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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Loveless Questions Opponents' "Lack of Plan" For Road and Bridge Funding
Loveless for Senate press release:
Oklahoma City, OK – Conservative Republican state senate candidate, Kyle Loveless yesterday reiterated his plan for improving Oklahoma’s dilapidated roads and bridges and questioned why the other candidate’s still lack a plan for this crucial issue.
“The most recent Sooner Survey identifies road and bridge funding as THE most important priority for Oklahomans, yet my opponents have failed to address this crucial issue. My transportation funding plan will transform our roads from a source of shame into a spur for economic development,” said Loveless.
The Sooner Survey is a publication of Cole, Hargrave, and Snodgrass and the most authoritative newsletter in Oklahoma politics. The most recent copy is attached.
“My plan is a four-step process. First, reduce administrative overhead at ODOT and put the funds into roads and bridges. Second, funds collected for a certain purpose should be spent for that purpose and that purpose ONLY. Gas taxes and tag fees were collected to be used for roads and bridges. They should be used for that purpose, period. Third, remove the cap on transportation funding. We don’t have a cap on other vital functions of government. We should not have one on roads and bridges. Finally, decisions about road project should not be political, but based on need and traffic counts instead of who is the Chairman of a certain committee.”
Loveless also questioned his opponents’ lack of a coherent plan for road funding.
“For the first time, according to the attached polling, roads and bridges are THE most important issue on people’s minds. Where and what are their plans? The people of senate district 45 need real leadership, not empty promises or bumper sticker politics. The most troubling thing, is that at the legislature now they are talking about going into debt to pay for roads – that is wrong.”
“I have personally knocked on doors from Mustang to Moore, and people are tired of politicians taking orders from special interests and fat cat lobbyists. People want answers about issues THEY care about, and they want them now!” Labels: Decision '08, Kyle Loveless
Posted at 5/20/2008 12:05:00 PM
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Sen. Gumm: Editorial Support Building for "Nick's Law"
 By Senator Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant Yogi Berra’s words – “It ain’t over until it’s over” – still has a slim chance of ringing true for families fighting for autism insurance, according to the bill’s sponsor.
Monday (May 19), two newspapers – both in predominantly Republican communities – published editorials in support of “Nick’s Law,” a measure by Senator Jay Paul Gumm that would require health insurance policies cover diagnosis and treatment for autistic children.
The Edmond Sun and The Enid News & Eagle both published editorials supportive of the proposal. The plan passed the Oklahoma Senate on four separate occasions only to be buried in the House of Representatives each time.
“Republicans, Democrats and independent voters across the state overwhelmingly support “Nick’s Law’,” said Gumm, D-Durant. “Supportive editorials in newspapers serving ‘rock-ribbed Republican’ communities further illustrate how amazingly out of step those are who will not even allow a vote on the bill.”
The Enid newspaper acknowledged the effort by families with autistic children, relating the families “have not been deterred in trying to make lawmakers see the light.” Further, the newspaper wrote it believes “this situation deserves more consideration and that families of autistic children need consideration by insurance companies.”
In the Edmond paper, which serves the hometown of 10-year-old Nicholas Rohde, the Nick of “Nick’s Law,” editorial writers noted, “Bearing the cost of autism alone is hurting these Oklahoma families.” Read more...
Labels: OK Legislator's Blog, Sen. Gumm
Posted at 5/20/2008 11:44:00 AM
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Last Week of the Session?
It looks like insurance mandates and 'insurance companies behaving badly' issues will remain on the front burner in what could be the last week of the legislative session.
Already this session we exposed a plan by greedy life insurance companies to screw old people and charities out of the freedom to sell their life policies in arrangements called "life settlements." After further media exposure, the life companies and their lobbyist Frank Keating were forced to remove many of the more outrageous aspects of the bill, such as turning senior citizens into felons if they did not receive 50% of the face value of the policy. A 'trailer' bill is in the works that would remove the last outrageous aspect: Kim Holland, the toady insurance commissioner owned by Keating's association. Current statutes would allow Holland to harass companies that buy the policies from seniors to such an extent that few would want to do business in Oklahoma. Even Democrats know the commissioner needs to be put into a position where she can do no harm as they regard her as "intellectually-challenged" on most insurance issues, so a trailer bill stands a good chance at passing.
