It's almost May and the Oklahoma's legislature still doesn't have a budget completed. The Republicans are fighting the Democrats and the Governor is fighting both parties in the Senate but only the Republicans in the House.
The Republican controlled House won't even hear a Democratic bill even if they agree with it. The Senate won't hear any bill unless it has a sponsor from both parties. They all act more like adolescents than statesmen.
As usual the Republicans vote as a block and goose step to the commands of the party leadership. About two thirds of the Democrats vote with the Republicans so in essence they are the ones running the state.
The Republicans want to again cut taxes for big business and big pocketbooks in a state that can't raise taxes without a vote of the people.
They are also determined to run every abortion doctor out of the state and this year they even went so far as to have the legislature write a set of rules for what emergencies would truly qualify as ones that would endanger a pregnant woman's life and qualify her to legally have an abortion. The state medical association came out in droves to object to the bill and the governor vetoed it . The holier than thou folks are screaming to high heaven and calling him and anyone who voted to uphold the veto baby killers and worse.
The governor also vetoed the latest so called tort reform bill which was another favorite of the Republicans. The Republicans are determined to make sure that poor people who can't afford a lawyer don't get their day in court. They have convinced the doctors, who should be smart enough to realize that lawsuits are not the only thing that affects the price of their malpractice insurance, that greedy lawyers are their nemesis. It seems obvious to me that someone should be looking at the continually increasing and huge profits of the insurance companies but so far, they are still operating completely without oversight.
The governor didn't veto the bill that protects animal waste from ever being classified as toxic waste even though our eastern Oklahoma lakes and rivers have already been polluted by the large concentration of poultry farms in that area. Other sections of the state have also lost water quality because of corporate hog farms. If you check out the campaign contributions of the corporate farms and their management, it is a little easier to understand why this sorry bill was passed without much opposition.
The majority of the press in Oklahoma is so far to the right, they would sink a ship if they were on one. That means they only report good things about our radical Republican controlled legislature.
The vast majority of legislation in Oklahoma is now being pushed forward by the big business interests that forked up the 70 to 100 thousand dollars now needed to run for the legislature. Meanwhile, most of Oklahoma is watching their 100 channels of entertainment and sports and completely oblivious to the really bad government we are getting.
The fruits of some of that bad government are becoming apparent even to people who have had their eyes glued to a TV set for the last few years. In an effort to educate and energize Oklahoma Citizens about what is really happening in the legislature, we have formed the organization, Better Oklahoma Government (BOG).
We hope that bogged down will soon have a new meaning.
The Republican controlled House won't even hear a Democratic bill even if they agree with it. The Senate won't hear any bill unless it has a sponsor from both parties. They all act more like adolescents than statesmen.
As usual the Republicans vote as a block and goose step to the commands of the party leadership. About two thirds of the Democrats vote with the Republicans so in essence they are the ones running the state.
The Republicans want to again cut taxes for big business and big pocketbooks in a state that can't raise taxes without a vote of the people.
They are also determined to run every abortion doctor out of the state and this year they even went so far as to have the legislature write a set of rules for what emergencies would truly qualify as ones that would endanger a pregnant woman's life and qualify her to legally have an abortion. The state medical association came out in droves to object to the bill and the governor vetoed it . The holier than thou folks are screaming to high heaven and calling him and anyone who voted to uphold the veto baby killers and worse.
The governor also vetoed the latest so called tort reform bill which was another favorite of the Republicans. The Republicans are determined to make sure that poor people who can't afford a lawyer don't get their day in court. They have convinced the doctors, who should be smart enough to realize that lawsuits are not the only thing that affects the price of their malpractice insurance, that greedy lawyers are their nemesis. It seems obvious to me that someone should be looking at the continually increasing and huge profits of the insurance companies but so far, they are still operating completely without oversight.
The governor didn't veto the bill that protects animal waste from ever being classified as toxic waste even though our eastern Oklahoma lakes and rivers have already been polluted by the large concentration of poultry farms in that area. Other sections of the state have also lost water quality because of corporate hog farms. If you check out the campaign contributions of the corporate farms and their management, it is a little easier to understand why this sorry bill was passed without much opposition.
The majority of the press in Oklahoma is so far to the right, they would sink a ship if they were on one. That means they only report good things about our radical Republican controlled legislature.
The vast majority of legislation in Oklahoma is now being pushed forward by the big business interests that forked up the 70 to 100 thousand dollars now needed to run for the legislature. Meanwhile, most of Oklahoma is watching their 100 channels of entertainment and sports and completely oblivious to the really bad government we are getting.
The fruits of some of that bad government are becoming apparent even to people who have had their eyes glued to a TV set for the last few years. In an effort to educate and energize Oklahoma Citizens about what is really happening in the legislature, we have formed the organization, Better Oklahoma Government (BOG).
We hope that bogged down will soon have a new meaning.
