7. Trump organization found guilty of tax evasion
- They may have actually got a victory over former President Donald Trump for once in court. After multiple attempts, a jury in New York has found the Trump organization guilty of 17 counts of tax evasion and could face a $1.6 million fine.
- Trump himself was not charged but that did not stop the media, their Democrats and the courts from making it about the former president because he gave bonus checks to employees and housing, which those employees did not disclose to the IRS. Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg said, “It was my own personal greed that led to this.”
6. Alabama election may be challenged over “scribbles”
- The Conecuh Country sheriff’s election contest in not over yet. The one-vote margin in the race makes every vote count and now there are questions about whether a few voters meant to vote straight ticket or were defacing the Democrat Party logo. A lawsuit is now pending.
- Two of the votes counted for the declared winner, Democrat Conecuh County Sheriff Randy Brock, are being challenged by his opponent because they were counted at straight Democrat votes when no marks were made inside the oval while they alleged two GOP votes were discounted even though markings were made in the oval. Lawyers for the Republican challenger argue the count is incorrect “due to the defacement of Alabama Democratic Party logo” and alleged there “was a miscalculation, mistake, or misconduct in counting, tallying, certifying, or canvassing” which would change the outcome.
5. Yawn.
- Social media and the usual suspects praised the classless behavior of U.S. Capitol police who snubbed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy at a ceremony honoring Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6. The tacky display was praised by the “why are people so mean” segment of society.
- The flawed premise that these two men were somehow OK with what happened that day or, more ignorantly, caused the events of that day is incredibly misguided. However, our society has already shown that any form of disrespect given to Republican politicians, not named Cheney or Kinzinger, will be praised by our media and pop culture.
4. Potential legislative agenda on economic development has leadership support
- Alabama could be heading toward a rough economic year, as is most of the country, but the state’s legislative leaders appear to be ready to push a pretty aggressive legislative agenda on economic incentives. The Joint Legislative Study Commission on Renewing Economic Development Incentives, which has lawmakers and representatives from the business community, is recommended the reauthorization of the incentives programs.
- Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed (R-Jasper), and Speaker-designate Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) all support reauthorizing these economic development incentives to help Alabama to compete in landing industry and increasing investments in the state.
3. Twitter files drama continues
- The media downplays Twitter’s suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story. It is just a massive company, campaigns, and actors from the government working to suppress a true negative story about a presidential candidate’s son as fake.
- Twitter’s CEO Elon Musk has now announced the firing of former FBI attorney James Baker, and now former Twitter attorney, over “suppression” of information inside the company. Musk tweeted, “In light of concerns about Baker’s possible role in suppression of information important to the public dialogue, he was exited from Twitter today.”
2. COVID-19 mandates on the military nearing their end
- It looks like the military’s vaccine mandate will finally end. Service members will be left alone because the House Republican majority will demand it end or they will hold up the National Defense Authorization Act. Hopefully, the military will reinstate those who have been separated by this mandate and give them back pay, return their rank and grant them time in service.
- Alabama’s own U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) is over this, as are most Americans, he notes that recruiting is being crushed with the Army only meeting 52% of its goal. Moore adds, “the pandemic has been declared over, but the military continues to uphold a standard that is affecting force readiness. This is particularly troubling given the CDC’s guidance that makes little distinction between the vaccinated and unvaccinated.”
1. Warnock win, Democrats hold 51-49 lead in U.S. Senate for 2 years
- The last election of 2022 ends the same sad way as the other midterms did with Republicans underperforming and Democrats winning a seat they never should have won. The turning point for Warnock was when he flipped multiple counties from the general election to last night, Warnock won 51.4-48.6.
- Fox News’ Sean Hannity, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich all opined that the Republican defeatism and failure to acknowledge the importance, validity and safety of early voting hurt Republicans greatly.
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