Vote Smart: Politics in Oklahoma by Guest Blogger, Kelley Haraughty

Midwest City, Oklahoma falls within Oklahoma’s 4^th Congressional District. The Senators for Oklahoma are Senator James “Jim” Inhofe and Senator Thomas Coburn. The U.S. Representative for the 4^th District is Representative Tom Cole.  The following synopsis defines each politician by their respective biographies, campaign contributors and financing, their voting records on specific issues and their various supporting interest groups. Included in this post will be my personal reasons as to why I like and dislike each, and why I would or would not vote for the current Senators and Representative.

Senator James “Jim” Inhofe

Senator Jim Inhofe is a Republican Senior Senator that has held his senate seat since January 1, 1994. He is a native of Des Moines, Iowa and was born November 17, 1934. Senator Inhofe attended public schools for his primary and secondary education in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he continued on to the University of Tulsa, graduating with the TU class of 1973 with a Bachelor’s degree in economics.  After serving in the U.S. Army for two years in the late 1950’s, Senator Inhofe had a career as the President of Quaker Life Insurance Company. He has been active in politics since 1967 and has held the positions in the Oklahoma State House of Representatives, the OK State senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. Inhofe had one unsuccessful run at Governor of Oklahoma in 1974 and served as the mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1978-1984. He served in Congress from 1987 to 1994; he resigned his position in Congress when he was elected to the U.S. Senate to replace Senator David L. Boren. He took his seat in November of 1994 and has been reelected in 1996, 2002, and 2008 for the term ending in January 2015. He has served as a senior member on both the Committee on Environment and Public Works for two congressional terms as well as the Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. Inhofe has been married for 54 years to his wife, Kay. They have a total of twenty children and grandchildren.

The majority of Senator Inhofe’s campaign funding comes from the Oil & Gas and Electric Utilities industries. The remainder is funded by retiree contributors, leadership PACs and Lobbyists. Among his top supporters are Koch Industries and Exxon Mobil, receiving more than $1.9 million dollars in political campaign contributions from the coal and oil industry. Senator Inhofe is an extreme right wing, Republican conservative. In 2013 Inhofe was ranked by National Journal magazine as one of the five most conservative members of the U.S. Senate.  He is anti-abortion, pro-outsourcing U.S. farming resources from foreign countries, and votes consistently against taxes to pay for education. His stand on the energy crisis is that the U.S. should continue mining coal and fossil fuels, and increase the use of nuclear energy as an alternative.  Inhofe believes that environmental regulations restrict the freedoms of Americans and that without environmental regulations we as a nation would have a stronger economy and a stronger national defense. Senator Inhofe does not believe in climate change, nor does he support President Obama’s recent $3 billion dollar pledge to address climate change nor what actions to take to reduce or reverse this worldwide crisis that doesn’t exist, comparing the Environmental Protection Agency to “the Gestapo” and adamantly claims that global warming is “a hoax.”  Inhofe is also anti-Obamacare, stating that government has no place in the relationship between citizens and their healthcare providers – healthcare providers which 22% of all Oklahomans currently do not have, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau statistics. 

What I like about Senator Jim Inhofe: I agree somewhat on his stance on abortion; I, too am against it except in the case of rape or incest or if the mother’s health is at risk. His anti-abortion views include outlawing abortion even in the above mentioned circumstances. That is where the similarities end. I find nothing likeable about small minded ignorance. 

What I dislike about Senator Jim Inhofe: I strongly disagree that climate change is “a hoax” when the overwhelming majority of environmental scientists agree that fossil fuels and emissions are contributing to human-caused global warming and is endangering our natural resources. The fact that Senator Inhofe claims that his stance on the non-existence of climate change is backed by “scientists” is the real hoax.

I also have a problem with any person, politician or otherwise, that sits at either extreme. Senator Inhofe’s career is fueled by the fact that he is so far to the right he’s nearly off the graph. To me this is indicative of a small and very closed mind, and not someone I put a lot of faith in when it comes to making decisions for me, my family and fellow Oklahomans.

Would I vote for Senator Inhofe? Not on your life.  Small minds and closed thinking are what will keep Oklahoma in the dark ages, i.e. less educated and less informed than the rest of the world.

