This is a community blog operated by Oklahoma liberals dedicated to taking back this state for the people. A courageous band of true patriots, we fight right-wing tyranny in one of the reddest of red states. Do you want to help by keeping a diary here? Do you want traffic back to your blog? We welcome diaries written by liberals and centrist/ conservative Democrats. Register to the right and start posting. Crossposting is allowed. If you need help, contact Kurt, kurt.hochenauer@gmail.com.
Even in Oklahoma, I'm sure you've heard plenty about what's going on with the still-unsettled Senate race in Minnesota.
While Republican Norm Coleman prolongs his endless and pointless appeals, cementing his admission into the Sore Losers Hall of Fame, progressive organizations Democracy for America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee have introduced a new effort: NormDollar.com, "A Dollar a Day to Make Norm Go Away." Very simply put, commit to contributing just one dollar per day for every day that sore loser Norm Coleman refuses to concede.
This is exactly the correct approach to take in order to provide Republican leadership in Washington with adequate disincentive from continuing to fund Coleman's endless appeals. The GOP bigwigs funding Coleman's appeals see value in putting their money toward keeping progressive Senator-elect Al Franken from being seated. This grassroots-powered effort will make them think twice by generating many thousands of dollars for progressive candidates for every single day that they fund the Coleman circus.
If you feel so inclined, you can certainly chip in a bit of change directly to the Franken Recount Fund, as well.
Reposted with permission from original by soonerhq's diary at Daily Kos.
On Monday evening I stopped by the Hasting's bookstore here in Norman, OK. While perusing the community bulletin board, I noticed a flyer for the Tea Party to be held on the evening of April 15th at the Norman Santa Fe Train Depot. I chuckled to myself and went about my business. But then yesterday it occurred to me that the Norman Depot services the Heartland Flyer, an Amtrak line between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth. How ironic, I thought, that an anti-tax, anti-spending group would be meeting in a building associated with one of their perennial targets - a railroad company wholly owned by, and operating on a $2.6 billion annual subsidy from, the federal government.
OKWatchdog and several other groups (www.okhealthcarereform.com) have a health insurance reform rally planned at the Capitol on April 21 at 12:30 p.m. We'll either be on the South Plaza or inside on the stairs near the Lieutenant Governor's office, depending on the weather.
We announced the rally today at a press conference at the Capitol. You should see it on TV tonight or read about it tomorrow.
Sen. Kenneth Corn and Rep. Eric Proctor talked about a health insurance reform legislative agenda and promoted the rally. I talked about lack of health insurance industry accountability, as did the other speakers.
The rally will go for no longer than an hour (likely less) and will consist of nonprofits, patients, health care providers, small business owners and others talking about health insurance industry practices and telling their stories.
Our message is that we need to protect Oklahomans from abuses and take back the Legislature from the insurance lobby.
Obviously we need as many people to attend as possible. If you can stop by for a few minutes, it will make a huge difference in terms of public perception and media coverage.
I'll post a speaker list as soon as it's finalized.
Please consider attending. It's worthwhile and will get people's attention.
Our priorities are to:
Lessen the health insurance lobby's influence at the Capitol and make it more transparent
Stop insurance companies from cherry picking only young, healthy policyholders
Ban discrimination based on pre-existing conditions
Stop insurance companies from telling doctors how to practice medicine
Stop insurance companies from canceling coverage when someone gets sick
Stop insurance companies from setting inadequate lifetime caps on coverage
A rally to oppose Oklahoma SB 834 will be held Thursday, April 16th, 4:30-5:30 PM. It will be at the OEA Tulsa Regional Office, 10810 E. 45th St., west parking lot.
I would like to extend my appreciation to the Little Deep Fork Democratic Club for inviting me to speak at your meeting Tuesday night in Bristow, OK. It was a most excellent adventure. As you may have noticed, I am not a public speaker, but everyone was still very gracious and receptive.
Imagine being told your life is worth less than someone else's. If this sounds incredibly unfair and discriminatory, it is. Welcome to "reform" of our state's legal system, courtesy of billion-dollar insurance companies and huge corporations whose only concern is to carve out a special status so they can protect their profits.
Proposals to cap noneconomic damages in lawsuits are making their way through the Legislature. Caps blatantly discriminate against the elderly, the poor, minorities, children and stay-at-home mothers. Caps deny justice to the most severely injured - those who most need it and most deserve it.
