This tale of woe begins with a fact and a couple of questions.

Fact: The U.S. Air Force needs a new refueling tanker.

Questions: Should the contract go to a company that will use a plane based on the European (EADS) Airbus? Or should it go to Boeing, an American company that’s been building military tankers for decades? If that seems too easy, throw this into the mix. What if those jobs, all 2000 of them, would be located in Alabama if the Airbus style plane were chosen? Well, it appears that’s not going to happen.

A couple of years ago Northrop Grumman / EADS won the Air Force contract and was going to construct a new factory to build the tanker near Mobile. Boeing didn’t like losing that tanker project one bit and fought it at the Pentagon and in the halls of Congress.

The Air Force specifications for the plane got changed and today Northrop Grumman announced it would drop out of the competition rather than submit a new bid.

Alabama officials verbally lashed out at the Pentagon. “I don’t blame Northrop Grumman for refusing to take part in this charade,” Republican Gov. Bob Riley said in a statement. “The Pentagon and White House have made it impossible for any other plane to be competitive. It’s disgraceful.”

The Pentagon defended the program as fair and said both companies could compete effectively. Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said the program would not be reworked just to ensure a competition.

“To suggest that the department should conduct a competition that would result in DOD paying a much higher price for capabilities that are not needed simply isn’t effective,” Whitman said.

Riley said if it wasn’t a political decision, “then why would the Pentagon intentionally rewrite the specifications from what they originally wanted a year ago? When the Air Force is compelled by politics to select the slower, smaller and older plane, no one can say with a straight face that this is what’s best for America or America’s warfighters,” Riley said.

Sen. Priscilla Dunn (D-Bessemer) has been one of those involved in negotiations. She wants western Jefferson county included, but says it is unlikely everyone wanting a piece of the e-Bingo action can be listed in the Bedford plan. Still, Sen. Dunn says she doesn’t want anyone to take her vote for granted.

Gov. Bob Riley and Rep. Jeffrey McLaughlin (D-Guntersville) holds a news conference at 11 this morning to urge action on McLaughlin’s PAC to PAC transfer ban. It has cleared the House, but awaits action in the Senate. Sen. Smitherman, who has taken plenty of criticism over its delays in the past, tells me he believes it will move soon.

In reporters email today: The U.S. Dept of Labor tries to build pressure on Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Kentucky). A release this morning breaks down state-by-state the individuals at risk of losing unemployment compensation if the US Senate does not act. The figure is 3,600 in Alabama. Read the release here.

Alabama’s Republican Party has opened qualifying today in Montgomery and Birmingham. It runs for the next 30 days. Link here.

Ag Commissioner Ron Sparks has taken to calling his Democratic opponent for governor Artur “Exxon” Davis. He attacks Rep. Davis congressional voting record on “Big Oil” as big on tax breaks from a lucrative lobby. Observers say Team Sparks may not be connecting the dots. Davis supported a roll back of tax breaks in ‘07 on the Clean Energy Act and tax credits for alternative energy the year later. Among the bills Sparks cites, HR 4503, which received limited Democratic support (Davis and fellow Alabama Democrat Bud Cramer supported it). It appears to be Sparks effort to seek a break from repeated questions about that $500,000 personal loan to his campaign. If you have time to kill, decide for yourself. Check Davis votes on energy and finance and anything else on the VoteSmart page here.

And Republican candidate for governor, Rep. Robert Bentley (R-Tuscaloosa), is trying BlogTalkRadio to get his message out.  A campaign release says he’ll interview fellow pols and media on “What’s Ailing You,” starting at 3pm today. First guest: radio personality J Holland (who worked on the Roy Moore campaign for governor in 2004). Check out Bentley’s site here.

Read more of Rick Journey’s blogs here.

It points to his economic plan that proposes tax cuts for job creation.

Watch it here.

Davis rolled out his economic plan earlier this week. Read the story here.

Read more of Rick Journey’s blogs here.

What many in Birmingham have learned  is that the metro must get its act together before seeing “real” commitment or help from those in Montgomery.

Gov. Bob Riley’s message has been clear to advocates of an on-again-off-again domed stadium: find agreement among yourselves and then the state may assist. On the matter of the Jefferson county sewer debt crisis and occupational tax debacle that threatened to shut down government, his message was often the same.

Sen. Richard Shelby  has sent the message he is in a position to land major federal investments in the region for mass transportation projects, but again…. find agreement among yourselves.

Enter the Birmingham Business Alliance and its current Blueprint Birmingham effort.

A survey conducted by Atlanta-based Market Street Services takes a targeted view at Birmingham’s “competitive realities” when placed next to cities like Louisville, Nashville and Oklahoma City. Read the summary here.

It finds a metro with a low-cost-of-living and affordable housing that also faces a high poverty rate.

