On the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling which is a very positive signal for the rights of people of faith to freely exercise that faith. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had issued a “Cluster Initiative” which used color coded restrictions on large gatherings in certain parts of New York City. These restrictions were challenged in court by the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Jewish synagogues as an invalid restriction on citizens’ rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution.
The Supreme Court issued an injunction against applying Governor Cuomo’s order to gatherings at houses of worship. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote a scathing concurring opinion in which he said “there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutters churches, synagogues and mosques.”
Much of the press focused on the fact that this was the first case in which Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s vote was necessary to achieve a majority because Chief Justice Roberts joined with the dissenters as he believed the ruling was premature. His decision was unsurprising as he had voted with the liberals on the Court against acting on earlier COVID restrictions. It was also in keeping with his preference to avoid judicial intervention in matters which he doesn’t consider to be procedurally ripe. I have great respect for Justice Roberts but disagree with his decision in this case and am glad the majority saw fit to issue the injunction. (more…)
State Health Officer is a difficult role to fill, especially this year. While partisanship and conspiracies continue to divide us, it is the job of the State Health Officer to make decisions for the good of all people throughout Alabama. This is exactly what Dr. Scott Harris has done for Alabamians during (and before) the COVID-19 pandemic.
After reading a recent article about Dr. Harris, I was appalled but not surprised by the fact that he has received death threats over mask mandates and other preventative measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. Governor Kay Ivey enacted the first mask mandate on July 16, 2020, at the recommendation of Dr. Harris and others. After the initial mandate, Alabama’s case average and death rates quickly fell. Neighboring states without mask mandates – including Mississippi, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee – all continued to rise above Alabama’s average.
As President of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, I would like to proudly declare my support of Dr. Harris and Governor Ivey in regard to the mask ordinance, social distancing guidelines, and other measures to protect the citizens of Alabama. Science and data have shown us time and time again that these guidelines work. That being said, why are there still Alabamians who push against these life-saving initiatives? (more…)
Joe Biden has won the presidential election, although President Trump alleges fraud. Mr. Trump, however, has not yet offered credible evidence of fraud. The current controversy involves “vote harvesting” and raises questions about the effect of selling votes.
Vote harvesting involves individuals collecting mail-in ballots from voters. Clearly, persons with limited mobility should receive assistance in voting, which relatives, legal guardians and election officials can generally provide. Harvesting involves other persons – including party officials – collecting ballots.
Harvesting creates a potential for misconduct. Altering or deliberately destroying ballots clearly constitutes fraud. Ensuring that legal voters cast ballots is not, however, fraud. (more…)
Today will be the 85th playing of the Auburn vs. Alabama football game, and like everything else this year, it will be unique in many ways including the smallest in-person crowd in decades. It will be my first to not attend in 24 years, and I’ve been fortunate to attend 31 of the past 44 and that included 15 years of living out-of-state.
The first was played in 1893, and following a tie in 1907, the game was not played again until 1948 after a mandate to resume by the state legislature. My parents were students at the opposing campuses at the time. The Iron Bowl is as well-known as any college football rivalry, and many fans of other teams will acknowledge it as the nation’s most intense.
Why is it called the Iron Bowl, who named it that, and why?
In 1964, Auburn’s Coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan said the “Iron Bowl against Alabama would be Auburn’s bowl game,” and the moniker has stuck tightly ever since. But why? (more…)
When that Thanksgiving turkey has been reduced to a discarded carcass, it’s time to break out those wild game and fish recipes to enjoy the feast Alabama’s outdoors offers.
With Alabama’s white-tailed deer season in full swing, it’s probably time to clean out last year’s harvest to make room for fresh venison.
Waxing nostalgic, our family probably ate about as much venison as beef when I was growing up, and this next dish was one of the favorites.
Venison Lasagna (more…)
Four hundred years ago this month, a group of just over 100 people arrived off the shores of Cape Cod after a two-month sail from England. They were dissenters from the Church of England like the Puritans but went further by formally separating from the established church they considered to be corrupt beyond repair. We call them “Pilgrims,” although there is only one instance when any one of them used that word to describe themselves. That person was William Bradford, the longtime governor of the Plymouth Colony, who borrowed the word from the 11th Chapter of the Book of Hebrews.
