OKPNS wasn’t going to write about this at first but we would be remiss not too for our many readers. Governor Brad Henry and the state have complained that the state is short on revenue to fix our roads and to fund our schools.

OKPNS suggests that these “State Leaders” get serious about ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION and its impact on our state. We would have more money to spend on these things if we didn’t have any influx of illegals clogging up our school system and DMV. I mean have you been to the DMV lately? I have and let me tell you something it makes me appreciate Rep. Terrill even more!

The DMV is filled with Illegal Aliens getting drivers licenses and we already know that our school system has to ear the brunt with the ESL classes. What irked me the most was the woman who asked in ENGLISH for a DMV Book in SPANISH.

OKPNS suggest that our Governor get serious about this ILLEGAL Immigration issue and then we will have more money to put into education, infrastructure, and other things.

The great ancient philosopher Plato is said to have told one of his pupils, “give me a man of experience over a man of theory.” Professor Hochenauer over at Okie Funk illustrates today in a post why the wise philosopher probably believed this:

“There is no argument over the fact the wealthiest people in Oklahoma and the country have seen under state and national tax cutting initiatives over the last several years. Meanwhile, middle class people have been stuck with stagnant wages, rising health care and energy costs, and skyrocketing college tuition increases.” Read more…

Like most idealistic liberals in academia, Mr. Hochenauer has probably never conceived an idea for a business, put together a business plan, implement it, and watch an enterprise that started out as an idea in your head eventually grow and prosper. Most wealth in the United States is garnered in one of two ways; you either inherit it or its self made. It is a fact that the “old money” fortunes have declined in their percentage of the wealth of this nation. Most wealthy people today became wealthy because of what we described above, not because they’re lucky, have a favored skin color, or because they have had their taxes reduced. A reduction in your taxes is not the government giving you money from the treasury, it is the government letting you keep more of what you lawfully earned! Unfortunately, the socialist/collectivist mindset shared by Mr. Hochenauer and his minions will never understand this most basic of economic principles.

Related:

Red Stater: Okie Funk Calls for Second Hole to Drain Boat

The state’s “dumbest” utility, OG&E, is hopping mad that State Treasurer Scott Meacham, is appearing in newspaper ads critical of a proposed coal-fired power plant near Red Rock Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Political News Service broke the story recently that the utility was using the same advertising agency as its opponent in the battle, Chesapeake, who appears to be spending far more than OG&E. Most political observers we spoke to were stunned the utility would make such a gaffe.

One Capitol insider summed it up by saying, “They’re getting creamed as far as advocacy is concerned. Any firm with with any sensible political instinct would never, ever use the same firm as their opponent. What, there are no other ad agencies in America? OG&E’s advocacy effort is non-existent and they are losing the ad war to a company who uses their ad agency. It’s an incredibly stupid mistake.”

Click here to read The Oklahoman’s take on the controversy:

Legislative leaders in the Oklahoma Senate and House of Representatives have submitted a compromise lawsuit reform proposal to Gov. Brad Henry in an effort to reach an agreement before the Legislature adjourns for the year.

The proposal was developed by physicians and business groups, and addresses the governor’s concerns about Senate Bill 507 as outlined in a recent memo from the governor’s chief negotiator, State Treasurer Scott Meacham. Henry has been under fire in Oklahoman and nationally for his veto of Senate Bill 507, a bipartisan lawsuit reform bill passed by the Legislature last month.

“The need for lawsuit reform is one of the most critical issues facing our state, so in the spirit of bipartisan cooperation we have agreed to accept the compromise proposal submitted by the medical and business communities. We encourage the governor to accept this proposal so we can take a major step toward stamping out lawsuit abuse in Oklahoma,” stated Senate Co-President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City. “The ball is now in the governor’s court.”

“Time is growing very short in the session’s final days, but we’re hopeful the governor will accept this important compromise,” said Speaker Lance Cargill, R-Harrah. “This bill represents a true compromise, but also achieves reform. Oklahoma desperately needs lawsuit reform if our state is going to move forward.”

