Last week, President Joe Biden signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual defense policy bill which gained final approval in Congress earlier this month. In a boon for South Alabama’s shipbuilding industry, the bill includes authorization for almost $600 million to procure two Expeditionary Fast Transport ships – known as the EPF […]

New Year’s resolutions originated over 4,000 years ago with the ancient Babylonians. They had the first documented New Year’s celebrations. During Akitu, a vast 12-day religious festival, in mid-March, the Babylonians crowned a new king and/or re-committed their allegiance to the existing king. Their celebration included making promises to “the gods” to return anything they […]

As has been my custom for 18 years, I like for my yearend column to be a remembrance of Alabama political figures who have passed away during the year. We lost some good ones this year. We lost our oldest past governor, John Patterson in June. Governor Patterson passed away at age 99 at his […]

So this past week it finally happened. I caught COVID. I don’t know which one for sure I caught, but my educated guess is it was indeed Omicron. I caught it while I was down in Florida for Christmas vacation and was the first one in my family group to catch it. I started feeling […]

Next Monday marks exactly one year since I was sworn in to represent Alabama’s First District in the 117th Congress. It’s hard to believe a year has passed by already, but I’m proud of the work we’ve done this past year, and I am excited to continue serving in 2022. Although serving in a Democrat-controlled […]

Legendary State Senator Jimmy Holley has decided to not seek reelection to the State Senate next year after 44 years in the legislature.

Americans have recently begun waking up to the disastrous consequences of bail reform efforts that are being led by progressive district attorneys across the nation. The case of Darrel E. Brooks in Wisconsin is just the latest, if not most tragic, example. He ran over his girlfriend with a car in early November, but despite […]

The Christmas season is an especially busy season for virtually everyone. It’s easy to lose sight of the meaning of Christmas.

The Pilgrims’ first Christmas in the new world was remarkable, but not for the reasons you’d think.

People perform many tasks – yard work, laundry, house cleaning, cooking - that they could pay someone to do.

The University of Montevallo (UM) celebrated its 125th anniversary this year. Its rich history, cobblestone streets and beautiful, historic campus date back to 1896 when it was known as the Alabama Girls’ Industrial School.

Inflation is currently America’s most pressing economic concern, but I believe that our disappearing workers pose a greater long-term challenge.

2022 was anticipated to be an exciting competitive election year. However, it is going to be a yawn of a political year. If you thought there was no competition for the constitutional offices and the House of Representatives’ seats in next year’s elections, then you have not seen anything like the lack of turnover in […]

Just under two months ago, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) drafted a letter to the Biden administration labeling a group of concerned and involved parents in Ohio “domestic terrorists.” This past week, the Alabama Association of School Boards (AASB) effectively ended their membership with the NSBA, and rightfully so, but we must not stop […]

The pandemic elevated various gaps and inequities in our state, including the need to increase the number of Alabamians who possess postsecondary credentials or degrees to fulfill the workforce demands in our state. In April, the Alabama State Board of Education voted to add completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as […]

Todd Stacy will become the new host of Alabama Public Television’s weekly political news show, "Capitol Journal."

Our national well-being relies upon secure and resilient critical infrastructure. As defined by the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, “critical infrastructure describes the physical and cyber systems and assets that are so vital to the United States that their incapacity or destruction would have a debilitating impact on our physical or economic security or public health or safety.

For the better part of this year, Congress has been working to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets the budget for the Department of Defense (DOD), nuclear weapons program of the Department of Energy, DOD elements of the intelligence community, and other defense activities in various departments. It also offers defense policy […]

President Biden’s socialist policies are continuing to harm middle class families across our nation. Americans everywhere are being faced with skyrocketing gas and energy prices. In fact, hardworking American families are paying 61% more nationally for a gallon of gas. In Alabama it is even worse. According to Yellowhammer, “Alabamians on average are paying $3.20 […]

The true crime of a censor isn’t muzzling someone’s mouth. It’s muffling everyone else’s ears. That lesson and many others on the importance of free expression and the exchange of ideas were lost recently when Samford University in Birmingham relented to the joint demands of an online petition and its Student Government Association to disinvite […]

As the college football regular season winds down, the coaching carousel heats up. So far in 2021, 28 of 130 FBS programs have had coaching changes. Coaching decisions illustrate some elements of economic and business decisions generally. Perhaps unexpectedly, imagination plays an outsized role. I will focus on coaching vacancies from firing, not retirements or […]

Folks, believe it or not, we are closing in on six months before next year’s election year. The primary election is set for May 24, 2022. In Alabama, all our major constitutional officers are on the ballot next year. The governor’s office is the premier race in the state, and that coveted and powerful post […]

The nomination of Cornell University law professor Saule Omarova to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has drawn criticism for views offered in the professor’s research. Should expounding extreme ideas disqualify someone from government service?

The Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles is being attacked for simply doing fulfilling its mission and responsibilities.