Louisiana politics?

The Alabama State Senate continues to be an embarrassment to every hardworking Alabamian as the 35 senators bicker and fuss like children among themselves, ignoring important legislation.

The most recent and frustrating example was last week when they squabbled over incentives to lure giant steel producer ThyssenKrupp to south Alabama.

The tax breaks are needed to help encourage the German manufacturer to locate a new $3 billion, 2,700- job plant at Calvert. Some 29,000 construction jobs will be required to build the plant. It could be the largest single industrial announcement in the nation's history.

But all of that seemed lost on our distinguished senators as they bickered, not so much over the incentives but over procedural and control issues, the very thing that separated them from the very beginning of this session.

The Democratic majority in the Senate altered the rules to severely limit the power of the minority Republicans. The Republicans attempted a revolt at the beginning of the session to take control of the chamber but lost when some renegade Democrats they thought they had lined up jumped ship.

You would think grown folks could put aside their differences but the Democrats are more vindictive than ever and the Republicans more determined than ever to gain a little better footing.

And so it came down to a late night session last Thursday with Gov. Bob Riley, a Republican, and Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr., a Democrat, working diligently for hours behind closed doors to get senators to put aside their political differences for the good of the state. They are to be commended.

After a good bit of arm-twisting, the Senate eventually passed the incentives but we're sure that ThyssenKrupp executives were not impressed by the spectacle called legislative government that they witnessed. Alabama is pitted in a tough fight with Louisiana for this plant and Alabamians have several times belittled Louisiana's questionable politics as good reason for ThyssenKrupp not to locate in that state.

Alabamians can't talk about Louisiana politics. Not after this sorry episode. Not at all.

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