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Should Private Companies Be Allowed To Own Our Roads?
By Rep. Jason Murphey
As a member of the House of Representative’s Transportation Committee I have been able to observe one of the most controversial but rarely talked about and mostly under the radar issues regarding the long term development of our highway system.
One year ago I wrote in my update about an the issue at the heart of which has been Oklahoma’s membership in a group known as the North America SuperCorridor Coalition (NASCO), the desire of big corporations to enhance the movement of Chinese-manufactured goods throughout North America, the possible privatization of new state and federal highways and NASCO’s desire to deploy sophisticated tracking devices along I-35.
In the past I written about what I believe to be the inappropriate and frightening alliance of big business monopolies backed up by the power of big government. Nowhere is this abuse more evident than when big companies buy long term leases of public roads. You can only imagine how your power as a citizen is minimized when a big (and likely foreign owned) corporation has complete control over a public road on which you depend in order to get where you need to go.
The issue of private ownership of public roads is in its infancy in Oklahoma but appeared to be growing after Texas planned out the construction of the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) network. The TTC was to be owned and financed over the next 50 years by a foreign investment group based in Spain known as Cintra. Read more…
Most of the interim studies have been heard, but I have one coming up on November 6th regarding the possibility of updates for voter rolls and notification to state agencies upon the death of an Oklahoman. The Department of Health does not currently share this information automatically and it would help a great deal for other agencies to know this information.
I remember seeing my grandmother’s name on the voter rolls after she had passed and thought this would be good to have the names removed so the family does not have to go through current channels. Should a name be mistakenly removed, provisional ballot would still be allowed so a vote will not be prohibited. I authored the bill that allowed provisional ballots here in Oklahoma. Read more…
We read it, but we can’t believe it.
Jeff Cloud, the incumbent Corporation Commissioner seeking re-election for another six-year term, has been a favorite topic for OKPNS because he’s so, well, entertaining.
We’ve documented his penchants for, shall we say, a lax work ethic. And we’ve criticized him for cozying up to apostate Republicans and trying to leverage his position into a high-paying, low workload position with a company he regulates as a commissioner. Cloud’s done pretty well for himself serving in a variety of jobs that he gained for being a trusted aid to folks like J.C. Watts, Kirk Humphries and Frank Keating. But then he lost track of his conservative roots and began voting with Jim Roth to screw ratepayers.
For most of the campaign, Cloud has led in the polls. But now, the heat has been turned up, and it appears Cloud is trying hard to blow his lead over Democrat challenger Charles Gray. The wheels began to come off when Gray’s sleuthing caught a frantic Cloud getting caught passing the hat at an AT&T fundraising event for Cloud in Dallas recently, and the video has been a hit on OKPNS and on YouTube. In response, Cloud has just plain freaked-out.
In a state with such mental giants as Senators Harry Coates, it’s difficult to imagine what we’re about to announce: Jeff Cloud must be the dumbest Republican politician in Oklahoma.
Okay, be seated before you read this: Cloud went on the Gwin Faulconer-Lippert show on KTOK in Oklahoma City Sunday night and announced that THERE WAS NO FUNDRAISER! That’s right, he denied it happened. No, we’re not kidding: see for yourself. And he goes on to say that the video is a doctored-up version of a basement tape concocted by the mad doctor, Charles Gray. That’s right, it never happened, it’s all camera tricks!!! You know, like the Bigfoot tape and the doctored-up Zapruder film.
But there’s more: Cloud goes on to say he doesn’t take money from those he regulates. That’s right. And the mouthed that roared doesn’t stop there with the insanity. He goes on to say he hadn’t seen Gray on the campaign trail, when virtually everybody familiar with politics knows Gray has been caring for his wife, former state legislator and current Oklahoma County District Judge Twyla Mason Gray as she recovers from several major surgeries resulting from her decades-long battle with breast cancer.
Several sources tell OKPNS that Gray has dropped a bundle on TV time for the last 7 days, and Cloud has been caught unprepared for the charges. So in a fit of pique, Cloud goes on the radio and lies about a fundraiser and about the money he’s taking from those he regulates. Not happy with that fine piece of strategy, he opens the doors to more criticism by insulting women, cancer survivors and care givers.
But all may not be lost for Mr. Jeff Cloud. Remember, it would take follow up by the capitol press corps to make this story grow legs, and of course, we all know how inquisitive that group of “journalists” are, don’t we?
Related:
Examiner.com: Roth Gets Free Ride On “Flashpoint” Program
“Your Vote Counts” Video: The countdown is on to election day “[Cloud's] voting record frankly isn’t much different than Jim Roth’s.” – Rep. Terrill
It’s official: the energy meltdown has exceeded the abilities of the rather mediocre abilities of the governor and legislature.
Who called BS on the Pickens/Chesapeake con jobs? The Oklahoma Political News Service!
From the Wall Street Journal:
“I’ll get it back.”
About half of the investors in T. Boone Pickens’s energy-oriented equity hedge fund have asked to withdraw their money on the heels of losses of about 60% this year, according to people close to the matter. Mr. Pickens and his investment firm have lost $2 billion since peaking in late June, Mr. Pickens said Sunday on the CBS program “60 Minutes.”
