Two Days To Go! Goober Award Expected Next Week.

Only two days to go before the Legislature declares sine die and goes home! It's been a tough session for them, with the budget crisis, a new governor?, and figuring out how to overturn initiative petition votes and all. There's some good ones, but they are in the minority - and I don't mean they are ALL in the Republican Party. Fortunately, many are drawing close to term limits.

The Goober Legislator of 2003 Award is widely rumored to be going to Senator Frank Shurden of Henryetta. While the selection is a closely guarded secret at the Committee it doesn't take more than a chicken's brains to surmise this one. Other contenders will be revealed this weekend.

Dark Days at the Departments of Tourism and Commerce

Sources at the state Commerce Department report that on Thursday or Friday 20 more employees were informed they would be taking 20% pay cuts. The big question the demoralized employees have is why weren't cuts spread around so only a few don't have to take such huge cuts and others are asking whether the Secretary of Commerce and the group she brought into the Department with her are taking 20% cuts. Morale at the Department is so bad now that employees are searching for any hint of fairness or hope. Long-time employees at both Tourism and Commerce say the atmosphere at the two agencies has never been darker. This is not the kind of working conditions one would hope to have at what remains of the state's economic development agency.

What is not known yet is whether any of the Department of Commerce's $22 million in porkbarrel pass-through monies will also be cut. If the Administration and the Legislature had cut just 5% of the Legislature's pork flowing through Commerce into Legislator's pet projects none of the debilitating cuts would have had to happen at Commerce. If just 10% of the pass-through pork was cut the state's economic development program could actually grow. Why the pass-throughs continue is a question the state media has neglected to ask.

Porkbarrel Projects of Legislators Costing State and Killing Good Programs

The media and the Administration of Brad Henry have also failed to address the question of why there is no oversight of the hundreds of millions of dollars in pass-through money. A case in point is almost $100,000 in pass-through state money that flows from certain Legislators from southern Oklahoma to Rural Enterprises Inc.(REI) of Durant. The money is appropriated to the Department of Agriculture but Ag is required to pass it straight on to REI without strings or questions asked. No one knows how REI uses the money and REI, like most pass-through recipients, are not required to make any report about how the money was spent. Sources in the state media say REI has refused to answer questions or release details of how their pass-through bonanza of state dollars is used. REI is well known in Capitol circles to take Legislators on trips around the country and around the world. The unanswered question is whether any of the unaccounted for pass-through money is used to take the very Legislators that appropriate the pass-throughs on trips - and whether the trips are legitimate economic development trips?

At a time when legitimate government programs, economic growth programs included, are being slashed it is gross maleficence for the Governor, the Legislature, the State Auditor and the media to let the bloated and stinking mass of porkbarrel pass-throughs in state agencies go unaccounted for and hardly touched.

Let's Eat While Bush and Brad Fiddle

While President Bush is ignoring the economy and Governor Henry is busy micromanaging and politicizing state government we might as well get something good to eat. I tried the County Line in Oklahoma City today. I know that everyone else in Oklahoma has been there done that, but if you are one of the two or three Oklahomans that haven't tried it yet - do. The ribs can't be beat. Order the smallest size you can because all the servings are huge. Now back to the chaos and Orange Alert.

Henry Administration Destroying Innovative Economic Agency

It happened in the Department of Tourism and Recreation a few weeks ago and today it is happening at the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. The new Secretary of Commerce and Tourism, Kathryn Taylor, has turned into a hatchet woman - clearing the way for Brad Henry's political appointees by firing scores of professional managers and line personnel. The Existing Business Division was hit hard, with innovative director Beth Van Horn being let go and immediately replaced, without a job posting, with David Hinckle. The International Division of the Department of Commerce, known nationwide as one of the best in trade development, has also been particularly hard hit. Nearly everyone in the division was let go this week and others assigned to domestic duties. The only division not hit so far has been the old-line business recruitment division, headed by Brad Henry's friend, John Reid. Reid got his start in Democratic politics and in George Nigh's Governor office.

In what seems to be a trend with the Henry Administration, old George Nigh and David Walters political functionaries are replacing career professionals. Kathryn Taylor brought in Delmas Ford, formerly Secretary of Transportation under Walters, to take the place of former Department of Commerce Executive Director Ron Bussert - a true professional. Mr. Ford, not known for business or economic development acumen, is seen as Ms. Taylor's link to the state's good ol' boy network. Ms. Taylor, one of the richest people in Oklahoma, has been busy in her first two months destroying the careers of numerous long-serving and low-wage civil servants.

