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ALRLC Secretary to hear eminent domain testimony with US Civil Rights Commission on Wednesday in Montgomery

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Stephen Gordon
stephen@forwardfocusmedia.com
(256) 874-2985

shanakluck(BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – April 27, 2009) On Wednesday, April 29, the Alabama Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will be conducting a panel entitled “Civil Rights Implications of Eminent Domain Policies and Practices in Alabama.”

“The Commission’s current focus on the ramifications of eminent domain abuse regarding minorities and other protected classes touches on an issue that effects most residents in Alabama,” said ALRLC Secretary and Alabama Advisory Committee member Shana Kluck. “Property rights are a bulwark of a free society and it saddens me that these rights are often ignored or even threatened by the very government that was created to protect them. Considering this is the state where the Civil Rights movement began, it’s time for Alabama to eradicate one of the last bastions of racial inequality and at the same time ensure the protection of property rights for all Alabamians.”

In addition to serving as a member of the Alabama Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and as Secretary of the Alabama Republican Liberty Caucus, Shana Kluck also serves on the state GOP executive committee and is president of the Alabama Republican Assembly. She recently served as the Alabama Field Director and the national Homeschooling Coordinator for Ron Paul’s presidential campaign.

Confirmed speakers include State Senator Scott Beason, Birmingham community activist and City Council candidate Kim Rafferty, Rev. John E. Smith of the Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church, representatives of the Alabaster Alabama community, Montgomery business owner Jim Peera, Montgomery business owner Jimmy McCall, Montgomery attorney Norman Hurst, ADECA Compliance Officer Paula Murphy and Jefferson County Land Development Department representative Michael Morrison. Members of the community negatively impacted by Alabama’s eminent domain policies will be providing testimony to the panel.

The panel will be conducted from 9AM to 5PM on April 29 at the Montgomery Campus of Troy University in the Gold Room of the Whitley Conference Hall. The street address is 231 Montgomery Street, Montgomery, AL 36104.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-04-26

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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.

ALRLC is looking for a few good conservatives

The Club for Growth has just released their 2008 congressional ratings.  While Alabama’s Senators scored in a marginally acceptable manner, our Representatives had embarrassing results. Steve Gordon makes the following observation:

The Club for Growth has posted both their House and Senate ratings online.  They also note that the “moderate” (or squishy, as I prefer) lawmakers “are not supportive of economic liberty.”

“So when you hear someone praise a lawmaker for being a ‘centrist’ or a ‘moderate’, think twice before assigning them any real merit on economic issues,” writes Andrew Roth at the Club for Growth blog.

In one recent test of how people currently feel about squishy Republicans, Rasmussen is reporting that Pat Toomey currently outpolls Senator Arlen Specter by 21 points in the much more liberal state of Pennsylvania. “If these numbers are right, Specter has a tough road to renomination ahead of him,” noted James Antle at the American Spectator.

In neighboring Florida, Governor Crist could be facing similar problems.  “There may be a Tea Party conservative rebellion brewing against ‘me too’ Republicans like Crist,” notes journalist Robert Stacy McCain on his personal blog.

If the current Tea Party hostility regarding taxation and deficit spending continues, each Republican member of Alabama’s House delegation will be very susceptible to a primary challenge — especially Everett and Rogers.  Additionally, the nine percent scored by Artur Davis may make it very difficult for him to pick up enough independent votes to satisfy his gubernatorial ambitions.

The Alabama Republican Liberty Caucus is looking for candidates to run against any of the “squishy” Republicans in Alabama.  If you are interested in running for public office, please contact Shana at shanajk@gmail.com.

Conservative stewardship outperforms partisan sniping

As there has been a lot of conversation about the framing of conservative messaging and how to deal with with race issues on this site, I thought I’d bring up two articles I wrote for another website today.