His fund, BP Capital, will have about between $400 million and $500 million after expected withdrawals. It started the year with about $2 billion. A few weeks ago, Mr. Pickens moved the fund almost entirely into cash to help ride out the volatility in the energy patch, according to people close to the matter.
Mr. Pickens is expected to personally hold about 20% of the fund after the withdrawals, or about $100 million, after he does some selling along with his investors. He has lost an estimated $400 million or so in his funds this year.
The hedge fund has been hurt by the recent plunge in energy prices and tumbles in energy stocks. Mr. Pickens wouldn’t comment. Read more…
Related:
OKPNS: When Con Artists Go Bad (10/01/08)
OKPNS: “Sold Out Tour” Start This Week (9/2/08)
OKPNS: UPDATE: We Told You So, Again and Again (8/13/08)
OKPNS: If CNG is the Answer, It Must be a Really Stupid Question! (8/12/08)
The Corporation Commission races are heating up and the mudslinging has started. Is any of it true, and does anyone care? Hat tip: NEWS9YourVoteCounts
Just shows you that all the money in the world can’t defeat a man of the people!
Survey USA:
In an election for Oklahoma state House of Representatives in Oklahoma’s 53rd legislative District today, Republican incumbent Randy Terrill defeats Democrat Troy Green 56% to 39%, according to this latest exclusive KFOR-TV poll conducted by SurveyUSA. Read more…
Related:
“Flashpoint will be having Randy Terrill and Harry Coates on this Sunday. If anyone wants to give Mike some fodder, please send to me.” Susan Turpen
“In fact I think we should get together with Harry [Sen. Coates] if he has time and discuss not even really getting into a debate with Randy but merely pointing to the need to move more cautiously.“
“I suppose lastly I might ask him [Terrill] about his family tree”
Tom Price Jr. – Sr. VP Chesapeake Energy Corporation
“Am I crazy, it is 10:30 and I have had lots of wine but I really like this argument!” Otie Ann Fried – Fried Kilpatrick Guinn Consulting
So Jim Roth, the first openly gay activist to hold statewide office, thinks that unsubstantiated charges against Dana Murphy from 16 years ago are relevant to the corporation commission race.
Roth, a career public sector bureaucrat who did favors for rich Oklahomans using taxpayer funds and was then rewarded with career advancement and obscenely huge amounts of cash for his obsequiousness, has apparently decided that morality is the most important issue in the race.
Roth’s dungeon masters have their boy right where they want him: a weak underling, whose job is to protect them, not normal consumers. Nothing frightens them as much as an independent and knowledgeable judge on the commission, so Roth is using his campaign riches to smear Murphy. He’s surrounded by amoral political hacks who share his penchant for lying, obfuscation and dirty tricks. If the Roth tactics look dirty and desperate, it’s because the people around him are dirty and desperate.
We’d like to see the Murphy campaign answer the grotesquely distorted Roth ad. They should do so soon. But in the meantime, since Roth says obscure portions from divorce proceedings 16 years ago are fair game, I wonder what they think about Roth’s involvement in a profoundly stomach-turning act of perverseness and law breaking 13 years ago in a sordid section of Oklahoma City?
We’d like to remind the worst capitol press corps in the world that they still have a job to do. We predicted that the corps would ignore the Roth transgressions nearly 6 months ago! When it comes to the Oklahoma press, predicting they will do nothing is money in the bank!
Related:
Here’s an ad from a new 527 group called “The 2020 Project” criticizing Senator Inhofe and his votes in the Senate. In our humble opinion, the only thing effective about the ad is its humorous use of old film footage showing one guy kicking another guy in the behind over and over. The accusations roll by on the screen way to quickly, and they aren’t even substantiated in any way. “The 2020 Project” needs to go back to the drawing board on this one!
Hat tip: The2020Project
Capital Coverage (The Oklahoman): Coburn lends hand to Inhofe
“Cloud appears to regard those he regulates as a sort of piggy bank.”
Corporation Commissioner Jeff Cloud gets caught gathering money at an out-of-state luxury hotel (The Adolphus in Dallas) from a major corporation he regulates. Supporting documents at www.VoteGrayOK.com.
From the Adolphus Hotel’s website:
“Fortune, flamboyance, and fame came together in 1912 to produce the Grande Dame of Dallas hotels. The founder of The Adolphus hotel in Dallas, Texas, Missouri beer baron Adolphus Busch, chose to honor his adopted city with 21 stories of unabashed baroque splendor. Critics have called his Texas landmark “the most beautiful building west of Venice.” Today, still flaunting its historic finery, the luxury Adolphus hotel shines with $80 million worth of renovations and enhancements in the heart of downtown Dallas.”
From left: Mike Osborn, former deputy chief of staff to Frank Keating and campaign operative for Jeff Cloud. Center: Vance McSpadden, President of the Oklahoma Petroleum Marketers Association. Far Right is Clayton Taylor, lobbyist for Cingular (a division of AT&T which is regulated by Cloud)
“Guess who was at Iron Starr BBQ today. Here is a shot of Jeff ’s Campaign manager with Cingular Wireless lobbyist Clayton Taylor soliciting donations. They were discussing someone finding out about a meeting in Dallas?”
OKPNS (5/28/08) So Why Is Commissioner Jeff Cloud Smiling?