It is great to be back from a brief break, and even better to know that Troy King is back in the news. Mobile Press-Register cartoonist JD Crowe was back with a new Troy King cartoon this weekend, featuring Troy King and his bunker. At this blog, what Crowe has called the "Bunker mentality" I have chosen to call "Troy's world." Troy's world is a place where he sits, alone, and the fundamental rules which the rest of us must obey do not apply. In Troy's world, being "conservative" means supporting corrupt gambling interests, overseeing a lack of political accountability on spending, and continuing ethical blunders which transform your office from a temple of respesct into a statewide laughingstock.
As I read the cartoon, I realized that Troy King is also using technology to reach out to voters. The sitting Alabama AG is using facebook to reach out to supporters, instead of actually taking questions from press or constituents. Facebook is a great thing, because people can post questions, and you can steadily ignore them. However, this morning, I want to offer TEN QUESTIONS Alabamians should ask Troy King, through facebook or otherwise, before casting their vote in the next election:
(1) Why have you made such a history of repeated ethical blunders? Regularly, you have admitted to your mistakes in the press following a blunder, and you have always managed to stay one step ahead of the law. Many Alabamians would attribute one, even two of these things to an honest mistake. However, can we excuse your Braves skybox tickets from Alabama Power, your close connections with Auburn trustees directly before issuing opinions, your relationship with developer Stan Pate which reportedly led to your grand jury investigation, or your "guest of honor" status at a party held 6 weeks before your office issued a pro-gambling opinion? You know I could go on listing your conflicts, but space is limited, so accept this as a small list, and explain this large number of ethical blunders.
(2) In a time of economic shortfalls, why have you chosen to elevate your political supporters to staff positions they are not qualified for? Just look at Chris Bence, your "chief of staff" or "spokesman" who is a "paralegal" in your office, even though he is not qualified for the position. Will you commit to being honest with the people of Alabama regarding your staff salaries?
(3) Why did you choose to ignore voter fraud in the Alabama Black Belt in 2008, even after it was brought to your attention by Secretary of State Beth Chapman? This was so bad it even made the New York Times. Perry County voters cast 1,114 absentee ballots, whereas Jefferson County, a County 60 times Perry's population, cast only 365. I smell a rat, but you just blamed the federal government. What happened to accountability?
(4) Why your obsession with perception? Even on issues where you have been strong, such as sex offender legislation, the Birmingham News accused you of "showboating for political gain."
(5) Are you willing to commit to refusing gambling funds in this election, and also refusing PAC contributions from PACs bankrolled by gaming interests? You haven't had the most stellar record on this issue in the past, and it calls into question your ability to ethically handle the gaming issue in Alabama.
(6) Will you bring sunshine to the private attorneys you hire? Recently, the citizens of Alabama have paid $100,000 for your legal defense. However, we have also been paying for you to hire outside attorneys to represent the state in other legal matters. You could end this process, but will you at least add some transparency? In a whole lot of other states, like Georgia and West Virginia, this has been abused to reward political cronies. How will you stop this from happening in Alabama?
(7) Why did you put yourself in a position to have to remove yourself from the largest ethics investigation in our state's history? You went asking two year college chancellor Roy Johnson to help your friend's mom, a victims' rights group, and another friend, even as you were investigating him. Why should voters send you back to Montgomery, when your own actions have forced you to be removed from what would have been one of the biggest tasks of your second term in office?
(8) If you were to receive a second term, would you end the political prosecutions which have scarred your first term? You received statewide condemnation for removing Shelby County DA Robby Owens from a case, and you did the same thing in Mobile with John Tyson. Do you believe it's possible to run the state's prosecutions without relying on local law enforcement?
(9) Will you promise to end the process of politically-charged opinions coming from your office? Early in your career, you issued an opinion on Auburn Trustees after conversing with a staff member who worked in a trustee's firm. Later on, you issued a gaming opinion after appearing at a party with developer Ronnie Gilley. These are only a few examples of ways in which your judgment has diminished the effectiveness of a vital function of the AG's office. Communities depend on your opinions for critical decisions on economic development and growth. How can you guarantee that your opinions will be reliable with such a history of questionable contacts?
