++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ GOVERNOR FORUM-STRAW POLL AT STATE COMMITTEE MEETING
++ JASON REESE, DESPERATE AND NOW IRRATIONAL
++ TIDBITS
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, June 30th will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Invited to appear
before us this Wednesday, will be David Holt and Matt Jackson, the
Republican candidates running to replace the term limited Senate
President Pro- Tem, Glen Coffee. The district covers parts of Bethany,
Warr Acres and points North in OKC. In addition Bob Barnett, Bob
Bradway and Rob Johnson (Bob, Bob & Rob) have also been invited to
appear as they are running for the term limited senate seat, currently
held by Senator Mike Johnson. All members present having their dues
paid as of June 16th will be given a ballot to determine which
candidate in each of these races we will endorse. Of course “no
endorsement” is always on the ballot as an option.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
** MONDAY - MUSTANG AREA - Americans For Fair Taxation are
sponsoring a meeting this Monday evening, 7:00 p.m. at the Mustang
Community Center. Don’t be misled by recent news stories. Learn the
true details of this federal sales tax proposal which: 1) eliminates
all federal income withholding taxes, 2) eliminates all FICA taxes
including employer contributions, 3) gives you control of 100% of your
paycheck, 4) abolishes the IRS, 5) eliminates all corporate and self-
employment taxes, 6) eliminates all gift, estate, and capital gains
taxes, 7) restores financial privacy to all citizens, 8) ensures
social security funding, and replaces all federal government revenues
with a national sales tax on ONLY new goods and services at the retail
level. For more information call (405) 392-4324 or (405) 517-7245 or
www.OKFairTax.org .
** THURSDAY - TULSA AREA - Oklahomans For Sovereignty and Free
Enterprise (OK-SAFE) will have their regular monthly Action Forum
meeting this Thursday evening, 6:45 p.m. at the Hardesty Regional
Library, 93rd and South Memorial in Tulsa. They will review the 2010
legislative session, discuss some of the ramifications regarding “The
Smart Grid”, and HB 3028, the Oklahoma Energy Security Act. There is a
question as to its relationship to the 2008 bailout. Conservative
activists and Constitutionalists are encouraged to attend.
** JULY 6TH - ADA AREA - The Ada Tea Party number 8 will be held
one week from this Tuesday, more on this next week.
** JULY 8TH - OKC AREA - There will be a homecoming celebration
for Miss Emoly West, the newly crowned Miss Oklahoma. There will be no
cost to attend, but a $10 contribution to the Children’s Miracle
Network is requested if you would like to have your picture taken with
Emoly. More on this next week.
** JULY 9TH & 10TH - YUKON - The fifth annual Reclaiming Oklahoma
(now America) For Christ Conference will be held at Trinity Baptist
Church in Yukon, 600 N Cemetery Road (exit I-40 at Garth Brooks Blvd
and go 1 mile South). Friday evening will begin at 6:30 p.m. and
Saturday morning will begin at 8:30 AM. The one person Glen Beck has
had on his program more lately than any other person is David Barton
of the Wallbuilders Ministry out of Aledo Texas. David will be
speaking 3 times between Friday evening and Saturday morning.
Another speaker will be Ken Ham, founder and director of the Answers
In Genesis ministry. Ken may be doing more to bring people back to an
understanding of the importance of inerrancy of the Scriptures and why
you can have confidence in their reliability of than almost any other
person in America. He persevered against strong opposition to build
the new Creation Museum in Northern Kentucky. I believe there have
been over 1 million people tour the world class museum in the
approximate 3 years since it has been open. Also speaking will be
culture warrior Rick Scarborough of Vision America and Bailey Smith of
the Bailey Smith Ministries.
There is NO admission to attend, but a love offering will be taken.
The past 4 years the conference has been held in the Hardeman
Auditorium on the campus of Oklahoma Christian. We were near capacity
last year so it has been moved to Trinity as their new auditorium will
seat nearly 200 more people. With stadium seating, it is really
comfortable. For more information log on to www.reclaimamericaforchrist.org
or call (405) 796-PRAY.
** JULY 10TH - LAWTON AREA - There will be a candidate forum on
Saturday, July 10th from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at the Great
Plains Technology Center (Bldg 100), 4500 SW Lee Blvd in Lawton.
Candidates for National, State, County and local offices have been
invited to speak. Several have already confirmed. Attend so you can
find out for yourself where they stand on Healthcare, REAL ID, the
economy, national defense and other issues. You will be allowed to ask
questions and get answers.
++ GOVERNOR FORUM-STRAW POLL AT STATE COMMITTEE MEETING
I attended the state committee meeting this past Wednesday and want to
congratulate Matt Pinnell for his election as the new State Chairman
of the Republican party. Following the meeting folks attending the
luncheon got to see something rare for this election cycle. That was
U.S. Representative Mary Fallin showing up for a candidate forum as
she has been ducking, weaving and hiding from these kind of events and
for good reason.
Senator Randy Brogdon had one of those rare opportunities to reveal
the distinctions between Mary and himself and he has to be elated with
the results. The majority of the state committee is made up of
establishment Republicans, but they handed Senator Brogdon a huge
victory as he obtained 54% of the vote to Mary’s 42%. Robert Hubbard
came in 3rd with 3% and Roger Jackson received 1% of the vote. One of
the most amazing aspects of the event was the fact that Mary obviously
made a huge effort to get her people to wear her Fallin T-shirts and
attend the event.
The majority of the Brogdon volunteers were attending the block party
at the Ford Center where Senator Brogdon spoke prior to the luncheon.
Randy also got to have some fun as he introduced “Joe the Plummer” to
the crowd. By the way, OCPAC had a table outside and one inside the
Ford Center for the Beck event. I peeked into the auditorium during a
slow time at the table and it looked like 6 to 8 thousand people in
attendance. Everyone I talked with after it was over seemed to really
enjoy themselves.
