AFP-Oklahoma endorses three more candidates for State House

Americans for Prosperity Oklahoma Endorses New Round of State Legislative Candidates

Tulsa, Okla. – Americans for Prosperity Oklahoma (AFP-OK) today announced its endorsement of three candidates for the Oklahoma State House of Representatives:  Kendra Wesson (HD-46), Brad Banks (HD-70), and Paul Hassink (HD-79).

Carol Bush says she was misquoted; publisher disagrees

State Rep. Carol Bush

In a December interview with TheTulsaVoice.com, freshman State Rep. Carol Bush (R-Tulsa) made a series of comments on her policy views that were... unorthodox for a Republican, to say the least. The HD70 representative took liberal positions on taxes three times, said ObamaCare was the "wrong execution of the right idea", and leaned left on social issues like abortion, marriage, and assisted suicide. She also said she was recruited to run for office by now ex-representative Jeannie McDaniel (D-Tulsa), who was one of the most liberal Oklahoma  legislators in recent memory.

After her statements caught attention on social media and my post here, Rep. Bush sent an apology to members of the House Republican caucus, obtained by SoonerPolitics.org:

Bush pleads "misquoted" and "taken out of context" for her liberal positions.

Joshua Kline, editor of TheTulsaVoice.com, responded to Bush's claim with this statement:

"We stand by Barry Friedman's story, which presented Rep. Bush in her own words. Bush is welcome to contact us directly if she seriously believes she was misquoted or "taken out of context." We'd be happy to go over the audio with her and sort this whole thing out."

The tone of the original article was that of a conversation between old pals; in fact, the author started off with a disclaimer noting that he and Bush have been friends for 35 years. I think the truth of the matter isn't "misquoted" or "taken out of context", but rather that, at ease in a friendly environment, Bush was simply caught voicing her real thoughts on these policy issues.

At least it gives conservatives a heads-up about another legislator to keep a watchful eye on.

RINO Alert: HD70 Rep. Carol Bush shows true colors

Republican Ken Walker was one of only three incumbent legislators to lose their reelection bids (all Republicans, all defeated in their primaries). Walker lost the House District 70 GOP primary to challenger Carol Bush by just over 3% of the vote.

Walker ranked high in both his conservative rating average (9th in the House) and his Conservative Performance Index score (14th in the House). 

It appears that he's been replaced by a true 'RINO' (Republican In Name Only). In an interview with TheTulsaVoice.com, new HD70 State Rep. Bush reveals her true colors.

In the interview, she takes positions supporting numerous liberal positions. Here's a sampling:

ObamaCare: "Wrong execution of the right idea. I do believe we have to take care of the healthcare of everybody."

Tax Hikes 1: "We’ve taken too much money out of the budget in the last 12 years."

Tax Hikes 2: "I was all for that cigarette tax. It should go back on the table." 

Tax Hikes 3: [question from interviewer: "So, where do we make up the revenue? Higher taxes on horizontal drillers?"] Bush: "Yeah. What about a luxury tax?"

Gay "Rights": "Of course. You can’t legislate morality."

Abortion: appears to be pro-abortion, and wants schools to be able to give birth control to students

Bush also appears to lean toward allowing assisted-suicide laws, and found Rep. John Bennett's talk at a recent caucus meeting to be "prayer revival, Bible thumping" and "offensive", further saying "We need to muffle his megaphone."

Bush says she was recruited to run by extreme liberal Democrat ex-Rep. Jeannie McDaniel . McDaniel had the 7th most liberal rating in the House, and 5th worst CPI score.

It looks like she will be a "fitting" replacement for ex-Rep. Doug Cox, who had the 2nd-worst CPI score among Republican House members and the worst conservative average.