Trump’s proposed defense budget will not support U.S. national security

  Released in May, President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2018 defense budget increases funding for the U.S. Department of Defense while cutting funding for other critical programs in the discretionary budget. In analyzing whether the proposed budget truly enhances national security, however, it is important to keep the following three ideas in mind.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: A tough mountain to climb for eventual GOP nominee

  The 2016 presidential election has not only begun, it is well under way. Running for president is now a lengthy process that spans the entire four-year presidential term. The race essentially begins the day a president is sworn into office. Aspirants begin jockeying for the brass ring of American politics the next day and the marathon begins. It becomes exponentially more intriguing when there is no incumbent in the fray as will be the case in 2016.

Sheldon Richman: The ominous Republican hold on Congress

  As we face the new year, the biggest concern for peace lovers is Republican control of the U.S. Senate. While Republican votes don’t reach the key number 60, members of the GOP will still be in a strong position to push their belligerent global agenda.

  I don’t mean to overstate the danger. After all, the Democrats were hardly better. But those who abhor war will awaken each day knowing that hawkish Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, and their ilk are in control.

Addressing the gaps in Syria policy in the fight against ISIS

  With the expansion of air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, into Syria in September, President Barack Obama exposed himself to a new round of criticism from armchair commanders at home and abroad. It is time for the Obama administration to clarify the Syria component of its strategy to combat ISIS.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The year of the quitter

  The year 2013 could be called the year of the quitter in Alabama politics. We have seen some high profile and significant political resignations during the year.

  The parade of departures began with 1st District Congressman Jo Bonner. He served 10 years as the coastal Mobile/Baldwin Counties’ representative in Washington. He left Congress and doubled his congressional pay to take a position with the University of Alabama system.

Our Stand: Roby unfit to represent 2nd District… or anyone else

  Alabama U.S. Representative Martha Roby (District 2) has made a political life of contradictions and unabashed hypocrisy. She routinely bemoans government spending yet gloats without shame whenever she secures more government spending for her district. Roby incessantly condemns so-called “redistribution of wealth” and yet is an unapologetic cheerleader for farm subsidies (agricultural welfare). She is quick to bash “government interference” in our daily lives, but she’s more than happy to support measures that facilitate interference (assaulting women’s reproductive rights for example) when it suits her personal agenda.

  But a recent appearance at a Wetumpka Tea Party function proves without question that she should not be representing anyone through elected office.