Birmingham Blues

Question for those of you who had a primary today: How was the turnout in your area? I think it’s been pretty pathetic here. I just got back from voting, and the poll workers nearly fell on my neck with gratitude. I think they were getting sick of their own company; this is an all-day-and-into-the-evening gig for them, and they hadn’t had much business. I was the only voter there, and I parked right in front of the door.

On Super Tuesday, I was voter #301 at 8:30 AM. Today, I was voter #227 at 2:40 PM. All I can say for that is it could have been worse.

I don’t have time to post anything right now, but I didn’t want the “Vote Tomorrow” headline below to be at the top of the page. 

No, it’s not Super Tuesday, but there are some important primaries tomorrow. If you want to see who is on the ballot in your area, al.com has a cool interactive ballot here. You can enter your street address and review your own personalized ballot, complete with pictures and thumbnail descriptions of the candidates and their qualifications.

A couple of endorsements:

Cheryl Sabel for Congress (AL-2)

This pretty much says it for me:

CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE, DISTRICT 2, CHERYL SABEL PRAISED AS “WOMAN OF PRINCIPLE AND STRONG CONVICTIONS”

The Montgomery Advertiser on Sunday declared “[Cheryl] Sabel is a woman of principle and strong convictions” while failing to endorse her for the Democratic nomination for the Congressional District 2 seat.

Labeled by the Montgomery Advertiser as “far too liberal for the typical voter in District 2,” Sabel believes the voters of District 2 are ready for a positive change from failed conservative policies and talking points offered by the other candidates from both parties.

When asked to comment on the Advertiser’s endorsement, Sabel responded:

“The Advertiser failed its readers by endorsing a ‘conservative’ it believes can be elected, rather than ‘a woman of principle and strong convictions.’ I have worked for decades for equality, social justice, and human rights. I am proud of my work and the principles and convictions I hold. I will continue to be an outspoken advocate and if that means I am a ‘liberal’ I embrace the term.”

Sabel stated: “I am the ONLY candidate among the 9 who has taken a strong stand on ending the Iraq war immediately and restoring benefits to our veterans. I am the ONLY candidate to condemn torture; the ONLY candidate who has fought for women’s equality and to make reproductive justice an issue in this campaign; the ONLY candidate who has stated that health care is a basic human right and EVERY man, woman, and child should be covered; the ONLY candidate to stand against racism and homophobia and to talk about those issues in this campaign. Further, I am the ONLY candidate to demand that corporations and wealthy individuals pay their fair share in taxes.

“I followed my heart to enter the race. There was no one talking about the issues that really matter and no one as qualified to fight for the working and middle class in District 2.”

Cheryl holds a special place in my heart because she was such a good friend to my brother. She’s willing to speak out for justice even when it’s not popular or safe. I think we need more people in Congress who are people of principle and strong convictions. Check out her website here.

Dan Weinrib for Jefferson County Tax Assessor:

• 1^st Jefferson County Tax Assessor to put property tax records online for public review
• Opened new satellite offices in Forestdale & Gardendale
• 1^st Jefferson County Tax Assessor to visit every town hall, city hall, school board and fire district within the county jurisdiction every year; also the 1^st to regularly meet with neighborhood associations and realtors
• Kept the Tax Assessor’s office (~$3.36 million) under budget every year
• No glass ceiling within his department. In his 5+ years at the county, there have been 20 new hires in his office, (in which someone new entered the county merit system or transferred laterally from another department.) Of these, 13 have been minorities, and 18 of 20 were women. In terms of the 29 promotions, (in which a candidate got promoted within the merit system or his/her job got upgraded through position survey review,) 24 of those 29 went to women, and 13 of 27 went to minorities.

And if that’s not enough, he has a wonderful wife who has been a tireless advocate for constitutional reform and an adorable baby son.

Same as it ever was. The legislature failed to pass an education budget. The governor waited till the last minute to veto a portion of the general fund budget passed the first week of May, leaving no time for an override vote. So we go to special session, yet again.

No vote on the grocery tax reduction, no freeing of the hops, no ban on PAC-to-PAC transfers.

*sigh*

ETA: Loretta Nall has started a new blog, Alabama Legislative Outtakes, and she will have audio of the final day up soon. It will likely be painful to hear, but we do need to know how our legislators waste spend their time and our money.

The hoopla of Super Tuesday is long past, but Alabama has another primary coming up on June 3. Want to know more about the candidates running for local and state-wide office? Here’s your chance to find out.

