Do you care about poor kids?  Personally care?  Why should you?  Why does a mainstream candidate like John Edwards make eliminating poverty the centerpiece of his presidential campaign?  Why does Devilstower care enough about poor kids to say this:

   [W]e should not pretend that "a program will take your money."  Or "the government will take your money."  This is a democracy, and we are the government.  I will take your money.  I will.  Some of that money you worked hard for and want to keep.  I will give it to a kid who is hungry.  If your concern is that poverty should be addressed by individuals, then there's a simple solution: feed him.  If there are no poor children needing food, I won't have to take anything for them.

Why is it so important for us to reduce poverty and give a helping hand to poor kids in America?  The simple answer is that those kids are our future -- all our futures.

Cross posted from Left in Alabama.

In my digging around on the story of alleged discrimination and union busting by New Era Cap in Mobile, Alabama I noticed that New Era is the exclusive supplier of caps for Major League Baseball and that they have 4 plants in China.  I found out another neat thing: MLB still cares just enough about American workers to require that the caps and uniforms actually worn by MLB players have to be made in the USA.

Cross-posted from Left in Alabama.

There's an interesting situation developing in Huntsville, Alabama involving immigration and wages that illustrates just how complex and multifaceted the immigration issue is.  Cinram is a Canadian company that makes DVDs and distributes them from a plant in Huntsville.  Due to an apparent shortage of local workers willing to work long hours for low wages, the company is importing 1350 workers from Jamaica, Nepal, Ukraine and Bolivia. The particular immigration facet involved is the H-2B guest worker program (for seasonal or temporary nonagricultural workers) which is perfectly legal, but still rubs many Huntsvillians the wrong way.

Cross posted from Left in Alabama, where Fake Consultant suggested the original title -- only a small exaggeration -- that said "criminals" instead of "fat cats."  I changed it here so the discussion doesn't get hijacked into what is and is not criminal.

Something important happened at the Alabama Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Birmingham Friday night.  General Wesley Clark was the keynote speaker, introduced by Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, and there's no question that Clark feels right at home in Alabama.  He spent a lot of time helping Democratic candidates here in 2006 and knows the politics, the people and the politicians quite well -- including former Gov. Don Siegelman.

Cross posted from Left in Alabama.

Cross-posted from Left in Alabama.

Today the AP ran a story speculating that the Alabama Legislature may attempt Congressional redistricting this winter -- in time for the new district lines to be in effect for the November 2008 election. The goal would be to improve Democratic chances in Alabama's 2nd district (an open seat next year) and possibly the 3rd or (more likely) 4th.  There's no guarantee the Democratic controlled legislature can pull this off since it would require a rules change, but I think they would be smart to put it on the table now.

Cross-posted from Left in Alabama.

The Sunday Birmingham News carried an extensive interview with Louis Franklin, the Acting U.S. Attorney in the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.  The gist of it is that the DOJ types in Washington weren't gung ho to pursue the case against Siegelman at all -- it was the prosecutors in Montgomery who were hot to take the case to court.  Mr. Franklin talks about the attorney assigned to the case by Washington, John W. Scott, leaving the distinct impression that Scott dragged his feet on the prosecution, and finally bowed out because he didn't think the case was sound.  

Cross posted from Left in Alabama.

At the Congressional hearing on  "Allegations of Selective Prosecution:  The Erosion of Public Confidence in Our Federal Justice System" yesterday, Congressman Artur Davis mentioned a recent article in Time Magazine reporting that Lanny Young told investigators he made illegal contributions, not only to former Governor Don Siegelman, but to Republicans Jeff Sessions (a U.S. Senator) and Bill Pryor (now a federal judge) as well.  Seemingly, prosecutors weren't interested in hearing about that -- they wanted to hear about Don Siegelman.  Davis asserted this preferential interest in Siegelman wrongdoing indicated selectiveness on the part of the Department of Justice. 

I listened to the entire Joint Hearing on: "Allegations of Selective Prosecution:  The Erosion of Public Confidence in Our Federal Justice System" this morning and did a little liveblog of it.  You can find documents related to the hearing (affidavits, letters, etc.) at this link.

Since I listened to the whole thing, I'd like to share some things that struck me as particularly interesting.  The list is below the fold.

This diary is a plea for support, both spiritual and material, for the Magic City Mission.  Read on if you can offer either one.  

Wade is an Alabama blogger (haiku is his specialty) who is part of the Magic City Mission, a very worthwhile undertaking to help our brothers and sisters in Biloxi and NOLA.    (Cross posted from Left in Alabama.)  

