The World Around You

Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman is running his campaign in the red. He is not raising funds as fast as he is spending them, and his donor base has shrunk significantly from previous campaigns. I said early on, the fund race would tell us all we need to know. The other candidates will release their financial statements tomorrow and we’ll see then how things stack up.

In addition, he may have violated a ban on fundraising when the state legislature is in session.

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It is officially a two horse race for the Republican nomination for governor of Alabama. State Senator Harri Anne Smith has decided not to run and is supporting current Governor Bob Riley.

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Prosecutors have compiled a case against the Mayor of Orange Beach, Alabama and the city attorney that looks pretty imposing. Imposing enough to cause the mayor to resign his office anyway.

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There is no doubt in my mind that Alabama’s constitution needs to be re-written. However, I strongly disagree with the sentiment that “everyone will benefit”. In the long term, yes, the entire state will benefit, which benefits everyone. But the short term process of transitioning to a fairer tax system and a constitution that does not protect the few and the powerful, those who are benefitting from it now will suffer. That needs to be acknowledged, because some of them sit in the legislative body that will decide whether the people are allowed to enact change.

Additionally, all the bill currently before the legislature asks for is the right for the people to decide. Shouldn’t that be the people’s right?

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There is time for it to be revived, but it appears that a bill to ban teen drivers’ use of cell phones has died in committee.

Should this be done? Maybe. Should it be high on the list of priorities? No.

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The Alabama legislature will hold a public hearing on Wednesday before a committee that will decide whether to approve a bill to call a constitutional convention. It is long past due for this to happen. Many of the problems we face in Alabama are routed in a state constitution that does not allow government to function. Here’s hoping the committee allows the bill to be debated on the floor.

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Well Wal-Mart is about to add about 2,300 folks to its fan club. Many of those who will lose their jobs with Russell Corporation will be Alabamians. I’m not as anti-Wal-Mart as some, but I just hope people continue to make the connection between the over-dependence on Wal-Mart and these kinds of developments. Again, not to say it’s positive or negative, just that these kinds of developments will continue.

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The grand jury transcripts that form the basis for an indictment against former Gov. Don Siegelman. It does not look good for him, as his closest aide has testified that he, in essence, offered a quid pro quo to Richard Scrushy.

According to the grand jury testimony, Siegelman aggressively and personally solicited campaign contributions and then, in some cases, suggested what the donor would get in return.

A toll bridge developer also told the grand jury Siegelman solicited a contribution and promised to let him appoint the highway director.

Bailey’s testimony describes a meeting he attended between Siegelman and HealthSouth lobbyist Eric Hanson. Bailey said Hanson asked what could be done to make amends for Scrushy’s having supported the Republican candidate for governor in 1998, according to the transcripts.

“It was his estimate that Richard Scrushy had given some $350,000 to Fob James’ campaign, and Eric asked what he could do to help Richard make up for that. And Siegelman told him that $350,000 plus interest and they’d - $500,000, they’d just call it even,” Bailey testified.

“He wanted $500,000 for the lottery campaign.”

**Crossposted at Polstate.com

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The Mobile Register found some interesting parallels between Governor Riley’s State of the State speech and addresses by a certain former President who Riley voted to impeach.

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The Democrats look to be ready to seize on some loose ties between Jack Abramoff and Bob Riley in the upcoming gubernatorial election. Not shocking given the current political climate.

I’m not sure that people will be looking at Riley’s behavior as a congressman in determining whether he should remain as Governor. Yet, we are certainly in the “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” phase of the election year.

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If Kyle Ingraham is no longer with the team, that would make seven players who have left the team since the end of the season. What is going on in West Lafayette?

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Alabama Governor Bob Riley delivered his state of the state address last night. If you missed it, you can read it here. I was away travelling the last couple of days. Once I have a chance to review it, I will offer some thoughts on the speech.

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The Mobile Register’s Capital Bureau has a comprehensive look at the issues facing this year’s session of the Alabama legislature, slated to begin on Tuesday. Same song, next verse.

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Governor Riley believes its unconscionable that Alabama taxes its working poor the way we do. He’s right and every Alabamian in his right mind knows it. He’s proposing to tackle the problem without raising taxes on the most well-off Alabamians. This isn’t the right way, but we’ve tried that way before and it didn’t work. The time is long past due to make these changes. We can only hope the legislature will see it too.

**Crossposted at Polstate.com

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As bad as things look for Republicans nationally right now, we can always depend on Charlie Cook to bring us back to reality. There are only so many seats that rae competitive and even if the public opinion has turned in general, with the way districts are now, it will likely not make much difference in who holds a majority of the seats in either house of Congress.

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I am so proud to be the number 7 search result for: HUGE BOOBS AROUND WORLD

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