Koch Bros, Chamber of Commerces, and Republicans are Enemies of the American Worker

From the Oklahoma Supreme Court hearing on the new Workers Compensation Law should be tossed to the Republican dominated legislatures and to the halls of Congress, the Koch Bros, ALEC, and The Chamber of Commerces work for big business against the American workers.

Note who was behind the passage of the Workers Comp Law in Oklahoma -- Chamber of Commerces throughout the state along with ALEC.  When our Republican Legislature and Governor are not bought by ALEC aka Koch Bros, they are bought by the Chamber.  With few exceptions like Senator Harry Coates, the Republicans do what they are told to pass bills in the legislature.  Oklahoma switched a heavily Democrat legislature for a heavy Republican legislature and the citizens got taken to the cleaners both times.

Today's younger Oklahoma Democrats like Rep Emily Virgin, D-Norman are more in turn with what the people want and are quick to stand up and fight for the citizens of Oklahoma.  Her Grandfather, long time County Commissioner George Skinner who retired in January, was probably the best County Commissioner I have had living around the Country.  Rep Virgin takes after her Grandfather which is good for the State of Oklahoma:

Workers comp law should be tossed, Oklahoma Supreme Court justices told 

Two lawmakers and the state firefighters union say it's unconstitutional. 

OKLAHOMA CITY —- A highly touted workers compensation reform bill should be tossed out for a number of reasons, an Oklahoma Supreme Court referee was told Thursday. 

Sen. Harry Coates, R-Seminole, Rep. Emily Virgin, D-Norman, and the Professional Firefighters of Oklahoma filed suit in September seeking to overturn Senate Bill 1062.
Passed last legislative session, the measure replaced a court-based workers compensation system with an administrative process and decreased benefits to injured workers.

Oklahoma City attorney John C. McMurry represents the plaintiffs. He said the measure should be invalidated because it is an impermissible special law in that a section of it allows some employers to opt out of the system. 

It is also a violation of the state constitution because it contains more than one subject, he said. 

In addition, it restricts workers' access to the courts, McMurry said. 

The state constitution requires courts to be open to everyone and to provide a speedy remedy, he said. 

In addition, the measure puts restrictions on attorneys fees, McMurry said, adding, "You can't do that." 

Patrick R. Wyrick, the solicitor general for Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, said the measure does not violate the single-subject rule because all sections of the law deal with workers compensation. 

Likewise, the measure did not contain a special law, he said. 

Oklahoma City attorney Robert McCampbell represents parties that have intervened in the case: the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, the Oklahoma State Chamber and the Tulsa Regional Chamber. The State Chamber was one of the more vocal groups supporting the measure. 

Excerpt:  Read More at the Tulsa World

This Attorney General and his staff are trying to take Oklahomans back in time on so many issues that keep getting overturned by the Courts.  As Attorney General you are supposed to abide by the law not force your own agenda on the State which is what we see happen over and over again in Republican dominated states.  Cannot imagine the grief that Senator Coates is receiving as a Republican -- they can get really nasty here when a Republican sides with a Democrat against the legislature.

This is just so wrong -- workman's compensation needed some tweaks but the Republicans went so far overboard that if someone is injured on the job, you are out of luck if you get one of those companies that opts out or even meeting a board in lieu of the court system.  Might as well go back to the days when there were no rules about safety in the workplace, do away with minimum wage, pensions, number of hours worked, and no child labor laws.  Why not?  That's what is being advocated by the Koch Bros and their stooges.

Republicans want to eliminate your overtime pay.  A new $20,000 ad campaign targets working women, telling them to support the deceptively named “Working Families Flexibility Act.”  Originally a Paul Ryan brain child, this legislation would remove the requirement to pay someone time-and-a-half when they work over 40 hours per week, in exchange for so-called “compensatory time off.”  The major catch – when and how that time off can be used would be determined by your employer.   

The ad campaign will be featured on more than 100 websites that are typically frequented by woman, and the ads focus on the bogus benefit of not having “to choose between work and family.”  The fact is, employers can already offer flex-time scheduling, and many already do.  A worker shouldn't have to give up a federally protected employment right to get that benefit.  

They have a friend in the effort from Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor:

Meanwhile, Eric Cantor wants to pass a Federal Law to eliminate overtime pay but not overtime labor. Meaning, naturally, that the law Eric Cantor wants to propose will mean that millions of hourly workers in America would a) not be able to afford their family vacation, and b) might have to work overtime during a scheduled family vacation all without extra pay.

I have personal experience working for the Air Force at Wright-Patterson of working mandatory overtime for comp time but we were undermanned due to personnel cuts and could not take the comp time. Finally Personnel ruled we had to be paid.  This was the Federal Government wanting us to work for Comp Time we couldn't take.  The 4-star Commander got his hand slapped by Personnel because someone in Payroll saw all the hours that were being worked without pay.  

What gets me are the Koch Bros/ALEC/GOP campaign to do away with Child Labor Laws:

When Ryan admitted that Republicans’ goal was “destroying the health care system for the American people,” he was only hitting the tip of the iceberg. Republicans have proposed: abolishing child labor laws, eliminating the federal minimum wage, ending voting rights, slashing Social Security, abolishing public education, and eliminating regulatory agencies for the Koch brothers. Those objectives are discussed regularly at the Kochs’ secret policy meetings with the nation’s richest corporate leaders, two Supreme Court justices, and the Koch’s legislative arm ALEC. In fact, ALEC regularly writes template legislation for the Kochs that are routinely enacted in Republican states that have restricted voting rights, funneled public school funds to private religious schools and have also eroded environmental protections,  chipped away at programs that assist seniors, women, and the poor. Such as the Medicaid that is under attack nationwide.

As a lifelong Republican, I hate to say it but the Democrats and a few Republicans are all that are standing between the American worker and going back to the 20's with no laws to speak of.  It is sad that this group of Republicans have been so corrupted by money from donors at all levels that they have lot total common sense on what is right and wrong -- it is all about money and power today and screw the American worker.

We are seeing the same thing out of Republicans at the National level we see at the state level which ties it all into the Koch Bros who want to do away with the minimum wage,  have no regulations, and have people beg for jobs.

On Tuesday, billionaire libertarian Charles Koch joined Republicans pushing to eliminate the nation’s minimum wage he implied was the ultimate secret to lift Americans out of poverty as well as the major obstacle to economic growth. In fact, Koch said “we need to analyze all these government subsidies, all these things that are creating a culture of dependency, and we’ve got to clear out what reduces the mobility of labor.” A Koch-funded ad in Kansas insinuated minimum wage Americans earning $34,000 annually should consider themselves fortunate, but an American working full-time making minimum wage only earns $15,080 annually, if they can find full-time work. As it is, the poverty level for a family of four is $22,283 annual income, and even in the poorest state in the nation a worker earning minimum wage has to work 67 hours per week to afford the most meager apartment if they are fortunate enough to find a full-time job; food, utilities, and clothing are luxuries out of the realm of a poverty-level worker’s budget. Most medium to large businesses prevent full-time employment to avoid giving lunch breaks or benefits, and those working-poor Americans make up a large share of food stamp recipients Republicans just drove into hunger by eliminating SNAP funding from their Draconian farm bill.

Koch funded ALEC is behind writing these bills that hurt the American worker in the States.  After all these years I have to admit my Dad was right about Right to Work.  I have gone from being against the unions over the years to realizing what an important role they play for the American workers.  My experience was based on seeing GM go on strike in Dayton over money during hunting season -- those workers like my Uncle and others did a disservice to the people who need unions because of companies like the Koch Industries.

Here is what Sen Sanders (I-VT) had to say about the minimum wage the Koch Bros want to see killed:

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Let me take it a step further and this will shock you and your viewers.This is the truth. The fact of the matter is that there are many many Republicans in Congress right now, perhaps a majority, who not only are opposed to raising the minimum wage. They want to abolish the minimum wage. That’s the truth. In a city like Detroit, remember, 40% of the black kids in this country are facing unemployment. 20% of the young people in this country facing unemployment. 14% of the American people unemployed. They believe that if they can hire, if an employer can hire a worker at $3 and $4 an hour that’s fine. That’s freedom. Get government out of the business of regulating a minimum wage. What I happen to believe is very, very different. 

