With the stock markets roiling and money to loan drying up, there’s no doubt that the economy, barring something unforeseen, will be the issue as Campaign 2008 moves forward.

As for Oklahoma, with energy prices falling, it’s just natural to assume that the Wall Street doings will soon affect Oklahoma’s main streets. The first casualty may be the con artists who were floating greedy plans on the waves of energy consumers’ anger over high gas prices. No doubt the propeller pushing, CNG scamming confidence plans are in serious jeopardy today. The odd stock deals, massive expansions and building plans by the local energy companies may be threatened as well.

The Wall Street mess and plunging energy prices will be a double whammy for Oklahoma. We assume that the capitol press corps will be tracking down the governor and legislative leadership to get them on record as to what they are doing to anticipate the economic impact to Oklahoma. America’s investors and consumers are worried, and Oklahoma’s budget will be drastically affected. President Bush hurried yesterday to seek to calm the fears, and we’re sure the press corps and the governor will tackling the topic as well.

Or will they? The fact is, the press corps (with the exception of the Journal Record) simply does not have the economic IQ to adequately pursue this story. There are hundreds of stories to pursue, and we’ll let you know if they even try. Press releases issued by the governor, the Speaker and senate leadership are simply not adequate leadership. Speaker Benge is also under the gun after his sell-out to the energy con artists.

Simply put, it’s prime time for the Oklahoma press and state leadership: let’s see how they do!

Meanwhile, as the economy moves to front and center, OKPNS will keep you informed of the top political/economic stories affecting you. Here’s the economic read on Obama and McCain .

Developing……..

From Stan Geiger – An Oklahoma Blog:

According to SEC filings, V. Burns Hargis bought 10,000 shares of Chesapeake stock on September 15th.

Chesapeake Energy, a top nat gas producer, has been particularly active in the political arena of late. It, along with super OSU benefactor Boone Pickens, has been pushing nat gas as a transportation fuel. Hargis, in addition to being president of state-funded OSU, is a longstanding Oklahoma political operative. Immediately upon getting hired as OSU prez he got appointed Chesapeake director, and now, all of the sudden, he’s a sizable shareholder in the company.

Well now, this makes for an interesting game of connect the dots. Read more…

“I think the best way to get people to be early adopters and broaden the deployment of these vehicles is to bring the cost down.” - Former State Representative Thad Balkman

Mr. Balkman, who is now the Vice President of External Relations & General Counsel for Phoenix Motorcars, was quoted yesterday in this CNN Money.com article. Balkman was in Washington to testify before the Senate Energy Committee. Here is an excerpt from the CNN piece:

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The surest way to spur the widespread development of plug-in electric vehicles in the United States is to offer the consumer tax credits that have been proposed in Congress, makers of plug-in cars told a Senate committee Tuesday. The proposed tax incentives would lead to a spike in demand, allowing manufacturers to invest profits for further development of plug-in technology, industry officials told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Pending Senate legislation that would extend a wide range of expiring tax cuts would provide a tax credit of $3,000 for the purchase of qualified plug-in vehicles. While tax credits have long been available for the purchase of hybrid cars that use a combination of gasoline engines and electric batteries, the new tax credit is designed to spur the market entry of electric-only cars.

Related:

Video: Mary Fallin Rejects Pelosi “No Energy” Proposal

Hat tip: aweintz

Is the Tulsa World beating a dead horse?

Our second favorite Oklahoma newspaper the Tulsa World – at least they didn’t threaten to sue us like The Oklahoman – continues to show their biases against Republicans as this OKPNS post from last year clearly demonstrates:

“World publishing Chairman Richard E. Lorton donated $2,000 to the Edmondson re-election effort last year. Coincidentally, Edmondson also won the World’s endorsement.”  Read more…

Today, they felt it warranted to do another, almost identical story from the preceding day, (modified twice) of the politically motivated reopening of Rep. Randy’s Terrill’s bankruptcy case. And as in the first story, you have to read halfway through the story before you come to this one important sentence:

“Terrill’s purchase of the tickets with campaign money apparently does not violate state ethics laws.”

Sad. To borrow a couple of words from our friend Sen. Harry “Turn” Coats “stolen” emails press conference: “It’s sad that a few fanatical individuals” – who have the responsibility to be fair and balanced – can’t keep their obvious biases out of reporting the news.

Related:

The Lost Ogle: Apparently racists like OU football, too

From MarkShannon.com:

B. Hussein Obama, the “messiah,” the great orator…who can’t put two words together without an UH UH…..apparently has now been put on a teleprompter, even at this campaign rallies.

Normally, he’ll just walk around and talk about the things they campaign on….but apparently OBAMA has had to retool his talking points so much, he doesn’t even know what they are, so he needs a script to tell him what he thinks.

Gee, guess it’s a little harder to pretend being President than it is being a community organizer. Read more…

Related:

Video: Barack Obama Lost Without a Teleprompter

Today In Idabel: Biden Promises New Toasters

Happy Birthday Rep. Dorman!

I have to start my column off this week by thanking all those who have wished me a happy birthday. I turn 38 on September 18th and I have to say it’s been a great year.

