Periodically the Opelika-Auburn News features op-ed from both Joe Turnham and Mike Hubbard, chairs of the Alabama Democratic and Republican parties, respectively. The topic of the latest set is the legacy of Dr. Paul Hubbert, executive secretary of the AEA and retiring Vice-Chair of the State Democratic Party.
While foe, friend and pundit have demonized, celebrated, cursed or lauded him these past 40 years; his legacy is absolutely one of positive, historic achievement for the State of Alabama.
Let me clear that I personally like and respect Dr. Hubbert, and he is very effective at doing his job. But his job, in my opinion, is doing what’s in the best interest of his union members, not Alabama’s schoolchildren.
My own feeling is that both of Turnham and Hubbard are correct on those points. Paul Hubbert has had an amazing career and he's done a lot for teachers and education workers in Alabama -- and his responsibility is to those workers, not to Alabama children or the citizenry at large. Nothing wrong with that.
Here's wher GOP Chair Mike Hubbard gets it completely wrong:
If we are ever going to free the Legislature from Hubbert’s shackles and truly being the process of bringing positive reforms to public education in Alabama, we must elect Republican lawmakers who refuse to bend to his will.
Hogwash! There are plenty of Republican lawmakers who have bent to Hubbert's will, and the will of other special interests, too. We need to elect lawmakers who have the good of the people as their first priority, not the good of any narrow interest group -- and my own feeling is that AEA will sharply increase lobbying efforts targeted toward Republicans in the next Legislature. Party label confers no immunity in this case.
(Creepy, crawly Republican spiders ... - promoted by mooncat)
Governor Bob Riley's head appears on the body of a cartoon spider amid a web littered with dollar signs while a headline flashes "Breaking News: Rileys (sic) gambling hypocrisy revealed!". Welcome to the home page of Rileyswebofdeceit.com, a new website that warns of "information overload".
The site lays out the Jack Abramoff/Michael Scanlon scam on their Indian clients, follows the money trail to Bob Riley's campaign for governor, and asks you to help fill in the blanks by contacting the site, anonymously if you prefer. The site's author(s) also prefer anonymity but could be GOP members as there's much mention of their no tolerance when it comes to hijacking of the party for personal gain.
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive"
Americans are already paying for health care. We pay more than anyone else in the world for health care. Problem is, even though we've scrimped and saved to keep paying the insurance premiums, too often the profit-obsessed insurance industry denies our claim. Or drops us altogether when we get sick. And if they decide whatever we have isn't covered by that "comprehensive health care policy" we've paid premiums on for half a lifetime, do they kindly refund our (obviously wasted) money? No, they do not. They move it over into their "obscene profits" column, leaving us high and dry.
Doing nothing has a cost. We're already paying for health care, we're just not getting our money's worth. The Just Say NO to Reform party apparently thinks that's OK.
What’s the cost of not reforming health care?
Premiums rising faster than your paycheck.
Insurance companies dictating more and more medical decisions.
Denying you coverage while their profits soar.
The cost of doing nothing means rising co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses. Families faced with paying the mortgage or paying for health care.
But some leading Republicans, playing politics, have vowed to kill reform.
Tell Republicans the cost of doing nothing on health care is just too high.
The lies and half-truths and outright scare tactics about reform aren't just coming from Washington or the usual mouthpieces like Rush Limbaugh and O'Reilly. Alabama Republicans are actively peddling health care reform disinformation, too. AlGOP Chairman Mike Hubbard says they're going to tax our iced tea to pay for it, along with a lot of other stuff he knows is either exaggerated or flatly untrue. Rep. Mike Rogers (R, AL-03) has been spouting scary half-truths about rationing and government run health care on the floor of the House of Representatives. His hometown newspaper handily takes him to task for those exaggerations.
There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.
Here in Alabama our disinformation isn't limited to anonymous emails. It's just as likely to come packaged in the form of an op-ed from a Republican leader or a floor speech by a Republican Congressman. No matter how you wrap it, it still smells like BS.
(Clean sweep? Sure would be sweet. - promoted by mooncat)
Finally, GOP Chief Slime Mike Hubbard has crawled out from under his rock to comment on this week's lopsided loss to the Democrats in the Senate District 22 special election. And in so doing, he brazenly admits the GOP has no real message; that its success is dependent on throwing mud at the Democrats, and hoping enough sticks. In an interview with the Mobile Press-Register, Hubbard says:
"It's all about turnout in special elections," Hubbard said. "[Democrat] Marc [Keahey] already had a lot of name ID. I believe our campaign, our candidate's campaign allowed him to establish his positives too high, (too) early."