Their arrival that November was not the occasion of the first Thanksgiving. That came the next year when they had built their homes and brought in their first harvest. In fact, they spent their first few months in a harsh winter still on their ship, the Mayflower, while their settlement was built.
Thirty years ago, this week, the longest serving British prime minister of the 20th-century resigned. Margaret Thatcher, having governed since 1979, saw her leadership challenged, but rather than continue to fight, she was gaslighted into believing she was losing her grip on her party and would lose her office in an embarrassing vote.
None of that was true.
In fact, the very men who rode to leadership positions on her coattails and hid behind her skirts during controversy allowed their greed for power to debase their loyalty to the Iron Lady. Dejected, she resigned and thus, quietly exited British politics.
Prior to Thatcher’s leadership, Britain was in decline and, by all economic measures, sliding into second rate status. Rather than control its financial destiny, the International Monetary Fund was needed to help the Empire shore up her accounts. Socialism dominated with anti-capitalist trade unions and nationalized industries weighing down any real economic growth. (more…)
This Thanksgiving will be different from any other we have had in our lifetimes. This past year has been a struggle, as every single one of us has had their normal lives disrupted. Many of us have also lost friends and family as the coronavirus has swept through our communities. To say 2020 has been a trying time would be an understatement.
This year has not been unlike that first year the Pilgrims spent after landing at Plymouth Rock; their crossing of the Atlantic, their year of loss and struggle and their ultimate triumph.
Four hundred years ago, a group of 102 passengers set sail from England on a ship known as the Mayflower. They left their homeland with eyes set on the New World, where hopes of religious freedom and entrepreneurial opportunities awaited. Today, four centuries later, the New World that these pilgrims found is now the greatest country in the world, the United States of America. (more…)
Thanksgiving is a special holiday because it provides us an entire day each year to pause and give thanks for the many blessings we have received. Particularly amid a global pandemic, the stress and craziness of life often make it easy to lose sight of just how much we have to be thankful for. Although this holiday season will look different for us all due to the current health pandemic, we must remember the countless ways in which we are blessed. Whether you are gathering with loved ones or remaining in the comfort of your own home, I hope we all take time to celebrate gratitude – something we may not do enough of these days.
This year, it is especially important we remember those who have been impacted by the coronavirus. This horrific virus we continue to battle has stolen the lives of over 250,000 Americans and 3,400 Alabamians. During this season of Thanksgiving, I hope you will join me in prayerfully remembering those who have lost a loved one to this virus as well as those who are suffering from it. My prayers are with those who are missing a family member or friend this holiday season. (more…)
Emblazoned above the doors of the Alabama State House is a Latin phrase that is translated “We Dare Defend Our Rights.” It is a symbol of the determination to ensure that the government does not forget that its people are imbued with certain inalienable rights. Not mere privileges – but rights. In this age of pandemic shutdowns, however, America is being conditioned to believe that any attempt to exercise fundamental freedoms is actually fundamentally selfish. It is not so.
In April of this year, the Alabama Policy Institute published a report at the request of the senate pro tempore that addressed the impacts of government actions on citizens in the early days of the shutdown. The report was presented to the Office of the Governor and the members of the Governor’s Coronavirus Task Force. Specific research laid out the growing sense that civil liberties could be infringed if an otherwise legitimate use of government powers to declare a state of emergency went on too long. Heck, back then it was just “14 days to flatten the curve” – who knew. That report, which garnered national attention, was issued seven months and 19 proclamations-of-the-governor ago. (more…)
Congress returns to Washington this week after a six-week hiatus for the election. Since the end of July, we have only met for a few weeks, and the work we need to complete has piled up. This Congress ends at noon on Sunday, January 3 when the new Congress will be sworn in and start all over again as any bills pending from the old Congress die. Let’s look at what needs to be done between now and then.