One of the frustrating features of this governor’s race for people who
care about issues is the inability to find out what Mary stands for
other than the usual pink, puff and piffle that is found on web-sites
and campaign literature of candidates who want to play it safe, depend
on their high name ID and huge campaign war chest.
However, last week Mary addressed the Edmond Republican Women’s club.
As a result, the front page article in the Edmond Sun had a couple of
important tidbits if you know what to look for. First, Mary said she
was happy the Legislature had passed legislation to move the State
Medical Examiners office to be in close proximity to UCO. She
indicated, “The challenge ahead of us as a state will be how to fund
that move and how to fund the facility itself that’s estimated to be
about $30 million,”… The ME’s office will remain on the Undiversity of
Oklahoma Health Sciences Center campus until lawmakers find a way to
pay for the state BOND issue.
Now folks, please understand, if it is best for the citizens of
Oklahoma to move the ME’s office to Edmond I am all for doing so.
However, I am so opposed to these bond issues which add to our state’s
indebtedness and require ever larger amounts of tax dollars to re-pay.
In addition, once the interest is paid back it usually doubles the
cost of the project. If this is a high priority, then the state should
set it as a priority. That might mean cutting back expenses in some
areas or having government completely get out of areas which the
private sector should be doing if the market demands so funds can be
freed up for such a project.
Huge sums of current tax dollars must now be used to pay back bonded
indebtedness, incurred by past projects like this or others with much
less value. It is sad to see that Mary is contemplating supporting and
increase in our state’s debt.
Mary also revealed her shallowness regarding education as she said:
“We’ve got to focus on education to keep our children in the state of
Oklahoma.” Truth is, about this time of the year, a number of our
Oklahoma children, of whom we have focused on educating, leave the
state, sometimes for opportunities elsewhere not available here, but
most generally because they WANT to leave the state to experience
living in another place, they want to experience something different.
In many of these cases, these same young people return to Oklahoma in
either a short time or later in life. That is called liberty to do
what one wants, it is the free market and Mary or no other politician
will or should try to prevent that from happening.
Another worn out phrase, she used regarding education went like this:
“I support quality education,” “One of my main focuses in my platform
for governor will be improving education, having more accountability,
more standards, more parental involvement in education, and also
working toward strengthening the core curriculum.” This tired old
Republican dribble reminded me of an article I wrote in the Oklahoma
Constitution Newspaper in the Winter edition of 2003.
The article was titled: “Have Oklahoma Republicans Become the Best
Friend of the OEA Union? I in particular took on 3 people in the
article. Republican chairman Gary Jones, Lt. Governor Mary Fallin and
Jim Williamson who had just been selected at the new minority leader
in the Senate. Fallin, Jones and Williamson were the front men, the
talking heads for the Republican strategy called “fund education
first.”
I was particularly harsh on Williamson who said: “Its time for us to
stop talking and start acting to give Oklahoma’s children the first
class, grade A education they deserve by funding education first.” My
response to Senator Williams was: “Give me a break, does this guy
really think spending more money on education will produce a ‘first
class, grade-A education?” My article was so stinging, that I, along
with Steve Byas and Ron McWhirter, the later two are the owners of the
paper were invited to meet with several leaders so we could talk about
the issue. Ron and I met with the leadership.
As it turned out, Oklahoma revenues were still down as a result of the
recession which began in 2000 and was exacerbated by the attack on the
World Trade Center. Therefore, the “fund education first” verbiage was
in my opinion simply strategy to get out in front of the Democrats who
were in power at the time from having an excuse to try and pass a
“temporary” state wide one penny sales tax increase. I think my
opinion is correct as the “fund education first” verbiage has not been
followed since and is only brought up on occasion by the Democrats who
are now out of power.
That verbiage was superficial at that time, just like Mary’s verbiage
is now. Let me ask this question, how does government force parents to
become more involved in their children’s education? We can set higher
standards all day long and demand more core curriculum all we want,
but until we solve the problems which prevent the children from
achieving those higher standards, until we re-establish discipline and
respect in the schools and until we get rid of political correctness,
revisionist history, and poor methods of teaching reading and math, we
can set the standards higher until the cows come home and it won’t do
a bit of good. Most importantly, until we reinstate teaching values
and character based on Judeo/Christian principles, we will continue to
struggle in producing a quality culture.
Fellow Republicans, Mary plays it safe, as evidenced by her reluctance
to show up at forums and debates. Elect her if you want, but know
this, she will not support real change if it has any political risk to
her or future majorities for the party. She thinks and acts inside the
box. She WILL NOT be a game changer, she will pick around the edges
with minor reforms, whether it be in education or tax reforms. She’ll
not likely take a chance on upsetting the education industry with real
reforms which need to occur in primary, secondary, technology centers
and higher education. When it comes to re-structuring our taxes to be
more business friendly and reducing the size of government necessary
to accomplish such, she will not be the person to get that job done.
The only viable candidate to have a chance to get those jobs done is
Randy Brogdon!
++ JASON REESE, DESPARATE AND NOW IRRATIONAL
Reese was the first Republican candidate in the state to announce his
intentions to run for a state wide office, that being for the spot of
State Labor Commissioner. After over a year of campaigning, not able
to raise sufficient money for a state wide race, and as of the most
recent ethics report, only having a little over $600 in the bank, he
has finally resorted to desperate attacks against front runner Mark
Costello.
Mark is a very successful businessman who is quite capable of funding
his own campaign and thinks special interest groups and their hordes
of lobbyists are such a corrupting influence, the he has pledged not
to take contributions from such. He will not even take a contribution
from OCPAC even though we are not a single interest PAC and we do not
employee any lobbyists.
Mark Costello’s passion for the free market form of capitalism and
efficiency in government has him so effectively conveying his message
to voters that he has surged ahead of Reese. Mr. Costello recently
released his plan to merge some agencies, as Frank Keeting and more
recently Chris Benge have suggested. I am sure Mark has drawn on their
ideas, along with those of the recently deceased Tim Pope who wanted
to abolish the labor department and merge its duties into other
agencies. I am also sure Mark infused his own ideas into his plan, but
Jason Reese has accused Mark of plagiarism.
