In the News      For Media Contacts (click here)
Robert Aderholt
10/09/07 - Greg Warren's statement regarding Aderholt's vote on SCHIP, here
10/06/07 - Marshall County Democrats urged to contact Aderholt to override Bush's veto of SCHIP - Children's health insurance, here
10/5/07 - Groups/unions to target 4th District Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) for his vote against insuring children, here
Update - CAFTA socks it to Aderholt, here
Ongoing - Aderholt and the GOP Culture of Corruption, here
Justice for Sale?
District Judge Liles Burke has a Republican-style shakedown here

Marshall County moves 2 voting sites here

District 4 elects officers here

Will the real America please stand up here

Open letter to Conservatives here

Hispanic Issues here

Good Reading here
Democrats pass
Resolution for Don
MONTGOMERY - March 1, 2008.  The State Democratic Executive Committee overwhelmingly passed the Resolution for Don Siegelman that was presented by member Pam Miles of Madison County.  That same resolution was presented to the Marshall County Democratic Club on Tuesday, March 4.  The members also overwhelmingly passed it.  There is word that "Free Don" bumper stickers are in the works.

To read a copy of the resolution,

Marshall County moves 2 voting sites 
The Marshall County Commission agreed to move an election precinct from the old senior center on Martling Road in the Asbury community to the new senior citizen center about a mile away.  The commission also voted to move the precinct at the old Childress store to a concrete building at 10840 Martling Road about five miles away.  

KNOW THE RULES:
June 2007, the Republican Party in Alabama overwhelmingly passed the following:
Denying Ballot Access - This Committee [i.e., the State Executive Committee] reserves the right to deny ballot access to a candidate for public office if in a prior election that person was a Republican office holder and either publicly participated in the primary election of another political party or publicly supported a nominee of another political party. The provisions of this Rule shall apply for a period of six years after such person so participated.


 
District Judge Liles Burke knows how to shake 'em down

Republican District Judge Liles Burke has kicked off his campaign for election to the position he was appointed to by Governor Bob Riley when Democrat Howard Hawk was elected Circuit Judge.

While Judge Hawk refused any donations to his campaign from lawyers to avoid even the slightest appearance of a conflict of interest, the invitation, right, lists numerous attorneys at various sponsorship levels.  

According to Judge Burke, only three Marshall County attorneys were not on the invite list.:  Bill Chandler, Dalton Chandler and Greg Price, all of whom are members of the Marshall County Democratic Executive Committee.  

Unconfirmed reports are that $30,000 was raised at the event.

Justice for sale, Marshall County style.

-Susan McKenney


 District 4 Committee Elects Officers
Members of the newly formed Alabama Democratic Party 4th Congressional District Committee met in Cullman on Saturday, May 6 to elect officers.  Marshall and DeKalb County District 26 State Democratic Executive Committee member and Albertville attorney Bill Chandler was elected Chairman.  DeKalb County SDEC member and chairwoman of the DeKalb County Democratic Executive Committee Marsha Burke was elected Vice Chair.  Susan McKenney, Chairwoman of the Marshall County Democratic Executive Committee and Club, was selected to serve as Secretary.  Ed Burke, SDEC member of DeKalb County, was chosen as Treasurer.


The Robert Aderholt Diaries 

 SCHIP issues
October 2007
Microsoft Office Word Document


 Democratic Candidate Greg Warren's SCHIP statement click here


Groups/unions to target 4th District Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) for his vote against insuring children
(Courtesy of www.leftinalabama.com)
Links disabled

Will Robert Aderholt desert Bush on SCHIP?
by: mooncat
Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 21:40:14 PM CDT
Congressman Robert Aderholt (R, AL-04) voted against the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) reauthorization act last month. The SCHIP legislation had bi-partisan support and passed 265 to 159 in the House and 67 to 29 in the Senate. George W. Bush vetoed it. Will Robert Aderholt come to his senses and show some compassion for the children of working people, or will he continue to be a rubber stamp for Mr. Bush? We'll know, probably later this month, when the House votes on a measure to override Bush's veto and reauthorize SCHIP no matter what the President says.

