I will continue to post a short note or story every day about fetal personhood and the wider GOP War on Women. As Dr. Abston has posted an excellent diary on the implications of restricting insurance coverage for contraception, this will be a sideline.
Today's note is a story that received wide circulation, but I think it bears remembrance:
Savita was 31 when she died after being denied an abortion during a second trimester miscarriage. As a dentist, she not only felt the infection in her body, she understood it. According to her husband she asked repeatedly for the medical staff at her Irish hospital to end the failed pregnancy that was poisoning her blood and would ultimately cause her organs to fail. She was told, “This is a Catholic country.” She had wanted a baby. Then she merely wanted to have less pain and to live. Instead, thanks to what Catholic ethicists call their “culture of life” she is dead.
Shadrack McGill (R-8) and his Merry Band of Beef Wits have now introduced a fetal personhood bill in the Alabama Senate -SB205.
This bill would define the term "persons" to include all human beings resulting from the union of the male sperm with the female egg either from sexual intercourse or in the case of in vitro fertilization, the fertilized egg or eggs relied on by a physician for implantation in the uterus. --synopsis
Let's meet the Beef Wits: Scott Beason is well known for creating 6 hour waits to renew car tags. Gerald Allen thinks that classics like "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "The Color Purple" should be "dumped in a hole and buried". Rusty Glover is an Eagle Forum member (along with Beason) who a mere 5 years ago was fulminating in the legislature about the "North American Union Conspiracy". Many tax dollars and much time later...crickets. Then there's Greg Reed - a Tiny Ayatollah in waiting - he's also backing Dial on the Ten Commandments, and can't wait to get his hands into medical practice by restricting pain medication from the chronically ill. MD? Nope. But hey, when did that ever stop our Duly Elected Leaders from playing Dr. Kildare three months a year?
In the Legislature, it's helpful to be a lawyer. I think Allen managed to pass the Alabama Bar, so he should know better. Shad McGill "attended" community college, and Beason got a degree in geology. Glover is a high school teacher.
Lawmakers who support personhood acknowledge their bills would violate federal law. But that's the point.
"By simply passing this bill, the lawsuits will come," said Rep. John LaBruzzo, a Republican from Metairie, La.
Well, Alabama never backed off from a lawsuit yet. We've already spent close to a million dollars on Roy Moore's fanaticism, and I'm sure we'll spend considerably more on this one. Moore is another "personhood" nut, so they have that base covered.
What will happen if personhood passes? Oh, not much.
Except:
1. No birth control except condoms
2. Prison for women who attempt to rid themselves of an unwanted pregnancy. (Iowa is trying for felony)
3. Ectopic pregnancies are still pregnancies, so you'll just have to suffer, Mom.
4. No in vitro fertilization, because the unused eggs are left out.
5. Women who suffer a natural miscarriage will be subject to criminal investigation and possibly prosecuted.
These are the Alabama Ayatollahs. Their ideal world is one where women "know their place" and stay in the kitchen where they belong. Can the hijab be far behind? N. Carolina is already considering giving 6 months in jail to any breast feeding woman who inadvertently bares a nipple. No country in the world save Ireland, which has been under the thumb of the Vatican for centuries, is introducing these sorts of laws.
Taking a cue from their failed presidential nominee, the GOP establishment has decided to abruptly pivot on an important issue. The party that cheered for "empty the clip," "show me your papers," & "self deportation" has now seen the demographic handwriting on the wall. They want to "deal with immigration" and take the issue off the table in future elections.
That long, low howl of protest you hear is undoubtedly coming from Scott Beason.
Writing for Forbes, Rick Ungar cites these poll results:
...Obama carried the Latino vote by a 75-23 margin—more than the roughly 70-30 split indicated by the exit polls—with voter turnout in the demographic totaling a full 10 percent of the total vote.
According to Stanford University’s Gary Segura, the professor who conducted the poll, the Latino vote delivered 5.4 percent of President Obama’s vote total, considerably more than Obama’s final lead over his challenger in the popular vote.
And so now, the GOP flip-flopping is a breathtaking spectacle that would make Romney proud. Sean Hannity led off with the announcement that he had "evolved" on the issue. Evolution? Oh my....