Accusing Mark of such is like a candidate who creates a push card and
then accuses every other candidate who creates a push card of
plagiarism. Drop by our Wednesday meeting sometime and look at the 20
or so push cards on our tables and you see that they all look very
similar. The pictures change, sometimes the colors are different and
sometimes the message is a little different, but often they are very
similar. Is that plagiarism? Of course not, perhaps Mr. Reese will
learn the definition of the word some day through some sort of a
continuing education course for lawyers.
It is sad to see how irrational a candidate becomes when he resorts to
desperation. He issued a press release last week not only blasting
Mark Costello, but he also took a swipe at the members of OCPAC.
Referring to Mark he said: “He and his extremist allies in the
Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC) have
repeatedly and very publicly attacked me as somehow less than
Republican for merely suggesting common sense reforms to our
immigration laws…”.
Reese came to our interview process in hopes of receiving our
endorsement, was treated very respectful and even received 4 votes
from our members. The other candidate not winning our endorsement was
State Representative Tad Jones, who called me after the debate to
thank me for the opportunity and commended us on how fair the process
went. Now Reese paints with a broad brush and calls the members of
OCPAC extremists.
Jason reminds me of a person who went out on a date and then goes
berserk because they aren’t asked out on a second date. We may seem
like extremists to Jason because most of the people who attend OCPAC
would fit on a political spectrum as Constitutional moderates, about
the same position as our founding fathers. Reese is much more liberal,
as evidenced by his early and out front support of John McCain.
Support, not as the result of McCain becoming the nominee, but from
the beginning.
I would speculate that Reese’s support for McCain’s was because of his
push for amnesty for illegal aliens. Mr. Reese, has been an
immigration attorney, and as such has written about his opposition to
HB 1804, the legislation for the State of Oklahoma to deal with
illegal aliens. What he wrote and said in public for his reasoning
during the debate on 1804 was different from the reasons he gives
today for his opposition to the legislation.
Bottom line, Mr. Reese is a Republican, but not particularly
conservative. I don’t believe he cared much for conservatives. He is
way too immature to be elected to an important office such as Labor
Commissioner as he is not able to understand that when people chose
one candidate over another based on issues, it is not personal, just
political. However, I do want to thank him for putting the Reese’s
peanut butter cups on every chair at the state committee meeting last
Saturday, it is my favorite candy it was so good.
++ TIDBITS
** BETHANY SUPPORTS ARIZONA
Week before last, the city of Bethany passed a resolution supporting
the state of Arizona for their efforts to crack down on the massive
number of illegal aliens in their state and all the problems that
comes with such. The resolution will be sent to the Governor and
leaders in the legislature to encourage them in their efforts. I don’t
live in a city limits, but for those of you who do, why don’t you give
your city councilman and mayor a call and ask them to follow the
leadership of Bethany?
** 5TH DISTRICT FORUM OUTCOME
I attended the 5th district forum last Friday and thought the outcome
had some interesting results. The crowd was huge, perhaps over 300
people in attendance and of course it was broadcast live on KTOK. I
believe all the candidates did well in their presentations, though
there are some real differences between these candidates.
It was not surprising that Kevin Calvey won and his 47% showing was
very strong. James Lankford came in second with 33% and is clearly the
other candidate with momentum. Mike Thompson had to be disappointed
with his distant 3rd place showing as he received only 8% of the vote.
In the same week that the Democrat Barry Switzer held a fund raiser
for Shane Jett, he only received 6% of the vote in the straw poll.
Right on his heels, Rick Flanigan, the non politician statesman,
received 5% and the newcomer to the race, Mr. Harry Johnson received
1%. The biggest shocker was that Dr. Johnny Roy didn’t receive one
single vote. Dr. Roy has some support in the Edmond area, but it
appears starting early and having great radio adds may not be the
difference he needs to do better in the race today over 4 years ago.
Congratulations to Kevin for his strong showing. Kevin has been
endorsed by the members of OCPAC.
** CELEBRATE THE SIGNING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Regardless of where and how you celebrate the 234th anniversary of the
signing of the Declaration of Independence this coming Sunday, July
4th, may you do so with the reason for the celebration in mind. The
Declaration is the philosophical basis upon which the Constitution
sets. It is like the first course of masonry or a stem wall upon which
a building is constructed. Of course the Declaration sits upon the
“foundation” that bedrock of Judeo/Christian principles. Those are the
things that made this nation great and only a return to this order
will save this nation.
** OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
We have now surpassed 250 dues paying members, breaking our previous
record of 217 dues paying members. All I can say is thanks so much for
your support as we work to make Oklahoma a more conservative state and
of course a much better state. If you have not joined as yet and would
like to do so, please follow the instructions below.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
ENDORSEMENTS IN REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR’S RACE
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ ENDORSEMENTS IN REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR’S RACE
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, June 23rd will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln, in OKC. We will dispense
with our candidate introductions and as many announcements as possible
as we have a great deal to accomplish at this Wednesday’s meeting. I
currently have the scores of all the lawmakers for this year’s
legislative session. By Wednesday, Lord willing, I will have them all
ranked from most conservative to least for both the Republicans and
Democrats. As such, all members present at the meeting with their dues
paid as of June 9th will be given a ballot to vote for the outstanding
lawmaker of the year, runner up, freshman of the year, etc. and also
the winner of the RINO (Republican In Name Only) award for the House
and Senate. We also have nearly 20 Republican candidates to be
interviewed by Wednesday, July 14th. Therefore, we will start with 2
candidates this week. Please try to arrive early, as we will start our
meeting by 12:05 sharp.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
** WEDNESDAY - OKC AREA - The OKC Tea Party has been asked by the
promoters of the Glen Beck tour to hold a tea party/pep rally on the
North steps of the State Capitol on Wednesday evening, starting at
6:00 p.m.. KTOK’s Lee Mathews will be doing his program remote from
the event. There will also be several speakers including John Rich of
Glen Beck’s “Taking Our Country Back” tour who will speak as well as
sing during the evening. So grab your lawn chairs, your best sign and
perhaps an umbrella for some shade and come on out.
