Andrew Rice Announces Debate With Inhofe

On Tuesday, October 7 at 5:15 pm Andrew Rice squares off in a debate with incumbent senator James Inhofe. The debate will take place in Tulsa and will be carried by local teevee station KJRH-2 and streaming it on their website here. The teevee station is welcoming questions citizens would like the candidates to answer at their website located here.

What kind of questions should Inhofe answer?

Report Card On Troop Support From OK Delegation

The majority of Americans hate the war in Iraq, but remain steadfast in their support for the troops. One would think that would go double for our elected officials, especially in this hypertensive environment.
The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) have looked at the voting records of all elected officials and produced a single grade report card for each politician. So how does the Oklahoma delegation fare? Not so good.

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) D-

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) F

Congressman John Sullivan (R-OK-1) C

Congressman Dan Boren (D-OK-2) B+

Congressman Frank Lucas (R-OK-3) C

Congressman Tom Cole (R-OK-4) C

Congressman Ernest Istook (R-OK-05) C

So, out of our seven servants, the lone Democrat gets decent marks for actually supporting our troops with supportive legislation, as opposed to lip service and tough talk.
Golf applause please, for Dan Boren.
This is much the case nationally, as Bob Geiger tabulates the report for us here. It is the Democrats, by far, who truly support our troops, as no Republican gets higher than a C and no Democrat gets lower than a B-. Go check out Bob's page, it shows the hypocrisy the Republicans live by.
I wonder how long it will take the rightards to come out and attack our veterans ranking of those who support them, and those who are full of shit.

Governor Henry Debates Congressman Istook

I just watched the Governor of Oklahoma, in his bid for re-election debate Republican congresscritter Istook (OK-05) on the teevee.
The main parts that interested me was minimum wage and immigration, and both candidates did not fail to disappoint. I looked for a transcript online, so I would b sure to get their responses correct, but either they are not available or my search skills really suck. Anyway, I'll rely on memory, just be advised that I do not pretend to have a photographic memory.
Istook is opposed to providing Oklahomans a living wage, saying that if someone wants a raise, they should work hard and ask their boss for one.
This is the level of disconnect these rightards have. On numerous occasions he advocated tax cuts to employers to stimulate growth, but feels the government has no role to play in seeing the citizens he is supposed to represent are valuable. In other words, corporate welfare and captains of industry feeding at the public trough is acceptable, as is having the lowest possible paid workforce.
Brad Henry waffled on the issue, claiming it was a federal issue. He tried to make the point that if Oklahoma raised their minimum wage and neighboring states did not, then companies would simply relocate to save on costs.
There have been many times in business I have quoted higher prices than my competitor, sometimes dramatically higher. Those who chose not to use my services were apparently not ready for the calibre of quality I produced. Nothing wrong with that. There are some areas where my talent runs rampant and I charge accordingly. Arrogant? Of course it is. But nonetheless if employers are interested in the A-team, shouldn't our state, if they are true believers of our workforce, insist our workers get paid a premium? Are slave wages and stoop work really all that important to our economy? How is our state supposed to lead our neighbors when our leaders don't value the citizens who live here?