SEC Primary draws Ted Cruz back to the Yellowhammer State
Surging recently in several Republican presidential polls, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz will host two upcoming rallies in Alabama this week in Mobile and Trussville thanks to the ongoing draw of the state’s March 1 SEC Primary. The campaign for the Texas Senator announced Monday that following Tuesday’s night’s Las Vegas debate, Cruz will host 12 rallies in 12 days before the Christmas holiday across seven states as part of the “Take Off with Ted” tour focusing heavily on those states belonging to SEC Primary. Throughout the tour, Cruz will visit Minnesota, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma — stopping by Mobile on Saturday, Dec. 19 at the Daphne Civic Center and heading to Trussville Sunday, Dec. 20 for another rally at the Trussville Civic Center. Doors will open at the Daphne Civic Center at 1:00 p.m. with the program kicking-off at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Texas Republican will head to the Trussville Civic Center Sunday, where the doors open again at 1:00 p.m., with the program beginning at 2:00 p.m. “Our ‘Take Off with Ted’ barnstorming of the March 1st states will fortify our national organization and position us to win on Super Tuesday,” said Rick Tyler, Cruz campaign spokesman, in a statement. “We’ve always believed that the GOP primary calendar gives Cruz an early advantage so we have spent significant time in those states and have built an army of conservative volunteers to get out the vote just like the ones we have unleashed in the first four early states.” Cruz’s visit is yet another victory for Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill who moved up Alabama’s primary to March in hopes of giving the state a more pivotal role in deciding the respective party’s presidential nominees. Since announcing his candidacy, Cruz has previously visited Birmingham, Huntsville, Pelham and Tuscaloosa and his wife, Heidi Cruz, has made stops in Hoover and Mobile.
DNC Chair says Marco Rubio doesn’t appeal to millennial voters
One of Marco Rubio’s chief assets that he’s campaigned on during his run for the White House is that he would be representing a new generation of leadership in Washington. “Are You Ready for a New American Century?” the 44-year-old Florida Senator asks on the homepage of his campaign website. On the eve of the fifth Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas, Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz was asked on a conference call if she feared Rubio’s appeal with millennial voters. “When millennials get a good close look, they’ll see what we see in Florida,” the DNC Chair quipped. “That there’s no ‘there’ there.” The South Florida congresswoman, who served together with Rubio in the Florida Legislature over a decade ago, said that millennials will find his views to be among “the most extreme on the issues that are important to millennials,” who are generally classified as people under the age of 30 or so. “Marco Rubio opposes gay marriage and has consistently not only opposed a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices, he has the most extreme position and even says that abortion should not be available even if a woman is raped or a victim of incest,” she added. “Millennials have specifically embraced the idea that we need to make this country better together.” Rubio’s position on abortion – that he opposes all such abortion, without an exception for rape and/or incest – certainly puts him to the far right even with the other Republicans in the presidential race when it comes to the issue of choice. He recently walked his position back slightly, saying that he unequivocally backs abortion exceptions when the life of the mother is in danger. He said he also would back legislation with allowances for cases of rape and incest — even though he personally doesn’t support those exceptions. Wasserman Schultz also chastised Rubio, Jeb Bush and the other GOP presidential candidates for saying that they would back Donald Trump if he becomes the GOP’s presidential nominee next year. The DNC Chair’s comments came on the same day that an NBC News and the Wall Street Journal poll published on Monday showed Rubio winning a head-to-head clash with Hillary Clinton, 48 percent to 45 percent (within the poll’s margin of error.) Among independents, his margin of victory would be 44 percent to her 37 percent. Among Hispanics, Rubio would get 36 percent of the vote, compared to Clinton’s 59 percent. Rubio would also perform best with female voters out of the top GOP contenders, capturing 44 percent to Clinton’s 51 percent. The poll was conducted between December 6-9 of 1,000 adults, including 350 respondents with a cell phone only and 32 respondents reached on a cell phone but who also have a land land. The margin of error for 400 interviews among Republican Primary Voters is ±4.90% The margin of error for 400 interviews among Democratic Primary Voters is ±4.90%
Becky Gerritson scores endorsement of former Alabama GOP minority outreach
