Part 1, which I sent out a couple of weeks ago, dealt with the state
questions which totally fill the back side of the ballot. Everyone
gets to vote on the state wide candidates, however, OCPAC is a
statewide organization with members and readers all over the state.
Therefore, when it comes to local candidates, I will try to identify
the district and it will be up to the readers to know if they are in
that district. I will only comment on candidates in which I have some
level of information. Again, these are just my opinions, some folks
may have information that I don’t and thus they may disagree, which is
fine. Please feel free to forward these to your friends. Regardless of
who wins, people we elect must be held accountable for how they
govern. I would urge folks who don’t directly get the weekly e-mail
from OCPAC to send me ( charliemeadows7@gmail.com ) your name and e-
mail address so I can put you on our list. Just put the word add in
the subject bar. I will do my best to keep you up to date with what is
going on in Oklahoma politics, government and the culture.
THE BALLOTS LEFT COLLUMN FROM TOP TO BOTTOM
GOVERNOR - MARY FALLIN As a Brogdon supporter, I was deeply
disappointed with the primary outcome, however, this in not a
difficult decision. If people will use reason rather than react
emotionally, they should know that Mary Fallin, as the next Governor,
will sign many pieces of legislation that Askins would likely veto. On
top of that, Mary will make about 2,000 appointments to boards, trusts
and places of authority. Mary’s appointments are far more likely to be
conservatives than those of Askins.
LT. GOVERNOR - TODD LAMB My preference was John Wright during the
primaries, however Senator Lamb did well in the interview process and
our members voted after the primary to support Todd. Todd will be much
better than “Kenny” (the nickname given by some of his constituents)
Corn, the term limited Democrat Senator from Poteau. Corn sold his
soul to the education industry and welfare state when he first took
office 12 years ago at the age of 22. If Todd will work for the
elimination of corporate, personal income, franchise and capital gains
taxes rather than promote corporate welfare, he will be a great Lt.
Governor and probably go on to run for Governor in 4 or 8 years. If
not, he will just be another puppet for the powerful central planners
who have way too much influence upon the state.
AUDITOR & INSPECTOR - GARY JONES As the 3 time former Chairman of
the Republican party, Gary injected himself into so many of the inner
party squabbles between the various factions in the party that he has
those who love him and those who can’t stand him. Gary has made me
plenty mad at times, but I have learned to tolerate him. However, we
are now talking about the Republican candidate for the 3rd most
important statewide race in the state. In the 103 years of statehood,
the Republicans have held this office only once and never at the same
time with a Republican Attorney General. It is the Auditor’s job to
find corruption and then the AG prosecutes it. Gary is skilled at
sniffing out corruption and is threatening to investigate every
corporate welfare scheme in the state from top to bottom. That is why
many of the Democrat and Republican “good ole boys” are supporting
Brad Henry’s appointee with his Gene Stipe Southeastern Oklahoma ties.
The campaign ads airing against Gary anger me as I know the story
behind every one of the allegations and they all are either deceitful
in their claims or technically correct but with very good answers for
them. I will hold my nose and vote for Gary.
ATTORNEY GENERAL - SCOTT PRUITT Scott is the ideal person for this
job and I am very pleased that OCPAC endorsed and supported Scott
financially. He is a serious Christian, articulate communicator, has a
well developed intellect and is ideologically conservative. As a law
student he interned with the Ruthford Institute, one of America’s
first Christian Civil Liberties legal ministries formed to do battle
against the ACLU. He is a huge states rights advocate and is committed
to forming a department within the AG’s office to challenge
unconstitutional mandates by the federal government as they try to
bully the people and states into their ideas of socialist, fascist
stateism. His opponent is actually high quality for a Democrat, he
just isn’t in the same league as Scott.
STATE TREASURE - YOUR CHOICE I know the Republican candidate and
like him personally but am very disappointed in his performance as a
lawmaker. His TV ads about “no more spending” must mean a new attitude
about spending since he has left the legislature as he certainly
didn’t mind spending when he was there. I told him one time, his
problem was that he loved government and wanted to see it succeed. I
actually want it to be successful and efficient in its proper role,
but want it to fail and abandon its improper involvements. He also
stood in the way of many of the 10th amendment issues during the
session earlier this year, hiding under the guise of the “Supremacy
Clause.” The federal government is supposed to have supremacy in its
proper role, not in unconstitutional issues. I haven’t decided as yet
if I will leave it blank or vote for the Democrat?
