The sixth seat
Democratic Party activist Susan McCann (Your Views, Feb. 10) took issue with my analysis in ScissorTales last week that President Barack Obama’s “Hope and Change” message falls flat in Oklahoma. Of course the evidence for this is overwhelming: Obama didn’t win in even the most heavily-Democratic counties in a state in which Democrats held a significant registration advantage over Republicans. I have little reason to believe Obama will do any better the second time around. But the rope of hope is always available for the grasping. McCann said it’s only a matter of time before “progressives” will outnumber conservatives in Oklahoma City. We heard something similar in 2010 from supporters of 5th Congressional District Democratic nominee Billy Coyle, who said a Democrat could indeed win the central Oklahoma seat that hasn’t been held by a Democrat since 1974. That seat was open in 2010, and Coyle was an excellent nominee. But he got less than 35 percent of the vote — and Obama wasn’t on the same ballot. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before a Democrat will represent Oklahoma City in Congress. It would help if the state would grow enough to restore the sixth congressional seat it lost after the 2000 Census. Were that to happen, redistricting could center the district more in the urban core and less in the fringes. As things now stand, though, Republicans would be in charge of the redistricting. Still, Democrats should hope that the state GOP’s pro-growth policies will lead to a population change that will result in adding a sixth seat. Right now the Republicans are headed by a governor who took 57.5 percent of the vote in the county that McCann says is steadily marching toward a “progressive” majority. The governor’s predecessor, moderate Democrat Brad Henry (a frequent target of scorn from “progressive” Dems) won the county with 63 percent. Yet the moderate Democrat nominated for governor in 2010 got 42.5 percent. Is this really a matter of time? Or is it a matter of values?
Giving it another try
Numerous legislative efforts through the years have failed to put much of a dent in the number of uninsured drivers in Oklahoma. This evergreen topic blooms again with a bill by Rep. Steve Martin, R-Bartlesville. Martin wants suspicion of driving while uninsured to be considered probable cause to make a traffic stop. That suspicion could be piqued through use of the state’s online verification system, which lets police know whether a vehicle they have pulled over is insured. Uninsured vehicles can be impounded after traffic stops — but driving an uninsured vehicle is not probable cause to make a stop. If Martin’s bill were to become law, he said, more vehicles could be cited or towed “without the need for the driver to break other laws at the same time.” It’s worth a try, at least until the next attempt comes down the pike.
Fighting for a cause
Fighting Sioux -- March 22, 2010 AP File Photo
The University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux nickname isn’t going away without a fight. The nickname was among several the NCAA deemed “hostile and abusive” in 2006. The NCAA threatened those schools with sanctions if they didn’t change their nicknames and logos. The university dropped its nickname and logo — the profile of an American Indian warrior — last year after the repeal of a state law requiring the school to use them. This week, organizers of a petition drive delivered about 4,000 more signatures than are required to put the question to voters. The university’s president then said the school would resume using the nickname until the referendum process is completed. Good for them. The NCAA was wrong to bully schools such as UND and others. We’re still waiting for it to put the squeeze on the Fighting Irish of the University of Notre Dame. Not hostile and abusive enough, apparently.
Towering costs
One consequence of the Great Recession has been a lowering in construction costs. Tell that to New Yorkers. This week, auditors looking into the new World Trade Center said completing the tower will cost $14.8 billion — a stunning 35 percent more than the last estimate of $11 billion in 2008. Auditors said the Port Authority, which owns the site, has “insufficient cost controls and a lack of transparent and effective oversight” of the project. No kidding. Contrast that with construction of the Devon tower in Oklahoma City. The estimated cost was $750 million when the building design was unveiled in 2008. Now? “We have not revised that figure,” spokesman Chip Minty said.
Above: World Trade Center, Jan. 31, 2012. (AP Photo)
Left: Devon tower, Feb. 1, 2012. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
Trashy performance
AP Photo
The incident didn’t generate the media coverage that Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” earned at the Super Bowl in 2004, but rapper M.I.A. flipping off the camera during Madonna’s Super Bowl performance Sunday night is another indication that the halftime show is hardly family friendly. M.I.A. stomped her foot on a pedestal before she sang “I don’t give a s—” and gave the middle finger to the camera. NBC attempted to blur the obscene gesture, but was a millisecond too late. M.I.A. reportedly could be fined if the FCC decides to punish the network, but that’s unlikely. CBS was fined $550,000 for Jackson’s bare breast incident, but the verdict was overturned by an appeals court. The Parents Television Council noted that NBC and the NFL shouldn’t have been surprised by the gesture after hiring a lineup “full of performers who have based their careers on shock, profanity and titillation.” Perhaps the host network each year needs to run a disclaimer warning viewers that the halftime show is for mature audiences.