We are seeing the the interim studies at the Capitol finally being scheduled. I have a study with several other legislators regarding autism coverage for children that will meet this week. This will look at possible solutions for assistance for families that are affected by autism and what can be done to help. We will have speakers discuss successes in other states, along with attempts that failed, and also bring in families who might have suggestions on changes in the law where assistance can be provided efficiently.

On Friday, I have my forum regarding alternative energy policies. I hope those of you interested in alternative energy sources and the possibility of the reduction of dependence on foreign oil will have the opportunity to make it up for this meeting. We have a great variety of guest speakers, ranging for the Oklahoma Secretary of Energy to businesses that have shifted to using CNG vehicles for their fleets. This should provide a great outlook on future trends and possible policies we can implement to help our nation. This will occur in the Senate Chamber in the Capitol from 9 AM to noon. Read more…

Our hearts really go out to former corporate commissioner and current Clean Skies Foundation CEO and Chesapeake shill Denise Bode. Bode left the corporate commission last year to head Chesapeake’s propaganda organization (Joseph Goebbels would be so proud!) that promotes the use of compressed natural gas or CNG.

Since it’s beginning, the Clean Skies Foundation has been deemed dubious by anyone with a pulse and a temperature of at least 98.6 degrees:

Wall Street Journal 4/26/07

“Chesapeake Energy Corp., founder of a coalition that ran a series of newspaper ads attacking the coal industry for selling a product that is filthy, says the campaign is ending after a round of protests from congressmen and trade associations.But Aubrey K. McClendon, chairman and chief executive of the Oklahoma City-based natural gas production company, says he will continue to battle the coal industry and is setting up a Washington group, the Clean Skies Foundation, to lead it.

The campaign featured a series of somber Hollywood models with smudged faces over a headline that said Face It, Coal is Filthy. The ads, which ran in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and several newspapers serving Capitol Hill, infuriated delegations from coal states and were disavowed by two major trade associations representing natural gas producers.” Read more…

Our sympathies for Ms. Bode are not because she heads this fake public interest group whose only real purpose is to siphon off milk from the public trough. (Hell, we’d write or say whatever McClendon wanted too for the kind of money she purportedly makes from this gig) No, it’s the fact that she has to try and write something interesting and fresh everyday on the Clean Skies blog. We know blogging everyday can be difficult, but at least we get to write about Oklahoma and national politics – two subjects that gives us a great deal of latitude. All Ms. Bode has to write about is CNG and how it is the second coming of Christ. For example, check out today’s post:

Light, sweet crude is not so sweet to investors, being replaced by sugar on the commodities market as the commodity of choice. Sugar demand is about to top production for the first time since 2006, the year prices reached a 24-year peak. India, the second-biggest grower, will reduce supplies 16 percent next year, shifting to more profitable crops. Brazil, the largest producer, expects to use 57 percent of its cane for ethanol this year, up from 54 percent. Refiners in Europe will process 15 percent less because a 2004 trade ruling bars growers from exporting surpluses.

“The last time the world consumed more sugar than it produced was in 2006, when the cane crop in Thailand was down for a third straight year and record energy prices boosted demand for alternative fuels. Futures reached 19.73 cents a pound on Feb. 3, 2006, the highest since April 1981.” Read more…

I guess what we’re supposed to take from this post is that oil is so “old school” now, that even the world deems sugar more important????

From the perpetual sour grapes department.

Washington Post Investigations:

“Two former Republican governors, Frank Keating of Oklahoma and John Engler of Michigan, accuse Cheney of leaking closely held information from Keating’s questionnaire in order to damage his bid for a cabinet post. “Dick Cheney coming into my life has been like a black cloud.”

By Rep. Jason Murphey

What if you had a pressing need for a new car? And what if, when you went to buy a new car, the only vehicle you were allowed to purchase was a luxury vehicle with all options pre-installed? Can you imagine how many Oklahomans would be unable to afford transportation if this scenario were a reality?

One of the most pressing topics the Legislature deals with each year is health care. The issue is of added importance because Oklahoma has the fourth highest population of uninsured people. The most obvious reason for this lack of coverage is the high price of purchasing insurance in Oklahoma.

The average price of a job-based health insurance policy in Oklahoma is $4,088. The national average is $3,991. Oklahoma’s median income is significantly lower than the national average, which means that Oklahomans pay higher health insurance costs with a lower average income.

One of the reasons for high insurance fees in Oklahoma is because the Legislature has driven up the cost over the years by mandating a “one size fits all” approach to coverage. Policies become even more expensive when the Legislature approves new laws to mandate the coverage of any number of heartbreaking medical situations that have not traditionally been covered by health insurance policies Read more…

Related:

Sen Gumm: Mandate Myths From “The Daily Oklahoman” Opinion Page

“Politics is show business for ugly people. I mean that’s why a lot of people get into this thing. It’s all about ego.”- Mike Turpen

Will someone please tell Turpen NO CAFFEINE before taping the show!

“I quit watching the show because Turpen lost it along time ago. He has been ridiculus (sic) with his sound bytes and attempts to dominate the air time with his tirades.” - Comment from a reader

Hat tip: OklahomaCR