SANDERS:It’s just that if we’re going to grow the middle class, we have to create decent paying jobs. One way to do that is to raise the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour which is what the American people want.Bernie Sanders was speaking from experience.

You could say it is just the Koch Bros, but it is also the Republicans in the Congress as Senator Sanders learned from Sen Alexander (R-TN):

In June, during a committee hearing, he got Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN) to admit that he supports abolishing the minimum wage. This isn’t some theoretical Republican fantasy discussion centered around the great what if of abolishing the minimum wage. Republicans in power want to abolish the minimum wage. It is part of their goals and agenda. Earlier this year, Forbes ran an article from the Ayn Rand Center titled, To Protect The Defenseless, We Must Abolish The Minimum Wage. 

The basic Republican argument against the minimum wage is the same as their argument against unemployment benefits. The minimum wage creates an entitled class of freeloaders that want to be paid more than what they are really worth. It is the standard makers and takers argument that Republicans use to defend their positions on everything from cutting food stamps to denying children healthcare. 

The problem is that the Republican argument is based on ideology. Studies have repeatedly found that raising the minimum wage doesn’t negatively impact job growth. In June, President Obama called for the minimum wage to be increased to a living wage.
While Republicans are plotting to abolish it, seventy one percent of Americans support raising the minimum wage. Republicans want an America where workers will have no healthcare, privatized retirement benefits, no workplace safety regulations, no overtime pay, and will take whatever few pennies employers are willing to offer as compensation. 

There is something I do not understand at all levels of the GOP and that is their fixation on Ayn Rand, an atheist, when they profess to be Christians.  It boggles the mind they attacks on the poor by cutting food stamps while at the same time some of the Republicans in Congress get huge subsidies for their farms -- one over $3M.

Over the past week, Republicans who know there are over 47-million Americans living in poverty and dependent of the Agriculture Department’s SNAP (food stamp) program passed a farm bill providing $195 billion in subsidies to agricultural corporations and eliminating food stamp and nutritional programs they considered extraneous, or irrelevant. Half of those affected are children, and over 10% are senior citizens living in poverty. It was not even an assault on minorities because more white Americans receive food stamps than African Americans or Hispanics proving that the GOP’s goal is withholding food from all Americans living in poverty and they have enlisted a powerful ally to send more Americans deeper into poverty.

It is absolutely mind boggling today.  It is happening from the halls of the Congress to the state legislatures across the Country and even to a 20,000 person town in Iowa the Koch Bros tried to buy the election.  Their excuse they don't control Americans for Prosperity where they pour millions every year is a bad joke.  They are pushing the agenda of AfP but want to disavow them -- doesn't work that way.  ALEC is following the Koch agenda and Republican legislatures and Governors like Oklahoma are falling right in line. 

Guess you can put me in the category of a bleeding heart liberal today who cares about the workers in factories who need protection from the lack of ethics of some owners like the Koch Bros, to first responders, to teachers, seniors, veterans, young people, immigrants and regular Americans who want to provide for their families.  There is an uprising in this Country starting to happen as former Republicans join with Independents and Democrats to returning America to a country that cares about its people not just the wealthy.  You see it on Twitter and am proud to be adding my voice for those that cannot speak out.

One more time, I am doing a mea culpa -- my Dad was right all those years ago about Right to Work laws and I was dead wrong.  He was also right about the place for unions in the American workplace to protect the American worker when you have greedy people like the Koch Bros who run Koch Industries.  Time to strengthen the unions with honest leaders with integrity.  We need to take the Country back from the wealthy who only care about getting more wealthy.

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SCOTUS Leaves Intact Oklahoma Supreme Court Ruling on Ultrasound Abortion Law is Unconstitutional

The rebuff marks the second time this month that the high court has declined to reinstate Oklahoma abortion regulations.  

This should come as no surprise but to have this new ruling be the second time in a ten days SCOTUS has rejected an Oklahoma abortion bill may be a record.  First one that was rejected would have ended abortion in Oklahoma because of outlawing any drugs that could be used in abortion including to save the life of the mother.  If the baby died in the womb, the Mother had to carry the baby to term under that Neanderthal law.

First of all this is not a subject that I like to write about since I am opposed to all these new laws that affect a woman's right to choose which automatically gets me labeled as pro-choice when, in fact, I don't think it is any of my business to tell a woman what to do when it comes to an abortion.  It is a personal decision, and I don't walk in her shoes or know her circumstances.  What I do know is the pro-life community is one of the nastiest group of people I have ever met.  The very fact that they demand that we all think alike and they make NO exception for the life of the mother, incest, or rape is all I need to know.  What galls me the most is that many of the people so opposed to abortion for any reason are white males.

Once again the SCOTUS has rejected or outright thrown out an abortion law passed by our hard right legislature who cannot seem to get an education bill passed on time with full funding.  Let a social issue bill come up for a vote and it breezes through the legislature and the Governor signs even when they know chances of being implemented are slim to none.   Big waste of taxpayer dollars.  No one should be in office that allows their personal beliefs to replace the Laws of the Land.  It is not their job to impose their beliefs on everyone else but to conduct their job in an ethical manner according to the law even if they don't agree with the law.  Attorney Generals in red states are way overstepping today and costing the taxpayers millions with their lawsuits.  They need to do their job in an unbiased manner which is what they are elected to do no matter the party.

What is with ALEC Legislatures that pass bills, they get signed into law, and are unconstitutional? What may have started out as a good idea with ALEC has turned into a monster since the Koch Bros became involved.  They write most of the bills and for some reason have made anti-abortion a major centerpiece of legislation as the War on Women's Rights keeps increasing.  I have my theory that it is to raise money from the pro-life community who gives dollars at the mention of abortion to be used by the Koch Bros to defeat all moderate GOP and Democrats.

This is SOP for Oklahoma abortion laws because our legislature keeps overreaching and forgetting that Federal Law trumps State Law which they should not have to be reminded but thought I would throw that in since the hard right GOP seems to forget that fact.  

Oklahoma Rejected by Top Court on Ultrasound Abortion LawBy Greg Stohr - Nov 12, 2013 12:01 PM CT 

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to revive an Oklahoma abortion law that would have required doctors to first perform an ultrasound, show it to the woman and describe what the image depicts. 

Rejecting an appeal by state officials, the justices left intact an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision that invalidated the law as placing an unconstitutional burden on abortion rights.

The rebuff marks the second time this month that the high court has declined to reinstate Oklahoma abortion regulations. The justices earlier dropped a planned case over restrictions on drug-induced abortions after the Oklahoma Supreme Court said the state’s law would have outlawed all such procedures.

The rebuff is “another clear message to lawmakers across the U.S. that attacks on women’s health, rights and dignity are patently unconstitutional and will not be allowed to stand,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights. That group sued to challenge the law on behalf of Nova Health Systems, an abortion provider. 

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt argued that the ultrasound requirement was a legitimate effort to ensure that a woman wouldn’t later regret her decision to have an abortion. 

Pruitt said in a statement that a federal appeals court had upheld a similar ultrasound law in Texas. 

“The unfortunate message sent by the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision in this case is that when it comes to abortion regulations, what is legal in other states is illegal in Oklahoma,” he said. 

Excerpt:  Read More at Bloomberg

Making women pay for an ultrasound when they want an abortion is just wrong.  Can you imagine having been raped and having to endure an ultrasound or even worse having to terminate a pregnancy due to the danger of a mother's health?  In some states, you cannot get an abortion after 20 weeks even if your baby has died or will never be a viable person.  Do these neanderthal Republicans even think of the consequences of their action?  Is this all about being a he-man on procreation.  The white male dominated GOP of today has idiots in it that say you cannot get pregnant from a rape because of some hormone that prevents the pregnancy.   How demeaning to a woman that has been raped and does get pregnant.