We'll keep watching this one.
And the Oklahoman is attempting a last minute feeble effort to rescue Rep. Ron Peterson as his clumsy handling of the insurance mandates for autism treatments keeps the issue alive for yet another week. Peterson also was an advocate of the shameful anti-senior life settlement bill. Yesterday, the increasingly irrelevant paper slams Sen. J. Paul Gumm, who is for the mandates but has outflanked and out-maneuvered Peterson from the beginning. As Jim Bowie is aid to have told Col. Travis at the Alamo, "It's not what you say Travis that bothers me, it's how you say it."
Communicating public issues as often more important than the issue itself, something Peterson and the paper need to improve: did you catch the strange reference to global warming? Regardless, insurance issues appear to be ready to explode into the news yet again this week, meaning the press corps will screw it up, so we'll be cleaning up that mess. Stay tuned! Labels: Frank Keating, Kim Holland, Rep. Ron Peterson, Sen. Gumm
Posted at 5/20/2008 11:23:00 AM
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Minority Leader Boehner: "Cole Staying"
After several days of speculation, Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, is giving a public vote of support to National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chair Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole.
Cole, the 4th District representative, had come under fire after yet another special election loss, the latest one last week in Mississippi.
Most observers think Cole is being set up for blame by Boehner, who has criticized Cole in the past. "I don't know what Tom Cole is supposed to do about visionless dolts like John Boehner," one Washington insider tells OKPNS.
From The Hill:
“Boehner's leadership has been lacking,” a GOP lobbyist and strategist said.
Boehner last year reportedly called for staffing changes at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), but none happened after NRCC Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.) refused to make them.
After the party’s devastating loss last week in a Mississippi special election, Boehner did not directly answer the question about whether Cole would stay on at the NRCC. With some of his GOP colleagues calling for quick and decisive action, Boehner lauded a 20-page strategic memo crafted by Rep. Tom Davis (Va.), a former NRCC chairman.
It wasn’t until five days after the Mississippi loss that Boehner provided clarity on whether Cole would be ousted.
“He’s staying,” Boehner said on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” on Sunday. “And we know the kind of changes that need to be made in order to help our members and help our candidates go out there and do their best in a very difficult environment.”
Boehner said he met with Cole late last week to discuss those changes, but the minority leader’s office declined to detail them on Monday. Read more...
Labels: Cong. Tom Cole, Congress, Decision '08
Posted at 5/20/2008 10:31:00 AM
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Saturday, May 17, 2008
Defining Oklahoma Democrats
As Republicans continue to eat their own wounded and wonder why they are losing elections ( see post below) Democrats are enjoying a little human flesh of their own. Evidently, cannibalism is not exclusive to Republican politics.
Calvin Rees has his tidy whities in an extreme bunch. Reese is claiming that Pat Hall has sold out and is "whoring himself out to Republicans."
As the Democrat blogs attempt to rally around the Obama candidacy, it is becoming increasingly evident that not all is well in Democrat City and the flesh eating virus that has become the liberal blogosphere is showing its true colors. The concept of good government, for liberals anyway, is a thing of the past and the "true believers" in the party are supposedly the only ones who have the intellectual ability to discern which Democratic standard bearer will be their champion. The final result is an implosion not unlike what Republicans have experienced during the last two years of the Bush Administration.
In the now famous words of John Kerry, "bring it on!"
By way of illustration, no one can argue that Pat Hall isn't a Democrat's Democrat - he was at the 2004 convention and some even argue that he returned home to Oklahoma with a Kerry/Edwards tattoo across his posterior. But even a broken clock is right twice a day and his financial support of a well respected State Senator from Norman (Nichols) does show that there still may be hope for Pat Hall. Unfortunately, his flesh is far too tasty for the likes of Calvin Rees. Once again, boys and girls, the Democrats are about to snatch defeat from the hands of victory.
