OCPA: AG Drummond right to stand up to federal overreach

AG Drummond right to stand up to federal overreach

By Jonathan Small

With federal overreach a constant threat, it is important that states like Oklahoma stand up and fight to control their own destiny. That’s why Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond deserves praise for threatening to sue the Biden administration if it does not withdraw a rule by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFW) that designates the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species.

Anti-Trump, pro-Clinton/Biden labor union backs Frix

UPDATE: More left-wing, anti-Trump donors funding Frix for Congress

On Wednesday, 2nd District GOP runoff candidate Avery Frix accepted a $5,000 maximum contribution from the UA Union Plumbers & Pipefitters Vote! Political Action Committee, an anti-Trump, pro-Obama, pro-Clinton, pro-Biden labor union with deep pockets for liberal candidates.

This PAC is a huge supporter of left-wing candidates, with 91%+ of their tens of millions of dollars in donations going to Democrats, and the remainder generally going to the most moderate Republicans in office.

OK Primary: Trump sets record vote for incumbent president

President Donald Trump has won the Oklahoma Republican presidential primary in historic fashion:

THANK YOU OKLAHOMA! #KAG2020 pic.twitter.com/V5DNRn6yNB

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2020

Presidential primaries featuring incumbents since Oklahoma moved from caucuses to primaries in 1988:

• Bill Clinton got 76.23% in his 1996 re-election campaign. 
• George W. Bush received an even 90% in 2004. 
• Barack Obama pulled 57.1% in 2012

Donald Trump? He beat them all:

Election results from the Oklahoma State Election Board

92.6%.

With this performance, Donald Trump has set a new record for incumbent presidents in Oklahoma primaries.

Column: Redistricting petition is blatant move that should concern all

Initiative Petition 420 is part of national plan

an op-ed by Michael Clements in the Durant Democrat

The Oklahoma Supreme Court heard arguments this week on a case that is getting little attention but could have huge implications on the local, state and national levels.

The case concerns Initiative Petition 420. If the petition’s backers are successful, they will put State Question 804 on the ballot. And, if that question is approved by voters it will completely change how legislative boundaries are drawn in Oklahoma. We have covered this issue before, but it’s too important to ignore.

Andy Moore, founder of People not Politicians which is pushing the petition, claims he is just a regular guy who got interested in politics after learning about gerrymandering. Moore claims he was just minding his own business when he became so outraged over the issue that he had to do something. So, he started the organization with the populist sounding name to fight the obvious corruption of having elected officials draw district lines.

Moore was so regular that he didn’t even know who Eric Holder, Attorney General of the United States under President Barak Obama, was. Which is odd since Moore is also the executive director of Freedom of Information Oklahoma, a group dedicated to fighting for government openness and transparency.

Apparently, the FOI Oklahoma Board was so impressed with the political neophyte that the fact that he couldn’t identify the top law enforcement official in the nation was irrelevant. So, why is Moore’s obtuseness relevant? Because Moore’s redistricting crusade just happens to coincide with far-to-similar-to-be-coincidence national campaign to flip red states to blue states being run by holder.

In another stunning coincidence, People Not Politics web presence is hosted by a company dedicated to advancing progressive political agendas, like those espoused by Holder. Moore claims it was simply a financial decision, but we’re pretty sure that if he was pushing a Republican agenda his Internet Service Provider wouldn’t be quite so blue.

Then there’s the census-data manipulation SQ 804 would require. Moore claims to have no idea how language calling for the incarcerated to be counted differently from all others for the purposes of redistricting, and only for that purpose, got into his proposed amendment. But, to our knowledge, he and his grassroots movement have made no moves to remove the provision.

Right now, the decision is in the hands of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. But even if the court rejects this move, it will not end. It is being pushed by a national campaign intent on bypassing the voters and the Constitution. People on one side of the aisle may be fine with that for the time being since they see it as a way to correct what they consider to be a mistake by the voters. But what happens when the other side controls the commission?