The first article deals directly with the first issue I’d like to raise.  A host of elected Republican officials are rightfully calling for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to submit her letter of resignation.  While I’m sure someone has, I’ve yet to see someone provide a politically viable suggestion to replace the DHS Secretary, though.

It’s one thing to take political swipes at the opposition.  It takes leadership to find a solution which might be acceptable to the Obama administration, Republicans and a general public that is generally more concerned with good government than with the latest political barbs.

My solution to this situation may not be the best one, but at least I’ve offered a host of reasons as to why Judge Andrew Napolitano could be a very suitable replacement for Janet Napolitano.  The American public has been crying for solutions, not partisan bickering.  The GOP could have easily stepped up to the plate on this one, but didn’t.

The other issue I’d like to cover is race. On rare occasions, there is an element of truth to cries from the left about racism on the right.  Most of the time these allegations couldn’t be farther from the truth.

However, assuaging one’s conscience by casting a vote for Michael Steele and then disregarding the black community for the next several years will not win Republicans votes from the African-American community.  Like any other votes, these have to be earned.

In Alabama, two Republicans are making a difference in the African-American community on a solidly conservative issue: property rights.   If you aren’t aware, in the land of Rosa Parks, black people are frequently taken advantage of when it comes to eminent domain abuse.  A few years back, nationally syndicated talk show host Neal Boortz heavily publicized one such case in nearby Alabaster, Alabama.

I’d like to quickly highlight these two Republicans who aren’t afraid to step out of their own comfortable communities to help those with fewer political or financial resources.  The first is Alabama State Senator Scott Beason, who will sit on a panel next week at an Alabama Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights panel entitled “Civil Rights Implications of Eminent Domain Policies and Practices in Alabama.” Senator Beason is highly respected throughout the state, and it’s easy to see why.

A key driving force behind this panel is Shana Kluck.  Shana is not only a member of the Alabama Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, but she also serves on her state GOP executive committee, is president of the Alabama Republican Assemby and serves as Secretary of the Alabama Republican Liberty Caucus.  When she’s not busy homeshcooling her four children, consulting on Web 2.0 projects, engaged in Eagle Forum activities, attending various political meetings around the state and working behind the scenes on a variety of conservative and libertarian causes, she is busy helping me on campaigns.

Considering Shana’s schedule, very few of us have grounds to offer the excuse that we are too busy to become more involved in the African-American community.

Instead of sitting around complaining about how black people voted in previous election cycles, Senator Beason and Ms. Kluck are taking leadership roles in providing justice for members of the African-American community.

If I may be so bold as to provide two solutions for the conservative movement, they are:

  • Instead of merely attacking the opposition with nuisance fire (appropriately called sniping) to exploit a weak spot in their battle line, maximize your attack by actually providing a viable politcal solution.
  • If you aren’t active in your local African-American community, you’ve no right to complain if you receive very few of their votes on Election Day.

Personal responsibility is a key component of conservativism and just stewardship should be a part of conservative leadership.  Hopefully, Republican Party leaders will take these sorts of messages to heart.  Otherwise, one can expect the GOP to walk through the wilderness for another 38 years.

Cross-posted from The Next Right

Worth requoting

Are Republicans going Galt?

Maybe you see a pattern there and maybe you don’t. But of the roughly four different pathways the Republicans could take in the post-Obama universe — toward Ron Paulesque libertarianism, toward Sarah Palinesque cultural populism, toward Mike Huckabeesque big-government conservatism, or toward Olympia Snowesque moderation/ good-governmentism — the libertarian side would seem to have had the best go of things in the First 100 Days.

Cam Ward to run for Hank Erwin’s old seat

camwardcomposite_e_120x160From his new campaign website:

Republican State Representative Cam Ward announced today he will run for the Alabama Senate in District 14. The seat is currently held by Senator Henry “Hank” Erwin who announced yesterday he will be a candidate for Lieutenant Governor next year.

