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Rep. Markwayne Mullin Faces Ethics Review

Oklahoma Rep. Markwayne Mullin is dealing with the same problem that beset Senator Tom Coburn as both as Senator and during his time in the House, that being an ethics review stemming from his involvement in his business back here in Oklahoma. For those not familiar with Rep. Mullin, he is the owner of Mullin Plumbing, a very successful business here in Oklahoma. He took it over from his father at age 20 and turned a company with six employees and half a million in debt into a statewide business employing more than one hundred people. He also owns other businesses, including Mullin Properties, Mullin Services and Mullin Farms. Rep. Mullin has done exceptionally well in the business world and has achieved the success every small business owner dreams about – a growing company employing many people, with the financial security that success brings. And now he is in trouble with the House Ethics Committee for not properly cutting ties […] → Keep reading

Senator Tom Coburn’s Very Large Shoes

Senator Tom Coburn has announced he is resigning from the Senate at the end of the year and will not be completing the last two years of his second term as a Senator. He has been battling cancer, but said that was not the reason for leaving early. He said in a statement that he wanted to focus on the next stage in his life. Last November Coburn said he would leave office early if he thought that he and his staff would not be able to do anything “that will change what’s coming for this country.” Harry Reid and the Democratic leadership in the Senate continually blocked Coburn and other Republican Senators from offering amendments to bills and apparently, he has decided he has had enough. His resignation is sure to set off a scramble among Oklahoma Republicans to see will be elected to replace him.

I remember in 1994 when Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America ushered in […] → Keep reading

Politicizing Tragedy – The Moore Tornado

While following the aftermath of the Moore tornado I was disgusted to see people using the tragedy to make political statements or to slam the political opposition. Before all the debris had even fallen back down to the earth, Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse took the microphone on the Senate floor and lambasted Republican Senators for “denying man-made global warming.” He laid blame for the tornado squarely at the feet of Republicans while the dying and injured were still being pulled from the rubble.

He was far from the only one to make partisan hay of the destruction in Moore. Lizz Winstead, co-creator of The Daily Show sent out a tweet about the tornado which said, “This tornado is in Oklahoma so clearly it has been ordered to only target conservatives.” And another which said, “How long has Obama known about this tornado?” She later apologized after taking a beating on Twitter and claimed she didn’t know the devastation […] → Keep reading