Cole seeks to nationalize election

with Sen. Obama, Speaker Pelosi
By Aaron Blake from THE HILL

All politics is officially no longer local at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).NRCC Chairman Tom Cole signaled Monday that he is set to nationalize the 2008 battle for the House by tagging the “liberal” label on Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Cole’s predecessor, Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.), insisted amid a tough national environment for the GOP that House races are all unique to their locales. Just two years later, though, Cole (Okla.) is ready to flip that strategy on its head and emulate what Democrats used to great effect in 2006.Obama’s and Pelosi’s negatives aren’t as high nationwide as the Democrats’ chief villain figure, President Bush, but Cole said the strategy can work for two reasons: because much of the battleground is GOP-leaning territory, and because Pelosi’s and Obama’s numbers get worse as her name ID climbs and his nomination battle drags on.

“Our candidates are trying to turn those things into, now, referendums on Pelosi and on Obama,” Cole said. Despite enjoying wide support early and wooing independents, Obama was recently rated the most liberal member of the Senate by the National Journal and has endured some of his toughest weeks on the campaign trail this month.

According to internal NRCC numbers obtained by The Hill, Obama has a 32 percent favorable and 58 percent unfavorable rating in Mississippi’s 1st district, where Republicans nearly lost a special election last week to a Democratic takeover. The race will go to a runoff May 13.
His numbers were better but similar, 37-50, in Louisiana’s 6th district, where a special will be held Saturday.

Pelosi’s numbers in those two districts were 18-39 and 24-47, respectively. “We like the way that’s unfolding,” Cole said. “We would rather be running national elections.”
The GOP candidate in Mississippi, Greg Davis, launched a hard-hitting television ad over the weekend that features the controversial comments of Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. It criticizes Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis Childers (D) for not condemning them or Obama’s remarks that people in Pennsylvania were “bitter” and clung to guns and religion.

The NRCC and the conservative group Freedom’s Watch are also using ads to attach the Democrat in the Louisiana race, state Rep. Don Cazayoux, to Obama and his healthcare plan.
The state GOP in North Carolina is also using the Obama-Wright relationship in an ad against two top Democratic gubernatorial candidates.

Both House districts are very competitive, despite voting at least 59 percent for Bush in 2004, and feature Democrats who oppose abortion rights. Obama’s campaign has sent a letter to volunteers pleading for help with Childers’s campaign, while Cazayoux’s campaign emphasized after the NRCC and Freedom’s Watch ads were launched that he hasn’t endorsed any candidate or healthcare proposal.

About 60 districts currently held by Democrats voted for Bush, while less than 10 GOP-held districts voted for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). So the terrain will be similar in many other races targeted by Republicans.Cole attributed the close Mississippi race to the geographic strengths of the candidates and a bruising GOP primary, and the tight Louisiana contest to wounds from GOP candidate Woody Jenkins’s past campaigns.

National GOPers have privately grumbled over what they see as a weak candidate in the Pelican State. Cole was careful with his words, but he likened the situation to March’s special election in Illinois, where former Senate and gubernatorial candidate Jim Oberweis lost and was later decried for the baggage he inherited from three failed statewide bids.

“Woody Jenkins has been around a long time,” Cole said. “It’s the same thing we had, to some degree, with Oberweis. You get some scar tissue if you’re in politics and you make tough calls and tough decisions.” Despite all these local factors, Cole said that, as the general election approaches, voters will start to become more aware of the national picture and what voting for Democrats entails.

The shift comes about 15 months after Cole expressed skepticism about the anti-Pelosi strategy’s effectiveness in the 2006 elections, during which it was employed in isolated instances. “Sure worked, didn’t it?” he said at the time. “We were trying everything. ‘All politics is local, except if Pelosi wins it’ll be terrible.’ … We were just in a fix.”

Democrats pointed out that Republicans tried, to some extent, to make Pelosi an issue in the Illinois special election, and that now-Rep. Bill Foster (D) used a TV ad recorded by Obama for his campaign.Even though it is Obama’s home state, they stress, it is a conservative district.
A spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Doug Thornell, said the NRCC is trying to make up for poor recruiting and a lack of credibility with voters.

“Even former NRCC Chair Tom Davis (R-Va.) said, the ‘House Republican brand is so bad right now that if it were a dog food, they’d take it off the shelf.’ ” Thornell said. “So if Cole wants to hitch his wagon to George Bush and the national GOP brand, it wouldn’t be the first strategic error he’s made this cycle.”

