Dear Oklahoma Family,Lisa Pryor, Chair
Oklahoma Democratic Party
P.S. The first fifty individuals to show up will get a free T-Shirt!
| Letter to the Editor- Be a Democrat |
| While Americans worry about the costs of college tuition and health care, and while many Americans and Oklahomans worry about just their getting family through every day when working for minimum wage, the Bush Republicans have turned a blind eye to the real issues affecting everyone. We can do better, and Democrats are leading the way. While health care costs have risen 41 percent since 2000, making it unaffordable for many working families, children, and elderly, the Bush Republicans have insured record profits for pharmaceutical manufacturers. We can do better, and Democrats are leading the way. Democrats will address the affordability of health care by fixing the Republican prescription drug program and making insurance more affordable for both employees and employers. While college costs soared, making a college degree impossible for children wanting to live the American Dream, the Bush Republicans have slashed federal financial aid for college students. In Oklahoma alone, tuition has increased by 71 percent , into including books, housing, and food. We can do better, and Democrats are leading the way. Democrats have a plan to make college more affordable for Oklahomans by making college tuition deductible, expanding Pell Grants and lowering the cost of student loans. The economy that Bush Republicans have created is not working for Oklahoma families. Since 2000, 27000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in Oklahoma, and 69000 people are looking for a job. The minimum wage is at the lowest level in 50 years (when evaluated against the costs of living), so the theory that lower wages create jobs has been proven tragically wrong, and has cast many families into a position where every day they awaken wondering if they can feed their family and praying that no one gets sick. We can do better, and Democrats are leading the way. Democrats are fighting to repeal the tax giveaways that move jobs overseas, to restore the fiscal discipline of the 1990s, and to increase the minimum wage to $7.25. The minimum wage change alone would benefit 183,000 hardworking Oklahomans. It is time for Americans and Oklahomans to wake up, to get involved, and to push our elected officials — who are supposed to answer to us — to do what we need done! Democrats will work to restore the dignity of our elderly, the opportunities of our youth, and the stability of American's middle class — all of which are being destroyed by Bush Republicans. I believe that registering as a Democrat and being an active Democrat and being sure to let our elected officials know what we want is the path to returning Oklahoma and America to the true Democracy it was designed to be! Get active today! Bret Carter Chairman Kay County Democratic Party |
Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan Comments on Signing of Budget and Tax Cut Bills
“Governor Henry’s signature of the budget and tax cut bills approved by the Legislature during last week’s special session is a victory for all Oklahomans.“This year’s budget ensures that our classrooms will continue to be guided by the best and brightest teachers in the country, that our communities will be a safe place for Oklahomans to live, work and raise their families, that our senior citizens get hot meals at senior centers across the state, that our roads and bridges receive much needed repairs and that small business owners can offer affordable health insurance to their hard-working employees.
“The final tax cut package includes tax cuts for all Oklahomans. Including an increase in the standard deduction to the federal level, will put more money back into the pockets of middle class families, ensuring Oklahoma’s economy will continue to grow and prosper.
“In this budget debate not everyone got everything they wanted, but the compromise agreed to by both parties shows that we are doing our part to move Oklahoma forward.”
(This press release was issued by the Senate Communications Office.)
Working women know the importance of a good job in a just economy. We value jobs where our pay keeps up with prices. We value an environment where lawmakers listen to working people -- not just big corporations. We value an economy where one big medical expense doesn't wipe out a family's life savings. And whether you work in or outside of the home, this survey is our chance as working women to be heard!
The Ask a Working Woman survey is sponsored by the AFL-CIO, the largest organization of working women in
According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, women are twice as likely as men to be minimum wage earners. Minimum wage is now at its lowest level in 50 years making it nearly impossible for minimum wage working women to pay for basic necessities. It would take a full day's pay at minimum wage to pay for one tank of gas, and most minimum wage workers are the major breadwinners within their families. [House Education and Workforce Committee]
Every day millions of American women work hard and play by the rules to try to ensure a better life for their families. The shameful reality is providing the basics on a minimum wage that amounts to $10,700 a year, struggling to make ends meet while health care costs, child care costs and gas prices continue to increase. Women minimum wage workers deserve a decent wage they can live on, and the fact is that today's minimum wage is indecent.
A non-partisan survey, showing that 77 percent of Americans believe raising the minimum wage should be a priority, provides further proof that Republicans are out of touch with the values and priorities of a majority of Americans. [EPI]
Our choices reflect our values and, once again, Republicans actions have shown that their actions do not value all Americans.