To understand why, one must understand how lawsuits work.
When someone is injured, he or she may be awarded noneconomic damages. These are given for loss and suffering apart from lost income and medical bills. Examples include paralysis, blindness and limb loss.
Supporters of caps say pain and suffering is "fuzzy" and is unrelated to actual expenses. What's fuzzy is trying to place an arbitrary price on a person's unique circumstances and pretending those who suffer from life-changing injuries don't deserve something because their futures have been wrecked.
By capping noneconomic damages, Republican legislative leaders are saying your life is only worth the medical care you need because of someone else's negligence, the income you lost because someone else caused you to be unable to work, and no more than $300,000 for a lifetime of suffering and lost opportunities.
For those who haven't joined the work force and established a record of earnings, or have left the work force because of retirement or to raise a family, $300,000 will be all they can expect for the continuing anguish from their injuries.
By limiting noneconomic damages, GOP legislative leaders are saying the lives of the poor, the elderly and children are worth less than that of a corporate CEO who can document a large income.
Instead of telling average Oklahomans that they're less important than fat cats, true lawsuit reform would involve greater regulation of the insurance industry and stronger oversight of the medical profession. True reform would speed up the legal system and reduce its costs. It would protect everyone, not just the wealthy and powerful.
Oklahomans deserve better than corporate immunity, especially those who haven't even entered the work force or have spent their lives toiling and expect a peaceful retirement.
The NAACP Tulsa Branch is reviving the Juneteenth Celebration as a citywide event. The NAACP has encouraged community support in its efforts to plan for this year's event.
The NAACP is the nations oldest civil rights organization. Founded on February 19th, 1909 the Tulsa Branch will celebrate the 100th year Anniversary the week of Juneteenth celebrations.
As several states enter critical phases in their legislative sessions, the debate for one of the most controversial election reforms continues to dominate headlines and legislative hearings. This year, more than 26 states introduced legislation to go above and beyond federal election law relating to voter ID, despite near consensus among voting rights advocates that it hurts the process far more than it helps. Last week, the hysteria around voter ID reached an all time high in six states, evoking public concern from advocates and citizens alike.
Oklahomans are a step closer to giving politicians and insurance companies control of their legal system while gaining nothing in return.
Should HB 1603 become law, economic growth will be unchanged. Doctors' medical malpractice premiums will not decrease. Health care will not be more affordable or more accessible.
The bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee today on a 6-2 vote.
States with sweeping, one-sided changes like those in HB 1603 have the same economic growth rate as those without the so-called "reforms" - 3.5 percent.
HB 1603 clearly will increase profits for one group - insurance companies.
If profits in states without noneconomic damage caps were the same as those in states with caps, insurance companies would have made an additional $9.2 billion in 2005.
Oklahomans need to begin asking who is driving this agenda. As their profitability clearly shows, it's some of America's most greedy corporations that are seeking to irrevocably take away our rights.
HB 1603 won't make the slightest difference in economic growth or affordable health care, but it will make some extremely rich people even richer.
In calling for passage of HB 1603, the medical lobby claims that doctors are leaving the state.
However, Oklahoma's doctor population grew by a respectable 24 percent from 1997 to 2007.
Doctors who leave the state typically do so because of a relative lack of residency training programs and a desire to live elsewhere; lawsuits have no bearing on these decisions.
Oklahoma is graduating and training as many doctors as its medical schools and hospitals can accommodate. Claims otherwise are nothing but a smokescreen. It's truly sad to see doctors become pawns of insurance companies that have made their lives and those of their patients miserable.
Medical malpractice premiums for internists, general surgeons and obstetrician-gynecologists are 2 percent higher in states with caps than in states without caps.
Only insurance reform will truly save doctors money.
Oklahoma-born John Hope Franklin dies at 94 in North Carolina
30 March, 2009
By James Nimmo
Racism lends itself so easily to other discriminatory "-isms" and "-phobias"
(OKLAHOMA CITY) Though Oklahoma may refer to Dr. Franklin as a native, his career and education took him far from his hometown. Though Oklahoma claims to have been a haven of progressive thought and government, it seems to me that the early history has become reddened by the dust of memory and current history inflamed by GOPer-voting majorities.
While I typically focus on Senate races, the special election in New York's 20th Congressional district is an excellent opportunity to stick it to the Republican Party.
