{"id":240952,"date":"2025-05-14T06:31:41","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T06:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alabama\/if-you-want-a-better-alabama-youre-going-to-have-to-fight-for-it\/"},"modified":"2025-05-14T06:31:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T06:31:41","slug":"if-you-want-a-better-alabama-youre-going-to-have-to-fight-for-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=240952","title":{"rendered":"If you want a better Alabama, you’re going to have to fight for it"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Do you know what\u2019s very popular in Alabama?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gambling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And public school funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And the overtime tax exemption.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There is no arguing this. These three things are some of the most popular issues on an Alabama voter\u2019s mind. Poll after poll has proven this, and done so year after year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You know what\u2019s not so popular in Alabama?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Denying voters the right to vote on gambling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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And sending public school dollars to private businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And repealing the overtime tax exemption.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Again, it\u2019s not a close call. These are some of the most unpopular issues in the history of the state. These are the kinds of issues that get politicians beat, that change the course of political history for parties and states.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And yet \u2026 those first three aren\u2019t getting done. Those second three are. And there doesn\u2019t seem to be, as of yet, an organized effort to hold anyone accountable for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why that is, to be honest, is a bit of a mystery to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Take gambling, for example. It is, without a doubt, one of the most popular issues for voters, particularly the specific issue of voters being presented with a plan to vote on. More than 90 percent of this state believes that voters should have the opportunity to vote up or down on a gaming proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, here we have an issue where an overwhelming percentage of the population is engaged, and there are massive amounts of money available to be used to assist in campaigns. Not only that, but the folks opposing gambling \u2013 a handful of powerful special interest groups \u2013 have provided a very detailed road map for how to threaten and hold accountable lawmakers who dare to vote the other way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Um, why aren\u2019t the gambling folks doing the same?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why are the various gambling groups not joining up, identifying unfriendly lawmakers who have opposed gambling legislation and making sure those lawmakers face very well-financed and well-trained opponents \u2013 either in primaries or general elections?\u00a0<\/p>\n

To some level, I get it. Casino owners in this state have been unfairly portrayed for years as something just short of mob bosses, who are attempting to bring sin to town. So, they have tended to tread lightly, not make too much noise and try to work things behind the scenes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for that to change. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians and the McGregor family are some of the best, most respected business folks we have operating in this state. No one bats an eye when Alfa makes threats or one of the other BCA members puts money behind a candidate challenging an incumbent. It should work the same for the gambling folks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first time a lawmaker loses a seat over gambling \u2013 and a few more face serious challenges \u2013 we\u2019ll get gambling on a ballot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But while the gambling issue has been confusing, the lack of fight over the school voucher issue is downright maddening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All across the country, teachers\u2019 unions and other teachers\u2019 groups have experienced unprecedented success both in fighting vouchers \u2013 that\u2019s what Alabama\u2019s CHOOSE Act really is \u2013 and using the issue to recruit members and generate support for public education.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The once-mighty AEA that used to dominate Alabama politics has instead chosen a different path. One that includes dumping thousands of dollars into the campaign coffers of Republicans in the hopes that they won\u2019t allow for the worst of the money grabs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It has been an abysmal failure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Already, Republicans have tacked another $80 million onto the price tag of this atrocity \u2013 that\u2019s $180 million coming out of the public school budgets for now. And then an untold amount of money \u2013 possibly more than a half-billion dollars when the caps are removed in a couple of years \u2013 being sucked away and handed over to private schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll cost us hundreds of public school teachers. It\u2019ll cost our schools supplies and equipment. It\u2019ll delay repairs. It\u2019ll mean worse schools for the overwhelming majority of Alabama students.<\/p>\n

In every other state, teachers\u2019 groups have rallied against this theft. They\u2019ve knocked it down everywhere it\u2019s been on a ballot. More importantly, they\u2019ve created a scary army of ticked-off public school employees everywhere else that\u2019s blocking the worst of these bills and costing some of the most anti-education politicians their seats.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not in Alabama, though. Here, we\u2019re relying on the people taking the money to not take too much.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Making it all the more intolerable is the fact that the voucher issue could very well be combined with the killing of the overtime tax repeal, thus joining together two of the largest groups of workers \u2013 teachers and hourly workers \u2013 in the state. Such a combo would make the campaigns fighting both all the more formidable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The unions representing workers have not been shy about this fight. They\u2019ve run ads. They\u2019ve held rallies. They\u2019ve put pressure on lawmakers and they\u2019re right now gearing up to make sure a whole bunch of them get challenges in the 2026 election cycle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you want a state government that actually works for you, you\u2019re going to have to demand it. You\u2019re going to have to fight for it. You\u2019re going to have to threaten and intimidate for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because we see what happens when you don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you know what\u2019s very popular in Alabama?\u00a0 Gambling.\u00a0 And public school funding.\u00a0 And the overtime tax exemption.\u00a0 There is no arguing this. These three things are some of the most popular issues on an Alabama voter\u2019s mind. Poll after poll has proven this, and done so year after year.\u00a0 You know what\u2019s not so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":240953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11763],"tags":[12750,13394,1180,13500,11417,25169,6769],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-240952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alabama","tag-alabama","tag-democrats","tag-fight","tag-progress","tag-protest","tag-republicans","tag-youre"],"yoast_head":"\nIf you want a better Alabama, you're going to have to fight for it - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=240952\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"If you want a better Alabama, you're going to have to fight for it - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do you know what\u2019s very popular in Alabama?\u00a0 Gambling.\u00a0 And public school funding.\u00a0 And the overtime tax exemption.\u00a0 There is no arguing this. 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