Weekly News Headlines And Commentary – Week of January 27th
ON THE WEBSITE
(more articles to come this week)
Oklahoma must stop carbon capture before its too late
Shane Smith – more on Oklahoma’s race to carbon capture!
Are Rural Oklahoma Courts Inept Or Corrupt?
Jenni White – a breakdown of our podcast with our ROPE Report Regular, ‘Mary’ with V1SUT. Yet another one not to be missed!
America’s Digital Currency Conundrum
Jenni White – a breakdown of our podcast with our ROPE Report Regular, Julianne Romanello. Digital currency is something we’d better all learn about – and fast – before it becomes something we can’t escape!
LOCAL NEWS
Election Bills To Watch in the 2025 Oklahoma Legislative Session
Wendi Montgomery Dial (Restore Liberty Oklahoma) – this is a GREAT run down of election bills that have been filed in the legislature for hearing this year. Here’s what you do: read the article, print out the article, familiarize yourself with the bills and what they do, watch the Elections and Ethics Committee in the House, or the Rules Committee in the Senate to see what bills are being heard. When a bad one comes up, IMMEDIATELY contact the members of the Committee and tell them they should vote NO, or Yes. Thanks to Wendi for such a great write up.
How much money are Oklahoma agencies asking for this year? Some requests spark pushback
Daily Oklahoman – Here’s my favorite takeaway from this article: State Agency, “If you are going to mandate that I need to do ______, I’m gonna have to have more money to do it.” Isn’t this what we’ve ALWAYS said here at ROPE? Bigger government costs more and steals your liberty when it sticks its hands in your pocket to fund it’s “more is more” approach to governing. Some of these are real doozies – like the AG’s request for multiple million more dollars. But then – whether it’s true or not – he does make the case that the legislature has made his office responsible for a number of new programs. More programs require more space, require more money….you get how this works. When – WHEN!!!?????? – will the government ever REDUCE ITSELF? I know, I know….when Hell freezes over…But then, maybe we just make a pact to vote out all legislators who agree to big budget increases.
Oklahoma bills would restrict student cellphone use, social media, sex ed
Oklahoma Voice – We’ve already gone over the cell phone bill – ANY BILL THAT TAKES AWAY LOCAL CONTROL (or regulates something that could be regulated at the point of origin – school board, municipality, etc) IS BAD! So many things on this list are BAD! Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, and Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, all have bills to FORCE schools to do things that local school boards should be doing. And please don’t say, “But the schools aren’t doing it”. YOU are the taxpayer. YOU live in the district. YOU go to the meetings. YOU make them behave. I get that you don’t want to go to meetings, you have other things to do, but your laziness is not an excuse for state’s government takeover of local governments.
Senators Jett, Prieto and Rep Kevin West – all three guys I really love – are blowing it with the Chaplain bills. Schools should not entangle themselves with religion. That’s to be done on private time. This has to stop. I’ve written on this before, but suffice it to say, if we can install Christian Chaplains in schools, so can the Satan Club.
There is a flurry of bills that have to do with sex education and I’m good with those. Why aren’t those under the auspices of local control? Because protecting child SAFETY is the state’s job. In addition, schools shouldn’t be teaching anything having to do with sex in the first place. Parents should do it or sent their child to a group outside school that provides that service. Taxpayers should pay only for teaching that specifically corresponds to an educational subject. We’ve bent over backwards accommodating those who believe that it’s the right of the child to have access to sex education for decades and look where that’s gotten us in terms of kids being able to read, write and do math. There is no legitimate argument for sex ed in schools. Zero.
Corporal punishment is – again – another issue to be left up to school boards. No, getting a board to the butt because you can’t behave in class does not equate to child endangerment. I got whacked a couple times myself and I deserved it. I grew up during the years of corporal punishment and taught in today’s world of “anything goes without consequences” and our schools, our teachers and our students are worse off without an ability to apply some wood to a seat when it is required.
Unpacking the Alleged Sexual Assault at Sperry High School
Sooner Sentinel – This is a horrific story of a sexual assault at Sperry High School undertaken by three students that was apparently filmed on someone’s phone – the video of which was seen by peers and possibly some school officials.
Though the students involved have been charged, the victim’s attorney claims that the school was not at all proactive in protecting the victimized student. As we’ve said numerous times through ‘Mary’ with V1SUT, schools MUST protect the innocence and safety of the children in their care – period. Marven is hopeful that this case will help bring light to the way schools handle student safety.
Sooner Sentinel – Another one from Marven Goodman, this time about the way in which KFOR (News Channel 4) misrepresented Representative Gabe Wooley’s bill to bring changes to DHS.
This is not surprising for me. I actually added a comment to the story, “So let me remind you of this (excellent article by the way)…Cheryl Williams and I were fired from the Oklahoma County Election Board by the State Election Board, accused of numerous things and turned over to the AG and DA for further investigation. KFOR who interviewed me about this situation, had the following to say during it’s video and written story, “White is the former mayor of Luther and was also in Washington DC during the January 6, 2021, insurrection.” So there you go.”
Truly, this is why I attempt to make sure and elevate OKLAHOMA news sources, blogs and substack authors. These ‘news’ stations owned by corporations only care about advertising revenue, not getting the story straight, so make sure to subscribe to the blogs I post here. Also, make sure to use your social media accounts to PUSH BACK against their narratives – as Marven has here!
Oklahoma CareerTech asks Legislature for budget increase as student waitlist grows
The Oklahoman – From the first paragraph, “Oklahoma’s CareerTech system is seeking to roll a $28.6 million one-time appropriations increase it received from the state Legislature last year into its base funds for this year, in addition to a $19.3 million requested budget hike for fiscal year 2026.”
