The Reese Brothers and Comanche County Democratic chair "Cut & Run" Mike Weddington, are continuing to demonstrate their limitless and racist "sense of humor." This latest attempt to imply that District 62 candidate T.W. Shannon is only "qualified to be a chauffeur," was posted on demookie.com on October 27th. The picture mysteriously disappeared yesterday after a self described African American woman Democrat labeled the pictures - in a post on October 29th - as "reminiscent of the Jim Crow caricatures of my youth." Equally mysterious is that the poster - "Running on Empty" - is a "new" member with only two posts. The Reese Brothers are infamous for accusing another owner of a competing chat site of using multiple screen names to hide his identity. Hmmm.

She continues in her post:

"Anyone sensitive to the history of African Americans in this country should find these photos deplorable or at least in poor taste."

"These Shannon attack caricatures remind me of a couple of month's ago when the Weekly Standard's cover featured Al Sharpton in "Driving Miss Daisy" fashion. Democrats--including me--called the Standard's attack ad everything from racially insensitive to out-and-out racism. The fact that Mr. Sharpton is a (D) and Mr. Shannon is a (R) doesn't change the fact that the photos are in poor taste (in my humble opinion) and are racially insensitive." Read entire post

It's almost hard to fathom that a Democratic county chair and Tim Reese - a delegate to the 2004 Democratic convention - would stoop to this level of race baiting to win an election. It begs the question. Does the Oklahoma Democratic Party - the self described party of "tolerance and diversity" condone this offensive behavior? The Oklahoma Political News Service emailed the above picture to Chair Lisa Pryor and called party headquarters for a statement. Our intern was met with a rude response from ODP Headquarters and no statement. We guess that about says it all. Posted at 10/31/2006 11:59:00 PM |   

From The McCarville Report Online:

A letter from Corporation Commissioner Denise Bode, asking recipients to help her pay herself back the balance of the $345,174 she put into her losing campaign for the 5th District seat in Congress, has some Republicans seeing red.

GOP sources say the campaigns of Ernest Istook and Todd Hiett, in particular, are ticked about the letter because both their campaigns have been cash-strapped and donors will only give so much. Read more... Posted at 10/31/2006 04:45:00 PM |   

Jari Askins' liberal record continues to come to light in the final days of the campaign. Following close on the heels of Jari Askins' liberal stance on gay marriage during a town hall meeting last week -- there's new information about Askins'pro-abortion stance.

Askins has repeatedly tried to represent herself as a conservative. However,last week during a KFOR town hall forum debate, she avoided making a clear statement on the gay marriage issue -- now a more relevant issue than ever with last week's New Jersey Supreme Court decision.

Now new information has come to light showing Askins' pro-abortion stance. Records show clearly that Askins and other House Democrats rejected an attempt to pass a partial birth abortion ban in Oklahoma in 1997. In a floor vote on HB 2175 during the 1997 legislative session, amendments were offered to ban the barbaric practice of partial birth abortions in Oklahoma.

Democrats, who controlled the state House at the time, voted along party lines 59 to 41 to advance the bill without hearing the amendments. Askins was one of those Democrat votes -- effectively supporting partial birth abortions and snubbing attempts to stop this heinous procedure.

Just how pro-life can Askins be when she votes like this? By contrast, Todd Hiett and House Republican leaders in just two years advanced and passed two years of pro-life reforms that Senate Democrats were forced to accept, and Governor Henry was forced to sign, including parental consent and informed consent. Posted at 10/31/2006 03:25:00 PM |   

A state lawmaker from South Oklahoma City is under criminal investigation by local law enforcement officials for sending out illegal anonymous mail pieces to voters, attacking his opponent.

State Rep. Al Lindley is running for re-election in State House District 93 against retired Oklahoma State Trooper Mike Christian.

The mail pieces are illegal because they do not display who paid for them, a violation of state law. However, each piece is labeled with the same bulk rate permit number Lindley is using on mail pieces advertising his candidacy.

"We've worked hard in this campaign to stick to the issues," Christian said. "But it appears my opponent has chosen to take the low road by attacking my personal life and my family, and he's twisting his own voting record to make it sound good. And since he's not saying who's paying for these attacks, he's breaking the law."

According to Oklahoma statutes, it is illegal for anyone to distribute "a statement, circular, poster, or advertisement" intended to influence voters in an election without prominently displaying "the name and address of the person who paid for the communication" on the materials.

If an organization paid for the communication, the name and address of at least two officers of the organization must be prominently displayed on the materials.

In the past few weeks, voters in House District 93 have received at least six mail pieces attacking Christian. None of the pieces indicate who paid for them, but all of the pieces are labeled with the same bulk rate permit number as Lindley's.

