tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54314814290871054022023-11-16T01:29:38.977-06:00Oklahoma Conservative Political Action CommitteeThe News and Charlie's ViewsCharlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.comBlogger221125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-18460940527031603742012-10-16T10:00:00.001-05:002012-10-16T10:00:40.334-05:00WHAT OBAMA, FALLIN, BARRESI, FORD & COODY HAVE IN COMMON?++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />
++ WHAT OBAMA, FALLIN, BARRESI, FORD & COODY HAVE IN COMMON?<br />
++ TIDBITS<br />
<br />
<br />
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />
<br />
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, October 17th will be held at<br />
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Speaking this week<br />
will be Brandon Dutcher, Vice President and Research Director for the<br />
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Oklahoma’s conservative think<br />
tank. Brandon will show a documentary recently produced by OCPA about<br />
the Henry Scholarship legislation passed a couple of years ago. This<br />
is a program that some of the government schools have been fighting<br />
tooth and nail. You won’t want to miss this presentation.<br />
<br />
If you were not at last week’s meeting, you really missed getting to<br />
hear from Ward Connerly. I have heard him twice and am really<br />
impressed by his gentle humility balanced with his determination to<br />
promote the concept of individual responsibility. Log on to our web-<br />
site and then click on the video tab and you can watch his<br />
presentation: <a href="http://www.oklahomacpac.com/" target="_blank">www.oklahomacpac.com</a><br />
<br />
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />
<br />
* TUESDAY EVENING - TULSA AREA - The Tulsa Area Republican<br />
Assembly will host their monthly meeting at the Golden Corral, 71st<br />
and Mingo in Tulsa. Many will gather at 6:00 for dinner then the<br />
formal part of the meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. with State<br />
Representative David Brumbaugh (R-Broken Arrow) speaking.<br />
<br />
* THURSDAY EVENING - MOORE AREA - The Sooner Republican Assembly<br />
will have their monthly meeting this Thursday, October 18th at Earl’s<br />
Rib Palace in Moore. Folks will eat between 6 and 6:45 p.m. with the<br />
formal part of the meeting beginning at 6:45. Kaye Beach (AxXIOM for<br />
LIBERTY) will be speaking about the practice of swiping drivers<br />
licenses at schools, stores, and other places in relation to the<br />
nationalization of our drivers licenses as an international I.D. card.<br />
This is an important issue, in fact Kaye has a privacy lawsuit in<br />
motion on this subject.<br />
<br />
* SATURDAY - OKC AREA - Concerned Women of America (America’s<br />
largest women’s organization) is sponsoring the TAKE A STAND<br />
conference which will be held from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. at the<br />
Church on The Rock, 1780 West Memorial Road in OKC. Speakers will<br />
include U.S. Representative James Lankford, Oklahoma’s Attorney’s<br />
General, Scott Pruitt, State Representatives Sally Kern and Charles<br />
Key, Pastor and soon to be state representative Dan Fisher and author<br />
Janice Ponds of Tulsa. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Janice<br />
Ponds was confronted with information that caused her to begin to<br />
think for herself. Her conclusion was that she had been lied to and<br />
that as a Christian she could no longer remain a Democrat as their<br />
party platform was just too opposite to the principles of God’s Word.<br />
<br />
There is no cost to attend, however they are asking that people<br />
register by e-mail at: <a href="mailto:director@oklahoma.cwfa.org">director@oklahoma.cwfa.org</a>. If you fail to<br />
register, walk-ins will still be welcome. This conference will promote<br />
the need for Christians to get involved in public policy, become<br />
informed voters and take a stand to turn this nation back toward the<br />
principles that made us great.<br />
<br />
++ WHAT OBAMA, FALLIN, BARRESI, FORD & COODY HAVE IN COMMON?<br />
<br />
During the debate between Governor Romney and President Obama, the<br />
President made the comment for the need to improve education and<br />
specifically mentioned his “Race To The Top” program. It appears that<br />
the Obama administration has Governor Mary Fallin, State Schools<br />
Superintendent Janes Barresi, Senate Education Committee Chairman John<br />
Ford and House Education Committee Chairwoman Ann Coody in the palm of<br />
his hand as they all support Obama’s Race To The Top plan.<br />
Fortunately, our applications to this program have been turned down so<br />
far.<br />
<br />
Even though conservative education experts such as Jenni White,<br />
founder and executive director for Restore Oklahoma Public Education<br />
(ROPE), along with others have tried to educate these Oklahoma<br />
officials to the dangers of federal involvement in education, so far<br />
it has been to no avail. Some lawmakers understand the problems, it<br />
just doesn’t seem like leadership gets it.<br />
<br />
I can’t say if their support for the program is because of the many<br />
federal dollars that will flow into Oklahoma if we get approval for<br />
the program; or if it is just because all of these gate keepers of<br />
education foolishly believe that federal government involvement into<br />
education will somehow be beneficial!<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, this bunch also supports the “common core standards”<br />
which is just another push by the federal government to control what<br />
goes on in education and influence its outcomes.<br />
<br />
Most Oklahomans believe that education is vitally important. However,<br />
few folks understand the difference between education and<br />
indoctrination. Few understand the difference between education and<br />
job training. Few understand what the goals of education should be and<br />
the necessary steps toward achieving those goals. Therefore, most<br />
Oklahomans mistakenly support the government schools and the new<br />
programs presented by the establishment to improve the dismal results<br />
we receive from these schools. In other words, most Oklahoman’s are<br />
enablers of the status quo, which is underperformance.<br />
<br />
I recently saw the movie, DON’T BACK DOWN, a story about a teacher and<br />
mother who both had children in a looser of a school with the teacher<br />
also teaching at the school. The movie is based on a true story and<br />
there are a lot of very good elements to the movie. It does a good job<br />
of presenting many of the problems in government schools, regardless<br />
of what state one might live in. However, much is left out of the<br />
movie as far as providing real answers to the problem. While the movie<br />
offers a directional change in leadership and control of schools, it<br />
is short on any details as to what produces good education.<br />
<br />
Everyone attending receives a book mark with information and a web-<br />
site as to a national movement toward allowing for the solutions<br />
presented in the movie. Recently there was an article in the Oklahoman<br />
stating that State Senator David Holt (R-OKC) intends to introduce<br />
legislation this next year to allow for citizens in Oklahoma to do<br />
some of the same things presented in the movie.<br />
<br />
I don’t believe people following a pattern presented in the movie will<br />
do harm, other than take up time and perhaps disappoint others when<br />
the reforms may not produce much better of an outcome than the current<br />
government schools. Again, there are basic principles and values<br />
necessary for quality education and if you fail to implement them, the<br />
results will likely be deficient.<br />
<br />
Bottom line, every Oklahoman should care about education whether or<br />
not we have a child in school. Not only is the well being of children<br />
at stake, but every tax payer is heavily burdened with having to pay<br />
for the education industry in the state. I highly recommend folks<br />
receiving the up-dates from ROPE. Why not send Jenni an e-mail and<br />
asked to be added to the contact list for ROPE,<br />
<a href="mailto:jenni@restoreokpubliceducation.com">jenni@<wbr></wbr>restoreokpubliceducation.com</a>. This is important, I really hope<br />
you will respond and help turn Oklahoma around in education rather<br />
than just being an enabler of the current system which is badly<br />
underperforming.<br />
<br />
++ TIDBITS<br />
<br />
* GOVERNOR FALLIN AN AIRHEAD? - For the second year in a row,<br />
Governor Fallin has allowed herself to become a part of declaring<br />
October 24th as Oklahoma UN day. Last year’s declaration was a bunch<br />
of gibberish and mush, most likely written by some of the UN advocates<br />
who live in Oklahoma. We can only hope she didn’t write such BS (blue<br />
smoke-and-mirrors) for if she did, then she is totally ignorant of the<br />
intended purpose for the UN by its founders and the overall harm it<br />
has done or else she is un-American. I don’t believe it is the latter.<br />
Mary, please don’t continue to be an airhead on this issue!<br />
<br />
* GOVERNOR FALLIN SUPPORTING A LIBERAL DEMOCRAT? - State<br />
Representative Wade Rousselot (D-Wagoner) has been using campaign<br />
literature with a picture of himself and Governor Fallin together,<br />
implying an endorsement from the Republican Governor. Representative<br />
Rousselot is ranked as the 83rd most liberal lawmaker out of 101 in<br />
the House based on the lifetime rankings in the Oklahoma<br />
Constitution’s Conservative Index. So why is Governor Fallin allowing<br />
her picture to be used to benefit this liberal Democrat, especially<br />
when David Tackett, the Republican candidate running against the<br />
incumbent Democrat, is a viable candidate and a conservative<br />
Republican?<br />
<br />
Could it be that Mr. Tackett, among other things, is a political<br />
consultant and was helping in the campaigns of some of the<br />
conservatives who challenged some of the more liberal Republican<br />
incumbents during the primary races earlier this year? Could it be<br />
that the State Chamber is mad at having to spend hundreds of thousands<br />
of dollars trying to defend some of their bought and paid for<br />
candidates and are thus pressuring Fallin to help Rousselot win this<br />
race? Is this pay-back to David for using his skills to help<br />
conservatives replace the more moderate to liberal Republicans in the<br />
primaries?<br />
<br />
Oklahomans for Liberty are asking Republicans to e-mail Governor<br />
Fallin’s political director Denise Northrup at <a href="mailto:denisenorthrup@cox.net">denisenorthrup@cox.net</a><br />
and ask her just who Governor Fallin is supporting in the HD 12 race?<br />
This is serious for a Republican governor to allow herself to be used<br />
to defeat a conservative Republican candidate.<br />
<br />
* COMPARING OKLAHOMA AND KANSAS - Very interesting, during the<br />
primary races, I believe it was 7 or 8 liberal Republican incumbents<br />
that were thrown out of office in Kansas by Republican voters and<br />
replaced by conservatives. Even the Senate President Pro-Tem was<br />
defeated. However, in Oklahoma out of 7 or 8 races against incumbents<br />
only 1 of the more liberal incumbents (Guy Liebmann) was defeated and<br />
all the rest were re-elected, though most of the races were fairly<br />
close. So what was the difference?<br />
<br />
In Kansas, newly elected Governor Brownback, is a conservative and a<br />
true leader. He came to office as a social and fiscal conservative<br />
with a plan to reduce the size of government, eliminate the state<br />
income tax and create a climate in which free market capitalism could<br />
grow and flourish. Several entrenched establishment type Republicans<br />
stood in the way of many of the reforms he wanted to enact. Therefore,<br />
he actively campaigned to help the conservative challengers<br />
successfully defeat the moderate to liberal Republican incumbents.<br />
<br />
In Oklahoma, newly elected Governor Fallin is not really all that<br />
conservative and even though she proposed a plan to eliminate our<br />
state income taxes, she proved inept at leading as her ideas stalled<br />
through the legislative process. In addition, she worked hard to keep<br />
the Chamber’s chosen lawmakers in office so she supported the more<br />
liberal to moderate Republicans and thus worked against the<br />
conservatives. There is quite a difference going on between Oklahoma<br />
and Kansas and I like much of what Kansas is doing.<br />
<br />
* THE REAL PROBLEM WITH AMERICA - Sunday’s edition of the Oklahoman<br />
featured brief interviews with several Oklahomans regarding the<br />
following question: Who will you vote for in November? The answers<br />
proved how insightful the author of the following quote happens to be,<br />
though the authorship is debated. I will go with Alexander Fraizer<br />
Titler, also known as Lord Woodhousley. He is supposed to have said<br />
the following in 1770, just 6 years before we signed the Declaration<br />
of Independence: “A democracy (today we function more like a<br />
democracy than a republic) can not exist as a permanent form of<br />
government. It will only exist until the people realize they can vote<br />
themselves a largess (social benefits) from the public treasury. From<br />
that time on, they will vote for the politician who promises them the<br />
greatest amount of social benefits and that society will ALWAYS<br />
collapse due to fiscal irresponsibility”.<br />
<br />
Lenin once said, socialized medicine will always be the “gateway” to<br />
full blown socialism. Now lets look at what some of the people<br />
interviewed had to say: Amir, a restaurant owner from Edmond said he<br />
would vote for Obama, because of health care. Amir’s wife has MS.<br />
Its important that we have affordable healthcare.<br />
<br />
How about Clendon from Mustang who said: “Undicided” It appears that<br />
he wants the conflict between Republicans and Democrats resolved. Hey<br />
Clendon, hopefully the days of middle mush compromise which always<br />
allows us to slide to the left are over. Hopefully the polarized lines<br />
between liberalism and conservatism are clearly defined and more<br />
Americans will be persuaded toward the superiority of liberty and<br />
conservatism. If so, that philosophy will rise and provide quality<br />
leadership. If not, we are doomed!<br />
<br />
Continuing on, Bill from Edmond will again vote for Obama as he says<br />
he’s all for health care, he’s all for planned parenthood and he has a<br />
favorable opinion of unions. Bill and Amir prove that there are a<br />
sprinkling of liberals who live in Edmond.<br />
<br />
The main one I want to focus on is Carolyn, a 21 years old student<br />
from Dallas. She plans on voting for Obama and gives the following<br />
reason: TOP ISSUE? “Education and social reform. The economy’s<br />
ridiculously important, but currently, where I’m at as a person,<br />
social changes like gay marriage and women’s issues and funding for<br />
the arts, because I’m a college student and an arts major so a lot of<br />
Romney’s plans would cut my funding.”<br />
<br />
There is so much I could say about Carolyn, but to keep it in context<br />
about Mr. Titler’s predictions of the collapse of a democracy let me<br />
comment about personal greed and how it affects our decisions. It<br />
appears that Carolyn, like so many others will determine who they vote<br />
for based on how it will affect themselves personally rather than on<br />
what is morally right and according to the principles of good<br />
government. That is a huge problem in America.<br />
<br />
As an example, I believe the Fair Tax, if implemented would be the<br />
most positive thing we could do to improve our economy and it also<br />
treats everyone with equal fairness in its application. If there is a<br />
group in America that might benefit less under the fair tax than the<br />
current system, it might be retired Americans. My wife is recently<br />
retired and I am semi-retired. However, I would never even consider<br />
how such a change would affect us personally to determine my support<br />
or opposition to change that would be beneficial for America and<br />
morally fair to all going forward.<br />
<br />
I hope Romney is elected and I especially hope he will eliminate any<br />
federal funding for the arts at the level for which Carolyn may be<br />
speaking. Am I against art? Absolutely not, I just believe art is such<br />
an item of personal preference that it should stand on its own two<br />
feet. Let the market support the arts, not government. If Carolyn is<br />
good at her venue of art and works hard she will succeed in the<br />
marketplace, if not, she needs to meet the real world and do something<br />
else.<br />
<br />
I wonder how folks like Amir, Bill and Carolyn would react if they<br />
knew that some people view them as thieves as they seek to use the<br />
power of government to take their neighbor’s private property (hard<br />
earned money) to redistribute to themselves and others for their<br />
social benefits? I believe these are the kind of people who are<br />
demanding the fiscal destruction of America. These aren’t American<br />
patriots, I believe they are neo-American patriots, patriots to a new<br />
kind of America, an America where “hope and change” abounds, an<br />
America moving “forward” toward its destruction.<br />
<br />
* ATLAS SHRUGGED THE MOVIE - Part 2 of the movie based on the 3<br />
part book, Atlas Shrugged opened in theaters nation wide last Friday.<br />
I haven’t had time to see it as yet but will as soon as possible. I<br />
would suggest the movie will show what will happen if folks like Amir,<br />
Bill and Carolyn control the future of America. Just remember, the<br />
author of Atlas Shrugged was an atheist and as such determined her own<br />
standard of morality, which was Godless and immoral. However, she<br />
really understood the principles of socialism and how they destroy the<br />
mentality and viability of a nation.<br />
<br />
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.<br />
<br />
Charlie Meadows<br />
<a href="mailto:Charliemeadows7@gmail.com">Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</a>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-35271374775881828352012-10-08T09:11:00.001-05:002012-10-08T09:11:51.532-05:00DO VOTERS IN TULSA HAVE A CANDIDATE WHO CAN HANDLE MONEY?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />++ DO VOTERS IN TULSA HAVE A CANDIDATE WHO CAN HANDLE MONEY?<br />++ WHAT’S OBAMA, FALLIN, BARRESI, FORD & COODY HAVE IN COMMON?<br /><br /><br />++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br /><br />Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, October 10th will be held at<br />Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Our speaker this<br />week will be Mr. Ward Connerly, founder and President of the American<br />Civil Rights Institute, an organization dedicated to educating the<br />public about the need to move beyond race. More specifically, the need<br />to eliminate racial and gender preferences. Mr. Connerly’s<br />organization is behind State Question 759. Following Mr. Connerly’s<br />presentation and the question and answer session our members will vote<br />to determine if OCPAC will endorse this State Question.<br /><br />Mr. Connerly is the author of Creating Equal: My Fight Against Race<br />Preferences and his new release Lessons from My Uncle James: Beyond<br />Skin Color to the Content of Our Character. One part memoir, one part<br />moral guide, Lessons from My Uncle James is a touching, funny and<br />ultimately a philosophical book about living a principled and<br />productive life regardless of skin color. Lessons illustrates how Mr.<br />Connerly arrived at the ethics that have guided his life and is a new<br />starting point for the discussion about character that America must<br />have in order to move beyond race for good. Mr. Connerly is another of<br />the high profile national figures that we have at OCPAC from time to<br />time, therefore, you will NOT want to miss this meeting!<br /><br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br /><br />* MONDAY EVENING - ADA AREA - The Ada Seminole Tea Party will<br />host their monthly meeting in a new venue, the Perfect Blend Coffee<br />House, 730 East Main in Ada, starting at 6:30 p.m.. The first speaker<br />will be Ward Connerly of whom I mentioned above and then I will be<br />speaking on what I believe to be the hideous agenda of the State<br />Chamber of Commerce. If you live in the area, make every effort to<br />come and hear Mr. Connerly as it is not often that a rural community<br />has the opportunity to hear a high profile conservative speaker such<br />as Mr. Connerly.<br /><br />* TUESDAY EVENING - MOORE AREA - Middle East expert Brigitte<br />Gabriel will be in Moore on Tuesday evening, 7:00 p.m. at First<br />Baptist Church, 301 Northeast 27th street (about 2 blocks East of I-35<br />on 27th street). Brigitte has a compelling story as she suffered at<br />the hands of the radical fundamentalist Muslims in Lebanon as a young<br />girl. She thoroughly understands the dangers of Sharia Law and the<br />attempts by many American Muslims to use it to take over the judicial<br />and governmental institutions in our nation.<br /><br />* WEDNESDAY AT NOON - TULSA AREA - The Tulsa County Republican<br />Men’s Club will host their monthly meeting, 12 noon, at the Hibachi<br />Grill on East 74th Place South and Memorial Drive. Speaking will be<br />former City Councilor Bill Christiansen who is running for Mayor to<br />replace the liberal Republican Mayor Bartlett. Christian will discuss<br />his opposition to Vision2, the $748 million dollar sales tax increase<br />that will be on the ballot this November 6th. The public is invited to<br />attend. The folks in Tulsa had better wake up and inform themselves on<br />this issue, this will be a great opportunity to do so.<br /><br />* WEDNESDAY EVENING - SKIATOOK - Brigitte Gabriel, of whom I<br />mentioned above, will be speaking in the Tulsa area at Immanuel<br />Baptist Church of Skiatook, 625 South Broadway Street. The meeting<br />begins at 7:00 p.m.<br /><br />++ DO VOTERS IN TULSA HAVE A CANDIDATE WHO CAN HANDLE MONEY?<br /><br />This past Monday, October 1st the Oklahoman ran an above the fold<br />front page article about the Republican and Democrat candidates for<br />the District 1 Congressional race having a large amount of student<br />loan debt owed to the federal government. The debt is described as in<br />a range between $100,000 to $250,000 dollars. I have done a little<br />investigation and found out that the Republican candidate Bridenstine,<br />owes near that lower amount and I don’t know about the Democrat Olson,<br />but the article went on to report that Olson also owes up to $150,000<br />dollars in private student loans . Both have 2 degrees. The article<br />also indicated Olson’s wife has a similar amount of debt. Bridenstine<br />is 37 and Olson is 35, both about the same age.<br /><br />The point I want to make is the need to have a person in office who<br />has an attitude of abhorrence toward debt as well as an ability to<br />handle money and build wealth. One of my problems with Congressman<br />Sullivan was that as of the last reporting I saw he had a very low net<br />worth, which is not impressive for the amount of salary he makes and<br />the number of years he has made such a high salary (probably $150 to<br />$180 thousand a year for the over 10 plus years he has been in<br />office).<br /><br />Olson reports a family income of $111,000 and indicates he and his<br />wife struggle under the debt load. Bridenstine makes $36,000. For<br />Bridenstine to be current on his bills with a wife and 3 children<br />tells me he can handle money and we can only hope the pressure from<br />the student debt has created a hatred toward debt.<br /><br />We are continually told that people with college degrees make X number<br />of dollars more in their lifetime than those without a degree. That<br />may be true, however, prior to his death Paul Harvey cited a study<br />which showed that people who went to work right out of high school<br />started earning wealth right away, whereas college students often wait<br />a few years before they start to earn wealth. If those same students<br />acquired debt during college, by the time they paid off their debt and<br />with a shorter earning lifespan, in the end they will have acquired<br />little or no more discressionary dollars than those without a college<br />degree.<br /><br />Bottom line, I believe a college or university degree is vastly<br />overrated. There are some professions such as engineering, medical,<br />law and perhaps a few others that the need for a degree is valid. Home<br />school moms and dads without a degree prove on a daily basis that<br />children can be educated to a higher academic, social and spiritual<br />level than those taught by degreed educators in our government<br />schools.<br /><br />Following are some thoughts by syndicated columnist Malcolm Berko. Mr<br />Berko writes about investments and does so by way of a question and<br />answer format:<br /><br />Question<br /><br />“Dear Mr. Berko, I’m 30, make a good living as a plumber and have two<br />children ages 4 and 6 who are in preschool while my wife works part<br />time at Walmart. We want to provide for their college and need to know<br />how to invest $150 to $200 a month for their education. One financial<br />adviser recommended investing monthly in three mutuals that look very<br />good. Another, whose seminar we went to, recommended a complicated<br />life insurance policy that will have a high guaranteed value when the<br />children are ready for college. Another recommends small partnerships<br />in apartments, oil, shopping centers, natural gas wells, etc. And<br />another told us to invest in a diversified portfolio of good stocks<br />that we would invest in every month. The mutual sounds the best but we<br />don’t know how to make a decision. Please tell us what you would do.<br />CT in Gainesville, Fla.”<br /><br />“Dear CT: I’d prefer you save that money for retirement rather than a<br />college degree for your kids. When you retire in 40 years (if you’re<br />able) I’m certain you’ll need every penny you can beg, borrow and<br />save, and even then, that won’t be enough. The retirement future for<br />most middle aged Americans is bleak, and it’s a colossal mess out<br />there.<br /><br />It’s a daunting task to invest for a child’s college costs. You have a<br />12 year time frame until the kids are college ready, which isn’t<br />enough time for the magic of compounding to work. Our market has<br />morphed into a casino, whose embedded players have the scruples of a<br />gang of sociopaths.<br /><br />Most investments purchased 10 years ago are worth less today, failures<br />of over-aggressive stock market greed. This money is dear to you, and<br />you can’t afford to have fewer dollars 12 years from now than you have<br />today. Saving $200 a month accumulates to $28,000 in a dozen years<br />(without interest), which is what the cost could be for a single year<br />of college.<br /><br />Bank your savings in an interest account and know that all of it will<br />be there in 2024. This isn’t what you want to hear, but I don’t like<br />the risks I see in the coming 12 years.<br /><br />Now, you need to look around you and ask why an employer a dozen years<br />from now would hire a graduate with a degree in history, sociology,<br />literature, political science, philosophy, art or music theory.<br /><br />Employers I talk with recognize a student’s 4.0 grade average but also<br />recognize the culture of grade inflation and from past experience<br />doubt a student’s ability to learn on the job.<br /><br />We’re not in the 70s, 80s, and 90s anymore. The economy and its need<br />for new skill sets is changing.<br /><br />Many educators wear blinders or are too bumbling to recognize this<br />change. Those who do prefer the easy, armchair sinecure of the 20th<br />century and won’t change.<br /><br />Most of today’s bachelor’s degrees aren’t worth a blue pig in a green<br />huckleberry patch and too few master’s degrees are worth more.<br /><br />Forget the Madison Avenue media hype about the importance of a college<br />degree; rather, look at the facts.<br /><br />More than 54 percent of bachelor’s degree holders under 25 are either<br />jobless or underemployed as wait staff, cabbies or telephone<br />solicitors. Universities care more about becoming bigger than getting<br />better.<br /><br />This year, your University of Florida recently announced an increase<br />in funding for its athletic department to $99 million and a decrease<br />in funding for its computer science department.<br /><br />Your boys can make a better living as butchers, electricians, diesel<br />or jet engine mechanics, welders and yes, plumbers. They can get a<br />better education about life as apprentices in these fields rather than<br />doing dope at frat parties or sitting through mindless classes given<br />by 50-year-old nerds who can’t make a living in the real world.<br /><br />Tell your kids to join the Armed Services, learn a skill, learn what<br />they would like to do. Then when their hitch is up, have Uncle Sam pay<br />for their college education.”<br /><br />I really wish Mr. Berko wouldn’t hold back with his opinions. Recently<br />we have seen reports about a nationwide effort to increase the number<br />of people with degrees. This idea is also being pushed in Oklahoma.<br />Why and who is behind this idea?<br /><br />First off, it is the people who earn their living as college<br />professors, instructors, administrators or those who work in other<br />fields associated with these bastions of leftist indoctrination.<br /><br />Secondly, some businesses have bought into the idea that the old sheep<br />skin is somehow a determinate as to a quality employee, rather than<br />the concept that a reasonably sharp person with a good work ethic can<br />learn to be as, if not more, productive than the person with the<br />degree.<br /><br />Third, many in government have seen the stats that the person with the<br />degree earns a higher wage. Therefore they believe, if we can only get<br />more people making more money, paying more personal income and sales<br />taxes, that situation will result in more revenue flowing into the<br />government coffers.<br /><br />Finally, parents have heard the mantra about the “necessity” of a<br />college degree and they project that onto their children as they grow<br />up. Therefore, many of those kids coming out of high school have been<br />programmed to think, think, think that college is the only way to go<br />and thus are scripted to give it a try. They have been told they will<br />never amount to much without a college degree and the peer pressure is<br />significant to go to college.<br /><br />Certainly some are successful in college and some really need college<br />for their future field or profession. However, many others aren’t<br />suited for that experience and thus drop out and get on with their<br />lives in other ways. We just have to hope they are able to overcome<br />the negative vibes about not amounting to anything without a college<br />education. Some of them go on to own businesses and become multi-<br />millionaires. Others learn the honor of labor and earn a good living<br />for themselves and their families.<br /><br />I simply offer these ideas so people will consider them before they<br />just automatically go down the prim-rose path that is being laid out<br />for them by the system.<br /><br />One more thing, a few weeks back I re-published several columns by<br />State Representative Jason Murphy (R-Guthrie) about the high cost of<br />higher education and ways to beat those costs through the rapid growth<br />of technology. Following is an editorial from the October 5th edition<br />of the Oklahoman which does an excellent job of summing up<br />Representative Murphey’s columns:<br /><br />“State colleges need to alter business model to expand”<br /><br />“Twelve Oklahoma colleges and universities are part of a national<br />initiative to increase the number of degrees awarded over the next 14<br />years. This is a worthy goal. However, those touting the effort hinge<br />its success largely upon increasing taxpayer appropriations. There is<br />little discussion of using technology to increase efficiency and lower<br />costs while serving a larger group of students.<br /><br />That’s disappointing because online learning is growing in the world<br />of higher education. L. Rafael Reif, president of Massachusetts<br />Institute of Technology, recently wrote in The Wall Street Journal of<br />that school’s venture into online education. Since last December,<br />150,000 people from 160 countries have signed up for MIT’s online<br />course content. Reif wrote, ’Online education holds the key to making<br />residential education better and less expensive even as it promises to<br />offer education to many millions more people.’ He believes providing<br />courses online for a small fee can ultimately boost the school’s on-<br />campus efforts as well.<br /><br />In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry has called for tying 10 percent of a<br />university’s funding to graduation rates. Perry has also called for<br />universities to develop a $10,000 bachelor’s degree, a goal that nine<br />schools have embraced. According to its student newspaper, The<br />University of Texas-Arlington is collaborating with Tarrant County<br />College and local high schools to allow students to complete 24 credit<br />hours of dual-credit college courses during their junior and senior<br />years in high school, attend TCC and then UTA, reaping a bachelor’s<br />degree for $10,000 in the process.<br /><br />If schools as prestigious as MIT can explore lower-cost online<br />learning, why can’t Oklahoma colleges? If a $10,000 degree is possible<br />in Texas, why not in Oklahoma? According to The Institute for College<br />Access and Success, 56 percent of Oklahoma students currently graduate<br />with an average of $20,708 in student loan debt.<br /><br />Instead, Oklahoma college officials often seem focused on maintaining<br />the current system structure and associated revenues. In 2005, OU<br />suffered a public-relations embarrassment after requiring most<br />freshman students to live on campus, including those residing within<br />50 miles who were previously exempt from that mandate. The university<br />backed off after public outcry from students trying to save on college<br />expenses by living at home.<br /><br />Oklahoma college officials note that state appropriations account for<br />a smaller percentage of their funding today than in 1980, but those<br />statistics are misleading. State colleges no longer require<br />legislative approval for tuition increases - something that didn’t<br />occur in the 1980s. Between 2003 and 2007, tuition and fees at<br />Oklahoma universities increased by more than 50 percent. Rates have<br />continued to climb since then. State appropriations can comprise a<br />smaller percentage of the total budget even when lawmakers increase<br />taxpayer funding.<br /><br />Furthermore, in-state tuition and fees at OU in 1980 were $1,713<br />(adjusted for inflation). Today, they’re $7,340. At OSU, tuition and<br />fees jumped from an inflation-adjusted $1,677 to $7,441 today. That’s<br />an increase of more than 300 percent, after inflation, at both<br />schools.<br /><br />The forces driving more students to obtain a college education to get<br />21st Century jobs also allow colleges to better control costs while<br />increasing enrollment and preserving quality. Other business models<br />have changed since Oklahoma statehood; there’s no reason our higher<br />education system can’t do the same.”<br /><br />Again I believe that college is overrated. However, the day is coming<br />when people aren’t going to put up with $100,000 to $250,000 in<br />student loan debts to earn between $36 to $55 thousand a year. Change<br />is coming and folks would be wise to consider those changes.<br /><br />++ WHAT’S OBAMA, FALLIN, BARRESI, FORD & COODY HAVE IN COMMON?<br /><br />I have run out of time, so this will be the lead article in next<br />week’s e-mail.<br /><br />I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.<br /><br />Charlie Meadows<br />Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</div>
Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-19295435113740123442012-09-25T11:35:00.002-05:002012-09-25T11:35:59.667-05:00I’VE BEEN WARNING, THE STATE CHAMBER’S REAL AGENDA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />++ I’VE BEEN WARNING, THE STATE CHAMBER’S REAL AGENDA<br />++ THE OKLAHOMAN, THE GOOD & THE UGLY<br />++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE<br /><br /><br />++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br /><br />Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, September 26th will be held at<br />Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. This will be our<br />final week for interviewing candidates and then next week we will vote<br />to determine which candidates we will support. In addition we will<br />also vote on some issues that will become positions that OCPAC<br />supports for the up-coming legislative session.<br /><br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br /><br />* TUESDAY EVENING (tonight) - BIXBY AREA - Americans for<br />Prosperity invites folks to attend a special Back to School movie<br />night to honor Dr. Milton Friedman. The event will be at the Starworld<br />20 Theater in Bixby, 10301 S. Memorial Dr. from 7 to 9:00 p.m. The<br />movie will be: School Choice Myth Busters. This film will put to rest<br />many of the myths used by school choice opponents. The movie is free<br />with popcorn and a soft drink included. Here is the catch, there is<br />seating for only 100 people so you “must” RSVP: http;//<br />mythbustersmovie.eventbrite.com/. Following the movie there will be a<br />panel discussion. Guest Panelists will be State Education Board Member<br />Bill Price, Myth Busters movie producer James Price, Representative<br />Jason Nelson (R-OKC) and Mark Lee Cantrell.<br /><br />* THURSDAY EVENING - MOORE AREA - The Sooner Republican Assembly<br />will host their monthly meeting this Thursday evening at Earls Rib in<br />Moore. Folks are urged to gather for dinner at 6, with the speaker<br />beginning at 6:45 p.m. This month’s speaker will be Dr. James Taylor<br />(JT), founder of R.I.O.T. (Radical, Interesting, Odd but Timely). J.T.<br />is a conservative black minister who is also a member of the Black<br />Robed Regiment. He has also produced a DVD called: A PEBBLE IN YOUR<br />SHOE - WHY I AM A REPUBLICAN. I have known J.T. for some time now and<br />plan to have him speak at a future OCPAC meeting.<br /><br />++ I’VE BEEN WARNING, THE STATE CHAMBER’S REAL AGENDA<br /><br />I have been trying to warn folks that the State Chamber of Commerce in<br />on the road toward such political power as to control the state of<br />Oklahoma and its policies. Oklahomans for Sovereignty and Free<br />Enterprise www.oksafe.org posted part of a transcript on August 21st<br />of this year which came from recording Fred Morgan, executive director<br />of the Chamber and lobbyist Chad Warmington. They were speaking at a<br />“lunch time Legislative Wrap Up Meeting on Tuesday, July 17th of 2012,<br />at Northeastern State University, on the Broken Arrow Campus.<br /><br />According to OKSAFE’s web-site: “Both Morgan and Warmington make<br />statements that left little doubt as to the Chamber’s intentions,<br />revealing what most in the grassroots already knew - that the Chamber<br />is an agenda-driven institution, single-minded in its’ efforts to<br />advance corporate interests only, operating virtually without<br />conscious and with little or no regard to principle when it comes to<br />policy issues.” (I might suggest labeling that as being pragmatic<br />without morality) “They want what business wants. Period.”<br /><br />“These Chamber representatives admit they actively find, recruit, and<br />run the campaigns of those candidates who will vote the way the<br />Chamber wants them to once elected. They call these their ‘pro-<br />business’ candidates. (For those out there who think there is a chance<br />your Chamber-supported candidate will actually represent the interests<br />of their home district, please understand - it doesn’t work that<br />way.)”<br /><br />“Fred Morgan, a former legislator/lobbyist, took over as Director of<br />the State Chamber a couple of years ago.<br /><br />Morgan stated that before he came, “…we really weren’t very<br />politically engaged. But we know that in order to [unclear] that … we<br />know we need to be engaged and we need to be involved in the political<br />level as well. So we have engaged very heavily at the political<br />level. It’s a lot easier to lobby a legislator who shares your ideas,<br />and your goals, and who knows something about business. And Chad is<br />going to go through a lot of the projects, kind of sum up our<br />political projects.”<br /><br />According to Ok-SAFE, “The Chamber doesn’t want to waste a lot of time<br />working with legislators who may not agree with them, so they’ve<br />decided it’s better to pick and run their own guys. This is called<br />‘being politically engaged in the process.’”<br /><br />“Warmington admits, ’So we run campaigns, essentially, out of one side<br />of our shop.’ His power point presentation detailed the State<br />Chamber’s recent activities and projects on which they are focused.<br /><br />Some of those activities include:<br /><br />* Finding and recruiting candidates to run for office, regardless of<br />party affiliation<br />* Running campaigns, including mail pieces - positive for their pro-<br />business ’friends,’ and negative for their opponents, called either<br />’anti-business’ or ’trial lawyers’ - and radio and phone calls (live).<br />* Educating the candidates once elected so they’ll vote the right way,<br />called ’pro-business’<br />*Partnering with the Research Institute for Economic Development, or<br />RIED, a 20-year old special interest group, to rank legislators. The<br />annual RIED Report claims to score legislators on ’business, jobs, and<br />economic development’, but the criteria used to rank them is virtually<br />unavailable.<br />* The use of The Political Intelligence Report, a subscription<br />information site to provide ’intelligence’ to their members. The<br />Intelligence Report is also used to encourage or discourage campaign<br />contributions, among other things.<br />* The creation of ’We Are Watching Them’ website, for tracking votes<br />and detailing a ’top offenders’ list of legislators who don’t vote the<br />way the Chamber wants them to vote.<br />* The creation of the Oklahoma Civil Justice Council, an evaluation<br />system to criticize judges who render decisions that the Chamber’s<br />corporate members don’t agree with. The criteria is based on whether<br />the judge’s decision ’expanded or contracted’ liability for<br />businesses. This recently-created Council has been criticized by Rep.<br />John Bennett, a conservative legislator, who pointed out that judges<br />are supposed to be impartial. Bennett in turn is being targeted by<br />the State Chamber for being ’anti-business.’”<br /><br />OKSAFE goes on to say: “Warmington was quite enthusiastic over the<br />Chamber’s agenda - and without conscious, it seems, when it comes to<br />how the Chamber conducts campaigns for their chosen candidates. He<br />never once mentioned the character assassination the Chamber engaged<br />in while ’defending’ their ’pro-business friends’ during the recent<br />elections. Think this didn’t happen? Just ask Pastor Paul Blair of<br />Edmond, OK who ran against the Chamber’s buddy Senator Clark Jolley,<br />or Kevin McDugle of Tulsa who took on the progressive Senator Brian<br />Crain in the primary elections this year. The State Chamber<br />demonstrated they have no scruples when it comes to getting what they<br />want - and removing obstacles that get in their way.” Both the audio<br />and transcript of that meeting are available on the OKSAFE web-site.