Radio and television hotspur Sean Hannity — who for years has spit the word “amnesty” like an epithet — declared Thursday that he has “evolved” and now supports creating a “pathway” to citizenship for those already in the country illegally. [...] The Fox star put his animus toward the issue on display again and again. [...] He listened politely as right-wing virago Michelle Malkin suggested that Democrats wanted amnesty so they could “recruit more illegal aliens, so they can turn them into Democratic voters.”
But this sudden interest in a more moderate approach to immigration will face a good deal of pushback from the GOP base. They're already grumbling about it on right wing blogs like Redstate. For example:
The Tea Party tried working WITHIN the Republican party, it is time to go rogue and LEAVE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY in the DUST. THEY ARE THE Minority, not us. IT is time for MASSIVE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE.
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To those who preach moderation I say: look at the vibrant GOP in the Northeast part of the nation (and now California). Have you noticed moderate Scott Brown, incumbent, lost to the 1/32 Cherokee? Have you noticed that "the most electable" moderate Mitt Romney just got his (and our) butts whumped -- in an election that should have been a cake-walk for us?
We're not sure how this fight will play out, but one thing is certain. It will be delicious to watch:
“We’re going back to the party of Shogun-type dynasties, where the Tea Party has their coalition, and the moderates have their coalition, and it’s going to be a battle to see who comes out on top,” said Luis Alvarado, a Republican strategist in Los Angeles with expertise on Latino voting patterns.
And how will the Alabama GOP react if/when the national party abandons its "self deportation" stance? I can't wait to find out.
As so often happens when Senator Beason opens his mouth, he had no idea what he was talking about. As Bloomberg reports:
Republican state Senator Scott Beason, a sponsor, said at a news conference last year that the restrictions on undocumented workers would “put thousands of native Alabamians back in the work force.”
Instead, it caused a labor shortage that resulted in the importation of hundreds of legal African and Haitian refugees, and Puerto Ricans, according to interviews with workers, advocacy organizations and businesses. Most were recruited by the poultry industry, in a segment of the economy that has been a heavy employer of undocumented workers, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a Washington research group. [...] Wayne Farms found Eritreans, displaced by war and conflict, and other Africans through East Coast Labor Solutions LLC, a Fairlea, West Virginia-based labor broker. East Coast has about 200 workers in Alabama, owner Ray Wiley said in an interview.
Most of these worker have landed in Albertville and I, for one, certainly hope that some of the African workers stay to open restaurants because Eritrean food is awesome!
But this article should raise a BIG red flag: these workers are being provided by "labor brokers" and the last time those guys were in the news, they were employing hapless "guest workers" in near sweatshop conditions in Huntsville at the Cinram DVD facility.
The workers are employed by Ambassador staffing agency. Ambassador distributed workers, upon arrival, among 20 local landlords. Circumstances varied greatly, but some workers reported paying as much as $300 per person per month to share a small, furnished apartment with three or more roommates.
In one case in November, The Times found four Jamaican women who paid a combined $1,200 a month for an apartment with busted plumbing and no heat that had rented for $450.
In February, the Fair Housing Center of Northern Alabama, a nonprofit agency based in Birmingham, and the NAACP began questioning housing for foreign workers in Huntsville.
Landlords "were charging some of the people $300 per bed," in "roach-infested" apartments, Jerry Burnet, chair of the state housing committee for the NAACP, told The Times last month. "They've got a little small bed, like you have in a barracks, and they were putting three in each room."
Wormsby said HUD opened the formal investigation after receiving the complaints gathered by the NAACP and the Fair Housing Center.
Remember though... compared to Gov. Mitt Romney's little paen to Chinese slave labor working conditions, Cinram was a real "worker's paradise." From his now-famous Q&A to wealthy supporters last Spring:
And they work in these huge factories, they made various uh, small appliances. And uh, as we were walking through this facility, seeing them work, the number of hours they worked per day, the pittance they earned, living in dormitories with uh, with little bathrooms at the end of maybe 10, 10 room, rooms. And the rooms they have 12 girls per room.
These types of working conditions are a feature, not a bug in the Republican plan for working Americans.
So I'd suggest that we give Senator Beason a nice little Bronx cheer for yet another of his "unintended consequences" to the immigration bill. He's managed to exchange one set of low wage workers who have little or no leverage or ability to demand fair wages & safe working conditions with another set. And yet... maybe it wasn't "unintended" after all!
