 |
 |
From Examiner.com:
Insiders say Corporate Commissioner Jeff Cloud is still talking about running for the 5th District Congressional seat being vacated by Congresswoman Mary Fallin, who has announced she’ll be running for governor.
Reheated Coffee: Dirty Harry to the Republican Rescue? Read more…
Rep. Mary Fallin talks about stimulus vs. spending last week on Fox Business.
Hat tip: RepMaryFallin
“Rep. and former LG Mary Fallin is considering a run and would be a strong candidate, with Rep. Tom Cole a possibility if Fallin doesn’t run. If Fallin runs, the GOP has a good shot at a pickup, but Democrats will not go quietly here.
Initial Outlook: SLIGHT ADVANTAGE FOR THE REPUBLICANS.”
Fourth District Democrat: GALLUP POLL – Majority of Workers Not Worried About Being Laid Off
Taxpayers….Get ready!
Despite crazed lunatic opinion leaders like the NY Times uber-liberal Thomas Friedman running around saying the sky is falling, the folks who actually run the country won a round with Tuesday’s rejection of the socialization of the nation’s mortgage banking industry.
Cheers to those who voted against the so-called bailout and jeers to those who voted “aye.” The vote clearly defined the difference between the big government crowd and conservatives. On this matter, party affiliation matters very little: true conservatives voted no, the others yes. And while a bailout of some sorts is inevitable, the ensuing bill will be far better than the Giveaway to Billionaires Act that went down in flames Tuesday.
Oklahomans know a little more than most with their past economic struggles, and voters are seething over the Republican-led giveaway of hard-earned tax dollars to Oklahoma fat cats in this year’s legislative session.
Just to set the record straight, while Friedman and Speaker Pelosi and the cartoonish Barney Frank try to spin their way out of this by blaming everybody but themselves, even Frank’s own liberal hometown paper knows who is to blame. The idiotic Friedman blames those pesky voters, but this video proves over and over who really was looking the other way as the sub-prime mortgage house of cards was collapsing.
Meanwhile the action shifts to the Senate today. But our hats are off to congressional delegation members Mary Fallin, John Sullivan and Frank Lucas.
Related:
Green Country Values: Green Country Congressman votes, “No!” on the Bailout
Get Right OK: Does Tom Cole still deserve to be called a Conservative?
Okie Politics: Fallin, Lucas and Sullivan pro-Depression Deux
Right On!: Bailout or Ride it Out?
By Mary Fallin
The debate over exploiting America’s domestic oil and gas reserves has focused primarily on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and on offshore regions currently off-limits to exploration. While we should drill in those areas to reduce our reliance on oil imports, a third resource, the vast oil-shale deposits in the Rocky Mountain West, could be even more crucial in our quest for energy independence.
The Green River formation underlying parts of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado could hold as many as two trillion barrels of oil, trapped in rocks relatively close to the surface. Production from those deposits could reach ten million barrels of oil per day — virtually tripling our current domestic production — according to a report by the Department of Energy.
It takes a geologist to fully understand the potential of oil shale. In simple terms, oil shale is sedimentary rock saturated with a petrochemical substance called kerogen. It’s oil that didn’t quite make it to liquid status. Read more…
Related:
Sen’s. Inhofe & Coburn, Rep. Mary Fallin, and Mayor Mick Cornett sign letter opposing casino. Where’s the Governor?
With a critical deadline approaching, Oklahoma City residents in the vicinity of a proposed casino are rallying their neighbors to voice their opposition. Friday is the last business day that the Bureau of Indian Affairs will take public input regarding the controversial casino proposed by the Shawnee Tribe to be located just 1.7 miles away from Remington Park. The comment period officially ends Sunday, June 8th, so local leaders are urging those who wish to participate in the public comment to get their messages to the BIA by Friday.
State Rep. Mike Shelton, whose district contains Remington Park, will help lead a community meeting Tuesday night to raise awareness of the casino’s enormous negative influence to the area and to remind residents that their opinion won’t matter after Friday when the BIA’s 30 day public comment period ends. While local, state and federal officials are publicly opposing the casino, local leaders like Shelton, say input from citizens in the immediate area is crucial. (Click here to view a letter signed by Sen’s. Inhofe & Coburn, Rep. Mary Fallin, and Mayor Mick Cornett)
“The BIA must consider the will of the people, and we must clearly communicate that will, but we have only until Friday for that message to count. There will be so many people, businesses, schools injured by this casino that is incomprehensible that the BIA would for even one moment consider allowing this proposal. They have a job to do, but so do the people who live and work here. That is why we must send a perceptible and unambiguous message to the BIA, the Department of the Interior and even the President: do no harm to northeast Oklahoma City.”
The public meeting will be held at Millwood Arts Academy at 6700 Martin Luther King. Millwood is one of the school districts whose tax base would be devastated if the BIA allows the casino and the subsequent demise of Remington Park. The meeting begins at 6:30 PM.
While officials like Shelton, Congresswoman Mary Fallin, Mayor Mick Cornett and County Commissioner Ray Vaughan are aggressively publicly opposing the casino, at least two officials are conspicuous in their silence: Gov. Brad Henry and County Commissioner Willa Johnson.
