MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Gardendale Republican Senator Scott Beason thumbed his nose at the Justice Department Tuesday while addressing the tea party on the status of Alabama’s controversial anti-immigraiton law on the first day of the 2012 session of the Legislature.
He said when the Republicans talk about “clarifying” the law, that really means they will be making the law even “stronger.”
“And if the Obama Justice Department doesn’t like it,” he said, “frankly, they can lump it.”
He also claimed the Occupy movement had to bring in protesters from “out of state” to oppose him.
WASHINGTON D.C. — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that federal disaster aid has been made available to the state of Alabama and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding during the period of January 22-23, 2012.
Following is a summary of key federal disaster aid programs that can be made available as needed and warranted under President Obama’s major disaster declaration issued for Alabama.
Consumer confidence in the United States continues to rise out of the doldrums of the Bush recession, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject.
The confidence of Americans in an improving economy is up compared with December, according to Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index, and much improved over the highly negative readings of last fall and late summer, and over the levels found after the recession was announced in 2008 just before President George W. Bush left office.
“Weekly economic confidence remains at its highest level since last spring, showing steadier improvement from October through early January,” Gallup concludes in its analysis of public opinion in the U.S.
Most of the gains in the overall Economic Confidence Index since the summer have occurred in the outlook component, the percentage of Americans who believe the economy is improving minus those saying it is getting worse. Over the same period, consumer perceptions of current economic conditions (the percentage rating them “poor” subtracted from those rating them “excellent” or “good”) have improved by about half as much.
Massachusetts Mormon Mitt Romney released his tax returns on Monday, finally, showing he is a billionaire who only paid 13.9 percent in taxes on $42.5 million in income last year, all of it earned not from labor but from paper, interest on investments. At the same time, he was campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination in Florida making crazy, false statements to get media attention, saying America is in decline and blaming it on President Barack Obama, because he is “a failure.”
A look at the facts below shows otherwise.
Meanwhile, President Obama went on national television to make his annual State of the Union Address before Congress, and made a number of factual statements about the situation and his record. Here is our analysis of some key points.
The key quote?
“Anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned, doesn’t know what they’re talking about,” the president said, and the facts show he is right on this, not the Republicans.
Consumer confidence is on the rise in the United States, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject, as President Barack Obama will deliver his State of the Union address to the nation on Tuesday night to deliver a strong economic message sympathetic to a middle class that feels squeezed by stagnant wages at a time of record corporate profits.
The President is expected to make the argument for higher taxes on the wealthy, to propose ways to make college more affordable, to offer new steps on tackling the housing crisis and outline ways to help bring back domestic manufacturing and expand hiring.
With unemployment on the way down and good news from the U.S. automobile industry and the retail sector after a successful holiday season, the general public perception is that the overall U.S. economy is getting better, according to Gallup.
“This seems like good news for the nation’s businesses as well as for U.S. economic confidence in the week ending Jan. 22, improved from the prior week and the best since the week ending May 22, 2011,” Gallup concludes in its analysis.
President Obama discusses steps he’s taking to ensure that more goods and products stamped “Made in America” are sold in the United States and around the world.
More Americans trust President Barack Obama to influence the direction of the country than the Republicans in Congress. According to the latest Gallup poll on the subject, 46 percent of Americans say they want the president to have more influence over the direction the nation takes in the next year, while 42 percent said they would rather have the Republicans in Congress calling the shots.
U.S. preferences have been closely divided on this question since early 2011 after Republicans won a majority in the House of Representatives. But President Obama has consistently had a slim advantage, suggesting a real lead for him, according to Gallup.
In general, Democrats want Obama to have more influence and Republicans want the Republicans in Congress to have more influence. Independents are more likely to prefer Obama.
Alabama Crimson Tide Once Again Invited to the White House
President Barack Obama called University of Alabama football Coach Nick Saban on Thursday to congratulate him and the university on their BCS National Championship and their exceptional 2011-2012 season, according to an e-mail press release from the White House.
The President said that he watched the entire championship game and could not have been more impressed with the Crimson Tide’s performance.
Mr. Obama commended the coach on his outstanding record and said that he looks forward to congratulating the team in person at the White House.
During the Bush years, we specialized in covering the politicization of the U.S. justice system as much as any news organization. Our archives are about the most comprehensive for anyone researching the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, and the original case against Richard Scrushy, which Glynn Wilson covered for The New York Times.
