UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Florida Judge Rules on ObamaCare

Federal Judge Roger Vinson of Florida ruled today that the 'Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act' (aka ObamaCare) is unconstitutional due to its individual mandate, and further stated that since the legislation passed by Congress lacked a severability clause, "the entire act must be declared void." Last month, a Virginia...

Oh, the irony: Gilpin at the Board of Education meeting

From Peter J. Rudy of Oklahoma Watchdog: An already contentious State Board of Education meeting got more heated after a comment by board member, and former State Senator, Herb Rozell made a comment several women in the audience felt was sexist. After approving the hire of Jessica Russell as legislative analyst and liaison,...

OCPA: Reform State Board of Education

OCPA: Legislature Should Reform the State Board of Education The actions taken by the State Board of Education today—not allowing the newly elected superintendent to hire her own staff—are a perfect illustration of dysfunction in state government. It’s time for the state Legislature to reform the state Board of Education. Though...

Muskogee Politico Roundup

Absurd: Some in the media and blogosphere have attacked Gov. Mary Fallin for allegedly plagiarizing a KOSU story about Pearl Harbor survivor Ed Vezey in her inaugural address. First of all, if that was plagiarizing (which it wasn't), that was an awfully poor job. Second, Ed Vezey has told his story to countless people, and I'd assume that it's pretty much the same every time. Same people, same places,...

AG Pruitt Files Federal Lawsuit against Health Care Act

 Oklahoma Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt Files Federal Lawsuit against Health Care Act Lawsuit includes strengthened arguments focused on defeating individual mandate and striking the entire health care act based on non-severability OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt today filed a lawsuit on behalf...

Brecheen: Nix Art Spending Mandate

With Oklahoma’s projected 650 million dollar budget shortfall, priorities matter now more than ever and for this reason I have filed SB14 to repeal SB1347. Enacted in 2004, Senate Bill 1347 (“State of Oklahoma: Art in Public Places Act”), required that 1.5 percent of the cost of construction or renovation of state-owned projects...

Post-Tucson gun-related political correctness? Blogger says "no"

In the wake of the shooting in Tucson, the left and the media has tried to push politically correct speech even more forcefully; in this case, anything remotely related to firearms. Recently, a CNN anchor even went so far as to apologize for using the term "crosshairs". Blogger Charles Phipps of OKPolitechs has a post that...

Legislative Leaders Form Joint Immigration Reform Committee

 Legislative Leaders Form Joint Immigration Reform Committee  OKLAHOMA CITY – State House and Senate leaders today announced the formation of a special joint committee to develop immigration reform proposals. The group will include four members each from the House and Senate, as well as Attorney General Scott Pruitt. “There...

AUL Ranks Oklahoma Most Pro-Life State

Americans United for Life, a national pro-life organization, released their ranking of states today. Oklahoma came in at the number one spot. AUL's List List shows cutting edge legislation restricts abortions and protects life at the state level Launches national petition to urge the same at the federal level WASHINGTON, D.C....

Lankford Defends the Unborn on House Floor

Freshman Congressman James Lankford (R-OK) on the House floor yesterday, defending the unborn child's right to life. ...

Ban texting while driving? Not so fast...

Blogger and activist Kaye Beach has a great post today on a texting-while-driving ban proposed by State Rep. Danny Morgan (D-Prague). No one will argue that texting while driving is a good idea, it’s not. When I started EMT school the first heartbreaking wreck I was exposed to was caused by a young driver fiddling with her...

ObamaCare Repeal Debate Starts

Debate on H.R. 2, which would repeal the Obama/Pelosi healthcare reform bill, started this afternoon. The House will be voting on the repeal resolution tomorrow. You can view the ongoing debate here on C-SP...

Brogdon's take on the two-year moratorium

As controversy continues over the appointment and/or hiring of ex-legislators by Governor Fallin and Insurance Commissioner John Doak, former State Sen. Randy Brogdon weighs in with his take. Brogdon, now with a job in the Insurance Department, is one of the three hires in question. Many of my supporters have been asking what...

RNC Chair Race - Today

 Reince PriebusAnn Wagner Saul Anuzis  Michael Steele Maria Cino  The vote for RNC Chairman is taking place today, and these are the candidates. If I were to hazard a guess, the order of pictures is according to their likelihood of winning, from Priebus with the best shot to Cino with the lowest chance. For...

Herman Cain forms presidential exploratory committee

Herman Cain (radio show host, former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, and former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City) announced this morning that he has formed a Presidential Exploratory Committee to "test the waters" before officially deciding whether or not he will run for President. While not a first-tier potential...

Coburn Caucus Expands; Treat Wins SD47 Special Election

State Senator-elect Greg Treat casting his ballot this morning With just over 41% of the vote, Greg Treat has won the special election in State Senate District 47, the seat vacated by now-Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb. Treat defeated fellow candidates Carol Hefner (28%), Todd Brawley (17%), Steve Dobbs (7%) and Kenny Goza (6%)...

Mary Fallin's Inauguration

The snow threatened to move Governor-elect Mary Fallin's inauguration ceremony inside, but with no success. With less than an hour to go, people are beginning to fill the seats outside the Capitol building for this historic ceremony. You can watch the inauguration on OETA television stations, or online here (OET...

Congresswoman, 17+ others shot in Arizona

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and over a dozen 17 others were shot this morning in Tucson, Arizona, at an outdoor townhall-type meeting the congresswoman was holding. Initially, news reports said that Giffords was killed (shot point-blank to the head), but they now report that she is alive, in "very critical condition", and still in surgery. Here's a live news feed from local television...

Constitution read on House floor

The U.S. House of Representatives today read - for the very first time - the entire text of the U.S. Constitution, on the House floor. Watch below (to go to the next video, click the link in the lower right corner of the video). Oklahoma's 5th District Congressman James Lankford read Section 3 of the 25th Amendment. Overall, there were few instances of the reading being interrupted. A protester...

McLarty Endorses Wagner for RNC Chair

RNC Chair candidate Ann Wagner (a former Missouri GOP chair, US Ambassador, and RNC Co-Chair) picked up an endorsement by the Oklahoma GOP's third RNC vote - National Committeewoman Carolyn McLarty on Sunday. OKGOP Chairman Matt Pinnell and National Committeeman James Dunn, the other two votes Oklahoma has, both endorsed Reince...

Fallin Names Coffee as Secretary of State

Governor-elect Mary Fallin Names Glenn Coffee as Secretary of State OKLAHOMA CITY – Governor-elect Mary Fallin today announced she has selected Glenn Coffee to serve as secretary of state. Coffee, who was the first Republican to serve as president pro tempore of the Oklahoma State Senate, currently serves as co-chairman of...

Minority Leader Comments On Terrill/Leftwich Case - Leaves Out Leftwich

State House Minority Leader Scott Inman (D-OKC) issued the following press statement today, after State Rep. Randy Terrill (R-Moore) and former State Sen. Debbe Leftwich (D-OKC) both made their first court appearance relating to the ongoing bribery/corruption case brought against them by District Attorney David Prater. Democratic...