A Little Perspective...

Supreme Court to hear ObamaCare beginning today

The United States Supreme Court will begin to hear arguments on ObamaCare today through Wednesday, in a longer-than-usual time allotment. Below is the agenda for the hearings.

Thanks to the George Faught for Congress campaign for the above graphic

Faught Comments on ObamaCare Anniversary

George Faught, Republican candidate for Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District, commented today on the anniversary of the signing into law of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also called 'ObamaCare').

"Today marks the 2nd anniversary of the signing of ObamaCare -- one of the biggest intrusions into personal liberty ever perpetrated by the federal government."

"This job-killing mandate for socialized medicine strikes at the very heart of our freedoms, by stripping healthcare choice from individual citizens and giving it to government bureaucrats. ObamaCare will change the face of this nation forever. It takes away individual liberty, it is too expensive, it gives government too much power, and it is unconstitutional. It must be repealed as soon as possible."

"I successfully fought to stop the first wave of ObamaCare implementation in Oklahoma, and as the next Congressman from Oklahoma's 2nd District, I will fight to repeal ObamaCare and other unconstitutional programs, and work to allow free-market choices to flourish."

OKGOP: ObamaCare Two Years Later

The OKGOP delivered a cake to Oklahoma Democratic Party headquarters to celebrate the momentous occasion.

ObamaCare Two Years Later 

Oklahoma City -- Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Matt Pinnell today released the following statement on the second anniversary of ObamaCare:

"Two years ago today, President Obama signed his massive government takeover of health care into law.

"Despite the president’s promises, ObamaCare has left Oklahomans undeniably worse off.  Health care costs will continue to skyrocket into the foreseeable future, and Americans have less freedom to make their own health care decisions.

"Under ObamaCare, Oklahoma families will pay more for health care, and taxpayers will foot the bill for increased government spending.  Unaccountable government bureaucrats will make decisions once left to patients and their doctors.  Millions could lose the insurance they receive from their employers, even though President Obama promised that would never happen.

"We cannot afford ObamaCare.  Its mandates and regulations are bad for small business and economically destructive.  Oklahomans needs market-based solutions to rising health care costs, not a budget-busting one-size-fits-all Big Government law.

"Because of these failures, Democrats across Oklahoma are ignoring Obamacare instead of proudly campaigning on the Obama Administrations top legislative achievement. President Obama himself is pretending the anniversary is not happening today. So we’re going to make sure voters remember that during a recession the Democrats decided to pass a bill that has increased the debt, hurt small businesses, and made health care more expensive for families."

Obama debt passes Bush debt in 40% of the time

It's official: President Obama has now added more debt in his 38-months in the White House than President Bush did in 8 years.

Steve Eggleston of HotAir.com:

The $4,937,931,842,854.91 in new total debt added under Obama’s watch, in a mere 1,150 days, is more than the $4,899,100,310,608.44 in new total debt added under Bush’s watch in 2,922 days.

That's a lot of "change"...

State House passes 10-year income tax phase-out

Oklahoma House approves 10-year income tax phase-out 

OKLAHOMA CITY (March 15, 2012) – The Oklahoma House of Representatives has approved a proposal to phase out the state’s personal income tax over 10 years.

Supporters said House Bill 3038 would set Oklahoma on a path toward vibrant, long-term prosperity and robust job growth for generations to come.

“By allowing people to enjoy more of the fruits of their labor, we give people more reasons to work, invest, save and produce at a higher level, leading to a stronger economy for our state as a whole,” said state Rep. Leslie Osborn, one of over two dozen authors of the legislation.

State Rep. David Brumbaugh, also an author of the bill, said, “Those states with the lowest tax burdens and no income taxes consistently outperform the national average and us here in Oklahoma in terms of economic growth, job growth, population growth, and even state and local revenue growth. We need to replicate their success here in our state.”

HB 3038 would repeal Oklahoma’s progressive personal income tax without necessitating increases in other tax rates or cuts in funding to core government services.

Were Oklahoma to eliminate its personal income tax without raising or expanding any other tax rates, the state would have the lowest overall tax burden in the continental United States.

“This would be a game-changer for our state’s economy,” Osborn said. “Oklahoma should have the best climate for business and jobs of any state in America. The status quo is simply not good enough to keep many of our kids and grandkids here.”

Pointing to tax climates in neighboring states, Osborn said, “Texas already doesn’t have an income tax. Kansas and Missouri are actively looking to get rid of theirs. We have the opportunity to be part of an economic corridor that the job creators who are leaving the high-tax, high-regulation states flee to as they pursue profits and prosperity and bring jobs with them.”