Some of the mail pieces were sent anonymously, while other pieces feature the names and return address of Lindley's campaign chairman and her husband.

Each mail piece is labeled with the same bulk rate permit number Lindley is using on mail pieces advertising his candidacy. A bulk rate permit number is often printed on a piece of mail in place of a stamp and is used by the post office to track the piece's origin. According to postal officials, if two different pieces of mail share the same bulk rate permit number, they were sent by the same individual or company.

Some of the pieces falsely speculate on Christian's marital and family history, while others attempt to defend Lindley's voting record while in office, particularly on legislation relating to immigration, education and taxes.

"Mr. Lindley has not only stooped to the lowest form of gutter politics, attacking my personal life and issues involving my child, he has used illegal means to do so," said Christian.

Christian filed a police report with the Oklahoma City Police Department on Monday, Oct. 30, regarding the illegal attack mailers. Posted at 10/31/2006 01:32:00 PM |   

By Kyle Loveless

I think the Oklahoma GOP is not going to have to weather the anti incumbent fever that is rising in different parts of the country. Bush still has a mid to high 50’s approval ratings here in Oklahoma, even though national topics are not on the ballot in Oklahoma this cycle.

Every down ticket Republican is in the fight for their political lives except for Bob Anthony. His race is getting tighter with Cody Graves, but I believe Graves will come up short. I do question Graves attacking Anthony, especially after Bob Anthony received an award from the FBI regarding his integrity and his help in rooting out corruption. Graves better ask Kirk Humphreys if he wants to go negative on Anthony.

The Labor Commissioners race is always tight, and for some reason the Dems think they can take Brenda Reneau out. I will have to wait and see on this one. Reneau telling Lloyd Fields to "shush" on the Verdict was not the best way to look like you know what you are doing. Yes, I agree he was out of line interrupting her. Quick note, when given the opportunity to close a debate on why you deserve another term - give reasons - not shots at your opponent.

I think Kim Holland is dead. The luckiest guy in Oklahoma right now????? Bill Case. She may win, even with all of the questions surrounding her, but I think it will come down to Bill Case scraping enough money to get on TV. If he can, he wins. If not, she wins.

Jeff McMahan is in hiding from Mike McCarville and the press. If Gary Jones can raise enough to buy tv in two media markets, he can win. My suggestion would be to divide his buys between cable and major tv. I hear that McMahan is up in the Lawton and Sherman / Ada markets, so we shall see if that pays off.

Bill Crozier, who is running against Sandy Garrett, made a video recently on how students could use old think school books to STOP A BULLETT if a Columbine type of shooting occurred. And that is where the saying died, there is no such thing as bad publicity, sheesh.

Finally, it is my prediction that all of the naysayers will be proved wrong. It seems that whenever all of the prognosticators and experts agree, it makes me think they are missing something. I think they are missing something here in Oklahoma. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think every Republican will win, but I believe it will be better than most people expect. We will do pretty well overall.

I predict there will be a tie in the State Senate and new Senate Pro Tem Todd Hiett will be breaking the ties. We will hold the House (lose a couple of seats) but still retain the majority. Mary Fallin will be our newly elected Congressperson.

I am stil studying the others races.

*Read Kyle's new OKPNS column: "Where Oklahoma Should Be? Posted at 10/31/2006 11:34:00 AM |   

In her failed congressional campaign, Corporation Commissioner Denise Bode pumped in $345,174 of her own money, according to Federal Election Commission records. The wounds haven’t healed and the mortgage payments are mounting, and now the would-be federal legislator wants her donors to ante-up once more.

“This letter went out and every oil executive within five hundred miles cringed,” said a source close to the 5^th District primary campaign this year. “All of a sudden they’re going to start saying no to Oklahoma’s own Tom DeLay? She’s got four years left as Corporation Commissioner and a mortgage to pay.”

“Even funnier, though is that either a drunken fourth grader wrote this letter, or quality control has taken a dip down on Denise’s campaign team,” the OKPNS tipster who sent us the letter wrote. “Extra punctuation, paragraphs that randomly aren’t indented, words that repeat from one sentence to the next…”

For example, the letter opens, “I want to once again, thank you…” In another example, there is one sentence in between two paragraphs; six commas in a two sentence paragraph.

Here, at, OKPNS, we, always, like, to, share, with, our, readers, the, very, best, of, what, our, elected, officials, are, sending, to, the, voters. Enjoy.

Click here to read the Bode letter in its entirety. Posted at 10/30/2006 01:56:00 PM |   

From ModernPatriot.net:

By Craig Dawkins

I’m never surprised when petty bickering breaks out at Oklahoma County between elected officials. Whether it’s John Whetsel calling Brent Rinehart names or Leonard Sullivan talking trash against Rinehart, or Carolynn Caudill breaking out in a screeching episode against whomever, it’s kind of business as usual.

