Governor Riley's office, and especially spokesman Jeff Emerson, should issue an immediate apology to Rep. Artur Davis (D, AL-07) and the people of the 7th Congressional District.
Davis sent a respectful, serious letter (see BenGoshi's post just below and full text below the fold) to Gov. Riley about concerns of his constituents that Stimulus funds are not reaching "the most underserved areas in Alabama" -- many of which are in Davis' district -- and that the decision making process to award Stimulus contracts is not clear. The letter also invited the Governor to send representatives from ADECA and ALDOT to a June 22 meeting of 7th District community leaders.
The question over transparency in spending federal stimulus money is not unique to the 7th District and it's no secret some of our hardest-hit counties are being left out. Davis certainly has the right and obligation to forward concerns of his constituents to the Governor. Did he get a serious reply from Bob Riley? No, he did not. He got this snide, condescending, flippant remark delivered through Riley's spokesman:
"If the congressman believes stimulus money is not flowing to people quickly enough, he needs to scoot on down to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and complain about that," said Riley spokesman Jeff Emerson.
The Governor of Alabama dismissed the concerns of a US Congressman and his constituents as though they were some kind of joke. To his credit, Davis' office is sticking to the high ground with this response:
Unfortunately, the Riley administration has decided to turn a request for help into a partisan campaign offensive and a personal attack. Regretfully, instead of accepting Congressman Davis’ invitation to meet with community leaders and elected officials in the 7th District to hear firsthand their concerns about the stimulus, the governor’s office has resorted to political attacks.
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Once again, the congressman renews his invitation to ADECA and the Alabama Department of Transportation to come to Selma, Alabama on Monday, June 22nd to experience for themselves the frustrations that the congressman heard personally as recently as this morning in Wilcox County, where he met with county commissioners regarding their deep concerns about Alabama’s execution of the stimulus package.
The Governor and his spokesman owe Davis and his constituents an immediate and sincere apology. Furthermore, the Governor should make sure the appropriate ADECA and ALDOT officials attend the June 22 meeting in Selma -- in fact, Governor Riley ought to be at that meeting himself to make it clear to state employees that concerns over the Stimulus money must be taken seriously.
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You may recall that three (3) weeks ago Mooncat posted a story on the cluster*&%# that seems to be developing re: the State's mishandling of funds from the American Recovery & Revinvestment Act (aka "Stimulus Package"). The story's here and I invite you to (re)familiarize yourself with it:
Artur Davis has sent Bob Riley a letter today. Excerpts below: .
May 29, 2009
Dear Governor Riley,
I write regarding concerns that my constituents have raised with the state's administration of funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
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[M]y office has unfortunately received too many complaints regarding our state government's administration of recovery funds that are targeted at infrastructure and community development. The consistent refrain from numerous business owners, local government leaders and community groups is that there is too little transparency in the process; they complain that not enough information has been provided regarding the process for competing for stimulus dollars or the method the state uses for evaluating projects for funding.
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Congress made the decision to give state governments--and not members of the US House or Senate-- exclusive authority over how stimulus dollars would be processed. I suggest that it is time for a serious reevaluation of Alabama's process for distributing these funds, with an eye toward clarifying the decision-making process and accelerating the speed at which stimulus dollars reach some of the most underserved areas in Alabama. I also propose that you send representatives of ADECA . . . and the Department of Transportation to a meeting of community leaders from my district that I will convene to discuss the progress of the stimulus on June 22nd. . . ."
Remember that $99 million in federal stimulus money that would have helped extend unemployment benefits? Riley, along with some other governors, turned it down.
Well, less than a week after Governor Riley was showing his concern for the unemployed in Alabama by dropping in on the state Career Center in Montgomery, we learn that the state will be looking to Washington for cash after all. Struggling to deal with a 9% unemployment rate - the highest in 22 years, the state unemployment fund is running out of money!
The state likely will have to borrow about $50 million from the federal government early next year to keep its unemployment compensation trust fund from running out of money, state officials said.
The whole Birmingham News article is a fun read.
Remember, Riley turned down the stimulus money because it could lead to businesses paying higher unemployment taxes in the future.