One final note: It is painfully ironic that Calvin Rees, who tars and feathers Democrats who support Republicans, has been pictured with numerous Republican operatives and even considers the uber-conservative Representative Mike Reynolds to be a friend.
Hypocrisy, thy name is Democrat Blogosphere. Labels: Demookie.com, Pat Hall, Reese Bros.
Posted at 5/17/2008 02:13:00 PM
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Election Post Mortems
We're the OKLAHOMA Political News Service, and if we can't localize national news, we don't bother: after all there's about a billion national blogs dealing with the national elections.
But this weekend we thought you would enjoy two postmortem commentaries: one by insiders about the fatal mistakes made by the Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign, and a scathing analysis about where the GOP went wrong by the always insightful former Ronald Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan. They're both great reads.
Republicans should pay particular attention to Ms. Noonan's take on the death of the Reagan coalition, and as for the deep pocket Clinton supporters such as Daddy Fatcakes Mike Turpen: go ahead and jump. Labels: Decision '08
Posted at 5/17/2008 02:00:00 PM
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Environmentalist Wackos in OK; The Heck With the Planet, Someone Save the Humans!
So how's that 'eco-friendly' feeling now? When corporation commission officials nuked a proposed coal generating plant last year, ostensibly because coal fired plants are just too "dirty", the environmentalists and their buddies at Chesapeake energy cheered. Now folks in northeast Oklahoma are finding out the real dirt is in their electricity bills because of the rapidly escalating cost of natural gas.
The phony coalition formed by Chesapeake to oppose the construction of cheaper and more economically-reliable coal plants in favor of plants fired by price-volatile natural gas beat back a proposal fronted by the incompetent team at Oklahoma City-based OG&E. OKPNS chronicled the hapless effort the utility made on behalf of coal, but the natural gas syndicate won primarily because they own two members of the commission: Jim Roth, the official Chesapeake errand butt boy, and light weight commissioner Jeff Cloud, who is rumored to have a standing job offer from a "natural gas" company. One can only guess who.
Ironically, both Roth and Cloud, if he files, face re-election this fall. Insiders say Cloud is being offered far, far below the salary former commissioner Denise Bode took to head up Chesapeake's anti-coal working group based in Washington.
From eco-imperialism.com (4/27/06):
Even in this “era of corporate social responsibility,” brazen violations of honesty, transparency and accountability standards occur regularly. Exhibit 1: the recent “Coal is filthy” ad campaign.
Prominent advertisements in major US papers featured an ethnic spectrum of smudge-faced California models, whose misleading claims about emissions from coal-fired electrical generating plants were reinforced by a CleanSkyCoalition.com website. The campaign urged citizens to tell government officials, “No more filthy coal plants.”
But the Coalition wasn’t another gaggle of environmental pressure groups, like those listed on the website. It was a cabal of natural gas companies, led by Chesapeake Energy of Oklahoma. Their goal wasn’t really helping Americans get “clean skies” and “live longer,” as their ads proclaimed. It was fattening corporate wallets.
Cloud, unlike Bode, doesn't posses an impressive body of work and is rumored to be, shall we say, not that enthusiastic about hard work, which is important if the offer comes from Chesapeake, since screwing the public, like rust, never sleeps.
Regardless, some Oklahomans can soon experience for themselves the results of the phony global warming scam that allows greedy power companies to exploit the public's fear so that long-term energy policies are based on emotions rather than reason. Ethanol anybody?
So now some Oklahomans will see their electric rates take a major hike in a few days, and based upon some estimations, natural gas prices will double in the next couple of years. So any money you have left over from purchasing artificially-inflated food and automobile fuel will fly out of your pockets for your electric bill. Shunning coal for natural gas may sound great, until reality hits. Thanks to the climate change hysteria created by idiots like Algore, Chesapeake has committed daylight robbery, and gotten away with it. So it's grab your ankles time in Oklahoma:
Dr. natural gas will now administer your treatment.
So here's the environmental scores for tonight: Chesapeake is going to make more obscene profits, Oklahomans will soon begin sending corporate welfare to Chesapeake's basketball team and in gratitude, Chesapeake will now return the favor by screwing those same people on their utility bills.
It's been a very busy year for the folks at 63rd and Western, but there's much more lying, stealing and even a few folks they haven't hosed out there yet. Now THAT's an inconvenient, and unfortunate, truth. Labels: Chesapeake Energy, Denise Bode, Jim Roth, OGE
Posted at 5/17/2008 09:15:00 AM
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Friday, May 16, 2008
Is This Our First Reported Case of "Wooley Booger?"
Regular readers will remember that OKPNS trumped Oklahoma media last year when we broke the news about the House GOP campaign finance scandal. Now the fallout from the subsequent investigation is surfacing in the last days of the legislative session.
The House of Representatives yesterday increased the budget for the state ethics commission by 30%. The commission monitors election campaign financing, and despite the increase, notable campaign ethics watchdog Rep. Mike Reynolds is purportedly not happy.
 As we've reported, it's the "witching hour," the time in the session where lawmakers bring forth legislation from shadowy conference committees, proclaiming them the equivalent of the Magna Carta. The compliant, and lazy, press then reports verbatim the legislative spin. While the headline on today's story appears to indicate that some sort of campaign finance enforcement reform has been achieved, the truth apparently lies much deeper in the story.
Rep. Ken Miller, a Lance Cargill lieutenant, brought forth the so-called reform. Regular capitol observers tell us that Miller is not well respected, but holds the powerful Appropriations and Budget position as part of the delicate balancing act Speaker Chris Benge performs daily to keep the various House GOP factions together. Rumors persist that Miller, from a conservative Edmond house district, may draw a more conservative opponent in the primary as a result of his antics under his buddy, former speaker Lance Cargill.
"Having this Miller kid carry campaign ethics reform is like Obama or McCain declaring they will appoint Bill Clinton to beef up security for female White House interns for the next president," one insider, choking back laughter, tells OKPNS. Labels: OK Legislature
Posted at 5/16/2008 10:26:00 AM
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Senator Gumm: Peterson Shows "Lack of Understanding" About Autism Crisis
OKLAHOMA CITY – An analysis by Rep. Ron Peterson of an actuarial study on “Nick’s Law” shows the representative’s “serious lack of understanding” about the autism crisis, according to Senator Jay Paul Gumm.
“Rep. Peterson may know his former profession – insurance – but his analysis of the actuarial study we provided to him shows he simply does not understand the autism crisis,” said Gumm, a Democrat from Durant who has fought for passage of autism insurance.
“Every autistic child is different with different needs. To suggest that every autistic child presents the same exposure to the insurance industry is flat wrong and not borne out by the experience in other states – or the experience of parents of autistic children.”
The key premise of Peterson’s news release was that the study, provided by Gumm to House leaders earlier this week, did not reflect that every autistic child would take the maximum benefit allowed under “Nick’s Law.”
Peterson’s estimate of a 5.22 percent increase in rates has not happened in any state with an autism insurance law. Further, the fiscal impact statement on state employees’ insurance – touted by Peterson as justification for killing “Nick’s Law” – did not reflect anything more than a 1 percent impact on claim payouts. Read more...Labels: OK Legislator's Blog, Sen. Gumm
Posted at 5/16/2008 10:14:00 AM
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Thursday, May 15, 2008
DNC Names DemoOkie.com as Official Convention Blog
The Oklahoma Political News Service would like to congratulate DemoOkie.com on acquiring blog credentials for the Democrat Convention this summer. How ironic that DemoOkie.com, which put out the below racist tripe two years ago on future Rep. T.W Shannon, will cover their party's convention that will nominate the first African American for president. Has Dr. Dean seen this?
"The members of the DemConvention State Blogger Corps represent a broad spectrum of voices that illustrate the 'big tent' nature of our Party."- DNCC CEO Leah D. Daughtry
OKPNS FLASHBACK: 10/31/2006
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.
Related:
OKPNS: (9/20/2006) BUSTED! Demookie.com Posts Edited Recording Of DA Wes Lane
Labels: Decision '08, Demookie.com
Posted at 5/15/2008 12:18:00 PM
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