From tonight's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Coburn is taken to task for cloaking himself in this allusion of "caring for our troops" while refusing to do what is right for them. Even his own party disagrees with him, and its no surprise that Oklahoma Democrats all agree we should do the right thing for our veterans.
The Army Times today announced that Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn is the one responsible for holding up a major veterans benefits bill.
"Coburn has been identified by Senate aides as the lawmaker preventing consideration of S 1963, the Veterans' Caregiver and Omnibus Health Benefits Act of 2009, by using an informal but legal practice of putting a hold on a bill. . .
Earlier this fall, Coburn placed holds on S 252, the Veterans Health Care Authorization Act of 2009, and S 728, the Veterans' Insurance and Benefits Enhancement Act of 2009, which led to the introduction of S 1963, which combines key provisions of the two earlier bills in an effort to get around Coburn's opposition.
In a letter sent Monday night to the Senate majority leader, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the 13 military and veterans groups ask the Senate to get on with it.
"It is essential that Congress act on this comprehensive measure without further delay," the letter reads. "Thousands of disabled veterans with serious medical conditions and the family members who care for them are counting on this additional support."
The letter says passing the bill by Veterans Day would be a "fitting way" to honor veterans."
Oklahoma honors its veterans, and I find it totally unacceptable for a Senator to be holding up legislation that would help take care of our veterans in such an unstable economy when everyone is hurting.
All voters, regardless of partisanship stand up for our troops and our veterans, Oklahomans shouldn't stand for Coburn's hold on this bill.
Please contact his office here:
Washington D.C.:
172 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
Main: 202-224-5754
Fax: 202-224-6008
Tulsa:
1800 South Baltimore
Suite 800
Tulsa, OK 74119
Main: 918-581-7651
Fax: 918-581-7195
Oklahoma City:
100 North Broadway
Suite 1820
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
Main: 405-231-4941
Fax: 405-231-5051
We are very excited to be hosting a workshop on teaching peace in Oklahoma public schools, and with that workshop kicking off a program to provide alternatives to the pro-war messages and limited options offered to young people by recruiters in schools, malls and just about everywhere they go these days.
Here's the text of our invitational flyer:
TEACH PEACE
WORKSHOP TO SHOWCASE ALTERNATIVES
TO MILITARY RECRUITMENT,
KICK OFF EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN Monday, 8-10-2009, 6:30 - 9:00 pm
Joy Mennonite Church, 504 16th St, Oklahoma City
(corner of Lincoln and 16th, just south of Capitol)
The Republicans, pictured right, join Democrats Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma Attorney General, and Jari Askins, Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor, in publicly announcing they may run for the position. Current Gov. Grad Henry finishes his second and last term in 2010.
All four potential candidates have solid name recognition throughout the state and could run competitive races depending on the particular political circumstances in 2010.
If Republicans capture the governor's seat and maintain their majorities in the Oklahoma House and Senate, the state will obviously become even more conservative in its politics. This could isolate the state even more from the national political scene and further damage its image. This, in turn, could hurt economic development.
The Republican fiscal ideology of the last eight years--many would say the last three decades--has been soundly repudiated and rejected, but this won't stop conservatives here from clinging to failed ideas.
On Nov. 4, Oklahomans have a serious question to ask themselves before voting: Do they want to be stuck with two Senators and all but one of their Representatives in the minority party for the foreseeable future, or do they want to be seriously involved in governing this country, solving our collective problems and moving into the future?
Plutonium Page has posted to Daily Kos a diary which helps to expose some important background information about T. Boone Pickens and his "plan" that supposedly will liberate us from foreign oil.
Devilstower and I just went to a talk here at the DNC featuring T. Boone Pickens. Everyone was under the impression that the event would involve an actual discussion (as in, a Q & A session, like nearly all of the other Big Tent special topic sessions). We had a really energetic live blog thread going, where all of you were submitting questions.
Sorry, guys. Apparently, the whole thing was just a sales pitch. T. Boone hightailed it out of there before anyone could even raise their hand.
I'll post some excerpts below, but really, go to the original, where you can also read the comments, which are just as illuminating.
The Democratic Party of Oklahoma has called for Senator Jim Inhofe to return "tainted" money he received from Sen. Ted Stevens, who was indicted today corruption charges. The Oklahoma politician is running for re-election this year, and got $10,000 from Stevens political PAC for his campaign.
The campaign of Andrew Rice, Inhofe's Democratic chanllenger, posted in a blog, "Today, the differences between Andrew Rice and his opponent, Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, became even clearer."
"Senator Obama is also a person of sound and good judgment. He had the good judgment more than five years ago to warn against our involvement in this tragic and costly war. He also understands the need to repair our partnerships with other nations and to more effectively use diplomacy to serve our national interests."-David Boren
David Boren's recent endorsement of Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama is an oasis of hope for the state when compared to Oklahoma's growing national reputation as a right-wing, intolerant haven for gay bashers and immigrant haters.
