This is a community blog operated by Oklahoma progressives dedicated to taking back this state for the people. A courageous band of true patriots, we fight right-wing tyranny in one of the reddest of red states. Do you want to help by keeping a diary here? Do you want traffic back to your blog? Register to the right, but keep it to the left. If you need help, contact Kurt, kurt.hochenauer@gmail.com.
Unfortunately, as we set a lofty goal for Andrew Rice, we fell just a little short - a mere $78 to be precise. Our goal for Rice was to get to $4,500, and, when the dust settled, Rice was at $4,422.
Though the Q2 deadline has passed, we are now in Q3 and the contributions still help. A lot. Can you help Andrew Rice get to the $4,500 mark on the Expand the Map! ActBlue page? Just $78 to go. Please help if you can!
Oklahoma's should remember this when they go to vote for United States Senator. Jim Inhofe has never voted to raise the minimum wage for working Oklahomans. However, he has voted 9 times to raise his own salary while serving in Congress. Inhofe may not like the minimum wage, but he has no problem with taxpayers paying him the maximum wage.
Hi all - I'm new to BOK but am a longtime blogger and activist for many causes, but particularly understanding more about young voters and working to increase awareness about their impact on the electorate.
Compared to the circle of friends I roll with, I'm a newbie. Many of them have been working to increase turnout among young voters since 2004 or even 2000, and I didn't come into the game until 2006. But boy when I figured it out did I begin bringing it on home. I've also been responsible for feeding research and information to Alicescheshirecat encouraging more blogging about these topics.
Often times we bypass the introductory level information assuming everyone knows about these topics. Therefor, today I'd like to begin a series for an entry level topics to create an understanding of why young voters are important and how they impact an elections, what are frequent mistakes about young voters, what are attitudes of young voters, youth policy and talking about issues, and how to begin a youth program.
Beginning July 1st, the first phase of largest college aid expansion in six decades kicks in, according to a release sent out from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. This was part of the number of bills pushed through Congress in 2006 when the New Direction Congress rolled into town.
In efforts to help middle class families live more affordable, the House passed, among other things, a minimum wage increase as well as the the expansion in college aid which includes an expansion of Pell Grants as well as this reduction in interest rates which will cut in half by 2011 and will begin with a drop from 6.8% to 6.0%.
According to the release
"This cutting of the interest rate will benefit the 6.8 million students who borrow need-based federal student loans each year. Once fully phased in, this interest rate cut will save the typical student borrower - with $13,800 in need-based student loan debt - an average of $4,400 over the life of the loan."
The Neighborhood Stabilization Act of 2008 authorizes the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to issue $7.5 billion in grants and $7.5 billion in no-interest loans to states for the purchase, sale, and rehabilitation of vacant foreclosed homes. The legislation allocates funds based on the percentage of foreclosures in a state during the last four calendar quarters and the number of subprime loans that have been delinquent in the state for more than 90 days.
Supporters of Sen. James Inhofe like to tout his "stubborness" for refusing to budge from his position that the scientific research pointing to a human cause for global warming, if not global warming itself, is the "greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people." He holds to this despite the fact that all but a handful of the world's scientific community dedicated to studying the problem show him to be dellusional.
The problem with praising stubborness is that it ignores the fact that stubborness is a trait and not a virtue.
When a child refuses to eat his vegetables or go to bed at his appointed hour, his parents do not say to him, "Junior, we admire your stubborness, but we disagree with your decision." Instead, they say, something like, "If you don't quit being to stubborn, we're going to make you wish you had never heard of the word no!"
And those who admire Inhofe's intranscience should look at Inhofe's motives. He wants to lull us into a comforting belief that if we just keep on doing what we have always done, we will somehow magically get something different from what we already have. If we just drill some more as we have drilled before, we will have more oil and lower prices. Of course, this ignores the simple economic fact that we will never drill enough to supply our ravenous appetite for oil. And even if we do tap some of our reserves, other countries will just pump less canceling out any savings we might get from spoiling the last pristine areas in nature and further exacerbating the problem with CO2 emissions.
Be afraid, very afraid of the man who tries to tell you that you can get everything you want without a price, without sacrifice. The Bible called such a man a false prophet, not a public servant.