Frankly, we are being sold a bill of goods and the potential impact goes far beyond drawing some boundaries. This is a blatant move to take control an essential part of our political process away from the majority of the people and place it in the hands of a few. And that should concern people of all political persuasions.

Congressman Lucas praises new WOTUS rule

Lucas Praises New WOTUS Rule

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Frank Lucas (OK-03) released the following statement commending the Trump Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army’s finalization of the new Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, cutting burdensome regulation for America’s farmers, ranchers, and landowners:

“From the creeks and streams of Western Oklahoma to the dams of the Arkansas River in Tulsa County, today’s announcement by the Trump Administration is welcomed news for all Oklahomans. While continuing to protect millions of miles of our nation’s waterways from pollution and deterioration, the new rule will provide clarity to the EPA’s regulatory framework and will dramatically reduce overburdensome regulation currently felt by farmers, ranchers, small business owners, and landowners.

WOTUS, under the Obama Administration, expanded the role of the federal government under the Clean Water Act from navigable and interstate waters to incorporate ditches, ponds, and streams- regardless of how unnavigable or temporary the water may be. At a time when the federal government should have been cutting burdensome red tape, the Obama Administration instead tied the hands of our nation’s farmers and landowners and subjected them to unprecedented federal overreach and divisive litigation. 

Farmers, ranchers, and landowners of Oklahoma have long been good stewards of their land and the environment. The Trump Administration’s efforts reeling in the scope of the EPA’s regulatory activity back to the original intention of the Clean Water Act not only provides certainty for those who rely on the land to support their families but it also applies a common sense understanding of what constitutes waters of the United States. I commend President Trump and his Administration for keeping their promise to eliminate the previous administration’s rule and for providing a more realistic and certain framework ensuring we have a healthy environment and robust economy.”

Oklahoma education agency newsletter includes transgender bathroom policy, other LGBT ‘best practices’

(view full email here)

Oklahoma education agency newsletter includes transgender bathroom policy, other LGBT ‘best practices’

by Ray Carter, Director, Center for Independent Journalism

A recent Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) newsletter advises school districts to allow students to use the bathroom of their choice based on gender identity rather than biological gender.

When asked about the document, an OSDE spokesperson said that section of the newsletter “came from a non-governmental entity and not the OSDE nor any other governmental body” and its inclusion in the agency’s newsletter “was in no way an endorsement or a directive from OSDE.”

Among other things, the OSDE newsletter included a section devoted to “LGBT-Inclusive Schools & Classrooms” that advised, “Allow transgender and intersex students to use the restroom in which they are most comfortable, whether it’s the gender-neutral restroom or the restroom that corresponds with the student’s self-identified gender.”

The agency newsletter was sent to all federally required Title IX coordinators in Oklahoma school districts in August 2019.

The newsletter’s message appears to comply with a directive handed down by the Obama administration in 2016 that was subsequently rescinded by the Trump administration in 2017.

In 2016, the final year of the Obama administration, a letter sent to school districts by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education advised that the prohibition on sex discrimination in educational programs contained in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 “encompasses discrimination based on a student’s gender identity, including discrimination based on a student’s transgender status.”

The Obama administration letter advised, “A school may provide separate facilities on the basis of sex, but must allow transgender students access to such facilities consistent with their gender identity.”

Lawsuits challenged the directive with divergent results. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit concluded the term “sex” in Title IX was ambiguous and could be defined to include transgender students (such as biological males who identify as female). But a federal district court in Texas held the term “sex” in Title IX referred to biological sex and issued a nationwide injunction on enforcement of the Obama-era guidance document.

In February 2017, the Trump administration issued a letter saying the Department of Education and Department of Justice “have decided to withdraw and rescind” the Obama-era guidance document “in order to further and more completely consider the legal issues involved. The Departments thus will not rely on the views expressed within them.”