<br /><br />Following are some Chamber Meeting Quotes:<br /><br />“This ain’t your granddaddy’s State Chamber.” “… we have engaged very<br />heavily at the political level.”<br /><br />“What we decided is that we couldn’t just wait and hope and pray that<br />good legislators showed up at the Capitol… so we run campaigns,<br />essentially, out of one side of our shop… we don’t care what party<br />you’re from,…”<br /><br />“We have our legislative agenda…. [A]nd if they’re voting against the<br />legislation the business community wants they you’re, you get a bad<br />score…”<br /><br />“How do I get off your list?” And I said, “It’s very easy, just kinda<br />vote your way off the list… if you vote the right way, you’ll get off<br />the list.”<br /><br />“I mean, we absolutely helped switch votes.”<br /><br />“Oklahoma Civil Justice Council is not directly related to the<br />Legislature, it’s another project we wanted to point out. We’re doing<br />the same thing with Judges and we’ve caught a little bit of heat for<br />it. It’s a brand new project that Fred uh, has, uh, been spearheading…<br />And we’re going to do the same job of evaluation system on Judges and<br />all we’re going to judge Judges on are, do they expand or contract<br />liability for businesses…?”<br /><br />“But part of the problem is we spend all of our time to recruit good<br />business candidates, we get them elected, we get them educated, we get<br />them to vote the right way on a bill, and then the bill goes to the<br />Supreme Court and gets struck down… we’ve got some work to do making<br />sure that the business community…understand who these Judges are…”<br />“Representative Bennett came out and criticized us for having the gall<br />to evaluate judges…”<br /><br />“ So, again, this is the, the RIED Score, many of you have seen it. It<br />lists who got what… so again, we go back to party affiliation, we<br />don’t care what party you’re from - we just care that you’re voting<br />for business.”<br /><br />Now folks this next quote, I believe from Chad, is the most revealing<br />of them all: “Uh, and for us, you know, political guys, you know, a<br />lot of times we, you know, the legislature spends a lot of time<br />talking about things that just don’t matter - I mean, they want to<br />talk about tax cuts and all that stuff… So we’re going to have to<br />figure out… how to help, uh, refocus maybe the legislators’ attention<br />on things that are actually going to create jobs, versus worrying<br />about tax cuts and tax credits and stuff like that.”<br /><br />Between all the “uhs”, “you knows” and “I means” if you need any help<br />reading between the lines may I suggest the following: First off look<br />at the arrogance, how their attitude toward lawmakers is like subjects<br />to control, to pull their strings and make them dance when the Chamber<br />plays the music. Secondly, going back to TABOR (TAxpayers Bill Of<br />Rights) as well as other efforts to reduce the cost of government to<br />the taxpayer, I have noticed it is often the very wealthy, the State<br />Chamber types, who are opposed to such efforts. In fact, often times<br />you will find this same crowd involved in efforts to raise taxes or<br />fees such as the effort a few years back to increase the fee we pay<br />when we purchase a gallon of gas or diesel, so additional monies could<br />be used to re-build more roads and bridges (With the take over by the<br />Republicans, that is now occurring without a fee or tax increase, much<br />to the chagrin of Tulsa’s David Blatt and the leftist think thank he<br />heads up).<br /><br />Why does this bunch oppose tax cuts and often times support tax or fee<br />increases? I believe it is primarily because of their view on<br />economics. Regardless of what they say, I don’t believe they are<br />really supporters of “free market capitalism”. Their ideology leans<br />more toward a belief in “fascist capitalism” and or “socialist<br />capitalism.” Socialist capitalism is where the government owns<br />businesses such as the Reed Center in MWC and its adjoining hotel and<br />restaurant, or the water park in Edmond, as well as the Chesapeake<br />Energy Arena and the Thunder’s practice facility in OKC (before the<br />taxpayers built the $19 million practice facility near Britton Road<br />and the Broadway extension which is leased for $100,000 per year which<br />will take 190 years for OKC to re-coup its investment, the Thunder had<br />its own practice facility on North Lincoln which they owned for about<br />3 or 4 million dollars) all owned by the city of OKC and leased<br />through sweet-heart deals to those who use them.<br /><br />Under fascist capitalism, the government doesn’t own businesses, they<br />just favor or control them through regulations, subsidies, grants, tax<br />credits or other kick-back schemes as well as determining who gets the<br />approved opportunities and locations for their businesses. These are<br />primarily re-distribution of wealth schemes, often times re-<br />distributing the wealth of the middle class to the very wealthy. Free<br />market capitalism struggles to survive against this un-fair<br />competition.<br /><br />Bottom line, if you are going to give away a lot of money to<br />businesses (hundreds of millions of dollars each year) you can NOT<br />allow your tax base to get too low. You must keep it sufficiently high<br />to have enough money to give away. This system is highly immoral and<br />it is a system that also may facilitate the less than the best to rise<br />to the top as well as creating animosities between the citizens and<br />competitors in business.<br /><br />We all want a vibrant economy, good jobs and professions for ourselves<br />and our children as well as an appealing place for good people in<br />other states to migrate to Oklahoma. Therefore, the question is, do we<br />try to have a free market environment with a low tax base and minimal<br />regulations or do we keep a high tax base with a lot of regulations<br />where government, not the market is picking the winners and losers? I<br />believe the State Chamber’s philosophy’s is the latter, after all,<br />they like helping their buddies and themselves other peoples money.<br /><br />With all that said, we were recently approached by the State Chamber<br />and asked to help with passage of State Question 766, an effort to<br />prevent a tax on businesses, harmful to businesses. The Chamber is<br />right on this one and when they are right, we will join hands with<br />them, but when they are wrong, we will oppose them.<br /><br />++ THE OKLAHOMAN, THE GOOD & THE UGLY<br /><br />Over the past few weeks I have been suggesting that the Oklahoman has<br />been returning to its more conservative history on the editorial<br />page. Actually they have been writing a lot of good columns, but<br />recently they really messed up. Yes, I was on vacation for 15 days,<br />but I eventually get caught up with the 5 newspapers I read and low<br />and behold, September 1st was a very ugly day for the Oklahoman’s<br />editorial page. The editorial in question is not long. I will put my<br />opinion comments in italics and in parenthesis.<br /><br />“Election Message”<br /><br />Taking advantage of President Barack Osama’s “you didn’t build that”<br />comment, Republicans repeatedly highlighted entrepreneurs and the<br />reality of achieving the American dream during the party’s national<br />convention. The national GOP clearly wants to be seen as a defender of<br />free markets and the ability of one man or woman with an idea to<br />succeed. Locally, Republican voters endorsed that message by electing<br />Mark McBride to a state House seat in Moore. McBride, who owns a<br />roofing and construction business, replaces state Rep. randy Terrill,<br />a Republican known for anti-business obsessions.<br /><br />(First off, I am very glad Mark McBride won his race, he was also<br />backed by OCPAC. However, in all the years I have known Randy Terrill,<br />which is before he was even in the legislature, I have never known him<br />to have any anti-business ideas, much less anti-business obsessions.<br />If my memory serves me correctly, Randy was a major force in<br />eliminating some of the franchise taxes on small businesses and a huge<br />supporter of the reductions in the state income tax rates, both pro<br />business efforts. I suspect what the Oklahoman is talking about were<br />Randy’s efforts to pass HB 1804, the legislation to deal with the<br />invasion of illegal aliens into our state.<br /><br />If the Oklahoman thinks it is pro-business to risk radically changing<br />our culture, eventually creating sufficient numbers of minority voters<br />nation wide to make sure Democrats like Obama will eventually be un-<br />beatable, if they are willing to sacrifice our national sovereignty<br />for cheap labor, then they are some sick puppies. None of those three<br />serious issues are pro-business in the long run and that doesn’t even<br />take into account the stressrd on our jobs for citizens, health care,<br />education, welfare or jail and prison systems that we have to deal<br />with today).<br /><br />McBride’s runoff opponent was backed by the Sooner Tea Party, a<br />splinter group that (unlike the national tea party movement) tends to<br />view individuals’ business success as suspect or worse.<br /><br />(The Sooner Tea Party probably attaches itself to candidates in many<br />cases without being asked and since they are a splinter group, why<br />even bring them up? They are ineffective and more likely to be the<br />kiss of death for a candidate rather than a help. I have no use for<br />the Sooner Tea Party or its leader Al Gerhart, but I will say this, Al<br />is a hard working small businessman that I have never known to be<br />against business success as long as those achieving success did so<br />according to the principles of the free market and did not break the<br />law to achieve their success).<br /><br />McBrides win is a victory for free-market viewpoints in the Oklahoma<br />GOP, and a rebuke to the Occupy Wall Street-style hysteria some sought<br />to embed in Republican circles.”<br /><br />(I am sorry, but that statement is foolish on its face. In the past I<br />have stated my belief that Mark’s opponent wasn’t in control of her<br />emotions sufficiently to be a good lawmaker. As wild as her attacks<br />were at some times, she wasn’t anywhere near to promoting the extreme<br />leftist ideas of the Occupy movement. Among all the occupy movement<br />stooges in Oklahoma, I doubt you could find a single person in that<br />effort registered as a Republican.<br /><br />Randy Terrill’s political fortunes, as far as holding office again,<br />have probably been irreparably harmed. But, he has done much more for<br />the State of Oklahoma and its citizens that deserves honor than he has<br />done that deserves ridicule. This editorial by the Oklahoman was off<br />base and over the top in my opinion. Hopefully they will avoid this<br />kind of tripe in the future and get back to writing quality<br />editorials).<br /><br />++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE<br /><br />As of last Wednesday, OCPAC has 242 dues paying members which is ahead<br />of last year’s membership of 217. The largest number of memberships<br />come from OKC, with Edmond a close second and then Tulsa is in 3rd<br />place. For your interest the following is a list of other towns or<br />cities across Oklahoma with dues paying members, they are not in any<br />order: Moore, Holdenville, Blanchard, Shawnee, Harrah, Calvin, Konawa,<br />Hooker, Seminole, Jones, Norman, Meridian, Midwest City, Duncan,<br />Broken Bow, Broken Arrow, Del City, Guthrie, Yukon, Ponca City,<br />Stratford, Alva, Lawton, Mustang, Luther, Choctaw, Newkirk,<br />Bartlesville, Ada, Purcell, Warr Acres, Owasso, Nichols Hills, Macomb,<br />Wyandotte, Sapulpa, Newcastle and Arapaho.<br /><br />As you can see, we have members from the Southeast to the Panhandle<br />and from the Northeast to the Southwest as well as many points in-<br />between. OCPAC is truly a statewide organization with dues paying<br />members from all over that state, many of whom can seldom if ever<br />attend our meetings, but they know we support quality candidates from<br />all over the state in our effort to make Oklahoma a more conservative<br />state.<br /><br />One of the reasons for such support, it that none of your<br />contributions are eaten up by staff as we are all volunteer, and very<br />little is spent on overhead. Yet we do the hard work of trying to<br />ferret out the true conservatives from the moderates or even RINO’s.<br />Unless you are willing to do that work for yourself, may I suggest<br />your support for conservatism through OCPAC. If you have not joined<br />OCPAC for this year, please consider doing so by Wednesday the 3rd of<br />October. After our members present at our meeting vote to determine<br />which candidates we have been interviewing are to receive our support,<br />we will get checks out to them with haste so they have the time to<br />plan on how to best use that money. Instructions on how to join are<br />below.<br /><br />I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.<br /><br />Charlie Meadows<br />Charliemeadows7@gmail.com<br /></div>
Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-4394992174928548252012-09-17T09:20:00.001-05:002012-09-17T09:20:57.863-05:00PROFILING ARABS AND MUSLIMS ++ THE PASSING OF RUSS REINHARDT, DEFINITON OF A PATRIOT<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />++ PROFILING ARABS AND MUSLIMS<br />++ THE PASSING OF RUSS REINHARDT, DEFINITON OF A PATRIOT<br /><br /><br />++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br /><br />Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, September 19th will be held at<br />Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. We have invited 6<br />candidates (some do not come) to our meeting this Wednesday as we<br />continue interviewing candidates for the state legislature. We will<br />have one more week for interviews and then on October 3rd our dues<br />paying members as of September 19 who attend the meeting on the 3rd<br />will vote to determine which of the candidates we have been<br />interviewing will receive our support.<br /><br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br /><br />* MONDAY EVENING - HOLDENVILLE AREA - I will be speaking at a<br />meeting of the Hughes County Republican party in Holdenville, Monday<br />evening, September 17th, 6:00 p.m. at the First United Bank. I want to<br />invite folks in the area who receive this e-mail to come and introduce<br />themselves to me, I really enjoy getting to meet you. Because<br />September 17th is Constitution Day, I will be handing out a copy of<br />the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and<br />the remaining amendments to the Constitution to everyone in<br />attendance.<br /><br />* FRIDAY AT NOON - OKC AREA - The High Noon club will continue<br />its celebration of the Constitution this Friday, September 21 as they<br />welcome their speaker Charles Knight, founder of “The 57th Patriot”<br />alliance. The mission of the 57th Patriot is to promote an<br />understanding of the Founding Documents. The guiding purpose is to<br />Restore - Recover - Rebuild: Restore the Constitutional Republic,<br />Recover our Founder’s Principles, and Rebuild America’s Excellence.<br />The 57th Patriot’s focus is on the Declaration of Independence,<br />viewing it as the “mission statement” of our Republic. The meeting<br />starts at 12 noon and is located at H&H Range, 400 South Vermont,<br />Suite 110 in OKC.<br /><br />* FRIDAY EVENING - NORMAN AREA - The Norman Tea Party will<br />sponsor a global intelligence briefing titled: What’s Really Happening<br />in the World, at the First Assembly of God Church, 2500 E. Lindsey<br />Street, starting at 7:30 p.m. Speaking will be Mr. Herb Meyer, host<br />and producer of the DVD, The Siege of Western Civilization, which<br />outlines the threats to our security, our economy and our culture. His<br />DVD has become an international best seller.<br /><br />During the Reagan administration, Herb served as Special Assistant to<br />the Director of Central Intelligence and Vice Chairman of the CIA’s<br />National Intelligence Council. In these positions, he managed<br />production of the U.S. National Intelligence Estimates and other top<br />secret projections for the President and his national security<br />advisers. Herb is widely credited with being the first senior U.S.<br />Government official to forecast the collapse of the Soviet Union -- a<br />forecast for which he later was awarded the U.S. National Intelligence<br />Distinguished Service Medal, which is the Intelligence Communities’<br />highest honor.<br /><br />Herb’s essays on Intelligence and Politics have been published in The<br />Wall Street Journal, National Review Online, Policy Review and The<br />American Thinker. He is the author of two new eBooks: How to Analyze<br />Information - A Step-by-Step Guide to Life’s Most Vital Skill, and The<br />Cure for Poverty, which explains how the Free Market works and how<br />entrepreneurs create jobs. Herb is a frequent guest on leading<br />television and radio talk shows.<br /><br />I strongly suspect he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations<br />(CFR). Therefore, it will be most interesting to hear his views on<br />what is going on in the world today and what might be some of his<br />proposed solutions for actions to be taken by the U.S. government.<br /><br />++ PROFILING ARABS AND MUSLIMS<br /><br />WARNING ! If you are opposed to profiling, stereotyping, being<br />excessively tolerant or offended by verbiage that wouldn’t meet the<br />criteria for being politically correct, you might not want to read<br />this section of this week’s e-mail. Because I fully intend to be<br />offensive in these areas as I practice our American tradition and<br />constitutional right to speak my opinions freely.<br /><br />I was probably first introduced to middle eastern folks while at OSU<br />in the middle to late 60s. Many of the foreign students on campus at<br />that time were from Iran (Iranian’s are Persian rather than Arab). As<br />time has gone on I have met many people from the middle east and have<br />traveled to Jordan as well as Israel. While in Jerusalem, we were<br />invited to the home of a wealthy Arab-Muslim businessman and his<br />brother for a wonderful dinner. During the 80’s I used to attend<br />international meetings every Friday evening at OCU until the time we<br />moved to Logan county where I got too busy to continue to attend.<br /><br />At those international meetings we met many middle eastern students,<br />most of which were adults who were studying at the FAA center at Will<br />Rogers World Airport. For about a year and a half Linda and I took it<br />upon ourselves to show many of these students aspects of life in<br />Oklahoma. We took these students to rodeos, baseball games, Indian<br />City USA, Frontier City and many other places. Some of those I<br />remember the best from the middle east were from Libya, Egypt, Syria<br />and Saudi Arabia.<br /><br />I have said all that to say that over time I have been an observer of<br />Arabs, Persians and Muslims and in recent years have studied their<br />violent history and religion. However, I don’t want to suggest I am an<br />expert who fully understands the middle eastern mind. But through my<br />observations I have come to some conclusions.<br /><br />Anytime you speak of profiling or stereotyping people you run the risk<br />of being labeled a racist, trust me, I don’t care, that doesn’t bother<br />me. Anytime you speak of a people as a group or in generalities there<br />will always be those exceptions to the rule. With that in mind, let me<br />say my observations of many Arab people leave me to believe that they<br />have a tendency to be highly excitable, emotional and irrational. If<br />you add the religion of Islam to that mix, it tends to exaggerate<br />those descriptions.<br /><br />Islam is one of the world’s great religions by the measure of the<br />large number of adherents to it. However, I don’t believe Islam, in<br />its substance, is a great religion. I once heard a speaker describe it<br />as not being a religion at all but rather a mental illness.<br /><br />In our world of political correctness, some people who don’t want to<br />be considered as insensitive to other people’s religion, have a<br />problem with the radical elements of Islam and tend to strongly insist<br />there is a difference between radical Islam and Muslim moderates.<br />While that is a distinction to be considered, just remember, the<br />religion of Islam produces its radicals. In fact I have often said the<br />major problem with Islam are its fundamentalists, where the major<br />problem with Christianity are its moderates or a lack of<br />fundamentalists.<br /><br />The many violent events over the past few days over the supposedly<br />offensive DVD which supposedly denigrates Islam (I haven’t seen it and<br />could care less what is in it) goes toward proving my observations<br />about many Arabs and Muslims.<br /><br />Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that for the most part Arab<br />nations or nations with a majority of Muslims are incapable of self<br />government. As a result, they will always be governed by a strong<br />handed dictator or a strong handed religious leader whether or not<br />those leaders are in power through the dangerous form of government<br />known as a “democracy” or some other means. The form of government<br />they are incapable of having is a constitutional republic, a form of<br />government that will govern a populace with sufficient control to<br />maintain order while at the same time allowing for the maximum amount<br />of liberty.<br /><br />Therefore, in my opinion, all our efforts since 9-11-2001 to help<br />establish a self government style of government in nations like Iraq<br />and Afghanistan have been and will continue to be futile! I am now of<br />the opinion that we probably should have gone into Afghanistan after<br />those who attacked us with punishing force, eliminate Osama Ben Laden<br />and his network and then have left the country in whatever kind of<br />rubble that we caused as we returned home.<br /><br />I do believe there is a day coming when we will pull out of that<br />region and when we do we will find that all of our efforts to help<br />them form self government will have gone for naught. The goal of Islam<br />for world domination is a serious threat to world peace as well as a<br />serious threat to the United States. I believe it is a threat to our<br />nation from without as well as from within our nation.<br /><br />Twice before in world history Islam has been stopped from their goal<br />of world domination by being defeated on the battle field and that is<br />probably the way it will have to be done this time if their goals are<br />to again be stopped. However, they will not be stopped by trying to<br />help them establish self government for they are not capable of that<br />form of government. Then, on the other hand, should the people of<br />America re-elect President Obama, I question whether or not we are any<br />longer capable of self government?<br /><br />++ THE PASSING OF RUSS REINHARDT, DEFINITION OF A PATRIOT<br /><br />This past Thursday night, Russ Reinhardt, one of my best friends and<br />in many ways a mentor to me, passed away in Little Rock Arkansas.<br />Almost 6 years ago Russ was diagnosed with bone cancer and lived more<br />than twice the time Doctors expected for him to live. There will be a<br />memorial service for him this Saturday, September 22nd, 1:30 p.m. at<br />Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond (the Southeast corner of Sooner Road<br />and Danforth).<br /><br />I first met Russ and Debra about 18 years ago while he was teaching a<br />Constitution class at Henderson Hill Baptist Church in Edmond. Not too<br />long after that Russ and Deb moved to Salida Colorado and built their<br />dream home in the mountains. Even though they have lived out of state<br />over the past 15 or so years, Russ has always been a faithful member<br />of OCPAC ever since its inception.<br /><br />I will be doing the eulogy to him during Saturday’s memorial service<br />so I am not going to go into a lot of detail here. However, I do want<br />to say there was a time he was a dedicated liberal, but as so often,<br />when a person has a truly dramatic born again experience and begins to<br />read God’s Word, that person’s world view changes and they become a<br />constitutional conservative.<br /><br />Russ had a great analytical mind, a passion to serve God and a love<br />for the principles that this nation was founded upon. Part of his<br />service to God was by being a cultural warrior to try and return this<br />nation and its people to those founding principles.<br /><br />Russ had been a very successful businessman and was able to retire at<br />about age 50. In his retirement years he put his time and resources<br />into efforts he believed in and they were always very patriotic. I am<br />going to miss him a great deal. If you were to look in a dictionary at<br />the word patriot, it would be appropriate to have a picture of Russ<br />next to the definition.<br /><br />Speaking of Patriotism, Linda and I saw the movie THE LAST OUNCE OF<br />COURAGE this past Friday night. It was great, very moving and it<br />certainly inspires courage. My friend Russ would have loved this<br />movie. He won’t be able to see it, but the rest of can as it opened in<br />about 1500 movie theaters this weekend. It should have done well<br />enough at the box office to stay in theaters for several weeks. I urge<br />folks to make every effort to go and see this movie, contemplate its<br />message and then ask God how you might best respond to its message.<br /><br />I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.<br /><br />Charlie Meadows<br />Charliemeadows7@gmail.com<br /></div>
Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-58200699000120847632012-08-20T08:54:00.001-05:002012-08-20T08:55:08.873-05:00BURN BANS, DO THEY WORK & 85% OF BURNED HOMES NOT INSURED<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />
++ JASON MURPHEY, PART 3 ON HIGHER ED & ITS COSTS<br />
++ BURN BANS, DO THEY WORK & 85% OF BURNED HOMES NOT INSURED.<br />
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />
++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE<br />
<br />
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />
<br />
Our 12 noon meeting for Wednesday, August 22nd will be held at<br />
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. We will have several<br />
items on our agenda for this week’s meeting. A representative for the<br />
soon to be released film, LAST OUNCE OF COURAGE will talk to us about<br />
the film and play a trailer for us on our TV system. It is due to open<br />
in theaters on September 14th. Our main speaker will be Oklahoma<br />
County Sheriff candidate, Darrell Sorrels. In addition, OCPAC Vice<br />
President Bob Donohoo will discuss our accountability efforts toward<br />
incumbent lawmakers.<br />
<br />
Our goal at OCPAC is not necessarily an ever larger majority of<br />
Republicans in the legislature, now our goal has shifted to electing<br />
the highest quality of Republican lawmakers as possible. If that means<br />
challenging liberal lawmakers such as Guy Liebmann and others then so<br />
be it. Of course we hope for the highest quality of candidate as<br />
possible, candidates who have sound conservative principles and will<br />
go on to stand up for moral issues as well as work to see that we have<br />
a business friendly environment where entrepreneurial genius can rise<br />
to the top and succeed. Under that scenario, there will be a greater<br />
demand for labor, which will in turn cause the wages for employees to<br />
increase. That will benefit Oklahoma as a state and everyone wanting<br />
to benefit from that positive economic environment will have that<br />
opportunity.<br />
<br />
Just a reminder, to see any of our meetings we have recorded and put<br />
on you tube, just log on to our new web-site at: www.oklahomacpac.com<br />
. Once on the home page, click on the video tab and all of the<br />
meetings we have recorded are easily accessed.<br />
<br />
++ JASON MURPHEY, PART 3 ON HIGHER ED & ITS COSTS<br />
<br />
State Representative Jason Murphy (R-Guthrie) has been writing a<br />
series of columns on the high cost of higher education, its causes and<br />
what can be done to bring those costs down. Warning, these articles<br />
are not politically correct, nor are they sensitive to the feelings of<br />
the profiteers of higher ed. The title of this article is: “Popping<br />
the higher ed bubble”<br />
<br />
“I have found it interesting that it has taken so long for technology<br />
to bend the cost curve for Oklahoma higher education entities. Just as<br />
in many other areas of the business world, Oklahoma universities<br />
should have developed the ability to provide effective administration<br />
with far fewer people due to advances in technology. In the free<br />
market this is cutting overhead and driving down costs in so many<br />
areas. These savings offset many of the inflationary pressures such as<br />
increased health costs.<br />
<br />
However, in Oklahoma, higher education as a whole hasn’t realized<br />
these savings and as I have described in the past two columns, has<br />
grown spending far faster than inflation. This means the higher ed<br />
experience is in a bubble. It is drastically overpriced and will face<br />
a day of reckoning.<br />
<br />
Just as the housing bubble was propped up by lose monetary policy and<br />
debt, the higher ed bubble is also fueled by debt. The federal<br />
government feeds the bubble by making it so easy for students to incur<br />
thousands of dollars of debt. Too many students don’t act like logical<br />
free market participants who demand the best product at the lowest<br />
possible price. Instead, they take the free money from the government<br />
and take on a debt that will haunt them for years to come. In fact, as<br />
a whole, Americans owe about $900 billion in student loan debt.<br />
<br />
This unsustainable set of bad policies must come to an end--and they<br />
will!<br />
<br />
In his 2011 state of the state address, Texas Gov. Rick Perry called<br />
for the creation of $10,000 four-year bachelor degree programs. His<br />
effort initially was opposed by some within the Texas higher education<br />
community, but students at multiple Texas universities are obtaining<br />
their degrees for less than $10,000 today. In fact, students at Texas<br />
A&M San Antonio can secure an information technology degree with an<br />
emphasis on cyber security for $9,700. Those who hold this degree<br />
typically get paid between $16 and $40 per hour and likely will start<br />
their jobs with little student loan debt hanging over their heads.<br />
<br />
Perry wanted Texas universities to provide the $10K degree by<br />
leveraging web-based instruction, creating innovative teaching<br />
techniques and establishing aggressive efficiency measures. Online<br />
coursework clearly offers one of the foremost tools for driving down<br />
cost.<br />
<br />
Ironically, just last week, Oklahoma State Rep Pat Ownbey circulated a<br />
letter from one of his constituents showing that they were paying<br />
$1,025.52 for just one online course from the University of Oklahoma.<br />
Of that amount, $389.90 was the cost of tuition and the rest was fees.<br />
Even though this student may never set foot on campus during the<br />
duration of the course, for just one course he will pay more than a<br />
tenth the cost of getting an entire degree at Texas A&M San Antonio.<br />
<br />
The higher education bubble has started to burst in Texas. In<br />
Oklahoma, even when some of our higher education institutions are<br />
using technology to deliver a service, they are still gouging the<br />
student. It’s not supposed to work that way. Technology is supposed to<br />
drive down the cost of education.<br />
<br />
A key component of the plan obviously orients around web-based<br />
coursework. The University of Oklahoma’s current online education<br />
model is completely backwards. The university should shift cost away<br />
from online course offerings because online students don’t use campus<br />
services. They cost far less to serve.<br />
<br />
By failing to lead the way in offering reduced cost online access,<br />
local universities risk failing to establish market share in higher<br />
education venues of the future.”<br />
<br />
If anyone has a comment for Representative Murphey, he can be reached<br />
via e-mail at Jason.murphey@okhouse.gov, on Facebook at facebook.com/<br />
JasonMurphey and Twitter.com/JWMurphey.<br />
<br />
I have been republishing these columns because I believe the cost and<br />
value of higher ed is one of the biggest shams being perpetuated on<br />
the citizens of Oklahoma. If you have read my opinions for any length<br />
of time I often refer to education in general as the “education<br />
industry” because it is actually a business. It is really more about<br />
the power and wealth of those who make their living under the guise of<br />
educating, mostly young people, than it is about actually educating<br />
those same clients. That of course not to say that there aren’t many<br />
dedicated teachers, because there are, they are just caught up in a<br />
troubled system.<br />
<br />
I will not hold myself out to be an expert on education, but the study<br />
of the industry and what actually is necessary for peopled to be<br />
educated has been a focus of study for me for the past 25 plus years.<br />
I have a rather large section of my personal library dedicated to<br />
books about education, written by many of America’s leading critics of<br />
our modern “education system”.<br />
<br />
++ BURN BANS, DO THEY WORK & 85% OF BURNED HOMES NOT INSURED?<br />
<br />
Recently the general manager of ABC’s KOCO 5 News station in OKC<br />
offered an editorial opinion about the need to pass more laws making<br />
it easier to pass burn bans and stiffer penalties for those who break<br />
those laws. One of the problems with any tragedy, is there is always<br />
someone, maybe many, who immediately jump on the bandwagon for<br />
government to come to the rescue and solve the problem. While I might<br />
not have a problem with increasing the punishment for causing damaging<br />
fires, I suggest we really look at the value of a burn ban.<br />
<br />
Before the horrible wild fires broke out in Cleveland and Oklahoma<br />
counties, those counties had already had a burn ban in effect for<br />
several weeks. On the morning of the afternoon that the fires broke<br />
out, Governor Fallin issued a statewide burn ban and then that<br />
afternoon all hell broke lose. Please do not misunderstand me, I am<br />
not trying to suggest or imply that Governor Fallin is at fault. What<br />
I am trying to say is think, think, think, did any of the burn bans<br />
prevent these fires? Of course not, most fires are set by arsonists,<br />
low life smokers who don’t want their cigarette butts in their<br />
vehicles so they toss them out a window (no amount of burn bans will<br />
prevent them from doing this) lightening strikes or industrial<br />
accidents.<br />
<br />
There is a certain segment of the population that never watches a news<br />
cast, never reads a newspaper or never listens to anything on radio<br />
other than some form of pop culture. They don’t pay attention to the<br />
rules and for the most part they don’t obey the rules. You can<br />
announce all the burn bans you want and it won’t mean a thing to these<br />
folks.<br />
<br />
While watching the news the other night I was shocked and had to<br />
reverse the TV and listen again as the report said that 85 percent of<br />
all the homes burned or destroyed were not insured! I visited with a<br />
person at the insurance commission and was told the number was<br />
correct. It was suggested that many of the burned homes were mobile<br />
homes or older homes that are paid for or have been in a family for<br />
more than one generation and passed down.<br />
<br />
In many cases these homes are in heavily wooded areas and covered by<br />
rural fire departments which generally have a high (in this case a<br />
higher number is worse) ISO rating. Therefore, the cost of insurance<br />
to value being insured is much higher than in a larger city with full<br />
time firefighters and fire hydrants well spread out over a particular<br />
area.<br />
<br />
Then I remembered about 25 years ago when my wife and I lived in a<br />
mobile home in Southern Logan county with heavy woods all around us.<br />
We paid the home off and made a conscience decision to self insure.<br />
<br />
Our premium at the time was about $500 per year with a $1,000<br />
deductible and the coverage value was for about $15,000. Therefore, we<br />
took $1,500 (1 years premium and one year’s deductible as insurance<br />
coverage is for one years at a time) and put that money into an escrow<br />
account. I knew our greatest risk was in the early years, but if we<br />
had no claim in 10 years then we would fully have the money to replace<br />
the value based on our insurance policy. After about 4 years we moved<br />
into a small home about a mile away and rented out our mobile home. At<br />
that time I took out a policy for rental property and of course the<br />
rent easily took care of that cost. We then had the four years of<br />
savings ($6,000) to do with as we chose.<br />
<br />
Point is, all insurance is a gamble. Insurance companies “expose”<br />
themselves to the risk of a substantial payout and in turn we pay a<br />
premium for that exposure. If those that lost their homes without<br />
insurance were disciplined and self insured, they won’t be totally<br />
without resources. If on the other hand that was not the case, they<br />
will be faced with starting over again which will be much easier on<br />
young people than those that are older. Even with that all said, that<br />
does not mean that they do not have needs and people of charity will<br />
certainly help to some degree in those needs.<br />
<br />
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />
<br />
* MONDAY EVENING - MOORE AREA - U.S. Senator Tom Coburn will host<br />
a town hall meeting, 6:00 p.m. Monday August 20th at the Brand Senior<br />
Citizens Center, 501 East Main in Moore. I always urge conservatives<br />
to attend these meetings and try and ask the first question to set the<br />
tone of a meeting. Otherwise, those who nurse on the government teat<br />
are the ones that show up and continually ask for more government<br />
largess. Coburn may have copies of his new book, THE DEBT BOMB<br />
available for those wanting to purchase one.<br />
<br />
* MONDAY EVENING - CLAREMORE AREA - Oklahoma 2nd Amendment (OK2A)<br />
is bringing Larry Pratt, the national director of Gun Owners of<br />
America (the no compromise defender of the 2nd amendment), to Oklahoma<br />
for appearances on both Monday and Tuesday. Monday’s appearance will<br />
be at the JM Davis Gun Museum, 330 N JM Davis Blvd in Claremore at<br />
6:00 p.m.<br />
<br />
* TUESDAY AFTERNOON - McALESTER AREA - Larry Pratt will be<br />
speaking at 12 noon at The Meeting Place 104 East Choctaw Ave in<br />
McAlester. Lunch will be available for purchase.<br />
<br />
* TUESDAY EVENING - OKC AREA - Larry Pratt will be speaking at<br />
the H&H Gun Range in OKC at 6:30 p.m. The location is 400 S Vermont<br />
Ave, Suite 110.<br />
<br />
* TUESDAY EVENING - TULSA AREA - The Tulsa Area Republican<br />
Assembly (TARA) will host their monthly meeting, Tuesday August 21st,<br />
6 for dinner and 7:00 p.m. for the speaker. The location will be the<br />
Golden Corral on 71st street and Mingo in Tulsa. Speaking will be Jim<br />
Bridenstine, Republican nominee for Oklahoma’s first Congressional<br />
district.<br />
<br />
++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE<br />
<br />
With half of August over we are a little over half way in membership<br />
dues toward meeting the full match of $1,500 by the end of August. We<br />
need to raise about $600 more dollars which would be 12 memberships at<br />
the base membership of $50 or one or two memberships at the $180 or<br />
$360 level will really help us meet the matching challenge.<br />
<br />
We are now at 237 dues paying members for this year which is exactly<br />
20 more memberships than last year at 217. We are interviewing some<br />
very good candidates for office and we want to be able to help the<br />
ones our members select with as large a contribution as possible. I<br />
would say OCPAC is as effective of a place as possible to contribute<br />
to candidates as very little of your dues are consumed in overhead and<br />
we do our best to ferret out the true conservatives from those who are<br />
not. A candidate appearing at OCPAC is not a guarantee for our<br />
support. During the primary season there were at least 4 that appeared<br />
that did not garner our support and there will be those coming before<br />
us now that will not receive our support.<br />
<br />
With the help of conservatives from all over the state, we are slowly<br />
making a positive difference. I want to thank everyone who has already<br />
joined and urge others who have considered joining to do so now.<br />
Instructions on how to join are below.<br />
<br />
You won’t want to miss this week’s meeting.<br />
<br />
Charlie Meadows<br />
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</div>
Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-2774896814365951712012-08-06T09:23:00.001-05:002012-08-06T09:23:43.520-05:00IS PRESIDENT BOREN CRYING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />++ URGENT - TIME SENSITIVE - HELP NEEDED<br />++ THE OKLAHOMAN, IMPROVING, BUT HAS A WAY TO GO<br />++ IS PRESIDENT BOREN CRYING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK?<br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE<br /><br />++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br /><br />Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, August 8th will be held at<br />Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Our program for this<br />Wednesday will be back to interviewing Republican candidates for the<br />state legislature who will be on the ballot in November. Invited to<br />appear this week are Bobby Cleveland, Slaughterville, Jason Smalley,<br />Stroud, Willard Linzy, OKC and Arthur Hulbert of Fort Gibson (Mr.<br />Hulbert has re-scheduled for the 14th). In addition, our dues paying<br />members as of July 25th who are present at our meeting will vote to<br />determine if we will endorse George Faught in his run-off race for the<br />2nd Congressional race. This would be an endorsement only as we do not<br />contribute in federal races.<br /><br />Speaking of Representative Faught, we recorded our meeting last week<br />and that program is up on you tube. We also have a different web-site<br />address which is easier to access. Once you log on to www.oklahomacpac.com<br />you simply click on the video tab and all of our meetings which we<br />have recorded are easily accessed. If you want to see the George<br />Faught meeting it will be the first one in line and then Trevor Loudon<br />will be the next one in line. If you have not seen Mr. Louden’s<br />program as yet, you are missing some very important information.<br /><br />++ URGENT - TIME SENSITIVE - HELP NEEDED<br /><br />Many have seen Pastor Dan Fisher’s presentation of the Black Robed<br />Regiment which starts out with Dan dressed with a Clergy robe on as he<br />role plays the famous Pastor Muhlenberg of the War of Independence<br />era. At the end his Sunday sermon, Pastor Muhlenberg takes off his<br />black robe and reveals his continental army officers uniform<br />underneath and then tells his congregation that this is a time for war<br />and leads over 300 of the men of his congregation off to war.<br /><br />A Christian Hollywood producer has recently become aware of Dan’s DVD<br />of the event and is very interested in producing either a documentary<br />or movie based on the information in Dan’s DVD. As such, the producer<br />is moving very fast and wants to bring a professional film crew to the<br />small church at old Fort Reno, just West of El Reno to produce a<br />trailer, which could be used to sell the idea to a major studio for a<br />high quality documentary or perhaps a movie.<br /><br />Therefore, Dan needs a few folks dressed in clothing which at least<br />reflects clothing worn in the early days of Oklahoma, late 1800s. If a<br />movie is ever to be made, certainly a costume director will make sure<br />the clothing worn is of the 1776 era, but for now, early Oklahoma<br />prairie clothing will be fine. The setting will be in a church, and<br />needed are men and women of all ages and a few children. If you have<br />clothing that will work and can be at old Fort Reno on Tuesday<br />morning, I believe at 10:00 a.m., then please contact Dan and let him<br />know you can help. There will be no speaking parts at this time,<br />especially needed are some men, young to older. Contact Dan at:<br />dan@trinityyukon.com.<br /><br />++ THE OKLAHOMAN, IMPROVING, BUT HAS A WAY TO GO<br /><br />I recently expressed the thought that the Oklahoman’s editorial page<br />is transitioning back toward its more conservative roots and I still<br />stick by that idea. In fact, this past Monday, the lead editorial<br />titled: “Fewer carve-outs could boost state’s economy” could have been<br />written by me. The editorial brought up so many of the positions we<br />have stated at OCPAC over the years when it comes to the struggle of<br />how to best stimulate the economy. I will have the editorial at this<br />week’s OCPAC meeting for folks to read.<br /><br />During the primary election period Pastor Paul Blair was hit hard by<br />Senator Clark Jolley’s political hit men for his 7 words: “are<br />aerospace jobs more important than yours?”. These professional hatchet<br />men who specialize in truly negative campaigning, claimed those words<br />were proof that Paul Blair promoted class envy and yada yada yada.<br />Yet, the Oklahoman ended the mentioned editorial by basically raising<br />the same question that Paul was addressing and that is, why does<br />government pick and choose the winners and losers rather than create<br />an environment where all businesses can succeed? Paul was never<br />against aerospace jobs, he just simply supports free market economics<br />rather than an Eastern European styled central planned economy.<br /><br />The Oklahoman has also done a great job of exposing the increased<br />budget for the Oklahoma Youth Expo which went from a traditional<br />$125,000 per year appropriation to over $2 million for this year. The<br />Oklahoman had decried the process of the behind closed doors planning<br />with House and Senate leadership, who work out deals with the<br />Governor’s office in secrecy and then expect lawmakers to support what<br />is presented to them. Now the House and Senate leadership and<br />Governor’s office are all pointing fingers at each other since they<br />have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Under public<br />pressure, nobody seems to remember who requested the increase which<br />will benefit an organization directed by a big time Republican<br />donor.<br /><br />On the other hand, as with all times of transition, there may be times<br />when the Oklahoman comes up short on doing a good job on its editorial<br />page. I would suggest that was the case on Friday, July 27th with<br />their editorial: “Background check: Runoff voters should scrutinize<br />candidates”. One of the races they high-lighted was the Shawnee race<br />between Ed Moore, endorsed by OCPAC, and Ron Sharp, endorsed by the<br />State Chamber of Commerce which, in my opinion, is the leading<br />organization promoting an economy based on central planning which<br />tends to pick and chose the winners and losers when it comes to<br />business opportunities.<br /><br />In the editorial they pointed out 3 problems with Ed Moore, only one<br />of which I believe was relevant, except that it was 28 years ago when<br />Ed was in the Senate and in his last year missed a lot of votes and<br />had a lot of absences. Of course something that happened 28 years ago<br />is not relevant for today as people can change and I am confident Ed<br />will never use such bad judgment again if elected to another term in<br />the Senate. Of course the Oklahoman didn’t mention that Ed was the<br />most conservative Senator in the legislature during the first 3 years<br />of his term and even received an award by the Oklahoma Constitution<br />Newspaper for being the best Republican in the Senate.<br /><br />However, the thing that most disturbed me about the Oklahoman’s<br />editorial was when it said: “In 1992, a preacher accused Moore of<br />stealing a mailing list from his organization to use for Moore’s<br />fundraising efforts.” While it is true that a well known TV preacher<br />did accuse Ed of stealing his donor list, if the Oklahoman would have<br />done a better job of researching what happened they might have found<br />out that an Oklahoma County judge threw out the testimonies of a<br />couple of preachers, then the TV preacher withdrew the complaint and<br />re-filed the charges in Cleveland County. There a judge presiding over<br />case number CJ-1990-2014 denied the TV preacher’s restraining motion<br />with the following:<br /><br />CM: PARTIES APPEAR FOR HEARING 4-11-91. TESTIMONY HEARD & MATTER TAKEN…<br />(PDH) PARTIES APPEAR FOR HEARING 4-11-91. TESTIMONY HEARD & MATTER<br />TAKEN UNDER ADVISEMENT. HAVING FULLY REVIEWED THE DOCUMENTS PRESENTED<br />AND REVIEWED THE TRIAL TESTIMONY THE COURT FINDS AS FOLLOWS:<br /><br />1. PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST FOR INJUNCTION IS DENIED.<br />2. PLANTIFF’S REQUEST FOR DAMAGES IS ALSO DENIED. (PDH.<br /><br />The TV preacher subsequently filed a motion for reconsideration on<br />5-6-91, which was also denied on 5-9-91 as the record shows.<br /><br />The point is, had the Oklahoman actually taken the time to contact Ed<br />Moore for his response to the allegations or done the research on<br />their own, they should not have even mentioned those allegations. I<br />believe they simply relied on old press releases or campaign materials<br />Ed’s opponents used against him 20 to 28 years ago. Ed Moore has a<br />history of being a conservative lawmaker who didn’t go along to get<br />along, even within the Republican party. When we had our interview<br />process for that senate seat, Ed’s survey was excellent and his<br />performance was outstanding, far better than his opponent. Ed should<br />be elected to this seat and deserves the support of non-establishment<br />conservatives and the general Republican electorate.<br /><br />++ IS PRESIDENT BOREN CRYING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK?<br /><br />Recently OU President David Boren (often referred to as King David at<br />the legislature) has been acting like a whiney butt cry baby as he has<br />expressed the dire situation of higher education having an ever<br />smaller percentage of its operating income coming form state<br />appropriated funds.<br /><br />However, State Representative Jason Murphy (R-Guthrie) has a little<br />different take on the big picture reality of the situation. Following<br />is a copy of one of Representative Murphey’s weekly e-mails on the<br />subject which was also printed in the Edmond Sun as well as the<br />Guthrie News Leader:<br /><br />7-17-12, “Higher education spending continues to skyrocket<br /><br />The Oklahoma Regents of Higher Education recently approved a new round<br />of tuition increases including about an 8 percent increase at UCO.<br /><br />You may have noticed that those who are supporting these increases are<br />asserting that higher education revenues originating from appropriated<br />tax dollars have declined, thus justifying the increases. They point<br />to the University of Oklahoma budget and say that in 1980, 38 percent<br />of OU’s budget came from appropriations while today, just 18 percent<br />originates from appropriations.<br /><br />It is true that appropriated tax dollars make up a significantly less<br />percentage of higher ed budgets than in past years. But there is much<br />more to this statistic that those who favor tuition increases probably<br />aren’t saying.<br /><br />Consider the following fiscal data from the 2001-11 time period.<br />During this time the amount of your taxpayer dollars appropriated each<br />year to higher ed increased from $816 million to $945 million. In both<br />cases this figure represented 15 percent of total state<br />appropriations. Appropriations increased and higher education’s share<br />of the appropriated money did not decrease! Actually, payments to<br />higher education from the state’s governmental activities fund<br />increased from $835 million to more than $1 billion.<br /><br />So if appropriations actually increased, why did the percentage of the<br />universities’ budgets originating from appropriations drop?<br /><br />During the 2001-11 time frame, spending by higher ed increased from<br />$2.2 billion to just under $4.1 billion. Total net assets (accounting<br />for massive amounts of depreciation) increased from $1.9 billion to<br />$5.8 billion. Expenditure per student served increased from about<br />$10,000 per student in 2001 to about $16,000 per student in 2011.<br /><br />The amount of debt increased from $293 million to $1.2 billion.<br />Interestingly, higher ed now has more debt on the books than even the<br />Turnpike Authority. In 2001, the authority owed $1.3 billion and at<br />the end of FY 2011, they owed just more than $1 billion. The amount of<br />higher ed incurred capital lease liability was at $64 million in 2001<br />and now stands just shy of $1 billion.<br /><br />This massive increase in spending has fueled an extensive bureaucracy.<br />In fact, there are now an estimated 32,000 full-time positions within<br />the higher ed system. To put this into perspective, consider that the<br />remainder of state government agencies contain about 37,000 positions.<br />With our modernization and streamlining efforts, I expect the day is<br />soon approaching when higher ed will have more employees than all of<br />state government.<br /><br />Where did the money come from for all of this extra spending if it was<br />not appropriated?<br /><br />A few years ago the Legislature gave away its power to stop tuition<br />increases to the Regents of Higher Education. This huge mistake has<br />resulted in significant tuition increases just about each and every<br />year. This, combined with fees and fines and perhaps federal funding,<br />have driven up budgets, thus making them much less reliant on<br />appropriated dollars.<br /><br />It is especially ironic for higher ed to now blame the Legislature for<br />the tuition increase by erroneously claiming the Legislature has<br />failed to fund higher ed.<br /><br />Those who point to the ratio of appropriations to budget are<br />camouflaging a massive expansion within the higher education<br />bureaucracy that I believe is mostly unmatched anywhere in state<br />government. Worse, they are justifying the fact that the burden for<br />paying for this expansion has been placed on the backs of Oklahoma<br />students who must go deeper into debt to pay for their education.<br /><br />The legislature should reclaim the ability to stop these increases.<br />The regents clearly do not have the will to put a stop to the out-of-<br />control tuition hikes. Next week, I intend to describe some of the<br />constructive and common-sense solutions to cut costs and bring an end<br />to these increases.”<br /><br />If my memory serves me correctly, Republicans passed legislation to<br />take that control back, but Governor Henry vetoed the legislation.<br />Taking that control back during next year’s legislative session should<br />be a high priority for state government which is fully controlled by a<br />Republican majority. However, that may be more difficult than appears,<br />simply because “King David” wields significant power in the halls of<br />the marble pork pen at 23rd and North Lincoln regardless of which<br />party is in control. Time will tell. One other thing on the subject of<br />higher ed. It is the most important area of state government that<br />needs a strong dose of openness and accountability. Will the<br />Republicans step up to the plate and get that done next year?<br /><br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br /><br />* WEDNESDAY - TULSA AREA - The Tulsa County Republican Men’s Club<br />will host their monthly luncheon on Wednesday August 8th, 12 noon, at<br />the Hibachi Grill Restaurant, 7425 South Memorial Drive in Tulsa.<br />Speaking will be Jim Bridenstine, Republican nominee for the 1st<br />Congressional district and Pat Key, candidate for Tulsa County Clerk.<br />Key faces fellow Republican Dean Martin in the Republican runoff on<br />August 28th. The public is invited, if you need more information call<br />acting President Bob McDowell at (918) 451-1051.<br /><br />* FRIDAY & SATURDAY - DURANT AREA - Fairview Baptist Church in<br />Durant, Oklahoma is sponsoring, The Patriots Conference - Reclaiming<br />America’s Christian and Constitutional Heritage. The location will be<br />Fairview Baptist Church at 1200 West University Blvd in Durant. The<br />times will be on Friday August 10th from 6:30 until 9:30 p.m. and then<br />on Saturday, August 11th from 8:30 a.m. until 12 noon.<br /><br />Among others, speaking will be Former Texas District Judge Rene Diaz,<br />a national speaker for David Barton’s Wall Builders, a pro-family<br />organization that presents America’s forgotten history and heroes,<br />with an emphasis on our religious, moral, and constitutional heritage.<br />Also speaking will be Paul Blair, former offensive tackle for OSU and<br />then the Chicago Bears, now of the Bott Radio Network; Reclaiming<br />America for Christ and Pastor of Fairview Baptist Church of Edmond. In<br />addition, State Representative Sally Kern (R-OKC & Bethany) who<br />authored the book, “The Stoning of Sally Kern” will also be speaking.<br />For more information log on to: www.fairviewdurant.com or call (580)<br />924.2148.<br /><br />++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE<br /><br />In last week’s e-mail I mentioned a dollar for dollar matching<br />challenge through the end of August. Over a third of that money has<br />already come in as of last Wednesday. I want to urge folks to step up<br />to the plate and join OCPAC now so we have adequate funds to support<br />those quality candidates we find that will be going into the November<br />elections. Instructions on how to join will be just below, following<br />my sign off.<br /><br />I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.<br /><br />Charlie Meadows<br />Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-59415011650370577702012-07-31T11:22:00.003-05:002012-07-31T11:24:02.239-05:00OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE & CHALLENGE ++ FAREWELL TO A PATRIOT, V.Z. LAWTON<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />
++ TREVOR LOUDEN ON YOUTUBE AT OCPAC<br />
++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE & CHALLENGE<br />
++ TIDBITS<br />
++ FAREWELL TO A PATRIOT, V.Z. LAWTON<br />
<br />
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />
<br />
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, August 1st will be held at<br />
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. During the 10th<br />
Amendment rally at the Capitol a few Saturday’s ago, I talked with<br />
State Representative George Faught and he agreed to come for a<br />
candidate forum before the Primary run-off vote for the 2nd<br />
Congressional race to be held on August 28th. Knowing candidate<br />
Markwyane Mullin’s handlers at AH Strategies frequently urge their<br />
clients not attend an OCPAC interview, I simply contacted them and was<br />
told they would urge Mr. Mullin not to attend. Therefore, unless<br />
something changes we will only have Representative Faught as our<br />
candidate. We do not have a survey for a Congressional race, so<br />
besides an expanded time for him to make a case as to why he should be<br />
elected, the rest of the time will be questions and answers from our<br />
members and visitors. So bring your best questions, but be sure to<br />
keep them directed toward the issues related toward the federal<br />
government.<br />
<br />
I also want to welcome the many new readers who signed up at this<br />
year’s Reclaiming Christ for America Conference this past Wednesday<br />
through Friday evening. DVDs of all the speakers and the event will be<br />
available in the near future, I will try to have some of them at a<br />
future OCPAC meeting. I could only watch bits and pieces of the event<br />
because of working the OCPAC table. One part which really stood out<br />
was Scott Lively doing a re-creation of, arguably the most famous<br />
sermon ever delivered in America, Sinners In the Hands of an Angry<br />
God. The sermon was originally delivered by Jonathan Edwards, the 3rd<br />
pastor of the church in North Hampton Massachusetts. What I could see<br />
and hear of his presentation, it was really strong. The sermon is<br />
available on the inter-net.<br />
<br />
++ TREVOR LOUDON LAST WEEK AT OCPAC<br />
<br />
Mr. Loudon turned out to be one of those exceptional speakers that<br />
comes through Oklahoma from time to time. His book, BARACK OBAMA AND<br />
THE ENEMIES WITHIN was published in October of 2011 and it is quite a<br />
large work, 711 pages. During his presentation, he did a great job of<br />
naming the many communists, socialists, Marxists and Progressives that<br />
have worked for decades to bring us to where we are today, and that is<br />
with them in many places of power and authority. He really connected<br />
the dots and showed how they are inter-connected with each other.<br />
<br />
A you tube of his talk is supposed to be on our new web-site at<br />
http://www.ocpac.tk/, however, I can’t seem to access it, you might<br />
give it a try. Also, he was interviewed on Glen Howard’s Senior World<br />
Radio program which airs each Sunday morning from 10 until 11:00 a.m.<br />
on KTOK, 1000 AM. You can log on to Glen’s web-site at www.seniorworldradio.com<br />
and easily find the interview with Trevor Loudon. I got to hear a good<br />
deal of the program on the way to Church this past Sunday and it was<br />
excellent, Glen did a great job of drawing out the important<br />
information from Mr. Loudon<br />
<br />
++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE & CHALLENGE<br />
<br />
As of the end of July we now have 229 dues paying members, which is 12<br />
more than we had for the entire year of 2011. A very generous donor<br />
has agreed to offer a $1,500 membership challenge through the end of<br />
August. This will be a dollar for dollar match. Our basic membership<br />
is $50 per year and we can receive that through cash, money order or<br />
check. We have the Elephant provider level which is $180 per year and<br />
that can be paid by money order, check, or we can draft your checking<br />
account for $15 per month. Our highest level of membership is the<br />
Elephant provider and RINO Hunter level at $360 per year. That can be<br />
paid by money order, check, or we can draft your checking account for<br />
$30 per month which is how I pay my dues.<br />
<br />
State law does not allow cash contributions of more than $50 per year<br />
and corporate checks are not allowed for a PAC. If you chose to<br />
contribute by having your checking account drafted and at some time<br />
need to discontinue, just send me an e-mail and we will take you off<br />
our drafting list, it is very simple.<br />
<br />
I can not tell you how much we appreciate everyone’s support. Our<br />
expenses in the PAC are very low, probably less than 2% because all<br />
our officers and members are volunteers. Therefore, virtually all of<br />
our dues go directly into the campaigns of the best candidates we can<br />
determine to support as well as the 10% we set aside for our<br />
accountability efforts (that would be robo calls or direct mail into<br />
the districts of errant Republican lawmakers.<br />
<br />
Again, thanks so much for the support, if you have not joined as yet<br />
or simply want to increase what you have given, please do so now so we<br />
can take advantage of the dollar for dollar match. It is important to<br />
know how much we are going to have to finish the campaign season as we<br />
want to get all our contributions into the hands of our candidates by<br />
the end of September or first week in October. To contribute, see the<br />
instructions following my sign off.<br />
<br />
++ TIDBITS<br />
<br />
* GREETINGS FROM ARIZONIA - An Edmond home school mom and her son<br />
attended OCPAC from time to time until they moved to Yuma Arizona<br />
several months ago. I recently received this encouraging e-mail from<br />
her and wanted to pass it on to the activists in Oklahoma:<br />
<br />
“Good morning Charlie<br />
<br />
I attended the Colorado River Tea Party event last week - they provide<br />
a similar function as OCPAC for conservatives here in Yuma. When I<br />
told them I came from Oklahoma I drew immediate attention - they<br />
wanted me to pass along their well-wishes for the valiant fight for<br />
conservative causes underway in OK. Keep up the good fight Charlie,<br />
folks as far away as Arizona are inspired by the warriors in OK.”<br />
<br />
* EATING AT CHICK-FIL-A ON WEDNESDAY - This past Thursday evening<br />
State Representative Sally Kern was on one of the local news stations<br />
along with a spokesman for the Cimarron Alliance, a political and<br />
social action group for the homosexual community here in Oklahoma.<br />
<br />
Sally was standing up for Chick-Fil-A’s CEO Dan Cathy’s constitutional<br />
right to express his opinion that marriage is between a man and a<br />
woman only. As a result of his statement, the homosexual community<br />
across America along with their liberal enablers have displayed their<br />
hate and venom toward Mr. Cathy, a dedicated Christian. They have<br />
called for a boycott and in some cases such as Chicago, are<br />
prohibiting Chick-Fil-A from building new stores.<br />
<br />
As a result, some Christian leaders across America have suggest a<br />
great way for Christians to express their thanks to Mr. Cathy for<br />
standing up for decency and family friendly values is for Christians<br />
to eat a meal at Chick-Fil-A on Wednesday, August 1st. I have even<br />
heard that some churches that have a meal on Wednesday nights before<br />
church services are planning on ordering meals from Chick-Fil-A. I<br />
know where Linda and I will be having dinner on Wednesday, that place<br />
the cows say: “eat more chicken“.<br />
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++ FAREWELL TO A PATRIOT, V.Z. LAWTON<br />
<br />
This past Saturday, 3 to 4 hundred folks gathered at Fairview Baptist<br />
Church in Edmond for a memorial service for our long time friend and<br />
patriot, V.Z. Lawton who died last week at 81 years of age. V.Z. had a<br />
grandfather, 3 uncles and 2 brothers who were preachers, but didn’t<br />
give his heart and soul to the Lordship of Jesus until a couple of<br />
years ago.<br />
<br />
He was a graduate of Classen High School, served as an officer in the<br />
U.S. Army, then returned to Oklahoma to become a home builder, real<br />
estate broker and stock broker. V.Z. was a skilled golfer, as an<br />
armature he frequently shot below par golf and won many tournaments.<br />
He had a hole in one 3 times in his life. His real passion was<br />
handball and racquetball. Not only was he a state champion, he was at<br />
one time rated the 22nd best racquetball player in the nation and<br />
served as a Commissioner of the International racquetball Association<br />
and as State Chairman of the Oklahoma Racquetball Association from<br />
1973-76. V.Z. was still playing racquetball until he broke his hip<br />
about a year ago.<br />
<br />
Beginning in 1987 he began to work for the Department of Housing and<br />
Urban Development (HUD). He was working in the Murah building when it<br />
was blown up in 1995. A few minutes after the building was blown up, a<br />
person across the street took a picture of the building. V.Z. had that<br />
picture blown up which clearly revealed him peering over the edge of<br />
about the 6th floor to see what had happened, that is if my memory<br />
serves me correctly. A lady was badly injured and bleeding so V.Z.<br />
carried her down a stairwell and at the same time led another co-<br />
worker who had been at least temporarily blinded to safety.<br />
<br />
V.Z. always believed there were two explosions as he says he was hit<br />
in the head by a falling ceiling tile just before the major blast<br />
occurred. He joined the Oklahoma City Bombing Investigative Committee<br />
and as such co-authored the book: THE FINAL REPORT which is full of<br />
depositions and evidence of a broader conspiracy than just McVeigh and<br />
Nichols.<br />
<br />
V.Z. never met a stranger and attend OCPAC meetings as often as<br />
possible. He loved this nation, understood the principles upon which<br />
is was built and was ready and willing to defend them. He was overly<br />
kind toward me. I would urge Christians to keep Betty and the rest of<br />
the family in your prayers. We will all miss him.<br />
<br />
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.<br />
<br />
Charlie Meadows<br />
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-80970457692622778762012-07-24T08:34:00.001-05:002012-07-24T08:34:19.253-05:00GOVERNOR FALLIN’S ILL CONCEIVED TAX CUT PLAN<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />++ RECLAIMING AMERICA FOR CHRIST CONFERENCE<br />++ GOVERNOR FALLIN’S ILL CONCEIVED TAX CUT PLAN<br />++ THE OKLAHOMAN, TRANSITIONING TO ITS CONSERVATIVE PAST?<br /><br />++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br /><br />Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, July 25th will be held at<br />Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. We are very<br />privileged to have as our speaker this week, Mr. Trevor Loudon from<br />Christchurch, New Zealand. Mr. Loudon may be the foremost researcher<br />and authority in the world on the Progressive Movement which may be<br />described as a broad group of anti-free market Capitalists, that<br />includes Democrats, Republican moderates, Socialists, Communists,<br />Peace Activists, the Religious left, most organized labor and<br />Environmentalists. In addition to his blog, www.trevorloudon.com,<br />Trevor is also the founder and editor of www.KeyWiki.org, a rapidly-<br />growing website with the goal of unlocking the covert side of U.S. and<br />global politics.<br /><br />Mr. Loudon has broken several significant stories, including: the<br />connection of a young Barack Obama to the Hawaiian-based communist,<br />Frank Marshall Davis, exposing the communist roots of Osama’s “Green<br />Jobs Czar”, Van Jones, and Obama’s early membership in the New Party,<br />a communist spin-off group.<br /><br />After speaking at OCPAC, Mr. Loudon will attend at least the first<br />night of Reclaiming America for Christ and then travel to Dallas where<br />he will be participating in Glen Beck’s Restoring Love Conference. Mr.<br />Loudon will speak for close to an hour, so we will begin our meeting<br />without delay. I advise arriving as early as possible to get a good<br />seat and not miss any of his talk. He has written a rather large book<br />which will be available after his talk.<br /><br />++ RECLAIMING AMERICA FOR CHRIST CONFERENCE<br /><br />Following is the schedule for this year’s Reclaiming America for<br />Christ Conference, one of the most important and substantive<br />conferences to be held in Oklahoma during 2012. All meetings will be<br />held at First Baptist Church in Moore, 301 NE 27th Street (about 2<br />blocks East of I-35 on 27th street).<br /><br />Wednesday evening, July 25th, 7:00 until 9:30 p.m., Dr. Scott Lively<br />will be exposing the dangers of the homosexual agenda, how it is<br />expanding in America and the threat it poses toward unraveling the<br />foundation of our culture. I have heard Dr. Lively speak on several<br />occasions and find him to be one of the most compelling and powerful<br />speakers I have heard in recent times. At the foundation of the whole<br />culture war is the sexual freedom movement propelled by the homosexual<br />agenda, he is a must to hear and learn from. He is also the co-author<br />of the PINK SWASTIKA which chronicles the power and influence of the<br />homosexual movement upon Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party.<br /><br />Thursday evening, July 26th, 6:30 until 10:00 p.m., the first speaker<br />will be Jerry Tuma. Mr. Tuma is a Milton Friedman disciple, author,<br />financial planner and nationally acclaimed speaker on the economy and<br />investment markets. He will be speaking on the coming economic crisis.<br />This is an important warning, Mr. Tuma will reveal what individuals<br />and families must do to be prepared for difficult times ahead.<br /><br />The second speaker will be Michael J. Chapman, founder of American<br />Heritage research. Some years ago Mr. Chapman produced the 2 hour DVD,<br />America’s Censored Heritage, which details how our text books used in<br />the government schools work to destroy American Exceptionalism and<br />turn our children away from respecting our founding fathers. He shows<br />how our children are led to believe people like Mao, Che, Lenin, Fidel<br />and others are moral equals or even superior to our founders like<br />Washington, Madison, Adams and others.<br /><br />Thursday evening he will expose how our government schools are turning<br />our children away for the faith of the Bible and turning them into<br />earth worshiping little pantheists and greenie-weenie<br />environmentalists. He will demonstrate how the UN’s Agenda 21<br />interfaces with our U.S. Department of Education to bring this about.<br /><br />Friday afternoon there will be a session from 3:30 until 5:30 p.m.<br />where I believe Dr. John Morris of the Creation Research Institute in<br />Dallas will be speaking on Creation Science. There will be a one hour<br />break from 5:30 until 6:30 when the conference resumes and we hear<br />from Mr. Paul Diamond from England. Mr. Diamond is an attorney<br />specializing in Religious Liberties. He says America is about 10 years<br />behind England when it comes to the criminalization of Christianity<br />and the advancements of Sharia Law. All of these subjects are very<br />important and I strongly recommend folks make every effort to hear as<br />many of these speakers as possible.<br /><br />++ GOVERNOR FALLIN’S ILL CONCEIVED TAX CUT PLAN<br /><br />Prior to the session this year, Governor Fallin began releasing the<br />details of her proposed tax cut plan to send a signal to the rest of<br />America that Oklahoma is becoming an ever more business friendly<br />state. She was lauded in the Wall Street Journal as a visionary and a<br />leader, that is, until the session was over and her plan had come to a<br />complete flop, a dud, nothing was done, even though the Republicans,<br />led by Governor Fallin, had complete control of both houses of the<br />legislature and the Executive branch of Oklahoma government.<br /><br />As a brief review, her plan called for about $800 million in state<br />income tax cuts. That lost revenue was to be offset by new growth<br />monies, savings from government modernization and spending reductions,<br />mostly by eliminating several personal income tax deductions and some<br />of the tax credits, grants and subsidies to corporate businesses. I<br />believe the latter became a real problem for the plan.<br /><br />When you realize that large Oklahoma corporations don’t pay any of the<br />personal state income taxes on their employees (they do pay half of<br />the social security and Medicare taxes to the federal government) then<br />you ask how did Governor Fallin’s plan help big business in Oklahoma?<br />When you realize her plan was going to take away some business<br />benefits without giving anything in return, then it is no wonder<br />Oklahoma’s corporations had their hordes of lobbyists descend upon<br />lawmakers this past session to keep them from making cuts to their<br />benefits.<br /><br />For Oklahoma’s large corporations to be more considerate of any kind<br />of tax reform, their needs must be considered by having an offset so<br />they are not harmed by a tax reform plan. May I suggest the following.<br />Next year’s plan needs to first totally eliminate Oklahoma’s corporate<br />income tax. The personal state income tax generates about $1.6 billion<br />in revenues each year whereas the corporate income tax generates<br />something over $400 million in revenues. By eliminating the corporate<br />income tax, they will have a weaker case for the need of the many<br />redistribution subsidy schemes an thus less of a case to make to<br />lawmakers about cutting those programs.<br /><br />Then, following the elimination of the corporate income tax, we can<br />start cutting the personal income tax. The combination of eliminating<br />the corporate income tax and a reduction of the personal income tax<br />will send a much stronger signal to the rest of America that Oklahoma<br />is becoming a more business friendly state.<br /><br />While most new jobs come from small businesses, many people don’t<br />realize that many of those small business jobs exist to provide<br />support services to the large corporations. Eliminating the corporate<br />income tax would go a long ways toward stopping the corporate<br />headquarters drain out of Oklahoma.<br /><br />At the end of the session, Governor Fallin indicated she was not<br />giving up on cutting taxes and would travel the state talking with<br />Oklahoman’s about her efforts. I will try to schedule her to appear at<br />a future OCPAC meeting so we may dialogue on this issue. After all,<br />OCPAC members and friends are also Oklahomans.<br /><br />++ THE OKLAHOMAN, TRANSITIONING TO ITS CONSERVATIVE PAST?<br /><br />In years past the Oklahoman was the largest and the only statewide<br />newspaper in the state, meaning it was sold in every county in the<br />state. With E.K. Gaylord at the helm the editorial page was considered<br />one of the most conservative in the nation. In more recent years,<br />under the leadership of one of his daughters, many believe it became<br />more moderate in its tone and positions. Of course the paper was sold<br />this past September and I believe it is now beginning to move back to<br />a more conservative position on the editorial page.<br /><br />As evidence of the transition, the Oklahoman has twice in recent weeks<br />suggested just paying for the new Medical Examiners office rather than<br />trying to finance it with a bond issue. My goodness, what a novel<br />idea, paying for something with cash on hand rather than continuing to<br />borrow money.<br /><br />They have also suggested that opposition to creating a health care<br />insurance exchange is increasing and not likely to change anytime soon<br />though they have been a supporter of creating the exchanges in the<br />past. Yet in their editorial they reported many of reasons for not<br />creating an exchange at any time.<br /><br />Then this past Sunday they shocked me with their lead editorial on the<br />Indian Cultural Center when they suggested: “At some point soon, the<br />state may indeed have to say ‘Enough!’ and look for a way to make the<br />best of a well-intended plan that didn’t work, instead of continuing<br />to spend and hope for the best.” Earlier in the body of the<br />editorial, they called into question the cost to operate the facility<br />once it opens? That is a breath of fresh air from the pie in the sky<br />blabber of millions in revenues created by the facility by some of the<br />advocates of the project.<br /><br />Of course with any transition, there may be a time of mixture as was<br />evidenced by their slam at U.S. Representative Michelle Bauchman in<br />the past Saturday’s edition of the paper. Bauchman is being criticized<br />for calling into question the chief aid to Hillary Clinton.<br /><br />As a member of the House intelligence committee, Bauchman along with<br />some other Republican lawmakers, quietly sent a letter to the State<br />Department asking for an explanation and assurances as to how<br />Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s top aid should have high level<br />security clearances since she is a Muslim with close family members<br />having close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.<br /><br />Someone released that information about her request to the press and<br />Senator John McCain, an establishment Republican, jumped all over<br />Bauchman in an obvious effort to marginalize her and harm her<br />political future. Some of the leftist groups in America are calling<br />for the Speaker of the House to remove her from the intelligence<br />committee and many others, including the Oklahoman are piling on.<br /><br />Too bad, members of the Oklahoman’s editorial board didn’t attend at<br />least one of the two seminars held at Fairview Baptist Church over the<br />past couple of years where a former FBI agent and a former<br />intelligence community agent conducted several hours of seminar<br />information detailing how American Muslim’s work to gain positions of<br />influence as advisors to prominent authorities to carefully shape<br />their thoughts about Islam and its agenda. Hillary Clinton’s aide<br />certainly fit’s the profile and her close family member’s ties to the<br />Muslim Brotherhood are valid reasons for the inquiry.<br /><br />The communists have a couple of words to describe authorities, opinion<br />makers and especially members of the various forms of the media when<br />they make statements that advance the goals of the communists. The<br />refer to them as “useful idiots”. I believe reality would have<br />Senator McCain and in this case the editorial page of the Oklahoman<br />far closer to fitting the category of being useful idiots rather than<br />Representative Bauchman having done anything other than her job and<br />doing it skillfully!<br /><br />I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.<br /><br />Charlie Meadows<br />Charliemeadows7@gmail.com<br /></div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-22902794249703430312012-07-17T11:06:00.001-05:002012-07-17T11:06:02.772-05:00GOVERNOR FALLIN PITCHES DETROIT FOR CNG VEHICLES<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />
++ RECLAIMING AMERICA FOR CHRIST CONFERENCE<br />
++ OUTCOME OF LAST WEEK’S VOTING<br />
++ GOVERNOR FALLIN PITCHES DETROIT FOR CNG VEHICLES<br />
<br />
<br />
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />
<br />
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, July 18th will be held at<br />
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. We will be back to<br />
interviewing candidates this week. From here on out the candidates<br />
that come before our members will be in the general election in<br />
November to take on a Democrat. This is the main purpose of OCPAC to<br />
find and help elect truly conservative candidates with a Judeo/<br />
Christian world view as they run for the state legislature.<br />
<br />
For our meeting one week from Wednesday we will have a world renown<br />
expert on the progressive movement speak at OCPAC. His name Trevor<br />
Loudon from Christ Church in New Zealand. He is the gentleman who has<br />
done so much work in exposing people like Van Jones and others that<br />
President Obama brought into his machine to do his damaging work in<br />
his efforts to change America.<br />
<br />
Mr. Loudon will also be speaking at the High Noon Club THIS Friday. In<br />
addition, he will be speaking to the Grady County TEA Party this<br />
Saturday evening July 21st, 7:00 p.m. at Trinity Baptist Church, 428<br />
East Almar in Chickasha. Following his presentation he will be<br />
available to sign his book, BARACK OBAMA AND THE ENEMIES WITHIN.<br />
<br />
++ RECLAIMING AMERICA FOR CHRIST CONFERENCE<br />
<br />
I believe this will be the 7th annual Reclaiming America For Christ<br />
Conference (the first 4 conferences were Reclaiming Oklahoma for<br />
Christ). All meetings will be held at First Baptist Church in Moore,<br />
301 NE 27th street (about 2 blocks East of I-35 on 27th). Following<br />
are the times and speakers, though I don‘t know the schedules for each<br />
speaker at this time:<br />
<br />
Wednesday evening, July 25th from 7 until 9:30 p.m.<br />
Thursday evening, July 26th from 6:30 until 10:00 p.m.<br />
Friday afternoon, July 27th from 3:30 until 5:30 p.m.<br />
Friday evening, July 27th from 6:30 until 10:00 p.m.<br />
<br />
Speakers will be:<br />
<br />
Dr. John Morris, President of Creation Research Institute in Dallas.<br />
Dr. Morris will be speaking on Creation Science.<br />
<br />
Dr. Scott Lively, President of Abiding Truth Ministries. Dr. Lively is<br />
an attorney, author and lecturer. He is widely recognized as the<br />
foremost authority in America on the subject of the Homosexual Agenda.<br />
He is also the co-author of the Book, THE PINK SWASTIKA which<br />
documents the power of the homosexual movement in the Nazi party. Did<br />
you know that one group of homosexuals in Germany killed off a rival<br />
group of homosexuals. I am very impressed with Dr. Lively, as I have<br />
heard him speak several times.<br />
<br />
Michael Chapman, founder of American Heritage Research. The U.N. has<br />
declared 2005-2015, “The Decade of Education for Sustainable<br />
Development.” Chapman will speak on Agenda 21 in American education.<br />
<br />
Paul diamond, an attorney who lives and practices in the United<br />
Kingdom. His specialty is religious liberty. Diamond will be speaking<br />
on the Criminalization of Christianity in the UK, the implications of<br />
Islam and Sharia Law in the UK and what is happening in America.<br />
<br />
Jerry Tuma, is the host of the nationally syndicated financial show,<br />
Smart Money. A Milton Friedman disciple, Tuma is an author, financial<br />
planner, and nationally acclaimed speaker on the economy and<br />
investment markets. He will be speaking on the coming economic crisis<br />
and what you can do to prepare.<br />
<br />
The admission is free, though a love offering will be taken to help<br />
defray the costs. For more information log on to <a href="http://www.ra4c.org/" target="_blank">www.ra4c.org</a> or call<br />
<a href="tel:%28405%29%20348-1745" value="+14053481745">(405) 348-1745</a>, or (405) 521-08000. I will try to have the times each<br />
speaker will be presenting for next week’s e-mail.<br />
<br />
++ OUTCOME OF LAST WEEK’S VOTING<br />
<br />
Last week our members voted to determine the outstanding lawmakers as<br />
well as those who won the dubious RINO award. Senate Lawmaker of the<br />
year goes to Greg Treat (R-OKC) Senator Treat had a session score of a<br />
90 and a lifetime score of an 85. The Senate runner-up for lawmaker of<br />
the year goes to Anthony Sykes (R-Moore). Senator Sykes had a session<br />
score of 100 and a lifetime score of a 93. Senate Freshman of the year<br />
goes to Ralph Shortey (R-OKC). Senator Shortey’s session score was an<br />
