Woefully Ignorant State Legislative Proposals
 

This one has passed the first hurdle to becoming law in Oklahoma:

I particularly enjoyed the above bolded text. In my state, the legislature has been overrun by partisan kooks. They're passing idiotic socially conservative legislation like the above as well as doing away with any protections the government has to protect we the people from corporate abuses.

It's getting bad down here.

Soooo if contraceptives are offered, then women are forced to use them? That kind of seems to be his logic. Never mind the whole nullification angle of this. Why did we hit a sudden return of the nullification attempts? From both ends even.

There's no bun in the oven? Damn, I don't know who I am at all. Even forgot my name. I'm doomed.

That's the point.. barefoot and pregnant! Making dinner for hubby and taking care of the kids. We don't even need to think. That's the way all of us should be.

:rolleyes:

Quickly someone help me find the kitchen! I'm lost! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

quick! Knock me up!

And then the same people gripe about women on welfare who keep having children, right?

You would think the politicians would learn from seeing what happened with Akin and the others who made ridiculous decisions about women. Someone should rally the women to refuse sex until this law is overturned.

Michigan legislature has been a piece of work themselves lately. They passed Right to Work in UAW territory?

They also created a Failing Schools school district. They took all the Detroit public schools who were "failing" by standardized testing measures and put them in one district that the state runs. Recent headlines? Detroit Public Schools MEAP scores increase significantly. The state run district is doing worse than it was when it was part of Detroit schools.

You'd be surprised. Despite the national success of the Democrats in Presidential/federal level politics, the statehouses have not seen a similar, left-leaning shift, by and large.

Much of it, I think is just the cultural make up of the states, but a lot of "Akin" types come to power in off-year (non-Presidential) cycles, when turn out is notoriously low.

At some point people need to decide if their state's politics are a good fit for them. I would refuse to live in a state that passed some of the laws enacted in other states. I wish more people would take it seriously and do something about it, rather than stay someplace that, well, just doesn't like them or their beliefs. Kevin, at what point do you say 'enough is enough'?

Sometimes there's not a lot of choice, PeppyGPhiB. I was born and raised in OK. It's where my family is. When I didn't have a job after graduation, it's where I ended up again. Now it's where all my network is. I'm trying to get a job--any job--and I'll go wherever that job takes me, even if it's somewhere even less suitable for my tastes than OK (I'm not sure where that even exists...maybe Texas). Also, if everyone who doesn't agree leaves, it'll just get redder and redder and redder (if that's possible). Change can come from within. Living in Oklahoma is frustrating, certainly, but there are a lot of advantages, too (for one thing, it is cheeeeeeap), and I think to discount a state completely because of its politics is a little shortsighted. But yes, sometimes living in a state that is known for having the opposite of your politics can be very, very hard.

ETA: Also, without politics, all we'd have to complain about would be the weather.

Eventually, the pendulum is going to swing the other way. Especially the way the extremists are swinging for the fences with some of this drivel. I'm a registered Republican just so I can have a say in my local races.

Those of y'all who know me for my postings here probably don't think I'm exactly a bleeding heart liberal, but here, if you're not somewhat to the right of Attila the Hun, think that UN Agenda 21 is trying to take away your state's sovereignty and that the President is a Kenyan Muslim destroying this country to get revenge for British colonialism, then you are an evil commie liberal.

My family has been a part of this state since the beginning. My great grandmother (mom's side) was the first school teacher in Anadarko, Oklahoma and had what we believe to be the first flushing toilet in the state. She was on good terms with the Dalton Gang. My great grandfather owned a furniture store in Cushing, Oklahoma and rose to prominence in the town having the only covered wagon to travel to the city and back until the railroad was built. They renamed Main Street to Cherry street because of his orchard. When you have roots like that, you don't just pack up and leave. Also, I'm a lawyer and am inheriting a well established law practice and those don't tend to travel well.

All of that said, living in OKC isn't bad. We have culture, things to do, you can get anywhere in 30 minutes. It ain't NYC or even Dallas, but it's a really nice place to live if you're educated and have a decent income. If you're poor and do manual labor where you might have to go to our about to be reformed workers comp system, God help ya.

Also I think people need to realize that radical idiots =/= entire party or even a specific party in general. That being said, I do think that the republicans need to get their stuff together and be more consistent.

I heard recently that a Congressman will change his vote if he gets 6 calls on a subject. 6. Because he assumes 1000 people agree with the 1 person who actually picks up the phone. If every logical person in Oklahoma (and I'm sure there are a few ;) of you out there) made one phone call or sent an email that was carefully worded and polite, you could revolutionize Oklahoma. If the only people who are squeaking are the wingnuts, that's who they're going to respond to.

