By: Bill Martin

Bill Martin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:19:26 +0000

Though I liked Karen’s story on Beck, I was a little confused by some of her stats. For example, at present there are 100 Senators (two for each state) and 435 Congressmen (steady number with rep’s districts reapportioned every 10 years based on new census data). So when she says Republicans controlled both houses of Congress: 58-32 in the Senate; 219-172 (total 391) in the House. I guess the 44 members who were not Republican or Democrat could’ve been independents or Bull Moose Party or empty seats (doubt it) but for the purposes of committee chairmenships would the non-Republican/non-Dems have been at least aligned with one party or the other? And shouldn’t that be addressed in some way in the story? Also, in discussing the time of the Volstead Act passage, she states the Republicans barely controlled the Senate by 48-74 (122 Senators?) and 237-191 (428) in the House. I did not think territories had proportional representation before statehood, much less even two senators each. I’m not a subscriber yet though I am a reader and admirer of The Oklahoma Observer and its editors … I’ll try to find a satisfactory answer on my own and let you know when I do, so you can spend your time on something else … just don’t want to give the Beck followers anything to hang their hat on, they’re so loose with “facts” and free with hate.

Comments on: Dr. Beck’s Diagnosis

By: Bill Martin