The survey highlights a metro with thriving entrepreneurship, a strong bank and insurance sector and vibrant higher education opportunities.

But that same community has an aging workforce, flight from the primary county (Jefferson) and a growing educational divide between the “haves” and “have nots.”

Healthsouth CEO Jay Grinney sees those numbers and believes “if we can honestly assess both (strengths and weaknesses), we have the platform for establishing a plan to go forward.”

Grinney is part of the steering committee for BBA overseeing Blueprint Birmingham.

He’s encouraged by the new effort.

After speaking for the last year about the corruption scandals that have held the metro back, Grinney sees homegrown unity re-focusing Birmingham.

“The business community has come together to build a plan to bring prosperity to the metro.”                                         Watch Grinney’s interview here.

The project may be a key component for the promises made by the many candidates, once one of them becomes Alabama’s next governor.

Read more of Rick Journey’s blogs here.

The Mobile Republican is campaigning on his jobs plan in the Birmingham metro today.

Still, he admits the current electronic bingo debate is a dominant topic on the trail.

This morning on FOX6 News Good Day Alabama, Byrne declared “gaming is not the answer to our economic development.” He dismisses the jobs argument electronic bingo supporters are currently using in the legal dispute with the Riley administration.

“In truth, there’s a net loss in jobs from the gaming industry because that money does not turn back over in the economy.”

Gov. Riley finds himself defending his Task Force raid attempts. Wednesday, Riley said he acted when the Attorney General and some district attorneys failed to enforce the law. Read  Phil Rawls AP story here. The governor is also featured in a new TV spot from the anti-gambling group Citizens for a Better Alabama.

“He (Riley) has taken, in most regards in my judgement, a responsible way of trying to go out there and deal with it, “Byrne says about Riley, “I wouldn’t sit idly by… we know these are illegal.”

Byrne also discusses this week’s campaign finance reports. Republican rival Tim James reports the most money raised with $4.1 million. A large part, $2.7 million, came from loans both by James and three associates. Byrne leads the field with contributions, $2.6 million.

Byrne says he can be a true reformer in Alabama even with large contributions from individuals and PACs.

“If you are going to really reform Montgomery, you must take on the number one special interest and that is Paul Hubbert and the AEA. If you notice, none of that money is coming into the Bradley Byrne campaign.”

Read the full interview here.

For campaign finance reports, click on the candidate below.

Republicans:
Robert Bentley
Bradley Byrne
Kay Ivey
Tim James 2009, 2010
Bill Johnson
Roy Moore
James Potts (no report filed)

Democrats:
Artur Davis
Ron Sparks

Rick Journey

His campaign sweeps through Birmingham today, first at Cooper Construction Company, next at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law.

Bryne says  “more than 225,000 of our fellow citizens (in Alabama) are without work. Families are hurting. We can’t wait on Washington, or depend on any other outside force to turn this situation around. It’s up to us to set our own stage for recovery.”

“Good evening folks! Everybody got their popcorn popped for the State of the Union? My tweets are about to begin…K”

Republicans  in Montgomery, trying to piece together a workable budget with Democrats in the midst of declining revenue, may find a “saving grace” in Washington with another stimulus. Many believe the governor’s somewhat “rosy” proposal for the General Fund and Special Education Trust Fund relies heavily on a new stimulus plan.

So again, awkward position for Republicans?

“Not at all,” Rep. Paul DeMarco (R-Homewood) says, “they (voters) are tired of the same ol’ spend, spend, spend and we need to show that (fiscal responsibility) both at the state level and the national level.”

Rep. Merika Coleman (D-Midfield) says “the American people also want services” and that’s why she urges Republicans in the statehouse to urge Washington Republicans to back the jobs plan touted by the president last night.

Rep. DeMarco wants to know “where all the money is coming from?”

“What I heard from the president last night was spending, spending, spending,” DeMarco says.

Watch the full interview from FOX6 News Good Day Alabama here.

This morning on FOX6 News Good Day Alabama, council members Jay Roberson and Kim Rafferty pointed at the growing worries about economic development in the city.

“Regionally, we’ve got to cooperate on certain projects to create jobs,” Roberson said.

“We need opportunities for investment and bringing businesses into Birmingham,” Rafferty said, “in the past, the city stagnated in developing those opportunities.” Watch the full interview here.

Concerns about stalled economic development in Birmingham have been a topic for lawmakers, too. Rep. John Rogers (D) says the governor must focus on development this year. Rogers still appears to be hurting from the decision to keep Bryce Mental Hospital and its jobs in Tuscaloosa. Since then, he has taken part in a leadership meeting to determine new projects for the city.  Rogers even threatens to stall legislation if Birmingham doesn’t get its due.

Candidates for governor have been talking up jobs creation in Birmingham, particularly Republican Tim James. Last week, he again floated his plan of opening an office in the city to have a presence and coordinate economic development. Read his plan here and watch the news conference here.