Aderholt will be feeling some pressure. Greg Warren, his Democratic opponent, is a healthcare professional, currently working 2 jobs himself and he's vowed to fight "for quality, affordable healthcare for everyone."
Adding to Aderholt's difficulty, Greg Warren is already criticizing Aderholt's vote in favor of CAFTA and vowing to seek community input on the subject of tribal casinos -- translation: Warren would represent the will of his constituents, in contrast to Aderholt's "Father knows best" attitude.
And here's the icing on Robert Aderholt's SCHIP troubles, just announced today:
Leading Groups Announce Major Paid Media and Field Campaign to Override Presidential Veto of Healthcare for 10 Million Kids

AFL-CIO, AFSCME, SEIU, MoveOn.org, Americans United for Change, USAction, and True Majority Launch Multi-Million Dollar Effort to Convince Members of Congress to Vote to Override Bush’s Veto of Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act

Key Republican House Members Targeted in “Campaign to Save Children’s Healthcare” for Their Support of Backwards Bush Policy of “Billions of Dollars for Iraq War, But Veto for Children’s Health Care”
The effort " includes a national television ad campaign, targeted TV ads in key Republican U.S. House districts, and a massive online and grassroots mobilization blitz." According to the press release, SEIU will initially target Aderholt with radio ads in his district. They are also preparing a TV advertising campaign -- see the ad here.
Chuck Loveless, Legislative Director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees said "President Bush has essentially told American kids to drop dead, and we are not going to let that happen."
"It is time for all of us to decide whether we are going to stand up for what’s right, or stand by while sick children are abandoned,” said Anna Burger, International Secretary-Treasurer for SEIU. “Congress must fix what President Bush has broken and override this indefensible veto. If they do not, they will answer to the American people.”
“Children of full-time workers are at great risk of being uninsured, due to the high cost of family coverage in employer-sponsored health plans. Unions face this problem every day in bargaining over health benefits,” said Gerald Shea, said Assistant to the President of the AFL-CIO. “Public coverage through SCHIP is essential to covering all kids. Without it, millions more children of workers would go without health care."
Aderholt is facing a tough choice. Will he continue to support George Bush or choose health insurance for low income children in Alabama?
Discuss :: (2 Comments)


 Aderholt's deciding CAFTA vote betrays DeKalb County sock workers
After the Bush administration explicitly rejected his demands that the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) not include provisions harmful to Alabama’s sock industry, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.-4) dramatically reversed his opposition to the expansion of NAFTA to six countries and became a deciding "yes" vote on CAFTA. Aderholt explained his sudden reversal by stating that Republican leaders had pledged to help the sock industry. These pledges, however, have been shown to be completely unenforceable. Constituents of Aderholt's 4th District are wondering why Representative Aderholt failed to stand up for their interests.

Now, to no one's surprise except maybe Aderholt's, CAFTA is killing jobs in the U.S. sock industry and the promise made to Aderholt remains unfulfilled, and seems like it will remain that way for a while. In the meantime, the jobs they're a-movin':

The Federal Register notice states that of all three sock import categories, Honduras’ imports rose from 6 percent in the year ending June 2006 to 8.3 percent in the year ending June 2007, while U.S. domestic market share in all three categories has fallen from 36.6 percent in the year to date March 2006, to 29.1 percent in year to date March 2007.

 Democratic Candidate Greg Warren vows to put welfare of District 4 above all else
October 9, 2006
Is Alabama's current representative from the Fourth Congressional District actually representing his district or is he representing President Bush?  Yet again your current Representative has voted against helping his own constituents to fall in line with the Bush Administration.  The latest being his vote in opposition of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) reauthorization act.  This bill would have provided an additional $35 billion for SCHIP - $30 billion more than Bush wanted.  This legislation would reauthorize coverage for 6.6 million children and extend the program to 4 million more.  This program has significantly affected the health status of children from low-income families.  As before with his deciding vote for CAFTA (which has cost his district numerous jobs) your current Representative has again come up with his excuses for turning his back on the needs of his constituents to be President Bush's "rubber stamp".  Your current Representative had rather tell you what you need and what is good for you instead of the job that he was elected to which is represent you and your needs.  I strongly support programs that help the citizens of our district, and SCHIP is a good example.  When elected, I will put your welfare and that of our district above all else.  It is time for real representation for Alabama's Fourth Congressional District.
- Greg Warren
Greg Warren for Congress
4184 Nauvoo Road
Nauvoo AL35578
gregwarren4congress@yahoo.com
www.gregwarrenforcongress.com



