7 Things: CNN’s climate town hall was a hoax, ALGOP resolution against Omar is going nowhere, Byrne wants Space Command in Alabama and more …

7. Auburn alumni are important for Alabama’s economy

• A study conducted by the Economic Research Services, Inc. and Auburn’s Division of University Outreach has released data that shows Auburn University alumni contribute $5.6 billion to Alabama’s economy annually.
• A press release from Auburn University stated that the $5.6 billion “marks a 4 percent increase from a 2017 study conducted by University Outreach.” The impact of Auburn is also responsible for creating almost 27,000 jobs.

6. Biden is coming to Alabama

• Former Vice President Joe Biden will be making a campaign stop in Birmingham on September 15, but further details about his visit haven’t been announced.
• Birmingham has already been visited by five other 2020 presidential candidates: U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) and now withdrawn candidate U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA).

5. Christine Blasey Ford was pretty politically motivated

• Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of assaulting her when they were teenagers, was apparently motivated to go public so that Kavanaugh’s reputation would be tarnished before he got the chance to make decisions on abortion cases.
• Ford’s attorney, Debra Katz, said in a video posted by The Daily Caller News Foundation that Kavanaugh will now “have an asterisk next to his name,” as well as saying that if Kavanaugh is faced with Roe v. Wade, then “we will know who he is” and about his character and motivation. According to Katz, “that is part of what motivated Christine.”

4. Trump is taking his victory lap

• On Wednesday, President Donald Trump spoke to reporters in the Oval Office and discussed the border wall construction, saying that construction is going well and he expects 500 miles of border wall to be completed by the end of next year.
• Previously, Trump had taken $155 million in FEMA funds to instead use on the border wall. He was asked if he still believed this was a good decision with the current situation with Hurricane Dorian, but Trump’s only response was that the administration is “using much less here than we anticipated” to aid those impacted.

3. Byrne pushes for Space Command

• U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper urging him to consider Huntsville for the U.S. Space Command headquarters, saying, “The space legacy and unmatched workforce of the Rocket City make it an ideal choice,” as well as noting the contributions Huntsville has made to national security and the space program.
• Byrne specified that Huntsville would be a good choice due to the workforce’s experience in developing “rocket propulsion systems and technologies.” Currently, the finalists in consideration for the headquarters are the Redstone Arsenal, Alabama; Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado; Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado; Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado; Vandenberg Air Force Base, California; and Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.

2. Sorry, Congress probably won’t get rid of Omar

• At the Lawrence County Republican Party meeting with U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope), the 2020 candidate for U.S. Senate was asked if fellow Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) could actually be expelled from Congress after the Alabama Republican Party passed a resolution asking for the Alabama congressional delegation push for expulsion.
• Byrne said that it “takes a pretty high standard to expel somebody from the House,” adding he is going to look at the standards again and decide if he believes she needs to be expelled, but as of right now, he’s saying Omar is going to stay unless she’s voted out by her constituents.

1. CNN’s climate town hall was a circus

• Apparently, at least according to CNN’s Climate Town Hall, the way to stop climate change is to ban items like hamburgers, fracking, certain light bulbs, cars, plastic bags, nuclear power plants and plastic straws while pushing for more abortion in third world countries, increases in the minimum wage and jailing energy executives.
• For any impartial observer, the town hall was an embarrassing political disaster, particularly for former Vice President Joe Biden,  where candidate after candidate pushed for programs and ideas that will make the average American’s life significantly worse, irrationally increase government spending and power and have almost no actual impact on the matter at hand.