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Session from Hell by Arnold Hamilton These Are the Raw Numbers: the Lawmakers Consider Sacrosanct: Cor- Legislature’S 101 House Members Porate Welfare

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Session from Hell by Arnold Hamilton These Are the Raw Numbers: the Lawmakers Consider Sacrosanct: Cor- Legislature’S 101 House Members Porate Welfare $2.50 25,000 Blue Chip Readers VOL. 42, NO. 2 An Independent Journal of Commentary JANUARY 25, 2010 Wingnuts And Corporatists Session From Hell By Arnold Hamilton These are the raw numbers: The lawmakers consider sacrosanct: cor- Legislature’s 101 House members porate welfare. and 48 senators filed 2,235 bills and The state has created a cornucopia 59 resolutions in advance of the 2010 of tax exemptions – including sales session that opens Feb. 1. taxes on newspapers – that benefit Toss in the 1,051 bills and 86 res- the supposedly free-market Chamber olutions left over from last year and crowd. When GOP Sen. Mike Mazzei lawmakers could take up as many as of Tulsa tried to repeal them and start 3,431 measures this year – or one for over, he discovered neither Republi- just about every little Oklahoma town cans nor Democrats were much inter- the size of Medford or Fairland, Wister ested in disappointing wealthy busi- or Hydro. ness interests and deep-pocketed As impressive – or depressing – as campaign donors. the sheer magnitude of legislative Don’t be surprised if the GOP lead- creativity may be, there’s really only ership targets education, despite lip one number that is important to know service to the contrary. The corporat- heading into this session: 1.3 billion. ists in charge are not beyond using That’s the size of the projected hole the crisis to attempt to bring their – in dollars – in the 2010-11 budget, arch-enemies, the state’s teachers down from a $7.1 billion spending unions, to their knees. They’ll have package in 2008 to only about $5.3 plenty of help from Republican theo- billion available for next year. crats who prefer church schools or With no expectation of additional home schools to public education. federal stimulus money to soften the It’s even more difficult to predict blow and with the state Constitu- what will happen because it’s an elec- tion making it all but impossible to tion year and because so many key increase taxes, the Grover Norquist, players in the budget process are shrink government as much as pos- either pursuing higher office or are sible and drown the rest in the bath- lame ducks, limping to an artificial tub crowd will get to test its theories finish line created by term limits or this year. opting not to seek re-election. Think there was a ferocious back- coffee shop – is over, leaving the GOP timized by weak natural gas prices Two key Democrats, Gov. Brad Hen- lash over budget cuts that eliminated majority and complicit Democrats to that slashed gross production tax ry and his brain, state Treasurer Scott thousands of hot meals for seniors answer for their miserable steward- revenues as much as 80% in recent Meacham, are in their last year. So this winter? ship of the state’s finances. months. are Coffee and House Speaker Chris Just wait until lawmakers – pre- Let’s be clear: The $770 million in The tax cuts, though, turned a crisis Benge. House Appropriations and vented constitutionally from deficit tax cuts – most benefiting the wealth- into a calamity, Oklahoma’s revenue Budget Committee Chair Ken Miller, spending – begin imposing the dra- iest Oklahomans – are not solely to streams slowing to a trickle much R-Edmond, won’t seek re-election, but conian cuts and eye-popping fee in- blame for the state’s fiscal crisis, faster than state leaders expected. instead is vying to succeed Meacham. creases that will be necessary to keep judged America’s worst by the Nation- Worse, the across-the-board 5% The gravity of the budget crisis, how- state services on life support. al Conference of State Legislatures. budget cuts that doubled to 10% in ever, isn’t enough to keep lawmakers The glorious era of budget plenty Like every state, Oklahoma’s cof- December are just the beginning of from pursuing measures designed to and spirited tax cutting – replete with fers are being hammered by the global what promises to be Oklahoma’s long, enhance their political power, curry back-slapping attaboys at the local recession. The state was further vic- economic nightmare. The state’s rev- favor with their political benefactors, enue crisis shows no signs of abating punish their opponents or create a in the next couple of years, though in- more perfect [read: theocracy] union. creased demand for natural gas – pray As always, the GOP leadership is for longer, colder winters? – could carrying water for the State Chamber ease the pain. and its affiliates. The must-fix prob- Where and how much the Republi- lem this year: workers’ compensa- can-controlled Legislature will cut re- tion. Even before Coffee, Benge and mains to be seen, though Senate Pres- Co. began rolling out the Republican ident Pro Tem Glenn Coffee paints the legislative agenda for the media, the crisis as a wonderful opportunity to Greater Oklahoma City Chamber – for create “a leaner, more efficient” gov- one – informed its members in its ernment model. monthly newsletter that it was their One budget-cramper, however, that See SESSION Page 19 Observations Judge Not They don’t come any sicker or more proved new investment tax credits as corrupt than televangelist Pat Robert- a means of persuading Mercury Ma- son, a walking, talking reason why so rine, a boat engine manufacturer, to many are losing faith in any kind of expand its operation in the state. religion. As a result of the Haiti trag- Mercury Marine said that despite edy, here’s what he said on his broad- the tax credits, it was moving a signif- cast: icant number of jobs from Oklahoma “Something happened a long time to Wisconsin. ago in Haiti and people might not Since the legislation authorizing want to talk about it. They were under the tax credits explicitly allowed for the heel of the French, uh, you know the state to recover those credits in Napoleon the third and whatever. And the event that something along these they got together and swore a pact to lines occurred prior to 2012, the com- the Devil. They said we will serve you pany has agreed to refund the credits, if you’ll get us free from the French. with interest. True Story. And so the Devil said, ‘OK, By tying the credits to some mea- it’s a deal.’ sure of performance on the part of “And they kicked the French out. Mercury Marine, Oklahoma was able You know, the Haitians revolted and to avoid a situation where the compa- got themselves free. But ever since ny could simply take the credits and they have been cursed by one thing run. after the other, desperately poor. Given the dire budget next fiscal kind words about the energy industry, Sensible legislators would be work- “Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same year, will the Republican-led Legis- feasting on $18 billion a year in fed- ing to control firearm ownership, not island. Uh, they need to have, and we lature check out the hundreds of ac- eral handouts. promoting it. need to pray for them, a great turning counts? It’s hard to believe that Oklahoma We realize it’s an election year to God and out of this tragedy, I’m op- once had one of the top delegations and nothing gilds the lily more than timistic something good may come. in Washington, now reduced to jeers an NRA endorsement. We remember “Because, of course, black people Two Losers – especially the turgid twins, Jim In- when the NRA was a responsible or- couldn’t possibly have the where- hofe and Tom Coburn, who have made ganization. withal to defeat their white oppres- We have in hand two recent mail- Oklahoma the laughingstock of Amer- With more than 17,000 firearms sors without a little supernatural help ers by a pair of Oklahoma Republican ica and the world. killings last year, America is the mur- – and it sure wouldn’t be coming from members of Congress, Mary Fallin and der capital of the world and the most God, right?” Tom Cole. violent society in the history of man Every disaster that befalls a na- The one from Cole is a blatant lie, Blue Dogs Lie on this planet – from child abuse and tion – hurricanes, floods, terrorism, accusing President Obama of “waste- murder to the domestic murder and earthquakes – constitutes God’s pun- ful spending and massive debt that We would be more tolerant of Blue abuse of women. ishment of a people gone astray, ac- threatens our future.” Dogs [especially Rep. Dan Boren] if On a common sense level, Sen. Mike cording to Robertson, who famously Fact: Obama inherited that massive they didn’t lie in order to justify vot- Johnson, R-Kingfisher, said the sales blamed feminists for 9/11 and gays for debt from Republican George W. Bush, ing with the Republicans. tax is no barrier to buying weapons. Hurricanes Katrina and Andrew. whom Cole followed like a puppy dog. The health care bills are both ana- It’s just showing off. Every thinking religious person Bush launched the Wall Street bailout lyzed by the non-partisan Congres- ought to pray that God judges Robert- without any safeguards and Obama sional Budget Office [CBO], and they son as he has judged others. had to clean up his mess. both reduce the budget deficit [Senate Pandering As for the stimulus package, what version $132 billion, House version: was the President to do? The econo- $138 billion over 10 years]. The showboating never ends in Lost Millions? my was sinking into a black hole.
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