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION - JANET BARRESI Without doubt,
the best candidate the Republican Party has had for this position
since Linda Murphy. Janet cares about children and a good education
for them rather than continually supporting underperforming
educational systems. Earlier in the year, when speaking to members of
the OEA at one point and the overpaid school administrators at
another, she stood her ground and told them truth they didn’t want to
hear rather than tickle their ears. She was strongly opposed in
starting 2 charter schools in days gone by. However, she is
courageous, has high energy and may really shake things up if elected.
She is dedicated to competition in our school system. I am very
pleased that OCPAC endorsed and supported Janet financially.
COMMISSIONER OF LABOR - MARK COSTELLO Endorsed by OCPAC, but
wouldn’t allow us to donate any of our PAC monies to his campaign.
Mark has committed to take no money from PACs, lobbyists, or take
another person’s guitar. Mark’s goals are an efficiently run office,
and advocating for reforms in our workman compensation system. He has
already researched the 3 best state systems. I believe he will work to
lower worker comp costs to businesses and see that injured employees
are better cared for with less hassle. That can be done with less
costs to employers. Mark is an exceptional candidate.
INSURANCE COMMISSIONER - JOHN DOAK - Another OCPAC endorsed and
financially supported candidate, John has a broad range of insurance
experience and an excellent reputation. He had no political
aspirations, but President Obama’s extremism awakened him. The fact
that Kim Holland was an actual floor delegate for Obama at the
Democrat national convention in Denver of 2008 cemented his resolve to
replace such a liberal with a true conservative. I am convinced John
will oppose the Obama administration’s every attempt to destroy the
insurance industry and move us into full blown socialism. This is a
very important race.
THE BALLOT’S MIDDLE COLLUMN FROM TOP TO BOTTOM
U.S. SENATE - TOM COBURN Senator Coburn isn’t perfect, but he is
currently tied with one other senator for second place as the most
conservative member of the Senate with a two year accumulated score on
the New American’s Freedom Index of a 97. Senator DeMint of South
Carolina has a 98 and for perspective Senator Inhofe has a 95. To be
nice, I won’t say that political races always draws some crazies, but
at least 2 of his 3 opponents may come close to that category. This is
the easiest choice on the ballot.
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 1, JOHN SULLIVAN, DIST 2, CHARLES
THOMPSON, DIST 3 FRANK LUCAS, TOM COLE HAS ALREADY WON THE 4TH DIST
SEAT AND DISTRICT 5, JAMES LANKFORD I believe Sullivan and Lucas
will win with big margins. Lankford, in the 5th district may be a
little more difficult as it is an open seat. I believe James has the
potential to become an exceptional congressman. If he allows the
Constitution to guide him and if he articulates his positions with
honesty, passion and clarity, he will build a strong base of support
for future elections. He has a persuasive personality and may be a
conservative influence on his colleges in congress. The most difficult
race for the Republicans will be in the 2nd district where Dr. Charles
Thompson DVM is taking on the incumbent Democrat Dan Boren. Charles is
an outstanding candidate when it comes to ideology and issues, but he
has struggled to raise sufficient funds to get his message out. Boren,
with maybe a million and a half dollars as well as being the son of
Former Governor and Senator David Boren has a huge advantage over
Charles, who my end up raising only $100,000 or so. This is also the
strongest Democrat district in the state, so Charles must hope for a
deep rebellion toward the Democrat name brand.
JUDICIAL RETENTION
Since we changed our system in the 60s to an appointment process for
Oklahoma’s 3 Appeals Courts with a portion of those appointed judges
appearing on the ballot each election cycle to either be retained or
rejected, we have created a horrible problem. In nearly 50 years now
we have NEVER rejected a single justice. It is just an automatic that
they will all be retained with 58 to 68 percent majority of the vote.
