Hillary Clinton: DMV closures “a blast from the Jim Crow past”
Former Secretary of State and more-or-less frontrunner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination Hillary Rodham Clinton stopped in Birmingham this weekend to speak at the Alabama Democratic Conference‘s semi-annual convention, yet another sign of Alabama’s growing political power in the presidential nominating process. It wasn’t all love for Clinton and Alabama when she visited the state, however: she also penned a scathing editorial wherein she accused Gov. Robert Bentley and the state Legislature of intentionally infringing upon African-Americans’ right to vote by shuttering some auxiliary DMV offices in the wake of steep budget cuts. She drew heavily upon the names and imagery of the Civil Rights Era in her Saturday op-ed piece, stopping just short of saying the decisions were racist. The closings would make getting driver’s licenses and personal identification cards much harder for many African Americans. That would make voting much harder, too. As many Alabamians have said in recent days, that’s just dead wrong. Governor Bentley is insisting that the closings had nothing to do with race, but the facts tell a different story. Fifty years after Rosa Parks sat, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. marched, and John Lewis bled, it’s hard to believe Americans are still forced to fight for their right to vote—especially in places where the civil rights movement fought so hard all those years ago. The parallels are inescapable: Alabama is living through a blast from the Jim Crow past. The Wellesley and Yale Law graduate also got folksy in her misive, twice employing homespun-esque metaphors to illustrate her point. Debunking what she called Gov. Bentley’s “excuses” for the DMV closures – namely limited state resources – Clinton said: It reminds me of that old saying: “You find a turtle on a fence post, it didn’t get there on its own.” Institutionalized racism doesn’t just happen. People make it happen. Taking a swipe at a handful of her Republican rivals, HRC went back to the well of colorful language in trying to substantiate her charges of racial bias on the part of GOP policymakers. Jeb Bush says he wouldn’t reauthorize the Voting Rights Act because voting conditions have improved since it was passed. As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg put it, that’s like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you’re not getting wet. When asked recently about voter ID laws, Marco Rubio replied, “What’s the big deal?” John Kasich restricted early voting in Ohio after the 2008 election, when 77 percent of early voters in the most populated county were African American. What part of democracy are all these candidates afraid of? Clinton unveiled a three-part plan to remedy the perceived injuries to Civil Rights in Alabama. First, Congress should put principle ahead of politics and pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act. This bipartisan bill would restore the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. Second, we should set a standard across this country of at least 20 days of early, in-person voting—including opportunities for weekend and evening voting. Third, we should enact universal, automatic voter registration, so every young person in every state is automatically registered to vote when they turn 18, unless they opt out. I applaud California for beginning to implement a similar approach last week. More states should follow their lead. Those steps are unlikely to gain traction anytime soon, as is her Democratic bid for the White House among Alabama voters. But she must be commended for stopping by.
Bradley Byrne: Time to lift oil export ban
Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin orchestrated a major power play in an effort to exert control over Ukraine, a sovereign nation to Russia’s west. After the citizens of Ukraine ousted their Russian-backed president, Putin sent Russian troops into Ukraine and eventually annexed a portion of Ukraine, known as Crimea. Throughout this conflict, Vladimir Putin threatened to shut off Ukraine’s energy supply unless they complied with Russian demands. This was a perfect opportunity for the United States to step in, provide Ukraine with energy resources, and assist a country who was trying to stand up against communism. Unfortunately, a 40 year old ban prevented the United States from exporting our crude oil. The ban is a relic of the past that was instituted in 1975 by President Gerald Ford in response to the Arab oil embargo. Times have clearly changed and the ban is no longer needed. This debate over lifting the oil export ban comes as the United States is producing more oil than ever before. Over the last decade, the United States has become the leading producer of oil and natural gas in the world. Unfortunately, President Barack Obama is opposed to Congress lifting the crude oil export ban because he believes the decision should be left up to the federal Department of Commerce. In other words, the Obama Administration would rather an unelected federal agency make the decision instead of the democratically-elected Congress. By standing in the way, President Obama is tying our hands both domestically and around the globe. A key national security tool is being able to ensure our allies have dependable access to affordable energy. Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal that repealing the oil export ban is a “powerful, nonlethal tool” to help spread democracy abroad. Russia is a clear example of why the United States should repeal the ban. A number of countries like Finland and Bulgaria depend on Russia for more than 50% of their oil. In the Middle East, Iran uses its energy supply to raise revenue that can then be funneled to terrorist organizations. The United States should offer an energy alternative to these bad actors. The benefits of lifting the ban are not limited to foreign policy. In fact, there are clear economic benefits. Studies show that lifting the ban would create an additional 630,000 U.S. jobs by 2019. This economic growth would also allow manufacturers to expand and boost our gross domestic product. The Government Accountability Office also found that lifting the ban would lower gas prices right here in the United States by 1.5 cents to 13 cents per gallon. Even President Obama’s own Department of Energy found that increased oil exports would help lower gas prices at home. A recent survey found that 69% of Americans support lifting the ban, and numerous editorial boards from both conservative and liberal papers like the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Detroit News, and the Washington Times have called for the ban to be lifted. With this mind, I was proud to vote recently in favor of a bill to repeal the outdated oil export ban. The bill passed the House by a vote of 261 to 159, with 26 Democrats joining with the Republican majority to pass this commonsense legislation. This is clearly an issue on which Republicans and Democrats can find common ground. So, I call on President Obama to reconsider his veto threat and to look at the clear economic and national security benefits of repealing the oil export ban. It is critically important that America once again lead on the world stage. Bradley Byrne is a member of the U.S. Congress representing Alabama’s 1st Congressional District.