Wetumpka Tea Party Chair and U.S. House candidate Becky Gerritson got a boost from a strategic state Republican party staffer Monday in her bid to unseat an incumbent congresswoman in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District. Former Minority Outreach Director for the Alabama GOP Troy Towns gave Gerritson’s bid his stamp of approval, saying the conservative activist would be a more reliable vote for the Christian right in Washington, D.C. “I’ve often said that I’m a Christian first, conservative second, and Republican third, and Becky Gerritson is very much a kindred spirit in that regard,” said Towns in a statement. “Becky’s faith defines her and her principles guide her in everything she does. We will never have to wonder about Becky’s motivations in Congress. She will serve her Lord and her constituents. She will stand on principle, and she will be a rock for conservatism.” “Far too often career politicians put Party or personal ambition, above these principles,” said Towns, not shying from taking a shot at U.S. Rep. Martha Roby, who currently holds the seat. “This has been the obvious case with Rep. Roby. Her voting record speaks for itself. It is time that we have a representative in Washington who is a bold fighter, a leader, and a champion for all people.” “We need a true conservative, and we have that in Becky Gerritson,” Towns continued. Gerritson replied in kind to Towns’ gushing endorsement, saying his work to help spread her staunchly conservative message was already taking effect. “I am so thankful to Troy for all he has done to spread the message of conservatism to people across Alabama, and I am so glad that he has thrown his support behind my grassroots campaign” said Gerritson. “Too often our Party has lost its way when it comes to standing on principle. Too often, we are associated with being the Party of the rich, the powerful, the connected, and the few. Gerritson was also forthright about whom she blamed for those negative associations. “As I travel the district, voters are wary of this direction that failed politicians like John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Martha Roby have led us down. Troy is a true ambassador for what it means to be a conservative and for carrying a message of shared values to all who will hear,” concluded Gerritson. Both Towns and Gerritson have ties to the 2016 White House campaign of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who strikes similarly conservative and parochial views in Congress. Cruz named Towns to his state leadership team in October, where he joined Gerritson who was tapped in August. Gerritson also formally endorsed Cruz around the same time. Gerritson recently took to social media to note Roby’s relatively low scores for a southern Republican from conservative groups like Heritage Action, American Conservative Union, and Club for Growth, who rated Roby’s voting record lower than any other GOP member of the Alabama delegation. Roby, for her part, recently scored the endorsements of 36 local mayors, as well as the Alabama Patriots Tea Party, one of the oldest tea party groups in the state, and the Alabama Farmers Federation.
Bradley Byrne: Fighting fraud, abuse
The federal government is huge. In fact, there are over 275 executive agencies, departments, and boards that employ over two million people. With a bureaucracy this size, it should come as no surprise that fraud and abuse is far too common. Since coming to Washington, one of my top priorities has been to reduce the overall size of the federal government and to cut waste and abuse. I took a step in the right direction earlier this year when I introduced the Sunset Act. My bill, known as the Sunset Inefficient and Unaccountable Government Act, would require all federal agencies to be reviewed and renewed by Congress once every ten years. If an agency failed to be renewed, it would go out of existence. Many in Washington were outraged by my idea because it challenged the status quo. Trust me, there is a lot of resistance when you try to push back against the Washington machine, but I have also heard a lot of positive support for my bill from conservative colleagues and those who support a smaller, more efficient federal government. In addition to pushing for large-scale reforms to the way the federal government operates, I am also committed to looking for targeted changes that will help cut down on abuse and waste. Recently, I saw a local news report on Local 15 News in Mobile about over-income families living in taxpayer funded public housing. After looking into the story, it turns out that 25,226 over-income families nationwide live in public housing. Right here in Alabama, there are 812 cases of over-income residents living in public housing, which ranks fourth highest in the United States. In fact, there is an individual living in public housing in Mobile who makes over $100,000 a year. That is astonishing. So I set out to learn more about how our public housing programs work. It turns out that families living in public housing are already required to go through yearly income verification checks, but those who are found to be over-income are not required to move out of their taxpayer funded homes or apartments. This is unacceptable and a waste of taxpayer money, so I went to work on legislation that would help make this right. A few weeks ago, I introduced H.R. 4133, the Public Housing Accountability Act. My bill would establish that any family found to be over-income must vacate public housing within 30 days. I want to make it clear that I understand the important role public housing plays for many of our nation’s poorest families, but allowing this kind of blatant fraud and abuse is a disservice to those who need truly need public housing. In fact, the Department of Housing and Urban Development Inspector General found that there are thousands of families across the United States on a wait list for public housing while these individuals take up space. For example, in the New York City Housing Authority, there are at least 10,000 over-income families living in public housing while over 300,000 families are on a waiting list. Tackling abuse in public housing is just a starting point. From food stamps to Medicaid, fraud is far too common in our nation’s welfare programs. I believe we need to entirely rethink the way our welfare programs work to ensure we are actually helping people get out of poverty instead of incentivizing them to stay there. At the end of the day, there is far too much fraud and abuse within the federal government. It is time Congress gets serious about reforming government to ensure it is both efficient and effective. Bradley Byrne is a member of the U.S. Congress representing Alabama’s 1st Congressional District.