** THURSDAY - WARR ACRES & BETHANY - State Representative Sally
Kern will hold her campaign kick-off event at the Warr Acres Community
Center at NW 42nd and Ann Arbor (half way between Meridian and
McArthur streets). The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and will last a
little over an hour. Several candidates for state wide office are
planning to be present along with the Mayors of Bethany and Warr
Acres. Our good friend, Bill Federer will be the main speaker. Bill
has authored 15 or so books and speaks about 400 times per year, not
counting radio and TV interviews.
I don’t normally announce fund raising events for legislative
candidates, but I make an exception in this case as Sally’s opponent
will possibly receive ten’s of thousands of dollars from homosexuals
or their allies from all across the nation. Sally’s opponent was a
man, but has had a sex change operation so “she” can, as much as
possible, take on the persona of a woman. Sally’s opponent recently
put out a national plea for funds on her face book, claiming the only
reason Sally wins is because she raises over a hundred thousand
dollars for each of her races and thus no one has had the money to
compete against her.
“Brittany” also claimed most of Sally’s money comes from big donors
who max out in their contributions. Truth is, Sally has never even
come close to raising a hundred thousand dollars for one of her races
and there have only been two different individuals who have
contributed the maximum of $5,000 to her, one of them has done so in 2
different campaigns.
It is always a challenge for Sally to raise money as few lobbyists
will even give her the time of day. She is so principled in her
convictions, they know she can’t be “purchased” by a special interest
group. Far and away, the vast majority of money she raises come from
small donors, folks like the ones who read these e-mails. If you are
not able to make the meeting but would still like to help Sally out,
make a check out to: Citizens For Sally Kern, and send it to, 2713
North Sterling Ave, OKC 73127. Your check will need to be accompanied
with a contributors statement. You may print out and use the one at
the end of this e-mail that I usually have for people wanting to
become a dues paying member of OCPAC.
** THURSDAY - TULSA AREA OCPAC endorsed candidate for the 1st
Congressional District, Nathan Dahm, will host a social this Thursday
from 7 to 9:00 p.m. at the Riverwalk Crossing, Suite 160 in Jenks.
They will have Hors D’ovuers and door prizes worth over $1,000. This
will be a great opportunity to take a friend to meet Nathan and a lot
of other conservative activists in the Tulsa area. For more
information, check out his newly revamped web site at: www.nathandahm.com
.
** FRIDAY - OKC AREA This Friday evening there will be a 5th
District Congressional debate/forum at the Clarion Meridian Hotel in
OKC. The hotel is immediately South of I-40 on the West side of
Meridian Ave. A straw poll will be taken at the end of the event and a
reception will also follow. The event starts at 6:00 p.m. with arrival
by 5:30 recommended.
** SATURDAY - OKC AREA The reason for the tea party/pep rally on
Wednesday evening is that Glen Beck will be at the Ford Center doing
one of his “Taking Our Country Back” tours which will start at 2:00
p.m. Accompanying Beck will be singer and song writer John Rich along
with political hack, Karl Rove. I am amused to speculate about just
how much the promoter of this event really knows about Beck’s message?
Putting Rove with Beck makes about as much sense as mixing oil with
water such as is happening in the Gulf of Mexico. While Rove is very
intelligent and articulate, he is the “architect” of the “center
right” liberalism which infected the George W. Bush administration.
Rove is a Republican progressive, the type which Beck exposes on a
regular basis. Hopefully, Beck will throw an extra sour lemon pie at
Rove sometime during the show. I wouldn’t lift a finger to see Rove,
but Beck and John Rich will be well worth the price of admission.
Just before the event, the Sooner Tea Party will host a rally outside
the Ford Center from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. with Senator Brogdon,
Kevin Calvey, Mark Costello, Charles Key and a couple of others
speaking. Entertainment will also be provided by the local group,
Overdrive. This will be informative and a lot of fun for people to
spend a little time attending before entering the Ford Center for the
TOCB event.
** SATURDAY - OKC AREA The state Republican Committee will meet
this Saturday morning to select and new Chairman to lead the party
until the State Convention next Spring. Since last week’s e-mail,
Steve Fair has decided not to run for the position. Therefore, if no
one else steps forward, Matt Pinnell will be the new Chairman. Matt
has worked as the operations director for the party under Gary Jones
and Tom Daxon. His experiences also include working as a campaign aide
for Senator Coburn and more recently he has worked as the Executive
Director of American Majority - Oklahoma, an organization which trains
candidates and grass root activists. Matt, has assured me he will be a
friend to OCPAC. He even offered to come speak at our meeting and
undergo the inquisition from our members. We just haven’t had the
time, as we have been very busy with the main work of our
organization, interviewing candidates and helping to create the
Conservative Index.
++ ENDORSEMENTS IN REPBULICAN GOVERNOR’S RACE
This past Thursday, Sarah Palin finally made it official, though Mike
McCarvill’s blog suggested it would happen a month or so ago. Palin
endorsed Mary Fallin. I was surprised the Oklahoman carried such a
tiny news article about the endorsement on the back page in the lower
“left” hand corner of one of the secondary sections of last Friday’s
paper. There were only 3 paragraphs to the article, with the second
one reading: “The former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice
presidential nominee announced the endorsement Thursday on her Face
book (kind of far removed from Mary) page, describing Fallin and two
female congressional candidates she also endorsed as ’liberty loving
Mama Grizzlies.’”