80 and his lifetime score is a 77. The winner of this year’s RINO<br />
award in the Senate goes to Greg Childers (R-Del City) with the paltry<br />
score of a 50 for the session and a 50 lifetime score. Runner up for<br />
this year’s RINO award goes to David Holt (R-OKC) with a session score<br />
of a 56 and a lifetime score of a 58.<br />
<br />
In the House, Lawmaker of the year goes to Charles Key (R-OKC) with a<br />
session score of 100 and a lifetime score of an 83. Runner-up for<br />
lawmaker of the year goes to Jason Murphy (R-Guthrie) with a session<br />
score of 100 and a lifetime score of 100. House freshman of the year<br />
goes to Tom Newell (R-Seminole) with a session score of 100 and a<br />
lifetime score of a 90. The winner of this year’s RINO award in the<br />
House goes to Lisa Billy (R-Lindsey) with a session score of a 56 and<br />
a lifetime score of a 57. While we appreciate Representative Billy’s<br />
strong stand on life issues and while that is a very important issue,<br />
there is much more to being a conservative than just being pro-life.<br />
After 8 years in the legislature, a 57 lifetime score is pitiful.<br />
Runner-up for the RINO award goes to Kris Steele with a session score<br />
of a 60 and a lifetime score of a 63. Steele is term limited out of<br />
office. While he is a wonderfully nice fellow, he might best be<br />
described as a Christian socialist. So typical of lawmakers who fail<br />
to distinguish between the proper roll of government versus what<br />
family, friends, civic organizations churches should be doing in the<br />
lives of people.<br />
<br />
++ GOVERNOR FALLIN PITCHING DETROIT FOR CNG VEHICLES<br />
<br />
On Monday, Governor Fallin was to stop in Detroit to speak with<br />
representatives of the big 3 auto makers (Ford, Chrysler and<br />
Government Motors) to urge them to manufacture cars and trucks which<br />
will use Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). The governors of several states<br />
are urging these vehicles be built at a reasonable cost with the<br />
promise that state fleets will switch to these new vehicles and then<br />
the private market is expected to follow with greater demand.<br />
<br />
What I don’t know is what kind of CNG vehicles Governor Fallin is<br />
wanting produced? If it is a CNG vehicle only, then that is a serious<br />
problem.<br />
<br />
Because of the high pressure of CNG, the fuel tanks have to be strong,<br />
which makes them have a limited size in a trade off of significant<br />
weight. Because of the limited tank capacity, many CNG vehicles tend<br />
to have a rather short range, perhaps a 150 miles or less. I believe<br />
it was the city of Edmond that halted plans to convert 2 of their<br />
public transportation buses as they can’t run their route on one day’s<br />
tank of CNG.<br />
<br />
While the number of stations with CNG pumps is rapidly increasing,<br />
perhaps up to 80 in Oklahoma by the end of the year, they don’t fill<br />
as fast at the pump as gasoline powered vehicles, which means we could<br />
find it difficult and time consuming to fill up as more and more CNG<br />
vehicles are on the road. Another problem is with cross country trips.<br />
While Oklahoma is busy building an infrastructure to have stations<br />
placed through out the state, many states lag far behind and as such<br />
it could be risky to strike out across this vast land with a CNG only<br />
vehicle.<br />
<br />
Of course the real solution to the short range is to have duel fuel<br />
system vehicles which burn both CNG and unleaded gasoline. Most of the<br />
vehicles having conversion kits installed in them today run on CNG or<br />
gasoline. While the conversion kits are rather expensive (8 to 14<br />
thousand dollars) for most passenger vehicles or light trucks, it only<br />
takes a flip of a switch to change over from CNG to gasoline.<br />
<br />
If these are the type of vehicles Governor Fallin is urging to be<br />
built for just a little more than a gasoline only vehicle, then I<br />
believe we have a winner of an idea. But if she is insisting on CNG<br />
only, that is a problem. I just wonder if the captains of Oklahoma’s<br />
natural gas industry who have contributed so heavily to her election<br />
efforts will allow her to petition for duel fuel vehicles or if they<br />
will be so greedy as to insist on CNG only?<br />
<br />
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.<br />
<br />
Charlie Meadows<br />
<a href="mailto:Charliemeadows7@gmail.com">Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</a><br />
</div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-9854183536959537592012-06-25T12:19:00.001-05:002012-06-25T12:19:08.655-05:00Charlie’s Picks, primary elections of 2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /><br />Many years ago, friends of mine knowing about my involvement in<br />politics, would ask me questions about up-coming elections. There got<br />to be too many to talk with by phone or in person, so I created<br />Charlie’s Picks. At first I would print and hand them out, but I now<br />use the internet. I do my best to research as much and as deeply as<br />possible and my picks represent those candidates I believe should win,<br />not necessarily the candidates with the best chance to win. Those<br />reading this may have information of which I am not aware and thus<br />they may differ with my picks and that is fine. You have permission to<br />forward these as they are simply my opinions. If you do not receive my<br />weekly e-mail, I invite you to send me an e-mail to<br />charliemeadows7@gmail.com and I will add you to our list. I try not to<br />send out more than 1 e-mail each week and will never loan, sell or<br />give your e-mail address to anyone else.<br /><br />Before I get started, let me say we have the largest number of<br />competitive races against moderate to liberal Republican incumbents in<br />the history of the state. I don’t normally give much attention toward<br />Democrat candidates, simply because their platform, values and<br />performance is so contrary to good government.<br /><br />CORPORATION COMMISSION - YOUR CHOICE - I don’t have any particular<br />angst toward Bob Anthony, but I do believe the number of days he<br />admits to missing at the office is troubling. I know he is elected to<br />do a job and much of that work can be done from home but I believe it<br />is important to be at the office at least enough to observe the<br />workings of the staff. I will personally vote for Brooks Mitchell<br />because I voted to establish term limits on statewide offices during<br />the 2010 elections. Technically, Bob’s 2 terms will not start until<br />after the 2012 elections. However, he has already served for 24 years<br />and I don’t see how I would be anything less than a hypocrite if I<br />believe in two terms for state wide offices and then vote to re-elect<br />Bob for a 5th term.<br /><br />U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DIST. # 1 - JIM BRIDENSTINE - John Sullivan is<br />currently voting in Washington as the most conservative lawmaker from<br />Oklahoma. However, his misrepresenting Bridenstine in political ads is<br />over the top for me. I believe Jim Bridistine will at least be as good<br />and probably a better Congressman than John Sullivan.<br /><br />U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DIST. # 2 - YOUR CHOICE - I believe there will<br />be a run-off in this race<br />and as such we will try to interview the 2 candidates in the run-off.<br />If you put a gun to my head and made me make a choice I would probably<br />vote for Dustin Rowe but I don’t want that to be considered an<br />endorsement. I would not vote for Wayne Pettigrew or George Faught. I<br />personally like Faught but his lifetime score on the Oklahoma<br />Constitution Newspaper’s Conservative Index of a 73 is too moderate<br />for what we need in Washington. It really settled it for me when he<br />switched his vote from Nay to Yea for the budget on Thursday afternoon<br />the day before the session ended this year. Once the budget passed,<br />conservatives in the legislature lost all their leverage toward<br />getting a family friendly tax cut or paying for some of the needed<br />items like a new Medical Examiners office or repairing the State<br />Capitol with money on hand rather than incurring more debt or doing<br />nothing. Faught’s inability to hold out for better government on the<br />state level tells me he isn’t ready for Washington where the need for<br />toughness is many times greater than at the state level.<br /><br />U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DIST. # 3 - THE REPUBLICAN OTHER THAN FRANK<br />LUCAS - I wouldn’t say this without finding out what Mr. Stump stood<br />for if I thought he had any chance of winning. This will simply be a<br />protest vote on my part. This past Friday, while listening to the<br />guest host on the Neil Boortz show he called out Frank Lucas as a<br />perfect example of the type of Republican who under votes his<br />conservative district. The host pointed out a new rating system from<br />the Madison Project which compares the average vote difference for a<br />Republican over a Democrat and then how often the Republican votes<br />with the Democrats in Washington. I believe Lucas’ average margin of<br />victory over a Democrat was 24 points but then he votes with the<br />Democrats 40% of the time. That would also jive with his usual score<br />of about a 60 on the New American Magazine’s Freedom Index. Log on to<br />http://www.conservativevotingrecords.com/hall-of-shame/ to see the<br />Madison Project’s expose on the 50 phony conservatives who call<br />themselves Republicans.<br /><br />U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DIST. # 4 - AGAIN, ANY REPUBLICAN OTHER THAN TOM<br />COLE. Please check out the above web site to see that Tom Cole is the<br />other Republican lawmaker from Oklahoma called out by the Madison<br />Project for being a phony conservative calling himself a Republican.<br />Cole is at the epicenter of the power elite establishment in the<br />Oklahoma Republican party. Nothing would help conservatism in the<br />state of Oklahoma more than to see him soundly defeated in a<br />Republican primary. If that were to occur, it would mean that Oklahoma<br />conservatives had matured and come of age. Unfortunately, he hasn’t<br />obtained much of an opponent in the Republican primary.<br /><br />U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DIST. #5 - James Lankford won’t be on the ballot<br />until November as he didn’t draw a primary opponent. Though not<br />perfect (no one ever will be) Congressman Lankford is our best<br />Congressman from Oklahoma in my opinion and strongly deserves re-<br />election.<br /><br /><br /><br />Our members may have made a mistake on a couple of races out of all<br />the Senate and House candidates we interviewed, but the candidates<br />were close enough that I will not mention those races or make a<br />different pick<br /><br />OKLAHOMA STATE SENATE<br /><br />SENATE DIST. # 3 - CYNDI McARTOR - Cyndi was a leader in the Tea<br />Party in the Grove area, though the organization may have been called<br />something other than a tea party. Over the past 3 years we have<br />exchanged several e-mail conversations and or phone calls. This will<br />be a difficult district to win in November and if we have any chance<br />to get a conservative in office, it will be Cyndi.<br /><br />SENATE DIST. # 15 - ROB STANDRIDGE - I am a little soft on this<br />endorsement which is primarily the Norman area as I don’t know much<br />about Mr. Haralson. We have had Dr. Beller speak at OCPAC in the past<br />and I really like Mr. Neidhart. However, when it comes to viability<br />and electing the most conservative person possible, many conservative<br />activists I know are in Mr. Standridge’s camp.<br /><br />SENATE DIST. # 17 - ED MOORE - Ed made some decisions 25 years ago<br />that probably weren’t the best, but as a Senator many years ago he<br />also had the most conservative score of any Republican and once was<br />awarded the outstanding Republican Senator by the Oklahoma<br />Constitution Newspaper. His survey was the best of the 4 candidates.<br />He was certainly the strongest conservative during our interview<br />process and deserves our endorsement. Though he sent in is survey,<br />Mike Jestes didn’t attend our interview process so he couldn’t be<br />considered for our endorsement. I know all 4 of the candidates and<br />know Mike the best, we have even had him speak at OCPAC on several<br />occasions. I believe this will likely require a run-off, but<br />regardless of who wins, this will be a pickup seat for the Republicans<br />and any of these men are going to be in the upper 10 top Republicans<br />at the Senate in my opinion. The district runs from Shawnee to Eastern<br />Oklahoma county.<br /><br />SENATE DIST. # 25 - RHONDA VULLEMONT-SMITH - Rhonda is a leader in<br />the 912 group out of Tulsa and is challenging the moderate Republican<br />Senator Mike Mazzei who has a lifetime conservative Index score of a<br />67. This will be a difficult race for Rhonda as big money and the<br />establishment is solidly behind Senator Mazzei. Rhonda has been very<br />active with a number of grassroots activists groups and will be a very<br />conservative Senator if elected.<br /><br />SENATE DIST. # 33 - NATHAN DAHM - This is a newly created seat in<br />the Broken Arrow area that was formerly held by the very liberal Tom<br />Adelson. It will be another pickup seat as the Democrats failed to<br />field a candidate. Mr. Dahm is supremely prepared to be one of the<br />best senators in the state of Oklahoma. He was just excellent at our<br />interview process and he certainly deserved our endorsement. My<br />greatest concern for Nathan is that he started a little late and may<br />not have the resources to keep up with the establishment candidate Tim<br />Wright or the deep pockets of Don P. Little.<br /><br />SENATE DIST. # 37 - MARK CROUCHER - Mr. Croucher is a serious<br />challenger to the establishment’s bought and paid for Senator Dan<br />Newberry in a district that covers parts of Jenks and Tulsa. Newberry<br />has a lifetime conservative score of 70 so he isn’t the worst<br />Republican lawmaker. However, the same Chamber Crowd and super pack<br />that are opposing Paul Blair are supporting Newberry. On Thursday<br />evening, June 21st Mr. Oklahoma Democrat George Kaiser hosted a fund<br />raiser for Senator Newberry along with the Tulsa Chamber pac and<br />others of the usual suspects. Why would Oklahoma’s wealthiest person<br />and close friend of President Obama’s support the Republican Senator<br />Newberry? The answer is rather simple in my opinion, can you say<br />“CORPORATE WELFARE”?<br /><br />SENATE DIST. # 39 - KEVIN McDUGLE - Senator Crain won our RINO<br />(Republican In Name Only) award last year with a session score of a 40<br />and a lifetime score of a 60 on the Conservative Index. He is a big<br />government liberal with the word Republican by his name. Mr. McDugle<br />is a true conservative who is facing an onslaught of negative ads<br />similar to that of Paul Blair. This seat is one of the best hopes of<br />tossing out a liberal Republican, but only time will tell if the big<br />names at the State Capitol and the big money of the establishment can<br />save one of their bought and paid for lackeys.<br /><br />SENATE DIST. # 41 - PAUL BLAIR - I have written extensively on<br />this race as it is the most important and hotly contest Republican<br />primary race in the state. The race is between a powerful incumbent<br />verses someone with true leadership skills, someone who is willing to<br />take on the establishment. It is surreal that nearly $800,000 dollars<br />will be spent in a Republican primary on behalf of Clark Jolley to<br />close to $100,000 for Paul Blair. Jolley is probably the second most<br />powerful Senator in the state and the corporate welfare crowd can’t<br />afford to lose someone who has proven himself to be sold out to their<br />interests. Governor Fallin is also greatly influenced by the corporate<br />welfare crowd and as such really involved herself in this race.<br /><br />SENATE DIST. # 43 - YOUR CHOICE - I just haven’t had the time to<br />do much investigation on these candidates. If you put a gun to my head<br />and made me chose I would probably vote for Corey Brooks on the<br />limited information I have about this race. The one candidate that<br />really concerns me is Clark Southard as he fits in well with the<br />economic development (corporate welfare) crowd. This race, which<br />covers areas from Purcell to Duncan may well go to a run-off.<br /><br /><br />I will comment only on the House races of which I know 2 or more of<br />the candidates.<br /><br />OKLAHOMA STATE HOUSE<br /><br />HOUSE DIST. # 20 - YOUR CHOICE - The area is primarily McClain and<br />Cleveland counties. Bobby Cleveland, Gil Hensley and Paul Maus have<br />all attended or spoken at an OCPAC meeting one or more times over the<br />years. I know Bobby the best, but would probably vote for Paul Maus if<br />forced to make a choice. However, I am not so well informed on how<br />these fellows stand on the issues as to make that a hard and fast<br />decision. If I lived in the district I would know.<br /><br />HOUSE DIST. # 23 - JASON CARINI - Jason is a graduate of Patrick<br />Henry College, which was started specifically for home schooled<br />students. Jason is very conservative and ready to go to make a<br />difference in Oklahoma in a district which encompasses Catoosa and<br />East Tulsa. Terry O’Donnell is the establishment candidate. A last<br />minute contribution by the Chesapeake Energy pac confirms this. Again,<br />can you say corporate welfare and control by the Oklahoma mafia!<br /><br />HOUSE DIST. # 25 - DONALD COLE GALLUP - This race covers the Ada<br />area. Mr. Gallup came before our members and was a little weak on the<br />abortion issue. However, he had raised only $400 dollars and our<br />members didn’t believe he was a viable candidate and thus didn‘t<br />endorse him. Representative Todd Thomsen scored a 63 on last year’s<br />Conservative Index and has a 61 lifetime average. He ranked 68th most<br />liberal out of the 70 Republicans. Also, the super pac and the<br />corporate crowd have flooded Todd with money and support! Seams like a<br />little overkill for a candidate who has little money. However, the<br />number of Republicans expected to vote in this primary is very low, so<br />Mr. Gallup has had a chance to be on the door step several times. I<br />would vote for Mr. Gallup in a heart beat.<br /><br />HOUSE DIST. # 26 - MICHAEL SHAW - This was a very close race<br />between Mr. Shaw and his challenger Justin Freeland Wood. Either of<br />these two men should be more conservative than Kris Steele of whom<br />they are going to replace in the Shawnee area.<br /><br />HOUSE DIST. # 39 - BOB DANI - This district is the North Western<br />area of Edmond and another race in which the corporate welfare crowd<br />has rushed in to keep a tried and true establishment lawmaker in<br />power. Our members easily endorsed Mr. Dani. Surprisingly, Governor<br />Fallin hasn’t come out in support of Marian Cooksey, her former<br />staffer. Therefore Lt. Governor Todd Lamb rode in to rescue<br />Representative Cooksey from a conservative challenger. Folks, if you<br />only had an idea of what a circular relationship the establishment<br />has, with someone in the establishment always watching each others<br />backs to keep those real conservatives from gaining power.<br /><br />HOUSE DIST. # 49 - YOUR CHOICE - The freshman incumbent,<br />Representative Tommy Hardin of Madill scored a 50 on the Conservative<br />Index, so we had high hopes for his challenger Mr. Dishmon. However,<br />our members didn’t believe he was viable as he hadn’t raised much<br />money. Also, he was just too loose on the abortion issue and he didn’t<br />seem to be very teachable.<br /><br />HOUSE DIST. # 53 - BRIAN GRAHAM - This is an open seat to replace<br />Representative Randy Terrill in primarily the Moore area. Both Mr.<br />Graham and Mr. McBride had good surveys and did well at our meeting.<br />In a runoff vote our members picked Mr. Graham who will make a very<br />good lawmaker if elected as I do not believe he will succumb to the<br />corporate crowd.<br /><br />HOUSE DIST. # 60 - DAN FISHER - This is a newly created seat which<br />runs from Western Yukon through El Reno on out to Hinton and down to<br />Carnegie. Dan’s opponent, Matt White, has the establishment’s favorite<br />consulting firm running his campaign. White is currently the Mayor of<br />El Reno. However, while on the city council in 1997 he was removed for<br />carrying a firearm into a liquor store. That is far enough back for me<br />to not care if he has turned his life around, but perhaps that is not<br />the case. In a rare show of tough love, Mr. White’s mother contacted<br />Dan about a week before the Republican state convention to tell Dan<br />that even though she loved her son very much, she was going to<br />campaign for Dan as she believed her son was running with the wrong<br />crowd and was just too far out there. She indicated that Oklahoma<br />didn’t need someone like her son in the state legislature. Dan is<br />supremely prepared to serve and if elected will be one of the most<br />positive forces in the State House. He is a very good communicator,<br />reasonable and his conservative credentials are solid. He is a gifted<br />leader.<br /><br />HOUSE DIST. # 68 - DARREN GANTZ - Representative Mulready scored a<br />70 on the Conservative Index last year so that was high enough for<br />OCPAC not to get involved in this race. However, I am always willing<br />to endorse a candidate I believe might be more conservative than<br />another. Over the years I have had many conversations, mainly through<br />e-mail with Mr. Gantz and believe he will be more conservative than<br />Representative Mulready. However, this former lobbyist and pick of the<br />establishment will be difficult to beat as big money and big names<br />have rushed in to make sure Glen is not defeated. Again, can you say<br />corporate welfare. The area includes Jenks and parts of adjoining<br />Tulsa.<br /><br />HOUSE DIST. # 70 - KEN WALKER - This is an open seat in the Tulsa<br />area to replace the term limited Ron Peters. Ken did well at our<br />interview process and will do well if elected. However he does face a<br />well funded establishment candidate so it will be difficult to win in<br />this race. He has worked hard and has the backing of the conservative<br />Tulsa Beacon newspaper.<br /><br />HOUSE DIST. # 79 - YOUR CHOICE - Dr. Lois Jacobs had a good survey<br />but our members didn’t endorse her out of concern regarding her lack<br />of work and little money raised. She also had a very difficult time in<br />expressing herself and made me doubt that she would make a good<br />lawmaker. I think she is a fine person, but I will have to remain<br />neutral on her race, even though I really wanted to see Representative<br />Weldon Watson replaced as he won last year’s RINO award for the House.<br /><br />HOUSE DIST. # 82 - MIKE TURNER - Mike has a good shot at replacing<br />the proto-typical good old boy politician known as Guy Liebmann. Our<br />members overwhelmingly endorsed Mike and really hope he prevails<br />against Liebmann who scored a 63 last session and has a lifetime score<br />of a 61 on the Conservative Index. I believe Mike would have won this<br />easily, but Governor Fallin and the big super pacs rushed in to try<br />and save one of their bought and paid for lawmakers. Turner has a<br />great full page ad in the Sunday Oklahoman with his conservative<br />positions and endorsements from 3 constituents, one a bank President<br />and then Ray Ackerman, a mover and shaker in the OKC area who examined<br />Liebmann’s voting record and didn’t like what he saw. He has switched<br />from Liebmann to Mike Turner.<br /><br />HOUSE DIST. # 84 - SALLY KERN - One of the best lawmakers in the<br />state who rarely gets a fair shake in the media. Sally is actually<br />very well rounded. She is an unashamed Christian conservative,<br />probably knows more about what kind of reforms are needed to actually<br />improve the quality of education in the state than almost any other<br />lawmaker, perhaps even more that Education Superintendent Janet<br />Barresi. She almost always sponsors legislation to create a better<br />free market pro business environment. Her opponent is a city<br />councilman who should have never been elected to that position. His<br />campaign has been a confused mixture of calling for limited government<br />out of the right side of his mouth and calling for the state to do<br />much more for Bethany out of the left side of his mouth. Bethany has<br />the power to tax and do for itself. This past Saturday, the Occupy OKC<br />movement turned out to help with literature drops on the doorsteps,<br />partly claiming that Sally is funded by gambling and alcohol<br />interests. Sometimes real life is crazier than fiction. I suspect the<br />Occupy movement was brought into this campaign by Brittany Novatney,<br />Sally’s trans-sexual opponent from last year as Brittany has<br />represented some of the Occupy participants when they ran into trouble<br />in their protests. There is an old adage that you can tell a lot about<br />a person by who their friends happen to be. Based on his friends, I<br />don’t have a high regard for Mr. Moore. Hopefully, Sally Kern will<br />exceed 70 percent of the vote this time<br /><br />HOUSE DIST. # 100 - JEFF RENNER - Jeff is opposing Elise Hall, who<br />in the first session of her freshman term scored a 63 on the<br />Conservative Index. I personally like Elise, but she was a little weak<br />on our survey 2 years ago and was a little weak during her interview.<br />Jeff had a very strong survey and was very strong during our interview<br />process. It was disappointing to see Elise switch her vote on the next<br />to the last day of the session to vote for the budget after first<br />voting against the budget. As I said before, when that occurred,<br />conservatives in the House lost all their leverage to have a family<br />friendly tax cut and pay for needed repairs to the Capitol and build a<br />new Medical Examiners office. Jeff has the intestinal fortitude to<br />stand up to the establishment and I would have given him a good chance<br />at winning this race until Governor Fallin and the super pacs rushed<br />in to rescue yet another lawmaker they want to keep. I believe this<br />will now be difficult for Jeff to win as just too many citizens are<br />little more than political groupies, when a big name like Governor<br />Fallin gets involved they get stars in their eyes and it sways their<br />opinions.<br /><br />HOUSE DIST. # 101 - A.J. BAILEY - He was a little weak on the<br />abortion issue and hadn’t raised much money when he came before the<br />members of OCPAC and thus we were concerned about his viability.<br />Therefore, he did not receive our endorsement as we have a<br />responsibility toward our members to be good stewards with the money<br />we raise. However, Gary Banz was on the RINO nomination list for last<br />year with a Conservative Index score of a 56. If I lived in the<br />district I would vote for Mr. Bailey without hesitation.<br /><br /><br /><br />OKLAHOMA COUNTY GOVERNMENT<br /><br />OKLAHOMA COUNTY COURT CLERK - CHARLES KEY - I believe Oklahoma<br />County government is a rats nest with the chief rat being county<br />commissioner Ray Vaughn and assistant chief rat being Leonard<br />Sullivan. I believe the next person they want to elevate to rat nest<br />status is Tim Rhodes. That way the circle of protection will be<br />unbroken as everyone’s backside will be covered. Both Charles Key and<br />Salome Vaughn have said that any of the candidates are capable of<br />running the office, but I believe only these 2 could be independent<br />and stay out of the rats nest. My pick for Charles is based on many<br />years of association and knowledge of his character, talents and<br />ideology. However, I also believe Salome would make a good county<br />official. If conservatives don’t rally around one of these candidates<br />(Charles) they could split the conservative vote and if a run-off is<br />required it could be between Rhodes and a fourth candidate. Please<br />consider that point.<br /><br />OKLAHOMA CO. COMMISSION DIST. # 2 - GORDON JENEY - I don’t have to<br />point out a single short fall for current commissioner Brian Maughn.<br />Gordon Jeney is a very disciplined and hard working self made man. He<br />is a high achiever and has been successful at almost everything he has<br />done. In almost every way he would be a stronger person to have as a<br />county commissioner than Maughn. I also believe he would resist being<br />sucked into the rats nest.<br /><br /><br />LOGAN COUNTY GOVERNMENT<br /><br />LOGAN COUNTY SHERIFF - JIM BAUHMAN - I personally believe Jim is<br />one of the best county sheriffs in the state if you believe in<br />balancing constitutional liberties with the duties to fight crime and<br />serve as the chief law enforcement agent in the county. Since being<br />elected 4 years ago he has increased response time and increased the<br />number of officers patrolling the roads of Logan County. A little over<br />a year ago I was the target of a death threat and extortion attempt. I<br />called Jim, sent him the information and within 2 hours he had worked<br />with contacts in the FBI and Secret Service to determine it was<br />fraudulent.<br /><br />LOGAN CO. COMMISSIONER DIST. # 2 - MICHAEL PEARSON - The 4 years<br />under the former Democrat commissioner now turned Republican<br />challenger was like darkness compared to the job done since Mr.<br />Pearson won 4 years ago. Mike joined with dist 1 commissioner Mark<br />Sharpton to provide excellent governance for the county. They have<br />worked to reduce the county sales tax, and have greatly improved<br />county roads and bridges, though much more needs to be done. Mike is<br />hard working and has a vision to really improve our roads over the<br />next 4 years.<br /><br />Folks, thanks again for your time and attention. If this has been<br />forwarded to you and you would like to receive the weekly e-mail on a<br />regular basis, please send an e-mail to charliemeadows7@gmail.com with<br />the word “add” in the subject line. The content of the e-mail are<br />usually conservative commentary and insider information about Oklahoma<br />politics, government and the culture war.<br /><br />Charlie Meadows<br />Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-8761562075918108802012-06-18T09:51:00.001-05:002012-06-18T10:01:32.860-05:00THE OKLAHOMA MAFIA - BREATHING FIRE & DESTRUCTION<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />
++ THE OKLAHOMA MAFIA - BREATHING FIRE & DESTRUCTION<br />
++ GUY LIEBMANN, ANOTHER BIG GOV BORROW & SPEND REPUBLICAN<br />
++ RAY HIBBARD’S RESPONSE TO LAST WEEK’S E-MAIL<br />
<br />
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />
<br />
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, June 20th will be held at<br />
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. This will be our<br />
final meeting before the elections and as such we have invited several<br />
candidates to speak before our group. Corporation Commissioner Bob<br />
Anthony is invited, Oklahoma County Commissioner candidate Gordon<br />
Jenney will be with us (Brian Maugn, the incumbent, indicated he<br />
wasn’t interested in coming) Charles Key and Salome Vaughn will be<br />
with us regarding the Oklahoma County Court Clerk race. I just haven’t<br />
had the time to locate the contact information for the other 2<br />
candidates. If someone can help me out and invite them it will be most<br />
appreciated, I will not have time on Monday or Tuesday. Thanks to<br />
those who attended this past Saturday, we will release the<br />
Conservative Index scores for everyone as soon as possible.<br />
<br />
One more item, the Wednesday after the June 26th primary elections we<br />
will devote some time to discussion about the elections and in<br />
addition we will have an election to replace Richard Engle, our former<br />
Vice President. I will be proposing we elect 3 different individuals<br />
to serve as Vice Presidents. I would like to spread out those duties<br />
to allow for more individuals to develop leadership talents. If you<br />
are interested in serving, please let me know at<br />
<a href="mailto:charliemeadows7@gmail.com">charliemeadows7@gmail.com</a>. I have talked with 3 individuals so far and<br />
2 of them have agreed to put their names up for consideration. We will<br />
certainly take names from the floor, but I would really like to let<br />
folks interested in serving know about some of my ideas, going<br />
forward. So again, if you are interested in being one of the OCPAC<br />
Vice Presidents, please contact me.<br />
<br />
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />
<br />
* TUESDAY EVENING - KONAWA AREA - The Konawa Tea Party will hold<br />
their monthly meeting this Tuesday evening, 7:00 p.m. at the Walter<br />
Wise Hut, 101 West 3rd St. in Konawa. Guest speakers will be Jennie<br />
White with Restore Oklahoma Public Education (R.O.P.E.), State<br />
Representative Todd Thomsen (R-Ada) and his challenger Cole Gallup for<br />
the House District 25 seat and then Mike Sawyer with the John Birch<br />
Society.<br />
<br />
* THURSDAY EVENING - NORMAN AREA - The Norman Tea Party will hold<br />
their monthly meeting this Thursday evening, 7:00 p.m. at the First<br />
Assembly of God Church, 2500 East Lindsey, in Norman. They have<br />
invited me to speak, I will be hitting hard, regarding the mess in<br />
Washington and how our state government can help to get Washington<br />
back on track. I will also be exposing what I believe to be the<br />
Oklahoma mafia as well as how and why they are controlling our state.<br />
<br />
* SATURDAY AFTERNOON - OKC AREA - Some time ago a group of very<br />
conservative Catholics lay people began working to put together the<br />
“Rally for Religious Liberty” which will be held at the Cox Convention<br />
Center Arena from 1 until 4:00 p.m. this coming Saturday, June 23rd.<br />
They have been working with the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City to<br />
organize the ecumenical event to defend the religious liberties of all<br />
expressions of Christianity in Oklahoma. Speakers will include<br />
Archbishop Paul Coakley, our good friend Bill Federer, State Attorney<br />
General Scott Pruitt, Frank Cargill, Superintendent of the Assemblies<br />
of God, black robed regiment patriot pastor James Taylor of Norman and<br />
a late confirm will be the producers of the famous video “Test of<br />
Fire”. They will be present to unveil the premiere showing of the<br />
Evangelical version of “Test of Fire.” Music will be provided by<br />
Mountain Smoke. The event is free; however, a $10.00 donation is<br />
suggested at the door. For more information log on to<br />
<a href="http://www.fortnightforfreedomokc.com/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr></wbr>fortnightforfreedomokc.com/<wbr></wbr>index.html</a>. For additional<br />
information contact Thomas G. Morris at <a href="mailto:tom@morris-ent.com">tom@morris-ent.com</a>.<br />
<br />
In the same vein, I want to recommend a movie we saw a week ago<br />
Saturday called “For Greater Glory”. The movie is based on the<br />
historical events of 1926 when the secular government of Mexico, led<br />
by the atheist President Plutarco Elias Calles, launched a nationwide<br />
crackdown on the Catholic Church. To preserve religious liberty the<br />
Catholics had to eventually mount an armed resistance toward the<br />
Mexican government. The R rating on the movie is because of the<br />
violence which goes along with any war, there was no cursing or<br />
gratuitous sex scenes in the movie.<br />
<br />
There are many parallels to today as our society is becoming more<br />
hostile toward Christianity. As such it is a valuable movie to<br />
hopefully wake up the Church in America so we can preserve our<br />
religious liberties through the political processes so that we won’t<br />
have to fight to keep from being roll over and be stepped on by a<br />
government hostile to Christianity. Attitudes and policies of<br />
President Obama‘s administration are a harbinger of the direction in<br />
which we are sliding.<br />
<br />
The idea of conservative Protestants and Catholics working together to<br />
preserve religious liberties and address issues in the culture war is<br />
not an attempt to see everyone come to a common understanding of God’s<br />
word or a common understanding of tradition. I encourage pastors of<br />
every Biblical expression of Christianity to preach God’s Word with<br />
all the energy and passion within them according to their own<br />
understanding in their own churches. But as one of our founding<br />
fathers said right after they signed the Declaration of Independence,<br />
“if we don’t hang together, we will all hang separately”.<br />
<br />
* Glen Howard’s Senior World Radio program had Mr. Michael Shaw on<br />
his program this Sunday morning. Of course Mr. Shaw is the expert<br />
speaker from California on Agenda 21. I heard a little of his<br />
presentation on the way to church and it was excellent. I urge folks<br />
to listen to the full interview at: <a href="http://seniorworldradio.com/radio-show/michael-shaw-and-agenda-21" target="_blank">http://seniorworldradio.com/<wbr></wbr>radio-show/michael-shaw-and-<wbr></wbr>agenda-21</a>.<br />
<br />
++ THE OKLAHOMA MAFIA - BREATHING FIRE & DESTRUCTION<br />
<br />
Over time I have lovingly referred to powerful people in OKC as the<br />
Oklahoma City Mafia and in addition I have also suggested we have a<br />
group of very powerful people across the state that I have also<br />
referred to as the Oklahoma Mafia. This is just an opinion on my part<br />
and I am not necessarily suggesting that they are a crime syndicate<br />
usually associated with the word mafia. However, I believe they are a<br />
group of very wealthy and powerful people or entities who use their<br />
wealth to control what goes on in Oklahoma.<br />
<br />
In last week’s e-mail, I suggested some of these very powerful people<br />
see lawmakers as little more than people to control so that public<br />
policy will be crafted to meet their needs or desires. I also said<br />
that the stakes are high as many of these very powerful and wealthy<br />
people are the recipients of millions of taxpayer dollars which they<br />
use for their benefit.<br />
<br />
I believe it was Thursday of last week that the Oklahoma mafia flexed<br />
their muscle and started breathing fire through a group named, The<br />
Coalition For Oklahoma’s Future. Six entities each contributed $50,000<br />
to raise a total of $300,000 to be used by the CFOF to influence the<br />
outcomes of at least 6 legislative races.<br />
<br />
The six entities contributing to CFOF are Chesapeake Energy, the<br />
Chickasaw Nation, the Rooney Holdings, Clay Bennett, Continental<br />
Resources, The Williams Companies and Flintco Construction. I believe<br />
Saturday’s Oklahoman reported they had spent over $90,000 on the Clark<br />
Jolley - Paul Blair race. Other races they are spending money on are<br />
for Senator Brian Crain of Tulsa (last year’s winner of OCPAC’s RINO<br />
Award) and Representatives Todd Thomsen of Ada, Glen Mulready of<br />
Tulsa, Elise Hall of OKC and Marian Cooksey of Edmond.<br />
<br />
Now this group hired former Republican party chairman Chad Alexander<br />
to craft the hatchet pieces to be used to try and destroy Paul Blair.<br />
If you listen to radio or watch TV you have probably seen the ad<br />
featuring a rather dark and shadowy Paul Blair with the explanation<br />
that he violated state tax laws and had his corporations suspended. Um<br />
um um that mean old negative Paul Blair sure must be a bad fellow, a<br />
tax dodger, a cheat, that is, unless you are intellectually honest and<br />
want to know the real truth?<br />
<br />
What Paul did 20 years ago with a couple of businesses he tried<br />
shortly after he returned from the NFL was simply close them down. He<br />
ended them and as such he quit paying the franchise tax for the next<br />
year’s operation which resulted in the corporations being de-listed.<br />
The franchise tax was a tax going forward to remain in business, it<br />
was not a tax owed on past activities. Not paying that tax is a very<br />
normal method to close down a corporation. Funny thing, that tax<br />
doesn’t exist today on small corporations and guess who is trying to<br />
take credit for eliminating those old franchise taxes? None other than<br />
Clark Jolley, Paul’s opponent.<br />
<br />
Those twisted lies about Paul Blair, paid for by the Coalition For<br />
Oklahoma’s Future, caused Paul to have to waste a day working with his<br />
CPA to try and determine if there was any merit to the outlandish<br />
lies? Following his a letter from his CPA issued during the afternoon<br />
of last Thursday, June 14th:<br />
<br />
“ Paul,<br />
<br />
To the best of my knowledge, belief and recollection, the following<br />
statements are true and accurate.<br />
<br />
As your CPA since the mid 1980s, I have prepared all the required<br />
income tax returns, franchise tax returns, and anything else required<br />
to do business in the State of Oklahoma for you and the companies<br />
which you have owned, operated, or been associated with.<br />
<br />
I checked the websites of the Oklahoma Tax Commission and the Oklahoma<br />
Secretary of State’s office. I searched for any delinquency filings,<br />
missing reports/returns, suspended licenses to do business or any<br />
other filings for any company associated with or owned by you. I did<br />
not find a single instance of any delinquency filing, failure to file,<br />
any wrong doing or anything inappropriate.<br />
<br />
My search did reveal certain companies have ceased to exist but that<br />
was simply because the purpose for which the company was started no<br />
longer existed. It is not unusual for companies to start or stop. It<br />
happens every day. Furthermore, in no case was any business owned or<br />
operated by you ever forced out of business by failing to comply with<br />
all the rules and regulations of the State of Oklahoma or any other<br />
regulatory agency.<br />
<br />
All the businesses you have been associated with, owned and/or<br />
operated have always paid their taxes.<br />
<br />
And you have always filed and paid your personal taxes.<br />
<br />
David F. Johnson”<br />
<br />
Though few do so, perhaps a person should contact the Secretary of<br />
State and tell them you are closing down a business? However, the<br />
twisted story about Paul paid for by the what I believe are members of<br />
the Oklahoma mafia are out there doing their harm, working to destroy<br />
the good name and reputation of one of Oklahoma‘s most outstanding<br />
individuals. At some time, possibly after a lawsuit has cleared his<br />
name and long after the election is over, Paul Blair will have to ask,<br />
now where do I now go to get my reputation back?<br />
<br />
The entities and people behind these lies are Senator Clark Jolley’s<br />
friends, though state law forbids any coordination between Clark and<br />
his campaign staff with the people behind these ads. As of last Friday<br />
morning, Senator Jolley knows these ads are lies and though he can’t<br />
directly communicate with those behind them, he certainly can publicly<br />
denounce them and urge for them to be discontinued. If he fails to do<br />
such, I wouldn’t want to be Clark Jolley when he gets up in the<br />
morning to wash his face. He might see his reflection in the mirror<br />
and would it ever be something shameful to look upon.<br />
<br />
If you remember nothing else about this race than this, it is about<br />
the difference between Clark Jolley, a little puppet who has proven<br />
