++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ TAKE A STAND - NO MORE STATE DEBT!
++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, December 28th will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Our primary speaker
for this Wednesday’s meeting is to be Steve Anderson, Budget director
for Governor Brownback in the state of Kansas. I wanted him to speak
about the budget accomplishments in Kansas and the fact that they have
their 10 year plan in process to eliminate their state income tax.
However, he sent me an e-mail indicating they have new numbers
available requiring an adjustment to the modeling and he therefore may
have to be in Kansas this Wednesday. He actually lives in Logan county
and commutes each week to Kansas. As of this writing, I haven’t been
able to verify if he will be with us.
Our other speaker will be Dr. Scott Lively, attorney, pastor and
international human rights consultant whose ministry for more than
twenty years has been opposing the homosexual political agenda around
the world www.defendthefamily.com. Dr. Lively’s specialty is training
pro-family advocates how to articulate the pro-family perspective in
both religious and non-religious terms. He has developed a textbook
that was the basis of a 50-city lecture tour of churches and
universities in Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union in
2007, and a national pro-family campaign in Uganda in 2009. Following
the text book’s model, he stopped the government of Moldova from
adopting an anti-discrimination policy based upon “sexual orientation”
in March of this year. When he is not on the road, he and his wife run
an inner-city mission in Springfield Massachusetts with the goal of re-
Christianizing the downtrodden city and to restore it’s family-
centeredness through good works and evangelism, www.redemptiongate.org.
Scott has indicated that Springfield is the most broken-down city in
the most morally corrupt state in the union. If both of our speakers
make the meeting, we will keep Scott to about 10 minutes and give
Steve the rest of the meeting time.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* WEDNESDAY EVENING - EDMOND AREA - Mr. Scott Lively, of whom I
just wrote about above, will be the guest speaker this Wednesday
evening, December 28th at Fairview Baptist church in Edmond. The
church is located on the corner of Sooner road and Danforth. Sooner is
one block West of I-35 and Danforth is one mile North of 2nd street in
Edmond. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. If we can only give Scott 10
minutes at OCPAC, this will be an opportunity to hear him out more
completely.
* NEW DOCUMENTARY - A NOBLE LIE is a newly produced full length
documentary about the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building in Oklahoma City. The 2 hour documentary produced by FREE
MIND FILMS and directed by James Lane takes a fresh and in-depth look
at the circumstances surrounding the 1995 bombing. For more
information log on to:
www.ANobleLie.com.
++ TAKE A STAND - NO MORE STATE DEBT!
It looks like the state government will have several hundred million
more in tax revenues to appropriate this coming year than they had
last year. However, since the Governor and lawmakers failed to make
the necessary cuts in the budget earlier this year and chose to fund
the 500 million shortfall with mostly revenues that would be available
only one time, it will take nearly 500 million additional revenues to
fund government at the same level as last year.
However, the education industry, state employees as well as state
agencies are all turning in their wish lists for budget increases
which are “pie in the sky high”. In addition, the state has valid
capital improvement needs. The Capitol does need work, the state has
office buildings which have leaky roofs, a commitment has been made by
some to move the state medical examiner into new facilities in Edmond
and of course there is that pesky native American heritage center
along the Oklahoma river which just needs about 80 million dollars to
go along with the 80 million plus that has already been spent on the
project over the past years.
So what are the solutions some have suggested for these “pressing”
capital needs? Float new bonds, borrow that money, don’t wait until we
can pay for the improvements with new growth funds. Borrow it and pay
it out over many years in the future. Pay that interest, double the
costs of some of those projects, after all, the tax payers simply
aren’t smart enough to realize just how much more a projects costs
once they pay those bonds off with interest. Who knows, maybe our
buddies, the bond underwriters, will help us with contributions for
our next election cycle? Those thoughts represent the attitudes of
some in the legislature.
But wait folks, it doesn’t have to be this way. Even though the
lawmakers and Governor violate the intention of Oklahoma’s founding
fathers and go along with flawed State Supreme Court decisions which
have allowed for hundreds of millions in bonded indebtedness, this
wasteful foolishness doesn’t have to continue in this manner.
State Representative, and the next designated Speaker of the House,
T.W. Shannon (R-Lawton) had a bill passed this year to determine the
number of properties owned by the state. Expecting it to be around
4,500, everyone was surprised to learn the state owns about 9,000
properties. The continuation of that legislation is to categorize the
properties to determine which ones have little value or excessive
costs to maintain and then sell many of them to investors in the
private sector. Some of the proceeds could be used to fund these
capital needs or I believe Representative Shannon has proposed
creating an endowment out of the proceeds and then using the earnings
of the endowment to fund the maintenance of state properties. That
way, taxpayers will not always be harassed for evermore money in the
future.
Also, lawmakers could declare an emergency for the most critical needs
and use some of the 200 million that has been put back into the
state’s rainy day fund. Here is another novel idea. Why not make some
of the cuts in spending this year, especially those wasteful and
immoral tax credits, and use those savings for capital needs? If we
really wanted to be smart, we could eliminate all funding for so
called “pre-K education”, especially since there is no long term
benefit for those expenditures according to the vast body of
studies.
To stop this push for increased borrowing, citizens will have to make
it crystal clear to there state representative and state senator that
we don’t want to continue to deficit finance state government. Spend
what we have and no more!
Now, please pay close attention. Due to re-districting, many people in
the state of Oklahoma are going to have a different state senator and/
or a different state representative as your elected officials. Many
will also have different polling places, I believe 11,000 voters in
Logan county will vote at a different location. So please call your
COUNTY election board, give them your name and address and they can
tell you who your senator and representative happens to be as well as
where to vote. Once you have that information, write it down, put it
on your refrigerator, in your wallet, purse, or tattoo it on your
ankle. I don’t care how you save it, just save it, as you will need to
contact your elected officials at the Capitol during the session next
year. Citizens can have a significant influence toward good government
if we will just contact our lawmakers at the proper times next
year.
++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE
We are going to finish 2011 with 230 dues paying members which is 13
more than the record of 217 set for a non-election year in 2009. We
also have the largest number of people in our history contributing on
a monthly basis by having us draft their checking accounts for either
$15 or $30 per month. The monthly drafts are raising about $600 per
month which is huge over a 2 year period of time as it produces nearly
$15,000. Personally, that is how I contribute as that $30 each month
is easy to afford. We have raised over $20,000 this year, though with
6 special elections we have invested over a fourth of that in these
special elections. So far we have won 1 and lost one and we have
contributed to 3 of the 4 to be determined on February 14th.
The good news is, there are many excellent candidates running for
office in next year’s election cycle. That is why your continued
support is so crucial. We are slowly helping to increase the level of
conservatism in state government.
Therefore, please pay close attention. Over the past couple of months,
several folks have already paid their dues for membership in 2012. In
addition, folks having their checking accounts drafted will have their
memberships automatically renewed. However memberships for everyone
else will expire this coming Saturday, December 31st.
Therefore, I want to invite our current members to renew their
memberships and for others to consider joining at this time. We have 3
levels of membership. The basic membership costs $50 per year. We have
the Elephant Provider level which is $180 per year or we can draft
your checking account for $15 per month (.50 cents a day). Our highest
level is the Elephant Provider and RINO Hunter level which is $360 per
year or we can draft your checking account for $30 per month ($1.00
per day). If you chose to join at a higher level through the checking
account drafts and later on for whatever reason want or need to stop,
simply send me an e-mail requesting the stop and it will be done.
Regardless of what level of membership people join OCPAC, their
support is sincerely appreciated. Please remember, OCPAC is an all
volunteer organization and no one earns any money for their efforts.
With very low overhead, almost all of the money you contribute goes to
support conservative candidates or is used to try and hold elected
officials accountable for the conservative rhetoric they espouse when
they want our support and votes. Information on how to join will
follow my sign off.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
CONSERVATIVE’S CHRISTMAS - FALLIN & BERRESI’S LUMP OF COAL
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ CONSERVATIVE’S CHRISTMAS - FALLIN & BERRESI’S LUMP OF COAL
++ TID BITS
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S AGENDA
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, December 12th will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. This Wednesday will
be the interview process for the candidates running in the special
election for Senate District 20. The district includes all of Pawnee,
Noble and Logan counties as well as the Western and Northern parts of
Kingfisher counties. Invitations were sent to the 4 Republican
candidates, Phil Berkenbile of Morrison as well as A.J. Griffin, Chris
Humphreys and Wayne Murphey, all of Guthrie. Mr. Humphreys and Murphey
will attend, while Mrs. Griffin indicated she would not attend. I have
urged her to re-consider and make every effort to come to the meeting.
However, something a little unusual occurred with Mr. Berkenbile. His
invitation letter came back to our P.O. Box as undeliverable. I
checked to see if I had sent it to the address he filled out when he
filed for office as was listed on the state election board’s web-site.
I had sent it to the proper address. Seems like every election cycle
one or more candidates fail to fill out their own address correctly,
usually failing to include their zip code. However, Mr. Berkenbile
included his zip code in this case.
I decided not to go the extra mile to urge him to come as he probably
would not come anyway. You see, I believe Mr. Berkenbile is not a real
conservative and his handlers know that he would probably not do well
at OCPAC if he did come. Why do I say such a thing?
He is the state director for Oklahoma’s Career Tech system. While the
system has its successes, it is grossly over-expensive for what it
delivers compared to what could be done through privately owned trade
schools. We could help students attend the trade schools through
scholarships and thus reduce some of the annually appropriated dollars
which go the Career Tech. In addition, we could then save huge amounts
of property tax dollars which are required to maintain and pay for the
multitude of government owned buildings. Trade schools in the private
sector pay for their own facilities, often times leasing space in
vacant shopping centers.
A couple of other reasons, I don’t believe he would do well is based
on his recent switch to the Republican party. Don’t get me wrong, we
want conservative Democrats to become Republicans. However, Mr.
Berkenbile has a long history of contributing to and supporting
Democrats. In addition, he vigorously opposed legislation earlier this
year to allow law abiding citizens with a concealed carry permit to
drive onto a career tech campus with their firearm locked in the
trunk. Previously, if you didn’t want to be a lawbreaker, you would
have to go home first and leave your firearm there before you could go
from work to take a class at a Career Tech campus.
One more thing, I don’t believe he will need a contribution from us. I
have been made privy to a shakedown letter sent to various lobbyists
in the state by State Representative Dale DeWitt (R-Braman) on behalf
of Berkenbile. DeWitt, through 9 years in the legislature, has a
lifetime conservative index score of a paltry 56, meaning only 7
Republican House members more liberal than DeWitt out of the 70
Republicans. DeWitt is also the House Majority leader so I believe he
is using his powerful position to really strong arm lobbyists to
contribute to “his personal friend”, Bill Berkenbile. Following is
the content of the shakedown letter:
“From the Desk of Dale DeWitt”
December 13, 2011
Dear …….?
“This is an unusual letter. Yes, I’m asking for money.
No, it’s not for me.
It’s not for another elected official. It’s not even for my caucus.
I’m writing to ask you to donate to a personal friend of mine, Phil
Berkenbile, who is running for the State Senate in the open seat to
replace another great friend, Senator David Myers.
I’ve known Phil for 32 years (We both have a background in Vo-Ag
education and our families are very close). But more important, I
know Phil to be a man of integrity and virtue. And we need people like
him in our government. As the statewide Director for Career Tech, Phil
has shown he can help run government more efficiently. And I know,
he’ll be a Senator whose door will always be open.
If you do not know Phil, I hope you will trust my judgment. I would
consider it a personal honor if you (and any of your friends) would
contribute to Phil based on my recommendation. in fact, I would like
you to send your contribution in the enclosed envelope so I can know
who I should personally thank for supporting my good friend, Phil
Berkenbile.
Phil is the type of person who has demonstrated he can work with all
Oklahomans in order to get great things accomplished for this state.
As director of Career Tech, Phil helped maintain THE BEST technical
education system in the nation during a time of tremendous budget
cuts. In doing so, he has engaged Republicans, Democrats, urbanites
and rural interests. Because of Phil’s willingness to reach across the
aisle and work with all Oklahomans, he is already being attacked by
some of the more extreme elements of our Republican Party. That’s why
I need your help.
This special election is only a few weeks away (the primary is on
Valentine’s Day -- February 14th). And, as you know it is not only
incumbents, but all candidates, who have limitations on their
fundraising once session begins. So Phil needs your contribution now.
Again, this is not your typical letter. Phil is a close friend of mine
-- and I want him to raise enough money to be successful. ……….. are a
key part of this. Please send your donation today.
Thank you in advance for your support,
Dale DeWitt
P.S. I really would appreciate your personal contribution, as well as
your help in raising money from others you know. The key race is the
Republican Primary, so I want you to contribute early. Please, use the
enclosed envelope today.
Not Printed at Taxpayer Expense Paid for by Phil Berkenbile for
Senate District 20, 2012”
Folks, by DeWitt insisting these lobbyists send the money to him
first, it just shows how a powerful Republican Majority leader intends
to really put the screws to the lobbyists. In my opinion, that is
exactly the kind of influence which has the potential to corrupt our
system as it almost hints of “pay to play”.
At least one of the candidates that will appear before us on Wednesday
has taken a pledge not to take any money or gifts from any lobbyists
or a PAC which employees a lobbyist. That is what we need more of in
government. But for that to ever succeed, people are going to have to
pull money out of their own pockets so that their elected officials
are responsive to them and not to the powerful special interests.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* EDMOND AREA - TUESDAY EVENING - Tuesday evening, 7 until 8:30
p.m., I will continue training session 2 out of 4 which I began 2
weeks ago. The 4 week session will consist of the principles of good
government and the ideals of our founding fathers as well as the
political process, governing and the workings of the Republican party.
The main purpose of the sessions is to further develop members of the
Generation Joshua Project and other youth in their age range which is
from 11 to 19. Adults are invited to attend, but please allow the
young people to ask most of the questions. The location is Fairview
Baptist Church which is on the Southeast corner of Danforth and Sooner
Road in Edmond (Sooner road is about 1 block West of I-35 and Danforth
is 1 mile North of Edmond Road or 2nd Street). An outline and short
review of the first session will be available.
* FUTURE EVENT - January 20 and 21st will be the 3rd annual Clouds
over America seminar. I believe it may well be the most important
educational event of the year in Oklahoma for 2012. There will be 10
speakers running from Friday afternoon through noon on Saturday. As
soon as the flyer is printed I will share the full details of the
event. Please keep these dates open as it will be a very important
time for the good citizens in the culture war, seeking better
government.
++ CONSERVATIVE’S CHRISTMAS - FALLIN AND BERRESI’S LUMP OF COAL
Governor Mayr Fallin and State School Superintendent Janet Berresi had
so been lusting in hopes of receiving millions of dollars from the
bankrupt federal government to arrive just in time for Christmas
through the “Race to the Top” federal grant program for early
education.
However, like lumps of coal in their Christmas stockings, they
received word last week that Oklahoma would be left out in the cold
regarding their hopes for the funding. Knowledgeable conservatives
understand what a waste of taxpayer money these programs happen to be
as well as the potential for behavioral problems created in some
children who are herded into these peer dependent programs.
Conservative organizations such as Restore Oklahoma Public Education
(ROPE), The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA), Professional
Oklahoma Educators (POE) as well as many members of OCPAC are all
against this, Race to the Top program. Following are a couple of
editorials out of the December 15th edition of the Tulsa Beacon
Newspaper about early childhood education and the performance of Janet
Barresi:
“Barresi no conservative
It was announced to legislators this month that Joel Robinson,
assistant executive director (and chief lobbyist) for the Oklahoma
Education Association (OEA/NEA), has been hired to be State
Superintendent Janet Barresi’s new chief of staff, effective later
this month. This new hiring decision adds to the confusion about the
State Department of Education’s direction and, quite frankly, the move
is astounding.
We know that birds of a feather flock together and, as we’ve seen,
Barresi is not the conservative Republican she was elected to be.
Her recent decision to hire a new chief of staff from the top ranks of
the state affiliate of the most liberal teachers’ union in the nation
further confirms this fact. This move makes about as much sense as
Ronald Reagan asking Jimmy Carter to be his vice president.
Barresi’s actions show that authenticity is rare these days, but there
continues to be one true, conservative voice for educators:
Professional Oklahoma Educators (POE). With over 7,000 members across
the state, we will continue to move forward, undeterred by Barresi’s
actions, to achieve what is best for Oklahoma students and teachers.
Ginger Tinney, Norman
POE Executive Director”
The next editorial reflects the opinions of the Tulsa Beacon
“More ’nanny state’ nonsense
The motto of Tulsa Educare is: ’embrace, empower, evolve.’ That
reference to evolution alone would identify this as an attempt to
infuse secular humanism into our culture by indoctrinating some of our
youngest children.
Tulsa Educare, Inc. (TEI), Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) and George
Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) have teamed up to start a third
Educare school, which will open in August of next year.
Kaiser, the richest man in Oklahoma (thanks in part to the
government), is behind the funding of the 38,000-square-foot school
with 16 classrooms.
Of course, Mayor Dewey Bartlett and Oklahoma School Superintendent
Janet Barresi dutifully went to the groundbreaking along with the OEA
puppets from Tulsa Public Schools.
Liberals like to throw tons of money on an idea that sounds good (help
poor kids) but never work out the way they should.
Instead of boosting the nuclear family - the backbone of our culture -
these “progressives” would rather institutionalize the children of
poor people and “shield them” from the influence of parents and faith.
Study after study (at least one by Head Start) shows that kids that
get pushed into public education before age 5 wind up at the same
level in the second grade as those students who were allowed to be
children and were nurtured by their own parents.
So, while Tulsa Public Schools is closing school buildings it is
providing some funding for questionable education for kids under the
age 5.
Trying to indoctrinate preschoolers may give some liberals a warm
feeling but it won’t end poverty in Tulsa - not by a long shot.
For ROPE’s perspective on this issue link on to:
http://restoreoklahomapubliceducation.blogspot.com/2011/12/somewhere-over-rainbow.html
A week ago Wednesday, when Brandon Dutcher of OCPA, spoke at OCPAC, he
brought with him a packet showing the high cost of early childhood
education and a recent article out of the Wall Street Journal showing
the utter worthlessness of early childhood education. I believe it is
one of the biggest scams in America as well as Oklahoma. Eliminating
such in Oklahoma would save tens of millions of dollars, savings that
could go toward eliminating our state income tax and reducing the
corporate tax burden on businesses. Of course many of the large
corporations in Oklahoma support so called “early childhood education”
as they like for the taxpayers to pick up the day care tab for their
employees. I will have copies of the WSJ article at the meeting this
Wednesday.
++ TID BITS
+ WACO THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT - I was up late recently watching Fox
News and The Animal Planet when just before going to bed I flipped
over to the documentary channel and noticed that, Waco The Rules of
Engagement documentary, was up next. It was produced by two former CNN
photojournalists and was nominated for an Academy Award for best
documentary of the year, probably in about 1994. I actually own a copy
in VHS format and we showed it at OCPAC over a 2 week time period many
years ago. As I watched about two thirds of it again, I just got angry
all over again at what appears to be the lies, cover-up and murder
committed by those in the FBI, the Delta Force of the military and
high ups in the so called “Justice Department.” If you have not seen
the documentary, may I suggest doing a google search of the
Documentary Channel to purchase it as it is now in DVD format. It is
riveting and very revealing. A sequel was also produced called, Waco A
Further Revelation, which is also excellent.
