7. A possible solution for rural hospitals

• On Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal,” State Representative Tim Wadsworth (R-Arley) suggested that instead of expanding Medicaid to save rural hospitals, we should instead have Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC).
• Wadsworth said that FQHC doesn’t require state funding, and “does not require expanding Medicaid, and they still see Medicaid patients and Medicare patients, too.”

6. Cam Ward will seek Supreme Court seat

• State Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) has officially announced that he’ll be campaigning for the Place 1 associate justice position on the Alabama Supreme Court. Ward is currently the president of the Alabama Law Institute and the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman.
• While announcing his candidacy, Ward said that he understands the role of being an Alabama Supreme Court justice, and his “judicial philosophy will be easy to understand.” He added, “As a judge, my role will be to interpret the law exactly as it is written, not write new ones.”

5. Trump granted subpoena hold after ruling

• Despite a federal judge ruling against President Donald Trump’s lawsuit, which then allowed the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to subpoena Trump’s tax returns, Trump’s attorney’s then filed an emergency appeal, which was granted.
• The hold on the subpoena will only be effective while the case is being reviewed, but Trump attorney Jay Sekulow said that they “are very pleased that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2^nd Circuit has issued a stay of the subpoena issued by New York County District Attorney Cy Vance.”

4. Let’s start this Senate fight already

• Currently, former Auburn Football coach Tommy Tuberville is leading the pack in the 2020 U.S. Senate primary race, according to the latest poll from the Alabama Farmers Federation. In second place is former Judge Roy Moore following 21 points behind Tuberville, but the race has been uneventful so far.
• Even when Tuberville said that President Trump’s tariff increase put a noose around farmers’ necks, it seemed that almost no one in Alabama covered his comments. AL.com didn’t write anything about his comments until five days later, so it seems as if after Tuberville was endorsed by ALFA, everyone else is just going to give him the nomination.

3. Trump’s decision on Syria was a campaign promise fulfilled

• As much as establishment Republicans, the media and their Democrats are wringing their hands over President Donald Trump’s decision to remove troops from northern Syria, much of what is being missed is the fact that this is exactly what the president said he would do if elected.
• Not only did Trump say he “was elected on getting out of these ridiculous endless wars,” he also warned Turkey about messing with the Kurds, stating, “If Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey.”

2. Jones is going after Trump but unsure about impeachment

• After President Donald Trump announced that American troops would be withdrawn from northern Syria, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) has criticized Trump’s decision, pointing out on Twitter that “Kurdish fighters have been invaluable partners in our mission to defeat the Islamic State and added that withdrawing troops “leaves a vacuum for a resurgence of IS in the region,” and that this move “sends the exact wrong message to our allies.”
• Jones also commented on the impeachment process but wants to see more information. He outlined, “Where I sit is, let’s get the facts. Let’s get the facts and put all the facts out not only in front of the House, potentially the Senate, but we don’t know that yet, but certainly in front of the American people.”

1. Democrats undercut their impeachment fantasies with super-secrecy

• If the facts against the president of the United States are so damning, why in the world don’t the Democrats and their media want the world to know about them and why is there the need for constant secrecy like we saw last week?
• The answers seem pretty clear as the facts show House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) has been less than honest, the selective leaking about former Ukraine special envoy Kurt Volker’s testimony has been revealing, Democrats want to use voice modification to mask those who testify from Republican members of Congress and independent voters may be shifting towards Trump.