Yesterday, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 550 by a vote of 69 - 23. The bill overturns a dated 1941 law that prevents retailers from selling merchandise for less than 6-percent above cost. Basically, what the bill does is legalize those crazy "Black Friday" sales in Oklahoma. That's pretty good news if you like to wait in line at Wal-Mart to buy cheap Dynex TVs.
Before the bill passed, it was debated on the house floor by state lawmakers. One who spoke in favor of the legislation was House Co-Majority Leader Dennis Johnson (R-Duncan). He owns a small business and had some insightful thoughts on the issue. The most interesting was how he deals with those pesky customers who try to "Jew him down on a price."
Here's a clip:
Wow. I'm not politically correct or Jewish and even I found that to be offensive. I hope he never needs a bank loan. Seriously, what was this guy thinking? You're debating on the floor of the House of Representatives. You're not drinking a beer in your racist neighbor's garage. Have a little respect for the venue and keep your prejudiced thoughts in the sheds of rural Oklahoma where they belong.
Speaker of the House T.W. Shannon chimed in on the issue. Here's what he said via the Tulsa World:
Through spokesman Joe Griffin, Speaker of the House T.W. Shannon, R-Lawton, said Johnson “is not the first person to make a comment they regret. The chamber accepted his apology and has moved on.” Neither the Oklahoma House nor the Senate has a Jewish member.
Uhm, did the Speaker hear the apology? I don't think so, because that was the most offensive part. It was more fake than the Speaker's statement. Even a jaded teenager would call it sarcastic and insincere.
One of the other interesting things about the video are the giggly state reps in the background. It's hard to tell if they are laughing with Dennis Johnson or at him. It's probably a bit of both. The kid in the glasses is Jason Smalley (R- Stroud), the girl passing notes is Elise Hall (R-Bethany), and the mature dude who had enough and walked away was Ken Walker (R- Tulsa). The laughing you heard off camera was Sally Kern and her army of evil flying monkeys.
Also, I'm sorry for making that one minor stereotypical Jewish cultural reference above. I'm a sarcastic blogger, our contributor Ryan is Jewish, and I have a minor crush on Erielle Reshef, so I should be able to get away with it. Let me know if I need to make a sincere apologize.
