Blog search

Mike Hunter for Attorney General

There are three candidates for the Republican nomination for Oklahoma Attorney General. One of them, Mike Hunter, was appointed Attorney General to fill the unexpired term of Scott Pruitt following his appointment as EPA Administrator. I will be voting to elect him to a full term. Hunter has had a...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 26, 2018 6:44 AM

OCPA presents "The Rule of Law and Liberty: Why States Matter" tonight in Tulsa

Tonight, Thursday, January 22, 2015, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) will present the second in a series of programs on the fundamental principles undergirding liberty and the rule of law: "Why States Matter." The program will be held at the Herman and...

Posted by Michael Bates on January 22, 2015 10:43 AM

Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt: EPA and "waters of the United States"

Second in a series of reports from BatesLine's interview with Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt at Americans for Prosperity's Defending the American Dream Summit, August 29, 2014, in Dallas When Scott Pruitt took office as Oklahoma's Attorney General in 2011, he established what he calls his special ops team, a...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 3, 2014 8:20 AM

Defending the American Dream update

Just a quick update between sessions at Americans for Prosperity's Defending the American Dream 2014 Summit in Dallas. Yesterday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Dr. Ben Carson, and Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn addressed the conference. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Jeb Hensarling are on tap for...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 30, 2014 10:02 AM

Stanislawski recants National Popular Vote support

Oklahoma State Senator Gary Stanislawski (R-Tulsa) has issued a statement recanting his support for SB 906, and expressing regret for his vote for the bill that would add Oklahoma to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The last several years I have always been against the National Popular Vote. This...

Posted by Michael Bates on February 15, 2014 8:49 PM

Betrayal: Oklahoma Senate passes National Popular Vote bill

The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. If you thought you could relax because the Republicans are in charge at the State Capitol and Oklahoma Republicans have a conservative party platform, remember that there are lobbyists giving our friends at the Capitol one side of the story. We in the...

Posted by Michael Bates on February 13, 2014 10:57 PM

Iowa caucuses: In defense of "arcane rules"

BatesLine photo of a front porch with bunting in Clear Lake, Iowa, September, 2008 Smitty at The Other McCain links to a Buzzfeed story about Ron Paul's strategy to dominate caucus states: Paul is following the roadmap set by Barack Obama's 2008 strategy: Start early, learn the rules, and...

Posted by Michael Bates on January 3, 2012 12:06 PM

Readings for Independence Day

A blessed Independence Day to everyone. When the 4th of July falls on a Sunday, it's a rare opportunity to gather in our churches on our nation's birthday and give thanks for the blessings of liberty for which our forefathers fought and died. Not that we should worship or idolize...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 4, 2010 3:14 PM

Links elsewhere 2010/06/22

Man of the West looks at the Leftist track record and wonders why America's leftists "champion the same policies that have brought whole nations to their knees and criticize their opponents for their alleged insensitivity to the poor--the poor that leftist policies indisputably create in massive numbers!" He also offers...

Posted by Michael Bates on June 22, 2010 8:59 PM

Daniel Elazar, federalism, and federal theology

I was trying to find out who came up with the threefold classification of American political cultures as moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic. (For moralistic, think English Puritans and Norwegian Lutherans -- think Minnesota and the upper Midwest. For individualistic, think Scotch-Irish, frontiersmen, and the Southwest. For traditionalistic, think big cities...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 3, 2009 10:59 PM

Municipal candidate training in Tulsa, Feb. 28

There's a lot more to running for office than you might imagine. Tulsa's city elections are coming up this fall, followed by school board elections early next year, and then races for state legislature and county commission the year after that. If you think you might ever want to run...

Posted by Michael Bates on February 19, 2009 5:58 PM

Fred Thompson on Charlie Rose

"Fred Thompson is addressing the real issues important to real conservatives and he's offering real solutions." So says this impressive ad produced independently by a Fred Thompson supporter: Need proof? Here's Fred Thompson's recent interview on the Charlie Rose Show on PBS. It's a 55 minute program with considerable emphasis...

Posted by Michael Bates on December 7, 2007 12:32 AM