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“And lest we forget, there are no real leaders in the GOP in either Oklahoma or nationally. There is no figurehead to which we can turn and wrap our hearts and minds around at present. Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee finds himself in a world of political hurt and though right now he is the John Gotti (Teflon Don) of Oklahoma politics and Coffee’s man man Fred Morgan (Sammy Gravano) are both damaged goods. House Speaker Chris Benge has the personality of wet grass and is clearly in the hip pocket of the insurance lobby. So who is left? The youngster, Ken Miller? Nope. State Senator Randy Brogdon? Hell no – Charlie Meadows has effectively taken Randy off the table as a viable leader.”
Related:
Any Resemblance to Ex-Presidents – Living or Dead – is Just a Coincidence
Looks like Dave McClendon and Oklahoma Horizon received the Bode talking points! Be sure and click the related story to read the truth about European wind energy. From Oklahoma Horizon’s YouTube page:
“State leaders believe Oklahoma can lead the way in both research and the production of wind generating equipment which is why an Oklahoma delegation traveled across the Atlantic to the largest wind expo in Europe.”
Hat tip: OklahomaHorizonTV
The latest installment of the excellent Adair County Blues series – Part 3.
By Andrew W. Griffin
Red Dirt Report, editor
OKLAHOMA CITY – Questions raised by Adair County Board of Commissioners Chairman Russell Turner, regarding a request to pave roads at several housing additions in Adair County, were addressed – to a point – by the Cherokee Nation Wednesday morning.
A spokesman for the Cherokee Nation, Mike Miller, told Red Dirt Report that while he was not sure if three housing additions in Adair County District 2 – Bell, Blackard and Duncanville – were on the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) inventory, he said they would “check into that.”
When Miller was told that for the past two years, District 2, represented by Democrat Sam Chandler, has received approximately $500,000 in road funds from the Cherokees while Districts 1 and 3, represented by Republicans Turner and Haskell Kindle, respectively, have received only $125,000, he did not have a response. Read more…
Related:
Another exciting event last week was the final passage of Senate Joint Resolution 12, a resolution for term limits for all statewide elected officials. The passage of the resolution will allow the people to vote on the proposed policy at the next general election.
More than 15 years ago, the people decided overwhelmingly to limit the number of years a state legislator can serve because they believe elected officials should be servants. Voters want their leaders to make sacrifices to serve the people and then go and live under the laws they helped enact. Prior to legislative term limits, many career politicians were part of an elite class who made their life in politics. I believe that the people of Oklahoma want their leaders to be citizen legislators who stay in touch with the real world and who are not just building personal political empires.
Now, with the affirmative vote of the people, we will be able to bring this concept full circle. By placing limits on the terms of statewide officials, we will be declaring that there are no positions in state government where a politician can build his own political empire that will last for years. Read more…
From Examiner.com:
A curious reader inquired whether or not we were aware that a connection existed between abortion activists and proponents of so-called “tort reform” in Oklahoma
A quick look at the record seems to indicate that there is a connection, but nobody up until now bothered to connect the dots.
It’s well known that the state’s medical association and prominent doctors have long sought “tort reform.” You may remember that in 2007, they were very close to getting it done. But another bill of interest to docs was making its way through the legislature that same year: SB 714 by Sen. Jim Williamson, R-Tulsa, which would virtually halted taxpayer-funded abortions.
News accounts indicate that the medical bureaucracy opposed SB 714, but a group of the pro-life doctors, including the state’s most prominent ob-gyn, urged state legislators to pass the bill. The divide was clear: the pro-abortion forces wanted a green light for taxpayer-funded abortions in public facilities, and they aggressively opposed Sen. Williamson’s bill. Read more…
Related:
Video: “Your Vote Counts”
“I wouldn’t have thought there was any linkage between the three issues, but there was a blog – OKPNS.com – that broke the story earlier this week.” – Rep. Randy Terrill
Hat tip:NEWS9OklahomaCity
Examiner.com:
Like the spiraling Watergate scandal of the 70’s, the bumbling stumbling incompetence that surrounds the private prison controversy just got worse today.
Insiders say Sen. Coffee’s prison troubles are a result of his “own contrivance.” They say he frankly needs to just gather himself and stop what appears to be a combination of “Nixon paranoia with Clinton double talk.” Read more…
OKPNS readers alerted us today that the KOKC version of “Your Vote Counts” this morning featured an exchange between “Sunrise News” Host Randy Renner, Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore and Rep. Richard Morrissette, D-Oklahoma City regarding problems with the shrinking capitol press corps.
Listeners say Terrill complained the press has thus far ignored hints that a group of abortion advocates may be the driving force behind some of the provisions of the lawsuit reform bill. Morrissette complained the press missed an astounding revelation by nursing home reformer Wes Bledsoe in a hearing Monday that the same reform effort will endanger nursing home residents. We’ve heard this before!
Developing….
“SB 834 is a devolution of the public school system from the Oklahoma State Board of Education into many individual school systems run by the local school boards.”
Huh??? Doesn’t government closest to the people work best?
Grindstone Journal:
Regressive Republicans can’t get rid of public schools wholesale, of course, but they can chip away at them. Their latest attack on public education is embodied in SB 834. They call it the “School District Empowerment Program.” Doesn’t that sound lovely? Isn’t it ironic that the deadliest poison comes in the most innocuous packaging?
SB 834 is a devolution of the public school system from the Oklahoma State Board of Education into many individual school systems run by the local school boards. That would be alarming enough, if that were all it did. Local school board elections are not as widely publicized as big state and national elections. District residents are often unaware that elections are taking place, and are even more ignorant of the qualifications of the candidates. School boards are vulnerable to capture by extremist groups such as the John Birch Society.
The bill does more than that, though. SB 834 proposes to undermine the whole foundation of the public school system by effectively reverting public schools to charter school status. In one fell swoop, the legislature could undermine all the progress we’ve made in collective bargaining, teacher pay and secular education. Read more…
Hat tip: randy946
Fried Green Onions: We did not lay that trash on Oklahoma at the tax day Tea Party
Green Country Values: Tax Day Tea Parties – Updated with Photos, Plus, What now?
Peace Arena: Tulsa Tea Party revolting even to Fox News star reporter
“Goodbye, Glenn. Politics is like swimming; when you have too much baggage you sink. Plus, you appear a little too big for your britches and your a** is showing.
The last thing the GOP needs is another moron in a position of authority acting like he’s special. You seem to have an issue with the decision making process — prove me wrong and decide to step down!”
The above comment was left today on a Tulsa World article written by Barbara Hoberock titled: “Coffee says aide’s trip was legit.” Here are a few excerpts:
Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee says a recent trip that his top aide took with a private prison lobbyist was not improper.
“If it is as explained, then there is nothing improper,” said Senate Minority Leader Charlie Laster, D-Shawnee. “Does it look bad? With this private prison stuff going on, I guess people will just have to judge for themselves whether it looks bad.”
Coffee was the center of controversy last week after the Oklahoma Department of Corrections released an analysis of what it would cost to close three state prisons.
The agency said the analysis was done at Coffee’s request. Coffee said there are no plans to close state prisons and that the agency misconstrued his request.
Coffee then amended a bill to abolish the Board of Corrections, which hires the Department of Corrections director. It would allow the governor to appoint the director with the consent of the Senate.
Some have questioned the timing of the amendment, but Coffee has said the idea has been discussed for some time. Read more…
Related:
Shades of Nixon?
Top Ten Coffee Enemies List
NEW Top Ten Coffee Enemies List; Rep. Terrill Added