There was a time when the GOP referred to the Democratic Party as the "Tax and Spend Party." To the average voter, it looks like the GOP was jealous of such branding and have taken it on for themselves. This is evident by the increase of taxes including; fuel tax, gross production tax, tax on tobacco, and finally (of course) increased taxes on booze. As this happens, we see this mass exodus of Republican "lawmakers" taking better paying jobs with the Feds and other government teats.
This is the same party that once said that welfare was a bad thing, but corporate welfare is okay and being a perpetual burden on the taxpayers as long as you're elected and not terribly poor.
Back in the days of WKY, I remember talking frequently about the reality that for most elected officials, it is the best job they will ever have and that holds true today. The concept of being a "citizen legislature" has given way to the disturbing influx of Political Science majors who are beginning to show their lack of "real world" experience.
But I digress.
Virginia, New Jersey, and even already liberal Washington State have seen a growth spurt in the number of Democratic elected officials and no one should really be surprised. As Cal Thomas once said, "If Republicans are going to act like Democrats, you might as well vote for Democrats because at least then you know what you're getting." There is a great deal of truth to that, you know.
Many will blame President Trump for the increase of elected Democrats, but in Oklahoma, the increase in taxes and the amount of fraud that is being uncovered by State Auditor Gary Jones leaves no one to blame but the Republican leadership. There was even questions about departments that were/are run by Lt. Governor Todd Lamb in terms of financial mismanagement. But yet, there are more and more career Republican politicians who are looking for more opportunities to suckle from the taxpayer teat by either running for higher office or finding a taxpayer-funded bureaucratic job.
And we used to think lobbyists were bad.
Sure, there has been a lot of propaganda spewed about from both sides of the aisle regarding just how horrendous our budget situation is/was/will continue to be, but in the aggregate, our elected officials aren't losing any services. They are still getting their medical coverage, their retirement funds, their salaries (highest paid part-time legislators in the country, by the way), and in some cases, the opportunity to pocket some taxpayer funds until they are caught.
Neither party is perfect and the way they are acting does nothing but underscore the reality that third party candidates are becoming increasingly appealing to the disenfranchised voters as it is. But, there is still hope, my fellow Oklahomians. We simply have to be diligent and call a pig a pig. Ask hard questions of our elected officials and of those who desire to be elected officials and if they give us some bovine feces answer, call them out on social media and within your sphere of influence. We can change the direction of Oklahoma government. We just have to care enough to do so.
Of course, that's just my opinion and I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt it.
Ron "Gorilla" Black