I thought Senator Brogdon’s response was kind, but right on with the
truth. Following is his response: “It’s perplexing why Gov. Palin, a
self described conservative, would endorse someone who supported the
Wall Street Bailout and was key to adding hundreds of billions to the
national debt. The simple truth is that an endorsement from Ronald
Reagan himself wouldn’t change the fact that Mary Fallin supports Big
Government Bailouts and Pork Barrel Spending.
Mary Fallin can line up endorsements until the cows come home but at
the end of the day, it’s the Oklahoma voters endorsement on July 27th
that decides the election. And while Gov. Palin might not know who the
true conservative is” (she definitely does not-emphasis mine) “in the
Governor’s race, the” (informed) “people of Oklahoma do and I plan to
spread my conservative message to as many voters as possible in the
upcoming weeks.
It is obvious that Palin’s endorsement is more about her bid for
president in 2012 than supporting Oklahoma’s values of limited
government and controlled spending. I am seeking the approval of
Oklahomans and not the Republican establishment.
Dedicated to Liberty,
RANDY BROGDON”
Senator Brogdon couldn’t have been more correct about Sara Palin’s
motives for her endorsement as exposed in an excellent article by
nationally syndicated columnist Pat Buchannan, published in this
week’s issue of the Tulsa Beacon newspaper. Buchannan does a masterful
job of showing how Palin weaves her way in and out, sometime endorsing
true conservatives such as Doug Hoffman in New York, Rand Paul in
Kentucky, Nikki Haley in South Carolina and now Starr Parker in
California. On the other hand, she has endorsed liberal establishment
candidates such as John McCain in Arizona, Rick Perry in Texas, Carly
Fiorina in California, Terry Branstad, with a long history as a
moderate in the Iowa Governor’s race, over the social conservative
candidate backed by Dr. James Dobson and Mike Huckabee.
Then with last week’s endorsement of Mary Fallin, Palin is again
backing the Republican establishment candidate over the true
conservative and true liberty candidate, that being Senator Brogdon.
Buchanan ended his column by suggesting: “Looking over Palin’s
endorsements.… the lady is not running for Mrs. Conservative. The one
explanation that makes the most sense of all the seeming
inconsistencies in endorsements is that Mama Grizzly is thinking about
moving the Wasilla brood into the big house.”
Did you notice she has now backed the winning candidates in Iowa and
South Carolina, the 2 most important early states for a Republican
primary? Mark my words, Palin will be a candidate for President and
her pragmatism over principle disturbs me regarding her reliability
toward critical issues.
On the other hand, Sunday evening channel 9 news, which is the local
CBS affiliate, had a story about the Oklahoma tea parties endorsing
State Senator Randy Brogdon for Governor in the Republican primary.
There was an excellent statement in the news story by Al Gerhart.
Though Gerhart is the leader of the Sooner tea party, I believe his
statements actually represented the Oklahoma Constitutional Alliance,
which has several tea parties as members as well as OCPAC. The
statement basically said, that Senator Brogdon has a long track record
of leadership on the issues and ideals of which most attendees of the
tea parties are concerned.
I will suggest that for Mary to attend a tea party today, she might
run the risk of being booed and with the media present that would be
very unpleasant. As far as I know, the only Oklahoma tea party she has
attended or spoken at was one of the 2 events in Norman as year ago
last Spring. Many tea party attendees feel so ignored by Mary’s
repeated excuses for not attending, that I just don’t know what her
reception might be. On the other hand, Senator Brogdon has become a
regular and popular speaker at tea parties all over the state.
Just remember, all elections are first and most important about the
quality and character of the voters. Oklahoma Republicans have the
opportunity to decide between, not the lesser of two evils, but
between “OK” with Fallin or “BETTER” maybe much better with Brogdon.
We will soon know as July 27th is approaching fast.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ ENDORSEMENTS IN REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR’S RACE
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, June 23rd will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln, in OKC. We will dispense
with our candidate introductions and as many announcements as possible
as we have a great deal to accomplish at this Wednesday’s meeting. I
currently have the scores of all the lawmakers for this year’s
legislative session. By Wednesday, Lord willing, I will have them all
ranked from most conservative to least for both the Republicans and
Democrats. As such, all members present at the meeting with their dues
paid as of June 9th will be given a ballot to vote for the outstanding
lawmaker of the year, runner up, freshman of the year, etc. and also
the winner of the RINO (Republican In Name Only) award for the House
and Senate. We also have nearly 20 Republican candidates to be
interviewed by Wednesday, July 14th. Therefore, we will start with 2
candidates this week. Please try to arrive early, as we will start our
meeting by 12:05 sharp.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
** WEDNESDAY - OKC AREA - The OKC Tea Party has been asked by the
promoters of the Glen Beck tour to hold a tea party/pep rally on the
North steps of the State Capitol on Wednesday evening, starting at
6:00 p.m.. KTOK’s Lee Mathews will be doing his program remote from
the event. There will also be several speakers including John Rich of
Glen Beck’s “Taking Our Country Back” tour who will speak as well as
sing during the evening. So grab your lawn chairs, your best sign and
perhaps an umbrella for some shade and come on out.
** THURSDAY - WARR ACRES & BETHANY - State Representative Sally
Kern will hold her campaign kick-off event at the Warr Acres Community
Center at NW 42nd and Ann Arbor (half way between Meridian and
McArthur streets). The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and will last a
little over an hour. Several candidates for state wide office are
planning to be present along with the Mayors of Bethany and Warr
Acres. Our good friend, Bill Federer will be the main speaker. Bill
has authored 15 or so books and speaks about 400 times per year, not
counting radio and TV interviews.
I don’t normally announce fund raising events for legislative
candidates, but I make an exception in this case as Sally’s opponent
will possibly receive ten’s of thousands of dollars from homosexuals
or their allies from all across the nation. Sally’s opponent was a
man, but has had a sex change operation so “she” can, as much as
possible, take on the persona of a woman. Sally’s opponent recently
put out a national plea for funds on her face book, claiming the only
reason Sally wins is because she raises over a hundred thousand
dollars for each of her races and thus no one has had the money to
compete against her.