It's been over 2 years since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the levees broke in NOLA and an American city drowned, live on CNN.  You would think in America, the damage would have been repaired by now and life would be getting back to normal in the affected areas.  You would be wrong.

Crossposted from Left in Alabama.

It's pretty clear that some members of the press in Alabama are a little miffed at those (Scott Horton of Harper's, the NYT editorial page, the House Judiciary Committee and others) who have questioned the motivation behind former Governor Don Siegelman's investigation, prosecution and subsequent immediate incarceration.  Would these professional newspaper folks let that irritation dictate the stories they pursue?

Cross-posted from Left in Alabama.

Tuesday afternoon, three women from Madison County, Alabama made the 2 hour drive to Nashville to see Elizabeth Edwards in person. Two of us were already John Edwards supporters and the third was still looking for a presidential candidate.  The event was called Small Change for Big Change and offered a chance for small donors (as little as $15) to hear Elizabeth Edwards and ask her questions.

Because it is a long drive, we left early, had no traffic problems at all and were the first people to show up, as restaurant staff were still setting up and technicians fiddled with the lights and sound system.  After our polite offer to help was declined, we settled into an out of the way corner to enjoy the air conditioning.  Folks who arrived later said they had actually been waiting outdoors in the heat until they were invited to come upstairs.  We were less timid ... since the door was open, we just walked in.

For those of you who missed the Alabama Netroots meet-up in Huntsville yesterday ... well you missed a memorable evening.  I really can't describe it for you. No kidding, I can't, because what's said at the meet-up stays at the meet-up.  Sorry.  But maybe it's ok to share some general observations and a few photos, just to make you jealous.

Note, some of the photos are fuzzy and some of the faces are fuzzy.  It isn't just bad photography.  Some people have jobs and are sensitive about being seen in a political setting.  That's the reality we live in.

Crossposted from Left in Alabama.

The illegal immigration issue is a really tough one, so I was a little surprised to see the Madison County (Alabama) Commission take it up last week.  With only one dissenting vote, the commission adopted a policy that will require vendors to swear, in writing that employees working on county business are in the country legally.  Republican Commissioner Mo Brooks authored the proposal, which would allow the county to check personnel records of contractors to make sure they comply.

[Promoted by DHinMI]

Tomorrow's Meet the Press debate between DLC Chairman Harold Ford, Jr. and kos will spotlight the "old vs. new" Democratic philosophy struggle, with Tim Russert as referee.  In Alabama, a lot of the party faithful still think the DLC hung the moon.  They haven't figured out blogs, get their party information from local party leaders (lots of DLC there) and believe too much of the Republican trash talk about DailyKos and "liberal blogs."  The bulk of this diary is cross posted from one at Left in Alabama, intended to introduce our readers to the real difference between the netroots and the DLC.  It may be interesting to some readers here who want to understand a little more about the current political climate in the South.

Cross-posted from Left In Alabama, with minor changes.

Well, over a hundred thousand of us called, emailed or FAXed (about 60,000 FAXes alone) our Senators yesterday and this morning, urging them to allow an up or down vote on the Levin-Reed amendment that would require the President to redeploy most American troops out of Iraq in 120 days.  In spite of that, only 4 Republicans broke with the President and voted to allow an up or down vote -- the final tally was 52-47, short of the 60 needed to stop debate in the Senate.  Predictably, my two Senators from Alabama, Shelby and Sessions, were among the obstructionists.

In previous posts at Left In Alabama, I pointed out that the price for a photo op with President Bush appears to be trending downward:

2004  $25,000
2006  $10,000
May 2007, New Jersey  $5000
June 15th, 2007 Wichita, Kansas  $4600
What will they get in Mobile?

The short answer is "We will probably never know."

Cross posted at Left In Alabama.
The North Alabama Peace Network organized a protest of George W. Bush's June 21 visit to Huntsville to show that a significant segment of the population here is unhappy with Bush and his policies. I counted about 40 people there, although one of the local TV stations said two dozen. The protest was pretty well recieved by people driving by. We had a few people (even one little old white haired Southern lady) offer a one finger salute, but mostly we got smiles, peace signs, ok signs, and friendly waves. Truck drivers, construction workers, old, young, small car or SUV, there are a lot of Alabamians who don't like Bush anymore. That shouldn't be a surprise; his approval rating is only 41% even here.

Cross posted from Left In Alabama

The Marshall County Democratic Club invited Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks to speak at their June 5 meeting. Knowing that he is considering a run for the U. S Senate against Jeff Sessions, several of us drove over to Guntersville, AL to hear him and meet some of our neighboring Democrats.