Monday May 19
For those who were listening in to the Senate audio last week, it will come as no surprise that we took the strategic decision to hold off on pressing the Gourmet Beer Bill. By the time the semi-filibuster was resolved, it was late in the evening and the Senators were all cranky, tired, and hungry.
In that kind of environment our Gourmet Beer Bill would not have had good odds.
Mark your calendars for Monday, May 19th. This is the last day of the legislative session. HB196, the Gourmet Beer Bill, will be on the calendar. Please call your senators over the next week, and very politely request them to support HB196, the Gourmet Beer Bill. You can call them whether or not you have done so already. You could also ask your friends, co-workers, family, neighbours, anyone you know who is not anti-alcohol - they, too can call their senators.
If you have family and friends who are out of state, get them to call as well - their opinion, and the tourist dollars that backs their opinion, are just as important to the senators as you and your opinion are.
If we all pull together, if we all rally our connections and contacts, we can achieve the aim we have been working towards for the last three years - we can start to Free those Hops from the chains of the archaic 6% ABV law. Let the Alabama Senate hear your voices loud and clear - let them hear the message -
FREE THE HOPS!
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It's on the calendar.
http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/acas/ACASLoginFire.asp
then click on "special order calendar" on the left
In the resulting window, click on any bill number and then click the get special order button.
This lists what's on the calendar and you'll notice that the beer bill is missing.....pitty.
This could take forever. And now I'm hearing talk that our Governor has decided that he is not in favor of any pro-alcohol bills.
This really sucks.
Damn, I need a good beer right now.
...would have preferred driving to Publix instead.
Seems Alabama, like all states, has its share of stupid laws. For instance, it's illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church (that one must not apply to toupees). It's illegal to flick a booger into the wind (seems sensible - only had to try that once to grasp the logic behind it). It's illegal to have a ice cream cone in your back pocket at any time. (That's why I keep mine in my shirt pocket).
I mean, honestly, can anyone make a good argument against the Gourment Beer Bill. Those against it always seem to pull out the drunken teenager card, but they can get drunker for less money by finding someone to buy a fifth of vodka (or whatever) for them at, surprisingly enough, a state-owned ABC store.
Anyway, just ranting and rambling. Kind of like our legislators are doing right now.
By looking at their list of things to vote on, most seem like bills that need to be voted on. And if they can't get them all in, due to a filibuster, it would seem that a special session would be called.
I know it is a long shot, but I was kind of hoping that before next year I would have access to good beer and I don't really want to give up that hope just yet.
(guess I should have been anonymous on that one)
I like my darks, but I was in the mood for wheat. Can you tell?
Patience is required... easier said than done!
Also got one called "La Biere Du Demon" labeled as "The Most Alcoholic Pale Beer in the World". Then I saw the 12% ABV note. Pfft.
Strangely enough, when I asked a couple of Parisienne bartenders to recommend a good beer, the list included Heineken and Corona. Go figure.
I think you all missed a lesson in politics. This is an election year. They are dealing with the state budget and the education trust fund. These guys are not going to do anything that may harm their reelection bids. If they take action on these bills they are liable to piss somebody off. I know this is inefficient and stupid, but its just the way it works. No. 2, this is a reelection year, probably not the best time to bring up a beer bill in Alabama, due to the fact that Jesus votes. Jesus may turn water to wine, but he sure a S### doesn't like Chimay. More people that think this way vote in Alabama, than people who love Chimay. By the way, Red Label is my favorite!
Where can I apply for the job of Free the Hops Lobbyist? I don't think that your guy/girl maybe that swift.
Hopefully it wasn't too good of money..
1) Anheuser-Busch's lobbyist
2) The Church of Christ's members that vote (or threaten to at least)
"Please don't spank him..... Education is not a right; it's a privilege.... Some people just don't want an education. Why should we waste our money trying to educate them?"
These people are idiots.
Could someone please remind me why we thought we'd be on the agenda today? Did we really think we had a chance after what happened last time?
I haven't heard a single person who deserves to be called a statesman speak today. I've heard a lot of good-ole-boy backslapping, and a lot of people telling me how great they are. I've learned a lot about their grade school teachers, thier families, their lives.
None of them seem to care that they are our employees, and need to be mindful of our wishes. After all, they have been chosen by us to represent our views in the statewide legislative environment.
No one seems to have the ability, the gift, or even the desire to influence anyone else to come around to their way of thinking. No one even seems to be trying.
They seem to be of the opinion that if they pass the Education Trust Fund bill and finalize the budget, they can pat themselves on the back, say "good job" and head on home. But they don't even seem to be getting that done. Meanwhile, hundreds of bills sit on the calendar, completely ignored.
I'm certainly not a political expert, but I do recognize incompetence and inefficiency when I see it.
I will be much more careful who I vote for next time around.
back to the scotch for for this one.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008805170325
Gov. Riley is quoted, saying about our bill:
"I'm probably going to have a problem with that," he told The Associated Press.
Do we have veto proof support in the Senate & House?
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Cloture Petition from the Rules Committee to end debate on HB 319 at 10:35 p.m.
Vote on cloture petition at 10:33 p.m.
I'll be very glad to leave this state when I finish school; someone above already said as much, and I wholeheartedly agree.
Anything happen?
a) for this bill
b) not anti teenager buying $4+ a bottle of import/craft beer to get drunk
or c) who has served time for bludgeoning the hell out of our soon-to-be-former lobbyist who made the "critical decision" to move the bill to the last day of session, since that is OBVIOUSLY the way things get done in the senate.
My advice, push hard next year after the election is done with. After the election, if the bill is passed, the voters it the bill pisses off will have 2-4 years to forget about the fact it exists. This will make your representitive happy, we will be happy, and the baptist will be on to another topic.
I can't believe it, but this might actually make me appreciate the US Congress.
What we need is more lushes in our state politics. Politicians that enjoy doing "bad" things.
If we only had some drunk Kennedys in our state, we might get somewhere