What we have ended up with is a system of eternal security for the
judges. They have no fear of the voters and can make decisions any way
they want because almost no one is watching. Almost no one has an
incentive or the resources to expose bad judges. We really need to
change our system to one of elections for these positions as some
other states do and as we do with our district judges. While that
won’t solve every problem, at least some attorney watching the process
and seeing bad decisions will step up to the plate to tell voters why
they should vote for him or her and why they should not vote for the
incumbent. It will then be up to the voters to make an informed vote.
I don’t know if this reform can be achieved through legislation or if
we must amend our constitution, but it is a badly needed
reform.
OKLAHOMA SUPREME COURT - In 1998, the very liberal Supreme Court
Justice Kauger wrote an “judicial activist” opinion that created a
state bond category called a “moral obligation debt.” That then
allowed for the creation of bonded indebtedness without a vote of the
people. Since that controversial 5 to 4 decision, all justices have
followed that decision and the result is that almost every well
connected entity is given bond money by the legislature and the state
is now billions in debt, something our founders never intended.
Just a few examples, in 2004 the Court approved a $36 million bond
issue for Goodyear in Lawton and Michelin in Ardmore. The money is to
be paid back by the income taxes from the employees hired. Therefore,
those tax dollars from those employees must now be used to pay the
debt off and can’t be used for the vital services of state government.
Just a couple of months ago, another $20 million in bond money was
released to be given to the Goodyear plant in Lawton to expand and
hire 50 additional employees. Supposedly the income taxes from those
50 employees will pay that debt off. Justice Winchester, a Keating
appointee, concurred with that decision, with Justice Taylor, a Henry
appointee, not on the court as yet.
In 2005 the state approved a $50 billion bond issue for roads to be
paid back with interest from future federal highway dollars. The
interest and bond fees may double the cost of building or repairing
roads. Both Winchester and Taylor voted in favor of this new debt.
In 2007 in the case Fent vs. Contingency Review Board, the Court ruled
against two lawmakers having the power to distribute $20 million in
Ardmore, but then allowed the Governor to have this power, though it
was a direct violation of the State Constitution. Taylor voted to
allow this, Winchester disqualified himself.
In 2008, SB 2034 allowed interest, fines and penalties to be waived
though the State Constitution states otherwise. Both Winchester and
Taylor allowed for this violation of the Constitution.
I could bring up other bad decisions, but due to time and space, I
suggest voting NO on both Taylor and Winchester.
COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS - I have searched diligently for information
on the Civil Court of Appeals Judges and could not find out any
information as to who was good and who was not. One thing to
understand, there is a judicial nominating commission who makes 3
recommendations for the Governor to pick from. Unfortunately, the
Governor also appoints the members of the nominating council. Of the 4
judges on the ballot, Deborah Barnes was appointed by Governor Henry
in 2008, Doug Gabbard ll was a 2005 Henry appointee, Judge John
Fischer was appointed in 2007 By Henry and in 1994 Judge Larry E.
Joplin was appointed by Governor Walters. I will be voting NO on
all 4 of these to give Mary a chance and also to try to expedite the
day we change our system to elected judges.
THE BALLOT’S RIGHT HAND COLUMN FROM TOP TO BOTTOM
Since OCPAC is truly a statewide organization with members and friends
everywhere, I will only comment on legislative races in which I have
some knowledge and try to briefly describe the district’s location.
First though, I will bring up just a few local races as I just don’t
have much time to research the 200 or more county offices on the
various ballots across the state.
** CLEVELAND COUNTY JIM REYNOLDS for County Clerk. CHARLES
BROADWAY, JONATHAN NICHOLS and GREG DIXON for District Judges. As a
point of interest, the daughter of Dixon’s opponent ran a full page
add in the Purcell newspaper and created a web site with the purpose
of telling people not to vote for her father. Her dad, John Mantooth
has lived in Purcell all his life and is very well known as is Greg
Dixon, a resident for the past 12 years. In the 2 Purcell precincts,
during the primary, Mantooth received 18 percent of the vote and Greg
Dixon received 68 percent of the vote. The people who really know them
both, chose well.
** OKLAHOMA COUNTY DR. SAM CROSBY (DVM) for District 1 County
Commissioner. Dr. Crosby has a lot of experience in construction and
other businesses. It is a tough district, but if elected he will be a
huge improvement over Willa Johnson.
