Archive for: April 2008

Man thanks to Thomason Tracts for making me aware of Sackclothapalooza.

• They’re really going to do this
• What, no flagellation?
• More from Sackclothapalooza

Honestly, it might be a little funnier if it wasn’t so sad.

This has to be the sickest thing I’ve ever heard of. I’m not normally a “lock them up and throw away the key” kind of person, but I hope this guy rots.

Somehow lost in the whole scandal about the phantom voting that passed the grocery tax bill is the actual procedure for that. Some articles are saying there’s a rule that says members can vote other people’s machines. That’s not totally accurate.

Rule 32 of the House actually says quite clearly: “No member shall vote for another member, except by unanimous consent; nor shall any person not a member cast a vote for a member.”The exception is that Rule 9 of the House allows: “The rules of the House shall not be suspended except by a four-fifths vote of a quorum present and voting.”

I’m not saying that justifies a member voting someone’s machine against their wishes, but a future resolution might be for Republicans, who are so mad about this, to no longer suspend Rule 32. My guess is that Republicans have been doing that since anyway.

When Rick Harmon of the Montgomery Advertiser asked for an interview about Free the Hops, I didn’t realize he meant this.

(click to enlarge)

Two great articles, both starting on or mentioned on the front page. The huge article from the front page spread can be read online here. The great expose on homebrewing with John Little is here.

I really want to point out the chart from the front page.

Since the controversial passage of HB274, there has been much discussion about House members casting votes for one another. While the legislature is in session, there are many legitimate reasons for an active House member to ask another member to vote their machine: Drafting legislation, answering constituent calls, having discussions with other members across the room, following up on legislation in the Senate, and even answering nature’s call (Former Lt Governor Windom’s method of answering nature’s call was not very well-received in ’99). There’s a lot more to being a legislator than pushing buttons.

While covering another member’s machine is a generally-accepted practice, voting another member’s machine without their permission is neither acceptable nor commonly practiced. For years, Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow, a long-time Democrat who sits near me in the legislature, has been completely surrounded by Republicans. On partisan issues, he often votes different than most of us, but I have not heard of an instance where his machine was intentionally voted against his wishes.

During my first two years in the legislature, I sat between two long-time Democrats. Occasionally, we covered one another’s machines, but only as directed by the member assigned to the machine. I believe that most members, Republican and Democrat, would agree that it is unethical to vote another member’s machine without their permission.

So what happened with HB274? As the beginning of the day, Rep. Mike Hubbard requested several machines of members who were not present be locked out. For as long as I have been in the legislature, this has meant that those machines were locked for the day, unless the member whose machine was locked showed up. In addition, Rep. Jack Williams requested that Rule 32, requiring members to vote their own machines be enforced. Although Rep. Williams rescinded his request for the enforcement of Rule 32 it should not have affected the machines that Rep. Hubbard had requested to be locked out.

So were the machines mistakenly unlocked or was this some sort of sinister manipulation to get this bill passed? We can discuss that forever and never know for sure. But whether a machine is locked or not and whether or not Rule 32 is being enforced, it is wrong to steal another member’s vote.

From the Alabama Republican Party’s blog:

A proposed bill to eliminate the tax on groceries sure does sound good doesn’t it? Sounds like a win-win, right? Wrong. What the Democrats are not telling you is that while the bill does eliminate the grocery tax, it also increases taxes on those families making $50,000/year or more. That’s right, the void left in the budget after the grocery tax will have to be filled, so the Democrats are introducing a measure in the bill that would actually result in a $345 million TAX INCREASE on the majority of hard-working families - I’d rather pay the extra 4% tax for a banana. [emphasis added]

Actually, according to the latest figures from the US Census Bureau (that liberal think-tank), 59.4% of Alabama families make less than $50,000 a year. So it would be a tax increase on 40% of the most affluent Alabama families, not a majority. All families, however, would no longer pay the 4% sales tax on grocery items.

Now, the Department of Labor estimates that the average American family of four spends $8,513 a year on groceries. So removing the state side of the sales tax on groceries would mean about a $340 tax cut per family, according to that data (4% of $8,513).

I don’t have any statistics on how much different income brackets would pay in state taxes after losing the federal tax deduction, and I’m not going to just make numbers up like the Republicans. However, to save $340 in state taxes through through deductions (assuming you pay 5% in state taxes at this point), you would have to have a $6,800 federal tax liability. (deducting $6,800 from income at 5% tax of $6,800 is $340 less liability).

This paragraph should make sense if I’ve lost you. You should have just done your taxes, so break out that return. If you’re an average American family of four in your grocery habits, and your federal tax liability was less than $6,800, then you’re going to save money with John Knight’s tax plan. If your federal tax liability is more than $6,800, then you’re going to pay more in taxes to the state next under Knight’s plan.

