Twenty years ago, CNN was the most powerful and prestigious news organization in the world. Their coverage of Desert Storm (Gulf War I) proved far superior to the conventional broadcast news agencies.

  Yesterday, analyst & contributor, Kathy Griffin (a comedian by day job),  took down the last vestiges of CNN's former self respect and dignity.

  In a very carefully planned self-promotion, Griffin decided to compete with the late night Trump bashers (Colbert, Daily, Fallon, Meyers, etc). She and her promoters crafted a photo shoot of an ISIS-inspired beheading of President Donald Trump.  She knew she was playing dangerously. She even quipped that she may have to flee to Mexico to avoid incarceration for the act. But she pressed forward with it.

  Evidently, there was no focus group testing of the ploy. Whether its career desperation, sheer vile hatred, or personal recklessness; Griffin released the photo of herself holding an effigy of a beheaded and bloody Donald Trump.

  Gov. Fallin wanted us to pay $2 billion more in taxes. The Budget Chairs tried to push at least half of that, but in the end got most of a billion more of our next year's income.
  The legislators all went home. The documents all went to the governor's office. Thinktanks on the left and right are consulting attorneys for an inevitable court fight over the highly questionable decisions of the Republican leadership.

​Total Spent    $6,975,417,616.00

​Common Education    $2,448,399,829.00
Medical Services    $1,161,822,103.00
Human Services    $822,900,283.00
Higher Education    $773,597,660.00
Safety - Corrections    $613,425,571.00
Mental Health - Addictions    $327,990,166.00
Miscellaneous    $292,342,937.00
Transportation    $155,338,280.00
State Financial Agencies    $139,530,413.00
Courts    $133,966,765.00
Natural Resources - Industries    $106,103,609.00

   A Constitutional Crisis has now arrived. The Legislative leaders did the unthinkable. They blatantly raised taxes several times and in several ways that the constitution strictly forbids.
  Today, the session has adjourned 'sine die' [latin for "with no appointed date for resumption"] .

  When the two chambers failed to legally pass enough revenue increases before last Monday morning, to pacify the state's appetite; The only legal way to succeed in the regular session was to create a balanced budget within the means available.
  Another option was to go into a special session. But the Governor did not activate that option. So the leadership of the House, Senate, and the executive branch; decided to raise more revenue in the last 5 days and without the 75% support of both houses. 
  The voters could pass all the new revenue bills, but that would have to wait until the Nov. 2018 general election.  It appears that several legal challenges are being written in the next few days.  Whoever takes up the cause of protecting the taxpayers of Oklahoma will be the favorite in the 2018 elections, whether the court battle is won or lost.  

  The legislative leaders and governor are acting willfully delusional. They have this notion that as long as they don't utter the dreaded 't' word (tax), then they can pass any revenue bill at any time and with only a mere majority of  the yeas & nays.
  About 25 years ago, the people of Oklahoma did an end-run around our own arrogant legislature by passing a citizen initiative ballot question. The result was an amendment to our state constitution which requires...
 "any bill intended to raise revenue to be submitted to a vote of the people at the next general election before it can be enacted".
  An alternative enactment can be expedited if 75% of the full authorized membership of both houses and a governor's signature.
   But in neither case can those proposals be passed in the last 5 days... Even with 100% support!
  The panic of these past weeks has been the bureaucratic fear that the current funding levels of state government cannot be secured without the new money raised by these revenue-raising bills.

​   Absolutely no one believes these tobacco bills, car sales tax bills, petroleum production taxes, or any number of other rushed schemes is about anything other than grabbing money from the taxpayers.

  Muskogee Republican, George Faught, serves in the Oklahoma House. He has become a conservative leader and uniter of many of his colleagues. Today he posted this summation of his past 4 months in the House.

  Oklahoma is just one of several states where legislatures are passively creating a clearly unconstitutional denial of justice.  By not directing the funding to provide sufficient mental health treatment capacity, even when a judge orders an ill person into treatment, to enable their mental recovery.
 A recent Texas case illustrates a situation for which Oklahoma's Commissioner of Mental Health was also held in contempt of court.  Commissioner White made a patient wait in jail for over 6 months. A District Court judge only withdrew the contempt punishment when White appeared before the bench and committed to better communication.
​ But the situation is not yet significantly improved. White did immediately make that transfer when the judge applied serious threats.
  The StarTribune News describes the scenario...

A seriously flawed revenue bill just passed the House with barely a majority. Several Republicans opposed it, as did all the Democrats. But the last 3 supporters seem to have been cajoled by some unusual techniques we aren't allowed to view in the chamber's webcasts.
  When only the rollcall screen is visible, and all microphones are silenced, the presiding officer seemed to stay silent and leave the voting open.
  That's when Representatives Michael Rogers, Mark Lepak, and Rhonda Baker switched, one-by-one; to 'yes' votes. All three of them were 'no' votes for at least 5 minutes prior to that 'epiphany'.

But that wasn't the biggest switch on this bill. Even though Majority Floor Leader, Jon Echols, said he "didn't know why" there's an emergency attached to this issue (supposedly simplifying the excise fees associated with buying a car),
 He none-the-less called for a vote on the 'emergency'.  Clearly the emergency is a revenue shortage for the July 1st budget year. So this emergency would rush the effective date to July 1st. 
  On the 'emergency' another 19 Republicans agreed that a bill they originally opposed... needs to be enacted right away!