The irony is that when Brad Henry came into office he promised that during these challenging times he would focus on economic development and existing business and globalization. Instead, he and Ms. Taylor are busy destroying one of the premier economic development agencies in the United States. For almost 15 years the Oklahoma Department of Commerce has been remarkably free from political cronyism. While agencies in neighboring Texas, Arkansas and Missouri have floundered under rampant cronyism and political micromanagement at their economic development agencies, Oklahoma had invested in non-political career professionals. Those days seem to be gone under Brad Henry and Kathryn Taylor. This is turning out to be one of the worst administrations in memory.

Selling out the Kurds

I wondered how long it would take us to sell out the Kurds to please Turkey and the Russians. Looks like it took us just 75 days. Slate has the story.

We Don't Give a Flip?

As the Tulsa World points out in an editorial ("What a surprise" on A24) today, Senator Shurden continues his attempts to reverse the citizen's vote to outlaw cockfighting last November. In typical Shurden fashion he is using subterfuge to try to thwart the will of the people. He has introduced and changed his pro-cockfighting bills so often even close observers have a hard time figuring out what is going on. As the World points out Shurden has also changed his bill to call for a revote - but not during a general election as usual - but during a primary vote. Shurden is doing this because he knows Republican-dominated Oklahoma City and Tulsa don't participate big in Democrat-dominated primary elections. And the 2/3rds of the population of the state live in these two metro areas. Shurden wants to limit voters to rural Democrat-dominated primary elections.

This may be smart strategy but it is strategy that seeks to appease gambling (cockfighting) interests at the expense of straightforward democracy. That may be smart for Shurden and the cockfighters who don't give a flip about the principles of democracy but it is poor public policy. Comedian Joe Bob Briggs of Texas once called Oklahoma the "I Don't Give a Flip State" because we didn't seem to care about anything. When it comes to our state Legislature and voting, it is no wonder Oklahomans don't give a flip. They know their votes and their wishes mean nothing to the miscreants like Shurden that think they own Oklahoma and will do anything to keep it that way.

Religious Debate on Senate Floor

This week there was an interesting exchange on the floor of the Oklahoma Senate between Democratic Senator Bernest Cain of Oklahoma City and Senator Scott Pruitt, Republican of Broken Arrow. The debate was over some language Senator Pruitt wanted placed in science textbooks used in Oklahoma - a sort of disclaimer regarding the theory of evolution. Senator Pruitt, a very conservative and religious person, has been trying to insert a conservative religious agenda into the political debate - centered around efforts to get creationism into the public schools. This week Senator Cain, a liberal Senator who apparently believes in the separation of church and state, took the effort to put creationism into the schools head on. As The Tulsan points out, you can read the exchange, at least the part KFAQ radio wants you to read, at their website. Republican Senators Fine, (shouldn't be casting stones) Ford, and Wilcoxson jumped to Pruitt's defense and conservative talkshows in Oklahoma have pilloried Senator Cain's remarks in favor of religious diversity.

I cannot fault Senator Cain as I agree with his call for the defense of separation of church and state and his desire for the Christian right to stop trying to force their beliefs and codes on others. They will deny that they are wanting to do this but a read of the Republican Senators statements (if you can understand Ford's rambling) will reveal their intent. They may say they just want equal treatment for creationism and science but they never speak in terms of Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu theories of creation. Until they do, I cannot believe them. Their disingenuous attempts to lie about the ultimate agenda - the recognition of Christian values and beliefs as the tacitly approved religion - tells us we cannot trust them to be openly honest. The radio talk show hosts like Michael DelGiorno on KFAQ carry the water for the Christian right and they come closest to spilling the beans on what the objectives are. DelGiorno is honest, but scary. But thank (insert your deity or lack thereof here) he and his colleagues are out there revealing the true agenda of the Christian right.

The thinking around the Capitol is that the Republicans are pushing issues such as prayer in school and creationism to force Democrats to vote in ways that can be used against them in upcoming elections. Unfortunately, in Oklahoma it certainly never hurts to say your opponent is against teaching creationism in school or in favor of child abuse. Of course, using religion for crass political maneuvering would be frowned on by most faiths and holy men I am acquainted with. WWJD?