But I must admit that I was quite surprised today when Oklahoma County Commissioner Jim Roth walked up to me today and asked me an odd and rather insulting question. First let me describe the setting. The setting was an ACCO building in Oklahoma City. ACCO stands for Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma. The purpose of the meeting today was to award full-time workers in the Oklahoma County Commissioner districts safety awards. It is my understanding that these awards are for those were accident free for the year.

The people who were there from commissioner offices were there in support of their districts. So I tagged along for that purpose. I attended the event during my lunch break. After the event, Jim Roth walked up my table and asked me and another coworker a question regarding whether we were being paid today to attend the meeting. Not really understanding his question, I answered that I was being paid today. The question seemed rather odd to me. Why?
Read more... (3rd article) Posted at 10/28/2006 05:37:00 PM |   

Next to money of course, endorsements are an integral component to any winning campaign. An endorsement from a credible individual or organization can literally make or break a campaign; the reason politicians work so hard to get them.

Oklahoma District Attorney candidate David Prater - obviously realizes this political fact as well - as he runs an underdog campaign against current D.A. Wes Lane. Prater is airing commercials suggesting, "police organizations are working against Lane." That would be a mighty powerful endorsement for any district attorney candidate. The only problem - it's not true!

Larry Grant, President of the Oklahoma County's Sheriff Office: Fraternal Order of Police, released this letter asking Prater to "respectfully..take the ad down." Mr. Grant cites in the letter "By state law, both the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation cannot endorse any candidate for public office." One would think a candidate running for district attorney would at least know the laws of Oklahoma.

Prater is later admonished by Grant in the letter by describing the ad as "disingenuous" and "[plays]politics with the men and women of law enforcement". Grant writes that Wes Lane is a "man of integrity" and "cares passionately" for the citizens of Oklahoma County.

Rest assured, the Oklahoma political News Service will continue to investigate this matter as it unfolds.

Labels: David Prater

Posted at 10/28/2006 03:12:00 PM |   

By Janice Francis-Smith
The Journal Record
10/26/2006

OKLAHOMA CITY – A lobbyist for specialty hospitals stands ready to do battle again in 2007. Lobbyist Patrick Gaines represents the Independent Medical Providers Action Council of Oklahoma Inc., also called IMPAC. Members include about 15 of Oklahoma’s 140 specialty hospitals, medical facilities that focus only on specific procedures, such as heart surgery.

In Oklahoma and nationwide, the proliferation of specialty hospitals has raised concern among some health care officials, particularly advocates of large general hospitals. Some analysts find general hospitals increasingly lose lucrative procedures like heart surgeries to specialty hospitals. General hospitals use such revenue to offset money lost providing emergency care for people with little or no health insurance.

On the other hand, specialty hospitals often rate higher in patient care and customer service surveys.

A temporary federal moratorium lifted this year had prevented construction of specialty hospitals for nearly two years as health care professionals studied the impact such facilities had on the industry. With that moratorium ended, analysts foresee construction of more specialty facilities in the near future.

Gains expects some industry leaders will seek both federal and state legislation to slow that growth.

In past years, Oklahoma legislators failed to pass bills requiring specialty
hospitals provide a mandated level of charity care for the uninsured or underinsured. The last one considered proposed both specialty and general hospitals pay into a fund to leverage federal Medicaid dollars. Specialty facilities opposed the measure on principle, said Gains, since the fund would primarily benefit general hospitals.

On the federal level, some have called for reinstating the moratorium.

"Congress can talk about something for years and never do anything about
it,” said Gaines. “We hope it stays just talk." Posted at 10/27/2006 03:52:00 PM |   

By CURTIS KILLMAN World Staff Writer
10/27/2006

Drew Edmondson crashes an industry media event taking aim at his campaign ads.

Attorney General Drew Edmondson crashed a press conference Thursday called by the poultry industry to criticize his campaign ads.

The back-to-back press conferences, held at the downtown Tulsa Press Club, represented a live version of the media campaigns both Edmondson and the poultry industry have waged against each other during this election season.

The back-and-forth nature of the event even featured a poultry industry representative quizzing Edmondson about his prior claims that the poultry industry is the chief reason for degradation of water quality in the Illinois River watershed.
Read more... Posted at 10/27/2006 03:10:00 PM |   

State Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee said polls released today by the Tulsa World are "old news" and do not reflect GOP momentum in several key state Senate races. Coffee said that attack ads launched this week by the DLCC (The Democrat Legislative Campaign Committee) proves that Democrats are worried about losing their majority in the Oklahoma Senate.

