Oklahoma's senior U.S. senator says the Republican Party's takeover of the Senate gives the GOP its best chance to push back against government regulations and ramp up military spending since Democratic President Barack Obama was elected in 2008.
Elected to a fourth six-year term in November's general election, 80-year-old Sen. Jim Inhofe will be part of a 54-seat GOP majority when the Senate convenes in January. While not a veto-proof majority, Inhofe says the GOP, which retained control of the House in fall's elections, will still have considerable political sway over the lame-duck president.
In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Inhofe says Republicans are not going to resolve the nation's problems unless they have a lever over Obama and that the Senate's new GOP majority makes him optimistic.
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