Joe Dorman, Rush Springs, Officially Running for Oklahoma Governor

Today I feel like we hit a homerun in Oklahoma with Rep Joe Dorman running for Governor who when elected will represent all Oklahomans not just special interest and wealthy donors.  I want to see ALEC, AFP, and the Koch Bros try to tell him what to do -- pop some popcorn and watch him take them to the woodshed.  A wallflower Joe Dornan is not.  He is what I want in a politician running for office -- someone who will stand up for all Oklahomans who is not beholden to special interests.   
Governor Fallin's speech yesterday made me see red and still up on the ceiling the more I read the details.  If someone would have told me that Governor Fallin would ever deliver a speech like that years ago, I would have thought they were nuts, but I was dead wrong.  I was wrong to support her in 2010 thinking she was someone she was not.  Frankly she ranks right there with the elected officials I have been most disappointed/disgusted to ever have supported.  
Those days are over as I will never support the sell-outs of the Republican Party again of which Mary Fallin is their leader in Oklahoma.  She has told most Oklahomans we don't count as she curries favor with the wealthy donors.  She seems to think she is invincible and like so many Republicans rules and laws don't apply to her or the 'my way or no way' hard right Republicans.

He (Dorman) noted how the “perpetual cycle of political waste, fraud and abuse has reached its highest level in our state government.  From secret meetings and negotiations, to public construction contracts let outside the law under sweetheart deals, to violation of the Open Records Act, Mary Fallin’s administration has shown a pattern of disregard for the people and has squandered precious state resources. Whether it is trampling on the Constitution through politically-motivated lawsuits or halting much-needed corrections reforms, her actions have embarrassed our state.”  

Most of this group of Oklahoma Republican elected officials don't care about people unless you write a big check.  Republican forte is telling us how we have to live our lives through pushing social issues to the extent we are wasting precious tax dollars on frivolous suits filed by the Attorney General and the Fallin Administration.   Still cannot believe there was a newsbreak report Monday where it was reported that the Oklahoma Attorney General was speaking to the Supreme Court against ACA on the behalf of the millionaire Hobby Lobby's lawsuit.  A private company sues ACA and Oklahoma taxpayers are on the hook for the Oklahoma Attorney General Pruitt joining the lawsuit?  Welcome to GOP dominated State Government.  
The State School Superintendent Janet Barresi, my nomination for worst in the Country, and her good friend Governor Fallin  keep cutting public education and now we are getting the answer.  They want to give the children who need help an inferior education with charter and evangelical Christian schools. Some bills have already been submitted to give more tax dollars to non-public schools while continuing to cut public school financing.  Anyone with a brain knows our charter and evangelical Christian schools are taking some bright kids and giving them a poor education because they have so few rules to follow.  It is disgusting but it keeps donations coming into Republicans.  
Today was the kick-off for Joe Dornan for Governor and thought I would post some of his kick-off speech from Red Dirt Report.  Have to admit my favorite part is to debate in all 88 counties -- almost lost my Coke over that.  Dorman's announcement has shoved my rant for the Coke commercial and against Neanderthal GOP thinking until tomorrow.

Joe Dorman at media event in Oklahoma City to announce run for Governor

ANDREW W. GRIFFIN | FEBRUARY 4, 2014Category: Red Dirt Politics 

OKLAHOMA CITY – With an emphasis on placing “people over politics” and “service above all else,” State Rep. Joe Dorman (D-Rush Springs) made a formal announcement today that he was running for governor against incumbent Republican Mary Fallin. 

With snow and low clouds providing a backdrop as he stood in front of the large window on the 35th floor of the Chase Tower, in the Petroleum Club, Dorman struck a prairie-populist tone as he talked about his working-class background, raised by a hard-working parents in his Grady County hometown, while also making it clear that Gov. Mary Fallin has been an abject disaster on every level. 

Explaining that he had thought long and hard about his decision, meeting with folks from one corner of the state to the other, many of whom insisted that he run for governor, Dorman realized now was the time to run to be Oklahoma’s 28th governor. 

“I have heard from Oklahomans from all walks of life, from all points of view, from all levels of society, from all parts of the state. The overriding theme I’ve heard is that the state of Oklahoma is headed in the wrong direction under the policies of Mary Fallin. Put simply, the voters want and deserve a new direction,” Dorman said. 