"These polls are old news - about 10 days old, in fact. They don't reflect the current reality on the ground, which is that Republicans have gained momentum in our key races," Coffee said.

"Our plan is to win three or more seats on election day, not to be ahead in a newspaper poll taken three weeks before the election. I strongly believe that our strategy is working, and that voters in these districts are on track to make history by electing the first- ever Republican majority in the state Senate," he said.

Coffee provided OKPNS a breakdown of the important Senate races this election cycle and questioned why the Tulsa World did not release polling data for Senate District 24, where one of the Democrats' most vulnerable incumbents, Daisy Lawler, is in big trouble in her race against Republican challenger Anthony Sykes.

"Daisy Lawler and her liberal East Coast friends from the DLCC are already spending tens of thousands of dollars on attack ads to prop up Daisy's failing campaign. This is evidence that Daisy Lawler is in huge trouble in this conservative district, which doesn't like her liberal voting record - from giving in-state tuition and scholarships to illegal immigrants to voting to block an amendment to immediately eliminate the death tax," Coffee stated.

In Senate District 18, Coffee said an attack ad launched by incumbent Mary Easley and the DLCC is backfiring.

"We're seeing significant Democrat voters moving toward Republican Mark Wofford because of these misleading attacks. The Wofford campaign has already received dozens of calls of support from democrat voters who can't believe that Mary Easley is attacking Wofford and fibbing about her own liberal record on illegal immigraton," Coffee said.

Coffee said that in Senate District 12, trial lawyer John Mark Young has stooped to attacking Brain Bingman's character, and is hiding from his own record as a trial lawyer of representing some of Creek County's worst criminals.

"Democrats were caught off guard by U.S. Senator Tom Coburn's TV ad supporting Republican Brian Bingman, so now the Young campaign has brought in a group of Washington, DC, liberals backed by Hillary Clinton and Howard Dean to falsely attack Brian Bingman's character," Coffee said.

In Senate District 2, trial Lawyer Sean Burrage is trying to hang on to a razor-thin lead that is shrinking daily, Coffee said.

"Despite spending half-a-million dollars donated by power-hungry trial lawyers, Sean Burrage's campaign is gasping for air. He has spent a fortune on TV ads, yet our internal polling shows he hasn't moved an inch in weeks and is actually losing ground to Republican Ami Shaffer," Coffee said. "Ami Shaffer has soundly defeated Sean Burrage in every debate, and the average Democrat voter is shifting away from Burrage, who is the powerful politicians' choice, and moving toward the people's choice, Ami Shaffer."

Coffee said there is also an indication that Republicans are picking up momentum in several other Democrat-held districts: Senate District 26, where Republican Todd Russ is facing trial lawyer Tom Ivester; Senate District 16, where Republican Ron Davis is running against liberal John Sparks; and Senate District 32, where Democrat incumbent Randy Bass is being challenged by Lt. Col. (ret.) Ed Petersen. Posted at 10/27/2006 02:43:00 PM |   

As we correctly stated recently, elections seem to always bring out Democratic politicians at African American churches and symbolic events. Governor Henry has gone a step beyond the usual pandering by signing basically meaningless legislation yesterday at the Capitol. The legislation the good governor signed, clears the way for developing an African-American Centennial Plaza on the grounds of the state Capitol.

How can we say that legislation establishing an African American Centennial Plaza is symbolic and meaningless? It's meaningless because the development is estimated to cost 4 million dollars with half the costs required from private donations. Here's the rub. The legislation Henry signed forbids supporters from asking the state for money to help pay for it! How much have supporters raised so far- $30,000.

According to The Oklahoman, civil rights activist Clara Luper "scolded" the Governor saying, "They should give us respect. It's not their money, we all pay taxes." Henry further patronized the African American's in attendance by saying, "I think the African-American Centennial Plaza is an extremely important project for Oklahoma."

It was so important Governor - that in a year with record budget surpluses and your high approval ratings - you didn't feel it was important enough to use a little of your political capital to secure SOME funding for the project. Some things never change!

*More*

From Today's New York Times: Democrats Fear Disillusionment in Black Voters

From the Powerline blog:

"If black Americans don't feel especially motivated to vote for Democrats, as the Times fears, maybe it's because they've noticed that several decades of voting for Democrats has done them no perceptible good. Or maybe it's because the black candidates with whom voters want to identify are Republicans like Michael Steele." Posted at 10/27/2006 11:44:00 AM |   

ODP attempts to help flagging Hunter campaign with intelligence insulting press releases


ODP Media Release: Hunter Supports Smart Science; Fallin Denies Life-Saving Research

(Thank goodness Dr. Hunter doesn't support dumb science!)

