Governor Kay Ivey’s decision to go public about a disagreement with Republican leadership in the Alabama legislature had upset a number of its members, as many have interpreted a statement she released, along with a list of proposals leaked to the capitol press corps that included a line-item for a new statehouse, as being used as a weapon to approve her standing in the court of public opinion.
Included among those is State Rep. Mike Ball (R-Madison), who categorized Ivey and her office’s use of the list as a “cheap shot.”
Ball vented his frustrations on Friday’s broadcast of Huntsville radio WVNN’s “The Jeff Poor Show.”
“[I] will say this — she took some cheap shots, what I think are cheap shots, at some legislators, that was undeserving,” Ball said. “That $200 million for the statehouse — the fact is, that list, my understanding is that she asked them to make a list, and it is nothing more than a list. There is no sinister plan to do that, and there’s no support or very little support for anything like that. If anything is done, it would go through the process. But she asked for the list, and then she led with that and left people with the impression that the legislature is trying to slip through a bunch of pork projects, and blow all that money. And she should know good and well that that ain’t true.”
“She’s playing politics and spinning, and that’s uncharacteristic of Kay Ivey, and it’s uncharacteristic of Governor Ivey, and I hope she’ll come to her senses and realize this game she is playing,” he continued. “She doesn’t need to play this game. She needs to stop.”
Ball said such tactics painted a picture of the legislature that is “unfair.”
“[I] don’t like to see that kind of stuff,” Ball said. “It hasn’t really happened very much this quadrennium like this.”
“Alabamians — we are all in this together, and I understand the governor has been under a lot of pressure,” he added. ” She has made a lot of decisions. I think she has aired on the side of caution. But she’s starting to look like she can’t take criticism … they seem a lot more defensive than they ought to be. And she is a lot better than that. I know she is a good person. But she is just under unprecedented pressure. I just hope over the weekend, and whatever happens, is going to happen. I think we passed a reasonable budget. I think the $200 million is fine. I would have been fine with giving her the $600 million. I don’t think she is going to abuse it. But quite frankly, I don’t appreciate her pointing the finger like she thinks we’re going to abuse it because she knows good and well this legislature that is down here right now — some of the finest people that I have ever known are in this legislature — House and Senate. These are good people trying to do the best they can.”
“I will tell you every politician that I’ve seen fall is when they start getting full of themselves,” he added. “I’m not saying Governor Ivey is there, but I’m seeing more of that right now than I’ve ever seen. She’s always had a servant’s heart and a kind spirit,” he added.
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Huntsville’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN.
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