Weekly Opinion/Editorial

Profiles 2006 an interesting read!
by Steve Fair

The Education Oversight Board- Office of Accountability- published a report on Oklahoma education that was released in July 2007. The report is entitled Profiles 2006. Profiles contain a detailed report on all 540 school districts in Oklahoma, comparing their demographics and performance against the state average. The report is available online at schoolreportcard.org and is available in hard copy at your local library. Some of the more interesting statistics in the report reveal some disturbing trends in public education in Oklahoma. Here are some highlights of Profiles 2006:

(1) The educational attainment of the state's population over age 25 in the year 2000 was as follows: College degree- 26%, High School Diploma/Some College- 55%, Less than a High School Diploma- 19%. Oklahoma lags behind the rest of the country in educational attainment. While 84% of the total US population completes high school, only 81% get their high school diploma in Oklahoma. The drop out rate in Oklahoma is higher than the national average and the highest in our region.

(2)The Oklahoma college completion rate for college students who graduated from an Oklahoma public high school is 42.7%. The dilemma for Oklahoma graduates completing college is having a job in Oklahoma when they graduate. Employers are not flocking to Oklahoma to build plants and facilities. Oklahoma has unfair tort and workers comp systems. Businesses are looking to states with a business atmosphere friendlier than Oklahoma’s. College graduates follow companies to those states. When you consider that 50% of Oklahoma college graduates are not living in the state five years after they graduate, it means we are exporting our best and brightest.

(3) The average population of an Oklahoma school district is 6.390 people. 45% of all the school districts in Oklahoma have less than that number in their district. That means half the schools in Oklahoma are “small” schools. There is nothing wrong with small schools, but keep in mind it costs money to maintain and operate a school system- small or large. Buses must run and they run on gas or diesel, which are at all time high prices. Buildings must be heated and cooled, not to mention maintained. The price for the infrastructure itself is mind-boggling. Oklahoma has an average of seven school districts per county. We have more school districts than Texas and Florida- both states much larger geographically and have more population than we do.

No legislator or elected official wants to talk about school consolidation, but it must be an option if we are to progress as a state. We cannot expect to compete in a global market operating 540 school districts for 625,000 students. Some states have blue ribbon commissions that evaluate their school districts and recommend consolidation periodically. Oklahoma has been unwilling to do that because most people don’t want their small school to close, but as Bob Dylan sang, “the times, they are a changing.”

(4) In 2005-06, there were 3,418 administrators in the 540 districts statewide. That is an average of 6.3 administrators per district. On average, each administrator supervised 12.2 teachers in the 2005-06 year. The average experience that each administrator possessed was 22 years. The average administrator earned $65,000- about 43% more than the average classroom teacher in Oklahoma who earned $37,103.

In the past, several forward thinking legislators- all Republicans- have proposed school districts “share” administration. This would allow smaller districts to “share a superintendent or principal instead of bearing the entire expense of a full time administrator. There was no mandating of “sharing.” It was totally voluntary and gave the option to the school districts. That seems like a reasonable solution to district funding shortfalls and to increase efficiency in education. Sharing administration would seem to be a viable alternative to the dreaded possibility of consolidation, but every time the bill came up, it’s was batted down by the education lobby.

Oklahoma has over 625,000 students being taught by 38,505 classroom teachers in 540 districts. These numbers look eerily similar to the way they did in 1960. Public education hasn’t changed much in the past half century in Oklahoma., but the world has. Oklahoma cannot continue to think, act and operate the public school systems like it did fifty years ago and expect to compete globally. Some hard decisions have to be made- at the least administrative sharing must be revisited and perhaps the “C” word will have to be spoken publicly before education can move forward in Oklahoma.

Profiles 2006 reveal some statistics that should be of great concern to all Oklahomans- particularly those with children in the public school system. I would urge you to read the entire report, particularly the report on your local district.

OKLAHOMA EDUCATION

by Steve Fair

The Office of Accountability published a report on Oklahoma education 18 months ago called Profiles 2006. This report is available at your local library. It provides a detailed report on all 540 school districts in the state. It compares the demographics and performance of each district against the state average.