Mary Fallin Opposes Breast Cancer Research; Sen. Judy Eason McIntyre At Home Recovering

(A woman with a daughter opposes breast cancer research??? Give me a break!) Posted at 10/27/2006 06:00:00 AM |   

Tin Ear - An insensitivity to subtlety or appropriateness in verbal expression. ~ Dictionary.com

The Oklahoma Political News Service is pleased to announce that Comanche County Democratic Chairman Mike Weddington is the recipient of our first ever "Political Tin Ear" Award. Mr Weddington - who was called out by us and The Oklahoman recently regarding his racist email and innuendos against District 62 candidate T.W. Shannon - incredibly still doesn't get it.

Weddington seems to believe that he can deflect his racist venom by rehashing his alternative strategy of now questioning Mr. Shannon's impressive educational and business credentials (Read below)

Anonymous sources have told OKPNS that Weddington and the Reese Brothers have been taken to the woodshed by Oklahoma Democratic Party officials for their tactics.

"The fact still remains that he has NEVER denied the questions, and furthermore, what do you think he would say if he knew that the republican party approached Janice Drewry first, and wanted her to change parties and run as their candidate? I bet he would understand why they asked him to uproot his family and move back to Lawton from his OKC metropolitan home and pretend that he has been in Lawton all along. I can only imagine the embarrassment (sic) he would feel knowing he is being played as a political operative (republican puppet). Hope he hasn't sold his other house, he may still be able to move back there on Nov 8th and resume his occupation, whatever that was." Posted at 10/26/2006 11:57:00 PM |   

Posted at 10/26/2006 11:56:00 PM |   

Madame Askins, fresh from her recent "Wine Tasting & Art Auction" fundraiser, has learned how to be "nuanced" in her answers to controversial questions. We can't blame her for not wanting to upset her ritzy patrons, especially after they presumably wrote her thousands of dollars worth of checks - in between discussing abstract art and sipping Bordeaux.

While most ordinary Oklahomans (Democrats & Republicans alike) are strongly against gay marriage and can't relate to the circles Madame Askins apparently runs in, she responded with this Clintonesque answer regarding gay marriage at the KFOR town hall debate last night.

"My religion believes marriage is between a man and a woman. But my religion also is the same one that teaches me to treat other people the way I want to be treated and to show tolerance ... and that's what I intend to do."

As one political observer noted to OKPNS, "She sounded like a blue state Democrat trying to split the difference -- not offend traditional Oklahoma voters, but throw a bone to gay activists in the liberal Oklahoma Democrat base."

The observer also noted that this isn't the only policy area that Oklahoma Democrats have been accused of duplicity:

"Oklahoma Democrats have for years told voters in districts they are pro-life, then go about quietly killing pro-life bills in committee once at the state capitol. Incidentally, only in the past two years of House Republican control did any significant pro-life bills make it to the governor's desk. Brad Henry was then forced to reverse his on-the-record pro-abortion stance and sign the bills." Posted at 10/26/2006 02:26:00 PM |   

Law provides vital protection for America

President Bush's signed the Secure Fence Act this morning. The Act provides for more than 700 miles of border fencing in trouble spots along the southern U.S. border. It also strengthens port security through additional physical barriers and greater use of state-of-the-art technology and surveillance. In addition to securing our southern border, The Act requires the Department of Homeland Security to assess vulnerabilities on the northern border.

The Oklahoma House delegation voted in favor of the bill last month. Congressman Istook, who has been one of the leaders in Congress in the fight to secure America's borders, today praised this new legislation.

"America's immigration and security laws are worthless unless we have control of our borders," said Istook. "Until we have greater control over who is entering our country, we are more vulnerable to attack, more vulnerable to drug trafficking, and open to illegal aliens and criminals flooding in." Posted at 10/26/2006 01:07:00 PM |   

By MICK HINTON AND BARBARA HOBEROCK
World Capitol Bureau

Donations to out-of-state groups are being funneled back to the state via ads for key legislative races.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma corporations and individuals have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to out-of-state political organizations that are now spending money in the state.

Two Washington, D.C.-based groups -- the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and the Republican State Leadership Committee -- have begun targeting key state Senate races. Both have ties to their respective national parties and the goal of influencing local legislative races.

Internal Revenue Service documents show that donations to the two groups are coming from Oklahoma corporations and individuals. Donors cannot designate where their contributions are spent. Read more... Posted at 10/26/2006 01:00:00 PM |   

Transcript Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Somewhere in most modern political campaigns, the candidates accuse each other of slinging mud.

In the race for Oklahoma attorney general, the substance being slung is chicken poop -- lots and lots of chicken poop. Read more... Posted at 10/26/2006 12:30:00 PM |   

Barrett, Inman vow to not toe their party’s lines

By Caleb Soptelean, editor
The Sun

Candidates Scott Inman and Rex Barrett highlighted their independence Tuesday during a debate for House District 94.