Labor brokers have a shady reputation all over the world, from South Africa, to New Zealand, to Canada, and yes... in the US. Global Research studied the plight of these mobile, temporary workers and the description sounds depressingly familiar:
On top of low wages, no benefits, and no legal right to unionize, these workers face the constant threat of deportation if they speak out against their employer. It is within this context that we must understand the crash that six months ago killed 11 farm workers, including 9 migrants from Peru, near the Canadian town of Waterloo. Since the accident there has been no government investigation into the transportation and living conditions of migrant farm workers in Canada and fleeting media coverage. Like South Africa, migrant farm workers in Canada live in isolated rural areas, often housed directly on the farms, where they often experience severe discrimination and racism.
Don't get me wrong: I'm thrilled that some of these refugees have a chance at building a better life in a stable community with a decent job. But we need to be vigilant and make sure that's actually the case. Because past history has shown us clearly that these desperate people are willing to accept low wages, terrible working conditions, and are ripe for exploitation.
Anybody want to explain how this is an improvement?
Hey Gov. Bentley! Here's an easy way to add jobs in Alabama. The Medicaid expansion portion of the Affordable Care Act could create up to 62,000 new jobs in Alabama (PDF) - with the bulk of the money coming from the Federal government. Could the expected refusal of the GOP legislative supermajority to expand health insurance access to some of the poorest residents cost the party votes in 2014?
In a 2007 study, researchers at Stanford University argue that Federal stimulus spending - including matching Medicaid funds (the amount the feds contribute compared to the states) increases employment by 3.8 job years - 3.2 of which are outside government, health, & education sectors. Furthermore, the study calculates that jobs created by this spending have a cost-per-job of $26,000.
Now, let's compare the ACA plan to expand Medicaid (and cover people who now find affordable health care out of reach) with other schemes by the legislature to encourage job creation:
Carpenter Technology in Limestone County received $98 million in incentives for a promised 240 jobs. Cost: $408k per job.
Airbus - the recently announced deal in Mobile totaled $158.5 million in state and local incentives for 1000 permanent jobs. Cost: $158,500/job.
Yes, each of these deals comes with spinoff jobs - local restaurants, construction workers, car dealers, etc. etc. But so does Medicaid expansion! Compare the cost per job with Medicaid expansion - $26,000 - with any of these budget-busters listed above.
Why is it that Alabama's political leaders are so much more interested in handing out wads of free money to corporations and so indifferent to the financial and health struggles of its own citizens?
And how is it that the vast majority of these guys flaunt their so-called "Christian beliefs" at every opportunity - using them to justify everything from "anti-Sharia Law legislation" to decreased pay for teachers.
Hello... Senators McGill, Beason, Rep. Hubbard, Gov. Bentley, etc.... check the dictionary. When Jesus used the phrase "suffer the children," He wasn't planning to increase their suffering, but hoping they would draw near so He could ameliorate it. Yeah. Words have more than one meaning - and you can't make up your own.
Medicaid expansion adds jobs and relieves suffering. It's a win/win. So of course, the Alabama GOP will oppose it.
hat tip to Greg Varner for pointing out this study....
Republicans know they're on the far right edge of the fringe, hanging out in the chilly breeze, when they've lost James Dobson's Focus on the Family group. That's where Republican hard-liners on immigration such as Scott Beason, Robert Bentley and ... yes, Mitt Romney ... find themselves today.
Tom Minnery, the senior vice president of policy for one evangelical group, Focus on the Family, said many of the 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants should be free to “come out of the shadows” and “begin the process of restitution” leading to attaining legal residency.
Mr. Minnery spoke at a Capitol Hill news conference called to announce that more than 150 Christian evangelical leaders, including from the Southern Baptist Convention and the National Association of Evangelicals, were endorsing an overhaul of immigration policy.
The evangelical leaders expressed opposition to such notions as “self-deportation,” which Mr. Romney favored in a Republican debate and which urges strict enforcement of laws to encourage illegal immigrant workers to leave the country.
