Sparks Calls Davis 'Hypocrite' on Ethics
November 18th, 2009by Glynn Wilson
After Birmingham Congressman Artur Davis tried to make friends with the man who might be his Republican opponent if he were to win the Democratic Party primary next June, praising Bradley Byrne for his proposed ethics plan, Davis’s primary opponent Ron Sparks immediately called him a hypocrite.
“It is the height of hypocrisy for Artur Davis to bemoan what he called ‘the unlimited power of a few special interests’ to dominate Alabama politics by writing big checks, while, according to ConsumerWatchdog.org, Artur Davis received $364,000 from health-care special interest groups and then voted against President Obama’s health-care bill, despite the overwhelming support for Obama and health-care reform in his district,” Sparks said in a press release.
According to a blogger at al.com, Davis welcomed Byrne’s endorsement of several ethics proposals this week.
“While I am pleased that unlike Ron Sparks and the other Republicans in this race, Bradley Byrne has put forward an ethics proposal, I am mystified that he does not go further, to root out the real abuses that are breaking down trust in Alabama politics,” Davis reportedly said.
“I certainly appreciate the novelty of holding ethics trainings at the State Capitol, but seminars aren’t good enough to stop the culture of wining and dining public officials in the hopes of getting a favor, or the unlimited power of a few special interests to dominate Alabama politics by writing big checks.”
Davis also urged the Republican — who as Chancellor of the two-year college system fought to remove officials, mainly Democrats — to join him in calling for the suspension of elected officials “continuing to operate under the cloud of a legal indictment.”
Blog Note: Why Davis, a Harvard lawyer, would advocate for the elimination of the U.S. Constitution’s due process clause is not clear. Maybe it’s just Karl Rove style politics? It sounds good, even if it wouldn’t be legal. Maybe Mr. Byrne knows that? I don’t know. Never met the man…
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Tags: Alabama Governor's Race 2010, Artur Davis, Bradley Byrne, Ron Sparks
November 18th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Jackson: ‘You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man’
The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday night criticized Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) for voting against the Democrats’ signature healthcare bill.
“We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill,” Jackson said at a reception Wednesday night. “You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man.”
The remark stirred a murmur at the reception, held by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Foundation as part of a series of events revolving around the 25th anniversary of Jackson’s run for president. Several CBC members were in attendance, including Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who’d introduced Jackson.
Davis, who is running for governor, is the only black member of Congress from Alabama. Attempts to reach his spokeswoman for comment were unsuccessful.
He is also the only member of the CBC to have voted against the healthcare bill earlier this month, a fact pointed out by his opponent in the gubernatorial primary, Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks.
“He was the only Black Caucus member to vote against it. I don’t get it,” Sparks said last week, according to The Associated Press.
Davis has countered that Sparks’s position on healthcare has changed over time, saying he’s being “deliberately dishonest.”
The primary will be June 1. All of the GOP candidates for governor have been critical of the healthcare legislation, according to AP.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Press Release via e-mail:
DAVIS SELLS OUT BLACKS IN ALABAMA
Jesse Jackson called out Artur Davis for his shameless vote on healthcare reform last night at a Congressional Black Caucus event:
“We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill,” Jackson said at a reception Wednesday night. “You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man.”
Jackson went on to say that black lawmakers should vote the interests of the people in their districts, and the healthcare bill would help Alabama because it’s one of the poorest states in the country.
“The poorest people need healthcare protection,” Jackson said. “They have the highest infant mortality and the lowest life expectancy. They’re dying from lack of access.”
It took a man of Jackson’s stature to tell the public what we have known for a long time here in Alabama. Artur Davis does not care about the black people of his congressional district or this country. We agree with Jackson that Artur ought to be ashamed. In a bid to become Alabama’s first black governor, Davis has sold us out completely. He abandoned us on the toxic coal ash issue in Perry County. He abandoned us on Cooper Green Hospital in Birmingham.
And Jackson is right, you can’t call yourself a black man and expect other blacks to vote for you, when you don’t understand nor sympathize with the plight of blacks in Alabama. Artur, this is just one more vote that makes it hard for you to call yourself black at all.
Walt Wilson, President, Community First Birmingham