Bonner to join protest on the floor of the House of Representatives
WASHINGTON – Does anyone remember those crazy rumors about Gov. Bob Riley being a vice-presidential possibility that were floated out two or three years?
The second-term governor has had quite a roller-coaster ride since becoming governor – starting with his narrow defeat of former Gov. Don Siegelman by a narrow 2,000-vote margin.
In 2003, he attempted to raise taxes by $1 billion with the very unpopular Amendment One, which voters soundly defeated by 68 percent. But after that, he pulled off a string of key economic initiatives for the state, briefly built up the state coffers and crushed former Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley in the 2006 election.
At the height of his popularity, he was in the running mate early rumor mill – back when the consensus was one of the Republican presidential candidates would have to have a southern governor to win the White House.
“There was talk about him as a possible veep pick, but that was in terms of Giuliani and Romney in need of a southern governor,” Quin Hillyer, of former Press-Register fame and now an associate editor for the Washington Examiner and a senior editor for The American Spectator magazine, said to Lagniappe.
But as 2010 is approaching, there’s already speculation of who will run for governor, but not as much talk of what will happen to the current governor and Hillyer doesn’t think he is agitating to do anything beyond Montgomery for now. The best fit he said would be for a spot in a McCain administration as Commerce Secretary. But the whole Siegelman-gate controversy had made it harder for Riley, he said.
“All of this idiocy ‘Siegelman was framed’ deal, involving Riley’s son made it tougher,” Hillyer said – referring to the implication Rob Riley was an accessory to the alleged efforts Siegelman and other moon bats on the left that claim Karl Rove caused Siegelman to be indicted, go to jail and never even be a contender for the 2006 gubernatorial election.
That being said, Hillyer was still full of praise for Riley.
“There is absolutely no diminution of his stature as one of the best governors in the country,” he added.
Coming Soon: Eddie Curran’s Exposé?
Perhaps Riley was hoping this book would have come out earlier, which might have vindicated his allies for some of these allegations. Curran, another reporter of Press-Register fame, told Lagniappe last week he is trying to wrap a book about the entire Siegelman/Scrushy so-called conspiracy up and hopefully will soon.
Earlier this year, Curran showed up at an event featuring Scott Horton of Harper’s magazine and confronted him (the video of it is out there on YouTube) about claims that he was part of the Rovian conspiracy to re-elect Bob Riley.
This week, Siegelman will speak at the Democratic National Convention to the hometown Colorado delegation. Good thing Colorado already has a lottery.
Rep. Jeff Miller of Pensacola: ‘Go Northrop Grumman!’
Republican congressman Jeff Miller from neighboring Pensacola has a very optimistic view about Mobile’s shot at actually having Northrop Grumman assemble refueling tankers within our lifetimes at Brookley Field.
Miller, who had been visiting in Iraq just days before, was participating in the House GOP’s floor drilling protest. He told Lagniappe that despite the last-ditch tactics Boeing and their allies on the Hill were employing, he thought Northrop Grumman/EADS would still likely be awarded the contract.
“Go Northrop Grumman,” Miller said. “I think you guys have this one wrapped up.”
The Air Force had awarded the contract to Northrop Grumman/EADS, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the entire contract would have to be re-bid after the General Accounting Office found several mistakes in the Air Force’s calculations.
Bonner to Join in House Protest?
Thus far missing from the House protest, which has been losing steam since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears to be folding on her stance not to allow an up-or-down vote on exploration and drilling in off-limits federal lands for oil and natural gas has been Rep. Jo Bonner.
Bonner left town as soon as Congress was recessed and conducted several town hall meetings around the district. But, in his most recent “This Week in Washington” column – which appears in several small town newspapers locally – Bonner said he would be coming to Washington this week.
“Several Members took to the House floor speaking out in opposition in a darkened House chamber without microphones,” Bonner wrote. “While I was hearing from so many of you at these town hall meetings, some of my colleagues continued speaking out on the House floor calling on Speaker Pelosi to bring the House back into session. Next week, I plan to return to Washington and join my colleagues in demanding that Congress reconvene before September and pass legislation that will make America independent of foreign oil.”
The coverage of the protest has also been hit by the fact that the price of a barrel of oil has fallen drastically over the past couple of weeks. However, GOP lawmakers still insist they will continue speaking on the floor, to mostly crowds of tourists, until at least the start of the Democratic convention.
Contact Jeff Poor at jeffreypoor@yahoo.com.
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