Alabama Politics

@govchristie thank you, Governor. Glad you liked it. I look forward to hearing your keynote speech at the @gopconvention

— Mike Hubbard (@SpeakerHubbard) August 21, 2012

BIRMINGHAM BUSINESS JOURNAL: Birmingham ranks third for charitable giving

At our Nonprofit Awards earlier this year, several of the event’s winners remarked that Birmingham was among the most charitable metros in the nation. A new study backs that up.

Birmingham ranks No. 3 among the nation’s 50 largest metros when it comes to percentage of discretionary income given to charity, according to the study by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

As NPR reports, residents of Birmingham give about 7.1 percent of their discretionary income to charity. That trails only Salt Lake City (9 percent) and Memphis (7.2 percent).

Religious giving was a major factor in those metros’ rankings, with Bible Belt states like Mississippi and Alabama also ranking high in the state rankings.

States and metros in the Northeast were at the bottom of the rankings.

BIRMINGHAM NEWS: Judge Robert Vance says he wants to offer ‘choice’ in chief justice race

Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Robert Vance Jr. has thrown his hat into the ring to be the Democrats’ new candidate for Alabama chief justice.

Vance said he wanted to give voters a choice. “I was getting increasingly concerned about what the candidates, both candidates, were offering. I think that campaigns of divisiveness — trying to pit Alabamian against Alabamian, using wedges to split us apart — that’s the last thing we need especially when we’ve got so many problems facing us,” Vance said

“I wanted to offer a choice, to be a candidate for everyone, all Alabamians,” Vance said.

Vance qualified with the party this morning and so far is the only candidate to do so, Alabama Democratic Party Executive Director Bradley Davidson confirmed. Qualifying continues until noon Wednesday.

Read More…

TUSCALOOSA NEWS: Assault charges against UA administrator dropped

An assault charge against the University of Alabama’s student center director has been dropped.

Carl Bacon, 52, was charged with first-degree assault on Aug. 4. He was accused of biting the nipple of an 18-year-old family friend, according to the arrest warrant filed in Fayette County District Court.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled in the case for 1 p.m. Monday. Chris McCool, district attorney for the 24th judicial district, made a motion instead asking that District Judge Gary Clary to dismiss the case.

“I met extensively with the victim and his family,” McCool said. “He was adamant that he wanted to drop the charges. I reviewed the case, as I always do when a victim wants to drop charges, and determined that it was appropriate.”

The victim was not seriously injured.

Bacon has worked for the university since 1990. He was placed on paid administrative leave while the case was pending.

National & International Politics

Romney opens up big cash lead politi.co/SLmGO3

— POLITICO (@politico) August 21, 2012

Barack Obama may be the president, but the guy who wants his job has more money in the bank.

Mitt Romney’s campaign operation boasts nearly $186 million in reserve through July, according to campaign estimates and federal filings released Monday.

That’s more than $62 million more than the $124 million Obama’s full operation — his campaign committee, the Democratic National Committee and a joint committee called the Obama Victory Fund — reported through July.

None of that includes Romney’s massive advantage when it comes to outside political groups such as super PACs and politically active nonprofits. During the first half of August, for example, the largest pro-Romney organizations outspent the main super PAC supporting Obama, Priorities USA Action, by a more than 8-to-1 margin.

Romney’s side has again outraised Obama’s, roughly $101 million to $75 million in July. And the announcement of Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as Romney’s vice presidential running made helped raise millions more this month, campaign officials say.

Read More…

TECH PRESIDENT: New Online Game Puts Players in the Lawmaker’s Chair

If real-life politics isn’t entertaining enough for you, as of Tuesday, you’ll have new outlet on Facebook with “For The People: Fantasy Politics,” brought to you by gaming startup Rocket Surgeon Entertainment.

Players adopt avatars and live out professional lives as members of the House. They take meetings with lobbyists, debate proposed amendments with colleagues in committee, negotiate positions before moving proposed bills, and they can also crowdsource legislation. Eventually, they’ll also be able to campaign for re-election or run for the Senate or the presidency.

Former senators Rudy Boschwitz and Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Evan Bayh of Indiana are on Rocket Surgeon’s advisory board, as is Democratic campaign consultant Joe Trippi. The rest of the company’s advisory board consists of veteran political consultants, lawyers, gaming industry, advertising and marketing veterans.

Rocket Surgeon game producer Kat Dutchin explains how it works in the YouTube clip below:

Missouri Congressman Todd Akin, who is running for U.S. Senate and came under fire for his idiotic “legitimate rape” remarks, is a no-show on Piers Morgan:

Explore 165,068 murders from 2000 to 2010 in the @wsj‘s ‘Murder in America’ database. wsj.com/murderdata/#vi… #murderdata

— Austin James (@KingJamesVrsn) August 21, 2012

There were 3,309 murders in Alabama from 2000 – 2010. Click HERE to view an incredible interactive data tool showing background information data and patterns that developed over that decade. Some examples? 54 of those murders were because of love triangles, 8 were children killed by their babysitter, 61 were men killed by their girlfriend, 2,302 of those murders were committed using a firearm, only one was committed by strangulation…click through for the rest of the data.