His endorsement also could be read as a wake up call to academics in the state. In a statement related to the endorsement, Boren, pictured right, president of the University of Oklahoma, said, "I am joining Senator Barack Obama's advisory team on foreign policy and national security because I believe it is my duty as a citizen to do all I can to help our country at this critical moment. Our strength is declining. Eighty-one percent of Americans believe we are heading in the wrong direction. We must act quickly to meet and overcome the challenges we face."
In other words, the country's political systems are broken. Oklahoma academics, using Boren as an example, should get involved in this presidential election as citizens "at this critical moment" in history no matter whom they support and that includes the Republican presumptive nominee John McCain. There needs to be real debate and dialogue among Americans about the country's direction. Now more than ever, academics are crucial in starting and maintaining this debate. A real debate will not be fostered by mainstream media outlets, which are stuck in tabloid-like rhetorical frames, a lazy, laughable "gotcha" flag pin reporting that has very little meaning in today's world. The recent ABC "debate" hosted by Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos represented a new low in meaningless, tabloid television.
State Sen. Andrew Rice (D-Oklahoma), who is running for the U.S. Senate against Republican incumbent Jim Inhofe this year, was recently interviewed by Grist, a prominent online magazine dedicated to environmental issues.
In the interview, Rice, pictured right, discussed his campaign against Inhofe, who once called global warming a hoax and fights against any federal legislation addressing climate change. Rice also discussed how fighting climate change could benefit the Oklahoma economy.
Rice said, "This is a win-win for Oklahoma, particularly around wind energy. We're really in a position to be able to provide clean, renewable energy [to nearby states].
"I've got two bills [in the state Senate], one that's going to be converting our state vehicles to alternative fuels, and another that's going to be doing an energy-efficiency study of our schools and state buildings, trying to find ways to save money. I have rural Republican state Senate colleagues who were very supportive of these ethanol, biofuel, wind-energy initiatives we have; it's not a partisan issue for them, because they have constituents in their communities poised to benefit from developing these programs."
Rice's positions on climate change are reasonable and responsible and stand in marked contrast to Inhofe's over-the-top, anti-environment rhetoric, which has embarrassed the state.
The prevailing political partnership between U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe and The Daily Oklahoman will lead to even more severe ice storms like the one Oklahoma experienced last week.
This is because the state's largest newspaper continues to support Inhofe and his wild claims denying the impact of climate change on the state and nation. (Click on the image to the right. An Inhofe interview comes on in about two minutes.) Meanwhile, a state climatologist, Derek Arndt, said last week's ice storm was part of a pattern produced by warmer winters in Oklahoma. In past decades, the ice might have turned to snow-far less dangerous and destructive than ice-before falling to the ground.
Last week's storm was blamed for the deaths of 23 people here. More than 600,000 people were without power at one point. About 125,000 people still remain without power. The storm killed or damaged thousands of trees in the state.
Inhofe and the newspaper's editorial board do not get it, and the state will obviously suffer through frequent, horrific ice storms in the future because of it.
As everyone in the world knows, Inhofe has called global warming a hoax, and he continues to deny that climate change is caused at least partially by carbon emissions. Reputable scientists throughout the world argue otherwise. The evidence is overwhelming. Inhofe, with the newspaper's tacit approval, will not even engage in an intelligent conversation about it. It seems perfectly fitting he represents a state that is probably experiencing more destructive storms caused by global warming than anywhere else in the nation right now.
State Sen. Andrew Rice (D-Oklahoma City), pictured right, will liveblog on Daily Kos at 3 p.m., Thursday Dec. 13. Here is the link.
Rice, a progressive Democrat, is running against U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe in the 2008 election. Rice, 34, hopes to upset the 73-year-old Senator who has become a symbol of everything that is wrong about Washington politics today.
As Rice reaches out to his constituents and voters, Inhofe, who denies the existence of global warming, will be "gearing up to filibuster a Republican bill that will confront climate change and carbon emissions." (That's not a typo. It's a Republican bill.)
Inhofe continues to embarrass the state with his personal war on science. His political stunts, which only serve the interests of the big oil companies, make the state seem backwards. If the state's chamber of commerce types really want to improve economic development here, they will get behind Rice's campaign.
It's time for a change. The state needs to send Inhofe into retirement and elect someone as U.S. Senator who is forward thinking and intelligent. Check out Daily Kos here at 3 p.m.
(Yes, please, Inhofe already. It is time to send U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) into retirement. Check out his opponent in the 2008 election, State Sen. Andrew Rice (D-Oklahoma City), a true progressive who supports a full and open discussion on climate change and all environmental issues.)
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe has brought more embarrassment to Oklahoma. The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has designated Inhofe as the leader of its "Dirty Dozen" list for possessing one of the worst anti-environmental records in Congress.
Unfortunately, the designation ultimately reflects on the state's residents, many of whom do not support Inhofe's radical anti-environmental agenda and ideology. This must include some of his fellow Republicans. For example, in his ongoing gesture of absurdity, Inhofe calls global warming a "hoax" developed by liberals. He has been admonished by U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer twice at Senate Environment and Public Works Committee meetings for acting rudely to former Vice President Al Gore and a fellow senator as they tried to speak candidly about climate change.
