Having recently left the Oklahoman to strike journalistic gold with the Frontier, plucky reporter Briana Bailey has already hit muckraking paydirt by not only uncovering various Oklahoma lawmakers who’ve accepted free hotel stays and travel subsidies from various special interest groups, but the apparent legality of the situation as well.
Yep, in addition to that taxpayer paycheck, free healthcare and cold hard lobbyist cash, these elected officials are vacaying at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa or the Omni Hotel Dallas Park West in Dallas on the fat-cat’s dollar and writing it off as educational outings; think of it as the sleazy political equivalent of attending a timeshare spiel about renting Florida swamp-front property in the off-season, only without the blueberry mini-bagels and pints of Tropicana chilling in a bowl of ice.
Briana uncovered a lot of the questionable "Scholarships" and "Conferences" lawmakers took in her article. Patrick and I did our own research and uncovered even more. Let’s take a look…
The NRA Shoot First Legal Defense Grant
Representative Justin Humphrey (District 19-Republican)
–
The American Association of Women in Government Who Remind Us of Former Cool High School Art Teachers Leadership Award
Representative Meloyde Blancett (District 78-Democrat)
–
The 2017 Lex Luthor Genius Grant
Representative Mike Osburn (District 81-Republican)
–
National Moonshine Distillery Development Symposium
State Senator Larry Boggs (District 7 - Republican)
–
The Bacardi Ice Foundation’s “You Seem Cool, Can I Buy You a Bacardi Ice?” Award
Representative Emily Virgin (District 44-Democrat)
–
Boomerang Ear Awareness Foundation
State Senator Marty Quinn, (District 2 - Republican)
–
The Jasper Knicklebocker Old-Timey Cookie-Duster Awareness Grant
Representative Rick West (District 3-Republican)
–
The Crimson Sword of Gilead Ladies Auxiliary Scholarship
Representative Elise Hall (District 100-Republican)
–
Society of International Virgins and Dry Humpers
State Senator Greg McCortney (District 13, Republican)
–
The David Icke Scholarship for Reptillian Disguise Studies
Representative Weldon Watson (District 79-Republican)
–
The McDonald’s “Sunshiney Smile” Hash Browns & Cup O’ Coffee Scholarship
Representative John Paul Jordan (District 43-Republican)
–
Tracy Flick Leadership Conference
State Senator Anastasia Pittman (District 48 - Democrat)
–
The State High School Prom Bow-Tie Producers Board of Trustees Fellowship Award
Representative Chad Caldwell (District 40-Republican)
–
Vegas Bachelorette Party Study Workshop
Representative Tess Teague (District 101 - Republican)
-
Mouth Breathers Anonymous
State Senator Chris Kidd (District 31 - Republican)