From later in the article, “Oklahoma’s workforce is the backbone of our economy, and CareerTech is at the forefront of preparing individuals for high-demand careers,” Haken said in a news release after the budget hearing. “By increasing state funding for career training programs, we can expand opportunities for Oklahomans, equip businesses with skilled employees and ensure our state remains competitive in a rapidly evolving job market. Investing in CareerTech is an investment in Oklahoma’s future.”
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. This is how this USED to work; kids went to school, school taught them actual subjects like reading, math, science and history (NOT SOCIAL STUDIES). They also taught subjects like Home Economics, or shop. The student, then, with a well-rounded education, decided whether they wanted to go to college or directly to work. If they chose the work route, the business that employed the student out of high school WOULD TRAIN THE STUDENT ON THEIR OWN DIME. The student got on the job training and the company got a stable work force because there was loyalty created by training their own employees.
This doesn’t happen now. Now, Oklahoma chooses which companies will come to Oklahoma through their Workforce Development schemes that provide tax dollars for all kinds of CORPORATE WELFARE, such as JOB TRAINING. Today, a company doesn’t have to provide training for their hires, the government FUNNELS kids through government schools into the jobs that the corporations they bring to Oklahoma and fund with our tax dollars, want. Then, we train them for those jobs on our very own tax dollars.
Here’s the deal: taxpayers fund schools, taxpayers fund training students for preferred jobs, taxpayers fund preferred jobs through preferred corporation tax incentives (corporate welfare). So basically, Oklahoma taxpayers fund Oklahoma jobs – NOT the free market. Let us please remember this as our Republicans will use the phrase “free market” as often as they possibly can as though they understand what that means. Clearly, they don’t.
Legislative bills target Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, aim to reign in agency’s power
Oklahoma Voice – From the article, “Preventing tolls from being increased could potentially impact the OTA’s trust agreement and investors, said Bobby Stem, executive director of the Association of Oklahoma General Contractors, a trade association that advocates for road and bridge infrastructure.
“No legislator ever wants to take a vote to increase taxes or fees,” Stem said. “We understand why. However, this critical infrastructure will deteriorate if these investments are not made.”
Seriously? Maybe OTA and their contractor toady jobs program might have thought of all of this in light of the fact that ORIGINALLY, OTA was to fund ALL their work via tolls. Once the road was paid off, the tolls would be retired. Now, as I said, the OTA is a jobs program for their contractors at the taxpayer’s expense. THIS HAS TO STOP! Any bill that stops the OTA from raising rates and increasing their bonds, should be passed this session and taxpayers spared the further expense of roads already paid for. But then, should there even be an OTA in the first place? Why can’t the ODOT handle building or upkeep of these roads? Now THAT is the 64 thousand dollar question!
NATIONAL NEWS
Government Education is Unconstitutional, Says Top US Law Professor
Liberty Sentinel – Gotta love Alex Newman! From the article: “Tuomala holds that the U.S. Supreme Court will likely uphold a voucher system providing equal tax funding for private and Christian schools by government. However, going back to the principles hammered out in the Virginia establishment controversy, the Liberty law professor concludes that the state should not fund any schools.
More and more prominent legal minds are joining the chorus against the constitutionality of coercive government-funded education. Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, for example, argued that the escalating hostility to faith and values of parents—the vast majority of whom identify as Christian—makes the existing system unconstitutional.”
During Miguel Cardona’s Tenure As Ed Secretary, Schools Got Worse By Every Metric
The Federalist – Pretty interesting piece. The author documents how many learning metrics have plummeted since Biden was president.
If The U.S. Government Doesn’t Ban TikTok, Parents Should
The Federalist – (again, lol) From the article: “In a sense, TikTok (and knock-offs such as Instagram Reels and Youtube Shorts) really do harvest user data to manipulate people in negative ways. Otherwise-healthy human beings are brought low by an addictive algorithm that hacks (figuratively) into their psyches and reduces them to anxious zombies with shorter attention spans than the average goldfish. Over time, the app severely stunts its users intellectually, socially, and emotionally.”
4 Reasons To Be Skeptical About OpenAI’s $500B Stargate Project
Robert Bryce Substack – From the article: “The numbers are nothing short of gobsmacking. On Tuesday, in a splashy announcement at the White House, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed a new company called The Stargate Project that intends to “invest $500 billion over the next four years building new AI infrastructure” in the US. The new company will “begin deploying $100 billion immediately.”
I like Trump. I voted for Trump. However…we must all remember that Trump is FOREMOST a BUSINESS GUY. We must be very vigilant in how he operates on the business side of his presidency. As Michael has said on the podcast before, Trump likes to see the arrow go UP – he’s an investor – that’s what he does. And not every investment is good for America, or Americans.
How Many Births to Illegal Immigrants?: A Preliminary Estimate
Center for Immigration Studies – “…based on how births to illegal immigrants have compared to births to noncitizens in the past, our back-of-the-envelope estimate right now is that there were 225,000 to 250,000 births to illegal immigrants in 2023, amounting to close to 7 percent of births in the U.S.”
This is why ‘birthright citizenship’ must stop NOW!
Get To Know Brooke Rollins, Nominee for Agriculture Secretary
Successful Farming – Synopsis of the article; Brooke has all the right street cred for a ‘conservative’ but she knows nothing about farming or agriculture. Unfortunately, her Chief of Staff is a seed oil lobbyist whose hands have been in EVERYTHING BAD for nutrition in America. THIS is concerning.
Exclusive: J6er Speaks Out on Pardoned Prisoners Still in Jail
PJ Media – We all need to remember that there is a swamp – even in our own backyards – that doesn’t care whether Trump is president or not. Do not go back to sleep. We must be ever-vigilant.