Jackson and Handback are joined by Secretary of State John Merrill to discuss the latest report by the Southern Poverty Law Center that claims Alabama is suppressing voters and Merrill’s willingness to take on more responsibility at the Secretary of State’s office.

Jackson closes the show with a “parting shot” at the waste of millions of dollars Alabama municipalities spend on “public notices” because of a series of outdated laws requiring publication of voter rolls and public notices in local newspapers.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

• In a new ad put out by the Jeff Sessions 2020 U.S. Senate campaign, Sessions’ record on illegal immigration takes the spotlight with things like his 2018 “Zero-Tolerance Policy for Criminal Illegal Entry.”
• The ad also mentions President Donald Trump saying that he and Sessions “took action” against illegal immigration. in the ad, Sessions addresses how a lot of people may say they want to fix issues with illegal immigration “but have no real commitment to do so.”

5. Police could become a protected class

• The bill that would add law enforcement officers to the class in the state was passed by the Alabama House of Representatives, but State Representative John Rogers (D-Birmingham) thinks the bill doesn’t go far enough.
• If signed into law, the bill would make crimes against law enforcement officers hate crimes, but Rogers said for anyone convicted of killing a police officer, “The death penalty ought to be automatic. I want to see them burn.”

4. Barr just wants to do his job

• President Donald Trump’s constant tweeting makes “it impossible for me to do my job” U.S. Attorney General William Barr said to ABC News. Barr also clarified that Trump “has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case.”
• This is all after the Department of Justice intervened to get Trump confidant Roger Stone’s recommended prison sentence reduced down from nine years. Barr added that “it’s time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases. I’m not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody … whether it’s Congress, a newspaper editorial board, or the president.”

3. Mandatory vasectomies

• A piece of legislation introduced by State Representative Rolanda Hollis (D-Birmingham) would require any man 50 years old or more or after fathering a third child get a vasectomy at their “own expense.”
• While discussing the bill, Hollis said, “Under existing law, there are no restrictions on the reproductive rights of men,” taking aim at the abortion ban passed last year.

2. John Rogers doesn’t know what it is to be transgender, thinks Cam Newton is gay

• The GIRL Act had its day in the Alabama House State Government Committee, and the bill that would restrict Alabama public school students to participating in athletics in the gender on their birth certificate wasn’t advanced.
• At the public hearing, State Representative John Rogers (D-Birmingham) had some especially interesting comments about the legislation, stating that his “favorite player is transgender” and that he knows of “about 20 football players are transgender.” He later was clarified that he was talking about former Auburn University quarterback Cam Newton and he actually believed him to be “gay” instead of transgender.

1. We’re better off now than we were three years ago

• A new Gallup poll has shown that a record 61% of Americans think that they’re better off now than they were in 2017, just after President Donald Trump took office. Only 36% of respondents said they weren’t better off.
• The same poll was conducted in 2012 when President Barack Obama was in office. In the 2012 poll, only 45% of people were better off than three years previous. In the current poll, only 3% of respondents said their situation is the same.

• Congressional candidate Jeff Coleman is running a new TV ad where he introduces the audience to a baseball bat called “The Respect Her” that he would make his daughters’ date sign before they were allowed to take them out.
• If that wasn’t enough, Coleman says the lesson for the dates was “respect, boundaries, honor and integrity.” He closed the ad with a promise to protect your family, stating “I protected my girls like I’ll protect your family in Congress. Sometimes, a little visual aid helps.” He is running to replace Rep. Martha Roby (R-Montgomery) in the Second Congressional District.

5. Now Democrats are going after Barr

• The House Judiciary Committee has announced that they will be interrogating U.S. Attorney General William Barr on March 31. Meanwhile, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) with other lawmakers are calling on Barr to resign.
• Blumenthal said that Barr should “be ashamed and embarrassed and resign as a result of his action directly interfering in the independent prosecution of Roger Stone,” as well as adding that this is an example of President Donald Trump politically interfering “to alter the independent decisions of the Department of Justice.”

4. Medical marijuana has been introduced in the legislature

• The medical marijuana bill by State Senator Tim Melson (R-Florence) has officially been introduced to the state legislature, which has been anticipated.
• If the bill were to become law, patients would have to go see a state-approved doctor to get a prescription and then obtain a “medical cannabis card.” Anyone looking to process, dispense, cultivate, transport or test cannabis would have to get a license through the state Medical Cannabis Commission.

3. Being a sanctuary city could become a felony

• State Senator Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) has a bill that would make Alabama cities that are operating as sanctuary cities a Class C felony. That bill has now advanced by the Alabama Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee.
• The bill would mandate: “It is the policy of this state to discharge illegal immigration by complying with all federal immigration laws and assisting and fully cooperating with federal immigration authorities in the enforcement of federal immigration laws.”

2. Not everyone thinks all gaming talk is dead this legislative session

• The Poarch Band of Creek Indians continue to push their latest plan for expanded gaming in Alabama. Their “Winning for Alabama” proposal provides $1 billion upfront and $350 million a year to the state coffers, but the issue of other gaming such as the lottery and quasi-legal dog track bingo machines will need to be resolved before this happens.
• This all seems very unlikely to occur this year, as Governor Kay Ivey has scuttled any real chance of gaming legislation this session by calling for the creation of “a small working group of some of Alabama’s most distinguished citizens, to begin working, to gather all the facts on how much money we could really gain if some form of gaming expansion occurred.” The group’s work will provide cover to legislators who don’t want to move on this issue.

1. Sessions still leads but the race tightens

• A new poll shows former Attorney General Jeff Sessions is still leading the three-way race for the Republican nomination, and the right to beat U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) in November, against former Auburn football head coach Tommy Tuberville and U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope).
• The Alabama Daily News, WBRC and WAFF poll shows all three candidates trouncing Jones. Sessions has a lead with 31%, closely followed by Tuberville with 29% while Byrne has 17%.

That $400 million goes to the Education Trust Fund, and there is a better chance of Alabama legalizing prostitution than there is of the Alabama Education Association and their legislators agreeing to a budget that has a cut that large in it.

In fact, Governor Kay Ivey has already proposed pay raises this year, and we all know that impacts the cost for teachers’ retirement in the future, so that pay raise has more impact than just the pay to the educators this year.

There is nothing wrong with this. The teachers have a guaranteed retirement system, and while that is not economically viable in the long term, good for them.

The latest plan to address the grocery tax comes from a Republican legislator, which is a nice twist on the issue.