+ SENATOR LASTER SAYS NO MORE - State Senator Charlie Laster (D-
Shawnee) announced last week that he would not seek re-election next
year to serve the final 2 years in the Senate before term limits would
get him. He has a lifetime average of a 30 on the conservative index
and we should see an excellent opportunity to replace him with a
conservative Republican during next year’s election cycle. Ed Moore,
of the Prayer Force One Ministry announced, I believe it was back in
September that he would be a candidate for that seat. Mr. Moore served
one term in the Senate, probably back in the late 70’s or early 80s.
If elected I don’t believe his previous term would count toward his 12
years of eligibility. With it being an open seat, I am sure there will
be several that will run in both the Republican and Democrat
primaries.
+ MERRY CHRISTMAS - While we often struggle over public policy and
the people we elect to office to represent us in those struggles, let
us not forget the highest priority. That of course is our relationship
with our father God through his Son Jesus. While it is not likely that
Jesus was actually born on December 25th, it is the time our society
has chosen to celebrate His birth. With that in mind, please never
forget the real reason for this season. Have a wonderful and
meaningful Christmas.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ CONSERVATIVE’S CHRISTMAS - FALLIN & BERRESI’S LUMP OF COAL
++ TID BITS
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S AGENDA
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, December 12th will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. This Wednesday will
be the interview process for the candidates running in the special
election for Senate District 20. The district includes all of Pawnee,
Noble and Logan counties as well as the Western and Northern parts of
Kingfisher counties. Invitations were sent to the 4 Republican
candidates, Phil Berkenbile of Morrison as well as A.J. Griffin, Chris
Humphreys and Wayne Murphey, all of Guthrie. Mr. Humphreys and Murphey
will attend, while Mrs. Griffin indicated she would not attend. I have
urged her to re-consider and make every effort to come to the meeting.
However, something a little unusual occurred with Mr. Berkenbile. His
invitation letter came back to our P.O. Box as undeliverable. I
checked to see if I had sent it to the address he filled out when he
filed for office as was listed on the state election board’s web-site.
I had sent it to the proper address. Seems like every election cycle
one or more candidates fail to fill out their own address correctly,
usually failing to include their zip code. However, Mr. Berkenbile
included his zip code in this case.
I decided not to go the extra mile to urge him to come as he probably
would not come anyway. You see, I believe Mr. Berkenbile is not a real
conservative and his handlers know that he would probably not do well
at OCPAC if he did come. Why do I say such a thing?
He is the state director for Oklahoma’s Career Tech system. While the
system has its successes, it is grossly over-expensive for what it
delivers compared to what could be done through privately owned trade
schools. We could help students attend the trade schools through
scholarships and thus reduce some of the annually appropriated dollars
which go the Career Tech. In addition, we could then save huge amounts
of property tax dollars which are required to maintain and pay for the
multitude of government owned buildings. Trade schools in the private
sector pay for their own facilities, often times leasing space in
vacant shopping centers.
A couple of other reasons, I don’t believe he would do well is based
on his recent switch to the Republican party. Don’t get me wrong, we
want conservative Democrats to become Republicans. However, Mr.
Berkenbile has a long history of contributing to and supporting
Democrats. In addition, he vigorously opposed legislation earlier this
year to allow law abiding citizens with a concealed carry permit to
drive onto a career tech campus with their firearm locked in the
trunk. Previously, if you didn’t want to be a lawbreaker, you would
have to go home first and leave your firearm there before you could go
from work to take a class at a Career Tech campus.
One more thing, I don’t believe he will need a contribution from us. I
have been made privy to a shakedown letter sent to various lobbyists
in the state by State Representative Dale DeWitt (R-Braman) on behalf
of Berkenbile. DeWitt, through 9 years in the legislature, has a
lifetime conservative index score of a paltry 56, meaning only 7
Republican House members more liberal than DeWitt out of the 70
Republicans. DeWitt is also the House Majority leader so I believe he
is using his powerful position to really strong arm lobbyists to
contribute to “his personal friend”, Bill Berkenbile. Following is
the content of the shakedown letter:
“From the Desk of Dale DeWitt”
December 13, 2011
Dear …….?
“This is an unusual letter. Yes, I’m asking for money.
No, it’s not for me.
It’s not for another elected official. It’s not even for my caucus.
I’m writing to ask you to donate to a personal friend of mine, Phil
Berkenbile, who is running for the State Senate in the open seat to
replace another great friend, Senator David Myers.
I’ve known Phil for 32 years (We both have a background in Vo-Ag
education and our families are very close). But more important, I
know Phil to be a man of integrity and virtue. And we need people like
him in our government. As the statewide Director for Career Tech, Phil
has shown he can help run government more efficiently. And I know,
he’ll be a Senator whose door will always be open.
If you do not know Phil, I hope you will trust my judgment. I would
consider it a personal honor if you (and any of your friends) would
contribute to Phil based on my recommendation. in fact, I would like
you to send your contribution in the enclosed envelope so I can know
who I should personally thank for supporting my good friend, Phil
Berkenbile.
Phil is the type of person who has demonstrated he can work with all
Oklahomans in order to get great things accomplished for this state.
As director of Career Tech, Phil helped maintain THE BEST technical
education system in the nation during a time of tremendous budget
cuts. In doing so, he has engaged Republicans, Democrats, urbanites
and rural interests. Because of Phil’s willingness to reach across the
aisle and work with all Oklahomans, he is already being attacked by
some of the more extreme elements of our Republican Party. That’s why
I need your help.
This special election is only a few weeks away (the primary is on
Valentine’s Day -- February 14th). And, as you know it is not only
incumbents, but all candidates, who have limitations on their
fundraising once session begins. So Phil needs your contribution now.
Again, this is not your typical letter. Phil is a close friend of mine
-- and I want him to raise enough money to be successful. ……….. are a
key part of this. Please send your donation today.
Thank you in advance for your support,
Dale DeWitt
P.S. I really would appreciate your personal contribution, as well as
your help in raising money from others you know. The key race is the
Republican Primary, so I want you to contribute early. Please, use the
enclosed envelope today.
Not Printed at Taxpayer Expense Paid for by Phil Berkenbile for
Senate District 20, 2012”
Folks, by DeWitt insisting these lobbyists send the money to him
first, it just shows how a powerful Republican Majority leader intends
to really put the screws to the lobbyists. In my opinion, that is
exactly the kind of influence which has the potential to corrupt our
system as it almost hints of “pay to play”.
At least one of the candidates that will appear before us on Wednesday
has taken a pledge not to take any money or gifts from any lobbyists
or a PAC which employees a lobbyist. That is what we need more of in
government. But for that to ever succeed, people are going to have to
pull money out of their own pockets so that their elected officials
are responsive to them and not to the powerful special interests.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* EDMOND AREA - TUESDAY EVENING - Tuesday evening, 7 until 8:30
p.m., I will continue training session 2 out of 4 which I began 2
weeks ago. The 4 week session will consist of the principles of good
government and the ideals of our founding fathers as well as the
political process, governing and the workings of the Republican party.
The main purpose of the sessions is to further develop members of the
Generation Joshua Project and other youth in their age range which is
from 11 to 19. Adults are invited to attend, but please allow the
young people to ask most of the questions. The location is Fairview
Baptist Church which is on the Southeast corner of Danforth and Sooner
Road in Edmond (Sooner road is about 1 block West of I-35 and Danforth
is 1 mile North of Edmond Road or 2nd Street). An outline and short
review of the first session will be available.
* FUTURE EVENT - January 20 and 21st will be the 3rd annual Clouds
over America seminar. I believe it may well be the most important
educational event of the year in Oklahoma for 2012. There will be 10
speakers running from Friday afternoon through noon on Saturday. As
soon as the flyer is printed I will share the full details of the
event. Please keep these dates open as it will be a very important
time for the good citizens in the culture war, seeking better
government.
++ CONSERVATIVE’S CHRISTMAS - FALLIN AND BERRESI’S LUMP OF COAL
Governor Mayr Fallin and State School Superintendent Janet Berresi had
so been lusting in hopes of receiving millions of dollars from the
bankrupt federal government to arrive just in time for Christmas
through the “Race to the Top” federal grant program for early
education.
However, like lumps of coal in their Christmas stockings, they
received word last week that Oklahoma would be left out in the cold
regarding their hopes for the funding. Knowledgeable conservatives
understand what a waste of taxpayer money these programs happen to be
as well as the potential for behavioral problems created in some
children who are herded into these peer dependent programs.
Conservative organizations such as Restore Oklahoma Public Education
(ROPE), The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA), Professional
Oklahoma Educators (POE) as well as many members of OCPAC are all
against this, Race to the Top program. Following are a couple of
editorials out of the December 15th edition of the Tulsa Beacon
Newspaper about early childhood education and the performance of Janet
Barresi:
“Barresi no conservative
It was announced to legislators this month that Joel Robinson,
assistant executive director (and chief lobbyist) for the Oklahoma
Education Association (OEA/NEA), has been hired to be State
Superintendent Janet Barresi’s new chief of staff, effective later
this month. This new hiring decision adds to the confusion about the
State Department of Education’s direction and, quite frankly, the move
is astounding.
We know that birds of a feather flock together and, as we’ve seen,
Barresi is not the conservative Republican she was elected to be.
Her recent decision to hire a new chief of staff from the top ranks of
the state affiliate of the most liberal teachers’ union in the nation
further confirms this fact. This move makes about as much sense as
Ronald Reagan asking Jimmy Carter to be his vice president.
Barresi’s actions show that authenticity is rare these days, but there
continues to be one true, conservative voice for educators:
Professional Oklahoma Educators (POE). With over 7,000 members across
the state, we will continue to move forward, undeterred by Barresi’s
actions, to achieve what is best for Oklahoma students and teachers.
Ginger Tinney, Norman
POE Executive Director”
The next editorial reflects the opinions of the Tulsa Beacon
“More ’nanny state’ nonsense
The motto of Tulsa Educare is: ’embrace, empower, evolve.’ That
reference to evolution alone would identify this as an attempt to
infuse secular humanism into our culture by indoctrinating some of our
youngest children.
Tulsa Educare, Inc. (TEI), Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) and George
Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) have teamed up to start a third
Educare school, which will open in August of next year.
Kaiser, the richest man in Oklahoma (thanks in part to the
government), is behind the funding of the 38,000-square-foot school
with 16 classrooms.
Of course, Mayor Dewey Bartlett and Oklahoma School Superintendent
Janet Barresi dutifully went to the groundbreaking along with the OEA
puppets from Tulsa Public Schools.
Liberals like to throw tons of money on an idea that sounds good (help
poor kids) but never work out the way they should.
Instead of boosting the nuclear family - the backbone of our culture -
these “progressives” would rather institutionalize the children of
poor people and “shield them” from the influence of parents and faith.
Study after study (at least one by Head Start) shows that kids that
get pushed into public education before age 5 wind up at the same
level in the second grade as those students who were allowed to be
children and were nurtured by their own parents.
So, while Tulsa Public Schools is closing school buildings it is
providing some funding for questionable education for kids under the
age 5.
Trying to indoctrinate preschoolers may give some liberals a warm
feeling but it won’t end poverty in Tulsa - not by a long shot.
For ROPE’s perspective on this issue link on to:
http://restoreoklahomapubliceducation.blogspot.com/2011/12/somewhere-over-rainbow.html
A week ago Wednesday, when Brandon Dutcher of OCPA, spoke at OCPAC, he
brought with him a packet showing the high cost of early childhood
education and a recent article out of the Wall Street Journal showing
the utter worthlessness of early childhood education. I believe it is
one of the biggest scams in America as well as Oklahoma. Eliminating
such in Oklahoma would save tens of millions of dollars, savings that
could go toward eliminating our state income tax and reducing the
corporate tax burden on businesses. Of course many of the large
corporations in Oklahoma support so called “early childhood education”
as they like for the taxpayers to pick up the day care tab for their
employees. I will have copies of the WSJ article at the meeting this
Wednesday.
++ TID BITS
+ WACO THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT - I was up late recently watching Fox
News and The Animal Planet when just before going to bed I flipped
over to the documentary channel and noticed that, Waco The Rules of
Engagement documentary, was up next. It was produced by two former CNN
photojournalists and was nominated for an Academy Award for best
documentary of the year, probably in about 1994. I actually own a copy
in VHS format and we showed it at OCPAC over a 2 week time period many
years ago. As I watched about two thirds of it again, I just got angry
all over again at what appears to be the lies, cover-up and murder
committed by those in the FBI, the Delta Force of the military and
high ups in the so called “Justice Department.” If you have not seen
the documentary, may I suggest doing a google search of the
Documentary Channel to purchase it as it is now in DVD format. It is
riveting and very revealing. A sequel was also produced called, Waco A
Further Revelation, which is also excellent.
+ SENATOR LASTER SAYS NO MORE - State Senator Charlie Laster (D-
Shawnee) announced last week that he would not seek re-election next
year to serve the final 2 years in the Senate before term limits would
get him. He has a lifetime average of a 30 on the conservative index
and we should see an excellent opportunity to replace him with a
conservative Republican during next year’s election cycle. Ed Moore,
of the Prayer Force One Ministry announced, I believe it was back in
September that he would be a candidate for that seat. Mr. Moore served
one term in the Senate, probably back in the late 70’s or early 80s.
If elected I don’t believe his previous term would count toward his 12
years of eligibility. With it being an open seat, I am sure there will
be several that will run in both the Republican and Democrat
primaries.
+ MERRY CHRISTMAS - While we often struggle over public policy and
the people we elect to office to represent us in those struggles, let
us not forget the highest priority. That of course is our relationship
with our father God through his Son Jesus. While it is not likely that
Jesus was actually born on December 25th, it is the time our society
has chosen to celebrate His birth. With that in mind, please never
forget the real reason for this season. Have a wonderful and
meaningful Christmas.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
SCOTT PRUITT - PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ SCOTT PRUITT - PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
++ TIDBITS
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, December 14th will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Our meeting this
week will consist of interviewing the Republican candidates for the
special elections in House District #1 and House District #71. The
election will be held on February 14th of next year. Invited from H.D.
#1 is Joe Silk from Broken Bow (he has won the primary and his will be
the general election) and from H.D. 71 are candidates Evelyn Rogers,
Lydia D’Ross, Katie Henke, Gerald Lovoi, and Bonnie Huffines, all of
Tulsa. Candidate Janet Sullivan has withdrawn from the race and
Jacqualyn Moss’ candidacy is being protested as it is alleged that she
is still registered as a Democrat and has only lived in the district
for 6 weeks rather than the necessary 6 months as required by law.
Following the interview process, our members will vote and should we
decide to support a candidate in one or both of these districts, our
finance committee will make a contribution following the meeting. If
you are a voting member, please try to make this meeting.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* TUESDAY EVENING - WARR ACRES AREA - The Change A Nation For
Christ organization will hold their monthly meeting this Tuesday
evening, December 13th at Victory Church, 4300 North McArthur in Warr
Acres. The meeting will take place in the “Commons” area on the West
end of the campus. The meeting is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. with a light
meal served at 6:30. There is no charge for the meal, but donations to
help cover the cost are accepted. Speaking will be Mr. Ralph Bullard,
the former head master of Christian Heritage Academy in Del City. Mr.
Bullard will be speaking from his personal experiences about the
crucial connection between Christian education and God’s purpose for
America.
* WEDNESDAY NOON - TULSA AREA - The Tulsa Republican Men’s Club
will hold its monthly meeting, 12 noon on Wednesday, December 14th at
Siegi’s Restaurant, 81st street and Sheridan Road. Speaking will be
retired professor Charles Dyer who taught American federal government
at Tulsa Community College. We have had Professor Dyer speak at OCPAC
in the past and he recently spoke at the Northwest Republican Club in
OKC. He is an excellent speaker and really understands the serious
dangers associated with the invasion of illegal aliens.
* THURSDAY MORNING - DOWNTOWN OKC - The John Birch Society’s
Business and Professional Chapter will have their monthly meeting at
the Character Inn, 520 West Main in downtown OKC. Breakfast is served
at 7:15 and the speaker begins at about 7:40 a.m. Our speaker this
month will be Jonathan Small (CPA) of the influential Oklahoma Council
of Public Affairs (OCPA). Jonathan has put together a viable plan to
eliminate the personal income tax in the state of Oklahoma. Jonathan
spoke to OCPAC within the past year and following the meeting one of
our members came up to me to ask where in the world did I find a CPA
that was actually interesting to listen to? Jonathan is sharp and
inspiring at the same time. There are many forces, including the
Governor, that are beginning to speak of eliminating the personal
income tax as well as forces building to prevent such from occurring.
Please come to this meeting to be informed about the OCPA plan. The
fellowship before the meeting is always great, so grab a friend and
come on down. The Breakfast Buffet is only $6.00.
* SATURDAY AFTERNOON - OKC AREA - Supporters of Presidential
candidate Ron Paul are hosting a LIBERTEA Rally this Saturday,
December 17th on the South steps of the State Capitol. The event
begins at 1:00 p.m. with the featured speaker being Iraq war veteran,
Adam Kokesh. Also speaking will be Randy Brogdon, State Representative
Charles Key and Richard Engle. As far as I know this is the only
organized presidential campaign in the state. For more information log
on to www.RonPaulOK.com. I would suggest dressing warm, you may want
to watch the weather and bring an umbrella or rain gear as well as a
folding chair.
++ SCOTT PRUITT - PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
Few people in Oklahoma saw the Scott Pruitt/Presidential debate live
as it occurred during the OU - OSU bedlam football game a week ago
Saturday. I finally got time to see it this past week and liked the
format as well as the way the Attorney Generals from the states of
Oklahoma, Florida and Virginia served as the moderators, asking the
hard questions. Much of the questioning centered on the relationship
between the federal government, the states and the people. The 3 AG’s
questioned the candidates one at a time, each for about 10 minutes.
There wasn’t much time wasted as they really got to it.
In Saturday’s edition of the Oklahoman, AG Scott Pruitt wrote an
excellent (let me say it again) excellent column about the forum.
Following are some of the more pertinent comments in the Oklahoman
from Oklahoma’s Attorney General Pruitt:
“I was able to ask candidates face-to-face what they would do to limit
the federal government and follow the law as prescribed by the
Constitution.” “Specifically, we worked to extract exactly how the
candidates would lead when competing liberty interests are at play.”
There is no greater issue today than the appropriate role of the
federal government. When an American government takes on
characteristics that elevate the state above the individual, it must
be vigorously opposed as a form of, or step toward, tyranny. It is
imperative that these candidates work to curtail government intrusion
and provide real conservative solutions to complex problems.” “Our
battles against the EPA and other rogue federal agencies aren’t about
a desire for dirtier air or zero regulation. They are about our right
as a state to control our own destiny and resist attempts by the
administration to ramrod a wish list of regulations through agency
heads instead of garnering approval from Congress.” Pruitt’s final
paragraph was very important as it went like this: “In the end, the
candidate who wants to get the nomination will not merely pledge
fidelity to advancing liberty. They must do the difficult work of
merging their talking points with AUTHENTIC, PRACTICAL (emphasis mine)
and conservative solutions.”