We can do what we have always done and expect not to get what we always have gotten. We have to change which is scary and sometimes painful. But as St. Paul said to the Romans:
[W]e also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us. . . (Romans 5: 3-5).
Last week, those who wished to be candidates for office in Oklahoma filed with the Oklahoma Election Board in order to be on the primary and general election ballot.
An inevitable follow-up to the filings are challenges to the legitimacy of their challenges by their opponents. Usually these involve issues such as residency and party affliation. For example, according to Oklahoma election law, one must be a resident in the district for which one is running at least 6 months before filing. One must also be registered as a member of the Democratic, Republican or Independent political party six months before one can file as a candidate for that party. (Technically, "Independent" is not a party, but the same rules apply.)
These challenges can be very messy since one is challenges the veracity and the ethics of a potential opponent. But the challenge system is usually a necessary evil to insure that those who seek public office do so legitimately.
Sometimes, though, challenges fall out of the realm of "necessary" evils and become, well, something bad. Such was the case with one challenge to an Oklahoma County candidate.
The two challenges we had to our candidates involved the candidacy of David Castillo running for House District 93 who was challenged by Mike Christian who is running for the Republican nomination for that district. This was a straight forward challenge to his residency, no problem with that. The challenge was overturned and David will be on the ballot for the Democratic primary along with Wilfredo Rivera.
The other challenge was against Linda James who runs LL James Printing along with Jack Farley. She is running for House District 90 in western Oklahoma County. Linda's challenge was a lot more nasty. Rep. Charles Key, the incumbent, did not challenge her residency. He challenged the legality of her dwelling place. Linda has for 3 years lived at her business address with the full knowledge and consent of her landlord. Her business is zoned for commercial use, but she also used it for living quarters. Rep. Key went a step further with his challenge and arranged to have Linda evicted from her dwelling place!
To me, this is out of bounds. It is one thing to call into question an opponent's residency. It is quite something else to try and order her to vacate her home in 10 days.
The story has a happy ending for Linda. She has managed to secure new digs within her district, and the Election Board threw out Key's challenge on the grounds that he could not deny the fact that she had lived in the district for the required residency period.
Key, by the way, is an ardent believer that the US government was responsible for the Murrah Bombing and not Timothy McVeigh. He deserves to be thrown out of this race by his own party.
Our far right extremist senator, James Inhofe is known mostly as a Climate Change Denier but that barely scratches the surface of what's wrong with Inhofe. For someone who is so aggressively pro-war, he's incredibly anti-veteran and anti-service member.
Here's some facts:
1. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America looked at his voting record and gave him a D-.
2. Inhofe cast the deciding vote against the bipartisan Health Care for Veterans Amendment in October 2005. This killed a bill that had passed in the House 398 to 19.
Now that one of the most remarkable primaries in our nation's history has concluded, attention is turning to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. In less than three months, the Mile High City and the Rocky Mountain West will host this historic event for the first time since 1908.
The Convention also coincides with Denver's 150th birthday - a
century-and-a-half of progress and innovation since its birth at the height of the Colorado gold rush. A hub of opportunity for people seeking new frontiers, people come to Colorado seeking much more than gold these days. The spirit of visionary zeal and limitless possibility is as strong as ever in the New West. So it's fitting that as the Democratic Party marches toward its own new frontier, it will do so through Denver.
A message to all of you in Oklahoma: you don't have to be in Denver - or on the Convention floor - to get in on the action though. The Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee has organized two interactive ways for people anywhere in America to get involved. We're convening a national conversation about democracy and community and invite everyone to participate.
In 2003 hardly anyone outside of Illinois knew a state senator named Barack Obama.
Five years later he is the nominee for President of the Democratic Party.
What this shows is that there clearly is talent all over the United States (while I'm not saying there is an Obama in every state). The question simply is if they can make it out of the political wilderness into the limelight.
What I'm wondering is who comes after Obama? Who is the future of the Democratic Party? Now, this is not necessarily about who might become a future president but rather who has the ability to work hard and inspire people and make it into a leadership position in the future. Whether that is as governor, in the U.S. Senate or any other leadership position.