State Representative Andrew Jones’ (R-Centre) version recoups lost revenue by placing a cap on the amount Alabamians can deduct on their state income taxes based on their federal income tax liability.

Confused? Good.

Let me make this simple: it’s a tax increase.

By capping the deduction you can take, you will have to pay more.

Because it is a tax increase, it will require a three-fifths majority of both chambers in the Alabama legislature to approve placing a constitutional amendment referendum on a future ballot. The voters will then get to go to the polls and vote for a tax increase.

So Alabama voters will get to vote on new taxes? Yes.

It fails.

The ads will say, “You won’t pay, they will!”

It still fails.

The editorials will whine, “It’s for the children, we have to keep this money coming in!”

It fails bigly.

All of this is moot because most legislators are not going to be willing to attempt to cut one tax and then raise another while their name gets tied to the tax increase.

This won’t pass the legislature.

They will tell us, “It’s revenue-neutral!”

It fails and would scar anyone who votes for it.

The solution to this exists, and it is painfully obvious, phase the tax out.

Because the state is so reliant on this $400 million, phase it out over a decade and you will hardly miss the $40 million a year out of a $7 billion-plus budget.

A bill to end the sales tax on food passed the Alabama State House in 2008 and died in the State Senate. It comes up every year and it fails every year.

This year will be no different.

This debate has been going on for a long time, and shows no sign of ending anytime soon, at least not the way it is being proposed now.

If legislators want this tax gone, it is time for the state to slowly ween itself off of it.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

• After former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited Alabama, the Alabama Democratic Party announced that they’d be endorsing Bloomberg in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.
• ADC chairman Joe L. Reed said Bloomberg “has shown a keen interest in the ADC. He has visited the state twice in the last two months.” The ADC referenced Bloomberg’s business success and experience as mayor in their reasoning for endorsing him.

5. Attorney General Barr acting like Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch is apparently not OK

• The American media has been warning you for years that President Donald Trump’s presidency would be the “end of America,” and now they really mean it because the president is not happy about the sentencing suggestions for Trump confidant Roger Stone.
• Barr has now taken control of multiple investigations at the Department of Justice, leading to multiple prosecutors resigning from the case. The American media is outraged, and Democrats are demanding investigations. so things are moving on exactly as they have for years.

4. Grocery tax continues to be an issue

• State Senator Andrew Jones (R-Centre) has filed a bill to eliminate the grocery tax, which he said was “a regressive tax which penalizes hardworking families in Alabama.”
• Jones also noted that “38 states and the District of Columbia have full or partial sales tax exemptions for groceries.” He also said if there’s a cap placed on the federal income tax deduction that people can file for, it would be the equivalent to what the grocery tax currently generates.

3. Alabama doesn’t have an issue with voter suppression

• The Southern Poverty Law Center released a report that accused Alabama of suppressing minorities’ ability to vote, but Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said that the report was just a way “to help them raise financial resources to promote their liberal agenda.” Merrill mentioned how voter registration and participation records have been broken in Alabama.
• According to the SPLC, the ways that Alabama suppressed votes was through requiring photo ID to vote, “maintaining a burdensome and discriminatory restoration scheme for those with felony convictions, closing polling places in predominantly Black counties, and purging hundreds of thousands of voters from the voter rolls.”

2. Doug Jones running ads in states not called Alabama

• After the impeachment vote, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) tried to use the way he voted to raise money for his reelection campaign through Facebook ads targeted mostly at people outside of Alabama.
• In total, Jones spent $59,902 on 166 Facebook ads. Only 18% of the ads were targeted at Alabamians, while 21% of the ads were displayed to those in New York and California; the rest was spent in various states.

1. Bernie wins, Buttigieg second, Klobuchar surprises, Warren and Biden fall

• U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) won the first primary, eeking out a victory over former Mayor Pete Buttigieg. U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) surprised onlookers by finishing third, which deals significant blows to the presidential campaigns of once frontrunners former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
• As these races continue, the field of legitimate contenders appears to be growing with Klobuchar and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg making noise and problems while showing that there are two likely outcomes ahead: a bloody fight that could end in a brokered convention, or a Bernie Sanders/Donald Trump battle.

• Last year, Jackson Hospital sued about 1,300 patients for unpaid bills. A handful of the patients sued had bills of less than $200.
• At least one woman, Tara Harriel, is claiming that she wasn’t notified of her outstanding balance until she was served a notice of the lawsuit.

5. Alabama a conservative state, the universities are not

• A list released by Niche, which was conducted through student surveys, showed the most conservative universities across the country, and none of the campuses in Alabama made the top 10.
• The first mention Alabama had on the list was Samford University in Birmingham, which came in at 16th. The second most conservative for Alabama was Troy University at 65th, Auburn University at 96th and the University of Alabama 138th.

4. Chris Pringle is building a wall around Pelosi’s office

• In a new campaign ad, State Representative Chris Pringle (R-Mobile), who is running for the First Congressional District seat, says, “I know how to build walls, so in Washington, I’ll help President Trump build his.”
• The wall he’s building is around a replica of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) office on Capitol Hill. Pringle also states, “I’ll build whatever wall it takes for America to stop illegal immigrants and stop these radical socialists.” He then adds under his breath, “Commies.”

3. Bernie surging, Biden slumping, Buttigieg climbing

• Quinnipiac University has released a new poll that shows U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has surpassed former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary just ahead of the New Hampshire primary.
• In the poll, Sanders moved up to 25%, Biden dropped to 17%, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg surprisingly had 15%, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) had 14%, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg had 10% and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) came in at 4%.

2. Port of Mobile has received final funding for dredging, gas tax pays Alabama’s cut

• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has budgeted $274,300,000 for Port of Mobile, which will provide the last amount of funding needed to dredge the port. U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) had a big hand in making this happen.
• Shelby worked to increase funding for projects like this to 75% from 50%, and secured the funds in the Fiscal Year 2020 appropriations process while announcing the funding. The senator mentioned how this project has been a decade in the making and noted this is a “victory for Mobile and the entire state of Alabama.”

1. Severe weather all over Alabama

• Heavy rainfall across Alabama has led to canceled or delayed schools, swollen rivers and concern for more problems moving into Tuesday evening with most parts of North and Central Alabama under a flood watch.
• The flooding is expected to be so bad that the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office has placed four flat-bottom boats located near different flood zones and a trained swift water team at the ready, but they would rather you avoid rising water altogether to keep everyone safe.

