Okie Pundit

Nick Gillespie doesn’t think so. You remember the late 20th-centry GOP, right? They were the rag-tag band of crazy dreamers who managed to take over Congress in 1994 and, with the help of a pliant but deft Democratic president, give us kinda-sorta balanced budgets within a few years. Then, when they got full control of [...]

President Obama is going on another vacation.  Oh my!  Some Republicans are up in arms over the amount of vacation time Obama has been taking recently.  Given that we have two wars ongoing, an economy in perpetual crisis, and an environmental disaster that hasn’t been resolved, the criticism is resonating with some voters. It’s fair [...]

Lost in the day after the election aftermath is some good news coming from the Oklahoma House of Representatives.  House Speaker-Designate Kris Steele announced a series of reforms and actions designed to make the conference committee process more transparent. Among the reforms and actions announced by Steele are: A hard 24-hour rule that will require [...]

As usual, George Will has an excellent column in today’s Washington Post.  The topic is alcohol prohibition and the law of unintended consequences.  Will shows just how the fight for prohibition led to increased government intrusion into our private lives and how the naturally obstinate character of Americans keeps us ungovernable from “elected nuisances.”  Women campaigning for sobriety [...]

Perhaps Michael Bates can help us out here, he being from Tulsa and us being from the Oklahoma City area, but it appears our recently-elected Republican mayor of Tulsa is already teetering on the edge.  Today the Tulsa World has a host of bad news for Mayor Bartlett.  First, the City Council unanimously overrode Bartlett’s veto [...]

Oklahomans are a conservative people who generally desire government stay out of their lives and for people to take personal responsibility for their actions and their way of life.   That’s the way it should be, but sometimes we are reminded that’s not always how it can be. An annual obesity report by two public health groups [...]

Last month the blogosphere, led by Mike McCarville, erupted over the proposal to use traffic cameras to detect uninsured drivers. From our vantage point, this is much ado about nothing. The proposed cameras are to be on public roads, where privacy rights are limited or nonexistent. This reminds us of the liberal furor over the [...]

Last week, we got to see Congressman Etheridge attack some college students on the sidewalk. Here’s the video for those who haven’t seen it and, for those who have, a reminder of how some of our congressmen think they’re above the law and don’t have to answer questions from you pesky little voters.

This Oklahoman story doesn’t look good for Randy Terrill, who has been hiding from the public since the story of the investigation broke. A witness in a political corruption investigation recalls state Rep. Randy Terrill on May 17 pushed for Sen. Debbe Leftwich to be hired at the medical examiner’s office and warned the discussion [...]

Today we remembered what we should have thought of from the very beginning of this corruption investigation into Randy Terrill and Mike Christian.  The allegation is that the two lawmakers conspired to create a new state position for state Senator Debbie Leftwich in return for her agreement to leave the seat, clearing the way for [...]

Sources within the Oklahoma County Courthouse confirm Brian Maughan knew well in advance– before other law officials, news outlets, or the general public– of the investigation and may have coordinated with District Attorney David Prater.  Fox New 25 is also reporting that Maughan sent an employee to a Saturday Medical Examiner Board meeting, though no county [...]

Rep. Mike Christian is fingering Oklahoma County Commissioner Brian Maughan as the source of the allegations that he conspired with Rep. Randy Terrill to create a position in the Medical Examiners Office for State Senator Debbie Leftwich. The position was to be created and filled by Leftwich in return for her not running for re-election, [...]

Just three months after claiming that the City of Norman was not in a budget crisis, Mayor Cindy Rosenthal and some city councilmen are proposing new taxes and fees on residents in order to close a gaping budget hole and save the jobs of city government employees. Rosenthal is now stating the city has a [...]

Cops shoot two harmless dogs in front of a seven year old during a drug raid.  All for misdemeanor marijuana possession.  Outrageous, folks.  For a perspective on what this is all about, read this post by Megan McCardle.

No, not the food. State Senator Kenneth Corn attached language to a House bill that would eliminate the governor’s cabinet and save Oklahoma $2 million. The Oklahoma governor’s cabinet is unlike most executives’ cabinets in that cabinet members serve primarily as advisors, though they can also serve as agency heads, according to Corn.

If you know a war veteran, it’s likely you know a war spouse like Mattie Cox.   These war spouses, like Cox, are too often denied the survivor benefits they deserve. Joe Cox, Mattie’s husband, was a veteran of the Korean War.  As a result of his service, he became completely and permanently disabled, entitling him [...]

Representative Randy Terrill and The Oklahoman have been engaged in a war of words for the past few weeks over the issue of state employee birth dates and whether they should be made public. And now the war is heating up as The Oklahoman is running a story questioning why Terrill failed to report nearly [...]

According to the Tulsa World, Rep. Todd Russ (R-Cordell) was stumped during floor debate on a bill to allow classes on the Bible be taught in our public schools.  The subject of the question: the Constitution’s First Amendment provision prohibiting Congress from establishing a religion or interfering with the free exercise of religion. “Rep. Ed Cannaday, [...]

The Oklahoman: “Lawmaker Exemption Keeps Public in the Dark on Records” Years ago the Oklahoma legislature carved out for themselves an exemption from the Open Records Act, thereby keeping Oklahomans from obtaining “lawmakers’ e-mails, letters, drafts of bills, memorandums, calendars, phone call logs and other records that might show how those entrusted with the public’s business [...]