his loyalty to the powerful as they know he will do their bidding<br />
verses Paul Blair, a man they know they can’t control or make into a<br />
puppet. Paul Blair has taken a pledge not to take anything from a<br />
lobbyist. Clark Jolley is the product of the lobbyists and the<br />
Oklahoma mafia.<br />
<br />
++ GUY LIEBMAN, ANOTHER BIG GOV. BORROW & SPEND REPUBLICAN<br />
<br />
A week ago Friday, State Representatives Guy Liebman, Marian Cooksey<br />
and her opponent Bob Dani met for a candidate forum in Edmond. When<br />
asked how they would pay for a new Medical Examiners facility Guy<br />
Liebmann didn’t hesitate as he favores a bond issue to pay for the<br />
facility.<br />
<br />
As an explanation he gave an analogy similar to the foolishness<br />
presented on the editorial page of the Oklahoman a few days earlier.<br />
He suggested it wasn’t wrong or unusual to borrow money as he guessed<br />
most of the people present had a mortgage on their homes so borrowing<br />
money to build a new medical examiners office would make perfect<br />
sense.<br />
<br />
A shallow thinker like Rep Liebmann fails to consider the situation<br />
state government is in with over $250 million in the Rainy Day Fund,<br />
with another $350 expected to be deposited in the next few weeks, not<br />
to mention the $150 million in the now defunct EDGE fund which could<br />
have been used to build and equip a new Medical Examiners office.<br />
<br />
Truth is Representative Liebmann, if a family has 17.8 times the cost<br />
of a new home in savings, they don’t take out a loan to buy the new<br />
home, they pay for it out of their savings. To do otherwise would be<br />
foolish! Even with interest rates to buy a new home possibly as low as<br />
3%, it is not likely they are earning more than 1% on their savings,<br />
so again, they would lack good judgment if they took out a loan when<br />
they had plenty of money in savings to take care of the need.<br />
<br />
Bond underwriters are paid large fees not counting the interest costs<br />
associated with the bonds. Many of these bond underwriters contribute<br />
to lawmakers which may be the real reason we have so much state debt<br />
even though we are supposed to have a balanced budget every year. We<br />
currently spend about $220 million in interest payments to service our<br />
state debt. If we had no state debt, that $220 million could build a<br />
new ME’s office and fix the State Capitol as well as other buildings.<br />
Other possible uses might go to roads and bridges or that would amount<br />
to one fourth of the spending cut Governor Fallin sought to balance an<br />
eight hundred million tax cut.<br />
<br />
As I said before, Representative Liebmann is a big government borrow<br />
and spend Republican. He lacks good sense and needs to be replaced<br />
with the very sharp young businessman, Michael Turner.<br />
<br />
++ RAY HIBBARD’S RESPONSE TO LAST WEEK’S E-MAIL<br />
<br />
In last week’s e-mail, in an attempt to point out the accuracy of Paul<br />
Blair’s statement that the Governor and the establishment were going<br />
all out to defeat him, I related a story about a statement made by<br />
Edmond Life and Leisure publisher Ray Hibbard.<br />
<br />
I had indicated he had stood up in a meeting of about 30 of Edmond’s<br />
leading businessmen and said that he had been contacted by a person<br />
from Governor Fallin’s office expressing his need to get on board with<br />
Senator Clark Jolley or the Tourism department would no longer<br />
advertise in his paper.<br />
<br />
He sent me an e-mail with a different story and asked me to correct<br />
what I had written. I spent Thursday checking with my sources and only<br />
1 thought he had said the Tourism department. However, all clearly<br />
remembered him saying something very similar to what I had written<br />
about. One of them even jotted down a few notes which goes something<br />
like this: Mr. Hibbard stood up and once he had made his first<br />
statement he went on to say: I don’t give a rip if they advertise in<br />
my paper or not, they aren’t going to intimidate this old fat boy.<br />
<br />
I talked with Mr. Hibbard on Friday and will back off my statement<br />
about the Tourism Department, but not on the rest of what I wrote as<br />
my sources stand firm on what they heard. You will notice that even<br />
Mr. Hibbard, in his e-mail to me, isn’t for sure what he said.<br />
Following is his message to me:<br />
<br />
“Mr. Meadows,<br />
<br />
The information you included in this email regarding my statement at a<br />
business meeting is incorrect. My recollection is that I had asked<br />
Paul about how he was tracking. I am not sure if I said something<br />
incorrectly or not that would have caused the confusion but let me say<br />
this for you now:<br />
<br />
I have never had any communication about the District 41 race with the<br />
Governor of Oklahoma or anyone in her office. Period. On a side note,<br />
I have been in the newspaper business 33 years and we always confirm<br />
information we put out with a contact of the original source. I also<br />
don’t believe I have ever received at any newspaper I was working for<br />
paid advertising from the Oklahoma Tourism Department. If that is the<br />
case, I sure need to have a talk with Brad Henry, Frank Keating, David<br />
Walters and George Nigh. I knew those guys were holding out on me.<br />
<br />
Please correct this at your earliest convenience. I like Paul and our<br />
paper is in the process of trying to decide who to endorse in this<br />
race. It is a tough decision for many reasons for us. A smarter<br />
newspaper guy would probably not endorse either candidate. I am just<br />
not that smart and will be endorsing someone in each of the races this<br />
month. Should you have any questions please feel free to call me at my<br />
office 340-3311. I don’t believe we know each other but I am sure you<br />
do not want to have incorrect information in your communications with<br />
your membership.<br />
<br />
Ray Hibbard<br />
<br />
Publisher<br />
<br />
Edmond Life & Leisure”<br />
<br />
I am not a betting man, but if I were I would put my money on Mr.<br />
Hibbard endorsing Clark Jolley, Marian Cooksey (a former aide to Lt.<br />
Governor Fallin) and Guy Liebmann. I believe those are the only<br />
legislative candidates running for office within the Edmond city<br />
limits.<br />
<br />
<br />
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday<br />
<br />
Charlie Meadows<br />
<a href="mailto:Charliemeadows7@gmail.com">Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</a></div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-66863913522854851752012-06-12T15:02:00.001-05:002012-06-12T15:03:38.101-05:00WHY SEN JOLLEY WENT NEGATIVE & THE FALLIN CONNECTION<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />
++ WHY SEN JOLLEY WENT NEGATIVE & THE FALLIN CONNECTION<br />
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />
<br />
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />
<br />
Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, June 13th will be held at<br />
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Shortly after<br />
session ends each year the members of OCPAC help in creating the<br />
Conservative Index which is published each year in the Oklahoma<br />
Constitution Newspaper.<br />
<br />
Here is the process. On Wednesday, May 23rd I hand delivered to every<br />
Republican lawmaker or their office an invitation to participate in<br />
creating this year’s Conservative Index. The invitation letter<br />
instructed them to submit legislation they believed would be a good<br />
Index vote to Ron McWhirter and Steve Byas at the Oklahoma<br />
Constitution Newspaper no later than Wednesday, May 30th. In addition<br />
they were all invited to attend our meeting on the 13th of June to<br />
debate on the legislation submitted as to whether or not such<br />
legislation actually reflects a liberal or conservative vote.<br />
<br />
Following our meeting this Wednesday, we will have a special meeting<br />
this coming SATURDAY, June 16th at Italiano’s restaurant so our dues<br />
paying members can vote to determine the 10 most important bills from<br />
this year’s session to be used to make up this year’s Index.<br />
<br />
Again, we will have a special meeting this coming Saturday, 12 noon at<br />
Italiano’s to debate about the final bills to make up this year’s<br />
Conservative Index. Folks will need to order off the menu as the<br />
buffet will not be available this Saturday. The reason for the special<br />
meeting is that Ron and Steve want to get this year’s scores posted on<br />
their web-site before the election, as the regular Summer issue won’t<br />
be out for several weeks from now. Moving the candidate filing date<br />
and the primary elections up is causing several things to be done<br />
differently this year from years past. I sure hope as many of our dues<br />
paying members as possible can make it to both of this week’s<br />
meetings.<br />
<br />
We normally have several lawmakers come to our debate meeting, one<br />
year as many as 15. No lawmaker failing to attend this Wednesday’s<br />
meeting has a valid reason to complain about the bills used on this<br />
year’s Index if they do not show up at our Wednesday meeting. As<br />
always, I ask Ron and Steve not to let our members know which<br />
lawmakers voted for or against the bills considered as we want this<br />
effort to be as objective as possible. We don’t wont our members to<br />
consider personal preferences about lawmakers into the equation.<br />
<br />
++ WHY SEN. JOLLEY WENT NEGATIVE & THE FALLIN CONNECTION<br />
<br />
Several weeks ago Senator Clark Jolley, with what will surely be a<br />
half million dollar war chest, went up on several radio stations,<br />
proclaiming shame on Paul Blair for resorting to negative campaigning.<br />
Of course Senator Jolley, the little snowflake pure as the wind driven<br />
snow, wouldn’t dream of going negative himself, or would he?<br />
<br />
First, lets determine what it means to “negative campaign”? Over the<br />
years I have written several articles on the subject of negative<br />
campaigning. I had noticed the liberals, mostly Democrats at that<br />
time, hated to be exposed regarding their recent character flaws,<br />
their performance as a lawmaker, or their ideas as a candidate. Often<br />
times such exposure would cause them to lose their elections, so they<br />
went on a tirade proclaiming that character didn’t matter, especially<br />
since they were always doing such a great job while in office.<br />
<br />
With the help of the mainstream media they have been successful, at<br />
least with some voters, to build a reaction to repulse any candidate<br />
who dares to draw any distinctions between themselves and their<br />
opponents. In other words some voters only want to hear positive<br />
information and they have been indoctrinated to vote against any<br />
candidate who has been labeled as “negative”.<br />
<br />
If that attitude ever becomes the norm for the majority of voters,<br />
then all future elections will boil down to pink, puff and piffle<br />
beauty contests. If it ever comes to that we might as well put pink<br />
tutus and lipstick on every candidate and see who is the best at<br />
twirling around on the point of their little tipsy toe.<br />
<br />
The real purpose of a political campaign is to draw distinctions<br />
between the candidates. Character differences are important, if they<br />
exist, as the last thing we need in office are liars, cheats, thieves<br />
or pawns of the powerful. Also just as important are the differences<br />
in ideology, communication skills, effectiveness and the competency to<br />
govern.<br />
<br />
Pointing those difference out are all valid parts of a political<br />
campaign and should not be construed as negative campaigning. True<br />
negative campaigning occurs when one candidate lies about an opponent<br />
or exaggerates a subject way out of proportion to reality. Also taking<br />
something an opponent says out of context and then twisting and<br />
spinning it to say something completely different than what was meant<br />
is the height of negative campaigning.<br />
<br />
The latter is exactly what Senator Clark Jolley has repeatedly done to<br />
Paul Blair in their hotly contested race. Most likely Jolley went up<br />
with negative campaigning early on because Blair has exhibited a great<br />
deal of strength as an opponent.<br />
<br />
As an example, Jolley’s campaign plays 7 words “are aerospace jobs<br />
more important they yours” from a Blair robo call and then twists and<br />
spins those seven words to mean that the “negative” and mean old bad<br />
boy Paul Blair is promoting class warfare, class envy. Then of course<br />
the next thing the ads do is to try and bring Governor Fallin into the<br />
race to make it look like Paul Blair is running against Mary Fallin<br />
rather than Senator Jolley.<br />
<br />
I can assure anyone that Paul Blair has never promoted class envy at<br />
anytime, its not in him. What he does promote is free enterprise where<br />
people find a way to educate themselves, get good jobs and start up<br />
and succeed in the business world based on their own efforts, rather<br />
than having the government to decide which professions or businesses<br />
will get the favored treatment, the subsidies, the favored<br />
opportunities and so on. To twist Paul’s words and say he promotes<br />
class warfare is a lie and does not represent reality. To suggest Paul<br />
is against the aerospace industry is also a lie and does not represent<br />
reality.<br />
<br />
Another example of Clark Jolley taking something Paul has said and<br />
then trying to turn it into something bad is a radio ad with Paul<br />
talking about the corruption at the Capitol. The Jolley ad suggests<br />
that it is a terrible and negative thing to say something like that<br />
about the lawmakers at the Capitol.<br />
<br />
Yet, it was just a few weeks ago that we had State Senator Bill Brown<br />
(R-Broken Arrow) come to an OCPAC meeting and allow us to see the<br />
letter he had sent to all his Republican colleagues. In the letter he<br />
expressed his sincere disappointment at the way the Republicans were<br />
governing, much like the Democrats did when they were in power.<br />
Senator Brown’s words to me and the folks at the meeting was that the<br />
Republicans are lying to the voters. He said, we tell them we want to<br />
cut taxes, and reduce the size of government when we want their votes,<br />
but when we get into office it is business as usual and government<br />
continues to grow.<br />
<br />
Another example used by Senator Jolley is a statement Paul made to his<br />
supporters at his campaign kick off when he said Governor Fallin and<br />
many in the establishment are pulling out all the stops to keep him<br />
from getting elected. If that is a true statement, and it is, then why<br />
is that negative? Clark had a spy at the kick off meeting to record<br />
what Paul said in hopes of getting something he could twist and use to<br />
try and destroy Paul.<br />
<br />
I believe it was Thursday morning the 17th of May that Paul was<br />
invited to speak to about 30 prominent Edmond businessmen. During the<br />
meeting, Edmond Life and Leisure publisher Ray Hibbard spoke up and<br />
told the group that he had received a call from a person in Governor<br />
Mary Fallin’s office to the effect that if he didn’t endorse Senator<br />
Jolley, that the Oklahoma Tourism Department would no longer advertise<br />
in his paper!<br />
<br />
Sure sounds like Paul had it right when he said the Governor and the<br />
establishment was in an all out effort to keep him out of office and<br />
to return Senator Jolley. As I said last week, Jolley is the best<br />
little Senator that a half million in special interest money can buy.<br />
After all, the establishment knows the Paul Blair can’t be bought off<br />
or controlled. He has taken a NO LOBBYIST pledge. He wont’ take their<br />
money, he won’t even let one of them buy him a pack of gum.<br />
<br />
Lets explore the possible reason’s for Governor Fallin’s support for<br />
Senator Jolley? It could be that Mary is paying Senator Jolley back<br />
for his support during the Republican primary for Governor in 2010 as<br />
Paul supported Senator Brogdon during that time, though he surely<br />
supported Governor Fallin in the general election.<br />
<br />
I actually believe there is another theory which holds more weight.<br />
During the race for Governor, Mary raised over $4 million dollars.<br />
While she holds a modicum of independence, anyone believing she isn’t<br />
under serious pressure from the powerful and wealthy special interest<br />
groups that significantly funded her campaign is rather naïve. Many of<br />
those powerful and wealthy contributors are members of the State<br />
Chamber of Commerce.<br />
<br />
Many of these wealthy and powerful people view politicians as little<br />
more than people to control so that they can shape government policy<br />
to suit their needs or desires. Quite often, these powerful people are<br />
the beneficiaries of millions of taxpayer dollars, so the stakes are<br />
high.<br />
<br />
No doubt that the State Chamber is in Clark Jolley’s camp as at least<br />
2 oversized post card mailers have already gone out on behalf of<br />
Senator Jolley directly from the State Chamber. These mailers are an<br />
independent effort by the Chamber and at their own expense. That<br />
expense is not even included in what will be my estimate of at least a<br />
half million that Senator Jolley will raise and spend to keep his<br />
position of power.<br />
<br />
Now lets look at the players and see if we can connect the dots. In<br />
2006 State Representative Fred Morgan was term limited out of office.<br />
He ran for Congress and came in a distant way back in his effort. He<br />
then went to work as the right hand man for Glen Coffee who became the<br />
Co-President Pro Tem of the Senate and later the full Senate President<br />
Pro Tem. I am sure Fred was very valuable to Glen, especially since he<br />
came from the House and had many important connections and a great<br />
understanding regarding the House side of the legislature.<br />
<br />
Serving as Glen’s right hand man for some time, Fred was offered a job<br />
as Executive Director of the State Chamber. I could be wrong, but I<br />
don’t ever remember them tapping someone from the legislature for that<br />
important job in years past. I do believe the leadership at the<br />
Chamber had enough foresight to understand it would not be long before<br />
the Republicans would be in full control of state government, so it<br />
made a lot of sense to hire Fred for the Director’s position.<br />
<br />
When Mary was elected as Governor, she appointed Senator Glen Coffee,<br />
who had just been term limited out of office, as co-transition<br />
coordinator. After the transition from the Henry administration,<br />
Governor Fallin appointed Glen Coffee as her Secretary of State. Many<br />
people speculate that Glen Coffee is a very influential person when it<br />
comes to the Governor, in fact on several occasions lawmakers have<br />
jokingly spoken to me in reference to Glen as Governor Coffee.<br />
<br />
I have often written of what I believe is the State Chamber’s<br />
inordinate amount of power and influence upon state government. Some<br />
would suggest they are controlling the State at this time and I would<br />
believe that is close to correct. So you have Fred Morgan as the<br />
Chamber President who used to work for Glen Coffee who may just be the<br />
most powerful political influence upon Governor Fallin and the Chamber<br />
wants Jolley elected and Blair defeated! If I am correct, then Mary<br />
will do all she can to see Jolley re-elected including endorsements,<br />
fund raising events and allegedly strong arm tactics, to defeat Paul<br />
Blair. Her office may have even broken the law (the call to Mr.<br />
Hibbard would be illegal if it came from a state phone or say if one<br />
of the Governor’s aids made the call while at the Capitol).<br />
<br />
So should anything Blair has said be considered as negative?<br />
Absolutely not, but almost everything Jolley has said about Paul Blair<br />
is twisted, off base and should be considered as negative.<br />
<br />
Clark Jolley is a borrow and spend, big government Republican. As such<br />
he has resorted to negative smears upon Paul Blair in hopes of fooling<br />
the Republicans in Edmond so he can slither back into office. Jolley<br />
is truly wise as a serpent, but not innocent as a dove.<br />
<br />
<br />
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />
<br />
* TUESDAY EVENING - ADA AREA - The Ada/Seminole Tea Party will<br />
hold their monthly meeting starting at 6:30 p.m. tonight June 12th.<br />
The meeting will be located in the conference center at the Ada<br />
Chamber of Commerce, 209 West Main Street. The first speaker will be<br />
B.L. Cozad Jr., talking about the UN’s Agenda 21. The keynote speaker<br />
will be Glen Howard talking about Israel, politics and prophecy.<br />
<br />
* THURSDAY EVENING - OKC AREA - Mr. Michael Shaw will be flying<br />
in from California to speak at the Character Inn, 520 West Main in<br />
downtown OKC, from 7 until 9:00 p.m.. Mr. Shaw is perhaps the foremost<br />
authority in America on Agenda 21 and the whole sustainability<br />
movement. This is quite an opportunity to hear such an expert so I<br />
urge folks to attend if at all possible (This meeting was scheduled<br />
before we knew the Thunder would be playing in the NBA finals,<br />
fortunately that is what your DVR is for). Advanced admission is $12<br />
or $15 dollars at the door. To purchase your advance admission log on<br />
to: www.concernedcitizensunited.webs.com.<br />
<br />
One more thing, the Agenda 21 crowd will be meeting again in a few<br />
days in Rio to celebrate 20 years since the Earth Summit occurred<br />
which birthed Agenda 21. This bunch of globalist progressives aren’t<br />
without their internal squabbles. One faction at this next meeting<br />
advocates abandoning the global warming agenda saying it has lost any<br />
possibility of implementation. The other faction says hell no, we have<br />
spent untold millions to create this issue and it can’t be abandoned.<br />
Wish I could be a spectator with a bag of popcorn and a lemonade to<br />
watch that argument play out.<br />
<br />
* SATURDAY AT NOON - OKC AREA - Just one more reminder, as I<br />
mentioned under the agenda for this week’s meeting, we will be having<br />
a special Saturday meeting for OCPAC. We will meet, 12 noon, at<br />
Italiano’s restaurant to debate the final 10 bills to be used for this<br />
year’s Conservative Index. I especially hope as many dues paying<br />
members as possible will attend for this special meeting. The owners<br />
of the Oklahoma Constitution are trying to get this done as soon as<br />
possible so they can at least post the lawmaker scores on their web-<br />
site before the June 26th primary elections.<br />
<br />
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.<br />
<br />
Charlie Meadows<br />
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-68843887531269403062012-06-05T11:56:00.001-05:002012-06-05T11:56:24.152-05:00SEN JOLLEY’S RESPONSE TO ETHICS TROUBLE WORSE THAN THE CRIME?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />++ SEN JOLLEY’S RESPONSE TO ETHICS TROUBLE WORSE THAN THE CRIME?<br />++ WILL SENATOR COBURN BE A MAN OF HIS WORD?<br />++ NATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF GOV. WALKER’S RECALL ELECTION<br /><br /><br />++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br /><br />Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, June 6th will be held at<br />Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Mr. Brooks Mitchell,<br />candidate for Corporation Commission will be a speaker this Wednesday<br />along with a final candidate running for a legislative seat. That<br />candidate will remain un-named at this time. Congratulations to Ken<br />Walker for winning our endorsement last week in his effort to win the<br />HD 70 seat in Tulsa.<br /><br />++ JOLLEY’S RESPONSE TO ETHICS TROUBLE IS WORSE THAN THE CRIME?<br /><br />This past Friday, Bob Donohoo filed an ethics complaint against State<br />Senator Clark Jolley, alleging that Jolley had failed to file his SO-1<br />report with the State Ethics Commission within 10 days of either<br />raising or spending $500 in his effort to be re-elected to Senate<br />District 41.<br /><br />Senator Jolley fired back with the statement: “We complied with every<br />one of the ethics laws in this state,”. Are you serious Senator<br />Jolley? Jolley is an attorney and he has also been a lawmaker for 8<br />years. If anyone should know the most simple and basic laws to run for<br />office it should be Senator Jolley.<br /><br />Jolley’s responses as reported in the Oklahoman and the Edmond Sun<br />were, in my opinion, an effort to spin the issue away from the alleged<br />violation of a simple to understand law, to prior campaigns,<br />allegations of desperate attacks by supporters of his opponent, and an<br />attempt to silence anyone from talking about the issue lest they be<br />guilty of a misdemeanor and a $10,000 fine. The Oklahoman got it right<br />about a decision in 2009 by the Ethics Commission not to enforce the<br />silence rule because it didn’t want to violate the free speech of the<br />press or of citizens in the community. The Ethics Commission really<br />needs to get their miss-information on this subject off of their web-<br />site.<br /><br />I am not privy to all the evidence presented to the Ethics Commission<br />by Mr. Donohoo, but let me say, I contributed $50 to Clark Jolley 8<br />years ago when he first ran for this office. Most likely, due to my<br />past record of contributing, I received an invitation from Governor<br />Fallin to attend “a fundraiser benefiting the re-election campaign<br />of Senator Clark Jolley Senate Appropriations Chairman” at the home<br />of Bryan Gonterman. I believe Mr. Gonterman is the CEO for the<br />Oklahoma division of AT&T.<br /><br />Contributions were suggested to be $5,000, $2,500, $1,000, or $500.<br />Now, here is the important information. The date for this fundraiser<br />was January 31st. The law is so simple Senator Jolley, assuming he<br />raised more than $500 dollars that evening, and he did, and given the<br />fact that it was clearly for his Senate campaign, I believe he would<br />have been required to file his SO-1 with the Ethics Commission no<br />later than February 10th, however it appears he didn’t file those<br />reports until April 1st.<br /><br />I suspect that this wasn’t the first fundraising event for Senator<br />Jolley. Sources told me some time ago that a fundraiser was held for<br />Senator Jolley in the cafeteria on the campus of Chesapeake Energy<br />prior to the January 31st date. I am sure Senator Jolley paid<br />Chesapeake something for the use of the cafeteria or that would have<br />been a corporate contribution which would also be a violation of the<br />law.<br /><br />Sources also told me Chesapeake was once again holding a fundraiser on<br />campus for Senator Jolley this past week titled: lunch and learn with<br />Senator Jolley. Supposedly employees were encouraged to attend and<br />different contribution levels were suggested. I would suggest it<br />should have been named: “lunch and twist with Senator Jolley”, meaning<br />your arm will be twisted to give.<br /><br />Maybe, if powerful individuals at Chesapeake were paying more<br />attention to good corporate governance, less debt and more frugality<br />in their spending practices, rather than trying to control state<br />government by influencing who gets elected, maybe they wouldn’t be<br />under such duress by stockholders (see today’s business section of the<br />Oklahoman), at least that is my opinion.<br /><br />I also suspect Senator Jolley had spent tens of thousands of dollars<br />before this January 31st date in his effort to be re-elected to his<br />Senate seat. I have prospective candidates talk with me all the time,<br />asking for help in knowing what to do if they decide to run for<br />office. I always warn them to be sure and read the Ethics laws and be<br />sure to file their SO-1 report with the Ethics Commission once they<br />RAISE or SPEND more than $500.<br /><br />Once the ethics complaint was filed by Mr. Donohoo, if Senator Jolley<br />would have responded by saying it was a stupid oversight, a mistake,<br />he could have probably paid a fine and gone on with his campaign.<br />However, I believe his attempts to disregard the law, obfuscate, spin<br />the issue and intimidate people from using their rights to free speech<br />just shows how 8 years as a powerful senator can create an arrogant<br />attitude of being above the law by a person who appears to have a<br />serious character flaw. Unfortunately the Ethics Commission won’t rule<br />on this situation until after the election which is why it is<br />important to discuss this in the open to help voters understand the<br />character of the people running for office.<br /><br />Senator Jolley, not only are lawmakers NOT above the law, we the<br />people hold you to a higher standard and rightly so. Senator Jolley,<br />of course it was the supporters of Paul Blair who brought this to<br />light, it sure wasn’t your supporters. You are doing what almost all<br />power hungry politicians do when they get caught with their hand in<br />the cookie jar, they blame it on politics and their opponents. That is<br />the nature of the political process. If you want to avoid these<br />embarrassing problems, don’t give your opponents any ammunition to use<br />against you. Simply said, DON’T VIOLATE THE LAW!!!<br /><br />++ WILL SENATOR COBURN BE A MAN OF HIS WORD?<br /><br />In last week’s e-mail I related some insider information about U.S.<br />Senator Tom Coburn contacting a couple of State Senators with the<br />message to tell their colleagues that if they voted to borrow $40<br />million to finish the American Indian Cultural Center in OKC that he<br />would support their Republican opposition in the primary races.<br /><br />As it turns out, the measure failed to pass by 1 vote. One of the<br />Republican Senators who voted for the measure to borrow the money was<br />Brian Crain (R-Tulsa). Senator Crain won the RINO (Republican In Name<br />Only) award last year for his paltry score of a 40 for the 2011<br />session.<br /><br />May I suggest, if Senator Coburn really cares about the fiscal<br />discipline of Oklahoma state government, he should without hesitation<br />and immediately endorse and support Kevin McDugle in his race to<br />unseat the liberal Brian Crain. Our members overwhelmingly endorsed<br />McDugle during our interview process as he is clearly head and<br />shoulders more conservative than Senator Crain. We are waiting and<br />watching Senator Coburn, please be a man of your word!<br /><br />++ NATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF GOV. WALKER’S RECALL ELECTION<br /><br />Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin was the key note speaker a couple<br />of months ago at this year’s main fundraiser banquet for the Oklahoma<br />Council of Public Affairs (OCPA). I enjoyed very much getting to give<br />my opinion on one of the local news stations about organized labor’s<br />efforts to intimidate people from attending the Walker speech that<br />night. The part that made the news cast was: “I see the union thugs<br />are out in force tonight”.<br /><br />A couple of things that impressed me that night with the Governor’s<br />speech was his grasp of the need to make Wisconsin friendly toward<br />business and the jobs growth that has occurred since he was successful<br />in making some of those changes. Then of course he discussed the very<br />reasonable changes he was able to push through the legislature to<br />contain some of the run-away costs heaped upon the backs of the<br />taxpayers of Wisconsin as a result of the excessive power the<br />government employees wielded over Wisconsin lawmakers, especially when<br />the Democrats were in control.<br /><br />However, the most important comment by Governor Walker that evening<br />was about what he called: THE COURAGE FACTOR. The attacks by the<br />organized left upon himself and other Republicans in Wisconsin have<br />been irrational, un-relenting and vicious. Governor Walker and the<br />Republican lawmakers didn’t back down in the face of extreme pressure,<br />even when faced with risks to the personal safety of themselves and<br />their families. The intimidation factor from the liberal left<br />progressives was off the charts.<br /><br />Therefore, should Walker lose this election it will send a message<br />across the nation to conservative reformers to get back into the cage<br />of “go along to get along”. It will send a message that if you stand<br />up, we, the leftist progressives will cut your legs out from under<br />you. Should Walker lose, a fear of standing up and opposing the<br />leftists in this country will spread everywhere. However, on the other<br />hand, should Walker win today, it sends a courage message across the<br />nation. A message that principled conservatives can take on the<br />progressive leftists and continue to be re-elected. Wisconsin is<br />traditionally a very liberal state with enormous union power and<br />money. If Governor Walker is left standing tall tonight, it will send<br />a message to the majority of states that conservatism can win almost<br />anywhere as long as those pushing conservatism are principled as well<br />as good communicators.<br /><br />I will send out another e-mail this week with the announcements. I<br />look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.<br /><br />Charlie Meadows<br />Charliemeadows7@gmail.com<br /></div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-19319842110457907122012-05-29T13:22:00.001-05:002012-05-29T13:22:17.441-05:00GRADING THIS YEARS SESSION ++ DID LOBBYISTS LINE UP AT 5:01 LAST FRIDAY FOR SENATOR JOLLEY?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />++ GRADING THIS YEARS SESSION<br />++ DID LOBBYISTS LINE UP AT 5:01 LAST FRIDAY FOR SENATOR JOLLEY?<br /><br /><br />++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br /><br />Our 12 noon meeting for Wednesday, May 30th will be held at Italiano’s<br />restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. This will be the last week for<br />interviewing Republican PRIMARY legislative candidates before the May<br />26th primary elections. Once we get past the primary races we will<br />begin interviewing Republican candidates who will be going up against<br />Democrat candidates in the general election in November. Invited to<br />attend for this Wednesday are David Davis, Shane Saunders and Ken<br />Walker, all of which are running for the HD 70 seat in Tulsa. Also<br />invited are 2 other candidates that are running against Republican<br />incumbents, they will remain unnamed at this time.<br /><br />Congratulations to Brian Graham of Moore for winning our endorsement<br />last week in the HD 53 seat. It was another run-off vote, this time<br />between Mr. Graham and no-endorsement. Mark McBride came in a close<br />3rd place to no-endorsement. Usually when a candidate comes in behind<br />no-endorsement in a 3 way race it is because there is little<br />difference between the two actual candidates and our members therefore<br />don’t believe there is enough difference between the top two to make<br />an endorsement. I believe that was the case in this primary race as<br />both Mr. Graham and Mr. McBride did well on their surveys and did well<br />during our inquisition time. None the less, Mr. Graham did win on the<br />run-off vote and he deserves our endorsement.<br /><br />Our members voted not to endorse the candidate opposing Gary Banz for<br />the HD 101 seat. This now makes 2 races where we didn’t endorse a<br />candidate that has decided to challenge one of the more liberal<br />Republican incumbents. As always we are trying to find and support<br />solid conservatives who have amassed enough resources and are working<br />hard enough to be able viable to be able to unseat these more liberal<br />Republican lawmakers. If a candidate does not measure up to those<br />standards, our members appear unwilling to give our endorsement and<br />financial support.<br /><br />++ GRADING THIS YEAR’S SESSION<br /><br />Like any legislative session, there were good things that happened and<br />bad things as well. At the start of last week, it was looking like we<br />would increase government spending of appropriated funds by $200,<br />million and then float enough bonded indebtedness to put our state<br />into an additional $300 million dollars of debt. It also was looking<br />like a poorly conceived tax cut (not family friendly) might pass, but<br />far short of anything hoped for at the start of the legislative<br />session.<br /><br />In addition, government programs which should have been easy decisions<br />to eliminate, such as transferable tax credits and OETA escaped<br />unscathed during this year’s session. It was not a good year for pro-<br />life issues, especially since the supposedly pro-life Republican<br />majority would not send to the people a measure to amend our State<br />Constitution to establish that life begins at conception. For those<br />Republicans who didn’t support that measure, I wonder when they<br />believe that life begins? It is true, that if life is established as<br />beginning at conception, other legal problems may arise, but those are<br />other issues and deserve a different debate.<br /><br />Nothing additional was done to deal with the continuing problems<br />associated with the invasion of illegal aliens. Also, the Senate<br />really dropped the ball on protecting the citizens of Oklahoma from<br />having foreign laws considered for the outcomes of cases in Oklahoma<br />courts. One of the more despicable performances staged by the senate<br />was a last minute measure by Senator Dan Newberry to pass an<br />unacceptable version of legislation passed in the House last year to<br />deal with that problem.<br /><br />I believe Newberry’s phony effort was done in deceit to cover the<br />hinnies of the 4 Republican Senators (Cliff Brannan, Patrick Anderson,<br />Dan Newberry & Eddie Fields) who voted against the quality bill in the<br />rules committee a few weeks ago. In addition, 2 Republican Senators<br />(Clark Jolley and Mike Mazzei) didn’t bother to vote on the measure.<br />Newberry, Jolley and Mazzei needed to be able to vote on some kind of<br />a bill on this issue as they all 3 are facing Republican primary<br />challenges and they need to be able to tell voters they voted to<br />protect them from foreign laws being used in our courts. However, the<br />“phony” bill they passed was never intended to be heard in the House.<br />Now they can tell the voters: I voted against those evil foreign laws,<br />including Sharia Law, from taking over our court systems”. I’m a good<br />little Senator, vote to re-elect me.<br /><br />On the positive side, it was the best year in a long time for 2nd<br />Amendment issues and we continued to improve government efficiency<br />through government modernization. The conservatives were able to kill<br />all the new bonded indebtedness, except Senator Clark Jolley’s pet<br />project of $42 million for a new Medical Examiners office. Senator<br />Patrick Anderson has been excellent on this issue and went the extra<br />mile by asking for an Attorneys General opinion on using the<br />University Masters Lease program for such a project. Please remember,<br />I am not opposed to building a new ME’s office, I am against borrowing<br />the money rather than just paying for the project with funds on hand.<br />As it turned out, with the elimination of the EDGE program, the state<br />is actually flush with money that could be used for important<br />infrastructure projects.<br /><br />There are 3 primary people who deserve credit for killing the measure<br />to BORROW another $40 million dollars to finish the boondoggle known<br />as the Indian Cultural Center. First U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, I was<br />told by 3 different lawmakers that Senator Coburn called his former<br />aids who are now State Senators, Greg Treat and Josh Brecheen, where<br />he told them to spread the word among their colleagues that not only<br />would he not support anyone voting for this measure, he would support<br />a Republican running against them in a primary race.<br /><br />Also, in a phone conversation the evening before, he had agreed with<br />Paul Blair on the issue and basically said that to spend all the<br />appropriated funds and then to borrow money for additional projects<br />and call it a balanced budget was a sham. He told Paul that under<br />those circumstances, we might as well not even have a provision in<br />our constitution to have a balanced budget.<br /><br />I haven’t seen the complete list of who voted against this project,<br />but I would guess that Senator Jolley voted against the measure as he<br />certainly wouldn‘t want Senator Coburn endorsing Paul Blair in their<br />heated Senate race (my mention of Senator Coburn agreeing with Paul<br />Blair, should NOT be misconstrued as an endorsement of Blair, I do not<br />want to imply that. Senator Coburn simply has a long history of<br />opposing deficit financing.).<br /><br />The next person deserving credit is Senator Treat, who has led the way<br />to bring some accountability to this project and its run-away costs.<br />In an article in the Edmond Sun, he pointed out that to finish the<br />project would bring it to over $1,300 per square foot, several times<br />the cost which Devon spent to build their new corporate headquarters,<br />though high rise buildings usually cost more per square foot than<br />regular construction.<br /><br />The third person deserving credit is Senator David Holt. Though<br />Senator Holt served Mayor Cornet as his chief of staff and is as big<br />an advocate of anyone in the legislature for OKC. Senator Holt stood<br />on principle and took Constitutional Privilege as he had a conflict of<br />interest through the law firm in which he is employed. His refusal to<br />vote on the project took tremendous character as he had to be under<br />extreme pressure from powerful forces in OKC. The measure only needed<br />one more vote to pass. Senator Holt would not cave and the measure<br />died.<br /><br />At the beginning of last week I was ready to give the session a grade<br />of somewhere between a D- to a D+, the lowest grade I have passed out<br />since the Republicans gained control of at least one chamber of the<br />legislature (2004). However, conservatives had a surprising amount of<br />success the final week of the session and as such I give the session a<br />grade of somewhere between a D+ to a C. With the Republicans in full<br />control, we could do so much more. However, it is quite apparent we<br />don’t have a majority of strong, principled conservative Republicans<br />in control.<br /><br />I hand delivered to every Republican lawmaker this past Wednesday<br />their annual invitation to participate in creating this year’s<br />Conservative Index which will be published in the Summer issue of the<br />Oklahoma Constitution Newspaper. Every Republican lawmaker has been<br />invited to our meeting on Wednesday, June 13th to debate on the bills<br />they submitted as to whether or not they really are a good choice for<br />the Index. One such measure sure to draw debate was the elimination of<br />the EDGE fund and transferring the principle to the University endowed<br />chair program and then the interest went to Governor Fallin’s Quick<br />Closing Fund. I say voting for this measure was the conservative vote,<br />but many conservative lawmakers will say that it was a liberal vote. I<br />also say that voting for the budget was a liberal vote, but many<br />conservatives will say it wasn’t, so as you can see, the meeting on<br />the 13th shall make for a lively debate.