We could only hope the electorate nation wide was as up to speed
enough to make their decision on those points. As I have often said,
we don’t have so much of a problem with our system as we have a people
problem in America. Please remember, all elections first boil down to
the quality and character of the voters. If they are of high quality,
we will have good government. If not, we have what we have now. I will
try to schedule Scott some time in February and perhaps we can get him
to share his perspectives on the weaknesses and strengths of the
candidates at that time.
The AG from Florida asked Ron Paul his final question as follows: what
1 book would you recommend people to read. Ron Paul answered, beyond a
faith book (the Bible), I would recommend: THE LAW by Frederic
Bastiat. I certainly agreed with Ron on that as I have been saying for
a number of years now that THE LAW is the second most important book a
person should ever read, the Bible being the first.
As a point of interest, I did an hour long radio interview this past
Friday night with Kaye Beech and Howard Houchen. What were we talking
about? The book, THE LAW and the corresponding story about Davy
Crockett, titled: NOT YOURS TO GIVE. Their program is heard live
every Friday evening in 17 states including a FM station in OKC as
well as being on the internet. Few people know what a game changer
that book and short story have been in their influence upon the state
of Oklahoma. With well over 5,000 circulating around in Oklahoma over
the past 10 years and access to both of them over the internet, they
are convincing Oklahoman’s about the proper roll of government versus
the improper functions of government. You really owe it to yourselves
to access this information as it will change your life.
++ TIDBITS
* FOX NEWS PROMOTES IGNORANCE - This past week I was watching the
morning show on Fox News while eating a bowl of cereal. The
commentator had a guest on to give expert perspective on the battle
over extending the payroll tax reduction. The commentator asked the
guest, if the payroll tax reduction is not extended, what will the
federal government do with all that increase of funds? The answer from
the expert was “I DON’T KNOW?”
Give me a break! The only source of revenue for the Social Security
Trust Fund comes from the payroll tax, which should really be
considered as a retirement insurance premium, and the interest earned
from the past surpluses loaned out over many previous years. If the
payroll tax isn’t extended, those revenues will begin to flow back
into the SS Trust Fund, to be immediately used to pay benefits to
those drawing SS benefits. Even if those revenues began to once again
flow into the fund, they still would not be enough to meet next year’s
benefits pay outs.
Perhaps, the next time Fox News has a “tough” question, they might
reach out to find some overall wearing bumpkin for Oklahoma for a
substantive answer rather than asking some coat and tie wearing air
head from NEW YORK CITY!
* RESULTS FROM OKLAHOMA STRAW POLL - Credit Matt Pinnell with the
idea of Oklahoma conducting its first ever Presidential Straw Poll.
Please remember, straw polls are not scientific polls and as such are
more a reflection of the opinions of activists rather then the broader
electorate.
Like the Iowa straw poll, which brings in tons of money for the Iowa
Republican party, the Oklahoma straw poll was primarily a fund raiser.
I know they promoted it big time through the internet and I even
received a robo call from Lt. Gov Todd Lamb promoting the poll. I
wasn’t able to contact Matt today, and as such don’t know how many
participated, but I would expect it was a large number. At $5.00 per
vote, the party probably raised a good deal of money with the effort.
The results were released at the Herman Cain fund raiser a week ago
Monday night. Winning the straw poll was Ron Paul, with 46% of the
vote, Herman Cain 25%, Newt Gingrich 17%, Mitt Romney 6%, Senator
Inhofe’s pick, Rick Perry 3%, Michelle Bachmann 2%, Rick Santorum 1%
and the others less than 1%.
* THE DONALD TRUMP DEBATE - I for one really wanted to see the
debate hosted by Donald Trump, not because I am a fan of the Donald,
but because his main issue is our horrible trade deficit, especially
so with Communist China. This issue has barely been touched in the
myriad of other debates and I personally don’t believe the so called
“free trade” Republicans want to have to deal with this issue to any
depth.
No where is the truth of God’s Word more evident than when it says:
the borrower is subservient (or a slave) to the lender. With Communist
China holding over a Trillion dollars of our debt, it means that when
Premier chingchowpingpongball speaks, we listen!!! We have been in a
trade war with Communist China for many years, China understands that,
we don’t. It is much like when Osama Ben Ladin and the rest of the
radical Muslim world declared war on the U.S. many years ago. It
wasn’t until they took down the twin towers, that we realized they
were serious and even then as well as now we can’t bring ourselves to
properly identify our enemies.
Our trade deficit is one of the most important issues facing our
nation. It is a major factor causing our budget deficits and few
people understand its importance. I say bring on the debate.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday, Please don’t forget
the meeting I mentioned for this Thursday as Jonathan Small will lay
out a viable plan to totally eliminate Oklahoma’s personal income
tax.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ SCOTT PRUITT - PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
++ TIDBITS
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, December 14th will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Our meeting this
week will consist of interviewing the Republican candidates for the
special elections in House District #1 and House District #71. The
election will be held on February 14th of next year. Invited from H.D.
#1 is Joe Silk from Broken Bow (he has won the primary and his will be
the general election) and from H.D. 71 are candidates Evelyn Rogers,
Lydia D’Ross, Katie Henke, Gerald Lovoi, and Bonnie Huffines, all of
Tulsa. Candidate Janet Sullivan has withdrawn from the race and
Jacqualyn Moss’ candidacy is being protested as it is alleged that she
is still registered as a Democrat and has only lived in the district
for 6 weeks rather than the necessary 6 months as required by law.
Following the interview process, our members will vote and should we
decide to support a candidate in one or both of these districts, our
finance committee will make a contribution following the meeting. If
you are a voting member, please try to make this meeting.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* TUESDAY EVENING - WARR ACRES AREA - The Change A Nation For
Christ organization will hold their monthly meeting this Tuesday
evening, December 13th at Victory Church, 4300 North McArthur in Warr
Acres. The meeting will take place in the “Commons” area on the West
end of the campus. The meeting is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. with a light
meal served at 6:30. There is no charge for the meal, but donations to
help cover the cost are accepted. Speaking will be Mr. Ralph Bullard,
the former head master of Christian Heritage Academy in Del City. Mr.
Bullard will be speaking from his personal experiences about the
crucial connection between Christian education and God’s purpose for
America.
* WEDNESDAY NOON - TULSA AREA - The Tulsa Republican Men’s Club
will hold its monthly meeting, 12 noon on Wednesday, December 14th at
Siegi’s Restaurant, 81st street and Sheridan Road. Speaking will be
retired professor Charles Dyer who taught American federal government
at Tulsa Community College. We have had Professor Dyer speak at OCPAC
in the past and he recently spoke at the Northwest Republican Club in
OKC. He is an excellent speaker and really understands the serious
dangers associated with the invasion of illegal aliens.
* THURSDAY MORNING - DOWNTOWN OKC - The John Birch Society’s
Business and Professional Chapter will have their monthly meeting at
the Character Inn, 520 West Main in downtown OKC. Breakfast is served
at 7:15 and the speaker begins at about 7:40 a.m. Our speaker this
month will be Jonathan Small (CPA) of the influential Oklahoma Council
of Public Affairs (OCPA). Jonathan has put together a viable plan to
eliminate the personal income tax in the state of Oklahoma. Jonathan
spoke to OCPAC within the past year and following the meeting one of
our members came up to me to ask where in the world did I find a CPA
that was actually interesting to listen to? Jonathan is sharp and
inspiring at the same time. There are many forces, including the
Governor, that are beginning to speak of eliminating the personal
income tax as well as forces building to prevent such from occurring.
Please come to this meeting to be informed about the OCPA plan. The
fellowship before the meeting is always great, so grab a friend and
come on down. The Breakfast Buffet is only $6.00.
* SATURDAY AFTERNOON - OKC AREA - Supporters of Presidential
candidate Ron Paul are hosting a LIBERTEA Rally this Saturday,
December 17th on the South steps of the State Capitol. The event
begins at 1:00 p.m. with the featured speaker being Iraq war veteran,
Adam Kokesh. Also speaking will be Randy Brogdon, State Representative
Charles Key and Richard Engle. As far as I know this is the only
organized presidential campaign in the state. For more information log
on to www.RonPaulOK.com. I would suggest dressing warm, you may want
to watch the weather and bring an umbrella or rain gear as well as a
folding chair.
++ SCOTT PRUITT - PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
Few people in Oklahoma saw the Scott Pruitt/Presidential debate live
as it occurred during the OU - OSU bedlam football game a week ago
Saturday. I finally got time to see it this past week and liked the
format as well as the way the Attorney Generals from the states of
Oklahoma, Florida and Virginia served as the moderators, asking the
hard questions. Much of the questioning centered on the relationship
between the federal government, the states and the people. The 3 AG’s
questioned the candidates one at a time, each for about 10 minutes.
There wasn’t much time wasted as they really got to it.
In Saturday’s edition of the Oklahoman, AG Scott Pruitt wrote an
excellent (let me say it again) excellent column about the forum.
Following are some of the more pertinent comments in the Oklahoman
from Oklahoma’s Attorney General Pruitt:
“I was able to ask candidates face-to-face what they would do to limit
the federal government and follow the law as prescribed by the
Constitution.” “Specifically, we worked to extract exactly how the
candidates would lead when competing liberty interests are at play.”
There is no greater issue today than the appropriate role of the
federal government. When an American government takes on
characteristics that elevate the state above the individual, it must
be vigorously opposed as a form of, or step toward, tyranny. It is
imperative that these candidates work to curtail government intrusion
and provide real conservative solutions to complex problems.” “Our
battles against the EPA and other rogue federal agencies aren’t about
a desire for dirtier air or zero regulation. They are about our right
as a state to control our own destiny and resist attempts by the
administration to ramrod a wish list of regulations through agency
heads instead of garnering approval from Congress.” Pruitt’s final
paragraph was very important as it went like this: “In the end, the
candidate who wants to get the nomination will not merely pledge
fidelity to advancing liberty. They must do the difficult work of
merging their talking points with AUTHENTIC, PRACTICAL (emphasis mine)
and conservative solutions.”
We could only hope the electorate nation wide was as up to speed
enough to make their decision on those points. As I have often said,
we don’t have so much of a problem with our system as we have a people
problem in America. Please remember, all elections first boil down to
the quality and character of the voters. If they are of high quality,
we will have good government. If not, we have what we have now. I will
try to schedule Scott some time in February and perhaps we can get him
to share his perspectives on the weaknesses and strengths of the
candidates at that time.
The AG from Florida asked Ron Paul his final question as follows: what
1 book would you recommend people to read. Ron Paul answered, beyond a
faith book (the Bible), I would recommend: THE LAW by Frederic
Bastiat. I certainly agreed with Ron on that as I have been saying for
a number of years now that THE LAW is the second most important book a
person should ever read, the Bible being the first.
As a point of interest, I did an hour long radio interview this past
Friday night with Kaye Beech and Howard Houchen. What were we talking
about? The book, THE LAW and the corresponding story about Davy
Crockett, titled: NOT YOURS TO GIVE. Their program is heard live
every Friday evening in 17 states including a FM station in OKC as
well as being on the internet. Few people know what a game changer
that book and short story have been in their influence upon the state
of Oklahoma. With well over 5,000 circulating around in Oklahoma over
the past 10 years and access to both of them over the internet, they
are convincing Oklahoman’s about the proper roll of government versus
the improper functions of government. You really owe it to yourselves
to access this information as it will change your life.
++ TIDBITS
* FOX NEWS PROMOTES IGNORANCE - This past week I was watching the
morning show on Fox News while eating a bowl of cereal. The
commentator had a guest on to give expert perspective on the battle
over extending the payroll tax reduction. The commentator asked the
guest, if the payroll tax reduction is not extended, what will the
federal government do with all that increase of funds? The answer from
the expert was “I DON’T KNOW?”
Give me a break! The only source of revenue for the Social Security
Trust Fund comes from the payroll tax, which should really be
considered as a retirement insurance premium, and the interest earned
from the past surpluses loaned out over many previous years. If the
payroll tax isn’t extended, those revenues will begin to flow back
into the SS Trust Fund, to be immediately used to pay benefits to
those drawing SS benefits. Even if those revenues began to once again
flow into the fund, they still would not be enough to meet next year’s
benefits pay outs.
Perhaps, the next time Fox News has a “tough” question, they might
reach out to find some overall wearing bumpkin for Oklahoma for a
substantive answer rather than asking some coat and tie wearing air
head from NEW YORK CITY!
* RESULTS FROM OKLAHOMA STRAW POLL - Credit Matt Pinnell with the
idea of Oklahoma conducting its first ever Presidential Straw Poll.
Please remember, straw polls are not scientific polls and as such are
more a reflection of the opinions of activists rather then the broader
electorate.
Like the Iowa straw poll, which brings in tons of money for the Iowa
Republican party, the Oklahoma straw poll was primarily a fund raiser.
I know they promoted it big time through the internet and I even
received a robo call from Lt. Gov Todd Lamb promoting the poll. I
wasn’t able to contact Matt today, and as such don’t know how many
participated, but I would expect it was a large number. At $5.00 per
vote, the party probably raised a good deal of money with the effort.
The results were released at the Herman Cain fund raiser a week ago
Monday night. Winning the straw poll was Ron Paul, with 46% of the
vote, Herman Cain 25%, Newt Gingrich 17%, Mitt Romney 6%, Senator
Inhofe’s pick, Rick Perry 3%, Michelle Bachmann 2%, Rick Santorum 1%
and the others less than 1%.
* THE DONALD TRUMP DEBATE - I for one really wanted to see the
debate hosted by Donald Trump, not because I am a fan of the Donald,
but because his main issue is our horrible trade deficit, especially
so with Communist China. This issue has barely been touched in the
myriad of other debates and I personally don’t believe the so called
“free trade” Republicans want to have to deal with this issue to any
depth.
No where is the truth of God’s Word more evident than when it says:
the borrower is subservient (or a slave) to the lender. With Communist
China holding over a Trillion dollars of our debt, it means that when
Premier chingchowpingpongball speaks, we listen!!! We have been in a
trade war with Communist China for many years, China understands that,
we don’t. It is much like when Osama Ben Ladin and the rest of the
radical Muslim world declared war on the U.S. many years ago. It
wasn’t until they took down the twin towers, that we realized they
were serious and even then as well as now we can’t bring ourselves to
properly identify our enemies.
Our trade deficit is one of the most important issues facing our
nation. It is a major factor causing our budget deficits and few
people understand its importance. I say bring on the debate.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday, Please don’t forget
the meeting I mentioned for this Thursday as Jonathan Small will lay
out a viable plan to totally eliminate Oklahoma’s personal income
tax.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
THE MISGUIDED LIBERAL FAITH COMMUNITY!
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ THE MISGUIDED LIBERAL FAITH COMMUNITY!
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, December 7th will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Our speaker this
week will be Brandon Dutcher, Vice President for Policy with the
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs. Brandon is an excellent researcher
and presents information in a very logical and rational manner. I
believe he is concerned about the rush towards evermore government
sponsored daycare (excuse me, I meant to say early childhood
education) and as such he will be talking about “Empowering Oklahoma’s
Most Important Early Childhood Educators.” I will also have copies of
an article about the problems associated with government sponsored
early childhood education.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* EDMOND OKC AREA - TUESDAY EVENING - Eight home school students,
associated with the Generation Joshua Project, presented their
activities to those attending our meeting last Wednesday and really
impressed our members. Not only were they inspiring, but they really
encouraged our members and friends that there are some of today’s
youth that are hungry to learn and motivated to make a difference in
today’s culture war. Following the meeting, I had a legenthy
conversation with Carson Banks. After our conversation, he contacted
most of the other young people and we have decided to do a fast track
presentation to better prepare and equip these interested young people
with a better understanding of government and the political process.
Therefore, I will be teaching a 4 session course on a wide range of
subjects toward those ends. The dates will be Tuesday evenings,
December 6th and 20th as well as January 3rd and 10th. The location
will be Fairview Baptist Church (Danforth and North Sooner Road) in
Edmond. The meetings will begin at 7:00 and end at 8:30 p.m. The age
range for the Generation Joshua Organization is from 11 to 19 years of
age. If you have a son or daughter in that age group that is
interested in a better understanding of government and the political
process, they would be welcome to attend. Those older than 19 or
adults may attend, but we want to try and keep the questions and
answers mostly to the younger age group.
* MOORE AREA - THURSDAY EVENING - The Sooner Republican Assembly
will meet at Earls Rib in Moore, 6:00 for dinner and 6:45 p.m. for the
speaker and program on Thursday evening, December 8th. The main
speaker will be Pastor Fred Greening. In addition they will be
conducting a silent auction with the funds raised going to the club
treasury.
* OKC AREA - FRIDAY EVENING - Last year several folks got
together for a course on survivor training. They will meet again this
Friday evening from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m. at the Northside Bible
Church, 1401 NW 100th street in Britton (the corner of NW 100th and
McKinley). The speaker will be a ham operator, talking about
communications and home security. There is no admission and they will
have plenty of seating. For more information call George Wallace at
(405) 818-2277.
* TULSA AREA - SATURDAY EVENING - As I mentioned in last week’s e-
mail, with the secularists gaining control of the annual Christmas
parade in Tulsa and turning it into a secular event, some of the local
Christians and conservatives have decided to start an new tradition by
hosting a CHRISTMAS parade which will honor the reason for the season.
Therefore, the Christmas parade will be held at the Tulsa Hills
Shopping Center, 71st street South and U.S. Highway 75. The parade
will start at 6:00 p.m.. So bundle up the kids and enjoy the parade.
For more information call (918) 583-2345.
* WARR ACRES - TUESDAY, DEC 13TH - The Change A Nation For Christ
organization will hold their monthly meeting one week from this
Tuesday at Victory Church, 4300 North McArthur in Warr Acres. The
meeting will take place in the “Commons” area which is on the West End
of the campus. The meeting is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. with a light meal
served at 6:30. There is no charge for the meal, but a donation would
be welcome. Speaking will be Mr. Ralph Bullard, the former head master
of Christian Heritage Academy in Del City. Mr. Bullard will be
speaking from his personal experiences about the crucial connection
between Christian education and God’s purpose for America. For more
information contact Travis or Sue Votaw at
Travisue@votaw.org.
++ THE MISGUIDED LIBERAL FAITH COMMUNITY!
A couple of weeks back as reported in the Oklahoman, several liberal
Baptist groups gathered for the “New Baptist Covenant II” regional
meeting at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in OKC. The gathering
was started several years ago by former President Jimmy Carter. I
believe Carter, Al Gore and Bill Clinton are all the products of
liberal splits off of Biblical Baptist churches and as such are quite
different in their theology and world view.
Locally, one of their leaders is Dr. Bruce Prescott director of
Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists, in my opinion he is one of central
Oklahoma’s leading false prophets. Mainstream is the word they choose
for themselves, in my opinion they are anything but mainstream. These
groups of progressives are politically active and as such came up with
a supposed problem which they intend to address during next year’s
legislative session.
