From the files of It's okay if you are a republican in #SweetHomeAlabama

So much hypocrisy so little time

EYE am sure everyone is aware by now Governor Robert Bentley, EYE mean Ex-Governor Bentley negotiated a plea deal that required him to resign while dropping four possible felony counts to two misdemeanors. 

If Team Bentley had been required to turn over responsive e-mails, text messages, phone records, and financial records, how many GOP big-hitters might have been implicated? Our guess is "a lot." And that might have been the No. 1 driver behind the quick plea deal.
This much is certain: No deal should even have been considered until Bentley and his office had turned over all of the documents sought by the House Special Counsel -- and all individuals sought for interviews had testified under oath. I rarely agree with al.com on anything, but their editorial on the matter was right on target:

Bentley pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges. But the stakes are too high for the pursuit of justice to stop here. This impeachment investigative report creates as many questions as it does answers.
It implicates many people in Montgomery beyond the governor. At times, it seems like everybody knew everything but nobody did anything.
Allegations were made in the report that many surrounding Bentley were complicit in the cover up.
They too should be held accountable for their actions. We know from the commission report Bentley, Mason and others refused to cooperate with the investigation. Subsequently, we still do not know the extent to which their alleged actions constitute criminal behavior. What more would we learn from their private messages and emails?

And then there is THIS: 

Birmingham attorney Eric L. Welch Guster, a legal analyst on cable news shows, was on the same page. Here is Guster, from Facebook:

LAW, POLITICAL PARTIES and RACE -- ALABAMA STYLE: Bentley got probation and his side piece got protected. That's how this works and has been this way for generations.
The GOP protected their own even in the face of sex, thievery, lies & nationwide embarrassment. Robert Bentley will remain free WITH A MISDEMEANOR while other politicians similarly situated received prison sentences and NEVER had an offer of probation. There was enough evidence on Bentley that a 13-year-old could take this case to trial and win. There was no need for a plea, except to protect him and his beloved boo-thang.
They claim justice is blind but we know better. It sees color, political party affiliation and the ties that bind them all together.
I am done with this foolery.

EYE am done with it too.   

So let's compare the case of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman (D. Mobile), who is currently serving hard time in a federal prison in Louisiana because he was too liberal for Alabama, EYE mean, appointed a campaign contributor to a board.

The central charge against Siegelman, a Democrat elected in a heavily Republican state, boils down to this. As governor, Siegelman was looking to promote an election on whether or not the state should create a lottery. One generous contributor to the special lottery campaign fund was Richard Scrushy, the high-flying CEO of HealthSouth who wished to be appointed to a state hospital board. Bush-appointed federal prosecutors claimed Scrushy’s $500,000 contribution to the lottery campaign was the price to gain an appointment by Siegelman to the state board.

Meanwhile, the new Governor of #SweetHomeAlabama is the same as the Old Governor dressed in designer suits. 

As lieutenant governor, Kay Ivey has been strongly against the Affordable Care Act.
When the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Obamacare in 2012, Ivey released a statement saying that keeping the law in place could lead to the end of the United States as we know it.
She said, “The Supreme Court’s ruling today, upholding major portions of Obamacare, perpetuates the illusion that taxpayers can and should provide healthcare for every citizen, in spite of the fact that the country is broke! If our elected leadership in Washington does not overturn this law, it will bring America down.”
She went on to say that America would “spend and tax itself into weakness and, God forbid, collapse,” just like “the former great powers of Europe.”
Ivey said that she instead supports an Obamacare alternative that focus on “restoring state flexibility, promoting free markets and competition while empowering consumer choice.”

Sigh

Congratulations to my friend & fellow "Camden Girl" Kay Ivey...just sworn-in as Governor of Alabama. The second woman gov in AL history. https://t.co/4r07XiEtfL

— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) April 10, 2017

Stuck on Stupid. This is our American History.

Governor Bentley: We need to protect people of our state from them there refugees

#PatelAlabama: Governor apologizes to the government of India for Alabama police treating one of their citizens like "a skinny black man"

Just in case you missed it, our Governor was interviewed on CNN this morning pontificating about his stand on the state line to keep Alabamans safe from them there Muslims, EYE mean, Syrian refugees.  He really didn't have a good reason to offer, so he named dropped that he was with Condolezza Rice yesterday, who allegedly told him Syria should set up a refugee camp over there to contain them.

This is the same Condolezza Rice who was the National Security Advisor that gave pResident George W. Bush a daily briefing one month prior to the 9/11 attacks that said Osama determined to attack inside the U.S. and didn't know what that meant.  The same Condolezza Rice who was the Secretary of State before, during and after Hurricane Katrina.