Senator Thomas Coburn

Senator Thomas Coburn is a Republican Junior Senator and has been since November 2, 2004. Senator Coburn is a graduate of Oklahoma State University with a degree in accounting and is a member of the First Baptist Church of Muskogee. In 1968 he married his wife Carolyn, a former Miss Oklahoma pageant winner. The two have three children and seven grandchildren. Senator Coburn is also a Medical Doctor of Ophthalmology. He is anti-abortion and anti-taxation for the purposes of education and the Arts. He is a believer in the conspiracy in Washington that creates “secret” new programs and “secret” funding. Coburn has blocked more bills than any other senator in the spirit of saving taxpayers billions of dollars in secretly approved spending.

The majority of Senator Coburn’s funding comes from health professionals, the oil and gas industry, leadership PACs, the insurance industry and the pharmaceutical/health product industry. Among these contributors is Koch Industries. 49% of Coburn’s political funding comes from large individual contributions; 37% from PAC contributions; 6% from small individual contributions and 7% from “other.”  Interest groups include industries of health, oil and gas, big pharma, a Republican and Conservative Club, the insurance industry, big bankers, lawyers and lobbyists. Special Interest organizations include Koch Industries, Bank of America and Abbott Laboratories.

What I like about Senator Thomas Coburn: I agree somewhat with his stance on abortion, favoring adoption instead although I do believe abortion is justified in the case of rape, incest or if the mother’s life is endangered. Other than that, we agree on nothing.

What I dislike about Senator Thomas Coburn: I dislike the fact that he openly accuses the government of secret conspiracies and that he makes a platform out of convincing voters that these conspiracies are costing them billions of dollars. It would be laughable, except he has a record of voting against education bills as well as funding of the arts, two things I think are vital to the well-being, education and intellect of society. America is already at a cultural deficit when compared to Europe, Asia and other countries and mindsets such as Coburn’s are only making that deficit worse.

Would I vote for Senator Coburn?  Not if Satan himself was on the ballot. I cannot and will not support any politician who is anti-woman, anti-immigration, anti-equality, anti-education and anti-common sense.

Representative Tom Cole

Congressman Tom Cole, a Republican, was elected to his current position in Congress in 2002. He is currently in his sixth term. Senator Cole has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Grinnell College, a Masters from Yale University and a PhD from the University of Oklahoma, both in British History.  He has also studied abroad and has been a Fulbright Fellow as well as a Thomas Watson Fellow at the University of London. Representative Cole has been called one of “the sharpest minds in Congress.”  Representative Cole is also a member of the Chickasaw Nation, and is one of just two documented Native Americans in Congress; the other is Markwayne Mullin, Cole’s fellow Oklahoman. Cole was a college history and politics professor before beginning his long career as a politician.  Representative Cole’s mother Helen Te Ata served as a state senator and representative also.

Representative Cole’s voting record in the nine years he’s been a House member shows strong favoritism to free trade, the military, gun rights, war veterans and Native American issues. He is also in favor of less restrictive immigration laws and is opposed to unlimited campaign funding. He has consistently voted against lobbies for labor unions, senior citizens and teachers’ unions.

What I like about Representative Tom Cole:  I respect Tom Cole for being a well-educated person, and I think it’s cool that he is Native American. Native American issues don’t get the attention they deserve and while it will take more than one man to change things, at least he’s in there trying. I also appreciate his willingness to be more reasonable about immigration reform than most of his Republican constituents and I agree that unlimited campaign fundraising tips the scales too far in favor of rich, Caucasian males. 

What I don’t like about Representative Tom Cole: I was surprised to find that he is against unions. Unions exist to protect the working class, many of whom are of Native American descent in Oklahoma. I also dislike that he is against teachers’ unions. Teachers already get a raw deal even with the unions in place. I can imagine how it would get worse for teachers if the unions were not there scrounging for every cent and resource. 

Would I vote for Representative Tom Cole?  I’m on the fence about Cole. I guess it would depend on who he was running against.  If it were a race between Tom Cole and Jim Inhofe, for example, my vote would definitely be for Representative Cole. Ultimately I would like to see the leadership in Oklahoma shift to a less-radical right wing agenda and actually start making decisions that positively affect Oklahomans and not just the political agendas of a few.

 About the Author: Kelley Haraughty is a freshman at Rose State College in Midwest City, Oklahoma. She is majoring in Business Administration.  Kelley has lived in Midwest City for the majority of her life. Her interests outside of school include photography, cosmetology and her Rottweiler, Mia.