Questions about tornado warnings, Republican supermajority and "beautiful" bill

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While the late afternoon tornado came through Norman on June 3, I followed my tornado protocols that I'd honed over my 40 years in Norman. I grabbed my NOAA weather radio, flashlights, iPads, phones, dogs, neighbors and myself and hunkered down in my tornado shelter. I turned on my NOAA weather radio to get specific information about the Norman tornado up top. This is the transmission that I got. 'This NOAA weather station is temporarily off the air. Please tune to an alternate weather radio broadcast or visit weather.gov for the latest weather information.'
My NOAA weather radio also did not sound the loud alarm about the approaching tornado. Two hours after the tornado, the NOAA radio was still transmitting that same broken message. My NOAA radios have always worked to broadcast very specific locational information relating to weather events. I can only wonder if other Oklahomans, in the line of (June 3's) tornadoes, found that they could not rely on NOAA for their weather information.During my 40 years in Norman, NOAA, under 20 years of Republican presidents and 20 years of Democratic presidents has become a finely tuned set of federal agencies with work forces composed of educated, motivated and dedicated federal employees with missions to protect Americans' lives against extreme and dangerous weather events.
This president has decided to tip this scientific agency on its head and break it. So I send 'no thanks' to President Trump, Elon Musk, DOGE, Congressman Tom Cole and (Sens. James) Lankford and (Markwayne) Mullin for breaking NOAA.
I bid good luck to the people in the American hurricane states. They are likely to find that they cannot rely on NOAA for weather information that can save lives. And like me, they will know who they can blame for it.
― Lani Malysa — Norman
More: Oklahoma's weather scientists are ready for tornado season despite threat of DOGE cuts
Reference William C. Wertz's opinion piece of May 30. He is exactly correct about the purposeful and shameful diminution of citizens ability to circulate the initiative petition. The Republican supermajority is both careless and crass as they conduct the people's business showing no regard to fundamental rights given to us in our state Constitution and subsequent statutes.
Having served in both the House and Senate, I cannot believe the current leadership in the Legislature and Gov. Kevin Stitt so blithely and arrogantly misstate what various bills do. This behavior was especially grievous as SB 1027 ― the theft of our initiative petition rights ― moved from the Senate to the House. Even when confronted by knowledgeable lawmakers, especially Rep. Andy Fugate, who asked well-researched and important questions, the authors chose to distort and double talk into deeper and deeper holes of deception.
In doing so they shame themselves, their party and bring derision and disbelief from others around our country. No wonder progressive, forward-looking companies and individuals routinely mark off our state for location or investment.
After all, it's bad enough to have to deal with politicians in the first place and it's downright disgusting when they are provably habitual liars.
― Cal Hobson — Lexington
More: The 'big beautiful bill' is not compassionate conservatism but cruelty codified | Letter
The House bill that all of Oklahoma's congressmen voted for is now before the Senate. Branded a growth package, this legislation could add up to $2.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. This is dangerous fiscal policy.
Our debt already exceeds $35 trillion, and in 2025 alone, the U.S. could spend over $1.1 trillion just on interest payments despite historically low interest rates. That is more than the $880 billion we spend on the Department of Defense. By 2032, interest payments could easily double to over $2 trillion annually from growing deficits and rising interest rates. The recent downgrade of our AAA credit rating by Moody's — the first since 1917 — was in part based on projections of the long-term impact of this bill. Interest rates on government bonds rose the day of the downgrade and rates Oklahomans pay for mortgages and auto loans increased.
These policies in this bill are nothing new — they're a rerun of failed Republican 'trickle-down' tax cuts enacted in 1981, 2001, and 2017. To pay for part of the cuts, Reagan taxed Social Security for the first time and Republicans continue to shift the tax burden.
Each time, tax cuts failed to pay for themselves. Instead of boosting wages, they fueled corporate stock buybacks that before Reagan were illegal because they did not lead to productive investments in our economy. Ordinary families were left behind and income inequality grew.
