BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Conservative free market group the Alabama Free Market Alliance (AFMA) on Monday published their annual list of the liberal groups to watch in 2015.
One of Yellowhammer’s top 5 conservative organizations in Alabama in 2013, AFMA is a grassroots group dedicated to “educating Alabamians on conservative, free-market principles and mobilizing them as advocates for putting those principles to work solving Alabama’s problems.”
AFMA’s founder, Paul Reynolds, is Alabama’s National Committeeman for the Republican Party, and is the founder and president of Reynolds Technical Associates, a broadcast engineering consulting firm in Pelham, Alabama.
“Our economic freedom has never been in greater peril,” said Mr. Reynolds in a release Monday. “We are currently faced with the most excessive regulatory climate in our nation’s history, and government continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. All at the expense of the free market. But this does not happen strictly at the highest levels. There are groups actively working against the principles of freedom in our own state, and these groups comprise AFMA’s 2015 Watch List. Remain vigilant.”
Here are the liberal organizations AFMA wants Alabama conservatives to keep an eye on this year:
Alabama Arise
Alabama Arise advocates for “structural changes” in Alabama, including the implementation of “social, economic and environmental justice.” Let us translate: they are among the most liberal threats to economic freedom in Alabama. They are our state’s leading advocates for higher taxes on individuals and small businesses, Medicaid expansion and an open immigration policy. In trumpeting their support for Obamacare on their website, they have a headline titled, “Hooray for ACA!” Conservatives must oppose this group and its platform.
Alabama Environmental Council
The Alabama Environmental Council (AEC) works to promote “sustainable living” in hopes of reducing Alabama’s impact on global warming. These, of course, are the familiar buzz words that rally the radical environmentalists and give cover to the job-killing policies they are pushing for. Our state’s prosperity and well-being depend on our ability to maintain our energy freedom. The AEC is a direct threat to that freedom, and their agenda should be opposed for the sake of the future of Alabama.
Black Warrior Riverkeepers
Radical environmental groups may pose the most immediate threat to freedom in Alabama. They have become the favorite tool of out-of-state liberals to advocate for restrictions on freedom within the borders of our state. Black Warrior Riverkeepers, a close ally of the AEC, have a stated mission to “protect and restore the Black Warrior River and its tributaries.” To achieve those ends, they implement the most unreasonable and inflammatory means to stunt growth and job creation, including recent attempts to shut down one of the largest economic development projects in the state.
United Auto Workers
The automobile manufacturing industry in Alabama has boomed in recent decades, quickly making us one of the top producing states in the country. However, in recent months, the auto unions have launched an offensive against job growth in Alabama by renewing their organization efforts in our manufacturing plants. The auto unions played a huge role in the collapse of U.S. auto manufacturing in Detroit, causing manufacturers to seek to relocate to right-to-work states to get their business back on track. We can’t allow Alabama to suffer the same plight.
AARP
Once an organization that advocated for the interests of seniors, AARP has taken a hard left turn and now merely serves as an arm of the Obama Administration and the liberal base. AARP was one of the largest lobbies for Obamacare. They support higher taxes on individuals and support the death tax. Throw in their support for entitlements for illegal immigrants, and you have the makings of an agenda that places a greater burden on taxpayers and working families than any other in this country. Now, they are setting up shop in Alabama to expand their brand of government growth. Conservatives need to be aware.
Southern Environmental Law Center
The SELC’s website says that “For over 25 years, the Southern Environmental Law Center has leveraged the power of the law to protect the environment of the Southeast.” As that suggests, lawsuits are this radical environmental group’s weapon of choice. The support they receive from liberal donors around the country allows them to spend millions of dollars trying to implement their economy-crushing environmental agenda.
The Obama Administration
Barack Obama may only have two years left in his term, but here at AFMA we will continue to sound the alarm on his administration’s attempts to socialize our economy. Whether it’s ObamaCare, the EPA, the ever-expanding IRS or any number of other administration policies or agencies, it’s clear that the Obama Administration remains bent on fundamentally changing the American economy and way of life. The unelected bureaucrats that Obama has tasked with issuing red tape and regulations are more dangerous than ever.
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
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