Sens. James Inhofe and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma both voted against the Hurricane Sandy Aid bill, Inhofe saying that the money requested amounted to a “slush fund.” Hurricane Sandy affected a total of 24 states, and the costs have amounted to $50 billion. Now comes the question: What will their vote be concerning these recent […]
politics
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Oh, hair, no!
Credit: Brad Gregg In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Major- ity Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Coburn called for curtailing transportation perks for lawmakers and their staff as well as various programs offered by the Senate and House learning centers. A number of those classes, he contends, range from spring cleaning […]
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Touting marriage: Why knot?
Using Census Bureau data, researchers Patrick Fagan and Nicholas Zill have determined that only 4 in 10 Oklahoma teenagers (ages 15 to 17) have grown up in an intact married family (i.e., with both their birth mother and their biological father legally married to one another since before or around the time of the teenager’s […]
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You kidding me?
I soon realized that Mr. Oliver was deeply deluded and/or vastly enriched by the eight years in which G.W. stole two elections, started two entirely unnecessary wars (making puppetmaster Cheney millions in no-bid contracts), bankrupting the country with tax cuts for millionaires, stopping much-needed stem cell research, tortured suspects in violation of the Geneva Convention, […]
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Don’t believe the rhetoric
As we draw near to a decision on a presidential permit to build the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, the rhetoric by our opponents trying to make the project a referendum on oil sands development is becoming more shrill and even less factual. These activists would have you believe that a Keystone XL approval means game […]
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Death by a thousand cuts
Oh, but it can. The state Legislature this session passed House Bill 2032 to decrease the maximum Oklahoma personal income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 5 percent in 2015 and then again to 4.85 percent in 2016 if there is sufficient revenue growth. When fully implemented, the Oklahoma Tax Commission estimates the measure will […]
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Stormy weather
Credit: Brad Gregg And it’s also not news that unity borne from tragedy eventually becomes political. Still, the suggestion that climate change could have been a factor in the May 20 disaster certainly came as news to Inhofe. And bad news at that. “The liberal media is trying to exploit a tragedy to advance and […]
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Taking cover
“Had we had a safe room, it would have been our procedure for our students to be there,” said Amy Simpson, Plaza Towers’ principal, at a tearful May 24 news conference. “My school will have a safe room when it’s rebuilt.” Her sentiments were echoed by Briarwood Principal Shelley McMillin. “What we normally do is […]
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Payback politics?
Credit: Brad Gregg Even as recovery operations began May 20, Roll Call quoted Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, as saying disaster spending should be offset with spending cuts elsewhere, dredging up ugly memories of the earlier struggle to pass disaster relief spending for Hurricane Sandy victims. The GOP was accused of cold-heartedness after House Speaker John […]
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Craving common sense
Since the points listed seem to be from the standard G.O.D. (Gun Obsessive Disorder) dogma seen and heard from all those afflicted with this dementia-related condition, I’ll address my response to All Those Afflicted, or ATA. ATA does have a point; it is difficult to find a well-defined standard to apply to the term “mentally […]