Laws like ours here in Alabama are intended to make life for undocumented immigrants so hellish -- racial profiling, questioning school kids, long lines, denial of water, power and sewer service, etc. -- that they will simply leave, thus saving the cost of deporting them. It's a cruel approach to the immigration problem, and as we have said time and again, UNCHRISTIAN.
And this is not an isolated incidence of conservatives trying to walk back the zenophobia. Former Bush Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had this to say at an immigration conference (several prominent right-wing speakers) in Atlanta earlier this week:
“This Republican party – and not to make this partisan – has done a terrible job talking about this issue in a way that’s very anti-Hispanic, and anti-immigrant, and I think that’s very, very unfortunate," he said. "And whether or not Gov. Romney can recover from that remains to be seen.”
It's about time groups like Focus on the Family and others who claim to support Christian values begin to voice opposition to these laws.
The remorse is political, too. With large hispanic populations in several swing states, Republican strategists are beginning to voice concern about their party's obsession with publicly beating up on brown people. Polls indicate the immigration hard-line hurts Romney's chances in several key states.
Mitt Romney's stance in favor of Arizona's immigration law makes Hispanic voters in the key swing states of Nevada, New Mexico and Florida less likely to vote for him, says a new poll from Project New America and Public Policy Polling.
So far Mitt Romney is sticking by his previous statements -- Arizona's law should be "a model," the "answer is self-deportation" and his promise to veto the DREAM Act.
Stay tuned, I sense another Romney flip-flop on the horizon.
Congratulations are in order for our Governor. Immigrants’ List (IL), a bipartisan political action committee, unveiled the inductees into their second annual Local Hall of Shame, including Alabama Governor Robert Bentley (R). The list 'honors' the ten worst anti-immigrant local politicians in America.
Yay, Alabama! We're in the top -- or should I say the bottom -- 10 ... AGAIN! HB56 author Sen. Scott Beason (R) made the list last year.
When you’re paying higher prices for food this fall – stretching your paycheck even further – you can thank Robert Bentley for costing you money.
Gov. Bentley signed Alabama’s notorious HB 56 (the "worst in the nation" anti-immigration law). It starts with "papers, please" mandates, and adds to it. He wants K-12 public schools to investigate the documentation of every student. A provision tries to stop the undocumented from attending public colleges or universities. It bans landlords from renting to the undocumented, requires every business to investigate employees, and churches have pushed back against a portion prohibiting the transporting or harboring of undocumented immigrants. Occupying the same governor’s mansion once occupied by George Wallace, Bentley is a sad reminder that we still have yet to overcome.
Immigrants’ List Board Member Ted Ruthizer said “Bentley’s worst-in-America immigration law is causing Alabama to become one of the least welcoming places in the U.S. for businesses to locate and create jobs. We’re a better country than this.”
Didn't somebody say "R" is for reverse progress? It's certainly true with Gov. Dr. Bentley at the helm.
Wow... this "special session to deal with redistricting" has expanded to include everything from mandatory drug testing to immigration. And now Scott Beason has a new cause: party registration & closed primaries. Wonder if his primary election loss to Rep. Spencer Bachus has anything to do with his new cause....
Under existing law, an elector may choose which party's primary to vote in.
This bill would require an elector to register a party affiliation in order to receive the party's ballot in the primary election.
This bill would allow an elector who remains unaffiliated to vote only in non-partisan races in a primary.
Now, there appears to be a flaw with Beason's bill - aren't you surprised? There could be a Constitutional issues here. Surprised? In Tashijan v Republican Party of Connecticut:
the United States Supreme Court determined that Connecticut’s closed primary law was unconstitutional. The Connecticut closed primary law “[required] voters in any political party primary to be registered members of that party.”
The Republican Party of Connecticut, however, wanted to allow independents to vote in the Republican primary if they so chose. The problem with this closed primary law was that it prevented the Republican Party from allowing independent “registered voters not affiliated with any party to vote in Republican primaries for federal and statewide offices.”
Since the Republican Party of Connecticut was not able to choose who it wanted to vote in the primary, the United States Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, stated that the closed primary law in Connecticut “impermissibly burdens the right of the Party and its members protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
Since this bill is in no way related to redistricting or any other issues in Gov. Bentley's call for a special session, it's my understanding that Beason had to have "unanimous consent" to present this bill.
