"Desperate candidates say desperate things when they find themselves lagging far behind their opponents, but Dana Murphy should at least get her facts straight." - Rep. Rob Johnson

Literally, as soon as we posted the Dana Murphy piece, we received a press release release from the Johnson campaign refuting her claims. Saying that Murphy is playing "loose with the truth" and is trying to explain away her "fundraising failures" by "fabricating the facts." Johnson says in his release that he showed nearly twice as much cash on hand as Murphy when he filed his fundraising report yesterday with the Oklahoma State Ethics Commission. Johnson had $251,981 to Murphy’s $128,458.

From the release:

“Dana Murphy’s campaign is using funny numbers and funny dates to make bogus claims,” said Keili Hicks, a spokesperson for the Johnson campaign. In an attempt to strengthen her own fundraising shortfall, Murphy argued that Johnson’s campaign had rolled over his State House account on April 30th.

Hicks said Murphy’s facts were clearly wrong. She says that Johnson launched his Corporation Commission account January 30, nearly three months earlier than Murphy falsely claimed.

“If there’s someone playing a shell game, it is clearly Dana Murphy who actually violated state ethics rules when she filed her report several days late during the January reporting period,” Hicks said.

“The biggest disappointment is that Murphy has violated Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment once again, which was to not attack a fellow Republican,” Hicks said.

“Dana Murphy should spend more time focusing on the needs of Oklahoma voters and less time on false negative attacks. Perhaps conservative Republican Party leaders should remind Murphy that our battle is with the liberal Democrat incumbent and not each other.

Labels: Dana Murphy, Decision '08, Rep. Rob Johnson

Posted at 5/01/2008 03:10:00 PM |

By Robert Barron Staff Writer Read More

Labels: Mike Jackson, Rep. Rob Johnson, Spkr. Cargill

Posted at 10/23/2007 11:50:00 AM |

House Bill 1620 & House Bill 1475 part of House GOP "Entrepreneurial Society" agenda A House committee Tuesday passed two measures aimed at providing comprehensive lawsuit reform in Oklahoma.

"There are too many abusive lawsuits filed in Oklahoma, and these measures will begin to make this state's legal system more reasonable," said Rep. Rob Johnson (R-Kingfisher), author of House Bill 1620. "While our legal system in Oklahoma works in many respects, we're proposing common sense reforms that will make the system better."

House Bill 1620 is a part of the House Republican majority's Entrepreneurial Society legislative platform - a package of legislative measures focused on removing barriers to economic growth and opportunity in Oklahoma. The measure passed the House Judiciary and Public Safety Committee Tuesday, as did House Bill 1475, a bill focused on medical liability.

"Our legal system in Oklahoma should ensure access to our courts for those with legitimate claims, but it should not allow unfair shakedown lawsuits and costly jackpot justice," said House Speaker Lance Cargill (R-Harrah).

House Bill 1620 contains a number of provisions, including limiting the amount a defendant can be required to pay to secure the right to appeal; making it harder for frivolous lawsuits to make it to trial; limiting unreasonable class-action lawsuits; limiting the plaintiff to only be liable for its proportionate share of damages, excluding cr iminal cases; limiting non-economic damages in civil suits to a reasonable amount; and protecting school officials from being sued for reasonably punishing unruly students. House Bill 1475 lifts the restriction on the medical specialties under which the $300,000 non-economic damages cap applies. Existing language only applies to OB-GYNs as it relates to pregnancy, and medical professionals involved in emergency room care. Wrongful death or negligence are exceptions to the cap.

"As a physician in a rural community, I know that the fear of junk lawsuits and the high price of liability insurance are having a terrible impact on health care in our state," said Rep. Doug Cox (R-Grove), an emergency room physician and the author of HB 1475. "We need reallawsuit reform to ensure access to quality health care in our state."

A third part of the House GOP's lawsuit reform package, House Bill 2106, is scheduled for a floor vote today. Authored by Speaker Cargill, HB 2106 will create a specialized court docket to handle commercial and corporate disputes. Cargill said the complex nature of these types of cases requires expertise and familiarity with specific areas of business law, creating a significant burden on trial courts.

Labels: OK House, Rep. Doug Cox, Rep. Rob Johnson, Spkr. Cargill

Posted at 3/07/2007 10:44:00 AM |