<br /><br />++ DID LOBBYISTS LINE UP AT 5:01 LAST FRIDAY FOR SENATOR JOLLEY?<br /><br />Without question the most heated and important Republican primary race<br />in the state between an incumbent and a Republican challenger is the<br />race between Senator Clark Jolley (R-Edmond) and Pastor Paul Blair,<br />his Republican challenger. While the legislature is in session, it is<br />against the law for a lobbyist or someone who employees a lobbyist to<br />contribute to a legislative candidate. Therefore, why might I think<br />that the lobbyists representing powerful special interests in Oklahoma<br />would be waiting in line to contribute to Senator Jolley just as soon<br />as the session is over?<br /><br />Based on the campaign finance reports which had to be filed in April,<br />the Blair campaign had an expert examine Senator Jolley’s finance<br />report. Jolley reported raising $336,000 for his Republican primary<br />race. However, the expert reported that 90% of the money raised by<br />Jolley came from contributors outside of the district and 75% of it<br />came from lobbyists. I now believe that Senator Jolley will raise and<br />spend over a half million dollars to win his re-election bid. Half a<br />million dollars to win an Oklahoma primary race? Seriously? Can anyone<br />believe that? Really?<br /><br />Here are a couple of questions the voters of SD 41 must ask<br />themselves. If a candidate spends 5 to 7 times the normal cost of a<br />heated primary race to try and convince the voters that he is a<br />conservative, does that person have any resemblance of conservatism in<br />spending practices? When this election is over, win or lose, Senator<br />Jolley will likely have spent $40 to $50 dollars per vote to try to<br />buy this election.<br /><br />The second question is who will Senator Jolley represent, conservatism<br />and the people of District 41 or, those powerful people and special<br />interest groups that have funded his campaign? If you are having a<br />hard time answering that question let me help you out.<br /><br />I believe it was January of 2010 when I attended a town hall meeting<br />where Senator Jolley was a speaker. During the Q&A time, I expressed<br />my disappointment with my Senator’s low Conservative Index score of a<br />40 for the 2009 session but asked him this question. Why did he vote<br />to force the people of Edmond to “borrow” $25 million dollars to build<br />low water dams on the Arkansas River in Tulsa to create an<br />entertainment district similar to the Oklahoma river in OKC? This was<br />especially important since the citizens of Tulsa had recently voted<br />down a measure to tax themselves for the project so why would he force<br />the citizens of his district to borrow the money and pay a the project<br />in Tulsa? At the same time Clark also voted to BORROW another $25<br />million for the Indian Cultural Center.<br /><br />Senator Jolley tried to dodge the answer by attacking the Index,<br />something all lawmakers do when they score low on the Index, but I<br />kept re-asking the question and finally on the third try he answered<br />and to his credit, he answered honestly. He said he voted for the<br />measure because it was a priority of leadership and since he was a<br />part of leadership he voted for it. Based on past history, Clark<br />Jolley will vote for whatever the powerful special interests want, not<br />what is good for the citizens of District 41.<br /><br />There were several very interesting people listed as contributors to<br />Senator Jolley’s campaign, two of which are radical liberals. Former<br />Democrat Attorney General, candidate for Governor, and the liberal<br />star of the local political TV program flashpoint, Mike Turpin.<br />However, the more questionable contributor to Senator Jolley is the<br />close friend of President Obama, a campaign contribution bundler for<br />Obama and the beneficiary of an opportunity to invest in the green<br />energy firm (Solyndra) which had the backing of a half billion<br />taxpayer dollars. That person is the primary owner of Bank of Oklahoma<br />and Kaiser Francis Oil Company, Oklahoma’s wealthiest person, George<br />Kaiser.<br /><br />Why would Kaiser, a big time Democrat, contribute to Jolley? Huuum,<br />could it be that Kaiser benefits off of corporate welfare, something<br />Senator Jolley loves to support? Did Kaiser support the Tulsa River<br />project? Did Bank of Oklahoma support the Tulsa vote on the project?<br />Are there other ways that Kaiser benefits from taxpayer largesse?<br />Don’t throw away your Sunday Oklahoman. Read the very important<br />article on page 5 section A titled: “Bank of Oklahoma subsidiary focus<br />of Tax Commission audit”.<br /><br />The gist of the article is about a Bank of Oklahoma subsidiary<br />claiming it is owed $160 million dollars in tax credits, money that<br />has to be paid by the taxpayers. Featured in the article is State<br />Representative Mike Reynolds who really irritates many of his<br />colleagues, but without question has the best nose of any lawmaker in<br />the state when it comes to sniffing out possible corruption. One quote<br />by Reynolds in the article is as follows: “The abuse of taxpayers by<br />legislators who pass those kinds of programs is just beyond<br />comprehension.” Even more powerful is as follows: “Reynolds said he<br />believes the lawmakers who pushed the tax credit programs were fully<br />aware of their ramifications and ’refused to clean it up.’”<br /><br />Do you thinks it could be that Kaiser and the State Chamber of<br />Commerce (the Chamber has mailed at least 2 independent post cards on<br />behalf of Senator Jolley so far) support Senator Jolley because he<br />believes in a command and control economy? Could it be that they love<br />for government to pad their pockets and those of their buddies with<br />corporate welfare? Is that why they support Senator Jolley?<br /><br />I believe you have to go no farther for that answer than the yard<br />signs plastered all over Senate District 41 which lies in Edmond and<br />points East. Paul Blair’s signs have an American flag and a cross on<br />his signs which represent his Constitutional conservatism, belief in<br />limited government, and free enterprise based on Judeo Christian<br />values. When you look at Clark Jolley’s signs, they have a large<br />Capitol dome next to his name, representing Clark’s belief in big<br />government. The kind of government which picks the winners and losers<br />through the redistribution of taxpayer dollars.<br /><br />Bottom line, if you want a free market capitalist with high moral<br />principles, someone who can’t be controlled by the powerful special<br />interest groups in Oklahoma then support PAUL BLAIR! On the other<br />hand, if you want someone who believes in the re-distribution of<br />taxpayer dollars in the form of corporate welfare, then by all means<br />vote for Clark Jolley. As it turns out, I believe he is the best<br />little puppet Senator, Oklahoma’s powerful special interest groups can<br />buy.<br /><br />I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.<br /><br />Charlie Meadows<br />Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-79267349165624328502012-05-21T12:11:00.001-05:002012-05-21T12:12:05.874-05:00SENATOR BLOWS WHISTLE ON REPUBLICAN COLLEAGUES<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING</div>
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++ SENATOR BLOWS WHISTLE ON REPUBLICAN COLLEAGUES</div>
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++ 99% SURE SENATOR JOLLEY DIDN’T SABATOGE ME’S FREEZER</div>
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++ ANNOUNCEMENTS</div>
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++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING</div>
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Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, May 23rd will be held at</div>
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Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. We will continue</div>
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interviewing candidates at this week’s meeting. Invited candidates are</div>
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Brian Graham and Mark McBride of Moore as well as Paula Sullivan of</div>
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Norman, all candidates for the HD-53 seat which covers the Moore and</div>
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Norman area. In addition, one other candidate is invited, but I will</div>
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not reveal that name at this time.</div>
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Congratulations to Jeff Renner, the candidate challenging</div>
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Representative Elise Hall for district 100, and Mike Turner, the</div>
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candidate opposing Representative Guy Liebmann for district 82 as they</div>
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received OCPAC’s endorsement at our meeting last week. In addition, HD</div>
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26 candidate Michael Shaw out of the Shawnee area received our</div>
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endorsement as he is vying to replace Representative Kris Steele who</div>
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is also the current Speaker of the House. This election by our members</div>
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went into a run-off vote and Mr. Shaw won by 2 votes over Mr. Justin</div>
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Wood. Both of these candidates appear to be solid conservatives and</div>
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regardless of who wins should be a marked improvement over Speaker</div>
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Steele for next year’s legislative session.</div>
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++ SENATOR BROWN BLOWS WHISTLE ON REPUBLICAN COLLEAGUES</div>
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On Wednesday, May 9th Senator Bill Brown (R-Broken Arrow) left a</div>
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message on my voice mail indicating his concern about the direction</div>
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taken by our Senate Republicans. He asked me to call him on Thursday,</div>
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so I complied that afternoon and was I really pleased with the good</div>
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Senator’s valid concerns and honesty as he confirmed what so many of</div>
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the close observers have come to realize about the performance of the</div>
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majority of Republicans in the legislature.</div>
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<br /></div>
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He told me strait out that the Republicans are simply LYING to the</div>
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voters in Oklahoma. He said, when we run for office, we tell the</div>
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voters we want to reduce the size of government and cut taxes, but in</div>
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reality we spend like the Democrats and change is way too slow as we</div>
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govern much in the same way as the Democrats did for the past 100</div>
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years.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Senator Brown indicated that he recently sent a letter to every</div>
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Republican Senator expressing his disappointment for the reality of</div>
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the situation and his frustration with his colleagues. At that point,</div>
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I asked Senator Brown if he was willing to take the heat and allow me</div>
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to re-publish his letter in this week’s e-mail? He said absolutely and</div>
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that he would bring the letter to our meeting, which occurred this</div>
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past Wednesday. When he arrived I asked him if he were willing to</div>
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allow that portion of our meeting to be video recorded to be seen on</div>
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you tube and he agreed. To see that portion of our meeting log on to:</div>
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<span style="text-decoration: underline;">http://www.youtube.com/user/ocpacvideo</span><span style="color: black;">.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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I believe the only way to make change is for the citizens to become</div>
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informed and more aware of what is going on in Oklahoma. If Republican</div>
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lawmakers are going to insist on paying more attention to the big</div>
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government lobbyists and ignoring our platform and the issues</div>
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important to grass root citizens, then they must be replaced by better</div>
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lawmakers. Following is the letter sent by Senator Brown to his</div>
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colleagues:</div>
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<br /></div>
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“April 24, 2012</div>
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Senator …</div>
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Room …</div>
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Dear Caucus Members:</div>
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<br /></div>
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The issue of state budgeting has been bothering me for some time and I</div>
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feel the need to let everyone know my concerns.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Many of us ran for office on a platform of reforming government and</div>
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protecting the interests of taxpayers. After becoming the majority</div>
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party, I believe we are continuing to pass the same type of state</div>
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budgets as have been done for the past 100 years without reform of</div>
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state agencies.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I have proposed for several years that the legislature go to a state</div>
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budgeting process in which we would spend one session crafting a two</div>
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year budget. We could break the House and Senate into small committees</div>
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each formed to examine the budget of a particular agency or program.</div>
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All state agencies should be required to follow a zero based budget,</div>
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examining each item of their appropriation request. The following</div>
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session would be devoted to non-budget matters.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The legislature has forgotten one of the core tenets we proposed as</div>
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candidates-the appropriations required for our state to function, not</div>
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the use of taxpayer money to fund projects enacted decades ago without</div>
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examining each one and justifying its existence and funding</div>
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requirements. Located below are just some of the appropriated agencies</div>
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I believe need such examination and review:</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Arts Council<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> $4,101,087.00</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>OETA<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>3,822,328.00</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Physician Manpower Training Commission<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>4,379,254.00</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Teacher Preparation Commission<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1,526,179.00</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Horse Racing Commission<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2,072,167.00</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Insurance Department (self funded)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1,871,937.00</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>J.M. Davis Memorial Commission<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 306,009.00</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Will Rogers Memorial Commission<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 740,486.00</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Consumer Credit Commission<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 331,730.00</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Space Industry Development Authority<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 394,589.00</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Rural Economic Action Plan<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 11,500,000.00</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Telecommunication Audit & Hiring Reform 8,400,000.00</div>
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I believe that unless we look at the way we spend taxpayer money, we</div>
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will continue to be challenged by opponents more fiscally conservative</div>
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than we have proven to be.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Sincerely,</div>
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<br /></div>
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++++++++</div>
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<br /></div>
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Sen. Bill Brown”</div>
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<br /></div>
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Senator Brown should be applauded for his courage and honesty. I am</div>
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sure many of his colleagues will not be happy that an ever larger</div>
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number of citizens are becoming informed as to the games the moderate</div>
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Republicans play with the serious issues of the day. The members and</div>
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friends of OCPAC are always looking for fiscally conservative</div>
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candidates to run against these game playing, big government loving,</div>
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moderate Republicans!</div>
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<br /></div>
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++ 99% SURE SENATOR JOLLEY DIDN’T SABATOGE ME’s FREEZER</div>
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<br /></div>
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Especially since he has become budget chairman, Senator Clark Jolley</div>
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(R-Edmond) has become one of the more adept game players in the</div>
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Republican controlled Senate. At the behest of the Edmond Chamber, the</div>
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Edmond “Economic Development” office and of course UCO which consumes</div>
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revenues like “Jabba The Hut” consumed food, Senator Jolley has</div>
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determined to fund the building of a new medical examiners office on</div>
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the campus of UCO. A law was passed a couple of years ago to relocate</div>
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the ME’s office from its current location near the OU Health Sciences</div>
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facilities to a location on the campus of UCO. There it can be close</div>
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to the new OSBI headquarters and the Forensic Science Institute.</div>
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<br /></div>
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While I believe we could expand the current ME’s office and regain</div>
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accreditation for much less than building a new office on a college</div>
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campus, which will require it to be an over priced edifice to man, it</div>
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does have a synergy that makes sense to locate it near these other</div>
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facilities. However, the main rub is how it is going to be funded.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Senator Jolley has come up with a precedent setting “scheme” to fund</div>
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the building of the new office by borrowing the money without his</div>
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lawmaker buddies having to vote for this increased bonded</div>
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indebtedness. I believe the original estimate for a new ME’s office</div>
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was $30 million dollars, Senator Jolley is now proposing a $42 million</div>
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dollar facility to be financed under what is called, THE OKLAHOMA</div>
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STATE REGENTS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION’S MASTER LEASE PROGRAM. As a point</div>
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to remember, this program was created in 1999 when the Democrats were</div>
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in full control of the legislature.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The original intent of the program was to give Universities the</div>
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flexibility to enter into lease agreements and or improve real</div>
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property up to a total of ten million dollars. In other words, lease</div>
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computers or other equipment, repair leaky roofs or build small</div>
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buildings using bonded indebtedness.</div>
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<br /></div>
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However, Senator Jolley figured his little pet project could be funded</div>
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under this program without the legislature having to vote for $42</div>
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million in additional bonded indebtedness. Under his scheme, UCO would</div>
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borrow the money and then all the legislature would have to do would</div>
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be to increase the budget for the ME’s office by 2 or 3 million each</div>
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year for the next 20 to 30 years to pay the University back for the</div>
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money they borrowed. Of course my problem with borrowing the money is</div>
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that by the time it is paid back with interest it will end up costing</div>
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the taxpayers 60 to 70 million dollars depending on the interest paid</div>
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and the length of the loan.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Last week the freezer which stores bodies awaiting examination broke</div>
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down which played right into the hands of Senator Jolley. One thing</div>
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for sure, when that happened, you didn’t want to get between Senator</div>
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Jolley and a TV camera or he might run you over on his way to be</div>
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interviewed. He couldn’t wait to try and play on people’s emotions by</div>
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telling folks how shameful it was to have to put loved ones in freezer</div>
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trucks what we wait a week or so for parts to fix the old out of date</div>
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freezer. Of course his solution was, build the new building now.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I can’t tell you how many folks have joked about the possibility of</div>
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Senator Jolley sabotaging that freezer to advance his pet project.</div>
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However, I have done my best to squash that “unfounded” conspiracy</div>
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theory. Now folks, it is a serious problem, the office has lost its</div>
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accreditation, it is too small and the equipment is out of date. Here</div>
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is my problem with Senator Jolley and other big government borrow and</div>
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spend Republicans like him. Truth is, we already have the money on</div>
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hand to build the new facility without the need to borrow any money!</div>
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<br /></div>
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Following the session last year, following the formula, over $240</div>
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million dollars were deposited into the State’s Rainy Day Fund. Over</div>
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60 million dollars of that money is non-obligated and could be used</div>
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immediately to fund this project. If losing our accreditation is</div>
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really a serious problem, an emergency, then use this money, don’t</div>
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violate the intentions of the Master Lease program. They could pull</div>
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the money for the over priced $42 million project out of the Rainy Day</div>
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fund and get to work building the facility much quicker than having to</div>
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scheme and slither through the University to get it done.</div>
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<br /></div>
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To take this a step further, the legislature should also be able to</div>
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take additional money from the fund to repair the State Capitol. As</div>
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one lawmaker told me, if it is truly raining down limestone off the</div>
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Capitol building then why not use the “raining down” fund to fix that</div>
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problem?</div>
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<br /></div>
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Back to the ME’s office, ask yourself this, if you had a large savings</div>
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for emergencies as a part of your personal home budget and had a</div>
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serious problem arise, maybe even an emergency, would you borrow the</div>
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money to fix the problem or would you dip into your emergency fund to</div>
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take out 20% of that fund to fix the problem? Intelligent people would</div>
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not borrow the money, but rather use what they have on hand to fix the</div>
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problem.</div>
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<br /></div>
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A couple of other thoughts, revenues being collected in this fiscal</div>
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year thus far are running over $300 million dollars more than what the</div>
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budget predicted. It looks like another large amount of money will be</div>
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deposited in the Rainy Day Fund following this year’s session. While I</div>
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don’t recommend pulling money from this fund every year, I know of no</div>
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other “emergency” needs arising in the state other than the ME’s</div>
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office and the need to repair the Capitol that would require these</div>
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large withdraws in the future.</div>
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<br /></div>
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This is what each of us needs to do, call our own personal State</div>
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Senator and State Representative and tell them, DO NOT BORROW MONEY</div>
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FOR ANY PROJECTS THIS YEAR! We need to prioritize and pay as we go! In</div>
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the past, I have of course urged people to have at your finger tips</div>
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the contact information for your personal representatives. I don’t</div>
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care if you put it in your phone device, on your refrigerator or</div>
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tattoo it on the back of your hand, to be an effective citizen you</div>
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must have that information and be ready to contact your lawmakers when</div>
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the time is appropriate.</div>
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<br /></div>
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If you don’t have that information simply call the House or Senate</div>
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switchboards and ask the operator to connect you with your respective</div>
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lawmaker’s office. The House number is (405) 521-2711 and the Senate</div>
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number is (405) 524-0126. This call needs to be done preferably today</div>
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or at least by tomorrow. If you don’t have the name of your personal</div>
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lawmakers, call your local county election board, give them your</div>
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address and they will give you the names.</div>
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<br /></div>
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++ ANNOUNCEMENTS</div>
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<br /></div>
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* THIS PAST WEDNESDAY - During our meeting this past Wednesday,</div>
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OCPAC Vice President Richard Engle announced his continued pursuit of</div>
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verifying the outcome of the election for Republican National</div>
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Committeeman. Since OCPAC gets involved in certain Republican primary</div>
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races, even to the point endorsing and financially supporting one</div>
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Republican over another, out of principle, Richard believed it</div>
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necessary for him to resign his long held position of Vice Chairman.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Richard has served in that capacity since our founding as a PAC nearly</div>
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15 years ago. Richard is exceedingly talented, competent and has</div>
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always been a loyal assistant to me, someone I have always had</div>
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complete confidence in to conduct our meetings. Richard deserves a</div>
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huge thanks from everyone, it sometimes takes a good deal of time to</div>
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run an organization, especially one that meets on a weekly basis and</div>
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Richard was always willing to help when I needed help. He did all that</div>
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on the pay of volunteer which is zero. Thanks Richard from all of</div>
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us.</div>
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<br /></div>
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* TONIGHT, MONDAY - TULSA AREA - Sorry for being so late with</div>
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this announcement. Mike and Kathy Mears are hosting a fundraiser for</div>
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Insurance Commissioner John Doak in their home with the featured</div>
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speaker being former Arizona Congressman, Barry Goldwater Jr. The</div>
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location is 2134 E. 27th Street, Tulsa with the event beginning at</div>
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6:00 and ending at 7:30 p.m. The cost to attend is $125 per person. To</div>
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RSVP, please contact Lauren Rahill at (405) 521-0900, fax 866</div>
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<span style="color: black;">224-6686or e-mail </span><span style="text-decoration: underline;">lauren@sagaconline.com</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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* TUESDAY NOON - OKC AREA - The OKC Host Committee will also</div>
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sponsor a fund raiser for Commissioner Doak in the Main Dining Room at</div>
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the Faculty House, 601 Northeast 14th street in OKC. The time is</div>
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between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. and will again feature former Congressman</div>
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Barry Goldwater Jr. as the speaker. You must RSVP for this luncheon-</div>
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fund raiser by contacting Lauren Rahill at the same numbers given in</div>
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the previous paragraph. Again, the price to attend is $125.</div>
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<br /></div>
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* TUESDAY EVENING - SHAWNEE AREA - The Shawnee chapter of OK2A</div>
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(Oklahoma 2nd Amendment) will host their monthly meeting, Tuesday</div>
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evening, 6:30 p.m. at Billy Boy’s Bar-b-q, (123 West MacArthur) in</div>
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Shawnee.</div>
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<br /></div>
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* RADIO PROGRAM ARCHIVES - The past 2 Sunday’s I have guest hosted</div>
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for Glen Howard on his Senior World Radio Program which airs each</div>
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Sunday from 10 until 11:00 a.m. (during church services for most of</div>
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us). By sometime this evening, both of those programs should be posted</div>
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and available to hear by logging on to www.SeniorWorldRadio.com. The</div>
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program aired on May 13th featured State Representative Jason Murphey</div>
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and State Senator Anthony Sykes. We discussed a number is issues, but</div>
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especially important was the discussion about the influence of</div>
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lobbyists. The program aired yesterday, May 20th featured My dad as a</div>
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senior citizen still serving his country and making a difference at</div>
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age 87 and the Dan Kissick, founder and executive director of Right</div>
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Hand Ministries. Part of what we discussed was the treatment of</div>
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seniors in India and my opinion that similar treatment of seniors may</div>
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happen in our nation if we don’t get our fiscal house in order. As a</div>
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point of interest, Saturday evening, 4 of us went to see the new movie</div>
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release, The Exotic Marigold Hotel, based on financially challenged</div>
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British Citizens moving to India to retire and the struggles they went</div>
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through. What timing for the radio program and the movie to come out</div>
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at the same time. By the way, I don’t recommend the movie. The movie</div>
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industry can’t seem to make a movie today without filling it with</div>
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homosexual propaganda.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In addition, I was a guest on Gwin Falkner Lipperts show last night</div>
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which airs live starting at 7:00 p.m. every Sunday on KTOK 1000 AM. We</div>
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discussed the Republican State Convention, the Conservative Index as</div>
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published in the Oklahoma Constitution Newspaper and how OCPAC uses</div>
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the index to determine in which Republican primary races we get</div>
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involved. That program will be posted sometime after 2 this afternoon</div>
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and can be accessed by logging on to www.KTOK.com.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Charlie Meadows</div>
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<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</span></div>