Does that mean that the party registration bill has wide support in the Legislature? Or is it simply a way for them to keep Beason occupied with a loser bill while the rest of the Legislature gets some real work done?
The GOP War on Women is nothing if not tenacious. Even though the Governor's Proclamation calling the Legislature into "extraordinary session" does not mention abortion, a Republican State Senator is still prosecuting the War on Women, even into the special session. GOPers didn't pass all the reproductive restrictions they wanted in the regular session, so they're back in the special session -- which the citizens of Alabama are paying for by the day.
Notice, abortion is not on this list. Because of that absence, by law, Beason's bill to impose new regulations on abortion clinics and reproductive health centers in Alabama would have to pass with a 2/3rds majority. SB27 is a Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers or "TRAP" bill:
"TRAP" laws single out the medical practices of doctors who provide abortions, and impose on them requirements that are different and more burdensome than those imposed on other medical practices. For example, such regulations may require that abortions be performed in far more sophisticated and expensive facilities than are necessary to ensure the provision of safe procedures. Compliance with these physical plant requirements may require extensive renovations or be physically impossible in existing facilities. TRAP laws may also allow unannounced state inspections, even when patients are present. These excessive and unnecessary government regulations increase the cost and scarcity of abortion services, harming women's health and inhibiting their reproductive choices.
Beason's SB27 is a close copy of Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin's (also R) HB223 TRAP bill which passed the State House in the regular session but died in the Senate. Let's hope this one dies in the special session as well.
There was a heartwarming moment in the Alabama Senate yesterday.
No, I don't mean the moment when members of the group Alabama’s Conscience fell to their knees, praying and singing, in front of the entrance to the Senate chambers. I suspect watching members of Alabama's Conscience handcuffed and dragged away while shouting "An injustice to one is an injustice to all," just gave Alabama xenophobes a Chris Mathews style tingly thrill up their legs -- mostly because it's so hard to warm hearts of cold hard stone.
The heartwarming moment I'm talking about came later, after the arrest of the people praying at the Senate door, when Senators took up one last ill-conceived immigration bill ... and voted to once again put their trust in Scott Beason.
Senate Republicans' faith in Beason is really touching. Here is a man who made national headlines -- NOT in a good way -- for saying Republicans should "empty the clip" against immigration. He has a string of disasters to his credit. He secretly recorded conversations with fellow legislators for the FBI, almost single handedly touching off the monumental BingoGate prosecution. He then proceeded to sabotage that prosecution his horrible performance on the witness stand. Remember "aborigines," anyone?
Beason's Republican colleagues were so embarrassed by his BingoGate antics that they eventually stripped him of his chairmanship of the powerful Rules Committee. But deep down, they still trust him. God only knows why.
Last year Republicans turned to Beason to craft an immigration law. He farmed that task out to a bigot in a turkey blind and brought back HB56, perhaps the most infamous law in the nation. Scott Beason told his Senate buddies to vote for HB56 last year and, trusting in Scott, they did so, even though many later lamented the "unintended consequences" of the law and admitted they acted in haste had no idea what it would really do. They put their faith in Scott Beason last year and he let them down.
So .... after Beason led them down the primrose path last year, who did Senate Republicans turn to yesterday, with only hours left to fix Beason's immigration mess? In a moment of childlike faith, they turned to none other than ... Scott Beason!!! ... to get them out of the mess he got them into.
It was heartwarming, in a sad, sick sort of way, to see these adult Senators who had been repeatedly bit on the you-know-what by Scott Beason's bad advice give him yet another chance to screw them (and Alabama) over. They took a bill which had been debated by the public and the legislature for months and, in an appalling leap of faith, swapped it out for a brand new 63 page substitute offered by Scott Beason. A substitute widely held to be even worse than Beason's original and which I doubt most Senators had even read, let alone understood. Only one Republican (Bill Holtzclaw) voted against the Beason substitution and one Democrat (Jerry Fielding) voted for it. Fielding was also the only Democrat to vote for passage of the Beason substitution, which passed 20 to 7.
Childlike faith. Seriously, I know 12 year olds who could do a more competent job of legislating than these jokers.
Republican Senators -- and their cohorts in the House -- may have faith in Scott Beason, but the Governor darned sure doesn't. He's already vetoed Beason's latest monstrosity and told the legislature to do it over in a special session.