On the floor of the House, Osborn quoted from a Feb 7 editorial from the Wall Street Journal, titled “The Heartland Tax Rebellion,” which said, “(t)he tax competition in America’s heartland is an encouraging sign that at least some U.S. politicians understand that they can’t take prosperity for granted. It must be nurtured with good policy, as they compete for jobs and investment with other states and the rest of the world.”

HB 3038 would phase out the state personal income tax through a process of simplifying the tax code, making modest reductions in wasteful, inefficient and nonessential state spending at the outset of the phase-out process, and utilizing growth revenue from other sources as Oklahoma’s private sector grows in response to the state’s dramatically improved tax climate.

“Money is spent more efficiently by the private sector than by government,” Brumbaugh said. “We need to put more money in people’s pockets.”

The measure was amended on the House floor today to ensure it would not raise effective tax burden on Oklahoma senior citizens, retirees and veterans.

The amendment allows individuals who currently claim exemptions or deductions on their state individual income taxes for Social Security income or any type of retirement income to continue to do so, as long as their household income is below a certain threshold. Above that threshold, seniors, retirees and veterans would already break even or pay less in taxes under the provisions of HB 3038.

Obama denied unanimous renomination by Oklahoma Democrats

Randall Terry 

The Obama re-election train was on track to snag every delegate in the Democrat primary, thus meaning a unanimous renomination. However, Oklahoma Democrats derailed that scenario, by voting in large enough numbers to give pro-life activist Randall Terry and Oklahoma native Jim Rogers delegates.

I ran some quick figures and looked into the Oklahoma Democrat Party's delegate allocation rules, and as best as I can figure, Obama will get 32 delegates, Terry will have 10, and Rogers will take 3. Of course, until the ODP officially announces the total, that's just an educated guess, but it should be in the ballpark.

Terry broke the 15% boundary statewide, and should get about 5 delegates statewide, to Obama's 11. Obama took all of the delegates in the 1st and 5th Congressional Districts (6 each), and 3 from each of the other congressional districts (for a total of 21 from congressional districts).

Jim Rogers

Jim Rogers will get one delegate each from the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th congressional districts, while Randall Terry will take 2, 1, and 2 delegates, respectively. Rogers is a perennial candidate, and was the 2010 Democrat nominee for U.S. Senate.

Including the Super Tuesday elections, Barack Obama has received 83.2% of all votes cast in the Democratic primaries and caucuses. The four other Democrats on the ballot in Oklahoma now become the top four vote-getters after Obama (Terry is 3rd, Rogers is 5th, Richardson is 6th, and Ely is 7th; "Uncommitted" is 2nd and "No Preference" is 4th).

Ironically, Republican candidate Ron Paul (0.34%) is the 8th highest candidate in the Democrat primary, and fellow GOP hopeful Mitt Romney (0.27%) is 9th. You can view a complete list of the Democrat primary vote-getters here.

Super Tuesday: Santorum Wins Oklahoma

With 1950 of 1961 precincts reporting, Rick Santorum has won the Oklahoma Republican presidential primary, holding off Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in a tighter-than-expected finish. Santorum received 33.8% statewide, with Romney getting 28%, Gingrich taking 27.5%, and Ron Paul finishing with 9.6%.

Results by congressional district:

1st Congressional District

• Santorum - 33.4%
• Gingrich - 29.75%
• Romney - 27.65%
• Paul - 8.3%

2nd Congressional District

• Santorum - 37.6%
• Gingrich - 30.2%
• Romney - 22.2%
• Paul - 8.9%

3rd Congressional District

• Santorum - 34%
• Gingrich - 29%
• Romney - 25.8%
• Paul - 9.8%

4th Congressional District

• Santorum - 34.85%
• Romney - 28.3%
• Gingrich - 24.8%
• Paul - 11%

5th Congressional District

• Romney - 33.9%
• Santorum - 30.8%
• Gingrich - 23.9%
• Paul - 10.5%

The final delegate count looks like it will be Santorum with 14, Romney with 13, and Gingrich with 13. Of Oklahoma's 77 counties, 2 went to Romney, 11 to Gingrich, and the remaining 64 were won by Santorum.

It appears that on the Democrat side, Randall Terry (18% statewide) and Jim Rogers (13.8% statewide) will receive delegates, in addition to Barack Obama (57.1% statewide). Terry won 12 counties, Rogers won 3, and Obama took the other 62. Obama placed third in five counties. Terry and Rogers held Obama to just 42% in the 2nd Congressional District, and 47% in the 3rd Congressional District.

Outside of Oklahoma, Romney looks to have won Massachusetts, Vermont, Virginia, Idaho, and Ohio (in a squeaker). Gingrich won Georgia. Santorum has won Oklahoma, Tennessee, and North Dakota. Alaska's caucus results probably won't be available until sometime Wednesday.

