Category → In The News
Protecting the property rights of all Alabamians
Remember last April when several RLC members were working to protect the property rights of economically disadvantaged property owners in Montgomery? It looks like the national media, Fox 6 and some blogs are starting to pick up on the story. Here are some highlights:
- From ABC News: “We’re calling it eminent domain through the back door,” said Christina Walsh, director of activism and coalitions for the Institute for Justice. In the last week has taken on the case in Montgomery through its grassroots anti-eminent domain organization, the Castle Coalition. “There’s stories of property owners who have court orders demanding their properties be left alone and they come in and demolish them.”
- Reason magazine: The focus there is on what Beito calls “eminent domain through the back door,” which has fallen especially heavily on low-income blacks. “Under this system,” [David] Beito writes, “Montgomery has demolished homes without the normal due process of conventional eminent domain–and often gives little notice. The city alleges that these homes are ‘blighted’ but…at least some are in excellent repair.” Rather than providing the just compensation required under the Fifth Amendment, the city “bills the owner for the cost of demolition and he or she is left with an essentially worthless property.”
- The Daily Caller: Consider Jimmy McCall. Jimmy was in the process of building from the ground-up a home for his family when he was notified it was slated for demolition. After one failed attempt to bulldoze the half-completed home, the city came back under this state law and got what they were fighting for: Jimmy’s would-be dream home was demolished, and he was stuck with the bill.
- Fox News (national): Mayor Todd Strange says he took office after McCall’s home was condemned and demolished. Without commenting on this specific case, Strange argues that the city is aggressively targeting properties that have been neglected.
- Fox News (local): Montgomery has condemned dozens of homes under its blight ordinance, often billing the owners for the cost of demolition. The city then markets the properties to private developers.
- Alphecca.com: Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange is a genuine piece of crap.
David Beito has more at the Independent Institute here and our own Stephen Gordon covers the issue here.
For those of you interested in the issue, the Castle Coalition will be conducting a training workshop on Saturday, August 28. Additional details are located here.
The governor’s race: The Alabama line and an online poll
Doc’s Political Parlor has brought back the Alabama Line for statewide elections. Here’s how they are handicapping the gubernatorial race:
(R) Bradley Byrne (2:1)
Favorite of the state’s GOP establishment is still the one to beat.
(D) Artur Davis (5:2)
Has strong believers and nay-sayers. Running aggressive race thus far.
(R) Tim James (6:1)
Rapidly becoming Byrne’s most serious challenger.
(D) Ron Sparks (9:1)
Strong candidate on paper but rumors of money woes persist.
(R) Kay Ivey (19:1)
Statewide official, only woman, but is PACT mess too much to overcome?
(R) Roy Moore (30:1)
Is his committed base large enough to move him into a primary runoff?
(R) Robert Bentley (>99:1)
Dark horse has impressed but has much ground to make up.
(R) Bill Johnson (>99:1)
Is this flame thrower running to win or just settle scores?
(R) James Potts (>99:1)
In America, they say anyone can grow up to be President, not Governor.
Christian Conservatives of Alabama has an online gubernatorial straw poll here. At this time, the three most fiscally conservative candidates with a reasonable level of name recognition are leading: Tim James, Bill Johnson and Roy Moore. Click here to cast your online gubernatorial preference and to learn more about the candidates.
A new approach to an ignored civil liberties issue in Alabama
Racial minorities and the socio-economically disadvantaged are the people most likely to be taken advantage of during eminent domain issues.
ALRLC Secretary Shana Kluck is also a member of the State Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. They will be conducting a panel in Montgomery on Wednesday to investigate the “Civil Rights Implications of Eminent Domain Policies and Practices in Alabama.” The event is open to the public. If you may be interested in attending, additional information is available here.
University of Alabama history professor David Beito chairs the committee. His op-ed in the Tuscaloosa News highlights how serious the problem truly is. Here’s but one of the cases which will be reviewed by the upcoming U.S. Commission of Civil Rights panel:
For almost five years, [Jim Peera] has fought a pitched battle with City Hall over his plan to renovate a strategic parcel of 121 apartments in the heart of the Rosa Parks Community and rent them to low-income senior citizens. Montgomery has a multimillion dollar development plan for his 8-acre site and is using ‘blight’ to condemn and demolish it.
Peera has withstood multiple setbacks on his investment, including unfounded criminal charges by the city and mysterious fires on his solid block structures. He has repeatedly tried to sell to or partner with the city for a much needed affordable housing development, but it has rebuffed him.
‘They’re used to forcing black folks to give their properties up via imposing hefty demolition liens, as opposed to buying land at fair market value’ he said.
