Rick Chandler: Taxes and fairness in Alabama
At first blush, one might assume that Alabama shows a bit of compassion in its implementation of state income tax rates because it throws out numbers like 2%, 4%, and 5% as part of an income-level tax calculation. But in taking a closer look, it more accurately resembles a “flat tax” than anything else. A flat tax ultimately impacts lower and middle-income earners more than high-income earners when accounting for after-tax income available for living expenses. Alabama legislators are primarily lawyers and have probably never taken a hard look at what is actually being burdened onto the average taxpayers in this state. That’s where a more analytical analysis of the problem is necessary and is presented below. The current Alabama tax rate for a single person is 2% for the first $500 of taxable income, 4% for the next $2,500, and 5% for all taxable income over $3,000. Single taxpayers are entitled to a $1,500 personal exemption. For simplified discussions, let’s say Person-A earns a modest $15 per hour and reports a $30,000 annual income, and Person-B (a typical Alabama State Senator working several side jobs) reports $300,000 in yearly income. Person-A pays $1,385 in taxes, equating to a composite tax rate of 4.62%. Person-B pays $14,885 in taxes, equating to a 4.96% composite tax rate. So even though Person-B earns ten times the income of Person-A, their final tax rates are very similar. While some feel that a flat tax is the fairest solution, the budgetary realism in these numbers is that Person-A has just a little over $28K for the whole year to pay for food, housing, clothing, transportation, insurance, medical care, and a plethora of other taxes. Meanwhile, Person-B has over $285K after-taxes for living expenses. Of course, the high earner is most likely deserving of their wages, but some fairness needs to be baked into the tax process to ensure that those hard workers at the lower end of the earnings scale can maintain an acceptable quality of life. And from my earlier days, I recall a saying from the book of Luke which states, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required…” And in these days of hyperinflation, the more affluent folks may be feeling the pinch, but it is the lower and middle-income taxpayers who are suffering the most. A number of alternatives should be discussed but as one example, consider rewickering the 3 “brackets” so that a single person would pay 2% on the first $5000 of taxable income, 4% on the next $20,000, 5% on the next $25,000, and 5.5% for all taxable income over $50,000. Single taxpayers would now be entitled to a $2,000 personal exemption. Going back to the example, Person-A now pays $1,050 in taxes, realizing a reduction of $335 and an overall tax rate of 3.5%. Person-B now pays $15,790 in taxes, causing an increase of $905 and an overall tax rate of 5.26%. Person-B still has over $284K to maintain their standard of living. Surely an adjustment in this range is feasible. The higher tax rate category of 5.5% affecting higher-income individuals is still lower than other states, such as Georgia, which currently sets its high-income tax rate at 5.75%. And if you’re wondering why this Libertarian candidate is advocating for the continuance of taxes in any form, it’s because we all understand that the Government must be funded to some degree to provide basic constitutionally-based goods and services to the public. Any major changes cannot be implemented all at once but must be phased in over time to ensure a smooth continuity of services. The proposal discussed above is just one example in that direction. Much more needs to be accomplished in the areas of tax reduction, downsizing of Government size/expenses, and driving greater efficiencies from our current army of public servants. The slate of Libertarian candidates seeking office on November 8 are united in their plans to reduce Government size and cost while ensuring the rights and lifestyles of all Alabama citizens are protected. Rick Chandler is the Libertarian Candidate for Alabama State Senate District 3, which includes Morgan County, Southwestern Madison County, and Southeastern Limestone County.
