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!

Judge Key Leaves GOP to Run as Democrat in San Antonio while FreedomWorks Matt Kibbe Details Plan for Tea Party Takeover of GOP

“My principles have led me to the Democratic Party,” Key said

When Judge Key of San Antonio says that the Republican Party has left him, that is probably the biggest understatement of the year.  There are thousands of us like Judge Key that can no longer call ourselves Republican after the hard right lunge of the Republican Party to a radical agenda that is going backwards in time to where minorities and women could not vote.  

From comments I have seen on the internet over the last ten years, the desire of many white male Republicans and third party members has been that only white males should be allowed to vote since all the Founding Fathers were white males.  Thought it was a joke gone wrong and treated it as such.  Lo and behold, they were serious and those people now are leaders in the 'old' Republican Party with 'old' ideas they still adhere to from the 'old' South.  Many still want to fight the Civil War and see if they can win this time.  In fact, they are acting like they are fighting a Civil War to take over the Country and put only southern white males in charge.  Many of them still consider Mitt Romney an epic fail as he may have been a white male but he was no southerner and governed more liberal then a centrist.  How he managed to convince people he was hard right is beyond me unless he was lying as Governor of Massachusetts.  Maybe he is just a liar all the way around. 

Judge Key tells the truth on what has happened to the Republican Party and how as a Party they have left him.  The hard right Platform approved at the Convention should tell any centrist we are not welcome in the GOP.  In fact, it should tell any fiscal conservative that if they are in a Red State and don't support social issues, they are not welcome.  Matt Kibbe, Head of FreedomWorks makes that quite clear in his interview on Chris Matthews last night (see video at Raw Story link below):

“We’re in the process of repopulating the Republican party with people that stand for something,”  Matt Kibbe

That statement sent me the roof along with his comments of upgrading elected officials from Red States which means hard right candidates instead of elected officials who work for what is best for all Americans not just the hard right.  No wonder people like Judge Key have finally had it with the GOP when they keep hearing elected officials like Senators Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and Marco Rubio, along with Govenor Rick Perry, and Lt Governor David Dewhurst go totally hard right with their off the wall rhetoric.  All of them and other hard right GOP are supported by the Koch Bros FreedomWorks headed by Matt Kibbe and other Koch organizations like the Tea Party, Americans for Prosperity, Heritage Foundation with their Heritage Action PAC along with numerous other Koch affiliated organizations all pushing the hard right agenda to end Government as we know it today.

If I lived in San Antonio, I would definitely be out working to elect Judge Key as a Democrat  His words are refreshing on how he sees the law.  Had enough ideologue justices to last a lifetime.

“I have tried to live a life of principles,” Judge Carlos Key says in the opening of his new ad. 

The Bexar, Texas County Criminal Court #11 jurist goes on to explain how intolerance in the Republican Party both on the local and national levels has convinced him to leave the GOP he once called home, and run for re-election as a Democrat: 

I can no longer be a member of the Republican Party.  

For too long, the Republican Party has been at war with itself. Rational Republican beliefs have given way to ideological character assassinations. Pragmatism and principal have been overtaken by pettiness and bigotry. Make no mistake: I have not left the Republican Party. It left me. 

I cannot tolerate a political party that demeans Texans based on their sexual orientation, the color of their skin or their economic status. 

I will not be a member of a Party in which hate speech elevates candidates for higher office rather than disqualifying them. I cannot place my name on the ballot for a political party that is proud to destroy the lives of hundreds of thousands of federal workers over the vain attempt to repeal a law that would provide health care to millions of people throughout our country.

Key is clearly referencing the government shutdown led by the refusal of Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and the House Republican “Suicide Caucus” to fund the Affordable Care Act, which has sunk the party new lows in several polls. 

He’s also alluding to recent comments by Republican City Councilwoman Elisa Chan that were secretly recorded during a meeting about San Antonio’s non-discrimination policies:

You know, to be quite honest, I know this is not politically correct. I never bought in that you are born, that you are born gay. I can’t imagine it. 

I don’t think homosexual people should do adoption. … You’re going to confuse those kids. They should be banned. 

If you wanted to choose that lifestyle, we don’t want to discriminate you, but you shouldn’t affect the young people. How terrible. … They’re going to be confused. You see two men go into a bedroom. You see two women kissing. Is that not confusing? It’s confusing. 

So disgusting. 

“My principles have led me to the Democratic Party,” Key said, before giving out his Twitter handle and website address. “I can only hope more people of principle will follow me.”

Turned Hardball on last night while finishing up dinner and ended up sitting down watching the interview with Freedom Works Matt Kibbe and The Daily Beast Michael Tomasky.  Kibbee laid out in detail the Tea Party plan to take over the Republican Party which you might as well say Koch Bros plan as they are behind all these groups.  He left no doubt about how they are going to challenge any GOP in a Red State that is not hard right.  There will be plenty of money to take on incumbent GOP who are not hard right enough according to Kibbe.  I know what I would do -- I would tell the GOP to shove it and do what Judge Key is doing -- run as a Democrat.

This interview with Kibbe is unbelievable -- arrogance personified along with disdain for any one who is not hard right.  