“Brittany” also claimed most of Sally’s money comes from big donors
who max out in their contributions. Truth is, Sally has never even
come close to raising a hundred thousand dollars for one of her races
and there have only been two different individuals who have
contributed the maximum of $5,000 to her, one of them has done so in 2
different campaigns.
It is always a challenge for Sally to raise money as few lobbyists
will even give her the time of day. She is so principled in her
convictions, they know she can’t be “purchased” by a special interest
group. Far and away, the vast majority of money she raises come from
small donors, folks like the ones who read these e-mails. If you are
not able to make the meeting but would still like to help Sally out,
make a check out to: Citizens For Sally Kern, and send it to, 2713
North Sterling Ave, OKC 73127. Your check will need to be accompanied
with a contributors statement. You may print out and use the one at
the end of this e-mail that I usually have for people wanting to
become a dues paying member of OCPAC.
** THURSDAY - TULSA AREA OCPAC endorsed candidate for the 1st
Congressional District, Nathan Dahm, will host a social this Thursday
from 7 to 9:00 p.m. at the Riverwalk Crossing, Suite 160 in Jenks.
They will have Hors D’ovuers and door prizes worth over $1,000. This
will be a great opportunity to take a friend to meet Nathan and a lot
of other conservative activists in the Tulsa area. For more
information, check out his newly revamped web site at: www.nathandahm.com
.
** FRIDAY - OKC AREA This Friday evening there will be a 5th
District Congressional debate/forum at the Clarion Meridian Hotel in
OKC. The hotel is immediately South of I-40 on the West side of
Meridian Ave. A straw poll will be taken at the end of the event and a
reception will also follow. The event starts at 6:00 p.m. with arrival
by 5:30 recommended.
** SATURDAY - OKC AREA The reason for the tea party/pep rally on
Wednesday evening is that Glen Beck will be at the Ford Center doing
one of his “Taking Our Country Back” tours which will start at 2:00
p.m. Accompanying Beck will be singer and song writer John Rich along
with political hack, Karl Rove. I am amused to speculate about just
how much the promoter of this event really knows about Beck’s message?
Putting Rove with Beck makes about as much sense as mixing oil with
water such as is happening in the Gulf of Mexico. While Rove is very
intelligent and articulate, he is the “architect” of the “center
right” liberalism which infected the George W. Bush administration.
Rove is a Republican progressive, the type which Beck exposes on a
regular basis. Hopefully, Beck will throw an extra sour lemon pie at
Rove sometime during the show. I wouldn’t lift a finger to see Rove,
but Beck and John Rich will be well worth the price of admission.
Just before the event, the Sooner Tea Party will host a rally outside
the Ford Center from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. with Senator Brogdon,
Kevin Calvey, Mark Costello, Charles Key and a couple of others
speaking. Entertainment will also be provided by the local group,
Overdrive. This will be informative and a lot of fun for people to
spend a little time attending before entering the Ford Center for the
TOCB event.
** SATURDAY - OKC AREA The state Republican Committee will meet
this Saturday morning to select and new Chairman to lead the party
until the State Convention next Spring. Since last week’s e-mail,
Steve Fair has decided not to run for the position. Therefore, if no
one else steps forward, Matt Pinnell will be the new Chairman. Matt
has worked as the operations director for the party under Gary Jones
and Tom Daxon. His experiences also include working as a campaign aide
for Senator Coburn and more recently he has worked as the Executive
Director of American Majority - Oklahoma, an organization which trains
candidates and grass root activists. Matt, has assured me he will be a
friend to OCPAC. He even offered to come speak at our meeting and
undergo the inquisition from our members. We just haven’t had the
time, as we have been very busy with the main work of our
organization, interviewing candidates and helping to create the
Conservative Index.
++ ENDORSEMENTS IN REPBULICAN GOVERNOR’S RACE
This past Thursday, Sarah Palin finally made it official, though Mike
McCarvill’s blog suggested it would happen a month or so ago. Palin
endorsed Mary Fallin. I was surprised the Oklahoman carried such a
tiny news article about the endorsement on the back page in the lower
“left” hand corner of one of the secondary sections of last Friday’s
paper. There were only 3 paragraphs to the article, with the second
one reading: “The former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice
presidential nominee announced the endorsement Thursday on her Face
book (kind of far removed from Mary) page, describing Fallin and two
female congressional candidates she also endorsed as ’liberty loving
Mama Grizzlies.’”
I thought Senator Brogdon’s response was kind, but right on with the
truth. Following is his response: “It’s perplexing why Gov. Palin, a
self described conservative, would endorse someone who supported the
Wall Street Bailout and was key to adding hundreds of billions to the
national debt. The simple truth is that an endorsement from Ronald
Reagan himself wouldn’t change the fact that Mary Fallin supports Big
Government Bailouts and Pork Barrel Spending.
Mary Fallin can line up endorsements until the cows come home but at
the end of the day, it’s the Oklahoma voters endorsement on July 27th
that decides the election. And while Gov. Palin might not know who the
true conservative is” (she definitely does not-emphasis mine) “in the
Governor’s race, the” (informed) “people of Oklahoma do and I plan to
spread my conservative message to as many voters as possible in the
upcoming weeks.
It is obvious that Palin’s endorsement is more about her bid for
president in 2012 than supporting Oklahoma’s values of limited
government and controlled spending. I am seeking the approval of
Oklahomans and not the Republican establishment.