DISTRICT JUDGE Cindy Troung or Pat Crawley??? During the primary
race I endorsed Pat Crawley and gave my reasons. I have never met Mr.
Crawley, but have had several conversations with Cindy. She has also
attended many OCPAC meetings and attended many conservative events.
Cindy, asked me to continue to inquire about the two of them and I
have. I am getting mixed messages on both of them from people of whom
I respect. There is no doubt in my mind that Cindy is going to win
this race, but just something inside of me keeps me from switching my
endorsement to her. Once elected, I hope her performance as a judge
will remove all my concerns.
** LOGAN COUNTY MARK SHARPTON for District 1 County Commissioner.
Mark is one of the finest County Commissioners in the state. He has
educated himself on the duties of the job and truly has a servants
heart. He has made good decisions regarding the business of the county
and done an excellent job with roads without having resources to do
so.
TISHA HAMPTON for Logan County Assessor. As a realtor, Tisha is
appalled at the job currently being done by the Democrat assessor.
Tisha is dedicated to fairness, accuracy and lobbying the legislature
to reducing the 5% annual cap down to 3% or a change in the law for
citizens to vote to increase property taxes if needed.
SENATE DIST # 4, POTEAU AREA - MARK ALLEN Mark won his primary race
and is now running against State Representative Neil Brannon (D-Arkoma
lifetime conservative score 35). This is an open seat as Brannon
decided to run for Senate rather than another term in the House.
SENATE DIST # 6, DURANT AREA - JOSH BRECHEEN An OCPAC endorsed
candidate, Josh is an exceptional candidate in a very difficult
district against an entrenched Democrat. Josh is a serious Christian,
former state president of FFA, a horse breeder, motivational speaker
and field representative for Senator Coburn. Republicans may pull an
upset in this race, as Josh has worked very hard and had sufficient
funding.
SENATE DIST # 10, PAWHUSKA AREA - EDDIE FIELDS Fields is a freshman
State Representative running for this open seat. While he is way too
liberal for OCPAC to support, his score for this session was a 70
which brought his lifetime score up to a 57. Maybe he will trend up in
his score. This is a likely pick up seat for the Republicans.
SENATE DIST # 16, NORMAN-PURCELL AREA - NO ENDORSEMENT The
Republican candidate canceled at the last moment from coming to OCPAC.
Many sources have told me she is pro-abortion. While I care about
almost every issue, Republican candidates have to get this one right
for me to support. She will not win this race.
SENATE DIST # 42, MIDWEST CITY AREA - CLIFF ALDRIDGE Senator
Aldridge is one of the most conservative members of the Senate,
ranking 4th out of 26. This is his last term and I sure hope he is re-
elected.
SENATE DIST # 44, SOUTH CENTRAL OKC AREA - RALPH SHORTEY A young
passionate conservative who shocked everyone with his primary run-off
victory. OCPAC endorsed, he is working very hard. His opponent exposed
some or Ralph’s past financial difficulties, which would concern me,
except they happened in Ralph’s late teens to early 20s with no recent
evidence of problems. He will be a conservative warrior regarding the
problems associated with the invasion of illegal aliens. When elected,
I will make sure Ralph has all the access necessary to Dave Ramsey
materials if need be.
SENATE DIST # 46, CENTRAL OKC AREA - JOSHUA JANTZ Joshua manages
the Character Inn where we have so many meetings. He is one of the
most conservative candidates to come before us this year, but has
really struggled to raise necessary funds to be a viable candidate in
what is a very difficult district for Republicans. However, he is
working very hard and would be one of the best Senators in Oklahoma if
elected.
STATE HOUSE # 2, SALLISAW AREA - JOHN R. BENNETT John is an OCPAC
endorsed candidate who is working very hard in a difficult district.
This recent military veteran has all the right instincts, and will
make a very good lawmaker if he will more fully develop a conservative
ideology.
STATE HOUSE # 3, POTEAU AREA - ROGER MATTOX Roger is an OCPAC
endorsed candidate and has been in the ministry for many years in a
conservative denomination. While the district is difficult, he is
working very hard and has raised enough funding to be a viable
candidate. I first met Roger about 3 years ago and the more contact I
have had with him, the better I like him. He has attended several
OCPAC meetings over the past couple of years.