In other words, Hubbard is blaming his candidate for not being negative enough. And in so doing, Hubbard again reverts to form, displaying his congenital inability to tell the truth. His own candidate in that race was Greg Albritton, who spent a full term in the House of Representatives from the eastern end of the district, as opposed to freshman Keahey's part of a term. It is true that Keahey benefitted from being from a well-known family of lawyers in Grove Hill (cousin Bobby was elected DA just a year or two out of law school, and put in enough years to vest his pension and retire before 50). However, anyone familiar with the lower tier of Alabama counties knows that the name "Albritton" is L.A.'s answer to the Tennessee Valley's "Snodgrass" legacy. The name resonates with familiarity in that part of the state.
As some more detailed numbers begin to emerge from Tuesday's election, the win begins to look even better. Keahey not only carried his home base of Clarke County, he ran a very competitive race in the more Republican eastern and southern ends of the district, taking 45% of the part of the district in Baldwin County. (Note to Alabama political novices: a Democrat who gets 45% in Baldwin County in any multi-county or statewide race, wins. e.g., Sue Bell Cobb got 33% in Baldwin County in her 2006 Chief Justice race, and won. Call it Newton's Fifth Law of Alabama Political Thermodynamics.) While the part of Baldwin in this district may not be as reactionary as the Eastern Shore, that's an impressive number by anyone's standards. What this tells us is that either the Republican image has a layer of tarnish we hadn't begun to discern, or the label "Democrat," by and of itself, isn't the deal killer it might have been 8 or 10 years ago.
Which brings me full circle to the one true thing Chief Slime Hubbard said: "It's all about turnout in special elections." As tempting as it is to spend the weekend beating up on Rush-minus-the-Oxy Jackson online, I hope the LiA community, especially the large Huntsville contingent, will find a way to spend every possible minute ringing doorbells and dialing phones for Laura Hall between now and Tuesday. Anyone who isn't already in touch with the Hall campaign can make contact here. And then get ready to continue the fight in the House special for Jenny Askins on July 14. You can make contact to get involved in the Askins campaign here. The only thing sweeter than beating a Republican, is beating a Republican on Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkey Bastille Day. Those of us too far from Huntsville to knock on doors will keep the trolls at bay here.
“Thankfully, Governor Bob Riley and Republicans in the legislature have already proposed substantive anti-corruption legislation, and we encourage the Congressman to insist that the Democrat majority to do the right thing by allowing our bills to pass. The war on corruption has many enemies, but Republicans are committed to the fight and we are determined to restore the public’s trust in government. Unfortunately, Democrats will not allow our anti-corruption bills to pass – therefore a Republican majority is the only way for true ethics reform to become a reality in Alabama.”
This statement was released by the Davis campaign, also this morning:
“The plan that Congressman Davis proposed yesterday is stronger and more comprehensive than any previous attempts at ethics reform in Alabama history. Furthermore, it is tougher than any measure proposed by either Republicans or Democrats. Davis recognizes that passing ethics reform should be a bi-partisan enterprise and looks forward to working with any legislators who want to clean up state government in Alabama,” Davis spokeswoman Anna Ruth Williams said.
The Republicans in the Legislature would be between a rock and a hard place if they had to vote on Davis' ethics proposals. They're on record calling for most of those proposals so they'd either have to do a complete 180 on the principle of ethics reform or hold their noses and give props to a Democratic governor for achieving something Riley couldn't. Some of them would certainly stand on principle and vote for it. Of course, Davis would need Democratic support as well, but he could likely deliver that if Democrats in the Legislature didn't feel they would be victims of a partisan witch hunt.
If you're looking for hypocrisy on the grocery tax issue you need look no further than GOP Chairman Mike Hubbard and his Republican cohorts in the Alabama House of Representatives. Three times this session they have blocked HB116, a bill to allow citizens to vote on removing the 4% state sales tax on groceries, making up the lost revenue by capping the state income tax deduction on federal taxes paid. 95% of Alabama taxpayers will see a tax reduction under this proposal, but the 5% who form the upper crust have the House Republicans firmly in their pockets.
Oh, Mike Hubbard and his GOP cohorts talk a good game. To hear them tell it they are all for removing the sales tax on groceries, of course they are, but (whine, whine) they just can't see their way clear to closing that federal tax deduction loophole for the upper crust. Their talk sounds fine, a stellar example of fluent BS in fact, but the past actions of Hubbard and other House Republicans reveal rank hypocrisy.
