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?
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
Do as we say…
Graphic by Steve Boaldin
A single adult with one child needs a “living wage” of $16.74 an hour in Oklahoma County, where the state’s Democratic Party organization is based. The party touts itself as “a voice for workers’ rights and respectable wages, at both the state and national levels.” So how much does the party pay its own employees? The lowest wage at party headquarters is $11.63 an hour, which is more than the “living wage” for a single adult but considerably less than the rate for a single adult with one child. Also, in a list of 22 occupations, only three are typically compensated at a lower rate than the party pays. The party seeks to offer “competitively-priced options” for employee insurance. Not only is there a disconnect between what the party pays and what it thinks others should pay, but it seems to like competition in the health insurance field — something that its all-out support for Obamacare doesn’t jibe with.
Dancing with the snows
AP Photo
When is the exercise of religion on public property not an invitation to an injunction? When Indian culture is involved. The latest example among many is a Utah tribe’s snow dance to benefit ski resorts in Colorado. Seems the Great Spirit has been a bit stingy with the white stuff this year. Colorado isn’t the only state where snow dances have been held this year. While ski resorts are private property, the rites have also been held at a state park near Lake Tahoe. These are religious exercises. Oklahoma’s car tags carry a depiction of the “Sacred Rain Arrow,” a religious image. In the past few years, groundbreakings for Oklahoma projects involving public funds have included Indian religious rites. While neither Judaism nor Christianity originated on this continent, they have a long history here and are part of the culture. Why is it OK for one culture to be overtly religious in the public square but not another?
Layers of lawyers
“GM Collapses Into Government’s Arm,” screamed a headline in The Wall Street Journal. “A Saga of Decline and Denial,” said another Journal headline. But the headline that really caught our attention was published in the New York Times a week before General Motors’ bankruptcy filing on Monday: “Auto Troubles Touch Many Concerns; Bankruptcy For G.M. Would Tax The Experts.” The story says GM’s troubles are bad for workers and execs, “but it will be putting a lot of lawyers to work.” The government bailout and subsequent bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler could be called the Lawyers Full Employment Act of 2009 - President Obama’s gift to the legal industry. Other booms from GM’s bust will benefit hotels and restaurants near the New York bankruptcy court handling the case. “For law firms,” the Times noted, “big bankruptcies can be very lucrative.” Taxpayers take note: We’re sending lawyers tubs of money to rescue another corporate giant.
Aporkalypse now
Nothing like a pandemic scare to bring out the capitalists and the scam artists. One man’s swine flu symptom is another’s fatter pigskin wallet. Stores and Web sites have sold out of masks and hand sanitizers. Web sites created overnight are offering illegal and counterfeit flu drugs. Investment advisors are pointing out how to leverage swine flu into market gains. Designer breathing masks are on order, along with T-shirts that say “My folks went to Mexico and all they brought me was the flu.” Swine flu video games invite players to fatally inoculate pigs. An Australian newspaper dubbed this “aporkalypse humor,” but the flu is no laughing matter to pork producers and the capitalists who’ve been hurting due to curtailed travel and sick employees. Not to mention the survivors of those killed by this outbreak.
Relatively ‘rich’
A conservative group puts Oklahoma in the top 15 of states in terms of “economic competitiveness.” The American Legislative Exchange Council favors states that aren’t trying to tax their way back into solvency. Utah was tapped as the best in this regard; New York is the worst. Oklahoma did well because of growth in gross domestic product and personal income between 1997 and 2007. The “Rich States, Poor States” report also favors states with right-to-work laws and a minimum wage that doesn’t exceed the federal floor rate. By these measures, Oklahoma ranks low among those who favor higher taxes, closed union shops and a state minimum wage. People and business leaders looking for a place to prosper, though, are put off by states such as New York and California. An example is Arthur B. Laffer, one of the study’s authors, who’s famous (or infamous if you don’t like him) for his supply-side economics position. He moved from California (ranked 43rd in the study) to Tennessee (ranked 9th).
Et tu, Greenpeace?
We recently chided the Sierra Club for consuming so much conventional energy in trying to promote alternative energy. That effort doesn’t hold a patch to Greenpeace, a more radical environmental group, which has just come out with a “National Energy Scenario” report in conjunction with the European Renewable Energy Council. The report runs to 46 pages of tiny type, not to mention supporting materials sent to U.S. media affiliates. That’s a lot of paper and ink to talk about saving the environment in part through using less paper and ink. Of course we were comforted in knowing that the report and supporting materials were printed on recycled, chlorine-free paper using vegetable inks. No word on whether the presses were powered by humans working a treadmill rather than electricity generated by coal.
Drew who?
He’s no Willie Stark, but Drew Edmondson seems to be going populist in a big way. Will it help him in his quest to be the next governor? That he needs some help is shown by a new poll in which 35 percent of those surveyed said they’ve never heard of the state’s long-time attorney general. That’s a better recognition rate than his potential rival for the Democratic nomination, Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, but worse by 10 percentage points than GOP front-runner Mary Fallin. Edmondson’s visibility may have risen with his recent attacks on the state Department of Health over the cause of an E. coli outbreak in Locust Grove last summer. With his ongoing lawsuit against and outrage toward the poultry industry, Edmondson is ramping up the populist thing that sometimes makes a difference in elections but sometimes leads to disenchantment with the message and the messenger.
A fur piece
What’s a PETA-loving liberal to do? Just as the warm glow of Barack Obama’s election reached its zenith, many of his black supporters at the inauguration were keeping themselves warm by wearing fur coats. Seems fur is making a comeback after years of being demonized by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and its celebrity supporters. The fur industry says fur is a traditional symbol of status, luxury and beauty, but warmth and practicality are two key reasons for its popularity. Fur is particularly popular in the Chicago area, from whence Barack Obama ran for president. Blacks are “disproportionately big fur buyers,” the Wall Street Journal reported last week. Michelle Obama doesn’t wear fur, but we doubt she’d advocate pelting red paint on those who do, some of whom are her husband’s biggest supporters.