Every year since the Kennedy administration, Congress passes a National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which authorizes the operations of the U.S. military and our national defense, an obligation of Congress under Article One of the Constitution. This year’s bill passed out of the House Armed Services Committee on which I sit by a unanimous vote and out of the full House by a huge bipartisan vote. A Conference Committee will iron out our differences with the Senate bill, and I hope we will vote on the Committee’s report in the next few weeks. The NDAA is one of the few examples this Congress when we have come together to meet our constitutional duties. (more…)
Without a doubt, the coronavirus is taking a toll on Alabama’s small businesses.
Governor Ivey has gradually eased many of the restrictions put in place to keep customers and employees safe, but small business owners say it may be months or even years before the local economy fully recovers from the pandemic.
That’s why it’s important this holiday season to make a point of shopping small. (more…)
As the nation watches the news unfold about allegations of fraud and irregularities in some battleground states, Election Day in Alabama appeared to generally run smoothly.
Yet, while Alabama has better election laws than most of the states embroiled in controversy now, there is still room to improve the current rules on the books.
The state’s absentee ballot laws do not allow for the transparency that is needed to ensure there are not deliberate attempts to defraud the system. In addition, we need to make sure the state enforces all of the current laws regarding those absentee ballots. (more…)
Former Vice President Joe Biden has won a narrow victory in the presidential election. President Trump, however, claims the election was stolen through fraud. In 2016, Hillary Clinton blamed her loss on Russian interference. The lack of legitimacy accorded to these election winners raises a question: Do Americans still want to be part of the same nation?
To answer, let’s consider what constitutes a nation. A nation is a set of institutions or rules, like the just completed election campaign. The rules also spell out the fundamental rights of citizens.
Citizens agree to live by a nation’s rules. Yoram Hazony writes in The Virtue of Nationalism, “Each institution teaches, persuades or coerces its members to act according to these fixed purposes and forms, abiding by accepted general rules and procedures, so that they can reliably act as a body, without each time having to be persuaded or coerced anew.” (more…)
Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away, which means the Christmas holiday season will be here before we know it. The holidays bring many exciting opportunities to gather and celebrate with family and friends, and this holiday season, it’s important to remember that the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to progress across our communities.
The United States surpassed 1 million new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the first 10 days of November, and several states broke their record for the daily number of new COVID-19 cases reported. Health officials earlier this year warned Americans of the probability of a second wave as winter approached, and it is evident that we are entering this predicted phase of the pandemic. (more…)
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 1918, the armistice ending World War I was signed. Originally known as Armistice Day, Congress later passed a resolution signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower which officially designated November 11 as Veterans Day. Americans now pause on this special day each year to recognize all those, young and old, who have served our country in uniform.
My highest honor as a member of Congress is representing and fighting for the men and women who serve us all. One of my top priorities is working on behalf of our servicemembers and veterans. Alabama’s Second Congressional District is home to a notable amount of veterans and thousands of active duty and reserve personnel. (more…)
Election Day has come and gone. Despite the fact that multiple national news sites have “called” the presidential election, court cases and recounts are going forward in several states where the margin is less than 1%, and we don’t yet “know” who was elected president. By federal law, all election disputes must be resolved by December 8 and presidential electors must meet and cast their votes for president on December 14. The ballots will be counted in Congress on January 6. These are the key dates when we will “know” who will become president on Inauguration Day, January 20. So, let’s not jump to a conclusion about who won this very close presidential election just yet.
But, we already know some important things about America from the votes last week.
Perhaps the most important thing we witnessed was a free and open democracy working. We take for granted our system for choosing our leaders, but if you look around the world, we shouldn’t. Even in a very politically divided nation, we held peaceful elections, and even where there are election disputes, we have legal processes for resolving them. For the most part, things have been handled peacefully, except in a few places like Oregon where they apparently don’t need an excuse to riot. (more…)
The specter of dimpled chads has emerged to haunt American politics. Twenty years after the contested presidential election of George W. Bush against Al Gore made punch lines out of certain ambiguous ballots in Florida, allegations of election irregularities again are causing worry that the Supreme Court of the United States might select the next President of the United States. Those fears are unwarranted.