</div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-84193613724154946542012-05-14T08:42:00.001-05:002012-05-14T08:42:03.829-05:00Why I No Longer Invest in Chesapeake and Reflections on GOP Convention<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />++ WHY I STOPPED INVESTING IN CHESAPEAKE<br />++ REFLECTIONS ON THE STATE CONVENTION<br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS AND TIDBITS<br /><br />++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br /><br />Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, May 16th will be held at<br />Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. This week the 2<br />Republican candidates for House District #26 have been invited for our<br />interview process. They are Michael Shaw and Justin Wood of Shawnee.<br />In addition, candidates from 2 other races have been invited, however<br />I will not reveal their names at this time.<br /><br />Week before last our members voted to endorse and support Nathan Dahm<br />in his efforts to win the newly created Senate District 32 seat which<br />is primarily in Broken Arrow. Also endorsed at the same time was Bob<br />Dani, running against Marian Cooksey the Republican incumbent who<br />scored a 63 on the Oklahoma Constitution Newspaper’s Conservative<br />Index last year. Congratulations to both Mr. Dahm and Mr. Dani.<br /><br />This past Wednesday, our members voted to support Ed Moore in the<br />Senate district 17 seat which is primarily Shawnee, but it also<br />extends to the Eastern parts of Oklahoma County. I personally know all<br />4 of the candidates and regardless of who wins, we will have a good to<br />very good Republican senator representing that district.<br /><br />As a point of interest, I never thought we would be involved in this<br />race, since it was held by a Democrat. However, under the<br />“fabulooooooouse” leadership of Wallace Collins, Oklahoma Democrat<br />party chair, they failed to even put up a “dog catcher” level<br />candidate. Way to go Wallace and company, I am sure the Republican<br />party is thrilled with the gift of an additional Senate senate without<br />even having to do battle at the ballot box in November.<br /><br />Our members chose not to support Mr. Donald Gallup in his effort to<br />unseat the liberal incumbent, Todd Thomsen (R-Ada). Representative<br />Thomsen scored a 49 last year and has a lifetime score of a 61 on the<br />Oklahoma Constitution Newspaper’s Conservative Index. Though we would<br />love to see Representative Thomsen replaced with a more conservative<br />Republican, there were a couple of problems with Mr. Gallup’s answers<br />on our survey. Perhaps more important, his fund raising was low and<br />therefore a viability problem for us to invest in his campaign. Please<br />remember, no matter how good a message happens to be, if a candidate<br />does not have the finances to get his or her message to the voters,<br />that candidate is not a viable candidate.<br /><br />++ WHY I STOPPED INVESTING IN CHESAPEAKE<br /><br />In less you live in a cave, without any source of local information,<br />you are well aware that Chesapeake Energy, along with its CEO and soon<br />to be former Chairman of the Board Aubrey McClendon, have been under a<br />good deal of criticism in recent weeks. I don’t want this to seem like<br />piling on, because I have considered writing about this for a year or<br />so now, but the recent events make these thought more relevant at this<br />time.<br /><br />First, I am not any kind of a registered investment counselor. While I<br />spent nearly 20 years doing financial counseling, that was always<br />about budgeting and debt resolution. I always did that as a volunteer<br />and as such have never taken any compensation for those efforts. I do<br />self direct our family investments and worked to help my mom and<br />grandmother when they were still living.<br /><br />With that said, I purchased around 2,000 shares of Chesapeake Energy<br />stock at a time it was selling between $1 and $1.50 a share. At that<br />time I believed it had a fair amount of risk, but I also believed the<br />extremely low prices for natural gas were on the verge of a<br />significant rise, which I believed would result in a needed shot in<br />the arm for the company. I was correct in that analysis and as such<br />the stock began a steady climb out of those lows to heights around $60<br />a share if my memory serves me correctly. I eventually sold it all and<br />made a very nice profit, my only regret is that I didn’t sell at the<br />very top, of course that is a regret almost everyone has who invests<br />in the market. In the ensuing years I have been in and out of<br />Chesapeake two or three other times, but 4 or 5 years ago, I decided<br />no more. I wasn’t even tempted when it got down to around $10 a share<br />about 3 years ago when Mr. McClendon got caught in a margin call and<br />had to sell the majority of his stock.<br /><br />Please let me explain. I have decided not to invest any longer in<br />Chesapeake out of 3 primary opinions.<br /><br />First, I believe Mr. McClendon is grossly over compensated. In my<br />opinion that is due to too much influence upon the other members of<br />the Board of Directors which has resulted in poor climate of corporate<br />governance. It has just been announced that McClendon will soon step<br />down as the Chairman of the Board, which is good, though one report<br />has stated he will remain on as a board member which I do not believe<br />to be good. He will continue on as the CEO of the corporation and I<br />believe his total compensation package is being reduced, which is also<br />a good turn of events.<br /><br />Second, I believe Chesapeake has developed a culture of excessive<br />debt. A company with strong assets and a large cash flow can wheel,<br />deal and manipulate for a long time, but there may come a day when<br />they have to “pay the piper” and things will just no longer work out.<br />About a year ago they announced a plan to greatly reduce their debt<br />and that is good. However, their debt actually rose in the first<br />quarter of this year. I hope what I am about to say will never happen<br />because it would be devastating to a lot of families, and to Oklahoma.<br />However, I believe if there is a corporation in Oklahoma that might<br />someday end up being another Enron, I believe it could be Chesapeake.<br />If I were an employee at Chesapeake, I would make sure my 401-K would<br />be highly diversified. If you think that isn’t important, just ask the<br />former employees of Lucent or Enron how well it worked out for them<br />to have all, or most all, of their eggs in one basket (the now<br />bankrupt company they once worked for).<br /><br />Third, I believe Chesapeake is particularly egregious at what I will<br />label as “corporate theft.” Stay with me as I explain. Just as I<br />believe anytime people use the government to take money from one group<br />of citizens to give to other citizens for social wants or needs, I<br />believe those redistribution schemes are a form of theft.<br /><br />If I as an individual were to use FORCE to take money from one person<br />to give to another for either a need or a desire, anyone would easily<br />recognize that as theft. However, when people use the FORCE of law to<br />take one person’s money to give to another, we come up with many high<br />sounding platitudes for a justification of such actions. We call it<br />feeding the children, paying the bills for the elderly, arts for all,<br />disaster relief, economic development and on and on. However, morally,<br />it is still a violation of the 8th commandment and thus theft. In the<br />same way, I believe that SOME publicly traded corporations can also<br />practice redistribution theft.<br /><br />Ask yourself this, who do McDonald's, Walmart, Target, Burger King,<br />Conoco, Shell and many other corporate retailers sell their products<br />to? By and large it is the public and as such each of these publicly<br />traded corporations will set aside a certain amount of corporate<br />dollars for advertising. That advertising might take the form of TV,<br />radio, direct mail or newspaper ads. It might also take the form of<br />signage support at sporting events, support for the arts, and high<br />profile recognition efforts regarding support for various non-profits.<br />However, don’t be fooled, in later the later cases the underlying<br />motive it to build a positive image in the minds of the public of the<br />company and product and thus to sell more of their products or<br />services and grow their business.<br /><br />Now let’s take publicly traded corporations such as Chesapeake, Devon,<br />Sand Ridge, Continental and etc., do they “directly” sell their<br />products to the public? I would say for the most part NO. I would<br />suggest they sell their products to futures traders and refiners, in<br />other words, middle men who eventually sell those products to<br />retailers. So ask yourself, does advertising improve the profits of<br />these kinds of corporations when they are primarily dealing with<br />professional buyers and not the public which often need coaxing to buy<br />a product? I would suggest no way.<br /><br />My understanding is that all the funds produced by a publicly traded<br />corporation belong to the corporation for its expenses, improvement<br />and expansion or as dividends to the stockholders. However, when a<br />corporation that does not directly sell to the public begins to give<br />away corporate earnings, not matter how worthy the need or desire, I<br />believe that corporation has moved into the realm of corporate theft.<br />I believe the way it should work is for the corporation to pass out<br />excess revenues in the form of dividends to the stockholders and they<br />in turn can then contribute to non-profits from those dividends if<br />they so decide.<br /><br />Of course it is much easier for one or perhaps a handful of corporate<br />bosses to make a decision to support a favorite cause out of the<br />corporate checkbook than for the favorite causes to have to appeal to<br />the many stockholders for support. However, corporate bosses<br />frequently make those decisions to support causes and for the most<br />part the stockholders let them get away with such. Much like the<br />average citizen allows their elected officials to spend money like a<br />drunken sailor and run up the national debt, now in excess of $16<br />trillion dollars.<br /><br />I could care less with how Mr. McClendon spends his own personal<br />money, but how he and the board spend the corporation’s money was a<br />concern to me. If I were a stockholder in one of the publicly traded<br />retailers I mentioned above, or others like them, I would be concerned<br />that the amount spent on advertising was not excessive and that it was<br />effective. There are privately held corporations who can spend their<br />revenues anyway they want with the permission of their limited<br />stockholders. Also, corporations such as Hobby Lobby, Kimray and<br />others are family owned and they can of course spend their money<br />anyway they want.<br /><br />This past Friday a group of people representing many local non-profits<br />gathered for a press conference to support Aubrey and Chesapeake. They<br />expressed how much good has been done for people and the community as<br />a result of their generosity. It is true, OKC and many folks are<br />better off as a result of what I have labeled as corporate theft.<br /><br />But I would say those folks are the “end justifies the means crowd.”<br />Many of them are the recipients of the corporate largess so it is easy<br />to understand their support. Certainly OKC is far more upbeat and<br />glitzy as a result of the millions spent by Chesapeake and other<br />similar companies. With Chesapeake, I would suggest the cost has been<br />high, the Oklahoman just reported they had given away over 30 million<br />this past year in the various states in which they do business. The<br />new Chesapeake Energy sign on the old Ford Center is beautiful, but<br />remember Ford sells their products to the public and again, for the<br />most part Chesapeake sells its products to commodity traders or<br />refiners. Does anyone really believe the 30 or so million dollars<br />spent by Chesapeake over the next several years to put their name on<br />the downtown sports arena building will improve their<br />business?<br /><br />I would suggest the vast majority of stockholders, especially those<br />who live outside of Oklahoma, could care less about all the good that<br />has been done by their corporation. What they should care about is a<br />reasonable return on their investment and a sound company.<br /><br />Many times these “non retail” corporations are pressured into<br />contributions by the suggestion that they should be “good corporate<br />citizens” or that they should “give back to the community.” Assuming<br />these corporations didn’t receive grants and subsidies, I would<br />suggest those ideas are little more than balderdash. If a corporation<br />rises up based on their own ingenuity and their ability to raise<br />private sector capital, then the jobs directly created as well as the<br />ancillary jobs created by their presence are good for a community. If<br />corporations create pollution or other problems, their willingness to<br />work with city leaders to find solutions is being a good corporate<br />citizen, but having to continually fork over corporate earnings to<br />gain the title of being a good corporate citizen is baloney.<br />Supporting non-profits such as United Way is fine as long as the<br />contributions are voluntary and from the employees (that would be from<br />the CEO on down to the janitor) but not from the revenues of the<br />corporation.<br /><br />I absolutely wish no harm to Aubrey or Chesapeake and especially to<br />the thousands of people they employ. I actually hope for outstanding<br />success for them. I have many friends and family members who now work<br />for them. But in light of the 3 reasons I have given, I chose to no<br />longer own even a small part of Chesapeake Energy.<br /><br />++ REFLECTIONS ON THE STATE CONVENTION<br /><br />Fairly well into the convention I walked by Michael McNutt, reporter<br />for the Oklahoman, and jokingly offered a quote, “just another dull<br />boring convention”. Actually that was not the case. While I spent most<br />of the time working our table, those times I was in the convention<br />hall for voting purposes, it was not dull or boring.<br /><br />While our founders gave us a Republic (government according to the<br />rule of law) we use the democratic process to service many parts of<br />our Republic as well as the operations of the political parties, which<br />are simply organizations of free will associations. Point is, the<br />democratic process gets, noisy, messy and difficult at times.<br /><br />Such was the case last Saturday, but believe me, that is a far better<br />alternative than moving from the process of civilized warfare (the<br />political process) to one of revolution, assassinations or armed<br />revolts.<br /><br />There were basically 3 groups at the convention. First group is the<br />establishment, led by longtime party members and activists who are<br />tied to powerful special interest groups as as being made up by many<br />folks from all over the state who attend conventions and see their<br />friends of many years on these occasions.<br /><br />They are for the most part, loyalists to the party brand name,<br />“Republican”. They quite often have never developed a conservative<br />ideology, but are driven more by a distaste toward Democrats and a<br />loyalty to their friends with an “R” beside their name. They are quite<br />often unaware of how their elected officials govern and are thus<br />offended when their friends (in some cases idols) are called on the<br />carpet by conservative ideologues for being RINOs (Republicans In Name<br />Only).<br /><br />The next group I would suggest are the Ron Paul supporters. Many of<br />these folks have awakened to the risks to our country, especially<br />regarding the financial solvency of our nation. They have little<br />patience for middle of the road “goober” type Republicans. They are<br />also shocked at the liberties that have been taken from the American<br />people, partly through the destruction of American Federalism and also<br />by the growth of the federal government into what has and is becoming<br />a dangerous tyrant.<br /><br />Many of the Paulies are also non-interventionists, believing that<br />American troops should not be stationed in nations all over the world.<br />At least one reason for that concern is that America can’t afford such<br />as well as the belief that such activities generate ill will for<br />America and they question if they are really being used to protect us<br />here at home.<br /><br />As I said the Ron Paul supporters have little patience with the<br />establishment and as such want to make major changes in the party,<br />federal government and also in the state legislature. They are<br />aggressive in their efforts to make change and as such the<br />establishment sees them as a threat to their long held power.<br /><br />What I have just described is the brew for a raucous and passionate<br />convention. So much so that an extra curricular altercation broke out<br />in the Oklahoma county delegation area at one time during the<br />convention.<br /><br />The third group would be the non-Ron Paul newcomers who want to become<br />involved, but are trying to figure out what is going on and how to<br />best make a difference. The many delays caused by the procedural<br />efforts by the Paul supporters were confusing to these newcomers, the<br />Paulies were aggressive and to many of the new folks the efforts made<br />the convention look as though it was breaking down, though I believe<br />the rules were on the Paulies side in many cases. Add to that problems<br />with the credentialing. As an example, I got credentialed on Friday<br />afternoon. However, when the numbers were being confirmed, the members<br />of my county had not seen me as yet because I was working the OCPAC<br />table. When it was time to vote I suddenly appeared, but had no<br />ballot. We had 2 others from our county working as a volunteer and<br />didn’t have ballots. Correcting that was difficult and it made the<br />organizers look incompetent. In all reality, conducting a large<br />convention is difficult and we don’t do this everyday.<br /><br />I don’t want to imply that the maneuvers by the Ron Paul folks were<br />out of order, but with time, they began to lose much chance to win the<br />newcomers over to their side and as such they were on the losing end<br />of most votes.<br /><br />While the vast majority of Ron Paul supporters are quality folks and<br />upstanding individuals, some of them are over the top in their<br />behavior and some of them have an appearance more like the most rabid<br />“UI’s” (useful idiots) that make up the occupy movement. I get it that<br />some of these folks want the kind of liberties so that they can do<br />virtually anything their little fleshly carnal natures can conjure up.<br />However, the reality is, they will either win others over to their<br />issues or they will turn people off. The smart and mature Ron Paul<br />supporters persuade people and help their cause, the immature and<br />foolish repulse people and hurt their cause.<br /><br />Now on to the race for National Committeeman. Not sure, but I believe<br />Richard Engle actually received a larger number of delegate votes, but<br />after the “delegate weighting” was computed, Steve Fair won with over<br />51% of the vote to less than 49% for Richard.<br /><br />Both of these men are conservatives, both of them are competent to<br />serve as Oklahoma’s National Committeeman at the RNC. I like them both<br />and congratulate Steve Fair on his close victory.<br /><br />Now for what made me mad about the race. Someone briefly showed me an<br />unsigned “hit piece” intended to destroy Richard’s chances of winning.<br />First, let me say that 25 years ago I wanted to write a hard hitting<br />editorial and send it to a paper unsigned or signed with a pen name<br />other than my real name. I decided at that time that anything not<br />signed or miss signed, would not be worth reading and should not have<br />creedence.<br /><br />Since then, my name has been attached to a lot of controversial<br />statements, but I am always willing to stand by what I say, and if<br />proven wrong or inaccurate, which does occur on occasion, I will admit<br />my mistake and correct it. I believe Steve Fair had nothing to do with<br />the hit piece, but whoever was behind it is a coward!<br /><br />I had time to read only 2 of the accusations and realized they were<br />the usual representations of half truths or inaccurate portrayals of<br />reality.<br /><br />The first thing I noticed was the allegation that while a councilman<br />in Bethany, “they” couldn’t wait to get rid of him. That statement was<br />probably true, but was it a good thing to get rid of Richard? He chose<br />not to run for reelection as a councilman, but was considering a run<br />for Mayor at a future date. I can assure you, the establishment in<br />Bethany didn’t like Richard because he was a watchdog and advocate for<br />limited government and the taxpayers.<br /><br />The liberal mayor at that time wanted the city to pay for the health<br />care premiums for himself and all the members of the council. To<br />succeed at that effort, it would take unanimous consent from the<br />council and Richard, believing it was not proper to burden the<br />taxpayers for those costs, would not consent. That really made the<br />Mayor mad.<br /><br />The other thing that made the establishment mad at Richard was his<br />successful opposition to a property tax increase. The city needed a<br />new police headquarters, animal shelter and roof on city hall. If my<br />memory serves me correctly, it was around a 3 million dollar project.<br />The city had around 8 million “in the bank” of which the central<br />planners in the city wanted to save to use for “economic development”<br />so they wanted to pay for the project with new tax dollars.<br /><br />Richard formed an organization called “Citizens for a Better Bethany”,<br />went door to door with informational materials and defeated the<br />measure. So was wanting to get rid of Richard a good thing or a bad<br />thing? It was a good thing to the corrupt central planners, but bad<br />for the taxpayers. The naive taxpayers defeated every reform minded<br />candidate up for election and it simply was not worth Richard running<br />for Mayor the next year. How have things gone for Bethany since then?<br />Well, today the taxpayers pay for the health care and untold hundreds<br />of thousands of dollars have wasted away on failed economic<br />development efforts. In a system of self government, we really get<br />what we deserve most of the time.<br /><br />The other allegation I read had something to do with Richard’s<br />associations with members of the John Birch Society as if that was<br />somehow a bad thing. What is interesting is that Richard had never<br />been a member of the John Birch Society, but Steve Fair has.<br /><br />One of the most respected political activists in Stevens County was a<br />man by the name of Doc Beasley. Prior to his passing away, he used to<br />drive around with the humorous bumper sticker that said “I’m a member<br />of the secret John Birch Society.” Of course the Society is not a<br />secret organization and never has been. The good doctor Beasley was<br />and still is so respected in Stevens county, that to this day, the<br />highest award given out at their annual county convention, or perhaps<br />county fundraiser, is the annual Doc Beasley award for activism, or<br />what ever it is called.<br /><br />Doc Beasley was one of the most effective and active Birchers to ever<br />live in Oklahoma. He recruited Steve Fair into the Society and<br />mentored Steve along to his solid conservative values. Steve should be<br />respected for his involvement and Richard should be respected for his<br />associations with the Birch Society. The cowards who put the hit piece<br />together are guilty of playing to the ignorance of people who have a<br />bad impression of the Birch Society, but don’t have a clue as to their<br />negative feelings about the Society which were ginned up decades ago<br />by a dishonest smear job.<br /><br />Enough said about this, it will be interesting to see what happens<br />during next year’s convention. Will the Ron Paul folks fade away into<br />history or will they grow in numbers and commitment? Only time will<br />tell. As much as I struggle with some of what Ron Paul says, there are<br />parts of his message that must be heard if this nation is to<br />survive.<br /><br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS AND TIDBITS<br /><br />* TUESDAY EVENING MAY 15th - OKC AREA - The monthly chapter<br />meeting for the OKC area OK2A (Oklahoma 2nd Amendment) chapter will be<br />a bit different this month. They will meet at 6:30 p.m.in the parking<br />lot of the CVS pharmacy on the Northeast corner of NW 39th street and<br />MacArthur. They will proceed from there to knock doors for State<br />Representative Sally Kern. Also, regarding Representative Kern, she<br />will be having a fundraiser event this coming Friday evening, May 18th<br />at H&H range. They will have live Branson Style music featuring<br />“Froglegs from Looneyville, USA. This presentation is being billed as<br />funny, patriotic and inspirational. H&H is located on the North side<br />of I-40, about 2 blocks East of Meridian, in OKC. The event begins at<br />7:00 p.m.<br /><br />* THURSDAY EVENING MAY 17 - TULSA AREA - The Tulsa area chapter<br />of OK2A will host their monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m. at the 2A Shooting<br />Center (4616 E Admiral Pl) in Tulsa.<br /><br />* OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE - Last week I mentioned we needed 7 more<br />folks to step up and join to take full advantage of our $1,000<br />matching challenge. Six of you responded, so we will only have to send<br />$50 back to our helpful donor. A huge thanks from me to the 19 who<br />joined over the past 2 and a half weeks. We are spotting some<br />candidates who have developed a really strong conservative ideology<br />and thus will make excellent conservative lawmakers. The more dues<br />paying members we have, the more help we can give them. If you have<br />not joined as yet or if you want to contribute additional funds,<br />please do so now. Instructions on how to join or contribute are after<br />my sign off.<br /><br />I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.<br /><br />Charlie Meadows<br />charliemeadows7@gmail.com</div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-31186624588689923192012-05-11T10:17:00.002-05:002012-05-11T10:17:15.034-05:00Three Time Sensitive Announcements<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Members and friends of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action<br />Committee (OCPAC)<br /><br />Sorry for the problems with the e-mail earlier this week. I need to<br />make a three time sensitive announcements.<br /><br />1) For all the Ron Paul fans, there will be a LIBERTY PEP RALLY<br />tonight (Friday May 11th), 7:00 pm, at Remington Park in OKC. It is<br />free and open to the public. The featured speaker will be Dr. Tom<br />Woods, who was or perhaps still is affiliated with the Von Misses<br />Institute. Dr. Woods is a tremendous speaker, author and economist in<br />the free market vein. There will also be live music. For more<br />information log on to <a href="http://www.ronpaulok.com/">www.RONPAULOK.COM</a> .<br /><br />2) The Republican State Convention will be held this Saturday at the<br />Embassy Suites Hotel and Convention Center in Norman. The 3 main<br />orders of business are the election for Our Republican National<br />Committeeman and Committeewoman. We will also be voting for the<br />remaining delegates to represent Oklahoma Republicans at this year’s<br />national convention to be held in Florida. One final thing, we will<br />vote to approve, amend or reject this year’s Republican platform for<br />the state of Oklahoma. I strongly endorse Richard Engle for National<br />Committeeman.<br /><br />3) OCPAC member and good friend Glen Howard is out of the country on<br />a mission trip to Budapest Hungry. He has asked me to serve as his<br />guest host for his Senior World Radio Show which airs every Sunday<br />morning from 10 until 11:00 a.m. on KTOK, 1000 AM. We recorded the<br />shows on Thursday of this week.<br /><br />The first program will air this Sunday morning, May 13th, at the<br />mentioned time and will feature State Senator Anthony Sykes (R-Moore)<br />as well as State Representative Jason Murphy (R-Guthrie). Topics<br />covered were an overview of this year’s session up until now, the<br />outlook for next year, the INFLUENCE of lobbyists at the Capitol,<br />transparency, modernization and Sharia Law. If you would like to hear<br />the program but can’t listen live, it can be heard by way of a pod<br />cast. That address is: <a href="http://www.seniorworldradio.com/">www.SeniorWorldRadio.com</a> It is easy to find<br />all past programs.<br /><br />The second program will air next Sunday morning, May 20th, same time,<br />and will feature my dad, at 87 he qualifies as a senior, and a long<br />time friend of mine, Mr. Dan Kissick. Dan is the founder and executive<br />director of an organization called Right Hand Ministries. Most of<br />their work is in India. Among other things, Dan will share what life<br />is like for many seniors in India, especially if they are in the lower<br />cast. What is sad, if we don’t get our financial house in order here<br />in America, we are going to see an ever increasing number of American<br />seniors ending up in a similar situation to those in India, not too<br />many years from now.<br /><br />Thanks for your time and attention, I will try to have next week’s<br />regular e-mail out by Sunday evening.<br /><br />Charlie Meadows<br /><a href="mailto:Charliemeadows7@gmail.com" target="_blank">Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</a></div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-4620716098929177312012-05-01T10:41:00.001-05:002012-05-01T10:41:41.690-05:00PERSONHOOD, TRAPPED & WAITING TO ESCAPE ++ WALLACE COLLINS, THERE HE GOES AGAIN!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE<br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />++ PERSONHOOD, TRAPPED & WAITING TO ESCAPE<br />++ WALLACE COLLINS, THERE HE GOES AGAIN!<br />++ REMEMBERING BOB GODWIN<br /><br />++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br /><br />Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, May 2nd will be held at Italiano’s<br />restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Candidates invited for this<br />Wednesday are, Nathan Dahm, Cliff Johns, Don P. Little and Tim Wright,<br />all of Broken Arrow. This is a newly created Senate seat as a result<br />of re-districting. In addition, one more candidate has been invited,<br />but will remain un-named at this time.<br /><br />Our members voted to contribute to the following incumbents from what<br />we call our Conservative Incumbent Protection Fund. David Brumbaugh (R-<br />Broken Arrow 90/90), Josh Cockroft (R-Tecumseh 83/83), Sally Kern (R-<br />Bethany 90/93), Tom Newell (R-Seminole 80/80) and Steve Vaughn (R-<br />Ponca City 80/80). The first number is their conservative index score<br />for last year and the second number is their lifetime average. To be<br />eligible to receive our support, the incumbent had to have an 80 or<br />higher in the first number and they must have drawn and opponent.<br /><br />Last Wednesday was the first week to interview candidates. Receiving<br />our endorsement and financial support was House district 60 candidate<br />Dan Fisher (R-El Reno) and Senate district 39 candidate Kevin McDugle<br />(R-Tulsa). Mr. Fisher is running in a newly created and open seat,<br />while Mr. McDugle is running against the incumbent Brian Crain.<br />Senator Crain won our RINO (Republican In Name Only) award last year<br />with a conservative index score of 40/60. The Republicans in Senate<br />district 39 should be embarrassed by Crain. This is their opportunity<br />to correct their embarrassment by electing Kevin McDugle.<br /><br />++ OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UP-DATE<br /><br />I am going to take the liberty to extend the deadline for our matching<br />membership challenge until this Wednesday. We need 7 more people to<br />step up and join OCPAC to take advantage of the full $1,000 put up for<br />our challenge. At the end of April, we now have 210 dues paying<br />members, which is 7 shy of our number of members last year. Folks can<br />join at the meeting this Wednesday, or if joining by mail, be sure<br />that the postmark is by this Wednesday. A huge thanks to everyone who<br />has joined so far this year. Our schedule is moved up, so folks<br />joining as early in the year as possible is most helpful. Instructions<br />on how to join by mail will follow my sign off.<br /><br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br /><br />* TUESDAY EVENING - GUTHRIE AREA - The Guthrie area OK2A<br />(Oklahoma 2nd Amendment) organization will hold their monthly meeting,<br />7:00 p.m., at Patriot Industries which is located at 211 East Oklahoma<br />in downtown Guthrie.<br /><br />* TUESDAY, MAY 8TH - OKC AREA - Edmond attorney Don M. Powers<br />will present his “Liberty & Freedom Series,” covering the Declaration<br />of Independence and U.S. Constitution, beginning May 8th which is one<br />week from today. These presentations are at no cost to those who<br />attend. The presentations are designed for those with a sovereign<br />allegiance to America and who want to understand the principles used<br />by the Founders in establishing our government. Don will start his<br />lecture series on Tuesday the 8th at H&H Gun Range’s Safari Room, and<br />then running the weekly series through June 19th. Sessions will start<br />at 7 PM and conclude at 8:30 PM.<br /><br />New to this series, on Monday, June 11th and repeated again on Monday,<br />June 25th, will be an advanced session on the Declaration and<br />Constitution. The advanced lecture session will go through the<br />documents, talking about the operation of specific language used by<br />the Founders.<br /><br />Those interested in attending any of the free presentations should<br />first sign up for the series through H&H Gun Range. H&H can be<br />contacted at 947-3888, or at www.hhgunrange.com. The course schedule<br />also appears on Mr. Powers’ Law Firm website at www.powersatlaw.com.<br /><br />++ PERSONHOOD, TRAPPED & WAITING TO ESCAPE<br /><br />As I mentioned in the special e-mail I sent out last Thursday morning,<br />the efforts to get a vote on the personhood legislation failed.<br />Representative Hickman was in the Chair and strong armed the<br />procedures, in at least one key moment ruling without consulting the<br />parliamentarian. He basically prevented a legitimate procedure and<br />created a circular situation where it would be impossible for ANYONE<br />to protest his RULLING.<br /><br />On Thursday, with time running out for Senate bills to be heard,<br />Representative Hickman tried to manipulate the process and prevent the<br />“REAL” Pro-Life Republicans from being able to obtain a vote on the<br />issue.<br /><br />Representative Reynolds made a motion, I believe, to appeal the ruling<br />of the Chair. To be able to do so he had to have 15 lawmakers stand as<br />a second to the motion. Following are the Republicans who stood, Gus<br />Blackwell, Paul Wesselhoft, Mike Christian, Aaron Stiles, Lewis Moore,<br />John Bennett, Sean Roberts, Charles Key, Jason Murphey, George Faught,<br />Sally Kern, John Trebilcock, Mike Ritz, and Randy Terrill. In<br />addition, 3 Democrats also stood, Rebecca Hamilton, a former pro-<br />choice Democrat who is now sincerely pro-life, R.C. Pruitt and Richard<br />Morrissette. I don’t know about the convictions of Representative<br />Pruitt, but I suspect Morrissette was standing to try and stir<br />controversy among Republicans?<br /><br />Representative Hickman, acting like a little dictator’s right hand<br />man, said he didn’t see 15 standing. Moments later he moved to<br />adjourn, but Reynolds objected and was strangely recognized. His<br />efforts not to adjourn so the personhood measure could be taken up,<br />ended up with a recorded vote, regarding adjournment.<br /><br />I would suggest that every lawmaker in the building knew this vote was<br />going to be about not having a “direct” vote on the personhood<br />amendment. However, this will probably be the closest to a vote<br />obtained this year on the issue. Voting not to adjourn (how many time<br />have you seen members in a meeting vote not to adjourn?) were<br />Republicans John Bennett, Gus Blackwell, David Brumbaugh, Mike<br />Christian, David Derby, George Faught, Sally Kern, Charles Key, Scott<br />Martin, Lewis Moore, Glen Mulready, Jason Murphey, Mike Reynolds,<br />Dustin Roberts, Sean Roberts, Mike Sanders, Aaron Stiles, John<br />Trebilcock, and Paul Wesselhoft. Also voting not to adjourn were<br />Democrats Rebecca Hamilton, James Lockhart, and Richard Morrissette.<br /><br />Voting for adjournment were: Republicans, Don Armes, Gary Banz, Lisa<br />Billy, Dennis Casey, Ann Coody, Marian Cooksey, David Dank, Lee<br />Denney, Dale DeWitt, John Enns, Randy Grau, Elise Hall, Jeff Hickman,<br />Corey Holland, Fred Jordan, Charlie Joyner, Guy Liebmann, Steve<br />Martin, Mark McCullough, Randy McDaniel, Skye McNiel, Jason Nelson,<br />Jadine Nolin, Leslie Osborn, Pat Owenbey, Ron Peters, Pam Peterson,<br />Marty Quinn, Phil Richardson, Todd Russ, Colby Schwartz, Earl Sears,<br />Todd Thomsen, Steve Vaughn, Weldon Watson, Harold Wright and Kris<br />Steele.<br /><br />Democrats voting for adjournment were: Mike Brown, Ed Cannady, Donnie<br />Condit, Joe Dorman, Larry Glen, Chuck Hoskin, Scott Inman, Steve<br />Kouplen, C. McDaniel, Jeannie McDaniel, Jerry McPeak, Brian Renegar,<br />Paul Roan, Wade Rousselot, Seneca Scott, Mike Shelton, Jerry Shoemake,<br />Jabar Shumate, Emily Virgin, and Cory Williams.<br /><br />There were others who weren’t in the chamber, some probably had a<br />valid reason to be out of the chamber, but it was described to me as<br />several nearly broke their necks trying to get out of the chamber so<br />they wouldn’t have to participate in this recorded vote.<br /><br />Many of the Republicans I mentioned voting for adjournment will<br />vigorously protest that such a vote had anything to do with a pro-life<br />vote. I beg to differ. They may claim the bill was too loaded down<br />with amendments, which was true, but that problem could have been<br />cleaned up in conference. They may claim that it was an invitation for<br />a law suit. That is true, but I believe that is what the backers of<br />the personhood movement want to see happen. I believe they want this<br />issue to work its way up to the U. S. Supreme Court in an effort to<br />overturn Roe vs. Wade. Certainly, some of those who voted for<br />adjournment consider themselves as being pro-life. I would suggest<br />with them it is a preference, maybe a strong preference, but I don’t<br />consider it a deeply held conviction with them. After all, they<br />preferred the will of the caucus (leadership) over pushing forward<br />with this legislation to save the lives of the unborn.<br /><br />On Monday of this week, the 9 Oklahoma SUPREMES ruled the petition<br />which was in process to allow the citizens to vote on the personhood<br />issue was “unconstitutional”. Now, remember folks, these 9 Supremes<br />are as close to being “little gods” as any 9 people in the state of<br />Oklahoma. After all, ever since we created the retention system, we<br />have never removed a single Supreme Court Justice. That probably<br />covers a 40 to 50 year period of time.<br /><br />My question is, if you are amending your state constitution, how can<br />an amendment be unconstitutional? If they are referring to the U.S.<br />Constitution how could protecting the innocent life of the unborn be<br />unconstitutional? After all, the Declaration of Independence states<br />that one of the 3 mentioned reasons we created this government was to<br />protect the “lives” of the innocent.<br /><br />I would suggest God will NOT be mocked on this issue. The number one<br />reason America is in decline is because of the ever increasing<br />compromises by those who call themselves by His name. If Oklahoma<br />Christians foolishly fail to be substantive, we will see even more of<br />the blessing of God removed from us and replaced by his judgment.<br /><br />++ WALLACE COLLINS, THERE HE GOES AGAIN!<br /><br />A few days ago Oklahoma Democrat Party Chairman Wallace Collins<br />likened tea party members to Timothy McVeigh, who was executed for his<br />part in the Murrah building bombing. I want to urge the decent folks<br />of Oklahoma not to get their panties in a wad over much of anything<br />Wallace Collins ever has to say. After all, Wallace is Oklahoma’s<br />version of good old “uncle Joe Biden” the daily laughing stock of<br />America as he sits as the Vice President and is just a heartbeat away<br />from stepping into the highest office in the land.<br /><br />Republicans should be thankful that the Democrats elected Wallace to<br />be their standard bearer and we should hope they re-elect him again<br />next year. You see, I believe Wallace operates on half a brain and the<br />half he does operate on is incapable of intellectual honesty. I<br />believe it was probably 15 years ago or so that he was convicted in a<br />civil matter of slandering Steve Byas, his opponent who lost to<br />Wallace by a dozen votes or so. If my memory serves me correctly,<br />Wallace was ordered to pay Mr. Byas $80,000 and then had to have his<br />legislative pay garnished to make payments to Steve.<br /><br />If Wallace just had a full brain and one capable of intellectual<br />honesty, he would realize that tea party members aren’t anti-<br />government, but rather limited government constitutionalists. We are<br />not anti-government, we simply want the various jurisdictions of<br />government to function in their proper realms, only according to the<br />rule of law, and for them to be efficient. We want government<br />officials to be servants of the public, not masters of the public.<br /><br />++ REMEMBERING BOB GODWIN<br /><br />Just before pushing the send button for this e-mail, I received a call<br />from Bob Godwin’s son to inform me that Bob had passed away last night<br />of heart failure. Bob had been in bad health for a number of years,<br />but kept on going. He served in the U.S. Navy and was also a history<br />teacher. Bob and Etta home schooled their children.<br /><br />During candidate interviews of years past, Bob would ask about 10th<br />amendment issues before most folks even knew anything about the 10th<br />Amendment. He also was constantly pointing out the futility of the<br />government schools which aren’t really about education so much as they<br />are about indoctrination. There were areas I disagreed with Bob and he<br />caused me plenty of trouble, something I think he enjoyed. But I stood<br />by Bob as a matter of free speech and the fact that deep down in his<br />heart, he was a true patriot. He was also a true activist, contacting<br />elected officials and others in an effort to educate them or hold<br />their feet to the fire. We will miss Bob, Please pray for his family<br />during this time of grief.<br /><br />I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.<br /><br />Charlie Meadows<br />Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-45256529045332748172012-04-26T08:18:00.001-05:002012-04-26T08:18:13.287-05:00the pro-life “Personhood” bill<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I wrestled with sending out this extra e-mail this week and have<br />
decided to do a version with limited information, for a variety of<br />
reasons. If you are alert to what is going on at the Capitol, you know<br />
the pro-life “Personhood” bill has become quite controversial. As<br />
such, the Republican caucus is deeply divided between pro-life<br />
Republicans with deeply held convictions, pragmatic Republicans who<br />
wish the life issue didn’t exist and the middle ground Republicans who<br />
are mostly pro-life, but with them it is a preference, not a deeply<br />
held conviction and as such they are quite willing to yield to the<br />
“will of the caucus”. This last group I have defined is going to put a<br />
bunch of panties in a wad, but so be it!<br />
<br />
Also in the mix, in my opinion, is the quite influence of the State<br />
Chamber of Commerce, which I believe hates for these social issues to<br />
get attention. In their eyes, they fear such attention might make<br />
Oklahoma look like a state filled with backward religious hicks in the<br />
eyes of the progressives in NYC, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco.<br />
Gee, we sure wouldn’t want to look offensive to the liberal wine,<br />
cheese, and artsy fartsy crowd in those places who just might want to<br />
move to Oklahoma sometime in the future.<br />
<br />
Throw in two more factors, Speaker Kris Steele, in my opinion a<br />
Christian socialist (I attached this label to him years ago, though he<br />
is a really nice fellow) along with pressure from the organization,<br />
Oklahoman’s For Life and the rising awareness of the conservative<br />
Protestant and Catholic communities, and we have the environment for<br />
the most emotional issue of the year.<br />
<br />
With this emotional environment, I went fishing for information and<br />
there are plenty of lawmakers willing to at least confirm some of what<br />
has gone on in the closed door caucus meetings. Rather than allow SB<br />
1433 to go to a vote on the floor of the House, leadership’s whips<br />
polled the members of the Republican caucus and found out that a<br />
majority of the members didn’t want a recorded vote on this issue.<br />
<br />
After the whips did the polling, on Monday, the members met behind<br />
closed doors in a caucus meeting. Some of those opposed to SB 1433<br />
expressed strong opposition to the measure. Of those expressing the<br />
strongest opposition were Guy Liebman (R-NW OKC, Edmond & Deer Creek),<br />
Fred Jordan (R-Jenks), Doug Cox (R-Grove), Pat Ownbey (R-Ardmore),<br />
Steve Martin (R-Bartlesville), and Marty Quinn (R-Claremore). Then you<br />
had Colby Schwartz (R-Yukon) upset with the robo-calls that were being<br />
used to inform constituents. I also suspect Colby may have some<br />
measure of opposition to this legislation because of his statement on<br />
last Sunday morning’s dog and pony show he does on Chanel 9 with<br />