Governor Bentley also name dropped the director of Homeland Security, and the FBI, both of which are federal agencies, as in the federal government, as in the federal government he plans to obstruct and defy in order to keep Alabamans safe from them there refugees.  The same federal government that is the largest employer in Sweet Home Alabama.

Governors, 1950s: No black kids in our schools, some might be violent Governors, 2010s: No Syrian kids in our states, some might be violent

— Max Fisher (@Max_Fisher) November 16, 2015

More Alabamians have died from guns, natural disasters, and because they don't have access to quality affordable health care than from Muslims, EYE mean, refugees.  But don't let a little thing like facts get in the way of bigotry in the name of The Lord.  Our Governor kept saying he was at war with his heart and his head, and his head was winning.  As someone who claims to be a Christian doesn't he realize baby Jesus and His parents were refugees?

OH BOOM! pic.twitter.com/g5r0cCnWd0

— philip harris (@pharris830) November 16, 2015

EYE wish the citizens of Alabama had somewhere to run.

Governor Robert Bentley has made it clear: Alabama is open for business, but is closed for compassion. https://t.co/5TihHgU8vP

— AL.com (@aldotcom) November 16, 2015

To make the irony more explicit, Bentley will be joined at the conference with the Japanese by Martin Luther King III. An Alabama Governor is meeting with the Japanese – a population that America once forcibly detained for fear of the color of their skin – and is accompanied by the son of a man who Alabama once detained for fear of the color of his skin. The only thing that could make it more ironic would be if they convened in Huntsville, a city that prospered as the result of Alabama welcoming German scientists in the wake of World War II.

EYE Don't Think #SweetHomeAlabama is on any refugees' list of desired destinations

Go away, kids. Alabama is too scared of you.

So, here we go again.  You know the drill.  Make Alabama proud by inflaming fear and bigotry in the name of The Lord.

Charming, just charming. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has hit on a way to posture about the Paris terrorist attacks that feeds right into a whole bunch of the worst stereotypes about his state. Bentley “will not stand complicit to a policy that places the citizens of Alabama in harm’s way,” which is to say he has announced he’s refusing to host Syrian refugees in his state. You know, the Syrian refugees fleeing daily violence as bad as or worse than the Paris attacks.

Yep. This is the same Governor who places the citizens of Alabama in harm's way everyday because Obama.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley used part of his State of the State Address on Tuesday to offer a full-throated defense of his decision to reject Medicaid expansion, one of the key components of President Barack Obama’s health care law.
Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government will pay 100 percent of the cost of expansion for the first three years and then 90 percent after that.
“But how can we believe the federal government will keep its word?” said Bentley, one of a number of governors who took advantage of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to turn down the deal. “The anything but Affordable Care Act has done nothing to gain our trust.”

EYE wonder if the Syrian Refugees could play football would they be welcome in #SweetHomeAlabama?  

So much for Christian...Conservative... Compassion in Sweet Home Alabama

EYE am just saying... there is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.

28 minutes ago

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

Artur Davis vs Joe Reed Round 2

Poor Artur Davis is a man without a party , and according to him, it's all Joe Reed's fault. Sigh

Yep,  Joe Reed told him to pander to the right at the expense of his constituents for his personal political gain.

The endorsement of these groups is not about who has the best position on health care, or bingo or ethics reform, or unemployment, or jobs — New South endorsed Earl Hilliard, Jr. over Davis in both 2000 and 2002 and they've never given him more than token support in the years since. These endorsements are about kow-towing to the power brokers and Artur Davis has never been willing to do that. Bottom line, history tells us Joe Reed would move heaven and earth to keep ADC from endorsing Artur Davis. Ditto Hank Sanders and New South Coalition. It's the status quo vs. a new way of doing business in Alabama, and the folks who wield power with the current system aren't going to give it up quietly.
Ron Sparks will happily kow-tow and they'll endorse him. No surprise there.

Joe Reed made him throw President Obama and the Democratic Party under the bus 

Joe Reed is the reason he accused African American Alabamians of wholesale voter fraud.

Former Alabama Rep. Artur Davis is either trying to out-Harold Ford Harold Ford by being a Democratic turn-coat, or he's auditioning for a slot on Fox News. Or maybe this is all just sour grapes because he lost in a Democratic primary to Ron Sparks when he ran in 2010.
Anyway, Davis made news last week (the only news he's made since losing in the primary) bywriting an editorial in the Montgomery Advertiser alleging that voter suppression laws were perfectly reasonable. That's because, he says, "the most aggressive contemporary voter suppression in the African American community, at least in Alabama, is the wholesale manufacture of ballots, at the polls and absentee, in parts of the Black Belt."