Most recently, the city tried to further devalue Peera’s property by reducing the density from ‘multifamily’ to single family, thus making it impossible to provide affordable low-income housing. Though Peera won in two courts, local bureaucrats, much like they are doing with McCall, meet his legal victories with appeals and other delays.
Peera, who had to flee from his native East Africa after Idi Amin expelled its Asian population, does not easily intimidate and is extremely determined to fight property abuse in Alabama. He is trying to mobilize other Montgomery property owners who face the same plight. Through the state’s freedom of information act, he has obtained the names of over several hundred individuals, mostly from minority neighborhoods, who have had their homes summarily demolished under the blight law.
The former owners have related to him a litany of arbitrary mistreatment, but most were too poor or lacked the necessary information to fight back against the city. ‘What this City Hall is doing is criminal towards blacks and property owners, and it must be stopped’ Peera said.
Press Release: National Media Spotlight Focuses on Alabama RLC Members
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shana Kluck
shanajk@gmail.com
(205) 586-5751
National Media Spotlight Focuses on Alabama RLC Members
Members of new Alabama organization send Homeland Security Report viral, participate in Tea Party activities across state, interviewed on national television
(BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – April 20, 2009) For an organization which has been operational for less than two weeks, members of the Alabama Chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus have received significant national and state attention over the past few days.
ALRLC Media Director Stephen Gordon received considerable media attention for exposing the Department of Homeland Security report “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Environment Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” which went viral on the Internet.
“Considering that several of our RLC members provide Web 2.0 services for a living, we felt it was our civic responsibility to ensure that the story went immediately viral on the Internet,” said ALRLC Media Coordinator Stephen Gordon. “It’s critically important that believers in small government are made aware that they are being targeted by the current administration.”
“The Bush administration’s creation of the new DHS was not simply another instance of poor administration and leadership,” wrote ALRLC Chairman Scott Boykin on the organization’s website. “Rather, it established a new tool for political leaders seeking to demonize their opponents. Bush’s intentions in creating DHS don’t matter now, because it’s no longer his department. The more power government has, the greater is its potential threat to our freedom. The DHS report is a startling reminder that big government is dangerous.”
Members of the Alabama Liberty Caucus also assisted with the coordination of three Tax Day Tea Parties held in Alabama. ALRLC Secretary Shana Kluck and Gordon helped secure speakers, provide professional advice and assisted with other logistical concerns for the Tuscaloosa and Birmingham Tea Parties, respectively. RLC supporter Matthew Givens was a coordinator for the Montgomery event. While crowd estimates vary, approximately ten thousand people attended these three events. The Birmingham event received national television attention on Fox News.
On Thursday, Gordon spent an hour as an in-studio guest along with national political journalist Robert Stacy McCain on WYDE’s Lee Davis Show. Discussing the topic of recent Alabama Tea Parties, McCain stressed a point which Gordon had made to him during Ron Paul’s recent presidential bid: “The Ron Paul movement wasn’t about Ron Paul. It was about a movement.”
Additionally, Gordon appeared on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show on Tuesday. According to HotAir.com’s Green Room, Gordon took “hard shots at Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee and Alan Keyes” which “should suffice to dispel any notion that the Tea Party movement is a ‘neocon/Republican/Fox News’ conspiracy.”
Gordon also discussed the role of FreedomWorks/CSE during the campaign to defeat Governor Riley’s tax increase proposal in 2003.
The ALRLC’s organizational mission is to recruit and endorse candidates who support the RLC’s agenda, elect small-government Republicans to political office, and change the direction of the Republican Party to reflect our vision of peace and prosperity.
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The Montgomery Tax Day Tea Party
Along with Cindy Wright, longtime RLC supporter Matthew Givens coordinated the Montgomery/Tri-County Tea Party on April 15th. According to Givens, approximately 2,500 people attended the event.
- Here is Matthew’s report of the event.
- Here is an interview of Givens before the event.
- Here is some news coverage of the event.
- Here are some pictures of the event.
Also, we’ve been told that Maytown pastor Dr. John Killian either just has, or is about to, join the newly formed Alabama Republican Liberty Caucus. Many of you will recall Dr. Killian delivering this fiery speech in support of Ron Paul at the Western Alabama Republican Assembly straw poll last year.
Dr. Killian provides the text of the speech he delivered in Montgomery on his personal blog.
Congratulations to everyone in the Montgomery area who contributed to make this activity a great success.
ALRLC media director beats Rachel Maddow at her own game
Using her own gimmick against her, ALRLC Media Director bests liberal MSNBC television hostess Rachel Maddow. He also managed to throw some sharp jabs at Governor Mike Huckabee, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Ambassador Alan Keyes for their lack of commitment to the principles of freedom.