The senior pastor at St. John, the Rev. Major Jemison, said, “the
Christian community’s role is to speak up for the impoverished who
find themselves in a no-win situation with payday lenders.”
Payday lenders have popped up across Oklahoma over the past 10 years
or so. People with jobs can go into these loan offices and get an
advance before their next paycheck, that is, if they are willing to
pay a hefty interest rate on the advance. Depending on the amount of
the loan and how many days before their paycheck, the interest rate
could climb to 500% or more. That is not 5 times the paycheck, but say
$20 on a $200 loan figured over 7 or 10 days might figure up to that
percentage rate on an annualized basis.
Based on my 20 plus years of financial counseling (not investment
counseling, but rather budgeting and debt resolution) I believe most
of the people accessing these loans are poorly educated,
undisciplined, not very bright and quite often they are in a jam. The
hefty interest rates are posted on the door or window next to the door
as well as listed several times throughout the businesses.
Most of these folks don’t bother to even look at the published
interest rates or if they did, they wouldn’t be likely to understand,
that they are the last people in the world that should be accessing
these loans. All they are interested in is getting their hands on the
cash now. Because they run behind with their bills and other uses for
their money most of the time, shortly after their paycheck is issued,
they are behind again and go back again for another advance. Over time
the interest really adds up, money they need for expenses but they
give it up for the immediate. Just remember, no one holds a gun to
their head and makes them take out these loans. Usually their credit
rating will be so bad that they can’t get a loan from traditional
sources and at a reasonable interest rate. So what to do about this
situation?
Dr. Prescott indicated he would like to see legislation reducing the
interest rates. However, the rates are what they are because these
loan companies are dealing with unstable and risky clients that
probably have no where else to go for a short term loan. Some of these
people have skipped on loans to the small consumer loan businesses
which loan at lower rates. As well many of their friends and families
will no longer loan them money for past failures to repay. So if
Prescott gets his way and causes government to interfere in the
market place, will these loan companies go away? If so, will these
desperate folks turn to crime to meet their immediate needs?
I have an idea for these liberal Progressives, why don’t they get off
their high horses and do something for the benefit of these people and
leave the government out of this. Why not produce a small placard
explaining how detrimental these high interest loans are and stand
outside the loan offices handing them to the people as they enter or
exit. After making the case as to the harm resulting from these high
interest loans, invite them to a dinner and budgeting class. Explain,
there is a way to get off the merry-go-round of financial pressure.
Urge them to come to a meeting, even feed them a meal to help convince
them to come and make a real difference in their lives.
In all reality, most will be offended by the offers of help, but some
may take them up on the offer. Those who reject the offers of help
should be allowed to experience the fruit of their decision. At some
point in time, they may hit bottom and finally reach out. Those
choices are true liberty and true justice. In reality, Biblical
Christians are more likely to reach out in this manner than the
liberal progressives who seem to always want government to fix a
perceived problem.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ THE MISGUIDED LIBERAL FAITH COMMUNITY!
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, December 7th will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Our speaker this
week will be Brandon Dutcher, Vice President for Policy with the
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs. Brandon is an excellent researcher
and presents information in a very logical and rational manner. I
believe he is concerned about the rush towards evermore government
sponsored daycare (excuse me, I meant to say early childhood
education) and as such he will be talking about “Empowering Oklahoma’s
Most Important Early Childhood Educators.” I will also have copies of
an article about the problems associated with government sponsored
early childhood education.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* EDMOND OKC AREA - TUESDAY EVENING - Eight home school students,
associated with the Generation Joshua Project, presented their
activities to those attending our meeting last Wednesday and really
impressed our members. Not only were they inspiring, but they really
encouraged our members and friends that there are some of today’s
youth that are hungry to learn and motivated to make a difference in
today’s culture war. Following the meeting, I had a legenthy
conversation with Carson Banks. After our conversation, he contacted
most of the other young people and we have decided to do a fast track
presentation to better prepare and equip these interested young people
with a better understanding of government and the political process.
Therefore, I will be teaching a 4 session course on a wide range of
subjects toward those ends. The dates will be Tuesday evenings,
December 6th and 20th as well as January 3rd and 10th. The location
will be Fairview Baptist Church (Danforth and North Sooner Road) in
Edmond. The meetings will begin at 7:00 and end at 8:30 p.m. The age
range for the Generation Joshua Organization is from 11 to 19 years of
age. If you have a son or daughter in that age group that is
interested in a better understanding of government and the political
process, they would be welcome to attend. Those older than 19 or
adults may attend, but we want to try and keep the questions and
answers mostly to the younger age group.
* MOORE AREA - THURSDAY EVENING - The Sooner Republican Assembly
will meet at Earls Rib in Moore, 6:00 for dinner and 6:45 p.m. for the
speaker and program on Thursday evening, December 8th. The main
speaker will be Pastor Fred Greening. In addition they will be
conducting a silent auction with the funds raised going to the club
treasury.
* OKC AREA - FRIDAY EVENING - Last year several folks got
together for a course on survivor training. They will meet again this
Friday evening from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m. at the Northside Bible
Church, 1401 NW 100th street in Britton (the corner of NW 100th and
McKinley). The speaker will be a ham operator, talking about
communications and home security. There is no admission and they will
have plenty of seating. For more information call George Wallace at
(405) 818-2277.
* TULSA AREA - SATURDAY EVENING - As I mentioned in last week’s e-
mail, with the secularists gaining control of the annual Christmas
parade in Tulsa and turning it into a secular event, some of the local
Christians and conservatives have decided to start an new tradition by
hosting a CHRISTMAS parade which will honor the reason for the season.
Therefore, the Christmas parade will be held at the Tulsa Hills
Shopping Center, 71st street South and U.S. Highway 75. The parade
will start at 6:00 p.m.. So bundle up the kids and enjoy the parade.
For more information call (918) 583-2345.
* WARR ACRES - TUESDAY, DEC 13TH - The Change A Nation For Christ
organization will hold their monthly meeting one week from this
Tuesday at Victory Church, 4300 North McArthur in Warr Acres. The
meeting will take place in the “Commons” area which is on the West End
of the campus. The meeting is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. with a light meal
served at 6:30. There is no charge for the meal, but a donation would
be welcome. Speaking will be Mr. Ralph Bullard, the former head master
of Christian Heritage Academy in Del City. Mr. Bullard will be
speaking from his personal experiences about the crucial connection
between Christian education and God’s purpose for America. For more
information contact Travis or Sue Votaw at
Travisue@votaw.org.
++ THE MISGUIDED LIBERAL FAITH COMMUNITY!
A couple of weeks back as reported in the Oklahoman, several liberal
Baptist groups gathered for the “New Baptist Covenant II” regional
meeting at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in OKC. The gathering
was started several years ago by former President Jimmy Carter. I
believe Carter, Al Gore and Bill Clinton are all the products of
liberal splits off of Biblical Baptist churches and as such are quite
different in their theology and world view.
Locally, one of their leaders is Dr. Bruce Prescott director of
Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists, in my opinion he is one of central
Oklahoma’s leading false prophets. Mainstream is the word they choose
for themselves, in my opinion they are anything but mainstream. These
groups of progressives are politically active and as such came up with
a supposed problem which they intend to address during next year’s
legislative session.
The senior pastor at St. John, the Rev. Major Jemison, said, “the
Christian community’s role is to speak up for the impoverished who
find themselves in a no-win situation with payday lenders.”
Payday lenders have popped up across Oklahoma over the past 10 years
or so. People with jobs can go into these loan offices and get an
advance before their next paycheck, that is, if they are willing to
pay a hefty interest rate on the advance. Depending on the amount of
the loan and how many days before their paycheck, the interest rate
could climb to 500% or more. That is not 5 times the paycheck, but say
$20 on a $200 loan figured over 7 or 10 days might figure up to that
percentage rate on an annualized basis.
Based on my 20 plus years of financial counseling (not investment
counseling, but rather budgeting and debt resolution) I believe most
of the people accessing these loans are poorly educated,
undisciplined, not very bright and quite often they are in a jam. The
hefty interest rates are posted on the door or window next to the door
as well as listed several times throughout the businesses.
Most of these folks don’t bother to even look at the published
interest rates or if they did, they wouldn’t be likely to understand,
that they are the last people in the world that should be accessing
these loans. All they are interested in is getting their hands on the
cash now. Because they run behind with their bills and other uses for
their money most of the time, shortly after their paycheck is issued,
they are behind again and go back again for another advance. Over time
the interest really adds up, money they need for expenses but they
give it up for the immediate. Just remember, no one holds a gun to
their head and makes them take out these loans. Usually their credit
rating will be so bad that they can’t get a loan from traditional
sources and at a reasonable interest rate. So what to do about this
situation?
Dr. Prescott indicated he would like to see legislation reducing the
interest rates. However, the rates are what they are because these
loan companies are dealing with unstable and risky clients that
probably have no where else to go for a short term loan. Some of these
people have skipped on loans to the small consumer loan businesses
which loan at lower rates. As well many of their friends and families
will no longer loan them money for past failures to repay. So if
Prescott gets his way and causes government to interfere in the
market place, will these loan companies go away? If so, will these
desperate folks turn to crime to meet their immediate needs?
I have an idea for these liberal Progressives, why don’t they get off
their high horses and do something for the benefit of these people and
leave the government out of this. Why not produce a small placard
explaining how detrimental these high interest loans are and stand
outside the loan offices handing them to the people as they enter or
exit. After making the case as to the harm resulting from these high
interest loans, invite them to a dinner and budgeting class. Explain,
there is a way to get off the merry-go-round of financial pressure.
Urge them to come to a meeting, even feed them a meal to help convince
them to come and make a real difference in their lives.
In all reality, most will be offended by the offers of help, but some
may take them up on the offer. Those who reject the offers of help
should be allowed to experience the fruit of their decision. At some
point in time, they may hit bottom and finally reach out. Those
choices are true liberty and true justice. In reality, Biblical
Christians are more likely to reach out in this manner than the
liberal progressives who seem to always want government to fix a
perceived problem.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
NEWT GINGRICH & PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS ++ WILL REPUBLICANS SUPPORT DEPLETION OF SS TRUST FUND?
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ NEWT GINGRICH & PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS
++ WILL REPUBLICANS SUPPORT DEPLETION OF SS TRUST FUND?
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, November 30th will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. We are going to call
this week’s meeting, “Home School Wednesday” as we will have about 10
home school students who have planned and will conduct our meeting. I
think most all of these students are affiliated with the Generation
Joshua Project. I am sure they will explain what that means and
provide an excellent program. Several years ago we had about 8 to 15
home school students attend nearly every Wednesday for a period of
about 4 years. Their parents believed the weekly OCPAC meetings would
provide the best civics education available as well additional
information on a broad range of issues. We don’t see those students
much anymore since they got busy with college and other objectives in
life. We have turned our meetings over to home schoolers in the past
and they have always done an excellent job of planning and conducting
a meeting. I often hear conservatives say, “where are the young
people?” You won’t have to go any further than our Wednesday meeting
to see the hope for our future.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* TUESDAY EVENING - OKC AREA - State Representative Charles Key
(R-OKC) will host a campaign kick-off event for his effort to run for
Oklahoma County Court Clerk. The fundraiser will be from 5:30 to 7:00
p.m. at H&H Gun Range, 400 South Vermont Ave, Suite #100. Speaking on
behalf of Charles will be Oklahoma House Speaker Designee, T.W.
Shannon (R-Lawton). So grab your checkbook and come help Charles get
started in this race. Not everyone can contribute the maximum of
$5,000, but those smaller contributions of $20, $50 and a $100 really
add up. I am sure Charles will be appreciative of any and all the help
folks can contribute.
* FRIDAY EVENING - OKC AREA - The many chapters of the John Birch
Society will host their annual Christmas dinner and fund raising
auction this Friday evening (6:30 p.m.) at the Character Inn, 520 West
Main in downtown OKC. The cost for the dinner is $10. Please bring one
nice auction item per person or family and come join the fun. I will
buy the dinner for 1 person, deemed by those in attendance, to have
dressed more in the Christmas spirit than I. Good luck, I won’t be
easy to beat!!!
* SATURDAY, DEC 3RD - STATE WIDE - The Fox News Cable Channel
will host a presidential forum during the Mike Huckabee show which
airs at 7:00 p.m. Central Standard Time. Oklahoma’s Attorney General,
Scott Pruitt will be one of the 3 Attorney Generals to moderate the
forum. Hopefully Scott will ask pertinent questions about federalism
and states rights. Questions about the proper balance between the
states and the federal government as well as limiting the
jurisdictions of the federal judiciary. I am under no illusion that
this important program will be able to compete with the entertainment
of the bedlam game in Stillwater, but that is what those DVR’s are
for. So record the program and watch it later.
* SATURDAY, DEC 10TH - TULSA AREA - For many years the city of
Tulsa had a traditional Christmas parade. However, with the advent of
secularists gaining control of the parade, they changed it to some
kind of a nebulous “holiday parade”. U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe had
participated in the parade for many years by riding on horseback.
Because of the change, Senator Inhofe announced last year that he
would not participate in the parade, nor will he this year.
As a result, several Christians and conservatives got together and
planned to have a Christmas parade to once again honor Jesus as the
reason for the season. Therefore, the Tulsa CHRISTMAS parade will
occur Saturday evening, December 10th, starting at 6:00 p.m. The
location will be the Tulsa Hills Shopping Center, 71st street South
and U.S. highway 75. If you would like to help sponsor or volunteer in
the effort, please call (918) 583-2345. If you can’t help, you may
just want to attend and see the parade.
++ NEWT GINGRICH & PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS
Some of the reasons I so appreciate the John Birch Society (I have
been a member since 1988) is their understanding of the importance of
accurate history as well as what parts of history are important to
understand. In addition, there is probably no organization better at
discerning the enemies of Americanism, enemies that I would suggest
are made up of individuals and/or organizations dedicated to
destroying our national sovereignty and merging us into a global
socialist state.
About 2 years ago the Society discerned that the “establishment
insiders” considered Newt Gingrich as one of their prime candidates to
win the Republican nomination for president. As such, the Birch
Society produced a 33 minute DVD called “The Real Newt Gingrich” to
expose his long history of being wrong on issues and flip flopping
when necessary. I will have those DVDs available at our meeting for
people to take and view if they would like.
As recently as September, I believed Newt would not rise to the top,
but the many debates have allowed Mr. slickster to display his
intelligence and shine with is quick wit and grasp of issues and
experience. It appears that large numbers have taken the bait and with
the hook firmly set in their mouth he is reeling them in as they have
propelled him to near the top of the race. It so reminds me of the
2008 election cycle when we got down to the choice of the insider
establishment’s John McCain or Mitt Romney to chose from for the
Republican ticket or the insider establishment’s Barrack Obama or
Hillary Clinton to chose from on the Democrat side.
This time it is looking like our choices are boiling down to choosing
between the insider establishment’s choice of Mitt Romney or Newt
Gingrich on the Republican side to go up against the insider
establishment’s Barrack Obama, who is burning out and is not likely to
win re-election. The other establishment candidates (they never get
behind just one candidate or just one party), Jon Huntsman and Rick
Perry either never got any traction or fizzled out over night.
Some weeks back I suggested the only 3 I would consider would be
Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul or Herman Cain (Rick Santorum and the
others never got out of the starting gate. For a variety of reasons I
am about finished with Herman Cain, though I really liked his 999
plan, especially since it was to be a bridge to The Fair Tax.
I know many will disagree with me on the presidential candidates and
that is fine. In my entire 28 years or so of activism, a primary
candidate I have supported has never won the nomination (I was just
beginning to get involved in 84 when Reagan ran for re-election). Am I
out of step with the easily manipulated majority? Absolutely! I may
not be correct in my evaluations, but please remember, the majority is
almost always wrong! If they weren’t wrong, then we wouldn’t be in the
mess that we find ourselves in today.
++ WILL REPUBLICANS SUPPORT DEPLETION OF SS TRUST FUND?
Some important information to understand. Anytime we are in a
recession, all good little Keysian Economists always desire to infuse
money into the economy to pump it up and get us out of difficult
economic times. Those newly infused dollars in the hands of people
usually cause them to buy more goods and services, thus putting more
demand into the economy and as such people go to work to meet that new
demand and thus the economy pulls out of a recession.
There are a variety of ways to infuse money into the economy.
Republicans like to do so through tax cuts. They like to say that
people can spend their money better than government. While I agree
with that notion, the following point needs to be understood by
conservatives. A tax cut, WITHOUT a corresponding spending cut of the
same amount or more, is simply a means to infuse money into our
economy. Those circumstances are not likely to create real wealth, but
rather additional revenues through inflation, which by definition is
an expansion of the money supply.
Now a little history over the past 3 years. When President Obama
gained power, along with strong Democrat majorities in the Congress,
we were in a recession. One of the main efforts to infuse cash into
the system resulted in the Congress of 2008, along with the support of
the President, passing a law to create a tax rebate (kick back) of
$400 dollars per working person for taxable years 2009 and 2010. Most
people drawing a paycheck saw their paychecks adjusted to allow for
that rebate to be figured in over a year’s time. Thus, everyone’s
paycheck rose about $8 per week per working person or about $32 per
month per working person.
After the 2010 elections, the President and a lame duck congress,
still controlled by Democrats, changed their strategy. They
discontinued giving the tax credit which was tied to a person’s income
tax obligation. That tax credit, (tax credits are actually government
expenditures) along with massive new federal spending in other areas
caused our annual deficit and also our national debt to rise
dramatically.
However, to keep the citizens paychecks from going down, for the
taxable year of 2011, they decided to pass a law to reduce the amount
of payroll taxes we pay. Though everyone paid $8 more in income taxes,
the nearly 33% reduction in payroll taxes actually caused most
individual’s paychecks to increase even more for 2011 than had
occurred in 09 and 2010.
Here is the problem. What we call payroll taxes weren’t really
intended to be a tax, but rather an insurance premium for the social
security and medicare trust funds. Words have meanings and in our
sloppiness we have been calling these FICA insurance premiums, taxes.
FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contribution Act. In other
words, it was originally to be a stand alone old age retirement
insurance fund and as such what we pay into that trust fund should
better be understood to be insurance premiums rather than a tax.
In all but about 10 years since the existence of the FICA (social
security) program (of 1933) the premiums have been greater than the
pay-outs, thus creating a surplus for most of the existence of the
program. Congress has borrowed those surpluses by creating both short
term and long term interest bearing bonds. Congress has never failed
(so far) to pay those bonds back, so anytime you hear someone say
congress has stolen the funds, you are listening to an ignorant
person, because Congress has never stolen a penny of those funds. What
Congress has failed to do is keep the Trust Fund actuarially sound.
In the taxable year of 2010, the surpluses dried up and the FICA Trust
Fund began to operate in the red again. As such, Congress had to
borrow money from other sources to pay back some of the bonds so
social security benefits wouldn’t have to be reduced. Of course
borrowing from other sources to pay back some of the bonds, caused our
national debt to rise.
