Senate Approaching Final Vote on Extending Unemployment Benefits
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, just announced a schedule for a final vote on extending unemployment benefits. Since April 5, hundreds of thousands of people have not been able to apply for benefits if they exhausted their state benefits or one of the tiers of federal benefits. A final vote should come this afternoon.
The Senate cleared the major hurdle on Monday, but Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, has been offering amendments this week to try to get the costs of the benefits offset elsewhere in the federal budget.…
Read the rest of Senate Approaching Final Vote on Extending Unemployment Benefits
Watts Guest at Coburn Fundraiser on Friday
Former Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts is the special guest at a fundraiser for U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn at the Embassy Suites in Norman on Friday. Coburn, R-Muskogee, is running for reelection this year, though he has yet to draw an opponent. Watts and Coburn were elected to the U.S. House together in the 1994 elections that swept Republicans to power. Coburn served through 2000, then retired to honor his term limits pledge. Watts, a Republican, served through 2002 and is now a lobbyist and businessman in Washington.…
Read the rest of Watts Guest at Coburn Fundraiser on Friday
NY Times Poll Illuminates Tea Party Movement
The New York Times has an interesting story today about the characteristics of those in the Tea Party movement. …
Read the rest of NY Times Poll Illuminates Tea Party Movement
Coburn squares off with O’Reilly
FOX News host Bill O’Reilly challenged Sen. Tom Coburn tonight to name someone on the network who had said people would be arrested for not buying health insurance because of the new health reform law.
O’Reilly’s question stemmed from Coburn’s comments at a town hall meeting in Oklahoma that people shouldn’t rely solely on FOX News for information. Coburn made the comment after a woman at the town hall meeting asked him about people being arrested for not buying health insurance.…
Read the rest of Coburn squares off with O’Reilly
Oklahoma native being considered for high court
Oklahoma native Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor, is a candidate to replace Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, according to CNN.…
Read the rest of Oklahoma native being considered for high court
Coburn on O’Reilly show tonight to talk about FOX News comments
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, who garnered national attention last week after telling a town hall meeting that people shouldn’t rely solely on FOX for news, is scheduled to appear on the network tonight with host Bill O’Reilly. The show is aired at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. eastern time.…
Read the rest of Coburn on O’Reilly show tonight to talk about FOX News comments
Boren has biggest fundraising quarter since 2004
Rep. Dan Boren, the only Democrat in the state’s seven-person congressional delegation, has been running his campaign like he’s 20 points behind, and raising money like he’s running for the U.S. Senate, rather than a U.S. House seat in eastern Oklahoma.
Today, his campaign reported that he raised more than $490,000 in the last three months and has more than $1.8 million in the bank.
If he can’t win with that, and registration that is still heavily Democrat in a state that is trending more and more Republican, the Democratic majority in the House probably is in serious trouble.…
Read the rest of Boren has biggest fundraising quarter since 2004
Fallin Resolution to Observe OKC Bombing Anniversary
The House is scheduled to consider a resolution today observing the 15th anniversary of the OKC bombing. That anniversary is Monday.
Rep. Mary Fallin, R-Oklahoma City, is the lead sponsor of the resolution, while the other Oklahomans in the U.S. House are co-sponsors. Here is the text of the resolution:
Remembering the victims of the attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and supporting the goals and
ideals of the National Week of Hope.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 23, 2010
Ms.…
Read the rest of Fallin Resolution to Observe OKC Bombing Anniversary
Third party candidates want ballot access reform
If you’re a third party candidate in Oklahoma and want to get on the ballot, good luck, according to a ballot access reform group.
According to Oklahomans for Ballot Access Reform, Oklahoma is one of the most restrictive state’s for ballot access. The national chairman of the Libertarian Party met with lawmakers on Monday urging them to support measures to change candidates get on the ballot in Oklahoma. Advocates point out that Oklahoma was the only state in both 2004 and 2008 where voters only had two choices for president.…
Read the rest of Third party candidates want ballot access reform
Senate breaks impasse over unemployment benefits
The Senate voted 60-34 today to break a logjam over unemployment benefits. The bill should get final passage soon and be sent to President Barack Obama for his signature. Senate leaders say the benefits will be retroactive to make whole those people who unable to apply for an extension last week. The bill also restores the money cut in payments to physicians who treat Medicare patients. And it extends federal subsidies for people getting COBRA coverage from their former employers.
The vote today was a defeat for Sen.…
Read the rest of Senate breaks impasse over unemployment benefits