Representative Ward, an attorney working in economic development, has represented District 49 in the Alabama House of Representatives since being elected in November 2002. He is currently Vice Chairman of the House Republican Caucus and has been active in the Republican Party on the state and national levels for nearly two decades.

To be very clear, this is not any sort of organizational endorsement of Rep. Ward.  However, Ward has been behind or supported a lot of state legislation near and dear to the hearts of RLC members and we’ll be very interested in watching as his campaign grows.  We’re also very pleased that he used the blogosphere to announce his campaign.

Here’s a video of Ward’s online announcement:


Campaign Announcement from Cam For Senate on Vimeo.

Congressman Mike Rogers turns his back on Alabama voters

If any recent House vote could be considered a simple test of a congressman’s commitment to fiscal conservatism, it was the amendment to the Democrat’s budget proposed by Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.  According to the Birmingham News, the amendment would “have set government spending at 20.7 percent of gross domestic product, made the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent and suspended the capital gains tax through 2010. Supporters said the amendment offered ‘lower deficits, lower spending, lower taxes, lower debt and a lot more jobs’ than the budget proposed by President Barack Obama and would put people on the path to prosperity.”

Here’s how the Alabama delegation voted:

Aye AL-1 Bonner, Jo [R]
No AL-2 Bright, Bobby [D]
No AL-3 Rogers, Michael [R]
Aye AL-4 Aderholt, Robert [R]
No AL-5 Griffith, Parker [D]
Aye AL-6 Bachus, Spencer [R]
No AL-7 Davis, Artur [D]

In other words, Mike Rogers prefered to side with Obama, Pelosi, Bright, Griffith and Davis — as opposed to siding with tens of thousands of Alabamians who showed up for tea parties on April 15th.

Just in case Congressman Rogers isn’t aware of how angry his constituents are over support of bailouts and deficit spending, we thought we’d provide this video of South Carolina voters turning their backs on and booing South Carolina Congressman Gresham Barrett at one of the April 15 tea parties.

It’s to be noted that both Rogers and Barrett support bailouts.

H/T to Alabama’s premier political website.

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)

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 PritchettCathy Reisenwitz, Rhoda, Ed, and WYDEBirmingham 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.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-04-13

Obamanomics

obamanomicsH/T: MattChancey.com

The Enumerated Powers Act

H.R. 450, introduced by Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., requires that all bills coming before Congress “shall contain a concise and definite statement of the constitutional authority relied upon for the enactment of each portion of that Act. The failure to comply with this section shall give rise to a point of order in either House of Congress. …”

According to World Net Daily:

Shadegg said the act would perform three important functions:

  1. It would encourage members of Congress to consider whether their proposed legislation belongs in the federal level in the allocation of powers or whether it belongs with the states or the people.
  2. It would force lawmakers to include statements explaining by what authority they are acting.
  3. It would give the U.S. Supreme Court the ability to scrutinize constitutional justification for every piece of legislation. If the justification does not hold up, the courts and the people could hold Congress accountable and eliminate acts that reach beyond the scope of the Constitution.

He said the Founding Fathers granted specific, limited powers to the national government to protect the people’s freedom.

“As a result, the Constitution gives the Federal Government only 18 specific enumerated powers, just 18 powers,” Shadegg noted.

Beginning with President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, he said, Congress has ignored the 10th Amendment and greatly expanded federal government.

“Let me be clear,” he said. “Virtually all the measures which go beyond the scope of the powers granted to the Federal Government by the 10th amendment are well-intentioned. But unfortunately, many of them are not authorized by the Constitution. The Federal Government has ignored the Constitution and expanded its authority into every aspect of human conduct, and quite sadly, it is not doing many of those things very well.”

While many believe government “can do anything,” that is not what the Founding Fathers intended for the nation, Shadegg contends.

At this time, the bill has 19 cosponsors, all Republicans.

Twitter Updates for 2009-04-09

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.

Twitter Updates for 2009-04-06