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Joey Kennedy

Joey Kennedy

Joey Kennedy, a Pulitzer Prize winner, writes a column each week for the Alabama Political Reporter. You can email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter.

At Best, Lottery is a Big Gamble for Alabama

By Joey Kennedy Alabama Political Reporter The state doesn’t need a lottery to save Medicaid. Expanding the program under the Affordable Care Act would go a long way in doing that. Sure, expanding Medicaid in itself won’t save Medicaid. That expansion will cover hundreds of thousands of the state’s working poor who don’t qualify for … Continued
August 18, 2016

Alabama, From a Sunshine State Perspective

By Joey Kennedy Alabama Political Reporter ST. GEORGE ISLAND, Fla. – Cross into Florida from Alabama on U.S. 231 and a driver immediately can see a state that does better than Alabama. The roads tell the story. U.S. 231 is bumpy and potholish on the Alabama side; the highway becomes immediately smooth on the Florida … Continued
August 11, 2016

Say No to The Luv Guv’s Lottery

By Joey Kennedy Alabama Political Reporter No doubt, Alabama earmarks too much of its revenue. The great majority of Alabama’s taxes are spent before they even are collected because they are designated for certain services: Education, prisons, Medicaid, etc. But Alabama does this because residents just don’t trust the Alabama Legislature enough to believe it’ll … Continued
August 4, 2016

Trump and His Supporters Live Outside Reality

By Joey Kennedy Alabama Political Reporter Oh, how I’d like to focus this column on the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. How Democrats, despite the Bernie Bros and others, came together pretty quickly. I’d like to write about how marvelous First Lady Michelle Obama’s speech was on Monday night. Absolutely fantastic. And not plagiarized. It’d … Continued
July 28, 2016

With Republicans, We Have a Really Bad Combination

By Joey Kennedy Alabama Political Reporter Yeah, I delayed a day on writing this column, mainly because I wanted to see what direction the Republican National Convention was going to take. We pretty much saw it Tuesday night and Wednesday. It’s a hate fest, and the presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is the … Continued
July 21, 2016

No Honor Among Thieves

By Joey Kennedy Alabama Political Reporter Former Speaker of the Alabama House Mike Hubbard just doesn’t get it. Hubbard – sentenced last week to four years in a state prison, 16 years supervised probation, and more than $200,000 in fines for corruption – is vacant. No remorse from Hubbard for the serious crimes he committed. … Continued
July 13, 2016

No Charges Against Hillary Clinton; So There, Hillary Haters

By Joey Kennedy Alabama Political Reporter Hillary haters must be banging their heads against the wall today. Many predicted indictments against presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton over her use of a personal e-mail server during her tenure as Secretary of State. FBI Director James Comey ended their giddy wishes Tuesday when he recommended … Continued
July 6, 2016

It’s Past Time to Lift Cuban Economic, Travel Embargo

By Joey Kennedy Alabama Political Reporter Ironic, isn’t it, that Republican officials in Alabama are now lobbying for lifting the economic and travel embargo on Cuba? The Republican-controlled U.S. Congress has thus far refused to do so, despite growing calls for the country to ditch the failed policy. Still, good for those state leaders who … Continued
June 29, 2016

If You Can’t Do the Time, Don’t Do the Crime

By Joey Kennedy Alabama Political Reporter As Alabama Political Reporter Editor Bill Britt pointed out in a story this week, some folks in the State House really don’t take former Speaker Mike Hubbard’s conviction seriously. To some, it’s no big deal. As Britt writes, Rep Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) makes it “sound like (Hubbard) has been … Continued
June 22, 2016

The Never-ending Story: Corruption in Alabama

By Joey Kennedy Alabama Political Reporter Well, thank goodness it’s done. Former Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard, convicted on 12 of the 23 indictments against him, is no longer in the Alabama Legislature. The jury in the 13-day trial did its job, as did the state prosecutors. Bill Baxley, former attorney general and lieutenant … Continued
June 15, 2016