(10) FINALLY, TROY KING, WHAT MAKES YOU A CONSERVATIVE? You claim to be a conservative, someone who fights for us. You claim to be for the victims. However, HOW IS THIS TRUE? You cannot be "for the victims" when you alienate every one of Alabama's duly elected District Attorneys charged with enforcing the laws of the state, which you help oversee. You cannot be for "fiscal responsibility" when you give out bloated raises to staff based on political loyalties, not qualifications. You cannot promote our traditional moral values while allowing corrupt gaming interests to flourish. You cannot promote economic growth and a free, fair market when you regularly issue opinions tarnished by ethical consideration. These are fundamental conservative values, all of which you have violated repeatedly during your term of office. Thus, HOW CAN YOU HONESTLY CAMPAIGN AS A CONSERVATIVE? SHOULD YOU NOT JUST DO THE HONEST THING, AND CAMPAIGN AS A LIBERAL DEMOCRAT INSTEAD?
I hope that voters will pose these questions to Troy King, on facebook or if he ever decides to come out in person, before they vote for him...again.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Troy King's Incredible Job References
It's a Friday, so I guess I have jobs on my mind. In these tough economic times, employment is on the minds of a lot of folks, especially here in Alabama. Jobs also have a lot to do with why I became a conservative in the first place. Conservatives have always believed in the free market, and by extension, that means they also believe in merit. Qualified people should get jobs, and intelligence and innovation should be rewarded. That makes a lot of sense to me.
In Troy's world, however, a job is just another political tool to reward connected friends, even if that decision puts you in a position not to do your own job. Take this two year college investigation, for example. I'm sure y'all still remember it--legislators, politicians, and other cronies were getting rich with phony two-year college jobs, all with the blessing of Chancellor Roy Johnson. It was SO big that it has become the biggest corruption in Alabama's history, and that is really saying something, given Alabama's history of corruption. Of course, the Attorney General's office should be leading the charge in such an investigation.
HOWEVER, as it turns out, Troy King had to recuse himself from the investigation. St. Clair County DA Richard Minor was assigned to the case instead. Why the recusal? Well, Troy King had gone to Roy Johnson and asked for jobs for two of his friends. One was Ann Hinderer, mother of deputy Attorney General Marc Bass. The other was unnamed. Making matters worse, Troy King had gone to ask for these jobs for his cronies AT THE SAME TIME he was investigating Johnson. I'm no Latin scholar, but that sounds like a pretty good quid pro quo--Alabamians know that as "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine."
Of course, Troy King's office tried to spin this, basically accusing others of attacking the AG for doing a "good deed." The Birmingham News clarifies this in an editorial: "Just so King will know, taxpayers weren't the beneficiars of his good deed, even if his friend's mom is a qualified and competent employee. The people of Alabama elected King to look after their interests--for instance, by investigating and prosecuting public corruption. Now, because of his own lousy judgment, King is in no position to do what he was elected to do."
It's about time voters put Troy King back in the real world, so that he can learn what it's like to get a job based on merit again. He has probably forgotten, since he is still paid the second-highest salary in America, even after being removed from the biggest ethics investigation in the state's history. It's time for Troy's four-year performance review, and it's past time for voters to hold him accountable for his actions.
In Troy's world, however, a job is just another political tool to reward connected friends, even if that decision puts you in a position not to do your own job. Take this two year college investigation, for example. I'm sure y'all still remember it--legislators, politicians, and other cronies were getting rich with phony two-year college jobs, all with the blessing of Chancellor Roy Johnson. It was SO big that it has become the biggest corruption in Alabama's history, and that is really saying something, given Alabama's history of corruption. Of course, the Attorney General's office should be leading the charge in such an investigation.
HOWEVER, as it turns out, Troy King had to recuse himself from the investigation. St. Clair County DA Richard Minor was assigned to the case instead. Why the recusal? Well, Troy King had gone to Roy Johnson and asked for jobs for two of his friends. One was Ann Hinderer, mother of deputy Attorney General Marc Bass. The other was unnamed. Making matters worse, Troy King had gone to ask for these jobs for his cronies AT THE SAME TIME he was investigating Johnson. I'm no Latin scholar, but that sounds like a pretty good quid pro quo--Alabamians know that as "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine."
