Boren Says Obama Should Reverse Stance on Gitmo, Trials
Rep. Dan Boren, D-Muskogee, penned this column today:
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION MUST REVERSE STANCE ON TERRORIST TRIALS; GITMO
If the violence and tragedy of the 9/11 attacks was a wake-up call about the reality of global terrorism, the foiled attempt on Flight 253 in Detroit on Christmas Day was a sobering reminder that we continue to face that threat today.
Nearly one year ago this month, President Obama declared his intent to suspend military commissions for suspected terrorists, to assess the …
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Coburn, Inhofe Oppose Budget-Balancing Commission
Sens. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, and Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, voted today against establishing a bipartisan commission to make recommendations on balancing the budget. The proposal failed.…
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Inhofe Against Bernake, Coburn Yet to Announce
The Senate may vote later this week on whether to give Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernake another term. U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, plans to vote against him. Jared Young, Inhofe’s press secretary, said the senator sees Bernake as one of the architects of the 2008 bail-out of Wall Street. Inhofe voted against that bail-out and considers it one of the worst mistakes Congress has ever made.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, voted for the bail-out but has not announced …
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A call for data.ok.gov
The launch this week of Britain’s open data archive, data.gov.uk, is just the latest effort by governments to provide access to the information they collect. It follows the lead of the U.S. site, data.gov, which was launched last May. The White House’s Open Government Initiative blog had a welcoming note yesterday.
Here in Oklahoma, we need …
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Much ado about fees
The Oklahoma Supreme Court issued an opinion yesterday in a related case I wrote about Sunday as part of my story on fees and taxes.
In a 6-2 ruling, the court said several fees on civil court filings that went to programs in the state Department of Human Services and the state Attorney General’s office were …
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Fallin Weighs in on Massachusetts Senate Race
U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin, a Republican running for Oklahoma governor, seemed to like what she saw last night in Massachusetts, where Republican Scott Brown won a U.S. Senate seat held by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.
“Scott Brown’s historic win tonight is yet another sign that voters across America are tired of the kind of policies that put big government first and the interests of the people last. In his short time as president, Barack Obama and other liberals have …
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White House Still Expecting Democratic Win in Mass.
White House senior adviser David Axelrod told reporters this morning that he still expects Democrat Martha Coakley to pull out a victory today against Republican Scott Brown in the race to fill the open U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts.
“There’s an enormous effort underway in Massachusetts today,” Axelrod said. “We expect Martha Coakely to win and so I’m not going to entertain questions predicated” on Coakley losing.
Brown has had all the momentum recently and appears poised to win the …
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Property tax splitting GOP House?
Dank, R-Oklahoma City, said today House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, should “step up on this vital issue or step down and let someone else lead the House” in enacting it.
“I was frankly astonished by the speaker’s recent statements in opposition to these simple and fair reforms,” said Dank, who has authored measures that would cap annual property tax increases at 3 percent …
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Talk of lowering property taxes continues
The discussion over whether to cap property taxes continues. Senate Republicans are pushing for it, while the Speaker of the House says it’s not the right time. Check out the Tulsa World’s story and interview with House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa.
Debate and discussion are always encouraged in the U.S. political system, it’s just curious to me that Senate Republicans are in favor of this measure while the leader of the House has on multiple occasions said he’s not in …
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Former Istook Aide Can't Pay His Attorney
John Albaugh, the one-time top aide to former U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook, can’t pay the legal bills stemming from his 2008 guilty plea to a federal conspiracy charge.
According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Washington last week, Albaugh’s attorney sought to withdraw from the case because Albaugh owes the firm “a large amount of money” and is not able to pay it.
So far, Albaugh has paid the firm of McCarthy, Sweeney and Harkaway “less than 5 …
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