Will they keep the faith in Scott, or will Senate Republicans grow up and get it right this time?
Texas Republican lawmakers are fired up at the prospect of a tough new voter id law. But they aren't nearly as excited by the thought that voters might read their emails & memos about the legislation. So you have to wonder if some Texas legislators have an "Aborigine problem..."
The state of Texas wants the discussions their Republican legislators had about passing a voter ID law to stay secret.
Texas, which sued the federal government in an attempt to have their voter ID law approved, said in a court filing last month that “communications between members of the state legislature, communications between state legislators and their staff, and communications between state legislators and their constituents” should be protected by legislative privilege. The state also tried to prevent officials with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division from deposing legislators who supported the voter ID legislation known as SB 14.
Why might legislators want to keep discussions about legislation "private?" Just ask Scott Beason, the former chair of the powerful Senate Rules Committee.
“I would think that the fact that embarrassing and problematic information came out in the Texas redistricting case… would make them want to keep embarrassing info out,” Bagenstos said.
It wouldn't be surprising to anyone if the Alabama GOP super-majority in the legislature seizes on this tactic. They've already shown that they prefer fewer encounters with voters and have no problem passing toothless ethics legislation. It's not a leap to think that the less we know about their antics, the better off they are.
Hey, if I were a GOP legislator in any state, I wouldn't want people monitoring my activities either...
A new poll, conducted by Anzalone Liszt Research, found that fewer than 20 percent of Alabamians are comfortable allowing Alabama's Beason-Hammon immigration law to remain unchanged. The law, also known as HB56, has made negative headlines around the nation and the world. Alabamians realize this law was a mistake and needs to be corrected.
Regardless of political affiliation, clear majorities want changes made to the new immigration law.
53% of Republican voters said the law needs changes. 58% of Democrats and 64% of African-Americans want the law changed as do an eye-opening 60% of independent voters.
"As more and more Alabamians from all walks of life feel the impact of this harsh overreaching law, it's clear that the legislature must repeal HB 56," states Zayne Smith of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice. "HB 56 has harmed our economy, threatens to interfere with our churches and has set Alabama's pathway towards being a more racially tolerant state back many years. You can’t tweak hate, the only solution to get Alabama back on the right track is to repeal HB 56," Smith continued.
This harsh immigration law will cost Alabama billions of dollars every year and the longer it stays in effect, the more damage it will do to our economy and our public image. Public opinion says change it, but the wiser course would be to repeal HB56 altogether.
"The chairman of the financial service committee had a tough race -- a group, anti-incumbent group dropped a lot of money in right at the end of his primary, and he was sitting there, he needed some help," Gose says, "so we stepped up to the plate, and tried to help. And he was luckily successful and will be here with us I think and will be meeting and talking with many of you."
The Credit Union Legislative Action Council (a PAC) ran about $28,000 worth of radio ads supporting Bachus against primary challenger Scott Beason. Why is the credit union lobby so anxious to have Spencer Bachus in their debt?
Milton McGregor, Sen. Harri Anne Smith, former Sens. Larry Means and Jim Preuitt, lobbyist Tom Coker and Country Crossing spokesman Jay Walker -- a jury has found every single one of them NOT GUILTY on all counts.
This is NOT GUILTY phase II of the bingo trials. Phase I was last summer when another jury cleared the defendants on several counts. Two of the original defendants, Sen. Quinton Ross (D) and lobbyist Bob Geddie were cleared on all counts at that time.
Sadly, another defendant, former state employee Ray Crosby, died of natural causes in January. He was over $600,000 in debt -- legal expenses accounted for a good portion of that -- and had recently filed for bankruptcy. A friend said Crosby had heart trouble and was "extremely stressed from the trial" and ensuing financial issues. Reasonable people can connect the dots and figure out that the bingo trial sure didn't help him survive his heart problems.
If there were any justice, Beason and the ALGOP -- they owe their legislative supermajorities to the October 2010 bingo indictment -- would foot the legal bills, not only for the men and woman who have been found NOT GUILTY, but for the United States as well. Fat chance.
Scott has also been a leader in fighting political corruption which enabled the arrest and conviction of the key players in the Alabama bingo scandal.
