From press release:

Today, flanked by family and an enthusiastic crowd of supporters, Steve Russell announced his bid to run as a Republican in the State Senate race for District 45, the seat being vacated by term-limited Senator Kathleen Wilcoxsen.

A native Oklahoman, Russell retired as a Lt. Colonel after spending 21 years as an Army Infantryman. During his distinguished military career, Russell spent tours in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq where he was a central player in the hunt and capture of Saddam Hussein.

“After serving my country for so long, I now feel called to serve Oklahoma in a different way, by serving as a State Senator for Moore, Mustang and parts of South Oklahoma City,” said Russell.”

Russell believes his time away from Oklahoma has given him a unique perspective that will benefit the citizens of Oklahoma in general and District 45 in particular.

“I have witnessed firsthand the creation of a new democracy. I have seen how the rest of the world views Oklahoma, and I have developed an even deeper appreciation for the things that make Oklahoma and Oklahomans special: Love of God, love of family and an enthusiasm for individual respect and responsibility that, quite frankly, does not exist in many parts of the world.”

That renewed perspective also, he believes, sheds light on some of the biggest issues facing the Sooner State including transforming our business climate into one that rewards innovation and entrepreneurship, creating a dedicated funding stream for our state’s backlog of road and bridge projects and reforming our tort system to benefit the truly injured rather than the trial lawyers.

“Aspen (Institute) is one vehicle whereby left-wing billionaires like George Soros work to influence politicians on Capitol Hill by bringing them to luxurious places, hotels and resorts, and listening to mostly liberal and left-wing speakers.” - Accuracy in Media 4/7/08

It could be that he’s thinking of just how much money he’s going to make after he successfully concludes his job negotiations with a company he’s currently regulating. Or it could be that he’s thinking that the indolent Oklahoma press hasn’t bothered to check out the political leanings of the ultra-left liberal think-tank that sent him around the world and gave him a chance to pose for this picture in front of the pyramids.

Seriously folks, what in the world could Cloud have been thinking when he joined up with the liberal Aspen Institute, headed by former Clinton News Network President Walter Isaacson? Even a simple search of the internet reveals the effete and haughty notions behind the organization, whose major contributors include left-wing crazy and billionaire George Soros, who used the Aspen Institute from which to stage his effort to defeat President Bush in 2004. The Aspen Institute housed and “re-educated” (against capitalism no doubt) little Elian Gonzalez after former Attorney General Janet Reno kidnapped the little Cuban shipwreck survivor from his uncle. What so-called conservative would join an organization that helped force a little six-year old boy to leave the United States and go back into a brutal communist dictator’s regime? And why would Cloud, as rumors persist, be headed to Beijing in August with Aspen to observe the Olympics in another brutal communist country?

Some political insiders, when contacted by OKPNS, expressed dismay when informed of Cloud’s participation in the organization. “Obviously Cloud didn’t do his homework. I can’t believe he would knowingly join if he knew. It’s just not the type of thing you do if you really are running for re-election,” one expert told us. “You just know that somebody is going to figure it out, so he’s not running or he’s incredibly imprudent.

The speculation running rampant is that Cloud is close to making a deal to leave to work for what insiders say is a ‘natural gas company’ but that Cloud’s opinion of his worth differ greatly from his potential employer. There is no confirmation as to which company he is negotiating with, but stories from Cloud’s last election indicate Chesapeake Energy was the primary financial driver in his 2002 campaign, an arrangement that fellow Corporation Commission Bob Anthony found at the time to be questionable and possibly illegal.

Regardless, Jeff Cloud’s opponents now have a potent campaign issue if he abandons his rumored job search, and now it is too late to resign his membership in the Aspen Institute, which would be a tacit admission he was wrong to join.

OKPNS will continue to follow this story.

The Tandy Executive Speaker Series hosts prominent business leaders to disseminate leading-edge thought to Metroplex business professionals, Neeley MBA students and faculty in order to improve the practice of business. Mr. Watts gives his thoughts on this year’s elections.

Sources tell OKPNS that Congresswoman Mary Fallin, R-Oklahoma City, is making aggressive moves in what appears to be the beginnings of a campaign for governor in 2010.

The former three- term Lt. Gov and two-term state legislator was elected to the 5th District seat in 2006 and has announced she will run for re-election for another congressional term this year. She is expected to easily win re-election. Observers say Congresswoman Fallin is already putting together a team designed for but one thing: a run for governor.