Senator Pruitt believes he is doing good. He's about as good a person as you'll find at the Legislature, but he's wrong on pushing his religious beliefs into schools and government. I'm with Senator Cain on this one. He's a good man too.

The Conspiracy Theorist that has cost Oklahoma Taxpayers $$$$$

Further to the posting regarding the State Auditor and a Mr. Sam Mahjoub, a conspiracy theorist that has harassed various state government agencies for a few years. The Daily Oklahoman claims the man is an Oklahoma exporter but sources at the Capitol say they can't find any evidence that the man makes anything in Oklahoma to export. The man has filed numerous freedom of information filings only to drop the requests after the agencies went to the trouble of counting all the files and estimating the cost of copying. Mr. Mahjoub has made a number of claims of corruption against agencies and individual civil servants. The claims haven't panned out but Mahjoub seems to have no reluctance to smear state workers by name. He has been dismissed by most Legislators and journalists - after claims repeatedly proved groundless. And after they discovered that the man had been trying to get a contract with the state Commerce Department for several years. The conclusion of most was that the man was seeking vengence for being denied a contract. The pity is that some Legislators continue to give the conspiracy theories an ear. Are some legislators really so gullible or are they afraid of the guy? The pity is that Mr. Mahjoub has cost the state tens of thousands of dollars in response time and lost focus and the media has not picked up on the story. Can failed contractor wannabes harass state agencies and smear civil servants and waste tax dollars for years on end?

Texas Democrats Find Refuge in Oklahoma


Faced with a gerrymandered Republican redistricting plan in Austin over 50 Texas Democrat Legislators made a strategic retreat across the border to Oklahoma yesterday. Incredibly, the State of Texas sent Texas Rangers across the border to try to arrest the Texas Legislators in Oklahoma. At some point it dawned on the Texas Rangers that their law doesn't apply in Oklahoma and they retreated back across the border to Texas without the runaway Legislators. Meanwhile, half the Texas Legislature is meeting in a Holiday Inn in Ardmore, Oklahoma - out of the grasp of the Texas lawmen. Exactly what is illegal about a Legislator not showing up for sessions in Austin escapes me. The Democrats that control the Oklahoma Legislature invited the Texans to come on up to Oklahoma City and be welcomed as heros.

The Texas Democrats say they won't go back to Texas until the Republicans play fair.

State Auditor a Marketing Guru?

The State Auditor's office, headed by Jeff McMahan, recently spent an undisclosed amount of taxpayer money, investigating the Tourism and Recreation Department, at the request of the Attorney General at the insistence of a Tulsa man that has made a career of harassing state agencies with unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. The man, identified in Daily Oklahoman articles as Mr. Sam Mahjoub, has spent several years accusing the Oklahoma Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Tourism of everything from running fake overseas offices to conspiratorial secret meetings in exotic European capitals. For at least three years Mr. Mahjoub has been roaming the halls of the State Capitol with a trolly full of "evidence" to back up his conspiracy theories. Many Capitol denizens and staffers have grown weary of his obsession and his lurking presence in the halls. The State Auditor however, has spent tens of thousands of dollars investigating claims raised by the man in the last few years. More on his conspiracy theories in a later post.

The latest travesty was an exhaustive and expensive investigation of Mr. Mahjoub's claims against the Tourism Department. The investigation covered the period from July 1, 2001 to October 10, 2002 and investigated claims of illegal contracting and contracting procedures and such matters as whether clothing was purchased for employees. The result? Nothing of any significance at all. You can read the report for yourself at the State Auditor's website. It is said that the State Auditor's office released the report to the conspiracy theorist before they released it to the public. If so, the State Auditor needs to answer concerns of those who believe the office has become too close to a modern-day Rasputin.

Disturbingly, the State Auditor, in this report, and other recent reports, has overstepped the office's responsibility and started making recommendations on strategic decisions he knows little or nothing about. In the Tourism report for example, the State Auditor says the "Legislature might consider prioritizing the Department's funding in a more appropriate manner...an advertising contract of $4.5 million dollars per year may seem inappropriate during a period of economic downturn and severe budget cuts at the state government level." The State Auditor's business sense, or lack thereof, aside, he has no business trying to make agencies strategic decisions for them. Will he next start telling the Wildlife Department how long hunting season should last? Or perhaps he'd like to weigh in on whether the Secretary of State's office should use ivory or winter white-colored stationery? The public's welfare is not well looked after by having an accountant tell marketers how to do their job. Any business/marketing professional knows that when times get tough that is exactly when you don't cut your advertising budget. That's when you need sales more than ever.