These are the same white males who are cutting the SNAP program for the poor, want to do away with the school breakfast and lunch, head start funds,  and almost forgot the WIC Program that provides nutrition to the mother and child.  What we are left with is a Party that wants no abortion and is against contraceptives, but do not want to take care of the children AFTER they are born?  That defies common sense but then common sense is not two words I would use with the GOP today -- there is none left in about 90% of the Tea Party base as they drove the rest of us out.

Will never understand the fixation on abortion, contraceptives, and pregnancy in the GOP.  Have asked for years why it is okay for men to get male enhancement drugs or drugs for erectile dysfunction but not okay to pay for contraceptives to prevent pregnancy?  The standard reply on a website was that it affects their 'manhood' and that their job is to 'make babies' so I assume they believe that a woman only has one job and that is to have their children with a mentality like that.  Cannot tell you the number of times I have blasted these Neanderthals.  They are the original women should not be allowed to vote or express their opinion on politics, should not be in the workforce unless they work for them, and are to be the good little housewife who stays home with her children and doesn't venture into the real world.

True story:  Was leaving a restaurant talking to a guy about politics when he said he tells his wife he votes for her because she doesn't understand anything about politics and would vote wrong - he got my raised eyebrow, rolling eye look.  I kept telling myself to keep my mouth shut but I said finally said "you must be kidding" and he said "honest truth" and was left to get to my car as fast as I could and then later ask someone close if he really meant that and he concurred he meant that.  Welcome to the GOP white males of today who want to dominate everything when it comes to women.

When someone asks me why I can no longer support Republicans, it is easy -- believe I have as much right to my vote, my opinion, and my beliefs as any male -- they have no right to tell me how to vote, think, or to sit down and shut up.  Women need to become more vocal who are willing to stand up for what is right and fight these GOP Neanderthals at every turn as they attempt to turn back the clocks on women's rights across the board.   The so-called "Patriotic" Republican white male dominated party with their wives who listen to them and follow their lead need a lesson on elections since they cannot take losses and still try to enforce their beliefs on the rest of us starting with abortion after they lost nationwide.  

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Veterans Day, November 11th, 2013

This comes from the 2011 Memorial Daily Celebration on the Mall but the songs from the five services, Coast Guard, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Army are reminders of the men and women who have served in our military over the years and the ones serving today.
My family has a long line of serving our Nation going back to the Revolutionary War to the most recent service of my daughter in the US Navy along with my son-in-law who is retired Navy.  My Dad served in the Army, my children's Dad in the Marine Corps and after being around the Air Force the last 35+, it is near and dear to my heart.   
God Bless those who are serving and those that have served over the years who deserve a lot more then the current group of Republicans are giving them.  GOP talks a good talk but when it comes to approving a Veteran's Job Bill, SNAP benefits for Veterans and some Active Duty, or upgrading the Veterans Hospitals, the current Republicans are all talk and no action.  They are proving by their actions they don't care about our veterans at all if it means closing a loophole and costing their wealthy donors money. 
Time for everyone to join on helping our veterans because they have given so much to this Country and asks for so little!  Please thank a Vet today for their service!    

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Oklahoma Won't Process Benefits for Married, Same Sex Couples on State Property

Welcome to Oklahoma where the Governor and Attorney General believe that state law trumps federal law!

Oklahoma Governor Ignores Pentagon Criticism, Still Won't Offer Benefits For Married Gay Couples

The Huffington Post  |  By Paige Lavender 

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) said her state's taxpayer-funded National Guard facilities and employees will not process benefits for married, same-sex couples, despite Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel criticizing the move days ago. 

On Nov. 1, Hagel said it's "wrong" for states to defy the Pentagon by refusing benefits for same-sex spouses of military members. 

"Not only does this violate the states' obligation under federal law, their actions have created hardship and inequality by forcing couples to travel long distances to federal military bases to obtain the ID cards they're entitled to," Hagel said during a speech. 

According to the AP, Fallin said Wednesday that all marriage benefits will be processed by federal employees at four federally owned National Guard facilities and at the state's five military bases. Her refusal to allow federal employees to process benefits for same-sex couples is not new -- in September, Fallin ordered the National Guard to stop processing gay couples' requests. 

Tulsa World reports Fallin reached her most recent decision with Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt. She said in a statement that her decision wouldn't put Oklahoma in conflict with federal law despite the apparent conflict with Hagel's orders: 

Oklahoma law is clear. The state of Oklahoma does not recognize same sex marriages, nor does it confer marriage benefits to same sex couples. The decision reached today allows the National Guard to obey Oklahoma law without violating federal rules or policies. It protects the integrity of our state Constitution and sends a message to the federal government that they cannot simply ignore our laws or the will of the people.

Do State Leaders know how dumb that sounds when so many of the bills passed through the overwhelmingly GOP Legislature and signed by the OK Republican Governor get overturned as Unconstitutional.  The one that gets me the most and waste our tax dollars is the requirement that only "ONE" subject be in a bill but that doesn't phase our legislature and Governor as they continue to put more then one subject in a bill at the last minute to sneak it through and then it gets overturned because it is against the Constitution.  That is just dumb but frankly that sums up our State Government.  Don't know how many Press Releases have gone out on grading standards for Oklahoma schools as the Governor and her staff try to clarify the clarification.

New Jersey got the message when their DOMA was overturned by SCOTUS so how long will it be before Oklahoma DOMA is overturned?  4.3.2.1!

On June 26, 2013, the US Supreme Court ruled DOMA unconstitutional which opened the way for gays to eventually marry in New Jersey.   On October 18, 2013, after a ruling approving gay marriage by the NJ Supreme Court, Gov Christie back off and even though he personally objected, he decided to abide by the law and help the people of New Jersey who were gay and wanted to marry.

Whether you agree or disagree with Governor Christie that is one example of why he was overwhelmingly re-elected in New Jersey as he abides by the law which is rare out of a lot of GOP Governor's today who believe they know more than the Federal Government.  They have taken the 10th Amendment way too far.

Cannot wait to see heads explode one of these days when the Oklahoma DOMA gets overturned. Today's hard right put out in front social issues as their litmus test which I fail miserably because frankly most of their social issues turn me off as they are so hard right and dictatorial  with no wiggle room.  I am going to sit back and laugh when the day arrives that DOMA in Oklahoma is dead.

There is no place in this Country for discrimination on any level and time Oklahoma finally woke up out of the Republican slumber and realized that we are part of the United States first and Oklahoma second.  When the SCOTUS rules, it affects every last American even if the Oklahoma Governor and Attorney General don't think it does.

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Is the GOP Tea Party on Life Support? Not Even Close -- More Spin from GOP!

The vast majority of Republicans in the House, however, allowed that shutdown to happen. Most establishment lawmakers have sat by quietly for years as the party was pushed to the extremes, too afraid of a primary to speak up. Many benefited from secret super-PAC spending provided by the likes of the Koch brothers, or took Tea Party stands without ever really believing in them, all because they liked being back in power and didn’t particularly care what kind of bargain would keep them there.

Former Rep LaTourette sounds good if you are a Republican but you have to remember for years he was Speaker John Boehner's Lieutenant in the House and would do what was necessary to protect him. Is this is what is going on today as they want to raise large sums of money and run ads against Tea Party candidates.  How about getting a backbone and standing up to the Tea Party and the Koch Bros so people know you are serious?  That looks unlikely to happen.

A new Republican group called “Main Street Advocacy” is about to begin running ads against the hard-liners who have done so much to embarrass the party. One of the ads puts losing candidates like Todd Akin and Sharron Angle in a “Hall of Shame,” and ends with the word “defund” — a reminder of the failed attempt to end health care reform, which led to a widely reviled government shutdown. 

