Craig Ford: Bentley got his tax increases, but he’s still closing parks and drivers license offices

  As if $86 million in new taxes and an $80 million raid on public education weren’t bad enough, Governor Bentley has now announced that he will close more than thirty drivers license offices as well as some state parks and National Guard armories.

  The governor has spent this entire year trying to convince legislators and the people of Alabama that higher taxes were the only thing that could prevent these closures. The Republican legislature gave the governor the tax increases he wanted, but Bentley is still closing these parks, armories, and most drivers license offices.

Craig Ford: Tax-raising legislator should be ashamed

  It would be an understatement to say that this year has been an odd one for Alabama politics. But nothing surprised me more than when Rep. Paul Lee, a Republican from Dothan, came up to the microphone on the last night of the legislative special session that ended last week and gave a speech where he said that it was “courageous” to raise taxes, and that those who voted against raising taxes “should be ashamed of themselves.”

  Yes. Rep. Paul Lee said it was courageous for him to vote to raise your taxes, and those of us who voted against tax increases should be ashamed of ourselves.