What are peoples opinions of this?

[1inStripes]

'This is Alabama; we speak English,' governor candidate says - Yahoo! News

Amid a national debate over Arizona's tough new immigration law, Republican Alabama gubernatorial candidate Tim James (and son of previous Gov. Fob James) vows in a new campaign ad that if he's elected, he'll give the state driver's license exam only in English, as a cost-saving measure.

"This is Alabama; we speak English," he says in the ad. "If you want to live here, learn it."





It's not clear how James thinks the change would save the state money. Marc Ambinder of the Atlantic says Alabama could actually lose billions of dollars in federal funding if it enacts the measure, and he points to an Alabama political blog that runs down the legal history for why the exams are in multiple languages.

James says he's been attacked by the left for the ad, singling out MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. A writer on her blog called the ad "just plain mean" and argued it was simply pandering to the candidate's conservative base.

"I have come under attack and under assault by a very interesting group of far-left reporters," he said Monday, according to the Birmingham News. He said English exams are a public safety issue, to ensure drivers can read signs. Exams are currently given in Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese, according to AOL News.

? Liz Goodwin is a national affairs writer for Yahoo! News.

[sup-rbeast]

More ignorance from the right...what they fail to realize is that the native language of some citizens of Alabama isn't English.

[1inStripes]

HAHA. Listening to the Paul Finebaum show can be quite comical sometimes with all those Bammer and AWBarn fans calling in. Sadly it ends up being a gain one way a loss the other. It could save the state money by going to only one language for the testing process, but it could cost the state more money in federal funds apparently.

[R13]

Speaking english, is very different from reading/writing english, this is pretty ridiculous.

[simple man]

We could all move Ari?

[1inStripes]

Speaking english, is very different from reading/writing english, this is pretty ridiculous.

I didn't know signs or digital message boards warning drivers of something ahead spoke to you.

[sup-rbeast]

A lot of folks think anyone with legal status as a US citizen should be able to speak English...wonder what would happen if they decided any citizen had to learn a Native American language, cuz after all, they were here first. Same hypocracy. IMO, as long as a person can function in society, it shouldn't matter what language they spoke. I do think signs, menus, etc. should be in both English and Spanish though..because quite a few states originated with settlements of Spanish..and I think Spanish should rightfully be recognized as an official American language as well. Around here you don't see a whole lot of Spanish speaking people, but in the Southwest you do..and that's part of the US too.