STATE HOUSE # 22, SULPHUR to LEXINGTON - ALLIE BURGIN Though Mr.
Burgin didn’t receive OCPAC’s endorsement, I still believe he would
make a far better lawmaker than the incumbent, Wes Hilliard. During
the session this year, Hilliard, who had done nothing in the past 4
years, had an opportunity to distinguish himself by allowing a bill to
go forward to protect pastors in Oklahoma from hate crime legislation.
He promised Rex Duncan to advance the bill, but then handed it off to
a Democrat lawmaker opposed to the legislation for the purpose of
killing it.
STATE HOUSE # 27, TECUMSEH to McCLOUD - JOSH COCKROFT Josh is an
OCPAC endorsed candidate who has the potential to become an
exceptional lawmaker. He is a very smart and a hard campaigner. At 21
he will only grow in stature with just a little more time and
experience, I am confident he will earn respect from is collogues. He
will be a huge improvement over Shane Jett who used to hold this seat.
STATE HOUSE # 28, SEMINOLE COUNTY - TOM NEWELL Tom is a
conservative economics professor at the college in Seminole and the
minister of a conservative church in Seminole. Tom is OCPAC endorsed
and was easily one of the 5 best candidates we saw all year. He has
raised sufficient funding and has worked really hard. He has a good
chance to win, which will be a pick-up for the GOP. If he wins, he
will be the first Republican elected to this seat and will replace an
ACLU attorney who was one of the worst lawmakers in the state.
STATE HOUSE # 32, LINCOLN COUNTY - JOHN B. HUSTED While John
didn’t win OCPAC’s endorsement, he was one of the strongest candidates
we saw all year on second amendment issues. John needed more
development on other areas and without sufficient funding it will be
very difficult to beat the former minority leader who is an oil man.
STATE HOUSE # 36, HOMINY AREA - SEAN ROBERTS Sean is endorsed by
OCPAC and will likely become only the second Republican to hold this
seat. The jury is still out as to just how conservative Sean will be.
If he becomes friends with some of the conservative lawmakers, he will
do well, on the other hand if the lobbyists and special interests get
hold of him, he may go the other way. I have real hope for Sean.
STATE HOUSE # 37, PONCA CITY AREA - STEVE VAUGHN Steve is OCPAC
endorsed and was one of the most likeable candidates we saw this year.
He has worked very hard and has a good chance to pick this seat up for
the GOP. While he owns a hunting preserve, the NRA in their stupidity
endorsed the Democrat incumbent. I believe Steve, with the support of
a group of strong conservatives in the district, will become a very
good lawmaker.
STATE HOUSE # 44, NORMAN AREA - NO ENDORSEMENT I really liked the
Republican candidate, again he was just too soft on the abortion issue
for OCPAC to endorse him. Though it is an open seat, he will have a
difficult winning this seat for the GOP.
STATE HOUSE # 45, NORMAN AREA - AARON STILES An OCPAC endorsed
candidate, Aaron barely lost this race 2 years ago. For the past 8 or
10 election cycles this seat is usually decided by 200 votes or less
with Thad Balkman being the only Republican to hold this seat. Aaron
is a very hard campaigner and without a divisive primary, he should
pick this seat up again for the GOP against one of the sorriest
lawmakers in the state. Not only is the Democrat Wallace Collins one
of the most liberal lawmaker’s in the state, he was convicted a few
years ago for lying and destroying the character of a candidate. He
received a huge fine for his dishonesty.
STATE HOUSE # 72, TULSA AREA - RANDALL REESE While Mr. Reese didn’t
receive an OCPAC endorsement, he had some really strong points and
some we were not sure of. His opponent is horrible, but part of being
a viable candidate is an ability to raise money. OCPAC just didn’t see
him as viable.
STATE HOUSE # 78, TULSA AREA - NO ENDORSEMENT The Republican Molly
McKay is a very accomplished person and a very hard worker. She may
well pick this seat up for the GOP, but she was just too soft on the
abortion issue for an OCPAC endorsement.
