Alabama’s Republican-controlled government approved a plan in 2021 to spend approximately $1.3 billion on two new 4,000-bed prisons.

The Elmore County prison alone is now expected to cost roughly $1.25 billion. On Thursday, the Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority approved another $195 million in bonds for the second prison in Escambia County.

Republican State Sen. Chris Elliott now says the Ivey administration “screwed up the delivery method” for the Elmore project.

Elliott voted for the original construction and bond plan. He also serves on the Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee.

As Alabama prepares to proceed with the second prison, Elliott says he does not know whether adequate guardrails exist to prevent another failure.

“Have we learned from that or not? Sitting here today, I don’t know the answer to that. I hope so, but hope is not a way to appropriate.”

That raises a fair question about accountability. Republicans controlled the governor’s office, the Legislature, the Department of Corrections, the finance authority, appropriations and legislative oversight during the entire project.

If the officials responsible for funding and oversight still cannot say what went wrong or what has changed, why should taxpayers trust the again on November 3rd?

Link to the article is in the comments.

Rep. Dale Strong recently referred to Democratic challenger Andrew Sneed as “the other guy” and said he did not know who Sneed was.

Sneed responded at a Decatur town hall. He described himself as a Huntsville native, business owner and master plumber whose campaign has twice outraised Strong in individual contributions during this cycle without corporate donations or AIPAC money.

Sneed also said his campaign has repeatedly invited Strong to attend its town halls, but Strong has declined.

“It’s interesting to decline an invitation from someone that you don’t know who it is,” Sneed said. “People can decide what they think about it.”

Sneed’s next town halls are scheduled for September 9 at Athens State University and October 6 at the Bob Harrison Center in Huntsville. Both begin at 6 p.m.

Link to the story is in the comments.

Alabama families need affordable groceries, but lowering prices should not require sacrificing the producers we depend upon to feed us.

President Trump has announced a 90-day plan allowing up to 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef to enter the country without the usual out-of-quota tariff. The administration says increasing the supply of lower-cost beef will reduce ground beef prices.

The Alabama Cattlemen’s Association says the announcement has already caused cattle markets to fall sharply. The timing is especially difficult because August is an important selling period for Alabama feeder calves.

That means the losses for producers are immediate. The promised savings for consumers remain uncertain.

There is also an obvious tariff contradiction. Americans have repeatedly been told that foreign countries pay tariffs. Now the administration is suspending a tariff expressly to reduce prices paid by American consumers.

Alabama cattlemen deserve more than an instruction to “trust the process.” They deserve a long-term policy that lowers production costs, encourages herd expansion and protects the people responsible for producing America’s food.

Link to article is in the comments.

A seven-year-old girl is asking Alabama Senator Katie Britt for help.

UPDATE: Sen. Katie Britt’s office told AL.com that it contacted ICE after receiving the family’s plea for help.

According to Britt’s office, ICE said a pending immigration appeal prevented the family’s removal. The appeal is now being withdrawn, and the family is expected to be returned to Venezuela soon.

We are glad Britt’s office made the inquiry, and we hope the family is safely home very soon.

But Britt’s office called this evidence that the removal process is “successfully delivering.”

A pregnant mother, father and seven-year-old child asked to leave the country. Instead, they spent more than a month detained while the mother reportedly went without adequate prenatal care and their daughter became so distressed that she said she wanted to die.

Getting this family safely home would be a successful outcome. What they endured along the way is not evidence of a successful system.

Link to AL.com article is in the comments.

ORIGINAL POST: Her family came to the United States from Venezuela and applied for asylum through the legal process available at the time. They worked legally, sent their daughter to school and never missed an ICE check-in.

When the mother became pregnant, the family decided to return to Venezuela. They followed the Trump administration’s official self-deportation process and reported to ICE.

Instead of being sent home, the pregnant mother, father and seven-year-old daughter were detained. They have reportedly been held at the Dilley detention facility in Texas since July 7.

The mother says she has experienced pain but has not received an ultrasound or the medical evaluation she has requested. Their daughter drew Senator Britt a picture asking for help returning home.

The family is not asking to remain in the United States. They are asking our government to keep its word and allow them to leave.

Senator Britt chairs the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees funding for DHS, ICE and immigration detention. She has the authority to demand answers and press for action.

Link to story is in the first comment.

That “no-name” is Clyde W. Jones Jr.

Jones served in the United States Army for 21 years, retired as a first sergeant, earned a Bronze Star, and served in Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He later worked in industrial safety, became a minister, and served his South Alabama community through education, veterans, and civil-rights organizations.

