7. Doug Jones has no regrets
- U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) was beaten in the General Election by U.S. Senator-Elect Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and recently he appeared on CNN with Dana Bash where he was asked about some of his votes while in the U.S. Senate, such as voting to impeach President Donald Trump and voting against confirming Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
- Jones described them as “tough votes,” but he ultimately voted in line with his “principles,” and he advocated for more people putting “politics aside,” since “this is not about winning elections, this is about doing your job for the American people, living up to the obligations.” Jones also said that he hopes the Democratic Party continues “to be a big tent party…We all want good health care for the American people. We all want good jobs and good-paying jobs and to try to lower the, you know, to narrow the income gap that we’ve got out there.”
6. Rogers confirmed for Armed Services ranking member
- U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-Saks) has been confirmed by the United State House Republican Conference as the next ranking member of the House Committee on Armed Services, which was anticipated after he was pushed forward by the House GOP Steering Committee.
- Rogers said,“As Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, I will work to modernize our military, combat our rising adversaries, and dominate the battlefields of this century.”
5. ALGOP Chair weighs-in on Georgia election
- Alabama Republican Party chairwoman Terry Lathan has discussed the issues with the presidential election and the U.S. Senate runoff election that is set to be held in Georgia on January 5, and she’s encouraging those in Alabama to help where they can.
- Lathan asked the question, “Who wants to go to war for your country?” and added that this is “like a civil war right now, and I hope the history books show that we all, frustrated and not, had to get back up, get on the horse and ride back out there…”
4. Biden’s big plan is for us to keep doing what we already are doing
- Media outlets tweeted out President-elect’s pronouncement that he will be asking Americans to wear masks for 100 days as if it was a game-changing bombshell that will surely slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden told CNN, “Just 100 days to mask, not forever. One hundred days. And I think we’ll see a significant reduction.”
- This is nice and all but ignores the fact that polling shows 90% of Americans are already wearing masks, 37 states require masks and numerous counties, in states that do not have a requirement, are forcing their citizens to mask up.
3. Alabama legislator wants to ban paying for ballots
- Alabama State Rep. Jamie Kiel (R-Russellville) has pre-filed a bill for the upcoming legislative session that would make it illegal for organizations and churches to be paid on a per-ballot basis for helping people go vote.
- This has come up due to the program “New South Souls to the Polls Initiative” that made headlines ahead of the General Election, where they were paying churches $6 per “documented early vote.”
2. Former presidents might get vaccinated on TV
- The three most recent former presidents, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush have all said that they would receive the coronavirus vaccine on camera to show people that it is safe and encourage others to get vaccinated.
- They have all agreed that to be willing to take the vaccine publicly, coming together in a push to get more people on board with the idea of taking the vaccine as there is still a lot of hesitancy.
1. No, there are still no plans to shut down businesses
- Governor Kay Ivey continues to address the coronavirus pandemic across the state as cases and hospitalizations rise, and she was asked while at the Alabama National Guard headquarters in Montgomery if there are plans to tighten restrictions again due to the spike.
- Ivey said that “We know what to do, what works. I have no plans to shut down any businesses…They’re doing a good job of protecting their patrons. We need to keep our folks working and earning a living.”
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