NY-20 is a Republican leaning district in voter registration, but has been recently represented by now-Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and even narrowly supported now-President Barack Obama over John McCain.
The Democratic nominee, Scott Murphy, has turned a deficit in the polls into a narrow four-point lead over Republican Jim Tedisco. Momentum is on our side! A victory in this special election wouldn't just be a nice Democratic hold, but, since it is a Republican-leaning district, it would also be a major embarrassment for Republicans, particularly new RNC Chair Michael Steele.
How desperate are Republicans in this race? Well, they're very literally reduced to going with a noun, a verb, and 9-11 in flailingly attacking Murphy. And how loathsome is the Republican nominee? Even the Libertarian candidate, who was booted from the race after - it would appear - Republicans made a concerted effort to get enough Libertarian ballot signatures overturned, has endorsed Scott Murphy. (And it's one hell of an endorsement.)
The special election is this Tuesday! So what can you do to help?
This is a special election, so GOTV is everything. On Monday or Tuesday, if you can spend literally one single hour making calls, that could be the difference in a Republican pick-up versus a Republican embarrassment.
The auto industry is undergoing a major transition. How can we set a course for its healthy development?
Automakers, by their nature, must make plans many years in advance. Right now, we have people designing products for 2015. That means that, if environmental standards are to be effective, it is crucial that we have very good collaboration between government and the auto industry. It requires smart regulatory practices, achievable goals, and a national roadmap we can depend upon.
We are in this thing together. It is time to collaborate.
Take emissions standards, for example. We understand the direction of the carbon economy. We embraced 40% higher federal fuel standards in the 2007 energy bill, and we fully expect a decade of rising standards, year by year, starting with the standards for 2011 to be announced in the near future.
We intend to accomplish those standards. In order to do that, we've urged the federal government to set emissions standards for multiple years into the future, to give us a predictable set of regulations to plan and design for. In recent years, California and other states have played an important role in setting emissions standards when there was no federal action on the issue. But today, the federal government is acting. Additional uncertainty can only undermine that progress. A single, national standard administered by the federal government is a reliable roadmap and we can move forward rapidly.
We also need to know that the infrastructure will be in place to support the advanced technologies we're developing. You can't have a fleet of plug-in hybrids and electric cars without a place to plug them in, or without sufficient energy to power them all.
Patchwork fixes and band-aids are not a good solution to our common problems. Our environmental and economic problems involve our whole country. So do the solutions. An integrated national plan provides a stable foundation for progress.
We're committed to reinventing the automobile. We will provide you with an even wider range of efficient automobiles. And if we can depend on a smart and stable set of regulations, the auto industry will be the driver behind a new low-carbon economy.
"I believe candidates with strong, sound stances deserve our support, and this is a race where your dollars can make the difference. Please make a contribution to this critical cause."
Sound familiar? If you have any experience with our fundraising pages you will have seen this (and perhaps fallen asleep to it) a few too many times. It is the default text for ActBlue's fundraising pages. ActBlue's customizable fundraising pages allow progressive activists to raise money for the best Democratic candidates out there easily and effectively, and the fifty state blog network has taken advantage of this feature to support state and national candidates with customized, targeted pages. But while the original blurb did help Democrats use our pages, we're in year 5 of ActBlue, and this is definitely year 3-4 material. We'll be working with thousands of new fundraisers this cycle, and we want to make sure they have the best language. And, well, this isn't it.
So, we need ideas.
We know you're best equipped to know what language will appeal to your friends and neighbors, so we wanted to give all of you an opportunity to create the next fundraising page blurb. If we pick yours, it will show up automatically on almost every fundraising page created on ActBlue. To show our appreciation, we'll send the winner and two runners-up an ActBlue Ice Cream Scoop! (No, we're not kidding. And trust us, it's a high quality scoop - The Original Zeroll.)
Okay, here are the guidelines:
The blurb must be fewer than 50 words.
It has to be fairly generic (no specific issues or names), but still get across the basic reason for the fundraising page. This is something our current text does fairly well, if you are looking for an example.
If you can make it apply to pages for candidates and/or committees, all the better. If not, at least make it appeal to people looking to donate to candidates.
We are Democrats, and our pages are for Democrats. If your message would appeal to Democrats, that would probably earn points.
Humor is a big plus, but only that universal humor that works for everyone.
