Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore ends White House bid
Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore says he is dropping out of the race for the White House. The Republican says in a statement he plans to support his party’s nominee and will continue to speak out about what he called the dangers of electing Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, the two candidates for the Democratic nomination. Gilmore announced his candidacy in July, saying his record as a national security expert and a fiscal conservative would set him apart in a crowded Republican field. But his campaign failed to win any support, and Gilmore qualified for only two so-called undercard debates. The former Army intelligence officer briefly ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2007 and lost a U.S. Senate bid in 2008 to another former Virginia governor, Mark Warner. Republished with permission of the Associated Press. Thanks to the fans who tracked this campaign. We will be active and work to elect a Republican. For Immediate Release: … Posted by Jim Gilmore on Friday, February 12, 2016
Jim Zeigler to address gun rights group Saturday
State Auditor Jim Zeigler will speak to the pro-gun rights group BamaCarry in Bessemer this weekend on the importance of proactive protection of the Second Amendment and personal liberties through gun ownership. In an advance version of his remarks, Zeigler amends an apocryphal dictum of Thomas Jefferson by declaring, “The price of freedom is eternal, armed, and prepared vigilance.” It is not enough to just support the Second Amendment in principle, says Zeigler. A defender of liberty must put that belief into action. Or as Zeigler puts it: “Just sitting on the front porch watching is not enough. Unless you have a shotgun with you.” Zeigler will deliver his address at BamaCarry’s “Alabama Firearms Freedom Rally,” set for Saturday at the Bessemer Civic Center. The group boasts about 12,500 gun-supporting members across Alabama. In his speech Zeigler, who has held a unique ombudsman-like position in the state Cabinet since his election in 2010, plans to trumpet a recent move by leading gun manufacturer Remington to move operations to Alabama, and to declare that the best defense against crime is not the police or the state, but rather a well-armed and well-prepared citizenry. The BamaCarry convention is set to run from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are available to the public for $25.
FACT CHECK: Dems offer iffy stats on donors, health plan
Eager to share Bernie Sanders‘s claim to the grass roots, Hillary Clinton is having trouble owning up to the deep pockets helping her campaign. For his part, Sanders is struggling to make a convincing case that the numbers add up in his hugely expensive health plan. A look at some of the claims in the latest Democratic presidential debate and how they compare with the facts: CLINTON: “I’m very proud of the fact that we have more than 750,000 donors, and the vast majority of them are giving small contributions. … We both have a lot of small donors.” THE FACTS: Clinton is trying to obscure her reliance on big-money donors by emphasizing those who give smaller amounts. The majority of Clinton’s money comes from big donors. Clinton’s presidential run is being supported by wealthy donors in ways that Sanders’ is not. Last year’s fundraising reports show that Sanders raised fully 72 percent of his campaign money from people who gave $200 or less, while for Clinton those donors accounted for just 16 percent of her funds. Clinton stretched when putting herself in Sanders’ league when it comes to grassroots financing. She said they are both getting small donors and that “sets us apart” from Republican candidates. But her rate of small-dollar contributions isn’t that much different than that of some of the GOP contenders. She also minimized the impact of the super political action committee supporting her effort, saying the group was founded to help President Barack Obama and that she has no say over its operations. But no candidate can control the super PACS that are devoted to helping their candidacies, yet they can be vital in White House efforts because they can raise unlimited money and spend heavily on advertising and other help. Although Priorities USA may have formed to help Obama, it’s now steered by her trusted advisers. In fact, Guy Cecil, a former Clinton staffer, was brought in to lead the group last year as a signal to her supporters that they could trust Priorities USA to serve her well. — SANDERS: “Our Medicare-for-all, single-payer proposal will save the average middle-class family $5,000 a year.” CLINTON: “The numbers don’t add up.” THE FACTS: Two early assessments suggest that his accounting comes up short, although more detail and analysis are needed on Sanders’ plan for cradle-to-grave, government-financed health care for all. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the tax increases in Sanders’ plan would cover only about 75 percent of what Sanders says it will cost, creating a $3 trillion hole in the federal budget over 10 years. Emory University economist Kenneth Thorpe says the proposal also underestimates the cost of having the government provide doctors’ services, hospitalization, long-term care, and vision and dental care – all without premiums, copays or deductibles. According to Thorpe, the Sanders plan falls short by about $11 trillion over 10 years. He says the income and payroll tax increases required to pay fully for the proposal would mean 71 percent of those who now have private insurance would pay more. Thorpe served in the administration of Bill Clinton, handling economic estimates of the former president’s failed health care overhaul plan. He says he has no involvement with the Hillary Clinton campaign. — CLINTON: “Americans haven’t had a raise in 15 years.” THE FACTS: She is essentially right. According to the Census Bureau, median household incomes peaked in 1999 and have been lower in every year since that time. Adjusting for inflation, median household incomes stood at $53,657 in 2014, 7.2 percent lower than the peak level of $57,843 in 1999. Even by another, less complete measure, she’s still in the ballpark. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, real wages have gone up 7.5 percent over 15 years – an annual growth rate of 0.5 percent, meaning close to stagnation. — SANDERS: “A male, African-American baby born today stands a one-in-four chance of ending up in jail. That is beyond unspeakable.” THE FACTS: Sanders exaggerated the rate of incarceration for black males, as Clinton did in an earlier debate. A 2003 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics said, “About 1 in 3 black males, 1 in 6 Hispanic males, and 1 in 17 white males are expected to go to prison during their lifetime, if current incarceration rates remain unchanged.” But that was only a projection. The report went on to say that at the time, 16.6 percent of adult black males had actually ever gone to prison, or 1 in 6. Since then, the incarceration rate for black men has actually gone down instead of up, according to the Sentencing Project. — CLINTON: “The Affordable Care Act has helped more African-Americans than any other group to get insurance.” THE FACTS: Actually, more Hispanics have gained coverage, according to the administration’s data, though the rate of black uninsured has dropped the most – by half. Hispanics began with a far higher uninsured rate – 41.8 percent – and that has been reduced by 11.5 percentage points, or about 4 million people, since people started signing up in late 2013 for insurance-market coverage that began in 2014. African-Americans started with 22.4 percent uninsured, and that has been brought down by 10.3 percentage points, or about 2.6 million people. By comparison, the rate for whites, 14.3 percent uninsured in 2013, came down by 6 percentage points, adding 7.4 million under the insurance umbrella. — SANDERS on the North American Free Trade Agreement, normalized trade relations with China and other trade liberalization: “Those trade policies have enabled corporate America to shut down in this country, throw millions of people out on the street.” THE FACTS: That’s an oversimplified reading of America’s manufacturing decline. Since NAFTA took effect in 1994, the U.S. has lost 4.5 million manufacturing jobs. But it is not easy to assign blame. In a report last year, the Congressional Research Service concluded that NAFTA’s effect on the nation’s economy “appears to have been relatively
Task force meets, discusses how to improve health literacy
The Alabama Healthcare Improvement Task Force held the Alabama Health Literacy Partnership’s Stakeholders Meeting Friday morning in the auditorium of the Montgomery County Health Department. A wide array of healthcare service providers were in attendance, including pharmacists, nurses and more, to discuss ways to improve health literacy in the state and thereby improve the health of citizens. Dr. Ron Franks, director of the task force, gave opening remarks before welcoming Gov. Robert Bentley. After briefly discussing how “critically important” it is to increase the number of healthy people in the state, Franks praised Bentley for taking on the task of being “Alabama’s doctor” and addressing the healthcare needs of Alabama citizens. Bentley began his remarks by discussing the tendency of healthcare providers to use technical language and speak over the heads of their patients, noting that a doctor’s smartest patients will only comply with prescription directions 41 percent of the time. “The literacy of our patients is so important,” Bentley said. “We need education not only on the side of the patients, we need education on the side of the providers.” Bentley encouraged those in attendance to use simpler terms when discussing treatment with patients, adding that health literacy is only one way to help Alabama citizens become healthier. “I’m tired of being last in quality of life issues,” Bentley said. “And we don’t have to be. We’re just trying to make Alabamians healthier.”
Robert Bentley discusses plans for statewide broadband expansion
In keeping with his Great State 2019 Plan, which he laid out in his recent State of the State address, Gov. Robert Bentley addressed the Broadband Forum on efforts to provide broadband internet service to the more than one million Alabamians currently unconnected. The governor was welcomed to the forum by Cathy Johnson, director of the Alabama Office of Broadband Development, who called for efforts to “move Alabama forward” and “make sure everyone in Alabama has an opportunity to succeed.” Bentley began his remarks by commenting on his limited knowledge on broadband, noting that he only recently saw one of the cables used in providing the service. “The only thing I know about broadband is technology and information,” Bentley said. “And everybody needs that. We’ve got an opportunity to do something right now that will only come once in a lifetime.” Bentley discussed the importance of providing Internet connectivity to residents of rural Alabama, making the connection between access to technology and decreased rates of poverty and unemployment. Further, Bentley assured service providers in attendance that it was not the state’s intention to compete with them, rather to provide the infrastructure required for them to provide that service to areas currently offline. “Let’s work together to come up with how this can work in Alabama,” Bentley said. “We’re trying to do the same thing.”