Kevin, get 6 people, actual voters in Oklahoma, to start making a weekly call to their electeds to express an opinion on a particular subject, and see what happens.

Unfortunately, what I'd LIKE to ask them is if you only made birth control and abortion illegal for white women, would that be ok? I think some of them would actually be dumb enough to answer that question.

/lane swerve and something I think we should ALL do. Several years ago there was a Congressional election. One of the candidates was asked how a bill becomes a law. She could not answer the question and got completely flustered. Regardless of the fact that anyone who grew up with Schoolhouse Rock should be able to answer that question, a person applying for a job should understand the most basic of principles of what that job entails. Next time you attend a debate ASK THAT QUESTION and then vote accordingly.

I think you're on to something. This is going to be a very Oklahoma specific answer, but I'm at a pretty good vantage point to understand what's going on here.

Prior to the last 5 years or so, Oklahoma had been run by the Democrats in the legislature exclusively for over 90 years. These were Southern [note the capital S] Democrats who fought racial integration, socially enlightened policy, etc. They were corrupt and dominated by trial lawyers, which has resulted in the practice of law being particularly lucrative for my colleague-kin in certain areas.

Back in the late 80s/early 90s, the Chamber of Commerce hatched a plan to control the state. With the help of the local media, headed by E.K. Gaylord (those of you in Nashville are acquainted), who had just been put through the ringer by the Attorney General, were naturally very anti trial lawyer and compliant in this endeavor, began to malign attorneys at all levels, to push "tort reform" as salvation, to go after unions and to rejigger the courtrooms to favor large institutions with deep pockets. Bit by bit, folks bought that these ideas were "conservative," even though conservative used to mean personal responsibility, not corporate immunity, the public bought it.

With evil trial lawyers marginalized and the word "conservative" being associated with virtuous for a slight majority of our citizens, the Republican brand caught fire. It was almost a snowball effect--a politician could say anything was conservative and the public would buy it. Destroying Unions? Conservative. Getting rid of pollution controls? Conservative. Capping damages in lawsuits? Conservative. [not making this up] Ensuring oil and gas royalty owners can't file class action suits against producers? Must be Conservative.

To make matters worse, the wingnuts figured this out. We have two groups, OCPAC (Oklahoma Conservative PAC) and the Sooner Tea Party, which are formed of a bunch of self-described conservative/libertarian/constitutionalist malcontents who believe almost uniformly that UN Agenda 21 is a conspiracy against the Constitution to steal our sovereignty and that our President is a Kenyan Muslim whose goal is to marginalize the U.S. to make up for English colonialism. These two groups (which both claim the other is too liberal and continually push one another to further and further extremes) figured out they could take control of the message of Conservatives which the Chamber of Commerce used to control.

If a Republican dares to speak against any of these groups, they will run someone in the primary against him. Sometimes they even do it to their good foot soldiers who march in lock step with the agenda. I am friends with a couple of our Republican legislators. They're intelligent and reasonable individuals, but they have been forced to support some of the stupidest legislation imaginable.

Just a few examples:

-- Making it a felony for a state official to do anything in compliance with Obamacare.

--Allowing local school districts to opt out of state mandated standards.

--Exempting intrastate manufactured firearms from federal regulations entirely so long as they remain within the state.

::bangs head on rock::

oh.my.stars.

I agree that it is an end run around the Federal government, but it appears to me at least that they do have a constitutional leg to stand on.

Oh, I agree. I'd say one would have to be mother bleeping crazy to live in states where their total tax burden approaches 55% ,but that's just little old me.

As to beliefs, don't like them get together and vote your folks in and theirs out.

I live in FLA where we're all in a crazy mixed up salad. Hey, it's lively. Obama carried the state, but our Legislature is Republican and so is the Governor. I actually don't mind that there's such a blend of ideas. Somehow stuff gets done and we still can't stop you folks from moving here so it can't be all bad.
Dammit. :)

A blend is healthy. What I could never do is live in a state where everything was the very opposite of my values. And I would have a very hard time in a state that was apparently obsessed with my sex and ruling over me with an iron fist.

The problem is, it swings around back and forth in most states. Michigan goes Democrat in federal elections because the majority of the population is one area, which is Democratic. Our Congress and, right now, our Governor, are Republican because of the out state folks. Together, they are wreaking havoc. He will likely be a one term Governor so it isn't worth moving...

