MOULTON — On Tuesday, Lawrence County Republicans got their first glimpse at State Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs), who is seeking Alabama’s U.S. Senatorial GOP nomination in 2020.
Despite engaging in a back-and-forth on social media with Republican rival former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville over comments Tuberville made days earlier up the road in Muscle Shoals about President Donald Trump and veterans’ health care, there was no mention of Tuberville or any of his other opponents in his speech to the meeting of the Lawrence County Republican Party at Mel’s Steakhouse.
The Shelby County Republican applauded much of what Trump had done, especially regarding immigration and China. However, his one disagreement was with the two-year budget deal signed into law by the president last week.
“It’s extremely important that we deal with that debt situation,” Mooney said. “A few weeks ago, there was a vote in Washington, and I’ll tell you straight up, just as I told somebody today – yeah, our military was involved in that. But you know what, we’re going to pass, and we’re going to take care of the military and defense needs in our country, but we needed to vote ‘no’ on that bill because it was adding to our debt — $2 trillion over about 10 years. We’ll come back and support the military. We’ll get that done. But we got to deal with the debt. We can’t do what we need to do if we don’t do that.”
Mooney also touted the work of his body, the Alabama House of Representatives and the passage of the abortion ban earlier in the year. He cited his colleague Rep. Terri Collins (R-Decatur), the House sponsor of the bill, and said a commitment to life was a priority for him.
“You know, before all of this stuff about business, before all of this stuff about economy, defense – all those things – we’ve got to consider who we are as far as life,” he said. “This bill protects life from conception up to natural death, and that’s what I’m committed to.”
He also pledged to give attention to economic development for Lawrence County and other rural counties in Alabama.
“You people in Lawrence County – you know, I just came from Huntsville,” Mooney said. “They’ve got a great economic engine up there. They’ve got the Marshall Space Flight Center. They’ve got Redstone Arsenal. They’ve got all kinds of things. A lot of you guys have got to get in your car every day, travel out of your county and go to work somewhere. You’re spending a tremendous amount of time commuting and doing things. We’ve got to see economic development – maybe not at the level in that county, but we’ve got to pay attention to all of our counties. I’ll work with your county commissioners, your representatives, your senators in Washington to try to do things to bring about change in your county. I’m one of those people who believes it is easy to say, ‘Oh, you can win an election in Alabama by winning 20 counties.’ You know what? That may be true but every county in this state regardless of whether it is a county full of Republicans or a county that’s got a batch of Democrats in it – very important. People are important. And I believe sincerely that as Alabamians and Americans, we’ve got to look to each other and we’ve got to serve each other. That’s my goal, and that’s my purpose.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.
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