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Adam McKay

Adam McKay

Posted: March 10, 2010 06:28 PM

An Open Letter to the State of Alabama

What's Your Reaction:

Hey Alabama, first off, congrats on the stellar season the Crimson Tide had. Wow. That defense is nasty. I spent some time in Alabama when we shot Talladega Nights. We stayed in Birmingham. I had what may have been the best ribs ever and also found a great restaurant that made amazing mojitos.

We shot during an actual race at Talladega and I'll never forget that massive crowd and the crazy fun of the infield and the parties they had.

So clearly you're a state that loves America, believes in hard work and God. I got the sense that Alabama is a place where people don't want handouts and don't much care for people talking out of the side of their mouth.

So here's my question: why do you keep electing Senator Shelby?

I know that with all the news being owned by big corporations it's hard to get real information. And with having to work or look for work it's even harder to search for the true story so that's why I thought I'd let you know what Shelby's been doing in the Senate Banking Committee. Currently he's doing everything he can do to kill the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. This is a watchdog agency that would be created to make sure working people don't get ripped off by big Wall Street Banks and credit card companies.

So why would Senator Shelby fight against the interests of the people of Alabama? Simple. Cause those same banks and credit card companies are the ones who give him a ton of cash. Here's a list of his biggest donors.

I can't imagine any person I met in Alabama being cool with their elected official doing the bidding of giant financial institutions over the working families he's supposed to represent.

Now I know some of you might think I'm some liberal Hollywood type but that's also not true. I was born in Colorado and grew up in Pennsylvania with family in Texas and Oklahoma. The big banks and credit card companies, and health insurance companies have spent billions trying to get you to dismiss truths like this by dismissing it as liberal agitating.

If you don't believe me please call Shelby's office and ask -- (202) 224-5744. They might tell you he is supporting creation of a financial protection agency but they're not being completely truthful. Shelby and Democrat Evan Bahy from Indiana both want the agency to be under the control of the Federal Reserve which is made up of...you guessed it, the very same private, for-profit banks the agency is supposed to regulate. Sneaky shit, eh? Ask them why they think that will work. At the point they will give you some answer about the Federal Reserve being an institution of integrity. Then you know they'll BS'ing you. Tell them you're from Alabama and for them not to treat you like a fool. Then say the magic words: if Senator Shelby doesn't support an independent Financial Protection Agency I won't vote for him.

A few dozen calls will get his attention.

The other problem is that we the people don't have billions of dollars to fight for this. All we have is our vote. But it's powerful. Without it Senators like Shelby and Bayh and Leiberman and McConnell have to go home.

One other question you may have is "why do you care Mr. Hollywood?" Well once again, I've only lived in Los Angeles for five years and I care because I have kids and I love this country. If these banks and credit card companies keep raising rates and charging crazy fees our country will go into another great depression. That means people will be out of work and we as a whole will suffer. That's why I care.

Please forward this to other people in Alabama. America needs you.

Or feel free to forward videos we made to get this message out with a few laughs attached.

None of us were paid a dime to make this and several of the participants were Republicans as well as Democrats. This is a right vs. wrong not a right vs. left issue. And if we get Shelby to wake up on this issue, when we make Talladega Nights 2, I'm buying the ribs and beer.

 
 
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07:43 PM on 03/14/2010
While I don't like the man . . . I'll stand by him on opposing new agencies . . . we have 100s of overlappin­g agencies in this country and nobody have has the guts to cut them because they are jobs in someone's district.
07:53 PM on 03/14/2010
Congress should consolidat­e the following sets of programs before talking about new ones:

342 economic developmen­t programs;
130 programs serving the disabled;
130 programs serving at-risk youth;
90 early childhood developmen­t programs;
75 programs funding internatio­nal education, cultural, and training exchange activities­;
72 federal programs dedicated to assuring safe water;
50 homeless assistance programs;
45 federal agencies conducting federal criminal investigat­ions;
40 separate employment and training programs;
28 rural developmen­t programs;
27 teen pregnancy programs;
26 small, extraneous K-12 school grant programs;
23 agencies providing aid to the former Soviet republics;
19 programs fighting substance abuse;
17 rural water and waste-wate­r programs in eight agencies;
17 trade agencies monitoring 400 internatio­nal trade agreements­;
12 food safety agencies;
11 principal statistics agencies; and
4 overlappin­g land management agencies
04:28 PM on 03/14/2010
First Shelby holds presidenti­al appointmen­ts hostage to Northrop, and Airbus, because they paid him off.
How he wants to give the wall street fat cats the key to the people of Alabama's pocketbook­s. I believe that Shelby only cares for those who contribute to him, and is willing to lead the people of Alabama like lambs to slaughter. Wake up Alabama!
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mansterEZ
searching for secular humanist fact-based truth
03:19 PM on 03/14/2010
Most people in Alabama follow General Shelby and Colonel Sessions without much aforethoug­ht. They are most unwilling to bend in any direction no matter the reason. Anyone who purposeful­ly intends to blindly trust Shelby or Sessions to represent their best interests, I've got a brand new Toyota I'd like to sell ya.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
realitytrumpsbull
two 'alves of coconut!
01:56 PM on 03/14/2010
Why not institute financial reform 'from the bottom up'? If the vast majority of Americans reform themSELVES­, then there'll be less fuss and ado about trying to get the government to make banks do thus-and-s­uch, and not do thus-and-s­o, hence less need for all this regulation­, which, at the end of the day, only really serves to increase the tax burden by hiring more government people to peek over everyone's shoulders, here.

Reform yourself. Take a good hard look at those credit cards. How many of them do you have? How much do you owe? Have you ever tallied it up? How much interest are you paying? Do you honestly even know who it is you're banking with? Is your bank even based in the United States? Where does your money go? If you don't know the answers to these questions, then maybe you should start asking them.
I say 'cut up the cards, and pay them off'. Be your own protection agency, by protecting yourself from the means by which bankers etc. live the high life, while treating you like a gullible lowlife, and charging you 20, 30, 50% interest. If you don't carry their card, you don't have to pay them any interest, simple as that, and they have to find Real Jobs.
01:55 PM on 03/14/2010
I have long enjoyed your columns.

When are you going to come up with a movie that illustrate­s how this country is now run
by corporatio­ns?

Idiocracy did a fine job at that but would love to see your touch on the current state of affairs
with regard to government and the corporate strangleho­ld.

Imagine how hilarious the Supreme Court would be in that flick...Wi­ll Farrell would make a great prez but would love to see him in the role of Roberts or a Scalia.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
lastams
11:07 AM on 03/14/2010
Perhaps you should make a copy of the above to the people of Connecticu­t as well.
I mean why is Chris Dodd, the king of contributi­ons from special interests, been tasked
with reform of the banking system?
I mean we've seen what a bang up HELP and Finance did with health care reform, one can only imagine
what total capitulati­on they'll arrive at when they tackle Wall Street.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
RockyMissouri
'You must be carefully taught to hate'...
11:46 AM on 03/12/2010
@Swift1 and Lisaman- You ROCK!!!!
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lisaman
vote for your best interests or shut up
10:29 AM on 03/13/2010
Thanks!
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Cosatjockomo
11:44 AM on 03/12/2010
"and the government of the people, by the rich, for the corporatio­ns shall not perish from this earth." Wait . . . is that right?
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
RockyMissouri
'You must be carefully taught to hate'...
11:43 AM on 03/12/2010
@Bassboat-­-Did you object to bushes lead-up to war- Did you ask hard questions then?...or­, are you just another republican who believe that folks who think for themselves are evil??
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Swift2
01:16 AM on 03/12/2010
The Republican Party has become the party of George Wallace. A cruel historical irony, a marriage arranged by Richard Nixon and consummate­d by Ronald Reagan.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Talossa
Not all liberals are silly.
01:01 AM on 03/12/2010
Meanwhile, in Texas, they're voting on whether or not to give Jefferson Davis equal time with Abraham Lincoln in their state textbooks, since both gentlemen represente­d the authentic American values that are worthy of emulation today.

http://opi­nion.latim­es.com/opi­nionla/201­0/03/texas­-may-chang­e-what-its­-children-­is-learnin­g.html
12:54 AM on 03/12/2010
Well I've just read most of the comments, some were quite humorous but most were from lefties who think that because they can read they are superior to folks in the South. I wonder if they have noticed how the country's "Brightest & Best" from the Ivy League keep screwing everything up with their classroom theories?
My answer to all who have disparaged Alabama is that it's simply payback for the era of Reconstruc­tion.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Swift2
01:12 AM on 03/12/2010
Those horrible days when blacks were free. Well, that came to an end, didn't it? That'll teach those Norterners­, huh?
01:39 AM on 03/12/2010
Consider reading about Reconstruc­tion for the first time.
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lisaman
vote for your best interests or shut up
08:41 AM on 03/12/2010
I'm sorry, are you suggesting that people from the south can't read? Being from the south, I take offense in that suggestion­. Oh but I guess the fact that I am also a "lefty" trumps that assumption­.

The last sentence, could you possibly be more vague? Are we supposed to guess at what you're talking about? Growing up in the south I have read all about Reconstruc­tion I just don't know how it pertains to the subject.
12:37 AM on 03/12/2010
We in Alabama are fed up with federal agencies of all kinds. Let's see how the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac worked out with their oversight. Is that enough of a reason? Barney about ruined the financial system singlehand­edly by his lack of action in investigat­ing the mess. Do we really need another one like that?
As for re-electin­g Shelby I'm for the following:­1) replace 435 reps and 100 senators. 2) do away with all lobbyists. When we elect someone I expect him/her to do the necessary work on a bill. Do we need the bill? Can we afford it? 3) term limits for the ones that replace the current crop of losers. I guess you can tell that I am angry with what our government has done to our country. And oh yeah, the current perks for these rock stars would be rescinded, they are no better than you or me and I am tired of subsidizin­g their arrogance.
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lisaman
vote for your best interests or shut up
08:49 AM on 03/12/2010
Question: Explain to me where the anger was when the Bush administra­tion was passing bill after bill with no funding? It was after all the Obama administra­tion that got pay-go passed, despite the fact that the republican­s failed to support it. All these failed companies didn't begin to fail on Jan.20, 2009, and if you are honest with yourself, you know that.

I think it would be very counterpro­ductive to replace every Senator and every Representa­tive at the same time. I also don't think term limits are necessary if we do our jobs as citizens by examining the records of those we vote for and then holding them accountabl­e. Of course your way is easier and much better for those too lazy to pay attention until it is time to vote. I have some family members like that, they are all republican­s.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Cosatjockomo
03:01 PM on 03/12/2010
They began to fail on the day George senior signed NAFTA
madame48
NO..it's a gop Cookbook !Tempus edax,homo edacior
01:38 PM on 03/12/2010
who covered your mortgage? how did they pass it along to make more loans?
12:19 AM on 03/12/2010
Shelby is a Republican­. That's what Republican­s do. The reason we have an emerging Tea Party movement is that a bunch of working class people finally figured out that the Republican party has been punking them and couldn't give a rats ass less about the problems of ordinary working people. The GOP takes care of corporatio­ns. If you're not a corporatio­n then find somebody else to vote for.
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10:03 AM on 03/20/2010
I hope all members of said party have figured that out.
11:21 PM on 03/11/2010
Is Alabama still a state? I thought they voted with Texas to leave.