Birmingham and Tuscaloosa Tax Day Tea Party reports
Two Ron Paul supporters at the Tuscaloosa Tea Party (photo credit: Forward Focus Media)
In both the Tuscaloosa and the Shelby County/Birmingham Tea Parties held on April 15th, Alabama RLC members played vital roles in the successes of these events. In Tuscaloosa, 500 to 600 people were reported in attendance. Crowd estimates ranged between 5,000 and 10,000 for the Birmingham event. Because of extreme event-related traffic congestion, it is very difficult to determine the actual total amount of people who showed at this event.
One contribution to Tea Party success provided by our RLC members led to certainly the funniest and perhaps one of the best speeches delivered at any Tea Party event across the country.
In Tuscaloosa, ALRLC Secretary Shana Kluck secured a speaking spot for former Washington Times assistant national editor and current freelance journalist Robert Stacy McCain. In Birmingham, ALRLC Media Director Stephen Gordon did the same. Poking fun at the Department of Homeland Security report we helped make available to the public, McCain wowed the crowd with his Jeff Foxworthy-like rendition of “You might be a right-wing extremist, if…”
Here’s the video of the speech McCain delivered in Hoover:
Shana Kluck, Robert Stacy McCain and Stephen Gordon have all provided reports from both the Tuscaloosa and Birmingham Tea Parties. Additional reports and photographs come from Ken Pritchett, Cathy Reisenwitz, Rhoda, Ed, and WYDE. Birmingham News coverage is here and dominant front page Tuscaloosa News coverage is here. For a special treat, here’s a YouTube of Rick and Bubba on Sean Hannity’s nationally televised feed from Birmingham.
ALRLC media director credited with breaking DHS “rightwing extremist” report
Our very own Stephen Gordon has been credited by a significant portion of the Internet for his key role in disclosing the recently publicized Department of Homeland Security report entitled: “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Environment Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.”
The report contains the following definition:
Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.
Also targeted in the report are veterans, folks anticipating additional restrictions to their Second Amendment rights, and those concerned about the loss of U.S. sovereignty. In short, this report identifies an overwhelming majority of Alabamians.
Not only has news of this report dominated the Internet for the last few days, the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have also been forced to respond (not satisfactorily, to date) to the situation.
Congratulations to Stephen for his fine work in shedding some sunlight upon this most disturbing document.
Media alert: ALRLC spokesperson to be interviewed by Lee Davis
ALRLC spokesman Stephen Gordon will be sharing an hour of live radio with national political correspondent Robert Stacy McCain at 5:00 this afternoon. They’ll be on WYDE’s The Lee Davis Show, which can be heard at 101.1FM though most of central and northern Alabama.
New NTU spending scorecard released, Alabama congressional delegation fares…
…not so well.
Each year, the National Taxpayer’s Union “takes a look at every roll call vote affecting tax, spending, and regulatory issues. The 2008 Rating was based on 286 votes — 182 in the House and 104 in the Senate — in the second session of the 110th Congress (all of 2008).”
At first glance, it didn’t seem that the Republicans from Alabama’s performed that poorly. Senator Sessions earned a B+ and Senator Shelby earned a B. Of the House members, Aderholt earned a B, Bachus a C+, Bonner a B-, Cramer an F, Davis an F, Everett a C+, and Rogers earned a C-. That the Democrats scored so low isn’t surprising, but lets take a deeper look at the GOP numbers.
To begin, it’s embarrassing that not even one member of Alabama’s congressional delegation earned an A. To make matters much worse, the grading was done on a curve. From the NTU press release:
In 2008, only 48 lawmakers attained scores sufficient for a significantly “curved” grade of “A” (at least 80 percent in the House and 76 percent in the Senate) and hence were eligible for the “Taxpayers’ Friend Award” — a drop from the 52 who earned top grades in 2007. Meanwhile, a record 267 Senators and Representatives captured the title of “Big Spender” for posting “F” grades (even more heavily curved at 25 percent or less in the House and 15 percent or less in the Senate). This tops the 2007 Rating’s 266 biggest spenders and is an even more significant jump from the 224 biggest spenders in 2006.
So let’s look at the raw percentages for each member of the Alabama delegation:
- 74% Sessions
- 63% Shelby
- 65% Aderholt
- 56% Bachus
- 60% Bonner
- 08% Cramer
- 09% Davis
- 56% Everett
- 38% Rogers
In other words, if these results were graded by my grade school teachers (who didn’t use a curve), Sessions is the only one with even a marginally respectable grade.
“For the sixth consecutive year, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) was the top scorer in the House with a 98 percent rating — tying Rep. Ron Paul’s (R-TX) record of six first-place finishes from 1979 through 1984,” notes the NTU press release. It’s to be noted that both Flake and Paul have been endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus.
