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From TMRO:
Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland warned the House Economic Development and Financial Services Committee that an amendment proposed by Republican Rep. Greg Piatt, R-Ardmore, and apparently supported by the House GOP leadership, opens “the door for companies that are marginal to come into Oklahoma.”
The amendment, supported by the Gene Phillips family insurance companies lobbyist Bobby Stem, sets a 20 percent cap on how much money insurance companies can invest in real estate construction loans. Holland wants the limit set at 2 percent. She said real estate construction loans are “speculative and risky,” and that only three insurance companies, all tied to the Phillips family, want the change. Read more…
Click here to listen to interviews of Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland and her Republican opponent Bill Case. (The A.M. Best Companay sponsored this link, so you’ll have to listen to a couple of commercials and a few insurance “news” stories.)
The Oklahoman has decided to involve itself in the Kim Holland /”Just The Facts America” controversy. For the record, The Oklahoma Political News Service believes the media’s role is to report the news, not make the news; but we digress.
Sue Hale, Executive Editor of The Oklahoman, has sent a letter to JTFA’s attorney Ben Ginsberg complaining about the use of The Oklahoman’s nameplate and story in this ad. Mr. Ginsberg writes:
“It is surprising to see your newspaper – with its rich history of fighting to protect the first amendment – now attempting to squelch the public’s right to hear all sides of an issue of public importance by invoking its own commercial interests in its “copyrighted nameplate and story.”
(Click here to read entire letter)
The Oklahoman has decided to involve itself in the Kim Holland /”Just The Facts America” controversy. For the record, The Oklahoma Political News Service believes the media’s role is to report the news, not make the news; but we digress.
Sue Hale, Executive Editor of The Oklahoman, has sent a letter to JTFA’s attorney Ben Ginsberg complaining about the use of The Oklahoman’s nameplate and story in this ad. Mr. Ginsberg writes:
“It is surprising to see your newspaper – with its rich history of fighting to protect the first amendment – now attempting to squelch the public’s right to hear all sides of an issue of public importance by invoking its own commercial interests in its “copyrighted nameplate and story.”
(Click here to read entire letter)
From oklahomasecrets.com:
Questions for Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland to Answer
Why is the family photo that appears on your campaign website incomplete?
From the photo on your website, it looks like you are married to Jim East. Why don’t you use your married name?
Where did you attend high school, and when did you graduate?
Where did you attend college, and what was your degree?
Why did you represent on a 1981 insurance application to the Oklahoma Insurance Department that you had eight (8) years experience when you did not?
In 1996 you represented you had fifteen (15) years experience. If the 1981 application was correct, then you would have had 23 years experience, not 15. How do you reconcile these numbers?
Why did you allow your Chief of Staff to be absent from the office for a weeklong trip to Maui, while submitting a timesheet signed by you that showed he was in the office?
Is it true you have a gay activist as your campaign manager?
When you were first appointed, why were your first hires all for political help? Don’t you think it would have been more appropriate to hire staff with insurance knowledge and experience?
Why do you assign certain staff members to work on political fundraisers for your campaign while they are paid to do work for the State of Oklahoma?” Read more…
From The McCarville Report Online:
Fired Insurance Department Executive Assistant Claims Holland Uses Office, Staff To Run Campaign, Altered Records To Cover It Up
“The former executive administrative assistant to Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland has filed a $175,000 Tort Claims Act complaint alleging, among other things, that Holland has used the Insurance Department offices, and employees she hired, to run her election campaign and that records have been altered to cover it up.
Karen Russell filed the claim on October 10th with the Office of Risk Management in the Department of Central Services. She writes that she was fired in November 2005 by Craig Knutson, Holland’s chief of staff.” Read more…
According to our sources, last Friday Kim Holland had Richard Mildren, a lawyer with Riggs Abney, write threatening letters to “Just The Facts America” demanding that TV stations pull this ad off the air.
Mildren claimed that the ads were “electioneering communications” and that they violated provisions of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission Act.
“Kim Holland appreciates the unique democratic process which welcomes a vigorous campaign,” Mildren stated, and then he urged the stations to “cease and desist running any political commercial from Just the Facts America.”
Curiously, following his client’s lead, he did not deny one single allegation in the JTFA communications.
Yesterday, Just the Facts America’s lawyer – the esteemed constitutional lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg – responded with this letter to station managers.
Appointed Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland responds to this ad, then asks for money.
Dear Friends,
This morning, a television ad attacking me ran on network television channels in Oklahoma. Hiding behind the secret funding of an illegal entity that’s not regulated by the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, lies and personal attacks have been used to try to discredit me and my efforts to restore integrity to the Insurance Department. Read more… (5th post down)
From the Oklahoma Secrets website:
“The Oklahoma Insurance Department requires a college degree for many staff positions, but Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland doesn’t even meet the minimum qualifications to work in her own office. She has no formal education beyond high school.” Read more…
Another case of a government official saying “do what I say, not what I do.”
Twenty-five percent of campaign donations came from insurance industry
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – The two candidates for Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner drew at least one-quarter of their campaign contributions since January 2005 from out-of-state donors, campaign data shows.
The Oklahoman’s analysis of campaign records from January 2005 through July shows about $1 out of every $3 raised by Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland came from out-of-state contributors. Her opponent, term-limited state Rep. Bill Case, R-Midwest City, reported raising one-fourth of his donations from out-of-state sources.
The statewide average for out-of-state donations is slightly less than $1 in every $10, which is on par with the rest of the nation, said Rachel Weiss, spokeswoman for Montana-based The Institute on Money in State Politics.
At least a quarter of the out-of-state donations to Holland are insurance industry-related, records show.
Holland has been outspoken about Insurance Department employees accepting anything of value from insurance industry representatives, but said running a campaign is a separate function.
“
The campaign is a necessary function for me to return to my job and maintain this position,” she said.
She said contributions from out-of-state donors are typical for incumbent insurance commissioners and that no contribution could influence her judgment.
“All I can say is that I have a strong moral barometer that does not permit me to be inappropriately persuaded,” she said.