Of course, Troy King's office tried to spin this, basically accusing others of attacking the AG for doing a "good deed." The Birmingham News clarifies this in an editorial: "Just so King will know, taxpayers weren't the beneficiars of his good deed, even if his friend's mom is a qualified and competent employee. The people of Alabama elected King to look after their interests--for instance, by investigating and prosecuting public corruption. Now, because of his own lousy judgment, King is in no position to do what he was elected to do."
It's about time voters put Troy King back in the real world, so that he can learn what it's like to get a job based on merit again. He has probably forgotten, since he is still paid the second-highest salary in America, even after being removed from the biggest ethics investigation in the state's history. It's time for Troy's four-year performance review, and it's past time for voters to hold him accountable for his actions.
Troy King and Ever-Expanding Staff Pay
It's a tough economy out there these days, and a whole lot of Alabamians are looking for jobs. The other day I thought about a possibility--I wondered if I could perhaps find a new job with a few criteria. Namely, my new job would be tailored around me, and it wouldn't matter if I could actually do the job as its description read. I'd also instantly receive a significant raise, just by taking the job, and my experience wouldn't matter in the slightest, as long as I was loyal enough to my boss. Sounds pretty unrealistic, right? Well, not in Troy King's world.
Turns out, our AG Troy King has a history of "fitting" his loyal supporters into special roles on his staff. Take Chris Bence, as one example. Once you start reading stories about Troy King, you'll find that Bence's name always seems to come up. Sometimes, he's referred to as a "spokesman," and other times he is referred to as the "chief of staff." However, to AG Troy King, Bence is neither of these things. AG King classifies Chris Bence as a "paralegal," even though he has no training as a paralegal and at least doesn't appear to perform paralegal functions in the office. Why? Well, Troy King wanted to give Bence a big raise, and this move to "paralegal" allowed Bence to go from making $94,000 to $104,400 a year, according to the Montgomery Advertiser and other papers which covered the story, including Birmingham, Huntsville, Gadsden, and points around Alabama. When Bence was asked about this by the Birmingham News, he responded that 'the titles are all flexible.' However, as the Montgomery Advertiser muses: "We wonder how that makes trained paralegals feel." It also seems funny, that as Troy King is regularly hiring outside lawyers for "help" on legal issues, he is filling his professional staff with political operatives. Maybe that's why taxpayers are shelling out over $100,000 for his legal defense.
However, the issue gets even worse. Take Tyler Godwin, Troy King's executive assistant. He started out as an unpaid intern in college, and suddenly 10 months later saw himself making $57,000. Now, that is one great entry-level job. Of course, we haven't even talked about the salary of King himself. Even though it was set by the legislature before he arrived, Troy King is the second-highest paid Attorney General in the country, second only to Jerry Brown of California.
This whole situation reeks, particularly in a time of economic crisis. Conservatives are supposed to be about responsible government, and doing more with less. When Jeff Sessions and Bill Pryor were AG, they were focused on "public service," not the "public dole." Troy King is trying to convince us that his intern-turned-executive assistant and political operative paralegal are more important than funding for better teachers in our schools or perhaps, even returning more tax dollars to us, the people. Well, I don't buy it.
I close with these words from a Decatur Daily News editorial from July 30, 2008: "Alabama Attorney General Troy King is doing his best to counter the economic downturn--at least among his staff...Maybe Mr. King doesn't understand the struggle many working men and women are experiencing in this sluggish economy. After all, he is the second highest paid attorney general in the country. And he has friends like Alabama Power Co. who pay for his family baseball tickets and food at the game." Folks, it is past time to hold Troy King accountable for his misuse of his office, and his arrogance in the face of a suffering state.