UN experts rip gender discrimination in U.S. following Alabama visit
A three-member United Nations working group on the status of women worldwide had harsh words for United States officials in a report they produced last week after visits to Alabama, Texas, and Oregon. In an extended official statement, U.N. women’s rights experts Eleonora Zielinska, Frances Raday, and Alda Facio chastised American policymakers over a host of lingering disparities in the political and economic status of men and women. The report was commissioned by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. The group criticized the U.S. government for failing to ratify the international Convention on the Elimination of All of Forms of Discrimination Against Women agreement, which all but seven U.N. members have enacted, as well as hostility towards women in popular culture, widespread challenges to reproductive rights, and persistent shortcomings in representation of women in politics and business. “We acknowledge the United States’ commitment to liberty, so well represented by the Statue of Liberty which symbolizes both womanhood and freedom,” began the report. “Nevertheless, in global context, US women do not take their rightful place as citizens of the world’s leading economy, which has one of the highest rates of per capita income. “In the US, women fall behind international standards as regards their public and political representation, their economic and social rights and their health and safety protections,” the report went on. Citing the ongoing election season the panel said their recent trip stateside, including to Alabama on December 4-5, was especially instructive. “[O]ur visit is particularly timely at a moment when the political rhetoric of some of the candidates for the Presidency in the upcoming elections has included unprecedented hostile stereotyping of women; when there are increasingly restrictive legislative measures in some states and violent attacks to prevent women’s access to exercise of their reproductive rights; and when there is an increase in the rate of women living in poverty, a persistent wage gap and increasingly precarious employment,” the panel inveighed. Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler reacted to the report Monday by saying no such panel has any authority over Alabamabians’ way of life and or any business in the state in the first place. Zeigler also criticized the panels’ methodology, specifically their choices when it came to interview subjects who testified to the experts. The Republican attorney and public ombudsman noted the report dinged states for teaching abstinence in sex education, restrictions on access to abortions, and prosecution of prostitutes. “The investigators heard from Dr. Willie Parker, who performs abortions in Montgomery. In the meetings was ACLU Alabama attorney Lucia Hormo,” Zeigler said. “Notice they did not meet with any church leaders, adoption advocates, and abortion alternative counselors.” Zeigler went on to say the visit and the resulting study are part of a plan to supersede America’s national sovereignty and increase international, U.N.-led control over social policy in the community of nations. Sounding a note familiar to many proponents of theories in the conservative media centered on Agenda 21, Zeigler called the report “the next step of an agenda to impose U.N. standards in every state that does not resist this intrusion.” “The U.N. is preparing to try to dictate to Alabama what we must do on abortion, contraceptives given to youth, sex education in schools, tolerance of alternative sexual orientation and other ‘progressive’ issues,” Zeigler said. “I will monitor this developing situation and report back. I will also coordinate a strategy for how we can resist this U.N. intrusion.” “We should not just sit back and say they have no jurisdiction and cannot do this. They don’t care and will proceed anyway if not smartly opposed. I have no confidence in our President and Governor to block this. We citizens need to proactively oppose this dangerous U.N. intrusion,” said Zeigler. “To use an Alabama expression, ‘They do not have any bidness here’,” Zeigler concluded. The women’s rights panel is slated to file their final report on the status of women in the U.S. in June 2016.
Supreme Court blocks Alabama court order in lesbian adoption case
The United States Supreme Court on Monday sided with a lesbian mother who wants to see her adopted children, blocking, at least temporarily, an Alabama court’s order that declared the adoption invalid. The justices issued an order in a case that puts on display legal challenges facing gay and lesbian parents even after the Supreme Court decided that same-sex couples have the right to marry. The case involves a soured relationship between two women, and the three children they raised until the breakup. While they were together, a Georgia court in 2007 approved the woman’s adoption of the children to whom her partner gave birth during their 16-year-relationship. After the couple split, the children’s birth mother contested regular visits between the children and her former partner. In September, Alabama’s highest court refused to recognize the other woman as a parent, saying the adoption they obtained in Georgia was not valid and that the Georgia court was wrong under that state’s adoption laws to grant it. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court set aside the Alabama decision as the justices decide whether to hear the woman’s appeal. The noncustodial parent, known in court filings by her initials, V.L., said in a statement issued through her lawyer that she was overjoyed at the prospect of seeing her children again. “I adopted my children more than eight years ago to be sure that I could always be there to protect them. This terrible Alabama decision has hurt my family and will hurt so many other families if it is not corrected,” she said. Her ex-partner fought her visitation, saying the couple lived in Alabama but rented a home in Georgia only because they believed the court there to be friendlier to adoption petitions by gay couples. Alabama justices ruled that the Georgia adoption law didn’t allow a, “non-spouse to adopt a child without first terminating the parental rights of the current parents.” The Alabama Supreme Court earlier this year directed probate judges to refuse marriage licenses to gay couples even though a federal judge ruled the state’s ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional. The directive brought a stop to the weddings until the U.S. Supreme Court said gay and lesbian people have a fundamental right to marry. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Email insights: Robert Bentley says no to Medicaid expansion in Alabama
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley has recently announced he will not move forward with a proposal to expand Medicaid and thus Obamacare to Alabama. Bentley’s December decision closes a year-long debate as to whether the Yellowhammer state should expand its Medicaid program. Just last month, the governor’s appointed Alabama Health Care Improvement Task Force recommended the governor and the Legislature find a way to provide health insurance for Alabamians without coverage saying that expansion could provide coverage to roughly 290,000 Alabamians, including 185,000 who are working. Monday, Americans for Prosperity – Alabama emailed their supporters the news of the Governor’s decision. Below is the full text of their email: Good news from Governor Bentley. Governor Robert Bentley recently announced that he will NOT go forward with a proposal to expand Medicaid and bring more of ObamaCare to Alabama. This was a plan that was estimated to cost $710 million over the next six years. In the Governor’s own words, “we can’t afford it.” Plus, take a look at how much other states have already blown their Medicaid budgets! This is a plan that sounds like the kind thing to do, but it’s dragging states down and threatening other important spending like education and roads. Take a few seconds and thank Governor Bentley for his fiscally responsible decision not to burden Alabama with the cost of further supporting an already-broken Medicaid system. Thank you for standing with us on ObamaCare and so much more! Much lies ahead, Americans for Prosperity
Presidential Primary Brief: 329 days until Election Day
126 days until AL Presidential Primary 329 days until Election Day Convention Dates: Republican July 18-21 2016, Democratic July 25-28 2016 Weekly Headlines: Biden: I made the ‘right decision’ to not run State Department can’t find emails of top Clinton IT staffer Cruz leaps to top of pack in Iowa Press Clips: Americans are worried about terrorism, and that could help the GOP (FiveThirtyEight 12/9/15) The terrorist attacks in Paris and in San Bernardino, California, have reshaped the 2016 presidential campaign: Terrorism is now a top concern.1 All else being equal, that could help the Republican nominee if it continues through November. Americans trust Republicans more than Democrats to handle terrorism, 44 percent to 34 percent, according to a Pew Research Center survey from July, and — not surprisingly — there has been a strong link between who Americans trust on their top issue and who they vote for. Fox Business Network to host additional Republican presidential debate (Reuters 12/8/15) Fox Business Network said