Ron DeSantis to make campaign stop in Tulsa on Saturday

Florida Governor and 2024 GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is coming to Tulsa this weekend for a campaign stop. The event was announced earlier today by Never Back Down, the super PAC campaigning for DeSantis.

Attendance is free but does require reserving a ticket.

Small: Reading instruction crucial for Oklahoma children

Reading instruction crucial for Oklahoma children

by Jonathan Small

As the old expression goes, the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again while hoping for a different outcome. Unfortunately, many of our public schools have taken that approach to reading instruction by clinging to a scientifically discredited method of instruction known as “whole language.”

It’s time policymakers address this longstanding problem. Nationwide learning loss occurred during COVID, and Oklahoma ranked among the worst-performing states according to the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

OCPA column: School-choice moms tipped FL Gov race

School-choice moms tipped governor’s race

by Jonathan Small, president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA)

Why did 100,000 African-American women in Florida vote for Trump-backed Republican Ron DeSantis over Andrew Gillum, a Democrat vying to become the state’s first African-American governor?

The answer was provided by William Mattox last week in The Wall Street Journal.

“More than 100,000 low-income students in Florida participate in the Step Up For Students program, which grants tax-credit funded scholarships to attend private schools,” he writes. “Even more students are currently enrolled in the state’s 650 charter schools.”

“Most Step Up students are minorities whose mothers are registered Democrats. Yet many of these ‘school-choice moms’ vote for gubernatorial candidates committed to protecting their ability to choose where their child goes to school.”

DeSantis supports school choice. Gillum, backed by the public education establishment, did not.

Gillum was a strong candidate and, again, would have been the first African-American governor in Florida history. And yet, “of the roughly 650,000 black women who voted in Florida, 18% chose Mr. DeSantis, according to CNN’s exit poll of 3,108 voters,” Mattox writes. “This exceeded their support for GOP U.S. Senate candidate Rick Scott (9%), Mr. DeSantis’s performance among black men (8%), and the GOP’s national average among black women (7%).”

“In an election decided by fewer than 40,000 votes,” Mattox observes, “these 100,000 black women proved decisive.”

From small rural communities to big cities, school choice is mainstream in the Sunshine State. And good policy, as they say, has proven to be good politics.

Step Up’s Patrick Gibbons, a former OCPA research assistant, points out that nearly half of Florida’s students attend a school based on choice, not just location.

Stunning but true: fully 46 percent of Florida students are enrolled in district magnet and specialty programs, online schools, public charter schools, private schools that accept choice scholarships, home schools, or some other choice.

Interestingly, Oklahomans want those same choices. In a statewide survey commissioned by OCPA and conducted by Cor Strategies in May 2018, likely Oklahoma voters were asked this simple question: “If you could select any type of school in order to obtain the best education for your child, and financial costs and transportation were of no concern, what type of school would you select.” The survey, which had a margin of error of plus/minus 4.37 percent, found that just under half of Oklahomans would choose a traditional public school. Roughly half would make other choices (36 percent private school, 8 percent charter school, and 8 percent home school).

Clearly, the demand for educational options is strong. Homeschooling is increasingly popular in Oklahoma. One of the state’s virtual charter schools (Epic) has 21,000 students enrolled. And private schools aren’t simply for the big cities: you’ll find them from Altus to Woodward (not to mention in tiny Corn, Oklahoma). Indeed, 77 percent of Oklahomans live within a 20-minute drive or less of at least one private school, and fully 86 percent live within a 30-minute drive or less.

Two years ago, more than 10,000 private-school scholarship recipients joined Martin Luther King III for a rally in support of school choice at the Florida state capitol.

“Fairness demands that every child, not just the rich, has access to an education that will help them achieve their dreams,” Mr. King once told OCPA. He told Politico that he believes his father would have supported private-school choice for needy students.

Clearly, a lot of Florida moms do, too.

Jonathan Small serves as president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.

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.

Herman Cain endorses Newt Gingrich

Former presidential candidate Herman Cain announced today via Twitter that he is endorsing Newt Gingrich for President.

The news came via a tweet Cain posted at 9:19pm EST, that read "I am officially endorsing @NewtGingrich for President of the United States!"

After dropping out of the race in early December, Cain was noncommittal on whether he would endorse a candidate or not. The Florida Republican primary, which is very important for both Gingrich and his main opponent Mitt Romney, is coming up on Tuesday.

Three candidates, three states: Newt takes South Carolina

Rick Santorum learned this week that he actually did squeak out a 34-vote victory in the Iowa Caucus. Mitt Romney held on to a commanding lead in New Hampshire, and won the first-in-the-nation primary.