• Former Vice President Joe Biden continues to have one of the more interesting presidential campaign collapses because he keeps insulting voters and lashing out at reporters who dare question him.
• At an event in New Hampshire, a woman asked Biden how he can win if he is doing so poorly. Biden asked if she had “ever been to a caucus” and when she said yes, Biden responded, “No, you haven’t. You’re a lying dog-faced pony soldier.” 

5. Buttigieg: Decriminalize all drugs

• Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg has said that he wants all drug possession to be decriminalized, not legalized. He doesn’t want people to be incarcerated for possessing any drugs, even meth or heroin.
• On Fox News Channel, Chris Wallace asked Buttigieg if possession of drugs currently being illegal acts as a deterrent, but instead of answering the question, Buttigieg simply stated that the focus needs to be on distribution and that “criminalizing addiction doesn’t work.”

4. Trump’s targets items driving debt and defiicit

• The $4.8 trillion budget proposal has been unveiled by the White House, and within the budget, there would be $2 billion for the border wall and increased funding for the Department of Veteran Affairs, the Department of Homeland Security and NASA.
• While there is increased funding for some, other areas are seeing big cuts in funding. Foreign aid would be reduced by 21%, the Environmental Protection Agency would lose 26% of funding and the Department of Housing and Urban Development would be cut by 15%.

3. Tuberville going after Sharia Law

• On the heels of a baseless attack by Paul Finebaum, without being specific, former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville spoke at the Mid-Alabama Republican Club where he made a point to warn people that “Sharia Law has taken over” and that he’s been to areas where “you can’t drive through a neighborhood. …Because terrorism has taken over.”
• Tuberville added that “it’s over” if they “get their hands on the Constitution one day” because “They want to get it for one reason: that Electoral College. If they ever knock that out we’re done, we’re done.”

2. Jones and Biden don’t seem to care about voters

• Channeling his hero Joe Biden, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) continues to be asked about his decision to vote to convict President Donald Trump on both articles of impeachment in the U.S. Senate. Recently, Jones was asked about how he voted against the position a majority of constituents in Alabama hold, and he doesn’t seem to want to represent them in Washington, D.C.
• Jones defended his decision by saying, “The Constitution doesn’t require a poll in which to vote.” He added that he doesn’t make his decisions on polling, stating, “You can’t get 100% on anything.”

1. Trump isn’t going to let people forget about Jones

• The big star of the impeachment vote would have been U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) had U.S. Mitt Romney (R-UT) not bucked his party, but President Donald Trump is confident and outspoken that Jones will not be reelected because he voted to convict during the Senate impeachment trial.
• In a tweet, Trump described Jones as “that lightweight Senator,” and that he “thought his boss, Cryin’ Chuck, would have forced him to vote against the Hoax.” He then called Jones “A Do Nothing Stiff!”

Jackson and Burke are joined by Chris Lewis to discuss his run for Congress and term limits.

Jackson closes the show with a “parting shot” at the countless hours of negative media coverage directed toward President Donald Trump on impeachment with absolutely nothing to show for it.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=615874312306732

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

I will make a caveat with Trump’s problem with Pelosi’s “I pray for him” barb because it is a barb. What she is saying with this is the equivalent of a Southerner saying, “Bless your heart,” which I call the “Southern f-you.”

This week has been a weird flip-flop of attacks with a religious Republican attacking Democrats and moderates on faith. Usually, it is the other way around.

Alabama has its own battle over God’s support raging. Candidates for U.S. Senate in Alabama U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) and Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville both have ads on the air that reference their faith, with Tuberville stating, “[W]ith all of my heart, ‘God sent us Donald Trump’ because God knew we were in trouble.”

This is truthfully pretty benign political stuff, but it drew the typical politcial fire.

To make this a truly Alabama story, you have to add sports into the mix, so legendary radio host Paul Finebaum commented on the ad and, as AL.com reports, he was not kind to Tuberville.

“It clearly sounds like a new Tommy Tuberville,” said Finebaum, the iconic longtime radio personality whose show has long focused on the Southeast and SEC football. “I have no recollection of him ever bringing faith into a conversation.”

It could very well be true that Tuberville and Finebaum have never talked God with each other before, but why would they?

The implication here is that Tuberville is an opportunist, a fraud and is using God as a weapon to win a U.S. Senate seat. That is clear.

A simple Google search eviscerates this notion.

In 2010, Tuberville was the new head coach at Texas Tech, and he spoke in an interview about his faith and Church of Christ upbringing.

Tuberville told the Christian Chronicle, “There’s something other than football, I believe, and so we’ll be active in the church here. Actually, I want to bring in a full-time team chaplain here in our football program.”

Tuberville wanted these students to have access to their faith, even as they were busy with a hectic football schedule, and he wanted the chaplain to visit with players and give them “somebody they can relate to.”

The notorious Freedom from Religion Foundation has even targeted Tuberville football teams in the past and noted that Tuberville was doing this stuff at Auburn, too.

Former head coach Tommy Tuberville appointed Williams in 1999, one of his “first moves” as head coach, claiming the team experienced a “tremendous spiritual revival … moved on the Auburn team since his arrival. … players are getting baptized, carrying around Bibles and wearing wooden cross necklaces.”

Again, this is an unseemly conversation to be having. Barring some obvious hypocrisy, questioning a person’s faith rarely yields anything good.

Finebaum’s premise was wrong here, and he should probably apologize to coach Tuberville.

Why?

Finebaum is a legend. His opinion and comments matter. Without Finebaum, Robert Bentley is never governor. The coverage Finebaum gave, on radio and in print, to a Tim James joke about cutting the salary of Nick Saban in 2010 easily cost him the 270 votes that knocked him out of the run-off and let Bentley limp in.

Finebaum clearly has that kind of reach and die-hard Alabama fans didn’t take this joke kindly.

Bentley beat Bradley Byrne and then went on to appoint then-Attorney General Luther Strange to the U.S. Senate which set off the chain of events that saw Roy Moore lose to now-Senator Doug Jones (D-AL).

Yes, all of that happened.

The Finebaum rub, good or bad, matters.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

• Previously, State Representative John Rogers (D-Birmingham) has made comments on abortion, “kill ‘em now or kill ‘em later,” which gave him a lot of media attention. Rogers’ remarks on abortion led to a public dispute with U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL).
• Now, Rogers has said that he supports Jones’ reelection bid because he has “to support the Democratic Party.” Rogers went on to explain that unless Jones is up against former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore in November, he “has an uphill climb.”