With the system beginning to operate in the red in 2010, it was simply
crazy for Obama and the Democrats to allow people a 33% reduction in
what they paid into the Trust fund. It was insane, that is unless the
Democrats were wanting to set up the incoming Republicans for future
problems in the eyes of an economically ignorant American public who
has little understanding of budgeting and keeping stand alone trust
funds actuarially sound. In addition, I suspect Obama would like to
destroy the free standing trust fund and cause people to rely upon the
general fund to pay for their future benefits.
Here is the dilemma for the Republicans. The 33% reduction in what we
pay in FICA premiums is set to expire on December 31st. Will
Republicans provide some responsible LEADERSHIP and refuse to continue
those reductions (Obama actually proposed the 33% cut be increased to
50% for what working people pay and a 50% reduction in what employers
pay up to a certain amount) or will they continue the reductions and
thus cause the fund to be depleted? By not restoring these insurance
premiums into the system, the Republicans will be just as guilty as
the Democrats in hastening the day premiums will have to be raised
above their current levels or else benefits will have to be reduced.
If Republicans refuse to do what is right, the 2033 date for a
collision will be moved up to the very near future. I wonder if
Americans will act like Europeans when their benefits are reduced by
30 to 35 percent?
On the other hand, if Republicans do the responsible thing and
discontinue the cuts, the average family will see their monthly
paycheck decrease by about $80 per month. That is why it is a dilemma
for the Republicans. Would taking that $80 per month out of paychecks
to put back into the trust fund weaken the economy? Probably! That is
why it is so difficult to cut spending when we are printing or
borrowing about 1.6 Trillion per year more than the federal government
takes in in revenues. Those borrowed or printed dollars are propping
up our economy which is already struggling. That is why cutting
spending without recapturing our manufacturing base and expanding our
energy sector to provide more jobs for Americans is very difficult and
risky.
I don’t think Republicans understand this much better than do
Democrats. Further reductions in taxes on individuals will do little
to improve our economy. Reducing taxes on businesses is vital and one
of several necessary steps to re-capturing our manufacturing base in
America.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ NEWT GINGRICH & PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS
++ WILL REPUBLICANS SUPPORT DEPLETION OF SS TRUST FUND?
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, November 30th will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. We are going to call
this week’s meeting, “Home School Wednesday” as we will have about 10
home school students who have planned and will conduct our meeting. I
think most all of these students are affiliated with the Generation
Joshua Project. I am sure they will explain what that means and
provide an excellent program. Several years ago we had about 8 to 15
home school students attend nearly every Wednesday for a period of
about 4 years. Their parents believed the weekly OCPAC meetings would
provide the best civics education available as well additional
information on a broad range of issues. We don’t see those students
much anymore since they got busy with college and other objectives in
life. We have turned our meetings over to home schoolers in the past
and they have always done an excellent job of planning and conducting
a meeting. I often hear conservatives say, “where are the young
people?” You won’t have to go any further than our Wednesday meeting
to see the hope for our future.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* TUESDAY EVENING - OKC AREA - State Representative Charles Key
(R-OKC) will host a campaign kick-off event for his effort to run for
Oklahoma County Court Clerk. The fundraiser will be from 5:30 to 7:00
p.m. at H&H Gun Range, 400 South Vermont Ave, Suite #100. Speaking on
behalf of Charles will be Oklahoma House Speaker Designee, T.W.
Shannon (R-Lawton). So grab your checkbook and come help Charles get
started in this race. Not everyone can contribute the maximum of
$5,000, but those smaller contributions of $20, $50 and a $100 really
add up. I am sure Charles will be appreciative of any and all the help
folks can contribute.
* FRIDAY EVENING - OKC AREA - The many chapters of the John Birch
Society will host their annual Christmas dinner and fund raising
auction this Friday evening (6:30 p.m.) at the Character Inn, 520 West
Main in downtown OKC. The cost for the dinner is $10. Please bring one
nice auction item per person or family and come join the fun. I will
buy the dinner for 1 person, deemed by those in attendance, to have
dressed more in the Christmas spirit than I. Good luck, I won’t be
easy to beat!!!
* SATURDAY, DEC 3RD - STATE WIDE - The Fox News Cable Channel
will host a presidential forum during the Mike Huckabee show which
airs at 7:00 p.m. Central Standard Time. Oklahoma’s Attorney General,
Scott Pruitt will be one of the 3 Attorney Generals to moderate the
forum. Hopefully Scott will ask pertinent questions about federalism
and states rights. Questions about the proper balance between the
states and the federal government as well as limiting the
jurisdictions of the federal judiciary. I am under no illusion that
this important program will be able to compete with the entertainment
of the bedlam game in Stillwater, but that is what those DVR’s are
for. So record the program and watch it later.
* SATURDAY, DEC 10TH - TULSA AREA - For many years the city of
Tulsa had a traditional Christmas parade. However, with the advent of
secularists gaining control of the parade, they changed it to some
kind of a nebulous “holiday parade”. U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe had
participated in the parade for many years by riding on horseback.
Because of the change, Senator Inhofe announced last year that he
would not participate in the parade, nor will he this year.
As a result, several Christians and conservatives got together and
planned to have a Christmas parade to once again honor Jesus as the
reason for the season. Therefore, the Tulsa CHRISTMAS parade will
occur Saturday evening, December 10th, starting at 6:00 p.m. The
location will be the Tulsa Hills Shopping Center, 71st street South
and U.S. highway 75. If you would like to help sponsor or volunteer in
the effort, please call (918) 583-2345. If you can’t help, you may
just want to attend and see the parade.
++ NEWT GINGRICH & PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS
Some of the reasons I so appreciate the John Birch Society (I have
been a member since 1988) is their understanding of the importance of
accurate history as well as what parts of history are important to
understand. In addition, there is probably no organization better at
discerning the enemies of Americanism, enemies that I would suggest
are made up of individuals and/or organizations dedicated to
destroying our national sovereignty and merging us into a global
socialist state.
About 2 years ago the Society discerned that the “establishment
insiders” considered Newt Gingrich as one of their prime candidates to
win the Republican nomination for president. As such, the Birch
Society produced a 33 minute DVD called “The Real Newt Gingrich” to
expose his long history of being wrong on issues and flip flopping
when necessary. I will have those DVDs available at our meeting for
people to take and view if they would like.
As recently as September, I believed Newt would not rise to the top,
but the many debates have allowed Mr. slickster to display his
intelligence and shine with is quick wit and grasp of issues and
experience. It appears that large numbers have taken the bait and with
the hook firmly set in their mouth he is reeling them in as they have
propelled him to near the top of the race. It so reminds me of the
2008 election cycle when we got down to the choice of the insider
establishment’s John McCain or Mitt Romney to chose from for the
Republican ticket or the insider establishment’s Barrack Obama or
Hillary Clinton to chose from on the Democrat side.
This time it is looking like our choices are boiling down to choosing
between the insider establishment’s choice of Mitt Romney or Newt
Gingrich on the Republican side to go up against the insider
establishment’s Barrack Obama, who is burning out and is not likely to
win re-election. The other establishment candidates (they never get
behind just one candidate or just one party), Jon Huntsman and Rick
Perry either never got any traction or fizzled out over night.
Some weeks back I suggested the only 3 I would consider would be
Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul or Herman Cain (Rick Santorum and the
others never got out of the starting gate. For a variety of reasons I
am about finished with Herman Cain, though I really liked his 999
plan, especially since it was to be a bridge to The Fair Tax.
I know many will disagree with me on the presidential candidates and
that is fine. In my entire 28 years or so of activism, a primary
candidate I have supported has never won the nomination (I was just
beginning to get involved in 84 when Reagan ran for re-election). Am I
out of step with the easily manipulated majority? Absolutely! I may
not be correct in my evaluations, but please remember, the majority is
almost always wrong! If they weren’t wrong, then we wouldn’t be in the
mess that we find ourselves in today.
++ WILL REPUBLICANS SUPPORT DEPLETION OF SS TRUST FUND?
Some important information to understand. Anytime we are in a
recession, all good little Keysian Economists always desire to infuse
money into the economy to pump it up and get us out of difficult
economic times. Those newly infused dollars in the hands of people
usually cause them to buy more goods and services, thus putting more
demand into the economy and as such people go to work to meet that new
demand and thus the economy pulls out of a recession.
There are a variety of ways to infuse money into the economy.
Republicans like to do so through tax cuts. They like to say that
people can spend their money better than government. While I agree
with that notion, the following point needs to be understood by
conservatives. A tax cut, WITHOUT a corresponding spending cut of the
same amount or more, is simply a means to infuse money into our
economy. Those circumstances are not likely to create real wealth, but
rather additional revenues through inflation, which by definition is
an expansion of the money supply.
Now a little history over the past 3 years. When President Obama
gained power, along with strong Democrat majorities in the Congress,
we were in a recession. One of the main efforts to infuse cash into
the system resulted in the Congress of 2008, along with the support of
the President, passing a law to create a tax rebate (kick back) of
$400 dollars per working person for taxable years 2009 and 2010. Most
people drawing a paycheck saw their paychecks adjusted to allow for
that rebate to be figured in over a year’s time. Thus, everyone’s
paycheck rose about $8 per week per working person or about $32 per
month per working person.
After the 2010 elections, the President and a lame duck congress,
still controlled by Democrats, changed their strategy. They
discontinued giving the tax credit which was tied to a person’s income
tax obligation. That tax credit, (tax credits are actually government
expenditures) along with massive new federal spending in other areas
caused our annual deficit and also our national debt to rise
dramatically.
However, to keep the citizens paychecks from going down, for the
taxable year of 2011, they decided to pass a law to reduce the amount
of payroll taxes we pay. Though everyone paid $8 more in income taxes,
the nearly 33% reduction in payroll taxes actually caused most
individual’s paychecks to increase even more for 2011 than had
occurred in 09 and 2010.
Here is the problem. What we call payroll taxes weren’t really
intended to be a tax, but rather an insurance premium for the social
security and medicare trust funds. Words have meanings and in our
sloppiness we have been calling these FICA insurance premiums, taxes.
FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contribution Act. In other
words, it was originally to be a stand alone old age retirement
insurance fund and as such what we pay into that trust fund should
better be understood to be insurance premiums rather than a tax.
In all but about 10 years since the existence of the FICA (social
security) program (of 1933) the premiums have been greater than the
pay-outs, thus creating a surplus for most of the existence of the
program. Congress has borrowed those surpluses by creating both short
term and long term interest bearing bonds. Congress has never failed
(so far) to pay those bonds back, so anytime you hear someone say
congress has stolen the funds, you are listening to an ignorant
person, because Congress has never stolen a penny of those funds. What
Congress has failed to do is keep the Trust Fund actuarially sound.
In the taxable year of 2010, the surpluses dried up and the FICA Trust
Fund began to operate in the red again. As such, Congress had to
borrow money from other sources to pay back some of the bonds so
social security benefits wouldn’t have to be reduced. Of course
borrowing from other sources to pay back some of the bonds, caused our
national debt to rise.
With the system beginning to operate in the red in 2010, it was simply
crazy for Obama and the Democrats to allow people a 33% reduction in
what they paid into the Trust fund. It was insane, that is unless the
Democrats were wanting to set up the incoming Republicans for future
problems in the eyes of an economically ignorant American public who
has little understanding of budgeting and keeping stand alone trust
funds actuarially sound. In addition, I suspect Obama would like to
destroy the free standing trust fund and cause people to rely upon the
general fund to pay for their future benefits.
Here is the dilemma for the Republicans. The 33% reduction in what we
pay in FICA premiums is set to expire on December 31st. Will
Republicans provide some responsible LEADERSHIP and refuse to continue
those reductions (Obama actually proposed the 33% cut be increased to
50% for what working people pay and a 50% reduction in what employers
pay up to a certain amount) or will they continue the reductions and
thus cause the fund to be depleted? By not restoring these insurance
premiums into the system, the Republicans will be just as guilty as
the Democrats in hastening the day premiums will have to be raised
above their current levels or else benefits will have to be reduced.
If Republicans refuse to do what is right, the 2033 date for a
collision will be moved up to the very near future. I wonder if
Americans will act like Europeans when their benefits are reduced by
30 to 35 percent?
On the other hand, if Republicans do the responsible thing and
discontinue the cuts, the average family will see their monthly
paycheck decrease by about $80 per month. That is why it is a dilemma
for the Republicans. Would taking that $80 per month out of paychecks
to put back into the trust fund weaken the economy? Probably! That is
why it is so difficult to cut spending when we are printing or
borrowing about 1.6 Trillion per year more than the federal government
takes in in revenues. Those borrowed or printed dollars are propping
up our economy which is already struggling. That is why cutting
spending without recapturing our manufacturing base and expanding our
energy sector to provide more jobs for Americans is very difficult and
risky.
I don’t think Republicans understand this much better than do
Democrats. Further reductions in taxes on individuals will do little
to improve our economy. Reducing taxes on businesses is vital and one
of several necessary steps to re-capturing our manufacturing base in
America.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
ANNOUNCMENTS INTO THE FUTURE ++ TEA PARTIES HERE AND ELSEWHERE
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
++ ANNOUNCMENTS INTO THE FUTURE
++ TEA PARTIES HERE AND ELSEWHERE
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
By my calculation, this will be the 21 time in a row that we will be
meeting on the Wednesday before a Thanksgiving day. We usually have a
good crowd as many are off work or perhaps they have family or friends
coming in and they bring them to our meeting. Our 12 noon luncheon for
Wednesday, November 23rd will be held at Italiano’s restaurant, 4801
North Lincoln in OKC. Paul Blair, my pastor at Fairview Baptist in
Edmond will have a few comments and make an important announcement.
Our main speaker will be Dr. G. Thomas Sharp of Noble Oklahoma. In my
65 years I have had the privilege to meet a lot of very intelligent
individuals that have done an excellent job of developing their
intellect and communication skills. I interviewed Dr. Sharp on my
radio program in 2001 and he was just fascinating. He sure upset Ben
Odem and his liberal (excuse me, “progressive” friends) who had a
program which followed mine. Dr. Sharp can speak on many subjects, but
I have asked him to at least discuss some of the very interesting
things that occurred with the eruption of Mt. St. Helens and what
happened to Spirit Lake and other parts of the Mountain. Dr. Sharp has
a large collection of dinosaur skeletons which will soon be displayed
in a permanent home on I-35 just South of the Dallas Ft. Worth area.
Don’t miss this meeting.
++ ANNOUNCMENTS INTO THE FUTURE
* TUESDAY, NOV 29TH - OKC AREA - State Representative Charles Key
(R-OKC) will host a campaign kick-off event for his effort to run for
Oklahoma County Court Clerk. The fundraiser will be from 5:30 to 7:00
p.m. at H&H Gun Range, 400 South Vermont Ave, Suite # 110. Speaking on
behalf of Charles in his effort will be Oklahoma House Speaker
Designee, T.W. Shannon (R-Lawton). The public is welcome, so grab your
checkbook and come help Charles get started in this race, even if you
can only contribute a small amount of funds for his effort.
* FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2ND - OKC AREA - The state wide chapters of
the John Birch Society will host their annual Christmas dinner and
auction at the Character Inn, 520 West Main Street in downtown OKC.
Not sure, but I believe the dinner starts at 6:00 p.m. and costs $10
for the meal. Please bring one nice auction item per person or family
and come join the fun. As always, if there is one person in attendance
with a flashier Christmas tie and etc. on than I will be
wearing, I will pay for their dinner. Good luck!
* Monday, December 5th - OKC AREA - The Oklahoma State Republican
Party has invited all the Republican candidates for office to come to
Oklahoma so people can get to know them better. They also use the
occasion for a fund raiser for the party. Mitt Romney has already been
here and the next to come will be Herman Cain. The time will be 6:30
p.m. with the location being the Oklahoma City Marriott, 3233
Northwest Expressway in OKC. The Republican Party is not endorsing
anyone, it is simply a fundraiser and an opportunity for folks to meet
the candidates. The cost to attend is $20.12 per person. We are asked
to register online to Emily@okgop.com or call (405) 528-3501 by
December 3rd.
++ TEA PARTIES, HERE AND ELSEWHERE
I am beginning to hear a lot of people wonder what ever happened to
the Tea Parties which began to fire up about 2 and a half years ago.
First let me say, the Tea Party groups in rural Oklahoma are still
around and busy. However, in our two largest cities, they no longer
exist, as least not as large rallies with clever signs. Many of the
people really determined to make a difference have gotten involved in
organizations such at the 912 groups, OCPAC, OK-SAFE, the John Birch
Society and others.
As far as Oklahoma is concerned, I believe they had only a minimal
effect on the 2010 elections. When it came to our congressional
delegation, their influence was only felt in the second district,
where the under funded Republican received about 45% of the vote
against the well known incumbent David Boren with all the money in the
world and a district with a strong Democrat majority. Boren, realizing
a better funded candidate would come after him in 2012 and it being a
presidential election cycle with higher Republican turnout, has
decided to retire rather than experience the likely hood of an
embarrassing defeat.
Since the rest of Oklahoma’s delegation had opposed President Obama’s
agenda and they were of the opposing party, it was hard to get people
upset with what was happening in Washington to the point they were
willing to toss them out of office.
The only other place the tea parties had much effect was in the
Republican primary for governor. In all my years of activism, the
conservative grass roots had only been able to garner about 40% of the
vote against the Republican establishment candidate for statewide
races. I am talking about past races where we had candidates such as
Mike Fair, Jerry Pierce and Jerry Brown running for governor or Tim
Green for attorney general.
The one exception was when Dr. Tom Coburn destroyed Kirk Humphries for
U.S. Senate. That was mainly because Dr. Coburn has his own unique
qualities, which appealed to some of the establishment voters, and
then there was Bob Anthony out there acting like “Jack the
Ripper” (that was Kirk Humphries’s description of Bob) banging away at
Kirk’s liberalism which allowed Dr. Tom to triangulate above the war
between Kirk and Bob.
However, in the Republican governor’s race, Randy Brogdon became the
darling of the tea parties, so Brogdon and the other two Republican
candidates were able to garner over 45% of the vote against one of the
highest profile establishment candidates in history. I believe you can
credit the tea parties with that additional 5% of the vote in that
race.
Otherwise, the tea parties probably had enough additional effect to
help the Republican’s pick up several new seats in the legislature,
particularly in the Southeast quarter of the state.
I believe the awareness ginned up by the tea parties along with better
voter education will continue to have a positive effect for some time
to come. That will be especially true in rural Oklahoma if they remain
active. Their key to success is that they have become more like an
organization with an agenda and strategy to achieve their agenda
rather than an event or gathering like the large crowds of the big
city tea parties.
One other thing about the tea parties in the big cities. They live or
die based on the help from talk radio. With the passing of Mark
Shannon, OKC no longer has a voice able to stir up the emotions of the
populace to get a decent turn out. The Egg Man is a boring 3rd rate
comedian, incapable of serious talk radio and certainly too shallow to
provide any kind of leadership for tea parties. The only reason I know
he is still on air is because I have to listen to his program teasers
throughout the day while listening to KTOK’s syndicated line-up. When
the clock strikes 4:00 and until 7:00 p.m. I begin to listen to Neal
Bortze on 1520 AM, Paul Blair on 800 AM, Shawn Hannity on 740 AM out
of Tulsa, or and investment program on 960 AM out of Enid. Try any of
these programs as they are all superior to the Egg Man!