  The Republican Platform Caucus is now donning red ties in solidarity with Republican platform principles, for the remainder of this session.

An internal memo went out this morning...

  Yes, others may wear red ties. But those who have previously aligned with the Platform Caucus are stating that they know what it means to be a Republican and they urge their colleagues to remember that time when they also believed in conservatism.

  After 11pm, last night; The appointed select members of JCAB were given copies of the massive new proposed state budget. Within a few minutes they were required to vote.

  This document is the product of a 3-member group. The Governor, and the two Budget Chairs of the House & Senate.

  Their disregard for openness and impatience with scrutiny are going to be legendary, in Oklahoma history.

  Today, the House leadership will likely face push-back for trying to force a vote within hours.

  Perhaps the only thing more thuggish will be the Republican leadership's complete disregard for the constitution, by forcing floor votes on bills which raise revenue, within the last 5 days, and without a 75% passage.

  There have been over a dozen such actions in committees and chambers within the past two weeks.

  This morning's House vote on Gross Production Tax had a few curious vote flippers. The measure was deemed by the Majority Floor Leader to "not be a revenue increase bill" (even though it clearly was written for just that reason). At any rate, the Republican caucus members were told that a simple majority vote would send the measure to the Senate, and then the Governor.
  The bill had 54 supporters, but with about 30 seconds before the close of the roll, Rep. Scott Fetgatter (R-Okmulgee) switched from supportive to opposing.  Then, with less than 10 seconds left, Fetgatter switched back to supportive.

  Fetgatter wasn't the only one with fingers on the buttons in the last seconds. Dale Derby (R-Owasso) switched from supportive to opposing. So did Lewis Moore (R-OKC). Moore is in his 5th term, but the other two are freshmen.  Constituents can ask these Representatives for an explanation  of their vote-switching.
   Members of OCPAC may likely include floor votes like this to compile a Conservative Index rating. The Oklahoma Constitution Newspaper has published this index for well over 30 years. 

  The Oklahoma Ethics Commission has created an online resource for citizens to review the campaign reports of elected officials.
  State law requires that candidates for elected state office make complete reports at least quarterly, if they are raising money or spending funds. Failure to make these reports can get a politician in significant trouble. Making a false report could result in fines and/or incarceration.
  Often a candidate will present himself to voters as a staunch supporter of a particular set of values and priorities. But when in office, his votes and public policies will betray that campaign posturing. We are seeing a good deal of that at the state capitol, this weekend.

  The Guardian website allows the public to type a candidate's last name and search all records and reports for campaign activities. 
   There will often be several quarterly reports as well as supplemental files. These reports will list campaign contributions and campaign expenses paid. 
  The website is a bit clumsy and redundant. It's a government service and has all the inefficiencies we have come to expect from our government. But it is an improvement in transparency.
   Knowing who funded your local politician is the best way to know how he will vote, in office. Check the list of contributors.

  If you aren't following social media, you're not getting all the nuance and posturing going on between Democrats & Republicans in state government.
  SoonerPolitics created a special facebook page to make it easier to see all the negotiating which is spilling over onto social media. We're following over 100 accounts of key individuals at the state capitol, and we're loading them in real time, to a Facebook page called; "Capitol Chatter".
  There has been a very dramatic and draining process going on at the capitol, this year. There are also more press conferences, media blasts, and even an occasional public apology.
  Some key players are using the medium to sell the various solutions. Some are focusing on the weaknesses of the other options.
​  Those interested in the budget drama would do well to 'Like' & 'Follow' the Capitol Chatter Facebook page. If there's a feed we're missing, send us a message on that page and we'll do our best to improve on our coverage.

​an excerpt from Bill Shappard -  The message from state agencies and legislators over the last few months has been, for the most part, that the state has cut too much from government budgets and there is no more wasteful spending now.  But, that isn’t what Oklahomans think.

  According to the SoonerPoll Quarterly Poll, an overwhelming 87 percent of likely voting Oklahomans believe more efficiency can still be found in state government spending.  About six in ten likely voters strongly agreed.

  Only 7.5% disagree about there being room for more efficiency. We don't know if those same 7.5% work for state agencies?

  About 5% didn't have a comment or just didn't know.

  This report should be hearkened to by our lawmakers during this state-down at the capitol. If voters are being ignored, they may resort to a political shift at the ballot box; or initiate a petition drive to supersede the legislative and executive branch altogether.

  Read the full report by SoonerPoll at their website.

  Public university funding is way, way out of proportion. And it's harming the private universities who have to compete at market-set tuition rates.
  I'd bet it's safe to say that if a lawmaker authored a resolution to place a state question on the ballot, to remove taxpayer dollars going to higher ed., then he'd be the biggest hero of the taxpayer.
  Another constitutional change needed to for the universities to be subjected to audits from the State Auditor's office; in the event that the voters choose to continue subsidizing state universities.
I don't believe I owe it to any fellow Oklahoman, to provide a college education. It's a socialist venture.

​Last November, SQ 779 would have passed, if the money had strictly gone to classroom teacher pay.