But gee, why do Governor Riley and Tom Surtees, Director of the Department of Industrial Relations, think Alabama can pay off the money, interest free in 2010?
Why, because unemployment taxes are going to rise!
Surtees said one reason he expects tax collections to exceed benefit payments next year is that the tax paid by employers into the trust fund will increase starting Jan. 1.
So we left $100 million on the table to keep taxes from rising, but we can repay the loan because... well... taxes are rising....
I don't want to hear another word about how the federal government never does anything for Alabama. We're a welfare state, getting back $1.63 for every dollar in federal tax. Most of the former Confederate states are welfare states. Maybe it has to do with missing out on any economic development in the late nineteenth century -- we got something called Reconstruction and crushing poverty instead. Gov. Bob Riley can tout his principled stand against federal stimulus funds all he wants, but the money is coming to Alabama and -- big surprise! -- Riley is not turning it down.
Concrete paving interests are fighting with the traditional asphalt pavers over about $70 million of Obama Stimulus road money -- the first installment of more than half a billion headed to Alabama.
Food stamp benefits will increase in April, thanks to stimulus money. According to a Moody's study, "the fastest way to infuse money into the economy is through expanding the food-stamp program. For every dollar spent on that program $1.73 is generated throughout the economy, [economist Mark Zandi] said." Very stimulating!
Alabama has a website dedicated to the Economic Recovery Act (Stimulus) where you can get general information on the impact of the federal stimulus money.
The stimulus package isn't the whole story -- Alabama's Colonial Bancgroup is getting a share of the Wall Street Bailout money, another half billion $$:
The bank, which has about $26 billion in assets, must raise $300 million to qualify for $550 million of funds from the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program.
And don't forget Jefferson County. Bob Riley is appealing to the feds to stretch out payments on those bad sewer debts. He also has some home-grown options to deal with the sewer mess. I'm no investment guru, but this reminds me of a shell game.
"The bottom line is, the financial world has no faith in Jefferson County. That's why we have to try to put this authority in place," he said. The bills would create a new brand name for bonds backed by Jefferson County taxes and sewer system revenues.
Same county, same sewer, same debt, new name = new investors. There's one born every minute, I reckon.
Ok... all I'm about to say is anecdotal. But really, that's how most people perceive the economy, their community, and their place in it.
I can't be the only person who remembers the last recession where an employer would advertise 50 jobs and have 2,000 show up to apply. Or the last time that hard economic times hit Madison County (the contract electronic industry specifically), and employees at SCI and AVEX lived in fear of being called into their manager's office.
This past week after finding out that two neighbors have been laid off, I've been having flashbacks, and have some personal experiences and anecdotes to share....
After all the bluster, Bob Riley is not actually standing in the bank doorway blocking the federal stimulus money lest it corrupt Alabama's morally pure economy. The first federal stimulus check is in the bank.
169 million dollars will be used to pay medical bills for Alabamians in the program. The money came in around 10 Wednesday morning from Washington. This check covers expenses from October 2008 through March 2009, and will continue each quarter.
The federal dollars means Medicaid will not have to make cuts. Carol Steckel is the Alabama Medicaid Commissioner. She tells WSFA 12 News, "It will go to pay for physician services. It will go to pay for maternity services, and nursing home services. It will go to finance the healthcare services for the close to 1 million Medicaid recipients in this state."
In other words, the money will go to helping Alabamians. And it will percolate around our economy preserving some jobs and creating others. Stimulating.
Gov. Bob Riley said Sunday that he may reject about $66 million of federal economic stimulus money meant to expand unemployment benefits, calling it a bribe that usurps state authority.
Up until now I've been proud that the governor of the Great State of Alabama was avoiding the political grandstanding affecting so many of his party. Guess Jindal and Barbour leaned on him while he was up there in Washington.
Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- what we usually call the stimulus package -- is the most sweeping economic recovery plan in history. 3.5 million jobs in construction, renewable energy, transportation and public safety and a tax cut for 95% of working families. And that tax cut will show up in paychecks by April 1st!