 Hispanic Issues
November 28, 2006
Zogby/Hispanic PR Wire Poll: U.S. Hispanic Voters Abandon GOP
Heated debate over immigration earlier this year may have soured some
Hispanic American voters on the Republican Party; Top Hispanic concerns mirror those of nation at large
         Just two years after 40% of Hispanic Americans voted for Republican President George W. Bush
Barely one in five Hispanic voters  23%  said they felt the Republican Party understands them best, compared to 56% who said they think Democrats know them better, the new survey shows.
        The Zogby/Hispanic PR Wire poll, conducted Nov. 1720, 2006, included 903 respondents, 737 of which were voters in the Nov. 7 general election. The poll carries a margin of error of +/ 3.7 percentage points.
Even among Hispanics who said they were themselves Republicans, just 76% said they thought the GOP understood them best. Another 8% said the Libertarian Party best understood them, 7% thought Democrats knew them better, while 10% of Republicans said that either another party better understood them, or that they were unsure. Among Democratic Hispanics, 83% said their own party better understood them, while 4% said Republicans understood them best. Another 7% of Democrats said other minor parties had the best understanding of them, while 7% were uncertain.
      Asked which political party is best equipped to manage a handful of important issues, Hispanics who said they had voted in the recent congressional midterm elections favored Democrats on each by wide margins, including immigration, where 49% said Democrats were better equipped to manage the issue, compared to 26% who favored the Republicans.
      The longer the respondent's family had been in America, the more likely they were to support Democrats over Republicans on the issue, the survey showed. While 43% of those not born in the U.S. said Democrats were better equipped, 56% of those who were fourthgeneration Americans or greater favored Democrats, suggesting that the more familiar Hispanic voters were with Republican policies, the less they liked them.
      Immigration was at the center of a heated debate in Congress earlier this year that split the Republican Party over how to deal with the U.S. southern border and immigrants who had entered the country illegally. Some Republicans backed plans that would have dealt harshly with such illegal immigrants, most of them Hispanic.
Which Political Party is Better Equipped to Deal With . . .
Immigration
Health Care
Iraq War
Education
Terrorism & Security
Representing Your Values
Democrats
49%
66%
57%
62%
45%
54%
Republicans
26%
21%
26%
23%
34%
28%
Neither
20%
10%
15%
11%
16%
15%
Not Sure
5%
3%
3%
4%
5%
4%
     The Zogby/Hispanic PR Wire survey also asked a broader pool of respondents including both Hispanic voters and nonvoters which issues they believed were most important to the nation, where a significant majority cited the Iraq war as the dominant issue.
     While 60% said the Iraq war was one of the two most important issues, 25% cited jobs and the economy as a top concern. Terrorism was mentioned by 15%, while 13% said dealing with the illegal immigration problem was a top concern. As with nonHispanics across the nation, Democratic Hispanics were more likely than Republican Hispanics to say the Iraq war was a top concern.