“We want our party back,” the group’s leader, former Representative Steven C. LaTourette of Ohio, told Eric Lipton of The Times. “And we are going to do what it takes to accomplish that.”

Call me the skeptic as I don't think any of the GOP have the backbone to stand up to the Koch Bros who are calling the shots and the reason I refuse to support any GOP in 2014!  As stated in an article below we have a case in Oklahoma with a GOP ALEC Governor who has backtracked on what she said about threatening school administrators to basically shut-up or lose school funding.  Then comes along and says she didn't say that and people who say that she did are wrong.  That is how I see what happened in the House of Representatives that led the shut down -- try not to take the blame for what they did.

The minute former Speaker Denny Hastert said there was NO Hastert Rule that required that you have to get a majority of your conference to bring a vote to the floor, he effective yanked the rug out from under Speaker Boehner and his conference.  Then he revealed he never talks to Boehner.  OOPS!  We are starting to see that the House is filled with a group of Republicans who run back to their district saying one thing and voting differently in DC like no one has access to the internet.  Seems Republicans are really stuck in the Way Back Machine.

This from the David Firestone article at the NY Times made me laugh:

Standing up to the speaker and taking a public position on divisive issues would require actual courage, which is rarely on display in the Republican Party. Instead, the moderates would rather raise corporate money and hide behind the anonymity of a TV ad, making fun of easy targets like Christine O’Donnell, notorious for declaring that she was “not a witch.”

Lost track of the number of times I have referenced the "I am not a witch" O'Donnell since I first saw the video and she was dressed in black.  I still chuckle today -- that was a classic video.

Been sitting here today reading and listening to the fallout from elections last night and seems I have a different take on which race to look.  IMHO the key race with the numbers that count is the Lt Governor statewide race in Virginia which gives a better indication of what it is like for a Democrat to take on a hard right Tea Party Republican who won at the Virginia convention for Lt Governor. Republican Jackson, who turned out to be extremely hard right which even caused the GOP candidate for Governor Cuccinelli to back away from him lost big.  Democrat State Senator Northam ran a quiet race and ended up winning the Lt Governor's race 55.14% to 44.49% -- there is your real difference when you have a candidate like Northam who is well liked.

Democrats were concerned about McAuliffe running because of baggage from the beginning.  Looks like even though Cuccinelli was hard right who made some really dumb statements, being a Clintonite hurt McAuliffe with some independents and disgusted moderate Republicans.  Democrats would be well advised if they want to pick up those extra house seats to choose their candidates looking to the general election.  Don't Democrats understand that independents and moderate Republicans don't like the Clintons any better then the Democrats like GW Bush -- call it a standoff.  Independents are an important part of the electorate you need in some states to win.  I say no more Bush's or Clinton's - have had enough.

The Democrats need younger blood to run IMHO as they have some outstanding candidates on their bench versus the hard right of the Republican Party who is still in charge of the GOP.  Last thing we need is an aging baby boomer running with baggage for President from either party.  Don't be fooled into thinking Christie is a moderate who has a hard right base who will push him further to the right. He is pro-life, anti-gay marriage, anti-raising the minimum wage, etc. but he takes credit for it after the Court struck him down on gay marriage and his veto gets overturned on various issues.  Christie will not be able to to play it down the middle if he runs for President.  His record will catch up with him.

Washington Post article by Reid Wilson hails the fact that today would be the time to sell Christie if he was a stock as he most likely has reached as high as he will go:

Chris Christie just won a higher percentage of the vote than any Republican running in New Jersey since 1985. He won a huge majority of independent voters. He made inroads among African Americans, Hispanics, women, even Democratic voters. The northeastern-centric media universe will hail Christie as the savior of the Republican Party. 

All of that is why, if he were a stock, today would be the perfect day to sell shares in Chris Christie. 

Christie has plenty of assets that will serve him well as he prepares his all-but-inevitable presidential bid. He is aggressive at a moment when Americans crave decisive leadership. He is certain of where he stands in an era that abhors flip-flopping. He is highly intelligent and savvy enough to avoid an “oops” moment. He’s even more popular than the average presidential candidate is before launching a bid. 

But the reality is that Christie faces enormous hurdles if he wants to run for president, which means today, as he basks in the glow of an adoring media spotlight after his historic win, is probably at the apex of his political career — at least until he wins his first early nominating process.

These are just a few of my takes on last night.  The days of the Tea Party GOP would be numbered if there were any backbones left in the GOP leadership but when you are bought and paid for by big donors, it doesn't leave much wiggle room when you put your career head of the Country.  There is another example of that coming once again from Pete Sessions (R-TX) (what is with the TX water?):

"Everything we do in this body should be about messaging to win back the Senate,” Sessions said. “That’s it. If you don’t want Benghazis to happen or you want an investigation for Benghazi, if you want an investigation on the IRS as opposed to the excuses that [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid [D-Nev.] is all about, if you do not like what’s happening at the [National Security Agency], then you gain the Senate.” Rep Pete Sessions

Republicans are not there to Govern but obstruct to take the Senate back.  Show the GOP the door from the Congress straight to the unemployment line in January 2015.

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Governor Fallin Threatens Public School Funding, Over Opposition by Local Superintendents to State's System of Grading Schools

UPDATE:  11/5/2013:  After a host of parents and educators went through the roof at the threat of Gov Fallin pulling school funding, the comments were updated:

Gov. Mary Fallin’s spokesman Alex Weintz said some have misconstrued comments he made earlier this week to the Tulsa World as a “threat” to educators to stop criticizing the A-F grading system. 

“Gov. Fallin has not and will not threaten (additional state) funding for schools based on opposition to the A-F grading system,” he said in a written statement released Tuesday.
In a Tulsa World story published Sunday, Weintz said Fallin wanted to warn educators that continued criticism of the A-F school grading system could affect whether public schools get additional state funding for fiscal year 2015. 

Educators and parents statewide interpreted that as a threat by the governor to stop criticizing the A-F grading system or forfeit additional state funding next year to help fill a $200 million-plus budget shortfall from cuts made during the recession.

Where is Gov Fallin to speak to the media and answer these questions instead of sending out a handwritten comment?  She got caught and she knows it so she is avoiding the media, educators, and parents.  IMHO she meant what was said and backtracked when she got caught.

******

Governor Fallin says that the new grading system is "the law" and therefore we need to accept it regardless of whether we like it or not. However, Obamcare is also "the law" yet she does not accept it because she does not like it. Aren't we as a people just following the example of our leaders in regard to following "the law"?  Jody, Tulsa World

What can you say when you read this except that ALEC has taken over the Governor's Office of the State of Oklahoma when the Governor's Spokesman disses the report from the two major state universities -- University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.  Guess the Governor and the State School Superintendent know better then the two recognized university staffs who prepared the report or our local school superintendents:

Gov. Fallin counters critics of A-F system for grading schools

Strong opposition to the state's system of grading schools may hurt funding, the governor says.By KIM ARCHER World Staff Writer  

Related Documents:

Oklahoma A-F reportRead a report from University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University researchers analyzing Oklahoma's A-F grading system. 

Gov. Mary Fallin is warning educators that continuing public criticism of the state's A-F school grading system may affect whether common education gets additional funding next fiscal year. 

"It's not helpful to anyone's cause. It seems to be some opponents are absolutely bent on undermining the credibility of the entire system," said Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz. 

"The fact of the matter is this grading system, regardless of whether or not you believe it should have been put together differently, is the law." 

Last week state Superintendent Janet Barresi unveiled her education budget request for fiscal year 2015, in which she is asking for an additional $174.9 million for a total of $2.5 billion. On the same day, the governor's office spoke out on the A-F issue, urging education supporters to get behind the grading system and stop endorsing a report that criticizes it.

The A-F grades for schools across the state are expected to be released this week.
Weintz said the governor is "dismayed" to see groups representing the education community touting a report issued by researchers at University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University as a way to wage a campaign against A-F.