Some interesting stats that Oklahoma citizens should know are listed below:

• The educational attainment of the state's population over age 25 in the year 2000 was as follows: College degree- 26%, High School Diploma/Some College- 55%, Less than a High School Diploma- 19%.
• The Oklahoma college completion rate for college students who graduated from an Oklahoma public high school is 42.7%.
• The average population of an Oklahoma school district is 6.390.
• In 2000, public school enrollment in Oklahoma by race was: 59%- Caucasian, 2%- Asian, 9%-Hispanic, 11%- African American, 19%-Native American.
• In the 2005-06 school year, 55.5% of all students in Oklahoma public schools qualified for the reduced price lunch program. Eligibility has increased over 10% in the past ten years in the Sooner state.
• 13% of all students in the state qualify for the gifted/talented program. This has not increased over the past decade.
• 15% of all Oklahoma students qualify to Special Education Programs- up from 12% in past 10 years.
• 27% of regular classroom teachers in Oklahoma hold advanced degrees- down in the past 20 years by 14%
• "Like classroom teachers, administrators is another key ingredient of education." "The 2005-2006 school year saw a 4% increase in the number of administrators from the previous year." In 2005-06, there were 3,418 administers in the 540 districts statewide. That is an average of 6.3 administers per district. On average, each administer supervised 12.2 teachers in the 2005-06 year. The average experience that each possessed was 22 years.
• The State Funding Formula for Education uses several factors including- WEIGHTED AVERAGE DAILY MEMBERSHIP. WADM takes into account the factors of students and teachers. In WADM, students and teachers are given values based on experience, education, age, grade, mental and physical condition.
• The funding formula includes three types of state aid- Foundation Aid which is reduced by the amount available locally. Transportation Aid uses a per capita formula on how many students are being hauled. Teacher Salary Incentive is an incentive amount multiplied by the WADM and adjust by local district factors and then multiplied by 20 mils.
• The 38,505 classroom teachers in Oklahoma average salary in 2005-06 was $37,103. The average teacher has 16.8 students per class.
• There were a total of 625,030 students in Oklahoma public schools in 2005-06.
• Oklahoma spends $6,520 per student annually on public education. The national average is $8,600.

Before you panic, please understand Oklahoma's per capita income is about 75-80% of the national average, so Oklahoma is funding education at a rate consistent with our per capita income. The problem is we have too many districts and too many administrators. When we have an average of seven(7) districts per county, consolidation is something we have to thinking about. Infrastructure and administration sharing should be a no-brainer, but the powerful education lobby will not hear of something so practical, logical and forward thinking. I would encourage you to find Profiles 2006 and study this report. While not openly critical of Oklahoma's public education system, the report does point out glaring gaps that Oklahoma taxpayers have to address.

Thompson: I would turn down VP offer
By Bob Cusack from thehill.com

Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) said he would not accept an offer from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to be his running mate. During an interview on "Hannity and Colmes" that aired Thursday, the 2008 presidential primary candidate said he is not interested in being on the GOP ticket. "That's not in the cards," Thompson said. "That's not what I want. Well...and I don't think that call [from McCain] would ever happen. I think John needs somebody else. I would advise him if he asked me that he needs someone else, of a different profile. The presidency is the only job in town that's worth going through what you got to go through to get it, including the vice presidency...."

Best in the business: Hired Guns
By The Hill Staff

After Democrats took control of Congress, they took control of K Street. Often junior partners during the years of Republican rule, Democratic lobbyists became the faces of their firms in 2007. Even as Democratic congressional leaders sought to break the bond between lobbyists and lawmakers, some advocates took the plunge and opened new shops. By year’s end, several had built books of business worth millions of dollars.

The Hill’s annual list of top lobbyists reflects the greater importance Democratic lobbyists play, while not forgetting the Republicans in town who maintain a major role in crafting legislation, particularly in the Senate, where voting margins are so close. Today’s list names the best “hired guns” and corporate lobbyists. To compile our list, we talked to key congressional aides and lobbyists themselves. J.C. Watts is on the list- see the entire list at:

http://thehill.com/business--lobby/best-in-the-business-hired-guns-2008-04-24.html

McMahan should not be getting paid!
by Steve Fair

In an article in Sunday’s The Oklahoman, Steve Phipps- aka Big Daddy admitted he committed three felony crimes on October 22, 2002. The three crimes involved the scheme he and former State Senator Gene Stipe, Stipes brother Francis, and three former state legislators hatched up to get taxpayer dollars funneled to Phipps and Stipes dog food plant in McAlester. It also involved funneling money to a statewide candidate for State Auditor. Steve Phipps has cut a deal with prosecutors and has agreed to plead guilty to one conspiracy charge in exchange for his testimony, which has pointed the finger at the Stipes as the masterminds behind this multi-pronged scheme.

That fateful day in October 2002 started with Phipps paying former State Representative Mike Mass, the Chairman of the House appropriation and budget committee a bribe. Both Mass and Phipps have testified the bribe was $48,000 in return for getting state tax dollars funneled to the dog food plant. Phipps testified the bribe was paid in Stipes office after they had closed on the property. But the day was still young and Phipps had other “business” to conduct.