 An interesting commentary... still worth reading even after the election
Will the real America please stand up?
Ever since Bush was reelected, it's felt like someone switched countries on us when we weren't looking. On Tuesday, we have the chance to start taking it back.
by Gary Kamiya
Salon.com
Nov. 07, 2006
   If the Democrats don't grind the Republicans into the political dust Tuesday, I'm moving to Transylvania. I really don't want to spend my waning years in Karl Rove's remake of "Night of the Living Dead," a doomed member of the reality-based community besieged by hordes of flesh-craving zombies. I'd rather take my chances in the land of Vlad the Impaler.
   It may seem harsh to accuse those who plan to vote for the GOP of being uncoordinated, shuffling cannibals who won't stay dead. But it's difficult to come up with any other explanation. Because this election, in the immortal words of Dick "waterboarding in defense of liberty is no vice" Cheney, is a no-brainer.
   Let us review our choices. In one corner, we have the worst president in American history, a feckless know-nothing whose résumé includes launching a disastrous war for no reason, illegally spying on Americans, trashing the ancient writ of habeas corpus, ignoring the catastrophe of global warming, running up a ruinous national debt, pouring billions into the pockets of the super-rich, severely weakening the military, doing a heck of a job in New Orleans, and making America more hated abroad than at any other time in its history.
   In the other corner ... well, actually, who even cares who's in the other corner? Unless the Democrats were Satan himself and his minions, the choice would be obvious. Come to think of it, even then it'd be an easy call. After all, say what you will about the devil, he knows how to get things done. With Lucifer at the helm, the Brownies, Rummies, Wolfies, Bremers, Tenets and other colossal Bush administration failures would not be praised, given Presidential Freedom Medals and sent off to head the World Bank. They'd be basted with jalapeño butter and roasted slowly (actually, eternally) on a mesquite grill.
   So anything short of a major GOP defeat will raise serious questions not just about the American people's political beliefs but their sentience and even their species. It is true that certain animals have been known to engage in self-destructive behavior, but a Republican victory in the midterms would go well beyond all previously recorded examples and could force scientists to consider the possibility that many apparent humans in North America are, in reality, disguised ferns or other biological anomalies.
Since that is unlikely, a Democratic landslide would seem to be all but certain. But there's one little problem: the 2004 election, an event that cast more doubt on the theory of evolution than a million Bible-thumping sermons.
   Just two years ago, Americans went dutifully to the polls, closed the curtains, and in the sacred privacy of the booth voted for ... four more years of the same idiot who had already surpassed such luminaries as Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan and Warren G. Harding to establish himself as the biggest dodo ever to sit in the Oval Office.
If they did it once, could they do it again? Even though these are the midterms, and Bush is on the ballot only symbolically, the possibility seems insane. But it seemed insane two years ago, too.
   It's true that 9/11 was a serious anomaly, a massive thumb on the political scales. The 2004 elections can't be understood without understanding that people do weird things after they've been mugged, especially if they don't know who mugged them. And it's also true that in 2004 Iraq had not yet descended into total hell, and Katrina had not yet swept away the idea that Bush might possess some minimal competence. Nonetheless, by November 2004, it was amply clear that Bush was an unmitigated disaster.
   It was already obvious that Bush's administration had lied its way into Iraq. And the war had turned irrevocably south. The dual uprisings in Najaf and Fallujah had made a mockery of the administration's claims that the insurgents were just a few Baath Party "dead-enders" or foreign jihadis. The appalling Abu Ghraib story had broken. The Middle East was melting down. Osama bin Laden was still at large, and the Taliban were creeping back in Afghanistan. At home, Bush's invasion of Iraq and the Machiavellian tactics of his political mastermind, Karl Rove, had left the country more bitterly divided than at any time since World War II. Domestic initiatives? Besides huge tax cuts for the rich, an easy-for-Leonardo Medicare reform and some desultory gay-bashing aimed at the GOP's troglodytic base, zilch.
   And on the second day of November the American people looked upon what Bush had done, and they said it was good.
Bush's reelection was the most depressing political event in the postwar era. It was close, but that only made it more painful. Most of the people I know still haven't gotten over it. We felt like some perverse deity had switched countries on us when we weren't looking. And we were filled with deep anger not just at Bush but also at those Americans who reelected him.
   You can deal with loathsome politicians. It's not so easy to confront the fact that a majority of your fellow citizens voted for them.
Despair over, or contempt for, one's fellow Americans is one of those subjects that journalists avoid airing in public. Like politicians, journalists are loath to ever publicly criticize the American people, no matter what they do. The days when H.L. Mencken would savage the "booboisie" for being stupid and gullible are long gone. And so after the election, few liberal commentators expressed outrage at what their fellow citizens had wrought. Instead, many pundits spilled rivers of ink about why it was the Democrats' fault. Kerry should have talked more about morality. Liberals weren't religious enough. A consensus developed that Bush won the election because solid, God-fearing Middle Americans rejected the secular, elitist values of smug, latte-sipping liberals.
   This conventional wisdom may have contained a grain of truth, but it was mostly wrong. The 2004 election wasn't primarily about family values, heartland virtues or Christ-denying coastal elites. Bush won by using the tried-and-true techniques of right-wing hacks everywhere -- fear mongering, accusing his opponent of being a traitorous wimp, and waving the flag. It was patriotic dog food -- and the disheartening point is that more Americans lapped it up than didn't.
   Elections hold a mirror up to a society. And the reflection we've been looking at for the past six years is a scary, Elephant Man-like visage.
So for a lot of us, there's more at stake in Tuesday's elections than simply whether the Democrats will take control of the House or the Senate. It's a question of national identity, of finding out who we are -- and if we're a "we" at all. For six years, we've been waiting for the America we thought we knew to come back. And now, as we wait for the spinning windows in the great democratic slot machine to stop, we're torn between hope that it'll display the country we thought we knew, and fear that it'll show something else.
   We thought America was conservative enough not to trash its most cherished traditions just because of one terrorist attack. We thought America was liberal enough to try to understand why others might hate us, not just to lash out self-righteously. We thought America was wise enough not to start an unprovoked, immoral and highly risky war. We thought America had enough self-respect not to let itself be ordered around by a shameless, lying bully.
   We were proved wrong. But we haven't given up. Now our hopes are more modest. Now we're simply hoping that those of our fellow citizens who let us down so badly two years ago throw the bums out. That good old American common sense will prevail. In short, that we haven't completely lost it.
   This is no time for false optimism. Even if the Democrats clean up, it won't be clear how much the country has really learned about the Bush administration or its ruinous "war on terror." The education of the American people has been more pragmatic than profound; more like a cat burned on a hot stove than a Socratic dialogue. People have not turned against the Iraq war because they have learned about how U.S. Mideast policies feed Arab and Muslim rage, or have come to question the morality of preventive war, or the limits of even America's vast military power. They have turned against it because they know it's not working, and they know they were lied into it.
   That's a start, but it's a long way from wisdom. It leaves unexplored the assumptions, and the knee-jerk emotional reactions, that allowed the war to happen. So whether the Democratic Party wins Tuesday or not, its politicians need to begin educating the American people -- and educating itself. America must never again find itself in a situation where a demagogic president, surrounded by ideological zealots, can use the emotional response to an attack on U.S. soil to push through an unplanned and unjustified war. The Democrats, so intimidated they have not even challenged the very idea of a "war on terror," bear as much blame as the American people do for allowing this to happen, and they have to understand why and make sure it doesn't happen again.
   This isn't just about controlling Congress, or eventually winning back the White House. The stakes are much higher. It's about what kind of country we want to be. A country of laws, not men. A country that doesn't spy on its citizens, or create secret prisons, or torture people. A country whose media has the guts to stand up to a mendacious administration even in times of war hysteria. A country that will not allow powerful wrongdoers to hide behind a cloak of secrecy. A country that cares about its poor and its minorities. A country that wants to be a good neighbor to the world, not dominate it. A country that has a soul, not just a flag.
   Are we still that country? Were we ever that country? And can we learn to become it? On Tuesday, we'll get some answers.
   And if we don't like what we hear, Transylvania is supposed to be beautiful this winter.
-- By Gary Kamiya