It is very necessary to have a State Auditor to investigate possible corruption or misuse of funds in government agencies and departments. But if the State Auditor allows his office to be used by people obsessed with conspiracy theories and wildly throwing around unsubstantiated allegations of corruption against agencies and public servants, he is not spending our money wisely. He is engaging in a disservice to those whose interests he takes an oath to protect.

What comes as a surprise to many is that those audited, or investigated, must pay the State Auditor's office for the entire cost of the audits. These amounts can easily be in the tens of thousands of dollars. So, no audits, no income for the State Auditor's office. The State Auditor has a financial incentive to investigate agencies. Even the innocent must pay to be investigated. This can be quite an unplanned-for blow to the budgets of agencies and offices trying to do their jobs of serving the public. To be fair, the State Auditor must respond to citizens, even crackpot citizens, who alledge corruption. But should the State Auditor allow himself to be manipulated by crackpots?

Oklahoma Today

If you haven't read "Oklahoma Today" magazine you should! This is a first class magazine that does more to promote an Oklahoma culture and an awareness of Oklahoma than all the politicians talk put together. The Legislature has been trying to starve the magazine to death for years or offload it. They need to wise up and realize what a gem they have.

Where's the Vision Governor?

Sources at the Capitol complain that Brad Henry is still trapped in the mindset of a lawyer/legislator - wanting to know the details of issues and projects and unable to see the big picture. Not only that, but he has surrounded himself with a cabinet of like-thinkers - technocrats obsessed with the small details and without the "vision thing". While others want to move forward on issues such as new wave economic development and globalization the Governor seems to have his head stuck in the sand. Granted, he has a big challenge with the budget but rather than move forward with wealth-creating projects he is focused on cutting the state's economic development budget. He says one thing and does another. He says while other states pull back on economic development he is going to go full steam ahead. How? By slashing the state's economic development efforts?

Governor Henry was in the Legislature for years. He knows the wastage is in the pork barrel projects hidden in the state's "pass-through" funds. These are line-item appropriations Legislators pass-through state agencies on to their pet projects. The state agencies have no control over these pass-throughs and there is no oversight of how the monies are spent. Two-thirds of some agencies' budgets are pass-throughs. Why not cut the pork Governor and use it for revenue-generating economic development?

The Late Show

Punctuality doesn't seem to be Governor Henry's thing. He arrives late at everything, often very late. It all starts with a late arrival at the office - sometimes an hour late, and then everything is backed up all day long. People are routinely keep waiting for appointments and often find their appointment with the Governor cancelled at the last minute. Many, especially in the business community, can't get an appointment. Complaints about an inability to book the governor for events or to get an appointment abound. The street wonders what the Governor is doing - he's certainly not receiving many people. What does he spend his time doing?

Regime Change at OSU Looks like a Texas Occupation - an expensive one perhaps.

OSU's new president, David Schmidly, is said to be close to a faculty revolt. As he moves longtime OSU loyalists out and moves more fellow Texans in to surround him he seems to be going out of his way to irritate folks in Stillwater. A series of perfunctory, single-candidate "searches" for new VPs have quickly resulted in hiring his friends from Texas Tech - where Schmidly came from. The new president is moving everyone out of Whitehurst to make room for his new Texas Tech wing for his new hires that surround him. At a time the state budget is under severe pressure Schmidley is paying his new hires an incredible $180,000 per year. Meanwhile, OSU is planning on spending heavily to move the OSU Center for Health Sciences from its current modern home on 17th Street in Tulsa to the OSU-Tulsa campus on North Greenwood. The move of about 2 miles will cost the state $40 million.

Continental Airlines' "Frequent Flyer Awards"

In the mail recently I received from Continental Airlines an official-looking envelope with "Frequent Flyer Reward Vouchers" inside. Thinking my membership in their OnePass frequent flyer reward program had finally paid off and I had gotten one of those long-promised free tickets to some destination I opened the packet designed to look like airline tickets and found...coupons!!! And advertisements... for Mastercard, AT&T, Best Buy etc. I would get 10,000 miles on my Continental account if I signed up for Mastercard. So much for the "frequent flyer reward vouchers" the cover promised inside. Will I be getting a Mastercard. No. Does this type of direct mail gimmick endear Continental to me? No. I don't reward misleading advertising.