on Tuesday it would host another Republican presidential debate next month, following one it held in November that earned praise from candidates and the party’s national committee. The debate will be held in Charleston, South Carolina, on Jan. 14, the network said in a statement. The event, which has been sanctioned by the Republican National Committee, will fall two days after Democratic President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address. The network said it would announce further details, including moderators, entry criteria and the lineup, closer to the event. Hillary Clinton leads in 2016 match-ups as Ben Carson, Marco Rubio run closest (NBC News 12/7/15) Hillary Clinton leads the Republican presidential field in hypothetical general-election match-ups, with Ben Carson and Marco Rubio running the closest to her, according to a new national MSNBC/Telemundo/Marist poll. And with just one exception, the margin of Clinton’s lead among Latino voters determines just how competitive each match-up is. Clinton’s biggest lead is against current GOP frontrunner Donald Trump: She’s ahead of him by 11 points among all voters, 52 percent to 41 percent, and a whopping 42 points among Latino voters, 69 percent to 27 percent. Presidential race was most-discussed topic on Facebook this year (The Hill 12/9/15) The 2016 presidential election was the most-discussed topic on Facebook in the United States this year, joined by a number of other closely-watched political issues. The election led the pack, according to end-of-year statistics distributed by the company, but other top topics included flying the Confederate flag, the marriage rights of same-sex couples and Planned Parenthood. The election’s standing may reflect the fact that the race began much earlier this year, when the first candidates announced their intentions to run in the primaries. Democrats’ biggest vulnerability in 2016: National Security (National Journal 12/7/15) The disconnect between President Obama and the American public on the urgency of the ISIS threat is a problem for his party in 2016, especially for Hillary Clinton. Democrats are at risk of politically marginalizing themselves on national security in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, catering to a base that seems disconnected from the growing anxiety that the public feels over the threat from Islamic terrorism. During a month when a horrific terrorist attack killed 130 in Paris and a homegrown, ISIS-inspired attack killed 14 in San Bernardino, California, the Democratic Party’s major focus has been on climate change and gun control. Bernie Sanders unveils climate plan (NBC News 12/7/15) Democratic presidential Bernie Sanders rolled out an expansive climate plan Monday that aims to cut U.S. carbon emissions 80% by 2050 and create 10 million clean energy jobs. To accomplish these goals, the 16-page plan takes a kitchen sink approach, including everything from a tax on carbon to a ban on fracking to a push for more walkable cities. And beyond the environmental goals, the plan has a political one, too – to enfeeble the fossil fuel industry, whom Sanders says has “bribed politicians into ignoring [climate] science” “Climate change is the single greatest threat facing our planet,” the plan states. But it hasn’t been solved because “a small subsection of the one percent are hell-bent on doing everything in their power to block action.” Republicans fear Trump could jeopardize control of Congress (Politico 12/9/15) Republicans have spent many years and hundreds of millions of dollars wresting control of the House and Senate from Democrats. Now they say Donald Trump is putting it all in jeopardy. With the Iowa caucuses just 55 days away, Republicans are beginning to see Trump as a dire threat to their majorities on Capitol Hill. And they’re warning that the GOP poll leader, who this week called for a ban on Muslims entering the country, will cause irreparable harm to the party. Rand Paul remains on main debate stage (Politico 12/13/15) Rand Paul will be on the main stage at Tuesday’s GOP presidential debate in Las Vegas after CNN tweaked its rules at the last minute to add a ninth podium for the Kentucky senator, the network announced Sunday. The candidates who will be on the main stage: Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, Chris Christie and Paul. The top five candidates qualified as a result of their standing in national polls. Kasich, Fiorina and Christie – who was in the undercard debate last month – made the cut due to their poll numbers in New Hampshire. Candidates qualified if they achieved an average of 3.5 percent in national polls conducted since late October – or 4 percent in either Iowa or New Hampshire. Ted Cruz to barnstorm the South in Super Tuesday sweep (Politico 12/11/15) Ted Cruz will embark next week on a splashy swing through many of the states that vote on March 1, an effort to lock down support in those mostly Southern states before turning full attention to the first four voting contests of the 2016 Republican presidential primary. The Texas senator, flying with staff and his family on a