Turns out, our AG Troy King has a history of "fitting" his loyal supporters into special roles on his staff. Take Chris Bence, as one example. Once you start reading stories about Troy King, you'll find that Bence's name always seems to come up. Sometimes, he's referred to as a "spokesman," and other times he is referred to as the "chief of staff." However, to AG Troy King, Bence is neither of these things. AG King classifies Chris Bence as a "paralegal," even though he has no training as a paralegal and at least doesn't appear to perform paralegal functions in the office. Why? Well, Troy King wanted to give Bence a big raise, and this move to "paralegal" allowed Bence to go from making $94,000 to $104,400 a year, according to the Montgomery Advertiser and other papers which covered the story, including Birmingham, Huntsville, Gadsden, and points around Alabama. When Bence was asked about this by the Birmingham News, he responded that 'the titles are all flexible.' However, as the Montgomery Advertiser muses: "We wonder how that makes trained paralegals feel." It also seems funny, that as Troy King is regularly hiring outside lawyers for "help" on legal issues, he is filling his professional staff with political operatives. Maybe that's why taxpayers are shelling out over $100,000 for his legal defense.
However, the issue gets even worse. Take Tyler Godwin, Troy King's executive assistant. He started out as an unpaid intern in college, and suddenly 10 months later saw himself making $57,000. Now, that is one great entry-level job. Of course, we haven't even talked about the salary of King himself. Even though it was set by the legislature before he arrived, Troy King is the second-highest paid Attorney General in the country, second only to Jerry Brown of California.
This whole situation reeks, particularly in a time of economic crisis. Conservatives are supposed to be about responsible government, and doing more with less. When Jeff Sessions and Bill Pryor were AG, they were focused on "public service," not the "public dole." Troy King is trying to convince us that his intern-turned-executive assistant and political operative paralegal are more important than funding for better teachers in our schools or perhaps, even returning more tax dollars to us, the people. Well, I don't buy it.
I close with these words from a Decatur Daily News editorial from July 30, 2008: "Alabama Attorney General Troy King is doing his best to counter the economic downturn--at least among his staff...Maybe Mr. King doesn't understand the struggle many working men and women are experiencing in this sluggish economy. After all, he is the second highest paid attorney general in the country. And he has friends like Alabama Power Co. who pay for his family baseball tickets and food at the game." Folks, it is past time to hold Troy King accountable for his misuse of his office, and his arrogance in the face of a suffering state.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Afternoon Troy: Legal Shenanigans
I read an interesting story yesterday in the Mobile Register written by George Talbot. On top of rightly calling this "the most important race that nobody's talking about," he discussed, among other things, a movement afoot to push Troy King to reimburse the public for paying his legal defense bills. This really seems to be a rather simple concept--you tarnish your office and jeopardize your own professional reputation, and you pay your really, really expensive legal bill when it comes to you. That's certainly true in the real world.
Unfortunately, it's not true in Troy's world. In Troy's world, your cronies in the legislature support an even larger bailout for you and your legal team. The AP first covered the story here (http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/08/alabama_ag_troy_king_okd_to_sp.html), and it was then picked up by a number of different folks, including Libertarian Loretta Nall. It appears that, during the most recent Special Session of the legislature, AG King's office decided that $40,000 was just not enough--it needed to be raised to $100,000. Interesting, spokesman and chief of staff Chris Bence defended the move, since "many of the documents sought by the federal grand jury are legally sensitive." However, let's think about that for a moment. Are there really documents in AG King's office that are so "legally sensitive" his OWN professional staff can't be trusted to handle them? I find that hard to believe. As Skip Tucker pointed out in the Mobile Register column yesterday, even a third-year law student can answer a subpoena.
Of course, as is always true with Troy, this is just the tip of the iceberg. It turns out Troy has been farming out work to private trial lawyers for a while, including the state's Medicare Fraud cases. When Alabama opted to sue different medical companies for defrauding Alabama's Medicare system, King sought out a private firm--Hand Arendall of Mobile-- which then teamed with another, Beasley Allen of Montgomery. Beasley Allen, headed by liberal trial lawyer and Artur Davis campaign head Jere Beasley, released a press release noting that the firms were getting about 14% of all the winnings, plus expenses. That means, at the very least, these attorneys stand to get more than $17 million and will likely get more as the final cases are resolved.
