Category Archives: National

34 Senators, 171 Reps. urge Court to block EPA

By Staff Report

EPAhaze Led by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and House Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), 34 Senators and 171 House Members including Tulsa’s Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) filed an amicus brief today in the case of State of West Virginia, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al.

The amicus brief is in support of petitions filed by 27 states seeking to overturn the EPA final rule identified as the Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units, EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602, 80 Fed. Reg. 64,662 (Oct. 23, 2015), also known as the “Clean Power Plan.” A copy of the brief can be found here.

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Forbes covers OK shame in civil forfeiture

By David Arnett

PoliceCivilForfeiture Analysis: The story on Forbes.com posted February 18 and continues national interest in an Oklahoma issue hotly debated and previously covered (here, here and here) by Tulsa Today. Civil forfeiture is how Oklahoma district attorneys can take your cash, guns and vehicles (top three seized) without a criminal conviction. It is literally both highway and home robbery.

Forbes begins: Without ever having to file criminal charges, police are routinely seizing (and keeping) cash, cars and other valuables. Known as “civil forfeiture,” the practice has netted law enforcement billions of dollars in revenue nationwide. Determined to end unjust forfeitures, an unusual coalition of libertarians, constitutional conservatives and civil-rights activists have banded together to press for reform in state legislatures across the country.

And nowhere has that battle raged fiercer than in Oklahoma.

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Sen. Inhofe: 2015 Annual Accomplishments Report

By Staff Report

Sen. Jim Inhofe

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) today released his annual accomplishments report outlining achievements made in 2015 for the people of Oklahoma, to include authoring and passing into law a long-term highway reauthorization bill, the FAST Act; passing out of the Senate a bill to reform federal regulation of toxic chemicals, the Lautenberg Act; amending and passing into law a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA); making significant progress at the state level with reforming the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and its hospitals in Oklahoma; and progressing in the Senate a bill to restore local control of school lunches.

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ISIS widow charged in Kayla Mueller death

By David Arnett

Kayla Mueller

Analysis: Most media are ignoring a story that should enrage every American. It should be on every front page in every city in the nation.

Aid worker Kayla Mueller’s capture, imprisonment, slavery and repeated rape must be remembered.

Will there be justice for Kayla? Will media ask presidential candidates about the evil this case represents?

There is some hope.

Monday; the wife of a senior Islamic State leader (widowed in a U.S. raid last year) was charged in federal court with holding Kayla Mueller hostage and contributing to her death.

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Bartmann pleads for Sanders/Clinton alternative

By David Arnett

Bill Bartmann

Analysis: Reuters reports, “A prominent Democratic donor worried about the party’s chances of winning the presidency emailed dozens of fans of Vice President Joe Biden on Friday, urging them to remain prepared to donate if Biden jumps into the race.”

Yes, Tulsan Bill Bartmann, never known to shy from hubris, apparently understands enough history to warn fellow Democrats that proud Socialist Bernie Sanders and closet Socialist Hillary Clinton cannot win the next presidential election in the United States of America.

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