5. An Alabama cop wants to lose his job

• After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped up President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech, assistant chief of the Geraldine police Jeff Buckles decided to post on Facebook about the event.
• Buckles said, “Pelosi just ripped up his speech. Road side bomb on her way home and any other Dumbocrats.” He has since apologized for “venting on FB,” and now Geraldine Mayor Chuck Ables will be meeting with an attorney and Police Chief Heath Albright to decide what happens next.

4. Let’s spend even more time on the Iowa caucuses

• With the headache of issues going on to get a final tally on votes in Iowa, and as the media blames Trump supporters, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez is now asking that the Iowa Democratic Party recanvass, stating, “Enough is enough.”
• As all of this is happening, final results are in and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg has claimed victory, but so has U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) while former Vice President Joe Biden has decided to take a day off the trail because things are going so well for him.

3. Governor Ivey recovering well from surgery

• After Governor Kay Ivey fractured her shoulder, she had to undergo surgery on her shoulder at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Ivey press secretary Gina Maiola said the surgery “went off without a hitch.”
• Maiola has also said that Ivey is in “high spirits and doing well as she begins her recovery,” and that Ivey is very grateful for the “continued support and prayers and looks forward to getting back to work” for Alabama.

2. Byrne: We need to know how much impeachment really cost

• The Statement of Harm to the American Majority (SHAM) Act has been introduced by U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) as an effort to figure out exactly how much money was spent on the lengthy impeachment process of President Donald Trump.
• Through the SHAM Act, the Government Accountability Office would audit the use of taxpayer funds throughout the impeachment process and the loss of government productivity. If passed, it would be mandated that the results found through the audit be released within 180 days.

1. Trump isn’t holding back now that he’s been acquitted

• While speaking at the White House, President Donald Trump took shots at U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) by calling them “horrible” and “vicious,” adding Romney used religion as a “crutch.” He also praised his supporters, including U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope).
• Trump went on to describe the impeachment as “evil” and “corrupt,” saying it “should never, ever happen to another president, ever. It was a disgrace.” He later said that his phone call with Ukraine that sparked the impeachment was “perfect.”

Because of this, Americans’ trust in the media is at an all-time low.

With that comes a weakening of their power and their ability to control a narrative.

The media tried their best to drag Hillary Clinton over the finish line in 2016. She lost, so they failed.

The media tried to convince us that Trump colluded with the Russians. He didn’t, so they failed.

The media tried to make special counsel Robert Mueller the man who would take down President Donald Trump and lead to his impeachment. He couldn’t, so they failed.

The media tried to utilize our super-special relationship with Ukraine as the catalyst for the removal of the President of the United States while simultaneously spiking the story of Hunter Biden’s absurd Burisma deal. Trump was exonerated, and Biden’s dad has been wounded. So, they failed.

But boy did they try.

On the networks’ night newscasts, viewers were subjected to 1,100 negative minutes on President Donald Trump since September 2019 as Democrats were being pulled towards their failed impeachment.

The booming economy? A whopping 14 minutes.

While Democrats were conducting their impeachment hearings and trial, the networks dumped their soap operas for over 200 hours of boring hearings about Ukraine. Station managers lost revenue on this; they were not happy.

This doesn’t even account for the non-stop impeachment talk on cable news.

What impact did this have? What did all this “scandal” coverage do? Nothing.

No minds were changed. Trump gained a net eight points in his approval polls while the #Resistance picked up U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT), who cast an irrelevant vote to remove a president that isn’t going anywhere and is now a liberal icon?

This question was pondered by ABC News’ Terry Moran.

ABC News’ Terry Moran: Democrats “spent years trying to drive this president from office…what was the opportunity cost of that?” pic.twitter.com/JJd8HrUPOZ

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) February 5, 2020

His answer is irrelevant.

The cost is clear. They further destroyed the credibility of their actual base — the American media.

The media is not controlled by the Democrats. The Democrats are controlled by the media.

People will whine about how Trump destroyed norms and erodes credibility in our “institutions.” They have the outcome right but the causation wrong.

Donald Trump is the solution to the problem of an out of control American media. He helped expose their dishonesty. He capitalized on it, but he didn’t cause it.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

• The Alabama Senate Education Policy Committee has approved the bill by State Senator Gerald Allen (R-Tuscaloosa) that would require public schools play the national anthem at least once a week and at some sporting events.
• Allen said that schools within his district aren’t playing the national anthem, and his “hope” is the anthem playing will encourage people to “be great Americans.” However, State Senator Tim Melson (R-Florence) has expressed his concern with it, reasoning, “when the Kaepernicks move to a school district and the whole family sits down or takes a knee, what’s going to be the response in the community.”

5. Kimberly police officer dies at the hands of a career criminal

• Kimberly police officer Nick O’Rear was fatally shot Tuesday night during a pursuit on Interstate 65 South by Preston Johnson, who also attempted to shoot another officer from Warrior by firing into his vehicle.
• Somehow, Johnson had been arrested on 20 charges over the last 20 years and he has been convicted of six different felonies, yet he was released on his own recognizance in October 2019; he was out of custody when he committed this murder.

4. Will they get Trump this time?

• The investigations aren’t over, according to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who said that even though the impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate is over he may be planning to subpoena testimony from former National Security Advisor John Bolton.
• Nadler also indicated that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has already given the approval to subpoena Bolton, who has already expressed that he would be open to testifying during the Senate impeachment trial.

3. Hurst says school schedule bill is being misinterpreted

• State Representative Steve Hurst (R-Munford) plans to sponsor a bill that would make summer longer for public school students, but said the information being spread that students could be in school until 5:30 p.m. is “a complete fabricated lie.”
• The bill would mandate summer break be from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but because state law only requires that schools maintain 1,080 instructional hours, Hurst has said that some schools could extend school days to lengthen breaks. According to Huntsville school board member Elisa Ferrell, she was notified of potential eight-hour school days by the Alabama Association of School Boards.

2. Trump is found not guilty

• The final vote in the U.S. Senate came down to 52-48 to acquit President Donald Trump first on impeachment article of abuse of power and 53-47 on the article of obstruction of Congress. U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) is the only senator to vote against his party.
• U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) voted to convict Trump on both charges, but U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) voted to acquit, saying that for the Senate to convict Trump on these charges “will dramatically transform the impeachment power” and that impeachment would become “a tool for adjudicating policy disputes and political disagreements.”

