State Sen. Steve Russell’s plan to try to exempt Oklahoma from federal hate crimes guidelines drew heavy criticism last week from state Rep. Al McAffrey, the state’s first openly gay legislator.
Russell, a Del City Republican, has announced he will introduce legislation next session that [...]
Oklahoma’s middle-income families pay between nine and 10 percent of their overall income in taxes compared to the state’s wealthiest families, which pay only 5.5 percent, according to a new study.
According to the Oklahoma Policy Institute, which issued a statement about the study, [...]
Only Mississippi is ranked lower than Oklahoma when it comes to residents overall health, according to the latest annual rankings by the United Health Foundation.
The low ranking this year and in past years certainly don’t help Oklahoma’s economic development or its educational [...]
American households that faced food insecurity sharply increased in 2008, and Oklahoma remains a state that continues to struggle with hunger issues, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The report, which shows an 11.1 increase in food-insecured households over 2007, [...]
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe is drawing criticism from a Washington, D.C. civil rights organization for threatening to filibuster a judge nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Inhofe’s action contradicts his earlier stance against judicial filibusters, according to a statement released by the Leadership [...]
Here are some excerpts from recent Okie Funk posts:
The news here is this: Although President Barack Obama's approval ratings have fallen, the GOP has failed to rebuild its broken infrastructure after a stinging defeat in the 2008 elections. The numbers also show the GOP remains [...]
Here’s an important question to ask this Veteran’s Day: What does U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn really think about the troops?
Well, apparently, not much. Coburn has placed one of his infamous holds on the Veterans' Caregiver and Omnibus Health Benefits Act of 2009, which is' [...]
Perhaps the most symbolic fact about why it’s so difficult to pass rational health care reform in this country involves U.S. Rep. Dan Boren’s no vote on the U.S. House bill Saturday night.
The bill, which passed the House and now faces stiff [...]
It’s welcome news some local college students and outside forces are now protesting the draconian abortion-reporting bill passed by the Oklahoma Legislature last session, but where were these people when the bill was first proposed and signed into law?
House Bill 1595 would create [...]
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe continued his surreal anti-environment antics this week by supporting a Republican boycott of a committee considering a climate change bill.
Inhofe, the ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works committee, threw his fit because he wants a cost [...]
(How could the so-called “Obama effect” influence Oklahoma’s 2010 elections? Read DocHoc’s commentary this week in the Oklahoma Gazette, the state’s finest alternative newspaper.)
Looming, “devastating” financial cuts in education is yet another reason the Oklahoma Legislature should meet in a special session [...]
A $7.4 million cut in senior nutrition programs by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services is reason enough for legislators to meet in a special session as soon as possible to look at the effect of recent budget cuts and to tap into the [...]
The Ghouls Gone Wild event in Oklahoma City Saturday night shows, again, how much the city’s cultural life has become edgier and more diverse in the last several years.
The event’s parade, featuring The Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne rolling down [...]
It’s good news Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently said a government-run public insurance option is still alive in current health care reform efforts.
The right-wing has misinformed the American people about the option, calling it socialized medicine. It’s not. In fact, the public option [...]
All those Oklahoma tea baggers and town hall protestors who think they’re part of a growing, national Republican resurgence should take a second look at a recent ABC/Washington Post poll, which shows the GOP still in decline.
Of those participating in the [...]
Any health care reform plan that doesn’t include some type of public option will probably not hold down medical costs for most Americans.
The plan that was recently passed by a U.S. Senate committee would increase the number of Americans insured, a boondoggle to the insurance industry, but it wouldn’t give [...]
Here are some excerpts from recent posts:
When duty called, Bellmon was there. If anyone can represent so-called “Oklahoma values,” it was Bellmon, who was elected as the state’s first Republican governor in 1962. He was a man who avoided the limelight and pageantry of political [...]
More people are enrolled in the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program than ever before, according to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
DHS reports that a record-breaking 535,880 people are now receiving assistance from the program, once known as the food stamp program. This [...]
