Blog search

Oklahoma delegation quietly backs "fiscal cliff" capitulation

Have seen only one press release so far from our congressmen and senators on the "compromise" they approved yesterday. Both Oklahoma senators and four out of five congressmen voted in favor of the Senate version of the bill, which raises income taxes on individuals and small businesses, does not extend...

Posted by Michael Bates on January 2, 2013 12:28 PM

Tom Coburn statement on "fiscal cliff" deadlock

Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn issued this statement Sunday evening, December 30, 2012, regarding negotiations over the renewal of expiring tax cuts approved during the George W. Bush Administration. Emphasis added: No agreement has been reached because too many politicians in Washington want to raise taxes in order to grow the...

Posted by Michael Bates on December 30, 2012 11:30 PM

Tony Robbins does Iowahawk on how to fund federal spending

If the government seized all the mansions in Beverly Hills, the cost of every Super Bowl ad and the salaries and winnings of every major league athlete, the wealth of the Forbes 400 and the global profits of the Fortune 500, how long would it finance federal spending? Blogger Iowahawk...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 30, 2012 6:11 PM

Tea Party Debt Commission hearing today, 1 pm Central (UPDATE: Report released; hearing forced out of the Capitol!)

See the update below about what happened shortly before the hearing was to begin. As the 12-member congressional debt commission flounders in its task to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars, the Tea Party Debt Commission, a crowd-sourced, online initiative organized by FreedomWorks and Contract from America, has identified...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 17, 2011 9:59 AM

Coburn on US credit rating downgrade

Press release from Sen. Coburn's office this morning: U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released the following statement after Standard & Poor's downgraded the United States' AAA credit rating. "This announcement is probably long overdue. For decades, political careerism has trumped statesmanship in Washington. Both parties have done what is...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 6, 2011 8:15 AM

Visit Dan Boren's office on Balanced Budget Day, Thursday, July 14, 2011

Americans for Prosperity is encouraging citizens concerned about the budget deficit to visit the district offices of key congressmen at noon on Thursday, July 13, 2011. A vote on a federal balanced budget amendment, H. J. Res. 1, is expected next week. Here in Oklahoma AFP is focusing on persuading...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 13, 2011 8:33 PM

Cowboy poets, public radio, and unfunded pensions

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) is upset about the Republican House budget plan, which would eliminate federal funding to the National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering every January in Elko, Nevada. "The mean-spirited bill, H.R. 1 ... eliminates the National Endowment of the...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 9, 2011 1:11 AM