It's all Joe Reed's fault.

It would be easy to look at yesterday's defeat for Artur Davis as simply a case of Joe Reed's ADC (Alabama Democratic Conference) having its way, but it would be as wrong to assume that, as it was to assume that black voters would automatically vote FOR Davis because he is black.
The fact is, that after punching the ADC in the mouth, which I'm glad he did, Davis didn't seem to have a real plan for connecting with black voters, which was still possible, despite the rift with the ADC. Believe it or not, there's no overwhelming love for Mr. Reed or the ADC in the black community, of which I'm aware.

Not.  But don't let the facts get in the way of the truth.  

Even IF Artur is elected he will not replace the so called aging black political establishment that isn’t ready to give up its out sized role in political affairs. As a matter of fact it will energize the so called aging black political establishment because they know Artur Davis will throw black folks under the bus in a New York minuet. IF Davis is elected he will not be the so called new leader of black folks. Black folks don't follow leaders that will lead them off a cliff. 

Here is another painful truth, if the Alabama Democratic Party can forgive Parker Griffin they have to forgive Artur Davis too.  Note EYE said forgive, not forget.  And trust me, voters have a long memory for traitors, ask Parker Griffin.

Party-switching Rep. Parker Griffith (R-Ala.) on Tuesday became the fourth congressional incumbent this year to be defeated in a primary, losing decisively in his first test before voters in his new party.
With his loss, Griffith became the second party switcher to fall short in as many weeks, following the May 18 defeat of Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), a former Republican who lost the seat he had held for three decades in a Democratic primary.

Here is a modest proposal, allow Artur Davis back into the party, but don't let his name appear on the ballot until we are sure he's learned his lesson.  Until then, EYE don't want to hear another word about Artur Davis.  Not one.

Artur, you lost--and you were wrong. Do us all a favor: Find a comfy place to live in Virginia, lick your wounds, and stay the hell away from Alabama--at least our political world. We have plenty of corporate suck-ups down here. We don't need another one.

RedEye Over and Out 

Brian wants to know "How would expanding Medicaid save money?"

Hundreds gathered at the Alabama State Capitol on May 31, 2014 to ask Gov. Robert Bentley to save lives and expand Medicaid in the state. They chanted, sang and told their stories. (Erin Edgemon/eedgemon@al.com)

Brian said:

How would expanding Medicaid save money? The Federal Government says it would pay for 100% of the expansion for the first three years of the expansion. Yes, Medicare has been expanded, but only the expansion is being paid for. After three years, the amount the federal government will pay for drops to 90%. 

How would expanding Medicaid save money?

EYE am glad you asked how Governor Bentley's refusal to expand Medicaid will cost the state of Alabama BILLIONS of dollars.

Alabama is one of fourteen states that have chosen not to expand Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides health insurance to low-income families. The Affordable Care Act provides support to expand Medicaid to include families that earn up to 138% of the federal poverty level. The federal government will pay 100% of the costs for expanding Medicaid beginning in 2014 through 2016, and then gradually decrease support to 90% beginning in 2020.
A new study by the nonprofit research group, the RAND Corporation, shows the decision rejecting the expansion will cost these 14 states $1 billion more in spending on uncompensated care in 2016 alone, plus $8.4 billion annually in federal payments, and leave 3.6 million people without health insurance. The study's authors found that expanding Medicaid is "in the best economic interests of states."

Of course EYE don't expect you to believe expanding Medicaid is in the the best econominic interest of Alabama, but it's true.

In Alabama, Medicaid expansion would mean health care for about 300,000 additional people, most of whom will otherwise remain uninsured. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health estimate the expansion would generate nearly $20 billion in new income, which would mean $1.7 billion in additional tax revenue in state and local governments across the state.

EYE don't know what part of not expanding Medicaid is killing people you and our Doctor/Governor don't understand.

Experts estimate that expanding Medicaid in Alabama would save 550 lives each year. 

Alabama's governor, a doctor, rejected the Medicaid expansion option after the United States Supreme Court ruled that states can refuse to participate in that part of the new health care law. A recent poll shows that 64% of Alabama residents support expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income adults.

EYE thought Republicans were pro-life?

