Senator Beason--R on the Legislative Pay Raise "I think the issue is over..."

The Alabama GOP made a frequent target of the 2007 pay raise during the 2010 elections and their "Handshake With Alabama" campaign to help them sweep the legislature. Now that they have reeled in the power, only five legislators have refused the 62% increase.

There have been numerous editorials in the statewide press on this issue challenging the republicans to walk the walk of fiscal responsibility, and at minimum, accept the same 15% proration that the state General Fund is under--but they refuse to listen to the voters.

Senator Beason seems 'amused' by the reporting declaring the sources to be "liberal news media" and having this to say about it on a morning radio interview April 11th:

"I think it's kind of funny myself."

Alabamians of both political stripes don't seem amused by it Senator Jock Ass. And you have a nerve assuming only liberals are against the pay raise. As it stands, you hand-shakers are experiencing a luxury the citizens are not--an increase in pay with no increase in time worked.

Most of you legislators have other jobs and don't depend on your legislative pay to exist, but to hear you crow about it Senator Beason, if you had not gotten it, Alabama would have reverted back to the dark days of members on the dole of special interests:

"There are some people who want to go back to the old days when members were subsidized by special interest groups, and *they called on the members when they needed a vote. We need to leave those days in the past."  

Campaign Finance Reports seem to suggest that all of you are beholden to those same special interest groups that heavily funded all of your campaigns. Did they contribute the money because they like your hair? No, they gave because *they are expecting favors from the legislature. Those days aren't in the past by a long shot and your claims that they are is nothing more than self-serving, disingenuous spin.

House Speaker Mike Hubbard--R has the art of spin down pat himself offering a trundling response on this issue that would make a whirlybird envious:

"We never promised we would roll back the pay raise when we were running. We simply said we disagreed with the process by which it was passed," said House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn.

It's incredulous to us that the Alabama legislature thinks it's fair to go to work 2-3 days a week, on a part-time job, and get a pay increase when so many on this state are out of jobs themselves. Adding insult to injury, the pay raise kicks in when additional layoffs and deep cuts in state agencies were announced.

You Alabama republicans bashed your democratic counterparts for passing the pay raise and now that you have a chance to walk the walk, you're leaving the table of discussion and laughing about it all the way to the pay window.

We agree that your job is a big responsibility, but it's still a part-time job that pays more than the average yearly median income for most Alabamians, and in our opinions, you don't deserve it. But you are all stubbornly steadfast in your misguided collective belief that you are somehow entitled to it.

In the "Handshake With Alabama" proposal Senator Jabo Waggoner said this:
“We are asking the citizens of Alabama to judge us not only by what we say, but also by
what we, as Republicans, do if given a majority.” 

Be careful what you fish for legislators. 

Because you just might catch it. 

So Say We The Opinion Board Of The Vincent Alabama Confidential 

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