Do you know how stupid they sound saying the A-F school grading system is the "law" no matter if you agree or not when we live in a state that has challenge ACA and is still challenging it when it was passed into law, signed by the President and upheld by SCOTUS.  The Governor and her ALEC Legislature still won't recognize the ACA law but now want to tell all of us that the A-F grading system is the law so sit down and shut up or lose funding.  Sounds pretty dictatorial in my book.  

This part of the article would be funny if not so serious:

Educators statewide have complained that the formula underlying the simple A-F grades is flawed. They point to two analyses by OU and OSU researchers that concluded the formula "has very little meaning and certainly cannot be used legitimately to inform high-stakes decisions." 

Weintz said Fallin disagrees with the latest study and believes its conclusions are harmful to public education.

Fallin will never go down as being one of the smarter Governor's of Oklahoma but like Keating her regard for public education leaves a lot to be desired.  When she thinks she knows more then our two State Universities, there is a real problem and it is not with the report from the Universities.  Two universities who turn out teachers for our public schools are harmful to public education?  What is harmful is being a state owned by ALEC and the Koch Bros with a State School Superintendent that believes in charter schools over public schools.  I know because I got in a fight with one of her disciples about that very issue.

Oklahoma ranks #1 in the Country for cutting school funding by 28% since 2008 and now if schools don't do as they are told the Governor wants to cut them more?  Give me a break!

When you think that Oklahoma's Governor Fallin cannot stoop any lower with Janet Barresi, who is one of the most detested State School Superintendents ever in this state, it happens.  These comments from the Tulsa World article say it all and these are just a few.   Oklahomans are mad starting with the local Superintendents  who are asking for a NO Confidence vote on Barrissi.  Finding her biography was not easy but when you do you find Barrisi was a dentist, speech pathologist, and Board President of Harding Charter Preparatory High School.  She had no executive experience in running a public school just a charter school which was not a well known fact in the election when the hard right Tea Party led the GOP to take all state offices.  Don't know anyone who respects her as state school superintendent except Fallin and her group as Barrisi is dictatorial and refuses to listen to ideas even in meetings.  

These comments from the Tulsa World article sum of what I have heard from educators in my own area of the state:

Fallin apparently has cornflakes for brains. She refuses to expand Medicaid, denying affordable health care to thousands, even though it will be heavily subsidized with federal dollars -- even Republican governors Jan Brewer and John Kasich saw the wisdom of not sending their own taxpayers' federal dollars to other states -- and now she is using fear and extortion -- tools Republicans reach for first -- to threaten school superintendents if they question the failed performance of her girl Barresi. It is time to retire the mistress of Koch Industries to Wichita and elect a governor who is interested in serving the people of Oklahoma. Oklahoma horses will also likely be glad to see her go. (Frank, Tulsa World)

Governor, I am in awe of your threat of possible education funding for our public schools could be halted because of the failure of school administrators not accepting these flawed standards trying to be promoted by your administration. You haven't even tried working with them nor even accepted the analysis of the education professionals from O.U. nor O.S.U. These are educational scientists who RESEARCH educational factors on a daily basis. What does your research say to counter theirs since you discount their assessment?
Also, "grading our public schools" is part of a system that conservatives have initiated throughout our nation to try and privatize our public schools for profit and not necessarily to improve our schools. Hopefully, Oklahomans will begin to recognize this scheme for what it is - dismantling our public school system, a cornerstone of our great democracy! (Ann, Tulsa World)

In other words Fallin is so dedicated to the destruction of Public education she would throw a bomb and disrespect our Best Educators....these corporate pawns will stoop to any low imaginable..No wonder Johnny cannot read .Just be sure the kids do not learn their science..they would know how bad humans have made the planet in the Name of profit SSSSS  (Jean, Tulsa World)

Alex Weintz make clear that the governor’s agenda is - gut public education funding in a fit of pique, use a flawed grading system and then announce "Public education has failed." , with all that implies. 

I hope she does not pursue this scorched earth approach that the threat of tying funding for the education of Oklahoma’s children to the acquiescence of the adults to a grading plan, flawed or otherwise, seems to imply. To quote Ronald Reagan “Freedom is the right to question and change the established way of doing things." I can hope the governor realizes she has overplayed her hand on this, comes down on the side of freedom and backs away from Mr. Weintz’s statements.  (Robert, Tulsa World)

This is typical of the Governor to send out her spokesman to say what she thinks rather than talk with the media on where she stands.  Her ties to the Koch Bros and ALEC did me in plus I find more and more I have lost total respect with her stance on education, ACA, women's rights, minority rights, etc. The audacity to say the new grading is the law but the ACA which is the law has to be overturned shows a shallowness and someone who is bought and paid for like so many of our GOP Governor's today.

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Truth Wins Out -- GOP in Congress Sabotaged Obamacare Rollout -- Some GOP Governors Complicit

In fact, putting an excessive burden on the federal government was the explicit aim of the law’s opponents. “Congress authorized no funds for federal ‘fallback’ exchanges,” the Tea Party Patriots website noted as long ago as last December. “So Washington may not be able to impose exchanges on states at all.” The group went on to suggest that since Washington was not equipped to handle so many state exchanges, “both financially and otherwise — this means the entire law could implode on itself.  Todd S. Purdum, Politico

Anyone who knows me knows I have been blaming Republicans for the problems with Obamacare knowing some State Governors like Oklahoma's Mary Fallin, pulled back at the last minute.  It just made sense it would put an extra burden on the main site.  Lo and behold that is just what happened. 

The lowlife, underhanded GOP sabotaged the rollout of ACA and then criticized it for having problems.  Despicable, lying, overpaid, lazy, and arrogant Republican members of Congress are going to find out the Democrats they are dealing with today are not the rollover types and are willing to stand up to the lying GOP like Rep Pallone of New Jersey.  This may be one of the funniest exchanges I have seen from the House in a long time.  I applaud Rep Pallone for standing up and not backing down.  

The Wrecking Crew courtesy graphic is courtesy of Politicususa.com from Crooks and Liars which is a perfect description of today's GOP:

 

From Sarah Jones, Politicususa:

For weeks I’ve been wondering why no one is talking about how Republicans sabotaged the ACA rollout by refusing to implement state run marketplaces, and thus unexpectedly forcing all of that additional burden on to the federal website.

It reminded me of Republicans denying security funding for Benghazi and then blaming Obama and Clinton for the lack of security in Benghazi. The media were oddly uninterested in that alarming fact. 

But today, Todd Purdum at Politico exposed how Republicans sabotaged the ACA rollout. One small part of their plan was the rejection of the state run exchanges.

But also, Purdum points out, Republicans refused to fund the extra work on the website after the states refused to do their parts, leaving the administration to cobble funding together for Healthcare.Gov. Putting this extra burden on the website was a deliberate effort to cause the law to “implode” on itself.

When I saw the above on Politicususa, it all made sense and answered my questions on how the lowlife Republicans caused the problems and then blamed President Obama.  The theory was correct that the MSM was complicit with Republicans and hard right in the lies about the ACA rollout refusing to get to the heart of the problems and took to blaming the Obama Administration.  Daily we see the MSM reporting the GOP narrative on ACA as facts with some reporters actually saying it is not their job to determine the truth like Chuck Todd and Lisa Myers of NBC.  If a reporters job is not to report the facts, then he should go to work for Fox News where facts and truth rarely see the light of day.

The excerpted article by Politico is outstanding as Purdum put the facts together and shows how a real investigative reports works.  Great knowing there are still some around today -- his full article is well worth the read:

The Obamacare sabotage campaign 

By TODD S. PURDUM | 11/1/13 5:04 AM EDT Updated: 11/1/13 8:31 AM EDT 

To the undisputed reasons for Obamacare’s rocky rollout — a balky website, muddied White House messaging and sudden sticker shock for individuals forced to buy more expensive health insurance — add a less acknowledged cause: calculated sabotage by Republicans at every step. 