Oh, and if you don't believe the Equal Justice Initiative report, maybe you will believe this report by the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

In short, their analysis points to a win-win scenario for the state and Medicaid-eligible patients.
“Across the first seven years of Medicaid expansion, the net budgetary effect is positive throughout,” Becker said. “In a very real sense, the state makes money while expanding coverage to nearly 300,000 Alabamians.”
Under the PPACA, the federal government will cover 100 percent of health care expenditures from 2014 through 2016. During these first years of the program, Alabama would be responsible for a share of the administrative costs of the expansion. The federal matching rate declines after 2016, falling to 95 percent in 2017, 94 percent in 2018, 93 in 2019 and 90 percent in 2020. As a result, the annual costs to the state increase from $39 million in 2014 to $222 million in 2020 for a total of about $771 million.
However, during those same years, the federal government will spend an additional $11.7 billion more on Medicaid in Alabama.
“While this is a substantial increase in federal spending, it is new income flowing into Alabama,” Becker said. “Moreover, when physicians, hospital employees, pharmacists and other employees in the health care sector receive these new dollars, they spend them on gasoline and groceries and clothes. This second-round spending generates additional economic activity.”

Yes, Brian, Red States, not  expanding medicare  is actually killing people,  and costing the state  billions, but you already knew  that.

In an interview with AL.com, Greer asked "How important is a human life?"
"We have to fight back," she said. "It is not like we are asking for something unrealistic. (Health care) is a human right."

EYE hope this answers your question. 

Predominately Black Montgomery, AL is "poised to elect" a Black Mayor who votes against Black People? Really?

The Future First Black Mayor of Predominately Black Montgomery,AL?

What the what is wrong with  black voters and the democratic political establishment in Montgomery, AL?  I mean, really?  Are you really poised to elect Artur Davis the mayor based on the color of his skin, and not the content of his character?  

Are black voters really poised to elect a black man who was the only member of the Congressional Black Caucus to vote against The Affordable Health Care Act?

Are black Montgomery voters really poised to elect a black man who Punk'ed Left in Alabama big time?

Are black  Montgomery voters really poised to elect a black man who was a democrat before he was a republican?

Are black Montgomery voters really poised to elect a black man who accused black voters of voter fraud?

Really black Montgomery voters? Or, is this a case of white democrats choosing who the black mayor of predominately black Montgomery will be?  I suspect it's the latter.

Interestingly, a few of Montgomery's "old school" black political "leaders" have teamed with Strange to back Montgomery County Commissioner Dan Harris, knowing that Harris has no realistic chance of winning. Their goal is to divide the black vote in the hopes that Strange will win reelection without a run-off. This calculated strategy appears to be failing. Harris' lackluster performance on the predominantly black County Commission on the issues of economic empowerment for African-Americans, as well as urban development and jobs on Montgomery's West side, has caused black voters to view Harris' candidacy with great skepticism.

So, here we go again, black voters don't really have anyone to vote FOR, so they will probably stay at home, and once again, whites will decide who mis-represents them.

Only in AmeriBama. Normally I don't condone voting for the lessor of two evils, but EYE am making an exception in this case.  With a black mayor like Artur Davis who needs republicans?

Eye tried tell some of y'all Terri Sewell was Artur Davis in Designer Pumps, can you hear me now #Leftinbama? #Vindicated

H/T Left in Alabama

Yes, this is another Eye tried to tell some of y'all Alabama's lone democratic (and I use that term loosely) Congresswoman was Artur Davis in designer pumps post.

Remember when Congress Critter Davis was the lone member of the Congressional Black Caucus to vote against the Affordable Health Care Act ?

Alabama Congressman Artur Davis, who is attempting to become that state’s first Black governor, was the lone Congressional Black Caucus member who voted against health care reform championed by President Barack Obama, sparking local and national criticism.
“He let us down,” state Rep. Mary Moore, a Birmingham Democrat, told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “You tell someone, ‘Vote for me, and I will look out for you,’ then they vote for his or her own agenda.”
She and about a dozen people gathered in front of Davis’ downtown Birmingham office around midnight Saturday.
“We prayed for a miracle. We prayed that God would change his heart because so many people in this country and in his district are hurting,” Moore said.
Davis says he couldn’t vote for the health care reform package because it’s too big.

If Sewell  thinks she's going to be governor some day, toadying up to the white folks (H/T RD), she might want to ask her predecessor how well that turned out for him.  But I digress.

BREAKING: ALABAMA'S 7TH US CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSWOMAN, TERRI SEWELL, BREAKS WITH OTHER CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS MEMBERS, SAYS SHE WILL ATTEND ISRAELI PM BIBI NETANYAHU'S SPEECH. This action by Rep. Terri A. Sewell is an insult to President Barack Obama. (H/T ES)

“I don’t hold Netanyahu responsible,” Butterfield said. “I hold Speaker Boehner responsible, but I would hope that Mr. Netanyahu would not want to get involved. I personally think it is disrespectful.”
That was a word many members used: “It is very disrespectful to this president, and what concerns me more is that I think it’s a pattern that is starting to develop from this speaker that we’re getting more and more disrespectful of the office of the presidency,” said Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.). “I think it’s silly and petty.”

