(Alabama) State Senate formally opposing Bush plan

[quaoar]

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/NEWSV5/storyV5break10.htm

Montgomery Advertiser

Less than two hours before President George W. Bush arrives in Montgomery to pitch his plan for revamping Social Security, the Alabama Senate has passed a resolution 21-10 opposing the President's plan to privatize the program.

The vote came at about noon. Sen. Roger Bedford Jr., D-Russellville , speaking at a rally against the plan, made the announcement to about 200 people gathered outside the Capitol.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Isn't Alabama a RED STATE?

Thuoght so... well at least now they are oposing it...

[Sandpiper]

2. Yes, but

The Southern States were some of the biggest backers of FDR's New Deal.

[Coastie for Truth]

12. If it hadn't been for the New Deal and FDR

the South would still be a Third World Country.

Take a look at those old "Farm Security Administration" pictures.

[QC]

4. Democrats hold both houses of the state legislature in Alabama.

Maybe you should consider adopting a more sophisticated form of political analysis than the popular "red/blue" one. Then things like this will make more sense.

[struggle4progress]

15. Alabama should consider splitting its electoral votes. eom

[quaoar]

16. That might very well pass the Legislature

But is it requires a referendum on a constitutional amendment it would go down in flames. It would have to be sold as a way to make Alabama a player in the national elections. As in, if Democrats had a chance to get at least a few electoral votes here they would be inclined to spend advertising dollars, campaign here, etc. And then Republicans would be forced to spend money here to counter that.

[rodeodance]

3. whow--good for them!!!

[tx_dem41]

5. B-b-b-but, I thought all Southern Dems were DINOs...

shows what I know. ;-)

[yorkiemommie1]

6. wow... good!

setting a good example.

[quaoar]

7. 'He's telling nothing but lies.'

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/NEWSV5/storyV5break3_10.htm

By Crystal Bonvillian
Montgomery Advertiser

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Those were the sentiments of about 200 Alabamians who participated in a noon rally on the Capitol steps protesting President Bush's Social Security plans today.

The rally, sponsored by the Alabama-AFLCIO, was held to give the plan's opponents a chance to be heard.

Residents poured in from all corners of the state to give Bush a piece of their minds.

"I'm here because of ol' Bushy-boy," said P. L. Tidwell of Birmingham. "He's trying to destroy Social Security. He needs to stop telling the young how they're going to benefit from this. He's telling nothing but lies."

[Straight Shooter]

8. Heh. Sweet home Alabama.

Not my home, but it's nice to pay a big compliment to the folks of Alabama.

:thumbsup:

[agincourt]

9. We can win these elections,

If they aren't targeted by the GOP media, and know enough not to give interviews on these GOP media organs.

[GetTheRightVote]

10. Alabama leading the way to protect those who need it most

Kados to this great state for standing up to * and his posse of thiefs

:kick:

[0007]

11. George W. Bush's Lost Year in 1972 Alabama

http://www.southerner.net/blog/awolbush.html

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Feb. 2 (SDN) — The result of an investigation into George W. Bush's lost year in 1972 reveals a cocky privileged son who used his family connections to avoid military service in Vietnam and spend seven months in Alabama partying. He clearly skipped out on National Guard duty and avoided a mandatory drug test, all while learning the politics of "dirty tricks," deception and coded racism in the land of George Wallace.

snip.....

The gap in Bush's military records for 1972, and his lack of a full answer to the question about his drug use, generated stories in 2000. Bush refused for months to say whether he had used illegal drugs. Then he changed his stance, according to the Globe, saying he had not used illegal drugs "since 1974."

snip....

Two books now contain the charge that Bush was arrested for possession of cocaine in 1972 in Texas, most likely before he made the move to Alabama. Close friends of the family say he was getting into trouble and needed to escape. He apparently performed community service in 1973 by working for a minority children's program, Professionals United for Leadership League (PULL), chaired by his father. The record of that arrest was expunged, meaning he received the equivalent of Youthful Offender status at the age of 26.

snip..

They also remember Bush's stories about how the New Haven, Connecticut police always let him go, after he told them his name, when they stopped him "all the time" for driving drunk as a student at Yale in the late 1960s. Bush told this story to others working in the campaign "what seemed like a hundred times," says Red Blount's nephew C. Murphy Archibald, now an attorney in Charlotte, N.C., who also worked on the Blount campaign and said he had "vivid memories" of that time.

Much more.......

[Nancy Waterman]

13. This is a good lesson for us

The Democrats have been focused and on message on this and it has paid off. We need to keep doing this, one issue at a time, a few clear consise ideas to keep repeating that blow the Bush lies out of the water.

[Rose Siding]

14. This is briefly covered in the AP story that's been picked up all over

The title most widely used is "Bush says Social Security wobbly, personal account is safety net"

snip>
Shortly before the rally began, the Alabama Senate voted along party lines to pass a resolution opposing Bush's plan to allow Americans under 55 to divert part of their Social Security taxes into personal investment accounts. The Alabama House passed a similar resolution Feb. 22.

"This could be the issue that turns around the South for the Democratic Party," said Joe Reed, the party's vice chairman in Alabama. "Economic issues always tied the South to the Democratic Party."

In Washington, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Bush had floated two proposals, one, "private accounts that would seriously undermine the solvency of Social Security. And the other, which is the indexing to prices rather than wages, would lead to benefit slashes of about 40 percent. Again, these are nonstarters with the American people," she said.

Also on Thursday, Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid were sending videotaped messages to more than 1,300 house parties in all 50 states to rally, in part, for grass-roots support against private accounts.

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/nation/11103231.htm

Froomkin's pre-AL Senate vote was good: "Trouble Outside the Bubble", noting that "Six of the seven Republicans in the state's congressional delegation" didn't even attend the bush events.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23564-2005Mar10.html