7. Former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court Roy Moore says the 2017 special U.S. Senate election was stolen
— Moore appeared on a Christian radio show where he made comments about his loss to now-Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL). He made it clear he believes he was a victim of a conspiracy to tarnish his reputation, saying, “I have no doubt this influenced the campaign. And to say it didn’t would contradict even the report that came out on Project Birmingham. It’s no coincidence this Project Birmingham originated as early as September 2017 before the false allegations came up. I think it was all a plan. I think it was all a plot.”
6. State Sen. Tim Melson (R-Florence) filed a bill to allow Biblical literacy as an elective
— Melson’s bill would allow students in grades six to 12 to choose to study the subject and would require the Alabama Board of Education to implement any curriculum. The bill’s premise has the support of President Donald Trump. It is patterned on a bill out of Kentucky and has the support of Senate Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston), who said, “If students choose to study Biblical literacy as an elective in school, then there is no reason why that should not be allowed”.
5. New Yorkers are shocked that an increased minimum wage increases their prices and costs jobs; An Alabama has court stopped an attempt to challenge an Alabama law that keeps cities from raising the minimum wage
— A survey found that 87 percent of restaurants in New York are planning on increasing the menu prices of food items. The U.S. Labor Department found that restaurants in December raised prices more than they have since 2011 to deal with these increases, while 75 percent of full-service restaurants are cutting hours in response to the wage increase. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall praised the decision halting a review of the state’s laws on the grounds that it was racist because Birmingham is majority-black and the legislature is majority-white.
4. Virginia is the latest state to head full-bore to abortion on demand up until birth; The “unviable fetus” claims are fake news
— Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (D) answered a question that has stirred up a lot of emotion when he told her that a child that is born could be terminated after the fact. He argued, “If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.” The governor claims he was taken out of context, but that is hard to argue when the sponsor of the bill acknowledged that a baby could be aborted up until the moment it is delivered. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) has made it clear he views this as a matter of “choice.”
3. AL.com hasn’t reported on former ALEA head Spencer Collier’s car accident, and its role in the Bentley saga; Now it has been reported their columnist John Archibald was in his car that day
— Collier’s car accident is mentioned in court documents about his case with former Governor Robert Bentley, but one piece of the story seems to be missing — in all of the coverage by the state media, there is no mention of Archibald being in the car with Collier that day. According to Alabama Today, Bentley “attempted to subpoena“ the toxicology results and “any and all communications related to your investigation into Collier’s car accident… including without limitation any internal communications” as part of his lawsuit with Collier.
2. Representative Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham) thinks tax cuts were a plot to cut Social Security; Even though a recent CBO report shows they increased revenue, the real danger is out of control spending
— Without evidence, Sewell is sounding the alarm that Social Security cuts are coming because of tax cuts and they were doing so to “lay the groundwork for cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security,” which did not happen. Sewell ignores, or doesn’t know, that a CBO report shows tax cuts are not driving the rising deficit but out of control spending is. In fact, while revenue from tax cuts is rising as a percentage of GDP, spending will exceed its historical average in every year through the next decade.
1. Trump criticizes intelligence agencies; His fellow Republicans criticize his moves in Afghanistan and Syria
— These disagreements with his intelligence chiefs stem from Trump’s assertions that Iran, which they say isn’t pursuing nukes, is a major threat and that he has Syria, North Korea, Afghanistan and ISIS under control. Many normal Trump allies in the Republican Party are now pushing back on Afghanistan and Syria withdrawal with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) offering up a resolution that disagrees with the president’s plans to get out of Middle East hotspots.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.