So, Why has Terri Sewell chosen to join the other side? Her recent votes surely indicate that her positions are far different than what her own constituents would expect.

 Friday, February 13, 2015, Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-Selma) issued a written statement after the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2015 was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. While supportive of the legislation’s intent, Congresswoman Sewell wants to see the legislation strengthened.

Sound familiar?

Last week, as President Barack Obama urged Congress to plow ahead even without support from Republicans, Davis said he was open to supporting a bill if certain major changes were made.
On Tuesday, he ruled that out.
"What's on the table now is a massive overhaul of the health care systems in this country," Davis said. "We can fix the problems without having to do a massive systems overhaul."

I pity the residents of the 7th district .

My worst fear has come to past. Republicans, enabled by the media (again) and the neo liberals (again) bought and paid for the only African American seat in congress (again). I'm sure they are patting themselves on the back and high fiving their "victory" this morning, but this is wrong on so many levels. For one thing it proves it's not about the people, it's about the money, the power and the influence. It's proof the residents of the 7th district didn't get to decide who represents them in congress (again).

I guess I can't blame Sewell for being afraid of losing her job..or worse...

Tea Party radio host Andrea Shea King argued recently that Democratic lawmakers — and specifically members of the Congressional Black Caucus — should be put to death by hanging if they boycotted Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Tuesday speech to Congress
“Obama doesn’t have to run for reelection again, a lot of these guys do,” King said in a clip of her radio show that was published by Right Wing Watch on Monday. “Listen, I would like to think that these guys could pay with their lives, hanging from a noose in front of the U.S. Capitol Building.”

Don't blame me, I supported Sheila Smoot.

New Year same as the Old Year, only worse....

#Scalise #scaliseexcuses Well said!!! pic.twitter.com/j9cvdrUJ9P
— Jeremy Meredith (@SosukeAizen) December 31, 2014

I'm sorry, but I can't bring myself to start the year with a post full of HOPE for the future of our country in 2015.  Maybe things have to get worse before they get better.  Between the gop infused, media enabled, Tea Party gaining control of the House, the Senate, and  republican gerrymandering to ensure they maintain control until eternity, and the dark money thanks to Citizens United, the game is rigged.  And who wins in the end?  Not us liberals that's for sure.

RedEye's Predictions:

But, but, black on black crime will continue to be the excuse for the extra judicial killing of black folks.

But, but, guns don't kill people will continue be the excuse for mentally ill people and toddlers to exercise their second amendment rights.

But, but, I'm not a white supremacist because I know some good Negroes will continue to be used as a an excuse for those in positions of power and influence to exercise their racism.

But, but, let's not throw any more money to fund public education will be used as an excuse to justify not funding public education.

But, but, Obama is a Kenyan, Muslim, Socialist, will continue to be used as an excuse for red state governors not to expand medicaid.

But, but, excuse me while I go back to eating drinking and being merry for a little while longer.

It's Election Day! #KeepCalmVoteDem #VoteBlue

Save this phone number: 1-866-OUR-VOTE If you have any trouble voting today, call it. They will help. pic.twitter.com/svT244yWiW #VoteBlue
— Stronger Together (@UniteBlue) November 4, 2014

Graze King: From Welfare Queens to Simple Scofflaws

What a day April 15th was!

First, of course, it's the day we settle up with Uncle Sam. And for anyone who procrastinated, you bad. You got penalties now.

O yeah, and about that health care thing? If you haven't squared that yet, get yourself over to ObamaCareS, er, oops! It's last call (and I'm not talkin' alcohol!): Open enrollment is over for 2014! See if you can still get coverage! Come on now, spread the word! Did you get an email, holding your place?

Critics of the Affordable Care Act call it welfare. You know, like the fraudster reportedly zipping around in her Caddie. She rollin' ya know?

That description of the fictional "welfare queen" was first used by President Ronald Reagan.

But this week, another of President Reagan's legacies sprang into the forefront of national politics. It might be termed "Crazed Graze King."

President Obama, and/or one of his cabinet members, prudently decided to spare our nation and world of the debacle of massacring "women in front" over a 20 year old range fight. Stagecraft.

And the rumor mill can stop spinning: it has nothing to do with Harry Reid and cattle and solar.