by Senator Tom Coburn

The federal government’s role in education today is far too intrusive and counterproductive. I believe our Constitution empowers parents, teachers and local communities — not federal bureaucrats — to manage our children’s education. Congress should do everything in its power to limit the federal role in education and return education dollars and decisions to local communities.

America became a great and prosperous nation in part through strong local education that was controlled by parents, families, faith-based groups and community organizations. I do not believe it is a coincidence that as the federal government’s role in education has greatly expanded test scores across our country have stagnated or declined. The bureaucratic administration of education in Washington, D.C., has resulted in widespread waste and duplication among more than 760 different federal education programs with virtually no benefit to our children.

Congress needs to reconnect our children’s education with the local resources and caring individuals who will make a difference in their lives. The education tax dollars we are sending to Washington would be better spent if they were controlled and managed by our local communities.

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EDMOND, Okla. – Hundreds of Fire, Law Enforcement and Emergency Managers from a three state area are expected to attend the Minnesota Bridge Collapse Seminar, hosted by the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT), to be held November 30 at the Nigh University Center on the University of Central Oklahoma campus from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin (R-Oklahoma City), who sits on the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, will open the seminar with remarks to the first responders on infrastructure and preparing for emergencies as part of the day long event.

The seminar is the first of its kind since the eight-lane bridge for I-35W collapsed into the Mississippi River on August 1, 2007.

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“The fastest-growing parishes in Catholicism are non-English speaking, and a good portion of them are illegal aliens. . . . So while I think what they’re doing is noble, it’s misguided.” – State Rep. Randy Terrill

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He told participants in a Thursday night program offered by the Midland Business and Professional Chapter of the John Birch Society that the road would be regulated under international law.

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From Tulsa Today:

By David Arnett, Publisher

Editorial: In the June 17, 1988, issue of the Independent Student News, students at Tulsa’s Oral Roberts University voiced concerns about the financial standing, administrative competence, and righteousness of leadership in administration of the school. It was the first of many articles and a long effort to defend the voices of the students. If it was a battle, the students lost; those who fought are long gone to more productive daily struggles. Oral and Richard Roberts always got their way. They abused everyone to accomplish whatever ego-driven mission they had in mind – not once, but repeatedly. Sunday, the Tulsa daily newspaper headlined, “ORU alumni support sought,” but should anyone rally to save the school? Been there, tried that – when many of us were students. In the 1988 piece, students defended professors, writing, “The average salary for a professor at ORU is approximately $18,000, compared to the national average of $35,000.” They listed the desperate public calls for money from the Robertses, including, but not limited to: 1985 – $15 million to construct a healing center, 1986 – $8 million to “save” Oral’s life and send medical missionaries to the world, 1987 – $2.5 million to “adopt-a-student” – and yet no student ever got a check.” Where was the money going, they asked? Students answered their own question by listing the private jet, the $500,000 parsonage, the Palm Springs home, the Beverly Hills home, the country club memberships, the luxury apartments atop the City of Faith, and Oral’s own $94,000 tax-free salary. They asked, “If there is so much money floating around at ORU, why do professors have to sell their homes, have their utilities shut off, pull their children out of college, and literally starve to death, while ORU’s fearless leader sits atop his golden tower?” Students at the time also tried to work within the system to help their professors, but the administration refused to allow the student senate to collect an offering for struggling faculty members at chapel. The administration offered to “give professors a one-time pay raise (of 6 percent) if they collect up to 70 percent of student delinquent accounts”… and sign an employment contract without knowing what benefits they were to receive. Read more…

‘Politics of Parsing’ Web ad a hit, survey says

By Aaron Blake

Former Sen. John Edwards’s (D-N.C.) attempt to label Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) as a parser was a hit across the board, according to a survey of political insiders by Wilson Research Strategies.

Edwards’s Web video, titled “The Politics of Parsing,” features clips of Clinton saying apparently contradictory things at a presidential debate in Philadelphia in late October.

As might be expected, Republicans scored it highest — a 7.9 on a scale of zero to 10. But Democrats and independents both scored it 6.6 or higher, which is well above the average for the survey. Read more…

From the Mother Jones Blog:

God Does A Flip-Flop—Tells Richard Roberts To Resign From ORU

Richard Roberts resigned as president of Oral Roberts University today. He did so against his will, because, he said, God told him to do it. According to Roberts, the son of ORU founder Oral Roberts, God has been waffling lately with regard to Roberts’ future.

A lawsuit accuses Roberts of lavish spending while the university faced more than $50 million in debt. According to the suit, he went on shopping sprees, bought a stable of horses, and sent his daughter to the Bahamas aboard the university jet. Referring to the three former professors who filed the suit as his “persecutors,” Roberts said that God had originally instructed him to deny all allegations, but on Thanksgiving Day, did a turnaround and told him to resign his post. Read more…

NEWS RELEASE

Oklahoma Republican Party

Contact: Gary Jones 405-528-3501

OKLAHOMA CITY (November 28, 2007) Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Gary Jones commended Fort Sill officials today for their quick response to an inquiry regarding a political fundraising golf tournament scheduled and advertised in the Lawton Constitution by Rick Wolfe, who has announced his candidacy as a Democrat for Senate District 31.

Jones, a Comanche County resident himself, said he has attended numerous charitable golf tournaments at the Fort Sill golf course but in over 30 years of attending such events had never once heard of a political fundraiser being held at the course.

“It is common knowledge that political fundraisers are strictly prohibited on federal property and when this was brought to the officials at Fort Sill they were quick to investigate and take measures to cancel the event,” said Jones.

Jones asserted that he was told someone other than Wolfe scheduled the event, and that it was not represented as a fundraiser for Wolfe.

“Fort Sill is a tremendous asset to Southwest Oklahoma and has been gracious to work with the community and its civic organizations to help raise much needed funds to help causes benefiting the areas children and needy.

If Rick Wolfe has aspirations of becoming an Oklahoma lawmaker and replacing Senator Don Barrington who has done a wonderful job representing the citizen’s of Southwest Oklahoma he might start by following the law himself,” concluded Jones.

These faith-based programs can make a real difference in a person’s life in a way that no big-government program ever could,” he added.

In his ruling, Attorney General Drew Edmondson noted that the Legislature had required the Department of Corrections “to actively solicit faith-based
and secular providers” for a prisoner re-entry program that would review policies and identify gaps in service.

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