Polar opposites
The income tax plan in Gov. Mary Fallin’s State of the State address has drawn opposite reactions from the state’s two leading public policy think tanks. Michael Carnuccio, president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, praised Fallin’s boldness. David Blatt, director of the Oklahoma Policy Institute, said the proposal “would bust a huge and permanent hole in the budget.” The details of the plan must still be worked out, and one think tank leader is optimistic as the other urges caution. “We can clearly see that when the dust settles, Oklahomans will keep more of their hard earned money next year,” said Carnuccio. Blatt wants the governor to get more input on the tax policies so they’ll be “fair to all Oklahomans and adequate to our state’s responsibilities.” We’re hopeful about tax reform this session and encourage the Legislature to take the next steps with a combination of courage and wisdom.
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin delivers her State of the State address on the floor of the Oklahoma House in Oklahoma City, Monday, Feb. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Garett Fisbeck)
Fruitful protests
Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
Although the Obama administration may be slow learners, we give them credit for listening to protests about proposed changes in laws for child farm laborers. The U.S. Department of Labor backtracked on a set of rules that would make many farming chores illegal for children younger than 16. The changes would have had a negative impact on America’s family farms and ranches. “The department’s proposals, though well intentioned, were far too encompassing and limiting to farming youth,” said Ed Luttrell, president of the National Grange, a rural advocacy group. Where common sense is called for, federal regulators usually offer dust in the wind. Thankfully these proposed farm rules were blown away by protests from farm groups.
Too many debates
TV ratings continue to shrink for the Republican presidential debates. Is that any surprise? Nineteen, count them 19, debates have been staged so far, not including informal candidate forums. How many more of these Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney verbal showdowns can viewers stand? After peaking at 7.6 million viewers for a debate Dec. 10 on ABC, audiences mostly have been on the decline. The Jan. 26 debate from Jacksonville, Fla., reached 5.4 million viewers on CNN. However, the network isn’t complaining. That’s well above its 735,000 daily average. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, is among those who want to see the debates end. He said they have turned into mud-wrestling contests and are driving up negative impressions of the party’s candidates. Fortunately, viewers will get a break this month. The next debate isn’t scheduled until Feb. 22 from Mesa, Ariz.
Out on a limb
AP Photo/CareerBuilder.com
Budweiser’s Clydesdales, Coca-Cola’s polar bears and CareerBuilder.com’s chimpanzees have all achieved fame through Super Bowl commercials. If Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo were in charge of casting, however, the suit-and-tie-clad chimps would be in danger of losing their starring role. The zoo is campaigning to stop CareerBuilder from airing its scheduled commercial Sunday, claiming that the anthropomorphized portrayal of the endangered species will make viewers less concerned about wildlife conservation. The company has been featuring chimps in Super Bowl ads since 2005, but a new Duke University study has added fuel to the critics’ fire. The study’s leader, assistant professor of evolutionary anthropology Brian Hare, is especially worried that Africans will be misled and attempt to capture and sell the wild primates to Westerners as pets. We’ll go out on a limb and say that television viewers around the world are highly evolved enough to recognize the entertainment value of a commercial without going bananas, unlike the researchers.
Exit pols
Early, voluntary departures are taking a toll on Democratic clout in the Legislature at a time when Republican successes at the ballot box have taken a toll on the Democratic head count. Senate Minority Leader Andrew Rice, D-Oklahoma City, resigned from his leadership post and left the state before the term-limit clock ran out. Former House Minority Leader Danny Morgan, D-Prague, says he’ll leave the Legislature before terms limits force him out. Former Senate Democratic leader Charlie Laster, D-Shawnee, is leaving early as well, putting his final three-plus years on ice. We thought term limits 
would change the makeup of the Legislature; we never thought so many lawmakers wouldn’t stay for the whole 12 years they’re eligible to serve. Laster filled the seat vacated by Brad Henry when he left the Senate to become governor in 2003. Henry, by the way, is technically eligible to serve another couple of years in the Legislature.
- Photo by Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman
