Alabama ABC has ‘amazing’ audit, $12.6 million of state items all accounted for
Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler has completed his two-year property audit of the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board with perfect results. The ABC had 4,028 items of state-owned property valued at $12.6 million, all of which were accounted for. “If this were not my office doing the inventory, I would almost be incredulous,” Zeigler joked. “It is simply amazing that all four thousand items under the care of ABC were present and accounted for.” Zeigler continued, If every agency did a perfect job with their property inventory, my job would be a lot easier. In fact, it every agency did this well, somebody would want to abolish my office.” The State Auditor is responsible for property inventory of each item of state property valued at $500 or more. There are 176 state agencies which the state auditor inventories every two years.
Major networks spent 14 hours on candidate coverage in 2015, report shows
Major networks have already spent more than 14 hours of nightly news airtime covering presidential candidates this year, according to a report detailing broadcast coverage of 2016 presidential candidates. The Tyndall Report, which tallies coverage from ABC, NBC and CBS, found the big three had spent a combined 857 minutes covering 2016 presidential campaigns during their nightly newscasts through the first 11 months of 2015. The figure is high enough to surpass penultimate year coverage totals in six of the last seven presidential election cycles. The lead up to the 2008 election, which also saw a two-term commander in chief exit the White House, was the only cycle to get more coverage. NBC led its rivals with 349 minutes of campaign coverage over the past 11 months. ABC logged 261 minutes while CBS has featured 247 minutes of coverage during its nightly newscasts. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has accounted for 27 percent of all network election coverage — about 234 minutes — this year. The real estate magnate’s campaign has received constant coverage since he entered the race in June, whether for policy positions or his holdout tactics leading up to the Republican debates. Coincidentally, Trump’s poll numbers have hovered around the 27 percent range, giving him the highest support among the crowded Republican field. On the whole, GOP campaigns combined for 570 minutes of coverage compared to 226 minutes for the Democrats, which have three candidates still in the race. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who just a few months ago was figured to be the GOP front-runner, got the second most coverage in the Republican field with 56 minutes, narrowly edging out retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who accounted for 54 minutes of airtime. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came in third with 22 minutes, followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with just seven minutes. Across the aisle, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton topped the Democratic field with 113 minutes of coverage. That total, however, doesn’t include the 88 minutes networks spent reporting on the controversy surrounding her use of a private email server during her tenure in the State Department, nor does it include 29 minutes of airtime used to cover investigations into the Benghazi Consulate attack. Other Democratic candidates didn’t fare near as well. Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s closest competition in the primary race, received a combined 10 minutes of coverage from the three major networks — less than a fifth of the Vice President Joe Biden’s airtime, despite him never formally entering the race. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who has hovered in the low single digits in most polls of Democratic voters, had no coverage according to the report.
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.
State-run liquor stores an unnecessary hangover from times long past
It’s not often you go to a government website and find recipes for mixed drinks. However, go to the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board webpage the home screen you’ll find a link to drink recipes. The state will tell you how to make a “Purple Rain” (which includes rum, vodka, gin, tequila, and triple sec if you were curious), “Irish Eyes” or even a chocolate margarita. If that’s not enough, if you visit the state pricing sheet you’ll get nearly 20 pages more of drinks. Why the push for strong beverages and spirits by our government? They’re in the alcohol business. Alabama is one of 17 states nationally that’s still a control state, but not to worry, they do so for your own good. From its website: “Following the era of Prohibition, each state individually decided how alcoholic beverages would be managed within its borders. The people of Alabama did not want alcoholic beverages marketed like soup and soft drinks. Recognizing the lethal potential of alcohol, Alabama citizens demanded its rigorous control. The ABC Board was legislatively created to fulfill this mandate.” Spotlighted on the homepage of the ABC board and paraphrased in their pricing sheet is an op-ed from ABC Administrator Mac Gipson that makes the case to continue the state program. He also argues against Senate Bill 115 , saying it would, “ultimately (lead) to higher prices, as well as increased consumption with all its associated social ills.” Aren’t you glad the state is here to save you from the “lethal potential of alcohol?” Could there be other interests beyond that residents of this great state need it to run liquor stores to keep them from becoming a heathen free-market system? Well, there’s all those jobs Gipson cites that would be lost. Only problem is that SB 115 by Sen. Arthur Orr addresses that. According to the committee report on the bill: “This bill also requires the Board to fill any nonessential positions with displaced ABC employees of retail operations. The bill also requires displaced employees receive (1) a five percent bidding preference when submitting an individual bid or submitting a bid on behalf of a corporation, partnership, association, or other business organization, of which the displaced employee owns at least a 50 percent interest and (2) five additional points on a state examination for appointment to the classified service for a period of two years. In addition, displaced employees shall be given a 20 percent discount on retail license and permit fees for the first two years after issuance. The bill also allows a licensee to receive a 20 percent discount on license and permit fees for employing a displaced employee full-time, for 12 consecutive months or longer. The discount would be given for each complete year the displaced employee is employed full-time, for up to five years.” Looking for other reasons to continue this not-so conservative, not-so free-market program, there’s always that big government rarely likes to end a program and return services to the market where they belong. Then there’s this a strong lobby against change: Monday morning, AL.Com’s Cameron Smith published Meet the money behind the effort to keep Alabama in the liquor retail business. In it he links to a letter Bob Leavell, former Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABC) administrator under Governors Folsom and James, sent to the landlords of the states liquor stores. Leavell pleads with them to contribute to a fund for lobbyists to fight Senate Bill 115, which would open up the market. In it he says, “If you thought this Bill was not going anywhere; that it would die or get killed like it always has, you need to think again!” Let’s hope he’s right! The fact is the prohibition days are long behind us and so should be the days of state-run liquor stores. Photo Credit: AP Photo/Doug McSchooler
