Davis gets signed on
WASHINGTON – Last week, the Congressman from Mobile and Baldwin County’s neighboring 7th Congressional District lent his name to a scathing response to an ad that appeared in various newspapers circulated throughout the Washington, D.C.-metro area.
The letter, signed by Democrat Rep. Artur Davis and Republican Rep. Jo Bonner and Sens. Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby, was a response to a claim in a Boeing ad that the KC-767 prototype was the only tanker that “passed” the General Accounting Office’s test.
“We continue to be disappointed with Boeing’s tanker rhetoric and are writing to set the record straight,” the letter read. “Misinformation has been contained in two recent ads by Boeing in an effort to overturn the selection of the Northrop Grumman KC-45 which the Air Force determined to be the best tanker for the warfighter.”
Although Davis has publicly voiced his support of the Northrop Grumman/EADS effort in the past, allying with Mobile Mayor Sam Jones earlier this year, his inclusion on a bold statement – a combined effort of four offices on the Hill – might suggest the third-term congressman is looking for more statewide exposure.
Doc’s Political Parlor & Home of Lawn Mower Repair, a political blog that focuses on Alabama politics (don’t judge it by the name, it’s credible), gives Davis 9-to-1 odds to win the 2010 governor’s race – behind Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom, two-year college Chancellor Bradley Byrne (of Baldwin County fame) and Attorney General Troy King. These predictions came prior to any wild Internet rumors you may have read here or elsewhere, however.
Davis has ruled out a run for the Senate against Sen. Richard Shelby, telling the Anniston Star last week that Shelby is “not beatable.” But he left it open as a possibility if Shelby were to retire at the end of his term.
The wildcard of course – if Sen. Barack Obama wins the presidency, he could call on Davis, his former Harvard classmate, to serve in his administration. Davis insisted he has no intentions of serving in Obama’s cabinet, also according to the Star.
Hillary: No Love for Northrop Grumman/EADS
While presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama was swarmed by the masses across the pond, former presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y (remember her?), was participating in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, along side Sen. Jeff Sessions, on the nominations of Michael Donley to be secretary of the Air Force.
But Clinton used the hearing to interject herself into the KC-X tanker debate.
“When the Air Force announced its tanker refueling contract award to Airbus A330 last February, I was struck when the spokesperson indicated the Air Force could not and did not take into consideration the impact of the award on the U.S. industrial base,” Clinton said in the hearing held on July 22.
Clinton rambled off some lines from the U.S. Code to back her claim.
“Yet Title 10 of the U.S. Code requires the Secretary of Defense to do just that for, and I quote, ‘each major defense acquisition program,’” Hillary said.
Donley replied with an explanation for Clinton, saying we live in a global economy and attempting to go with all-domestic suppliers would be impossible for such a large acquisition. Otherwise, picking and choosing what components were domestic and what were foreign would grant favoritism to one bidder over another.
Sessions Willing to Compromise on Drilling
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., isn’t willing to compromise – but Sen. Jeff Sessions is. Boxer, the architect of recent failed Draconian global warming legislation and other legislative acts sure to put a smile on the face of the most bitter tree hugger, publicly said she isn’t willing to compromise with pro-drilling senators in exchange for some sort of federal government investment into alternative/renewable energy source – like granola-powered automobiles for example.
“I don’t think that you throw the [Arctic] National Wildlife [Refuge] into oil drilling,” Boxer said. “You don’t need to do it. If you look at what’s in there, it would keep us going for six months when you can do so much more.”
Sessions told Lagniappe we should be doing everything – the T. Boone Pickens approach where everything is on the table.
“That’s the kind of things we need to be doing,” Sessions said. “I believe it indicates that there is within the Democratic conference a group of senators – I don’t even think it’s a majority though – if it is, it’s a slim majority – that just do not want to produce anymore oil and gas, which is unthinkable. This is why the price keeps going up, because our production is going down and demand is going up.”
Sessions emphatically insisted this would help America and prevent us from expending our wealth abroad to import energy from foreign sources.
“We need to protect our American economy,” Sessions added. “So I totally would oppose and disagree that we should not produce more offshore. We’re already doing it off Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Huge amounts of oil and gas are being produced there everyday. But, 85 percent of the lands offshore of this country are being blocked by legislation from Washington and that needs to end.”
ACLU Crusading for Alabama Felon Voter Rights
This might be good news for a huge chunk of Lagniappe readership, but the American Civil Liberties Union sued the state of Alabama last week claiming the state’s “moral turpitude” interpretation violates the constitutional right to vote.
According to a neatly worded press release that made its way to my e-mail inbox last week, Alabama’s broad definition of who can and can not vote – based partially on the opinion of the attorney general, is unconstitutional.
“Alabama’s disenfranchisement laws do not pass constitutional muster. It is immoral that election officials are wrongly disfranchising thousands of eligible voters through a subjective interpretation of the law that ignores the state constitution and the legislature’s will,” said Laughlin McDonald, Director of the ACLU Voting Rights Project according to the release. “When it comes to something as fundamental as the right to vote, arbitrariness has no place in the law.”
Coming soon: ACLU Sues for Kilby Correctional Facility Inmates to Have Representation in the Alabama Legislature.
Contact Jeff Poor at jeffreypoor@yahoo.com.
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