Both Charles J. Dean of the Birmingham News and John Ehinger of the Huntsville Times decided to use their Sunday print allocation to discuss the people who aren't running for governor in 2010. Ehinger's article is a useful laundry list of the once and future candidates but Dean's article is more interesting for the quotes from several political insiders. Here Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Joe Turnham seems to be trying to lower expectations for the next administration.
"I think the next governor will face problems with maybe just no good solutions," Turnham said. "The worst of the economic situation for the state might be two years off, after the federal stimulus money runs out. All the next governor may be able to do is bury the dead and bayonet the wounded. It could be that bad, and these would-be candidates know that."
"Bury the dead and bayonet the wounded" conjures up a terrible image. Maybe Turnham can find a less bloody metaphor for the state's economic situation before the next interview. One that includes some hope, if possible. Hope is a popular commodity right now. You might even say hope is the new black.
Turnham's GOP counterpart Mike Hubbard and AEA Executive Secretary Paul Hubbert both pointed out that running for governor demands a lot of time on the road and away from family. In other words, running for office is hard work. Of course being governor is hard work too, if you set out to do it right. Maybe a grueling campaign is an appropriate test to weed out those interested only in the trappings of power, rather than its use for the common good.
The best soundbite in the BN piece is this:
As for the GOP, [Birmingham Southern political scientist] Natalie Davis chuckled.
"Who really knows Bradley Byrne or Tim James or Kay Ivey?" she said. "We know Roy Moore, and the voters overwhelmingly rejected him three years ago. I think the Republican race is just a big unknown right now."
Shorter version: Will the Republicans run the doofus we know or the doofus we don't?
Interesting times and an interesting race. I'm definitely looking forward to it.
9/18/2008, 6:22 p.m. CDT By JAY REEVES The Associated Press
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Prisons Commissioner Richard Allen stopped a voter registration drive for inmates Thursday under pressure from the Alabama Republican Party.
In a letter to state Republican Party Chairman Mike Hubbard, Allen said individuals conducting the program "were not doing anything for the inmates that they could not do themselves by simply contacting the Secretary of State's Office for the voter registration postcard."
Still, Allen said he decided to stop the drive because of a section in the state code that prohibits using state-owned property to promote or advance candidates for election.
"While it is not clear that assisting voters to register would violate those provisions, I cannot expose departmental employees to that possibility," he wrote.
The problem with this flimsy excuse is that no candidate was being promoted. All we were doing was registering those in jail who are eligible to vote UNDER STATE LAW. No one was supporting McCain or Obama. No names were mentioned during the registration. However, as I mentioned before most of those in jail or prison for drug charges are black despite the fact that blacks and whites use drugs at the same rate and the Republicans know this. Hell, they are largely responsible for this. How convenient the drug war is for marginalizing certain classes of people for political gain.
I won't be hard on Commissioner Allen because deep down in my heart of hearts I know that he was told to stop and he had to follow orders.
Allen's letter to Hubbard was in response to one the chairman e-mailed him earlier in the day, saying the GOP supports the idea of registering more people to vote, but not when it comes to prisoners.
"Furthermore, I have concerns about potential issues with how this effort is being monitored to ensure no form of voter fraud occurs," wrote Hubbard, who is also minority leader of the Alabama House, which votes on the prison system's budget.
Let me break that down for you. Mike Hubbard essentially said, "Quit allowing them niggers to register to vote or I will cut your prison budget." Since Alabama has horrible problems financing our bloated prison system Commissioner Allen could not afford to lose money because then he would be hit with more human right's lawsuits from the many, many groups who currently have an eye on Alabama. This equates to George C. Wallace standing in the school house door. There is NO DIFFERENCE!
But, you know what? The Republicans are just doing damage control. We had almost an entire week in and out of Alabama jails and prisons registering people to vote. So, we had to stop on the last day. So what? Since there is little excitement and even fewer positive moments in the life of a prisoner you can bet that word of this has already spread like wild fire and that anyone currently in jail or prison who thinks they might be eligible to vote will request a form to vote in the November election. There is no stopping this, despite all the blow hardin' being done by the Republican party who has NO SHAME when it comes to trying to suppress legal voters in the state of Alabama. I'd bet right now that inmates are on the phone to Mama asking her to get a voter registration form from the SoS and mail it to them. I'll be sending a number of them out to folks I know who are currently in jail or prison along with a note asking them to get others to join in. I hope you will too.
Richard Allen’s decision to halt the program Thursday afternoon came after opposition from the Alabama Republican Party.
State Republican Chairman Mike Hubbard told Allen in a letter Thursday that the party supports registering more people to vote. But he says that doesn’t extend to prisoners.