Phipps then testified he wrote a check to Stipe’s brother, Gene, for $3,000 out of Phipp’s abstract company. Stipe in turn wrote a check to the Jeff McMahan campaign for $3,500. Stipe admits making the donation, but said he wasn’t reimbursed. An endorsed canceled check was presented at the trial as evidence, but Stipe says it’s not his signature. This was straw donation. Straw donations, which is where a person donates to a campaign, but are reimbursed for the donation. They are illegal under federal law and a clear violation of state ethics rules. According to an FBI affidavit presented when McMahan was indicted, he received over $80,000 in straw donations in the 2002 race- all from Phipps and Stipe. Two down and one more to go before the day ends.

Phipps says he then drove to Shawnee where he met the McMahans in a restaurant. After Jeff left the table, Phipps says he gave Lori McMahan $10,000 in cash. At the time, McMahan was locked in a close race with current State GOP Chairman Gary Jones for State Auditor. The seat had been vacated by McMahan’s mentor Clifton Scott. Scott endorsed his protégé and campaigned for him, citing McMahan’s integrity and ethics, as the reasons Jeff should be his successor. According to Phipps, the money was used by McMahan to buy radio spots for the final media push in the 2002 race.

In November 2002, Gary Jones lost the Auditors race to McMahan by less than a percentage point. It was the closest statewide race that year- even closer than the Henry- Largent race. It’s crystal clear McMahan, Phipps, Stipe, Mass and the others stole the race by using straw donors and dirty tactics to exceed the legal limits on campaign contributions in a race that is arguably the most important in state government- the watchdog of our tax dollars.

Jeff McMahan and his wife were indicted in December and face charges of corruption and racketeering in connection with their taking of illegal campaign contributions and bribes. The Auditors office had oversight and regulatory control over the abstracting business until last year. It is alleged that McMahan took the straw donations in exchange for extending favorable treatment to abstractors. He also allegedly agreed to not audit the tax dollars that were allocated for the dog food plant.

After Jeff McMahan was indicted in December, he placed himself on “paid” adminstrative leave until his hearing in July. For over four months, Oklahoma taxpayers have been paying Jeff to stay home. State Representative Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, asked Attorney General Drew Edmondson about this seemingly wrong action. The AG ruled that McMahan did the right thing to stay home- at taxpayer’s expense.

Either the law is wrong and should be changed or the lawyer is wrong and should be changed, but there is nothing right about an indicted official drawing a paycheck and not working. That wouldn’t fly in the private sector, nor should it in the public.

The Speaker has appointed a bi-partisan committee of legislators charged with checking out the disturbing allegations against McMahan and begin proceedings to remove him from office if the evidence warrants it. This committee is made up of legislators who are being paid by the taxpayers to conduct their hearings.

Oklahoma taxpayers funded a non-existent dog food plant in McAlester. Oklahoma taxpayers are paying a statewide elected official full salary to stay home and watch Oprah. Oklahoma taxpayers are paying legislators to investigate McMahan. This is just wrong- no matter what your party affiliation. At the very least- McMahan should not be getting paid to sit home. Contact your State Representative and State Senator and express your outrage.

Need a bass player!

Governor Huckabee should run for Senate against Pryor

2nd Admendment Band!

from thehill.com

Lawmakers weighed retirement with rock band membership The congressional band the Second Amendments, composed of Reps. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.), Dave Weldon (R-Fla.), Jon Porter (R-Nev.) and Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.), will soon change.
With the retirements of Hulshof and Weldon, the band needs new blood. The new band, confirmed Peterson, will include Rep. Bill Sali (R-Idaho) on drums and Rep. John Hall (D-N.Y.), co-founder of the 1970s band Orleans, on vocals or keyboards. Both Sali and Hall have already begun practicing with the group.

Peterson said Hulshof and Weldon seriously weighed their retirements because of their membership in the band. “Frankly, one of the main things they had to consider was the band,” he said. “I don’t know how much, but it was a consideration.”
“He absolutely did,” said Hulshof spokesman Erik Rasmussen. “Kenny has established a great friendship with the members of the band. It’ll be a lifelong friendship. He’ll miss them terribly.”
“Obviously, I think he was joking,” said Weldon spokesman Jeremy Steffens of Peterson’s remarks.

“[Weldon] enjoys playing in the band, but I don’t think he’d stay in Congress just to stay in the band. He’s leaving because he wants to go spend time with his family and return to his medical practice. I’m not sure [the band] is why he has stayed in Congress the last seven terms.”
Band members are contemplating calling themselves the Fifth Amendments. “The Second Amendments are going to take the Fifth,” Peterson joked.
But on a serious note, change isn’t easy. “There is some nostalgia that the band is going to change because we bonded in Iraq,” he said, referring to the group’s musical missions.