Legislative session an example of wrong priorities

By M. Scott Carter

So, the Oklahoma Legislature went home.

And, while our homes and businesses are still standing, lawmakers — on both sides of the political spectrum — don’t have a whole lot they can be proud of.

Seriously, in light of one of the worst economic downturns since the Great Depression, Oklahoma legislators were more concerned about putting a monument to the Ten Commandments on the capitol grounds.

Before you start sending me those hate e-mails, know that I support the Lord’s top 10 rules for a good government. I just find it ironic that members of the state legislature — who pontificated loudly about the need for the monument — don’t bother to read them.

Then there’s the budget.

While some legislative morons had the bright idea of sending all the state’s stimulus money back to Washington, D.C., the majority felt it was a better idea to whine and complain about the federal stimulus plan but still keep the money.

Another example of sterling leadership.

Despite the anti-government rhetoric and grand standing, the Legislature did manage to pass a balanced budget, (of course, they are required by the state constitution to do so), fund education and keep the lights at 23rd and Lincoln burning.

And they are to be commended for leaving the Rainy Day fund alone.

But as a whole their performance was pretty lame.

Senate Pro Tempore Glen Coffee discovered that the “public” in “public official” really did mean open and transparent. Coffee learned the hard way that the public holds their lawmakers to a higher standard than, say, they do themselves.

Call it the price your pay for thrusting yourself into the public spotlight.

Locally, state Rep. Randy Terrill seemed much quieter this session than in years past. Instead of a daily storm of media releases, Terrill simply kept his mouth shut.

Some pundits said it was because lawmakers had to focus hard on just a few issues. Terrill’s apologists said he was simply working on problems facing the residents of Moore and Cleveland County.

I disagree.

I think Terrill kept his mouth shut (most of the time) because he stepped all over himself during a reopening of his federal bankruptcy case. During court testimony last year, Terrill tried to shift the blame for his poor accounting to unnamed staff members of the state’s Ethics Commission or to the attorney that handled Terrill’s original bankruptcy filing.

Federal judge T.M. Weaver didn’t buy it and, in open court, told Terrill he had “no credibility.” Terrill was forced to pay more than $11,000 and had the whole bankruptcy thing shoved back in his lap.

Which explains why Terrill wasn’t as prone to run to the press as he has been in years past.

Yeah, the Oklahoma Legislature went home.

And around us, children are dying of hunger, poverty is increasing, the number of divorces rises, more babies are being born to unwed mothers and state resources are being strained to the breaking point.

This on top of the fact that school teachers are seeing their pay shrink, their class sizes grow and school administrators keep trying to make do with aging buildings and fewer resources.

Our roads are filled with potholes and bridges across the state are in danger of collapse. Veterans and the mentally ill have been practically forgotten about and meth labs are growing again.

But, hey, at least we have a monument to the Ten Commandments.

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