Cold war between 2016 GOP rivals Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio heating up
Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio are on course for a collision. There once was mutual public deference. But that has eroded as the Florida Republicans battling for the presidential nomination have come to see the other as the main threat to lofty ambitions: Bush claims the party establishment’s mantle, Rubio wants be the party’s fresh national face. Bush now routinely compares Rubio’s background to Barack Obama‘s before the Democrat became president. Rubio says it’s “time to turn the page,” a reference that strikes as hard at Bush’s long family legacy as it does at Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton. The rise of GOP outsiders such as Donald Trump and Ben Carson has increased the stakes for Bush and Rubio as they try to become the mainstream alternative. Whoever wins this internal contest will show whether experience or fresh leadership is the bigger priority for GOP centrists. From Bush, there’s a sense of urgency in his contention that Rubio, in his first Senate term, has not proved his leadership credentials. The ex-governor and his team are frustrated, too, that this shortcoming they attribute to Rubio has not become more of a liability for him. It’s part of the mantra Bush has repeated since the Republicans’ second debate in California a month ago, when Rubio won praise for staying above the fray. He has since drawn nearly even with Bush in national polls, although both remain in the high single digits. “We’ve got a president that the American people supported based on the fact that he was an eloquent guy,” Bush said in Iowa last week. “And he had nothing in his background that would suggest he could lead.” Though describing Obama, it’s a slight to Rubio. He delivers a compelling story about his parents’ flight from Cuba and his working class background, but he has been in the Senate less than five years and has missed much of its business this year while campaigning for president. Evidence of the tension between the Florida politicians was on display Thursday when Rubio’s campaign, minutes after the Bush organization announced raising $13.4 million in the last quarter, boasted it had more cash on hand. Rubio reported having nearly $11 million in his coffers compared with Bush’s $10 million. But about $1 million of Rubio’s cash cannot be accessed unless he wins the GOP nomination, a point Bush campaign spokesman Tim Miller pounced on via Twitter. “Lying about budgets. Guess Marco picked up something in the Senate,” Miller tweeted Friday. Rubio’s campaign reported raising $5.7 million from July through September, down from $9 million in the three months prior. Bush’s team says that shows he’s been losing steam. Yet Bush advisers are clearly put off by the senator’s durability. Hopes have not come to pass that rivals could be chased from the field with Bush’s mammoth fundraising effort in the first half of the year — yielding more than $100 million for his campaign and the super PAC supporting him. They are competing for many of the same voters. Each has won statewide election — Bush twice, Rubio once — in Florida, a hefty prize in the presidential election. They also have pull among Hispanic voters, whom Republicans want to draw away from Democrats. Both men speak fluent Spanish. Yet both have been surpassed in the early months of the primary campaign by the billionaire Trump and retired neurosurgeon Carson. Those challengers have ridden dissatisfaction with the government to a lead in national and early state polls with four months before Iowa leads off the 2016 voting. Rubio is more subtle than Bush as the two men draw distinctions between each other, but his meaning is unmistakable. In New Hampshire recently, Rubio said the election is “a generational choice” and political leaders in both parties are “out of touch.” Rubio is 44, Bush is 62. “We will not change direction if all we do is keep electing the same kind of people,” Rubio said in Portsmouth. “This election cannot be one of those elections where we just promote the next person in line, where we just vote for the person the experts tell us we have to vote for.” The remarks are aimed as much at Bush, whose father, George H.W. Bush, was elected president 27 years ago, as at Clinton, whose husband defeated the elder Bush for re-election 23 years ago. The connections between Rubio and Bush go back to the late 1990s when Bush, then governor, contributed $50 to Rubio’s campaign for a West Miami commission seat. When Rubio became the first Cuban-American to ascend to Florida House speaker, Bush gave him a sword to remind him to stay true to his conservative values. “I can’t think back on a time when I’ve ever been prouder to be a Republican, Marco,” Bush said then. Rubio in his memoir, “An American Son,” praised Bush’s “creativity and daring.” “Jeb is my friend,” Rubio told reporters in Florida when asked about Bush’s jabs. “I have tremendous respect for him as a person and for what he did for Florida as governor.” Those jabs are more frequent now, but Rubio is countering from his corner. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Concerned GOP push Rand Paul to focus on Senate re-election
