With the 2012 legislative session getting underway, I’ve spent most of my time on here discussing Alabama state politics. But on Tuesday, while attention in Montgomery was on the State of the State address, Rick Santorum was having a big night of his own, sweeping Tuesday’s Republican presidential contests in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri. Just […]

Governor Bentley delivered the 2012 State of the State address on Tuesday evening in the Old House Chamber of the State Capitol. I shot a short video of the first five minutes including Lt. Gov. Ivey’s introduction. The raw video is below along with the transcript of the Governor’s speech. Here’s the transcript: Lieutenant Gov. […]

Lawmakers wasted no time taking action on an aggressive job-growth agenda in the 2012 Regular Session, as key economic development bills received favorable votes in committee Wednesday and will be up for votes of the full House Thursday. The bills are: o    The  “Heroes for Hire” Tax Credit Act, House Bill 152, sponsored by Rep. DuWayne Bridges […]

This morning I took the time to sit-in on the House Economic Development & Tourism Committee meeting. ADO Director Greg Canfield was in attendance along with several members of his staff because some important economic development bills were coming up for discussion in the committee. GOP leadership in the legislature are pushing an aggressive jobs […]

While Democrat Minority Leader Craig Ford has been predicting a GOP to Democrat party switcher in the legislature, the exact opposite happened Tuesday as State Rep. Alan Harper of Aliceville announced his decision to switch his affiliation to the Alabama Republican Party. He will join as a member of the House Majority Caucus when the […]

With their close ties to the GOP legislative leadership, The Business Council of Alabama is now unquestionably the most powerful lobbying group in Montgomery. Today, they released their legislative agenda along with the below press release. To view a printable version of the BCA’s 2012 State Legislative Agenda, click here. BCA Advocating for Job Creation, […]

Today is Ronald Reagan’s 101st birthday. In celebration, The Heritage Foundation released a list of 10 of his most inspiring quotes: Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong. Don’t be afraid to see what you see. Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. […]

Since Republicans were swept into power in 2010, we’ve seen countless Democrats jump ship. During the 2011 legislative session, I watched the mounting frustration of Democrats in the House & Senate as they lost on vote, after vote, after vote. I couldn’t help but think how different things had suddenly become for guys like Sen. […]

February 6 – February 10 This is the first installment of what we’re going to call “Goat Hill Weekly.” This feature will run each Monday of the legislative session and will offer a detailed preview of the week ahead in the Alabama legislature. We’ll have more details in the weeks ahead but this first edition […]

Republican Presidential Primary: Interesting note: since FL was punished for moving their primary up, AL & FL actually have the same amount of delegates – 50. #alpolitics — Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) February 1, 2012 GOP Primary: Predicting Alabama Based on Florida Panhandle Numbers bit.ly/ABXoMH #alpolitics — Yellow Hammer (@YHPolitics) February 1, 2012 The Obama Administration: […]

As I fired up my twitter account this morning, I saw the following tweet: LOLZ RT @georgetalbot: Today’s column: Alabama candidates vow to impeach Obama: bit.ly/y37Pyc — Nathan Lindsay (@NathanLindsay) February 1, 2012 This is the beauty of Twitter that the uninitiated just don’t understand. Time and time again the Twitter-resistant have told me, “I […]

WASHINGTON — A group of more than 25 conservative House freshmen, led by Representative Martha Roby of Alabama, joined forces today to put an end to the budget gimmicks and procedural trickery that Washington too often uses to hide federal spending and run up the debt. Roby and her freshman House colleagues, joined by Senator […]

Florida Senator Marco Rubio was a guest on Sean Hannity’s radio show today to discuss the Florida GOP primary. After deflecting the usual questions regarding his interest in being Vice President, the Senator made a good case for Florida being an early primary state. His most convincing argument was that Florida is a microcosm of […]

The AEA tabloid machine is at it again. This time, AEA Executive Hypocrite, excuse me, Executive Secretary Henry Mabry is taking on Governor Bentley for his support of charter schools. So, Dr. Mabry, it’s ok to exercise school choice in your own family, with your own kids, but not ok for the working people of […]

Rep. Martha Roby is having a great first term. The Montgomery Advertiser extolled her conservative credentials in a piece today entitled “Republican Roby ‘solidly conservative’ in first year in Congress.” Would-be-challengers have obviously taken notice as Roby drew no primary opposition and will face a weak opponent in university professor Therese Ford when the general […]

Audio below. Wow. Parker Griffith went nuts this morning. Time for popcorn. #ALpolitics RT @TheDaleJackson bit.ly/xMpZ85 — Taylor Nichols (@taylornichols) January 30, 2012

John Anzalone is the President of Anzalone Liszt Research. He’s one of the top Democratic pollsters and his client list includes President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Governor’s Association and a host of other top Democrats and liberal outfits including the Alabama […]

Few issues have become more polarizing points of contention in the national debate than immigration. Here in Alabama, our legislature took the issue head-on by passing the nation’s toughest anti-illegal immigration bill. Popular support for this measure was overwhelming — and continues to be, in spite of some of the most irresponsible reporting I’ve ever […]

Here’s what Alabamians were tweeting about this week… Alabama Education Reform: @toddcstacy I’m an AEA member but understand that inner-city kids in failing schools should have a choice of better option. — Joe Bart Moss (@BartMoss2012) January 27, 2012 The US spends more money on education per child than any country in the world. But […]

The below ad just went up on TV today in the 6th congressional district:

I had the opportunity to speak with congressional candidate Al Mickle a couple of weeks ago as I was writing my feature on the crowded AL Congressional District 6 GOP primary. I found him to be a nice guy with solid, small government ideas and a genuine love for our country and the constitution. He […]

A passionate Joe Scarborough went on an extended rant about education reform Thursday, shouting down former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and accusing him of lying about the role Democrats have played in obstructing progress in the schools. “The fact of the matter is, the system is broken and it has been the Democratic […]

Legislative Leadership seeks to continue progress with 2012 jobs agenda MONTGOMERY – Alabama is reducing its unemployment rate faster than any state in the nation, which is a testament to the difference pro-growth economic policies can have on job creation, Alabama’s Legislative Leadership said Thursday. Alabama’s unemployment rate for December was 8.1 percent, down from […]

President Obama’s third State of the Union address was mostly just a regurgitation of the failed policies of the last three years. Today, the Republican National Committee put out a great video that really drives that point home: There were no surprises in last night’s speech. However, we now know for sure that as we […]