MONTGOMERY — The board of directors of the Business Council of Alabama has endorsed U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks in the race for Alabama’s Fifth Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. “Mo Brooks is a strong believer in the free enterprise system and understands that in order for the economy to grow, existing […]

MONTGOMERY—The board of directors of the Business Council of Alabama has endorsed U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner in the race for Alabama’s First Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. “Jo Bonner has been a great friend to the business community and continues to be a strong advocate for private sector job growth,” said […]

Work Week: 2 Days What to watch out for: 1. Speaker Hubbard and President Pro Tem Marsh said jobs would be tops on the agenda and they’re sticking to their word. These jobs bills passed the House last week and will be taken up by the Senate this week:
HB 154 Sponsored by Rep. Dan […]

The Anniston Star today pointed out that, when Calhoun County voters go to vote on March 13, there will be ZERO Democrats on the ballot. Not a single Democrat qualified to run in the entire county. I think a total Republican takeover on a primary ballot deserves a shout-out for the Calhoun Co. GOP crew: […]

Alabama’s very own Alex Schriver was a guest on NPR’s “Tell Me More” this past week discussing a broad range of topics regarding young people and conservatism. Alex is a graduate of Auburn and is now Chairman of the College Republican National Committee and on the board for Bradley Byrne’s Reform Alabama. And most importantly […]

State of the State: FYI I am sitting next to Rep Alvin Holmes who is kind of talking loud. Maybe the only guy in the room who can get away with it. #alpolitics — toddcstacy (@toddcstacy) February 8, 2012 Gov mentions two Madison City teachers in his State of the State address: Dr Barnes and […]

ForestPAC, the political action committee of the Alabama forestry association, has come up in several conversations I’ve had with political insiders in Montgomery recently. Tom Saunders and his government relations crew are getting more active and closely aligning themselves with legislative leadership (i.e. Mike & Del). They’re making efforts to puff up their PAC and […]

In a move that’s being applauded today by voters around the state, GOP House and Senate members have vowed to rescind the 61% pay raise that Democrats voted themselves while in the majority in 2007. Senator Phil Williams (who I’m excited to report will soon be a Yellow Hammer contributor) laid it out perfectly, “This […]

via The Washington Post The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee over possible violations of insider-trading laws, according to individuals familiar with the case. Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), who holds one of the most influential positions in the House, has been a frequent trader on Capitol Hill, […]

MONTGOMERY – As promised, job growth legislation was the top priority in the first week of the Alabama Legislature’s 2012 Regular Session, as bills aimed at boosting job creation passed the House of Representatives on Thursday. “As much progress as Alabama has made reducing unemployment faster than any other state and adding 41,000 jobs since […]

With the 2012 legislative session getting underway, I’ve spent most of my time on here discussing Alabama state politics. But on Tuesday, while attention in Montgomery was on the State of the State address, Rick Santorum was having a big night of his own, sweeping Tuesday’s Republican presidential contests in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri. Just […]

Governor Bentley delivered the 2012 State of the State address on Tuesday evening in the Old House Chamber of the State Capitol. I shot a short video of the first five minutes including Lt. Gov. Ivey’s introduction. The raw video is below along with the transcript of the Governor’s speech. Here’s the transcript: Lieutenant Gov. […]

Lawmakers wasted no time taking action on an aggressive job-growth agenda in the 2012 Regular Session, as key economic development bills received favorable votes in committee Wednesday and will be up for votes of the full House Thursday. The bills are: o    The  “Heroes for Hire” Tax Credit Act, House Bill 152, sponsored by Rep. DuWayne Bridges […]

This morning I took the time to sit-in on the House Economic Development & Tourism Committee meeting. ADO Director Greg Canfield was in attendance along with several members of his staff because some important economic development bills were coming up for discussion in the committee. GOP leadership in the legislature are pushing an aggressive jobs […]

While Democrat Minority Leader Craig Ford has been predicting a GOP to Democrat party switcher in the legislature, the exact opposite happened Tuesday as State Rep. Alan Harper of Aliceville announced his decision to switch his affiliation to the Alabama Republican Party. He will join as a member of the House Majority Caucus when the […]

With their close ties to the GOP legislative leadership, The Business Council of Alabama is now unquestionably the most powerful lobbying group in Montgomery. Today, they released their legislative agenda along with the below press release. To view a printable version of the BCA’s 2012 State Legislative Agenda, click here. BCA Advocating for Job Creation, […]

Today is Ronald Reagan’s 101st birthday. In celebration, The Heritage Foundation released a list of 10 of his most inspiring quotes: Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong. Don’t be afraid to see what you see. Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. […]

Since Republicans were swept into power in 2010, we’ve seen countless Democrats jump ship. During the 2011 legislative session, I watched the mounting frustration of Democrats in the House & Senate as they lost on vote, after vote, after vote. I couldn’t help but think how different things had suddenly become for guys like Sen. […]

February 6 – February 10 This is the first installment of what we’re going to call “Goat Hill Weekly.” This feature will run each Monday of the legislative session and will offer a detailed preview of the week ahead in the Alabama legislature. We’ll have more details in the weeks ahead but this first edition […]

Republican Presidential Primary: Interesting note: since FL was punished for moving their primary up, AL & FL actually have the same amount of delegates – 50. #alpolitics — Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) February 1, 2012 GOP Primary: Predicting Alabama Based on Florida Panhandle Numbers bit.ly/ABXoMH #alpolitics — Yellow Hammer (@YHPolitics) February 1, 2012 The Obama Administration: […]

As I fired up my twitter account this morning, I saw the following tweet: LOLZ RT @georgetalbot: Today’s column: Alabama candidates vow to impeach Obama: bit.ly/y37Pyc — Nathan Lindsay (@NathanLindsay) February 1, 2012 This is the beauty of Twitter that the uninitiated just don’t understand. Time and time again the Twitter-resistant have told me, “I […]

WASHINGTON — A group of more than 25 conservative House freshmen, led by Representative Martha Roby of Alabama, joined forces today to put an end to the budget gimmicks and procedural trickery that Washington too often uses to hide federal spending and run up the debt. Roby and her freshman House colleagues, joined by Senator […]

Florida Senator Marco Rubio was a guest on Sean Hannity’s radio show today to discuss the Florida GOP primary. After deflecting the usual questions regarding his interest in being Vice President, the Senator made a good case for Florida being an early primary state. His most convincing argument was that Florida is a microcosm of […]

The AEA tabloid machine is at it again. This time, AEA Executive Hypocrite, excuse me, Executive Secretary Henry Mabry is taking on Governor Bentley for his support of charter schools. So, Dr. Mabry, it’s ok to exercise school choice in your own family, with your own kids, but not ok for the working people of […]