Rick Chandler: Big money & Alabama politics
Another month and another pile of money has been delivered to Alabama’s incumbent political figures. Whether they need it or not, there are a number of organizations that gleefully throw money at Alabama’s politicians out of the goodness of their hearts, or more likely, it is because they are looking to secure favorable future decisions from those same politicians. During September, my Republican opponent, Author Orr, was “gifted” another $17,250 to bring the total amassed in his campaign war chest to almost one million dollars ($982,732). Of that latest monthly total, $5,000 came from Cook’s Pest Control, a company my opponent is employed by as the Executive Vice President. Customers should be comforted that their monthly pest control fees have provided a surplus to the company sufficient to allow for such a generous donation. What makes the situation even more absurd is that there were actually zero expense dollars paid out of this account during the month of October. The candidate is obviously confident that his Libertarian opponent has absolutely no chance of unseating him. So, the need to continually amass large sums of money each month would not appear to be necessary, unless there are bigger political plans down the road. The previous month’s haul of $22,000, plus the other months in the 2022 election year, have netted my opponent a total of $235,392 thus far. This money madness is, of course, not just limited to my opponent. For example, Kay Ivey raked in a staggering $316,011 just during the month of September, and Will Ainsworth has a ridiculous $1,268,371 in his campaign war chest. This reflects the unfortunate situation of Alabama politics. A culture where lobbyists, special interest groups, and PACs continue to exert massive influence over our political leaders to the detriment of our economy, our educational system, and our basic freedoms as Americans. The process should focus more on the candidate’s positions and plans for leading the state. The current system discourages fairness, and it is shown repeatedly when incumbent candidates refuse to engage in debates and explain their visions to the voters because they will simply outspend their opponents in advertising and at various political functions. Alabama is one of the few “special” states that allow unlimited contributions from individuals, their state parties, PACs, corporations, and unions. It doesn’t have to be this way, however. Most other states enforce donation limits by source, and thereby introduce a certain level of fairness in the election process. For instance, Alaska limits an individual’s contributions to a maximum of $500 per candidate per year. They also limit the aggregate total of contributions from non-resident donors. Arkansas limits the amounts a candidate’s state party can donate to $2,700 per election. Georgia limits PAC contributions for state-wide candidates to $7,600 for primary/general elections and $4,500 for runoffs, and for legislative candidates there is a PAC limit of $3,000 for primary/general elections and $1,600 for runoffs. Mississippi imposes corporate campaign limits of $1,000 per candidate per year. Kentucky prohibits any contributions from unions. Again, Alabama imposes no limits that politicians can receive from any of these sources. While not all politicians are blatantly corrupt, there is most definitely an expected behavior for those officeholders who have willingly accepted large sums of money as part of the campaign process. If just a few political newcomers, like the current crop of Libertarian candidates who receive little to no campaign donations, succeed in getting elected in Alabama in November, it could ignite a new fervor of political interest by the entire voting population. New faces without any financial ties to legacy power brokers would provide a badly needed jolt and drastically shake up the current big-money monopoly. This fresh start could make for a new political landscape, and would significantly improve on the sad 25% voter participation rate we have seen in the last round of elections. God bless America, and God bless Alabama. Rick Chandler is the Libertarian candidate for Alabama State Senate District 3. Alabama State Senate District 3 includes Morgan County, Southwestern Madison County, and Southeastern Limestone County.
Seven State Senate seat races to watch
All 35 State Senate seats are up for grabs in the November 8 general election. Republicans hold a 27 to 8 margin over Democrats in the current makeup of the Alabama Senate. The Alabama Republican Party is running candidates in 29 seats. The GOP is defending all of the 27 seats they currently hold and are running candidates in two districts currently held by Democrats. Alabama Democrats are defending the eight seats they currently hold and are challenging the GOP in six districts currently held by Republicans. Libertarians currently hold no seats in the Alabama Senate but are running twelve candidates in State Senate races. There are a number of contested State Senate races on the November ballot. These are the seven races with the most chance of becoming interesting. Democrat Lisa Ward is challenging Republican incumbent State Sen. Gerald Allen in Senate District 21. Both of these candidates are well known in the Tuscaloosa area. Allen has represented the district for three terms and served in the Alabama House of Representatives before that. Ward is a former city councilwoman who is very active in the community. According to filings with the Alabama Secretary of State’s office, Allen has a $204,872.68 campaign account balance entering September, which