Economy Will Cause Problems Long After November
The state of the national economy and all of the buzz surrounding the “bail out” legislation in Washington is certainly having an impact on the presidential election. Unfortunately, for now it is having an adverse impact on my candidate but it will have repercussions long after this November. Already reports are beginning to show that growth in revenue for state government is slower than it has been in many years. This means that we could have a couple of very lean budget years in Alabama. In my experience most big political fights in the Alabama Legislature occur over budgetary issues. With health insurance costs rising and even the dreaded “proration” word being tossed about we will inevitably have to make serious cuts in government services just as everyone gets geared up for state elections. Also, when budgets are bad there is always a philosophical battle between an attempt to raise taxes and efforts to cut spending. This battle will set the stage for an election in Alabama where there is no incumbent Governor for the first time in 22 years and a legislature that will be desperately seeking to show that it can in fact work together long enough to get something done in response to these problems. This economic downturn will indeed effect the November election but quite possibly have an even bigger impact on the November 2010 elections.
I think this means we will see another battle between AEA and the taxpayers of Alabama. I hope that our legislators will resist his attempts to raise taxes for his members.
Comment by Huntsville Indy — October 5, 2008 @ 8:08 pm