Fallin’s move comes as talk of Congressman Tom Cole’s name as a potential gubernatorial candidate is being floated. Cole is currently head of the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC), but is being roundly criticized, some say unfairly, for recent GOP loses in some key special elections. If the GOP suffers significant losses in the fall elections, Cole will receive blame, unfairly or not, and some observers can see the Congressman coming back to Oklahoma to run to succeed two-term Gov. Brad Henry. Fallin’s moves could be designed to head off a Cole challenge.

Developing…….

Judging by the information we at OKPNS are receiving, it’s the two corporation commissioner races that will present the most drama this summer and fall, especially when considering the intrigue surrounding the two incumbents: Democrat Jim Roth and Republican Jeff Cloud.

While we know the U.S. Senate race between incumbent U.S Sen. Jim Inhofe and State Sen. Andrew Rice, D-Oklahoma City, will be entertaining, the musical chairs theater that is developing over at the commission promises multiple story lines.

Roth became the first openly Gay person to hold a state-wide elected office when he was appointed by Gov. Brad Henry in May of 2007, replacing Commissioner Denise Bode. Per the Oklahoma Constitution, Roth is running for the last two years of Bode’s term.

Cloud was elected to a six-year term by the voters in 2002, and according to reports is running for another six years.

The only problem is, what you’re hearing about these races is just not true.

Electing Roth is the number 1 priority for Chesapeake Energy. Chesapeake championed Roth’s appointment in the first place, and their officials have made it clear that they want Roth in the six-year seat that Cloud now holds. Cloud, like Roth, supported Chesapeake’s successful campaign that stopped construction a coal-fired power plant and is seen as such a good friend to Chesapeake and the petroleum companies that he has a standing job offer from an unnamed natural gas company. According to sources, the sticking point has been the salary: Cloud wants in the neighborhood of what Bode took to become CEO of the Clean Skies Foundation, but his potential suitor believes Cloud is nowhere near as valuable as former Commissioner Bode, a national energy policy expert who headed the Independent Petroleum Association of America prior to her ten-year run at the corporation commission. Further, Cloud has gained a reputation as being so uninspiring and lethargic that insiders tell OKPNS that Republican Commissioner Bob Anthony’s pet name for Cloud is the “ghost commissioner.”

It’s a good bet that the puppeteers over at Chesapeake do not want two of their favorites running against each other, so based upon what Chesapeake officials are repeating, their expressed desire to have Roth in the six-year seat would indicate Cloud is in the way. Some are suggesting to OKPNS that Cloud knows he is leaving, but using time as leverage to increase the value of his compensation package. “Chesapeake would much rather have Roth than Cloud: he’s sharper, harder working and has become an extraordinary ally for them, and besides, they have a much more energetic person than Cloud ready to put into the two-year term,” one corporation commission insider tells OKPNS, “so while Cloud is a friend, Chesapeake has others they want on the commission that simply will work harder than Jeff.”

So where does that leave the other announced candidates? Until Cloud divulges his intentions, or is forced by his potential employer to make finally make a move, the others are forced to wait. “It’s not even out of the realm of possibility that Cloud and Roth will eventually reach an accommodation, and that Roth will file against Cloud, who would then drop out AFTER filing to thwart others,” says another political observer familiar with Chesapeake’s concerns.

So while Roth and Cloud are different in every conceivable way except their allegiance to Chesapeake, it appears that the two are very dependent on each other to get what they want. So even after filing is over next Wednesday, we may still have no clue how this drama is going to play out. OKPNS will keep following this developing story.

Sen. Coburn is interviewed by CBS News on the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s wasteful spending. He is particularly critical of the conferences USDA officials have been attending lately. He lists for example, officials attending Crayfish conferences in Australia, and trips to Hawaii to study the U.S. Congress.

Clean Skies CEO Denise Bode was warning the nation before 9/11 and the Iraq War, that our dependence on foreign oil and bans on domestic drilling would eventually lead to “price hikes.” This excerpt was taken from a 2001 piece in Energy Houston magazine.

If the U.S. does not open up federal lands to exploration and production and support the rebuilding of the nation’s energy production, refining and delivery systems, we can expect more price hikes and curtailments for energy, warns Denise Bode, vice chair of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and former president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

Writing in the new issue of Energy Houston magazine, Bode says, “America’s energy infrastructure and resource base is being shut down, and that is in turn causing a crisis from the gas pump to the electric meter.” America is approaching being 60 percent dependent on foreign energy, up from 42 percent 10 years ago. Read more…

By Rep. Jason Murphey

Last week marked the end of the period during which the Oklahoma Legislature could act on legislation. During the normal course of business, a bill has to be placed on the agenda for a certain number of hours before it can be acted on, so that legislators and others can review it before a vote. However, in the last two days before the legislative deadline, these rules are waived. This year, due in part to negotiations over a number of issues, a significant amount of legislation was held up until right before the deadline. This meant a large number of bills were considered by the House and Senate without giving legislators much time to read them.

