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Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy and the future
A friend, responding to news of the Boy Scouts of America filing for bankruptcy, asks, "Now that all the nonsense has destroyed everything, can we go back to Boy Scouts for boys, and Girl Scouts for girls?" To put it another way, what benefit has accrued to BSA for all...
Improve our Tulsa 2: Why You Should Vote Against the Street Package
Brent Isaacs, a native Tulsan and city planner active for many years in advocating for a better Tulsa, has has written a piece below about why you should to vote against the first item on the November 12, 2019, Tulsa ballot. Labeled on the first sheet of the ballot as...
Michael Willis for Tulsa County Clerk
On Tuesday, June 28, 2016, Republican voters in Tulsa County will decide which of two candidates will be our next County Clerk. The incumbent is not running for re-election, and only two Republicans filed for the seat: Michael Willis and Nancy Rothman. Online access to public records is a big...
Neither Crain nor Jordan are eligible for District Attorney
Article 5, Section 23, of the Oklahoma Constitution: No member of the Legislature shall, during the term for which he was elected, be appointed or elected to any office or commission in the State, which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased, during his...
Oklahoma adopts strong anti-SLAPP law
There's one more reason for Oklahomans to celebrate April 22. Last Tuesday, on the 125th anniversary of the Oklahoma 1889 Land Run, Gov. Mary Fallin signed HB 2366, the Oklahoma Citizens Participation Act, giving Oklahomans valuable protection in the exercise of their First Amendment rights. From the bill: The purpose...
Voting for image, not understanding
There's a thought-provoking story from last week's local elections in Houston: An elderly, white, conservative man won a non-partisan race for a six-year-term on the board of Houston Community College, defeating a four-term African-American incumbent in a heavily African-American district. The victorious candidate, Dave Wilson, used stock photos of African-Americans...
<em>Examiner</em> spotlights Kaiser Solyndra loan subordination, tax credits
As one of a series of ten stories on the use and abuse of executive power by the Obama Administration, the Washington Examiner this week revisited the illegal subordination of federally guaranteed loans made to Solyndra, a modification to the loan agreement that benefited Argonaut Private Equity, owned by Obama...
Christiansen announces he won't back Bartlett for Tulsa mayor
Former Councilor and mayoral candidate Bill Christiansen announced today that, having met this week with Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr to discuss his concerns, he has decided not to endorse Bartlett Jr. According to Christansen, Bartlett told him he doesn't have a platform for his second term in office and...
Mayoral flashback: When Bartlett didn't blame Taylor for the Tulsa budget mess
Here is the monthly sales tax news release from Mayor Dewey F. Bartlett Jr's office, dated February 5, 2010. This is two months after Bartlett Jr was sworn in, just shy of three months after he was elected mayor in 2009. Please especially note the final paragraph, which I've highlighted...
ZivaGate: Ziva Branstetter accused of collusion in Rutkauskas offensive against blog critic
UPDATE 2013/06/20: See below regarding the letter from Tulsa World attorney Schaad Titus to blogger Sean Kelly. This is a bizarre story, and it doesn't look good for one of the stars of local print journalism. Other outlets have covered it well, but it deserves to be noted here. Tulsa...
Reason misses the story on Dewey Bartlett Jr
My guess is that Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr has a friend at the libertarian Reason Foundation or has a friend who is a major donor to the organization, because they've posted another story -- with video this time -- hailing him as a budgetary genius. Clearly, the only Tulsans...
Bad bureaucrats: Pension logrolling, hidden funds, expenses fiddling
A few news items of interest, while you wait for me to publish some sort of analysis of last Tuesday's results: Reuters: Special Report: How a vicious circle of self-interest sank a California city -- long, but a must-read: Yet on close examination, the city's decades-long journey from prosperous, middle-class...
Vision2: Putting all our eggs in one basket
NOTE: I'll be talking about Vision2 in studio with Pat Campbell and company on 1170 KFAQ, starting at 7:05 a.m. -- Monday morning, October 29, 2012. On Saturday afternoon, I spoke at the invitation of the Tulsa Community Business Group, an organization that meets monthly to encourage the development of...
IRS objects to Solyndra bankruptcy plan, Kaiser firm tax breaks
Interesting story from Reuters earlier this week: The IRS has filed an objection to the bankruptcy plan of Solyndra, the failed solar panel manufacturer that had been backed by Federal loan guarantees and the investment arm of the George Kaiser Family Foundation: Solyndra's bankruptcy plan could prove a further embarrassment...
"Vision for Jobs" another cynical tax grab?
Just as they did in 2003, Tulsa "leaders" are preying on anxieties about job losses to justify siphoning more of your tax dollars through county government to favored businesses. Two possibilities are being discussed to raise $340 million: Either a county-wide sales tax increase of 0.4 percent or an extension...
George Kaiser guilt trip?
In today's Wall Street Journal's William McGurn explores Tulsa billionaire George Kaiser's motivations in his involvement in Solyndra. Some excerpts: The George Kaiser Family Foundation in Tulsa, Okla., was the company's largest shareholder. The family foundation has attracted attention because it is set up as a "supporting organization" for the...
George Kaiser, Solyndra, GKFF, and TCF
Mainstream media sources like Bloomberg News and the Washington Post have been digging deeper into the bankruptcy of federally-subsidized Solyndra, looking particularly at George Kaiser, whose venture capital companies were involved in Solyndra's financing, and his George Kaiser Family Foundation, which held a large stake in the failed company. A...
George Kaiser, GKFF, and Solyndra
This is long, but worth reading, particularly if you're knowledgeable about the financial aspects of bankruptcy. There are some interesting twists and turns that seem to suggest that GKFF's investments have been protected to the detriment of federal taxpayers. If that's so, I'm torn: It's better for Tulsa if GKFF...
Karl Ahlgren, smear merchant, and his toady, Tom Mansur
Karl Ahlgren's vocation is taking money from political special interests in exchange for smearing people who are obstacles to the special interests's goals. He's done it again today, with a mail piece on behalf of Tom Mansur smearing Steven Roemerman. Contrary to Mansur's claim, Steven Roemerman has not been endorsed...
Sullivan on Boehner Plan plus Balanced Budget Amendment
After the Boehner plan (as it stood Thursday afternoon) failed to command enough votes to pass, the proposal was strengthened by adding back in to the bill a requirement that Congress pass a balanced budget amendment and send it to the states for ratification prior to any further increase in...
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