So, here's my question to you: who is the future of the Democratic Party? Which young person (younger than Obama who was born in 1961), male or female, white, African-American, Asian-American or Hispanic, straight or gay, inspires you? Now, that person may have already made it to Congress, or have been elected to statewide office. But it's just as likely that person is in the state legislature, the state cabinet or an elected official at the local level (mayor or county commissioner) or currently running for an office.
Which young Democrat in Oklahoma inspires you and whom do you wish/hope to rise and aim higher? And please provide year of birth and a bio link to that person if you can.
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe's abysmal record on the environment is a major issue among Oklahomans and could help pro-environment Andrew Rice in his campaign against the state's senior senator, according to a recent article in The New Republic.
The June 3 article, written by Marisa Mazria-Katz, notes how state Sen. Rice, 35, pictured right, has put "environment issues at the heart of his campaign."
On the trail, [Rice] emphasizes his efforts in the Oklahoma legislature to convert the state's vehicle fleet to clean-burning fuel and to require public schools to reduce their energy consumption. Rice is hoping his larger agenda of alternative fuel initiatives, which include better harnessing the state's vast natural gas resources, will appeal to a wide range of voters. "There is a segment of Oklahoma's population that is willing to swing to the other side for the first time in 20 years," Rice says.
Rice represents a district in Oklahoma City, but he continues to appeal to state rural voters who are tired of Inhofe's grandstanding on global warming. Environmental issues transcend political affiliation and the 73-year-old Inhofe seems out of touch with the latest scientific information about climate change. Even his own political party's presumptive presidential nominee has proposed a cap-and-trade system on carbon emissions. The article notes,
Today, Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe posted on his website and on his Twitter feed that his new commercials are "On the Airwaves!" in a short post in which six of the eight sentences ended with an exclamation point!
Calling All Sooner Staters - Help Us Live A Little More Liberally
By Josh Bolotsky
Hello Blue Oklahomans,
My name is Josh Bolotsky, and as National Program Associate for Living Liberally, I'd like to thank Kurt for giving us the opportunity to reach out to this community.
For those of you not familiar with it, Living liberally is an organization of over 245 chapters nationwide dedicated to creating communities around progressive politics. Through social networks and events, we promote political engagement for those not already involved, and facilitate collaboration among those for whom progressive activism is a lifestyle. Some of our projects include Drinking Liberally happy hours, Laughing Liberally comedy shows, Screening Liberally film series, Eating Liberally meals and Reading Liberally book clubs/tours.
Unfortunately, while Living Liberally is in 47 states, Oklahoma, along with Hawaii and North Dakota, is one of the remaining three states that still doesn't have a Living Liberally chapter. We've made it our goal for our 5th anniversary, on May 29th, to correct that, and finally reach chapters in all 50 states.
Legislation passed by Congress this week will finally help US Armed Forces members cope with rising college tuition rates. Along with mental health care and homelessness, education is a key issue for returning vets.
But as the report to the right details, a skeptical President Bush may veto the bi-partisan bill. Understand, of course, that this is a declaration to support the troops when they come back home from serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
(Note: Rep. Mary Fallin, 5th District, Oklahoma, wrote me a letter explaining her eagerness to cut my taxes. She specifically singled out what she called the "marriage, estate, and gift" taxes as targets for elimination. I immediately sat down and sent her the following note by return mail.)
Dear Rep. Fallin,
I received your letter written May 15th in which you decry high taxes. You stated that you wished to cut my taxes particulary the marriage, estate, and gift taxes which you termed "burdensome." I am certain that your stance will prove to be very politically popular.
However, as you know, taxes are used to provide services which citizens of our country feel are the responsibility of our government so we may lead quality lives. These services include schools and school lunches, hospitals, safe roads and bridges, health care, Homeland Security, clean air and water, safe food and drugs, air traffic control, armed forces, veterans' benefits, job retraining, national parks and recreation, drug law enforcement, just to name a few.
In your next letter to me, please include a list of those services you wish to eliminate or cut in order to pay for the tax cuts you have promised.
Your interested constituent,
Robert Lynn Green
P.S. I see that the letter you sent me was printed and mailed at taxpayer expense. Is this congressional privilege something you wish to eliminate?
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Beginning July 1st, the first phase of largest college aid expansion in six decades kicks in, according to a release sent out from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. This was part of the number of bills pushed through Congress in 2006 when the New Direction Congress rolled into town.
