The Oklahoma House Republicans have had a lot of meetings lately... Maybe too much for some. The many hours in the caucus room appears to have been stressful at times. Some legislators appear to have maxed out on the delegation meetings. Such was evidently the nature of the meetings over the past 3 weeks when the House leadership was seeking to find a legislative package to resolve the budget deficit. One chastised member, Carol Bush; said that none of the ideas even got 50 votes of support by the 70+ member caucus. Mind you that Bush significantly misrepresented her own caucus and when this reporter was sent her written statement, it was forwarded directly to the majority leader's office and she was subsequently chastised openly. But, after a marathon session of the caucus, a member who'd had enough of the haranguing, tried in desperation to illustrate that he and several like-minded fiscal conservatives would never give such tax measures their 'blessing'. Out in the parking lot, a leader again asked what was the price for his support. Chuck Strohm told the party leader; "A total ban on abortion in Oklahoma.". |
What Did He Mean?
It was akin to the nature of Jesus' response to his disciples when one of them asked when it would be permissible to quit forgiving other people who offend him. "Until seven times?", Peter asked. Jesus responded. "Until seventy sevens" (which is actually when the prophetic 'end of sin' occurs, in Daniels vision of seventy weeks). It was Jesus' witty way of saying; "NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!" And that's essentially what Strohm says he was trying to convey to his colleagues. No honest theologian believes Jesus was granting a conditional waiver on the Christian duty to forgive offenses. Strohm later told a Tulsa World reporter that he had no idea that his retort would be misconstrued as a counter offer. Confused by principles - or lack thereof... Now some of his caucus colleagues are saying that Strohm is actually naming the negotiated terms of his support for raising new taxes. Strohm believes they entirely miss his point. Strohm has shown no sign of ever negotiating away his core beliefs, at the capitol. That's not to say he votes infallibly; but it does show that he has some core beliefs that are not for sale. Perhaps those who think Strohm named his price of capitulating just don't know any better? Perhaps they think everything is for sale, if the price is enticing enough? |
UPDATE:
“Stopping the murder of children in Oklahoma is not something we should be we should be trading votes for and anyone who thinks otherwise doesn’t understand the heinous crime that is committed every time a child is murdered.
I will be standing with my pro-life colleagues as we continue to fight for the complete and total ban of abortion in Oklahoma.” - Rep. Chuck Strohm