Turns out this is a pretty lucrative deal for private attorneys, and they become willing to fight for business at the state trough. Other states have tried this, and they have had their share of problems. Over in Georgia, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a disturbing story on June 21 about Georgia's Democratic AG, Thurbert Baker and noted that he had awarded over $173 million in contracts in the last five years, and many of these contracts had gone to firms which had contributed to his campaign. I did a little more research, and I found out that this process of hiring trial lawyers to handle state business is pretty common for liberals. It was really started by ultra-liberal NY AG Eliot Spitzer (remember, they guy who became governor and was caught in bed with "hired help" in Washington?) and it has been used by some in other states.
What do conservatives think? Well, Judge Bill Pryor told a writer for the conservative Federalist Society in early 2008: "These contracts...create the potential for outrageous windfalls or even outright corruption for political supporters of the office who negotiated the contracts."
So, it seems like Troy King has bigger problems than just paying for his legal defense. He certainly owes the taxpayers some money, but he also owes them an explanation on why he is awarding these contracts in the dark, without a fair and open public process. As long as I can remember, conservatives and trial lawyers haven't really been on the same side. It's nothing personal--they just stand for vastly different principles. To see Troy standing so close is not only disgusting and unethical, it really begs questions of his conservatism.
Unfortunately, it's not true in Troy's world. In Troy's world, your cronies in the legislature support an even larger bailout for you and your legal team. The AP first covered the story here (http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/08/alabama_ag_troy_king_okd_to_sp.html), and it was then picked up by a number of different folks, including Libertarian Loretta Nall. It appears that, during the most recent Special Session of the legislature, AG King's office decided that $40,000 was just not enough--it needed to be raised to $100,000. Interesting, spokesman and chief of staff Chris Bence defended the move, since "many of the documents sought by the federal grand jury are legally sensitive." However, let's think about that for a moment. Are there really documents in AG King's office that are so "legally sensitive" his OWN professional staff can't be trusted to handle them? I find that hard to believe. As Skip Tucker pointed out in the Mobile Register column yesterday, even a third-year law student can answer a subpoena.
Of course, as is always true with Troy, this is just the tip of the iceberg. It turns out Troy has been farming out work to private trial lawyers for a while, including the state's Medicare Fraud cases. When Alabama opted to sue different medical companies for defrauding Alabama's Medicare system, King sought out a private firm--Hand Arendall of Mobile-- which then teamed with another, Beasley Allen of Montgomery. Beasley Allen, headed by liberal trial lawyer and Artur Davis campaign head Jere Beasley, released a press release noting that the firms were getting about 14% of all the winnings, plus expenses. That means, at the very least, these attorneys stand to get more than $17 million and will likely get more as the final cases are resolved.
Turns out this is a pretty lucrative deal for private attorneys, and they become willing to fight for business at the state trough. Other states have tried this, and they have had their share of problems. Over in Georgia, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a disturbing story on June 21 about Georgia's Democratic AG, Thurbert Baker and noted that he had awarded over $173 million in contracts in the last five years, and many of these contracts had gone to firms which had contributed to his campaign. I did a little more research, and I found out that this process of hiring trial lawyers to handle state business is pretty common for liberals. It was really started by ultra-liberal NY AG Eliot Spitzer (remember, they guy who became governor and was caught in bed with "hired help" in Washington?) and it has been used by some in other states.
What do conservatives think? Well, Judge Bill Pryor told a writer for the conservative Federalist Society in early 2008: "These contracts...create the potential for outrageous windfalls or even outright corruption for political supporters of the office who negotiated the contracts."
So, it seems like Troy King has bigger problems than just paying for his legal defense. He certainly owes the taxpayers some money, but he also owes them an explanation on why he is awarding these contracts in the dark, without a fair and open public process. As long as I can remember, conservatives and trial lawyers haven't really been on the same side. It's nothing personal--they just stand for vastly different principles. To see Troy standing so close is not only disgusting and unethical, it really begs questions of his conservatism.
Gambling on our State's Future?
Back when I was a little kid, my parents bought my sister and me a highway bingo game. We'd play it on road trips, marking stuff as we spotted it until we could complete a full row. Our game consisted of nothing more than personal bragging rights, and it was really just a simple way to pass those all-too-familiar family roadtrips. I also remember playing bingo at school, marking our cards as we learned different vocabulary terms. Oh, for bingo to be simple again...
