7. Amazon decides to raise their wages to $15 an hour, blowing a hole in the argument that government should force it
— Amazon is clearly caving to political criticism, much to the benefit of their employees. CEO Jeff Bezos admitted as much, saying, “We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead.”
— Now that Amazon has increased their wages on their own, the company will use their economic might to lobby Congress to force their competitors to do the same by using their public policy team to lobby for an increase in the federal minimum wage.
6. While Donald Trump dominates the Republican Party, Democrats have no clear leader
— For better or worse, a USA Today poll indicates that Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party, with 54 percent choosing him, 23 percent saying they don’t know and “there currently isn’t a leader” coming in third at six percent.
— The Democratic Party has a much bigger leadership void problem. Thirty-three percent say they “don’t know” who their leader is, 14 percent say former President Barack Obama is leading them and “there currently isn’t a leader” comes in third again at 13 percent.
5. While Walt Maddox is right about the Governor Ivey’s Alabama Sentry Program, his plan is just as silly
— Maddox rightly believes that Ivey’s announcement of her plan right before her primary was “asinine and political rhetoric at its best. There is no way to know if a single school has taken up the plan at all.
— Maddox, Tuscaloosa’s mayor, believes there should be no firearms on school campuses unless they are in the hands of law enforcement. Instead, he wants trained law enforcement at every school, which is a plan that is expensive and completely unlikely to ever be implemented. This leaves schools vulnerable.
4. Alabama Democrats do not understand how taxes work, they want to raise yours
— Republicans in Washington D.C. are planning on making the Trump tax cuts permanent. Democrats used the temporary status as one of the reasons to oppose it last year but that was largely a disingenuous tact.
— Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-7) and Democrat candidate for Congress Tabitha Isner have expressed concern about the tax cuts, with Isner repeating the canard that the tax cuts drove the deficit while, in reality, tax receipts are at record levels.
3. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is still planning a vote for the end of the Supreme Court confirmation mess this week
— Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell continues to show his frustration and he has now doubled down on his plans to hold a vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh before this week is over.
— He mocked the non-stop deluge of silliness being pushed by the media and his Democrat colleagues by pointing out, “One can only imagine what new bombshell might be published today or tomorrow,” including a college bar fight that was used as one of the reasons “why we need an FBI investigation.”
2. Alabama’s cowardly caretaker junior senator Doug Jones is not interested in hearing from his constituents on Judge Brett Kavanaugh
— Yellowhammer News attempted to contact the Washington D.C. office of Senator Jones and his staff had no interest in hearing from his constituents.
— Jones is also replying with a form letter, which is not unheard of, to all those who contact him about this matter stating, “I am concerned about the message that this vote will be sending to our sons and daughters, as well victims of sexual assault. Therefore, I will be voting no on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination.”
1. Americans blame Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Democrats and partisanship for this mess with Kavanaugh
— The poll shows 75 percent blame Feinstein for her handling of Kavanaugh’s accuser’s letter, 69 percent call the hearing “a national disgrace” and 55 percent say Democrats have been “completely partisan” in the process.
— This nonsense could be fatal for Democrats’ hopes for the House and Senate. Their lead in a generic ballot has been cut in half.