STATE HOUSE # 84 BETHANY WARR ACRES - SALLY KERN I have written a
lot about this race. Bottom line, Sally is one of the best lawmakers
in the state and her opponent is a very liberal person, so angry at
God for making him a man, that he went to the mentally disturbed
extreme of having his genitals removed. He now masquerades around
trying to appear as a woman and act like he cares about important
issues. I would suggest his campaign rhetoric is simply a cover up for
his real agenda, which was to move into the district to try and take
out a high profile social conservative and send a message to anyone
else who might want to stand up to the homosexual community. This is
Oklahoma and I predict the fine people of this district will strongly
reject Brittany’s values and elect Sally for another term. During the
most recent filing period, he raised almost twice as much as Sally.
Unfortunately, it shows how dedicated the homosexual community and
their supporters are and how passive the Christian community happens
to be.
STATE HOUSE # 87 WEST NORTHWEST CENTRAL OKC - JASON NELSON Jason
scored very high on the conservative index this past year, but just
below what was required for an OCPAC endorsement. This is another
district with a recent record of very close races. This is the one
seat the Democrats have a fair chance to pick up. Hopefully Jason can
stave off the attack this year and then the redistricting panel will
need to improve this district for future races.
HOUSE DISTRICT # 88 NORTHEAST CENTRAL OKC AREA - DOMINIQUE BLOCK I
really like this young black man, but unfortunately he is in a very
difficult district and just hadn’t been able to raise much money
before he came to us.
STATE HOUSE # 93 SOUTH CENTRAL OKC AREA - MIKE CHRISTIAN Mike is
an OCPAC endorsed candidate who the press and others tried to destroy
with silly allegations. A former Democrat lawmaker and a very popular
one at that decided to take this seat back. Illegal aliens are the
issue in this seat and Mike, a retired Highway Patrol Trooper, is the
first Republican to win this seat and hopefully he will prevail.
STATE HOUSE # 94 DEL CITY AREA - KYLE COULTER Kyle is a very solid
conservative, however he is in a tough district with the next House
minority leader being a hard working and youthful person who grew up
in the area. Kyle is working very hard and now needs to keep pressing
to build a majority. If elected, he will make a great lawmaker.
I didn’t comment on several races, now held by Republicans of which I
fully expect them to win. Again, these are just my opinions and people
are most welcome to differ with me. Below, I am going to send out Part
1 again on the state questions.
CHARLIE’S PICKS, PART 1 GENERAL ELECTION 2010
Because of the very long ballot I will send out Charlie’s Picks in 2
parts, the first of which will deal with the state questions. I am
frequently asked if these can be forwarded or shared with others and
the answer is yes, please do so. These are just my opinions based on
my research and others may have different opinions, which is fine.
Please keep in mind, the wording on the ballot is simply the opinion
of someone expressing the “gist” of the actual legal document which
created the state question. The actual wording of the legal document
which brings this state question to the voters takes precedent over
the ballot wording. Once, sometimes twice a week, I send out the OCPAC
e-mail which contains important announcements as well as conservative
commentary and insider information about Oklahoma politics, government
and the culture war. If you would like to receive my weekly e-mail,
respond to:
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com with the word “add” on the subject line and
I will put you on our list. Your name and address will never be
loaned, sold or given to anyone. Charlie Meadows
SQ # 744 - VOTE NO This would require Oklahoma to spend an amount
of money on education equal to the amount of a regional average. The
proponents must have sat down together to dream up talking points to
try and fool the people into voting for this measure. Suggestions that
lawmakers cancel all travel expenses would only save about $2 million
per year, far shy of the $900 plus million in new tax revenues
required to comply with this State Question . Suggestions like cutting
special subsidies to businesses such as Great Plains Airlines have
already been eliminated, they are not re-occurring and thus can’t be
eliminated again. Most everything the opposition is saying is correct,
but they are not making the most important case against the measure.
Over the past 30 years we have increased the spending for education
dramatically and have seen virtually no improvement in academic
excellence. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over
and over again and expecting a different outcome. There are deep
reforms that need to be made in education and this measure does
nothing to accomplish such. The NEA (national teachers union) has been
ratcheting up teacher salaries and the cost of education in each state
for years by comparing one state to another. What the taxpayers in
Oklahoma should strive for is the highest academic achievement for the
least amount of tax dollars. That scenario would scream “efficiency”
and “accomplishment” to all the other states and draw businesses to
Oklahoma.
