By Reps. Frank Lucas, Tom Cole, Jim Bridenstine, Markwayne Mullin, and Steve Russell Obamacare has failed Americans all across the nation. But Oklahoma in particular is a case study for its failure and the negative impact on insured individuals. As a state that saw 2017 premiums increase an average of 76 percent and as one of only five states with just one insurer participating in the federal exchange, you could argue that Oklahoma has been hit the hardest by Obama's failed health care policy. All five of our congressional districts have constituents who are adversely impacted by Obamacare. A small business owner in Oklahoma City believes that Obamacare is negatively impacting his business. Graciously, he has always paid for half of his employee's health insurance premiums. In three years under Obamacare, this employer's out of pocket expenses have more than doubled. Obamacare has given him two choices: drop the health insurance benefit and potentially lose quality employees, or go out of business. A mother of three was an accountant before quitting to raise her family and help her husband start his small business, so when Obamacare came along, she knew how to analyze their options. She made the rational decision to pay the fines, save the value of premiums and high deductibles, and effectively self-insure. Under Obamacare, she became uninsured, and she will be thousands of dollars ahead -- as long as she avoids catastrophic illness. After celebrating a successful harvest, a cotton farming family in southwest Oklahoma was shocked when they learned their health insurance premiums would nearly double under Obamacare. All of their concerns about issues like EPA's Waters of the U.S. rule or the continuation of certain Farm Bill provisions suddenly paled in comparison to Obamacare. They're now worried that the sudden spike in expenses for their family, not to mention a $6,000 deductible, threatens the future of their farming operation. One couple in rural Oklahoma was forced to sell their small business a few years ago due to the husband's sharp decline in health. When they signed up for Obamacare, the most affordable option was a $6,000 deductible and a $1,200 copay. Even worse, the prescriptions they need to fill are "Tier 4," the section that has the highest copay. All doctors and hospitals under their plan are far from their home and it is almost impossible to schedule a timely appointment with a doctor when they find themselves ill. A Southern Baptist pastor in eastern Oklahoma is well taken care of by his church, except they do not provide health insurance. His family's previous health care plan was cancelled in December, so he used Healthcare.gov, which failed to function properly, and was left with a plan that more than tripled their premium. A steadfast believer, the pastor is left with only the belief that God will provide for his pregnant wife, two year old son, and the baby on the way. Sadly, these stories represent only a sliver of the number of Oklahomans feeling the ill effects of Obamacare. More and more Oklahomans are grappling with the crippling consequences of a failed health care law that is anything but affordable. It doesn't take long to find a neighbor, a friend, or a community member who is suffering the ill effects of Obamacare. More than 4.7 million Americans were kicked off their health care plan after being promised that they could keep it. Sixty percent of Americans have seen an increase in their deductibles in addition to the average 22 percent increase in their 2017 premiums. The burden Obamacare placed on families, employers, and individuals never seems to end. Thankfully, House Republicans want to make sure the Obamacare buck stops here. Our goal is to bring the American people more choices and lower costs, without mandating your plan or your coverage. By opening a free market to encourage competing plans and options, Americans can return once again to a health care market that provides access to affordable and reliable health insurance for Americans everywhere, particularly in our home state of Oklahoma.

By Larry Levy At the controls of the supersonic fighter plane as it roared off the runway was U.S. Sen. James Lankford, whose first concern on getting into the cockpit was the location of the ejection seat handle. Minutes later Congressman Jim Bridenstine, sitting in a sister but slightly different, version was catapulted from an aircraft carrier. Neither got more than a foot or two off the ground on Friday. They were in a trainer brought to Tulsa by the plane's manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, to the Ducommun Inc. facility, which manufactures circuit boards for the F-35 Lightning II. While the trainer has the F-35's glass cockpit and fly-by-wire controls and does not give any physical sensation, it does give a large multiscreen view of what is outside as the plane climbs, turns, rolls, descends, attacks and dogfights the enemy. Jason Waldron, formerly a Marine aviator now with Lockheed Martin, sets up the scenarios and can even show the dogfight loser parachuting to safety. Lankford, Bridenstine and Tulsa Mayor Dewey F. Bartlett -- also a pilot -- want more than a trainer in Tulsa. They are pushing that some of the 1,763 F-35s being sought by the Air Force be assigned to the Oklahoma Air National Guard's 138th Fighter Wing at Tulsa International Airport. "Some of the future F-35s should be coming to Tulsa," Lankford said. Bridenstine also pushed for F-35s being based in Tulsa and noted that the city's sales tax vision program provided for $9 million to build a simulator building for the ship. The F-35 will be "the backbone" of the next generation for stealth planes, Lankford said. Being the strongest nation in the world "will bring a sense of stability to the world." It will transform "the way we do business" in the military providing network-centric warfare that will spread the battlefield far and wide and give "us freedom of action" so the enemy will not be able to deny access, Bridenstine said. Eric Van Camp, director of F-35 business development for Lockheed and a former Marine pilot, described the Lightning II as "a very, very special thing." The F-35 has "most sophisticated sensor system ever put on a fighter" that will change the behavior of everything going on" in the battlefield environment," said Van Camp, a University of Oklahoma graduate who went on to fly Harriers, the vertical/short takeoff predecessor to the Marine version of the new plane. The F-35 can "sponge up" a lot of information from around the plane and send it to where it will do the most good -- a ship, a soldier or another plane, he said. The planes will be the "cornerstone of our nation's security for the next three or four decades," Van Vamp said. An immediate goal is bringing down the per-plane sticker price by 2019 to between $80 million and $85 million. The Marine Corps had declared its version of the F-35 had met its initial operating capability before the Ducommun meeting with Lankford and Bridenstine, and the Air Force was expected to shortly declare its version had met the same major milestone. Besides the Air Force version, the Navy wants to buy 260 F-35s with the carrier capability, and the Marines want 353 of their version plus 67 of the Navy's model for 2,443 in all by the military Another 11 countries plan to buy 727 F-35s -- Australia, 100; Canada, 65; Denmark, 30: Israel, 33; Italy, 90; Japan, 42; Netherlands, 37; Norway, 52; South Korea, 40; Turkey, 100, and the United Kingdom, 138; bring the world total of Lightning II orders to 3,170 Ducommun's Tulsa plant has been working on the F-35 since 2008 with between 10 and 15 percent of its present 175 employees working on the project, said Tod Brindinger, vice president and general manager of the firm's electronic integrated solutions division. All its work is for military planes such as the F-16 and F-18 fighters and C-130 cargo plane. "Good solderers" are the skill most sought by the company, said Brindinger, who is based in Phoenix. "Some very sophisticated stuff is being built right here in Tulsa," Van Camp said. Ducommun is one of 1,250 companies in 45 states and Puerto Rico making components for the F-35 creating 146,000 direct and indirect jobs. Parts are being made at six Oklahoma locations with an economic impact of $67.1 million and 780 direct and indirect jobs, according to Lockheed. There is also Cytec Engineered Materials in Tulsa, Precision Machine and Manufacturing in Grove, P&W Sustainment-OK in Midwest City and Pro-Fab and Electro Enterprises, both in Oklahoma City. Components are also being made in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Besides Lockheed plant at Fort Worth, plants in Italy and Japan will also perform final assembly on some F-35s. Predecessor to the F-35 is Lockheed's World War II P-38 Lightning, a twin-engine plane. More than 9,000 were built at a cost of $115,000 each, $1.6 million current dollars. - See more at: http://bridenstine.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=746#sthash.KSIJ2Kha.dpuf

By Richard Linihan With the election for Tulsa Mayor next Tuesday, endorsements are key down the stretch. Former U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn was on KFAQ's Pat Campbell Show Thursday morning and told PC why he is supporting incumbent mayor Dewey Bartlett and Jim Bridenstine for retention of his District 1 seat in Congress. "I've supported Dewey Bartlett in his first race and his second," said Dr. Coburn. "I like his background. Nobody's perfect. Dewey Bartlett has built a big business. Dewey Bartlett has been successful. He has learned the ropes of the mayor's office. "He had a tough first term because of a real divided (city) council. But he's a great person. His heart is perfectly right. And he doesn't desire anything for Dewey Bartlett out of being mayor. He hasn't had any political career in mind. His is all about service to Tulsa." Dr. Coburn said if you want to run against Bartlett, maybe this is not the optimum time. "Dewey has already said this is the last time he is going to run," Dr. Coburn said. "Is he that bad that we have to replace him? The criticisms I've heard about Dewey are minor in comparison to the risks of having some young guy with really having no world experience other than politics. I mean that's all there is. There's nothing there except politics…Being the mayor of Tulsa, and is that a stepping stone for something else? And I'd tell you, I bet you it is." Bill Shapard of SoonerPoll broke down the mayoral race for PC on KFAQ. "We're finding that G.T. Bynum has closed the gap a little bit since the last poll we did," Shapard said. "With the margin of error, it's a dead heat. As I said on SoonerPoll.com, if you want to know who is going to win the mayoral race, just flip a coin." Shapard also broke down the race in terms of polling done in Midtown and South Tulsa. "In Midtown, G.T. Bynum has the lead over Dewey Bartlett," he said. "But in South Tulsa, Dewey Bartlett has the lead and that's where 4 of 10 votes are going to come from." Dr. Coburn also said he stands firmly behind Bridenstine in the Congressional race. "Bridenstine was the easiest endorsement I've ever done in my life," Dr. Coburn said. "He votes right. Every time. I don't have to worry about how Jim Bridenstine votes because he looks at the Constitution, he looks at what limits government. And he votes that way. Always. Every time. No matter what the rest of the Oklahoma delegation is doing."