We all know which Alabamians voted for it (only Davis) and which voted against it (all the rest) but we can be grateful that Gov. Riley, at least, is not joining in the political grandstanding by threatening to turn down Alabama's share of the money and jobs.
The Alabama Legislature convenes tomorrow in what could be an interesting, tumultous session. Here's a brief overview of what's on tap.....
1. Alabama's budget shortfall: The Legislative Fiscal Office estimated the two state budgets would shrink by $700 million in the coming fiscal year, 2010.
2. Senate Leadership Battles: The number of Democrats in the Alabama Senate is down by 3, giving Republican senators a stronger position.
3. Ethics Reform Bills: Republicans Mike Ball and Arthur Orr have again introduced their package of ethics bills. Might this be the year for meaningful reform? (I'll have a longer, more detailed post about this issue in a day or so).
Of course, as we head into the 2009 session, the 2010 elections won't be far from anyone's mind. It remains to be seen whether we have a few months of political posturing or a real effort on the part of Legislators to do the work we elected them to do.
Let's play a new game. Our representatives in Washington have been voting. Who made us proud?
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was passed by the House yesterday and tomorrow it will become the first piece of legislation signed into law by President Obama. How did our representatives vote? Congressman Davis (D, AL-07) voted in favor. Congressmen Bright (D, AL-02), Griffith (D, AL-05) and all the Republicans voted against. Rep. Davis issued the following statement today honoring the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act:
“The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act honors the sacrifices of working mothers in Alabama who wake up before dawn, drop their children off at school, put in a long day’s work and then return home to the never ending demands of motherhood. Too many of these women toil for smaller wages than the men who work beside them: they suffer from old ideas that exist about the relative value of men and women in the workplace. A year ago, the Supreme Court made the struggle for pay equity harder by complicating the laws for redressing wage imbalances based on gender. I am proud to have stood with an exceptionally courageous Alabama woman like Lilly Ledbetter to right this wrong. I am also pleased that there is now a Congress and a President who believe that our laws should reward sacrifice and hard work and punish the remaining indignities in our society that are based on gender.”
There was a vote today on President Obama's Stimulus Package. As is becoming all too usual, Alabama's Congressmen voted the very same way as on Lilly Ledbetter: Davis voted YES; all the Republicans voted NO; and Bright and Griffith voted with the Republicans. This explanation is from Rep. Parker Griffith:
“We need to jump start our economy and create new jobs, but this bill does not do enough to cut taxes, support small businesses or invest in our research and development programs.” Griffith said. “I hope that we can work together to improve this bill as it moves through the process so that taxpayers are protected and we do more to invest in the programs and projects important to North Alabama.”
Honestly, it sounds like he's saying there wasn't enough pork for the homefolks in that stimulus package. And the tax cut stuff is pure rightwing rhetoric. We used to talk about Cramer being a Bush Dog, but Bush is gone now. Ddo we just call these guys Red Dogs or what?
(Updated 7:48 PM Alabama Time. - promoted by Redeye)
Seriously, the mainstream media, and the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads think you are stoopid and you are playing right into their hands with the Blagoveich/Burris made for TeeVee Scandal of the Week. Think about it, this is the same MSM and TTPH's that had you believing Saddam Hussien had tons and tons of WMD and were about to use them on us. The same MSM and TTPH's that had you believing there was a link between Saddam Hussien and 911. The same MSM and TTPH's that helped out an under cover CIA agent. We won't talk about Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman, but do you get my drift?
The Democratic leadership's current contingency plan for next week is reportedly for Burris to be met at the chamber by a doorman telling him he's not allowed inside.
Psst! If you do this you will look like former Governor George C. Wallace standing in the school house door of the University of Alabama denying Attorney General nominee Eric Holders sister in law, Vivian Malone entrance. Is that really the image you want to protray to the American people? I don't think so. But that's just me.
I can't be the only person who remembers the last recession where an employer would advertise 50 jobs and have 2,000 show up to apply. Or the last time that hard economic times hit Madison County (the contract electronic industry specifically), and employees at SCI and AVEX lived in fear of being called into their manager's office. 
