7. Kraft is the latest corporation looking to get free publicity by helping employees; Food banks in Alabama are also helping
— The maker of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is offering federal workers unlimited free products at a free pop-up store in Washington D.C. until Sunday. The company is asking the workers “pay it forward” when they get paid.
— The Prodisee Pantry in Spanish Fort is preparing to help Coast Guard families and other government employees affected by the government shutdown
6. Governor Kay Ivey has named former Congressman Jo Bonner as her new chief of staff
— Bonner will lead Ivey’s staff through what is expected to be a contentious session. The governor made the announcement by touting Bonner’s experience, saying, “Jo Bonner is a respected leader and a known quantity in Washington and throughout Alabama.”
— Bonner will replace Steve Pelham, who is heading to Auburn University to take on the role of vice president for economic development and be the chief of staff to Auburn University President Steven Leath.
5. Alabama is going to pay its February food stamp benefits early to get around the partial government shutdown
— Fear not. The recipients of food stamps in Alabama will receive their benefits for February because the agency that runs the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program program has developed a way to work around the partial government shutdown.
— The food stamp program will run into issues in March, but could still be funded for the 39 million people on food stamps in the United States.
4. President Trump’s pick for attorney general allows the media and their Democrats to trod the same old ground
— The president has not made a single move to fire FBI special counsel Robert Mueller, but the media and Democrats acted surprised when William Barr told them he “would not carry out” an order to fire him without “good cause.”
— Another trope the left likes to visit regularly is that Trump is assaulting the press regularly. Now, they believe Barr wants to allow Trump to jail journalists, even though he made it clear it was only possible if the nation was endangered.
3. Alabama’s “Alabama Memorial Preservation Act” is ruled unconstitutional and State Sen. Gerald Allen (R-Tuscaloosa) is not happy
— The ruling by Jefferson County Circuit Judge Michael Graffeo, filed 20 minutes before he retired, says the law which bans the removing or altering of historical monuments violated the free speech rights of local communities.
— Senator Allen called the ruling judicial activism, stating, “Judge Graffeo has taken it upon himself to know and declare that it is ‘undisputed’ that the majority of residents of Birmingham are ‘repulsed’ by the Linn Park monument, and has thus ruled the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act void. But judges are not kings, and judicial activism is no substitute for the democratic process.”
2. It looks like illegal immigrants will not be deterred from being included in the 2020 Census, which could hurt Alabama
— A federal judge says the Trump administration may not add a question about citizenship to the 2020 census. He added that the question could be included but he won’t allow it because Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross added it arbitrarily and did not follow proper procedure.
— The judge concluded that the “addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census will cause a significant net differential decline in self-response rates among noncitizen households.” Not doing so will allocate representation to non-citizens.
1. Democrats turn down Trump’s invite to the White House as the partial government shutdown enters day 26
— The Trump administration said they were targeting Democratic members of Congress like the moderate Blue Dog Coalition, none of which attended the president’s attempt at a bipartisan lunch. This leads one to believe there is no end in sight for this shutdown.
— A federal judge has ruled that federal employees can not refuse to work without pay, citing “chaos” and a threat to public safety as the government is calling back thousands of workers.
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