Now, in a very apropos manner, given how turbulent this race has been, Newt Gingrich has taken a dominating lead, and will win South Carolina. As of 7:30pm (CST), with 35.8% reporting, the results are Gingrich 40.4%, Romney 26.2%, Santorum 18.1%, and Paul in last with 13.4%.

Three states. Three different victors.

The next primary will be in Florida, on January 31st.

Cain wins Florida's 'Presidency 5' Straw Poll

Herman Cain scored an unexpected, and rather stunning, victory in today's Presidency 5 straw poll in Florida. Mitt Romney and Rick Perry had been expected to be the top contenders in the Florida GOP event, but Cain took the straw poll by storm.

1. Herman Cain - 996 (37.1%)
2. Rick Perry - 409 (15.4%)
3. Mitt Romney - 372 (14%)
4. Rick Santorum - 289 (10.9%)
5. Ron Paul - 276 (10.4%)
6. Newt Gingrich - 224 (8.4%)
7. Jon Huntsman - 60 (2.3%)
8. Michelle Bachmann - 40 (1.5%)

After an initial (and massive) surge, Rick Perry has had a difficult few weeks. This is a painful end to the week, as it continues the story-line of Perry's campaign troubles.

Also surprising about this poll was that Ron Paul (well known for targeting straw polls) came in fifth, and Michelle Bachmann came in a very distant dead last. Bachmann and Romney did both skip the event, but in a gathering of party faithful in a contentious primary, one would expect their numbers to have been higher (particularly Bachmann's).

This is very good news for Herman Cain, and will give some much-needed wind in his campaign's sails. Presidency 5 organizers like to tout the fact that the winners in their three previous straw polls (1979, 1987 and 1995) went on to become the Republican nominee every time.

AG Pruitt Files Federal Lawsuit against Health Care Act

 

Oklahoma Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt Files Federal Lawsuit against Health Care Act

Lawsuit includes strengthened arguments focused on defeating
individual mandate and striking the entire health care act based on non-severability

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt today filed a lawsuit on behalf of the state of Oklahoma, making it the 28th state to challenge the constitutionality of the individual mandate provision of the federal health care act.

The Attorney General explained the lawsuit will enhance the collective efforts of the majority of states suing the federal government because it contains strengthened arguments against the independent mandate in response to shifting legal strategy by the federal government. It further includes allegations that focus on the non-severability of the health care act, which would find the entire act to be invalid if any part is held to be unconstitutional.

“We have an advantage of learning from the arguments the federal government put forth in the legal proceedings with Virginia and Florida, which allows Oklahoma to enhance the strategy used by those respective states.  We did this to address the federal government’s citing of the Necessary and Proper Clause to justify the individual mandate, even though any use of the clause must be consistent with both ‘the letter and spirit’ of the Constitution, which this act is not,” Pruitt said. “We also have included robust allegations that seek to have the entire act stricken by addressing the non-severability of the law.”

Additionally, the lawsuit will defend Oklahoma’s recent passage of the Oklahoma Health Care Freedom Amendment, which amended the state Constitution to say that Oklahomans cannot be required to purchase individual health care coverage. 

 “Again, there is great clarity for me on the necessary and urgent need to exercise my responsibility to defend Oklahoma’s Constitution against a federal law that requires our state’s citizens to purchase a product or face penalties from the federal government,” Pruitt said. “In November, Oklahoma voters made clear their belief that the federal government, in this instance, has overreached its power and authority.”

The complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, raises the issue of whether the U.S. Congress is empowered under the Commerce Clause to require citizens to purchase health insurance coverage or be penalized for not doing so.

The challenged provision, Section 1501 of the Act, is commonly known as the Individual Mandate. This provision requires that every U.S. citizen, other than those falling within specified exceptions, maintain a minimum level of health insurance coverage beginning in 2014. Failure to comply will result in a penalty included in the taxpayer’s annual tax return.

This mandate will require non-exempt Oklahomans to either purchase health insurance for themselves and their dependents or pay a civil penalty designed to force them into such a purchase.

“By voting to pass State Question 756 by an overwhelming margin, the people of Oklahoma made it clear that a federally enforced mandate to purchase health insurance is both undesirable and unconstitutional,” Gov. Mary Fallin said. “Furthermore, President Obama’s health care plan would cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in the middle of a severe budget crisis. I am proud that Oklahoma can now be counted among the states standing up for constitutional rights and opposing a law that is harmful to both our economy and to the health of our citizens.”