We should have known...

that the religious extremists in Iraq would want to create a theocracy once Saddamm was gone. Now the Shiites want to create an Islamic religious state and force everyone else to obey their religious laws. It's disgusting yes, but didn't we know this would happen? Shouldn't we have known these clerics would be completely ungrateful for our sacrifices to remove their secular dictator? A dictatorship of the clerics is coming I'm afraid. And the fools dance in the streets of Iraq slashing themselves with knives, beating themselves with chains, and demanding a religious dictatorship. Were these people worth it?

Ironically, as we try to create a secular democracy in Iraq our own administration moves ever closer to mingling religion and government in our own country. One Texas Congressman, Tom DeLay, recently said he did not believe in a separation of church and state. I would invite that Congressman to consider Basra as a place he'd be more comfortable in.

Oklahoma slams door shut on Eco-terrorists


The whip-smart bunch at the Capitol in Oklahoma City have taken strong measures to put a stop to terrorism in Oklahoma - eco-terrorism that is. In response to a veritable avalanche of imagined animal rights activists overrunning Oklahoma farms and "disrupting" farm operations, the State Legislature passed a law making it a felony to "disrupt" farm operations. And our Governor signed it with dispatch.

Rep. James Covey, D-Custer City, House author of the anti-terrorist bill said the bill is a preventative measure to head off actions by "radical animal rights" groups. Then, if something happens, at least there is some teeth in the law," Covey said. Others said it was time to protect corporate hog farms and factory farms from complaints filed by uppity neighbors and journalists. "The environmentalists and animal rights nuts haven't actually done nuttin yet," said Delmer Hinks of Pookville, "but this here law will keep em from even tinkin about it. It was jus' real smart of those senators to make it look like it had somethin' to do wit terrorism."

Ouch! Brad Henry Gets it from Both Sides

Talking on KOSU this week conservative Neva Hill and liberal Frosty Troy laid into Governor Brad Henry with tooth and nail. Both agreed that the Governor has been nowhere to be seen and has flubbed pushing his agenda forward. Frosty Troy said he hadn't seen a worse performance since 1960. He quoted one Democratic lawmaker as saying he "never thought he'd miss Frank Keating." Ms. Hill agreed that not only has the Governor not talked to the media to explain anything but has relied on incredibly inept political advice from an insulated group of advisors.

When you've got both the Republicans AND the Democrats after you like this you've got major problems.

A "Diversity" of Opinion on Radio in Oklahoma?

NE OKlahoma finally gets an alternative to the far-right radio of KRMG and its even more far-right radio. KFAQ Radio picked up Michael DelGiornio from KRMG and also has put together a line-up of other screaming extremists like Michael Savage and the not-so predictable but predictably rude Bill O'Reilly. I was flipping around on the radio dessert for something worth listening to tonight and came across a radio "personality" on KFAQ I had not heard before, Laura Ingraham. I caught her monologue as she was into a horribly biased discussion on Islam. I won't even go into her lame opinions on Islam vs. Christianity but suffice it to say it was uninformed.

Is all of American radio talk as looney toon far right and hate-filled as what we get to hear in Oklahoma? Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't listen to far-left shock radio (does such a thing exist?) either but we don't have that choice in Oklahoma. Wouldn't level-headed and informed talk radio be wonderful? What would it be like if we had talkshows featuring intelligent moderates willing to weigh issues from all sides? Why can't we have that? In the meantime I'll listen to NPR.

Cultural Treasures Lost

The BBC reports that three White House cultural advisers have resigned in protest at the failure of US forces to prevent the looting of Iraq's national museum - home to artefacts dating back 10,000 years. Yes, it was Iraqis that made off with their own museum treasures but every society has their useless bandits who prey on society at large. But our military should have planned for this. It's hard to fathom how the protection of this storehouse of some of the world's most treasured ancient artefacts was not planned for by our government and military. Not only is our lack of consideration of this matter deplorable but it's an absolute public relations disaster for our country. How could we have been so stupid? Now we need to do everything we can to get back what was stolen and do our part to safeguard the Iraqi's cultural treasures for them - and humanity.