I have said all this to talk about our guest last week Scott Hennen
and his involvement with the tea parties in North and South Dakota as
well as Minnesota. Before the tea party movement, North Dakota had
been represented in Washington by Democrats for nearly 3 decades, even
though the state voted for Republicans for President.
President Obama’s agenda stirred the wrath of the citizens in ND so
much that they turned out 1500 people to a tea party in Fargo, a town
of only 100,000. Proportionally that would be a larger turnout than
any tea party in either of our 2 larger cities.
The 2 Democrat Senators began to have town hall meetings in barns or
fire stations in very small communities so they could say they were
meeting with the folks, but avoiding the larger cities and thus hoping
to avoid embarrassing moments. Scott would go to these small
communities and broadcast from a local coffee shop, urging people to
come and pick up sheets with the top 20 questions to ask their
Senators. These fire stations and barns would be packed and the people
were so well informed that the Senators couldn’t pull the wool over
their eyes.
Therefore, the Senator up for re-election announced he would not run
again and he was replaced by a Republican, though he doesn’t appear to
be very conservative according to his score of a 50 on the Freedom
Index in the New American magazine. Their 9 term U.S. Representative,
Earl Pomeroy, would not attend town hall meetings and was defeated by
10 percentage points. The Republican who defeated him scored an 80,
the same as our Republicans in Oklahoma. Their loan remaining Democrat
Senator has announced that he will not seek re-election next year and
according to Scott, he is sure to be replaced by the sitting
Republican Governor.
Let me suggest that in states that still have fairly conservative
values, a liberal Democrat’s days will be numbered if there is an
active tea party movement. Also, to take that a step farther, liberal
Democrats or in some cases liberal Republicans will insure that the
tea parties will stay active. Therefore locations, conditions and talk
radio will determine the activities and vigor of tea parties.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
++ ANNOUNCMENTS INTO THE FUTURE
++ TEA PARTIES HERE AND ELSEWHERE
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
By my calculation, this will be the 21 time in a row that we will be
meeting on the Wednesday before a Thanksgiving day. We usually have a
good crowd as many are off work or perhaps they have family or friends
coming in and they bring them to our meeting. Our 12 noon luncheon for
Wednesday, November 23rd will be held at Italiano’s restaurant, 4801
North Lincoln in OKC. Paul Blair, my pastor at Fairview Baptist in
Edmond will have a few comments and make an important announcement.
Our main speaker will be Dr. G. Thomas Sharp of Noble Oklahoma. In my
65 years I have had the privilege to meet a lot of very intelligent
individuals that have done an excellent job of developing their
intellect and communication skills. I interviewed Dr. Sharp on my
radio program in 2001 and he was just fascinating. He sure upset Ben
Odem and his liberal (excuse me, “progressive” friends) who had a
program which followed mine. Dr. Sharp can speak on many subjects, but
I have asked him to at least discuss some of the very interesting
things that occurred with the eruption of Mt. St. Helens and what
happened to Spirit Lake and other parts of the Mountain. Dr. Sharp has
a large collection of dinosaur skeletons which will soon be displayed
in a permanent home on I-35 just South of the Dallas Ft. Worth area.
Don’t miss this meeting.
++ ANNOUNCMENTS INTO THE FUTURE
* TUESDAY, NOV 29TH - OKC AREA - State Representative Charles Key
(R-OKC) will host a campaign kick-off event for his effort to run for
Oklahoma County Court Clerk. The fundraiser will be from 5:30 to 7:00
p.m. at H&H Gun Range, 400 South Vermont Ave, Suite # 110. Speaking on
behalf of Charles in his effort will be Oklahoma House Speaker
Designee, T.W. Shannon (R-Lawton). The public is welcome, so grab your
checkbook and come help Charles get started in this race, even if you
can only contribute a small amount of funds for his effort.
* FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2ND - OKC AREA - The state wide chapters of
the John Birch Society will host their annual Christmas dinner and
auction at the Character Inn, 520 West Main Street in downtown OKC.
Not sure, but I believe the dinner starts at 6:00 p.m. and costs $10
for the meal. Please bring one nice auction item per person or family
and come join the fun. As always, if there is one person in attendance
with a flashier Christmas tie and etc. on than I will be
wearing, I will pay for their dinner. Good luck!
* Monday, December 5th - OKC AREA - The Oklahoma State Republican
Party has invited all the Republican candidates for office to come to
Oklahoma so people can get to know them better. They also use the
occasion for a fund raiser for the party. Mitt Romney has already been
here and the next to come will be Herman Cain. The time will be 6:30
p.m. with the location being the Oklahoma City Marriott, 3233
Northwest Expressway in OKC. The Republican Party is not endorsing
anyone, it is simply a fundraiser and an opportunity for folks to meet
the candidates. The cost to attend is $20.12 per person. We are asked
to register online to Emily@okgop.com or call (405) 528-3501 by
December 3rd.
++ TEA PARTIES, HERE AND ELSEWHERE
I am beginning to hear a lot of people wonder what ever happened to
the Tea Parties which began to fire up about 2 and a half years ago.
First let me say, the Tea Party groups in rural Oklahoma are still
around and busy. However, in our two largest cities, they no longer
exist, as least not as large rallies with clever signs. Many of the
people really determined to make a difference have gotten involved in
organizations such at the 912 groups, OCPAC, OK-SAFE, the John Birch
Society and others.
As far as Oklahoma is concerned, I believe they had only a minimal
effect on the 2010 elections. When it came to our congressional
delegation, their influence was only felt in the second district,
where the under funded Republican received about 45% of the vote
against the well known incumbent David Boren with all the money in the
world and a district with a strong Democrat majority. Boren, realizing
a better funded candidate would come after him in 2012 and it being a
presidential election cycle with higher Republican turnout, has
decided to retire rather than experience the likely hood of an
embarrassing defeat.
Since the rest of Oklahoma’s delegation had opposed President Obama’s
agenda and they were of the opposing party, it was hard to get people
upset with what was happening in Washington to the point they were
willing to toss them out of office.
The only other place the tea parties had much effect was in the
Republican primary for governor. In all my years of activism, the
conservative grass roots had only been able to garner about 40% of the
vote against the Republican establishment candidate for statewide
races. I am talking about past races where we had candidates such as
Mike Fair, Jerry Pierce and Jerry Brown running for governor or Tim
Green for attorney general.
The one exception was when Dr. Tom Coburn destroyed Kirk Humphries for
U.S. Senate. That was mainly because Dr. Coburn has his own unique
qualities, which appealed to some of the establishment voters, and
then there was Bob Anthony out there acting like “Jack the
Ripper” (that was Kirk Humphries’s description of Bob) banging away at
Kirk’s liberalism which allowed Dr. Tom to triangulate above the war
between Kirk and Bob.
However, in the Republican governor’s race, Randy Brogdon became the
darling of the tea parties, so Brogdon and the other two Republican
candidates were able to garner over 45% of the vote against one of the
highest profile establishment candidates in history. I believe you can
credit the tea parties with that additional 5% of the vote in that
race.
Otherwise, the tea parties probably had enough additional effect to
help the Republican’s pick up several new seats in the legislature,
particularly in the Southeast quarter of the state.
I believe the awareness ginned up by the tea parties along with better
voter education will continue to have a positive effect for some time
to come. That will be especially true in rural Oklahoma if they remain
active. Their key to success is that they have become more like an
organization with an agenda and strategy to achieve their agenda
rather than an event or gathering like the large crowds of the big
city tea parties.
One other thing about the tea parties in the big cities. They live or
die based on the help from talk radio. With the passing of Mark
Shannon, OKC no longer has a voice able to stir up the emotions of the
populace to get a decent turn out. The Egg Man is a boring 3rd rate
comedian, incapable of serious talk radio and certainly too shallow to
provide any kind of leadership for tea parties. The only reason I know
he is still on air is because I have to listen to his program teasers
throughout the day while listening to KTOK’s syndicated line-up. When
the clock strikes 4:00 and until 7:00 p.m. I begin to listen to Neal
Bortze on 1520 AM, Paul Blair on 800 AM, Shawn Hannity on 740 AM out
of Tulsa, or and investment program on 960 AM out of Enid. Try any of
these programs as they are all superior to the Egg Man!
I have said all this to talk about our guest last week Scott Hennen
and his involvement with the tea parties in North and South Dakota as
well as Minnesota. Before the tea party movement, North Dakota had
been represented in Washington by Democrats for nearly 3 decades, even
though the state voted for Republicans for President.
President Obama’s agenda stirred the wrath of the citizens in ND so
much that they turned out 1500 people to a tea party in Fargo, a town
of only 100,000. Proportionally that would be a larger turnout than
any tea party in either of our 2 larger cities.
The 2 Democrat Senators began to have town hall meetings in barns or
fire stations in very small communities so they could say they were
meeting with the folks, but avoiding the larger cities and thus hoping
to avoid embarrassing moments. Scott would go to these small
communities and broadcast from a local coffee shop, urging people to
come and pick up sheets with the top 20 questions to ask their
Senators. These fire stations and barns would be packed and the people
were so well informed that the Senators couldn’t pull the wool over
their eyes.
Therefore, the Senator up for re-election announced he would not run
again and he was replaced by a Republican, though he doesn’t appear to
be very conservative according to his score of a 50 on the Freedom
Index in the New American magazine. Their 9 term U.S. Representative,
Earl Pomeroy, would not attend town hall meetings and was defeated by
10 percentage points. The Republican who defeated him scored an 80,
the same as our Republicans in Oklahoma. Their loan remaining Democrat
Senator has announced that he will not seek re-election next year and
according to Scott, he is sure to be replaced by the sitting
Republican Governor.
Let me suggest that in states that still have fairly conservative
values, a liberal Democrat’s days will be numbered if there is an
active tea party movement. Also, to take that a step farther, liberal
Democrats or in some cases liberal Republicans will insure that the
tea parties will stay active. Therefore locations, conditions and talk
radio will determine the activities and vigor of tea parties.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
CITY OF TULSA & SPECIAL ELECTION IN McCURTAIN CO. ++ BORROW MORE MONEY OR PAY AS WE GO?
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ CITY OF TULSA & SPECIAL ELECTION IN McCURTAIN CO.
++ BORROW MORE MONEY OR PAY AS WE GO?
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, November 9th will honor all active
duty, reserves and military veterans. Our speakers this week will be
veterans of World War II, the last war we fought that was properly
declared according to our U.S. Constitution. At the height of the war
we had around 16 million men in uniform as well as many women who
served as WACS or WAVES. With the youngest of those veterans being
around 84 to 85, we are losing those who served at a rapid rate so it
is important that we honor them while we can. I have asked our
speakers to start with where they were when they heard about Perl
Harbor, what did they think, and then go on from there.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* WEDNESDAY - TULSA AREA - The Tulsa Republican Men’s Club will
have their monthly meeting on Wednesday the 9th, 12 noon, at Siegi’s
Sausage Factory, and Restaurant, 81st street and Sheridan Road. They
will also host WW II Veterans. Ladies are welcome to attend these
meetings.
* THURSDAY - MOORE AREA - The Sooner Republican Assembly will
meet at Earl’s Rib in Moore, 6:45 p.m. on Thursday the 10th. Special
guest will be Paul Maus candidate for H.D. 20. This is a newly created
district as a result of re-districting. H.D. 20 is currently held by
Paul Roan of Tishomingo, but he will be term limited out after next
year’s session and the district shifts up toward the Moore area, where
Republicans are expected to pick up this seat. The keynote speaker
will be Jack Moore, a retired attorney. Jack will be speaking on The
Truth About Islam.
* THURSDAY - DUNCAN AREA - On Thursday, November 10th, the
Stephens County Republican Party will stage a mock debate featuring
local Republicans portraying eight GOP presidential candidates. The
surrogates have researched the candidates positions and will try to
give an accurate presentation for their candidate. The candidates will
be asked probing questions by a three person panel who will be
portraying members of the national media. This should be informative
as well as entertaining. The debate will be held at the Red river
Technology Center in Duncan (in the Seminar Room) beginning at 7:00
p.m. There is no admission, if you need further information contact
Steve Fair at (580) 252-6284 or okgop@aol.com
* SATURDAY - OKC AREA - Radio talk show host and minister Glen
Howard along with The Judeo-Christian Fellowship of OKC, will host a
timely update on recent events in Israel and the Middle East. A
buffet breakfast will be available at the Biltmore Hotel (North of
I-40 on Meridian) beginning at 8:30 a.m. followed by a presentation on
the Biblical basis for the support of Israel by Glen Howard of Senior
World Radio (heard at 10:00 a.m. Sundays on 1000 AM). At 10:00 a.m.
this Saturday Avi Lipkin will be speaking to those in attendence via
Skype for an update on the current events in the Middle East. There is
no cost other than the breakfast buffet, but it would be very helpful
to have an idea of how many plan to come. Therefore, please contact
Glen with that information at (405) 760-4536 or ghoward@jcfokc.org.
++ TULSA CITY ELECTIONS & SPECIAL ELECTION IN McCURTAIN CO.
Today, November 8th voters in the Tulsa City Limits will go to the
polls to vote on several of the city council seats as well as several
changes to the city charter. I highly recommend logging on to the
Tulsa Beacon Newspaper’s web-sit for their take on these elections, if
you don’t take that paper. By the way, I believe the Tulsa Beacon (a
weekly) and the Oklahoma Constitution (a quarterly) are the two best
newspapers in the state. I urge all conservatives to subscribe as it
is just $35 per year for the Beacon for those in Tulsa County ($40 for
all others) and the Oklahoma Constitution is just $12 per year.
With the passing of Rusty Farley (R-Haworth) this past Summer, we are
just now getting around to a special primary election on November 8th
to fill his vacated seat. The Democrats have 2 in their primary and
the Republicans have 4 candidates. There will be NO primary runoff for
the Republicans. Therefore, the Republican candidate with the largest
number of votes will be the candidate to face the Democrat candidate
along with 2 independent candidates. If you live in the district
(Idabel, Broken Bow, etc) please do your research and vote as I expect
that less than 800 will vote in the Republican primary. I have only
had contact with Joe Silk, but hesitate to give an unqualified
endorsement for Joe since I just don’t know anything about the other
Republicans. Joe is a serious Christian who spent many years on the
mission field and home schooled his children. He currently manages
vacation cabins (it is a huge business in the area since so many
Texans love to come to this beautiful area) and also operates a bed
and breakfast. Again though, please do your own research. We will
invite the winner to OCPAC for our interview process in the near
future.
++ BORROW MORE MONEY OR PAY AS WE GO?
There was an interesting article in the Oklahoman on October 25th
titled “Bond proposals face resistance.” The gist of the article was
that Oklahoma is facing capital improvement needs approaching nearly 1
billion dollars, yet many lawmakers, especially in the House are
resistant towards passing additional bonded indebtedness.
The article lists serious needs such as crumbling masonry at the State
Capitol, buildings with mold problems, a need for a new medical
examiners office and etc.
However, the article goes on to quote State Representative Jason
Murphy as follows: “ ‘There’s a reason that you’ve seen the number of
approved bond issuances drop off in the last few years,’ said Rep.
Jason Murphy (R-Guthrie), who considers himself among those with a
strong distaste for taking on additional taxpayer-backed debt.
‘Especially with all the freshmen elected in 2010 - voting for
indebtedness isn’t politically acceptable in a lot of areas in
Oklahoma now.’”
I would suggest Representative Murphey knows what he is talking about.
In 2004 the District 31 seat he now occupies was open and Murphey lost
a close primary race to Dale Depew. That was the year that Republicans
gained control of the House and as such leadership gave Depew the task
of finding ways to fix many of these on-going repair needs.
If my memory serves me correctly, Depew suggested a 150 million dollar
bond issue. Murphey seized upon the issue, making Depew out to be a
big spender with a poor sense of priorities (the state budget was
running sizeable surpluses of new tax dollars) and exposed Depew to
the voters. We voters tossed Depew out and Murphey has served for the
past 5 years now, working to cut the size of government, lower taxes
and improve the valid services, which is what nearly all Republicans
tell the voters they are going to do when they seek our votes.
The article stated that during the 2011 session, the Senate approved
more than 100 million in bonded indebtedness for purposes such as a
new Veterans Affairs office, a new medical examiners office and money
to finish the American Indian Museum (the state has already spent 65
million on the museum, much of it through bonded indebtedness). The
article lamented that none of those bond proposals were even
considered in the House.
State Representative Earl Sears, Chairman of the House Appropriations
Committee said that a transportation bond proposal only passed by 1
vote in the House, even though it had been pre-approved by the Senate
and the Governors office.
Of all the issues considered by the members of OCPAC to be used for
this year’s Conservative Index published in the Oklahoma Constitution
Newspaper, that bond issue received the largest number of votes. It
was such a bad deal.
The State Constitution does not allow the legislature to borrow money
for the general fund to make up the annual budget. Therefore, Governor
Fallin and the big spending Republicans in leadership devised a clever
scheme to get around that wise prohibition. As such, the legislature
dipped into the state transportation department’s road and bridge
funds and took 100 million dollars out for the general fund to balance
the budget. The transportation bond mentioned above, which passed by 1
vote, was for $70 million and was used to replace all but $30 million
they raided from the department of transportation. Sadly, once the
bond underwriter fees and interest is paid, it may cost the taxpayers
nearly double the 70 million dollars to get 70 million dollars to use
for roads and bridges.
Representative Sears indicated he has compiled a survey listing all
types of issues, with plans to send to every House member to see what
projects they would support using bond issues to fund? One item on the
survey will be endowed chairs at government run universities. Folks,
borrowing money to fund endowed chairs is insanity, even if it draws
matching money from the private sector.
The article along with an editorial in the Oklahoman a few days later
indicated the state debt level is low and the state could easily float
another 300 million dollars in bonds without risking our credit
rating.
My question is, why would we want to do such a foolish thing? Why not
pay as we go and save the hundreds of millions in bond underwriter
fees and interest? It is all a matter of priorities. State revenues
have been increasing for the past year and we even put over 200
million dollars into the rainy day fund after the session ended this
year.
How about using some of these new surplus revenues along with further
reductions in wasteful government spending and improved efficiencies
to pay for these needed capital improvements? Of course state
employees and teachers will be screaming to get their hands on these
new revenues, but they need to be patient as neglected capital
improvement items need to receive some attention.
The state commission that sets the salary for the members of the
legislature just voted not to give a raise the state lawmakers for at
least 2 more years. It has been 14 years since lawmakers have had a
raise, so part time teachers who make an average $6000 dollars a year
more than lawmakers and full time state employees who average about
$3000 dollars a year less than our part time lawmakers, surely can
wait another year or two for a raise. In all reality, while some
lawmakers put in a minimal amount of time, other lawmakers put in more
time than teachers or state employees.
Bottom line, I read an article several years ago about a community
back east that was deeply in debt and anytime a need arose they had to
borrow more money to meet the need. One city councilman persuaded his
fellow members to stop that wasteful cycle and use taxpayer dollars
wisely. They went to the public and asked for a sales tax increase,
with all new revenues from the tax increase to be used to get out of
debt. The public agreed and after about 5 years they were out of debt,
the sales tax went away, the council began to set aside revenues from
the existing tax base for future needs which were paid for with cash.
