 purchase of three hospitals: Shoals, Russellville and Humana hospitals. Russellville has since been sold, and Humana has become ECM East.
The debt is insured by MBIA, and so far, Coffee has met its bond payments, but there is a question about its ability to continue to do so with the rising cost of health care, the increased number of uninsured patients and falling reimbursements from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Get that? Costs are out of control. Merging local hospitals was supposed to cut costs, but the rapid rate of growth in the health care sector has made all of medicine more expensive. People who wait until they need an ER, or wind up in the ER uninsured, are a socialized cost of business. Government benefit programs are far more efficient than private plans, but still face the same rapid growth in costs. Private coverage charges ever-larger premiums to meet the same rising costs.
Roll Tide! Liveblog
Jan 8, 2010 alabama
Pizza’s ready. Updating after first score…
Saban’s hubris results in a 3-0 Texas lead, but McCoy is hurt after taking his first hit from an Alabama linebacker.
After Arenas’s fail, McCoy was reported in x-ray. Texas scored a field goal, got pinned deep by Alabama defense, and Ingram was unstoppable. 7-6 AL
49-yard touchdown run by Richardson; Alabama leads 14-6. McCoy escorted out of pads to the locker room where his father was summoned. #McCoyFail in one hit!
(For the uninitiated, #McCoyFail is a hashtag. I’m Tweeting the game as I watch.)
Saban finally takes a field goal and then Texas’s freshmen backup quarterback throws an interception on a shovel pass. An Alabama linebacker rumbles for a touchdown and it’s 24-6 at the half.
Okay, I admire Texas for emerging from the locker room at the half with its A-game. A 44-yard touchdown pass and then a successful onside kick. Alabama used up the first four minutes of the fourth quarter and Van Tiffin missed a field goal attempt.
Garret was doing quite well when he was blindsided by an Alabama linebacker and fumbled in front of his own goal line. Mark Ingram scored his second TD, Alabama leads 31-21 with 2:01 left — it’s 29 degrees outside and I heard a bottle rocket.
Alabama finally intercepted Garret and got the chance to run out the clock, but couldn’t help themselves. The only disappointment was to see Van Tiffin end a stellar college career with a missed PAT.
Final: Alabama 37, Texas 21.
