7. Alabama race hoaxer is now unemployed and living with his agent

— Alabama’s own Bruce Maxwell, formerly with the Oakland A’s, finds himself without an MLB team after a low batting average, kneeling during the national anthem, racial restaurant hoax incident in Huntsville and pulling a gun on a delivery driver derailed his career. Bleacher Report tells a story of redemption, but Maxwell’s seems to still be playing the victim and his agent believes the gun incident is more likely to be keeping him unemployed than kneeling.

6. Conservatives and liberals are both telling Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) her ideas are stupid

— American Action Forum, founded by a John McCain operative, found that AOC’s Green New Deal will cost between $50-93 trillion, with no plan to pay for it. The Washington Post also hit the Green New Deal (“We Can’t Afford Bad Ideas”) as something they support in principle but can’t in the way it is developed. The Post wrote,”WE FAVOR a Green New Deal to save the planet. We believe such a plan can be efficient, effective, focused and achievable.” At this point, it appears the only people who support this plan are running for president as Democrats, and they have no clue how to pay for it either; they don’t seem to think it matters.

5. This is totally where they get him: Convicted liar Michael Cohen says he will prove criminal behavior by the president of the United States

— Cohen will be going to prison for lying to federal authorities, but not before he testifies to federal authorities about his time as President Donald Trump’s “fixer.” NBC reports that Cohen will lay out the “lies, racism and cheating as a private businessman” that Cohen helped cover-up and even could provide documents that back up allegations of tax fraud. Ironically, Cohen has been sentenced to three years in jail for a good amount of criminal conduct, this includes payoffs to women who said they had had affairs with Trump, lying to Congress about Trump’s business dealings with Russia and tax evasion.

4. A freshman lawmaker is ready to fix an archaic Alabama law that mandates newspapers get tax dollars

— The printing of law notices, voter lists and other matters is big business for newspapers, large and small, with some small town papers receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars. State Rep. Andrew Sorrell (R-Muscle Shoals) has heard enough. He stated, “I’ve decided that I am going to introduce a bill about this this session.” The bill will address this issue. This is not the first time this matter has come up in Alabama. It is receiving more attention than it normally does and publications are starting to voice their opposition to this matter to legislators as they argue for the currently profitable status quo.

3. U.S. Senate decides that defending the lives of born children can’t reach a 60-vote threshold

— The Born Alive Act, which is exactly what it sounds like, proposed by Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) failed to clear a “filibuster” with a 53-44 vote. All Democratic 2020 presidential candidates in the Senate voted to kill the measure, this includes Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Kamala Harris ( D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Both Alabama senators voted in favor of the bill.

2. The vote to stop President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration is happening, but it doesn’t matter

— As the House is sure to pass a resolution attempting to halt the president’s emergency declaration, senators are being pressured by the president himself to be “strong and smart” and not go along with them. A veto surely faces anything that passes, and no one believes they will be able to override that veto. Either way, the measure is a big test for everyone involved, but if it passes, Trump said, “I don’t think it survives a veto.”

1. The gas tax proposal is coming — It is a big ask, but the cities and counties are on board

— With Alabama Governor Kay Ivey ready to unveil her big tax plan in Maplesville (population 703), she is getting some back up from Alabama and Auburn in the form of a study that shows the gas tax is needed now more than ever. The study calls for up to $800 million in new taxes to cover the states road needs. The research carries with it nuggets like this discussion on congestion: “[R]esearchers found that these delays cost consumers an average of $450 a year in increased fuel costs and other expenses. Overall, they cost the Alabama economy $2.3 billion.” The question it does not answer is: “Will these numbers prove effective?”