The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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In 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), promising it would lower Medicare costs for seniors. But for Alabama's seniors, the reality has been far different. A new report reveals Medicare Part D premiums have skyrocketed 21% this year, with even higher prices expected next year. The IRA, instead of being the promised solution, is dismantling the Part D drug benefit and burdening Alabama's seniors with unaffordable costs. Alabama has one of the nation's largest rural seni...
The election of 1860 featured four presidential candidates: Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge, John Bell, and Abraham Lincoln. Stephen A. Douglas – Nicknamed the Little Giant due to his 5’ 4” stature, Illinois-native Douglas was a political giant. A wealthy land speculator and lobbyist for the Illinois Central Railroad, Douglas supported the Missouri Compromise, then sponsored the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, whose popular sovereignty provision virtually negated the Missouri Compromise. He cr...
The Lagniappe returned to reporting on AU corruption with a piece on Matrix [https://www.lagniappemobile.com/townnews/police/in-the-matrix-auburn-university-pays-1-million-a-year-to-controversial-firm/article_f088d0c2-eacc-11ee-81f0-0f2cf0b748a3.html?fbclid=IwAR15aB7ymWIy9QAaqZeUJELJJYM9qW9IKf8NjpxFAIAdAyC2xOsV8tavUEw] which appears a first salvo on another series by investigative reporter Rob Holbert. Some forecast these courageous articles by one of our best reporters in the State may finally...
For the past half century, state courts have largely toed the line and followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade (1973) decision creating a “right” to abortion and thereby invalidating the abortion laws of nearly all states. But the U.S. Supreme Court has overruled Roe v. Wade in its Dobbs v. Jackson (2023) decision, so state and lower federal courts are no longer bound by that earlier decision. Join me as I tell a “Tale of Two Courts,” how two state supreme courts have addressed preborn hum...
The 2024 Alabama Legislative Session ended on Thursday, May 9. It has been said and properly documented that no man’s life, liberty, or property is safe when the Alabama Legislature is in session. At this point, you can all rest easy. Unfortunately, many people are unaware when the legislature is in session and what is being considered by those elected members while they are in Montgomery. According to the Constitution of the State of Alabama, the Alabama Legislature’s primary res...
This country has witnessed numerous political schisms since the beginning of the republic. We are presently bombarded with diverse and often intense political views--some real and some superficial. A distinct difference in political philosophy existed in the mid-1800s, mainly in the form of Jeffersonian vs. Hamiltonian principles. Reflecting his identification with the old protectionist Whigs, Lincoln, who idolized Henry Clay, supported Alexander Hamilton’s program of central banking, i...
Here’s a tax reduction proposal everyone should love: · No tax at all on your first $95,000 income ($125,000 if filing jointly) · 1% tax on income above $95,000 (or $125,000 if filing jointly) · An extra 1% super-tax for those making more than $600,000 per year · The super-tax increases to 6% for those making $16 million per year. Too good to be true? Maybe it is -- today. But that’s the tax we had in 1913, the year the 16th Amendment was adopted. The first IRS Form 1040 exempted all income...
We’ve endured another state of our [soviet] union address; fewer DC politburo ‘stand and clap’ durations which conjure youthful recollection of Brezhnev’s heinous addresses. As I recall, Moscow ‘clapping episodes’ also attenuated for Gorbachev as the looming collapse of their [Russian] hegemonic union unfolded during the Soviet bloc’s closing years. Biden bit off more than our Republic of States can afford or we can possibly sustain for our posterity. Witnessing all the proposed spending incr...
Nearly everybody knows that Elon Musk does not like unions—just like he does not like oppressive big government and other violators of free markets and individual liberty. Although purported to be enforcers of fair wages and safe working environments, unions tend to be invasive, coercive, and sometimes criminal. The United Auto Workers is one of them. There is no question that the UAW is lusting to get its meat hooks onto America’s newest, greatest, most prosperous, and most valuable aut...
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." The preamble to the Constitution, something that I learned in the 5th grade, is the foundation of the Constitution. It focuses on creating a government that secures the...
“They don’t have to gamble,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey says of gambling opponents. Perhaps not. But we all have to live with the evils gambling produces. And Alabamians should remember the lessons of Phenix City. Life Magazine described Phenix City as the “wickedest city in the United States, …everything from gambling to murder to arson to fraud.” Known as “Little Las Vegas,” between 1945 and 1954 this little town of 23,000 featured casinos, lotteries, cockfighting, and other forms of gambling, and...
Reporting on Trump’s ballot access in States like Colorado and Maine prompted one loyal reader to recall a long past Gazette column about ineligible candidates on Alabama ballots; https://www.alabamagazette.com/story/2018/06/01/news/state-school-board-races-worthy-inquiry-to-secretary-merrill/1376.html. No shortage of disagreement on what constitutes ‘insurrection’ in these current State cases w.r.t. ballot access for Mr. Trump. Ineligible candidates Alabama’s Secretary of State (John Merrill in...
Right now, America is suffering from the greatest invasion of foreigners in its entire history. Our borders are now so porous, they are utterly ineffective in keeping out many of the world’s most dangerous people. Just this past year, some three million migrants—nearly all of them penniless, destitute peasants—have poured across our southern border, overwhelming our barricades and security forces. An estimated 30 million more are still waiting in Mexico for their turns to assault it and take...
