The World Around You

How I got to be the number one search result for Max Cleeland, I will never know.

I have lots of responses to the letter that Atrios notes in this post. I have seen similar letters in my daily newspaper, but not from a member of the military.

It is sad that so-called men like Mr. Jobe don’t know what they don’t know. Does he think he is only fighting for those that agree with him? Mr. Jobe, if speaking your mind is an act of treason, America is not the country I think it is. If exercising your first amendment right is a disease, I hope every American catches it.

Dr. Jackson has a particularly disturbing mental image for everyone this morning. He sees the recent boom business in everyday people posing nude for calendars to raise money as an opportunity for the State of Alabama to solve its financial troubles,

Considering the financial condition our state is in, calendars might be a way to generate some revenue. How about “The Girls (or Guys) from Goat Hill?” Or maybe “Senators Stripped” or “Bureaucrats in the Buff” (noooooo — poke my mind’s eye out with a stick).

Some of the folks who worked to defeat Amendment One might want to help ease the crisis. “ALFA in the Altogether” or maybe “Christian Coalition Cheesecake.” All proceeds would go to the agency of their choosing. (The Christian Coalition would probably give its share to the Roy Moore defense fund, but even that would save the state a bundle of money.)

These calendars could become the new school fund-raisers, replacing candy peddling and magazine sales. Think I’ll ask my wife if she and her buddies would pose for “The Women of PTO” or “Soccer Moms Without their Shimmies.” I’d be the photographer for free.

Anything to help.

As if there aren’t enough traffic problems without airplanes on the roads,

A small plane piloted by a construction executive from Arkansas crash-landed on a freeway exit ramp, slowing traffic but leaving the three people aboard without serious injury, authorities said.

Rick Cowart, of Salem, Ark., was flying the Cessna 182K from Arkansas, preparing to land at Birmingham International Airport Tuesday night, said his son, Rick Cowart Jr.

But the plane clipped a power line at about 50 feet and went nose down, spilling fuel across the Interstate 20/59 exit ramp, said Capt. C.W. Mardis of the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service.

I’ll bet that was a sight.

The first shots are being fired in the upcoming budget battle here in Alabama. Speaker of the House Seth Hammett said yesterday that if the Governor does not come up with a revenue plan, the legislature will have to. They are not going to allow the devastating cuts to happen.

Alabama lawmakers are likely in coming months to propose raising taxes by roughly $400 million a year and possibly by as much as $600 million a year, legislative leaders said Tuesday.

They said any tax plan probably would be submitted to the voters in a referendum, though lawmakers could pass many taxes without voters’ approval.

Speaker Seth Hammett, D-Andalusia, said he hopes Gov. Bob Riley will propose a tax plan next year. But he predicted lawmakers would propose their own plan if Riley doesn’t.

Hammett said Alabama needs more money to prevent big cuts in services such as Medicaid health coverage for poor people.

“We intend to somehow address the revenue shortfall,” said Hammett, leader of the state House of Representatives. “What we’re going to do is wait first and see what the governor intends to pursue. If he chooses not to pursue additional revenue, then some of us are saying we need to come together with our own package.”

Dr. David Bronner, CEO of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, also responded to the administration’s thoughts on reducing retirement benefits.

Alabama Retirement Systems CEO David Bronner said Tuesday that the state’s financial problems can’t be solved by raiding the pension fund, and if the governor brings a proposal that would substantially cut benefits or raise contributions, the legislative session would go down in flames.

“If he gets into a war, he’ll lose,” Bronner said after making remarks to a luncheon meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham.

Alabama has one of the country’s most generous pension systems for its teachers and public employees. It allows an employee to retire after 25 years of service and draw half his or her average salary, regardless of the employee’s age.

Officials with Gov. Bob Riley’s administration are studying options for dealing with a major cash crunch, some of which comes from increases in pension costs. As a result of investment losses in 2001 and 2002, RSA is asking for a $141 million increase in the state’s contribution over two years.

Bronner said it would be unfair to change the rules on retirement and benefits for workers already paying into the system. And requiring additional contributions from current employees would amount to a pay cut for state workers. If those changes are proposed, Bronner predicted overwhelming opposition from state employees and the AEA.

That is one of the major problems we face in Alabama. Somehow, Dr. Bronner, Paul Hubbert and the president of ASEA have become all powerful.

I’ve lived in other states and nowhere did the opinion of the state employees’s union or teachers’s union mean as much as it does here. One way to help Alabama out of this crisis is to restrain the influence these individuals have on policy. It is fine to take their opinions into consideration, but they are not the only people with opinions. These men do not represent all teachers or all state workers.

Everything is on the table for the preparation of the upcoming budget, and many of the options are going to impact negatively on state workers and teachers, because the bulk of expenses of the government pay for state workers and teachers, despite what you may have heard. We need to come together to find a solution, not start declaring war on each other.