The OK Policy Blog, a part of the Oklahoma Policy Institute, continues to offer sound, pragmatic advice for state leaders concerning the state’s continuing budget problems.
The blog recently commented on the issue in a post dealing with declining state revenues, which [...]
The Oklahoma Policy Institute has created a comprehensive online budget guide that will help Oklahomans keep track of state revenues and spending.
According to the site:
The Online Budget Guide is a tool for users to understand Oklahoma state and local governments, particularly how [...]
With the national unemployment rate now at 9.8 percent, the Obama administration is considering the extension of benefits for laid-off workers, but it probably can’t count on any GOP support.
The GOP, which has launched a massive disinformation campaign against health care [...]
Here are some excerpts from recent posts:
The Oklahoman continues its relentless opposition to health care reform with inane analogies, GOP talking points and glaring omissions.
Here’s a recent ditty from an August 28 editorial titled “Shot clock: Time running out on reform schemes”:
Another prevailing view is that [...]
Former Gov. Henry Bellmon served Oklahoma with great distinction, and his death reminds us of a somewhat softer era in politics when it seemed almost natural that conservative and liberal politicians would work for bipartisan policies and programs to move the state forward.
Bellmon, a [...]
How more removed from the day-to-day reality of most Oklahomans can you get than flying to Copenhagen, Denmark to tell the international community the United States will not pass legislation anytime soon dealing with global warming?
But that’s just what U.S. Sen. Jim [...]
I wrote earlier about new U.S. Census Bureau numbers that showed the number of Oklahomans without health insurance has been declining in recent years. The report estimated that overall 15.9 percent of Oklahomans were uninsured in 2007-2008, which was down from 18.3 [...]
Oklahoma’s tax revenues continue to come in under estimates, which means more cuts are on the way.
Oklahoma Treasurer Scott Meachum reported last week that August revenues were down 32 percent from the same month a year ago. This news will trigger automatic five percent [...]
It’s good news for sure that Oklahoma’s uninsured rate has supposedly dropped, but it changes nothing in the overall health care debate here and elsewhere
Let’s be clear. Even at a 15.9 percent uninsured rate, down from 18.3 percent, the state still has way too [...]
Does anyone in Oklahoma or elsewhere really think health care and insurance costs will be contained without some type of major reform?
This is an important question that deserves debate, especially given the fact the Oklahoma State and Education Employees Group Insurance Board has [...]
“This is great news not just for Stillwater and Payne County, but for the state of Oklahoma as a whole. Clearly, Mercury Marine has had a significant and profitable presence in Stillwater for years, but their decision to bring more jobs to Oklahoma is [...]
You know GOP operatives are worried about a backlash to wild claims criticizing President Barack Obama when even The Oklahoman editorial page begins backing away from the right-wing extremism
In the last week or so, the newspaper has been a forum for state Republican leaders [...]
If the state wants to further diversify its economy, its leaders—Democratic and Republican alike—must accept and promote diversity.
Sounds obvious, right? But it bears repeating in light of declining state revenues directly related to natural gas production taxes. The state’s budget is tied heavily [...]
People ages 60 to 64 are denied health insurance claims three times as much as people 30 to 39, but health care insurance reform could solve that problem, according to a report issued by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
The report, [...]
Here are some excerpts from recent posts on Okie Funk:
The corporate media here can go on and on about the low cost of living in Oklahoma, but the fact remains the state doesn’t invest enough money in its educational systems.
Case in point: The U.S. [...]
U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn continues to serve as a poor ambassador for the state. The above CNN video clip of a moment in one of his recent town halls speaks for itself. Watch as Coburn deflects the women’s concerns and turns it into an opportunity to go into a classic, [...]
The right-wingers on cable television and radio will be howling over today’s White House announcement that the nation’s ten-year budget deficit is now estimated at $9 trillion, but there are simple ways to fix the problem.
Here are two ways to address the deficit: Congress could [...]
New York Times columnist Frank Rich published an excellent piece today about U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn’s refusal to criticize protestors who use violent rhetoric and carry guns to political events.
