(mostly stupid) New bills introduced in Oklahoma: 2016 edition

[swake]

The problem in Flint was they changed water sources to a river with really corrosive water. That water ate into the old lead pipes causing them to leach lead into the water, even after the water source was changed.

[cannon_fodder]

We are not alone in the stupid. BUT -

The Flint crisis is a three pronged assault. First, old system with lead pipes and lead solder that had built up deposits over the years that masked the problem. Second, new system had more corrosive water and higher requirements for chlorine and other oxidizers that removed the buildup. And third, government incompetence or cover-up (take your pick). That issue is not mutually exclusive with other issues.

Also - the legislator behind the "sodomy law" has a pretty good defense for it. He wanted a law that prevents those convicted of animal cruelty from getting more animals. He tacked it into existing law, which included the sodomy language (covering pretty much anything other than vaginal intercourse) as a 15 year felony, life on the second offense. He stated that the law is clearly unconstitutional and unenforceable, but if he raised it as an issue and tried to strike it --- people would be up in arms and his main objective would fail. So, no harm no foul.

Ridiculous (and a 80% chance hypocritical) that any legislator would actually stand up and try to defend a felony conviction for oral sex in 2016, but pragmatic approach by this Michigan legislator.

http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/johnwright/michigan_senate_passes_bill_saying_sodomy_is_a_felony

[Townsend]

Ridiculous (and a 80% chance hypocritical) that any legislator would actually stand up and try to defend a felony conviction for oral sex in 2016,

Kern

[Townsend]

Gay Rights Groups Celebrate Defeat of Anti-Gay Oklahoma Bill

http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/gay-rights-groups-celebrate-defeat-anti-gay-oklahoma-bill

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Gay rights activists are celebrating the Republican-led defeat of a bill that would have allowed Oklahoma businesses to discriminate against gay people.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-4 on Tuesday against a bill dubbed the "Oklahoma Right of Conscience Act" by Broken Bow Republican Joseph Silk.

The bill would have allowed Oklahomans to refuse to provide goods, services or accommodations to gay people if they were following "sincerely held religious beliefs or conscience ... regarding marriage, lifestyle or behavior."

Two Democrats and three Republicans on the panel voted against the measure.

Troy Stevenson of the gay rights group Freedom Oklahoma praised the members who voted against the bill, but says there still are nearly a dozen more anti-gay measures pending in the Legislature.

[Townsend]

Why are they messing with Daylight savings time?

How is this the thing to spend time and money on right now?

Everything written about Oklahoma's state government might as well start with "Being the stupid dumbasses they are..."

[swake]

The "Bill of Rights" monument bill is moving right though as well.

Oh, and the deficit is up to $1.4 Billion

Idiots doesn't begin to describe these yahoos.

[Townsend]

The "Bill of Rights" monument bill is moving right though as well.

Oh, and the deficit is up to $1.4 Billion

Idiots doesn't begin to describe these yahoos.

See?  Your post could start or end with "Being the stupid dumbasses they are..."

[swake]

See?  Your post could start or end with "Being the stupid dumbasses they are..."

So it's like a header and a footer all in one....

[Conan71]

Why are they messing with Daylight savings time?

How is this the thing to spend time and money on right now?

Everything written about Oklahoma's state government might as well start with "Being the stupid dumbasses they are..."

Any time the words: "Oklahoma Legislature..." come up on the news, it's an instant tension headache for me.

[cannon_fodder]

Why are they messing with Daylight savings time?

Because every June we want to see a sunrise at 5:06 AM and a sunset at 7:43 PM.

Who in their right mind would want to add an hour of daylight to the times people are actually awake and might be out of their houses? As long as we get up at 5AM instead of 6, start work at 7 instead of 8, and get off at 4... it won't really effect anyone's summer.  See, in the summer people like to do things outdoors. Very often in the evenings. Even after work you can get things done because you have an extra hour or two of daylight - lawn mowing, bike riding, playing with the kids, grilling out.

Who needs that crap? By moving sunset up an hour we can eliminate at least 25% of outdoor activity during the summer.

- - - -

And I can't wait for our new Bill of Rights monument. I was just thinking this morning - our schools suck, our medical examiners officer is unaccredited, our Sheriff's department isnt accredited either and our Sheriff is under indictment, we just had a number of TPD officers indicted, our infrastructure is crumbling, the cornerstone of our economy is collapsing and we are flat broke. What we really need is a stone monument as a first step in bringing back the 10 Commandments. That and some god ole' fashioned discrimination bills.

[Townsend]

Even Fallin is blaming the legislature for losing two Boeing projects.  #beingthestupiddumbassestheyare

[Conan71]

And I can't wait for our new Bill of Rights monument. I was just thinking this morning - our schools suck, our medical examiners officer is unaccredited, our Sheriff's department isnt accredited either and our Sheriff is under indictment, we just had a number of TPD officers indicted, our infrastructure is crumbling, the cornerstone of our economy is collapsing and we are flat broke.

You must have missed the story in the World this morning that our prison system has $750 million in needed capital projects and we will be facing closing some of them.  More cheer!

Oklahoma must close some state prisons, new DOC interim director says

Related story: State Rep. Pam Peterson hopes to address incarceration rates by increasing felony threshold

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma needs to close some of its prisons, Department of Corrections Interim Director Joe Allbaugh said Wednesday.

On the job for about a month so far, Allbaugh said state prisons have capital needs in excess of $750 million.

"We are going to have to close some facilities, and that is going to cause a lot of pain, particularly with people who don't believe their facility should be at risk," Allbaugh said during an interview with the Tulsa World. "I understand that, but either we gain some efficiencies in the system or give me more money to build a prison."