Presidential contenders fight for minority voters in South Carolina
Presidential candidates in both parties battled for the crucial backing of blacks and Hispanics on Friday as the race shifted toward states with more minority voters. Republicans crisscrossed South Carolina looking to derail billionaire Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who each came to the state with a burst of momentum after the first two nomination contests. Several candidates embraced the chaos as they felt out the best strategies to survive South Carolina and advance into a grueling March primary schedule, when 58 percent of the party’s delegate total will be at stake. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was embracing his family ties. Bush on Friday defended his decision to bring his brother, former President George W. Bush, to South Carolina to help him campaign. Speaking to ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Jeb Bush said recruiting the former president wasn’t a sign of desperation, as Trump has suggested. George W. Bush, who is slated to campaign for his brother on Monday, left the White House in January 2009 with low approval ratings. “This is the beginning of the campaign,” and “for my brother to speak on behalf of the skills I have to lead this country will be quite helpful,” Jeb Bush said. He later picked up the endorsement of South Carolina’s former first lady Iris Campbell, a longtime Bush family ally. Bush’s rival in the fight for the moderate establishment was still introducing himself to South Carolina voters. In a new biographical ad, Ohio Gov. John Kasich notes that his parents’ death in a drunk-driving crash in 1987 “transformed” him and helped him find his faith. A second new ad promises a whirlwind of activity in the first 100 days of a Kasich presidency — “no excuses, no surrender,” says a narrator with a hint of a Southern accent. Florida Sen. March Rubio, looking to re-establish his footing after a fifth-place finish in New Hampshire, lashed out at Trump, Cruz and Bush Thursday saying none of them possesses foreign policy experience required of a commander in chief. Trump was the only Republican to bypass South Carolina on Friday, redirecting his typically unconventional campaign to Florida, where he planned to hold a rally in Tampa. Meanwhile, at Thursday’s Democratic debate in Milwaukee, Hillary Clinton, who has cast herself as the rightful heir to President Barack Obama‘s legacy, accused rival Bernie Sanders of diminishing the president’s record and short-changing Obama’s leadership. “The kind of criticism I hear from Sen. Sanders, I expect from Republicans. I do not expect it from someone seeking the Democratic nomination,” Clinton said in a sharp exchange at the close of the two-hour debate. Her biting comments followed an interview in which Sanders suggested Obama hadn’t succeeded in closing the gap between Congress and the American people — something the president himself has acknowledged. Sanders responded: “Madam Secretary, that is a low blow.” And he noted that Clinton was the only one on the stage who ran against Obama in 2008. Long viewed as the overwhelming front-runner in the Democratic race, Clinton has been caught off guard by Sanders’ strength, particularly his visceral connection with Americans frustrated by the current political and economic systems. Clinton’s own campaign message has looked muddled compared to Sanders’ ringing call for a “political revolution,” and her connections to Wall Street have given the Vermont senator an easy way to link her to the systems his supporters want to overhaul. Clinton was scheduled to campaign in South Carolina on Friday, after which, the two Democratic rivals were scheduled to attend a dinner event in Minnesota. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Presidential TV ad roundup: 2/12/16 edition
Since the Iowa caucuses seven candidates, six Republicans and one Democratic, have dropped out of the running in the race to the White House. But that doesn’t mean campaign ad spending is down. According to Bloomberg, “Republican presidential candidates and outside groups supporting them have already poured an estimated $24 million into political ads in South Carolina, nearly triple the amount spent on the party’s entire primary there in 2012.” Here are the ads the candidates released this past week: Jeb Bush Title: Turn off Trump Published: Feb. 2, 2016 Tone: Insulting Title: Backbone Published: Feb. 3, 2016 Tone: Resolute Title: Accomplishments Published: Feb. 5, 2016 Tone: Critical Title: Earning it Published: Feb. 6, 2016 Tone: Determined Title: Talkers vs. Leaders Published: Feb. 7, 2016 Tone: Accusing Title: No comparison Published: Feb. 8, 2016 Tone: Confident Title: Bringing it home in New Hampshire Published: Feb. 8, 2016 Tone: Enthusiastic Ted Cruz Title: Jimmy Carter: I would choose Trump Published: Feb. 4, 2016 Tone: Playful Title: Playing Trump Published: Feb. 9, 2016 Tone: Playful Title: Parking lot Published: Feb. 11, 2016 Tone: Critical Marco Rubio Title: All day Published: Feb. 7, 2016 Tone: Enthusiastic Title: Together Published: Feb. 9, 2016 Tone: Passionate Title: Together Published: Feb. 9, 2016 Tone: Passionate Donald Trump Title: Live free for die Published: Feb. 5, 2016 Tone: Complimentary Title: Drug epidemic Published: Feb. 6, 2016 Tone: Confident Title: Competent leadership Published: Feb. 8, 2016 Tone: Confident Hillary Clinton Title: I believe Published: Feb. 8, 2016 Tone: Compassionate Title: Flint Published: Feb. 8, 2016 Tone: Impassioned Title: Broken Published: Feb. 9, 2016 Tone: Resolute Bernie Sanders Title: Hillary Clinton Flip Flops On Her Values (because she has none) Published: Feb. 3, 2016 Tone: Critical
Alabama judge nominated to 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
President Barack Obama has nominated an Alabama judge to fill a vacancy left in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In a news release Thursday, Obama announced the nomination of Judge Abdul K. Kallon, a U.S. District Judge in the Northern District of Alabama, serving in Birmingham. Kallon was appointed to his current position by Obama in 2010. Obama praised Kallon, saying the Sierra Leone native has an extensive record of reaching fair decisions and will make for a strong addition to the appellate court. Kallon received his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Prior to his 2010 appointment, Kallon had a litigation and counseling practice, working on corporate civil defense matters. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