FreedomWorks CEO promises Chris Matthews: Tea Party will ‘upgrade’ southern GOP by 2014 (via Raw Story )

Despite reports that his group is nearly broke, FreedomWorks CEO Matt Kibbe predicted in an interview with MSNBC host Chris Matthews on Monday that his group would help Tea Party Republicans dominate the GOP within a year. “I think it’s a process…

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Will Gov Christie (R-NJ) feel the heat for appointing a Conservative Republican to the Senate as a place holder?

What is Christie going to do if his new appointee sides with obstructionist GOP on something that affects New Jersey?   

The fact that Christie appointed a fellow Republican who calls himself a 'conservative' Republican is something I don't like about filling Senate seats until a special election.  This is not a new opinion but I have always felt that a Governor should appoint a member of the party of the Senator who has died or left office early.  Don't think it is right for either Party to tip the balance in the Senate when the people voted in a person from a particular party.

If a Democrat did this in a Republican, I would say exactly the same thing.  They are ignoring the voters but that is nothing new for Governors in today's world.  Republicans in Congress and as Governors seem to do that a lot today.  Just ask people in States where their Governors turned down hundreds of millions of dollars to set up healthcare exchanges.  Today's Republican Governors do what ALEC/Koch Brothers and other wealthy donors tell them to do for the most part and don't care about ordinary citizens.

In this case, New Jersey is a blue state with a GOP Governor who appoints his former aide and now NJ's Attorney General to the position.  That gives Christie a chance to get another cronie in the AG's office prior to the election this fall.

Attorney General of New Jersey Named as Interim Senator

By MARC SANTORA and KATE ZERNIKEPublished: June 6, 2013  

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey on Thursday appointed Jeffrey S. Chiesa, the state’s attorney general, to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Frank R. Lautenberg.
The announcement comes as Democrats and Republicans across the state scramble to line up support, raise money and secure enough signatures ahead of the deadline on Monday to compete in the August primary. 

Mr. Chiesa, a Republican, does not plan to seek the seat himself, Mr. Christie said, opening up the field for others in the party. 

The governor, who earlier this week said a special election would be held in October to fill the seat, made his announcement at an afternoon news conference in Trenton. 

“It was unexpected for sure,” Mr. Chiesa said. He declined to detail his views on specific policy issues, including immigration, saying only that he wanted to be sure the nation’s borders were secure. He described himself as a “conservative Republican.” 

“I need to learn about the issues before I can make any meaningful judgments,” he said. 

Excerpt:  Read More at the NY Times 

Will Democrats get organized in New Jersey and pay Christie back for shoving it in their faces by appointing a GOP Conservative to fill the term of Sen Lautenberg (D-NJ) who just died?  Special election for Senate is in October so not to conflict with Christie's reelection in November.  Maybe it is time for Democrats to realize in New Jersey that they need to start turning out big numbers in these elections and not sit on their hands for whatever reason.

Christie IMHO is counting on Democrats turning out in big numbers for the special election for Senate and not turning out to vote in the Governor's race.  I think he has made the wrong call because he has infuriated the Democrats in New Jersey with this choice of his former aide and now AG to the Senate.  This could be the straw that broke the camel's back on Christie as Governor of New Jersey.

Bill White Letter Received Today

Rick Perry at Sheriff's Association of Texas

When I picked up the mail from our mailbox, saw there was a letter from Bill White which I figured was a letter asking for a donation for some Republican running for Congress.

Imagine my shock to discover it was a letter from Bill White addressed 'Dear Fellow Texan' asking for my support against Rick Perry.

The letter from White is filled with Democrat spin not facts which was sent to me -- someone who has supported Rick Perry since he ran for Ag Commissioner when we lived in Texas and who has lived in Oklahoma since Jan 1997.

Cannot even fathom what mailing list I ended up on that Bill White would get since I have been registered to vote in Oklahoma since Feb 1997 and am a lifelong Republican.

White criticized Perry for using campaign funds to help fix up the Governor's Mansion -- cannot think of better use of campaign funds and would be happy to see a Governor care so much about preserving the Governor's Mansion and saving the State money.

He also criticized Perry for graduation rates and the lack of young people going to college. Excuse me but a large portion of the Texas students not going on to further their education come from the minority communities who don't seem to value an education, but vote reliably Democrat. The proportion of students from minority households who drop out of school is far greater than those from white households. All you have to do is compare the dropout rates of Texas Hill Country schools with those in the inner cities to understand what is happening. How do you change a culture? Takes years and years. The Democrat way is to pass everyone even if they don't deserve to be passed which catches up with students in High School.

Maybe White is aiming to go back to the Robin Hood plan that took money from Hill Country schools from towns with little industry so it was taxpayer money they gave to the 'poor' San Antonio School District and other inner city districts around Texas. That was a bad joke as San Antonio officials took a trip to Tapitio Springs, a luxury resort on the edge of our school district with our money. Did they buy books? No way. Kelly AFB donated money for one school to buy books and discovered not one red cent had been spent on books by the school that sat outside of Kelly AFB.

Until parents get involved in their children's education, the poor graduation numbers will continue to show up especially with the number of illegals in cities across Texas and in the border towns.

Bottom line is Rick Perry has been one of the best if not the best Governor the State of Texas has seen and deserves another term. Bill White deserves to be sent back to Houston permanently. His liberal policies would be bad for Texas. Guess we should thank Bill White for his letter that resulted in this post for Rick Perry.

VOTE Rick Perry for Texas Governor on November 2nd, 2010!