I wrote about this issue previously here on Okie Funk. Coburn, Oklahoma’s junior senator, declined to condemn the violent [...]
If the Oklahoma Legislature meets in a special session to deal with declining tax revenues, it shouldn’t hesitate to tap into the state’s Rainy Day fund to help shore up the budget.
Meanwhile, education and health and social services should be given priority when [...]
Many people will agree that if there’s any place in need of health care reform or improvements it’s Oklahoma, a state with a long history of poor medical access and outcome rankings among the states.
Yet Oklahoma’s conservative Congressional delegation, including Democrat U.S. Rep. [...]
What’s striking about Tom Coburn’s appearance on Meet The Press Sunday is not that he went on another, typical GOP anti-government tirade. It’s that he declined to criticize town hall protestors who allude to violence.
Coburn, Oklahoma’s junior senator, told David Gregory that government had earned the ire of the “town [...]
(Click on this YouTube video and listen to me read some lines from Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself.” I used this as an introduction to my MERLOT presentation, titled Creating Productive Digital Identities in the Online Classroom.)
Can we deliver online college courses through cell phones? How do we apply humor [...]
I’m at the MERLOT International Conference in San Jose, California this week, catching up on the latest technology related to online college teaching and giving a presentation about digital identity.
MERLOT, which stands for Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching, is one of the premier higher education organizations related [...]
The Oklahoman editorial page continues its relentless attacks on healthcare reform through a barrage of commentaries that most always fail to mention skyrocketing medical costs and the approximately 46 million uninsured people in the nation.
By relying on unsubstantiated claims and engaging in fear mongering, [...]
Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins and Attorney General Drew Edmondson have the qualifications, experience and vision to serve the state as governor.
Both Democratic gubernatorial candidates would bring a more critically needed balance to state government than the announced Republican candidates, U.S. Rep. [...]
(Before we build more jails, maybe Oklahoma leaders should have an extended and honest discussion about the cost and effectiveness of the war on drugs. Read DocHoc's commentary this week in the Oklahoma Gazette.)
Has The Oklahoman issued an apology for a “knee jerk”' [...]
(Hi everyone. I’ll get back to my regular schedule on Thursday. Thanks for reading Okie Funk. Below are some excerpts from recent posts.—Kurt Hochenauer)
As I mentioned before, it’s difficult to measure precisely how much damage Inhofe has inflicted on the state. How many business [...]
A recent editorial in The Oklahoman praising U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe shows the fundamental collaboration between the state’s corporate media and its right-wing political cabal.
This symbiotic collaboration continues to hurt the state’s image and obviously damages its economic development prospects, though admittedly these issues [...]
The OK Policy Blog, part of the Oklahoma Policy Institute, is asking an important question as state agencies prepare for a predicted budget shortfall that will trigger automatic cuts.
The question is simple: Can Oklahoma “do a better job of forecasting revenues.” If [...]
The corporate media here can go on and on about the low cost of living in Oklahoma, but the fact remains the state doesn’t invest enough money in its educational systems.
Case in point: The U.S. Census Bureau issued a report Monday that shows [...]
The corporate media continues its misinformation campaign against healthcare reform.
Major television networks have given inordinate attention to “perceived setbacks” to healthcare reform legislation while downplaying any progress, according to Media Matters for America, a media watchdog group.
Meanwhile, on a local level, The Oklahoman continues its [...]
The OKPolicy Blog, which is part of the Oklahoma Policy Institute, is recommending the state be ready to call a special session of the legislature this fall as revenues continue to decline steeply.
The rationale beyond this argument is convincing. If the state [...]
It’s the right-wing ruse that’s been working for three decades. While the editorial page of The Oklahoman and other conservative media outlets hammer away at healthcare reform efforts with fear mongering, illogical slippery slope arguments and glaring omissions, one of the top health insurers is reporting huge [...]
New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman—you now, one of the few prominent commentators who was actually right about everything during the dark years of the George W. Bush era—is calling out the six so-called centrist U.S. Senators who seem intent on stopping healthcare reform.
Krugman is [...]
Major and minor elements of the kooky, right-wing propaganda ministry-from Rush Limbaugh to The Oklahoman—are goose-stepping to a predictable march song of lies, distortions and fear mongering when it comes to healthcare reform.
The stagnant, right-wing message: Keep things just as they are when it [...]
For a cool experience, check out Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School, which meets monthly in The Paseo Arts District.
Sketchers, also known as “art monkeys” in Sketchy’s parlance, draw human models, using anything from professional art tools to crayons. (I used the [...]
U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn strikes again, embarrassing himself and the state of Oklahoma.
At today’s confirmation hearing for Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic person ever nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court, Coburn used a slight variation of a well-known phrase used by the character [...]
U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn needs to explain more thoroughly if or how much he was involved in paying money to the former mistress of his friend and roommate U.S. Sen. John Ensign.
So far no one has accused Coburn of doing anything legally inappropriate, but [...]
"We were cut off from the comprehension of our surroundings; we glided past like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse. We could not understand because we were too far and could not remember" [...]
Taxing Issues
The OK Policy Blog has an interesting post about bringing fairness to the Oklahoma tax system.
The blog, which is part of the Oklahoma Policy Institute, published a graph that shows how tax percentages decrease as people make more income. For [...]
Will the country and Oklahoma get desperately needed healthcare reform this summer?
In the debate about healthcare, it’s business as usual in the U.S. Congress. It appears that above all else Republicans and even some Democrats want to make sure private health insurance companies can [...]
State Rep. Sally Kern’s political stunts and outspoken religious extremism continue to sully the state’s image.
Kern has become a national spectacle in a sad story of bigotry and narrow-minded religious views. How can it possibly help Oklahoma that so many people outside the [...]
(It will take a community effort to solve the state's hunger problem, and there are ways to help. Read DocHoc's commentary this week in the Oklahoma Gazette, the state's finest alternative publication.)
Arrgh! Shiver me beak and gobbler, pass the grog and fire' [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma is urging people to protest state Rep. Sally Kern’s “Oklahoma Citizen’s Proclamation of Morality” when she and others sign the document at the State Capitol at noon today.
“We are asking all civic-minded Oklahomans who believe in [...]
(The below video is political satire. No U.S. Senators were harmed in the production of this video. If they had been harmed, they would have received excellent and inexpensive medical care.)
If there is one particular place in dire need of healthcare reform, it’s surely Oklahoma.
The state consistently ranks low in health studies and access to medical care. Obesity is rampant and 19 percent of Oklahomans don’t have health insurance. Even those who do have [...]
U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn vehemently opposed a bill last year that funded improvements to Washington D.C.’s Metro system, a fact that has drawn Internet discussion since Monday’s tragic crash.
Nine people were killed and 70 others were injured when two trains on [...]
A recent New York Times/CBS News poll found that 72 percent of Americans favor some type of government-run health insurance program that would be available to everyone.
As part of his healthcare reform initiative, President Barack Obama has argued a public option for health [...]
Many Oklahoma college students will get a break on tuition this coming school year, but student loan debt continues to be a problem.
Those colleges, which have announced they are freezing tuition for this coming school year, include the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, [...]
Corporations and the American Medical Association are lining up against healthcare reform because the current system ensures big profits for health insurance companies and big salaries for some doctors.
President Barack Obama, speaking at meeting of the American Medical Association, said:
Today, we are spending [...]
(Gov. Brad Henry is an outstanding centrist governor in an extremely conservative state. Read DocHoc's commentary this week in the Oklahoma Gazette. Be sure to check out Brandon Dutcher's companion article, which calls Henry a [...]
A court has ruled that a Ten Commandments monument on the Haskell County Courthouse grounds in Stigler violates the U.S. Constitution and that it must be removed.
State Rep. Mike Ritze was quick to point out the decision would not affect the Ten [...]