 OPEN LETTER TO CONSERVATIVES

Dear dismayed conservatives:

I hereby make these promises to you.

We will protect your lives and livelihoods.

We will listen to and respect your beliefs.

We will never try to force you to change your religion, sexual orientation, or first language.

We will do our best to reduce the number of abortions in our country.

We will have no tolerance for corruption and cronyism, even in our own party.

ESPECIALLY in our own party.

We will never tell you that you are unpatriotic.

We will never tell you that your opinion doesn't count.

We will never waste your lives for power.
We will hold our leaders to a high ethical standard and when they succumb to lust for power, WE WILL HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE.

If we forget this, please, please, please, remind us.

We need you to do this. You are America as much as we are.
Let's go.

Laura Taylor


Things You Have to Believe to Be a Republican 
We don't usually publish pass around e-mails, but this one makes some sense - with some of our own edits and modifications.
* Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.
* Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.
* The United States should get out of the United Nations, but our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.
* A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.
* The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.
* If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.
* A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.
* Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism.
* HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart, as do oil companies.
* Global warming is junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.
* A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.
* Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.
* The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's military records, druge use and driving record is none of our business.
* Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for recovery.
* What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the 1970s and '80s is irrelevant.
Feel free to pass this on. If you don't send it to at least 10 other people, we're likely to be stuck with more Republicans in '06 and '08. Friends no longer let friends vote Republican.

 
MEDIA CONTACTS
This may be useful information for anyone who would like to complain or even compliment network news programs. It is amazing how few people give feed back to the networks about their programming and reporting.

