Blog: Take A Breath, Al

From The Oklahoma Truth Council ~ The stress of constant, political intrigue may have finally gotten the best of Al Gerhart. The leader of the Sooner Tea Party came out with his weekly thoughts on recent Oklahoma politics, and chose to make some insinuations that may reflect Al’s need for a vacation, or to at least to step back and take a breath.

To start, Gerhart decided to attack Speaker Kris Steele for emailing legislators and notifying them of a birth in the “House Family.” Rep. Skye McNeil (sic) has recently welcomed another child into the world. Gerhart went so far as to imply that the child might be deformed or at the very least “bullied” for the child’s name. He also infers that the child’s paternity might be in question due to the child’s middle name.

Seriously? Have we gotten to the point in Oklahoma politics that we attack newborn children for the crime of being born? Can’t we patiently wait until they marry rich scarf aficionados and start their own indie rock band?

We understand, first hand, how difficult it is to process all the rumors, rifts and rants that circulate around 23rd and Lincoln, but Gerhart may want to adopt a policy of “trust but verify.” While the House may provide most, if not all, of his information, he should remember that certain legislators like to color history to improve their showing. The House Freshman can try to lay claim to stopping the Fallincare Exchanges, but true credit goes to Sen. Bill Brown who put his foot down and President Pro Tem Brian Bingman who joined him.

Gerhart is on the front lines of political activism, and it is an exhausting place to be for an extended time. It is easy to see demons behind every bush, but it is important to remember perspective.

For example:

Mike McCarville may not be a fan, but he is from another era of politics, one where political activists were businessmen or single issue conferences, not anonymous blogs, tea parties or mass citizens gathering at the Capitol with petitions.

Skye McNeil (sic) was most likely not passed over for Speaker due to her ideology, but her gender. Oklahoma has never had a female Speaker. Jari Askins was in line for it but the Republicans took control that year, and Askins became the first and only female Oklahoma House Minority Leader. When it comes to Oklahoma Speakers they are following the same trends as the presidency, a black man had to come before a woman.

Oklahoma is well served when its people are informed and engaged in the political process, but that can only happen when its leaders, spokespeople, and commentators are refreshed and ready to do the job at hand. Rushing to judgement, attacking infants and carrying the water for a certain Representative’s personal agenda is beneath the capabilities of one of Oklahoma’s most outspoken organizations.

We hope that Gerhart and the Sooner Tea Party take this joyous season to have a Merry Christmas and relax, refresh and renew for the battles that are sure to come with the New Year and new Session.

Congratulations to Rep Skye McNeil (sic) on the addition to her household, may she be a blessing to your family!

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Gerhart Mocks Steele Disability

Kris Steele

Al Gerhart's loathing for House Speaker Kris Steele has resulted in Gerhart mocking Steele's physical disability. It's the newest attack by Gerhart, who claims Steele is a "Republican in name only" and isn't conservative enough.

Skye McNiel

Gerhart's latest diatribe against Steele actually came in an attack on Rep. Skye McNiel, who just gave birth to her daughter, named Sami Steele McNiel.

Writing in the Sooner Tea Party newsletter, Gerhart refers to McNiel as "perennially pregnant" and said the birth announcement, coming from Steele's office, was "even more than a little bit creepy, approaching appalling...."

And then Gerhart writes: "The parents named the baby after Speaker Steele...as in Sami Steele McNiel. Did the baby, God forbid, have a bad leg or something? Is she now destined to be shot with a Daisy BB gun by one of her friends resulting in a six figure settlement? Perhaps Speaker Steele might reconsider those caps on legal damages if his namesake might have to walk, uh, hobble in his footsteps."

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Rural Development Legislation Advances

Rural communities would have the ability to pool resources with other entities for economic development bond projects under legislation approved today.

“This legislation gives our rural communities greater ability to pay for economic development efforts,” said Rep. Skye McNiel, R-Bristow. “This will help many parts of rural Oklahoma attract news businesses and create new jobs.”

House Bill 2067, by McNiel, creates the Oklahoma Community Economic Development Pooled Finance Act. The legislation allows the Oklahoma Development Finance Authority (ODFA) to issue up to $100 million in bonds for joint local government projects through two new programs: the Economic Development Pool and the Infrastructure Pool.

Under the legislation, one or more government entities and for-profit businesses could pool resources to pay off bonds issued through the ODFA for economic development or infrastructure projects.

Local government entities would be allowed to capture various incentive payments to go towards repayment of bonds.

All pooled financing projects involving a municipal government would have to receive voter approval.

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Benge Names Cooksey, Jackson, Jones, McNiel

From The Speaker's Media Office ~ House Speaker Chris Benge named four additional members of his leadership team today.

Rep. Tad Jones will serve as the Majority Floor Leader, Rep. Mike Jackson will serve as Majority Whip, Rep. Skye McNiel will serve as Caucus Vice Chairman and Rep. Marian Cooksey will serve as Caucus Secretary.

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'Juli's Law' To Expand DNA Clears House

A measure that would greatly expand the state's DNA database and help solve more crimes overwhelmingly cleared the House today.

Senate Bill 2041, by Reps. Randy Terrill, Lee Denney and Skye McNiel, would create "Juli's Law" and require any persons who are arrested for a felony but found guilty of at least a misdemeanor, any persons found guilty of a list of twenty specifically enumerated violent misdemeanors and any convicted sex offenders to submit a DNA sample to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database.

Under current law, any person convicted of a felony must submit a DNA sample.

"By expanding our local and state DNA databases, we are greatly enhancing law enforcement's ability to solve more cases and convict more criminals," said Terrill, R-Moore. "The fact is most violent criminals commit more than one violent crime. Our forensic science has advanced to the point where we can solve almost all crimes; the problem is that we don't have enough DNA samples to compare to forensic evidence found at the scene of the crime. This bill will help bridge that gap."

The bill is named for Juli Busken, the University of Oklahoma ballet student who was murdered in 1996 in Norman. Busken's murder was finally solved through a cold hit on the DNA database in July 2004 when an illegal alien named Anthony Sanchez was arrested on unrelated charges in Cleveland County. Sanchez was convicted of first degree murder, rape and sodomy and sentenced to death.

The measure also requires convicted persons to pay a fee of $150 to OSBI for the testing and storage of the DNA sample.

"This measure builds on the commitment Republicans made to our citizens to make our state a safer and better place to live, work, raise a family and retire," said Denney, R-Cushing. "This bill is good news for citizens and bad news for criminals. Recidivism among violent criminals is almost a given, and by expanding our DNA database, we are ensuring that at some point these criminals will be caught and convicted."

CODIS is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's national DNA database, which allows local, state and federal crime labs to exchange and compare DNA profiles by electronic means to solve crimes across jurisdictional and state lines. OSBI is responsible for maintaining the Oklahoma CODIS database.

Since CODIS was created in 1990, more than 4 million forensic and convicted offender profiles have been entered into the system. Through January 2007, according to the FBI's CODIS Web site, there were nearly 45,000 cases in 49 states and two federal laboratories where CODIS added value to the investigative process.

Approximately 170 public law enforcement laboratories are linked through the CODIS network across the United States. Internationally, more than 40 law enforcement laboratories in over 25 countries use the CODIS software for their own database initiatives.

"The ultimate measure of a law enforcement program's success is whether it is making our citizens and their property safer," said McNiel, R-Bristow. "CODIS has taken violent criminals and sex offenders off the street, and is now even being used to solve property crimes and identify missing persons. The DNA database works, and our citizens deserves to know that their elected officials are taking advantage of every opportunity to protect them from crime."

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