The OSDE newsletter’s language on “LGBT-Inclusive Schools & Classrooms” was taken, almost word for word, from the “Teaching Tolerance” project of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

The SPLC project includes a “Toolkit for ‘Gender Spectrum’” that advises, “Gender-fluid young people navigate a variety of gender-specific spaces throughout their day at school. From seating charts based on gender to dress codes and roles in school activities, we ask students to put themselves into boxes labeled ‘girls’ and ‘boys’ all the time. To break away from these boxes and labels, consider hosting a gender-neutral day in your classroom.”

Another page on the project’s website includes a quote declaring, ““Binary notions of gender, biology and sexual orientation exclude large swaths of human diversity.”

After the Trump administration withdrew the guidance directive on school bathroom policies, Teaching Tolerance responded with an article: “Dispelling Six Myths About Transgender Identity.” That article said that permitting transgender individuals to use the restroom or locker room that matches their gender identity does not violate the privacy rights of non-transgender people, saying arguments to the contrary rely on “false assumptions.”

The idea that “seeing anatomical features typically associated with another gender violates your privacy” relies “on an interpretation of privacy that exceeds its accepted meaning,” the article stated.

“Privacy is generally thought of as a right to keep certain information or aspects of ourselves from being disclosed,” the Teaching Tolerance article states. “It is not a right to never see bodies that are unfamiliar or look different from one’s own.”

In an e-mail, Carrie Burkhart, assistant executive director of communications at the OSDE, said the agency newsletter’s material on creating LGBT-inclusive schools “should have clearly attributed that the recommendations in question came from a non-governmental entity and not the OSDE nor any other governmental body.”

Burkhart also noted that State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister publicly criticized the Obama administration’s 2016 edict. In a statement issued at that time, Hofmeister called the Obama administration’s bathroom directive “an outrageous overreach by the federal government” and said it “nearly defies belief that the Obama Administration now wants to direct how Oklahoma schools and districts operate our bathrooms.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which is responsible for the Teaching Tolerance project material included in the Oklahoma Department of Education’s Title IX newsletter, has long been criticized for labelling a wide range of organizations as “hate” groups similar to the Ku Klux Klan. In several prominent instances, groups have apparently been given the “hate” label because they advocate traditional Christian teachings regarding sexuality, even though those positions remain the official teaching of major denominations such as the Catholic, Baptist, and Methodist churches.

In some instances, the SPLC’s activities have been easily caricatured, including a map released in 2017 of more than 1,500 Confederate symbols the SPLC claimed hold “the potential to unleash more turmoil and bloodshed.” The SPLC stated, “It’s time to take the monuments down.” On the list of alleged Confederate monuments was the entirety of Jackson County in southwestern Oklahoma, which was placed on the target list because the county was reportedly named after Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson.

In other instances, the SPLC has been criticized for failing to practice what it preaches and for questionable financial practices.

As far back as 1994, the Montgomery Advertiser reported that former SPLC staffers said “blacks are treated like second-class citizens” at the SPLC. Twelve of 13 black former center staffers contacted by the paper said they had “experienced or observed racial problems inside the Law Center.”

In 2019, former SPLC employee Bob Moser wrote in The New Yorker that most black employees at the SPLC “were administrative and support staff” while the higher-paid professional staff “were almost exclusively white. Just two staffers, including me, were openly gay.” Moser worked at the SPLC from 2001 to 2004. Over time, he wrote, it became “hard” for many of the center’s employees “not to feel like we’d become pawns in what was, in many respects, a highly profitable scam.”

In 2018, the Washington Free Beacon, citing financial statements, reported that the SPLC had $92 million in offshore investment funds.

In 2019, Dees was fired from the SPLC amidst allegations of misconduct.

Originally published by the Center for Independent Journalism at this link..

OKGOP Chairman: Beware of Nat'l Democrats pushing redistricting petition

Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman David McLain is out with an op-ed pushing back on Democratic efforts to put redistricting reform on the ballot, which is part of a nationwide effort by leftist groups.

National Democrats Seek Inroads in Oklahoma With Redistricting Push

by OKGOP Chairman David McLain

Democratic Party leaders that include former President Barack Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder are spearheading a national effort to change the way congressional and state legislative districts are drawn. Their motives are partisan and ideological.

First, these “reformers” seek to reverse the Republican advantage in state politics brought on by widespread disaffection with the Democrat Party’s lurch to the left. Republicans have unified control over the legislative bodies in 29 of 50 states (including Oklahoma), compared with just 19 for Democrats. Leftist leaders know that simply redrawing these districts may produce faster gains for the Democratic Party than doing the hard work of winning elections. That is why the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), chaired by Holder, is working to redraw these lines exclusively in red states and areas where Republicans have experienced electoral success.

The NDRC is ideological in nature and understands the stakes are high. Its website cites global warming, gun control, and abortion rights as policy priorities and implores like-minded people and groups to join their cause.

In Oklahoma, they have found a taker: a coalition called “People Not Politicians” that is backed by out-of-state liberal interest groups and in-state Democrat political operatives. They have filed Initiative Petition 420, a precursor to State Question 804, which could appear on the ballot in Oklahoma if the group can overcome legal challenges and acquire the necessary number of signatures.

SQ 804 would remove control over the redistricting process from our elected officials and place it in the hands of unelected activist judges who would then assemble their own “independent” election commission. These new commissioners, unlike the bipartisan legislative committees that today control redistricting, would be held accountable to no one.

How has this worked in other states? Writing on the works of “independent” judges in Pennsylvania, The Wall Street Journal opined in July: “The judges substituted their own map that helped Democrats gain three seats in Congress last year. That’s not democracy. It’s judicial usurpation of democracy.”

Furthermore, the maps created by many of these independent commissions look as bad or worse than the corkscrew- or hockey stick-shaped maps that many legislative bodies produce. The difference, of course, being that activist judges are contorting districts into positions that accompany the “correct” numbers of urban, liberal, LGBTQ+, or whatever other left-leaning affiliation that might benefit Democrats. In Oklahoma, the redistricting proposal explicitly mirrors that kind of leftist “social justice” commitment, citing gender identification and sexual orientation as factors that should be taken under consideration when assembling the new commission on redistricting.

Finally, the Oklahoma proposal is designed in a way that will almost certainly benefit urban pockets in Oklahoma City and Tulsa at the expense of rural areas. Our legislators have taken pains to create legislative districts that empower the state’s rural voters, knowing that power will otherwise flow disproportionately to our bigger, wealthier cities. By contrast, the Oklahoma petition includes provisions that will undercut rural districts by changing, for instance, how the state counts incarcerated inmates. Under our current system, inmates count as residents in the community that houses them, most of which are in rural areas. SQ 804 would change that by counting them based on their address pre-incarceration, meaning thousands of inmates in rural prisons would be counted as residents of Oklahoma and Tulsa counties.

Ultimately, this is really about control. Our current system places the state Legislature in control of our elections, as envisioned by the Founding Fathers, outlined in the Constitution and later approved by the U.S. Supreme Court. State Question 804, by contrast, sees the results of our democracy in action and says, “no thanks.” It replaces the will of the people and their representatives with the will — and the whims — of unelected judges and a new commission that will answer to no one.

Gold: Sen. Jim Inhofe announces 'Climate Hypocrite Awards'

Inhofe Announces Climate Hypocrite Awards

Awards Coincide with Global Climate Week

Monday, September 23, 2019 -- U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) announced the first of his Climate Hypocrite Awards [on Monday]. He plans to announce five in total for the week – one each day of Global Climate Week.

“It is easy to get swept up in the rhetoric of climate alarmists, but it’s important to remember the facts. Climate alarmists are eager to tell Americans that they need to take radical action, including going vegan, ending air travel,  not having children and eliminating fossil fuels and nuclear energy, but they aren’t willing to back up their data or take the actions they prescribe to everyone else.

“This week, while the rest of the world discusses how to use the climate agenda to turn over our economic system to the federal government and international organizations, I’m going to be serving up a dose of reality by recognizing some of the most notable climate hypocrites.”

#5: Michael Mann

“To kick off Global Climate Week, it seems most fitting to first recognize Michael Mann, the architect of the discredited ‘Hockey Stick’ graph who tells people to believe the science but was implicated in manipulating data in Climategate and refuses to provide the data to back up his graph.”

#4: Former President Obama

"Despite stating ‘[r]ising sea levels threaten every coastline,’ that didn’t stop former President Obama from reportedly acquiring a 29 acre, $15 million ocean front estate on Martha’s Vineyard. His actions clearly show he doesn’t believe his own rhetoric, but this is all too common for elite, liberal climate doomsdayers who say one thing but do another."

#3: Climate Conference Attendees 

“U.N. climate officials and Hollywood elites share some things in common – they both use fear to push their radical climate agenda while traveling the world on carbon-intensive transportation and telling everyone else to stay home. Make no mistake – their motivation isn’t about saving the environment – it’s about controlling our lives.”

#2: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

“Today’s award goes to proud socialist and Democrat standard-bearer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who is well known for bad ideas but also for climate hypocrisy. Despite claiming, ‘The world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change’, she doesn’t seem to have any problem frequently utilizing rideshare apps or airfare over “eco-friendly” public transit and walking. Her radical Green New Deal would put countless Americans out of work – it would end America as we know it – but AOC doesn’t think twice about living lavishly in her luxury apartment building, taking a car one mile to work, and believing her $174,000 taxpayer-funded salary should be higher.”

#1: Al Gore

“Last, but certainly not least, Al Gore has earned the grand prize of America’s greatest climate hypocrite. Whether it’s Gore’s chartered jets around the country or the fact his home uses up to 34 times more energy than the average American household, he’s never wavered in his calls for everyone else to, ‘…make [environmental] changes in their own lives.’ The actual ‘Inconvenient Truth’ is his hypocrisy – it is beyond absurd but typical of Hollywood elites.”

Cherokee Chief Hoskin moves to appoint former Obama advisor, DNC staffer as Delegate to Congress

Here's some fascinating news. Newly-elected Cherokee Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr., is appointing the first-ever Cherokee Nation Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. Who did he pick? A former advisor to President Obama and DNC staffer, and a maximum campaign donor.

In a letter to Joe Byrd, Speaker of the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council, Principal Chief Hoskin called for a special session of the tribal council to, among other things, appoint Kimberly Teehee as the Cherokee Nation's first-ever nonvoting delegate to the United States House of Representatives. The Cherokee Nation has long considered itself owed a Representative in Congress due to an 1835 treaty with the United States government, but it apparently has never attempted to seat one -- until now.

Teehee is the Vice President of Government Relations for Cherokee Nation Businesses, and Director of Government Relations for the Cherokee Nation since 2014 after being appointed by Principal Chief Bill John Baker.

Teehee has a long history of involvement in Democratic Party politics.

She served as Senior Advisor to Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI) for "nearly twelve years" starting in 1998, and was appointed as Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs in 2009 by President Barack Obama to the White House Domestic Policy Council, which coordinated domestic policy-making process in the White House and offered advice to Obama.

Going further back, Teehee worked for the Democratic National Committee as their first deputy director of Native American Outreach, and served as director of Native American outreach for President Bill Clinton's 1997 inauguration.

Teehee was a $5,000 maximum donor to Hoskin during the recent and hotly-contested election for principal chief. Hoskin won after his chief opponent was controversially disqualified by the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court two days before Election Day due to allegations made by a Hoskin campaign employee.

(click to view larger)

Other high profile financial supporters of Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr., include Oklahoma State Rep. Avery Frix (R-Muskogee) (to the tune of the maximum $5,000), Oklahoma House Minority Leader Emily Virgin (D-Norman), disgraced former Governor David Walters, and Drew Edmondson, a former Attorney General and the 2018 Democrat nominee for Governor.

It is interesting to note that in the most recent congressional election in the counties that make up the Cherokee Nation, not one went for the Democratic candidate, and the Republican Party received approximately 64% of the vote.

Heritage: With Budget Deal, Trump’s Fiscal Legacy No Different Than Obama, Bush

Winfree: With Budget Deal, Trump’s Fiscal Legacy No Different Than Obama, Bush

WASHINGTON — Tonight, Secretary Mnuchin and Speaker Pelosi released the final details of their backroom deal to bust through 2011 Budget Control Act caps and raise the debt ceiling. Paul Winfree, director of the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, released the following:

In a rare moment of fiscal discipline, Congress’ passage of the Budget Control Act (BCA) in 2011 placed caps on discretionary spending. Since its passage, Congress has routinely violated the spending caps with no regard for the consequences. This latest deal effectively renders the BCA dead. 

On top of the new spending, the deal suspends the debt limit for the next two years, piling on as much as $2 trillion more in debt. Hitting the debt limit ought to be a wake-up call for lawmakers to confront our nation’s unsustainable spending. Instead, many in Washington will celebrate the increased spending from BCA’s demise. But anyone concerned about the nation’s fiscal health should be alarmed. 

This deal comes less than four years after President Trump campaigned to balance the budget by cutting spending and after his administration produced three budgets to move toward fiscal sustainability. Few forces would threaten the president’s pro-growth agenda more than $22 trillion in debt fueled by unchecked government spending. If President Trump takes this deal—the worst in a decade—his fiscal legacy will be no different than the Obama and Bush administrations that he has criticized.

The Desolation of Obama: 2009 voter registration vs 2017

In this edition of the Voter Registration Maps series, we'll compare several different maps comparing voter registration around the inaugurations of Barack Obama (January 2009) and Donald Trump (January 2017). The desolation wrought in Oklahoma on the Democrat Party is tremendous.

First up, the registration leads by county:

Democrats went from leading in 54 counties when Obama took office, to leading in 40 counties when Trump took office. Where in 2009 Democrats had 13 counties with leads greater than 60% (Pushmataha was the largest at a 74.62% lead - 84.51% D to 9.89% R), now they have none over 60%.

Second up, the percentage swings:

Every county moved toward the GOP by at least 5%, with the smallest gains coming in the metros and college counties. 57 counties had at least a 20% swing to the Republicans, with Cotton (+47.51%) and Tillman (+40.52%) in southwest Oklahoma posting the most massive change.

Lastly, the majority and plurality party by county:

Currently, Republicans are the majority party in 26 counties (13 in 2009), and plurality party in 11 counties (10 in 2009). Democrats are majority in 33 counties (49 in 2009), and plurality in 7 counties (5 in 2009).

Op-Ed: A GOP for America's future

A GOP for America's future

originally posted here by Dustin Siggins

Note: This piece was co-authored by seven philosophically and geographically diverse conservatives who believe the GOP must lead in 2015. Our proposals outline a path that will accomplish this goal for the betterment of America.

On Election Day, the GOP won the Senate, held the House, and made solid gains in several states. The party can rightly claim a mandate from voters.

But what is that mandate? Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have promised that Congress would move on tax reform, the national debt, and repealing the Affordable Care Act. We hope that they follow through -- but given the GOP's tendency to overpromise and under-deliver, we have our doubts.

If the world were run by scientific and mathematical reality, Republicans would pass a constitutional amendment recognizing the scientific fact that we are human beings at conception. They would enact aggressive Social Security and Medicare reform, and revamp the tax code. And they would repeal the Affordable Care Act, eliminate corporate welfare and food stamps, and drastically expand domestic energy access.

However, these goals are not politically possible with President Obama in the White House and a GOP that tends to flinch in the face of tough decisions. So what can be accomplished that would help the nation and convince its conservative base that the party can be trusted?

McConnell and Boehner have outlined good steps. But we, a geographically and philosophically diverse group of conservatives, think they can do better.

First, pass legislation that could garner bipartisan support. Greater transparency and efficiency among the executive and legislative branches should be a top priority. Medicare, Medicaid, and the Defense Department alone face tremendous fraud and improper payments, and the federal government as a whole loses hundreds of billions of dollars annually to mismanagement and duplication.

Expanding drilling opportunities, something supported by many Democrats, would provide more jobs and more tax revenue, reduce environmental harm, and -- over time -- allow the U.S. to reduce its funding of Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and other nations that abuse human rights and/or provide fertile ground for terrorists.

The GOP should also renounce its relationship with Big Business by refusing to renew tens of billions in special-interest tax preferences at the end of the year, and end nearly $100 billion in federal corporate subsidies. Whether for oil companies, wind farms, NASCAR, or Goldman Sachs, policies that take from middle America to help the wealthy are immoral and fiscally insane.

These savings should be used to lower taxes for all Americans -- unless President Obama wants to defend giving approximately $150 billion in taxpayer dollars each year to wealthy special interests while the average American struggles to find work.

Now comes the hard stuff. We are pleased to have seen McConnell say in a press conference that the party will conduct investigations and oversight of the Executive Branch. Republicans should also allow only qualified judges to garner Senate approval, and should stop an executive amnesty cold.

Fiscally speaking, the nation is in serious trouble. Social Security and Medicare have become increasingly more expensive. They are the primary drivers of our debt. While extensive reforms are unlikely to pass, Republicans should promote means-testing of both programs and force Obama to defend giving Bill Gates and Warren Buffett retirement money.

Likewise, Republicans should demand that the president uphold his promise that all Americans be able to keep their health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, and overturn the unconstitutional HHS Mandate. They should also eliminate Congress's Obamacare subsidies for themselves.

Finally, it is important that the federal government stop its funding of abortion, be it at home or abroad. In 2009 and 2014, polls found that the American people do not support federal abortion funding. Republicans should force President Obama to explain why the average American should pay for the destruction of a million unborn children each year.

The plan we have laid out is considered radical inside the Beltway. We can hear it already -- "Obama will never sign it, and getting 60 votes in the Senate will be impossible." However, this is only part of the story. In December, a government funding bill must be passed; Republicans should include some of our measures in that legislation. Likewise, each and every funding bill and debt ceiling bill should include our very reasonable recommendations.

Two weeks ago, the GOP was given a golden opportunity to prove that it is better than the other guys, a duty it has shirked for at least 15 years. This is a chance for Republicans not only to show the American people they are just as tired of Beltway politics as voters, but also to swing the pendulum just a little bit away from fiscal and cultural destruction, and toward a brighter future.

--

Dustin Siggins is the D.C. correspondent for LifeSiteNews.com and a public relations consultant. Drew Belsky is the deputy editor for the online political journal American Thinker. Oklahoma State Representative George Faught is a small business owner who was elected to a fourth term on November 4. Christopher Arndt is the chairman of the Michigan Young Republicans. John Hawkins is the founder of RightWingNews.com and a contributor to Townhall.com. Jamison Faught is a conservative activist from Oklahoma who blogs at MuskogeePolitico.com. Win Martin is an openly gay Washington State resident and formerly a political blogger.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the co-authors.

Fallin, Dorman hit each other on TV

Governor Mary Fallin and her Democratic opponent Joe Dorman have both hit the airwaves with ads critical of their opponent. Dorman ties Fallin to outgoing State Superintendent Janet Barresi, while Fallin associates Dorman with President Barack Obama.

Personally, I find this commercial of Dorman's to be very effective -- perhaps the best thing that's come out of his campaign to date (an opinion shared by well-known Republican officials and activists I've spoken to). The problem for him is that it's likely too-little-too-late to make much of an impact.

Dorman's ad:


Fallin's ad:

Bridenstine bringing attention to Benghazi for State of the Union

Bridenstine: Benghazi Will Not Be Forgotten at State of the Union

(Washington, DC)  Charles Woods, father of Navy SEAL Ty Woods who was killed in Benghazi, is Congressman Jim Bridenstine's guest for the State of the Union Tuesday evening.

The President typically stacks the gallery with victims of various policies he wants to change. Republican Leadership has urged Members to invite as guests people who have been victims of Obamacare.

Congressman Bridenstine is hosting a genuine victim of failed foreign policy, who continues to be victimized by failure to appoint a House Select Committee to get to the bottom of what happened the night his son was murdered in Benghazi and to assure that what happened then will not be repeated.

Congressman Bridenstine said, "As a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, I understand the importance of knowing that America leaves no one behind. I am honored to host the father of a true hero.

"One of the first bills I cosponsored in Congress was Rep. Frank Wolf's H. Res. 36 to establish a select committee on Benghazi. The resolution has 180 cosponsors. No action has been taken on it.

"The House of Representatives must establish a select Committee to investigate the incident, the intelligence available, and the actions and inactions of those who should have been responsible for preventing the deaths of four Americans."

Bridenstine blasts Obama's leadership

Freshman Rep. Jim Bridenstine delivered the following speech earlier this week. The monologue has "gone viral", and the conservative rising star from Oklahoma's 1st District has since been featured on several prominent talk radio shows (such as Sean Hannity and Mark Levin).

Watch here as Rep. Bridenstine tears the Obama administration apart:

.

OKGOP "Mr. President, I Built This" ad wins award

OKGOP Ad Wins Addy Award

(Oklahoma City)--The Oklahoma Republican Party announced today that its "Mr. President, I Built This" video won an Addy Award in the "Video- Commercials" category at last week's 47th Annual Oklahoma City Addy Awards.

The ADDY Awards is the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting over 50,000 entries every year in local ADDY competitions. The video was produced by Cooper Ross of Insight Visual Media Productions.

"We are thrilled that our video was recognized at such a prestigious award competition and we want to thank Cooper Ross of Insight Visual Media Productions for carrying out our vision for this video," said Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Matt Pinnell.

“The Oklahoma Republican Party stands with the millions of hardworking Americans across the country that believe hard-work and ingenuity are what breed success,” continued Pinnell.

“President Obama’s comments were an enlightening - and frightening - window into the Democrats’ ongoing ‘War on Success’. This highlights a fundamental difference between the two parties and the two different visions for America as we head into the 2014 midterm elections."

The Oklahoma Republican Party’s ad, “Mr. President, I Built This” can be viewed here.

Dr. Benjamin Carson's National Prayer Breakfast speech

Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson was the keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast last Thursday. With President Obama sitting feet away, Dr. Carson delivered an eloquent speech in which he tore to shreds political correctness, progressive taxation, the national debt, and healthcare status-quo.

Click below to watch the speech that everyone is talking about:



Observe President Obama's face during Dr. Carson's speech. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in his brain!

Oklahoma Presidential Results Map: 2008 vs. 2012

This map shows the trends in voting when comparing the 2008 presidential race and the 2012 presidential race in Oklahoma. Counties colored a shade of red trended more Republican, and counties colored a shade of blue went more Democrat when compared to the 2008 results.

Jefferson County had the greatest increase for Republicans, at 11.64%. Adair County had the greatest increase for Democrats, coming in at 3.85%. All told, 14 counties had higher percentages for Obama in 2012 than in 2008.

Oklahoma General Elections Results Map - President

Mitt Romney once again carried all of Oklahoma's 77 counties, most with larger margins than before, and some with rather extreme percentages. His best county was Cimarron County, where the GOP nominee received 90.39% of the vote. As in 2008, Obama's best performance came in Cherokee County, where he took 42.95% (in 2008 he got 43.92%).

For reference, here is the 2008 map:

Four More Years

As of 10:15pm CST, President Barack Obama crested the critical 270 mark in electoral votes. Throughout much of the evening, the big states of Ohio and Florida bounced between Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney, but Ohio appears to have finally landed in the Obama camp's tally, pushing the President across the finish line.

Ironically enough, Mitt Romney currently leads in the popular vote - a reversal from the 2000 election, when George Bush won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote to Al Gore.