A defiant Rand Paul is brushing off weak fundraising and weaker poll numbers as would-be donors and home state Republicans push him to abandon an uphill presidential bid to focus on his Senate re-election. While showing some frustration, the first-term Kentucky senator this week claimed his superior political organization would prove wrong those doubting his chances in the White House contest. At the same time, he released fundraising numbers that place him squarely in the bottom tier of the GOP’s 2016 class over the last three months, a painful symbol of stalled momentum for the libertarian favorite who was considered a major presidential contender earlier in the year. Despite the early hype, Paul has failed to tap into the national anti-establishment sentiment that fueled his father’s national ambitions just four years ago. “Rand’s missed his opportunity,” said Gary Heavin, a Texas billionaire who accompanied Paul on a three-day humanitarian mission to Haiti over the summer. “I wanted to support him because he’s the real deal, but his strategy is just awful,” continued Heavin, the founder of the health club franchise Curves. “He is going to be a very, very effective senator.” Specifically, Heavin said Paul went after rival Donald Trump so aggressively that he alienated anti-establishment voters who might have supported him. But back in Kentucky, a growing chorus of Republicans suggested that Paul’s Senate re-election was by no means guaranteed, despite the state’s strong GOP leanings and the lack of a clear Democratic challenger. “He could lose both positions,” said Patricia Vincent, chairwoman of the Graves County Republican Party. “He just needs to work a little bit more to make sure he still has a seat in the Senate.” While Paul’s national numbers hover in the low single digits, he continues to divert resources from his Senate campaign to his presidential bid. Last month, he raised $250,000 for the state GOP to fund a presidential caucus instead of its usual primary. The switch to a caucus allows Paul to run for president and Senate at the same time. Doug Stafford, Paul’s chief strategist, released a memo on Thursday pushing back on what he called the “false narrative” that Paul’s campaign is struggling. He cited Paul’s recent straw poll victories in New Hampshire and polls from national conservative groups, adding that Paul “always comes in first when people are actually voting.” Straw polls and opinion polls, however, are not the same as actual voting, which begins with the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses. Indeed, pollsters have struggled to predict results for recent elections. Some suspect that polling showing high support for real estate mogul Donald Trump, for example, includes many respondents who won’t show up on Election Day. But that’s a hard sell for some Republicans in Kentucky. “I can’t see what he’s holding out for,” said Casey County Republican Party Chairman William Wethingon. “If I were in his position, I think, looking at the numbers, I think I would focus more on my Senate seat.” National Republicans agree. The GOP is deeply concerned about retaining its eight-seat Senate majority. Forced to defend 24 incumbents — seven of them in states President Barack Obama won in 2012 — the party cannot afford to spend money on what should be an easy Kentucky victory next fall. Some fear that his focus on the presidential contest leaves him more vulnerable than he realizes. Even Matt Bevin, Kentucky’s Republican nominee for governor, said he would vote for retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson over Paul. Fellow Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, however, says he’s behind Paul. Not everyone’s concerned. “Nobody thinks that his seat is in jeopardy,” said Damon Thayer, the majority floor leader of the Kentucky state Senate. He noted that Paul has no Democratic opponent, as the most likely candidates are tied up in re-election campaigns for their state offices. But that election is Nov. 3, clearing the way for a Democrat, such as state Auditor Adam Edelen, to challenge Paul. With Paul having a nearly perfect attendance record in the Senate, his team suggests he’s been fulfilling his responsibility to Kentucky voters despite a hectic presidential campaign schedule. His Senate campaign does have a finance and communications team in place, with a plan to begin hiring more staff next month. For now, Stafford is pulling double duty advising both of Paul’s campaigns. Paul ultimately plans to hire a separate campaign manager for his Senate race. Dave Compton, vice chairman of the Pike County Republican Party, said it’s not time to panic about either one of Paul’s 2016 campaigns. “Right now I think he’s pretty safe in the Senate,” Compton said. “If he doesn’t turn it around within the next month or month and a half, that would probably be a good decision to make, to drop out.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
A round-up of Sunday editorials from Alabama’s leading newspapers
A round-up of Sunday editorials from Alabama’s leading newspapers: The Anniston Star – H. Brandt Ayers: Anarchy in the U.S. House During a few days in the quaint, clean eastern provinces of Canada, an orderly campaign for the premiership was going on, which seemed not to make even a ripple to disturb its outward calm. On returning home, a traveler finds that a cabal of about 40 “anarchists” in the House of Representatives has frozen the mechanics of government like a motor without oil and will not allow it to function unless it gets its own way. The reference, of course, is to the Tea Party insurgents who forced the shocking resignation of Speaker John Boehner and his successor Kevin McCarthy in quick succession, which raises the question: Is the House governable? The answer is no, not with the current membership. The insurgents are uncompromising in their passionate vision of limited government, and polls show the rank and file of the Republican Party supports that vision. So, the House will be rudderless until a speaker is found