Over the Mountain Democrats* is sponsoring a candidate forum tonight at 6:30 at the Homewood Library Auditorium featuring Vivian Davis Figures, candidate for US Senate, Debra Bell Paseur, candidate for the Alabama Supreme Court (Judge Paseur has a conflict and won’t be able to attend), and other Democratic candidates running in the upcoming primary. This event is free and open to the public.

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* along with Birmingham Young Democrats, Shelby County Democrats, Magic City Democrats, Greater Birmingham DFA-PDA, National Jewish Democratic Council (Birmingham chapter), Hoover High School & Mountain Brook High School Young Democrats

You know how our Alabama Republican senators like to vote against expanded SCHIP or give only token support for home mortgage borrowers left to twist in the wind? They’re all about the little people pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps.

Because, clearly, that’s what they’ve been doing themselves.

The Sunlight Foundation has taken a look at the change in average net worth for our Congresspeople between 1995 and 2006, and I thought y’all might be interested to see how well our Alabama senators have done while drawing taxpayer-funded salaries, sitting in taxpayer-funded offices, working with taxpayer-funded staff, and using taxpayer-funded health care.

(Click here to look at the methodology. As the Sunlight Foundation points out, reporting requirements for members of Congress are pretty lax; they can report the value of assets, debts, and income across broad ranges — see Shelby’s numbers below — and they don’t have to include the value of their personal residence.)

Jeff Sessions

• average net worth 1995 $545,253 (range $196,348 to $894, 159)
• average net worth 2006 $2,061,030 (range $1,066,060 to $3,056,000)
• approximately 278% increase

Richard Shelby

• average net worth 1995 $7,905,587 (range $-23,108,270 to $38,919,444)
• average net worth 2006 $20,469,011 (range $5,243,021 to $35,695,001)
• approximately 159% increase

Average American family (includes value of personal residence)

• average net worth 1995 $71,000
• average net worth 2006 $93,000
• approximately 31% increase

Nice work if you can get it.

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Check out your own legislators here (search by state or by name).

Karl Rove has again declined to testify before Congress regarding the Siegelman case.  First he offered to answer questions in private without a transcript.  Now he says he’ll answer questions in writing.  The House Judiciary Committee had given him till today to comply voluntarily and has threatened to issue a subpoena if he does not.  We’ll see if the leadership follows through.

I sure would like to know why Rove has such an aversion to answering the Committee’s questions.

This is good news.

The plan would remove the 4% state portion of sales tax on groceries. It would also increase the amount of the standard deduction and the personal exemption for state income taxes. It would also remove the deduction for federal taxes paid.

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UPDATE:  The C&E Committee unanimously approved the bill.  Here’s Loretta’s account of her day in Montgomery.   BTW, Rep. John Rogers’ bill to repeal Alabama’s stupid ban on the sale of sex toys also passed.

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Raise your hand if you signed a petition to get Loretta Nall on the ballot as a gubernatorial candidate in 2006.

*raises hand*

Loretta, and other third-party or independent candidates, are currently required to get petition signatures equivalent to 3% of the number of voters in the last election in order to be included on the official ballot. Despite all those raised hands, she couldn’t obtain the more than 40,000 signatures she needed to qualify, and she had to run as a write-in candidate. I don’t think she ever got an accurate and complete count of her votes as some municipalities didn’t bother with them.

Today the House Constitution and Elections Committee is considering HB738, which would cut the signature requirement in half.

If you’ve ever said to yourself, “I wish we had a real alternative to the two major political parties,” then call the C&E members and ask them to support this bill.

Loretta’s letter to the committee and contact info for the C&E Committee below the fold.

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Cheryl Sabel is running for Congress in Alabama’s 2nd District. Cheryl is the president of Alabama NOW, and she was a good friend to my brother. She spoke beautifully about him at his memorial service and at this year’s hate crimes vigil.

Click here to listen to her interview with BlogTalkRadio (it starts at the 9:15 mark and runs about 20 minutes). Cheryl speaks at length about the Responsible Plan to end the war in Iraq, which not only advocates an end to military operations but also a comprehensive diplomatic and humanitarian effort to repair the damage done and work toward stability in the region — and the restoration of civil liberties here at home.

She addresses the high poverty rate in Alabama and the need for quality education and a living wage. She talks about her work with Montgomery AIDS Outreach and the importance of accurate and comprehensive sex education to prevent pregnancy and the spread of STDs. She wraps up the interview with the purpose of her campaign, to be a voice for those who face discrimination and to counter what’s become a culture of hatred against those who are different.

It’s great to hear a progressive voice here in Alabama. Go Cheryl!

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Click here to contribute to Cheryl’s campaign. You can send a check or give online through ActBlue .

h/t Tony