LOCAL TV
WAAY 256-536-3131
WHNT 256-533-1919
WAFF 256-533-4848

NETWORKS
ABC- 212-456-4040
CBS 212-975-3691
NBC 212-664-4971
Fox 212-301-3300
CNN 404-827-1511
NPR 202-513-3232
PBS 703-998-2150
MSNBC 201-583-5222
NY Times 212-556-1234
Write a Letter to the Editor
AREA NEWSPAPERS
Advertiser-Gleam
P.O. Box 190
Guntersville  AL 35976
256-582-3232
e-mail:  news@advertisergleam.com
250 words or less
----------------------------------
Arab Tribune
P.O. Box 605
Arab  AL 35016
Fax:  256-586-3190
e-mail:  tribnews@otelco.net
350 words or less
----------------------------------Cullman Times
300 4th Ave. SE
Cullman AL 35055
fax: 256-737-1006
----------------------------------
Decatur Daily
P.O. Box 2213
Decatur AL 35609
e-mail:  editor@decaturdaily.com
300 words or less
----------------------------------

Letters to the Editor
The Huntsville Times
P.O. Box 1487
Huntsville AL 35807
e-mail:  letters@htimes.com
fax:  256-532-4420
250 words or less
----------------------------------------
Redstone Rocket
Bldg. 5300   Rm. 5144
Redstone Arsenal  AL  35898
contact:  Skip Vaughn
e-mail: skip.vaughn@redstone.army.mil
----------------------------------------
The Sand Mountain Reporter
P.O. Box 1729
Albertville  AL  35950
email:  jfelkins@sandmountainreporter.com
One typewritten page
---------------------------------------
Scottsboro Daily Sentinel
Letters to the Editor
P.O. Box 220
Scottsboro AL 35768
fax: 256-259-2709
on line:http://thedailysentinel.com/letter.lasso
200 words or less
----------------------------------------
Speakin' Out News
115 Wholesale Ave.
Huntsville AL 35811
----------------------------------------






 
Just how tangled up in the
GOP Culture of Corruption is Robert Aderholt?
Reprinted from:  http://www.dccc.org/houseofscandal/members/RobertAderholtAL-4.html
Robert Aderholt has taken $19,571 from Tom DeLay's ARMPAC. No surprise that Aderholt voted with Tom DeLay 94% of the time between Jan. 1 2004 and March 31 2005.
Is this the kind of government-for-hire that working families deserve?

Robert Aderholt voted to weaken the ethics rules in a move that many say served only to protect Tom DeLay.
Does the integrity of the House mean so little that Robert Aderholt would sacrifice it to defend Tom DeLay?

When Republicans realized it was "impossible to win the communications battle" over the gutted ethics rules, Aderholt flip-flopped and voted to put the old rules back into place.
So Robert Aderholt cares about the integrity of the House after all -- when cable news is covering it.

When Democrats offered a solution to clean up the House by strengthening ethics rules, Robert Aderholt voted twice to make sure it never even came to an up or down vote.
So instead of a bipartisan effort to get government working for Americans, Robert Aderholt stood for cronyism and partisan politics.

Robert Aderholt voted to allow Tom DeLay to continue serving as Leader even if he is indicted.
Is Tom DeLay's behavior the kind of leadership that should be REWARDED, not punished?

Tom DeLay has been admonished three times for his unethical behavior, yet Robert Aderholt gave DeLay's legal fund $1,000 to help defend him.
Isn't that the definition of cronyism?

 1
Contributions from ARMPAC:
$19,571
 2
Voting percentage with DeLay:
calculated through: www.cq.com
94%
 3
Vote to weaken ethics rules:
H Res. 5, Roll Call #6, 1/4/05
YES
 4
Vote to repeal weakened ethics rules:
H Res. 241, Roll Call #145, 4/27/05
YES
 5
Votes to table Democratic solution:
H. Res. 153, Roll Call #70, 3/15/05
H. Res. 213, Roll Call #106, 4/14/05
YES, YES
 6
Closed door indictment rule vote:
YES
 7
Donations to DeLay's Legal Defense Fund:
$1,000
Just how close is Aderholt to scandal-plagued Tom Delay?
Reprinted with permission from The Public Campaign Action Fund at http://www.pcactionfund.org/delayspocket/