Pruitt added that Oklahoma’s recently approved Oklahoma Health Care Freedom Amendment and the federal health care act cannot coexist, and that federal preemption does not apply when a federal law is deemed unconstitutional.

As such, he commented on his obligation to defend the Oklahoma law, “The most logical way to defend our state Constitution is in an Oklahoma federal court, not in another state,” Pruitt said.

Additionally, by filing in Oklahoma, the state adds another circuit of the federal court system considering arguments on the constitutionality of the act.  This enhances the reasons for the U.S. Supreme Court to expedite a hearing on the issue.

 “I deeply respect the efforts of General Pam Bondi, and the other Attorneys General involved in the Florida litigation as well as the efforts of General Ken Cuccinelli in Virginia,” Pruitt said. “I am confident with our collective efforts we will prevail.”

The Oklahoma lawsuit will be handled by internal staff in the Attorney General’s office, and no outside counsel will be retained. 

To read the complaint, go online to www.oag.ok.gov.

"Offbeat" GOP Candidates? Let's Look at the Democrat Party, Too

Politico ran a story Thursday entitled Will its offbeat candidates hurt the GOP?. The article focused on candidates like Rand Paul (KY-Sen), Sharon Angle (NV-Sen), Linda McMahon (CT-Sen), and a few others.

I have a few candidates I'd like to point out to Politico that are Democrats, but first, a few words from Rush Limbaugh, who I thought had a great response to this on his radio show:

The Politico could run a list of the offbeat legislation the Democrats introduced every day in Congress like Rangel's constant efforts to reintroduce the draft.  Maxine Waters today blamed Bush for her ethics problems.  We got Fortney "Pete" Stark.  These are normal people, all of these wondrous Democrats.  But of course The Politico has to go out and find offbeats in the Republican Party.  This Burns guy gets one thing right.  "It’s almost impossible to imagine a group of nominees like this emerging in any other election cycle, and the willingness of primary voters to embrace such downright strange candidates underscores just how violently the 2010 electorate has turned against political institutions and the would-be officeholders who belong to them." He's exactly right.  We've gotten so odd that somebody who wants to reform Social Security is a political offbeat.  Somebody who wants to shore up Medicare and fix it a political offbeat.  Somebody who wants to fix the Department of Education is considered an offbeat candidate.  Somebody who wants to bring the budget in line is an offbeat, oddball, weirdo candidate.  Somebody who wants to end the crime and the fraud and the waste in government is an offbeat candidate.

And now for a few "offbeat" Democrat candidates, starting down in Florida.

Florida Democrats have two main candidates for U.S. Senate (Marco Rubio is the GOP candidate, and governor Charlie Crist is running as an Independent). Jeff Greene is a billionaire, who made most of his money in a questionable real estate venture in California. But, that's not his only problem.

In 2005, his 145-foot yacht dropped anchor right smack dab in the middle of Belize's protected barrier reef (designated by the UN as a "World Heritage Site"). Greene was slapped with a $1.87 million fine by the Belize government... but he's not been back to pay it, and in fact denies that the event ever occurred.

Let's move to Texas.

Kesha Rogers is the Democrat nominee for Congressional District 22. Rogers is best known for being a LaRouche candidate.

Kesha, like all LaRouchers, believes that President Obama is a puppet for the British Empire and their imperialist bankers. Mhmm.

Moving on...

No list of "offbeat" candidates would be complete without the infamous Alvin Greene. Greene is one of the most bizarre candidates who actually won a primary in this election cycle.

The candidate has had disastrous, blooper-reel interviews with the media, and to top off all his other mishaps, he was indicted on Friday on two charges - a misdemeanor for communicating obscene materials to a person without consent, and a felony for showing pornography to a teenage student in a South Carolina college computer lab.

And yes, this guy won the Democrat primary, over the candidacy of a longtime Democrat politician.

And last, but not least, Oklahoma's own Democrat U.S. Senate nominee - Jim Rogers.

Rogers is a perennial candidate who never campaigns. He wears the same old red campaign sweatshirt, with "Jim Rogers for U.S. Senate 20__" ironed on the back. I saw the man when he filed for U.S. Senate in 2008, and he had taped "08" to update the shirt from his previous run for office.


I didn't even go into all the high-ranking Democrat incumbents who are facing ethics investigations, either. Just a closing, interesting note - these four candidates that I highlighted only have two last names: Rogers and Greene.

Chevy Player of the Game and Bailouts

Congratulations to OU, on smashing Missouri in the Big 12 title game, and on making it to the National Championship game.

Just a thought on Chevy's 'Player of the Game' scholarship program; if GM gets a federal bailout, should they continue spending your money on their 'Player of the Game' program?