| As we've already mentioned, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley has pledged to never raise taxes (especially on the wealthy) no matter how broke the state of Alabama is, but Bentley isnt' the only sucker who signed Grover Norquist's pledge to get government "down to the size where we can drown in the bathtub."  Other Alabama officials who put their allegiance to Norquist above their responsibility to the citizens of Alabama (as of yesterday) are: Three people who hold statewide offices: - Atty. Gen. Luther Strange (R)
- Treas. Young Boozer (R)
-
Sec. of State Beth Chapman (R)
7 out of 35 (that's 20%!!) state senators: - Paul Bussman (R, S-4)
- Jerry Fielding (D, S-11)
- Rusty Glover (R, S-34)
- Jimmy W. Holley (R, S-31)
- Paul Sanford (R, S-7)
- Clay Scofield (R, S-9)
- Tom Whatley (R, S-27)
14 out of 104 state representatives: - Daniel Boman (D*, H-16)
- Duwayne Bridges (R, H-38)
- Steve Clouse (R, H-93)
- Craig Ford (D, H-28)
- Steve Hurst (R, H-35)
- Wes Long (R, H-27)
- Jay Love (R, H-74)
- Mary Sue McClurkin (R, H-43)
- John H. Merrill (R, H-62)
- Barry Moore (R, H-91)
- Bill Roberts (R, H-13)
- Mark M. Tuggle (R, H-81)
- Lesley Vance (R, H-80)
- Kurt Wallace (R, H-42)
All but 3 of these Norquist worshippers are Republicans (although one of the Democrats who've signed the pledge is House Minority Leader Craig Ford) and so far Norquist's website doesn't indicate that any of them want their names removed. At a time when even Republicans are calling the Norquist pledge "irresponsible," these elected officials should reconsider their priorities. Alabama is a not-very-wealthy state with declining tax revenues. It is irresponsible and unrealistic to proceed as though the state can balance the budget by taking all tax increases off the table. * Boman was elected as a Republican but switched to the Democratic party last year. |