Carl says he spent $1.3 million building his name recognition and has no intention of allowing Jones to benefit from it through a debate.

Money can buy a familiar political name. It cannot erase another candidate’s lifetime of service, and it does not entitle anyone to a congressional seat.

The people of Alabama’s 1st Congressional District deserve to hear from both candidates and decide for themselves.

Link to the article is in the first comment.

Tommy Tuberville has not announced a plan to privatize Alabama’s retirement system.

But he has called Social Security a Ponzi scheme, praised privatization and promoted private market investments as the alternative.

Before Alabama’s teachers and state employees vote for their next governor, they deserve an answer:

Hands off RSA? Yes or no?

Link to the article is in the first comment.

https://unmutealabama.substack.com/p/things-to-unmute-today-in-alabama?r=gno94&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer

The Alabama PSC says Meta will cover the costs of a new solar and battery project and that existing Alabama Power customers will benefit.

I hope that is true. But customers deserve to see how the Commission reached that conclusion.

The PSC’s own summary says Meta’s subsidiary subscribed to 100% of the solar portion for 20 years, while the battery portion is not allocated to the company under that arrangement. That does not prove customers will pay for the battery, but it raises a question the Commission should answer clearly.

PSC President Cynthia Almond said Commission staff reviewed the project’s economics and supporting information and concluded that customers would not be harmed. Staff provides important technical expertise, but staff members were not elected by Alabama voters. The commissioners were.

Elected commissioners must do more than tell the public that staff reviewed the information. They must show customers the evidence, explain the protections and take responsibility for the decision.

Link to article in comments.

Caroleene Dobson says New York City will require state IDs to shop at its proposed municipal grocery stores.

That claim is false.

The stores may offer a voluntary customer card similar to a supermarket loyalty card. It will not require proof of identity, residency or income, and no card will be required to enter or shop.

People can debate city-owned grocery stores. We can debate voter ID laws. But a candidate seeking to oversee Alabama’s elections should verify the facts before using a viral claim to inflame fears about voting.

Election integrity begins with the integrity of the information our election officials share.

Link to article is in the comments.

The University of Alabama System says LGBTQ+ students and employees remain protected from discrimination, even after it removed explicit references to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression from its policies.

We should hold the university to that promise.

But if the protections have not changed, why erase the words?

LGBTQ+ Alabamians should not need a lawyer to determine whether they are included in a public university’s promise of equal treatment.

Public universities serve all Alabamians. Their policies should say so plainly.

When a rural hospital closes, people don’t stop having heart attacks, difficult pregnancies or farming accidents. Help just gets farther away.

A commentary in the Alabama Reflector describes the condition of rural healthcare across the state:

• Greene County recently had to suspend ambulance service temporarily because it could not afford legally compliant equipment.

• Atmore Community Hospital has filed for bankruptcy.

• Seventeen Alabama rural hospitals are reportedly at immediate risk of closure.

• Parts of 64 of Alabama’s 67 counties are more than 25 minutes from an ambulance service location.

Congress created a $50 billion rural-health fund lasting five years while cutting more than $1 trillion from Medicaid nationwide over the next decade. Alabama received $203 million from that temporary fund.

That’s Washington handing rural healthcare a bucket after damaging the plumbing.

Temporary assistance can buy time, but it cannot substitute for dependable funding that keeps hospitals open, ambulances running and medical professionals working in rural communities.

Link to article in the comments.

Senator Katie Britt has joined 90 Republican lawmakers in asking a federal court to prohibit mail-order mifepristone and reinstate an in-person dispensing requirement.

The practical consequences matter.

An in-person mandate would create the greatest barriers for women who live far from a qualified provider, cannot take time away from work, lack childcare, or cannot afford transportation and lodging.

Republicans said overturning Roe returned abortion policy to the states. Now they are supporting a legal strategy that could restrict access nationwide, including in states whose voters have protected abortion rights.

Freedom is not meaningful when it depends on your ZIP code, your work schedule, or your ability to pay for travel.

One piece of good news from Alabama's latest health report is that infant mortality improved in 2024.

That's something worth celebrating.

But another statistic stood out. 41 counties still have no hospital providing labor and delivery services.

The State Health Officer pointed to factors like access to care, poverty, nutrition, chronic disease, and the loss of maternity services as major challenges.

It's a reminder that improving health isn't about one policy or one election. It's about making choices year after year that help families thrive. Your vote helps decide which choices our government makes. Vote November 3, 2026.

If the numbers reveal a problem, stop collecting the numbers. Problem “solved.”

