Incumbents always have an advantage. They have a track record in office (which should be an advantage), and they have stronger name identification (whether good or bad) it’s still name recognition. Once an elected official gets in office, it’s hard to get them out. In some cases, this is good, and in other cases, it […]

In Alabama, we like our rivalries. One that goes back a hundred years or so is the neighborly competition between Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Dr Pepper. Alabamians have been enjoying beverages offered by our companies for decades. Our companies and employees who provide the soft drinks, waters, juices, sports drinks, teas and coffees created by these […]

From the southern border to our backyards, fentanyl and methamphetamine are pouring into the United States in record amounts. These lethal drugs will eventually end up in the hands of American citizens, ruining lives, and shattering families. Fake prescription pills commonly bought and sold illegally are the primary carriers for lethal doses of fentanyl crossing […]

Eighty years ago this month, with the stroke of a pen, President Franklin Roosevelt in Executive Order 9066 effectively relegated 120,000 Japanese Americans to internment camps. Many of these American citizens were afforded no rights to object to their removal, and there was no procedure to prove loyalty to the United States. These citizens were […]

Inflation topped 7% in December, the highest level in forty years. The Biden administration has tried blaming rising prices on corporate greed with antitrust enforcement as a remedy. Does this make economic sense? We must first consider what is inflation. Measured by the rate of change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), economists define inflation […]

America needs a change in leadership. The Republican Party has a golden opportunity to take back Congress in 2022 and the White House in 2024. I am thrilled about the incoming red wave, but we cannot merely be satisfied with winning back control. We must be prepared to lead day one with an agenda that […]

It is often a difficult and heartbreaking decision. Someone in your life – usually an aging parent or other loved one – is at the point where they need some help in making vital decisions about matters such as where to live, how to manage their finances, or get the right medical care. While our […]

Happy Groundhog Day. It is an ironic juxtaposition that the State of the Union address by the president and Groundhog Day occur on the same day. One involves a meaningless ritual in which a doddering octogenarian who is as outdated as the State of the Union event stumbles through some scripted predictions. The other involves […]

Gun-control advocates keep making the same predictions of doom and bloodshed from law-abiding citizens having guns for protection. They warn us of pending disaster if Alabama becomes the 22nd state to adopt so-called constitutional carry rules that would allow law-abiding adults who legally own a handgun to conceal-carry it without a permit. Thirty-four states already […]

Whether it’s Austal Shipyard in Mobile, Fort Rucker in the Wiregrass, Maxwell-Gunter Airforce Base in Montgomery, or Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama’s contributions to our nation’s military strength and defense programs are critical to national security. South Alabama has been a hub of the aerospace industry for many years, and now – thanks to a […]

Socrates is believed to have once said, “The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms.” Most people, including the editors of the Merriam-Webster, Oxford, and American Heritage dictionaries, would generally define racism as the belief that one race is superior to another, and anything that oppresses or elevates people based on their race. But not the organization that […]

The special session of the Legislature ended with $772 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds going to expand high-speed internet, water and sewer projects and health care needs. But it could have just as easily ended with the Legislature holding hands and singing “Kumbaya.” The five-day session’s grand finale came when both chambers (almost) […]

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were recently not elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in their final year of eligibility, reportedly over their use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). The case illustrates some of the economics of rules and the nature of “positional goods.” The case for both Bonds and Clemens based on performance […]

As the final regular legislative session of the quadrennium evolves, it is apparent that the legislature will not touch any substantive or controversial issues, but simply pass the budgets and go home to campaign. It is election year in the Heart of Dixie. If legislators are listening to their constituents, they are hearing one thing […]

This week is National School Choice Week and with that an opportunity to highlight the fact that parents have a choice between public schools, private schools or homeschooling when it comes to educating their children. Education is not one size fits all. I am a proud graduate of Sparkman High which is part of the […]

COVID-19 has changed the way all of us conduct our daily lives and affects everyone, regardless of our neighborhoods, our political affiliations, our race or our ethnicity. While many people have recovered from COVID-19, the disease can have serious, life-threatening complications, and its long-term effects are not known. Latest data show the number of Alabamians […]

Thanks to billions of federal dollars to assist in the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Alabama has an unprecedented opportunity to address longstanding and, in some cases, dire problems plaguing water and sewer systems across the state. It is imperative we take advantage of this opportunity to provide the help these systems, and our […]

The International Olympic Committee has granted China the 2022 Winter Olympic games, which are soon to be underway. The same IOC espouses on its website the values of excellence, friendship, and respect as being the three values of Olympism. Collectively, these values denote independence and freedom. The IOC concluded, by allowing China to host the […]

No, this is not a column about “a few of my favorite things,” but about Alabama’s incredible tourism industry. Tourism is a key component to Alabama’s economy. In 2020, more than 22.5 million visitors in Alabama spent $13.3 billion for food, accommodations, travel, shopping and incidentals, according to the state tourism department. Tourism also employs […]

Serving as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I’ve seen firsthand how President Biden’s lack of a clear and coherent foreign policy and his weak leadership on the global stage is putting the United States and our allies at risk. Following on the heels of the horrible withdrawal from Afghanistan, it is clear […]

Alabama doesn’t share a border with Mexico. But the border crisis has turned every state into a border state, and Alabama is paying a steep price for President Biden’s open borders policies. One of Biden’s first actions as President was to reverse the successful border policies of President Trump, and the result has been a […]

Over 100,000 Americans await organ transplants and over 6,000 die annually while waiting. From an economic perspective the decades-long organ shortage has a simple cause: paying organ donors is illegal. Price controls predictably produce shortages. Payment for organs has been outlawed since at least 1948. The 1984 National Organ Transplant Act established the Organ Procurement […]

The 2022 annual regular session of the legislature has begun. It began January 11 and constitutionally can last three and one-half months, which would have it ending at the end of April. This is the last year of the quadrennium and an election year. Therefore, the legislature will not address any controversial or substantive issues. […]

At the anniversary of Joe Biden’s inauguration, we reflect on a year of unfulfilled promises, radical leftwing policies, out of control inflation, foreign policy failures and a nation divided even further by the hand of the president. One year ago, Biden stood on the steps of our Capitol and spoke the words “for without unity, […]