It’s difficult to believe that nearly two years have passed since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in our country. These past two years have been a rollercoaster ride of uncertainty, riddled with challenges many of us have yet to experience in our lifetimes. The public health crisis has left no community untouched, as millions have grappled […]

Since day one in office, President Biden and his administration have been at war with American energy. Less than a year into his presidency, we are already feeling the negative effects of his policies at the pump, on our heating bills, and on the prices of virtually all consumer goods. As we rebound from the […]

Americans have long seen college as a path to a better life and held higher education in high esteem. This is changing rapidly, with a strong political divide emerging. Republicans are now highly skeptical of both the above propositions. This month witnessed a potential watershed moment for higher ed with the announcement of a new […]

Governor John Patterson, who passed away earlier this year at 99, shared a funny story that occurred during the opening days of his administration. He entered the governor’s office in January 1959 as the clean government, strict law enforcement governor. He followed Big Jim Folsom’s second administration, which had been less than perfect when it […]

When an industry proposes to locate to an area, nearby residents, businesses and community groups all have a vested interest in what that industry wants to do and how those plans will affect them and their environment. Providing them a platform to both learn more about the industry’s plans and to voice any concerns they […]

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the Democrats’ multi-trillion-dollar big government spending package is bad for south Alabama, as well as the rest of the nation. I primarily focused on how this massive spending package would result in an unprecedented expansion of the federal government, while increasing taxes on middle class Americans and […]

Alabama’s small businesses are doing OK, but they’ve had a rough couple of years, beginning with the pandemic in 2020 and continuing with labor issues and disruptions in the supply chain. Small business owners are a tenacious bunch, though, and despite the many challenges, they’ve managed to keep the doors open and provide the goods […]

America is experiencing extended shortages of goods without recent precedent. The global transportation system is heavily congested, with dozens of ocean freighters waiting off California to dock. Is America’s economy beginning to emulate the former Soviet Union? Consumer spending quickly recovered from a sharp decline at the COVID-19 pandemic. More significantly, the pandemic and the […]

Alabama has a legacy of great men who have served as judges in our state. Recently, revered, retired, Circuit Judge Bobby Ray Aderholt of Haleyville passed away at 85. He served the public for more than 50 years. As a judge, he presided over each case with integrity and impartiality. He was the Circuit Judge […]

The following are two guest op-eds sent to the editor in response to U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl’s (R-Mobile) op-ed, Federal strings make future uncertain for red snapper anglers.  Representative Carl’s October 25 op-ed, Federal strings make future uncertain for red snapper anglers, flags an important issue that fishermen like me are dealing with in the […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed to greater public and media attention the disparities in health and health care faced by racial minorities in the United States. Data consistently show that minorities have experienced disproportionate rates of illness and death from COVID, reflecting their increased risk of exposure to the virus due to living and working […]

Late in the night this past Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi forced a vote to move forward with the Democrats’ multi-trillion-dollar big government spending package. I’ve been talking about this process and this bill for months, and it continues to get worse as time goes on. Last week, I sat down with several of my […]

Seventy years ago, the Philippines came within a whisper of being the pre-game for Vietnam. But much like the dog that didn’t bark or the accident that didn’t happen, few people appreciate how close the Philippines came to communist domination. That this didn’t happen is testimony to the effective combination of American soft power and […]

Veterans Day not only has strong support across Alabama, it actually has its roots here. The idea of a national holiday honoring all veterans, from both war and peacetime, has its origins here in our state. Back in 1945, Birmingham’s Raymond Weeks first proposed changing Armistice Day, which was at the time set aside to […]

What can be said of veterans – those who serve in any of its distinguished branches? The answer is simple – not enough! They protected and provided. They cared and conquered. They defended to the end and hoped they would live to tell about it. God bless our veterans. They received a pauper’s pay for […]

Jim Preuitt, a legendary House member, state senator and probate judge of Talladega County passed away in September at age 86. Jim was one of my best legislative buddies. We came to the legislature together in 1982 and became fast friends. We became seatmates in the House, and we were inseparable during our entire first […]

President Trump made strengthening the American economy one of the biggest focuses in his presidency and the results were clear. From middle-class tax cuts to rolling back job-killing regulations – President Trump’s America First agenda created a growth-oriented economy that benefited all Americans. Less than a year in office President Biden and his Democrat supporters […]

The backbone of America’s economy has long been small businesses. Yet, during the pandemic, we got left behind. I watched as stores throughout Alabama struggled to stay open or closed down altogether. The hard working men and women of Alabama aren’t one to complain. We understand that hard times may come, but we can always […]

The average Alabamian may not know or care that every 10 years their legislative and congressional district lines are redrawn, but it is vitally important to their well-being in many ways. It dictates who will represent them in the State House of Representatives, State Senate, State School Board and Congress over the next 10 years. […]

For the past few months, Democrats in Congress have been working to pass a massive spending package that would result in an unprecedented expansion of the federal government, while increasing taxes on middle class Americans and driving up prices for everything from fuel to groceries. The House has not yet been able to agree on […]

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) offers some unconventional policy recommendations based on the United States’ monetary sovereignty. MMT proponents also advocate government guaranteed jobs paying a living wage for all Americans. What would be the consequences of such a guarantee? The Public Service Employment program detailed in a 2018 paper from the Levy Economics Institute would […]

Every 10 years, the nation has a census count. There is a reason for that dissemination of our population. The United States and concurrently the Alabama Constitution require a census to determine how many congressional seats each state will have. Then you also have to determine how those districts are designed to reflect that each […]

Joe Biden’s administration continues on a path of reckless overspending and dictatorial overreaching, and the American people are ultimately paying the price. The fight continues in Washington, D.C. right now over Democrats’ proposed $3.5 trillion spending boondoggle, which would further inflame inflation that is already hurting hardworking Alabama families across the board. However, the wasteful […]

More than 45 million Americans have been infected with the coronavirus. 730,000 sons, daughters, mothers and fathers never recovered. As the pandemic drags on, America needs a long-term game plan to deal with COVID and any new variants. If a sweeping shutdown made sense in March of 2020, it’s not an option today. The bruising […]