1. Doug Jones is totally done in Alabama

• Hours before the completely inevitable exoneration of President Donald Trump, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) all but ended his career by announcing that he will vote for a long-doomed impeachment and go against the president in the state where Trump regularly gets his highest approval rating for no reason.
• This move surely pleased Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Jones’ out-of-state donors, as he has raised $816,844 out of state. According to the finance report, 40.87% of his out of state donors were from Washington, D.C., New York and California while he only raised $279,429 from Alabamians.

The dance was obvious. He did the same thing during Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, but in this version of his dishonest theater, Jones even roped in his little boy to help sell it: 22-year-old Carson Jones told us that his daddy was having a hard time eating and sleeping because of the trial. That’s how heavy this was weighing on him.

Except it wasn’t. It was never weighing on him. He knew what he was going to do from the day House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced they were moving forward with this doomed impeachment effort.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) knew.

The media knew. I knew. You knew. Most importantly, Doug Jones knew.

This was preordained and terribly transparent.

This 100% signals the end of Jones’ time as a senator in Alabama.

But it didn’t have to happen this way. Jones could have continued down his path as the “moderate” senator from Alabama, a moniker the media and their Democrats were willing to let him use in spite of votes on abortion, Kavanaugh, comments on tax cuts, support for Schumer and more.

But that veneer has been demolished by Pelosi and her acquiescence to the type of people who spent the 2020 State of the Union sitting on their hands for a booming economy, veterans, a Presidential Freedom Medal presentation and people whose families were killed by illegal immigrants.

Those are the people that pushed Speaker Pelosi into a no-win situation of an impeachment trial with absolutely no chance of victory because of the desire of a liberal base of left-wing lunatics that are actively attempting to torpedo the Democrats’ chances in a general election against President Donald Trump.

Pelosi, “The Squad” and the media have killed off this man’s career for absolutely nothing.

They already had the base fired up to go against Trump.

They already had a lapdog media ready to jump on every Trump action or statement as one of the worst things that ever happened.

They already had the playing field slanted in their favor and they still had swing state senators and members of the House of Representatives who were able to potentially pull out victories as they did in 2018.

They were winning.

But now they are flailing.

They knew this would hurt swing-state Democrats.

They didn’t care.

This impeachment mess will cause Democrat candidates to lose; Doug Jones will be one of them.

So, just remember when they write his political obituary: his career didn’t die — it was murdered.

Trump will still be president. He is more likely to be reelected now and everyone knew this was the only possible outcome.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

• Any candidates seeking the office of governor, lieutenant governor, state representative or state senate may have to abide by a new campaign finance rule if State Senator Jim McClendon’s (R-Springville) new bill passes requiring candidates use lobbyists or PACs, which makes it a silly endeavor.
• The bill would prohibit any candidates from accepting contributions from gambling operations, including anyone connected to gambling operations from making contributions. McClendon has said this is to “get things in Alabama back in balance” somewhat by cutting the Poarch Band of Creek Indians’ influence.

5. Del Marsh wants people to know the cost

• After the first day of the legislative session for the State Senate, Senate Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston) discussed the possibility of adding new prisons to Alabama and said that legislators are ready to tackle this issue. He mentioned that one thing that should come into focus is making sure prisoners are rehabilitated and educated.
• Marsh also emphasized the “need to see the new numbers” on how much it could cost. If there’s an issue with the final cost, he said they can address that with Governor Kay Ivey. The current estimation is that it could cost the government $78 million per year to go through privately owned prions.

4. Buttigieg and Sanders leading in Iowa

• After a long wait, it’s being reported that with only 71% of precincts reporting, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg are leading in Iowa.
• The data places Buttigieg with 26.8% of the delegates and Sanders with 25.2%, while U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has 18.4% and former Vice President Joe Biden has 15.4%.

3. Jones continues to pretend he is undecided

• Wednesday, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) is going to announce how he’ll vote in the U.S. Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. He’s said he’s “tentatively” decided on how he’ll vote on the two articles of impeachment.
• So far, Jones has voted completely in line with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) throughout the trial so he’s expected to vote to remove Trump from office, and there is nothing that indicates Jones will deviate from repeating the behavior he displayed during the confirmation process of now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh where he declared he would not vote to confirm him after weeks of disingenuous public vacillation.

2. State of the State

• Governor Kay Ivey gave her 2020 State of the State address in the Old House Chamber of the Alabama State Capitol where she talked about a billion-dollar bond issue for education and another teacher pay increase. She stated that she will create a study group to determine how much revenue any gambling expansion would create, a move that will pretty much kill that debate in any real substantive form.
• Ivey also addressed the issues of building more prisons in the state, criminal justice reform, healthcare and education in the state. The Alabama legislature is now in session and we will see how and if they will address these issues this year.

1. State of the Union

• President Donald Trump delivered a State of the Union that promised to build his reelection on the back of a soaring economy while delivering a speech that was excellently scripted for television with a military family reunion, Rush Limbaugh receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a young African-American girl receiving a scholarship and an introduction of the last surviving member of the Tuskegee Airmen.
• The speech opened with President Trump snubbing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on a handshake and ended with her defiantly tearing up the speech after it ended, which even Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said, “None of that’s good.” Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) called it disgusting.

He offers his unvarnished opinion, unregulated by others, directly to his audience. His opinion, undoubtedly, has molded many minds in the radio business.

In the United States of America, you would be hard-pressed to find a place where you could not pick up “The Rush Limbaugh Show” from a terrestrial radio tower. He can be heard on over 600 radio stations and is one of the most listened to radio voices ever.

His daily radio show has definitely influenced talk radio hosts across the state of Alabama, as well.

Here are some of their reactions to his announcement:

Jeff Poor (WVNN-Huntsville)

When Rush Limbaugh says there will be a wing of the talk radio hall of fame named for him, there really will be. Without Limbaugh revolutionizing the medium and paving the way for countless others, the media landscape would be far different today.

Many so-called ‘Rush babies’ came into the conservative media and the conservative movement because they were exposed to Limbaugh in their formative years. That had an impact on the way many of us approach life and issues regarding politics and public policy. The country is better for it today.

Sean Sullivan (FM Talk 106.5-Mobile)

Limbaugh is the Lewis and Clark of the expansion of talk radio and all of us who followed owe him a great debt of gratitude. I’m saddened to hear the news but I’m not counting the Godfather out anytime soon.

Matt Murphy (Talk 99.5-Birmingham)

Rush is the father of modern talk radio. He re-invented the format at a time when many conservatives in America were searching for a voice that shared their ideals and belief structure. He, in many ways, validated the opinions of millions and created a platform that forced change in the liberal media. A game changer. He took Buckley concepts and delivered them to middle America in a way they could apply them in their own lives.