How about you? Why are the 2006 elections important to YOU?
You are invited to the
For Primary Election
Friday, June 30
For Runoff Primary Election
Friday, July 28
For General Election
Friday, October 13
Congress is Broken, Send a Doctor
Bush Republicans Pander to Their BaseOver the last 24 hours, Congressional Republicans have made very clear their real agenda for the American people. Congressional Republicans are running away from tough decisions and instead are desperately pandering to their base to improve their political standing in November. After refusing to raise the minimum wage after nearly a decade, Senate Republicans again thwarted efforts to raise the economic standing of millions of Americans who live below or near the poverty line. In the last 24 hours, House Republicans also abandoned efforts to renew the Voting Rights Act, even after many of them embraced the extension less than a month ago on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
Let's be clear, in 24 hours we saw everything we need to know about the real Republican agenda and just how out of step they are with America's values. Republicans in Washington have resorted to partisan political games to deny an increase in the minimum wage that would have directly helped millions of hard working American families. Congressional Republicans have no real agenda or ideas to offer America. Now they are holding the Voting Rights Act hostage, refusing to ensure the right to vote and have that vote counted for every American, so that they can pander to the extremists in their party. This Republican agenda of desperate political tricks represents a real threat to America's values. Democrats offer America a new direction.
A report released today by the Citizens Policy Center raises serious concerns about a ballot initiative to keep at least 65 percent of public school money in the classroom.
Democrats in Congress offer a New Direction, putting the common good of all Americans first for a change, and Democrats in Congress will:
MAKE HEALTH CARE MORE AFFORDABLE
Fix the prescription drug program by putting people ahead of drug companies and HMOs, eliminating wasteful subsidies, negotiating lower drug prices and ensuring the program works for all seniors; invest in stem cell and other medical research.
LOWER GAS PRICES AND ACHIEVE ENERGY INDEPENDENCE
Crack down on price gouging; eliminate billions in subsidies for oil and gas companies and use the savings to provide consumer relief and develop American alternatives, including biofuels; promote energy efficient technology.
HELP WORKING FAMILIES
Raise the minimum wage; repeal tax giveaways that encourage companies to move jobs overseas.
CUT COLLEGE COSTS
Make college tuition deductible from taxes; expand Pell grants and cut student loan costs.
ENSURE DIGNIFIED RETIREMENT
Prevent the privatization of Social Security; expand savings incentives; ensure pension fairness.
REQUIRE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
Restore the budget discipline of the 1990s that helped eliminate deficits and spur record economic growth.
All three have websites. Click on their name above and read about their views for the district.
If you have a story to share about one of the candidates, please post it as a comment on this thread.
* partial counties
Complete candidate brackets can be viewed on OKINSIDER at http://okinsider.com/candidatebrackets.oki.
Even so, as anniversary dates go, filing for public office together must be darn near unique.
Dennis and Rae Weese of Broken Arrow celebrated 31 years of wedded bliss on June 7 with dinner and a movie, and by filing for the Legislature.
Committed Democrats marooned amid some of Oklahoma's most Republican neighborhoods, the Weeses know the odds are against them. But, they say, they just couldn't stand to see GOP walkovers in their House and Senate legislative districts.
"We just don't care for uncontested elections," said Rae Weese.
So Dennis, a 59-year-old auto worker, filed for the Senate District 36 seat being vacated by Scott Pruitt, and Rae, 52, became the only opposition to Republican incumbent John Trebilcock in House District 98.
"We had been talking about how we weren't happy with our legislators and that we hoped some Democrat with recognition would step up to the plate," said Dennis Weese. "Well, they didn't. And it ate on us so much we just decided to file."
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"Those two gentlemen have served on boards controlling some important organizations. One of them, Joe Lester, has been on the board of the Red Cross. Rae and I, on the other hand, are on a Red Cross disaster team. We were at Camp Gruber when the first busload of people displaced by Hurricane Katrina arrived. I personally was in charge of (taking care of) 200 people who were dirty and hungry and tired."
Rae was in charge of women with special needs at the camp.
Because neither Weese has a primary opponent, the Weeses have plenty of time to work their neighborhoods. Most of that work is going to have to be sweat equity because they don't have a campaign fund. Dennis said he plans to follow in the footsteps -- or at least the tread marks -- of Virgil Cooper, the retired school administrator who upset incumbent Second District Congressman Mike Synar in the 1994 Democratic primary.
"He had a pickup that he drove around," said Weese. "Well, I have a yellow pickup with 'Yellow Dog' license plate on it."
