What a shame there is no such thing as political perjury charges for candidates in an election year. The potential threat of handcuffs and a perp walk is about the only mechanism that could slow the roll of some politicians’ claims.
Legal action aside means the media must report whether a record actually matches the rhetoric being spewed into the ears of voters. One particularly egregious case occurred recently at a Wetumpka Republican party meeting. The culprit was none other than our own “Govna”.
Gov. Kay Ivey’s statements were reported by Cliff Williams of the Wetumpka Herald. Reading through the article, I couldn’t tell if this was a political speech or a group game of Balderdash. Ivey was at the microphone “redefining” the past four years of her record and priorities.
Let’s review the game Ivey played with her party constituents.
Balderdash Round 1:
If re-elected, Ivey said she would continue to take a “fiscally conservative, small-government approach towards the economy and conservative values.”
Puh-lease.
With “fiscally conservative” leadership like hers, who needs socialist acolytes managing the state’s revenues?
In 2021, $1.3 billion was spent in supplemental education funding. Why? The state brought in $12.3 billion in revenue to the yearly budget of $11 billion. Did Ivey take bold steps to return this surplus to its originators (you, the taxpayer) in the form of a tax cut? Fat chance, suckers; she and state lawmakers spent your money faster than Hunter Biden spent his monthly Burisma check.
Ivey’s actions are the antithesis of her claims:
Record-breaking 2023 education budget of $8.17 Billion.
Record-breaking 2023 general fund budget of $2.7 billion.
A tax cut that is only 1.3% of total revenue available to the state government in 2022.
Alabama’s government has grown by a third in the past three years. That’s a speed that would make Bernie Sanders blush in awe and liberal lust.
How and where Gov. Ivey influenced the money spending reveals her core priorities. She’s not conservative. She’s definitely not for small government.
Round 2:
The governor is quoted as saying she “resisted the decisions to shut down Alabama.”
Did Ivey’s balderdash card have South Dakota Gov.Kristi Noem’s name on it to make such a claim? She’s the only female governor who never issued any mandates or shutdowns. Noem trusted her people to be responsible with their health and freedom. Ivey couldn’t trust her own state legislators in the decision-making process. Queen Ivey iced them out completely in spite of Alabama’s constitution.
Round 3:
Ivey said that Alabama has no place for “the dangerous COVID vaccine mandates coming from the Biden administration.”
What a load of B-dash.
When Biden mandated vaccines, Ivey sat on the board of directors at UAB and said absolutely nada while that entity told employees to get the jab or lose a job. So, if mandates are dangerous to Alabamians coming from the White House, why did it take legal action from the ACLL to stop UAB from implementing theirs?
Where was Ivey?
It was the Attorney General who took the lead and challenged the mandates, while Ivey sat back, took a snooze and now tries to take credit.
Round 4:
Ivey referred to her administration as having a record of fighting a “liberal Washington DC” and “leading the state through the COVID-19 pandemic.”
She led the state all right, directly into the grimy hands of the liberal DC bureaucrats she claims to be fighting. Either the governor has zero cognitive grasp of the fed-heads’ tyrannical aspirations for power that they masterfully obtained through the COVID-19 emergency, or her definition of resisting is actually to go along with the directives but at a “slower pace and lesser degree” than other states.
Round 5:
In this same speech, Ivey said, “We hold God, faith and family close to our hearts as well as our conservative pro-American values. All of which I’m glad are a driving force of my administration.”
Really?
She’s going big on the “piling it high and deep” game tactic. A true driving force does not fluctuate depending on the election cycle. How many conservative bills did Ivey sit on and ignore for the past three years, only to sign this year because to refuse would be a form of political suicide?
1. Constitutional carry - in the legislature for a decade; passed due to maneuvering by a few shrewd lawmakers - not because Ivey called on GOP legislators to live up to their conservative claims and join 23 red states in bolstering the Second Amendment.
2. VCAP - the ban on transgender treatments for minors. That bill was introduced and killed in committee for three years. Ivey could have used the bully pulpit to get protection for children sooner; instead, she used the bully pulpit to shame and insult the unvaccinated in 2021, because … priorities.
3. School choice bills - No words to describe her utter apathy and silence on this very conservative issue that died in session once again.
4. A bill to establish election audits - Ivey told those in Wetumpka she was “all for election integrity.” Which in Balderdash World means all talk and no practical action, even when proposed audits would test the election integrity that she is “all for.”
5. When asked by 1819 News if Ivey had any regrets about this year’s legislative session, her answer was that the gambling bill did not pass. Of all the conservative values, she picked the vice industries of casinos, lotteries and gambling (with drugs, sex trafficking and addiction to follow) to champion in Alabama.
That’s not conservative. That’s not family-centered. That’s not God-honoring. That’s not in touch with Alabama values.
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner for this latest game of political Balderdash!
If the governor’s record vs. rhetoric is fully examined by Alabama voters before they cast a ballot, then she may not win next month's primary.
Andrea Tice is the host of 1819 News’ Daily Digest and the This Alabama Life podcast with Don Keith. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819News.com.