All radio talkers are in his shadow.

There will never be a replacement.

Will Anderson (WVNN-Huntsville)

When Rush announced that he had the disease earlier today, he said that he had thought about not saying anything about it on air. I suspect that would’ve been hard to do, as Rush — the pioneer of talk radio — has always given of himself to his audience, from his hearing loss to his prescription drug addiction, and now to his cancer. As always, we will live through it with him prayerfully and vicariously, and we’ll continue to tune in every day.

My takeaway:

Limbaugh is a fighter. He has overcome and succeeded in the face of controversy, industry headwinds and direct targeting of him by adversaries, politicians and the most powerful media conglomerates in the history of the world, and yet, he persevered.

Stage 4 lung cancer will undoubtedly be the biggest fight of his life and a fight for his life.

But he has been counted out numerous times and he always roars back.

Unfortunately for his detractors, he will probably roar back here as well.

No matter what happens, Limbaugh’s influence will be heard in the voice of talk radio’s biggest and smallest names for decades to come and the world is a better place for it.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

• Former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville has released his first U.S. Senate campaign ad on television, and it is similar to his radio ad. He said the ad tells people that he’s “a committed Christian who fights hard for the conservative principles I believe in.”
• Similar lines from his radio ad and campaign trail appear in the ad, such as “God sent us Donald Trump,” adding, “because God knew we were in trouble.” Tuberville reiterates that he’s “a politician’s worst nightmare,” and stated, “We’ve got to get the swamp cleaned out.”

5. Byrne takes on more celebrities for disrespecting the nation

• U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) has taken issue with Beyoncé and Jay-Z over their decision to stay seated during the national anthem at the Super Bowl, saying that the act showed “our nation’s cultural divide.”
• Byrne compared them to the Tuskegee Airmen from World War II who were honored at the coin toss. He noted how the “entitled celebrities … use the Super Bowl to dishonor our country and all those who served by refusing to stand during our National Anthem.”

4. FBI will now partner with Auburn

• A new FBI facility in Huntsville is paying off for the state as FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich agreed to partner with Auburn to “provide the next generation of specialists needed to take on critical roles across the agency.”
• The FBI is building a $1 billion facility at Redstone Arsenal where they’ll need to fill more than 4,000 jobs. With the partnership, the FBI “will also share mutually beneficial information, research and technology that advances criminal justice and student and faculty opportunities.”

3. Doug Jones’ campaign is really trying to sell that he has been undecided on impeachment

• According to U.S. Senator Doug Jones’ (D-AL) 22-year-old son, Carson, the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump in the Senate has weighed heavily on the senator, with Carson saying for Jones, “[I]t’s not an easy burden to bear.”
• Carson also wrote in a blog post that due to the trial, Jones’ eating and sleeping have been affected, adding he “can tell his mind can’t turn off.” Jones shared his son’s blog post on Twitter, saying, “Leave it to our children to capture our true nature and approach better than we can ever articulate.”

2. The State of the State

• Governor Kay Ivey will deliver her State of the State Address after the 2020 legislative sessions start in Montgomery with a focus on prison reform that could include executive actions, healthcare and a doomed amendment to remake the state board of education. She also plans to highlight the importance of the next census.
• The legislative session could be contentious with a focus on criminal justice reform, gambling and the lottery, attempts to expand Medicaid and multiple economic development programs must be extended.

1. Iowa caucus results

• With the nation’s weary eyes trained on the small Midwestern state, the results never came as the state experienced a reporting glitch that meant that with zero percent of the vote reported, there was no clear winner and no way for the losers to explain away their losses.
• Regardless of the clear snafu, both U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg declared they are leading the field while former Vice President Joe Biden wants to see the results before they are released so they can formulate a response.

I personally have burned a vacation day for the last 20 years — Dale Jackson does not work on the day after the Super Bowl (so don’t expect a “7 Things You Should Be Talking About Today” e-mail from me this coming Monday).

Here’s my take…

President Donald Trump should issue an executive order declaring the Monday after the Super Bowl a national holiday and frame it as a way to stimulate the economy by freeing federal workers from the dread of the next day at work they start to feel around the third quarter of the big game. Think about the additional money for bars, restaurants and other Super Bowl party related supplies.

It’s an economic stimulus issue!

Alabama should lead the way, and there is a way to address another one of the Yellowhammer State’s issues at the same time.

Here’s how:

Take Robert E. Lee Day, which Alabama has connected to Martin Luther King Jr. Day — bringing predictable negative attention, and disconnect them.

Make Robert E. Lee Day a floating holiday that takes place on the day after the Super Bowl, give state employees the day off and ask employers around the state to follow suit.

Think of the positive PR that will come from this.

“Alabama honors MLK correctly.”

“Alabama becomes first state to give employees the day off after the Super Bowl.”

“Alabama is awesome.”

I implore Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to declare Robert E. Lee Day moved to “Super Monday.” She will solve two major problems with one political brilliant move.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

5. Prison study group urges immediate action

• The issue of corrections reform could loom large over the coming legislative session, as Governor Kay Ivey’s Study Group on Criminal Justice Policy, which was designed to study the issues in Alabama’s prisons, has released its findings.
• The groups’ findings include legislative oversight and more spending, going slow on sentencing reform and spending more to reduce recidivism; it is expected the governor is planning to announce a massive prison building project at some point in the near future.

4. Calls to ban travel to China grow

• American Airlines pilots want their airline to cancel flights to China, and so does U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope). Byrne is calling for the “immediate suspension” of all travel to the United States from China due to the severity of the coronavirus, adding that, “We must always put the health and safety of American people first.”
• Byrne also noted in his statement that part of the danger is due to being unable to trust the Chinese government on their containment efforts and that the coronavirus’ “severity and complexity is not yet understood.”

3. Lamar Alexander seals the deal with his “NO” vote on witnesses

• Much to the chagrin of the media and their Democrats, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) has announced that he will be voting “NO” on bringing more witnesses (that the U.S. House did not call) before the U.S. Senate and dragging this ridiculous impeachment circus on further.
• Senator Alexander released a statement and noted that he believed the House managers are correct and President Donald Trump made an inappropriate ask of Ukraine; he, however, does not think the president’s actions were impeachable, thus there is no reason to bring in more individuals to testify.