SQ # 746 - VOTE YES This measure would require voters to submit
an official government issued photo ID (such as a driver’s license) to
be able to vote. This is not solving a big problem but would go a long
way toward assuring the future honesty of our voting system. It is
very unlikely that this measure would intimidate anyone from voting,
but if it did then maybe those folks should not be voting.
SQ # 747 - VOTE YES Oklahoma currently has term limits on all
state legislators and the Governor. This measure would extend term
limits to all other state wide offices such as Lt. Governor, Attorney
General, Corporation Commissioner and etc. An incumbent has a huge
advantage over a challenger, this measure will assure a reasonable
change of faces and fresh ideas. Term limits for the legislators have
been a real blessing for the citizens as we were finally able to move
some of the soggy old lifers from office. Very often we, replaced bad
to average with much better lawmakers.
SQ # 748 - VOTE YES This measure expands the size and revises the
method for choosing the members of the commission who re-draw
legislative district boundaries every 10 years following the Census
assuming the legislature fails to do their job. This will make it more
bi-partisan more fair.
SQ # 750 - VOTE YES This makes some needed reforms to the
initiative and referendum petition processes. The only thing this
Question does is change the number of signatures required for either
an initiative or referendum petition to a percentage of votes cast in
the most recent gubernatorial election. It no longer considers a
percentage of the number of votes cast in the most recent presidential
election.
SQ # 751 - VOTE YES This measure determines ENGLISH to be the
official language of the State of Oklahoma. While it carves out an
exception for tribal languages, it will require all official business
of the state to be conducted in English. Without this amendment, we
may have to print items such as driver’s license exam books and legal
notices printed in newspapers in untold different languages. That
would be a huge increase in expense to taxpayers.
SQ # 752 - VOTE YES This measure is designed to reduce the power
of the “good ole boy” system in the Oklahoma Bar association as far as
selection of candidates for the Governor to place on the various
courts of Appeal. Those courts being the State Supreme Court, Criminal
Court of Appeals and Civil Court of Appeals.
SQ # 754 - VOTE NO While this measure was well intentioned and
designed to negate SQ 744 if it passes with a lesser number of votes,
this effort has serious unintended consequences. If passed, it will
declare all 31 constitutionally mandated funding formulas
unconstitutional. For example, funding formulas for items such as
roads and bridges will be thrown out the window. In down revenue
years, no telling where the politicians might spend our money. There
are funding formulas that need to be altered or canceled, but that
should be done with a pruning shear and not a chain saw. In addition,
the measure says the constitution can never be amended in this regard
again which is both unconstitutional and nuts.
SQ # 755 - VOTE YES This is a preventive measure. Unfortunately,
in today’s world we have liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justices
referencing international law over our Constitution. In some states
where the Muslim population has grown out of hand, some local courts
reference Sharia law in their decisions. This is a very important
question designed to keep our judicial processes based on our
constitution and the laws of Western culture.
SQ # 756 - VOTE YES This measure amends our constitution to allow
Oklahomans to opt-out of any federally mandated health care laws. It
also prevents citizens or businesses from being punished if they
choose to opt-out of the federal mandates. Oklahoma’s Attorney General
for just a few more weeks has been opposed to this measure from day
one and as such added confusing language to the ballot wording. If we
elect Scott Pruitt as our next AG, he can’t wait to add Oklahoma to
the 21 other states which have filed suit against the federal
government regarding Obamacare. Opponents say this won’t work because
of the “supremacy clause” in the Constitution. However, our Founding
Fathers only intended for the supremacy clause to apply to the 18
powers or areas given to the federal government by the Constitution.
You will not find health care among those powers.
SQ # 757 - VOTE NO This measure would increase the amount of
taxpayer dollars (our money) they hold in reserve for future spending.
While I think it wise for individuals to hold sufficient funds in
reserve for difficult times or emergencies, I don’t want government to
keep excessive reserves. It is only during times of down revenues that
spineless lawmakers will agree to prioritizing spending and thus
eliminate waste or improper programs. Passing this would tend to keep
government large and bloated.
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