I’m not endorsing John Knight’s plan, Republicans. It would just be real nice if you could use real data and honest analysis instead of making stuff up.

BMLL’s latest plan to raise money for his salary increase city expenditures actually sounds like a decent idea.

Mayor Larry Langford this afternoon proposed a plan for a month-long amnesty from July 1 through July 31 where violators would pay their traffic tickets without extra penalties or the threat of arrest. Only the tickets and court costs would be charge.

After July, he wants a crackdown on those who still owe old tickets.

Look guys, I’m being serious here, beer can help the city of Birmingham’s financial problems. I won’t say it’ll bring them out of an imminent bankruptcy, but it will help. State and local governments in Alabama annually collect $48 per capita in consumption and business taxes from the beer industry. In Georgia and Florida, which has beer laws similar to the those proposed by the Gourmet Beer Bill, they collect $67 per capita.

There are about 656,700 people in Jefferson County. An extra $19 a year in beer taxes per capita means an extra $12 million in revenue. That twice as much as BMLL’s parking ticket plan is going to provide, and all you have to do is give people more freedom.

Before you get all high and mighty on me, I should also point out that both Georgia and Florida, with their laid-back beer laws (perish the thought), have a lower rate of drunk driving than Alabama. And the year after Georgia amended their beer laws, their drunk driving rate actually went down 1%. North Carolina went down 5% the year after they changed their beer laws.

So there appears to be a ton of benefit — new tax revenue, new jobs, and more than an $400 increase per capita in economic benefit. And yet the evidence indicates there will be no ill effects from drunk driving fatalities despite the claims of some. Must be something Alabama doesn’t want.

I’m sorry, but it’s really busy right now. I miss the blogging, but the blog is a low priority right now. If you’re a libertarian, I hope I’ll see you at the state convention tomorrow. I’ll be speaking at 1:30. If you’re a beer drinker, hopefully I’ll see you at the Free the Hops meeting tomorrow. If you’re on my design project team, I’ll be spending the next two weeks with you non-stop beginning on Sunday. If you’re my wife… well… sorry. I love you.

The Homebrew Bill should pass Senate Committee today. Maybe then it can die in the Senate as they filibuster over bingo.

I don’t even want to know. I’m too busy to post real things for a couple days, by the way.

see more crazy cat pics

Who said it? No cheating.

 First of all, I don’t think that white America is going to elect a black President. […] [Hillary Clinton is a better candidate] because she’s a white woman.

I hate to do such a long “[]” but I’m definitely not mis-wording the intention of the quoted person.

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I swear. If you really pay attention, Alabama politics is one of the most interesting things going on the world.

Looks like the Bingo thing is going to last a bit longer.

State Sen. Charles Bishop, R-Arley, filed a complaint Thursday with the Alabama Ethics Commission against House Majority Leader Ken Guin, D-Carbon Hill, saying Guin is prepared to vote against Bishop’s bingo bills while representing a bingo hall in his legal practice. Bishop also charged Guin, who is also chairman of the House Rules Committee, with changing positions on electronic bingo after being hired to represent Walker County Bingo LLC.

Apparently the Bush administration and Congress were briefed about the financial disaster that is Jefferson County. Congressmen Spencer Bachus and Artur Davis, who each reprsent parts of the county, aren’t asking for a bailout.

“We’ve asked nobody to do anything except pay attention,” White [Jefferson County’s financial advisor] said after meeting in Bachus’ Capitol Hill office. “The county and some financial institutions got into this fix and it’s our job to get out of it.”

U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, also ruled out federal intervention.

“These are problems that are unique to our county, and our county is going to have step up the plate and fix them,” Davis said.

This James White guy is the Jefferson County financial advisor? I wonder how long he’s been there. He’s either really bad or has recently taken a really bad job.

The House Public Safety Committee approved a measure yesterday that would reduce the maximum speed in Alabama from 70 to 65 mph. For some reason I want to put out that it translates from 31.3 m/s to 29 m/s.

The bill, HB103, was obviously sold as a safety measure, but it was also pushed as a way for Alabamians to save fuel. I can respect the safety concern, but please don’t use the argument that this is good for my own wallet.

The bill would also create a Maximum Speed Limit Committee that “may increase or lower the maximum speed limit on certain highways for the purpose of conserving fuel and  reducing serious injury or death in the event of a motor vehicle accident.” This committee consists of the governor, lieutenant governor, the speaker of the House, the ALDOT director, and the director of Public Safety.

I find this absolutely hysterical. The synopsis:

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.

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