includes August contributions of $8,250. Ward, the challenger, meanwhile raised $23,149.76 in August and has a cash balance of $31,968.94 entering September. Neither faced a primary opponent. Democrat Kim Lewis versus Republican incumbent State Sen. Tom Butler in Senate District 2. Butler has represented Madison County in the legislature for parts of five decades, but this is one of the fastest growing areas in the state, and there are thousands of new people that bring different politics with them to the area. Lewis is hoping that an increasingly purple Madison County will result in a win. Butler was pushed hard in the Republican primary by former State Sen. Bill Holtzclaw. Butler raised $44,500 in the month of August and enters September with $38,166.63. Lewis raised $7,830 in August and comes into September with $27,859.70. In Senate District 33, incumbent Democratic Sen. Vivian Figures faces Republican challenger Pete Riehm. This has been a very safe Democratic district consisting of the poorest parts of Mobile as well as Mobile County suburbs like Prichard, but redistricting meant that the new district now goes deep into Baldwin County and picked up the very prosperous and heavily Republican community of Spanish Fort. This district went from very blue to purple thanks to the legislature’s redistricting and efforts to “unpack” Black voters from majority-minority districts. Is it purple enough for a Republican to take it away from the Democrats? That is for the voters to decide on November 8. Sen. Figures raised $31,500 in the month of August to enter September with $110,497.02. Riehm had contributions of $19,577.54 in August and enters September with $60,911.31. Democrat Sherri Lewis versus Republican Jay Hovey in Senate District 27. Hovey, an Auburn City Councilman, just narrowly defeated incumbent Tom Whatley (R-Auburn) in a heavily contested GOP primary. Hovey, who has the challenge of unifying Republicans, raised $85,500 in contributions in August to enter September with a cash balance of $70,074.17. Reese meanwhile raised $1,806.20 in August to bring a total of $2,703.33 into the month of September. Senate District 23 – here, there are three candidates vying for the open seat formerly held by State Sen. Malika Sanders-Fortier, who vacated the seat in an unsuccessful bid for governor. Democrat Robert Lee Stewart narrowly defeated former State Sen. Hank Sanders in a hard-fought Democratic primary runoff in June. Stewart faces both a Republican in Michael Nimmer and a Libertarian in Portia Stephens. Stewart raised $16,987 in August to bring $17,872.84 into September. The Libertarian, Stephens, reported raising $2,060 in August to finish the month with $6,285 in cash on hand. The Republican, Nimmer, has not filed a campaign finance report. Alabama does not have general election runoffs, so when there are multiple candidates, the candidate with the most votes wins even if they got less than half of the votes. There is another three-way contest in Senate District 29. There, incumbent Republican Sen. Donnie Chesteen (R-Dothan) faces both Democrat Nathan “Nate” Mathis and Libertarian Floyd “Pete” McBroom. Matthis reported raising no money in August, but he has $5,719.36 in cash on hand. McBroom has not filed a campaign finance report with the Secretary of State’s office yet. The incumbent, Chesteen, raised $25,500 in August to enter September with $327,660.86. In Senate District 12, Republican Keith Kelley is battling Democrat David McCullars for the open seat currently held by Sen. Del Marsh. Kelley raised $29,658.24 in August and has $65,102.13 in cash on hand. McCullars only raised $265 in the month of August and entered the month of September with $4,377.15 in cash on hand. Kelley had a hard-fought Republican primary. This is a district that has given Marsh a close call in the 2014 general election. In other contested Alabama Senate races · SD3 incumbent Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) faces Libertarian Rick Chandler · SD4 incumbent Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) faces Libertarian Jacob Marlow · SD6 incumbent Larry Stutts (R-Sheffield) faces Libertarian Kyle Richard-Garrison · SD7 incumbent Sam Givhan (R-Huntsville) faces Democrat Korey Wilson · SD15 incumbent Dan Roberts (R-Mountain Brook) faces Libertarian Michael Crump · SD17 incumbent Shay Shelnutt (R-Trussville) faces Libertarian John Fortenberry · SD24 incumbent Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro) faces Libertarian Richard Benderson · SD25 incumbent Will Barfoot (R-Montgomery) versus Libertarian Louie Woolbright · SD28 incumbent Billy Beasley (D-Clayton) faces Libertarian David Boatwright · SD35 incumbent David Sessions (R-Grand Bay) faces Libertarian Clifton Hudson Republican incumbents Tim Melson, Greg Reed, Steve Livingston, Clay Scofield, Andrew Jones, Randy Price, April Weaver, Jabo Waggoner, Greg Albritton, Clyde Chambliss, Chris Elliott, and Jack Williams are all running unopposed. Republican newcomers Lance Bell in SD11 and Josh Carnley in SD31 are also unopposed in the general election. Democratic incumbents Rodger Smitherman, Linda Coleman-Madison, and Kirk Hatcher are all also unopposed in the general election. State Rep. Merika Coleman is unopposed in SD19, which is being vacated by the retirement of Priscilla Dunn (D-Bessemer). In 2022 Republican candidates in Alabama have received $44,321,108.97 in contributions. Political Action Committees have received $17,846,761.05. Democratic candidates have received $6,629,199.43, and all other candidates have received just $111,950.87. The general
Alabama AFL–CIO endorses dozens of Libertarians in races without a Democratic candidate
