u/Ok-Breakfast-5044

A seven-year-old girl is asking Alabama Senator Katie Britt for help.

Her family came to the United States from Venezuela and applied for asylum through the legal process available at the time. They worked legally, sent their daughter to school and never missed an ICE check-in.

When the mother became pregnant, the family decided to return to Venezuela. They followed the Trump administration’s official self-deportation process and reported to ICE.

Instead of being sent home, the pregnant mother, father and seven-year-old daughter were detained. They have reportedly been held at the Dilley detention facility in Texas since July 7.

The mother says she has experienced pain but has not received an ultrasound or the medical evaluation she has requested. Their daughter drew Senator Britt a picture asking for help returning home.

The family is not asking to remain in the United States. They are asking our government to keep its word and allow them to leave.

Senator Britt chairs the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees funding for DHS, ICE and immigration detention. She has the authority to demand answers and press for action.

Link to story is in the first comment.

That “no-name” is Clyde W. Jones Jr.

Jones served in the United States Army for 21 years, retired as a first sergeant, earned a Bronze Star, and served in Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He later worked in industrial safety, became a minister, and served his South Alabama community through education, veterans, and civil-rights organizations.

Carl says he spent $1.3 million building his name recognition and has no intention of allowing Jones to benefit from it through a debate.

Money can buy a familiar political name. It cannot erase another candidate’s lifetime of service, and it does not entitle anyone to a congressional seat.

The people of Alabama’s 1st Congressional District deserve to hear from both candidates and decide for themselves.

Link to the article is in the first comment.

Tommy Tuberville has not announced a plan to privatize Alabama’s retirement system.

But he has called Social Security a Ponzi scheme, praised privatization and promoted private market investments as the alternative.

Before Alabama’s teachers and state employees vote for their next governor, they deserve an answer:

Hands off RSA? Yes or no?

Link to the article is in the first comment.

https://unmutealabama.substack.com/p/things-to-unmute-today-in-alabama?r=gno94&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer

The Alabama PSC says Meta will cover the costs of a new solar and battery project and that existing Alabama Power customers will benefit.

I hope that is true. But customers deserve to see how the Commission reached that conclusion.

The PSC’s own summary says Meta’s subsidiary subscribed to 100% of the solar portion for 20 years, while the battery portion is not allocated to the company under that arrangement. That does not prove customers will pay for the battery, but it raises a question the Commission should answer clearly.

PSC President Cynthia Almond said Commission staff reviewed the project’s economics and supporting information and concluded that customers would not be harmed. Staff provides important technical expertise, but staff members were not elected by Alabama voters. The commissioners were.

Elected commissioners must do more than tell the public that staff reviewed the information. They must show customers the evidence, explain the protections and take responsibility for the decision.

Link to article in comments.

Caroleene Dobson says New York City will require state IDs to shop at its proposed municipal grocery stores.

That claim is false.

The stores may offer a voluntary customer card similar to a supermarket loyalty card. It will not require proof of identity, residency or income, and no card will be required to enter or shop.

People can debate city-owned grocery stores. We can debate voter ID laws. But a candidate seeking to oversee Alabama’s elections should verify the facts before using a viral claim to inflame fears about voting.

Election integrity begins with the integrity of the information our election officials share.

Link to article is in the comments.

The University of Alabama System says LGBTQ+ students and employees remain protected from discrimination, even after it removed explicit references to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression from its policies.

We should hold the university to that promise.

But if the protections have not changed, why erase the words?

LGBTQ+ Alabamians should not need a lawyer to determine whether they are included in a public university’s promise of equal treatment.

Public universities serve all Alabamians. Their policies should say so plainly.

When a rural hospital closes, people don’t stop having heart attacks, difficult pregnancies or farming accidents. Help just gets farther away.

A commentary in the Alabama Reflector describes the condition of rural healthcare across the state:

• Greene County recently had to suspend ambulance service temporarily because it could not afford legally compliant equipment.

• Atmore Community Hospital has filed for bankruptcy.

• Seventeen Alabama rural hospitals are reportedly at immediate risk of closure.

• Parts of 64 of Alabama’s 67 counties are more than 25 minutes from an ambulance service location.

Congress created a $50 billion rural-health fund lasting five years while cutting more than $1 trillion from Medicaid nationwide over the next decade. Alabama received $203 million from that temporary fund.

That’s Washington handing rural healthcare a bucket after damaging the plumbing.

Temporary assistance can buy time, but it cannot substitute for dependable funding that keeps hospitals open, ambulances running and medical professionals working in rural communities.

Link to article in the comments.

Senator Katie Britt has joined 90 Republican lawmakers in asking a federal court to prohibit mail-order mifepristone and reinstate an in-person dispensing requirement.

The practical consequences matter.

An in-person mandate would create the greatest barriers for women who live far from a qualified provider, cannot take time away from work, lack childcare, or cannot afford transportation and lodging.

Republicans said overturning Roe returned abortion policy to the states. Now they are supporting a legal strategy that could restrict access nationwide, including in states whose voters have protected abortion rights.

Freedom is not meaningful when it depends on your ZIP code, your work schedule, or your ability to pay for travel.

One piece of good news from Alabama's latest health report is that infant mortality improved in 2024.

That's something worth celebrating.

But another statistic stood out. 41 counties still have no hospital providing labor and delivery services.

The State Health Officer pointed to factors like access to care, poverty, nutrition, chronic disease, and the loss of maternity services as major challenges.

It's a reminder that improving health isn't about one policy or one election. It's about making choices year after year that help families thrive. Your vote helps decide which choices our government makes. Vote November 3, 2026.

If the numbers reveal a problem, stop collecting the numbers. Problem “solved.”

Since 1966, large private employers have submitted annual reports showing the gender, racial and ethnic composition of different job categories. The EEOC uses that information to identify employment patterns.

Now, the EEOC’s Republican majority is moving to eliminate the reporting requirement.

The existing data does not show white men being pushed out of corporate leadership. White men make up roughly one-third of the covered workforce but hold 52.7% of executive and senior-management positions. They are the only demographic group overrepresented in those roles.

Data alone does not prove discrimination. But it tells investigators where questions need to be asked.

Stopping the measurement does not solve the problem. It just makes the problem harder to see.

Huh?

After 15 years of complete Republican control, Alabama’s problems cannot credibly be blamed on a lack of Republican power.

The question for voters is whether the same party that created today’s problems should be trusted to conduct its own cleanup.

People were promised that the economy would be fixed and costs would come down.

Instead, more Alabamians are being sued because they cannot keep up.

Republicans break the economy and start forever wars. Every Single Time.