The World Around You

I saw the Governor this evening. He did not field the questions himself, which was somewhat disappointing. However, he did make a powerful argument to give people reason to support him. He also had a very knowledgable presenter go over the plan and answer questions. I did not stay for all of the questions, but I thought things were handled very well.

It comes down to a very simple choice. Do you want to make a positive change in this state or are you satisfied with the status quo?

Kevin links to the 2003 Blogger Awards being conducted by Balloon Juice. Feel free to vote for me in any category you find appropriate.

Dr. Hardy Jackson has become a must-read on the Governor’s accountability and tax plan. I actually caught his column from Wednesday in an e-mail from a fellow supporter of Ammendment 1. It’s truly astounding what happens when you actually investigate a “fact”,

I teach at Jacksonville State. So when something is attributed to my university I naturally pay attention. Which is what I did the other day a friend sent me a copy of a “fact sheet” prepared by the Christian Coalition and distributed by opponents of the Riley tax reform and accountability plan. The handout reported that the JSU Economic Update of November, 2001, revealed that “Alabama’s state and local tax burden is 24.5 %, as a percentage of personal income, greater than the Southeastern and US average” and also that “Alabama has a diversity of revenue sources, and taxes comprise only about 38% of Alabama’s total revenue.”
Aware that the Coalition had already come under fire for sloppy research and slanted conclusions, I got a copy of the Update, to check things out. Something seemed amiss. So I called a buddy in our College of Commerce and Business Administration, where the Update originated and he said, “the Coalition is wrong.”

Alabama’s state and local tax burden is not 24.5 percent of personal income and if the Christian Coalition had paid attention to what they were reading and had done a little math they would have known it.

The Update states that in 1999 (the year under consideration) Alabamians paid $2,007 per capita in taxes. That was the lowest in the region. And when you divide that figure by the per capita income of Alabamians that year ($22,027) you find that the percentage of personal income paid in taxes per capita was 9.1 percent — not the 24.5 percent the Christian Coalition claims. Now is this just an error? Or is the Coalition trying to get the statistics to say one thing when they really say another?

Hardy then encourages people to contact the Christian Coalition of Alabama on why they are playing fast and loose with the facts. Of course, this column was submitted before the Christian Coalition of America came out in favor of the plan. This ought to raise all of our antennae even higher concerning the real motives of John Giles and CC of Alabama are.

Jacob Sullum at Reason gives his thumbs up to Arnold.

Talk Left posts the latest Pew Poll results, which show that President Bush’s approval rating continues to decline and his disapproval is at an all-time high. Is it beginning to look like Bush 41 all over again?

If you want more information on the Accountability and Tax plan, Ammendment 1, I encourage you to come out to a forum at Prattville High School. Governor Riley will be there to answer questions at 5:30pm. There will also be a powerpoint presentation on the plan. Prattville Mayor Jim Byard and Representative Mac Gipson will also be on hand.

I’m not sure what to make of Steve Martin’s Op-Ed in this morning’s New York Times. It seems like he is trying to poke fun at both sides of the debate on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction. The problem is, I don’t think either side would find it very funny.

He picks apart the question “Did Iraq have weapons of mass destruction?”, then goes on to say that it’s impossible to make a gaffe with 16 words, because you can’t really say anything in 16 words. I like Steve, but it’s hard for me to find humor in this particular aspect of the situation in Iraq.

UPDATE: I originally included a large excerpt of this piece, but have removed it because of a valid point from a commenter. Please read the entire piece for yourself.

I heard the interview Roy Moore had with Sean Hannity yesterday and can attest to the veracity of this report from this morning’s Montgomery Advertiser,

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore indicated to a national radio audience Thursday that he does not intend to remove his Ten Commandments monument by the Aug. 20 deadline set by a federal judge.

When asked by conservative talk show host Sean Hannity if he was going to remove the monument, Moore answered “No.”

When Hannity pushed the matter later in the broadcast, Moore backed off that answer slightly.

“I haven’t publicly stated what I will do,” Moore said. “I plan to announce what I will do or won’t do next Thursday.” He issued that same response when asked later in the evening on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity Colmes” television show.

Hannity praised Moore for sticking to his guns and allowed Roy to discuss at length why the monument should not be an issue and how the Constitution has been perverted by “liberal” judges.

If Roy is allowed to defy this court order, I don’t see why any citizen of Alabama should feel they have to abide by the law. He is the chief arbiter in the State of Alabama, and if he thinks he’s above the law then it should work for the rest of us.