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Eat Student Loan Debt?

October 18, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

Blue Oklahoma's picture
Original Author: 
DocHoc
Image of Occupy OKC participant and sign

Occupy OKC and the overall "occupy movement" has the attention of the local corporate power structure here judging from the sustained, mocking criticism by its public relations branch, The Oklahoman editorial page.

Last Wednesday, the newspaper's editorial page called the movement's protesters "idiots." On Monday, it referred to t-shirt slogans superficially connected to the movement as "garden-variety anarchy." At least three editorial cartoons making fun of the demonstrators have been published (at least on NewsOK.com, the newspaper's internet site) in the last week or so. Is it simple conservative media overkill or real paranoia creeping in?

Worker Protections?

October 16, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

Blue Oklahoma's picture
Original Author: 
DocHoc
Image of Thank A Liberal

Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Mark Costello's use of anti-worker political rhetoric and his independent, anti-union and anti-public employee website, Parity in Oklahoma, raises the question whether an elected official can essentially work against the historical and constitutional mandates of a state office.

Costello referred to public employees as "feral hogs" in a recent speech, which has drawn widespread criticism from the Oklahoma Democratic Party, union officials, state employees and teachers. His website, which is not state funded but uses his name and title prominently, argues state and local governments should not collect union dues from paychecks and criticizes the retirement benefits of some state employees. It also supposedly points out the "perks" of public employees and criticizes state merit rules that "actually reward bad employee behavior."

The Oklahoman, Ogle Mock Occupy OKC

October 13, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

Blue Oklahoma's picture
Original Author: 
DocHoc
Image of Occupy OKC sign

If they want to know what they're up against locally, the Occupy OKC protesters need to look no further than a recent scathing editorial in The Oklahoman that labeled them "idiots."

Of course, you can also read the editorial as a collective expression of deep fear among the local, corporate oligarchy, and in that sense it serves as a form of flattery, showing the protests are working on some level. The rhetorical attack, coming from one of the most conservative newspapers in the country, indicates the entire "Occupy" movement has the throughout the world unnerved.

In a Wednesday editorial ("Occupy Wall Street movement: Raging against what exactly?," Oct. 12, 2011), The Oklahoman plays on the term "useful idiots" in describing the protesters here and across the nation and then makes these mocking, outlandish claims:

OKC Occupation Begins

October 11, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

Blue Oklahoma's picture
Original Author: 
DocHoc
Image of Occupy OKC protest sign

"Whose streets?"

"Our streets!"

And with that chant, the occupation of Oklahoma City began early Monday evening when approximately 150 people gathered at downtown Kerr Park to demand economic justice and fairness in the face of growing wealth disparity dictated by our corporate-controlled political system.

The group, Occupy OKC, a spinoff of the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York, have a three-day permit to camp at the downtown park, which is primarily concrete and decorated with fountains, and it has even brought in portable bathroom facilities.

Protests Grow Nationally, Locally

October 9, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

Blue Oklahoma's picture
Original Author: 
DocHoc
Image of Woody Guthrie

The ongoing Occupy Wall Street protest in New York and its spinoffs, such as Occupy OKC, are part of a broader movement expressing general frustration and even outrage with growing wealth disparity and a lack of economic justice in this country.

The movement's strength, of course, is just what the establishment pundits and media claim is its weakness, which is a decentralized, inclusive and local focus. It seems messy and without a precise frame but any movement that can really challenge the status quo will be diametrically opposite in shape and tone to what it challenges.

Its historical roots are protests in late nineteenth-century Gilded Age, which came after similar, growing wealth disparity between the wealthy and the middle-class, and protests in the 1930s in the Great Depression era, which led to worker protections and Social Security.

Coburn, Inhofe Reject Disaster Relief

October 6, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

Blue Oklahoma's picture
Original Author: 
DocHoc
Image of U.S. Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn

Is there anything more anti-Oklahoma than denying help to state residents after they have suffered through a weather-related disaster?

The state's turbulent weather, some of the worst in the country, includes tornadoes, wildfires, blizzards, ice and hail storms and drought. It kills people, destroys property and sometimes ruins lives. It's part of living on this tough section of the country's prairie, and the destruction is always followed by a we-won't-be-defeated attitude, an outpouring of neighborly help and, most importantly, federal financial assistance.

So it should be nothing short of state treason that U.S. Sens. Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe recently voted against a bill that would have bolstered the funding of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Without FEMA assistance through the years, it's hard to imagine Oklahoma as a viable, thriving place.

OKC Public Transit Challenge Needs Enthusiastic Leadership

October 4, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

Blue Oklahoma's picture
Original Author: 
DocHoc
Image of Oklahoma City skyline

It's not surprising given its massive urban sprawl that Oklahoma City is ranked dead last in public transit use by workers among the nation's 50 largest cities.

What is surprising or perhaps just disappointing is Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett's lackadaisical, shrug-it-off response to the issue, at least as it was reported on NewsOK.com recently.  It's critical the city, for the sake of its long-term future and the quality of life here, develops a public transit system that is used by a growing cross-section of area residents.

Going Down, Down, Down . . .

October 2, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

Blue Oklahoma's picture
Original Author: 
DocHoc
Image of Walter Cronkite and quote

The Oklahoman published a disingenuous, unsigned editorial Friday about taxes that deserves a response because of a misleading statement that reflects right-wing, clich?d dogma but simply isn't true.

The editorial ("Searching for ways to make tax policy more fair," Sept. 30, 2011) makes some superficial observations about the issue of fairness in the country's taxation system, citing, among other items, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe's proposal to grant tax incentives for people who install storm shelters and President Barack Obama's recent statements about taxes and wealthy people. It eventually makes the anticlimactic point that it's just about impossible to figure out what is fair or not fair when it comes to taxes.

City Attitude

September 29, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

Blue Oklahoma's picture
Original Author: 
DocHoc
Image of Oklahoma City skyline

Oklahoma City may have come a long way in enhancing its cultural milieu in the last ten years or so, but two recent items in the news show the city remains as provincial and inflexible as ever.

The first item deals with the state's antiquated liquor laws that keep wine and strong beer off grocery store shelves and prevents liquor stores from stocking cold beer, ice and mixers. Mark VanLandingham, vice president of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, has said his organization will not lead an initiative petition drive to let voters decide to allow wine and strong beer sales in grocery stores.

Fallin, Inhofe Push Storm Shelter Tax Incentives

September 27, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

Blue Oklahoma's picture
Original Author: 
DocHoc
Image of Inhofe from TPM.com

(Do Oklahomans think state employees, including teachers, are overpaid and get too many benefits? You may be surprised what a new survey shows. Read DocHoc's latest post on SoonerPoll.)

It's not often I agree with U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe or Gov. Mary Fallin, but both are supporting tax incentives for storm shelters, and that's a good thing for Oklahoma.

Inhofe's push to give $2,500 in tax breaks to people who install storm shelters, which can cost up to $10,000, seems especially poignant given his own stormy rhetorical relationship to weather. Inhofe, pictured right, has said he believes global warming is a political "hoax," or, in essence, a huge conspiracy among leading world scientists.

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