(It is time to send U.S. Sen Jim Inhofe into retirement. State Sen. Andrew Rice (D-Oklahoma City), who is running against Inhofe in 2008, worked diligently in a bi-partisan effort last legislative session to pass the "All Kids Act," which increases health care coverage for children.)
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, the infamous global warming denier, has turned his legendary right-wing wrath against Oklahoma children.
The 72-year-old Inhofe is actively working to stop an appropriate and much needed expansion of a popular children's health insurance program, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), even though he represents a state with high rates of uninsured children. Inhofe, echoing President George Bush, calls the expansion a new "entitlement" program for the middle class and even issued a press release about it.
(We need to send the denier/denyer into retirement. Click here to support State Sen. Andrew Rice, who is running against U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe in 2008.)
Oklahoma's most embarrassing political leader, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, continues to throw angry fits in committee meetings in an effort to stop discussions over scientific and firsthand information related to global warming.
In yet another bizarre episode in the senator's personal war against science, Inhofe tried to prevent U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland) from discussing the impact of global warming on the Chesapeake Bay. Mikulski and other Bay area politicians were invited to share information at a recent hearing of the Environment and Public Works Committee, headed by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California).
Inhofe, who calls global warming a "hoax" created by liberals, is the former head of the committee and one of the main reasons why the country has been late in dealing with the ramifications of climate change. (Even Imperial President George Bush acknowledges global warming and "that human activity is a factor.")
(Are you sick and tired of U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe's bizarre comments on global warming and the Iraq occupation? Then click here to elect State Sen. Andrew Rice, a progressive Democrat who is running against Inhofe in the 2008 election. Let's send Inhofe into retirement.)
Even Oklahoma's corporate power structure believes the state needs more college graduates, but do not count on U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe to help out.
Inhofe was one of just twelve U.S. Senators who recently voted against a bill to expand federal aid for college students. President George Bush has said he will sign the bill, which passed the Senate 79-12 and the House 292-97. The extra funding will be financed by cutting fees to banks on loans provided to students.
(Click here for the Hunt Terrorists, Not Doves account for Andrew Rice on ActBlue.)
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, the Washington relic and Bush lapdog, is holding his annual Oklahoma Dove Hunt at Quartz Mountain Lodge Sept. 7-8. His invited guest is probably the only other senator who will even be seen with him these days, John Cornyn (R- Texas), another Bush toady and Washington insider.
Are there two more washed-up, narcissistic Washington politicians than Inhofe and Cornyn? And here these two Republican bigwigs are hunting the dove, the international symbol of peace, as more American soldiers and innocent Iraqis die. The hunt is a dark but fitting symbol of the killing these two men have supported during the Iraq occupation. As many Republican leaders, such as U.S. Sens. John Warner (Virgina) and Chuck Hagel (Nebraska) moderate their positions on the occupation, both Inhofe and Cornyn want the killing to continue indefinitely.
Inhofe has also embarrassed Oklahoma and the nation with his outrageous comments about torture, global warming and lifestyles. He is despised throughout the world as an ultra-partisan who does not believe in basic scientific evidence.
We wanted to post this quickly. This post on New Nebraska Network is a must read. Check it out and click through the links. U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn and his supporters prove their hypocrisy again.
State Sen. Andrew Rice's U.S. Senate campaign against the kooky Jim Inhofe continues to draw national attention.
Rice was featured in this excellent and thorough kos blog today on Daily Kos. Yesterday, his campaign was featured on the Congressional Quarterly site.
Also, a campaign fundraising account for Rice on ActBlue is steadily growing in donors and money.
State Sen. Andrew Rice, who recently announced his U.S. Senate bid against Jim Inhofe, will live blog on Daily Kos at 3 p.m. (CST) Wednesday.
Rice decided to take on the gargantuan task of bringing down Inhofe when grassroots supporters in Oklahoma and across the nation appealed to him. He plans to run an aggressive campaign that will point out Inhofe's lack of integrity and the many times the kooky senator has embarrassed the state with his outrageous public comments.
Are you sick and tired of Jim Inhofe? Here is Rice's ActBlue account. ActBlue helps progressive candidates throughout the country raise money through the netroots. Please consider donating some money to help Oklahoma take a giant step forward in terms of its national image.
Another day, another local, right-wing media outlet argues Democrats should be like Republicans so some Republicans can be to the right of the quasi-fascist, mission-accomplished president they so adore.
So here we are, still 14 months away from the 2008 elections, and already the editorial writers at The Daily Oklahoman feel compelled to criticize State Sen. Andrew Rice’s campaign against U.S. Senate Jim Inhofe.
Heck, Rice has not even officially announced he is running yet. The bullies and chicken hawks at The Daily Oklahoman, the propaganda ministry for the state GOP, must be scared.
This is a community blog operated since 2006 by people dedicated to promoting and restoring progressive values in Oklahoma. A courageous band of patriots, we fight right-wing tyranny in one of the reddest of red states. Do you want to help by posting here? Do you want traffic back to your blog or site? We welcome posts written by liberals and centrist to conservative Democrats and Independents. Register above and start posting. Crossposting is allowed. Questions? Contact kurt.hochenauer@gmail.com.
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