That may sound like a left-wing conspiracy theory — and the Obama administration itself is so busy defending the indefensible early failings of its signature program that it has barely tried to make this case. But there is a strong factual basis for such a charge. 

From the moment the bill was introduced, Republican leaders in both houses of Congress announced their intention to kill it. Republican troops pressed this cause all the way to the Supreme Court — which upheld the law, but weakened a key part of it by giving states the option to reject an expansion of Medicaid. The GOP faithful then kept up their crusade past the president’s reelection, in a pattern of “massive resistance” not seen since the Southern states’ defiance of the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954. 

But the bitter fight over passage was only the beginning of the war to stop Obamacare. Most Republican governors declined to create their own state insurance exchanges — an option inserted in the bill in the Senate to appeal to the classic conservative preference for local control — forcing the federal government to take at least partial responsibility for creating marketplaces serving 36 states — far more than ever intended. 

Then congressional Republicans refused repeatedly to appropriate dedicated funds to do all that extra work, leaving the Health and Human Services Department and other agencies to cobble together HealthCare.gov by redirecting funds from existing programs. On top of that, nearly half of the states declined to expand their Medicaid programs using federal funds, as the law envisioned. 

Then, in the months leading up to the program’s debut, some states refused to do anything at all to educate the public about the law. And congressional Republicans sent so many burdensome queries to local hospitals and nonprofits gearing up to help consumers navigate the new system face-to-face that at least two such groups returned their federal grants and gave up the effort. When the White House let it be known last summer that it was in talks with the National Football League to enlist star athletes to help promote the law, the Senate’s top two Republicans sent the league an ominous letter wondering why it would “risk damaging its inclusive and apolitical brand.” The NFL backed off. 

The drama culminated on the eve of the open enrollment date of Oct. 1. Congressional Republicans shut down the government, disrupting last-minute planning and limiting the administration’s political ability to prepare the public for the likelihood of potential problems, because it was in a last-ditch fight to defend the president’s biggest legislative accomplishment. 

“I think my Republican colleagues forget that a lot of people are enrolling through state exchanges, rather than the federal exchange,” Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) noted last week. “And if it wasn’t for the fact that many Republican governors, including my own,” failed to set up state exchanges, “then we wouldn’t be putting so much burden on the federal system.” 

In fact, putting an excessive burden on the federal government was the explicit aim of the law’s opponents. “Congress authorized no funds for federal ‘fallback’ exchanges,” the Tea Party Patriots website noted as long ago as last December. “So Washington may not be able to impose exchanges on states at all.” The group went on to suggest that since Washington was not equipped to handle so many state exchanges, “both financially and otherwise — this means the entire law could implode on itself.” 

Excerpt:  Read more at Politico  

The way some of the media is attacking President Obama over ACA shows how much they are in bed with the GOP.  For years we have heard that the MSM is liberal when he fact they are controlled by mostly conservative organizations who frankly don't like the President because he doesn't do favors for the wealthy like Republicans.  President Obama actually cares about regular people not just the top 2%.  

For years I have been told by some Republicans to blame the opposition for what you are doing.  My reaction was to say you have to be kidding because you will be found out but they weren't.  They even defunded ACORN after it had been destroyed.  How much of the voter fraud attributed to ACORN came from the GOP?  

At least the answers are out about ACA and once again just like Benghazi, the fault lies with the lack of GOP funding ACA websites while they blame Obama and the Democrats.  Politico and Politicususa made my day with these revelations.  About time someone tells the truth because you are not going to get it from much of the MSM who are too lazy to investigate anything except where their next meal is coming from and who they can get to pay for that meal.

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Oklahoma State Agency Heads Get $40,000 to $50,000 Raises -- State Employees No Raises for Eight Years

It is unclear how many other state agency heads may have received large pay increases because agencies are not required to report the pay hikes to the Office of Management and Enterprise Services until August, said John Estus, spokesman for that agency.  Randy Ellis, The Oklahoman, who is a true investigative reporter

Just on the face of it, it is bad PR for the Governor and the Agency Heads but it is business as usual in Oklahoma -- move along nothing to see here.  Without Randy Ellis and his investigative reporting doubt if we would have known.   Almost speechless but not quite.  If I was a State Employee, I would be furious!

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin and other Republican office holders chose a Philadelphia Company to do a study on state government agency head salaries in Oklahoma where the cost of living is much lower?  This is who they chose:

Hay Group is a global management consulting firm that works with leaders to transform strategy into reality. We develop talent, organize people to be more effective and motivate them to perform at their best.

Why would they choose the Hay Group out of Philadelphia plus why would any State Agency in Oklahoma give a $40,000 or $50,000 pay raise to anyone when the state employees have received no raise in eight years?  The Governor's Office said -- it is because the study on raises for state employees is not finished.  What a cop-out.  Wish I could take back my vote for 2010.  This is insanity at any level but in the State of Oklahoma where we rank dead last or near last in many categories including teacher salaries.  The State School Superintendent wants to give a $2,000 raise to teachers who are ranked 49th in the nation for pay but after the $2,000 they will still be ranked 49th.  Yet we give the head of Tourism a $40,000 pay increase for being on the job 2 1/2 years.  The best one is the new Secretary of State going from $90,000 to $140,000 a year which is $50,000 salary increase for the former Speaker of the OK House.

Next question -- Where are the Democrat voices in this travesty?  So far I can find no comments out of Democrat Chair Wallace Collins.  I swear Republicans put him in office as he does next to nothing and you never hear a peep out of him no matter how great the travesty.  It is like Oklahoma Democrats have no voice in Oklahoma right now.  Republicans can do whatever they want and the State Democrats don't challenge them.  It is amazing to sit and observe the crickets out of the State Democratic Party. Yet they wonder why people don't switch who are totally fed up with the Republican Party?

To put this in perspective, regular members of Congress are paid $172,000 a year and maintain two residences with DC being very expensive.  Cost of living in OK is relatively cheap compared to other states and the new Secretary of State gets a $50,000 pay raise done by a study out of a firm in PA? You cannot equate salaries of Government employees with the private sector -- it doesn't compute for those that want to compare to oil and gas executive salaries to state Government.  No one deserves this type of pay raise - noted they went for the top amount recommended almost every time.

Where is the accountability to the taxpayers?  The whole process should be transparent and every Oklahoman informed of what the heads of agencies make.  Lt Gov Lamb was right to vote against this IMHO!  He was one of two honest people on the Tourism board appointed by the Governor so no one needs to say that she has no input as she and the legislature appoint the board members.    

State employees haven't had a raise in 8 years, yet the Boards of State Agencies appointed by the Governor are giving $40,000 to $50,000 raises which are obscene to heads of their agencies.  The new Secretary of State who works directly for the Governor is getting a $50,000 raise even though he was just hired.  BTW Chris Benge is the former Speaker of the Oklahoma House.

Oklahoma state legislature is one of the highest paid of surrounding states for four months of session every year and yet get year around healthcare provided by the State.  Thought Democrats were bad when we first moved here but the GOP has caught up and gone around them in wasting taxpayer dollars.  That tax cut never should have happened last session until schools are fully funded, infrastructure is fixed, and state employees get a decent wage among other items.  Discovering ALEC controls this state makes me shake my head.

FYI, Deby Snodgrass, who now heads tourism was part of the original consulting firm of now Congressman Tom Cole, known as Cole, Hargrove, and Snodgrass.  Is the picture clearer?  Anyone involved in politics here knows there are several factions in the GOP from the last Governor's race. Suffice to say that Snodgrass's former partner was not on the same side as the current Governor.

Still stunned at how high these raises are for heads of agencies we know about - who knows how high some others are because they don't have to report until August 2014.

Oklahoma agency heads granted five-digit pay increases 

Oklahoma Tourism Executive Director Deby Snodgrass was granted a $40,000 pay increase last week, making her the latest of several state agency heads to be awarded huge salary increases and sparking criticism from the Oklahoma Public Employees Association. 