The controversy surrounding the proposed Shawnee Tribe’s casino in northeast Oklahoma City is heating up.
It’s rumored that there will be a Tuesday night town meeting of citizens whose homes and businesses in the area surrounding Remington Park will be harmed if construction of the casino is allowed to move forward. Remington Park, who most observers believe will go bankrupt if the casino begins operation, sits in State Rep. Mike Shelton’s house district 97. Shelton is publicly calling on citizens to voice their concerns to the BIA before the Friday deadline.
While officials like Shelton, Congresswoman Mary Fallin, Mayor Mick Cornett and County Commissioner Ray Vaughan are aggressively publicly opposing the casino, at least two officials are conspicuous in their silence: Gov. Brad Henry and County Commissioner Willa Johnson.
Henry is rumored to be meeting with agricultural interests regarding the track this week. When the casino becomes operational, the subsequent bankruptcy of Remington Park will kill the horse breeding industry in Oklahoma according to a report filed by News9’s Rusty Surrette Friday. The race track says 25,000 Oklahoma jobs will be lost.
The BIA’s 30-day comment period closes Friday, and Henry’s painfully slow reaction to take a position, given his chummy relationship with a key Shawnee Tribe official, has given rise to speculation the governor will either sit this issue out or intervene on behalf of the tribe, which will enrage Oklahomans and elected officials from both parties. If Henry were to go on record in opposition to the casino, it would carry great weight with the BIA, and insiders tell OKPNS that business leaders and other officials are steamed at the governor, who always goes to great lengths to avoid taking positions on tough issues.
Developing…….
Related:
Sources tell OKPNS that Congresswoman Mary Fallin, R-Oklahoma City, is making aggressive moves in what appears to be the beginnings of a campaign for governor in 2010.
The former three- term Lt. Gov and two-term state legislator was elected to the 5th District seat in 2006 and has announced she will run for re-election for another congressional term this year. She is expected to easily win re-election. Observers say Congresswoman Fallin is already putting together a team designed for but one thing: a run for governor.
Fallin’s move comes as talk of Congressman Tom Cole’s name as a potential gubernatorial candidate is being floated. Cole is currently head of the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC), but is being roundly criticized, some say unfairly, for recent GOP loses in some key special elections. If the GOP suffers significant losses in the fall elections, Cole will receive blame, unfairly or not, and some observers can see the Congressman coming back to Oklahoma to run to succeed two-term Gov. Brad Henry. Fallin’s moves could be designed to head off a Cole challenge.
Developing…….
While Oklahoma City’s Mayor and, according to reports, all of the state’s congressional delegation, are aggressively opposing a proposal by promoters to put a tribal casino in Oklahoma City fronted by a tribe located 200 miles away, Oklahoma’s timid governor is attempting to run and hide on the issue.
This time, Gov. Brad Henry, is attempting to avoid involvement on the casino project that most observers say would put Oklahoma City’s Remington Park into bankruptcy.
The Shawnee tribe, which is located in Miami, Oklahoma, has been “reservation shopping” and has selected a parcel of land less than two miles from Oklahoma City’s “Adventure district,” putting many businesses at a distinct disadvantage.
While Mayor Mick Cornett, Congresswoman Mary Fallin and other members of the congressional delegation have courageously and publicly opposed this outrageous distortion of tribal gaming statutes, the faint-hearted Henry, who has privately voiced his opposition to the casino, is publicly ducking for cover, primarily since he is buddies with the Shawnee Tribe’s economic development chairman, Greg Pitcher.
One insider sums up the governor’s lack of backbone this way: “He’s gutless. He knows the proposal is wrong, but he’s spent six years avoiding this kind of controversy, so why would we think he’d engaged now?”
Henry’s name is being drawn in the controversy because the Bureau of Indian Affairs is seeking public comment on the proposal until June 9th. Most believe the governor’s opposition would carry considerable weight with the BIA.
Observers tell OKPNS the whole deal is very suspect, and that today’s story by Oklahoman reporter Tony Thornton just scratches the surface of the proposed stinky deal.
Developing….
NewsOK.com Video: Greg Pitcher, chairman of the Shawnee Tribe’s economic development arm
Rep. Mary Fallin has a post today on The Hill Newspaper’s Congressional Blog reminding us that one of America’s most solemn holidays is almost upon us. Fallin writes:
“As our Memorial Day weekend approaches, I believe it is important to pay tribute and honor to the men and women in the military who have served our country…It will be our great honor to present medals to our deserving military veterans in a special ceremony May 23rd at the Oklahoma History Center.”
Memorial Day has always had special meaning for me. I was born on May 30th, the original day that was set aside for the holiday. As a child, my parents always reminded me on my birthday that I was enjoying my presents and freedom that day, because someone else gave their life in defense of this country. Rep. Fallin reminds us what Memorial Day is really all about.
Probably not the best metaphor Congressman Cole could have used to describe how difficult it will be to defeat Congresswoman Fallin:
Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole, chair of the NRCC, shows no concern about the Democrats’ fundraising lead. “Most of our freshmen, frankly, are not in vulnerable seats,” he says. “They won in an awful year. You couldn’t beat Mary Fallin [an Oklahoma Republican] with a baseball bat.” Read more…