Opinion & Policy

  We are now some 60 days from the fall general elections. Alabama voters will start seeing  a slew of campaign advertisements hit the airwaves, billboards and mailboxes. The ballot will be long with lots of candidates and 10 amendments for voters to consider. While some voters may pass on consideration of the amendments, it is important…

    Book review by Jim Zeigler   I am going to give a high compliment to the new book by Dr. Karl Stegall,  “An Amazing Alabama: A county-by-county journey around the great state of Alabama,” which is like something I would have written myself. Stegall, a retired longtime Methodist minister, got the idea for narrating a…

Government was never intended to save people from their own decisions. The duty of government is to protect citizens from criminals, foreign invaders and those who would intentionally harm “we the people.” It is not the duty of government to protect people from themselves. When individuals give government the power to solve personal problems, they…

  If children in Alabama could vote, perhaps their voices would be heard. Maybe they could get the attention of our state’s leaders in all 67 counties. Just maybe they would have a better report than the state recently received – forty-sixth (46) overall in the well-being of our children. That’s according to the Annie…

  There are many things happening in our county, state and nation, but I want to start on another topic that has been happening too much lately. In the last 21 months, many people in my life have lost loved ones – spouses, parents, children, friends, and other family members. And, each one suffers and…

Op-Ed by Secretary of State Steve Merrill   When discussing voting rights, some individuals and special interest groups focus on the Alabama of 1962, but they never acknowledge the Alabama of 2022 and the great progress we have made in our state. They attempt to use our state’s troubled past as justification for their present…

  My mom and dad always told me that life was not fair. Growing up I complained about things like what boys could do that girls couldn’t or weren’t “supposed to” do. Boys could play cowboys and Indians, war, baseball, the drums, and they could pee standing up! Girls were supposed to play with Barbie…

Thomas Sowell; the author, economist, political commentator, and social theorist; once stated that “you cannot subsidize irresponsibility and expect people to become more responsible.” Back when I was an undergrad student, I had a buddy who applied, and was approved, for student loans, and he partied like a rock star. Every time he ran low…

  The United States has been suffering through the pandemic, inflation and a spike in violent crime. One of the other major issues that has challenged this country has been the supply chain problems with delivering products across the nation. The good news is Alabama is now earning the reputation as one of the go-to states…

  Neither of my parents had college degrees, but they worked their entire adult lives to ensure my brothers and I did. It was important to my parents, and it was part of their American Dream, and they achieved it without a single dime from the government. My parents paid for one of my degrees,…