Inman, 28, said he is a moderate-to-conservative, i.e. “Oklahoma Democrat,” while Barrett, 30, noted some areas where he bucks the Republican Party line.

Both said they would vote to throw out a law that allows some illegal immigrants to attend college at in-state tuition rates.

Inman said the bill, which Gov. Brad Henry signed two years ago, “should’ve never been put forth. I support the repeal of that legislation.”

Both men said they want to crack down on businesses that hire illegal immigrants, although Barrett said he wants to require identification to get a public education and state services. (The Supreme Court has ruled that schools cannot ask students about their legal status.) Read more... Posted at 10/25/2006 04:42:00 PM |   

Matt Burckhalter
Contributing Writer

Punches aren’t being pulled in the race for Corporation Commission.

Republican incumbent Bob Anthony is accused of being a career commissioner, and Democratic challenger Cody Graves is said to be in the pocket of lobbyists.

"If you really look at the commission, two commissioners, when they can vote together, those two people have more of an impact on the economy than really any other two individuals in the state, and really not enough people understand that and it’s unfortunate," Graves said.

The Corporation Commission monitors and regulates Oklahoma’s utilities, transportation, and oil and natural gas industries. Transportation and warehousing alone employs 50,821 Oklahomans, according to the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.

The three commissioners, who serve six-year terms, serve as judges, hear and mediate cases, and protect the rights of both consumers and suppliers.

Voters will choose between the one-time colleagues in the general election on Nov. 7. Read more... Posted at 10/25/2006 02:38:00 PM |   

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) A state Department of Human Services worker says he was punished for trying to report illegal immigrants who were applying for state benefits.

Steve Thomas told the House Revenue and Taxation Committee he tried to follow a rule requiring memos be written to D-H-S superiors when they come across an applicant who's an illegal immigrant.

Thomas says he was taken before D-H-S' civil rights office and accused of threatening illegal immigrants. His testimony came at the request of Representative Randy Terrill who wants the committee to study illegal immigration in Oklahoma. Read more...

More OKPNS articles on Rep. Terrill's work on illegal immigration:

http://www.okpns.com/2006/09/task-force-studies-costs-of-illegal.html

http://www.okpns.com/2006/08/rep-terrill-says-illegal-immigrations.html

http://www.okpns.com/2006/08/rep-terrill-sends-letter-to-attorney.html Posted at 10/25/2006 02:15:00 PM |   

Gary Jones, the Republican candidate for state auditor and inspector, has a solid reputation and the background for running the auditor’s office efficiently and effectively.

This state has a problem with corruption, and the latest scandal ties a legislator and two former legislators to about $3 million in state rural development funds given to an Oklahoma businessman who allegedly rewarded the legislators with an interest in one of his companies.

Unfortunately, the name of the incumbent state auditor, Jeff McMahan, has come up in the investigation.

McMahan was quoted in a newspapre report as saying, “I wish I’d never heard of Steve Phipps,” the businessman connected to the legislators under investigation.

According to reports, Phipps, who is in the abstracting business — among other enterprises — and other state abstractors donated about $150,000 to McMahan’s campaigns.

There may be nothing to the donations, but these type of ties come up too much in state politics. We also do not need any suspicion on an office whose job is to uncover corruption.

Again, McMahan has been aggressive at his job, but we have some reservations.

Jones has been a leader in his party and a successful businessman for years. He is a Certified Public Accountant and has earned distinction as a commissioner in Comanche County.

He will work just as hard as the state auditor. Posted at 10/25/2006 01:06:00 PM |   

BACK BY POULAR DEMAND. ENJOY!

Since Tim Reese was an Oklahoma delegate to the 2004 DNC convention, we wonder if Lisa Pryor and the Oklahoma Democratic Party condone Mr. Reese's racist pictures of T.W. Shannon? OKPNS will continue to investigate.


The Oklahoma Political News Service - through slimy and backwater channels - has obtained exclusively a congratulatory letter sent today to Demookie.com founders Tim & Calvin Reese. In the letter, the Reese brothers and Comanche County Democratic Chair Mike Weddington, are congratulated on the "fantastic job" they are doing disseminating racist innuendos and baseless accusations against District 62 Republican candidate, T.W. Shannon. The below pictures, stereotypically depicting Mr. Shannon as a chauffeur, were recently posted on demookie.com.

Posted at 10/25/2006 09:03:00 AM |   

By BARBARA HOBEROCK
World Capitol Bureau

EDMOND -- U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook took shots at Gov. Brad Henry's record on health care, education and public safety in a televised debate Monday.

Istook, a Republican who is leaving his seat as Oklahoma's 5th District congressman, faces Henry, a Democrat, in the Nov. 7 general election for governor.

