|
Dunn makes campaign swing through Guymon |
|
Wednesday, 25 October 2006 |
By SHAWN YORKS /
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Imposing term limits, getting rid of corrupt government, finding alternative fuel sources and fighting the ACLU are all on the agenda for James Dunn in his quest to oust Attorney General Drew Edmondson in the Nov. 7 general election.
Dunn made a campaign swing through the Oklahoma Panhandle on Tuesday.
"The current attorney general has a lawsuit in eastern Oklahoma that says animal waste is a hazardous material that should be regulated by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)," Dunn said Tuesday morning in Guymon. "That lawsuit will bankrupt the Oklahoma Agriculture industry."
Dunn said that if that lawsuit makes it to the Supreme Court, it will set a precedent. If it comes back and says that animal waste is a hazardous material and can be regulated, any trial attorney anywhere can sue a farmer for any reason. Dunn said that 15 percent of the hazardous waste comes from agriculture while 45 percent comes from municipalities.
"[Edmondson] is suing agriculture for 100 percent of the problem," Dunn said. "That precedent will kill us because one-fifth of Oklahoma's economy is agriculture. Ninety percent of right here [in the Panhandle] is an agricultural economy. Rural Oklahoma will be crushed."
Alternative fuel sources are the wave of the future, according to Dunn, and he would like to see more done to reduce the economy's need for oil.
"We know we're going to run out of oil someday, but with biodeisels - people running vegetable oil down their car to make them run - we've got the [infrastructure] right here and we can produce it right here in Oklahoma," he said.
Other alternatives include a plant that can take pork fat and process it into biodeisel.
"If we set a precedent that animal waste is a hazardous waste, what corporate lawyer is going to step into Oklahoma with billions of dollars to put these plants in to help us, with that kind of activity?" he said. "They won't. They'll go to Kansas, they'll stay in Texas, New Mexico, wherever. They'll stay away from Oklahoma."
Among other issues Dunn is concerned about is corruption of government. He said there should be more prosecution of corrupt officials in the state.
"Ninety-six percent of voters in Oklahoma believe that we have corruption of government, and I agree with them," he said. "There are some good politcians out there, some good people. But it takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch.
"I don't care if you're Democrat or Republican or independent and I don't care what their last name is, who they're related to or how long they've been in office, if they're enriching themselves, abusing you and I as taxpayers, I will cuff 'em, stuff 'em and prosecute 'em," Dunn said. "No one has any faith in our system because they know the corruption, 'Good ole Boys' and everybody's turning the other eye."
Dunn is concerned about the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and believes they have gotten off course.
"They are attacking our right to merely acknowledge God, but you can go into any school system and you can talk about the Koran, you can talk about Buddism and Muslims, but to mention the name Jesus Christ, everybody's polarized and [worried] they are going to be sued by the ACLU," Dunn said. "The only reason is because the attorney general won't defend those rights. I don't want the government to tell me I've got to be a Baptist, Protestant, I've got to do religion. It's not their job. But, it is part of our heritage and if the attorney general will stand up to the ACLU and challenge them all the way to the Supreme Court ... I will defend every teacher, every school system, every superintendent, every city, every county, from those [lawsuits]."
On the issue of eminent domain for economic development, Dunn said he believes it's a way for the well-connected to steal land and give it to the well-connected.
"When you allow the government to take people's private property and transfer it to another private entity, that's a license for corruption."
|
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 04 April 2007 )
|