SUPER TUESDAY: Election Results

The polls have officially closed in Oklahoma, and the results are beginning to come in. Here are a few links for live results, each with votes down to the county level:

• Google Election Results - Oklahoma (Republican primary only)
• Oklahoma Election Board results (Republican and Democrat primaries)

Google Politics & Elections has a national map with results to each of the states to hold primaries or caucuses to date, including live results from the Super Tuesday states.

My choice for President is...

This presidential primary has been a roller-coaster of surprises. A very divided field resulted in swiftly-changing dynamics in the race, with new candidates surging to the lead for a few weeks, then plummeting while another candidate soared to the top. Debate after debate after debate after debate..... after debate after debate, with a few scandals (or so-called "scandals") tossed in for good measure.

Eventually, some candidates saw their exit approaching, and decided to get off the campaign trail. That may have narrowed the field, but the upheaval still continues.

Finally, we entered into the actual voting. Three candidates have won states - Santorum, Romney, and Gingrich. For the most part, the race is down to Santorum and Romney, with Gingrich playing spoiler for Santorum.

Tomorrow, Oklahoma and nine other "Super Tuesday" states will be voting. Many of you have doubtless received numerous robocalls in the past 48 hours from the various campaigns (I have received nearly a dozen), and hundreds of volunteers are waving signs or making get-out-the-vote calls for their chosen candidate across the state. Most of that will end in Oklahoma tomorrow evening, once the polls close, and the campaigns will shift their resources to other states.

In 2008, I was a strong Huckabee supporter from the very beginning. When he announced that he would not run for President, I was left without a candidate. I truly became an undecided voter, for probably the first time since I registered to vote. I bounced between Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Tim Pawlenty, and Rick Perry (mainly Bachmann, though).


Problem is...

... they all dropped out.

There are four candidates on the ballot tomorrow that are still running. The time has come to decide who to vote for.


I pick Rick Santorum.

Of the candidates left, Santorum is the one who has been a genuine, consistent, and across-the-board conservative, and carries little-to-no baggage. He is a well-rounded conservative on the issues that matter - social, fiscal, and national security.

I agree with Ron Paul on most of his fiscal policy, but I cannot reconcile my beliefs to his libertarian views on social issues and on foreign policy. Additionally, he tends to attract the worst crowd (granted, a minority, but very vocal and public), such as 9/11 Truthers, anarchists, anti-Israel and pro-drugs activists, etcetera, and he chooses campaign leaders like Al Gerhart (see the McCarville Report for all the latest on that debacle). He also endorsed radical socialist leftists Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader for president in 2008 (along with two other third-party candidates).

I cannot support Newt Gingrich, because of his past and current actions, statements and policy views. Gingrich has tremendous baggage that would be exploited in a general election, and I can't trust him to be a reliable conservative. He is the last person in this primary that I would vote for.

I cannot support Mitt Romney, largely (though not exclusively) due to RomneyCare. The issue of this election will be ObamaCare, and Romney cannot draw a clear enough distinction between himself and Obama on this point. Unlike Gingrich, Romney's personal life has been admirable. Like Gingrich, Romney has had liberal tendencies in healthcare, global warming, abortion, gun rights, and other issues.

Only three candidates have any degree of a shot at the nomination; Romney, Santorum, and Gingrich. Romney and Gingrich present, as Ronald Reagan said best, 'pale pastels', while Santorum offers 'bold colors'.

Fellow blogger Michael Bates has a fantastic post that goes into more detail about Santorum, and why you should support him in tomorrow's presidential primary. He also has a good synopsis of the Santorum rally in Tulsa that took place last night, which I also attended.

I have many friends who will be voting for other candidates, and I hold no ill will toward them for their choice. All of these candidates are better than President Obama. However, for me, the choice in this primary is clear. I pick Rick.

Dead at 43: Andrew Breitbart

From BigJournalism.com this morning:

Andrew passed away unexpectedly from natural causes shortly after midnight this morning in Los Angeles.

We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior.

Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love.

Andrew recently wrote a new conclusion to his book, Righteous Indignation:

I love my job. I love fighting for what I believe in. I love having fun while doing it. I love reporting stories that the Complex refuses to report. I love fighting back, I love finding allies, and—famously—I enjoy making enemies.

Three years ago, I was mostly a behind-the-scenes guy who linked to stuff on a very popular website. I always wondered what it would be like to enter the public realm to fight for what I believe in. I’ve lost friends, perhaps dozens. But I’ve gained hundreds, thousands—who knows?—of allies. At the end of the day, I can look at myself in the mirror, and I sleep very well at night.

Andrew is at rest, yet the happy warrior lives on, in each of us.

For those who thought this might have just been a grand hoax, the Los Angeles Coroner's Office has confimed his death. Breitbart was a tremendous fighter for the conservative movement, and without question the most influential online activist on the right. Big loss.