Mr. Pruitt Goes to Washington a Fringe Ideologue’S Improbable Journey from Back-Bencher to Presidential Cabinet

• An Independent Journal of Commentary • JANUARY 2017 • VOLUME 49 NUMBER 1 • $5.00 Mr. Pruitt Goes To Washington A Fringe Ideologue’s Improbable Journey From Back-Bencher To Presidential Cabinet

– Cover story begins on page 24 Observations

www.okobserver.net Welcome! VOLUME 49, NO. 1 With this, the first issue of our 49th year as Oklahoma’s premier jour- PUBLISHER Beverly Hamilton nal of free voices, The Observer welcomes nearly 200 new readers – EDITOR Arnold Hamilton many joining us thanks to the generosity of loyal subscribers who re- sponded to our annual holiday gift campaign. DIGITAL EDITOR MaryAnn Martin As way of introduction, you’ll soon discover The Observer is the antith- FOUNDING EDITOR Frosty Troy esis of the state’s lockstep, conservative mainstream media. While they shamelessly trumpet the interests of the deep-pocketed, silk-stocking ADVISORY BOARD 1%, we champion equality and fairness for all – regardless of race, gen- Marvin Chiles, Andrew Hamilton, der, religion, sexual preference or socio-economic status. Matthew Hamilton, Scott J. Hamilton, Trevor James, Ryan Kiesel, We are unabashed liberals, staunch supporters of public education, George Krumme, Gayla Machell, separation of church and state, and civil liberties. We believe that to- Bruce Prescott, Robyn Lemon Sellers, gether we have a moral obligation to take care of children in the dawn of Kyle Williams their lives and seniors in the twilight of theirs – everyone else is on their OUR MOTTO own, unless they need a hand-up, not a handout. To Comfort the Afflicted and Afflict the We don’t agree with every viewpoint we publish, but we believe few Comfortable. things contribute to a healthy democracy quite like a raucous public square, full of diverse ideas and respectful debate. OUR CREDO So then to all their chance, to all their Despite the Republican supermajority’s financial mismanagement at shining golden opportunity. To all the NE 23rd and Lincoln Blvd. and the election of Donald Trump as presi- right to love, to live, to work, to be dent, we are optimistic that Oklahoma’s and America’s best days are themselves, and to become whatever ahead – if good-hearted, fair-minded folk are given the facts necessary to thing their vision and humanity can combine to make them. This seeker, demand good-hearted, fair-minded public policy from our elected lead- is the promise of America. ers. - Adapted from Thomas Wolfe Please let us know what you think. We welcome other points of view – minus any name-calling, innuendo or slander. If you like what you FOUNDING PUBLISHER Helen B. Troy see, we’d be forever grateful if you’d help us introduce others to The 1932-2007 Observer. Our annual holiday gift campaign – with bargain-rate $35 subscrip- [ISSN 0030-1795] The Oklahoma Observer [USPS 865-720] tions – continues through January. [See page 47 for details and a sub- is published on the first Wednesday of each CONTINUED ON PAGE 43 month by AHB Enterprises LLC, 13912 Plym- outh Crossing, P.O. Box 14275, Oklahoma City, OK 73113-0275. Periodicals postage paid at Edmond, OK and additional entry office.

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Lots of chatter in GOP circles Tulsa’s U.S. Rep. Jim Briden- We believe in redemption, but that ex-House Speaker T.W. Shan- stine to NASA as administrator? our good nature is sorely tested in non trashed Gov. Mary Fallin dur- Shouldn’t a Luddite automatically the case of Glenn Beck, who now ing Trump administration audi- be disqualified from leading an says he’s sorry for all the bile he tions. Fallin is a lousy governor, agency built on space-age technol- spewed during the Obama years but we’d take her over five-alarm ogy? and the damage it did to America. phony Shannon. Dart: To Seminole Rep. Tom New- Dart: To OK Retail Liquor As- Dart: To ex-AG Mike Turpen, ell, resigning a month after win- sociation, suing to block voter- praising Scott Pruitt’s selection as ning re-election. His joining the approved liquor law changes. Why EPA chief – the fox guarding the rightwing Foundation for Govern- not work first with Legislature this henhouse. Turpen’s ass-kissing ment Accountability stink tank spring to ensure all sides are treat- forever cements his DINO status. will cost taxpayers thousands for ed as fairly as possible? March 7 and May 9 special elec- The Legislature’s Family Values tions. Gov. Mary Fallin’s annual Feed- crowd spent $44,500 of your tax ing Oklahoma Drive yielded more dollars as hush money to make Our friend Don Sherry reports than 2.6 million meals for hungry a sex harassment charge against medical science unveiled a new Sooners – $303,991 in donations Tulsa Rep. Dan Kirby go away. procedure – the Trumpectomy – in and 1.3 million pounds of food. Now, he refuses to leave office – which the president-election’s for- withdrawing his resignation. merly fierce GOP opponents have Laurel: To Oklahoma Supreme their spines removed. Court, unanimously nullifying yet Laurel: To term-limited Sen. another legislative attack on re- Mike Mazzei, recently delivering Laurel: To Oklahoman Jay Par- productive rights. How many more his annual check to Foundation mley, named Alaska Democratic tax dollars will be squandered de- for Tulsa Public Schools equal to Party executive director. He served fending clearly unconstitutional at least 10% of his Senate salary. marvelously in the same capacity measures? Classy. here from 2001-05. CONTINUED ON PAGE 44 THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 3 Letters

Editor, The Observer: for Donald Trump. Simply calling up one day and found that his par- Thank you for keeping us in- them names is intellectually lazy ty and its leaders, its politicians formed and encouraging us to take and obscures far more than it en- spend most of their time playing an active interest in local govern- lightens. And sadly, it also insures footsie with or catering to the fat ment, state government and na- they will never pay attention to cats on Wall Street, bankers, in- tional government. anything you have to say. vestors, and corporate Democrats. Mr. Albert [the late U.S. House Bruce Johnson Many are corporate Democrats Speaker Carl] always reminded me Durant themselves. that freedom of the press and pub- So what the hell do you think lic education were absolutely vital Editor, The Observer: that this guy is going to think? to a democracy. A democracy will An open letter to the Democratic And when you figure that out, ask not survive without them. It seems Party: yourself how do you think that to me both are in jeopardy now. The traditional base of the Dem- this guy is going to vote if he both- Sara Lane ocratic Party was the working ers to vote at all. McAlester man, the working class, the guy John Karlin who made a living at the end of a Tecumseh Editor, The Observer: shovel. I suggest you reconsider print- Over the last five presidents, this Editor, The Observer: ing puerile cartoons and then working class guy, the working Here’s the letter I just wrote to work to temper your language – man who makes his living at the President Obama: e.g, hired by Hitler, congratulated end of a shovel, has seen his take Please pardon Edward Snowden. by the Devil and the constant rant home pay at best stay stagnant or He drew the curtain back on the of fascist, xenophobic, misogy- decrease in relation to the cost of insidious unconstitutional spying nist, etc., etc. You are starting to living. He has watched the middle done by our so-called “national se- make Trump’s rhetoric sound re- class of America that he aspired curity apparatus” on ordinary, in- strained, reasoned and measured to, once the largest middle class in nocent citizens. by comparison. the industrialized world, become Edward Snowden deserves to You really should try to under- the smallest. come home, not only a free man, stand why almost two-thirds of This guy who makes his living but a veritable hero never to be Oklahoma voters – the vast major- at the end of a shovel, the work- prosecuted for the invaluable in- ity middle or working class – opted ing man, working class guy, woke CONTINUED ON PAGE 45 4 • JANUARY 2017 Arnold Hamilton

Lots Of Hot Air In Debate Over Wind Incentives

here was no small amount of irony in more [$100 million-plus in 2015] than they are worth: Google’s recent announcement that its Pryor $78.4 million in direct economic benefits plus $17.1 data center will be powered entirely by re- million in tax revenue. newable energy sometime in 2017. Those are the sorts of numbers the Republican- TThe tech giant’s grand goal is attainable, of course, dominated Legislature should have been studying because two new Oklahoma wind farms begin opera- closely for years – and not just those involving wind tion this year – near the time lawmakers will decide subsidies. But lawmakers were reticent to act be- whether to eliminate tax incentives designed to en- cause some of their biggest campaign donors benefit- courage the state’s nascent wind power industry. ted from the tax credits. Nonsensical? Absolutely. In 2015, for example, oil and gas reaped more than When legislators grudgingly agreed 1½ years ago to $500 million in tax breaks. While it is inarguable that systematically review $1 billion-plus in corporate tax the industry is key to Oklahoma’s economy, the same breaks, the primary goal was to identify and eliminate could be said of Texas and North Dakota where drill- those that weren’t working. ing taxes are significantly higher. The fact is, energy That is not the case with wind energy. Google alone companies are going to drill where the oil and gas is offers compelling evidence – investing $850 million – in this case, Oklahoma. in Oklahoma and buying more than 10% of the state’s Yet oil and gas incentives remain sacred cows in wind capacity. Further, the wind incentives are set to the Sooner State, even though carbon is a dying in- expire in three years, anyway. dustry and contributes mightily to climate change. At How did wind become the Legislature’s No. 1 tar- the Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association’s recent annu- get? al meeting, energy executives repeatedly warned law- With lawmakers on the lookout for every available makers not to tinker with the current taxing system tax dollar in these lean budget times, the oft-asked that all but guarantees profits and socializes losses. question is, whose ox is about to be gored? There are times when it is smart public policy to Not surprising, some powerful oil and gas interests encourage development of certain business models are anxious to preserve the nation’s lowest drilling because it helps create better, taxpaying jobs. That taxes. So they work to divert legislative – and public – was, arguably, the case when horizontal drilling first attention to other industries dining at the taxpayers’ became all the rage. Now, it’s the standard and no trough. longer needs subsidizing. There is no doubt corporate welfare is out of con- Wind incentives are set to expire at the end of 2020, trol in Oklahoma, crippling the state budget and but in the meantime, they’re working – Oklahoma is contributing to teacher shortages and overcrowded fourth nationally in generating electricity from wind. classrooms, crumbling highways and bridges, over- If wind subsidies are on the chopping block this worked troopers and more. session, oil and gas incentives should be, too. Then But it’s a perversion of democratic government that the state really could fully fund education and other the state’s biggest checkbooks [billionaire oilman vital state services. Harold Hamm and commercial real estate developer Frank Robson are linked to the anti-wind effort] can use their financial power to attack a promising industry that not only is producing jobs [nearly 5,000 in 2014] and capital investment [$7 billion] but also is steering us to a clean energy future. Former Senate Finance Chairman Mike Mazzei ar- gued recently that wind incentives cost the state far

THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 5 The Importance Of An Independent Judiciary BY ARNOLD HAMILTON

t a time when silver linings are scarce in rights under our federal Constitution.” state government, Oklahomans should Duh. Anyone with a rudimentary understanding of pause and celebrate their independent ju- the U.S. Constitution had to know the statute was diciary – specifically, the state Supreme doomed, including, no doubt, many legislators who Court.A voted for it and Gov. Mary Fallin who signed it into Just last month, for the umpteenth time, justices law. clearly weighed statutes, constitutional principles, So how did such a specious law make it through precedent and common sense to nullify a legislative the legislative sausage-making, into the statutes and attack on reproductive rights. onto a two-year legal journey that ended with a unani- In this case, lawmakers imposed the wholly un- mous Supreme Court decision striking it down? necessary requirement that doctors performing abor- Because legislative leaders figure it is worth squan- tions have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, dering thousands of precious taxpayer dollars legally ostensibly in case of emergency. defending the indefensible in order to [1] placate a In reality, the Trojan Horse of a law was imposed at key GOP voting bloc, religious fundamentalists, and the behest of a noisy, politically active faction that [2] undermine an independent appellate judiciary is less concerned about the health of women than that all too often irritates big money special interests about outlawing abortion altogether. by fairly, evenly applying the law and constitution. The requirement, imposed by the 2014 Legislature, The first of this Oklahoma political two-step is easi- is especially noxious given that many hospitals are ly recognized. Lawmakers enact abortion restrictions owned and/or operated by religious groups that op- knowing full well they likely will be overturned. Then pose abortion and aren’t likely to grant admitting they can blame “activist” judges, despite the fact the privileges to an abortion provider. jurists are doing exactly what Republicans claim they In a 9-0 decision, the state’s high court – hardly a want them to do: follow the Constitution. nest of left-wing radicals – deemed the law uncon- The second step is more insidious and should be stitutional because it “creates an undue burden on more worrisome for the average Oklahoman – legisla- a woman’s access to abortion, violating protected tors deploying a hot-button social issue to chip away

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6 • JANUARY 2017 at confidence in an appellate court system that has served the state well since it was enacted in the 1960s in the wake of an embar- rassing Supreme Court scandal. The corporate cabal pulling the legislative strings hopes to eventually torpedo the current, non-partisan system of selecting appellate jurists and replace it with partisan elections – Oklahoma justice sold to the highest bidder. In the wake of last month’s ruling, Fallin followed the GOP script to perfection, issu- ing a statement wailing about the high court’s unanimous decision. “I’m disappointed to see another pro-life law struck down by the courts,” she said. “Like many bills passed in Oklahoma, this bill was designed to protect the health and welfare of the mother along with the life of the unborn, which always should be among our society’s priorities.” Good grief – even the Oklahoma Medical As- sociation regarded it as counterproductive, arguing it did not “reflect the patient’s best interest,” according to the court’s ruling. We may never know how much taxpayer money is wasted defending clearly unconstitutional legislation because the legal bill is hidden in the attorney general’s budget. This much is certain: Facing another massive budget hole – this year estimated at nearly $900 million – Oklahoma cannot afford to squander so much as a dime. Nor can it afford to let a small cadre of silk- stocking interests destroy an independent judiciary that has served well for half a century. Legal Aid Receives Tech Grants Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma has been awarded cess to an attorney a reality.” two technology assistance grants totaling $356,963 Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma is one of 27 recipi- that will help Oklahomans secure the legal help and ents of 2016 Legal Services Corp. Technology Initia- information they need. tive Grants totaling more than $4.2 million. The larger grant – $221,746 – will underwrite development of a statewide, online system to address the most common civil legal issues faced by low-income individuals and other vulnerable populations. The smaller grant – $135,217 – will be used to part- ner with the Tulsa Family Service Center to improve outcomes for victims of domestic violence. U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-OK, cheered the awarding of the grants, saying, “I am pleased that Legal Aid Ser- vices of Oklahoma has received $356,963 in funding for technology grants that will improve judicial services. “All Oklahomans deserve affordable access to legal services. This grant will help to make affordable ac-

THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 7 TRIGGER WARNING Legislature Has Set Itself Up For Another Ill-Timed Income Tax Cut BY DAVID BLATT his time last year, Oklahoma was in the mid- jected to grow next year by more than the cost of the dle of a massive budget crisis. As revenues tax cut in 2018. Last year, the cost of the .15 percent- came in below projections, the state twice age point cut was estimated at $94.8 million by the made across-the-board budget cuts that hit Oklahoma Tax Commission. Tour schools, health care, roads, and other key build- The problem is that if revenues grow just enough ing blocks of our economy. Then the Legislature came to reach the trigger, next year’s revenues will still be into session facing a $1.3 billion shortfall, which led more than $400 million below what they were in FY to even deeper cuts. Amid this agony, another tax cut 2015. And even with revenue growth, Oklahoma faces took effect at the start of this year — adding at least another huge budget hole due to the $550 million to $150 million to the budget hole and ensuring that $700 million of non-recurring revenue that was used critical services were slashed more deeply. to balance the FY 2017 budget. That tax cut kicked in because of a poorly-designed As Tulsa World editor Wayne Greene noted, “We’re trigger mechanism passed by legislators in 2014. still stumbling around from the last time, and we’re This year could be déjà vu all over again. Because of getting ready to hit ourselves in the head with an- the same legislation passed nearly three years ago, other hammer.” Oklahoma could face another automatic tax cut as we Knowing that the state budget needs more time to grapple with even more painful budget cuts. bounce back from the current drop in revenues, legis- Under the bill passed in 2014, another tax cut low- lative leaders almost succeeded last year in delaying ering the top income tax rate from 5% to 4.85% could the next tax cut until revenues improve substantially take effect in January 2018. The tax cut is automati- more. SB 1618, which was introduced in the waning cally triggered if General Revenue collections are pro- days of the 2016 session, passed the full Senate 44-3 8 • JANUARY 2017 two days before legislative adjournment. However, be- wing mine of regressive tax systems, privatization of fore the bill could be brought up for final passage in public services, discrimination, and deregulation. In the House, a glitch in the bill’s drafting was discov- May of 2016, I wrote in more detail about Oklahoma’s ered. Since there wasn’t time to pull the bill back and Dead Canary State status, which you may read at one- get a revised version through both chambers, the bill worldhouse.net. was left to die. Unfortunately, the United States [thanks to our Ideally, the Legislature would stop enacting trig- Electoral College system] just elected a president gers entirely and would base its tax policy decisions who says, “To hell with the dead canaries, we are all on conditions at the time, not some point in the fu- going into the mine.” ture when the state’s full financial situation is un- Trump’s pick for Secretary for Education Betsy foreseeable. DeVos wants to create more privatization of public The Legislature should also reject the idea that a education, which will lessen equality of opportu- modest level of revenue growth means we can afford nity among our citizenry. Trump’s picks for Nation- more tax cuts – an idea that ignores the reality that al Security Advisor Michael Flynn and director of state government must spend more over time to pro- the CIA Mike Pompeo reflect an Islamophobia that vide the same services as populations grow and costs threatens the religious freedom of our Muslim sis- rise. ters and brothers and represents a serious threat At the very least, the Legislature must act in 2017 to their equal protection under the law. The people to push the trigger back and give Oklahoma more on Trump’s short lists for Secretary of Interior [Gov. time to recover from repeated budget cuts. Mary Fallin of Dead Canary State Oklahoma], Secre- It’s time to learn from our mistakes. Making sure tary of Energy [Oklahoma Billionaire Oilman Harold that this tax cut does not take effect should be a top Hamm], and director of the Environmental Protection priority of the Legislature. Agency [Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt] all David Blatt is executive director of Oklahoma Policy point to a likely withdrawal from the Paris Climate Institute, www.okpolicy.org. Agreement, rejection of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, and a growing dependence on fossil fuel. [Update: Pruitt was selected to head the EPA, but A Dead Interior went to Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke and Energy to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry.] Trump’s choice of Jeffrey Sessions for United States Attorney General and his selection of Stephen Canary State Bannon as chief strategist represent a rejection of a broadly inclusive society and point to a lack of respect for our Latin@, African American, and LGBTQ BY MARK Y.A. DAVIES sisters and brothers. His selection of Mike Pence as n Oklahoma we know what happens when an vice president does not bode well for women’s rights economy becomes overly dependent on fossil fu- and LGBTQ rights. els, when it becomes anathema to ever raise tax- This is by no means an exhaustive list of the dan- es; when corporations [especially fossil fuel com- gerous appointments being brought forth. Ipanies] are given massive tax breaks; when unions Appointment after appointment, policy announce- are marginalized; when science is ignored because of ment after policy announcement, and tweet after corporate interests, and when an atmosphere of hos- tweet all point to President-elect Trump following tility is created in relation to persons who are Latin@, Oklahoma’s path of adopting systems that fail the African American, LGBTQ, and Muslim. most vulnerable persons in the human community We in Oklahoma live with the resulting poor pub- and threaten the overall well being of our ecological lic education caused by the worst cuts in education community. The direction in which President-elect spending in the country since 2008, high poverty Trump is pulling the country will lead to worsening rates, second highest incarceration rate in the coun- international relations; creative people no longer try and highest female incarceration rate of all states, wanting come to the United States and many who are inadequate healthcare and a crisis in mental health- already here wanting to leave; an eviscerated public care resources, deep cuts in basic public services, education system with a more poorly educated citi- a crumbling infrastructure, fossil fuel industry-in- zenry; threats to religious freedom; and a less inclu- duced earthquakes with private citizens forced to pay sive, just, peaceful, participatory and sustainable so- for the damage, corporations resistant to relocate to ciety. our state because of a social climate that is hostile to As Oklahoma has seen itself sink to the bottom of many of their employees, and massive budget short- list of states when it comes to education, healthcare, falls. and quality of life for its most vulnerable citizens, so Oklahoma should be viewed by the rest of the coun- too will the United States fall behind much of the rest try as an example of what not to do, a Dead Canary of the world. State that warns people to get out of the toxic right Oklahoma is a Dead Canary State that is a warning

THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 9 to the country. Under a President Trump, we are on erate up to $200 million for the state’s general fund. the path to making the United States become a Dead Ultimately, in 2013, the Legislature privatized Comp- Canary Nation that will be a warning to the world. Source and the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that Mark Davies is the Wimberly Professor of Social and the assets of CompSource belonged to policyholders Ecological Ethics and director of the World House and were not available for deposit in the general fund. Institute for Social and Ecological Responsibility at In a puzzling move, the Oklahoma Office of Man- Oklahoma City University. agement and Enterprise Services [OMES] promptly directed state agencies [the largest single block of policyholders] to move their workers compensation coverage from CompSource. By doing so, the state Fire Sales Of agencies were no longer policyholders and not eligi- ble to share in the hundreds of millions of dollars of CompSource assets. As a result, the state received no money and rural State Assets fire departments, new companies, state agencies and high-risk workplaces lost the benefit of affordable BY DAVID PERRYMAN premiums and the millions of dollars of CompSource itchburg, MA’s most recent claim to fame is assets devolved to unidentified policyholders. its use by J.K. Rowling in the Harry Potter In 1935, the Oklahoma Legislature created the series as the fictional home of the Fitchburg Grand River Dam Authority [GRDA]. In 2013, Gov. Finches, one of only two professional Quid- Fallin formed a task force to study its sale with esti- Fditch teams in the U.S. mates that it would generate up to $1 billion in one- Earlier, Fitchburg in 1961 was the filming location time revenue. This year, legislators facing an even of Return to Peyton Place, a scandalous soap operat- greater budget hole found the temptation too great ic movie sequel. However, Fitchburg’s most enduring and have announced legislation that would allow the place in history is that it was there 160 ago, in De- GRDA to be sold. cember 1856, that an extensive fire displaced a num- However, the GRDA enabling legislation is very sim- ber of merchants. Among those affected was Maraton ilar to the enabling legislation of CompSource. Also, Upton, a seller of dry goods. both were formed as non-profit entities that never re- In what could have been just another economic ceived state appropriations. setback in a pre-Civil War New England community, The GRDA is not only an essential supplier of elec- Mr. Upton persevered and coined a new phrase. He tricity for 24 counties in Oklahoma and in three oth- moved his remaining stock to No. 9 Rollstock Block er states, it keeps the price of power affordable in a and declared an “Extraordinary Fire Sale,” inviting depressed region that needs that edge for economic customers to stop by and examine goods that were and community development. In addition, the GRDA “still warm.” manages water consumption by 700,000 people, irri- When public property or property over which pub- gation, navigation and recreation. It invests in water lic officials exercise control is the subject of a “fire quality, fish and wildlife enhancement, public safety, sale” the transaction must be carefully examined for lake patrols, land use management and air quality collusion or patronage. The recipient of public funds improvements. It is much more than an “asset” to be or property must be fairly selected in an open and sold to fill a budget gap. transparent manner and the “deal” must be free of The Grand River Dam Authority is working like it kickbacks. was designed to work and its sale has the potential of In 1933, the Oklahoma Legislature found that many rendering devastation to the economy of Northeast- employers, because they were new or their enterpris- ern Oklahoma. es posed great risk to their employees, faced difficul- When CompSource was privatized, the Legislature ty and in some cases impossibility in securing work- placed the financial interest of insurance companies ers compensation insurance on the private market. over the harm to state agencies, small and new busi- Since the law required all employers to provide work- nesses and volunteer fire departments. ers compensation insurance, it was incumbent upon Here is hoping that this time around, the Legisla- the state to create a workers compensation insurer ture considers the harm to the people of Oklahoma of last resort. In 2001, the name was changed from instead of making its decision based on the source of State Insurance Fund to CompSource Oklahoma, but campaign contributions. its mission remained the same. While Quidditch is not played in Oklahoma and we In 2009, according to an Oct. 7 Associated Press don’t have a town named Fitchburg, irresponsible fire article, the Legislature faced a budget shortfall and sales of state assets that Oklahomans depend upon was approached by insurance industry representa- are every bit as scandalous as anything that ever hap- tives who saw a way to benefit financially from the pened in Peyton Place. privatization of CompSource. A legislative panel was David Perryman, a Chickasha Democrat, represents told that the sale of the 76-year-old agency could gen- District 56 in the Oklahoma House.

10 • JANUARY 2017 both were optimistic what might occur to alleviate the decrease in revenue collections and new laws State’s Fiscal passed by policymakers regarding the budget. From modifications to tax credits and exemptions to the discussion for an increase in the Oklahoma tobacco tax, the 149 legislators and our governor will have Challenges Aren’t some tough decisions to make for the best interest of our state. Speaker-elect McCall and Pro Tempore-elect Schulz will need strong leaders in the various appropria- Easily Resolved tions chair positions and should do everything in their power to include the various perspectives from BY JOE DORMAN around the state that have been designated by their he battle to improve the circumstances of districts to be the voices for each at the capitol. Oklahoma’s children is largely fought in the I have been impressed with the willingness to delve Legislature, where lawmakers will appropri- deeper into the budgets of the larger agencies at this ate funds and create policies which impact early stage. Speaker Larry Adair, during the revenue Teducation, health, foster care and other areas that di- shortfalls faced in his tenure, charged his commit- rectly affect kids. tee with reviewing agency budgets from the greatest Regardless of one’s political preferences, success- to the smallest. This resulted in a balanced budget ful advocacy hinges on understanding the political which was submitted to Gov. Brad Henry. environment at our state Capitol. I am seeing similar willingness from this newer, Today, that environment is driven by two main forc- younger leadership team. I hope this spirit will con- es: the increase in numbers of the Republican poli- tinue through policy decisions in the best interests cymakers and legislative turnover created by term of the children of Oklahoma in the new laws consid- limits. ered beginning in February with the new session. In the state House, Republicans gained four seats, Former state Rep. Joe Dorman is CEO of the Okla- meaning they now control that chamber with a su- homa Institute for Child Advocacy, whose mission permajority of 75 members, compared to 26 elected is creating awareness, taking action and changing Democrats. In the Senate, Republicans held onto 42 policy to improve the health, safety and wellbeing of of the 48 seats. According to Ballotpedia, Oklahoma is Oklahoma’s children. one of 31 “trifecta government” states with one-party control over the executive and legislative branches. In these states, 25 are controlled by Republicans and Don’t Filch six by Democrats. Just as important to understanding the make up of the Legislature is recognizing the startling number of new faces that will join the House and Senate My Froffle in 2017. In the Oklahoma Senate, 13 new members took the oath of office out of the 48 member legislative body. In the House, 32 new representatives were BY DAVID PERRYMAN elected to the 101-member body. That means almost ometimes marketing slogans just don’t work one-third of our lawmakers will be “freshmen” legis- out. They can be absolutely accurate in their lators attempting to learn basic parliamentary proce- meaning. The message can even be right on dure, grapple with new responsibilities and political target, but for whatever reason, it just isn’t Scatchy enough. realities, all while trying to drive a constructive policy agenda. Such was the case for Frank, Tony and Sam Dorsa With such a large group of new members, groups who in 1953 invented the Froffle in the basement of like Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy will need their parents’ San Jose, CA home. The Froffle was a to work doubly hard to educate lawmakers about the convenient and delicious breakfast food whose popu- challenges and problems facing many of Oklahoma’s larity was about to explode. children. Unfortunately, it was missing a slick advertising It was in this context that I was happy to join Rep. slogan to take its popularity beyond the borders of Leslie Osborn, R-Mustang, recently on Your Vote the Golden State. The Dorsa Brothers’ solution came Counts, a weekly segment on News 9 in Oklahoma from their customers who liked the eggy flavor of the City. You can watch it at http://m.news9.com/Video.as frozen waffles more than they liked the name and af- px?clipId=12942517&catId=112037. fectionately called them EGGOs. In 1955, the broth- The discussion ranged from the mission of OICA ers relented by formally dropping the portmanteau of to what to expect from the new leadership team, in FROzen waFFLES in favor of EGGOs. which Rep. Osborn will play a significant role. We Today, the world is familiar with the phrase “Leggo THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 11 My Eggo” which has taken the product to a level that in the form of school vouchers will likely be on this “Don’t Filch My Froffle” would have never attained. year’s legislative agenda and the fact that the “stars Oklahomans also have affection for their public are lining up” to use public education dollars for pri- schools. They know and expect their public schools vate and religious schools is no accident. to be accountable. That accountability starts with Paragraph II(A)(3) of the platform of the Oklahoma locally elected school boards, locally accountable GOP says, “We especially support the innovative fi- budgets and locally hired teachers and administra- nancing mechanisms that make options available tors who care about the success of local students to all children: education savings accounts [ESAs], and work hard to make our children succeed at every vouchers, and tuition tax credits.” level. Since Gov. Mary Fallin served as co-chair of the What Oklahoma’s public schools do not have is a 2016 national GOP platform and Katie Altshuler, Gov. catchy slogan or theme such as “Leggo My Public Fallin’s Policy Director, actually helped draft the sec- School.” Such a theme is needed now more than ever. tion dealing with education, it is no surprise that the In 2015, the state Legislature enacted legislation national platform contains identical language sup- that undermined public schools and local control porting vouchers and “funding mechanisms” that re- by capping funding to public education, allowing tax move money from public education to give to private credits for private schools and creating a path for schools. charter schools with no local accountability to be es- These partisan goals are compounded by President- tablished anywhere in the state. In 2016, public ed- elect Trump’s selection of Betsy DeVos to head the ucation experienced less harm, but mainly because U.S. Department of Education. Ms. DeVos could best not much was addressed except the $1.3 billion bud- be described as Janet Barresi on steroids. Like Barre- get hole. si, DeVos has never worked as an educator. Like Bar- As legislation is crafted for the 2017 session, public resi, DeVos is independently wealthy. DeVos’ wealth education will again be in the crosshairs. According is derived from the Amway Corp., and she and her to a Dec. 3 article in the Oklahoman, “school choice” husband have spent literally millions of dollars pro- moting policy that diverts public education funds to private and charter schools. DeVos bankrolled the dark money group American Federation for Children [AFC], which works in concert with the American Legislative Exchange Council [ALEC], another anti-public education political entity that is active in Oklaho- ma politics. Not only will DeVos be pushing pro-voucher policy on a federal level, earlier this year, according to the Okla- homan, she used AFC to spend nearly $170,000 in Oklahoma campaigns, often in opposition to public school teachers who were also running. As a result, a pro-voucher legislator is quoted in the article as saying that, “Last year we were a couple of votes short in the Senate but I think that we picked those seats up this year.” Republicans in the state Senate now hold a 42-6 majority. Republicans in the state House hold a 75-26 majority. That means that either 19 of the 42 Republi- can Senators or 25 of the 75 Republican Representatives will have to stand strong with the Democrats to oppose vouchers. Otherwise Oklahoma’s education jingle may soon be: “Spend your public education dollars at a private school near you.” I like “Don’t Filch My Froffle” much better. David Perryman, a Chickasha Democrat, represents District 56 in the Oklahoma House.