James particularly targeted life sciences and a renewed focus on UAB’s strength as a regional research university in his plan. He’s the latest in a growing list of politicians and business leaders touching on that theme.

Last week, Birmingham metro job growth received a boost from SurModics, a spin-off of Southern Research Institute. During the announcement, Gov. Bob Riley pointed to the potential, calling SurModics “a great example of a successful business model we need to see replicated.”

Rick Journey

Governor Riley’s “Jumpstarting Jobs” plan endorsed by the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce.  Here’s the Governor’s Office release:

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HUNTSVILLE – The Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce on Monday announced its endorsement of Governor Bob Riley’s “Jumpstarting Jobs” plan, which is currently before the Legislature.

Governor Riley met with Chamber members in Huntsville to discuss the details of his plan for expediting economic growth in Alabama.

“Alabama needs jobs now, not one year or two years from now, but right now,” said Governor Riley.  “Despite years of record growth, Alabama’s economy has not been immune from the world-wide recession.  Unemployment has risen and many Alabama families are finding it hard to make ends meet. Nothing is more important right now than building and sustaining economic growth in Alabama.

“That’s why jumpstarting job growth in Alabama and putting our state back to work must be the Legislature’s top priority in this session.  I call on legislative leaders to take action on these bills.  They shouldn’t sit on their hands and do nothing when Alabamians need help right now,” said Governor Riley.

Much of the Legislature’s attention so far this session has been focused on a plan to spend $1 billion in government money to try to stimulate job growth in the road building industry. But unlike the Governor’s tax incentive proposals, that $1 billion plan won’t create a single new job for at least a year. That’s because it won’t happen unless and until a constitutional amendment is approved by a vote of the people.

“There is a better way to create new jobs in Alabama and that’s to provide Alabama companies with incentives to hire,” said Governor Riley.

Don Nalley, Chairman of the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber’s board of directors met and voted to endorse Governor Riley’s Jumpstarting Jobs plan.

“We greatly appreciate Governor Riley’s support for the economic growth of the state and our region and we are certain that even better days are coming,” Nalley said.
The “Jumpstarting Jobs” plan is made up of three proposals:

• A Back to Work Tax Credit, to offer tax incentives to Alabama companies for hiring unemployed workers.
• Targeted Job Creation Tax Credits, which provide a tax credit to businesses for every new job created in the 25 Alabama counties with the highest unemployment rates
• Small Business Tax Incentives for Health Insurance, which would allow both small business owners and their employees to deduct 200 percent of the amount they pay for health coverage from their state income taxes.

In an effort to keep you up-to-the-minute on the gubernatorial candidates’ positions on key issues, here’s Republican Tim James latest statement on job creation:

______________________

Tim James, Republican candidate for Governor of Alabama, today presented his “Common Sense Plan” to create jobs and opportunity. Metro Birmingham, he noted, is responsible for over half of Alabama’s gross domestic product. “When Birmingham gets a cold, the rest of Alabama gets pneumonia,” he said.

As a result, James pledges that if elected he will open a Birmingham office in order to work closely with Metro Birmingham leaders to forge a strong alliance for economic development.  He will be in the Birmingham office at least two days a month to meet with leaders and constituents.

“As a business entrepreneur who has started companies and created jobs, I understand the importance of taking care of Alabama businesses that create and employ over three-fourths of our work force,” James said. “We need to enlarge the scope of our economic development incentives to include existing companies, including tax incentives for creating new jobs and investments in new plant and equipment.”

James said the State of Alabama would continue its search for out-of-state companies looking to relocate. “Alabama’s in a prime position to attract new businesses, due to our low-tax, business-friendly regulatory climate, as well as abundant water and land resources. Most important of all, Alabamians have one of America’s highest work ethics; we are a people who understand the value of hard work and self-determination.”

James outlined the rest of his Common Sense Jobs and Opportunity plan to include:

1.      Transportation Investment – Ramp up planning and development for a Metro Birmingham strategic plan, including a northern loop for Metro Birmingham, a project that James says is years overdue.

2.      University of Alabama at Birmingham – As the region’s No. 1 employer, UAB is also a major center for bio-medical research and development. James pledges to work with local leaders and others to provide support, especially for bio-tech companies seeking venture capital and other guidance.

3.      Work Force Development – Expand our work force development efforts to include a partnership between businesses, high schools and our two-year college system. An apprenticeship program will help companies attract and train good workers while helping bring down the state’s alarming high school drop-out rate.

4.      Internet Broadband Deployment – Continue Governor Bob Riley’s “Connecting Alabama” program to deploy broadband services throughout the state so that every community, household, business and school is connected.

“Our focus in these times of double-digit inflation must be supporting the businesses that take the risks in risky times and create the jobs that are precious to Alabama families,” James said.