Recent editorials from Alabama newspapers:
Jan. 6
Anniston (Alabama) Star on Boehner and the palace coup:
This ain’t your father’s speakership of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Tuesday, John Boehner, on the way to his election as speaker of the House, suffered one more indignity from within his own ranks. A dozen Republican congressmen voted against him, a stunning number of dissents.
The Republican congressman from Ohio has been speaker of the U.S. House since early 2011. For almost that long Boehner has contended with Republican colleagues and outside conservative groups that distrust him.
He’s too soft, opponents say. Too willing to compromise with Democrats. Too wobbly when it comes to holding a rigid ideological line.
In an odd twist, Boehner owes his speakership, at least in part, to Tea Party Republicans elected in 2010. These are the very no-compromise lawmakers who have been a thorn in Boehner’s side ever since.
Boehner has had the unenviable task of managing Republican lawmakers, many of whom came to Washington to act as human roadblocks for legislation. Negotiating across the aisle to get things done is a non-starter for them.
Thus, Boehner has been hamstrung in negotiating with the president. He even had to go along with the foolish Republican-led government shutdown of 2013.
In another era, only the most foolish of congressional cranks would launch such a public assault on a speaker, particularly one who oversaw the swelling of his party’s ranks in the U.S. House. In years past, speakers of the House could make life very uncomfortable for wayward lawmakers. A speaker once had a lot more to say about the flow of money to a representative’s district; it could gush out like a raging river or it could dribble out in tiny drops.
In an age of austerity, controlling the flow of dollars apparently doesn’t mean as much as it once did.
This is a reminder of the rightness of a proposal by Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks. In late 2014, Rogers suggested a reinstatement of part of the earmark system that directs federal dollars to specific congressional districts for specific projects. Working against that worthwhile idea was Boehner, a longtime opponent of earmarking.
Oddly enough, if Boehner had tighter control of the purse strings - a la earmarking - then perhaps he wouldn’t have to bother fending off Tuesday’s palace coup.
Online:
https://www.annistonstar.com
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Jan. 4
Decatur (Alabama) Daily on access to health care:
More than ever, critical surgeries and health care techniques are saving lives and keeping Alabamians healthy.
Modern medical science, for those needing critical care or with loved ones in such need, is a wonder to behold.
It is with that thought in mind we celebrate the 65,000 in our state who have chosen plans through the Health Insurance Marketplace. For many, this will save a life. For even more, it will prevent bankruptcy.
For all the yelping about “Obamacare” and its costs, the knowledge that you or a loved one received a critical heart or brain surgery that otherwise would not have been available is a debate ender.
As to the costs of insurance, roughly 91 percent of Alabamians who selected health insurance plans in the first month of open enrollment were determined eligible for financial assistance to lower their monthly premiums, compared to 83 percent last year.
Even despite our governor’s refusal to expand Medicaid - a stance that might (and should) be softening - the opportunity to have insurance is proving a godsend for many in our state and outside it.
Sylvia Burwell, Alabama’s Department of Health and Human Resources secretary, reports that “the vast majority were able to lower their costs even further by getting tax credits, making a difference in the bottom lines of so many families.”
This is unqualified good news. Emergency care remains available without insurance - to stabilize a patient only.
Then comes the enormous emergency room bill, followed too often by bankruptcy.
Nationwide, more than 4 million signed up for 2015 during the first month of open enrollment. Enrollment continues through Feb. 15, and Alabamians can sign up online at HealthCare.gov.
There are flaws to iron out, no question. And while it seems hopeless, it’s fair to request a bipartisan effort of Congress.
But year by year, as people see the benefits to themselves and loved ones they otherwise might have lost, it will become more clear health insurance is a good thing everyone should have a means to access.
Online:
https://www.decaturdaily.com
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Jan. 6
Gadsden (Alabama) Times on pursuing prison reform:
Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, for once appear unified on something - fixing Alabama’s prison system before it implodes under its own weight.
The problem is, one part of the solution might not be popular with their political constituents, who through the years have demanded a tougher response to crime.
That response has given Alabama the fourth-highest incarceration rate in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Statistics, swelled its prison population to nearly twice its capacity, unleashed lawsuits from inmates and their advocates and set the state’s prison system up for federal intervention and takeover if no changes are made.
The bipartisan Alabama Prison Reform Task Force, which has been meeting since June, is poised to craft a proposal it hopes will be ready in February, in time for the legislative session that starts in March.
That proposal is expected to include prison construction, although there’s no way Alabama can build its way out of this mess logistically or financially (given the precarious state of the General Fund). The best that will achieve is temporary relief.
The bulk of the recommendations will, effectively, focus on sending fewer people to prison, reserving that trip for the worst and most violent offenders. Alternative sentencing and additional resources for the parole system, to ensure adequate supervision for released inmates (40 percent of Alabama inmates are in prison for parole or probation violations), are on the table, as are changes to the thresholds in Alabama law that have produced and lengthened prison sentences.
The task force received a survey from the Council of State Governments that showed Alabama deals particularly harshly with low-level property crimes. For example, all burglaries here are considered violent crimes, no matter if $1 or $1,000 is stolen, and a theft of something valued at $500 is considered a felony. That’s out of line with other states.
Chief Justice Roy Moore, no bleeding heart, is advocating changes to the Habitual Felony Offender Act, which originally sent people to prison for life (sometimes without the possibility of parole) if they were convicted of a Class A felony and had three other convictions of lesser felonies on their records. The law has been loosened to give judges more discretion, but Moore says it’s still producing unreasonable sentences and sending people to prison who have never done anything legitimately violent.
We expect crime victims to have no sympathy here. The sense of violation someone feels from being robbed or burglarized, whether a trinket or a diamond is stolen, transcends monetary value. The desire to see the guilty caught and punished is understandable and justified.
Alabama’s leaders, as one task force member observed, responded to that sentiment by running on a “lock ’em up and throw away the key” platform.
They just never envisioned having to throw away so many keys.
Online:
https://www.gadsdentimes.com
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