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THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 13 My Futile And Frustrating Search For Just Two Wise Men BY CAL HOBSON

ike almost everything else in our “less is re- irrelevant to the process. Everyone knows that. ally more” state, I had to lower my Christmas However, 12-year term limits provide Rep. Charles goal of finding three wise men to just two – McCall, R-Atoka, the opportunity to serve as the new but still came up empty. speaker of the House while Sen. Mike Schulz, R-Al- LHowever, in retrospect, this result was mostly my tus, who must retire in two years, will lead the upper fault because I was looking in the worst possible body. locations for them within the Oklahoma House and These men – one a banker and the other a farmer – Senate Republican caucuses. have replaced Rep. Jeff Hickman and Sen. Brian Bing- Made even larger by voters in November’s elections, man, very nice guys who played very big roles in guid- the two entities can pass any law they desire while ing Oklahoma’s apparently insatiable effort to be last ignoring the tiny Democratic enclaves that occupy a in most every important category: education, health declining number of plush leather seats in our state care, public safety, mental health, quality roads, job Capitol. creation, just to name a few. The disappearing donkeys will serve no more use- In mindless cooperation with Oklahoma’s most ful role inside the building than the gargoyles that clueless governor in memory, Mary Fallin, Hickman adorn it outside – interesting to look at but otherwise and Bingman proved time after time they could screw

14 • JANUARY 2017 up even a two-car funeral procession and all three there are others who flout the law as well. have, therefore, relegated our state to death’s door- While all this tomfoolery is disguised as serious step. reasons to convene a session the first week of Feb- The measurable consequences of their ineptness ruary, Gov. Fallin will once again in her State of the triggered my Yule time search for wise men among State message trot out a bunch of ideas she already the majority party lawmakers and, just briefly, with knows are dead-on-arrival. Possibilities include a the ascension of Schulz and McCall, hope swelled cigarette tax increase, eliminating/reducing some tax within me that common sense coupled with cold- credits such as an overly generous one for wind pro- eyed reality might make rare appearances during the duction and even an attempt to expand the sales tax upcoming 2017 session. code to a number of goods and services such as those Well, just like Linus when dealing with Lucy and provided in tattoo parlors and car wash operations. the football, I have been duped again and so have These suggestions are nothing more than the an- most others who thought things could not get worse. nual full employment guarantee for hundreds of lob- Unfortunately, they can and will unless previous- byists who will battle like banshees to protect their ly made promises are reversed. Recently both men turf which, by the way, is also tax exempt at both the spoke at a love-fest hosted by State Chamber of Com- wholesale and retail level. So is the fuel, fertilizer and merce honchos. Although facing another near bil- equipment used to create it. lion dollar deficit [exactly $869 million as certified However, by late spring, the financial crisis will fi- by the Equalization Board in mid-December], banker nally become so obvious, even if only to a few of the Charles, who you might think would know a thing or budget writers, that only hard, unpopular opinions two about math, tossed a slab of red meat to the anti- will remain for them to consider. Let me offer three tax crowd by declaring there ain’t going to be one. No which I am sure will be panned now and rejected later. way. No how. Farmer Mike followed up that political 1. Math-challenged Mary said if lawmakers would home run with only a weak single by saying if there reduce our personal income tax rate slowly over sev- must be a new revenue source, and he hoped there eral years quality jobs would be plentiful, tax rev- wouldn’t, it could only be phased in, temporary in na- enues would flow like the Oklahoma River during ture and, of course, small. rowing competition and our state could become the Standing ovations and cheers of “We’re No. 50! economic envy of the nation. We’re No. 50!” rang out among the true believers, Hasn’t happened. Our GDP was the lowest in Amer- and conversations quickly turned to something more ica last quarter, additional good paying jobs are rarer interesting or important such as, Did you see that than hens’ teeth, and Oklahoma, along with Kansas video of Joe Mixon applying the knockout punch to [led by another supply-side governor, Sam Brown- Miss Amelia Molitor? Or, Do you have any extra Sugar back], indeed have made the national economic news Bowl tickets in N’Awlins? outlets regularly, but for all the wrong reasons. And why not? Any excuse is a good excuse to es- Since the coveted personal income cuts didn’t de- cape, even just temporarily, the impending financial liver on Fallin’s fantasies, solution No. 1 is simply to meltdown and further erosion of core services espe- repeal them and begin to recoup the $1 billion lost cially being felt right now in the rural counties but due to their implementation. inevitably spreading to metropolitan areas as well. 2. Another fairy tale the folks who masquerade as Look out, Nichols Hills. This horror movie will soon informed legislators bought hook, line and sinker is be playing in a neighborhood near you. Think Warr the theory that they lowest severance tax in the na- Acres. tion on the extraction of oil and gas would generate Therefore, now that the rank-and-file members of a bonanza for drill- our do-nothing-difficult Legislature have been given ers, royalty own- a session-long pass to do just that, they will turn to ers, and revenue proposals important only to them. Examples are: the coffers. passage of more unconstitutional limitations on legal Also didn’t hap- abortions; another round of meaningless resolutions pen. Even when oil commending the United States Congress for attempt- was around $100 a ing 65 times and counting to abolish ObamaCare; laws barrel in 2014, sev- repealing the non-existent Sharia manifesto allegedly erance collections lurking in our courtrooms; punishing gay couples to the general fund who have committed the damnable sin of loving and were dropping, not thus marrying each other; authorizing lawmakers to rising. Most first carry guns into the Capitol, which several do already graders know that while avoiding the metal detectors and proudly tell- receiving 2% on ing the Highway Patrol troopers guarding them they their sales at lem- are exempt from the mandate to pass through them. on stands instead Primary culprit is everybody’s multiple-time nominee of 7% means less for Jerk of the Year, Sen. Ralph Shortey, R-OKC. But pennies in their

THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 15 pockets, unless a lot more customers show up to dated arterial system. partake. These three suggestions are admittedly difficult Production of energy products did rise but not and unpopular, but do-able. They should be rolled enough to offset the enormous tax reduction and into one bill similar to the constitutional approach things have only gotten worse for all over the last 30 taken in tax increase legislation passed in 1985 and months. However, prices paid at the wellhead are be- 1990 [HB 1219 and HB 1017, respectively] and placed ginning to accelerate upward for both oil and natural before lawmakers for up or down votes – take it or gas. leave it. Therefore, due to consecutive billion-dollar rev- Due to the super-duper majority margins enjoyed enue shortfalls needed for core services, a gradual by Republicans in both the House and the Senate, not increase in the current rate of 2% should be applied a single Democratic vote would be required to enact based on the per barrel and mcf price paid on the fi- this plan. What would be needed is the leadership of nite products. two potentially courageous and wise men – Speaker 3. Because it’s logical, for at least yours truly, to McCall and Pro Tem Schulz – to do for our state what have a sliding scale for severance tax collections they were elected to do: solve real problems with real set on the value of the products produced, the same solutions, right now. should apply to the price of gasoline. Will they? Probably not. Should they? Yes … un- Right now, Oklahoma has the lowest per-gallon tax less they or their caucus members have better ideas on both diesel and gasoline in the nation – 14 and 17 which, so far, have been as hard to find as Jimmy cents, respectively – and they haven’t been increased Hoffa’s body, Amelia Earhart’s airplane or a President in over 27 years. Simply change the formula to one Trump cabinet position for Gov. Fallin. based on a percentage, not pennies, so that when oil Not impossible, but damn near it. Especially that and natural gas rise in value, more revenue would cabinet spot gig. flow to the transportation department at the same Cal Hobson, a Lexington Democrat, served in the time additional oil and gas trucks, service equipment Oklahoma Legislature from 1978-2006, including and other vehicles would be using our already dilapi- one term as Senate President Pro Tempore. Legalized Pot Wouldn’t Be Cure-All For State Budget Woes

BY RYAN GENTZLER

he movement to legalize marijuana is riding of recreational marijuana could bring significant ben- high. This year voters in California, Maine, efits – though it would not by itself solve Oklahoma’s TMassachusetts, and Nevada joined Colorado, persistent revenue shortfalls. Washington, Oregon, and Alaska in legalizing the rec- If Oklahoma’s medical marijuana initiative passes, reational use of marijuana, while Arkansas, Florida, it would levy a 7% sales tax on marijuana sales, with Montana, and North Dakota voted to allow medical revenue going first to the state agency with regula- marijuana. tory oversight of the medical marijuana market. Any Oklahoma narrowly missed out joining the latter surplus amount beyond what is budgeted for that group this year. Proponents gathered enough signa- agency would be earmarked for common education tures to put medical marijuana on the ballot as SQ and drug and alcohol rehabilitation. 788, but they submitted the signatures too late to Advocates for medical marijuana promote it as med- make the 2016 elections. SQ 788 will be scheduled icine, not an antidote for budgetary problems, so the for a vote by 2018 at the latest. potential for revenue generation is rarely discussed. Advocates for Oklahoma’s measure have primarily Colorado’s 2.9% tax on medical marijuana brings in stressed the medicinal qualities of marijuana and the about $12 million per year, while licenses and fees expanded personal freedom that comes with ending bring in another $10 million – very small amounts in prohibition. Others point to the potential tax revenue the context of the state budget. that legalization would bring. States that legalized recreational marijuana have Now that several states have embraced medical brought in more money than they expected, but the marijuana, the revenue effects have come into clearer revenue is still a tiny fraction of their state budgets. focus. The experiences in other states suggest that Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in a 2012 legalizing marijuana for medical purposes only would voter referendum and levied a 10% retail tax and 15% have negligible revenue effects, but the legalization excise tax for large wholesale transactions. In 2015,

16 • JANUARY 2017 the state received about $129 million from these tax- ly big problem in Oklahoma, where 70% of forfeiture es. revenues are used for salaries. Cities and towns that have chosen to allow retail So how much revenue could Oklahoma expect to marijuana shops in Colorado have also seen signifi- raise from legalizing recreational marijuana? Based cant revenues, and the boost in local sales taxes have on the results in Colorado and Washington, the Tax helped supplement education, public health, law en- Foundation estimates that Oklahoma could collect as forcement, and general operations. much as $108 million per year based on a 25% effec- While Colorado’s $129 million is certainly a lot of tive tax rate. money, it’s still a tiny portion of Colorado’s Gener- That would be a good start to cover budget deficits al Fund of nearly $10 billion in FY 2017. In the four that continue to climb higher, last year reaching $1.3 states that just voted to legalize marijuana, new rev- billion. But it’s unknown how much legalized mari- enue estimates range from 0.3% to 1.6% of general juana would cut into sales of currently legal recre- fund revenue. ational drugs like alcohol and tobacco, which means Beyond creating a new revenue stream, the legal- the newly taxable sales would be supplanting that ization of marijuana removes criminal penalties and revenue rather than adding to it. saves resources that are spent to arrest, prosecute, This projected revenue from legalizing marijuana is and incarcerate people for marijuana possession. Es- also much less than many of the sensible solutions timates of savings run anywhere from $12 million to that were left on the table by lawmakers last year. $60 million per year in Colorado, as they have avoid- For example, suspending this year’s income tax cut ed about 10,000 arrests for marijuana possession an- would have brought in $147 million; increasing the nually. Law enforcement made 7,580 arrests for mari- cigarette tax by $1.50 per pack would bring in over juana possession in Oklahoma in 2015. $180 million. But there is little evidence that states reduce bud- The problem is that there are too many expenses gets for public safety and courts as a result of these and too few revenues to pay for them, creating a per- savings. sistent structural deficit. Legalizing and taxing mari- In Oklahoma especially, continued cuts to every juana may be a part of the solution, but it would not agency mean that any savings would be needed to substitute for the need to take a sober look at what plug the big holes in their budgets. In fact, if law en- we want government to do, how much it will cost, and forcement depends on asset forfeitures from people how to pay for it. caught with marijuana, they may take a financial hit Ryan Gentzler is a policy analyst with Oklahoma when the drug is legalized. This could be an especial- Policy Institute, www.okpolicy.org.

THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 17 PUBLIC FORUM

Casualties Of Fake News, False Assumptions

BY HAL SPAKE

fake news story, “Pizzagate,” that identi- tleship Maine exploded and William Randolph Hearst fied a pizza restaurant as the headquarters used his papers to start the Spanish American War. of a child pornography ring run by Hilary When the resulting Spanish-American War ended, Clinton, recently made headlines because a America had gained coaling stations across the Pa- gunman,A investigating the site, discharged his weap- cific, and control over Cuba, the Philippine Islands, on. There was momentary outrage because a misled Guam and Puerto Rico. individual could be spurred to violence over a fiction- The Gulf of Tonkin incident was a fictional attack al conspiracy theory. on the USS Maddox that was used by President Lyn- No one should have been surprised. Fake news, aka don Johnson to wage war on North Vietnam. The war propaganda, has been around forever and our history took the lives of 57,939 U.S. servicemen and nearly is littered with examples. We all know the story of two million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians. “Remember the Maine,” where the boiler of the bat- Everyone now knows the war in Iraq had nothing to

18 • JANUARY 2017 PUBLIC FORUM do with 9/11 but was based on information manufactured by the White House on behalf of the Project for a New American Century. A Christmas Fog Content analysis of news shows that propaganda, to be effective, needs a villain. Bad breath to sell mouth- BY ANN DAPICE wash. Deep cleansers to stop zits. The fear of our loss of freedom, our property, our way of life or that n Christmas day a friend posted a pho- our families, wives and daughters will be attacked by to on Facebook taken outside his house crazies, mongrels, murders, monsters or some other that showed heavy fog. He described it as adjective used to dehumanize the person [people] we gloomy. Because I’ve lived in places that of- should fear. Oten have heavy fog I answered that fog softly cloaks Harry Anslinger, who might be called the grandfa- you when you are outdoors in it. One person agreed. ther of War on Drugs, waged a campaign against can- But another warned that you shouldn’t drive in fog. nabis, by relabeling it marijuana. He then began a Since I’ve driven many miles in my life with fog pres- marketing campaign against demon weed and made ent I understood the warning. I also know it matters “Reefer Madness,” a film showing people committing whether you know the roads well or are in unknown all kinds of violent acts after smoking a joint. The territory. On roads where you drive frequently you true object of this assault were the “Mexicans,” who know where you can pull over or turn around. You had entered the U.S. as they fled their civil war. even know that there really is a road there – you just Richard Nixon chose to ignore the Shafer Commis- can’t see it at the time. sion report that showed marijuana harmless. Accord- Not so in the fog cloud that covers the unknown. I ing to John Ehrlichman, Nixon had two enemies: the can picture in my mind’s eye the different places over anti-war left and black people that he attack by vilify- many years where I’ve encountered fog when driving. ing them night after night, on the evening news, as Still later on this same Christmas day a woman wrote dangerous drug users. on Facebook that she’d planned a trip north but with In Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow, heavy fog had returned home. So fog can be a kind she describes how although crime rates were drop- and comforting presence or it can be profoundly dan- ping, Ronald Regan ran on the manufactured issue of gerous if you don’t know the way. getting tough on crime. He understood that if he was As I reflected on experiences with fog, other memo- to win over the Dixiecrats, who had been abandoned ries came to mind. I was driving with American In- and angered by LBJ’s civil-rights legislation, he need- dian colleagues across the Arkansas River a decade ed to implement new Jim Crow laws. He hired adver- or so ago when I commented on the fog that lay like tising firms that created the images of crack addicts, a silent blanket over the water. My Muscogee Creek crack babies and crazed crack users. As a result of friend gave the scientific reason for its presence on this 1981 marketing campaign, our incarcerated pop- the river. My Wichita/Caddo friend said that his elders ulation has grown from around 300,000 to over six taught him fog is the “relatives” who have come to million either in prison or on probation. The figures visit. would be exponentially higher if whites, who statisti- A few weeks later I was driving my two grandsons to cally have the same crimes rates, were locked up in school when we noticed fog on either side of the high- the same percentages as brown and black people. way. I told them about my friends’ recent discussion. In short, wars are fought for political reasons. They One grandson asked why the “relatives” were on op- are packaged in fear and patriotism. They oppress posite sides of the fogless highway instead of visiting the weak, attack the defenseless and protect the priv- together on the same side. His brother, in his typical ileged. As Major Gen. Smedley Butler said, “War is a humor, answered, “They never got along anyway!” Racket” and political/prison industrial complex is the Science, tradition and wonderful humor all at one racket. time. Drug addicts may be mentally ill, but users incar- Another understanding of fog from the dictionary cerated are clearly the political prisoners of oppor- is that it’s something that obscures and confuses a tunists. If we don’t end this ongoing mass destruc- situation or even one’s thought processes. Fog used tion of our citizens by people who create laws, based as a verb means to bewilder, confuse or stupefy some- on fake news and false assumptions, who will? What one. We have been witnessing this kind of brain fog will be the outcome of our inaction and what does for months. our complacency say about us? On- and off-line conversations discuss how so many Hal Spake has worked for the National Security have been stupefied by the recent election campaign Agency and is a retired U.S. diplomat. He is chairman and the continuing actions by the president-elect. of Common Cause Oklahoma and a board member of Someone wrote that we had seemed to be making real Americans Against the Next War. progress as a nation in policies related to racism, mi-

THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 19 PUBLIC FORUM

sogyny, corruption, and human rights. Now the fear Constitution, the ability to change laws as needed is that we have regressed to the reptilian brain that through amendments, system checks and balances, seeks only what it wants for its own survival. It is cru- a Supreme Court, and the Fourth Estate to inform us cial to comprehend that the reptilian brain involves – seem insufficient to the new reality. These require the oldest and most powerful of human coping mech- time and will that rapid destruction promised by our anisms. president-elect may not allow. And sadly, many of our “relatives” are in “fog” on While it may look like scenes from the past, this is both sides of the highway. not a known road. Do we pull over and wait for the fog The one side, wishing to return to a past of sup- to lift? Do we move forward slowly on the unknown posed greatness, seems to be satisfied and comforted road? The map of competing information and “fake in the fog. Not only that but they feel empowered to news” tends to overwhelm. tell the relatives on the other side how wrong they are The danger is clear. Related violence continues. and how mistaken they have been. The need for correct action is obvious. The so-called elites are on the opposite side. They Some try to deny the serious nature of the situa- are confused, afraid and anxious. They find them- tion, pretending we can proceed as usual. History selves in a new kind of unknown with little clar- tells us we dare not ignore what is happening. While ity as to how to move forward. Some remember that there is anger on both sides, the side that wants to they’ve been in similar places before and know the move forward, not back, generally understands that destruction they witnessed and experienced. They both sides will be harmed by the president-elect and attempt to give warning. Institutions, structures and those he’s chosen to support him. Meanwhile, many laws meant to prevent irreparable damage – the U.S. are saddened by loss of friends and family during this

20 • JANUARY 2017 PUBLIC FORUM divisive time. humor will keep us honest in our endeavors. Recently a plea came from a longtime activist who Tulsan Ann Dapice [Lenape/Cherokee] earned a PhD wrote, “Please include me in the company of people from the University of Pennsylvania and has taught of good will who are willing to go to jail if necessary and/or served as administrator at a number of uni- in this critical time.” versities, teaching courses in the social sciences, We do not need to turn inward blaming each oth- philosophy and Native American Studies. She is ex- er as some in the “elite” camp have done. We must ecutive director of the Institute of Values Inquiry, a recognize the warnings we have been given and work 501(c)(3) research organization and director of ed- together in good faith to examine the wisdom of “rela- ucation and research for T.K. Wolf, Inc., a 501(c)(3) tives” from the past, remembering that humility and American Indian organization. The Tyranny Of Betrayal

BY VERN TURNER

ccording to historians and experts from all people as possible and as much wealth and money as over the world, the Republican Party, in gen- possible. eral, and Donald Trump, in particular, have This drive toward the extreme wealth of the small defined and redefined what a tyrannical dic- minority was made much worse in the 20th Century tatorA looks and sounds like. by Milton Friedman’s ghastly misinterpretation of The finger pointing at the press and opposition po- Friedrich Hayak’s theory of Supply-side Economics. litical parties, the condemnation of all “tribes” not This “thing” morphed into a power grab conspired by like the “tribe” being represented by Republicans and the CIA, the United States government, the Interna- Trump, the false flag reports of voter fraud designed tional Money Fund and the World Bank to hijack de- specifically to suppress votes in opposition-con- mocracy [and a republic that votes for representation] trolled states and precincts, and the absolute avoid- away from the voice of the people in several countries ance of publicly having to answer annoying questions around the world, and give it to the wealthiest corpo- about the truth all define a tyrannical regime in the rations and individuals in the world. making. In sum, the great lie, entitled free-market capital- The rich history of tyranny charts these actions. ism, began the destruction of democracy and the ear- Moreover, tyranny is intent on feeding a steady stream nest betrayal of the vast majority of the people on of lies and exaggerations to the public so as to have it Earth. believe that they actually voted for tyranny and it was Naomi Klein’s must-read book Shock Doctrine de- good for them. Simple, huh? tails this conspiracy and intents of the “operators” of The election of 2016 will forever be known as Amer- this theory. She also points out the villains, like Ron- ica’s slide into the maw of fascist tyranny with the ald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, who shamelessly election of Donald Trump and the preservation of Re- and wantonly promoted this theft of democracy and publican control in both houses of the federal gov- the “pursuit of happiness” by the working peoples of ernment and 33 state governments. the world. Republicans live on lies, and the reasons are sim- Well, we seem to have reached a milestone in the ple: They don’t care about the working people nor United States that began Jan. 3, 2017. On this date, the poor. Nor do Republicans want to invest in our the 116th Congress was sworn in and the Republican people. They are corrupt to their core since the egre- majorities in both houses of Congress wanted to have gious and tyrannical Citizens United vs. FEC decision a stack of bills for President Trump to sign on Jan. was made by the SCOTUS to declare money as speech 21. and corporations as people. This pent-up orgy of disassembly includes the fol- These two bizarre assumptions are akin to declar- lowing: ing the Reichstag invalid in 1933 Germany. We saw • Repealing the Affordable Care Act. There is no how well that worked out, didn’t we? viable replacement bill available, because the Repub- Paul Krugman, in a recent New York Times article licans weren’t able to craft one during the last six titled How Republics End, used these and other les- years of their majority rule. So, almost 40 million sons from history to show how the use of fear, lies, people whose health depends on this law may find hate and bigotry can be molded into a tyrannical en- themselves in health care limbo. tity that presumes to govern, but really is more inter- • Privatizing the Veterans Administration AND ested in acquiring power and influence over as many Medicare. This should really set the people on their

THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 21 PUBLIC FORUM collective ears. Everywhere else in the world has real- dependent government ethics office. This is the non- ized that health care is not a commodity and should partisan agency that investigates government corrup- be a right for their citizens rather than a profit cen- tion. Just ask yourself why the Republicans would ter. We saw how for-profit health care served us when do that. insurance companies were in charge before the Any answer that says these guys believe in their ACA. But Republicans think that profit should be own honesty makes my point about the people that made from your poor health ... at taxpayer expense, were elected by Republican voters; they are corrupt of course. Our poor veterans will be screwed twice to the core and have no compunction against betray- as terribly as the working poor if this goes through. ing their constituents by the numbers. Reason? Well, over 50% of our homeless people in Breaking news: This proposal was withdrawn with- America are veterans of our past and present wars, in 24 hours. all based on lies. How’s that for betrayal on the most As you will see by continuing to follow this thread, disgusting level? this corruption, tyranny and betrayal to all that our • More tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. It’s framers and founders held dear began in earnest with not enough that the wealthy get to exercise loopholes the infamous Lewis Powell memorandum to the Unit- in the tax code to hide their money overseas and pay ed States Chamber of Commerce in 1971. It was a call no taxes at all, but for those who actually have to to arms for the American wealthy and corporations to claim domestic income, the Republicans want them nakedly purchase the U.S. government and to create to pay even less of their fair share. Say hello to tax a narrative in our schools at all levels that eliminated increases everywhere else, or a national debt whose the truth and wrote in everything that promoted their curve rapidly approaches vertical on the graphs. cause. • Repeal Dodd-Frank. Of course. The lessons from This is how republics die and how tyranny elimi- the Wall Street meltdown of 2007-09 were insufficient nates the freedom to live the life our founders imag- to teach us that unregulated capitalism is certain to ined. destroy itself as rapidly as possible. The only people The Republican Party has now shown itself to be getting rich during this near collapse of the interna- the party of betrayal and corruption. Those who vote tional financial world, ironically, were the guys and for Republicans must realize this before they aren’t gals – aka hedge fund managers – who bet against allowed to vote at all. the system and that it would fail. Here is yet another Vern Turner lives in Marble Falls, TX and is a betrayal of reason, logic and restraint. regular contributor to The Oklahoma Observer and This is page No. 1 of the Republican agenda, but The Smoking Section. His latest book, Racing to the it was preceded by another element of tyranny. The Brink: The End Game for Race and Capitalism, is Republican House caucus voted to shut down the in- available through Amazon.com. Living In Earthquake Hell

BY BOB JACKMAN

everal days after an obnoxious-relative-free views over Billie’s coffee ... and some of the hounds Thanksgiving, with minimal traffic, I drove mingle nearby outdoors and smell each other’s … from Tulsa to Cleveland, OK, then west and well, you know. north, up a sad stretch of decayed, patched Billie’s place sits at the four-way stop on the cor- Sand re-patched asphalt to the forgotten Payne County ner of Main and First streets – not that there are any town of Blackburn. signs to tell you. It’s on the west high bank of the Arkansas River, During 2013, Oklahoma’s last golden year with a across from infamous Osage County. reasonably balanced budget, a new Arkansas River I went there to pay my courtesies to a widow named bridge was built between Blackburn and Osage Coun- Billie, unofficial host and owner of what may be ty. In addition, several blocks of the town’s streets Oklahoma’s oldest and smallest convenience store. were paved in four directions, with one going down There’s no post office in Blackburn, but there are 100 to the bridge. residents – and by Billie’s count, 110 dogs. We stood in the middle of the paved, four-way stop, Here, “convenience store” means a 1920s era, for- talking as she pointed out the closed post office and mer one-pump filling station. It’s the only place in the abandoned hand-cut stone grocery store across town – and it’s open. the street and told about the record earthquake dam- Most mornings, the regulars expound great worldly age they sustained on Sept. 3. 22 • JANUARY 2017 PUBLIC FORUM

With no traffic, we could have sat or squatted or Billie’s where many hope they will be, at the age reclined in the roadway. Cross it off the bucket list: when it’s mostly all behind you, but not a whiner, tak- Sat in the middle of the crossroads of First and Main ing each day as it comes, good or bad. Steady eyes in Blackburn, OK. and voice, she expressed in few words some old- She showed me quake damage to the brick chim- school, civil resentment over the gall of Big Oil-made ney, new cracks in her old store’s floor and the col- earthquakes damaging not only her home but many lapsed interior wall at the long-vacant German Ameri- others’ houses and historical buildings across Okla- can Bank, a tan sandstone building next door. homa. Those in Big Oil then run from their responsi- We went to her nearby home where for years she bilities, hiding behind purchased politicians, indus- and her now-deceased husband lived, farmed and try mouthpieces and corporate lawyers. raised their family and watermelons. What would E.W. Marland, Sam Noble and Bob Kerr She handed me one of Big Oil’s many earthquake have done if their oil wells caused earthquake dam- gifts: A dark red brick with rough white mortar crust ages? that fell though her living room ceiling. Billie’s plight is this: She lives in what’s regarded And she pointed out new climbing cracks on her as a “ghost town” because it lost its post office. She’s bedroom walls, caused by earthquakes. She and her witnessed first-hand a swarm of earthquake-chasing husband had quarry-stoned their house’s exterior by lawyers. And she knows that even if lengthy and ex- hand. pensive lawsuits over earthquake damage are suc- We walked through – and visitors should see – cessful, she’ll probably never live long enough to see Blackburn’s pristine 1904 Methodist church that a penny. many want placed on the National Historic Registry. But for the rest of her life, and for many others in But Billie says no – then they would have to ask per- a similar spot, Billie will live in a home, damaged be- mission to drive one new needed nail. yond her means to get it repaired. Lots of out-of-town folks get married in Blackburn’s This defines hellish – cruel and pitiless. jewel of an old church, with curved hardwood pews Bob Jackman is a Tulsa-based geologist who’s ex- and stained-glass windows – it appears to have es- tensively researched Oklahoma earthquakes trig- caped quake damage for now! gered by oil and gas drilling.

THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 23 In Trumpsylvania, Big Oil’s Lapdog Becomes EPA’s Watchdog BY ARNOLD HAMILTON here is good news and bad news in Attorney 20, Pruitt gets handed a golden ticket to what today General Scott Pruitt’s improbable nomina- passes for the American political mainstream. tion as President-elect Donald Trump’s Envi- How could this happen? ronmental Protection Agency chief. After all, Pruitt began his political career as a state TGood news: If confirmed, Pruitt will no longer wield Senate laughingstock – so far out on the religious power in Oklahoma government. right that he was never projected to be anything but Bad news: A climate change denier and chief water a back-bencher. carrier for the carbon crowd will be in position to do It didn’t take long, however, for Pruitt’s political serious, perhaps irreparable, harm to the nation’s en- ambitions to become clear. In 2002, he sought the vironmental interests. Republican nomination for Tulsa’s 1st Congressional As the headline on a New York Times’ editorial so District seat, finishing a distant third behind even- aptly put it, “An Enemy of the EPA to Head It.” tual winner John Sullivan and First Lady Cathy Keat- That someone of Pruitt’s fringe ideology and thin ing. In 2006, his bid to become Oklahoma lieutenant resume would be considered for, much less appoint- government also failed. ed to, a seat in a presidential cabinet would have been Two losses would have doused most electoral ambi- unthinkable in the pre-Trump age. tions, particularly when involving someone from the But in the looking glass darkly era that begins Jan. political fringe. But Pruitt resurrected his political

24 • JANUARY 2017 career in the most unlikely of ways – by partnering self-described Democrat – penned an op-ed praising with one of state’s corporate barons, Bob Funk, in the Pruitt’s nomination as EPA chief, asserting, “Pruitt’s ownership of a minor league baseball team. background in constitutional law combined with a With a 25% stake, Pruitt became the then-Oklaho- nuanced understanding of how environmental reg- ma RedHawks’ TV pitchman, selling the all-American ulations affect the economy mean that he will be a virtues of a night out at the old ballpark – baseball, thoughtful leader of the EPA and one capable of strik- hot dogs and apple pie. Salute! ing the balance between protecting the environment With northeastern Oklahoma – Broken Arrow, in and our economy.” particular – as his original political base, Pruitt used A more clear-eyed assessment came from Sierra the pastime hawking to expand his name ID in the Club Executive Director Michael Brune: “Having western half of the state. The strategy paid dividends: Scott Pruitt in charge of the U.S. Environmental Pro- He was elected state attorney general in 2010 and re- tection Agency is like putting an arsonist in charge of elected in 2014. fighting fires. He is a climate science denier who, as Pruitt immediately went to work burnishing his attorney general for the state of Oklahoma, regularly Fox-world bona fides nationally with incessant anti- conspired with the fossil fuel industry to attack EPA Obama, anti-federal government rhetoric. protections. He used the power of the attorney general’s office to “Nothing less than our children’s health is at stake. set up a “federalism unit” to protect “states’ rights” Scott Pruitt, whose own bio describes him as ‘a lead- and began filing lawsuits – challenging ObamaCare ing advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda’ can- and the EPA, among others. not be trusted to head the EPA, an agency charged He was both moral crusader – insisting, for exam- with protecting all Americans from threats to their ple, Bibles can be distributed in public schools and water, air, and health.” the Ten Commandments monument located on state Can Pruitt’s nomination be blocked? Yes. There property – and oil and gas attack dog, challenging al- are enough Democrats, if they remain united, and most any federal effort to protect air, water or land. science-minded Republicans in the Senate to force His ideological pursuits rarely succeeded in court, a more rational choice. Will it be derailed? Probably but that was almost beside the point because he not. There are so many dubious Trump cabinet nomi- proved remarkably adept at empire-building and butt- nations that senators will hard-pressed to decide kissing. when to fight and when to keep their powder dry. As the AP’s Sean Murphy noted, Pruitt managed to If Pruitt indeed goes to Washington, who will com- increase his office expenses 40% and add nearly 60 plete his term as Oklahoma attorney general? It’s up employees during a period when an economic down- to Gov. Mary Fallin. But an obvious choice is her Sec- turn coupled with specious tax policies yielded mas- retary of State, Mike Hunter, a longtime GOP insider sive holes in the state budget and forced draconian who served previously as Pruitt’s top assistant. cuts to state agencies. This should tell you all you need to know about The kind of small government Republican you can how far right Oklahoma’s political pendulum has believe in? swung: Hunter, once regarded as an extreme conser- What’s not known – and cannot be calculated – vative, is now viewed by many as middle-of-the-road. is how much time, money and resources his office And Sooner Republicans are cheering that Pruitt will squandered tilting against federal government/Obama likely be representing them in Trump’s cabinet. windmills and defending the religious right’s favorite causes, such as restricting access to abortion. These costs are buried in his office’s operating budget. All we know is that it expanded while nearly every other state agency contracted. Pruitt’s ability to cozy up to big checkbooks – aka the plutocrats – is probably the biggest reason he’s on the verge of becoming EPA administrator. After partnering with the Funks and becoming attorney general, Pruitt developed and/or solidified re- lationships with the likes of billionaire oilman Harold Hamm. He let Devon Energy’s lawyers ghost-write a letter to the EPA that accused federal regulators of grossly overestimating the amount of air pollution caused by energy companies drilling new natural gas wells in Oklahoma. And he filed a legal brief supporting Hobby Lobby’s contention that covering the cost of employees’ contraception violated its owners’ religious freedom. Inexplicably, former Oklahoma AG Mike Turpen – a

THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 25 NAVIGATING TRUMPSYLVANIA

The White Man’s Last Hurrah BY BOB D. AND PAZ MARIA ROUNSAVELL

here’s always more than one way people can Think about it for a minute: you realize that this perceive reality. That’s why we can and do moment has been approaching and forecast by many come up with different narratives of the same for decades. We have been seeing the efforts to keep event. Individuals see things differently. And power within the circle of whites for several years. Tthe genius of our nation has enshrined that human Perhaps its climax was the Supreme Court ruling capability in our Constitution and our tripartite gov- on Citizens United: it recognized the personhood of ernment. the corporation with all the privileges of the individu- So who won the election? The 1988 Pulitzer prize- al in a democracy. winning writer Toni Morrison put it like this: what we Did the president-elect, Donald Trump, say that are seeing is the white man’s last lament. He might among his priorities is seeking out all the undocu- have won this time, but it may well be the last time mented immigrants, deporting them and then build- whites dominate elections in the U.S. ing a wall? Additionally, he wants to strengthen the Regardless of how we might feel about the cam- vetting process for refugees, especially immigrants, paign, Donald Trump won the 2016 election. We now this process to include the criteria of race and reli- see his choices to help him govern this country, and gion. the picture of the next four years is not a pretty one. We always thought the U.S. was a haven – and Here’s what we’re looking at: whites won the election rightly so – of the dispossessed. In New York harbor and they seem intent on creating a regime geared to stands France’s gift with its greeting to those who going backward to make America great again. enter the country, especially the refugees from the 26 • JANUARY 2017 NAVIGATING TRUMPSYLVANIA world’s hotspots. Over time the Statue of Liberty has vividly illustrate the multitudes now contributing to emerged as the “Mother of Exiles,” a symbol of hope our greatness. From our Native population alone we to generations of immigrants with its message to have Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek or Mus- arrivals: “Give me your poor, your huddled masses, kokee, and Seminole spoken by our so-called five civ- yearning to breathe free.” ilized tribes, as if the others are not. Then the Plains People entering make her their hope. After their nations encompassing Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne, brave, often death-defying flight from their beloved Comanche, Kiowa, Osage, Otoe-Missouria, Pawnee, homeland, they share the same right for a new begin- Ponca, Quapaw and Tonkawa – all weave the resplen- ning as did our ancestors. Race made no difference, dent tapestry that is our state of Oklahoma which has nor did religion or place of origin. When people come more spoken languages than the entire continent of from the mountains of Indochina or the minefields of Europe. Aleppo to start a long process of naturalization, they After the Cherokees, outside the state, the next big- should be welcome with no discrimination applied. gest Native American group are the Dine or Navajo. We do believe in Lady Liberty as the iconic welcome Also worthy of notice are the beleaguered Sioux of to all hoping for entry into the land of the free and the Standing Rock fighting in the harsh North Dakota home of the brave. winter in the face of our recently won energy inde- But our country is at a crossroads. Where do we go pendence and garnering the support of other indig- from here? enous Americans and many of our war veterans. Unfortunately we seem uncertain regarding the U.S. Among the immigrants from Europe are the Basques of the 21st Century after leaving the American Cen- in California, Idaho and Nevada, the British including tury of the 20th. The Supreme Court ruling on Citi- Scotch like the president-elect’s mother and Welsh, zens United has seemingly conferred power to rule to the Bohemians like FLOTUS, the French, the Ger- the upper 1% of the population or large corporations. mans, the Italians, the Irish. And let’s not forget the The power of We The 99%, however, can prevent mon- fascinating Roma and the various Scandinavians in eyed interests from totally taking over our country Minnesota and the Northwest. and making it “corporate America.” Greatness is the birthright of the American of 2016. Its chief spokesman is about to be crowned our If one is to receive credit, the Statue of Liberty de- next president. His primary goal does not appear to serves it with our rich legacy of culture ushering in be the creation of better jobs for the dispossessed the banquet table of American cuisine, to highlight white; his aim is to create more wealth for The Don- its most delicious manifestation. ald and his cohort in corporate America. He seems Great we Americans are and greater still we will be. unlikely to help the dispossessed claim their share Just think of our holiday celebration: the Christmas of the American Dream. tree and lights, the Chanukah seder, the hustle and He plans to shrink immigration numbers allowing bustle in our malls, the ever-popular Santa, Toys for entry of only very few people of color and excluding Tots, the Kwanzaa remembrance, the Epiphany, Los people who claim Islam as their religion. In other Tres Reyes. Today in the onset of the 21st is a con- words, Muslims and blacks will not be allowed entry tinuation of the American Century. into “our” country. Extreme measures may be taken Bob D. and Paz Maria Rounsavell live in Oologah. to bar them from the country, if not starting the pro- Bob is president of the Carrie Dickerson Foundation. cess of citizenship. Even Manzanar Americans in this holiday season and interim period before Jan. 20 anxiously remember their hardship in the World War II internment camps, hopefully alleviated by the recent Obama-Abe commemoration in Pearl Harbor. We differ from candidate Trump. We believe America will only become great again if We The People decide equality is for everyone, not just the privileged few. When we embrace the rich diversity of our citizens starting with our indigenous people and all their dif- fering cultures to the most recent arrivals from the continents of Africa and Asia, we truly have become the world in microcosm. And all because of Lady Liberty welcoming everyone to share in fulfilling the American Dream as envisioned by our Founding Fa- thers. The countless languages spoken by all Americans THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 27 NAVIGATING TRUMPSYLVANIA

Rise Up, Our Day Is Coming

BY SCOTT GALINDEZ

t will not be pretty in the next few months and spending package to Congress, we need to support it. years. The right wing has control of all of the Rebuilding our infrastructure will provide good jobs branches of government, and the corporate take- for the people who need them. Our job will be to point over of our lives will accelerate. Donald Trump out that it has been the right wing that has prevented Iwill not deliver on most of the populist promises he that much-needed spending in the past. made in the campaign. He was pandering to the pain I can hear some of you saying, “But Trump will get being felt by millions of Americans who watched credit and the GOP will become even stronger.” May- their good-paying jobs move overseas as a result of be a healthy populist streak in the GOP isn’t such a “free trade.” bad thing. Let’s remember our principles, and if some He may deliver a major infrastructure package and of the things we want can be delivered by a Trump will not resurrect the TPP. That is the good news. presidency, we should welcome them. There will be When Barack Obama became president, the Repub- enough that we will disagree on to provide a better lican Party vowed to do everything it could to make alternative in 2018 and beyond. sure he didn’t succeed. Their strategy was to say no I also hear many of you pointing to past progres- to everything. They put politics ahead of country. sive movements and saying they are examples of why It would be easy to follow that same strategy now. the Democratic Party is not redeemable. I believe this The Republicans do not have a filibuster-proof major- time is different. I believe establishment politics has ity in the Senate. The Democratic Party could decide been repudiated. It’s not the path I would have cho- to just say no to everything to make sure that Trump sen, but the pain that Trump and the GOP will in- doesn’t succeed. That would be a huge mistake. We flict on the 99% over the next few years will cause a must put our principles ahead of political gain. counter-reaction. When Donald Trump sends his infrastructure Obama’s election created the Tea Party and resulted 28 • JANUARY 2017 NAVIGATING TRUMPSYLVANIA in Donald Trump winning the White House. I believe conditions. If they no longer have to buy in, who is Trump’s victory will create a massive progressive going to make up for the lost revenue? We should movement that will reshape the country for decades fight against a repeal of ObamaCare and continue to to come. rise up and demand single payer. If they repeal Obam- Remember, one of the reasons that young people aCare they will pay at the ballot box in the future. supported Bernie Sanders was that he had a plan for We all know that when Donald Trump says he wants dealing with student debt. Donald Trump’s solution to make America great again, he is pandering to rac- is to ask dad for a loan. We must rise up and demand ists and bigots who want a return to the time when free tuition at public colleges and universities. white men ruled the country. They don’t want diversi- Donald Trump thinks climate change is a hoax cre- ty. Well, it doesn’t matter what they want – our day is ated by the Chinese. As severe weather cripples the coming. They will only have power a few more years. planet we must lead. We must rise up and demand Donald Trump’s coalition can’t survive much longer. drastic changes to reverse climate change. The numbers are not there. Our day is coming. Donald Trump will side with authoritarian police So let’s help Trump rebuild the infrastructure. If tactics likes those proposed by Joe Arpaio. In my Donald Trump wants to stop the government from opinion, we have already crossed the line to a police profiting off student loans and forgive some student state. We must face the reality that many Americans debt, let’s help him. If Donald Trump wants to bring support public safety over civil liberties and want an jobs back from overseas with fair trade instead of free even more authoritarian approach. There will be a trade, let’s not stand in the way. line that even those people will think shouldn’t be We have enough issues on which to rise up and re- crossed, so we must rise up and fight for criminal sist the Republicans. If they want to do some of our justice reform. work before we return to power, let it be. We know that Trump and the GOP are about to Our day will come, and if we seize the momentum throw millions of Americans off their healthcare. of the Political Revolution it will be a Progressive They will gut Medicare and the Affordable Care Act. Democratic Party that helps America achieve its true The geniuses say they will keep some parts, like cov- potential. ering pre-existing conditions. How will they pay for it What is that? It’s the America that Bernie talked if they remove the mandate to purchase healthcare? about. A future to believe in. Healthy people are paying for those with pre-existing © Reader Supported News Why Democrats Should Block All Supreme Court Nominees

BY JUAN COLE

e don’t need a Trump-nominated Supreme lame duck when he had 11 months left in his presi- Court justice. We desperately don’t need dency. such a person. And there is no reason to I declare Donald Trump a lame duck now. Four have one. The Democrats in the Senate years out. Here are the reasons the Senate should shouldW just filibuster any nomination for the next block his nominee: four years. 1. Republicans did not let Merrick Garland come Now, you may say that a president deserves to have up for a vote. Why should Democrats allow someone the nominee of his choice voted on. But those were else to? the old rules before we saw how the Republican Party 2. Republicans declared Barack Obama a lame duck treated Barack Obama. They just told him no, no, no beginning in February 2016, when he had 11 months on everything. Everything. in office. I declare Donald Trump a lame duck, four They even threatened the home mortgages of gov- years out. Eleven months, 48 months – what’s the ernment employees by closing down the government. difference among friends? If presidents aren’t really Twice. presidents for 23% of their terms, why not make it an They vilified Obama, shouted disrespectfully at him even 100%? After all, the next election isn’t far away. from the floor of Congress, and then they refused We can just wait till then, the way the GOP wanted us even to let his Supreme Court nominee, a centrist, to wait till Obama was out of office to do anything at come up for a vote. They declared President Obama a all. THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 29 NAVIGATING TRUMPSYLVANIA 3. Nearly three million more Americans voted for Antonin Scalia, they have been making reasonable Hillary Clinton than for Trump, even with substantial decisions. Let them go on doing so. You might argue voter suppression in states like North Carolina. They that they need to have an odd number of members so did so because they cared about women’s reproduc- that ties can be broken. But, why? If they can’t de- tive rights, labor rights, the environment, civil liber- cide a case because they’re deadlocked, it can just be ties, and other issues decided by the Supreme Court. returned to the district court it came from. Besides, It would be an extreme insult to popular sovereignty maybe Clarence Thomas will retire and we can suffice to thwart their voices, the majority of the country, with seven justices. and have a minority president appoint some far right You might say that if the Dems act in this way, the patriarchal demagogue to injure their constitutional Republicans will just change the Senate rules so that rights. things are done by a simple majority. Let them. Soon- 4. The issue transcends ideology. Many of Trump’s er or later the Democrats will get a simple majority in appointees have been loony as the day is long. His na- the senate along with a Democratic president, and no tional security adviser, Mike Flynn, thinks that Hill- one ever again will be able to constrain them the way ary Clinton secretly practices voodoo and he just met the GOP put President Obama into a straight jacket. with the head of a far right party founded by ex-Nazis We’re watching you, Senate Democrats. Remember: in Austria. The Supreme Court interprets the consti- No Trump appointee should be seated. Ever. tution for our country and we can’t afford Trump’s af- Juan Ricardo Cole, a public intellectual and essay- firmative action for the Tinfoil Hat Brigade to extend ist, is the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor into that august body. of History at the University of Michigan. His blog, 5. The eight-person Supreme Court we now have is Informed Comment, can be found at www.juancole. just fine. They don’t need another colleague. Without com. Mobilizing America For The Future BY VICTOR KAMBER lections have consequences and the conse- union households in the key Midwestern battle- quences could be dire for the American la- ground states. She won union households in Michi- bor movement with the election of Donald gan, 53% to 40%, and Wisconsin, 53% to 43%, but the Trump. Strong resilient leadership will be margins were far below the 60% and more that Obama Eneeded from both unions and their supporters to won. She also lost to Trump in Ohio, 42% to 54%, a withstand the expected anti-union attacks on collec- state where union households backed Obama by 23% tive bargaining and workers’ rights from the Trump over Mitt Romney. Administration. The disconnect between the members and their Prior to the election, former House Speaker and unions is obvious despite organized labor’s all-out close Trump advisor Newt Gingrich warned on NBC’s effort to communicate Trump’s anti-worker record, a Meet The Press that the country will end up looking campaign that was even bigger than in 2012. Labor’s like Madison with the assault on labor unions after political experts will dig deep into the post-election Donald Trump was president. data for the broader meaning behind the union vote. “If Trump is elected,” he said, “it will be just like But Trump’s message clearly resonated with many Madison, WI with [Gov.] Scott Walker. The opposition union members. Despite his horrible labor record, to government employee unions will be so hostile Trump was able to convince enough union workers and so direct and so immediate, there will be a con- that he was on their side. tinuing fight over who controls the country.” He opposed trade deals that harm U.S. jobs. He talk- But didn’t significant numbers of working families, ed tough about illegal immigration that many people particularly union workers, vote for Trump? Appar- believe, rightly or not, undercut wages. Most of all, ently, they did. Trump didn’t win a majority of union he talked about creating jobs, putting people to work workers but he cut deep enough into the margins to and rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure [ironically, flip key swing states. one of President Obama’s major goals that has been Nationwide, union households voted for Clinton blocked by the Republican Congress]. over Trump by just eight percent, 51% to 43%, the In a message shortly after the election, AFL-CIO smallest margin since Walter Mondale’s failed cam- President Richard Trumka made an emotional appeal paign against Ronald Reagan in 1984. President to union members and their supporters “to be more Obama won union households by nearly 60% in 2008 committed than ever to helping everyone win a voice and 2012. on the job and in our democracy.” Organized labor Even worse was Clinton’s performance among will need that kind of strong commitment and unity 30 • JANUARY 2017 NAVIGATING TRUMPSYLVANIA at every level over the next four years to mitigate the pointed out, “For too long, the political elites have worst from the Trump Administration. embraced economic policies that hold down wages, But labor needs help. Former Labor Secretary Rob- increase inequality, diminish opportunity and ship ert Reich recently called for a “New Democratic Par- America’s jobs overseas.” ty” to arise out of the ashes of this defeat and return The result, not surprising, has been a decline in to its roots as the party of working Americans. “The union membership as it sank from 22% of all workers election of 2016 has repudiated the old Democratic when Bill Clinton was elected president to less than Party,” he said. He is right. 12% today and with it went the loss of leverage for For decades, despite labor’s strong support of the workers to gain their fair share of economic growth party and its candidates, the Democratic Party re- which has flowed steadily to the top. mained silent in the face of unprecedented union- The labor movement has changed dramatically over busting by corporate America. When the Dems were the decades to embrace a progressive policy agenda in power, elected officials failed to enact much- that includes equal opportunity for all, getting big needed labor law reforms to restore the balance in money out of politics, reversing inequality as well as labor-management relations. Bill Clinton and Barack a voice for workers on the job. Now, the Democratic Obama further pursued free trade policies without Party needs to change. A New Democratic Party can making sure that good-paying jobs were created to join with organized labor to help mobilize millions replace the ones that were lost. of Americans in opposition to Donald Trump, resist While the Republican Party was doing everything what is about to occur, and rebuild for the future. it could to grow the power of its constituent group, Victor Kamber is vice president of American Income the Democratic Party ignored one of its most loyal Life Insurance Co. which provides supplemental life groups of voters, union workers, and turned its insurance to labor unions, credit unions, and asso- back on working class people. As President Trumka ciations. Donald Trump’s Death Panel BY JOE CONASON ot long ago, Americans learned that the aver- nonsense are about to meet the real death panels, led age life expectancy for white people in this by House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader country – those most likely to have voted Mitch McConnell, and Rep. Tom Price, the Georgia for Donald Trump – actually declined for the Republican slated to head the Department of Health Nfirst time in many years. The pathologies and frustra- and Human Services. tions believed to have driven that decline may have This is not hyperbole: Before the advent of Obam- motivated the tiny handful of votes that gave Trump aCare, tens of thousands of uninsured Americans his Electoral College victory. died every year because they didn’t receive timely But not long after their euphoria over his inaugu- care. Ten years ago, one reputable study estimated ration fades, they are going to learn why his admin- that as many as 137,000 Americans had perished pre- istration is so likely to drive those statistics in the maturely due to lack of health coverage between 2005 wrong direction. Despite his promises to protect So- and 2010, or more than twice as many as died in the cial Security and Medicare – and his vow to replace Vietnam War. The Institute of Medicine has estimated the Affordable Care Act with “something much bet- that uninsured adults are 25% more likely to die pre- ter” – Trump’s cabinet appointees and his allies in maturely than those with coverage, with uninsured Congress plan ruinous changes to those programs. adults between 55 and 64 years old faring even worse. And that will mean ruin, and in thousands of cases For them, being uninsured is the third most signifi- death, for the mostly white and working-class people cant cause of death, behind only heart disease and who depend so heavily on them. cancer. Unless the Republicans come up with a plausible Those estimates don’t include the victims of insur- bill to replace ObamaCare, which has eluded them ance company profiteering who will die if the repeal of since 2009, millions of their constituents will lose ObamaCare undoes its protection of patients suffer- the health insurance they have only recently gained – ing from “previously existing conditions.” Exposed to and yes, thousands of those people will die next year. the tender mercies of corporate actuaries, thousands Back when the president’s health reform plan first of them will lose their coverage, watch their families passed, Republicans and their media echoes warned driven to destitution, and many of them will die, too. loudly about mythical “death panels” embedded in That isn’t supposed to be what happens under his legislation. Now, the voters who believed that CONTINUED ON PAGE 46 THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 31 Jim Hightower

What Is The Trump ‘Fix’?

n Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, it was Donald into the White House. He chairs the presiden- his frequent, unbridled slaps at Wall Street elites tial inaugural committee, overseeing everything from and arrogant, job-busting corporate executives numerous balls to the swearing-in. The four-day af- that gave him the “populistic” patina he needed fair will, of course, be a Trumpian Spectacular, yet Ito win. But wait a minute: Who are those guys escort- Barrack insists it won’t be outlandishly tacky. “The ing The Donald into the Oval Office? president-elect,” says Barrack, “wants this to be Oh, my God, they’re Wall Street elites and arro- about the people.” gant corporate executives! Trump campaigned on Sure, Tom – people like you and the other billion- the theme of remaking Washington by “draining the aires that serve on the committee. swamp” of pay-to-play corporate favoritism and cro- Barrack is a speculator who runs a myriad of Wall nyism. But those swamp critters are the very ones Street funds, real estate ventures, luxury resorts and who are buying favors from the president-to-be by casinos. Some of the other billionaires who serve on putting up tens of millions of dollars to pay for his the committee are coal baron Joe Craft, fracking pio- inaugural extravaganza and his transition operation. neer Harold Hamm, Gail Icahn [wife to investor Carl The transition team itself, which is literally shaping Icahn] and casino moguls Steve Wynn, Phil Ruffin, and staffing our next national government, is a viper’s Sheldon Adelson and Adelson’s wife, Miriam. Unsur- nest of pay-to-play corporate interests. The teams set- prisingly, their idea of “the people” turns out to be ting up the various agencies and writing their agen- those privileged ones who will buy the premium in- das are dominated by top operatives from anti-worker augural tickets that include access to His Excellency, corporations and from the same Wall Streeters whose Trump himself. Those tickets start at $25,000. But casino-style speculation crashed our economy in that only gets you into the bleacher seats out in right 2007 and crushed the middle class. Now they are on field. For the platinum seats up in the luxurious own- the inside, deciding who will fill more than 4,000 ex- ers’ suites, the price is a cool million bucks. ecutive positions and run our government. What does that buy? An “intimate dinner” with the Some 850 of these corporate high rollers and lobby- new vice president, Mike Pence; four tickets to a “la- ists huddled with Trump last month for a fundraiser dies luncheon” with Melania Trump and Karen Pence; at a posh Manhattan restaurant to pay for putting to- an elegant “candlelight dinner” with The Donald and gether his government – and theirs. The room was his sidekick, Pence; admittance to the black-tie in- filled with moneyed elites, such as Paul Singer, the augural ball with Trump, Pence, Cabinet officials and hedge-fund billionaire and extremist laissez-faire other governmental big shots; four tickets for priority ideologue. These are not people who are going to fi- seats at the official swearing-in; and priority booking nance any sort of working-class populism; they in- at select hotels – so you won’t have to mingle with stead intend to use The Donald’s victory to impose a commoners. plutocracy over America. Barrack expects to raise a record $75 million from Pay-to-play is already in full effect, and Trump hasn’t corporations and fat cats wanting to endear them- even spent his first day in office. His inauguration selves to the Trumpster. is just another opportunity for the plutocrats to buy Trump declared in his campaign, “Nobody knows their way into Donnie’s favor. Of course, Trump had the system better than me, which is why I alone can to bring in one of his longtime pals to help him plan fix it.” Yeah – and now we know the price for being such an elite affair. Few Americans have ever heard of in on “the fix.” Far from “draining” the Washington Tom Barrack, but he’s going to be a big, behind-the- swamp, Trump is turning it into an exclusive Jacuzzi scenes player in Trump’s Washington. for the rich. Indeed, Barrack’s literally in charge of parading The © Creators.com

32 • JANUARY 2017 has been trying to defund and privatize the public schools that working-class and middle-class people Augustus count on and to eliminate the working-class and middle-class jobs of teachers and support staff. Her new job with Trump? Secretary of Education, where she’ll now use our public money to try killing off our public Trumpus education system. Add to the list Myron Ebell, the honcho of the Com- ll hail Augustus Trumpus! All hail the Amer- petitive Enterprise Institute – a corporate front group ican Putin, whom none can criticize! All hail funded by fossil fuel profiteers like Exxon and the the Great All Knowing One, who reveals “re- Koch Brothers – where he pushed relentlessly to gut alities” that are not there and finds “facts” the Environmental Protection Agency. Where’s he thatA mere mortals cannot detect. now? Heading Trump’s EPA transition team. Once again, The Amazing Donald has demonstrat- Also, more than half those making up The Donald’s ed his phantasmagoric power of perception, having Department of Defense transition team have been ex- a new outcome in November’s election that others ecutives or lobbyists for such military contractors as haven’t seen. Trump has been greatly perturbed by Boeing corporation. Overall, according to watchdog the official results, which showed that while he won group Public Citizen, three-fourths of Trump’s transi- the Electoral College majority, he was not the peo- tion teams – which are organizing, staffing, and shap- ple’s choice. Instead, Hillary Clinton won the popular ing his new government – come from CorporateWorld. balloting by a margin of more than two million votes. Not a single working class populist has been allowed Growing increasingly furious at this affront to his su- a seat at his power table. pernatural sense of self, the master of factual flex- As America’s working stiffs know, if you’re not at ibility went on Twitter with an amazing revelation: “I the table, you’re on the menu. And now we know won the popular vote,” decreed our incoming tweeter what Augustus Trumpus will be serving. Trump’s no in chief! populist, he’s a full-time corporatist. – Jim Hightower Wow, how did he turn a two million vote loss into a © Creators.com glorious victory? “I won,” he tweeted, “if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.” Wow again! Millions? You’d think such a massive conspiracy – with millions of illegal voters in line at Why Trump thousands of precincts – would’ve been noticed by election officials, GOP poll watchers and the media. How did Trump find this truly incredible fact? It seems he channeled it from the mysterious Tapped Perry tweetasphere, specifically from a Texas conspiracy hound who had earlier posted a tweet declaring: “We have verified more than three million votes cast by non-citizens.” But this guy turns out to be part of For Energy a right-wing fringe group chasing non-existent voter frauds – exactly none of those three million “illegal” votes have been verified. Stunned that Trump would erk up people – for I bring you tidings of great cite his tweet as proof, he asked sheepishly: “Isn’t joy: Gov. “Oops” is back! everything on Twitter fake?” Yes, Rick Perry, the former Texas governor Get used to it – fakery is reality for America’s next who specialized in putting the “goober” in gu- Pbernatorial, is being brought back from well-earned president. Unfortunately for us it is not just fakery that we will have to get used to, because President obscurity in rural Texas to join the menagerie of char- Trumpus happens to have a real knack for irony as acters in The Donald Show. For us lovers of low powell. litical comedy, Perry was literally an early Christmas Trump, who campaigned as populist champion of gift from on high – not from heaven [not that high], the working-class, promising that – by golly – he was but from the dizzying heights of Trump Tower. That’s going to take on Wall Street and the corporate elites. where the orange-haired Impresario-in-chief has been But the bitter irony for the working class is that they holding tryouts for his Washington cast, and Perry is now see what he meant – he’s literally “taking on” the a slapstick-perfect choice for Trump’s bizarre cabi- moneyed powers by taking them onboard his admin- net. istration. For example, he’s brought in Wall Street Who can forget Perry’s classic “oops moment” dur- billionaires to fill the three top economic policy posi- ing his first failed run for the White House? Cam- tions in his cabinet! paigning as a far-out, right-wing slasher of govern- Then there’s Betsy DeVos, the billionaire heiress to ment services, he boldly declared in a televised debate the scandal-plagued Amway fortune. Her life’s work that – by gollies – he would eliminate three federal THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 33 agencies entirely, dramatically reeling off the names has required some scientific knowledge and experi- of his three victims: The Department of Commerce, ence, but as we’re quickly learning from The Donald’s Department of Education, and ... and ... and, alas, as a other cabinet picks, the key qualification he seeks national TV audience watched in horror, Rick’s brain for public service is a nominee’s commitment to just could not recall the third federal department he serving the private interests of corporate power over planned to kill off. workers, the environment, local communities and ev- He was roundly ridiculed as being dumber than a eryone else. dust bunny. But now – proving once again that being That is why Perry – a devoted practitioner of crony even quasi-smart is not a requirement for getting a capitalism and an ardent champion of oligarchs – has high political job – Perry has been hired by Trump been rewarded with this position. As governor, for ex- to be our next Secretary of Energy. Yes, that is the ample, he went to extraordinary lengths to let the gi- very agency that was third on the Goober’s elimina- ant Energy Transfer Partners run a pipeline through tion list! He is actually being appointed to head the the ecologically-fragile, natural wonders of Big Bend $32 billion department he couldn’t name during the – ramming it right down the throats of near-unani- 2012 presidential race. mous opposition of local people. Perry then accepted Here’s another comic twist in Rick’s appointment. a little $6 million campaign donation – i.e., “payoff” – While briefly running for president again this go from the corporate boss, who also later put Perry on ‘round, Perry assailed Trump as a “barking carnival the pipeline corporation’s board of directors. act.” And now he’s a tail-wagging dog in Donnie’s car- He also privatized a state-run, low-level, nuclear nival. waste facility, turning it over to Waste Control Spe- Dubbed “Gov. Good Hair” by the late great colum- cialists, owned by his largest campaign contributor. nist Molly Ivins, Perry tumbled from his peak of being Then he let the corporation double the amount of governor of Texas to being a twice-failed GOP pres- waste dumped there, while reducing its legal liability idential wannabe, then to ending up as a reject on for damages. Then, taking even more cash from the the television show for has-been celebrities, Dancing owner, Perry pushed to let him put high-level nuclear with the Stars. waste in the dump. But – resurrection! – having kissed the ring of Rick Perry has zero expertise or experience for the president-elect Trump, Perry is now to be lifted from job he’s being handed, but he has beaucoup of both the lowly role of twinkle-toed TV hoofer to being in for the “job” he’s actually being empowered to do charge of our national government’s nuclear arsenal! on the American people and our environment. – Jim That’s a position that, in previous administrations, Hightower King Henry VIII Pays A Royal Visit

BY JAMIE STEIHM

t’s a good thing to be king, holding court high in president-elect, he’s messaging to the American peo- a gold tower. And the 45th American president, ple that there will be no limits as ruler. What about Donald Trump, reminds me of one English Tudor losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly king, known for his reddish hair, huge body heft, three million votes? No problem! We will all be his Isix wives of various nationalities and, um, forceful subjects, forced to endure outrages at all hours as personality. he tweets from his tower – and when he deigns, the Trump is like King Henry VIII revived – without the White House. charm the early Henry famously had. But there are Trump resembles King Henry VIII in his ferocity parallels: Henry had France across the water to wari- and willingness to follow his whims wherever they ly watch and, of course, Trump has Vladimir Putin’s go. Once the 6’2” Henry cut a fine figure on a horse Russia and his reckless wish to start a nuclear arms hunting a hart. Can the same be said of Trump on a race. Is he going to make an enemy out of a friend be- golf course? [Let’s not answer that.] Henry also was a fore he takes office? One difference, however, is that lover and player of music, even a composer. Enchant- Henry set sail to lead his men in battle. That’s what ing poetry wafted through the halls of his court, no- kings did. tably that of Sir Thomas Wyatt, author of “To His Coy The history major in me feels compelled to note Mistress.” this male bonding over the span of five centuries and Our man has neither poetry nor music to compen- a mighty ocean. sate for his rough edges. Let’s get used to it. Donald Trump behaves much A real Renaissance man in his time and prime, like the first American king. With his mean-spirited Henry VIII is characterized as a “supreme egoist” by tweets, threats and contradictions of U.S. policy as the Columbia Encyclopedia. He did pretty much as he 34 • JANUARY 2017 pleased, in epic proportions. To marry the clever, wit- crown when he died – morbidly obese and mad – at ty, beautiful Anne Boleyn, he defied the pope’s decree age 55. to keep his marriage vows to the Spanish Catherine Perhaps this is the most intriguing parallel – that of Aragon, setting off the Protestant Reformation. both the once and future monarchs had a daughter In my book, headstrong Henry gets credit for break- that mattered greatly. ing with Rome. But as the same source tells us: “He Trump is already treating his two sons and son-in- advanced personal desires under the guise of public law like princes with security clearances to the court policy.” and his personal treasure. Yet he proudly lavishes Practicing personal desires and goals in public pol- the most attention and responsibility on his daugh- icy: Would Trump ever do such a thing? My fear is, ter Ivanka, as if grooming her for leadership on the that’s all he knows. national stage. Sure, Ivanka is no Elizabeth – Eliza- Pursuing his own enrichment, power and glory is bethan England still shines as a golden age. But she’s all that he’s ever done. Public service is a whole new not as bad as her dad. concept. “King” used to be a hated word, for Thomas Jef- Henry had two queens arrested and beheaded in the ferson and other founders of our democracy. But the Tower of London. It was not right or just, but he was times, they are a-changin’. king. To show women he wasn’t all bad, he educated Short may Trump reign. his daughter Elizabeth so she was ready to take the © Creators.com

THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 35 Retirement Funds Contribute To Deforestation, Climate Change

BY MIKE GAWORECKI

ven as a new administration hostile to ef- U.S. president and what that might mean for global forts to combat global warming is poised to efforts to combat climate change, Katherine Hayhoe, take over the White House, climate activists an atmospheric scientist and associate professor in the U.S. are continuing to push for action of political science at Texas Tech University, said in Ein myriad and sometimes even unexpected ways. For a statement that “the bright light of hope the Paris instance, you may not realize that saving for your Agreement shone on the bleak and discouraging golden years could have an impact on the global cli- landscape of climate change has been dimmed but mate, but a movement is currently underway to make not extinguished.” the retirement funds relied on by millions of Ameri- While Trump’s election is undoubtedly a setback cans free of any connection to deforestation and as- for international efforts to mitigate global warming, sociated carbon emissions due to investments in Hayhoe is probably right that it’s not a death knell palm oil producers. for those efforts. See, for instance, the recent letter Responding to the election of Donald Trump as sent by nearly 400 businesses and investors urging

36 • JANUARY 2017 Trump not to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Cli- Indofood, KLK, Felda Global Ventures, Wilmar, and mate Agreement and to continue “investment in the Golden-Agri Resources – all of which have problemat- low carbon economy at home and abroad.” ic histories – we really need to know how TIAA justi- Climate action, domestically and internationally, fies these investments, and what it’s doing to address has been gaining momentum for years. As the gov- the risks of deforestation, land grabbing, legality, and ernments of the world have moved ever-closer toward labor rights, not to mention the climate impacts.” collective action – culminating in the Paris Climate TIAA did not respond to Mongabay’s requests for Agreement, which was finalized in December 2015 comment. and officially went into force in November, much fast- Friends of the Earth and As You Sow are circulating er than anyone expected – virtually every sector of the a letter to TIAA clients calling on the firm to disclose global economy is at least starting to come to grips information about all of its investments in companies with the need to de-carbonize its operations. with farmland and palm oil operations, and to com- As an example, deforestation driven by the produc- mit to a deforestation- and land grab-free investment tion of global commodities like palm oil is now recog- policy. Among the early signatories were non-profit nized as a significant source of emissions, prompting clients of TIAA such as the Union of Concerned Sci- hundreds of companies to adopt “Zero Deforestation entists and ActionAid USA, as well as faculty mem- Commitments.” And it’s not just companies directly bers from several dozen universities that use TIAA, involved in the production of palm oil that are being including CalTech, Columbia, Cornell, Ohio State, called on to eliminate deforestation from their supply Princeton, Rutgers, and the Universities of California, chains: Even investors in those companies are taking Kansas, Michigan, Washington, and Wisconsin. a hard look at their portfolios, whether on their own According to Conant, there are several companies initiative or at the urging of clients and advocates for in TIAA’s portfolios that have “a long way to go” to ad- climate action, and seeking to root out any associa- equately address deforestation and climate. “POSCO tion with forest loss and the carbon emissions that has no commitment to reducing deforestation in its result. palm oil operations; Felda Global Ventures withdrew Not every financial firm is immediately receptive to all of its Malaysian RSPO certificates in 2016 in an calls to remove deforestation from their investment apparent effort to reduce accountability; KLK has portfolios, however. That’s why, last July, two U.S.- been cited by Chain Reaction Research as facing ‘se- based NGOs, Friends of the Earth and As You Sow, rious financial risks by failing to address the sustain- launched a “transparency tool,” called Deforesta- ability risks in its own operations and to its external tion Free Funds [deforestationfreefunds.org] to help procurement of palm oil products,’” he said. investors find information on which global mutual Conant added that even companies that are consid- funds have holdings in palm oil producers with links ered to have industry-leading Zero Deforestation poli- to deforestation. cies “are not beyond reproach,” citing Wilmar, which According to the groups, some 10% of the global continues to purchase conflict palm oil from Guate- palm oil industry is financed by equity investors, in- malan Grupo Olmeca, and GAR, which has a Liberian cluding many mutual funds. subsidiary that continues to divide communities. “Investments in palm oil are embedded in our pen- By responding to its clients’ concerns around land- sion funds, IRAs, and 401(k)s but most of us are not grabbing, deforestation, and impacts on the global even aware of it,” Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, climate, Conant said that TIAA has the opportunity said. “This web tool empowers investors to know ex- to lead the way toward a more sustainable future. actly what they own so that they can pressure fund “The U.S. financial sector writ large has no rules managers to implement sustainable investment poli- to prevent investments in gross environmental and cies and find investment options that support a for- social abuses,” he said. “In our campaign, we’re giv- est-friendly future.” ing TIAA an opportunity to take the lead in the field, As of June 2016, Friends of the Earth and As You and establish a policy that prevents it investing in Sow reported that U.S. mutual funds had a net invest- land grabbing and rainforest destruction – because ment of more than $5 billion in palm oil producers. we believe this is essential to shifting the paradigm of A focus of the groups’ campaign is one of the largest investment away from exploitation and towards res- investment firms in the U.S., TIAA [formerly known toration.” as TIAA-CREF], which manages retirement funds for And Conant sees this work moving forward despite many academic and cultural institutions, from muse- whatever the incoming Trump Administration might ums and universities to nonprofits and unions. decide to do about the Paris Climate Agreement. “No “TIAA publicly prides itself on social responsibil- matter what Trump and his climate-denying corpo- ity, transparency and engagement – yet it is the fifth- rate cronies say or do, climate action is gaining mo- largest U.S. investor in the palm oil sector and is thus mentum,” he said. “If U.S. federal policy comes to directly invested in companies linked to tropical de- a standstill on climate, we’ll still be increasing the forestation and land grabbing,” Jeff Conant, senior pressure on consumer companies and financial mar- international forests program manager for Friends kets to end climate destruction.” of the Earth, told Mongabay. “With holdings in IOI, © Truthout

THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 37 Will Obama Grant Peltier His Last Chance At Freedom? BY DAHR JAMAIL eonard Peltier is perhaps the most famous News and World Report, he was the executive director political prisoner in the U.S. today. In 1977, of Amnesty International for a dozen years. He now Peltier, a member of the American Indian heads the Washington, DC-based Human Rights Ac- Movement, was convicted and sentenced to tion Center, and is leading the campaign to free Leon- Ltwo consecutive terms of life imprisonment for al- ard Peltier. legedly shooting two FBI agents in 1975 on the Pine Healey and others who have been advocating for de- Ridge Indian Reservation. However, both his indict- cades for Peltier’s release are now focusing on the ment and conviction are the subject of intense con- fact that Peltier, who is 72 years old and has been in troversy. Amnesty International even listed his case prison more than four decades, likely does not have under its “Unfair Trials” category in their Annual Re- long to live and deserves to go home. port: USA 2010. “He is diabetic, has heart problems, has suffered Jack Healey has been fighting alongside Peltier for a stroke, and he’s been in 41 years,” Healey told decades. Once called “Mr. Human Rights” by the U.S. Truthout. “The food there, along with living there, de-

38 • JANUARY 2017 teriorates you. He has an inner spirit and spunk and clemency due to his ongoing health issues, and the has thus managed to keep his spirits up, but this is fact that he has now accumulated more than 20 years’ likely the last chance for him to be released.” time for good behavior. The “last chance” Healey references is his cam- Magee pointed out the urgency of Peltier being paign’s push for Peltier to be granted executive clem- granted clemency. ency by outgoing President Barack Obama. “Leonard is 72 years old, and has all kinds of health “I’ve been doing human rights work for a long time,” problems now and only recently got to go to a hospi- Healey said. “If Obama were to do this, it would be a tal for the first time in years,” he said. “He’s got an signal to Native populations all across North, South active aortic aneurism and he’s afraid, because if it and Central America, and it’d be a great way for him bursts when he’s in prison, there’s no way he’ll sur- to go out, by sending this important message.” vive.” Jack Magee, Peltier’s spokesperson, emphasized Peltier’s additional health issues include heart dis- that, after four decades, it is simply time for Peltier to ease and diabetes, among others. be released. (Peltier himself was not allowed to speak “We just want him to have health care,” Magee said. to the media at the time of this writing.) Healey’s Human Rights Action Center, which also “We just want him to be able to go home,” Magee played a role in freeing Nelson Mandela, is joined by told Truthout. “He [Peltier] wants to be able to live the the National Congress of American Indians, which time he has left in peace.” represents more than 500 tribes across the U.S., in With Donald Trump soon to take the reins of the supporting Peltier and pushing for Obama to grant country, and considering Peltier’s age and health is- him clemency. sues, it is clearly a do-or-die moment for the cam- “Leonard knows what we’re doing to get him out, paign working to free him. and he likes it,” Healey told Truthout, adding that WILL OBAMA BE DIFFERENT? the Obama administration may be more receptive Towards the end of Bill Clinton’s administration to a clemency petition than Bush and Clinton were. in 2000, many believed Clinton might grant Peltier Healey cites the fact that Obama has sent members of clemency. his administration to meetings with Native American However, there was opposition: Roughly 500 FBI tribal leaders, and points to other ways the admin- agents and their families demonstrated outside the istration has been more open to Native issues than White House, and pressure was applied to FBI direc- other recent administrations. [This is not to say that tor Louis Freeh by the agents and their families, as Obama has radically shifted U.S. policies or practic- they believed Peltier was responsible for the deaths es regarding Indigenous issues; for example, he has of the two FBI agents at the Pine Ridge Reservation been criticized for not doing more about the Dakota conflict. In the end, Clinton did not deny Peltier clem- Access pipeline.] ency – but he didn’t grant it, either. Peltier remained During Obama’s eighth White House Tribal Nations behind bars. Conference, a yearly summit meeting of Native Amer- George W. Bush denied Peltier’s petition for clem- ican leaders that Obama began, he received praise for ency at the end of his second term. delivering on his pledge to work more closely with Healy and his Human Rights Action Center have Native Americans. Obama announced settlements been working tirelessly towards obtaining clemency with 17 tribes totaling nearly half a billion dollars for for Peltier for decades. Recent efforts have included federal mismanagement of their lands and funds. The producing numerous “I Will” video pieces, featuring Obama administration also settled another lawsuit several high-profile individuals asking for clemency from 2009, in which $3.4 billion was paid in compen- on behalf of Peltier. sation for federal mishandling of hundreds of thou- The list of people and organizations who support sands of land trust accounts. Peltier and his clemency request is massive and im- “There’s a nice legacy there,” Healey said, noting pressive. It includes the Dalai Lama, the late Nelson that if Obama grants Peltier clemency, he’ll be re- Mandela, the late Mother Theresa, Archbishop Emeri- membered for it. “It may be small, but it is nonethe- tus Desmond Tutu, Noam Chomsky, Ward Churchill, less important. So we have somewhat of a framework Angela Davis, former US Attorney General Ramsey for having this [executive clemency] happen.” Clark, the National Lawyers Guild and the Parlia- ‘A TRUE SURVIVOR’ ments of the EU, Belgium and Italy. Stars like Jane Healey has built an incredible campaign for Peltier Fonda, Danny Glover, the Indigo Girls, the late Pe- over the years, and he hopes it will result in freedom. ter Matthiessen and Robert Redford are on board, as “I feel that in the buildup towards what we hope is are civil rights leaders like the Rev. Jesse Jackson Leonard being granted clemency, we didn’t want to and organizations like Amnesty International, Center just come to the end and come to the White House for Constitutional Rights and the World Council of in desperation,” he added. “I want to show that the Churches. American people have supported Leonard over the Healey, who formerly headed the U.S. Peace Corps, years.” told Truthout that it only makes sense for Obama For Human Rights Day, which was Dec. 10, Healey’s to grant Peltier a compassionate plea for executive CONTINUED ON PAGE 42 THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 39 Books What Democrats Must Learn From 2016

OUR REVOLUTION A Future To Believe In By Bernie Sanders St. Martin’s Press 464 pages, $27

BY JOHN WOOD ernie Sanders is the 74-year-old Democratic He admits that while United States has gotten bet- presidential candidate whose outsider cam- ter in many ways, the middle class has experienced paign excited the progressive wing of his a steady decline the last 40 years. At the same time, party. Impressively, he won more than 13 the top 1% gained the lion’s share of those economic Bmillion votes in the primary, just three million fewer gains at the expense of 33 people million in poverty. than the eventual winner Hillary Clinton. He also won He believes the Democratic Party needs a course 23 primaries and caucuses and his campaign raised correction. The Democrats can’t focus on the liberal on average $27 from more than seven million indi- elite alone; instead, it needs to open the door. vidual donors, all without a super PAC. My guess, now that the book is on shelves, Sand- What’s more, as you probably know, he won Okla- ers’ probably would not be happy with how the House homa, too! Democrats again elected Nancy Pelosi as their leader, Sanders exclaims in the book: “What a strange and endorsing the status quo against change. The Hill re- unprecedented campaign, Hillary Clinton, the candi- ported that widespread anxiety over the party’s direc- date whom the pundits had determined was the odds- tion is certainly a driver. This is evidenced as Rep. on favorite, the candidate who had been anointed by Tim Ryan, a relative unknown with little experience, the entire establishment, was winning, but at the challenged Pelosi for the leadership role. same time was losing state after state by huge mar- Why bring this up? He’s only 43 years old, compared gins.” to Pelosi who is 76. So what? Well, The Washington Sanders didn’t win the Democratic primary, but this Post recently found that the average age of those in book tells the story of his life from his Brooklyn birth the Democratic House leadership is 64, but 11 years in 1941, his time in the Green Mountains in 1964, his older than Republicans who average 53 years old. anti-establishment mayoral election in Burlington in Ryan is of the younger generation challenging the 1981, first run for Congress in 1990, and then his elder statesmen of the party. On top of this, I find run for senator, a campaign in which Barack Obama that Ryan represents the blue-collar voters. Sanders visited Vermont to campaign for him. warns in the book that it’s to the Democrats’ detri- The book’s next section is a narrative of his 2016 ment to neglect this constituency. presidential campaign in chapters such as “Thinking How do we get white working-class Americans to About Running.” stop voting against their own best interests? The les- Over and over again I had expressed the view that son I learned from that first trip was that even in the Vermont was not some kind of isolated fortress for most conservative part of America, the Deep South, progressive ideas and that, if properly presented, there were many people, black and white, who were there was a nationwide audience that would be re- sick and tired of the economic and political status ceptive to the views we held. I was especially curi- quo. ous as to how these ideas would play in other rural However, sociologist Arlie Hochschild and other states, states that Democrats often did poorly in. writers contend that blue collar Americans are not He makes it clear throughout the book that there really voting against their best interests. In her re- are many people in pain in America, but we seem in- cent book Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and different – we are comfortably numb. Mourning on the American Right, Hochschild studies 40 • JANUARY 2017 these people who are often crip- pled because a loss of their home, stagnant wages and an American Dream that just seems rather fake. As a result, they make their political preferences congruent with how they make sense of the world and especially in the South this means tilting to the right. These people are not necessarily voting against their interests, but Sand- ers is right that they have been largely ignored by the left. Regardless, Sanders says in his book, Democrats need to feel the very real pain of the poor and the working class. They need empa- thy, too. And there really could be a silver lining in a Trump presidency. Surprisingly, Sanders says Trump is no ideologue. He may actually respond to people’s needs. And that’s the good thing. On the other hand, Sanders says that the “bad” scenario is more likely. This is where the GOP says, “We have all the power, let us change the rules of the game so we win forever.” Sanders devotes the following 260-plus pages on policy. He said he was critiqued by having way too much “message discipline,” by focusing too much on “real issues.” He exclaims this may be “boring,” and obviously not what it takes to win a campaign in the 21st Cen- tury. This section of the book covers issues such as college tuition, progressive taxation, corporate taxes, etc. And a call to action. WHY WAIT? It will all get worse, he says, as more and more politicians are Now you can subscribe to The Oklahoma Observer bought through billionaire and at the Full Circle Books checkout counter millionaire campaign donations and receive your free book certificate on the spot! that more often than not influence the scripting of their candidate. IMPORTANT RESTRICTIONS To take advantage of this offer, visit Full Circle Books, where you can subscribe to The Oklahoma Observer at the checkout Unfortunately, Sanders writes, counter and receive your free book certificate immediately. You also may subscribe to The Observer using the coupon on page 3 of this issue or by visiting our web site www.okobserver.net. You then will receive via U.S. Mail a certificate from Full Circle Books for a Trump will deregulate big business free book [$20 limit]. The certificate is not transferable and must be presented in person at Full Circle Books in order to receive your and even unleash restrictions on free book. No facsimiles, printouts or photocopies will be accepted as a substitute for the original Full Circle certificate. This book billionaires focused on taking con- offer is for new subscribers only. Not valid with any other offer. trol ideologically. for a changed economy and poli- Sanders exclaims, “if we look at Throughout the book Sanders is tics that works for people. democracy as a spectator sport, clear in saying “we need to say we This well-written book will not assuming others will do it for us. don’t want an oligarchy” – America change minds ideologically, but They won’t. The future is in your needs to realize we actually pos- it will give Democrats some much hands. Let’s get to work.” sess a democracy. He says further needed reflection to help the party John Wood is an associate profes- that you can’t split us up, we must regroup for its future viability. sor of political science at the Uni- stand united. We stand together These goals will go nowhere, versity of Central Oklahoma.

THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 41 Peltier

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 39 campaign requested that all 567 tribes within the so we hope it works.” United States drum in support of Peltier and his re- Magee also sees this as a critically important time lease, and most of them did. for Peltier to come home, as he watches the leader- Healey believes it is important that people know ship of both young people and elders at Standing Peltier is a veteran, very down to earth, and a strong Rock from afar. person, and needs support due to the fact that a gen- “Leonard is very supportive of what happened at eration of his supporters are now dying off. Standing Rock,” Magee said. “For him, it’s the new “Many of his supporters from the Clinton period generation doing what he tried to do. In the 1970s have died, like Peter Matthiessen – they are just after Bobby and Jack Kennedy were killed, and MLK, gone,” he explained. the American Indian Movement stood up and said The Conference of American Indians have endorsed enough was enough. So he’s proud of the people at Healey’s campaign to free Peltier, and Healey is now Standing Rock.” working on having the Catholic Conference of Bish- Healey feels it is now imperative that, after with- ops provide a letter of support for the clemency plea. standing decades of maximum-security prisons and “We’ve had no money to do this and have made the long periods of solitary confinement, Peltier be freed. videos and done the lobbying without anything other “Peltier is a true survivor,” Healey said. than affection and passion and love,” Healey said of It is highly likely Peltier will die in jail if he is not the campaign. “We all like and love Leonard, and get granted clemency, given an incoming Trump admin- all this done on nearly nothing, so we are pleased istration. Obama has a crucial chance to support his that we are realistic and have a powerful campaign survival. Over the coming weeks, we will see whether coming, we think the Indians are going to continue to or not he takes it. drum and the kids are going to write about Leonard, © Truthout Math For Dummies • Ratio of an igloo’s circumference to its diam- • 16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod Serling eter = Eskimo Pi • Half a large intestine = 1 semicolon • 2,000 pounds of Chinese soup = Won ton • 1,000,000 aches = 1 megahurtz • 1 millionth of a mouthwash = 1 microscope • Basic unit of laryngitis = 1 hoarsepower • Time between slipping on a peel and smack- • Shortest distance between two jokes = a ing the pavement = 1 bananosecond straight line • Weight an evangelist carries with God = 1 • 2,000 mockingbirds = 2 kilomockingbirds billigram • 1 kilogram of falling figs = 1 Fig Newton • Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical • 1,000 cc’s of wet socks = 1 literhosen mile per hour = Knotfurlong • 8 nickles = 2 paradigms • 365.25 days of drinking low-calorie beer = 1 – Thanks to A.J. Henshaw for sharing Lite year

When you shop on smile.amazon.com, they’ll donate to the Oklahoma Observer Democracy Foundation.

42 • JANUARY 2017 Observations Better Information, Better Policy Oklahoma Policy Institute provides timely and credible CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 information, analysis and commentary on state policy issues. See our latest issue briefs, fact sheets and blog posts at: scription coupon.] Welcome aboard! Sleaze David Blatt, Director n 918.794.3944 n [email protected] New House Speaker Charles McCall’s first leadership test came on his first official day wielding the gavel – what is typically the Capitol’s upbeat, light- hearted organizational day. Unfortunately for the Atoka Republican, he inher- ited a messy scandal in which $44,500 tax dollars were authorized by his predecessor to settle sexual harassment allegations against Tulsa Rep. Dan Kirby. The hush money became public last month thanks to reporting by the Oklahoman’s Nolan Clay, trigger- ing Democratic demands for an investigation into how and why public money was spent to cover up sleazy behavior. With the GOP’s legislative supermajority and Kir- by’s pre-Christmas announcement he would resign, it seemed the matter was destined to disappear amid TOM and SHERRI the 2017 session’s wrangling over a projected $900 million budget hole. GOODWIN But then, Kirby abruptly decided to withdraw his Cheyenne, OK resignation letter, ensuring the scandal is not going away any time soon. And McCall was left with little Readers and supporters of The Observer choice but to announce he would direct the House for over 30 years and counting. Rules Committee to investigate the settlement – as soon as he had the power, on Day One. Charging the rules committee with the task is, of course, problematic. Traditionally, the panel is dominated by the party in power and its agenda set by the speaker. Democrats, naturally, seized on this fox- guarding-the-henhouse fact to demand the speaker appoint a truly bipartisan panel – five Republicans, five Democrats – to give the public confidence the matter would be investigated without fear or favor. No matter how this plays out, Kirby’s antics are likely to produce migraines a new speaker doesn’t need – especially since the GOP caucus already is splintered into warring factions likely to be exacer- bated by the state’s fiscal woes. Kirby claims he didn’t even know about the settlement until the Oklahoman reported it. That is hard to believe. But if true, it makes it all the more important for a truly bipartisan panel to ferret out why precious THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER tax dollars were used to buy his accuser’s silence. It won’t take long to figure out whether McCall’s tenure represents a new day in Oklahoma politics – Your Passport To Oklahoma’s Most Progressive, or business as usual, exemplified by former Speaker Socially Responsible And Intellectual Audience Jeff Hickman’s go-along-to-get-along speakership and his approval of the payoff to the former House Advertising rates start as low as $40 per issue. employee who accused Kirby of misconduct. Stay tuned. Call 405.478.8700 for details. THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 43 Observerscope

11701 N. MacArthur Blvd. Oklahoma City, Ok. 73162

[405] 721-3252 springcreekbc.com

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 Dart: To Reps. Kevin Calvey and Mike Ritze, de- manding state Superintendent Joy Hofmeister resign over alleged campaign violations. These two swear allegiance to the Constitution yet ignore innocent- until-proven-guilty?

Uh-oh. Corporation Commissioners will decide soon on OG&E and PSO proposals that would increase utility bills – PSO’s an average 14%; OG&E’s could double a fixed monthly customer charge and hike peak usage costs.

Laurel: To the Oklahoman’s Jaclyn Cosgrove for ex- cellent reporting on state’s substance abuse/mental illness plague – especially breakdown in jail inspec- tions. Are lawmakers paying attention?

Term-limited Rep. Richard Morrissette hopes to extend his electoral career by seeking OKC Council seat. Incumbent Pete White opted against a fourth term. Primary election is Feb. 14.

Dart: To President-elect Trump, creating a million- dollar-plus bracket for donors to attend special inaugural festivities – more evidence plutocrats will continue to dominate Washington.

Gov. Mary Fallin continues to serve the Koch Broth- THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER ers cabal, creating a task force to examine “burden- some regulation” in Oklahoma. One of state’s biggest burdens is Fallin’s rudderless, soulless administra- Your Passport To Oklahoma’s Most tion. Progressive, Socially Responsible And Intellectual Audience Wow! For the first time in a half-century, the number of smokers nationally dropped below 40 million – down from 21% to 15% between 2005-15. – Centers Advertising rates start as low for Disease Control and Prevention as $40 per issue.

Call 405.478.8700 for details. Laurel: To Sen. J.J. Dossett, D-Owasso, proposing legislation to end straight-party voting. It was bad when Democrats benefitted and it’s bad now that Re- publicans do. It’s how we end up with so many legis- Read lative nitwits.

The Oklahoma Observer For the record: Twelve million adult coloring books On-Line were sold in 2015, up from only one million in 2014. In fact, 12% of Amazon’s best sellers in 2015 were www.okobserver.net adult coloring books. – AARP 44 • JANUARY 2017 Letters

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 okea.org sights he has courageously provided to all Americans who truly respect our Constitution. Surely Edward Snowden is eminently more qualified for a pardon in 2016 than Richard Nixon was in 1974. Lastly, during these last weeks of your presidency, my fondest hope is that you are able to at least cur- tail, if not stop, the rampant government snooping which is absolutely disconnected from national security. Frank Silovsky Oklahoma City

Editor, The Observer: A letter to the Oklahoman’s editorial board: In the opinion page of Saturday, Dec. 31, you write, “Since 2005, the Legislature has cut the income tax rate from 6.65% to 5%. The result has been largely beneficial.” Really? For whom or what? Certainly not in last place teacher pay, poor health indicators such as obesity, smoking, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, premature death, over capacity prison population, mental health challenges faced by 700,000 Oklahomans, soaring drug and alcohol ad- diction, lagging college graduate rates, road quality standards, etc., etc. Need I go on? Hopefully not. Even the Holy Grail of conservatives, balanced budgets, has fallen victim to the tax cutting obsession of lawmakers because, for the second year in a row, a billion dollar deficit has been certified as fact, not just as over-stated fiction. How much more of this “largely been beneficial” approach to governing do you think Oklahomans can enjoy – or endure – before anyone, someone, some- where admits the result has been largely disastrous, counterproductive, discredited and dangerous to the health, safety, education, social and economic future of our state? As United States Ambassador to the United Nations Adlai Stevenson said to the Soviet Union Ambassa- dor Valerian Zorin during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, I, too, am “willing to wait until hell freezes over for your answer.” Hopefully it will be quicker than Stevenson’s because he never got one. Cal Hobson Lexington Editor’s Note: Cal Hobson served in the Oklahoma THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 45 Legislature from 1978-2006, including one term as as his own opinion, which was actually written by Senate President Pro Tempore. He shared this let- Devon Energy lawyers criticizing federal regulators ter with others, including The Observer, because he for overestimating the amount of air pollution caused doubted the Oklahoman would print it. by energy companies drilling new natural gas wells in Oklahoma. Editor, The Observer: Talk about a conflict of interest and failure to pro- Gov. Fallin thinks the 2017 state budget shortfall tect citizens who voted him into office. might be $600 million. “No, $900 million,” predicts Phyllis Bryant financial secretary Preston Doerflinger. Nobody can Bethany figure out what to do. Meanwhile, state legislators give away $2.3 billion in annual tax cuts and incen- Editor, The Observer: tives to business and industry. Between 2000 and 2008 I would estimate that I Where are the jobs these giveaways are supposed wrote at least 1,000 letters to this publication, and to generate? The oil and gas industry’s postcard many others, stating that George W. Bush was the mailouts demand an end to tax incentives for their worst president ever. I stand corrected. competitor wind energy, but the Legislature appar- Little did I know that the Republicans had an even ently lacks the political will to abolish any of this more incompetent boob warming up in the bullpen. corporate welfare. God help us. What if legislators reduced all tax incentives by a Deborah Lewis percentage until they could afford to fund essential Garland, TX services? You know, things like education, mental health Editor, The Observer: care, medical treatment for the poorest Oklahomans, Bossy women like Hillary Clinton give our redneck services for seniors and Oklahomans with disabili- men and redneck women their worst nightmares. ties, modest raises for poverty-stricken teachers and These difficult and dynamic ladies remind rednecks state employees, law enforcement programs, road of their mommas who chew them out when they are and bridge repairs, public transportation – you get up to no good. the idea. That’s why rednecks elected a domineering dunce, Or is that too much to ask? Donald Trump. Jackie Gaston Rednecks are raised to believe we, women, should Yukon be subservient to men and reserve government to male chauvinist pigs like Oklahoma’s congressional Editor, The Observer: delegation of all Republicans. I was disappointed to read Mike Turpen’s editorial Pish posh. Horsefeathers. Hogwash. Brains have no in the Oklahoman supporting Scott Pruitt for Envi- sex. ronmental Protection Agency director. That is a lesson our senators and congressmen, as As Oklahoma Attorney General, Scott Pruitt led the well as Trump, have yet to learn. effort to dismantle basic clean air and water safety They were perfectly described by consumer advo- protections [like smog and mercury standards] and cate Ralph Nader, who said, “Oklahoma has the cruel- has relentlessly attacked the EPA. He is a climate est and most craven legislators in Washington, sec- change denier with connections to the oil and gas in- ond only to Texas lawmakers.” dustry. Virginia Blue Jeans Jenner AG Pruitt submitted a three-page letter to the EPA Wagoner Death Panel CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31 President Trump, who declared in many interviews less. If not every Republican shares the “let ‘em die” and debates his determination to provide better and position on health care screamed by a GOP debate cheaper health insurance “for everybody. Let it be for audience in 2012, all too many believe that govern- everybody.” But by appointing a far-right ideologue ment has no role in ensuring that every American is like Price to run health policy, Trump effectively vio- insured – even though that would save money as well lated that promise before even taking his oath of of- as lives. fice. Working with Ryan and the Republican majority However ridiculous Donald Trump’s promises may in both houses of Congress, Price means to destroy seem, his pledge to protect Americans who depend ObamaCare, slash Medicare and decimate Medicaid. on ObamaCare, Medicare and Medicaid is a matter of The truth about the current incarnation of the Re- life or death. Unless he changes course now, we may publican Party, which voters ought to have learned see a lot of red caps at funerals for people who lost long ago, is that its attitudes toward working Ameri- their insurance and died much too soon. cans of all descriptions range from careless to merci- © Creators.com 46 • JANUARY 2017 It’s Not Too Late ... We Need Your Help! Only $35 For A Gift Subscription To The Oklahoma Observer! Please Send A One-Year Subscription To: Please Send A One-Year Subscription To:

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48 • JANUARY 2016

THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER • 47 Newsmakers Series

Join Observer Editor Arnold Hamilton, House Minority Leader Scott Inman and other special guests for a lively, one-hour preview of the 2017 legislative session.

Thursday, January 26, 2017 Full Circle Books 1900 Northwest Expressway Oklahoma City 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Admission is free Light hors d’oeuvres will be served Wine and beer available for purchase