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Oklahoma Senate
"Too Little, Too Late" for Gov. Fallin to Revise Her Political History
Sen. Andrew Rice
Statement by Senate Democratic Leader Andrew Rice
"Now that Gov. Fallin's job is to responsibly run state government, she has belatedly chosen to comment on the gridlock and anti-government extremism in Washington that she herself proudly helped stoke and solidify over several years as a Congresswoman from Oklahoma's 5th district.
It'd odd to see the remarks and concerns by Governor Fallin about the debt ceiling dispute in today's OKLAHOMAN. It was just 18 months ago that then Congresswoman Fallin was proudly waving a yellow "Don't Tread on Me" flag in the balcony of the U.S. House chamber alongside anti-government extremists.
The simplistic, anti-government ideology that Governor Fallin happily supported as a Congresswoman is now a threat to the economic stability she is worried about here in Oklahoma if the federal government defaults on its debt. Gov. Fallin helped created this "frankenstein" among the far right in Congress, and her concerns now from afar are "too little, too late."
It seems Gov. Fallin is trying to have it both ways. She pandered to the Tea Party for support in her campaign against Randy Brogdon in the Republican primary for Governor in 2010, but now is seemingly going against the tea party stance of "no compromise" on the debt ceiling. Do Oklahomans really think Fallin would be raising these concerns if she were still representing the 5th district in Congress? Who does the Governor stand with: those willing to compromise or the Tea Party?
A good start would be for the Governor to take personal responsibility for her own support of the identical gridlock and red-meat pandering she engaged in during her years in Washington DC, and then earnestly call out Oklahoma's GOP congressional delegation to quit putting the nation's economy at risk with their inflexibility and eagerness to satisfy a small political fringe."