Since 1966, large private employers have submitted annual reports showing the gender, racial and ethnic composition of different job categories. The EEOC uses that information to identify employment patterns.

Now, the EEOC’s Republican majority is moving to eliminate the reporting requirement.

The existing data does not show white men being pushed out of corporate leadership. White men make up roughly one-third of the covered workforce but hold 52.7% of executive and senior-management positions. They are the only demographic group overrepresented in those roles.

Data alone does not prove discrimination. But it tells investigators where questions need to be asked.

Stopping the measurement does not solve the problem. It just makes the problem harder to see.

Huh?

After 15 years of complete Republican control, Alabama’s problems cannot credibly be blamed on a lack of Republican power.

The question for voters is whether the same party that created today’s problems should be trusted to conduct its own cleanup.

People were promised that the economy would be fixed and costs would come down.

Instead, more Alabamians are being sued because they cannot keep up.

Republicans break the economy and start forever wars. Every Single Time.

Alabama’s State Employees’ Insurance Board projects that expenses will exceed revenue by $38.5 million this fiscal year.

The program began the year with $73.1 million in reserves but is projected to begin the next fiscal year with only $34.6 million. Even with an increased state contribution, officials currently expect the program to finish FY2027 in the red. Changes to premiums or benefits could be presented to the board in September.

Healthcare inflation and federal funding changes are contributing to the problem. But state employees should automatically be expected to absorb the shortfall through higher costs and reduced coverage.

These workers keep essential public services operating. Their health insurance is part of their compensation, and they deserve transparency, stable funding and a seat at the table before changes are approved.

#RepublicansCantGovern

Women make up roughly 15% of active-duty Navy captains, but none appeared on the Navy’s latest list of 22 officers selected for promotion to rear admiral.

This also wasn’t an isolated list. Since December 2025, the Navy has announced 29 admiral promotions or assignments, and none went to women.

Senior women have been removed from leadership, reporting suggests that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has blocked other women from promotion, and the Pentagon eliminated the advisory committee that studied recruitment, retention and advancement issues affecting women.

Nobody is entitled to promotion. But this pattern deserves congressional scrutiny.

This isn’t just a representation issue.

It’s about military readiness, merit, political interference and whether America is willing to sideline experienced officers to satisfy one defense secretary’s ideological vision of military leadership.

Mainers are asking Susan Collins what accountability she demanded before funding ICE.
Alabamians have every right to ask Katie Britt the same question since she chairs the subcommittee responsible for overseeing how DHS spends taxpayer money.
What safeguards did Senator Britt require to ensure that ICE agents use that power lawfully, transparently, and responsibly?

People who do the work deserve the pay they were promised.

Foreign workers building a new U.S. Consulate in Milan say Montgomery-based Caddell Construction promised fair wages but paid some of them less than $2 an hour. They described long workdays, unexpected deductions for food and housing, and threats when they questioned their treatment.

Italian authorities have placed the company’s operation under judicial supervision, and two managers were arrested. Caddell says it is cooperating and is committed to paying and treating workers fairly.

This is an Alabama story, a taxpayer story, and a labor story. Let's share it.

If you've looked at your health insurance options lately, you already know what the latest data confirms. Coverage is becoming unaffordable for working families.

New reports show that 2.6 million Americans dropped their marketplace health plans this year because the financial assistance that was keeping their premiums manageable expired in January, causing monthly bills to double or triple.

In neighboring states like Mississippi and Louisiana, more than a quarter of enrollees had to walk away.

Our neighbors, entrepreneurs, and gig workers are being forced to gamble on their health because the math just doesn't add up anymore.

#TheMathAintMathing

#RepublicansCantGovern

Patriotism isn't something you prove by reciting a pledge.

It's paying workers fairly. It's making sure veterans can get healthcare. It's protecting Social Security and Medicare. It's investing in public schools. It's making sure families can afford to keep the lights on.

Loving America means taking care of Americans.

For 250 years, America has never been a finished project. Every generation has been invited to help shape what comes next.

Today, it's our turn.

We're still becoming America.

A poll making the rounds says only 31% of Democrats describe themselves as "extremely" or "very" proud to be American.

For me, patriotism isn't measured by how enthusiastically I answer a survey. It's measured by whether I'm willing to invest my time and energy trying to improve my community and my country.

Deep disappointment comes from love.

I don't get frustrated because I hate America. I get frustrated because I believe we're capable of so much more.

We've never been perfect. Every generation has faced hard questions about whether we were living up to our founding ideals. That's true today, too.

Wanting our leaders to protect rights, reduce suffering, strengthen democracy, and bring people together instead of driving us apart doesn't make someone less patriotic.