OK Gov Mary Fallin at the Washington Press Club

WASHINGTON—National Governors Association (NGA) Chair Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and Vice Chair Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper today delivered the association’s second annual State of the States address at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Both governors highlighted state policy innovations and the need for states to fill the voids left by federal inaction and budget cuts, contrasting the productive activity in state capitols with the gridlock in Washington, D.C. Gov. Fallin pointed out several areas in which governors have urged Congress to take action and work with states. These areas include reauthorization of both the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Water Resources Development Act, restoration of the Workforce Investment Act 15 percent set-aside and passage of the Marketplace Fairness Act, in addition to providing certainty and long-term solutions for aging infrastructure and protecting the Army and Air National Guard from disproportionate and damaging cuts.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), Thursday released the following statement after the Senate passed the Fiscal Year 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by a vote of 84 to 15. The bill includes important provisions that were either authored or supported by Inhofe and will benefit Oklahoma’s service members, civilian employees, veterans, and military installations.

“I am proud to announce that for the 52nd year, Congress has passed with strong bipartisan support the National Defense Authorization Act,” Inhofe said.

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NEW YORK – A new Congressional Budget Office study has torn a hole in yet another of President Obama’s claims about the way things are.

The Congressional Budget Office study, “The Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes, 2010, ” shows that the top 40 percent of households, based on pre-tax income, paid a remarkable 106.2 percent of the nation’s income tax in 2010. Meanwhile, households in the bottom 40 percent paid “negative income tax,” receiving an average of $18,950 in government transfer payments while paying no federal income tax.
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The Obama administration is attempting to create a new rule that would legalize the abuses of power that it committed during the IRS scandal, when Tea Party and conservative non-profit groups were targeted. The Treasury has proposed a new rule for 501(c)4 groups that would, Kimberly Strassel of the Wall Street Journal notes, “isolate and shut down the same tea party groups victimized in the first targeting round.”
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Fox News is reporting that the lesbian waitress who claimed she received an anti-gay note in lieu of a tip promised to donate the subsequent gratuities that poured in to the Wounded Warrior Project — but the veterans organization reportedly can’t verify it had received any donations from Dayna Morales.

Morales, a 22-year-old former Marine, claimed last month that a family of four who racked up a $93.55 bill at the Gallop Asian Bistro in Branchburg, N.J., left her no tip, only a note saying they couldn’t leave any extra cash for her service because they “do not agree with your lifestyle.”
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