Dear Governor Henry,

Thank you for your letter inviting us to discuss the Fiscal Year 2008 budget. Before such a meeting is scheduled, please provide us with a copy of your comprehensive, detailed alternative to the Legislature’s bipartisan budget plan. We look forward to meeting with you once we have received your alternative proposal and compared it to the Legislature’s bipartisan budget plan. The bipartisan budget in HB 1234 has been open to the public for two weeks. We presume your alternative plan will be similarly open and detailed.

The budget adopted by the Legislature through HB 1234 is a constitutionally-mandated balanced budget based on revised revenue estimates adopted by the Board of Equalization in February. Inasmuch as your Executive Budget was prepared using revenue estimates that are no longer valid, we would like to see your alternative plan reflecting the revised revenue estimates.

Sincerely,

Mike Morgan
Senate President Pro Tempore

Glenn Coffee
Senate Co-President Pro Tempore

Lance Cargill
Speaker of the House

By Andrew Spiropoulos

The problem with the conventional wisdom is that it is generally more conventional than wise. The story everyone is telling at the Capitol these days is that the Governor and the Senate Democrats are deeply at odds; the Senators were just delighted with the now aborted budget deal while the Governor was betrayed by them. He is now lashing out by vetoing their deal. Nice story, but what if it’s not true? The last two years we often heard from the Governor and his minions as well as the Democrat Senate leadership and staff how angry they were at the other and how they would much rather deal with us, the Republicans. My suspicion-and operating assumption-was that this kind of talk was a pretense and that they were really working together to maneuver us into an unwinnable position.

I obviously don’t know for sure whether they were playing it straight then and I know even less about what is going on now. But I do know this-the veto of the budget deal leaves the House and Senate Republicans in a very tough jam. They are going to be forced to negotiate the deal twice and thus satisfy, out of their hide, the hearty spending appetites of both the Governor and the Senate Democrats. Read more…

By Andrew Spiropoulos

The problem with the conventional wisdom is that it is generally more conventional than wise. The story everyone is telling at the Capitol these days is that the Governor and the Senate Democrats are deeply at odds; the Senators were just delighted with the now aborted budget deal while the Governor was betrayed by them. He is now lashing out by vetoing their deal. Nice story, but what if it’s not true? The last two years we often heard from the Governor and his minions as well as the Democrat Senate leadership and staff how angry they were at the other and how they would much rather deal with us, the Republicans. My suspicion-and operating assumption-was that this kind of talk was a pretense and that they were really working together to maneuver us into an unwinnable position.

I obviously don’t know for sure whether they were playing it straight then and I know even less about what is going on now. But I do know this-the veto of the budget deal leaves the House and Senate Republicans in a very tough jam. They are going to be forced to negotiate the deal twice and thus satisfy, out of their hide, the hearty spending appetites of both the Governor and the Senate Democrats. Read more…

From the Tecumseh Countywide News & Shawnee Sun:

By Wayne Trotter

State Sen. Charlie Laster has been a strong supporter of Gov. Brad Henry but that didn’t keep him from sending the governor an unmistakable message last week – don’t mess around with the Senate on this budget issue.

“I love Brad and he’s my No. 1 guy in state government, I assure you,” Laster told a legislative breakfast in Tecumseh Friday morning.

“But he will not get any sympathy in the Senate for having not been so involved in the budget deal,” said Laster, like Henry a Shawnee Democrat. “He will just have to decide if he wants to line-item veto some of the things in the bill, then sit back and watch and see if there’s an override.

“That’ll be fun,” Laster said. “I look forward to that.” Read more…

Speaker Cargill mentioned at his weekly press conference this afternoon that the governor’s chief spokesman on matters of policy and finance, Scott Meacham, has said that they are in favor of 90 percent of the bipartisan budget that the governor vetoed yesterday. Meacham made his comments yesterday on the News9 Morning Show:

NEWS9 MORNING SHOW REPORTER DOUG WARNER: No one is suggesting this morning that the governor is waking up this morning shoving the budget in a paper shredder or anything, but uh, are there any parts that you guys have looked at that you actually like, and think, hey, this was a good move, this was a good decision?

Insiders are scratching their heads and are asking: Why would the governor veto a budget deal, he’s 90% in agreement with?