Today, thanks in large part to the actions of Troy King, bingo is one of the most complex issues our state faces. Under the guise of upholding the "rule of law," Troy King has broken from longstanding precedent and acted with questionable ethics. Now, believe me, Troy King tries to defend his actions. After it was reported that he would not be included in Governor Riley's anti-gaming task force, King told the Birmingham News on January 4, 2009: "The law is the law, and is due to be respected." This certainly sounds good, and like most conservatives, I certainly believe in the rule of law. The problem is that, on this issue, Troy King appears to be in his own world. Jeff Sessions, Bill Pryor, Bob Riley, and other conservatives have all held consistent positions on the issue, and even the state's courts have generally sided with these conservatives. The Birmingham News said in an editorial on July 7: "Alabama appeals courts in the past have frowned on attempts to use narrow exceptions like charity bingo to carve out bigger loopholes for the gambling industry." Additionally, the News alluded to the fact that AG King is now standing in the way as the Supreme Court could define the precedent more clearly, and I suspect he likely wants to keep from 'losing' his side of the issue.
The problem with Troy King's argument is that he tarnishes the name of the respectable conservative leaders who held this office before he arrived. First, let's get this straight. This is NOT B-I-N-G-O. These are slot machines--they look like slot machines, they sound like slot machines, they act like slot machines, and they breed corruption like slot machines. Additionally, let's get straight that Troy King's immediate predecessor, Bill Pryor, was also an advocate for the rule of law. I remember when Pryor was nominated for his federal judgeship, and the late-Sen. Ted Kennedy and his liberal colleagues pressed Pryor on his adherence to the rule of law and his refusal to accept the "evolving" standards of today's left. For King to say that today he is respecting the rule of law is both an insult to those who held the office before him and an even larger insult to the voters of Alabama who have repeatedly rejected these corrupt exceptions at the polls.
So, if Troy King is truly in his own world, why is he so keen on supporting gambling in Alabama? Perhaps it's due to his close connections with the gambling industry. Earlier this year, we learned that King was a guest of honor at a party in the Wiregrass held by gaming developer Ronnie Gilley. After schmoozing with the crowd in Houston County, his office turned around six weeks later and issued an opinion favoring the developer. Newspapers across the state criticized this action, but the trail doesn't end there. Troy King has also been involved in the shady world of Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions, and he has ties to gaming interests. Before the 2006 election, the Birmingham News attempted to trace the money, and they tracked contributions to major PACs. This is all alphabet soup, but the end result always seems to come back to gambling interests. Take this one example: just before the 2006 election, King received some $16,500 from a VENDPAC fund. Well, that is linked to funding from FGAPAC. The FGAPAC is then linked to CANPAC and gaming Magnate Milton McGregor who gave $275,000 to it. Confusing, right? Well, it's meant to be, and there are plenty of other examples out there. Bob Blalock of the News called it a "political shell game," and this is exactly how the liberal interests want it. Jere Beasely, a liberal trial lawyer heading Artur Davis' campaign was quoted in the News as saying that lawyers were giving more to PACs because "they [candidates] think the stigma of a trial lawyer will hurt them." Gambling interests are the same way, trying to concoct a political shell game impossible for voters to follow.
Let me be clear--these actions are not conservative. In my view, conservatives believe in responsible economic growth which generates consistent revenue to fund programs and encourage further growth. The problem with gaming is that it is heavily dependant on the economy. When folks have large amounts of discretionary income, they go gamble. However, in times like these, when we are in economic crisis, people have less money. In an economy where gambling is legal and used to provide state services, though, the state government has to hope that people with less money continue to gamble what they have in order to fund state programs. This is perverse, and it is not true growth. However, conservatives are also against gambling because it clearly violates the rule of law in our state. I never want an AG who uses activism to impose law, but I do believe in an AG who stands up for the rule of law, when Alabamians have clearly expressed their will, and that will is frequently validated by precedent.
Troy King is clearly not living up to the conservative values of his campaigns. After winning our trust in 2006, he has left it behind because it is no longer politically expedient for him. However, we have the chance to keep him honest now, by asking him to pledge to refuse contributions from gaming interests and disclose any potential conflicts of interest. We would also do well to encourage him to add transparency to PAC contributions, so that voters get to know the whole story about who is influencing their candidates. I hope that after the 2010 elections, when we finally have a new AG, we can go back to the days where bingo is bingo again, instead of an end-run around the rule of law in order to enrich the powerful, corrupt gaming interests in this state.