The pair met Monday before nearly 350 people in a 510-seat auditorium at the University of Central Oklahoma in a debate sponsored by the AARP and KOCO, channel 5.

Istook criticized Henry for his 2004 decision to commute the death sentence of Osbaldo Torres, a Mexican national, to life in prison without parole possible. Read more... Posted at 10/24/2006 04:55:00 PM |   

By BOB SHERRILL
Herald Staff Writer

Republican Brian Bingman’s campaign for the State Senate seat in Creek and Okfuskee counties has shifted gears toward a more volatile course this week, with both television ads and a telemarketing campaign.

However, in an interview Monday night Bingman indicated he was not directly involved in preparing or participating in a telemarketing attack that claimed Democrat John Mark Young had criticized Bingman’s church affiliation.

In the telemarketing message, the caller reportedly said Young had said that he was a more conservative Christian because he was a Baptist and Bingman was a member of the Presbyterian Church.

Young, however, was quick to denounce the telemarketing effort by the Bingman camp. Read more... Posted at 10/24/2006 04:30:00 PM |   

"Rep. Jari Askins, D-Duncan, House minority leader, faulted Republicans for making funding promises before it is known how much revenue lawmakers will have to appropriate, while at the same time proposing "tax cuts for the wealthy."

Seems Ms. Askins - who can be considered one of the "wealthy" - enjoys hob knobing with them when it comes to raising money for her campaign.

David and Rhonda Walters are scheduled to host a wine tasting and art auction to raise money for Madame Askins with a $250 minimum at the Colonial Art Gallery today at 6 p.m.

Isn't this a great example of limousine liberal hypocrisy in action? A snooty wine-tasting for a candidate who likes to pretend to be concerned about the proletariat. Posted at 10/24/2006 03:48:00 PM |   

By MICK HINTON
World Capitol Bureau

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Democratic leaders are questioning why the Republican speaker-designate, Rep. Lance Cargill of Harrah, has spent so much of his campaign funds when his re-election is all but assured.

Cargill has spent $262,000. His Democratic opponent, Abe Warren of Harrah, had spent $58.50 as of Aug.10, when their last reports were filed with the State Ethics Commission.

Much of Cargill's money has gone to consulting and contract labor. Cargill has reported spending $73,851 since Jan. 1 for consulting and $52,877 for contract labor.

Cargill said his expenditures were in line with those of other leaders, including Sen. Mike Morgan, D-Stillwater, who was re-elected in 2004 and became the head of the Senate the following spring. Read more..

** Check out the picture The World uses for Lance Cargill. More TW photo editorializing?** Posted at 10/24/2006 02:38:00 PM |   

The Oklahoma Political News Service has discovered that Jari Askins and other Democrat lawmakers have some clear ties to the ongoing Mass-Erwin-Hefner casino scandal. Rep. Askins voted to give special perks for the company at the heart of the FBI investigation, now the subject of a 40-plus page affidavit involving other Democrat lawmakers.

In a series of articles in The Oklahoman, reporter Tony Thornton revealed that the FBI is investigating three former Democrat lawmakers in connection with a casino machine company controlled by Steve Phipps of Kiowa.

Rep. Jari Askins served on the conference committee that amended Senate Bill 1252 to benefit Steve Phipps' gaming company, Indian Nation Entertainment. Askins also voted to approve the special interest provision. As a result of the law, Phipps' company has placed machines in tribal casinos in Tahlequah, Grove and Newkirk, according to the Oklahoman.

The gambling machines are at the heart of an FBI investigation involving Democrats Mike Mass, Randall Erwin and Jerry Hefner. An FBI affidavit accuses the three of profiting from so-called "special project" money given to Phipps' companies.

In addition to her support of the gambling bill, Askins also voted for the legislation that funneled state tax dollars to projects such as the Phipps companies. On Feb. 9, 2004 the House approved HB 1950, which contained $12.6 million in unspecified pass-through funding, on a 60-40 vote.

On Feb. 12, 2002, the House approved SB 1499, which provided over half-a-million dollars in funds for unspecified "economic and community development projects" on a 67-32 vote. Once again, Askins supported it.

And in 2004, the same year Phipps was singled out for perks by Democratic lawmakers, he gave the maximum legal contribution to the Oklahoma House PAC, a PAC that Jari Askins was the head of. Phipps also donated thousands of dollars to individual candidates, including Mike Mass, according to The Institute on Money in State Politics.

OKPNS will continue to investigate... Posted at 10/24/2006 02:09:00 PM |   

Two weeks from Election Day, it appears state Republican party fundraising challenges have become so overwhelming that finance director David Westin is resorting to fundraising from within the party’s own leadership ranks. In a recent e-mail sent to Republican county chairmen, Weston, apparently at the request of party chairman Tom Daxon, solicits an “average of $500 per county.”