Dedicated to Liberty,
RANDY BROGDON”
Senator Brogdon couldn’t have been more correct about Sara Palin’s
motives for her endorsement as exposed in an excellent article by
nationally syndicated columnist Pat Buchannan, published in this
week’s issue of the Tulsa Beacon newspaper. Buchannan does a masterful
job of showing how Palin weaves her way in and out, sometime endorsing
true conservatives such as Doug Hoffman in New York, Rand Paul in
Kentucky, Nikki Haley in South Carolina and now Starr Parker in
California. On the other hand, she has endorsed liberal establishment
candidates such as John McCain in Arizona, Rick Perry in Texas, Carly
Fiorina in California, Terry Branstad, with a long history as a
moderate in the Iowa Governor’s race, over the social conservative
candidate backed by Dr. James Dobson and Mike Huckabee.
Then with last week’s endorsement of Mary Fallin, Palin is again
backing the Republican establishment candidate over the true
conservative and true liberty candidate, that being Senator Brogdon.
Buchanan ended his column by suggesting: “Looking over Palin’s
endorsements.… the lady is not running for Mrs. Conservative. The one
explanation that makes the most sense of all the seeming
inconsistencies in endorsements is that Mama Grizzly is thinking about
moving the Wasilla brood into the big house.”
Did you notice she has now backed the winning candidates in Iowa and
South Carolina, the 2 most important early states for a Republican
primary? Mark my words, Palin will be a candidate for President and
her pragmatism over principle disturbs me regarding her reliability
toward critical issues.
On the other hand, Sunday evening channel 9 news, which is the local
CBS affiliate, had a story about the Oklahoma tea parties endorsing
State Senator Randy Brogdon for Governor in the Republican primary.
There was an excellent statement in the news story by Al Gerhart.
Though Gerhart is the leader of the Sooner tea party, I believe his
statements actually represented the Oklahoma Constitutional Alliance,
which has several tea parties as members as well as OCPAC. The
statement basically said, that Senator Brogdon has a long track record
of leadership on the issues and ideals of which most attendees of the
tea parties are concerned.
I will suggest that for Mary to attend a tea party today, she might
run the risk of being booed and with the media present that would be
very unpleasant. As far as I know, the only Oklahoma tea party she has
attended or spoken at was one of the 2 events in Norman as year ago
last Spring. Many tea party attendees feel so ignored by Mary’s
repeated excuses for not attending, that I just don’t know what her
reception might be. On the other hand, Senator Brogdon has become a
regular and popular speaker at tea parties all over the state.
Just remember, all elections are first and most important about the
quality and character of the voters. Oklahoma Republicans have the
opportunity to decide between, not the lesser of two evils, but
between “OK” with Fallin or “BETTER” maybe much better with Brogdon.
We will soon know as July 27th is approaching fast.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
EVALUATING THIS YEAR’S LEGISLATIVE SESSION
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ EVALUATING THIS YEAR’S LEGISLATIVE SESSION
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, June 2nd will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln, in OKC. Our program this
week will feature the 2 Republican candidates for the State Attorney
General’s office. Ryan Leonard announced for the position at the state
Republican convention a little over a years ago. While Ryan didn’t
have a lot of state wide name recognition, he has worked hard and done
well at fund raising. The other Republican candidate and former State
Senator from Tulsa, Scott Pruitt announced a couple of months ago.
However, Scott barely lost a run-off bid 4 years ago in the Lt.
Governor’s race, so he already had a little more name ID for a state
wide race than Ryan. Scott has also shown in the past an ability to
raise campaign funds. I expect this to be a close vote among our
members as both of these men appear to be strong candidates and the
winner of the primary will most likely be the next Attorney General.
While all state wide races are very important, perhaps the 3 most
important state wide races this year, since it appears Senator Coburn
will not draw a credible opponent, will be Governor, Attorney General
and State Auditor.
So far, there has not been a Republican candidate for State Auditor to
step forward and announce. As such we had a little controversy erupt
last Wednesday regarding the possible candidacy of Republican State
Party Chair, Gary Jones. Jones was the Republican nominee in 2002 and
2006 and during the race for party chair, he stated clearly that he
would not run for the position again, though his opponent for the
Chairman position said he was running for the position to launch
another campaign for Auditor.
I saw Gary a week ago Saturday and he told me some folks were asking
him to run again and what did I think about that possibility? It is a
vital position as the auditor investigates corruption and the Attorney
General prosecutes it. I don’t believe the Republicans since
statehood, have ever had the two offices at the same time. I would
like to know what you, the readers of this e-mail think about another
possible Gary Jones bid for Auditor? Should he stick with his
commitment not to run or, that was then and now is now, and as such it
is just too important to not have a candidate for this vital position?
Especially in what is expected to be a Republican year on the state
level in November?
Send me an e-mail with your thoughts. Also, if he should file for the
office, should he resign the State Chairman’s position? Can a person
give the necessary time to the duties of the Chairman and all the
candidates running for office and run for office at the same time?
Would it be ethical for him to run for the Auditor’s position as State
Chairman if another Republican enters the race at the last minute?
Please send your thoughts to charliemeadows7@gmail.com .
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* THURSDAY EVENING - CHICKASHA AREA - The Grady County Tea Party
will meet Thursday evening, June 3rd at the Canadian Valley Technology
Center, 1401 Michigan in Chickasha. The meeting will begin at 7:00
p.m. They will have, Jason Hicks, one of the candidates for District
Attorney, a representative for American Majority and perhaps Jason
Reese, candidate for State Labor Commissioner as part of their
program. As a point of interest, I heard from several that Jason Reese
encountered some stiff opposition last month in Tulsa for his
opposition to HB 1804, the legislation to deal with the illegal alien
invasion, and the fact that he is an immigration attorney.
* SATURDAY MORNING - OKC AREA - The organization, American
Majority, will hold another candidate training session this Saturday
morning beginning at 9:00 a.m. and run until 1:00 p.m. These training
sessions are for candidates for any office or activists helping in
campaigns. The location will be at the Character Training Center, 520
West main in downtown OKC. The cost to attend is $20 if you register
on line or $30 at the door. For more information log on to www.americanmajority.org
or call Seth Brown at (405) 605-6338).