After some time, that should also allow for the existing tax base to
be lowered and yet, vital services should be taken care of.
That is a definition of good government and something the state of
Oklahoma should strive for. We do not need to borrow one additional
penny if we will simply limit government to its proper functions, do a
good job of prioritizing and stop wasting taxpayer dollars on wasteful
bond fees and interest.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
To join OCPAC fill out the following and send your check to:
OCPAC
P.O. Box 2021
Edmond, OK 73083
Yes Charlie, I want to join OCPAC at one of the following levels:
___Basic membership at $50 per year.
Safari Club Membership:
___Elephant Provider at ___$180 annual or ___$15 monthly
___Elephant Provider & RINO Hunter, ___$360 annual or ___$30 monthly
For monthly payments please send a voided check so we may draft your
Checking account on a monthly basis. If you decide to discontinue
monthly support, simply contact me and we will stop the withdrawal.
THE FOLLOWING IS REQUIRED BY STATE LAW !
Print Name____________________________________________
Address___________________City___________State____Zip_____
Occupation____________________Employer_________________
Date___________________Amount $_______________
I have freely given from my own resources & have not been compensated
for this contribution. (Corporate contributions not allowed by law!)
Signature_____________________________________
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ CITY OF TULSA & SPECIAL ELECTION IN McCURTAIN CO.
++ BORROW MORE MONEY OR PAY AS WE GO?
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, November 9th will honor all active
duty, reserves and military veterans. Our speakers this week will be
veterans of World War II, the last war we fought that was properly
declared according to our U.S. Constitution. At the height of the war
we had around 16 million men in uniform as well as many women who
served as WACS or WAVES. With the youngest of those veterans being
around 84 to 85, we are losing those who served at a rapid rate so it
is important that we honor them while we can. I have asked our
speakers to start with where they were when they heard about Perl
Harbor, what did they think, and then go on from there.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* WEDNESDAY - TULSA AREA - The Tulsa Republican Men’s Club will
have their monthly meeting on Wednesday the 9th, 12 noon, at Siegi’s
Sausage Factory, and Restaurant, 81st street and Sheridan Road. They
will also host WW II Veterans. Ladies are welcome to attend these
meetings.
* THURSDAY - MOORE AREA - The Sooner Republican Assembly will
meet at Earl’s Rib in Moore, 6:45 p.m. on Thursday the 10th. Special
guest will be Paul Maus candidate for H.D. 20. This is a newly created
district as a result of re-districting. H.D. 20 is currently held by
Paul Roan of Tishomingo, but he will be term limited out after next
year’s session and the district shifts up toward the Moore area, where
Republicans are expected to pick up this seat. The keynote speaker
will be Jack Moore, a retired attorney. Jack will be speaking on The
Truth About Islam.
* THURSDAY - DUNCAN AREA - On Thursday, November 10th, the
Stephens County Republican Party will stage a mock debate featuring
local Republicans portraying eight GOP presidential candidates. The
surrogates have researched the candidates positions and will try to
give an accurate presentation for their candidate. The candidates will
be asked probing questions by a three person panel who will be
portraying members of the national media. This should be informative
as well as entertaining. The debate will be held at the Red river
Technology Center in Duncan (in the Seminar Room) beginning at 7:00
p.m. There is no admission, if you need further information contact
Steve Fair at (580) 252-6284 or okgop@aol.com
* SATURDAY - OKC AREA - Radio talk show host and minister Glen
Howard along with The Judeo-Christian Fellowship of OKC, will host a
timely update on recent events in Israel and the Middle East. A
buffet breakfast will be available at the Biltmore Hotel (North of
I-40 on Meridian) beginning at 8:30 a.m. followed by a presentation on
the Biblical basis for the support of Israel by Glen Howard of Senior
World Radio (heard at 10:00 a.m. Sundays on 1000 AM). At 10:00 a.m.
this Saturday Avi Lipkin will be speaking to those in attendence via
Skype for an update on the current events in the Middle East. There is
no cost other than the breakfast buffet, but it would be very helpful
to have an idea of how many plan to come. Therefore, please contact
Glen with that information at (405) 760-4536 or ghoward@jcfokc.org.
++ TULSA CITY ELECTIONS & SPECIAL ELECTION IN McCURTAIN CO.
Today, November 8th voters in the Tulsa City Limits will go to the
polls to vote on several of the city council seats as well as several
changes to the city charter. I highly recommend logging on to the
Tulsa Beacon Newspaper’s web-sit for their take on these elections, if
you don’t take that paper. By the way, I believe the Tulsa Beacon (a
weekly) and the Oklahoma Constitution (a quarterly) are the two best
newspapers in the state. I urge all conservatives to subscribe as it
is just $35 per year for the Beacon for those in Tulsa County ($40 for
all others) and the Oklahoma Constitution is just $12 per year.
With the passing of Rusty Farley (R-Haworth) this past Summer, we are
just now getting around to a special primary election on November 8th
to fill his vacated seat. The Democrats have 2 in their primary and
the Republicans have 4 candidates. There will be NO primary runoff for
the Republicans. Therefore, the Republican candidate with the largest
number of votes will be the candidate to face the Democrat candidate
along with 2 independent candidates. If you live in the district
(Idabel, Broken Bow, etc) please do your research and vote as I expect
that less than 800 will vote in the Republican primary. I have only
had contact with Joe Silk, but hesitate to give an unqualified
endorsement for Joe since I just don’t know anything about the other
Republicans. Joe is a serious Christian who spent many years on the
mission field and home schooled his children. He currently manages
vacation cabins (it is a huge business in the area since so many
Texans love to come to this beautiful area) and also operates a bed
and breakfast. Again though, please do your own research. We will
invite the winner to OCPAC for our interview process in the near
future.
++ BORROW MORE MONEY OR PAY AS WE GO?
There was an interesting article in the Oklahoman on October 25th
titled “Bond proposals face resistance.” The gist of the article was
that Oklahoma is facing capital improvement needs approaching nearly 1
billion dollars, yet many lawmakers, especially in the House are
resistant towards passing additional bonded indebtedness.
The article lists serious needs such as crumbling masonry at the State
Capitol, buildings with mold problems, a need for a new medical
examiners office and etc.
However, the article goes on to quote State Representative Jason
Murphy as follows: “ ‘There’s a reason that you’ve seen the number of
approved bond issuances drop off in the last few years,’ said Rep.
Jason Murphy (R-Guthrie), who considers himself among those with a
strong distaste for taking on additional taxpayer-backed debt.
‘Especially with all the freshmen elected in 2010 - voting for
indebtedness isn’t politically acceptable in a lot of areas in
Oklahoma now.’”
I would suggest Representative Murphey knows what he is talking about.
In 2004 the District 31 seat he now occupies was open and Murphey lost
a close primary race to Dale Depew. That was the year that Republicans
gained control of the House and as such leadership gave Depew the task
of finding ways to fix many of these on-going repair needs.
If my memory serves me correctly, Depew suggested a 150 million dollar
bond issue. Murphey seized upon the issue, making Depew out to be a
big spender with a poor sense of priorities (the state budget was
running sizeable surpluses of new tax dollars) and exposed Depew to
the voters. We voters tossed Depew out and Murphey has served for the
past 5 years now, working to cut the size of government, lower taxes
and improve the valid services, which is what nearly all Republicans
tell the voters they are going to do when they seek our votes.
The article stated that during the 2011 session, the Senate approved
more than 100 million in bonded indebtedness for purposes such as a
new Veterans Affairs office, a new medical examiners office and money
to finish the American Indian Museum (the state has already spent 65
million on the museum, much of it through bonded indebtedness). The
article lamented that none of those bond proposals were even
considered in the House.
State Representative Earl Sears, Chairman of the House Appropriations
Committee said that a transportation bond proposal only passed by 1
vote in the House, even though it had been pre-approved by the Senate
and the Governors office.
Of all the issues considered by the members of OCPAC to be used for
this year’s Conservative Index published in the Oklahoma Constitution
Newspaper, that bond issue received the largest number of votes. It
was such a bad deal.
The State Constitution does not allow the legislature to borrow money
for the general fund to make up the annual budget. Therefore, Governor
Fallin and the big spending Republicans in leadership devised a clever
scheme to get around that wise prohibition. As such, the legislature
dipped into the state transportation department’s road and bridge
funds and took 100 million dollars out for the general fund to balance
the budget. The transportation bond mentioned above, which passed by 1
vote, was for $70 million and was used to replace all but $30 million
they raided from the department of transportation. Sadly, once the
bond underwriter fees and interest is paid, it may cost the taxpayers
nearly double the 70 million dollars to get 70 million dollars to use
for roads and bridges.
Representative Sears indicated he has compiled a survey listing all
types of issues, with plans to send to every House member to see what
projects they would support using bond issues to fund? One item on the
survey will be endowed chairs at government run universities. Folks,
borrowing money to fund endowed chairs is insanity, even if it draws
matching money from the private sector.
The article along with an editorial in the Oklahoman a few days later
indicated the state debt level is low and the state could easily float
another 300 million dollars in bonds without risking our credit
rating.
My question is, why would we want to do such a foolish thing? Why not
pay as we go and save the hundreds of millions in bond underwriter
fees and interest? It is all a matter of priorities. State revenues
have been increasing for the past year and we even put over 200
million dollars into the rainy day fund after the session ended this
year.
How about using some of these new surplus revenues along with further
reductions in wasteful government spending and improved efficiencies
to pay for these needed capital improvements? Of course state
employees and teachers will be screaming to get their hands on these
new revenues, but they need to be patient as neglected capital
improvement items need to receive some attention.
The state commission that sets the salary for the members of the
legislature just voted not to give a raise the state lawmakers for at
least 2 more years. It has been 14 years since lawmakers have had a
raise, so part time teachers who make an average $6000 dollars a year
more than lawmakers and full time state employees who average about
$3000 dollars a year less than our part time lawmakers, surely can
wait another year or two for a raise. In all reality, while some
lawmakers put in a minimal amount of time, other lawmakers put in more
time than teachers or state employees.
Bottom line, I read an article several years ago about a community
back east that was deeply in debt and anytime a need arose they had to
borrow more money to meet the need. One city councilman persuaded his
fellow members to stop that wasteful cycle and use taxpayer dollars
wisely. They went to the public and asked for a sales tax increase,
with all new revenues from the tax increase to be used to get out of
debt. The public agreed and after about 5 years they were out of debt,
the sales tax went away, the council began to set aside revenues from
the existing tax base for future needs which were paid for with cash.
After some time, that should also allow for the existing tax base to
be lowered and yet, vital services should be taken care of.
That is a definition of good government and something the state of
Oklahoma should strive for. We do not need to borrow one additional
penny if we will simply limit government to its proper functions, do a
good job of prioritizing and stop wasting taxpayer dollars on wasteful
bond fees and interest.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
To join OCPAC fill out the following and send your check to:
OCPAC
P.O. Box 2021
Edmond, OK 73083
Yes Charlie, I want to join OCPAC at one of the following levels:
___Basic membership at $50 per year.
Safari Club Membership:
___Elephant Provider at ___$180 annual or ___$15 monthly
___Elephant Provider & RINO Hunter, ___$360 annual or ___$30 monthly
For monthly payments please send a voided check so we may draft your
Checking account on a monthly basis. If you decide to discontinue
monthly support, simply contact me and we will stop the withdrawal.
THE FOLLOWING IS REQUIRED BY STATE LAW !
Print Name____________________________________________
Address___________________City___________State____Zip_____
Occupation____________________Employer_________________
Date___________________Amount $_______________
I have freely given from my own resources & have not been compensated
for this contribution. (Corporate contributions not allowed by law!)
Signature_____________________________________
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
KYLE LOVELESS ANNOUNCES FOR SENATE ++ ARTICLES ON FREE TRADE AND IMPROVING OUR ECONOMY
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ TWO MORE DAYS FOR MEMBERSHIP MATCHES
++ KYLE LOVELESS ANNOUNCES FOR SENATE
++ ARTICLES ON FREE TRADE AND IMPROVING OUR ECONOMY
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, November 2nd will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Our speaker this
week from Chicago will be Mr. James Lansberry, Vice President of
Samaritan Ministries. Samaritan Ministries is an organized effort to
help facilitate Christians sharing the health care costs of other
Christians. It is NOT health care insurance, but rather an alternative
to such. While I have about decided to go with this organization in
lieu of Medicare, the majority of its members are younger folks, often
times pastors and their families as well as the families of
homeschoolers and self employed folks.
I called State Insurance Commissioner John Doak to invite him to our
meeting. He has to be in Washington for a conference, but is fairly
familiar with the organization and is in favor of people having this
option for their health care needs. He indicated he would send former
Senator Randy Brogdon to one of the meetings to meet Mr. Landsberry
and see what he has to say. On an asside, Commissioner Doak shared
with me that he would be finished visiting all 77 counties by mid-
November and planned to visit all 77 counties at least once a year in
the future.
Just to give an idea of what a family of 4 or MORE would be looking at
in costs for their health care needs as a member of SM, they would NOT
pay more than $340 per month. In addition, should they have a health
care need of more than $300 and up to $250,000, there would be no co-
pays to meet such a need. It is an interesting concept, with
organizations such as this specifically exempted from what we call the
Obamacare legislation passed nearly 2 years ago. If you are not able
to attend our meeting, Mr. Landsberry will also be speaking at Trinity
Baptist Church in Yukon (South of I-40 about a mile on Garth Brooks
Blvd) this Wednesday evening, starting at 6:30 p.m.. You owe it to
yourself to check this out as you could save a lot of money and the
benefit of having other Christians praying for you during a time of
need, might be more valuable than any money saved.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* THURSDAY MORNING - TULSA AREA - One of the hot topics this last
year during the legislative session was about health care exchanges.
Under grassroots pressure, Governor Fallin and Speaker Steele agreed
to send over $50 million dollars in federal seed money that had been
intended for these exchanges, back to the federal government. Rather
than pass our own version of such, legislators agreed to have several
public meeting across the state before next year’s session is started.
It is my understanding that all options are on the table, including a
complete refusal of the idea. Therefore, if you live in the Tulsa
area, please attend this meeting Thursday morning, 9:00 a.m. at the
Tulsa Technology Center, Riverside campus.
* THURSDAY EVENING - OKC AREA - Last Wednesday, Tyler Roberts,
Chairman of Young Conservatives of Oklahoma came to our meeting to
invite folks to a special meeting this Thursday evening, 6:00 p.m. in
the Auditorium on the campus of Langston University‘s, Oklahoma City
Campus. That is just a few blocks South of Italiano’s on Lincoln blvd.
The campus shares the facility with the Oklahoma County Election
Board. Speaking will be Mr. Bob Bowdon, a filmmaker who produced and
directed THE CARTEL. I believe he was also involved in the making of
WAITING ON SUPERMAN. In addition a Mr. Larry Sands will also be
speaking. He is the Director of the California Teachers Empowerment
Network. I believe it is an organization similar to the Oklahoma
Professional Educators Association, which is a conservative
alternative to the liberal OEA-NEA unions. The meeting is free and
open to the public.
++ TWO MORE DAYS FOR MEMBERSHIP MATCHES
We have extended the deadline to join OCPAC to this Wednesday, so an
additional $50 can be contributed for each person who joins by
Wednesday. Please bring cash, check or money order to our meeting this
Wednesday or follow the instructions on how to join by mail following
my sign off. Please make sure any checks are dated by Wednesday,
November 2nd.
Over the past several months I have been meeting, visiting by phone or
exchanging e-mails with several candidates or potential candidates who
are gearing up for next year’s election. Some of these candidates are
strong and very conservative. We need to raise as much money as
possible to help these outstanding candidates have the resources to
win their elections. There may be more that file, but a least one
excellent candidate has announced that he will work to defeat Senator
Brian Crain (R-Tulsa), winner of this year’s RINO (Republican In Name
Only) award given out by OCPAC.
++ KYLE LOVELESS ANNOUNCES FOR SENATE
Speaking of candidates, this past Wednesday Kyle Loveless came to our
meeting to announce that he would be seeking the seat that Senator
Russell will vacate after next year’s session. Kyle received OCPAC’s
endorsement during the 2008 election cycle, but lost to Steve Russell
in the run-off elections. Even thought he won our support in 2008, he
will have to compete against any other Republican candidates who throw
their hats in the ring for next year’s elections. We congratulate Kyle
on his decision to run again.
++ ARTICLES ON FREE TRADE AND IMPROVING OUR ECONOMY
The cover article in the September 19th edition of the New American
Magazine (publication of the John Birch Society) was titled FREE TRADE
- In Theory and Practice. It was simply outstanding. For years I have
looked for ways to explain how the “so called” free traders in our
nation (most of them are Republicans) have promoted policies which
have harmed our economy which cause our trade deficit to increase.
They love to quote Adam Smith, author of: THE WEALTH OF NATIONS but
they only partially quote him. While Adam Smith was the authority on
free trade, he also made exceptions to such to preserve a nation. This
excellent article explains to exceptions, defines what free trade
really is and what it is not. I ordered a case of the magazines and
will have them available for a suggested donation of one dollar each.
In the Oklahoman this past week was an article by State Representative
Tom Newell (R-Seminole) about the need to eliminate the state income
tax to stimulate our economy. Tom is one of the bright new freshmen in
the legislature who ranked 8th most conservative out of the 70
Republican lawmakers. Tom is a pastor of a church in Seminole and
before being elected was also a professor of economics at the college
in Seminole. As such he seems to also be taking the lead on trying to
get a handle on the run-away costs surrounding our government colleges
and universities. I will try to have copies of his article along with
the magazine mentioned above available for the folks attending our
meeting.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ TWO MORE DAYS FOR MEMBERSHIP MATCHES
++ KYLE LOVELESS ANNOUNCES FOR SENATE
++ ARTICLES ON FREE TRADE AND IMPROVING OUR ECONOMY
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, November 2nd will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Our speaker this
week from Chicago will be Mr. James Lansberry, Vice President of
Samaritan Ministries. Samaritan Ministries is an organized effort to
help facilitate Christians sharing the health care costs of other
Christians. It is NOT health care insurance, but rather an alternative
to such. While I have about decided to go with this organization in
lieu of Medicare, the majority of its members are younger folks, often
times pastors and their families as well as the families of
homeschoolers and self employed folks.
I called State Insurance Commissioner John Doak to invite him to our
meeting. He has to be in Washington for a conference, but is fairly
familiar with the organization and is in favor of people having this
option for their health care needs. He indicated he would send former
Senator Randy Brogdon to one of the meetings to meet Mr. Landsberry
and see what he has to say. On an asside, Commissioner Doak shared
with me that he would be finished visiting all 77 counties by mid-
November and planned to visit all 77 counties at least once a year in
the future.