The lost revenue from the cuts in this bill moves us much closer to the 'doom loop' where we must borrow more every year just to pay interest. And when the federal budgets tighten, it's always working families who Republicans ask to sacrifice, not the people who most benefited. Expect to hear calls to raise the retirement age, cut Medicare and food programs, and eliminate more funding for education and housing not reversing their failed tax policy.
Cutting services for our citizens is not fiscal responsible. It's shifting the burden from the wealthy to those least able to carry it ― 'Shift and Shaft.' The wealthiest 10% keep their tax breaks while working families face longer hours, higher prices, and fewer public services. Most Oklahomans did not demand more tax cuts for billionaires. Yet we'll be the ones paying the price.
Let this sink in: The U.S. now has one of the most unequal income distributions among developed countries, ranking 42nd globally in upward mobility. Life expectancy has fallen to 48th in the world at 78.4 years. Oklahoma's is 72.7 years, 48th in the nation. These aren't just statistics — they're signs of policies that are leaving everyday Oklahomans behind.
Senators Lankford and Mullin still have time to do the right thing. Ask them to oppose this bill and push for tax policies that protect our future — by investing in the well-being of every Oklahoman, not giveaways for the top 10 % who already hold 67.3% of total household wealth.
— William Langdon, Tulsa
More: Oklahoma's schoolteachers need more education on how to deal with trauma | Opinion
Eight years ago, I attended a parenting class to become a certified foster parent, and I was shocked to learn about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Why was I surprised to learn about childhood trauma at a DHS training? I was struck by the absence of this vital information from my own education and training. I was a certified public school teacher and administrator. I had taught hundreds of students, so I couldn't help but think, 'Why have I never heard this before?! Educators need to know about the impacts of trauma.'
ACEs indicate a traumatic experience has occurred before age 18 which threatens a child's development. ACEs include various types of abuse, neglect and household dysfunction. These experiences cause developmental impacts that are profound and often long-lasting. ACEs may cause cognitive, physical, social, emotional or behavioral deficits which become evident in the classroom as trauma impacts student behavior and learning.
Since that DHS training, I have learned that Oklahoma has a particularly high prevalence of ACEs, especially compared to other states. In 2019, a requirement in state statute was added for pre-service teachers to be trained in trauma-informed responsive instruction. Disturbingly, though, there is still no requirement for certified teachers or school administrators to receive this essential training. And with the dramatic rise of alternative teacher certification in Oklahoma, a significant number of new teachers are entering classrooms unprepared.
To better support our students, Oklahoma law must be changed to require trauma-informed training for all educators. This training is critical for understanding and responding to the impacts of trauma on students creating more effective and supportive learning environments across the state.
— Annie Keehn, Tecumseh
Re: Fed cuts to impact NPR, PBS in state, Friday, May 30, page A1:
Anyone with any intelligent awareness who listens to NPR knows NPR is a liberal Democrat mouthpiece.
— Greg Clift, Anadarko
I agree with guest columnist Matthew Curtis Fleischer concerning the church welcoming 'anyone sincerely interested in learning more about God ... including LGBTQ+ people,' since they need Jesus just like the rest of us sinners. However, I must take issue with his concluding homosexuality is not an essential issue since Jesus never mentioned it. Jesus also never mentioned rape, pedophilia or necrophilia. How many of these would Fleischer consider not an essential issue? Any argument that proves too much proves nothing.
Besides his Jesus never mentioned it argument, Fleischer also dismisses homosexuality as an issue that 'the entire New Testament mentions fewer than five times.' My question is, how many times does God have to address a topic to make it an essential issue? God has spoken unambiguously on the issue in the New Testament. See Rom. 1:26-32; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 1 Tim. 1:8-10.
While Jesus never spoke directly about homosexual behavior, He addressed it by emphasizing the only sexual union approved by God in Matt. 19:4-6.
In John 16:12-13 Jesus told His apostles He still had many things to say to them that they could not then bear, but when the Holy Spirit came He would 'guide them into all truth.' So anyone basing their doctrine only on the words spoken by Jesus is not following all truth.
— Dean Cave, Antlers
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Concerns about tornado warnings, citizens' rights and Trump | Letters