Rank
Full Name
State
District
Party
$ From DeLay
$ to DeLay
(legal defense fund)
Vote %
DeLay Rankings
(ARMPAC)
Campaign
1
Bob Beauprez
CO
7
R
$30,000
$0
$1,000
95.81%
8.92
1
Mike Rogers
AL
3
R
$30,000
$0
$5,000
95.88%
8.92
1
Jim Ryun
KS
2
R
$31,777
$1,000
$1,000
95.86%
8.92
4
Robin Hayes
NC
8
R
$47,722
$1,000
$1,000
94.80%
8.90
5
Robert B Aderholt
AL
4
R
$19,571
$1,000
$1,000
93.82%
8.88
5
Henry Bonilla
TX
23
R
$22,942
$1,000
$15,000
94.01%
8.88
7
Tom Tancredo
CO
6
R
$28,439
$3,000
$1,000
92.28%
8.85
8
Mark Green
WI
8
R
$29,414
$1,000
$1,000
90.59%
8.81
8
Jon Porter
NV
3
R
$35,000
$2,000
$5,000
90.67%
8.81
10
Jim Gerlach
PA
6
R
$30,000
$0
$2,000
88.90%
8.78
11
Chris Chocola
IN
2
R
$40,000
$0
$2,500
97.18%
8.44
12
Eric Cantor
VA
7
R
$15,000
$0
$1,000
98.41%
7.97
12
John Carter
TX
31
R
$20,000
$0
$5,000
98.64%
7.97
14
Todd Akin
MO
2
R
$15,000
$1,000
$1,000
97.06%
7.94
14
Tom Feeney
FL
24
R
$10,000
$0
$5,000
96.95%
7.94
14
Phil Gingrey
GA
11
R
$25,000
$0
$5,000
96.92%
7.94
14
Mike Pence
IN
6
R
$19,865
$1,000
$1,000
96.92%
7.94
14
Pete Sessions
TX
32
R
$21,644
$0
$5,000
96.84%
7.94
19
Jo Bonner
AL
1
R
$10,000
$0
$5,000
96.61%
7.93
19
Tom Cole
OK
4
R
$15,000
$0
$5,000
96.57%
7.93
21
J D Hayworth
AZ
5
R
$15,765
$3,000
$1,000
95.00%
7.90
21
Charles Pickering Jr
MS
3
R
$11,565
$1,000
$1,000
94.92%
7.90
21
Dave Weldon
FL
15
R
$13,569
$0
$6,000
94.84%
7.90
24
Anne M Northup
KY
3
R
$42,701
$4,000
$0
94.36%
7.89
25
Paul Ryan
WI
1
R
$25,390
$2,000
$1,000
92.26%
7.85
Produced by the Public Campaign Action Fund, a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization.
Just for fun
We decided to see how much former Marshall County Republican Chairman Jason Upton donated to Robert Aderholt in the last election cycle by visiting www.tray.com and click on "Donor Name Lookup" under "Donors", type in "Upton, Jason" in the search box, then choose the "2004 Election Cycle", and click "Search". By coincidence it was the same amount that Congressman Aderholt donated to DeLay's Legal Defense Fund.

Upton, Jason
10/19/2004
$1,000.00
Guntersville, AL 35976
Pizza Palz Inc/Owner
[Contribution]
ROBERT ADERHOLT FOR CONGRESS

Did Aderholt Stand Firm with Marshall County
When He Voted to Pass CAFTA? 
CAFTA -- BUSINESS LOBBYISTS HAVE SWEETENED LAWMAKERS' CAMPAIGN FUNDS: In late July 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) by a slim two-vote margin.  Voting on the bill was held open for almost two hours as right-wing lawmakers twisted arms to pass a bill for which President Bush had lobbied strongly. At the time it appeared lawmakers were given specially-earmarked pork projects in return for a 'yes' vote. Public Citizen reports that, approximately eight months after CAFTA's passage, the handful of representatives whose votes led to its narrow passage -- the so-called CAFTA 30 -- have received a total of $2.8 million in corporate campaign cash. Among the group's findings are that "many of the CAFTA 30 were among the top recipients of contributions from the PAC headed by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay" and that "CAFTA 30 representatives have also received funds from sources connected to the GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff."


Bushisms - Marshall County Style 

From a September 2005 email message sent by Marshall County GOP chair Jason Upton (we added the emphasis):

“Please see the attached file which breaks down the funding for each of the 5 school systems in Marshall County. It also reveals the revenue per child spent for each system.
I have verified this information to be accurate.
This is meant to help you decide on the issue’s facing not only the county system but each city system as well.
An educated electric is a powerful force for change.
Jason Upton
Chairman
Marshall County Republican Party”

Good Reading 
Stay informed - read.  Between the Bookends Bookstore, Highway 231, Arab in the Northgate Shopping Center keeps an outstanding selection of political books in stock.  Special orders welcome.  Owner Cliff Griggs is a member of the Marshall County Democratic Club.  Some recommended selections: