Montgomery Advertiser on state fiscal cliff issues:

Alabamians who think the “fiscal cliff” debate is just more hot air blowing around the partisans in Washington that won’t make any real difference down here should think again. The fiscal cliff, that combination of automatic tax increases and sharp spending cuts that kicks in at year’s end if no agreement is reached, is especially precipitous for our state. ...

Alabama allows federal income taxes as a deduction from state income tax liability. Most states — 44 of them — do not. If there is no agreement, current tax cuts will expire, meaning that federal income tax rates will rise. Because Alabamians will be paying more in federal income taxes, they will also be deducting more from their state income taxes, cutting revenue to their already strapped state. ...

In 2010, federal spending on procurement contracts in Alabama was $10.4 billion. If there is no agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff, that number will drop substantially due to the big cuts in defense spending. ...

Automatic spending cuts would cost Alabama $9.8 million and 330 jobs in Head Start programs. That would mean 1,584 fewer spaces for children. ...

Alabama would lose $3.3 million from its block grant for child care and development. That would eliminate child care subsidies for 1,253 families, making it harder for parents to work. Title I grants would drop by $18 million, eliminating 248 education jobs ...

Alabamians should not only be closely watching the debate in Congress, but also demanding that the members of the state delegation be a part of the effort to find a solution, not blindly partisan impediments to it.

The Tuscaloosa News on Crimson Tide football:

In 1973, two things happened that left a lasting impression on University of Alabama football: Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded the song, “Sweet Home Alabama,” and the Crimson Tide first faced the University of Notre Dame on the gridiron.

Both were classics.

Alabama fans still break into cheers as the first few notes of that southern rock anthem float across Bryant-Denny Stadium. And the older among them still wince in pain at the thought of what happened on New Year’s Eve in Tulane Stadium that year.

For Alabama fans, it’s beginning to seem a lot like 1973 again.

Thirty-nine years later, another Southeastern Conference Championship is in the bag and only the Fighting Irish stand between the Tide and a national championship. ...

Some pundits said that Alabama had better get its national championship in 2011, because it would be too depleted by players moving on to the National Football League to have a shot this year.

Alabama made a statement and made it early that it wouldn’t be pushed aside so easily. ...

And now coach Nick Saban and his charges have but one chore left to finish. Regardless of how that turns out, this team will be remembered among the great ones to represent the University of Alabama.