Indeed, the Weeses are the proverbial Yellow Dog Democrats, loyal to the last. Although neither has run for public office before, both were members of Oklahoma's delegation to the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Their son Luke is a party campaign operative working for U.S. Fifth District candidate David Hunter.
Rae is president of Heart of the Party -- the Tulsa County chapter of the Oklahoma Federation of Democratic Women -- and although they haven't raised any campaign money for themselves, they have helped raise plenty for other Democratic candidates. But, they say they hope money isn't everything in politics.
"I really feel like the key will be talking to people, walking the neighborhoods and knocking on doors," Rae said.
"Broken Arrow is somewhat conservative, but we've lived here a long time. We're Broken Arrow people."
Three for One in Twenty-Six
Three Democrats are vying for the Democratic nomination in Senate District 26 being vacated by long-time Senator Gilmer Capps who is term-limited after 35 years of service. I grew up out in this district so have long considered Capps "my senator" so I have a special interest in who will replace him. The primary election is July 25th.
The candidates include Tom Ivester, Larry Peck and Wayne Walters. Each bring unique qualifications to the race. Each candidate has strong ties to the agriculture community. Ivester is an attorney and a veteran. Peck is an ag teacher and magazine publisher from Sentinel. Walters is a businessman and educator from Canute. Check out their campaign websites, listen to them on your doorstep, and report back here which candidate is your favorite and why.
http://ivesterstatesenate.com/
www.pickpeck.com
www.waltersstatesenate.com
June 16 2006WINNERS AND LOSERS IN THE BIPARTISAN BEETLE BOTTLE BUDGET
Well, not exactly.
Individual taxpayers in Oklahoma will enjoy a cut in the state income tax rate, an increase in the standard deduction, and an elimination of the inheritance tax, all in sum a projected cut in tax obligations of $6 billion over ten years. The state also committed real monies to repair our crumbling road and bridge infrastructure, thereby fulfilling the latent dreams of every county commissioner to be able to pour concrete where there are votes. And, state employee salaries get hiked 5% and the teachers get a raise and the OTRS will finally be fully funded.
As always, the governor won, because he got what he had agreed to. Also, Mr. Henry, of whom I admit to be a fan, gets the best of both worlds. He served Democratic constituencies by getting to sign legislation protecting core Democratic interests, and also gets to sit in the middle of the table, signing tax cuts and handing out pens while all the other political players who covet his chair look on. Mr. Henry’s Zen political quality has served him well, as he watches other players exhaust themselves and navigates a happy center.
Glenn Coffee, the Republican leader in the Senate, is left in the unfortunate position of trying to spoil the party by ascribing blame for the situation. Coffee, in his statement to the press, observes that “Thankfully Senate Democrats have backed down from their obstructionism that brought us to the brink of a government shutdown. If Republicans ran the State Senate, the state budget would have been completed on time and this costly special session would not have been necessary." And he decries the spending increases in the budget. Sadly for the Republican effort to seize the Senate majority, Democrats did not cause government to shut down, so an entire campaign strategy based on demonizing the dozen unaccountable, term-limited Democrats of the Senate will have to go on the shelf. Bernest Cain and Mike Morgan and Cal Hobson do not get to become active issues in state senate contests.
Mr. Coffee is both intelligent and responsible. But, unfortunately, in a heady environment of lower taxes and flush revenue, his words only ring true for the most conservative of conservatives. Oklahomans, when polled, wanted the spending approved by the legislature. They also know that their neighbors are those public employees and teachers who received those [rare] public pay raises, and they make use of the services provided by those agencies. They just didn’t want to pay more taxes to get them.
And for State Labor Commissioner:
Please comment with the slogans from your favorite current Democratic candidates.
Lisa, Ben and I attended a sellout Legislative Appreciation Dinner in Wagoner Thursday night. The big talk was the agreement hammered out earlier that day on the state budget. Senate President Pro Tem Mike Morgan, House Leader Jari Askins and House Caucus Chair Danny Morgan were present, looking like they'd just won the lottery. Brad and Kim Henry highlighted the event, along with Sandy Garrett and lots of candidates. The Wagoner County Party put on another great event, and they should have a strong Democratic turnout in November.
Still Waiting
Key Point: After positive developments in Iraq, the American people are still waiting to hear when
Even after his trip to Baghdad, the president still has not told the American people the remaining political, military, and economic objectives that must be met in order for success in Iraq.