Some facilities aren't safe for staff, offenders or administrators, and "it is just a matter of time before we have a serious incident," Allbaugh said.

Asked which facilities he is considering closing, Allbaugh said: "Well, I don't know. I am not there yet."

Allbaugh, the former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, replaced Robert Patton, who announced in December his resignation from his position as corrections director to take a job in Arizona.

During his first weeks on the job, Allbaugh has been visiting prisons.

And he has seen a lot: low morale among underpaid correctional officers; programs that work but don't have enough support; doors and locks on cells that don't work but still house offenders; individuals at community centers and halfway houses that are not supervised properly; a draconian paper filing system to keep track of offender histories; holes in fences; and a system at 122 percent of capacity.

He described the bare bones staffing at the correctional officer level as "unnerving."

"The overriding story is that there is a problem in the Department of Corrections," Allbaugh said. "And the governor, Legislature and society as a whole have ownership of this problem."

He points to mandatory sentences that send offenders to prison for long stays.

He supports sentencing reform but said it is not the agency's "bailiwick."

"That is not what we do," he said.

While he said he is not a fan of using private prisons, given the state's situation, they are a relief valve for the state, he said.

"Right now, (the private prisons) are saving our bacon," he said.

Private prisons in Sayre and Watonga could be used to help relieve pressure on state prisons, he said.

Allbaugh is originally from Oklahoma. He has been living in Austin, Texas, but has a ranch in the Blackwell area. He has known Gov. Mary Fallin for more than 35 years, and he wanted to return to Oklahoma.

He watched from afar as Oklahoma came under national scrutiny for how it handled executions.

Since then, the agency has made significant changes to ensure that human errors do not put the state under the microscope again, he said.

"I am confident what has happened before will not happen again," he said.

Allbaugh said he believes in the death penalty and that the day will come when executions resume in Oklahoma.

"We will be ready, and I have confidence in the men and women on the team and the individuals that it will be done right," he said.

Allbaugh wears boots, slacks, a white shirt embroidered with his initials, a large belt buckle, rings and bracelets.

"That is (for) my youngest nephew," Allbaugh said when asked about one of the bracelets. "He was killed in Al Anbar Province. I wear it for him."

Marine Capt. Jeremy Allbaugh, 21, of Harrah was killed in Iraq in July 2007.

Allbaugh, 63, said in response to a question that he is not really a religious person. He used to like to hunt and fish when he had time, he said.

He likes Braum's ice cream and milk.

"I think I have told people around the world it is the best stuff going on," Allbaugh said.

He describes himself as a workaholic.

"I thrive on making things happen," Allbaugh said. "Talk is cheap in my world. Action is everything."

He said he has the ability to make decisions, enforce them and hold people accountable, including himself.

"Don't make me the story," he said. "I want the system to be the story. It is about a broken system that horribly needs attention and needs to be fixed. Everybody in the state has ownership of how it got this bad and how we need to fix it.

"We are all in this together. I don't have a magic wand, but I do know how to correct things and make things happen."

At the end of the day, he wants to have made a difference, he said.

Kevin Gross, chairman of the Board of Corrections, said when Allbaugh was appointed interim director in January that the board was hopeful that a permanent hire could be made within eight months.

Regardless of whether Allbaugh is on the job for a few months or years, he hopes that when looking back, people will say, "I am glad he stopped by."

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/capitol_report/oklahoma-must-close-some-state-prisons-new-doc-interim-director/article_00bf05f5-902c-5dd8-8cb8-6d3d7779ea18.html

[heironymouspasparagus]

And I can't wait for our new Bill of Rights monument. I was just thinking this morning - our schools suck, our medical examiners officer is unaccredited, our Sheriff's department isnt accredited either and our Sheriff is under indictment, we just had a number of TPD officers indicted, our infrastructure is crumbling, the cornerstone of our economy is collapsing and we are flat broke. What we really need is a stone monument as a first step in bringing back the 10 Commandments. That and some god ole' fashioned discrimination bills.

All the moaning/groaning, wailing, and gnashing of teeth aside....  THIS is what Oklahoma IS!  And shows every sign of remaining.  There is no hope on the horizon.

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate.

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, Okrahoma without end....


Amen!

[AquaMan]

There is always hope! But it is dampened by the attitude that Kansas and Oklahoma are pursuing right now which is to double down on the moral/political crusades while the masses are confused and pliable. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

A few good leaders standing up right now and the prospect of losing their phoney baloney jobs this fall can start the turn around.

[swake]

There is always hope! But it is dampened by the attitude that Kansas and Oklahoma are pursuing right now which is to double down on the moral/political crusades while the masses are confused and pliable. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

A few good leaders standing up right now and the prospect of losing their phoney baloney jobs this fall can start the turn around.

What's really disheartening to me is the all the Trump, Cruz and crazy anti-Obama stickers that are almost always on garbage cars. The very people that are hurt most by these idiots at the capitol in Oklahoma City are the people so excited to vote them into office.

Sometimes I wonder why I care. I'm not personally impacted by the state melt down really and Fallin's dumb income tax cuts really did save me a little money. I don't need Obamacare. My kids are nearly grown and if needed I can put my son in private school. My daughter goes to college out of state. Tulsa appears to be relatively safe from our energy industry caused earthquakes. What the idiots at the state capitol do really impacts me very little.

Maybe it's time for things to get really bad. For our low information voters to really get hit so they understand that elections DO have consequences. That when politicians use Jebus, Freedums, and Guns!-Guns!-Guns! to get elected, they aren't the voters friend.