The Alabama chapter of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) has endorsed 26 Libertarians for office across the state. While the group isn’t specifically for Democratic candidates only, the sheer number of Libertarian candidates being endorsed this election cycle has been something not seen before in Alabama. According to its website, the mission of the AFL-CIO is to “represent the interests of working people at the state and local level.” Nationally, the AFL-CIO is the largest federation of unions in the U.S., representing more than 12 million active and retired workers. The largest unions currently in the AFL-CIO are the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). According to Independent Political Report, the Alabama chapter released a list of candidate endorsements that included 73 Democrats, nine Republicans, and 26 Libertarians. Seven of the Libertarian candidates are running for State Senate, and 19 are running for the Alabama State Legislature. According to the Libertarian Party of Alabama (LPA) website, the party is committed to individual liberty and personal responsibility, a free-market economy, and a foreign policy of non-intervention, peace, and free trade. This year, the LPA had until May 24 to turn in a petition with 51,588 signatures in order to achieve party status in Alabama and for their candidates to be on the ballot. The party was successful and turned in its list of candidates to Clay Helms on May 19. This is the first time in 20 years that the party is on the general election ballot in Alabama, which gives voters an opportunity to choose candidates outside of the Democratic and Republican parties. Danny Wilson, an Alabama Libertarian Party leader, has expressed frustration over what he sees as a “media blackout” concerning libertarian candidates that haven’t been covered for the upcoming Alabama elections. Wilson is also a libertarian candidate for the Alabama Senate seat in the 19th district. Wilson stated on Twitter, “LPA (Libertarian Party of Alabama) will have 69 candidates in various races across the state. Fifty-five of those races that would have been unopposed-coronations with extra steps. Media Blackout hampers third-party candidates almost as much as ballot access and straight ticket voting. There are other options.” In June, Wilson received an endorsement from Alabama Cannabis Coalition. Just last week, the Alabama AFL-CIO endorsed libertarian candidate Rick Chandler for Alabama State Senate District 3. District 3 includes Morgan County and portions of western Madison and eastern Limestone counties. Chandler, a retired engineer from Huntsville, is a challenging Republican incumbent Arthur Orr. Chandler thanked the organization for the endorsement and gave credit to unions. “The Libertarian party continuously seeks to bring in citizens from across all walks of life to form a more harmonious society,” Chandler said. “Even those workers not part of a union have benefitted from their activities to help people achieve an acceptable standard of life, since large corporations must now strive harder to keep their workforces well compensated and working in a safe environment.” Libertarian candidates are also contesting a number of other statewide positions, including Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, Auditor, Treasurer, and two spots on the Public Service Commission. If any of these Libertarian candidates can successfully earn 20% of the total vote, ballot access for the Party will be guaranteed into the next cycle. If they fail, they must restart the process and get signatures again. The general election is on November 8, 2022.
Alabama AFL-CIO endorses Alabama State Senate District 3 candidate Rick Chandler
The Alabama American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) has endorsed the Libertarian Party candidate, Rick Chandler, for Alabama State Senate District 3. District 3 includes Morgan County and portions of western Madison and eastern Limestone counties. Chandler, a retired engineer from Huntsville, is a challenging Republican incumbent Arthur Orr. Nationally, the AFL-CIO is the largest federation of unions in the U.S., representing more than 12 million active and retired workers. The largest unions currently in the AFL-CIO are the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). Chandler thanked the organization for the endorsement and gave credit to unions. “The Libertarian party continuously seeks to bring in citizens from across all walks of life to form a more harmonious society,” Chandler said. “Even those workers not part of a union have benefitted from their activities to help people achieve an acceptable standard of life, since large corporations must now strive harder to keep their workforces well compensated and working in a safe environment.” Chandler continued, “The Alabama AFL-CIO represents many hard-working, tax-paying, independent-minded Americans. I greatly appreciate their endorsement and look forward to working with them after we win this fall.” The Libertarian Party gained ballot access this year for the first time in more than two decades following a big push to collect enough signatures in support of the party. Danny Wilson, an Alabama Libertarian Party leader, has expressed frustration over what he sees as a “media blackout” concerning libertarian candidates that aren’t being covered for the upcoming Alabama elections. According to the News Courier, Chandler has also been endorsed by LetBamaVote, an organization that advocates the rights of citizens to place statutes and constitutional amendments on ballots and to ratify or reject statutes.
