More Info on the 'No Obamacare' Rallies

Here's more information on the No Obamacare Rallies to be held on Friday in Oklahoma:

The No Obamacare Rallies in Tulsa are at 71st St. & Hwy 169 from 4 pm to 6 pm.

The No Obamacare Rallies in Oklahoma City will be at the following sites on Friday, July 17, 2009 11a.m to 12 p.m. Those sites include:

Senator Jim Inhofe
1900 NW Expressway Ste. 1210 (50 Penn Place)
OKC

Senator Tom Coburn
100 N. Broadway Ste. 1820 (Downtown)
OKC

Representative Tom Cole
2420 Springer Dr. Ste. 120
Norman

Representative Mary Fallin
120 N. Robinson Ste. 100
OKC

Representative Frank Lucas
10952 NW Expressway Ste B
Yukon

The organizers say there will be ice water on hand, which is a good thing this time of year. They also invite people to bring their signs and, they add, make the lettering large enough for easy reading by passing motorists.

These rallies are in addition to the rallies at Rep. Boren's offices in McAlester and Claremore.

On State Senators No Longer Tagging the Agent

If tonight you fall out of your bed, it is because the Oklahoma earth is quaking from the potential end of tax agency patronage.

Today the State Senate voted overwhelmingly to stop the practice of state senators recommending the heads of tag agencies.

The task to return professionalism back to the appointment and management of tag agencies took yet another huge step on Thursday with wide bipartisan approval from the Senate.

Coffee’s Senate Bill 888 ends the Senate’s tag agency patronage system by prohibiting lawmakers from recommending tag agents to the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC). In the past, Oklahoma State Senators have suggested to the OTC those individuals they thought should hold the position of tag agent. Under Coffee’s legislation, the Oklahoma Tax Commission will directly appoint tag agents.

I'm not sure where the writer of this story got the idea that this vote was a return to professionalism because, with the exception of Tulsa and Oklahoma counties, the other 75 have never been out from under the patronage system.

I also don't know whether the result will be better or worse for state residents, but it cleans up the image somewhat.

In the old days the system was played so closely to the vest that there often was only one tag agency per county. You went to the county seat for your tags, your title transfers, your drivers' licenses. You did your business with Ol' Tom (or Fred, or Wilma) and his/her family members because they were thicker than thieves with Senator Spudnutz, a good ol' boy his self elected since the Depression, and his daddy a'fore him.

I didn't much care to go into the county seat, and it usually meant a long line, but I never thought I was wrongly treated by anyone at a patronage agency.

It wasn't until I moved to Tulsa County that I got to experience the "improved" version; also patronage but there were more of them. That changed a few years ago so that you can go to just about any Tulsa County community and get your license test, your tags changed, or whatever else.

Truth is, I suspect the patronage system became more of a burden on state senators than it was an asset. Besides, there are so many more lucrative ways to make extra money these days if you are clever and crooked.

This Good Ol' Boy is Ready for Voter ID

Is anyone tired of the "good old boy" factor in Oklahoma politics?

Sure, I understand it. So-and-so is a "good old boy" and though hardly anyone knows what his real values are, or to whom he owes allegiance, he gets lots of votes from the real good old boys. Now there's nothing wrong with being a real good old boy: they are the backbone of this state and nation. They have bedrock values, work ethics, and you don't want to ever piss 'em off by letting them know you've been fooling them.

Which is why I'm amazed at how Gov. Brad Henry has managed to get elected twice and still maintain a good popularity level. Sure, luck enters into it. Steve Largent obviously thought he could win the governor's office on name recognition alone, and "phoned in" much of his campaigning effort. Henry out-hustled him. (Does anyone even remember who ran against Henry the second time around? Oh, yeah. Ernest Istook. Good man, but he doesn't come across as a good old boy.)

What has Bad Brad done for Oklahoma? Well, casinos have done really, really well.

What else? Well, casinos have done really, really well.

He's also done a good job of protecting the incomes of trial lawyers by making sure that tort reform stays south of the border.

Now he's protected someone else: by vetoing the "Voter ID" law passed by the Oklahoma Legislature, he's making sure that ACORN and other "community organizing" groups can meddle with the integrity of Oklahoma elections, just as they are throughout the United States. We sure wouldn't want these low-income "volunteers" (who get paid) to have to ply their trade elsewhere, would we?

Naturally, Bad Brad and his spokesman, Paul Sund, are outraged that the Legislature would even think of submitting Voter ID to a statewide referendum of We, the People (WTP).

Quoted Sund: "They're obviously gambling they can convince Oklahoma voters to trust the Legislature more than the League of Women Voters."

I don't know about you, but the legislators are elected by us. The League of Women Voters are not. There was once a time when I would trust the League of Women Voters, but that was quite some time and a lot of "progressive" ideas ago. I trust We, the People (WTP) to make reasonable decisions based on logic and perceived benefits or threats. There is an ongoing threat to the integrity of the voting process throughout the country. There are groups that want to dilute your voting strength through intimidation and fraud. Voter ID would solve that issue.

Bad Brad was quoted: "A small but still significant minority of registered voters, many of whom are senior citizens or the working poor, do not have easy access to an official form of identification and, therefore, could be discouraged from participating in the electoral process by the restrictions contained in Senate Bill 4."

So what would be wrong if some outfit, for instance, the League of Women Voters, went to nursing homes and helped people get their official Voter ID cards, photo included?

And the working poor? How do these folks get to work in the first place if they don't have a driver's license? How much more difficult to get a Voter ID? And if they aren't smart enough or willing enough to do so, do we really want them helping us decide who represents us?

Or are we really talking about undocumented workers? You know, the ones that aren't supposed to be here in the first place, but who just might show up and give a precinct worker the name of someone who should have been purged from the voter rolls?

Admittedly, these incidents are a "small but still significant minority" of those who participate in our elections, but the numbers are growing. Indeed, there is a movement growing nationwide to subvert our electoral system.

I think "We, the People," are quite fed up with it. I think even the Good Old Boys are fed up with it. In fact, I talk to Good Old Boys day in and day out and they tell me that they are.

Some of them have even told me that they wish Bad Brad could run for a third term, just so they could vote against him this time.

That won't be possible, but Oklahoma will have the Voter ID question on the ballot, and we can let the governor know exactly how we feel about his attempt to protect those who would pervert our election system.