By Randy Ellis Modified: October 28, 2013 at 9:51 pm • Published: October 28, 2013 

Oklahoma Tourism Executive Director Deby Snodgrass was granted a $40,000 pay increase last week, making her the latest of several state agency heads to be awarded five-digit salary increases and sparking criticism from the Oklahoma Public Employees Association.

Tom Dunning, communications coordinator for the Oklahoma Public Employees Association, said the raises are frustrating to rank-and-file state employees — many of whom have gone years without raises and been told by lawmakers that they would have to await the results of a compensation study due out in November before they would be given pay hike consideration. 

“These raises should only happen after the study is released and the state begins addressing front line staff pay,” Dunning said. “Raising top administrators' pay while their staff waits sends a message to staff that the top jobs are important and the other jobs are not. This just further demoralizes state agency staff, many of whom have not had a raise in years.” 

Besides Snodgrass, other state agency heads confirmed by The Oklahoman to have received large pay increases this year include Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Director Stan Florence, whose pay was increased by nearly $47,000 in June; Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Commissioner Terri White, whose salary was raised by nearly $40,000 in September; and state Banking Commissioner Mick Thompson, whose salary was raised by about $14,000 in May. 

Florence's salary went from $80,138 to $127,000, White's salary rose from $133,455 to $173,318, and Thompson's salary went from $137,239 to about $151,000. 

In addition, the salary of Oklahoma's secretary of state was raised from $90,000 to $140,000 when Gov. Mary Fallin announced last week that she had appointed former House Speaker Chris Benge to succeed Larry Parman in that position, said Michael McNutt, the governor's press secretary. 

It is unclear how many other state agency heads may have received large pay increases because agencies are not required to report the pay hikes to the Office of Management and Enterprise Services until August, said John Estus, spokesman for that agency. 

The Tourism Commission voted 5-2 last week to raise Snodgrass' salary from about $86,000 to $126,508. 

Snodgrass said she was grateful for the raise. 

“I am humbled and grateful to the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Commissioners for the trust and faith they have placed in me,” she said. “They have decided to increase my compensation to the midpoint established in the OMES Human Capital Management Division's Agency Director Salary Review.” 

“Tourism is a $7.1 billion industry in Oklahoma and continues to experience significant growth, year over year. It is the state's third-largest industry. I am honored to serve in this position and help fine tune this vital economic engine so the industry can go further and faster toward revenue increases and job growth that benefits all Oklahomans.” 

Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb cast one of the two votes against the pay increase. Lamb, who serves as chairman of the commission, said his vote was “no reflection on the job of the director or the tourism staff.” 

“They work very hard for the people, but I believe we should be very diligent in how we spend taxpayers' money,” Lamb said. “At this time with our state budget, and also with the current study that is taking place … with all the state employees, that gave me a little pause. And a greater pause and concern that I have is that we're currently in the middle of a state trooper shortage … and the trooper pay in the state is significantly low compared to the region.” 

Law enforcement is a “core function” of government and should get top consideration, he said. 

Many of this year's executive pay increases are linked to a study of agency director salaries done by the Hay Group, a consulting firm retained by the state Office of Management and Enterprise Services to recommend maximum and minimum salaries for each position. The Legislature directed the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to have the study done in HB 1717. 

Read More at The Oklahoman about this travesty

Going to take a while to get over this because it makes little to no sense to give that big of raises to state employees.  It is like taxpayer dollars are being used to buy support for the Governor's re-election campaign by making sure the agency heads are very well paid in a state with a low cost of living.  Note to boards -- Oklahoma is not on the east or west coast with high cost of living but you just gave out huge raises like we are.

Most people I have talked with since I found this last night are appalled and asking why would Oklahoma do this when they refuse to fully fund education or or infrastructure.  The Governor won't even allow a bond to be put to the vote of the people to provide safe rooms in our schools but she has no problem with huge pay raises for her appointees.  Something is wrong!

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Air Force Academy Follows Constitution on Cadet Oath While Tony Perkins, Focus on the Family, Throws a Temper Tantrum!

Perkins says he wants to know “Who’s running the United States Air Force: General Mark Welsh or Mikey Weinstein?” It turns out who is running the United States Air Force is the United States Constitution, the document the Religious Right most loathes.

When the Constitution says "Freedom of Religion" the founders didn't say that we all had to worship the same God or worship a God at all.  They said we have the freedom to worship as we please. Shame the evangelicals never got that through their heads as they try to tell the rest of us how to think and lead our lives.  This is the latest in the campaign to make America all evangelical which will never happen. Perkins makes money when he goes after things like this.  Would be dollars are flowing into Focus on the Family this week to support Perkins fight against the Academy.  IMHO this is nothing more than a fundraising gimmick.

The Cadet Chapel at the Air Force Academy is beautiful especially when you come in from the north entrance and look at the Chapel against the Rocky Mountains.  No matter your faith, your religion, or no religious beliefs it is a beautiful structure that is just as impressive inside.  Some facts about the Chapel are listed below the picture.  The Academy as a whole is beautiful but this Chapel is magnificent!  If you are in Colorado Springs, please take the time to go visit the public areas of the Academy and take a tour - you won't be disappointed.

Soaring 150 feet toward the Colorado sky, the Air Force Academy Chapel is an all-faith house of worship designed to meet the spiritual needs of cadets. It contains a separate chapel for Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Buddhist religious faiths, plus two all-faiths worship rooms. There are two main levels, with the Protestant nave on the upper level (seats 1200). 

The Catholic (seats 500), Jewish (seats 100) and Buddhist chapels are located beneath it. Beneath this level is located a large all-faiths room and two meeting rooms. Each chapel has its own entrance, and services may be held simultaneously without interfering with one another. 

The worship area known as the Cadet Chapel - Falcon Circle came about through a request from the Air Force Academy's followers of Earth-Centered Spirituality, an umbrella of traditions that includes Wicca, Paganism and Druidism. 

Note to Tony Perkins from Focus on the Family -- General Welsh is upholding the Constitution something the evangelicals of this Country more and more are ignoring unless it is the 2nd amendment which they have trampled on with their own version.  Guess Perkins missed the part that 'so help me God' is not part of the oaths at the Naval or West Point Academies.  

The West Point equivalent oath does not include the words "so help me God," said Frank DeMaro, a school spokesman. It states, "A cadet will not lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate those who do." 

Officials at the U.S. Naval Academy did not immediately return a call. "The Honor Concept" on the Naval Academy website includes similar proscriptions against lying, cheating and stealing but includes no religious reference.

Today it is no longer part of the AF Academy oath but we didn't hear him railing about the Naval Academy or West Point.  Is is because the AF Academy shares Colorado Springs with the religious hard right Focus on the Family that under Perkins has lost all sense of reality?

When I read this at The Examiner, all I could was think that the evangelical community has effectively jumped the shark and lost all common sense when Perkins is their spokesman who couldn't even get the facts right on George Washington:

Once again, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council has deliberately attempted to confuse tolerance with religious persecution.

Tony Perkins still hasn't figured out that supporting any measure he disagrees with is not unconstitutional. 

Perkins, who had previously called President Obama's "pro-homosexual agenda" a "breach of trust", attacked Obama and his administration in his most recent fundraising letter for "colluding" with the Southern Poverty Law Center as part of some sinister plan to create a totalitarian government. 

"The President needs to be exposed for colluding with the SPLC to stifle debate on social policy issues by means of intimidation, fear-mongering, and spreading lies," he writes.  

"The majority of Americans do not agree with the President's leftist agenda to remake our country into a socialist state ruled by a totalitarian government bureaucracy. And the President knows this. So he is using—and abusing—his presidency to steamroll the American people and implement his radical vision for America." 

Perkins has been rhetorically at war with the SPLC since it designated the Family Research Council an anti-gay hate group in 2010.

In response to complaints from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, the Air Force announced that the phrase "so help me God" at the end of the Honor Oath was now optional. 

