An extraordinary incident unfolded in the state of Oklahoma on Oct. 2. Three individuals were arrested, shackled and arraigned. Their crime: trying to curb the spending excesses of Sooner State politicians. They were accused of violating an arcane and certainly unconstitutional law that imposes restrictions on who can circulate petitions in the state.
Paul Jacob--president of the pro-initiative group Citizens in Charge and a senior fellow at the Sam Adams Alliance, a grassroots political organization--and colleagues Susan Johnson and Rick Carpenter incurred the wrath of Oklahoma's Soviet-minded political establishment for trying in 2005 to get an initiative on the ballot to limit state spending. The three could get as many as ten years in prison.
Back in 2005, despite organized harassment from unions and other pro-government forces, Jacob and other activists--with the help of a professional petition-signing firm--managed to collect the required number of names to get the antispending item on the ballot. In a tantrum worthy of an Iranian ayatollah the pro-political class Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled the petitions invalid.
Read more...Labels: AG, Drew Edmondson, Paul Jacob TABOR
Posted at 11/13/2007 12:40:00 PM