Just like General Motors, American newspapers have failed to significantly change their business model as they sink into oblivion, a fact noted in recent years by countless numbers of pundits, journalism professors and business experts.
Tied to dirty and unsustainable production methods--paper, ink, fossil fuel for [...]
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Out here in the middle
Where the center's on the right
And the ghost of William Jennings Bryan preaches every night
To save the lonely souls
in the [...]
(Now is a time for calm in the OKC community as the facts of the case get sorted out. It may well be, as Ersland’s attorney Irven Box predicts, that no jury will convict him. That seems like a good bet to make in Oklahoma, but [...]
(Does Oklahoma have too many schools? What's your position on school consolidation? Read DocHoc's commentary this week in the Oklahoma Gazette. Be sure to read the counter argument as well.)
When it comes to education, The Oklahoman editorial page has a consistent contradictory [...]
Who will replace Jari Askins as lieutenant governor?
Askins, of course, is running for governor in 2010. That leaves the position open in the upcoming general election. So far two candidates have announced they plan to run for the position. They are state [...]
The National Center for Science Education recently posted an article on its web site commenting on how the proposed antievolution legislation in Oklahoma is now presumed dead.
Of course, the state Senate meets again next week. Who knows what could happen, especially this legislative session? But it does appear likely [...]
(Update: Since this was initially posted, legislators working on the budget said they would appropriate an extra $2.5 million to the Public Safety Department to avoid trooper furloughs.)
State legislators crafted a budget for next year that could lead to state trooper furloughs, but somehow they [...]
President Barack Obama’s approval rating might be low in the state, but it’s not because he hasn’t done anything to help Oklahoma.
The president’s signature fiscal stimulus plan has helped the state government avoid a complete budget disaster for next year and increased funding [...]
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?--from Woody Guthrie's song "This Land Is Your Land"
The recession' [...]
(Essentially the argument is between those people who favor tax cuts for rich people and who want to slash government in reactionary and often disastrous, long-term ways and those people who think a proactive response to a budget shortfall by using the Rainy Day [...]
What if you were injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault and you couldn’t get decent medical treatment because you weren’t insured?
What if your child was born with a chronic medical problem that went untreated because you lacked health insurance?
What if [...]
The embarrassing and misguided sovereignty resolution circulating in the legislature has made national news as part of the faux GOP secession movement.
State Rep. Charles Key, pictured right, a Republican from Oklahoma City, appeared recently on the Montel Williams radio show to discuss House [...]
So more than 200,000 Pennsylvania Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, leave the GOP and become Democrats, and what this signifies is a big, continuing rejection of the far left and liberalism.
That’s U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe’s illogical take on the current condition [...]
The Oklahoma Policy Institute is urging state lawmakers to review tax breaks given to oil and gas producers as the economy continues to decline.
"As the state begins to wrestle with what looks to be enormous and prolonged budget shortfalls, this seems to be" [...]
(What's the difference between pro-life and pro-life intimidation? Read DocHoc's commentary this week in the state's finest alternative publication, the Oklahoma Gazette.)
Has the Oklahoma Republican corporate power structure finally hit the breaking point with GOP social conservatives?
It’s difficult not to ask this question' [...]
Most Oklahoma House Democrats showed real political spunk Monday when they walked out on Republicans after the GOP leadership refused to consider legislation that would mandate insurance companies pay for medical costs associated with autism.
State Rep. Joe Dorman, pictured right, a Rush Springs Democrat, [...]
More than 36 percent or 1.1 million Oklahomans went without health insurance from 2007-2008.
The cost of health insurance has risen 61 percent since 1996. That means patients pay more on co-pays for office visits and [...]
Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face?
Do You Realize - we're floating in space?
Do You Realize - that happiness makes you cry?
Do You Realize - that everyone you know someday will die?
And instead of saying all' [...]
State Sen. Randy Brogdon, an ultra-conservative politician, has announced he will run for governor in 2010, but at this point his candidacy doesn’t seem to pose much of a threat to U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin, the other major GOP candidate running for the position.
On [...]