The late Paul Harvey famously said: “Now, for the rest of the story.” “Jim Crow” is a classic example of an incomplete story. Establishment media incessantly blames the South for everything considered “historically bad.” Some modern TV shows and movies will make a sane person want to heave. In reality, when all racial and ethnic groups were in close proximity, segregation was essentially a non-issue in the Old South. Segregation was actually born in the North. Jack Trotter contends that everyo...
“First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen.” So said General Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, speaking the eulogy of our first President whose birthday we celebrate this month. But recent polls suggest that many Americans hardly know who George Washington was, when he lived, or what he accomplished. Some even challenge his military skills, saying he was at best a mediocre tactician, lost more battles than he won, almost lost the war, and at one point was almost removed as...
A ‘Valentine’ themed column was requested for the February Gazette… I thought, Lord help this poor wordsmith - esp. when writing from the heart. Once again, help provided via Scriptures. I believe God answers all sincere prayers - sometimes the answer is no. Seems there’s no fool like an old fool for Christ; a moniker more obvious as my life comes to a close. Oldsters seem reluctant to share ‘University of Hard-Knocks’ education with others who may benefit, in particular our posterity w...
When the Alabama Legislature was feverishly pushing the gas tax hike, did you ever hear a legislator say, “Let the People Vote?” Or how about this one: “I am personally prolife, but I believe a woman has a right to choose”? The latest use of this ever-popular legislative phrase is, “I am personally opposed to the expansion of casino gambling, but let the people vote.” The phrase, “Let the People Vote,” has been in Alabama since the last lottery vote miserably failed years ago. Given that gamb...
This past January 25, Alabama established a new milestone to implement the kindest, safest, simplest, and most practical method of execution known to man—nitrogen asphyxiation. Oklahoma was the first state to adopt this new procedure. In April 2015, Governor Mary Fallin signed a bill to allow it, and on March 14, 2018, Attorney General Mike Hunter and Corrections Director Joe M. Allbaugh approved it as the primary method of execution. In March 2018, Alabama became the third state, after O...
The assaults on Robert E. Lee and anyone who fought for Southern Independence never abate. Lee symbolizes most things his critics hate – he was a devout Christian, he believed in the sovereignty of the States within a voluntary federal republic, his primary allegiance was to Virginia (his “country”), and he felt “Union” at the point of a bayonet undermined the entire American experiment in self-government. One might ask: Why did the colonies seek independence if the goal was replication of the m...
Church and State are separate kingdoms, but both are established by God upon the authority of His Word, the Bible. Christian churches have historically recognized the Bible as the inspired and authoritative Word of God, and as President Andrew Jackson said, "The Bible is the rock upon which our republic rests." But during the last two centuries, the Bible has been under unrelenting attack. Unsurprisingly, secular philosophers denounce the Bible as a collection of fables, myths, and legends loose...
Many thanks for all the wonderful correspondences on my Christmas 2021 column; Christ is Born, Glorify Him! Pleasantly surprised how many included kind inquiry on my “Tough Roe to Hoe” column [https://www.alabamagazette. com/story/2021/10/01/opinion/tough-roe-to-hoe/2231.html] evoking Solomon’s wisdom. This third king of Israel reigned circa 968-928 BC, heralded for his wise judgments. One of the more notable Solomon decisions I wanted readers to recall comes from 1 Kings 3:16-28 repro...
Just before dawn on Saturday morning, October 7, 2023, about 4000 people gathered in a remote part of southern Israel north of the Re'im kibbutz, about 3.7 miles east of Gaza and began celebrating the last day of the Sukkot holiday with a Supernova music festival. Organizers had promised a "journey of unity and love" with dance, music, art, and drinks. The people were happy and cheerful as they danced and prepared for the gala event. Without warning, Hamas militants arrived in motorized...
The assaults on Robert E. Lee and anyone who fought for Southern Independence never abate. Lee symbolizes most things his critics hate – he was a devout Christian, he believed in the sovereignty of the States within a voluntary federal republic, his primary allegiance was to Virginia (his “country”), and he felt “Union” at the point of a bayonet undermined the entire American experiment in self-government. One might ask: Why did the colonies seek independence if the goal was replication of the m...
We know that Christmas is centered around the birth of Jesus, the Christ child, but what is it about the Christmas season that is so different from the rest of the year? Kindness seems to emerge, benevolence is more prevalent, evil thoughts take a pause, differences are often suspended, and “Merry Christmas” greetings broadcast in the market square are jubilant as if to say, “God Bless You.” It is a centuries old quest to somehow bottle the grandeur, supernatural attributes, and ambienc...
That’s the way many want to celebrate Christmas today. The secularizers note that America is more diverse than it used to be, that we shouldn’t offend others, that saying “Merry Christmas” might be bad for business, and that public Christmas observances might even violate the First Amendment. Then they deliver their crowning blow: “Besides, everybody knows Jesus wasn’t born in December.” But saying “everybody knows” begs the question, as saying “all scholars agree” defines anyone who doesn’t ag...
