I promised you a list of the Alabama House members who crossed party lines on HB 787, the bill to overturn the double-dipping ban. Here it is—along with an accounting of legislators’ “day jobs,” for context:

Republicans voting for the bill (i.e., to overturn the ban):
Rep. Spencer Collier (R-Irvington), executive director of the Alabama Safety Institute;
Rep. Blaine Galliher (R-Gadsden), director of business and industry training for Calhoun County at Gadsden State Community College;
Rep. Todd Greeson (R-Ider), farmer, insurance agent and workforce developer with Northeast Alabama Community College;
Rep. Jeremy Oden (R-Vinemont), CFO of Delta Discount Corporation, a remodeling and reconstruction contractor; and
Rep. Allen Treadaway (R-Morris), a Birmingham police sergeant.

Democrats voting against the bill (i.e., to preserve the ban):
Rep. Richard Laird (D-Roanoke), president of Ranco Inc., a real estate and development company;
Rep. Frank McDaniel (D-Albertville), retired food distributorship owner;
Rep. Charles Newton (D-Greenville), president of Newton Oil Company; and
Rep. William Thigpen (D-Fayette), retired businessman (type of business unspecified).

Love or hate the double-dipping ban, say what you will about the folks above: At least they cast a vote.

That’s more than can be said for the following members -- six of each party—who took a pass and voted “present” on final passage:
Rep. Billy Beasley (D-Clayton), pharmacist and drugstore owner;
Rep. Robert Bentley (R-Tuscaloosa), a board-certified dermatologist;
Rep. Christopher John England (D-Tuscaloosa), full-time legislator;
Rep. David Grimes (R-Montgomery), insurance agent;
Rep. Mike Hill (R-Columbiana), insurance agent;
Rep. Randy Hinshaw (D-Meridianville), “education specialist;”
Rep. A.J. McCampbell (D-Demopolis), insurance agent;
Rep. Jim McClendon (R-Springville), retired optician;
Rep. Mac McCutcheon (R-Capshaw), law enforcement professional and associate pastor;
Rep. Joseph Mitchell (D-Mobile), researcher and musician;
Rep. Yusuf Salaam (D-Selma), attorney; and
Rep. Elwyn Thomas (R-Oneonta), Realtor and real estate evaluator.

Incidentally, there has been some discussion among Alabama politicos about whether to consider the BIR vote, the cloture vote or the final passage vote when determining who crossed party lines. I go with the final passage vote here, because it is what matters to Alabamians in the end.

I invite any and all legislators mentioned in this post to respond and provide explanations for their votes—or lack thereof—on HB 787. I pledge to post responses in full as I receive them.

Legislators owe the people of Alabama an explanation as to are voting the way they are—or why, in some cases, they are not voting at all—on this critical policy measure. I hope they take this opportunity to tell us.

I get so tired of hearing people say that their vote doesn’t make a difference.

CNN reports:

Sen. Barack Obama won Guam’s Democratic presidential caucuses Saturday by just seven votes, according to a Guam election official.

With all 21 precincts reporting, Obama finished with 2,264 votes, or 50.1 percent. Sen. Hillary Clinton got 2,257 votes, or 49.9 percent.

Seven votes. Out of 4,521.

That’s 0.15 percent.

Overall in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, CNN estimates that Obama leads Clinton in pledged delegates by 137, while Clinton leads Obama in superdelegates by 22.

As for the popular vote, estimates of Obama’s lead range from a razor-thin 0.03 percent—11,400 votes out of 30,669,564 cast—to a meager 2.1 percent—611,695 votes out of 28,894,055 cast.

If you’re a numbers person, then the RealClearPolitics Democratic popular vote tally page—and all its disclaimers, addenda, provisos, etc., necessitated by the Florida-Michigan-Iowa-Nevada-Maine-Washington craziness—is for you. (Note: As of this posting, the Guam numbers are not updated on the RCP tally, but I have included them in the figures above.)

With Clinton raising expectations for her performance in Tuesday’s North Carolina primary, will former Democratic candidate John Edwards, who dropped out of the race at the end of January, finally endorse one of the two senators? Or will he keep his powder dry in hopes of leveraging his influence to advance his anti-poverty agenda with the candidates ahead of the convention in August?

Keep an eye out here for a first-person account of the atmosphere on the ground in North Carolina ... Tuesday’s going to be fun!