Today, thanks in large part to the actions of Troy King, bingo is one of the most complex issues our state faces. Under the guise of upholding the "rule of law," Troy King has broken from longstanding precedent and acted with questionable ethics. Now, believe me, Troy King tries to defend his actions. After it was reported that he would not be included in Governor Riley's anti-gaming task force, King told the Birmingham News on January 4, 2009: "The law is the law, and is due to be respected." This certainly sounds good, and like most conservatives, I certainly believe in the rule of law. The problem is that, on this issue, Troy King appears to be in his own world. Jeff Sessions, Bill Pryor, Bob Riley, and other conservatives have all held consistent positions on the issue, and even the state's courts have generally sided with these conservatives. The Birmingham News said in an editorial on July 7: "Alabama appeals courts in the past have frowned on attempts to use narrow exceptions like charity bingo to carve out bigger loopholes for the gambling industry." Additionally, the News alluded to the fact that AG King is now standing in the way as the Supreme Court could define the precedent more clearly, and I suspect he likely wants to keep from 'losing' his side of the issue.
The problem with Troy King's argument is that he tarnishes the name of the respectable conservative leaders who held this office before he arrived. First, let's get this straight. This is NOT B-I-N-G-O. These are slot machines--they look like slot machines, they sound like slot machines, they act like slot machines, and they breed corruption like slot machines. Additionally, let's get straight that Troy King's immediate predecessor, Bill Pryor, was also an advocate for the rule of law. I remember when Pryor was nominated for his federal judgeship, and the late-Sen. Ted Kennedy and his liberal colleagues pressed Pryor on his adherence to the rule of law and his refusal to accept the "evolving" standards of today's left. For King to say that today he is respecting the rule of law is both an insult to those who held the office before him and an even larger insult to the voters of Alabama who have repeatedly rejected these corrupt exceptions at the polls.
So, if Troy King is truly in his own world, why is he so keen on supporting gambling in Alabama? Perhaps it's due to his close connections with the gambling industry. Earlier this year, we learned that King was a guest of honor at a party in the Wiregrass held by gaming developer Ronnie Gilley. After schmoozing with the crowd in Houston County, his office turned around six weeks later and issued an opinion favoring the developer. Newspapers across the state criticized this action, but the trail doesn't end there. Troy King has also been involved in the shady world of Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions, and he has ties to gaming interests. Before the 2006 election, the Birmingham News attempted to trace the money, and they tracked contributions to major PACs. This is all alphabet soup, but the end result always seems to come back to gambling interests. Take this one example: just before the 2006 election, King received some $16,500 from a VENDPAC fund. Well, that is linked to funding from FGAPAC. The FGAPAC is then linked to CANPAC and gaming Magnate Milton McGregor who gave $275,000 to it. Confusing, right? Well, it's meant to be, and there are plenty of other examples out there. Bob Blalock of the News called it a "political shell game," and this is exactly how the liberal interests want it. Jere Beasely, a liberal trial lawyer heading Artur Davis' campaign was quoted in the News as saying that lawyers were giving more to PACs because "they [candidates] think the stigma of a trial lawyer will hurt them." Gambling interests are the same way, trying to concoct a political shell game impossible for voters to follow.
Let me be clear--these actions are not conservative. In my view, conservatives believe in responsible economic growth which generates consistent revenue to fund programs and encourage further growth. The problem with gaming is that it is heavily dependant on the economy. When folks have large amounts of discretionary income, they go gamble. However, in times like these, when we are in economic crisis, people have less money. In an economy where gambling is legal and used to provide state services, though, the state government has to hope that people with less money continue to gamble what they have in order to fund state programs. This is perverse, and it is not true growth. However, conservatives are also against gambling because it clearly violates the rule of law in our state. I never want an AG who uses activism to impose law, but I do believe in an AG who stands up for the rule of law, when Alabamians have clearly expressed their will, and that will is frequently validated by precedent.