Effective fundraising is personal. Think about what kind of language would help you be a better fundraiser, and think about why your friends and family might feel compelled to give.
ActBlue is active in all 50 states, helping Democrats raise money for their chosen candidate from the comfort of their living rooms and offices. We believe that your voice should be heard everywhere from your state capitol to the Senate floor, and we're working to make sure it is. Please support our work with a $15 recurring contribution today!
Iraq War 6th Year Memorials Planned in Oklahoma City
Two Oklahoma Fathers of Fallen Soldiers Speak Out about the Human Cost of War
What: Iraq 6th Year Memorial Service
When: 7pm, Thur, 3/19 (6:30 pm Media Interviews)
Where: Unitarian Church, 600 NW 13th St, OKC
Also: Other events listed below
The March 19, six-year anniversary of the start of the U.S. war in Iraq will be commemorated in Oklahoma City with memorial events, public vigils, and a silent memorial walk, according to planners. Peace House Director Nathaniel Batchelder said that the tone of events planned this year is more to seek higher wisdom to make the world less violent and more humane, and less to tell Washington, D.C., what to do.
Batchelder said, "We are hopeful that a new administration and Congress can resolve the Middle East conflicts with more diplomacy and less violence."
A memorial service will be held Thursday evening, March 19, at the First Unitarian Church, 600 NW 13th St. The public is invited, and the event begins at 7 p. m. Speakers include: Rev. Amy Venable, St. Stephens United Methodist Church, Norman; Imam Imad Enchassi, PhD, Islamic Society of Oklahoma City: Rev. Mark Christian, Senior Pastor at the Unitarian Church; and James Nimmo, Humanist and Atheist. Also speaking will be two Oklahoma fathers who lost their sons in the Iraq war, Warren Henthorn (Choctaw, OK), pictured left, and John Scripsick (Wayne, OK), pictured right. Media interviews available @ 6:30 pm.
On Saturday, March 21, a memorial vigil with activists holding signs calling for peace in the Middle East, will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on the northeast corner of the intersection of Meridian Avenue and Northwest Expressway. The public is invited to bring signs expressing their own hopes for peace, Batchelder said.
On Sunday, March 22, a silent memorial walk will begin at 2 p.m., from Civic Center Park, downtown Oklahoma City, at 201 N. Walker. Speakers will set the tone of the walk, and the route will encircle the Murrah Building National Memorial and return to the park. "In Oklahoma City, we know that one bomb is too many," Batchelder said. A display of boots symbolizing the deaths of U.S. troops in Iraq will be part of the event, provided by members of the American Friends Service Committee. Speakers include John Scripsick and Warren Henthorn, who both lost their sons in the Iraq war, Daniel Sandate, Iraq veteran and Reggie Cervantes, 9/11 rescue worker. Rev Lance Schmitz, of the First Nazarene Church of Oklahoma City, will lead attendees in a reading of the names of Oklahomans fallen in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
On the following Tuesday, March 24th, Oklahoma City Community College has events planned after students return from spring break. Call Steve Morrow, OCCC Advocates for Peace, at (405) 682-1611 x 7350 for more information.
This week Texas and Oklahoma are pushing Voter ID bills that would require all voters to show either their drivers licenses or state issued ID or voter registration card when they vote. These laws work to reduce the number of people who are able to vote most often the elderly, young voters, African Americans, Latino Americans, and communities of color. Republican lawmakers tend to push these laws as a means of reducing the number of "these people" from voting to reduce the number of traditionally democratic voters.
In Oklahoma's case this means 78,000 voters over 18 who would not be able to vote because they don't have a state issued photo ID. US Census, Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, Election Board estimates up to 10% of recent registrants are effected by this law.
At least in the case of Oklahoma, college and university IDs will be considered valid. Representative Joe Dorman (D-65), who insisted on their inclusion, said, "I worry a poll worker might not allow the driver's license of an out-of-state student enrolled and registered to vote in their college community. I commend Rep. Sue Tibbs (R-23), who introduced the bill, for recognizing the importance of allowing these voters at both public and private institutions the opportunity to use this ID should the bill become law."
From the Oklahoma House of Representatives press office:
On the same day that the Republican-led House of Representatives passed legislation increasing federal control over the local judiciary, the U.S. Supreme Court made a ruling in total opposition.
Last Wednesday the House passed HB1603, a bill that - among other things - makes it virtually impossible to hold a drug or product manufacturer liable for the damage caused by a dangerous drug or product if a federal agency, such as the FDA, has approved it.
At the same time, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a strikingly similar rule - one which stated that Federal agency approval pre-empts state juries from holding drug manufacturers accountable.
"This is further evidence that the Republican majority in Oklahoma is moving our state in the wrong direction," said Rep. Ryan Kiesel, D-Seminole. "While the Supreme Court is empowering state juries and protecting states' rights, the Republican legislature is going out of its way to protect big pharmaceutical companies."
Rep. Cory Williams, D-Stillwater, shared concerns that this provision of the bill would be overturned if signed into law.
"I voted against the bill in part because it would remove all accountability from makers of products such as Vioxx, which received FDA approval, but was later proven unsafe," he said. "The Supreme Court ruled that the ability for individuals to seek redress in state courts is not detrimental, but it is a useful complement to federal regulators.
"The Supreme Court has restored an important piece in our system of checks and balances, even while state House leadership agreed to throw it out the window," he added.
Read this article in the Houston Chronicle for more information on the case, Wyeth v. Levine.
The unlikely bedfellows who filed briefs in support of the plaintiff, Vermont guitarist Diana Levine, who lost her arm and her livelihood because of an improperly administered drug, showed the case's reach and significance. They include former editors of the New England Journal of Medicine; the National Conference on State Legislatures; consumer groups; two former FDA commissioners; the Texas Medical Association; a number of states, including Oklahoma; and the AARP.
Who filed briefs supporting Wyeth? Drugmakers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and defense attorneys, of course.
Read this chilling brief from former New England Journal of Medicine editors to understand how little FDA approval of drugs and medical devices really means.
The state House has approved yet another piece of legislation to place control of the state's courts in the hands of politicians and insurance companies.
House Bill 1570 requires plaintiffs in civil lawsuits to seek expensive affidavits that attest to the case's merit. These affidavits cost thousands of dollars and can make it impossible for injured Oklahomans to receive their day in court.
The bill's author, Rep. Colby Schwartz, claims "frivolous lawsuits" clog the state's legal system. Yet the facts show he's dead wrong.
From 2003-07 medical negligence filings decreased by 29.7 percent in the state's 13 most populous counties. Moreover, 39 counties - 51 percent of the state's total - had fewer than give medical malpractice lawsuits from 2004-07.
Schwartz also claims that lawsuits are increasing health care costs. Yet if medical malpractice payments to injured Oklahomans were eliminated entirely, health care costs would decrease by well less than 1 percent.
Only in the twisted logic of some legislative leaders is kicking sand in the face of injured Oklahomans making the system fairer.
THE FRAME: Corporate immunity is the new Reaganomics
9 March, 2009
By Bryan Lower
The justice system was once the privilege of the rich. Tort manipulation will make it that way again.
One of the great shames of Reaganomics is how effectively it reversed the progress made in the twentieth century on income inequality. The last remnants of the robber barons effectively destroyed themselves in 1929, along with the serious practitioners of laissez faire economics. Following the Second World War, the new middle class created by the G.I. Bill and labor unions flattened he income pyramid. Reagan would have none of that, and immediately implemented tax policies that reversed the trend. Now the proposed deconstruction of the tort system promises to mirror the decline of equality in the economy by eliminating equality in the courtroom.
Since when did state legislatures take governance principles from Islamic and Communist models? Proposing resolutions to limit discourse based on opinions that might differ from their own seems to go contrary to how our system works. I was so outraged I sent a letter to the House leadership and my personal Representative. What follows is his callous response that ignores the main point of my letter.
"Mr Dawkin's so called expertise can not be embellished, it is simply wrong. As a co-author or Representative Thomsen's Resolution, I can only say I wish I had thought of it first."
The summer peace camps program offered by The Peace Education Institute is now in its third year of providing young people an opportunity to explore ideas and issues, to expand their knowledge of history, and to develop cooperative, community-building skills that will serve them throughout life.
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This week Texas and Oklahoma are pushing Voter ID bills that would require all voters to show either their drivers licenses or state issued ID or voter registration card when they vote. These laws work to reduce the number of people who are able to vote most often the elderly, young voters, African Americans, Latino Americans, and communities of color. Republican lawmakers tend to push these laws as a means of reducing the number of "these people" from voting to reduce the number of traditionally democratic voters.