Saying that he wants to be governor so he can represent “all Oklahomans,” Dorman’s fiery speech directly attacked Fallin’s “let them eat cake” approach to the needs of everyday Oklahomans. 

Dorman, 43, noted bow the “cracks in our State Capitol have never been in clearer focus than they are under Mary Fallin’s tenure, where she and the Republican legislative leadership have passed extreme mandates aimed at dividing us along our income brackets and social status.”

He noted the recent Worker’s Comp reform that “favors negligent companies over employees injured on the job, to tax cuts for the wealthiest Oklahomans paid for by slashing essential services and necessary state funding.” 

Added Dorman: “Mary Fallin has proven time and time again that the only people with a voice in her Oklahoma are those with the largest checkbooks.”

And while Fallin is already raking in the campaign contributions, Dorman vowed to “forsake the temptation of special interests and big donors whose campaign contributions are attached to a laundry list of demands that demonize parts of our society and place politics over people.” 

“If you ask Mary Fallin about the state of our state, she is quick to paint a vision of Oklahoma that simply doesn’t square with the reality faced by too many of our citizens,” Dorman said.  “The truth about our Oklahoma is not a pretty picture. In fact, it is a horror story that finds us at the bottom of the heap.” 

The goateed Democrat set about offering a stout list of areas where budget cuts are hurting the most vulnerable in our state, a “destroyed” education system, high poverty rates, low wages and “lower taxes that benefit only the wealthiest in our state.” 

And Dorman made sure to note that he will fight to have storm shelters in every school, while Fallin “shamefully” offers a proposal that would ultimately be the largest property-tax increase in state history. Said property-tax increase would ultimately “burden every property owner, farmer and rancher, senior citizen and business owner.” And with that, he said, companies like Devon Energy and others may start reassessing whether or not the cost of having a headquarters in Oklahoma is worth it. 

“Her tax increase proposal will result in a depressed state economy, a loss of jobs, companies choosing to locate in other states – and even worse, companies that are already here fleeing Oklahoma,” he said. 

And back to the issue of school storm shelters, Dorman said: “I will continue to work to make these life-saving shelters a reality. And I’ll do so without raising taxes, creating any new taxes or cutting any program spending.” 

And then there are those bad categories where Oklahoma ranks high: bad nursing-home care; high gang-related violence, high infant mortality, terrible place for women, crumbling infrastructure …. 

(snip)

Dorman then noted Fallin’s State of the State address on Monday and said the governor “once again showed her desire to govern in a divisive manner, create an environment of hatred and bigotry, and promote bad policies in the old political pay-to-play approach.”
Said Dorman: “Working together, our ancestors transformed prairies into communities and shaped a future from red dirt and pioneering spirit. It’s time we join together to make Oklahoma a greater place for all of our people, not just a chosen few.” 

- See more at: RedDirtReport.com

Thought it was going to be hard to start supporting Democrats but I was wrong -- probably should have switched years ago.  I listen to Joe Dorman talk or read what he says about his vision for Oklahoma and representing all Oklahomans -- find it is a message I wholeheartedly agree.  It is not the politics of pitting one group against another that Republicans are famous for today and one of the reasons I am leaving the Party for good. 

Joe Dorman is going to need all of our help on the ground, making calls, visiting with people, signing up new voters, getting voters out to vote, and taking to social media to promote his candidacy for OK Governor.  That said we cannot forget that Gov Fallin is heavily funded by the wealthy donors including the Koch Bros and their tentacles.  We can make up for a lot of that through hard work but hard work doesn't buy campaign commercials or provide candidate handouts -- only cold hard cash will do that. Whatever spare change you donate will be put to work wisely by this man and his campaign. Joe is not taking donations from special interests so he needs our donations even more. Please click on this link and lets keep the "Big Mo" moving forward.  

Joe Dorman has my full support and think it would be AWESOME to have someone who represents all of us not just the wealthy donors, ALEC, and the Koch Bros be our next Governor.  When you read bills that have been submitted in other states, they read just like some of Oklahoma's which means ALEC has been at work!  Let's send ALEC packing from the Oklahoma Governor's Office! Elect Joe Dorman as the 28th Governor of Oklahoma!