Troy King is clearly not living up to the conservative values of his campaigns. After winning our trust in 2006, he has left it behind because it is no longer politically expedient for him. However, we have the chance to keep him honest now, by asking him to pledge to refuse contributions from gaming interests and disclose any potential conflicts of interest. We would also do well to encourage him to add transparency to PAC contributions, so that voters get to know the whole story about who is influencing their candidates. I hope that after the 2010 elections, when we finally have a new AG, we can go back to the days where bingo is bingo again, instead of an end-run around the rule of law in order to enrich the powerful, corrupt gaming interests in this state.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Why This Blog?
I decided to start this blog as a conservative after studying the actions of our current Attorney General and being concerned about what I learned. Unlike some of his critics, I'm proud to be a conservative, and I've been proud to support Republican candidates for public office.
However, the 2008 election demonstrated something to me as a conservative. It showed that when conservatives do not remain true to their principles and refuse to uphold their convictions when challenged, they will lose, and lose badly. Our candidate for President, our candidates for Congress, and our candidates for the US Senate all lost because they refused to defend core conservative values such as belief in the free market, belief in limited government, belief in responsible spending, and belief in traditional cultural values. I believe conservatives can re-claim electoral victories by reclaiming these principles, not running from them.
Reclaiming our conservative values begins with the elections closest to home, which for me means Alabama. As many folks focus on the excitement of a Governor's race, I'm looking at the Attorney General's office. This position is one of the most confusing positions in our state, but it is also one of the most important. AG opinions regularly impact state law regarding economic development and gambling, and the AG can also set direction in many important areas of public policy. On top of that, the AG is the state's representative in court, which means that he or she represents us, Alabama residents and taxpayers, in courts of law. I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty important.
I've decided to write this blog because I believe it's important for Alabama conservatives to begin speaking out. So much of what you read about this office comes from blogs on the left, and I want to provide conservatives with a voice. I personally hold true the value of accountability, and I write this blog in hopes that AG King will have to answer to the people of Alabama in 2010 for his repeated ethical lapses, questionable opinions, political grandstanding, and leadership errors. Instead of dealing in rumors or political musings, I will attempt to analyze and present the hard facts of AG King's record, and the reasons he falls short of being the "conservative" he claims to be in his campaign messages.
I welcome your questions, comments, and thoughts and hope that you will follow along in this attempt to find the truth. I'm not a lawyer, and I don't claim to be one. I'm really just an Alabamian concerned about the direction of our AG's office.
However, the 2008 election demonstrated something to me as a conservative. It showed that when conservatives do not remain true to their principles and refuse to uphold their convictions when challenged, they will lose, and lose badly. Our candidate for President, our candidates for Congress, and our candidates for the US Senate all lost because they refused to defend core conservative values such as belief in the free market, belief in limited government, belief in responsible spending, and belief in traditional cultural values. I believe conservatives can re-claim electoral victories by reclaiming these principles, not running from them.
Reclaiming our conservative values begins with the elections closest to home, which for me means Alabama. As many folks focus on the excitement of a Governor's race, I'm looking at the Attorney General's office. This position is one of the most confusing positions in our state, but it is also one of the most important. AG opinions regularly impact state law regarding economic development and gambling, and the AG can also set direction in many important areas of public policy. On top of that, the AG is the state's representative in court, which means that he or she represents us, Alabama residents and taxpayers, in courts of law. I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty important.
I've decided to write this blog because I believe it's important for Alabama conservatives to begin speaking out. So much of what you read about this office comes from blogs on the left, and I want to provide conservatives with a voice. I personally hold true the value of accountability, and I write this blog in hopes that AG King will have to answer to the people of Alabama in 2010 for his repeated ethical lapses, questionable opinions, political grandstanding, and leadership errors. Instead of dealing in rumors or political musings, I will attempt to analyze and present the hard facts of AG King's record, and the reasons he falls short of being the "conservative" he claims to be in his campaign messages.
I welcome your questions, comments, and thoughts and hope that you will follow along in this attempt to find the truth. I'm not a lawyer, and I don't claim to be one. I'm really just an Alabamian concerned about the direction of our AG's office.
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