What convictions, Scott? What key players? Two juries heard the evidence and didn't find any of the defendants guilty of anything Beason accused them of.
The national Republican "Establishment" is circling the wagons around former Governor Mitt Romney and the Alabama GOP "Establishment" is offering the same favor to beleaguered Congressman/Insider Trader Spencer Bachus (AL-06). The Birmingham News reports that Senator Sessions endorsed Bachus. Senator Shelby helpfully donated $10,000 to the campaign.
Sen. Richard Shelby's leadership political action committee gave $10,000 to Bachus' campaign account; Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, gave $4,000 from his campaign account; and Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, gave $1,000 from her campaign account, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission reports.
A new advertisement showing in Alabama, where Mr. Bachus is facing a primary challenge, blames “liberal Washington reporters,” but then credits “news reporters” with being clear that “the attacks are false,” as headlines roll across the screens. The voice-over says, “Obama’s Democrat allies want to destroy Spencer Bachus,” and adds that such efforts are propping up his opponent in the March 13 primary, Scott Beason.
No matter which Republican "wins" the AL-06 race, the real winner is the Democratic candidate in the district. There are two vying in the primary - so all you folks in that district stay the heck out of the GOP primary and help choose your Democratic candidate!!
Democrats can choose from:
Trussville lawyer William D. Barnes, who mounted a spirited campaign against Richard Shelby in 2008. Sadly, he was even opposed by some in the leadership in his own party. Thank heavens that crew is no longer running the show!
Barnes cites transportation and infrastructure projects as a way to jump-start economic growth. "Members of Congress can provide funding for his or her district to improve roads, bridges, parks, etc.," Barnes said. "This will provide needed jobs and improve our quality of living." He said the work should be paid for with either new revenue, spending cuts or a combination of both, and he opposes tax breaks for American companies that ship jobs overseas. [...] Barnes said abortion is a legal choice for women as established by the U.S. Supreme Court. [...] Barnes gave a specific list of conditions that must be met before American military intervention: clear and present threat to the national security of the U.S. or its allies; clear and present threat to human life; substantiated needs for the intervention; and a clear exit strategy.
Bailey said the last people who want to go to war are soldiers and their families, but they do so if they're called.
"Every aspect of diplomacy should be exercised and every political avenue explored before we resort to obligating the lives of the great brave men and women in our armed forces," she said. "Establishing a certain criteria for military intervention would be impossible as no two issues, conflicts or situations are the same." [...] On abortion, Bailey said Americans don't want government telling them what they can or can't do in their personal lives.
"That is not freedom," she said; abortion is legal and a woman has the right to make decisions concerning her own body. However, she said her family has benefited from three generations of adoptions, and she prefers adoption over abortion.
Barnes gave a specific list of conditions that must be met before American military intervention: clear and present threat to the national security of the U.S. or its allies; clear and present threat to human life; substantiated needs for the intervention; and a clear exit strategy.
Many thanks to both candidates for standing up for Democratic principles and Alabama. We certainly deserve better leadership than we've been getting from our current AL-06 congressman. And if you think Scott Beason is a disaster as a State Senator... imagine him in Congress!
Vote in the March 13 Democratic primary!
Reminder to anyone running for delegate as a Democrat.... we'd love to have you post a diary about why you're running. Make sure you include your congressional district. We'll front-page the entries, but don't wait until the last minute!
Help send a message to our state legislators that HB56 is not Alabama.
February 14 is the kick-off of a series of lobby days to show legislators that Alabamians want HB56 to be repealed immediately. We cannot continue to let our state suffer under this economic, moral and civil rights crisis. WE LOVE ALABAMA!
Place: Alabama State House, 11 South Union Street, Montgomery.
Last week Scott Beason stood on the Capitol steps and told Tea Partiers that Alabama's draconian immigration law is "one of the best ones in the country." His audience for this pronouncement? "About 100 people."
The crowd asking for repeal will be many times that, so if you don't want to spend a lonely Valentine's Day, come to the One Heart One Alabama Rally.
Spencer Bachus got to bask in the glow of that insider trading bill for, oh, two or three whole hours yesterday. Then news broke that the Office of Congressional Ethics* is investigating the Birmingham area Congressman for ... what else? ... insider trading.
The Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent investigative agency, opened its probe late last year after focusing on numerous suspicious trades on Bachus’s annual financial disclosure forms, the individuals said. OCE investigators have notified Bachus that he is under investigation and that they have found probable cause to believe insider-trading violations have occurred.
Bachus' challengers were quick to take advantage of the Bachus investigation.
Republican Scott Beason said, “Alabamians need to be sure that their Representative is looking out for them, not lining his own pockets. It is now clearer than ever that we need to send new leadership to clean up the corruption and unethical behavior in Washington.”
William Barnes, one of Bachus' Democratic challengers, was also pointed in his comments on the OCE investigation:
Since 1993, Congressman Bachus has represented the interests of Wall Street bankers in Congress. This is according to the Republican ideology of serving Big Business and Big Oil. When Congressman Bachus became the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, he stated that his job was to “serve the banks.” He voted for bailout of Wall Street by taxpayers (TARP), but then voted against legislation designed to prevent future Wall Street meltdowns. Rep. Bachus accepts campaign contributions from large international banks and investment firms. Congressman Bachus should be more concerned with honestly serving the people in the 6th District, instead of banks and himself.
I call on the people of Alabama’s 6th Congressional District to conduct a serious evaluation of Congressman Bachus career. Is this who we want to represent us in Washington D.C.?
Bachus' first "career evaluation" by voters will be in the March 13 Republican primary. It's time to start cleaning out the cesspool.
*The OCE is an independent, non-partisan entity created in 2008 and charged with "reviewing allegations of misconduct against Members, officers, and staff of the United States House of Representatives."
Via ThinkProgress, who asked Florida Republican Jeb Bush about Alabama's Beason-Hammon Immigration Law, HB56:
The problem is that the federal law’s not being enforced. The more that’s being done to enforce the borders and to enforce the laws, the greater probability that this issue begins to subside. From a conservative point of view, I think that’s appropriate and important because Hispanic voters hear these debates and see the ramifications of the Alabama law and other things like that and get turned off. It’s not a good thing — I know this will sound a little crazy — but I happen to believe that if swing voters decide elections and swing voters in swing states are the most important voters in the presidential race, and if you send a signal that turns them off, that’s a bad thing. So from a practical political view, putting aside the policy, it makes no sense to me that we are sending these signals, not withstanding the frustration that people feel that the federal government’s not enforcing the immigration laws of the country.
Interesting that Bush decided to argue that HB56 is dumber than dirt on political grounds rather than law enforcement, economic or humanitarian grounds, even though there's plenty of ammunition for those arguments. Perhaps he realizes fellow conservatives don't give a rat's eyelash about law enforcement, economic or humanitarian considerations -- they just want to beat Obama.
Federal prosecutors indicated in pretrial conversations that they do not intend to put Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, and former Rep. Ben Lewis, R-Dothan, on the witness stand in the second trial but, instead, will just play some of the tapes they made, several defense lawyers said.
Darn! I was looking forward to what crazy things Beason would say next and I'll bet Beason was counting on the trial publicity to boost his congressional campaign.
In other words, Scott Beason* is officially challenging Spencer Bachus for the right to carry the GOP banner in Alabama's 6th congressional district. This is the internal division within the Republican party, distilled down to its purest form: white supremacists vs. corporate shills.
This will be a battle between the nutty social conservative GOPers and the money folks in the Republican party. The wedge is perfectly placed to split Republicans right down the middle. Look for at least one, andpossibly even two, Democratic contenders positioning themselves to capitalize on this GOP civil war.
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I will continue to post a short note or story every day about fetal personhood and the wider GOP War on Women. As Dr. Abston has posted an excellent diary on the implications of restricting insurance coverage for contraception, this will be a sideline.
Breaking---
Congratulations are in order for our Governor. Immigrants’ List (IL), a bipartisan political action committee, unveiled the inductees into their second annual Local Hall of Shame, 
There was a heartwarming moment in the Alabama Senate yesterday.
Rep. 
Scott "
In other words, Scott Beason* is officially challenging Spencer Bachus for the right to carry the GOP banner in Alabama's 6th congressional district. This is the internal division within the Republican party, distilled down to its purest form: white supremacists vs. corporate shills.