who is acceptable to the insurgents, whose view of government is so limited that in its extreme form it is anarchy. There is a certain appeal to simpler times when we seemed to get things done. When I covered Congress in the 1960s, culture-changing acts such as civil rights were passed — and debate was civil. At one point there was a dialogue between Sen. Paul Douglas of Illinois prowling the Senate floor, a large white-haired bear, and Sen. Sam Ervin, merry and bright as a country squire. Ervin asked and politely received permission from Douglas to yield, which gave Ervin a chance to tell “my friend, the distinguished senator from Illinois, ‘puts me in mind of a justice of the peace in Bertie County who cautioned attorneys in his court, ‘I’d appreciate it if you’d make no argument in this case. I find that when I hear two sides of an issue, it tends to confuse me.’” The Birmingham News – That opossum in your yard: They may be ugly but they aren’t dumb Unlike the cliché, familiarity doesn’t seem to breed contempt. It breeds indifference instead. Why else would we take so little interest in one of the most fascinating of Alabama’s wildife – the opossum? That’s opossum with an “o” and that “o” is important. To be technically correct, it’s the Virginia – as in the State – opossum and that “Virginia” is important too. The Virginia opossum got this common name from its Algonquian Indian name “apasum,” meaning “white beast,” and from the state where it was first given an English name in the early 1600’s by Captain John Smith of the Jamestown Colony and Pocahantas fame. The “o” is important because when British explorer James Cook, on his first voyage to Australia some 150 years after Captain Smith named them, encountered other cat-sized animals that nurtured their young in a pouch, his ship’s naturalist erroneously assumed they were the same, or at least similar, species and called them opossums too. It turns out that the Australian marsupials are not closely related to our opossums, so to prevent confusion, scientists now call all Australian species possums – no “o” — to distinguish them from our opossums. The “Virginia” is important because although we only have one marsupial species in the United States, more than 70 more species occur throughout Central and South America. The Decatur Daily – Democratic race all but over Stick a fork in the race to be the Democratic nominee for president. It’s done. Barring the last-minute entry of Vice President Joe Biden into the field, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is poised to cruise to her party’s nomination. After Tuesday’s televised debate, it’s all but a lock. It’s not that Clinton so outperformed her opponents as to wrap up the nomination on CNN’s debate stage. Clinton had her moments, but she also showed the same weaknesses she usually does during debates, particularly her evasiveness when it comes to answering uncomfortable questions. She is a tough debater who gives as good as she gets, but she’s far from invulnerable. No, the reason Clinton should have clear sailing to the nomination — all other things being equal — is her rivals all showed they’re not really running for president. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb landed a few glancing blows on the frontrunner, but for the most part they held back on really going after Clinton’s record. They have the appearance of candidates jockeying for posts in the Clinton Cabinet. Clinton’s most tenacious rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, did draw distinctions between his record and Clinton’s on some issues, including their respective relationships with Wall Street, but his most memorable moment was when he came to Clinton’s defense regarding her private email server. And Sanders did that after Clinton attempted to gut him on gun control, an issue where Sanders long has differed with the pro-gun control consensus among progressives. If Sanders really wanted to be president, he wouldn’t have rushed in as a white knight to shield Clinton from the festering email scandal. Sanders, a self-styled “democratic socialist” and political independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats but is not a party member, appears more interested in pulling Clinton to the left than in defeating her. So far, Sanders has had some success. Dothan Eagle – Political revenge? This week, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Alabama Education Association can’t subpoena the files of GOP politicians to try to prove legislation stopping the AEA from collecting dues by payroll deduction was motivated by political revenge. The court pointed out that the law had been ruled constitutional, and quashed subpoenas for the records of Gov. Robert Bentley, former Gov. Bob Riley, House Speaker Mike Hubbard and Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh. While the 2010 law does affect thousands of public education workers
Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows
Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows: ABC’s “This Week” — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders; Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson; Reps. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii. ___ NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz; Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas. ___ CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Reps. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., and Elijah Cummings, D-Md. ___ CNN’s “State of the Union” — 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. ___ “Fox News Sunday” — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