Not at all. If you can't sell marijuana grown intra state to folks in your own state according to the SCOTUS, why could you sell guns?

Legally, the difference is that marijuana - the substance itself - is federally prohibited, while guns themselves are not. So the legal question is intrastate commerce, not interstate, in a product that is not prohibited.

The law is to allow, for example, fully automatic firearms to be sold intrastate if they're made here. So the firearms in question would be federally prohibited ones.

You must not have heard about the gems passed in Arkansas in the past week.

The Arkansas Legislature recently passed a a bill that prohibited "elective" abortions after 20 weeks. It was vetoed by the (Southern) Democrat governor, on the basis that it would be overturned by a higher court and would cost the state huge amounts in legal fees. His veto was overturned by the Legislature. See: http://arkansasmatters.com/fulltext?nxd_id=640902

There was also a bill prohibiting abortion past 12 weeks of pregnancy. This has cleared the Senate and House, and is now on the Governor's desk. See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_2735498.html

Oy.

"I'm sorry, I'm no longer willing to have sex because the risk has exceeded the benefit."

If women start saying that, in large numbers, very loudly, they will change their minds.

Read Lysistrata (ancient Greek comedy) and then follow their lead. Hint: the story is about the women on both sides of the war getting together and deciding to withhold sex until their husbands quit fighting. And guess who wins? :-P

Indiana just called for a constitutional convention: (http://www.indystar.com/article/2013...nclick_check=1)

And for ultrasounds prior to the dispensing of RU-486:
http://www.indystar.com/article/2013...-passes-Senate


Sigh...

Let's see, here in Tennessee, we've got the "don't say gay" proposal, which will make it against the law for homosexuality to be spoken of in schools.

Gun owners are now allowed to keep guns in parked cars anywhere, even at schools and workplaces.

They're proposing requiring ultrasounds before abortion.

Finally, some nut job has proposed a bill to keep the UN out of the state.

One of the better comedies I've seen on Broadway - Lysistrata Jones

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysistrata_Jones

Unfortunately, it was short-lived.

I swear, most of what I learn of history isn't from history books...

I actually respect calling for a convention more then all the states who are attempting nullification, either de facto or de jure.

I just don't even follow the rationale behind this one

http://www.wkrn.com/story/21523867/c...p-police-power

Here's a good one from Idaho. Essentially Universities will not be able to discipline organizations if they discriminate on their leadership based on religion.

http://legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2013/S1078.htm

In Oklahoma, we're working on some sweeping worker's comp reform, throwing the whole system out and starting from scratch. One of my favorite finds so far is that there will be severe penalties for workers committing fraud, but no penalties for insurers or employers if they commit fraud.

I don't necessarily believe it's discrimination if say, The Islamic Student Center members are put off by some well meaning fundamentalist Protestant wanting to join their group.

Or if one of my fellow Catholics insists on joining the Baptist Student Union. Shouldn't that be up to the groups themselves to decide?

If you wish to attend a meeting or a function because you have had thoughts of adopting that faith, that's one thing. But a University causing a problem for a group of students of the same faith because they all want to essentially hang out together is not a good thing. I recall this really being a huge issue at Vanderbilt a few years ago. Perhaps a member of the Idaho legislature thinks it's wrong too.

Let us know how it comes out.

Well, clearly, only workers would ever do something wrong. :rolleyes:

Sorry for the double post, but this is a really big issue at Vanderbilt right now. That was in the article that I linked to earlier. There is state legislation proposed that is going to deny universities in the state from having their own police forces if they don't rescind their nondiscrimination policies. I just don't get the correlation. The apparent concern is what you mentioned among groups of faith and non-adherents of X religion gaining leadership positions in those groups. (i.e., a Christian becomes president of Islamic student group).

I just don't get it.

Doesn't it make you wonder about a group if an organization that worries about this then ELECTS one who doesn't reflect their choice?

EXACTLY! It doesn't make sense. I also think that a group that is worried about this is going to stick their necks out to make one who is not of their faith to feel super welcome, much less elect them to any office.

We briefly represented a large comp insurance company after it allegedly told a doctor that if he didn't revise his report, they'd pull all of his business. We represented them right up until the Court determined nothing criminal had happened there...so it happens.

Oddly many schools have gone from having their own police forces to having a precinct of the city police force on campus as a way to reduce administrative costs and eliminate some problems of jurisdiction. It also makes it harder for domestic violence cases to be swept under the rug. It is percieved as a way to limit opportunities for corruption.