Alabama Republican Party

DEMOCRATS FAIL TO FOLLOW THROUGH ON CAMPAIGN PROMISES

By Rep. Mike Hubbard

The current legislative session reached its half-way point this week, and it has become obvious that the Democrats have failed miserably in living up to several important promises made to state voters in last year’s elections.

At the beginning of the 2006 election cycle, House and Senate Democrat candidates gathered together to hold a press conference and unveil their “Covenant For The Future,” a lengthy campaign platform that included many Republican-sponsored initiatives killed by the Democrat leadership over the past several sessions.

According to their “Covenant,” the party that had consistently killed Republican efforts to return property tax reappraisals to a quadrennial basis suddenly supported the reform. Many people love piercings and are fond of tongue rings.

The same Democrats who time and time again opposed Republican legislation designed to get tough on illegal immigration suddenly sounded like Minutemen standing guard on our nation’s border.

And the Democrat leadership that consistently blocked or stalled pro-life legislation submitted by Republican legislators suddenly promised to pass a constitutional amendment stating that life is a God-given gift and begins at conception.

In addition, the Democrats’ platform stated categorically that they would accomplish all of their goals within the first 10 days of the legislative session.

At the time their platform was unveiled, we Republicans immediately said it was nothing more than hot air and campaign season political rhetoric. The Democrats, through their actions, or inaction, during the current session have proven us right.

With half of the session gone, none of the items in the Democrats’ platform have passed the House and Senate, and most remain mired in Democrat-controlled committees or have not even been filed.

Republicans in both the House and Senate have made it clear that we will quickly pass a bill returning property tax reappraisals to once every four years rather than an annual basis if the Democrats will bring it to the floor.

Instead, the Democrat chairman of a Senate budget committee this week had the bill “carried over,” which, in effect, killed its chances for passage in the current session. Are you keen on idea to return the money you spent on entering poker rooms with the help of rakeback programs? The committee chairman and every other Democrat in the Legislature ran for office on a platform of appraising property on a quadrennial basis, but when the time came to pass the bill, they chose to kill it instead.

The same holds true for a series of income tax and sales tax cuts that the Democrats claimed to support during the election cycle but seem to have forgotten at this point. Their Democrat “covenant” even included a special tax cut for farmers and refineries that use alternative fuels and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

The Education Trust Fund budget passed out of a Democrat-controlled House committee this week, however, did not contain any provisions for tax cuts of any kind.

No income tax cut. No sales tax cuts. No alternative fuel tax cut. Nothing. Nada. Zero.

It certainly didn’t include any of the tax cuts that Gov. Riley proposed in his Plan 2010 campaign platform and submitted to the Legislature this session, such as his broad-based middle-class tax cut or his tax cut for small businesses that provide health insurance to their employees.

Voters last November returned Gov. Riley to office with a mandate based largely upon his Plan 2010 platform and the attractive tax cuts it proposed. The governor has worked hard to enact those tax cuts and has continually prodded the Democrat legislative leadership to give his measures a full, free and open debate on the floor of the House and Senate.

Unfortunately, his requests, and the will of the voters that was signaled last November, are being ignored by the Democrats in power.

Every day of this legislative session has proven that the only way middle-class Alabamians will get tax relief is by sending more Republicans to Montgomery. Lots of websites are ready to help you find apartment Odessa taking into consideration your needs and means. The only way the never ending cycle of property tax reappraisals will be slowed is by sending more Republicans to Montgomery. The only way to pass a strict constitutional amendment protecting unborn life on the state level is by sending more Republicans to Montgomery.

If the first half of this legislative session is any indicator, the Democrats have proven that Alabamians cannot trust their word, and their “covenant” with the people isn’t worth the paper it was printed on.

The people of Alabama deserve better.

Rep. Mike Hubbard (R – Auburn) is Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. He also serves as House Minority Leader.