The president must put aside political theater and tell the American people his plan to make 2006 a year of transition, so that
Hamilton asserts that it is "religious to do the work of politics and government well without ever voicing a religious phrase. In fact it's more religious than constantly using religious language without ever doing the challenging work of guaranteeing liberty and justice for all people in a diverse and pluralistic society."
So what are your favorite examples of policies that "pass" the audit? And who are the candidates who support those policies?
I visited with former State Representative Jeff Hamilton today. He serves as chair for the ODP Faith Outreach Committee. We talked about one of my favorite topics --- books and religion. He said as a pastor he speaks to more and more people who are searching for meaning. He is recommending these books for Democrats who wish to speak to matters of personal faith and matters of faith traditions:
What are you reading?
dig for crystals. I was told it was inevitable to find a crystal every time you go. And if you have not made the trip it is well worth it. You can even stay at the Rexroat's bed and breakfast while you are there. So plan on attending the Watermelon Feed on July 14th and I can tell you how to get to the Great Salt Plains.
Find out more about Comanche County Democrats at http://www.ccdem.com/
The 2006 Legislature could have done more to advance Oklahoma than any in recent history. Instead it will be remembered for political wrangling and pettiness. More than anything, it represents a missed opportunity.
Rarely does Oklahoma have the booming economy and therefore the state government income to give it a chance to gain on the rest of the nation. It happened this year and with luck will continue into next year.
This bunch squabbled from February up to the end of the regular session on May 26, forcing Gov. Brad Henry to call a special session to get the normal work of the state done, something that has not been finished..
It appeared that an agreement to cut the income tax rate and increase the standard deduction had been reached and there were talks continuing on the spending side of the 2006-07 budget when the lawmakers disappeared like a covey of quail.
There were few, if any, lawmakers at the Capitol last week, and with the filing period for state offices begining Monday [ 173](June 5)it is doubtful that legislators will return before June 12.
Nothing is certain, but the agreement on taxes reportedly would reduce the state income tax from 6.25 percent to 5.65 percent the first year; to 5.5 percent for two years and ultimately to 5.25 percent if revenue holds. The hike in the standard deduction would be phased in during four fiscal years, effectively lowering taxes to Oklahomans of average income.
The combination ultimately would reduce state income by at least $400 million a year but about $90 million in fiscal 2006-07, which is under immediate consideration.
Despite the schoolboy wrangling, it's not too late for the Legislature to move Oklahoma services forward.
It is not as if everything is up to date in Oklahoma. The opposite is true. Oklahoma badly needs to improve. Its schools lack support. Higher education struggles. Public health services lag. Prisons are full. Roads and highways are terrible and getting worse.
Todd Hiett, who became the first Republican speaker of the House, has no realization of the political value of building the state, believing tax cuts are the answer to everything, including his race for lieutenant governor. Imagine the political benefit to him and his party if he could boast using part of $1 billion in surplus to propel Oklahoma forward in its 100th year! Instead, with the help of hard-headed Democrats in the state Senate, he will be remembered as a roadblock to progress.
The surplus money (even after an affordable tax cut) could still be invested in state needs. A major program for roads and highways, for example, would result in a construction flurry and untold jobs. That would give the Oklahoma economy a boost, something Hiett claims only a tax cut will do. The difference is that if the money is spent on infrastructure and services, Oklahoma will have something of value to show for a prosperous time that might not continue.
Maybe the worst effect of a highly paid state Legislature quarreling like school children is the discouraging effect on citizens. The legislative process has become so convoluted and the members so intent on playing games that the press and television with reporters and cameras on the scene daily have trouble knowing what's happening. No wonder there's very little Capitol coverage on the nightly news.
Imagine lawmakers so dense that they can't explain their work in front of television cameras. Or legislative leaders who make decisions behind closed doors, leaving individual members to choose sides and go play ball! That happened in the 2006 session.
Despite the election year theatrics, it makes little difference which political party is in control. This session was marked not only by Democrat-Republican conflicts, but inter-party struggle. The Republicans are split into warring camps with their leaders struggling with each other for office and legislative positions.
And Democrats, with a bare majority in the Senate, have nearly as much strife in their own caucus as with Republicans.
This session was marked by the naked ambition of individuals who care about the state only as it figures in their own plans.
The irony is that the ambitious lawmakers would have been far more popular with the people whose votes they seek if they had performed responsibly and behaved as ladies and gentlemen.
The best politics is usually the right thing. That's apparently a hard lesson for this bunch.
So what do you think? How do you grade the session?