Hubbard said he was concerned about possible voter fraud.
A coalition of groups began registering inmates to vote in state prisons this week. Nearly 80 filled out registration forms in two days.
Here's the real situation, the Alabama Republican Party "supports registering more people to vote" except those who might vote for Democrats. If Rev. Glasgow wants to register voters at the Country Club or the Chamber of Commerce, Mike Hubbard will be cheering him on. Prisoners who want to participate in their government? Not so much.
Outside of the Republican Party, Rev. Glasgow's program was widely praised.
Credit the state Department of Corrections for working with a Dothan minister to uphold the law that allows some prisoners to vote.
A coalition led by Kenneth Glasgow is mounting a registration drive for Alabama inmates. Glasgow, who served 14 years on robbery and drug charges before he became a minister, said restoring voting rights is key to rehabilitating felons.
This isn't a call for felons convicted of heinous crimes or sex crimes to be allowed such rights. For far too many in prison, harsh, lifelong sentences are deserved.
But felons convicted of lesser crimes who do their time and stay clean while incarcerated deserve the chance to re-enter American society with their voting rights restored. It's one small cog in the rehabilitation of those who long to move far away from their criminal pasts.
The state attorney general's office issued an opinion seven years ago that inmates could vote from inside prison using absentee ballots. But confusion and lawsuits followed over which felons had that right because of a murky phrase in state law.
Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said no one previously had registered prisoners to vote in Alabama.
"It's something that we support and authorized for them to do," said Corbett.
Rev. Glasgow's registration program is legal, it helps those convicted of lesser crimes participate in small "d" democracy and all it took to stop the it was a letter of complaint from the chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. Who knew the GOP Party Chair ran the state? Somebody better tell Bob Riley he's been superceded.
Alabama Republican Party Chairman (and House Minority Leader) Mike Hubbard got exactly what he wanted from House Democrats today -- a committment that there will be no redistricting attempt next session. What did he have to give to get that committment? An interview with a reporter where he threatened to shut down the House if Democrats tried mid-decade redistricting, as Republicans have done in other states. Have your cake and eat it too!
Mind you, I'm not saying Democrats should have actually done the redistricting, but once Hubbard made it clear that this was a very important issue for Republicans, Democratic leaders should have at least made him trade something to get it off the table. I hope to heck they bought a lot of goodwill and cooperation from Hubbard by giving in so quickly.
Since it worked so well, watch for this same tactic by Alabama GOP leaders in the future -- go to one of the big papers with a story of some mean thing Democrats mightdo, provoke a flurry of "the sky is falling" editorials and watch Democrats give in without firing a shot. Keep that powder dry.
Based on recent statements, there is a clear difference between the Democratic and Republican parties on Constitutional Reform in Alabama. Democrats support a Constitutional Convention, Republicans support the piecemeal approach.
The Chairmen of both the Alabama Democratic and Republican Parties have released statements on Constitutional reform. One of the pieces is reasoned and thoughtful. The other is a lot of buzz words strung together to scare voters. You decide which is which.
Rep. Mike Hubbard, chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, sent a letter to AEA Executive Secretary and Alabama Democratic Party Vice Chairman Paul Hubbert on August 13th. The letter was in response to AEA Associate Executive Secretary Joe Reed's remarks comparing Chancellor Bradley Byrne to Adolph Hitler.
While Dr. Reed's comments were in poor taste and only served to distract the media and public from the substance of Byrne's proposals, the GOP's response has certainly raised some eyebrows.
The letter below was forwarded to me by a friend. Apparently someone believes Mike Hubbard's letter provides a useful template for use in situations where one political figure's egregious behavior has seemingly been condoned by his political colleagues.
August 13, 2007
Dear Dr. Hubbert ALGOP Chair Mike Hubbard:
It was disappointing to read the outrageous comments by AEA Associate Executive Secretary Joe Reed in Saturday's Mobile Press-Register regarding Chancellor Bradley Byrne see video of Republican Sen. Charles Bishop striking a fellow senator on the floor of the Senate. Mr. Reed's Bishop's comments blow, delivered on AEA letterhead the Senate floor and using his official AEA title capacity as an elected senator, were well outside the bounds of good taste and were an extremely poor example of how one should engage in debate on public policy.
It is obvious that Mr. Reed and AEA disagree with the Chancellor's policies on dealing with corruption in the two year college system Sen. Bishop and Alabama Republicans disagree with the Democrats on how to settle differences in the Senate. While it is acceptable to have differing opinions, comparing Chancellor Byrne with one of the 20th century's most despicable dictators and murderers physically assaulting a fellow elected official is not. Mr. Reed's Bishop's inability, or unwillingness, to control his anger and his words is a detriment to solving this crisis.
