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7 Things: Shelby, Tuberville vote for stalled omnibus bill; good news for school choice; and more …

7. Medicine is lacking for kids nationwide

  • Supply chain issues are causing more problems for the United States and kids could suffer in a major way, if this is not resolved. Due to a raging flu season and other respiratory illnesses, children’s Tylenol and similar medicines are missing from the shelves. U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) spoke about this on the floor of the Senate to bring light to the issue.
  • Tuberville said, “Right now, many, many communities across our country are facing a huge shortage of children’s pain killers, like children’s Tylenol, antibiotics, and amoxicillin.” It could get worse though, Tuberville warns some bad stuff could happen: “Moms and dads who can’t find kids’ medicines are choosing to give their children smaller doses of adult medication instead. Doctors are warning constantly against this in the strongest possible terms — a warning we should be sharing far and wide.”

6. Biden administration fighting border control measures

  • You would think the president of the United States would be trying to stop illegal immigrants from entering the country, but you would be wrong. But it is worse than that: the administration is actively impeding those who want to stop those immigrants with or without the federal government’s help.
  • Last week, Team Biden sued Arizona for building a border wall out of shipping containers. And now the Biden administration is advocating for the end of Title 42, which kinda works, directly contradicting the wishes of Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott (R), Mayor Oscar Lesser (D) of El Paso, and U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas). This is about to get really bad. 

5. FBI demands you stop pointing out what they have done

  • One of the batches of the latest Twitter Files laid out how the Federal Bureau of Investigation called for Twitter to censor voices they were unhappy with, and they did it, but they do not like being called out. The FBI suggests the release is an attempt to discredit the bureau.
  • The FBI says this is a conspiracy theory, “It is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency.” It is not.

4. B’ham mayor calls for gun control in response to 12-year-old shot while sleeping

  • For the second time in less than a month, the ineffective mayor of Birmingham Randall Woodfin is calling for gun control in his city when there is a rampant crime and a lack of respect for human life in his city.  His city has now seen 140 homicides, 1 short of the 141 killed in 1991, so his request that gangs “chill” didn’t work either, but I am sure he is proud of the city’s “equity” score increasing.
  • This all came after a 12-year-old was killed in her bed while sleeping. His entire response is to complain that there is nothing he can do about this without “unilateral power.” Power to ban guns – “If I had the power, gun laws would be different in Birmingham than anywhere else in the state of Alabama since there’s an actual Birmingham problem, but I don’t have home rule, so I’m not given that authority.” This will not happen, so it is time for the mayor to act and not complain.

3. School choice advocates have a fighter in the House 

  • Those who are advocating for school choice in the state of Alabama got a big win on Wednesday when State Rep. Terri Collins (R-Decatur) retained her chairmanship on the House Education Policy Committee. If school choice and real education reform will happen in the state, it will come through this committee. The Alabama Education Association is not happy about this appointment.
  • In a statement to Yellowhammer News, Collins embraced the challenge of this committee, “I’m honored to Chair Education Policy again. We’ve been able to do some good things in the last years in literacy, numeracy, and computer Science.” She also wants more options for parents and students, “Alabama has some charter schools and some scholarships, but we have little choice for most students and families. School choice has been an important Republican issue.  I look forward to learning how this new Legislature feels on broadening and funding the choices we have now and growing opportunities for families to choose the best education for children.”

2. Ukraine wants more of your money, $45 billion is not enough

  • When America’s elected officials vote to will pump more money into the Ukrainian war effort, the Ukrainian president asks for more before a joint session of Congress. This came as American President Joe Biden agreed to send Patriot missiles to the county, an escalation for American support.
  • On the same day when an omnibus spending bill passed the Senate, which will surely pass the House, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reminded those leaders it will still take more. Zelenskyy said, “Financial assistance is also critically important and I would like to thank you […] for both financial packages you have already provided us with, and the ones you may be willing to decide on.” 

1. Tuberville votes “yes” to advance spending bill, not thrilled with Ukrainian money

  • The bill to advance the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill received a “yes” vote from both of Alabama’s U.S. senators. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa) pushed the bill, but a “yes” from Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) surprised some. The final vote has not been taken yet, some matters remain unresolved as of this morning.
  • On the issue of Ukraine, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) calls it the “number one priority for the United States.” Tuberville is not thrilled, telling reporters, “You know, I didn’t support the $40 billion because I thought it was too much at one time. I’m not really fired up about $45 billion at one time.” The final passage was stalled by a fight over the extension of Title 42 authority and immigration issues raised by U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), but the debate on this matter continues today.

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