2. Let’s wrap this up

• Republican Senators are ready to vote on whether to remove President Donald Trump from office under the two articles of impeachment brought against him, despite Democrats continuing their attempt to call witnesses.
• U.S. Senator John Barrassso (R-WY) said that “the plan is for Friday to vote,” and U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) said that they’re pushing to finish the trial Friday if the witness vote goes Republicans’ way. This vote to subpoena witnesses and documents will be held after the trial resumes Friday afternoon.

1. Jones is going to vote to convict, he always was

• In his most recent video recap of the impeachment trial in the Senate, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) decided President Donald Trump is the one “mostly” responsible for dividing America.
• Jones reviewed Alan Dershowitz’s comments, mainly taking offense to how Dershowitz thinks “he’s always right,” and Jones said that the suggestion to “just go ahead and vote to acquit” is suggesting people “ignore your oath.” Jones put blame on Trump for the division by saying, “we are a divided country that has been stoked in large measure mostly by [Dershowitz’s] client over the last few years.”

• At G.W. Trenholm Primary School in Tuscumbia, Alabama, a part-time school resource officer used the bathroom in the teachers’ lounge and left his gun in the bathroom.
• Mayor Kerry Underwood said that students aren’t allowed in the teachers’ lounge, but the school resource officer has since been relieved of his position.

5. School boards will abuse their power to stop charter schools

• During National School Choice Week the Birmingham Board of Education in a special-called meeting spiked two charter school applications. One of them was the Magic City Acceptance Academy, which would be an LGBTQ-affirming charter school.
• The board denied the application following the review committee’s recommendation due to the lack of detail with financial plans, operational plans and educational program design. Michael Wilson, who would’ve been principal of Magic City Acceptance Academy, said, “We were really hoping to form a collaborative partnership with Birmingham City (Schools) to work with youth who are having difficulties not only in the city, but in the surrounding areas.”

4. Alabama prison closed

• Prison reform is a big deal in Alabama; one of the issues is the aging physical prisons, and the Department of Corrections took a “backward step,” according to State Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster), to address some of those issues by closing portions of William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore and relocating 600 of the prisoners to other prisons.
• Other prisons across the state are already over-crowded. It is unclear how this will impact the ongoing conversations with the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney Jay Town, who said he was “disappointed that we were not privy to the decision to close Holman at the time such a decision was being considered.”

3. Governor Kay Ivey has fractured her shoulder

• Governor Kay Ivey sent out a statement to let people know that she’ll be sporting an arm sling for a little while after she tripped over her dog and fractured her shoulder.
• Ivey said her dog “unintentionally tripped me up, and I hit my shoulder.” She added, “You’ll see me in a sling, but this won’t slow me down a bit!”

2. The negative attacks are about to finally get going

• The Club for Growth Action super PAC is going to start airing opposition ads to U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) that are going to focus on Byrne’s “record of sending American tax dollars overseas and his support of special interests as he runs in the Alabama Senate Republican primary.”
• The ad is going to start running on January 30 and will last for two weeks in the Huntsville and Birmingham area. The president of the PAC, David McIntosh, has claimed that Byrne “works for special interests” rather than working for the people of Alabama. He also said Byrne won’t “support President Trump and his agenda … but it could be someone like Tommy Tuberville.”

1. Impeachment questions start — the media pretend Jones may vote to acquit

• With the outcome predetermined, the most exciting day of the incredibly boring impeachment trial took place on Wednesday when U.S. Senators were allowed to ask questions of both the House impeachment managers and President Donald Trump’s defense team.
• While this is still dragging on, the GOP appears to have the votes to block new witnesses. Now, the media is reporting that multiple Democrat senators may be ready to acquit the president, but this still seems like an unlikely outcome for Alabama’s junior U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL).

• President Donald Trump has unveiled his plan to help end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which he announced with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next to him. Trump said that his plan is “a win-win for both sides.”
• As described by Trump, the plan would increase the amount of land in Palestinian territory and set a capital “in eastern Jerusalem where the United States will happily open an embassy.” Also, Trump’s “vision will end the cycle of Palestinian dependence on charity and foreign aid,” but the Palestinians aren’t interested in peace.

5. Bolton’s book should be “inadmissible”

• During the impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate, President Donald Trump’s lawyer Jay Sekulow defended Trump by saying that John Bolton’s book manuscript should be “inadmissible” in the trial.
• Sekulow also added, “You cannot impeach a president on an unsourced allegation,” referring to the manuscript. He also criticized the standards that are being held for the trial, saying, “The bar for impeachment cannot be set this low.”

4. Byrne is confident it’ll be him vs. Sessions

• While speaking at the River Region Republican Club meeting in Montgomery, U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) discussed the recent poll numbers that showed former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in first with 43% and Byrne in second with 22%.
• Byrne discussed how he’s been “campaigning in all 67 counties and talking to people at the grassroots level and listening,” adding that the polls are “very clear, Jeff Sessions and I are going to be in a runoff.”

3. Sessions is concerned for Trump’s safety

• While discussing the “Deep State” and “The Swamp” in an interview, former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that he’s concerned for what could happen to President Donald Trump if he’s reelected this year.
• Sessions said that if Trump’s reelected, “there’s no telling what people will do to get him out of office.” He added, “And I’m talking about physical harm.” Sessions said that it’s “scary” but “there’s so much hostility out there.”

2. Jones just wants witnesses he thinks hurt Trump

• In a video, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) discusses the impeachment trial in the Senate and claims that President Trump’s legal team “continue to push distractions.”
• Jones said in the video that he is “anxious to hear how House managers are going to respond to some of the issues that were raised by the president’s lawyers when it comes to article two, obstruction of justice.”

1. Alabama will remove Jones if he votes to remove Trump

• A poll conducted by WPA Intelligence shows that if U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) decides to vote to remove President Donald Trump from office after the impeachment trial, his odds of getting reelected in Alabama take a hit.
• Out of the respondents, only 45 percent said that voting to remove Trump made no difference in how they’ll vote, but 37 percent said they’ll be less likely to re-elect Jones, 14 percent said they’ll be more likely to re-elect, and 4 percent were undecided.

• The mayors from the 10 largest cities in Alabama met to discuss a range of issues, one of them being judges being given more ability to deny bail for those accused of violent crimes. State Representative Chip Brown (R-Mobile) is currently sponsoring a constitutional amendment that would give judges more freedom with this issue.
• At the meeting, Mayor Tommy Battle referenced the death of Huntsville police officer Billy Clardy ⅠⅠⅠ, saying, “We lost an officer to someone who never should have been out of jail from another state.”