Mr. Reed's Bishop's venomous outburst raises serious questions. Is it the official position of AEA that Chancellor Bradley Byrne is the self-appointed Fuhrer Alabama Republicans that physically attacking a colleague is an appropriate part of Senate debate? Secondly, is this character assassination physical violence an example of the campaign floor tactics that AEA Republicans will employ directly or indirectly, against those who oppose AEA GOP backed policies in the 2010 elections future legislative sessions?
Mr. Reed Bishop has a long and distinguished career in Alabama politics and his footprint will last long beyond his involvement in the political process. He has been a worthy foe in many political battles, but that does not excuse his behavior in this case.
Dr. Hubbert Mr. Hubbard, you have a reputation of being a loyal friend and there is no shame or fault in that. There comes a time, however, when one must put personal feelings aside and do what is best for those they represent, the issue they fight for, and the state they love.
We believe the appropriate action is for Mr. Reed Sen. Bishop to apologize and retract his remarks comparing Chancellor Byrne to Adolph Hitler for attacking another senator. We're sure you agree, as would any reasonable person, with Chancellor Byrne that Mr. Reed's remarks were "silly." that Sen. Bishop's actions were inappropriate. They were also wrong and a horrible example. Certainly teachers all over the state were appalled that our children were reading seeing such inflammatory remarks actions by a leader in the education political field. Mr. Reed's Bishop's apology and retraction would be an appropriate end to this embarrassing situation for AEA the GOP.
If Mr. Reed Bishop refuses to apologize and retract his statement, then we believe you have an obligation to ask for his resignation or fire him. Despite his many years of good works and service and your personal friendship with him, it is imperative that his remarks actions not be allowed to stand without an apology or dismissal.
Hopefully Dr. Reed Sen. Bishop will see the damage his remarks have made and do the right thing and apologize.
Sincerely,
Alabamians who wonder whether name-calling is a bigger affront to civil political discourse than physical violence.
Alabama gubenatorial wannabe Mike Hubbard was the sole sponsor of a resolution (HJR144, which passed) asking the FCC and Alberto Gonzales to disapprove a proposed merger between two satellite radio companies. It happens that Rep. Hubbard has a business interest in radio broadcasting -- this from his Alabama Legislature webpage:
Representative Hubbard left Auburn University in 1990 to head up Auburn's radio and television and sports network. In 1994, he formed the Auburn Network to handle Auburn's multi-media rights and build the network into one of the nation's most respected collegiate sports networks.
He sold the multi-media sports division of the company in 2003 to Winston-Salem, N.C.-based International Sports Properties and continues to serve as president of ISP's Auburn Project.
The Auburn Network owns and operates WANI NewsTalk 1400 in the Auburn-Opelika market, as well as Studio 197, an audio production company serving the national broadcast industry, and East Alabama Living, a regional quarterly magazine. Auburn Network is also a partner in Craftmaster Printers, Inc., a commercial printing company based in Auburn.
Mike Hubbard (R, Auburn) is a member of the Alabama Wireless Telecommunications Board and serves on the Board of Directors of both the Alabama Broadcasters Association and the Business Council of Alabama, in addition to being the Minority Leader in the Alabama House of Representatives.
Considering that Hubbert has a financial interest in stopping the Sirius/XM merger, was his sponsorship of HJR144 a conflict of interest?
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In other words, Hubbard is blaming his candidate for not being negative enough. And in so doing, Hubbard again reverts to form, displaying his congenital inability to tell the truth. His own candidate in that race was Greg Albritton, who spent a full term in the House of Representatives from the eastern end of the district, as opposed to freshman Keahey's part of a term. It is true that Keahey benefitted from being from a well-known family of lawyers in Grove Hill (cousin Bobby was elected DA just a year or two out of law school, and put in enough years to vest his pension and retire before 50). However, anyone familiar with the lower tier of Alabama counties knows that the name "Albritton" is L.A.'s answer to the Tennessee Valley's "Snodgrass" legacy. The name resonates with familiarity in that part of the state.
Which brings me full circle to the one true thing Chief Slime Hubbard said: "It's all about turnout in special elections." As tempting as it is to spend the weekend beating up on Rush-minus-the-Oxy Jackson online, I hope the LiA community, especially the large Huntsville contingent, will find a way to spend every possible minute ringing doorbells and dialing phones for Laura Hall between now and Tuesday. Anyone who isn't already in touch with the Hall campaign can make contact 
