7. The commission investigating Parkland shooting suggests arming teachers
— A state commission tasked with addressing the issues that led to the mass shooting and making suggestions to prevent future shootings unanimously approved a report on Wednesday that calls for some teachers to be armed.
— Last year, Alabama’s Governor Kay Ivey created a “School Sentry” program, but no information has been made available about how many school systems or employees have taken part, if any.
6. Senator-elect Mitt Romney (R-UT) isn’t the only Republican bucking the GOP
— The soon to be senator has drawn the ire of the president of the United States by criticizing his character after seeking an appointment and an endorsement from him. The media is touting him as a new “maverick.”
— The House GOP has an outlier, too. Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) says he will vote with Democrats on a series of rule changes in spite of the fact Republican leadership has threatened “consequences.”
5. 750,000+ Alabamians are on food stamps and they could run out as part of the shutdown
— The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will deliver benefits in January, but if the government remains shut down, the entitlement could not be delivered beyond that.
— An estimated 353,530 households reportedly receive food stamps in Alabama each month. Seventy percent are in families with children and one-third are for families with seniors or those with disabilities, with the average benefit being $118 per month.
4. Failed Senate candidate Roy Moore says he plans to release details about Democrat dirty tricks in Alabama’s 2017 U.S. Senate special election
— Moore has declared he is not done speaking out, posting on Twitter, “There are many false and misleading accounts on social media about me, it is about time I speak for myself! Come join the growing Conservative movement in Alabama and follow @RealJudgeMoore for more details about how the Dem’s hacked my race! #staytuned”
— Moore is the latest Alabamian to speak up about a tech billionaire, Reid Hoffman, funding an organization that created misleading Facebook pages encouraging Republicans to write-in other candidates and created a narrative of Russians boosting Roy Moore’s campaign on social media that they pushed to friendly media outlets, which parroted it all.
3. Retirement System of Alabama calls for sports gambling and legalized weed
— The RSA made the pitch in its newsletter to it 356,000 members, with a headline that stated, “Alabama Needs Reasonable Taxes to Solve Problems, If Not, We Need to Consider a Lottery, and What Other States Are Doing.”
— Oddly, they advocate for sin taxes like other states have turned towards, saying, “We all have vices. For some, it’s a nightcap; for others it’s betting on sports while puffing on a joint. In what feels like a long time coming, American states are moving toward legalizing the latter. Ten states and Washington, D.C., have sanctioned medicinal and recreational marijuana for those over age 21, and 33 more states allow medicinal use. Sports betting has been fully legalized in six states, with three more on the way, and 15 more with bills pending.”
2. Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-5) says a juvenile’s rape by illegal immigrants “was entirely avoidable”
— A previously deported illegal immigrant has been charged with the first-degree rape of a juvenile in Shelby County and Brooks criticized Democratic leaders for obstructing addressing our border issues. He said, “This sickening crime was entirely avoidable, yet Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer continue to obstruct Republican efforts to secure our border to help prevent awful crimes like this one against Americans.”
— Brooks made news earlier this week with his comments about Democrats having the blood of Americans “on their hands” for failing to secure the border,
1. President Trump and congressional leaders meet with no end in sight for the partial government shutdown
— The lack of progress between Trump and Democrat leaders was not much of a surprise. Trump stated, “We are in a shutdown because Democrats refuse to fund border security.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer implored the president to “support reopening the other areas of the government that don’t have to do with the immigration dispute,” which Trump said isn’t happening.
— Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters, “The Senate will be glad to vote on a measure that the House passes that the president will sign. But we’re not going to vote on anything else.”
