State Rep. Joe Dorman will join two other American state lawmakers and one Canadian federal lawmaker on the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s Transatlantic Dialogue Program Study and Information Tour of Germany.

“I am honored to serve on the tour, representing Oklahoma in a visit to Germany , where they’ve just underwent federal elections,” Dorman, D-Rush Springs said. “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to interact with German officials and get ideas as well as share ideas with them about our government.”

The Transatlantic Dialogue Program (TAD) is part of the German Friedrich Naumann Foundation. The TAD promotes the exchange among decision makers to exchange their ideas, opinions, and experiences in order to formulate new approaches and solutions for future-orientated politics. Part of this dialogue is a program for German and U.S. State Legislators as well as Canadian Federal Legislators. Read more…

From Examiner.com:

But, take heed, there is somewhat of a silver lining. Oklahoma is ranked 27th in “officials convicted in federal corruption cases over the last 10 years” and 25th in “number of guilty officials per capita.” Hey, it’s progress! Read more…

Your Political Guru:

Some kids think their goal is to amuse others, or have fun, but one of my son Joe knows that the whole purpose is to get the most candy you can in three hours.

Last year he showed up as an Obama supporter.  He had the whole uniform, including shirt and stickers.

Now keep in mind, he is doing this in Oklahoma, and a heavily Republican part of Oklahoma City. On the face of it, this would seem to be a stupid tactic to get candy.  But it was actually beautiful in its implementation . . .

If he went to a Republican house and they reacted negatively to his costume, he would ask “well isn’t this the scariest thing you can think of?”  That would always crack them up and he would get an extra piece of candy for clever political comedy.

If he came to a closet Obama supporter’s house (since almost no one in our part of town was publicly supporting Obama) they would express happy surprise that someone had the guts to support Obama, and my son would get extra candy.

What was the result at the end of the evening – Joe did 20% better than anyone else trick or treating that night.

What can you learn from this kid? Read more…

“In fact, when I was 17, I was thinking one day about what the name of a company one day. So I have the Internet, and I think it was the Internet … I think it was Netscape, then, and I went to a Latin / English dictionary and I have typed in “Stone,” and what emerged was the first “Saxum.” And saxum large stone mean in Latin. And I thought if anyone could name a company “large stone” could do Renzi 6′9 “Stone.” View more….

(Hat Tip: pickup Dictionary)

We love The Lost Ogle’s take on consultant Renzi Stone’s $7,500 windfall:

Yep. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation just paid Saxum PR $7,500 to create and “analyze” a Twitter account. There’s no word if ODOT also bought the clear coat rust protection, extended warranty and a credit report monitoring service, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did.

Seriously, $7,500 to create a Twitter account and get 500 followers?!? That seems kind of steep. Hell, it only took us five minutes to create a fake ODOT twitter account and then analyze that it’s much better than ODOT’s official one. It’s more entertaining, too. Read more…

“In reading through the document, one will see that Sen. Kerry is badly misinformed about many of the key details and issues surrounding the climate change policy debate.” - Sen Inhofe

We’ve had our fair share of fun over the years calling OG&E (Oklahoma Gas & Electric) the state’s “dumbest utility company.” How else do you explain a company using it’s competitor’s (Chesapeake Energy) advertising agency when they were trying to get a coal fired plant approved a few years ago.

Well, we may have to change our tune after this story came out yesterday: Read more…

“Nobody knows what’s in the bill. The bill came out of help committee and created 88 new programs. If you think the federal government isn’t going to be involved in your health care with 88 new bureaucracies you’ve got another thought coming because this is a government centric run at health care rather than a patient centered run at health care.”

Hat tip:2wno

Rasmussen Reports: 57% Say Health Care Plan Will Increase Costs, 53% Say It Will Reduce Quality of Care, 45% Favor Passage

Hat tip: OklahomaHorizonTV

Town Hall Meeting Update

This week I will be hosting the third of four Town Hall meetings which are scheduled in House District 31 during this year’s legislative interim. At each of these Town Hall meetings, it has been my goal to bring together state and local officials to provide updates to area residents. At almost every meeting, I have invited at least one area State Senator and one local County Commissioner to provide a broad base of access to both state and local issues. Read more…

The Struggle for Children with Autism

Hello again, everybody! Some battles at the State Capitol are over quickly; others continue, waiting on political leadership to catch up with public opinion.

The struggle to provide health insurance coverage to children with autism is one of those battles that will continue. Finding a way to help these children and their families is one of the issues to which I have devoted much effort.

For me, this struggle is a moral issue. My continued work on this is borne from my commitment to strengthen families and help ensure that every child has a chance to reach their God-given potential. Read more…

From Examiner.com:

It’s not even been one year since Corporation Commissioner Jeff Cloud asked the voters for a new six year term, but he’s thrown his hat into the ring for yet another race: this time the 5th District Congressional seat being vacated by Congresswoman Mary Fallin.

Cloud’s candidacy is already stirring up controversies: the Commissioner is expected to raise plenty of money, but the majority of which will be raised from those that have to appear before him on the commission, setting up possible conflicts of interest. Even more volatile: Read more…