Part of the blame for those fears rests with politicians and pundits who trade on notions of federal judicial supremacy with phrases such as “all the way to the Supreme Court.” If the U.S. Supreme Court gets involved at all, its role will be limited to ensuring that the states have complied with the minimal requirements of the Constitution of the United States and federal election laws. The Court does not exercise a general supervision over federal elections. (more…)
After wrestling with a public health emergency over the past months, Alabama consumers and businesses have learned that good, high quality and fast broadband internet is a necessity, not a luxury.
The need for a comprehensive statewide plan to provide high-speed, fiber-fed broadband internet connectivity to every Alabamian has never been more evident.
As hundreds of thousands of the state’s schoolchildren and their parents grapple with adapting to online learning during the current COVID-19 pandemic, many struggle with limited choices or slow and non-existent service. Some rural Alabama school systems have even been forced to deploy school buses to provide mobile wi-fi hotspots for students. (more…)
As the nation watches the aftermath of the presidential election unfold, the other unfinished business is what happens in the United States Senate.
Based on the latest ballot tabulations, it looks like the Republicans are on track to keep the majority in the upper body of Congress, however, two more races in Alabama’s neighboring state could change that. (more…)
Governments have used nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPI), or lockdowns, to contain COVID-19. But do NPI protect public health overall? A group of medical experts recently put forth “The Great Barrington Declaration” (named for the town where they met) advocating an end to society-wide lockdowns. Over 40,000 public health and medical professionals have signed onto the Declaration.
Lockdowns have enormous economic costs. The Declaration contends further that the net effect of lockdowns on public health is negative, as harms exceed COVID-19 illnesses avoided. The adverse health effects include “lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and deteriorating mental health – leading to greater excess mortality in years to come.” Extending or reimposing lockdowns until a vaccine or cure is available “will cause irreparable damage, with the underprivileged disproportionately harmed.” (more…)
I came of age politically with the 1968 presidential election. Alabama Governor George Wallace was running as an independent against Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. My parents were Nixon supporters, and I, their five-year-old son, hopped on the Nixon bandwagon with gusto. The dinnertime conversations in the month preceding the election were all about whether Wallace’s third-party candidacy could work.
This all fascinated me, so I asked my mother to let me watch her vote on Election Day. She agreed, but to my dismay, when I joined her in the voting booth, I did not see Nixon, Humphrey or Wallace listed on the ballot. This made no sense to me; I thought we were here to vote for Richard Nixon? My mother then explained that we didn’t vote for the presidential candidate directly. Instead, we voted for men and women called presidential electors. These people were well-regarded and appointed for the special privilege of casting the deciding votes in presidential elections. This system seemed out of place to me, because in every other election the candidates were listed by name on the ballot. Why not for president? Why should my mother vote for nine people, who would then vote later for president, instead of voting directly for the president? This was my first encounter with the Electoral College. It would not be my last. (more…)
I have the honor of leading the Alabama Policy Institute, a non-partisan, non-profit educational and research institution which has championed free markets, limited government and strong families for over 30 years.
When you look back at our state’s major policy discussions, you will most likely find that API was right there in the midst of the battle. We do not take lightly the task we have been given to work for good government which leads to flourishing and opportunity for all Alabamians.
Today, we find our state at a crossroads.
We must decide whether we are going to govern and live by the principles we say we believe in, or whether we are going to say one thing and do another. (more…)
I’ll never forget sitting in the U.S. House Chamber in January of 2017 watching the counting of the Electoral College votes from the 2016 presidential election. Under the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, the sitting vice president opens and counts the votes as submitted and certified by the electors chosen from each state, and the vice president must do so “in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives.” Because Inauguration Day was still several days away, the sitting vice president was Joe Biden, and as a member of the House, I was entitled to be there.
Procedurally, any representative or senator can object to any state’s electoral college votes but at least one member from the other house must agree with the objection before it can be considered. Alabama was the first state up, and Jim McGovern, a very liberal Democrat member from Massachusetts who served on the Rules Committee with me, stood up and objected because the Russians supposedly interfered with our vote for Donald Trump. He also made a blatantly false allegation that our state violated the Voting Rights Act and suppressed thousands of votes. No senator agreed with him and Vice President Biden ruled the objections out of order, which kept me from having to argue against McGovern’s silly and frankly slanderous objections. (more…)