Alabama is certainly as fiscally conservative as Texas and Arizona and there’s no reason that our representation can’t reflect Alabama’s vision of responsible fiscal stewardship.
Conservative messaging for Alabama’s 2010 governor’s race
While at an Alabama Eagle Forum banquet on Friday night, I was fortunate enough to grab a few minutes alone with 2010 Alabama gubernatorial candidate Tim James. While James doesn’t have a long and padded political resume, he’s the son of former Governor Fob James and is well known in conservative circles in the state. He’s been significantly increasing his public appearances and media exposure, of late.
When I had the opportunity, I asked James if I could ask him a quick question. “Sure,” he replied. The question I lobbed at him was whether or not he would absolutely commit to not increasing taxes if elected governor.
“No problem,” he responded. “Got a tougher one?”
I pitched the second question a bit harder, but his response came as quickly as the first one. I asked if he’d commit to not increasing state spending. “That’s easy,” he said. “You got a tough one for me, now?”
“Okay,” I responded, and threw him a bit of a curveball. “Would you mind signing a pledge to this effect?”
“I’d love to…,” he stated. Later on, we set up a telephone call to deal with speaking arrangements for an upcoming event and the pledge issue.
While it’s still early and the field of probable candidates for Alabama’s 2010 gubernatorial race is already lengthy, I expect James to be the only viable fiscal conservative with a reasonable chance of winning both the primary and general election.
On the Republican side, I expect (at this time, it’s still very early and there are a lot of possible candidates) to see James, State Treasurer Kay Ivey and former Judge Roy Moore as the leading candidates in the GOP primary. Ivey will likely get the backing of many of the “machine” players, but James will probably get some of their support, too. Moore has a small but very active base of volunteers, but they won’t nearly be enough to win a primary — and he’s far too polarizing on social issues to come close to winning a general election, even in Alabama. What Moore has the power to do to keep James from beating Ivey in the first round of a primary election, though.
On the Democratic side of the aisle, I expect (at this moment, at least) the key competition to be between Congressman Artur Davis and Lt. Governor “Little Jim” Folsom. Like James, Folsom is also the son of an Alabama governor. He’s a bit underwhelming but his name carries a lot of clout around these parts.
Last Election Day, I participated in a televised panel/debate with Davis, another congressman and a reporter. Aside from the fact that Davis was Obama’s state campaign chair, his speaking style and general impression can be Obama-like, as well. If he’s polling well enough, he’ll be able to attract campaign donations from national sources. How strongly race will play into 2010 Alabama Democratic politics is still up in the air, though.
Primarily because of draconian ballot access laws in Alabama, there probably won’t be a serious independent or third party challenge.
Alabama gubernatorial politics are colorful and very tough to predict this far in advance. While Alabama was one of six states which voted for Goldwater in 1964, they reelected (by a two-to-one margin) the same Republican who proposed a major tax plan they defeated by the same margin a few years prior. With the first African-American serving as president, the possibility of his state campaign chair (who has been cut from a similar bolt of cloth) becoming a serious contender isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Spending time in prison or having a son (or wife) emerge as a political leader isn’t unheard of, either. Also, Jefferson County (Birmingham area) is not only Davis’ congressional turf, but it is also the largest municipality facing financial insolvency in the country. Like the federal government, it has spent too much, spent much of it unwisely and now the bills have come due. Whatever the outcome the race, these factors should make the upcoming political contest in Alabama very interesting.
However, should the final contest end up being between Folsom and Ivey, I’m not sure who’ll win — but I’d throw my money down on very low voter turnout. It would probably be a boring contest with the same-old politics. If it’s James against either Folsom or Davis, the race will not only be interesting but also be a test of conservative messaging in the age of Obama.
If conservatives are truly serious about retiring the same old post-Republican Revolution vanilla politics and really want an energetic, enthusiastic, fresh, new conservative voice which can also beat the Democrats, it might be worth your while to keep your eye on Tim James.
Here’s the link to the original story: http://thenextright.com/stephen-gordon/conservative-messaging-for-alabamas-2010-governors-race
ALRLC quoted in the national media
Stephen Gordon provided his immediate opinion regarding Parker Griffith’s change of parties. Dave Weigel of the Washington Independent picked up his quote:
The “Burgess” to which Weigel referred is Alabama Eagle Forum Executive Director Brooklyn Burgess:
Michelle Malkin also picked up the quote, as well as one from Jeff Sessions, Les Phillip and Steve Boyette.
It’s nice to see the national media paying a bit of attention to the true conservatives in Alabama.