5. Immigration restrictions allowed by Supreme Court

• The “public charge” restriction on immigration has been allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court, which is the restriction that would allow the government to deny immigrants entry if they were believed to require public assistance.
• The vote was 5-4, dividing the court’s conservatives and liberals. A senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Disability Rights Program Claudia Center said, “This policy is yet another way for the Trump administration to hurt immigrants. It enshrines the false stereotype that people with disabilities do not contribute to our society. Families will suffer. Congress has repeatedly declared that disability discrimination violates federal law. This rule must be stopped.”

4. Education lottery coming to Alabama legislature

• State Representative Steve Clouse (R-Dothan) said that he will be introducing a constitutional amendment that would bring an education lottery to the ballot for voters in November. Clouse said that the “general sentiment … is that it needs to be dedicated to education.”
• Half of the money brought in by the paper lottery would go to Alabama’s First Class Pre-K program, while the other half would go to college scholarships. According to Clouse, the fiscal office has estimated that the lottery could bring in $167 million per year. He believes this is the kind of lottery constituents want.

3. Eight deaths confirmed in Jackson County fire

• In the fire that burned at least 35 vessels at Guntersville Lake, Scottsboro Fire Chief Gene Necklaus has confirmed that the eight people who were previously said to be missing died during the fire.
• Necklaus did say that “that number could go up” as they discover more from the boats that sank. There have been at least seven people hospitalized from the incident.

2. Sessions is leading while Tuberville falls

• New internal Sessions campaign polling data released by Breitbart News and conducted by Wes Anderson of On Message, Inc. shows that former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions leads the 2020 U.S. Senate race in Alabama polling at 43%.
• U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) has moved up to second place with 22%, while former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville is in third with 21%.

1. Witnesses seem like a long shot still

• After the release of a story concerning former National Security Advisor John Bolton, some Republicans are likely to vote for witnesses while Senator Patrick Toomey (R-PA) is suggesting a one-for-one trade seems more likely to want to see witnesses
• Republicans will want to see witnesses like U.S. Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA), former Vice President Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and the whistleblower, all of which Democrats have declared as non-starters.

He said it in December.

It was a very solemn day today. Make no mistake. Very solemn w/the weight of the Constitution on our shoulders. Here’s my take on day 1, why we need witnesses and documents to insure #ImpartialJustice and how cross examination is an important tool for seeking truth. https://t.co/SKXfs7HLqQ

— Doug Jones (@DougJones) January 17, 2020

He said it last week.

The President’s lawyers made some important points today that should be considered, esp. regarding obstruction.

However—they also confirmed we need to hear from firsthand witnesses that we can cross-examine to get the full truth.

My thoughts on the defense’s 1st day👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/pe9vAgxGIU

— Doug Jones (@SenDougJones) January 25, 2020

He said it Sunday.

The Senate needs to hear from Bolton. The American people deserve to hear from Bolton. If we can’t get Bolton let’s get a subpoena for the book!#subpoenathebook#ImpartialJustice https://t.co/vDCVMORMtI

— Doug Jones (@DougJones) January 27, 2020

If there are real concerns about what went on here, have the House of Representatives investigate the matter fully and call witnesses.

But does this mean the whistleblower, Joe Biden and Hunter Biden need to testify?

Of course not.

Have witnesses, don’t have witnesses — the outcome has been predetermined from the very beginning

He did this same dance during the confirmation hearings of now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. His vote was predetermined from the beginning.

But he pretended otherwise before giving away the game and giving us a preview of his vote.

Doug Jones vows to vote against Kavanaugh's nomination https://t.co/BCqOo2HESE pic.twitter.com/R6T7gP3RPq

— The Hill (@thehill) September 28, 2018

Every U.S. Senator has made up his mind about this situation, as have most Americans.

Stop the charade. Let’s stop pretending we don’t know where this is going, and let’s move on.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

• In a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, retired NBA star Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven other people, were killed.
• Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said that confirmation of the victims’ identities wouldn’t be released until after the coroner’s report was finished. The helicopter was reportedly heading to a youth basketball game at the time of the crash.

5. Warren trying to get support from women in Alabama

• As she craters in the polls, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent a video to the Alabama Democratic Women’s conference in Hoover where she said, “This is the most important election of our lifetime and we need to win the White House.”
• According to Alabama Democratic Women’s spokesperson, all of the presidential candidates were invited to submit a video, but Warren was the only one who did. She continues in the video to say that Democrats need to “take back the Senate, including my good friend Doug Jones, and win up and down the ballot.”

4. Birmingham officer in ICU after shooting

• While working at Church of the Highlands in Woodlawn on Sunday morning, narcotics Det. John Finke confronted two robbery suspects and then was shot twice in the abdomen.
• Finke was rushed to UAB Hospital’s Trauma Center where he was out of his first surgery by 1:15 p.m. He remains in critical condition in the ICU. Two suspects are in custody, a 25-year-old and 16-year-old. The 16-year-old is believed to be the shooter.

3. Record unemployment continues in Alabama

• The Department of Labor has released the data for the end of 2019’s unemployment rates, and Alabama continued its record low of 2.7%, a huge contrast to 2018’s 3.8%.
• Governor Kay Ivey said in a news release, “I’m so proud to be able to close out this decade with record-breaking economic measures. All year long, we’ve had good news to share, and to be able to end the year, and the decade, on such a positive note is wonderful.”

2. Jones wants more witnesses

• In a video posted to Twitter, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) said that there needs to be testimony from key witnesses heard in the impeachment trial in the Senate. He added that this “is about giving the American public the truth about what happened with the withholding of the aid and on the White House meeting.”
• Jones has called for the testimony of former National Security Advisor John Bolton and White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, saying in the video that if President Donald Trump “really wants the American people to know the truth behind all this” he should let people testify.

1. Bolton describes what was going on with Ukraine

• The New York Times got its hands on a transcript of former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s coming book where he describes the efforts to withhold aid to Ukraine until they were willing to announce and conduct an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden’s son and an energy company that paid him.
• President Donald Trump denies these allegations, and there doesn’t really seem to be anything new here at all. This is the story we have been hearing for months. This will lead to calls for witnesses, which was happening anyway.

Jackson and Burke are joined by Madison County GOP Chairman Brad Taylor to discuss the Trump era and its impact and Doug Jones’ chances at reelection.

Jackson closes the show with a “parting shot” at the “experts” who appear on television screens and continue to get every single issue wrong without any consequence of self-awareness.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.