Comments on: Considering the Vote on HB 274

By: publius

publius — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:49:09 +0000

Alabamians think ‘no taxation without representation’ is a 200 yr old moss covered credo; that such cant happen today. it happens every day in Alabama because of Pac to Pac transfers and shenanigans like Jack Williams and Randy Hinshaw. Bridges is correct and any registered voter in his district has standing to bring a federal lawsuit.

By: Terry

Terry — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:53:35 +0000

Our legislators are ridiculous. It seems with their newly inflated salaries that they could manage to vote without “stepping away” or simply missing the vote on accident. This is unacceptable.

By: Therm

Therm — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:35:25 +0000

No one should ever vote the machine of another House member under any circumstances. What needs to happen is for the House to have a period of time where the machine is left open so members can go to their desks and vote their own machine. This open the machine and give 10 seconds to vote is part of the problem.

By: Roy

Roy — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:00:17 +0000

Scorpius is right. This kind of crap would never happen if the Republicans were in charge … like in Texas.

By: Scorpius

Scorpius — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:33:40 +0000

I’ll take that bet real talk. Am I getting the dollars or the donuts?

Bridges wasn’t even in the country when the vote was cast. He was in China. He wasn’t there to misunderstand a vote.

And I agree with you on another point. There probably aren’t voters who give a flip about this and that’s part of why we have the problems we have.

You take an apathetic, uninformed electorate and mix it with a corrupt and cunning Party that controls the reins of the legislature, and this is what we get.

The House Speaker (indeed, a DEMOCRAT) actually can justify what his party does with a straight face because they are so used to pulling this crap and never being held accountable.

Meanwhile the peasants continue to pick their noses, watch and vote for America’s “Idol” in numbers greater than the Presidential election and expect a different result from their governmnent.

By: On Locking and Unlocking House Machines » Doc’s Political Parlor

On Locking and Unlocking House Machines » Doc’s Political Parlor — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:24:08 +0000

[...] I have observed at least two occasions in the press when House Minority Leader Mike Hubbard (R – Auburn) has said that he asked for the voting machines of some absent Republicans to be locked on the day that the House was discussing HB 274, the proposal from John Knight related to removing the state sales tax off grocery purchases, but that to Hubbard’s surprise the machines were unlocked when Rep. Jack Williams withdrew the request to invoke Rule 32. (I can’t find a news link at the moment with Hubbard’s comments. Rep. Mike Ball mentioned it here, and a commenter mentioned it here.) [...]

By: Real Talk

Real Talk — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:47:30 +0000

I’ll bet dollars to donuts that DuWayne didn’t quite understand what he was voting on, told someone to vote his machine, then got backlash against his vote and cried foul.

The Repubs can never stop whining about what should be done, and what is done, etc…but they are at best no better than the Dems, and at worst contemptible in their massive corruption.

Also, no one real voter gives a flip about this.

By: dan t

dan t — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:34:47 +0000

Hinshaw is an interesting character. I like the guy in one sense. He’s a hardcore democrat and he’s not ashamed of it in the least despite being in a gop leaning area. But stunts like the one he pulled in this case make all of them in montgomery look very bad.

By: Danny

Danny — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:21:45 +0000

FWIW, my understanding is that Hubbard’s request that the machines be locked was a request for the Clerk, not a motion voted on by the body.

I have looked into it a bit, and I intend to post about it.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:07:47 +0000

Danny, even though Rule 32 was not in effect during the grocery tax vote, at the start of the legislative day, Mike Hubbard motioned that the machines of absent representatives be locked throughout the rest of the day. His motion carried, so the machines should not have been open in the first place. Someone should look into why the machines were unlocked, because even if Jack Williams rescinded his request to invoke Rule 32, the machines of absent representatives should have remained locked per Hubbard’s motion.