Name:   phil - Subject:   Goof.... Date:   12/27/2016 4:09:32 PM (updated 12/27/2016 4:19:50 PM)

http://yellowhammernews.com/politics-2/collapse-of-alabama-teachers-union-complete-as-aea-officially-halts-political-donations/

so democrats can destroy for 136 years - and 6 years later its those rascally republicans fault.  LOL 

For much of the next four decades, Hubbert was widely considered the most powerful political figure in the state, and he ruled with an iron fist. Hubbert was known for sitting in the gallery overlooking the Legislature and giving hand signals indicating which way he wanted lawmakers to vote on whatever bill was being considered.

But the group’s stranglehold on the state began to loosen in 2010 when Alabama voters elected Republicans to their first legislative majority in 136 years. Hubbert retired in 2011, but the organization he built continued to be a major player in state politics, at least for a period of time.

Conservatives had long viewed the AEA as the “Dark Side” in Alabama politics, and not only because of its liberal political leanings (both Hubbert and Reed were top officials in the Alabama Democratic Party), but also because the state’s education system continued to rank 49th or 50th year after year, in spite of the AEA’s total control.

But Hubbert, who passed away in 2014, was considered to be a gentleman, even by his opponents, as well as a savvy operator. However, the Dark Side got its Darth Vader when Dr. Henry Mabry became Hubbert’s successor in 2012.

Under Mabry’s leadership, the AEA’s standing took a sharp nosedive, compelling Hubbert to pen a letter to the AEA Board of Directors urging them to make a course correction.

Mabry was ultimately pushed out, but not before the 2014 election cycle, during which the AEA spent an estimated $20 million of teachers’ money on a disastrous election strategy that resulted in almost no victories for the embattled organization. Their scorched earth tactics included funneling millions of dollars through “dark money” groups that posed as conservatives and spread propaganda against Republican candidates.