Extra emphasis on that last word: Optional. As in cadets can still say "so help me God" if they elect to. 

Tony Perkins, however, asserts that the new policy is not only discriminatory to Christians, but disrespectful to George Washington.

"Anti-Christian crusader Mikey Weinstein recently probed the Air Force Academy," Perkins said on his radio show today. "The Air Force Academy Superintendent responded in 68 minutes, when he marked down his objections to the phrase, 'So help me God,' contained in the Academy honor code. ...

His (Weinstein) complaint this time was a poster that included the honor oath with the phrase, 'So help me God.' Lieutenant General Michelle Johnson said the oath is being reviewed because the Academy values an inclusive environment that promotes dignity and respect for all. 

"Really? Does that include those like General George Washington who initiated the phrase, 'So help me God,' or does that inclusion only make room for those who want to dismantle America's Christian heritage?" 

There's just one problem: There is no evidence whatsoever that George Washington ever said "So help me God" during his oath. James Madison excluded the words "So help me God" while working on a committee drafting an oath bill, and there is no documentation of Washington having added it back in. 

In fact, according to George Mason University history professor Peter Henriques, the first documented case of a President adding the words "so help me God" to his oath was that of Chester A. Arthur in 1881. 

Or, in a nutshell, Perkins attempted to attack religious freedom as religious persecution by presenting a myth as history: The political stupidity equivalent of a double-play.

The last paragraph made me chuckle as more and more we are finding the religious hard right like Tony Perkins using myths for facts.  Since when is following the Constitution, against Christianity.  Members of all religious faiths just not evangelicals can still use the words 'so help me God' if they choose but it doesn't mean every one is subjected to the same words if they choose to leave them out.  People like Perkins are acting more and more like dictators as time marches on.  It is their version of everything like someone died and made them king.  I don't need Tony Perkins and his ilk to tell me how to live my life or what to do.

This much to do about nothing which seems to describe the hard right of today!

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'Worthless' GOP House About to Work Even Less Days in 2013!

"You guys are worthless!"  Hecklers to GOP Press Conference, 1 October 2013

Truer words were never spoken then calling this bunch of Republican Congressional welfare and drama queens worthless!   Taking a full salary when you work less then 1/3 of the time and passing so few bills makes them the worst Congress in modern history if not all of history.

Another week has started and House Republicans are already trying to figure out how to work even less days between now and the end of the year.  They are nothing more today then Congressional welfare recipients ripping off the American taxpayers for their salaries and expenses.  They are the most incompetent and annoying in history with their lack of passing legislation.  How they can rip off the taxpayers and then go back to their districts and face them -- wait a second -- most don't hold face to face Town Halls today so they don't have to face us.   They did have to face a few people at a press conference following their shutdown of Government which is priceless:


Guess this means no Immigration Bill, no Jobs Bills, no Veterans bills, etc., as they prefer not to vote on anything.  Should be no votes, no pay!  If any of us pulled this stunt on our jobs we would be fired but then we were be fired for drinking on the job like the GOP House was doing before that Saturday night vote on the shutdown.  No wonder they were happy -- they were drunk.  When you hear reporters talking about you could smell alcohol when they walked by, then you have a major problem. IMHO if they drink on the job, they should resign immediately.  Since the current GOP House Members have the ethics of a gnat, don't expect to see that happen.

From Politicususa.org comes this gem:

Republicans are pondering canceling some of the remaining days in their session because they can’t come up with anything to do now that their efforts to defund ObamaCare, shut down the government and take us to the brink of default have failed. It’s not as if Speaker Boehner would actually allow a vote on real legislation, after all. 

Politico reported:

For the first time in months, House Republicans are facing no immediate cataclysmic deadlines, and GOP leaders are struggling to come up with an agenda to fill the 19 legislative days that are left in 2013. 

Need evidence? The House votes Monday evening and will finish its work week Wednesday. After that, the House is out of session until Nov. 12. Internally, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and senior Republicans aren’t discussing coming back early from the scheduled recess, but instead, they are wondering if they’ll cancel some of the remaining days in session.   

(snip)

This shouldn’t be a surprise. The Republican-led House has set records for working fewer days and passing the least amount of legislation. In December of 2012, we reported that even though House Republicans are going to be in session for only 126 days in 2013, they are still demanding their full $174,000 salary. 

With that salary, House Republicans have wasted taxpayer money on pretend ObamaCare repeal votes, witch hunts over scandals they made up and fed to the press with lies, they wasted 24 billion on their government shutdown, and now they’re wasting more money on glitch hunts. They are not passing any actual legislation, however, which is their actual job. 

In July, we reported that this 113th Congress was historically lazy, having passed only 16 legislative items in six months. The 112th Congress set another historic low of 23 legislative items passed by the same time of year. “They made history as the most unproductive session since the 1940s (records only go back to 1947) for passing only 220 laws. For perspective, President Harry Truman labeled his Congress the “Do-Nothing Congress” for passing just 906 laws.”  

Excerpts:  Read more at Politicususa.org

Following are more stories about the 'worthless' GOP House:

House Plans No Immigration Vote in 2013
House Republican leadership has no plans to vote on any immigration reform legislation before the end the year.  —  The House has just 19 days in session before the end of 2013, and there are a number of reasons why immigration reform is stalled this year.

GOP may vote again to delay Obamacare
The House Republican with direct oversight of Obamacare hinted that the GOP might, once again, vote to delay a critical component of the health care law. 

Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) hinted Friday that the House might vote to delay the sign-up date for Obamacare. The current enrollment period lasts through March.

House leaders plot new fall GOP strategy
On Monday, House GOP chiefs of staff are meeting with leadership and the House Administration Committee on how members and staff will handle enrollment in the health care exchanges mandated under ACA. Boehner and House Republicans unsuccessfully pushed legislation that would end the government’s employer contribution to health care for lawmakers and aides. Now that they have to sign up, House Republicans face numerous questions on how to do so and who is covered. 

In the meantime, it appears that the House will — once again — vote to delay portions of Obamacare, setting up another fight with Senate Democrats and the White House.

Right flanks join to push conservative goals
Building on the foundation laid by tea party godfather Jim DeMint, the right flanks of the House and Senate have been getting together for months — or in some cases years — to design an agenda around trimming food stamp benefits, impairing Obamacare, hacking away at spending and other reliable red meat. The informal group is viewed suspiciously by establishment Republicans and those in leadership, but conservatives say there’s nothing to hide.   

“If they were secret, we wouldn’t have done it at Tortilla Coast,” said Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), referring to a meeting at the Capitol Hill eatery with Cruz and other conservatives two days before a crucial debt ceiling deadline this month. “We were very transparent that we were talking to one another.”

Senior Republican aides in both chambers — often furious with the scheming of the new brand of congressional Republicans — describe the relationship between the right flanks in the House and Senate as dictatorial. They argue Cruz and Lee come over to the lower chamber and deliver legislative marching orders that are difficult to achieve, like insisting on defunding the president’s primary legislative achievement. Democrats are quick to seize on that tension, urging that “reasonable” Republicans show some courage and stand up to the right and joking of a “Speaker Cruz” pulling the strings in the House.

Welcome to the United States Congress where many Republicans have taken their oath and tossed it out the window.  They are not for all Americans but for the Koch Bros ALEC agenda and what they are told to do by former Senator Jim DeMint who now heads Koch Bros Heritage, Freedom Works, and other organizations of the Kochs.  The hard right ideology doesn't compute with most Americans who frankly think the Tea Party is out of control with their hard right agenda who refuse to face reality while not having any common sense.  The Koch/ALEC agenda can be summed up simply with more money for the wealthy, no regulations, destroying Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid while using unlimited campaign contributions to buy more Republicans to put them in Congress.   

Have to admit that the Koch Bros bought and paid for some of the laziest members of the Republican caucus I have seen to date and they want to put more in the House and Senate.  Just say NO to the Koch Bros Tea Party and their hard right candidates in 2014! 

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