“Why would we give the state party money when we should be distributing everything we’ve got to the candidates in our counties?” an anonymous tipster asks. According to insiders, county parties invest every last dime into critical grassroots party building and local get out the vote efforts. “The state party generally distributes funds down to us, it’s not right that we’re now being asked to prop them up.”

The e-mail appeal may serve as yet another example of growing unrest among activists and party faithful over perceived leadership failures and financial mismanagement (see: “Exclusive: GOP’s Funk Raises Salary, Not Confidence”).

The Oklahoma Political News Service will continue to track this story through Election Day and beyond.

Dear County Chairman:

The November election represents an unprecedented opportunity to move our state forward by controlling the state senate for the first time ever.

We are pulling out all stops to make sure that we achieve success. Over the past 6 weeks we’ve been able to raise over $300,000 to fund Victory 2006, our Get-Out-The-Vote Program. We are really to close to reaching our goal to fully fund our plans, but to ensure success we need additional funds by next Thursday.

Our Chairman Tom Daxon has asked me to contact our county chairmen to see if we could raise an average of $500 per county for this final push. With success within our grasp I think that it is imperative that we do everything that is morally and ethically within our power to win!

If you can help, please let me know by emailing me at david@okgop.com or by calling 405-528-3501.

Thanks in advance for your support.

Sincerely,

David Weston, Director of Finance

Oklahoma Republican Party

Posted at 10/24/2006 11:39:00 AM |   

This is an e-mail Governor Henry emailed out on October 26, 2006. Try and decide if this is an official correspondence from the Governor's ofice or a campaign re-election piece:


Insuring a Healthy Future

"Reflecting a nationwide challenge, too many Oklahomans are without health insurance. It is a real Catch-22 for healthcare consumers: Skyrocketing healthcare costs make insurance more critical than ever, but the escalating costs are precisely why many families are unable to afford insurance premiums.

My administration has made it a top priority to increase the numbers of insured citizens. In 2004, I successfully pushed for the creation of Insure Oklahoma, a bold and innovative strategy to help small businesses provide health coverage for their employees. Under this voluntary program, the state covers 60 percent of insurance costs, employers pay 25 percent and employees are asked to pay 15 percent. The program is administered by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority and utilizes matching funds form the federal government.

With more and more small businesses learning about Insure Oklahoma, I am pleased to report that we are expanding this worthwhile program. Initially, Insure Oklahoma was available for businesses with 25 or fewer employees. Recently, however, I signed emergency rules that expand eligibility to employers with up to 50 workers. The rules, which had been submitted by the OHCA, were necessitated by a bill I signed into law earlier this year.

Whether you realize it or not, the numbers of uninsured Oklahomans impact us all. One in five citizens in our state has been without healthcare coverage. Invariably, the cost of medical treatment for the uninsured is passed on to other consumers in the form of rising insurance premiums. In fact, uninsured health care accounts for as much as 30 percent of the spike that we have seen in insurance premiums.

Of course, the challenges involving health insurance will not be remedied by a single program. There are a host of things we must do, not the least of which is to urge healthy lifestyles. Nevertheless, Insure Oklahoma is a significant move in the right direction." Posted at 10/23/2006 05:45:00 PM |   

In the era of "gotcha politics"; the aftermath of the Mark Foley page scandal; and with just weeks before an important election, the national Democrats' earlier warnings of "outing Republicans" has apparently ensnared one of its first victims in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Political News Service recieved a tip with this link, suggesting that Senator Coburn's Legislative Director Roland Foster is gay. We have a pretty good idea where the tip came from since the link was on this rabidly partisan Democratic site last week.

The pro gay site compassionately describes Mr. Foster as a "self loathing homophobe who happens to be gay." In what can only be described as a mean spirited attempt to show hypocrisy within the Republican ranks, the "outing" actually demonstrates that the "party of tolerance" can also skillfully use a wedge issue when they see an advantage to it.

The site lists the irrelevancy of Mr. Foster's Congressional salary and the email addresses of the entire Coburn staff so you can, "Tell the team at Coburn's office what you think of Roland Foster being a gay man." Posted at 10/23/2006 04:47:00 PM |   

Senate Republican leader Glenn Coffee and special guest US Senator Tom Coburn held a fundraising reception last night to honor state Senate candidate Ed Petersen. The Oklahoma Political News Service has learned that the succesful event at the Waterford Marriott Library Room, netted the campaign enough resources for a full out ad blitz in the last days of the campaign. Here are a few of the commmercials the campaign has ran so far. Posted at 10/20/2006 03:17:00 PM |