Now, to answer the question of how we get this money laundering stopped, go to
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060806/NEWS/608060321/1028/EDITORIAL3 for the answer - we first have to obtain Initiative and Referendum (I&R) so voters can initiate the required legislation that will by-pass both the legislature and the governor and be placed on the ballot as a referendum for us to accept or reject.

I&R is the key required to unlock the door to REAL reform and accountability legislation that will give us better government, and that’s why I’ve spent thousands of hours over the last 2+ years in an attempt to help us obtain it.

That’s also why Dan (http://www.betweenthelinks.com/) and I, and other concerned citizens are contacting everyone we can who is a candidate for governor, lieutenant governor, and both houses of the legislature and asking
them to go on record as to their position on making Alabama the 25th I&R state, and reporting their responses, or lack thereof, on Dan’s blog @ http://www.betweenthelinks.com/iandr and my website @ http://www.doctoriq.com/report.htm.

We need hundreds, no, thousands, of voters throughout the state to be contacting those who wish to represent them in these offices and pressuring them to commit to making obtaining I&R an issue in their campaigns and to fight to obtain it if they are elected. Pressure such as that from a large segment of the grassroots is the only way we will get I&R and have a way to improve our government.

The opportunity we have NOW to bring about change will not come around again until the year 2010.

We have what those seeking office need – our vote. If we make them understand that in order to get it, they must be proponents of I&R our votes will have more power than all of the money they get through PACs, if we will just exercise our power, and if we don’t we deserve to continue to have business as usual on Goat Hill, and a sorry government as a result.

I know people who worked for landlord-tenant legislation for thirteen years before it passed this year. People have worked on tax fairness even longer before we made progress this year. Keep telling the stories and eventually enough people will engage. I think it will happen on this issue.

And by the way, while Gov. Riley has supported a ban on PAC-to-PAC transfers, he did not propose a ban in his last State of the State Address.

Dan, my question is… why did you bet that it was a Democrat that voted against it?

Baxley presides when she is there, and President Pro Tem Barron presides in her absence.

But as to the first Anonymous Commenter’s question, whoever it is that presides doesn’t bring bills to the floor.

I should get more sleep before I post. :)