This week the Alabama Policy Institute, a non-profit free market think tank based in Birmingham, is exploring conservative solutions to poverty. Since its implementation in the 1960s, the “War on Poverty” has cost trillions in taxpayer dollars, with less than clear outcomes. For Friday’s installment in the series, API shared an infographic showing just how […]

WASHINGTON — In new legislation proposed by a group of Senate Democrats, the legal smoking age would rise to 21. Such a move would have mixed outcomes for the states, including Alabama, that depend on the tax revenue generated from tobacco sales. The Tobacco to 21 Act was introduced by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and would make it illegal […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A panel of federal judges in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that union dues cannot be collected using taxpayer funds, and squashed an Alabama Education Association (AEA)—the state’s teachers’ union—effort to subpoena several of Alabama’s top political leaders. The AEA began fighting a 2010 law barring unions from using taxpayer funds to […]

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Tuesday night marked the first Democratic presidential debate hosted by CNN. Millions watched to see whether or not front-runners former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and openly-socialist opponent Bernie Sanders, would provide audiences with heated debate and uncensored rhetoric. It’s safe to say that the gloves stayed on, but the absence of several issues […]

GULF SHORES, Ala. — While many in Alabama’s state government lauded a $2 billion settlement with BP over the 2010 oil spill, some Gulf Coast lawmakers are expressing their frustration at how that money will be appropriated. In July Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL1), whose district includes Alabama’s two coastal counties, detailed for Yellowhammer Radio his […]

(Audio above: Congressman Gary Palmer discusses debt limit increase negotiations on Yellowhammer Radio with Cliff Sims.) BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama Congressman Gary Palmer (R-AL06) told Yellowhammer Radio host Cliff Sims on Wednesday that he will push for a welfare work requirement as part of the upcoming debt limit increase negotiations with President Obama. “We’ve got […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — One year ago today the venerable Paul Hubbert, founder and longtime leader of the Alabama Education Association (AEA), passed away only a few years after officially retiring. Under his leadership the teachers’ union was unarguably the most powerful force in Alabama politics, but since Hubbert’s retirement and death the once formidable organization’s influence has […]

For years, Americans have heard that the “time is now” to act on “climate change,” and in recent months — as President Obama pursues dramatic new carbon dioxide restrictions by fiat, and without the support of Congress — those warnings have become even louder. But a sober examination of facts suggests otherwise. Although the president […]

Alabama sports website and liberal political blog AL.com on Tuesday declared, “Gov. Robert Bentley has a Hillary Clinton problem.” The provocative headline fueled a round of talk radio discussion surrounding revelations that Gov. Bentley has never maintained a state government email account, opting instead to correspond using a personal email account. The article was penned […]

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The “SEC Primary” just got literal. Republican Presidential candidate Jeb Bush is making a campaign stop in Tuscaloosa on Saturday, November 7th, for the Alabama vs. LSU football game. Bush will attend the Alabama vs. LSU football game at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, November 7 as part of four Southeastern Conference game day visits, called “SEC […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — While Republicans in Washington, D.C., prepare for an internal election for Speaker of the House, the debate surrounding who they will elevate to that lofty post is becoming a campaign issue 800 miles away in Alabama’s Second Congressional District. It has been just over two weeks since John Boehner (R-Oh.) announced he […]

There is no shortage of ideological differences between conservatives and liberals or Republicans and Democrats, but perhaps the most divisive issue on the political spectrum is how to care for the poor. Admittedly, conservatives have done a fairly subpar job of connecting the dots between our principles and combatting poverty. While it is true that […]

By State Senator Greg Albritton All too often, the professional bureaucrats in Montgomery ignore the people in rural Alabama. The recent closure of driver’s license offices in our rural counties across the state is just another example of these Montgomery bureaucrats sticking it to rural folks.   On October 1st, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency […]

(Audio Above: Mo Brooks discusses House Speaker race and Democratic Party)  BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks joined Yellowhammer Radio Host Cliff Sims Friday to discuss the U.S. House Speaker race, and the shielding of the Democratic Party by the media. The majority of the media, Brooks asserted during the interview, over-reports the “unity” of the […]

  By Alabama Senator Gerald Dial Over the years, to bear the weight of lacking and reduced Education Trust Fund dollars, educators and support personnel have had to cover higher healthcare costs out of their own wallets, weather changes in retirement, withstand cuts to their classrooms, transportation, and other foundational program needs, and forego much […]

When considering whether to vote in favor of legislation, I often ask myself a simple question: Is this in the best interest of the American people? I believe that should be a guiding principle for all our elected officials when they are faced with a major decision. Recently, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State […]

Good news: the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has halted an attempt by the Environmental Protection Agency to expand its reach into private lands by making small ponds, streams and ditches subject to federal regulations. Federal regulators had attempted to go around Congress and redefine “Waters of the United States” in the Clean Water […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — For the first time ever this week, a member of the U.S. armed services — an Alabamian — voted electronically while deployed abroad. Alabama is the first state in the country to implement fully electronic voting for service members stationed overseas. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill says the system is rolling […]

(Video Above: Congressman Bradley Byrne speaks in favor of lifting the crude oil export ban) WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives voted Friday to lift a 40-year ban on the exportation of crude oil, a move Congressman Bradley Byrne says will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and strengthen national security. Proponents of the bill, […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a nationwide stay on the EPA’s controversial “Waters of the United States” rule Friday morning, granting the request of Alabama and 17 other states which had filed to stop implementation of the the rule while it continues to be litigated in federal court. “The […]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQzJxvbtkfc&feature=youtu.be (Video above: Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) host a press conference on the Thin Blue Line Act) WASHINGTON — In the wake of numerous anti-police crimes around the country, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) on Thursday vowed to America’s first responders that he and his conservative senate colleagues have their back. Flanked […]

(Audio above: Gov. Mike Huckabee says Jeff Sessions would be on his short list for AG) BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — During an interview on Yellowhammer Radio with Cliff Sims Thursday, former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions would be among the first people he’d consider asking to join his […]

By Dan Sutter Underfunded state employee pension plans loom as a potential economic catastrophe. Illinois’ state pension plan faces a deficit in excess of $100 billion, resulting in the lowest bond rating of any state. Many analysts and investors suspect that the pension system’s liabilities will eventually bankrupt the state government. The debate over public […]

WASHINGTON  — Alabama business owner Terry Shea told Congress Thursday morning that a proposed Department of Labor rule backed by many Democrats including President Obama to expand overtime requirements will not be beneficial to Alabama businesses or their employees. Terry Shea, co-owner and vice president of Wrapsody in Hoover and Auburn and a member of the Alabama Retail Association board […]