++ EVALUATING THIS YEAR’S LEGISLATIVE SESSION
June 9th will be the Wednesday we have invited all the Republican
lawmakers to our OCPAC meeting to debate which bills should, or should
not, be used in this year’s Conservative Index. I believe this will be
one of the more difficult sessions to evaluate as to its performance.
There were some really good bills passed and some really bad
legislation also. Speaker Benge’s legacy may be the new creative way
to borrow money? We will make cuts in spending now, but pay you back
later when things get better? Overall we didn’t do a very good job of
dealing with the shortfalls that are before us, but rather put them
off for the future. Because of the gross production tax stabilization
fund created by Benge, it could be a long time before Oklahoma ever
sees new growth monies available for new expenditures such as occurred
in the past. It may also take several years to pay back some of the
funds saved by temporary cuts in spending.
While I was at the Capitol this past Thursday, one lawmaker suggested
some of the revenue enhancements (tax and fee increases) out of a
Republican controlled legislature were a bit of revenge for term
limits. A couple of key members of leadership were term limited out
and like the Governor, they don’t have to face the voters again this
year. Therefore, they can govern any way they want, which is the down
side of term limits, though overall I still favor them.
Because of a busy Memorial day weekend and a need to leave for work
early I must keep this short. I look forward to seeing everyone this
Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ EVALUATING THIS YEAR’S LEGISLATIVE SESSION
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, June 2nd will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln, in OKC. Our program this
week will feature the 2 Republican candidates for the State Attorney
General’s office. Ryan Leonard announced for the position at the state
Republican convention a little over a years ago. While Ryan didn’t
have a lot of state wide name recognition, he has worked hard and done
well at fund raising. The other Republican candidate and former State
Senator from Tulsa, Scott Pruitt announced a couple of months ago.
However, Scott barely lost a run-off bid 4 years ago in the Lt.
Governor’s race, so he already had a little more name ID for a state
wide race than Ryan. Scott has also shown in the past an ability to
raise campaign funds. I expect this to be a close vote among our
members as both of these men appear to be strong candidates and the
winner of the primary will most likely be the next Attorney General.
While all state wide races are very important, perhaps the 3 most
important state wide races this year, since it appears Senator Coburn
will not draw a credible opponent, will be Governor, Attorney General
and State Auditor.
So far, there has not been a Republican candidate for State Auditor to
step forward and announce. As such we had a little controversy erupt
last Wednesday regarding the possible candidacy of Republican State
Party Chair, Gary Jones. Jones was the Republican nominee in 2002 and
2006 and during the race for party chair, he stated clearly that he
would not run for the position again, though his opponent for the
Chairman position said he was running for the position to launch
another campaign for Auditor.
I saw Gary a week ago Saturday and he told me some folks were asking
him to run again and what did I think about that possibility? It is a
vital position as the auditor investigates corruption and the Attorney
General prosecutes it. I don’t believe the Republicans since
statehood, have ever had the two offices at the same time. I would
like to know what you, the readers of this e-mail think about another
possible Gary Jones bid for Auditor? Should he stick with his
commitment not to run or, that was then and now is now, and as such it
is just too important to not have a candidate for this vital position?
Especially in what is expected to be a Republican year on the state
level in November?
Send me an e-mail with your thoughts. Also, if he should file for the
office, should he resign the State Chairman’s position? Can a person
give the necessary time to the duties of the Chairman and all the
candidates running for office and run for office at the same time?
Would it be ethical for him to run for the Auditor’s position as State
Chairman if another Republican enters the race at the last minute?
Please send your thoughts to charliemeadows7@gmail.com .
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* THURSDAY EVENING - CHICKASHA AREA - The Grady County Tea Party
will meet Thursday evening, June 3rd at the Canadian Valley Technology
Center, 1401 Michigan in Chickasha. The meeting will begin at 7:00
p.m. They will have, Jason Hicks, one of the candidates for District
Attorney, a representative for American Majority and perhaps Jason
Reese, candidate for State Labor Commissioner as part of their
program. As a point of interest, I heard from several that Jason Reese
encountered some stiff opposition last month in Tulsa for his
opposition to HB 1804, the legislation to deal with the illegal alien
invasion, and the fact that he is an immigration attorney.
* SATURDAY MORNING - OKC AREA - The organization, American
Majority, will hold another candidate training session this Saturday
morning beginning at 9:00 a.m. and run until 1:00 p.m. These training
sessions are for candidates for any office or activists helping in
campaigns. The location will be at the Character Training Center, 520
West main in downtown OKC. The cost to attend is $20 if you register
on line or $30 at the door. For more information log on to www.americanmajority.org
or call Seth Brown at (405) 605-6338).
++ EVALUATING THIS YEAR’S LEGISLATIVE SESSION
June 9th will be the Wednesday we have invited all the Republican
lawmakers to our OCPAC meeting to debate which bills should, or should
not, be used in this year’s Conservative Index. I believe this will be
one of the more difficult sessions to evaluate as to its performance.
There were some really good bills passed and some really bad
legislation also. Speaker Benge’s legacy may be the new creative way
to borrow money? We will make cuts in spending now, but pay you back
later when things get better? Overall we didn’t do a very good job of
dealing with the shortfalls that are before us, but rather put them
off for the future. Because of the gross production tax stabilization
fund created by Benge, it could be a long time before Oklahoma ever
sees new growth monies available for new expenditures such as occurred
in the past. It may also take several years to pay back some of the
funds saved by temporary cuts in spending.
While I was at the Capitol this past Thursday, one lawmaker suggested
some of the revenue enhancements (tax and fee increases) out of a
Republican controlled legislature were a bit of revenge for term
limits. A couple of key members of leadership were term limited out
and like the Governor, they don’t have to face the voters again this
year. Therefore, they can govern any way they want, which is the down
side of term limits, though overall I still favor them.
Because of a busy Memorial day weekend and a need to leave for work
early I must keep this short. I look forward to seeing everyone this
Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
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