Lessons from Siegelman

We want and expect our politicians and public servants to be their very best, but we need systems of accountability in place for when they are not acting in the public’s best interest. I hope that is an obvious statement, but consider…

  • Right now lobbyists may spend $250 per day on an Alabama [...]

Friday 6/30/2006 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1151659723252790.xml&coll=2 -  Siegelman, Scrushy guilty on multiple charges.

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1151659712252830.xml&coll=1 – Pundits see conviction as end of long Siegelman career.

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1151659712252830.xml&coll=1 – Legal experts say reversal of Siegelman conviction unlikely.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060630/OPINION01/606300315/1012/OPINION – Editorial states that Siegelman conviction shows need for ethics reform.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060629/APN/606290892 – Federal Court panel denies appeal [...]

Tax Policies Hurt 99% of Alabamians

The average middle-income Alabamian has received a tax cut totalling $1,815 per family member from 2001 to 2006, thanks to Bush administration tax policies. But the added share of national debt burden for that family is $8,797 per person. According to today’s news release from Alabama Arise that cites a new report (pdf [...]

Thursday 6/29/2006 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1151572938248960.xml&coll=2 – 13% of state’s high school students expected to drop out before graduation.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1151572520248960.xml&coll=2 – U.S. House rejects effort to remove requirement for multilingual ballots from Voting Rights Act.

http://www.al.com/business/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/business/1151572914248960.xml&coll=2 – Birmingham construction trade group raises concerns over proposed immigration law.

http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1151572774248960.xml&coll=2 – Editorial offers “cautious applause” at state’s [...]

Wednesday 6/28/2006 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1151487409265530.xml&coll=2 – Siegelman jury deadlocked, judge to give more instructions today and urge jury to reach verdict.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1151487432265530.xml&coll=2 – several laws passed during regular session take effect July 1.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1151487379265530.xml&coll=2 – Remarks by ADEM director anger environmentalists working for environmental justice.

http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1151486859265530.xml&coll=2 – Editorial praises efforts of Birmingham and [...]

Alabama’s Presidential Candidate?

Folk are talking about Hugh McInnish’s “Draft Sessions for President” resolution that McInnish plans to introduce to the state GOP meeting next month. My take is that Sessions has almost zero chance of winning a national election, the GOP believes that, and so he would have almost zero chance of getting the nomination. [...]

More on Troy King & ABA

Wheeler at Alablawg has interesting follow-up comments on Troy King’s response to the ABA report on Alabama’s death penalty system – particularly on why there was only one prosecutor on the ABA assessment team.

Related: AG Troy King Responds to the ABA

New Allies for Campaign Reform?

Money in politics is like water: it will seep through any crack or hole it can find. Plug one, and it will work on another. If you believe there is too much money flowing into elections (can you argue otherwise?), that means we must be diligent in plugging the holes that allow huge sums [...]

Tuesday 6/27/2006 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/115140011179950.xml&coll=2 – Annual Kids Count report reflect improvement in children’s well-being.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/115140009979950.xml&coll=2 – Assistant AG testifies before Congressional committee, urges that Voting Rights Act requirements be “relaxed.”

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/115139979879950.xml&coll=2 – Jury completes eighth day of deliberations in Siegelman trial.

http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/115139985479940.xml&coll=3 – South Alabama counties take first steps toward limited home [...]

AG Troy King Responds to ABA

Attorney General Troy King responded in an Op-Ed piece in the Tuscaloosa News to the American Bar Association’s report that said, “Alabama should put a moratorium on the death penalty because the state’s system is riddled with problems.”

The ABA has established 79 standards by which a state’s system can be evaluated, [...]

More on DoE Report of Kids in Poverty

Our faithful contributor G, always on top of his game, sent me email about the recent report from the state Department of Education that said “51.6 percent of all Alabama K-12 students are now classified as living in poverty” and that I mentioned here Saturday. He wanted to point out that the [...]

Monday 6/26/2006 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/115131365867570.xml&coll=2 – Alabama ranks second in southeastern U. S. in automobile miles driven per capita.

http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/115131342067560.xml&coll=3 – “The Political Skinny,” The Mobile Press-Register’s weekly roundup from Mobile, Montgomery and Washington.

http://www.al.com/opinion/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/opinion/115131334467690.xml&coll=1 – Editorial calls for House of Representatives to extend U.S. Voting Rights Act.

FROM TODAY’S ANNISTON STAR:

Editorials Red [...]

Sunday 6/25/2006 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1151227462107380.xml&coll=2 – Amari receives endorsement from former opponent in PSC runoff race.

http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1151227532107380.xml&coll=2 – Commentary reviews history of US utilizing cheap immigrant labor to build strong economy, urges leaders to create a path to citizenship for those who have labored to build country.

http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1151227013107380.xml&coll=2 – Rep. Artur Davis defends efforts [...]

Majority of State Children in Poverty

Today’s Birmingham News (emphasis added):

51.6 percent of all Alabama K-12 students are now classified as living in poverty – an increase of almost 1 percent from 2003-04. More troubling, the increase follows a decade-long trend of growing poverty.

51.6% of our state’s children live in poverty? And it has only gotten worse [...]

Death Penalty – ‘Questions of fairness and reliability’

Catching up on recent and not un-important news…

Ready for this?

Although Alabama has half the population of Georgia, it sentences four times as many people to death.

That’s pretty staggering. Per capita, Alabama has 8 times as many people sentenced to death as Georgia does?

Some Alabamians, no, most Alabamians want to [...]

Legislative Dispatch

A Look from the Rearview Mirror

This Thursday will mark the last day of the legislative Session.  For some, it was a Session that seemed would never end.  For others, it was one that ended much too quickly.  It may be early, yet, to write an obit on this Session, but as we approach the finish line, some perspective may be in order.

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Putting Students First

As you know, a very important piece of legislation will be presented for our consideration in the House tomorrow in Montgomery – Senate Bill 310 – the “Students First” tenure and fair dismissal reform bill. Like me, many House members have been inundated with phone calls and emails from opponents of this bill, and some have been [...]

Legislative Transparency

There are a lot of issues to debate before we begin the final days of this session. In fact, I am quite certain there will be some comments on this post debating many of them. Before we get into the last seven day of the session I wanted to bring up a topic that [...]


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