Just to give an idea of what a family of 4 or MORE would be looking at
in costs for their health care needs as a member of SM, they would NOT
pay more than $340 per month. In addition, should they have a health
care need of more than $300 and up to $250,000, there would be no co-
pays to meet such a need. It is an interesting concept, with
organizations such as this specifically exempted from what we call the
Obamacare legislation passed nearly 2 years ago. If you are not able
to attend our meeting, Mr. Landsberry will also be speaking at Trinity
Baptist Church in Yukon (South of I-40 about a mile on Garth Brooks
Blvd) this Wednesday evening, starting at 6:30 p.m.. You owe it to
yourself to check this out as you could save a lot of money and the
benefit of having other Christians praying for you during a time of
need, might be more valuable than any money saved.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* THURSDAY MORNING - TULSA AREA - One of the hot topics this last
year during the legislative session was about health care exchanges.
Under grassroots pressure, Governor Fallin and Speaker Steele agreed
to send over $50 million dollars in federal seed money that had been
intended for these exchanges, back to the federal government. Rather
than pass our own version of such, legislators agreed to have several
public meeting across the state before next year’s session is started.
It is my understanding that all options are on the table, including a
complete refusal of the idea. Therefore, if you live in the Tulsa
area, please attend this meeting Thursday morning, 9:00 a.m. at the
Tulsa Technology Center, Riverside campus.
* THURSDAY EVENING - OKC AREA - Last Wednesday, Tyler Roberts,
Chairman of Young Conservatives of Oklahoma came to our meeting to
invite folks to a special meeting this Thursday evening, 6:00 p.m. in
the Auditorium on the campus of Langston University‘s, Oklahoma City
Campus. That is just a few blocks South of Italiano’s on Lincoln blvd.
The campus shares the facility with the Oklahoma County Election
Board. Speaking will be Mr. Bob Bowdon, a filmmaker who produced and
directed THE CARTEL. I believe he was also involved in the making of
WAITING ON SUPERMAN. In addition a Mr. Larry Sands will also be
speaking. He is the Director of the California Teachers Empowerment
Network. I believe it is an organization similar to the Oklahoma
Professional Educators Association, which is a conservative
alternative to the liberal OEA-NEA unions. The meeting is free and
open to the public.
++ TWO MORE DAYS FOR MEMBERSHIP MATCHES
We have extended the deadline to join OCPAC to this Wednesday, so an
additional $50 can be contributed for each person who joins by
Wednesday. Please bring cash, check or money order to our meeting this
Wednesday or follow the instructions on how to join by mail following
my sign off. Please make sure any checks are dated by Wednesday,
November 2nd.
Over the past several months I have been meeting, visiting by phone or
exchanging e-mails with several candidates or potential candidates who
are gearing up for next year’s election. Some of these candidates are
strong and very conservative. We need to raise as much money as
possible to help these outstanding candidates have the resources to
win their elections. There may be more that file, but a least one
excellent candidate has announced that he will work to defeat Senator
Brian Crain (R-Tulsa), winner of this year’s RINO (Republican In Name
Only) award given out by OCPAC.
++ KYLE LOVELESS ANNOUNCES FOR SENATE
Speaking of candidates, this past Wednesday Kyle Loveless came to our
meeting to announce that he would be seeking the seat that Senator
Russell will vacate after next year’s session. Kyle received OCPAC’s
endorsement during the 2008 election cycle, but lost to Steve Russell
in the run-off elections. Even thought he won our support in 2008, he
will have to compete against any other Republican candidates who throw
their hats in the ring for next year’s elections. We congratulate Kyle
on his decision to run again.
++ ARTICLES ON FREE TRADE AND IMPROVING OUR ECONOMY
The cover article in the September 19th edition of the New American
Magazine (publication of the John Birch Society) was titled FREE TRADE
- In Theory and Practice. It was simply outstanding. For years I have
looked for ways to explain how the “so called” free traders in our
nation (most of them are Republicans) have promoted policies which
have harmed our economy which cause our trade deficit to increase.
They love to quote Adam Smith, author of: THE WEALTH OF NATIONS but
they only partially quote him. While Adam Smith was the authority on
free trade, he also made exceptions to such to preserve a nation. This
excellent article explains to exceptions, defines what free trade
really is and what it is not. I ordered a case of the magazines and
will have them available for a suggested donation of one dollar each.
In the Oklahoman this past week was an article by State Representative
Tom Newell (R-Seminole) about the need to eliminate the state income
tax to stimulate our economy. Tom is one of the bright new freshmen in
the legislature who ranked 8th most conservative out of the 70
Republican lawmakers. Tom is a pastor of a church in Seminole and
before being elected was also a professor of economics at the college
in Seminole. As such he seems to also be taking the lead on trying to
get a handle on the run-away costs surrounding our government colleges
and universities. I will try to have copies of his article along with
the magazine mentioned above available for the folks attending our
meeting.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
FUTURE TAX AND SPENDING CHANGES IN OKLAHOMA ++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE & CHALLENGE
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ FUTURE TAX AND SPENDING CHANGES IN OKLAHOMA
++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE & CHALLENGE
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, October 26th will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Over the years we
have had many candidates for the legislature come to an OCPAC meeting
and say they were going to reduce the size of state government,
eliminate waste, duplication and inefficiencies. We used to have a
member that would ask for some concrete example of how they would
accomplish such an achievement? Usually, there would be little
substance within their answers. Our speaker this week will be State
Representative Jason Murphy (R-Guthrie). Representative Murphey has
been one of the leaders in the legislature to bring about government
modernization as well as greater transparency to our government
functions and processes. We have never considered a bill regarding
government modernization for the conservative index, as we have tried
to be careful that any savings were real and not just pie in the sky.
Jason will explain the effects of his efforts over the past 3 years or
so. In the end, we will be looking for a reduction in the cost of
government, a reduction in the number of state employees and where
feasible, consolidation of government agencies. We want to see if
there is a real benefit for the taxpayers of the State of Oklahoma.
Don’t miss this important meeting and bring your best questions. If
this computer geek (a geek is a nerd with a social life) tries to pull
any wool over our eyes, we want to catch it.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* TUESDAY EVENING - KONAWA AREA - The Konawa Tea Party will
gather for their monthly meeting, Tuesday evening, October 25th, 7:00
p.m at the American Legion Hut, 101 West 3rd street in Konawa (it is
on highway 39, just East of the Assembly of God Church. Pastor Dan
Fisher of Trinity Baptist Church (Yukon) and I will both be speaking.
Without Paul Blair around, Dan started to pick on me as soon as he
found out we would both be speaking. Having seen this guy in action
before, I know to stay out in front of him. Therefore, I have
suggested it would not matter who would speak first. If it was me, I
would tone it down so people would not get up and leave 5 minutes into
his talk because of boredom. However, should Dan go first, I have
suggested I could wake the audience up once I got started. Actually,
beside the dog and pony show between Dan and I, there will be some
really important content presented. If you live anywhere in the area,
please attend so you can meet some the other conservatives in the
effort to make Oklahoma a better place to live.
* FRIDAY EVENING - OKC AREA - Folks are invited to an evening
with Phyllis Schlafly, Founder and President of Eagle Forum, one of
America’s top conservative organizations since 1972. The location will
be the Gaylord University Center (2501 E. Memorial Rd, Edmond) on the
campus of Oklahoma Christian University. The dinner and meeting will
start at 7:00 p.m., but there is a Special Student Only Reception
which begins at 5 and a Private Reception for Sponsors at 6:00 p.m.
Now, here is the deal, they need a head count to order the food, by
today, Tuesday, October 25th. Therefore, everyone intending to go to
this event will need to contact Bunny Chambers today at (405) 721-2891
or by e-mail okeagle@eagleforum.org. High School and College students
get in for $10, but I am not sure what the price will be for adults
since we are past the early bird discount time. Please contact Bunny
for that information, but do so today.
* SATURDAY EVENING - OKC - I have mentioned in the last couple of
e-mails about the John Birch Society’s first recognition banquet and
Patriot Celebration which will be this Saturday evening, 6:00 p.m. at
the Character Center, 524 West Main in Downtown OKC (This is just a
couple of blocks West of the new Devon Tower). I contacted Bob Donohoo
yesterday morning as last Friday was the reservation deadline.
However, he has ordered 3 or 4 extra dinners for anyone who
procrastinated but still wants to attend. Therefore, if you haven’t
made your reservations as yet, you might give Bob a call at (405)
436-5412 to see if there are any openings still available. The cost is
$15 per person. This will be a fun evening and a great time for
fellowship.
++ FUTURE TAX AND SPENDING CHANGES IN OKLAHOMA
A few weeks back, Governor Fallin stated an intention to totally
eliminate our state income tax. Over the past several weeks, State
Representative David Dank, Chairman of the State Task Force for the
study of State Tax Credits and Economic Incentives has been trying to
lift the veil of darkness surrounding a myriad of tax credits and
other incentive plans in the state which mostly amount to corporate
welfare. Yesterday, in the news, State Treasurer Ken Miller stated
that with a change in the component of state government and a move to
more conservatism, we should start to see more significant tax reforms
in the future. I believe that means tax reductions.
Please understand, there is a difference between a tax deduction or
tax exemption and a tax credit. Tax deductions and exemptions are what
government decides not take from a taxpayer or a business entity. On
the other hand, a tax credit, a government grant or government subsidy
are always a government expenditure.
Tax credits were designed to work as an incentive for a person or
business to spend a certain amount of money, then when tax time comes
each year on or before April 15th, the government will send a check
for a certain amount of money, or reduce a tax obligation if any
exists, back to the person or entity. Tax credit schemes were designed
to be rebate (kickback) programs, much like when we buy cell phone for
a hundred dollars, then send in a rebate form and the phone company
sends us a check for $50 to reduce what we paid for the phone.
A transferable tax credit has a little different twist. As with the
Great Plains Airlines debacle, the investors in the start up airline
company didn’t first spend millions of dollars then apply to some
“economic development” program sponsored by the State of Oklahoma for
$27 million in tax credits. Once it was determined that they would be
eligible for the tax credits, they simply sold those tax credits (I
believe most of them were purchased by Bank of Oklahoma) for perhaps
90 cents on the dollar. That way, the new start up airline had “up
front” money to start the business. Then when tax time occurred, BOK
turned in the tax credits which had been transferred to them by Great
Plains Airlines for the $27 million and in turn made a profit of 10%
in less than a year. Of course it was a very risky investment which
failed and as such “state” taxpayers lost $27 million dollars.
In an Oklahoman article on October 13th, Representative Dank is quoted
as saying: “We have reviewed enough of these tax credits so far to
know that the controls and safeguards in place are often a joke.” “In
many cases, they are almost nonexistent.”
In an additional article, it was reported that the state issued $275
million in tax credits over the past 3 years under just two incentive
programs. The article went on to say the programs created 1428 jobs
from 2007 through 2009, which means the state spent $192,000 for each
job created.
I would suggest that most of those jobs, if they continue to exist,
will not produce enough tax dollars to the state to repay the $192,000
in fifty to a hundred years. What a deal!
Ultimately, we are probably going to see many of these programs done
away with and none too soon. These programs do not allow for free
market economics, but rather central planning, crony capitalism and
all sorts of corruption for the well connected.
What Oklahoma’s goal should be is to have such an efficient
government, relegated only to the proper functions of government, so
that we can eliminate all corporate, franchise, capital gains and
personal income taxes. That in itself would create the best
environment in America for businesses to locate here. Doing away with
the costs of all of these economic development tax credit schemes
would go a long way toward reducing spending to such a degree that we
could start lowering many of these taxes I just mentioned.
++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE & CHALLENGE
We are currently at 225 dues paying members which is 8 more than the
217 record we set in 2009, the most recent non-election year. I have
secured $500 to be used to match another 10 dues paying members
through the end of October. If you simply have not joined OCPAC so far
this year, now is the time to do so. Those dues are the money we
invest in candidates from all over the state to change the face of
Oklahoma. No one affiliated with OCPAC receives a salary or commission
for the work we do and our expenses are at a bare minimum. Therefore,
almost every dollar of your dues will go to elect conservatives or try
to hold them accountable once they are in office. Please consider
joining today. Instructions on how to join are below.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ FUTURE TAX AND SPENDING CHANGES IN OKLAHOMA
++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE & CHALLENGE
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, October 26th will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Over the years we
have had many candidates for the legislature come to an OCPAC meeting
and say they were going to reduce the size of state government,
eliminate waste, duplication and inefficiencies. We used to have a
member that would ask for some concrete example of how they would
accomplish such an achievement? Usually, there would be little
substance within their answers. Our speaker this week will be State
Representative Jason Murphy (R-Guthrie). Representative Murphey has
been one of the leaders in the legislature to bring about government
modernization as well as greater transparency to our government
functions and processes. We have never considered a bill regarding
government modernization for the conservative index, as we have tried
to be careful that any savings were real and not just pie in the sky.
Jason will explain the effects of his efforts over the past 3 years or
so. In the end, we will be looking for a reduction in the cost of
government, a reduction in the number of state employees and where
feasible, consolidation of government agencies. We want to see if
there is a real benefit for the taxpayers of the State of Oklahoma.
Don’t miss this important meeting and bring your best questions. If
this computer geek (a geek is a nerd with a social life) tries to pull
any wool over our eyes, we want to catch it.
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
* TUESDAY EVENING - KONAWA AREA - The Konawa Tea Party will
gather for their monthly meeting, Tuesday evening, October 25th, 7:00
p.m at the American Legion Hut, 101 West 3rd street in Konawa (it is
on highway 39, just East of the Assembly of God Church. Pastor Dan
Fisher of Trinity Baptist Church (Yukon) and I will both be speaking.
Without Paul Blair around, Dan started to pick on me as soon as he
found out we would both be speaking. Having seen this guy in action
before, I know to stay out in front of him. Therefore, I have
suggested it would not matter who would speak first. If it was me, I
would tone it down so people would not get up and leave 5 minutes into
his talk because of boredom. However, should Dan go first, I have
suggested I could wake the audience up once I got started. Actually,
beside the dog and pony show between Dan and I, there will be some
really important content presented. If you live anywhere in the area,
please attend so you can meet some the other conservatives in the
effort to make Oklahoma a better place to live.
* FRIDAY EVENING - OKC AREA - Folks are invited to an evening
with Phyllis Schlafly, Founder and President of Eagle Forum, one of
America’s top conservative organizations since 1972. The location will
be the Gaylord University Center (2501 E. Memorial Rd, Edmond) on the
campus of Oklahoma Christian University. The dinner and meeting will
start at 7:00 p.m., but there is a Special Student Only Reception
which begins at 5 and a Private Reception for Sponsors at 6:00 p.m.
Now, here is the deal, they need a head count to order the food, by
today, Tuesday, October 25th. Therefore, everyone intending to go to
this event will need to contact Bunny Chambers today at (405) 721-2891
or by e-mail okeagle@eagleforum.org. High School and College students
get in for $10, but I am not sure what the price will be for adults
since we are past the early bird discount time. Please contact Bunny
for that information, but do so today.
* SATURDAY EVENING - OKC - I have mentioned in the last couple of
e-mails about the John Birch Society’s first recognition banquet and
Patriot Celebration which will be this Saturday evening, 6:00 p.m. at
the Character Center, 524 West Main in Downtown OKC (This is just a
couple of blocks West of the new Devon Tower). I contacted Bob Donohoo
yesterday morning as last Friday was the reservation deadline.
However, he has ordered 3 or 4 extra dinners for anyone who
procrastinated but still wants to attend. Therefore, if you haven’t
made your reservations as yet, you might give Bob a call at (405)
436-5412 to see if there are any openings still available. The cost is
$15 per person. This will be a fun evening and a great time for
fellowship.
++ FUTURE TAX AND SPENDING CHANGES IN OKLAHOMA
A few weeks back, Governor Fallin stated an intention to totally
eliminate our state income tax. Over the past several weeks, State
Representative David Dank, Chairman of the State Task Force for the
study of State Tax Credits and Economic Incentives has been trying to
lift the veil of darkness surrounding a myriad of tax credits and
other incentive plans in the state which mostly amount to corporate
welfare. Yesterday, in the news, State Treasurer Ken Miller stated
that with a change in the component of state government and a move to
more conservatism, we should start to see more significant tax reforms
in the future. I believe that means tax reductions.
Please understand, there is a difference between a tax deduction or
tax exemption and a tax credit. Tax deductions and exemptions are what
government decides not take from a taxpayer or a business entity. On
the other hand, a tax credit, a government grant or government subsidy
are always a government expenditure.
Tax credits were designed to work as an incentive for a person or
business to spend a certain amount of money, then when tax time comes
each year on or before April 15th, the government will send a check
for a certain amount of money, or reduce a tax obligation if any
exists, back to the person or entity. Tax credit schemes were designed
to be rebate (kickback) programs, much like when we buy cell phone for
a hundred dollars, then send in a rebate form and the phone company
sends us a check for $50 to reduce what we paid for the phone.
A transferable tax credit has a little different twist. As with the
Great Plains Airlines debacle, the investors in the start up airline
company didn’t first spend millions of dollars then apply to some
“economic development” program sponsored by the State of Oklahoma for
$27 million in tax credits. Once it was determined that they would be
eligible for the tax credits, they simply sold those tax credits (I
believe most of them were purchased by Bank of Oklahoma) for perhaps
90 cents on the dollar. That way, the new start up airline had “up
front” money to start the business. Then when tax time occurred, BOK
turned in the tax credits which had been transferred to them by Great
Plains Airlines for the $27 million and in turn made a profit of 10%
in less than a year. Of course it was a very risky investment which
failed and as such “state” taxpayers lost $27 million dollars.
In an Oklahoman article on October 13th, Representative Dank is quoted
as saying: “We have reviewed enough of these tax credits so far to
know that the controls and safeguards in place are often a joke.” “In
many cases, they are almost nonexistent.”
In an additional article, it was reported that the state issued $275
million in tax credits over the past 3 years under just two incentive
programs. The article went on to say the programs created 1428 jobs
from 2007 through 2009, which means the state spent $192,000 for each
job created.
I would suggest that most of those jobs, if they continue to exist,
will not produce enough tax dollars to the state to repay the $192,000
in fifty to a hundred years. What a deal!
Ultimately, we are probably going to see many of these programs done
away with and none too soon. These programs do not allow for free
market economics, but rather central planning, crony capitalism and
all sorts of corruption for the well connected.
What Oklahoma’s goal should be is to have such an efficient
government, relegated only to the proper functions of government, so
that we can eliminate all corporate, franchise, capital gains and
personal income taxes. That in itself would create the best
environment in America for businesses to locate here. Doing away with
the costs of all of these economic development tax credit schemes
would go a long way toward reducing spending to such a degree that we
could start lowering many of these taxes I just mentioned.
++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE & CHALLENGE
We are currently at 225 dues paying members which is 8 more than the
217 record we set in 2009, the most recent non-election year. I have
secured $500 to be used to match another 10 dues paying members
through the end of October. If you simply have not joined OCPAC so far
this year, now is the time to do so. Those dues are the money we
invest in candidates from all over the state to change the face of
Oklahoma. No one affiliated with OCPAC receives a salary or commission
for the work we do and our expenses are at a bare minimum. Therefore,
almost every dollar of your dues will go to elect conservatives or try
to hold them accountable once they are in office. Please consider
joining today. Instructions on how to join are below.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com
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