Because of these circumstances, there was opportunity for significant changes in the law to pass through without proper consideration. I enjoy the huge challenge of carefully but quickly plowing through hundreds of pages of legalise in an effort to discover these last minute changes, some of which may need to be opposed (more on that next week).

This time, however, I was happy to discover and support a very appropriate and positive change to this year’s ethics reform bill. House Bill 2196, which I wrote about earlier this year, purported to place a ban on any political contributions during the legislative session. The logic followed that a politician should not be receiving donations at the same time he or she is voting on important laws. Read more…

Last week marked the end of the period during which the Oklahoma Legislature could act on legislation. During the normal course of business, a bill has to be placed on the agenda for a certain number of hours before it can be acted on, so that legislators and others can review it before a vote. However, in the last two days before the legislative deadline, these rules are waived. This year, due in part to negotiations over a number of issues, a significant amount of legislation was held up until right before the deadline. This meant a large number of bills were considered by the House and Senate without giving legislators much time to read them.

Because of these circumstances, there was opportunity for significant changes in the law to pass through without proper consideration. I enjoy the huge challenge of carefully but quickly plowing through hundreds of pages of legalise in an effort to discover these last minute changes, some of which may need to be opposed (more on that next week).

This time, however, I was happy to discover and support a very appropriate and positive change to this year’s ethics reform bill. House Bill 2196, which I wrote about earlier this year, purported to place a ban on any political contributions during the legislative session. The logic followed that a politician should not be receiving donations at the same time he or she is voting on important laws.

However, this law would also apply to the challenger of an incumbent. It would have created an incumbent protection scheme so strong that it would have made it almost impossible for an incumbent to be defeated in the primary election process.

Many of Oklahoma’s legislative districts are heavily tilted in favor of one party. This means that the winner of the July primary is almost certain to win in the November general election. Because HB 2196 placed a blackout on the ability of a challenger to raise money from January through June (the legislative session), a challenger who decided to run for office after the blackout began would not be able to raise money until just days prior to the primary election.

This concern was expressed by several legislators. The author of the bill listened to these concerns and proposed a fantastic change to the bill. The latest version of his bill would simply prohibit lobbyists and groups that employ them from being able to give during the legislative session. The law would help restore the balance of power in favor of the people.

I have no doubt that legislative incumbents will adapt to the new law by raising even more money than before from lobbyists who will want to hedge their bets that a law that impacts their interests will be heard in each upcoming session. However, it will be much more difficult for a lobbyist to influence the process by giving well-timed political contributions. The bill was also approved in the Senate and is off to the Governor for his signature.

Coupled with the fact that the legislature failed to take action to reverse a recent decision by the ethics commission to cut lobbyist gift-giving by one-third, I am pleased to state that the people of Oklahoma will have a stronger voice during next year’s legislative session, compared to that of powerful special interests.

While Oklahoma City’s Mayor and, according to reports, all of the state’s congressional delegation, are aggressively opposing a proposal by promoters to put a tribal casino in Oklahoma City fronted by a tribe located 200 miles away, Oklahoma’s timid governor is attempting to run and hide on the issue.

This time, Gov. Brad Henry, is attempting to avoid involvement on the casino project that most observers say would put Oklahoma City’s Remington Park into bankruptcy.

The Shawnee tribe, which is located in Miami, Oklahoma, has been “reservation shopping” and has selected a parcel of land less than two miles from Oklahoma City’s “Adventure district,” putting many businesses at a distinct disadvantage.

While Mayor Mick Cornett, Congresswoman Mary Fallin and other members of the congressional delegation have courageously and publicly opposed this outrageous distortion of tribal gaming statutes, the faint-hearted Henry, who has privately voiced his opposition to the casino, is publicly ducking for cover, primarily since he is buddies with the Shawnee Tribe’s economic development chairman, Greg Pitcher.

One insider sums up the governor’s lack of backbone this way: “He’s gutless. He knows the proposal is wrong, but he’s spent six years avoiding this kind of controversy, so why would we think he’d engaged now?”

Henry’s name is being drawn in the controversy because the Bureau of Indian Affairs is seeking public comment on the proposal until June 9th. Most believe the governor’s opposition would carry considerable weight with the BIA.

Observers tell OKPNS the whole deal is very suspect, and that today’s story by Oklahoman reporter Tony Thornton just scratches the surface of the proposed stinky deal.

Developing….

NewsOK.com Video: Greg Pitcher, chairman of the Shawnee Tribe’s economic development arm