Democrat Richard Morrissette. Colby and Richard both agreed that too<br />
much time was being spent on this issue. May I suggest, if the issued<br />
is allowed to go to a vote, then things will move on.<br />
<br />
It is up to anyone reading this if they chose to contact any of these<br />
lawmakers I have just mentioned. May I suggest for the future, looking<br />
closely at their campaign promises when it comes to the life issue,<br />
because I believe none of these I have mentioned have any deeply held<br />
convictions about protecting unborn babies. If you do decide to<br />
contact them, your cause is not furthered by using threats or acting<br />
like that Biblical animal called an “ass”. I could go much deeper here<br />
but I don’t want to expose my sources.<br />
<br />
On Tuesday, the Oklahoman editorialized under the title: “Under cover:<br />
Little transparency with bill’s demise”. In the editorial they stated<br />
their support for greater accountability and transparency in<br />
government which would have occurred had the legislature subjected<br />
themselves to the Open Meetings Act. They expressed concern about the<br />
PROCESS that determined the fate of the Personhood measure. One<br />
paragraph expressed: “While it is common for caucus meetings, which<br />
are private, to involve strategy and policy discussions as well as<br />
internal votes on issues or leadership picks, it’s unusual for a<br />
closed caucus to be made the forum for final action on a bill.” The<br />
Oklahoman went on to say: “On tough issues in the past, a committee<br />
chairman or legislative leader was the person who officially killed a<br />
bill without a hearing”.<br />
<br />
“While that action may not have been popular, it provided direct<br />
accountability in the process, something that is lacking with the<br />
personhood bill for supporters and opponents alike.”<br />
<br />
“By shifting the blame to the ‘caucus’ every Republican lawmaker is<br />
simultaneously responsible for killing the personhood bill and free to<br />
proclaim support for it.” Folks, this is why I have named some of the<br />
names of the opposition and may name more later on.<br />
<br />
The Oklahoman closed their editorial with: “We’re fans of Speaker<br />
Kris Steele, and aren’t exactly upset that this bill got deep-<br />
sixed.” (I believe the Oklahoman, is for the most part, the public<br />
relations organ for the State Chamber and thus my belief that the<br />
Chamber was against this legislation.) “But transparency and<br />
accountability are crucial to maintain the legitimacy of the<br />
legislative process. Passing the buck fails the test. Citizens should<br />
demand more from lawmakers if they don’t want caucus meetings to<br />
become an end-run around open government and public votes when other<br />
tough issues arise.”<br />
<br />
Cudo’s for the Oklahoman’s take on this issue.<br />
<br />
It became apparent during Thursday’s session where House leadership is<br />
on the issue. Several House members tried to use parliamentary<br />
procedures to force a vote on the issue and it was clear, according to<br />
my sources, that procedure didn’t make a bit of difference. Jeff<br />
Hickman, sitting in the chair, was bound and determined not to allow<br />
this measure to be heard. It has been described to me as, one of the<br />
worst cases of abuse of power since the Republicans have been in<br />
control.<br />
<br />
Oh, by the way, has anyone seen Governor Fallin on this issue? I guess<br />
this “pro-life” governor is just too busy trying to pressure<br />
legislative members to fork over $40 million in new bond debt to<br />
finish the boondoggle known as the American Indian Cultural Center.<br />
She probably just doesn’t have the time to spend trying to save the<br />
lives of unborn babies. Governor Fallin, its time to slither out from<br />
under the rocks on this issue. Its time to make your position known.<br />
<br />
Thanks for your time and attention.<br />
<br />
Charlie Meadows<br />
Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-58754605724753743282012-04-16T07:31:00.000-05:002012-04-16T07:31:07.262-05:00Video of OCPAC Weekly Meeting 04-11-2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /></div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-38904435999144496522012-04-15T23:42:00.001-05:002012-04-15T23:42:11.233-05:00THE DIFFERENCE, BIG GOVT. REPUBLICANS VS. DEMOCRATS?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />++ OCPAC BY-LAWS & WHICH PRIMARY RACES WE CONSIDER<br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />++ THE DIFFERENCE, BIG GOVT. REPUBLICANS VS. DEMOCRATS?<br />++ ACTION ITEM<br /><br /><br />++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br /><br />Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, April 18th will be held at<br />Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Our speaker this<br />week will be nationally known author, speaker and former congressional<br />candidate from St. Louis, Bill Federer. Counting radio, TV and many<br />public speaking engagements, Bill speaks over 400 times per year. He<br />has authored around 15 books, his most famous being: AMERICA’S GOD AND<br />COUNTRY ENCYCLOPEDIA OF QUOTATIONS, which has sold over 750,000<br />copies. He has also produced an excellent DVD set on radical Islam and<br />has appeared on almost every TV and talk radio program in America.<br />Please arrive as early as possible and bring your seat belts. Bill<br />puts information out so fast it is like driving a car over a hundred<br />miles per hour or taking a drink out of a fire hydrant (get the<br />picture).<br /><br />In addition, early in the program we will have a short debate and then<br />our dues paying members as of April 4th and present at the meeting,<br />will vote to determine, which of the 6 lawmakers qualifying for our<br />“Conservative Incumbent Protection Fund” will receive funds from our<br />treasury. We set aside 20% of everything we raise for this fund. It is<br />an incentive for lawmakers to govern conservatively as they must score<br />an 80 or above in the first year of the legislative session and then<br />draw an opponent to qualify to receive our support. Even at that high<br />standard, our members don’t always support some that qualify.<br /><br />++ OCPAC BY-LAWS & WHICH PRIMARY RACES WE CONSIDER<br /><br />Filing period ended last Friday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. Our by-laws<br />determine which Republican primary races in which we get involved and<br />the ones we don’t. We try to only get involved in what are considered<br />“safe Republican seats” knowing that the winner of the Republican<br />primary will most likely win in a general election. Therefore, the<br />primary winner is the most important part of the race and we want to<br />help find and support the most conservative candidates in those<br />primaries. Remember, the need in Oklahoma is not to have larger<br />Republican majorities in the legislature, but, better quality and more<br />conservative lawmakers.<br /><br />Our by-laws determine a seat is “safe” as long as a Democrat candidate<br />has not received more than 38% of the vote during the most recent<br />Senate race or the 2 most recent House races. We will always get in a<br />Republican “only” primary race if it is an open seat (meaning no<br />incumbent is involved).<br /><br />The only time we interview a Republican candidate challenging a<br />Republican incumbent, is when the Incumbent’s score on the Oklahoma<br />Constitution Newspaper’s most recent Conservative Index is a “63” or<br />lower. Even then, we consider if the challenger might be more<br />conservative than the liberal to moderate Republican Incumbent before<br />we support such a challenger.<br /><br />With all that said, for the Republican PRIMARY races we will invite<br />one or more candidates to our interview process for 4 of the senate<br />seats, district #17 out of Shawnee, #33 out of Broken Arrow, #39 out<br />of Tulsa and #45 out of OKC and Mustang. Over in the house we will<br />invite the candidates for 10 of the house seats, district #25 out of<br />Ada, #26 out of Shawnee, #39 out of Edmond, #53 out of Moore, #60 out<br />of Yukon to Hinton, #70 out of Tulsa, #79 out of Tulsa, #82 out of NW<br />OKC & Edmond, #100 out of NW OKC and #101 out of Midwest City.<br /><br />Though not all candidates will attend our interview process, 29 will<br />be invited and we need to get this done in 7 weeks, starting on<br />Wednesday, April 25th through no later than June 26th. It is important<br />not to take any longer, because the primary race is June 26th and we<br />must get any funds to candidates approved by our members to them as<br />soon as possible so they have the time to plan on how to best use<br />them. Our qualified dues paying members will be voting each Wednesday<br />to either support a particular candidate in each of the races or not<br />to make an endorsement. A qualified dues paying member is one who is<br />present at our meeting and has paid their dues at least 2 weeks prior<br />to that current Wednesday’s meeting.<br /><br />After June 26th, we will try to have some of the candidates for county<br />offices and congressional candidates as speakers. We will probably<br />wait until after the primary but before the primary run-off election<br />to interview the final 2 candidates for the 2nd District<br />Congressional race, assuming there is a run-off, which is likely.<br />Following all of this and our participation in creating the<br />Conservative Index for the Oklahoma Constitution Newspaper, we will<br />begin interviewing the Republican nominees for general election races<br />which will occur on November 6th. There are up to10 senate seats<br />contested and 16 house seats that will be contested. Most of these are<br />in the more rural parts of the state.<br /><br />As you can see, we will be busy over the next 5 months with the main<br />business of OCPAC and that is interviewing candidates and helping the<br />best to get elected. Let me suggest, OCPAC is filling a niche, and<br />that is we have become the most significant funding source for limited<br />government conservatives, who aren’t in the pockets of the big<br />spending, big government special interest groups. Those groups that<br />circle around the Capitol passing out sugar dollars through their<br />lobbyists to all candidates or lawmakers they believe they can<br />influence.<br /><br />With that in mind, I want to urge folks reading this e-mail to become<br />a dues paying member at this time if you have not already done so thus<br />far. I have just had one of our friends offer to match every new<br />membership through the end of April with a $50 contribution up to 20<br />memberships. To join, just follow the instructions at the end of this<br />e-mail. You can double your dollars by joining now.<br /><br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br /><br />* MONDAY EVENING - EDMOND AREA - Please remember, Brigitte<br />Gabriel will make her final appearance of which I am aware on Monday<br />evening April 15th at Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond. The meeting<br />begins at 7:00 p.m. (the church is located at 1230 North Sooner Road<br />in Edmond). I would advise arriving early, even thought it is a<br />Monday, the church only seats about 500 people and a good crowd is<br />expected. She has a riveting story and is well prepared to debate<br />radical Muslims and liberal leftist enablers as to the dangers of<br />radical Islam. This is an extremely important subject. If you<br />understand it, then grab a neighbor or friend and bring them to either<br />of these meetings so they can be informed.<br /><br />* TUESDAY EVENING - OKC AREA - The OKC metropolitan area chapter<br />of OK2A (Oklahoma 2nd Amendment) will have their monthly meeting this<br />Tuesday evening, 6:30 p.m. at H&H Gun Range which is located at 400 S.<br />Vermont, Suite 110. That is on the North side of I-40 and about 2<br />blocks East of Meridian Ave.<br /><br />* THURSDAY EVENING - TULSA AREA - The Tulsa metropolitan area<br />chapter of OK2A will have their monthly meeting at the 2A Shooting<br />Center which is located at 4616 East Admiral Place in Tulsa. The<br />meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.<br /><br />* THURSDAY EVENING - MOORE AREA - Our speaker this Wednesday,<br />Bill Federer, will address the Capitol Baptist Association and the<br />Union Baptist Association which are partnering to host Bill for this<br />important event. The location is the First Baptist Church of Moore,<br />located at 301 N.E. 27th street in Moore. The meeting begins at 6:00<br />p.m. and is free and open to the public. If you weren’t able to hear<br />Bill at our meeting or want to hear him again, this will be your<br />opportunity.<br /><br />* SATURDAY EVENING - OKC - The statewide chapters of the John<br />Birch Society will host the 2nd semi-annual Patriot Celebration and<br />awards Banquet (business attire recommended) at The Character Inn, 520<br />West Main Street in downtown OKC. There is free parking on the South<br />side of the Inn or across the street to the West in the parking lot<br />enclosed by an Iron fence. The banquet begins at 6:00 p.m. and costs<br />$15 per person or $10 for students. Glen Howard will MC the event,<br />with area coordinator Mike Sawyer speaking on the national activities<br />of the Birch Society. I will be talking about grass-roots activism,<br />what it is, how to do it and what it accomplishes. With all that said,<br />reservations must be made by no later than Monday evening April 16th.<br />For reservations contact Bob Donohoo at (405) 436-5412. You do not<br />have to be a member of the Society to attend, visitors are welcome.<br />This will be a fun and memorable evening.<br /><br />++ THE DIFFERENCE, BIG GOVT. REPUBLICANS VS. DEMOCRATS?<br /><br />At the OCPA banquet this past Wednesday evening I was visiting with<br />some folks, disappointed by the performance of the Republican<br />controlled legislature so far this year. When it comes to taxes, fees,<br />borrowing and spending for government, I suggested an understanding of<br />the difference between big government, big spending Republicans and<br />Liberal Democrats. Let me know what you think about this definition as<br />it seemed to really strike a cord with those at the banquet.<br /><br />Liberal Democrats are quite willing to increase taxes, increase fees,<br />and borrow huge sums of money to fund big government. On the other<br />hand, Republicans don’t like to raise taxes, but they are willing to<br />raise fees and quite happy to borrow money to fund big government.<br />They talk big about cutting taxes, but significant cuts aren’t likely<br />to occur because they don’t seem to have the courage or ability to<br />think outside of the box when it comes to de-funding the improper and/<br />or non-core functions of government.<br /><br />The current leadership and majority of Republicans in the legislature<br />are proving to be inept at prioritizing government spending, thus they<br />are likely to continue to fund big government as we are poised to<br />create new bonded indebtedness to the tune of approximately $300<br />MILLION dollars!<br /><br />Perhaps 200 MILLION or so borrowed dollars to perform needed<br />maintenance on the Capitol and other government owned buildings. It<br />looks like momentum is gaining at the Capitol toward borrowing $40<br />MILLION dollars to complete the Indian Heritage and Cultural Center in<br />OKC. Then there is the slick shell game (now you see it, now you<br />don’t) by Senator Clark Jolley (R-Edmond) to borrow $42 MILLION<br />dollars to fund the new Medical Examiners office on the campus of UCO<br />in Edmond. Then the legislature will have to come up with the money to<br />pay the rent to the university on the new building paid for by<br />borrowed money.<br /><br />Governor Fallin is proving to be inept at putting pressure on the<br />members of the legislature to make the necessary cuts to make her tax<br />reduction and eventual elimination plan have substance. Without more<br />effort on her part, her plan is not likely to be anything other than a<br />pie in the sky dream, blue smoke and mirrors.<br /><br />Let me suggest a couple of ideas to think outside of the box on these<br />issues. In a recent article in the Oklahoman about the Indian Cultural<br />Center, former State Senator and former Chief of the Seminole Tribe,<br />Kelley Haney, complained that the tribes never get to tell their story<br />from their perspective and this cultural center would also not<br />accomplish that effort. Reading between the lines, that means the<br />white man can’t present Indian issues the correct way.<br /><br />Therefore, why not let the 39 federally recognized tribes step up to<br />the plate and form a corporate consortium to fund the final cost of<br />the Indian Cultural Center. It would cost each tribe just a little<br />over $2 million dollars each, just a drop in the bucket for most of<br />the gambling revenue rich tribes. That way each of the tribes could<br />have a place in the Cultural Center to tell their story the way they<br />want and they could use each area to point visitors to the unique<br />points of interest in the areas of the state that were their tribal<br />lands. In exchange, the center would no longer be state owned, but<br />owned by the corporate tribal consortium.<br /><br />However, I would not stop there. I would offer a law to let the<br />corporate consortium build a casino/hotel and conference center on the<br />grounds, next to the Cultural Center, if the tribes would pay the<br />state back the $67 MILLION or so we have already invested in the<br />Cultural Center. The tribes would have to agree not to put the land in<br />trust, but rather operate the casino through a corporation like the<br />Chickasaw Tribe agreed to do when they acquired Remington Park. The<br />tribes could have this lucrative location for a casino to reap the<br />profits to pay back their investment, tell their story the way they<br />want and all additional profits could go to each tribe.<br /><br />The state could then pay back the $25 MILLION dollars it has already<br />borrowed to build the Cultural Center and then use the remaining $42<br />MILLION dollars to fund the new Medical Examiners Office.<br /><br />To continue, last year we put over $200 MILLION in the state’s rainy<br />day fund and we will probably put another large chunk in the fund this<br />year. Let me ask this pointed question of any reader of this e-mail.<br />If you created a column in your personal budget for a rainy day or<br />emergency and had the funds in the bank, would you spend the money set<br />aside for that purpose to take care of an emergency or would you go<br />out and BORROW the money for the emergency so you could leave your<br />emergency money in the bank?<br /><br />I hope you would not do the latter as it would be so foolish. In<br />addition, it will take some time, probably several years to make the<br />necessary repairs to the Capitol and other buildings, so the emergency<br />fund wouldn’t have to be completely drained, assuming new revenues<br />will probably be flowing into the fund over the next few<br />years.<br /><br />Then 2 more ideas, Representative T.W. Shannon (R-Lawton) is<br />successfully pushing through legislation to accurately document all<br />the properties owned by the state, approximately 9,000 with perhaps as<br />many as 4,500 with buildings on them. He is suggesting we prioritize<br />them for usefulness and need, then sell off, at least initially, the<br />bottom 5% of the properties. He then wants to use the proceeds to<br />repair and maintain the higher priority properties such as the Capitol<br />or the leaky roof at the Corporation Commission.<br /><br />Secondly, State Auditor Gary Jones recently released a scathing report<br />about the irresponsible lack of a plan and discipline to budget for<br />repairs for state owned properties. The nearly 90 years of Democrat<br />control at the legislature leaves quite a legacy of irresponsible<br />governance. The Republicans are making some improvements, but they<br />lack vision, ideas and have need for better leadership.<br /><br />Rather than jump off and borrow a quarter of a BILLION dollars or<br />more, we need to have some patience, develop a plan and work toward<br />it. In 2 or 3 years these critical maintenance problems could be<br />solved, we could reduce our state debt and then we could give state<br />employees needed raises. We could do all this and at the same time<br />reduce our state income and corporate taxes. It is doable, the only<br />question is whether or not the current bunch of Republican lawmakers<br />have the will and discipline to get the job done.<br /><br />++ ACTION ITEM<br /><br />* MONDAY OR TUESDAY - Please call your state senator AND state<br />representative to ask them to stop increasing the state’s bonded<br />indebtedness. Tell them you want to fix the Capitol and build the new<br />Medical Examiners office through a better prioritization of spending<br />and the use of the rainy day fund rather than borrowing more money.<br />Tell them that under NO circumstances do you want them to borrow more<br />money to finish the Indian Cultural Center. Tell them you want the<br />state out of the deal and to find a way to sell it to the tribes or<br />the city of OKC, the real beneficiary of the Cultural Center.<br /><br /> * Make sure you are on the e-mail distribution lists for ROPE<br />(Reform Oklahoma Public Education), OK2A (Oklahoma 2nd Amendment), OK-<br />SAFE (Oklahomans for Sovereignty And Free Enterprise) as well as OCPA<br />(Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs) as they all have excellent<br />information and action items to make Oklahoma a better state. I don’t<br />always have the time to publish their projects. I know we are asking<br />for a lot of action, but this is the time of the year when it counts,<br />especially in an election year.<br /><br />Please remember, our meetings are now on you tube. They are archived<br />and you can access them at http://www.youtube.com/user/ocpacvideo.<br />This Wednesday with Bill Federer will be the last meeting we will<br />record for a while as we will not record our candidate interview<br />meetings.<br /><br />Thanks for your time and attention and I look forward to seeing<br />everyone this Wednesday. To join OCPAC, follow the instructions below.<br /><br />Charlie Meadows<br />Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-62605524583690183952012-04-11T08:38:00.000-05:002012-04-11T08:38:01.615-05:00Video of the 4-4-12 meeting Greg Gunn speaker from Family-iD.com<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/hon5vu7vQpA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
Greg's part starts at about 14 minutes.<br />
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You can buy Greg's book "Family-iD --- Intentional Direction" by clicking <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Family-----Intentional-Direction-Discover/dp/0615586902/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334151426&sr=1-8" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-59945377205874026672012-04-10T12:32:00.001-05:002012-04-10T12:32:39.267-05:00ANDERSON, BRANAN, FIELDS & NEWBERRY, Good with Sharia Law in OK!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br />++ ANDERSON, BRANAN, FIELDS & NEWBERRY, Good with Sharia Law in OK!<br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />++ LAST FRIDAY’S DEBATE, SHALL WE CONVENE A CON-CON?<br />++ TIDBITS<br /><br />++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING<br /><br />Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, April 11th will be held at<br />Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. I have been trying<br />for some time now to acquire a special speaker for this Wednesday and<br />if I am successful, the speaker will be one of the highest profile<br />people we have ever had at OCPAC. If I knew for sure the person would<br />be able to make it to our meeting, I would be billing this person as a<br />mystery speaker for reasons I can’t divulge. If this person is not<br />able to make it to our meeting, we will show a new 16 minute DVD,<br />which exposes the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a radical<br />leftist group, going far beyond whatever good they do for law<br />enforcement in America. I will also give a report about a recent law<br />enforcement seminar I attended to determine how much influence the<br />SPLC has with Oklahoma’s law enforcement organizations and if they<br />were being influenced to become suspicious of law abiding<br />constitutionalists, who have valid grievances with the federal<br />government. I will point out the difference between law abiding<br />citizens vs. others (those in the Sovereign Citizen movement) with<br />similar grievances, but have decided to work outside of the system to<br />achieve whatever results they are after. I will also talk about the<br />John Birch Society’s ramped up efforts educate citizens about the<br />importance of supporting your local police and why they must be kept<br />independent. I hope we have our mystery speaker, but if not this<br />information will be very important.<br /><br />One more thing, the People’s World, official organ of the CPUSA<br />(Communist Party USA), published an article on Monday titled: Amid<br />racism and shootings, labor fights back, by Justin Shepherd. I can<br />only speculate that Justin may have taken a little too much LSD before<br />writing the article as his creative juices appear to come from planet<br />Mongo. Typical of the intellectually dishonest on the left, OCPAC, The<br />John Birch Society, the tea party members, Ron Paul supporters and<br />others are mentioned in the same breath with the KKK, kind of<br />associated with the shooting of the black folks in Tulsa and are<br />accused of “stacking meetings” of Occupy in Oklahoma with ‘our’<br />people. For you amusement or perhaps amazement, I will have a copy of<br />the article at the meeting. I believe we are on their radar screen<br />because we are now posting our meetings online. All of our meetings<br />are achieved at: http://www.youtube.com/user/ocpacvideo.<br /><br />++ ANDERSON, BRANAN, FIELDS & NEWBERRY, Good with Sharia Law in OK!<br /><br />This past Thursday, on a 6 to 9 vote, members of the Senate Rules<br />Committee voted down HB 1552, the legislation to take the place of<br />State Question 755, the constitutional amendment to prevent the use of<br />Sharia or Foreign law in our court system. In a statewide vote of the<br />people in 2010, that issue had the support of 70% of the people, but<br />was tied up in federal courts and struck down in Denver because the<br />term “Sharia Law” was used in the State Question.<br /><br />Therefore, State Representative Sally Kern authored H.B 1552 to remove<br />the term “Sharia Law” and simply replace it with the term “foreign<br />law”. This legislation passed in the House on a bi-partisan vote of 76<br />to 3 in 2011, but wasn’t heard in the Senate until last Thursday.<br /><br />People understanding this issue realize this was one of the most<br />important votes that will be cast by a lawmakers in their lifetime,<br />regardless if they serve one term or until they are term limited out<br />of office. Republicans voting against the bill, were: Patrick Anderson<br />(R-Enid 405 521-5630, up for re-election this year), Cliff Branan (R-<br />Nichols Hills to Bethany, 405 521-5543, in his final term), Eddie<br />Fields (R-Wynona, 405 521-5581, re-election in 2014) and Dan Newberry<br />(R-Tulsa 405 521-5600, up for re-election this year). Also voting<br />against the bill were 2 Democrats up for re-election this year, Earl<br />Garrison (D-Muskogee) and Jerry Ellis (D-Valliant).<br /><br />Just as important were the 2 Republican Senators who missed this vital<br />vote, Mike Mazzei (R-Tulsa, 405 521-5675, up for re-election this<br />year) and Clark Jolley (R-Edmond, 405 521-5622 up for re-election this<br />year. Please call and ask these Republicans why they voted against the<br />bill or in the case of Mazzei and Jolley, ask them why they missed<br />this important vote?<br /><br />I don’t know about Mazzei, but Jolley is being challenged in a heated<br />Republican primary race by Paul Blair, pastor of Fairview Baptist<br />Church in Edmond. Sources at the Capitol tell me the State Chamber of<br />Commerce is against this bill and in my opinion, Senator Jolley is<br />quite happy to do the bidding of the State Chamber. Yet he would not<br />want to vote against this bill since he is in a tough primary race and<br />70% of state voters want to be protected from Sharia Law or other<br />foreign laws from being used in Oklahoma’s courts.<br /><br />Therefore, Jolley might be quite happy to hide in a Capitol broom<br />closet during this controversial vote and hope no one notices? Please<br />make your calls to these lawmakers and ask them why? Voting for the<br />legislation were Josh Brecheen (R-Coalgate), John Ford (R-<br />Bartlesville), David Holt (R-NW OKC), Anthony Sykes (R-Moore),<br />Jonathan Nichols (R-Norman) and Rob Johnson (R-Kingfisher), these<br />Senators deserve our thanks.<br /><br />++ ANNOUNCEMENTS<br /><br />* TUESDAY EVENING - ADA AREA - The Ada-Seminole Tea Party will<br />hold their monthly meeting tonight, April 10th at the Ada Chamber of<br />Commerce meeting room, 209 West Main street, 6:30 p.m. Speaking will<br />be 2nd District Congressional candidates George Faught and Markwayne<br />Mullins.<br /><br />* THURSDAY EVENING - ADA AREA - OK2A (Oklahoma 2nd Amendment)<br />will hold their monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m. at JD’s Café (911 North<br />Broadway) in Ada. The program will include Casey Wehrenberg with<br />Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. This is so important to<br />understand as we just had another killing field occur on the campus of<br />a private college in California last week. Seven were killed and<br />others wounded as they were simply like sitting ducks in a fish bowl.<br />Had some professors or students with concealed carry permits been<br />allowed to carry on campus, the perp could have been stopped without<br />committing as much death and destruction as was accomplished.<br /><br />* THURSDAY EVENING - STILLWATER AREA - The Stillwater chapter of<br />OK2A will hold their monthly meeting this Thursday evening 7:00 p.m.<br />at Mexico Joe’s, 311 East Hall of Fame, in Stillwater.<br /><br />* FRIDAY - CENTRAL OKLAHOMA - The state chapters of the John<br />Birch Society will hold their second semi-annual recognition banquet<br />one week from Saturday. However, the deadline for reservations is this<br />Friday at 5:00 p.m. JBS Field Coordinator Mike Sawyer will share some<br />of the successes of the Birch Society on national issues. I have been<br />asked to talk about activism, what it is, what it is not, how to be<br />effective and what it produces. The cost is $15 per person, with the<br />banquet beginning at 6:00 p.m. The location will be the Character Inn,<br />524 West Main, in downtown OKC. For reservations please call (405)<br />348-9991 or make a check out to OKLAHOMA PROJECTS and mail it to 415<br />West 15th Street #2, Edmond, Ok 73013. If you need other information,<br />please contact Bob Donohoo at (405) 436-5412.<br /><br />* SUNDAY EVENING - YUKON AREA - Brigitte Gabriel, founder of Act<br />For America, the largest grass-roots citizen action network dedicated<br />to preserving national security and combating Islamic supremacy, will<br />be speaking at Trinity Baptist Church (620 N. Cemetery Road) in Yukon.<br />That is this coming Sunday evening, April 15 at 7:00 p.m.. Brigitte’s<br />family were Lebanese Christians hiding in their homeland for 7 years<br />while hunted by radical Muslims. She is a very powerful voice exposing<br />the many facets of the threat from the radical Muslims in our own<br />nation. If at all possible, you should not miss hearing from this<br />courageous lady.<br /><br />* NEXT MONDAY EVENING - EDMOND AREA - Brigitte will also speak<br />Monday evening April 16th at Fairview Baptist Church (1230 North<br />Sooner Road), starting at 7:00 p.m.. Brigitte has authored 2 New York<br />Times best sellers, BECAUSE THEY HATE and THEY MUST BE STOPPED. Based<br />on the pitiful vote in the Senate last Thursday, not nearly enough<br />Oklahomans and especially their elected officials understand the<br />seriousness of this issue.<br /><br />++ LAST FRIDAY’S DEBATE, SHALL WE CONVENE A CON-CON?<br /><br />This past Friday, Senator Steve Russell and I debated at the High Noon<br />Club on the merits of calling for a federal constitutional convention.<br />I only bring it up because it is an important issue that isn’t going<br />away, though it appears to be dead this session.<br /><br />Bob Dani, club founder told both Steve and I that several people,<br />perhaps as many as 8 or so had told him they believed this was the<br />best meeting ever for the High Noon Club. I believe what impressed<br />many was that two opposing sides could be passionately debated, it was<br />educational, a humorous word picture was painted and no one got mad at<br />each other. I would say that shows the level of maturity of those in<br />attendance.<br /><br />Both Steve and I had a total of only 16 minutes and Ed Murray did a<br />great job of keeping us in line regarding the time. The issue is so<br />important that I wanted to go over some points in this e-mail. The<br />legislation authored by Senator Russell would call for Congress to<br />convene a constitutional convention for the purpose of amending our<br />Constitution to prevent Congress and the President from raising the<br />debt ceiling without at least 26 states voting to approve of such.<br /><br />With my opposition to calling for a con-con, one of our friends<br />suggested that I was acting like a hypocritical elitist and opposing<br />state rights, something he has always heard me promote. I am not<br />opposed to such an amendment, what I oppose is the very dangerous<br />means to get to the amendment. In other words, the end does not<br />justify the means. Conceptually, the Amendment looks good, it likely<br />would NOT hurt anything and offers a level of Federalism, so missing<br />in our nation today.<br /><br />However, this amendment, if passed, would be worthless in actuality<br />based on human nature and the deplorable condition of our nation’s<br />citizens of today. I will describe that condition as ignorant of the<br />principles of good government, ignorant of economics and free market<br />capitalism. Most professing Christians are unable to take Biblical<br />principles and translate them to good government policy and then we<br />have the very large dependent class, shamelessly acting like leaches<br />sucking the life blood out of the producers which are trying to keep<br />this nation afloat.<br /><br />Such an amendment would be worthless in practice because you couldn’t<br />come close to finding 26 states that would say to the federal<br />government, you can’t raise the debt limit, and know that such an<br />action would turn the tap off to hundreds of millions of federal<br />dollars pouring into each of their states. It doesn’t appear that<br />Oklahoma lawmakers can even find the courage to say no to funding the<br />leftist OETA organization with 3 to 4 million dollars each year, much<br />less say no to receiving hundreds of millions of federal dollars<br />coming to Oklahoma through all kinds of grants, subsidies, and kick-<br />backs.<br /><br />I am not talking about not receiving back from the federal government<br />what the taxpayers of Oklahoma send to Washington such as taxes for<br />defense spending, money for roads and bridges, as well as social<br />security and Medicare dollars. I am talking about the 1.5 Trillion<br />borrowed or newly printed dollars which make up our annual deficit<br />spending, thus adding to our national debt.<br /><br />With that said, the real essence of the debate centered on whether or<br />not a constitutional convention, if convened, could be limited to only<br />one issue? Senator Russell believes it can and I believe it can’t.<br /><br />Let’s look at some important perspectives on that idea. Following our<br />war of Independence we were governed by the Articles of Confederation.<br />There were a few problems with the Articles, so a constitutional<br />convention was called in 1787 to solve just a few specific issues.<br />Once convened, the convention worked behind closed doors, threw out<br />the Articles and created the Constitution we have lived under since<br />that time.<br /><br />In Article 5 of the Constitution, provision is made for 2/3rds of the<br />States to petition Congress to convene a con-con anytime it may be<br />deemed necessary. Though it would be Constitutional, another<br />convention has never been convened since the one back in 1787. Oh the<br />states have issued calls for a convention many times and for many<br />different issues, but there has never been the necessary 2/3rds of the<br />states call for a convention on the same issue.<br /><br />Senator Russell kept referring to the many calls of the past as if<br />that meant something? What he didn’t mention is that about a fourth of<br />the states have voted to rescind all their past call for a con-con,<br />including Oklahoma. Perhaps he didn’t bring that up since Oklahoma<br />voted to rescind all our previous calls in 2009, and yes Senator<br />Russell voted to rescind all our previous calls.<br /><br />So if calling for a con-con is constitutional, and is a tool for the<br />states to reign in a tyrannical federal government, God knows we have<br />that today, then why has it never been used? I believe we have to look<br />no farther than the words of James Madison, considered to be the<br />father of our Constitution. Following the convention of 1787, we went<br />through a grueling and rancorous debate in the states between the<br />Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. Ratification could have gone<br />either way and during that debate, some were calling for the<br />Constitution to be scrapped and to convene another convention and<br />start all over again. Therefore, Madison issued the following warning<br />about convening another con-con during rancorous times when he<br />said:<br /><br />“If a General Convention were to take place for the avowed and sole<br />purpose of revising the Constitution, it would naturally consider<br />itself as having a greater latitude than the Congress… It would<br />consequently give greater agitation to the public mind; an election<br />into it would be courted by the most violent partisans on both sides…<br />[and] would no doubt contain individuals of insidious views, who,<br />under the mask of seeking alterations popular in some parts… might<br />have the dangerous opportunity of sapping the very foundations of the<br />fabric… Having witnessed the difficulties and dangers experienced by<br />the first Convention, which assembled under every propitious<br />circumstance, I should tremble for the result of a second, meeting in<br />the present temper in America.” [From a letter by James Madison to<br />G.L. Turberville, November 2, 1788.]<br /><br />Madison warned us about calling for another convention, and many other<br />contemporary voices have warned us that once a convention is convened,<br />it CAN NOT be limited to one or more specific issues. Following are<br />some of those voices:<br /><br />Former Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Warren Burger wrote in<br />a letter to Phyllis Schlafly on June 22, 1988: “I am glad to respond<br />to your inquiry about a proposed Article V Constitutional Convention.<br />I have been asked questions about this topic many times during my news<br />conferences and at college meetings since I became Chairman of the<br />Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, and I have<br />repeatedly replied that such a convention would be a grand waste of<br />time.<br /><br />I have also repeatedly given my opinion that there is no effective way<br />to limit or muzzle the actions of a Constitutional Convention. The<br />Convention could make its own rules and set its own agenda. Congress<br />might try to limit the convention to one amendment or to one issue,<br />but there is no way to assure that the Convention would obey. After a<br />Convention is convened, it will be too late to stop the convention if<br />we don’t like its agenda. The meeting in 1787 ignored the limit placed<br />by the Confederation Congress ’for the sole and express purpose.’<br /><br />….. A Constitutional Convention today would be a free-for-all for<br />special interest groups, television coverage, and press speculation.<br /><br />Our 1787 Constitution was referred to by several of its authors as a<br />’miracle.’ Whatever gain might be hoped for from a new Constitutional<br />Convention could not be worth the risks involved. A new Convention<br />could plunge our Nation into constitutional confusion and<br />confrontation at every turn, with no assurance that focus would be on<br />the subjects needing attention. I have discouraged the idea of a<br />Constitutional Convention, and I am glad to see states rescinding<br />their previous resolutions requesting a Convention. In these<br />Bicentennial years, we should be celebrating its long life, not<br />challenging its very existence. Whatever may need repair on our<br />Constitution can be dealt with by specific amendments.”<br /><br />The following is from Arthur Goldberg, a former Supreme Court Justice<br />and member of the advisory board of Citizens to Protect the<br />Constitution:<br /><br />“As we look forward to celebrating the bicentennial of the<br />Constitution, a few people have asked, “Why not another constitutional<br />convention?”<br /><br /> I would respond by saying that one of the most serious problems<br />Article V poses is a runaway convention. There is no enforceable<br />mechanism to prevent a convention from reporting out wholesale changes<br />to our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Moreover, the absence of any<br />mechanism to ensure representative selection of delegates could put a<br />runaway convention in the hands of single-issue groups whose self-<br />interest may be contrary to our national well-being.<br /><br />A constitutional convention could lead to sharp confrontations between<br />Congress and the states. For example, Congress may frustrate the<br />states by treating some state convention applications as invalid, or<br />by insisting on particular parliamentary rules for a convention, or by<br />mandating a restricted convention agenda. If a convention did run<br />away, Congress might decline to forward to the states for ratification<br />those proposed amendments not within the convention’s original<br />mandate.<br /><br />Ultimately, the courts would be called upon to decide these matters.<br />This raises unprecedented problems. If every disgruntled convention<br />delegate, member of Congress, state legislator or concerned citizen<br />could sue at any time, a convention could mire the federal and state<br />governments in a debilitating web of lawsuits….”<br /><br />I also referenced a recent voice from the current Virginia Attorney<br />General Ken Cuccinelli, a national hero for winning the case that<br />persuaded a federal judge to declare ObamaCare unconstitutional. He<br />was also the attorney arguing before the Supreme Court a couple of<br />weeks ago on behalf of the plaintiffs on day 2 or 3 of the 3 day oral<br />arguments. On the steps of the state capitol in Richmond VA. On<br />January 17th of this year, when asked about a runaway con-con, he<br />said: “Yes, it is true that once you assemble a convention that<br />states have called, they can do anything.”<br /><br />I also offered many articles written by constitutional law professors,<br />both from the left such as Larry Tribe from Harvard to Charles Rice<br />from Notre Dame, all stating that a con-con can’t be limited once it<br />is convened. To argue otherwise is a bit of wishful thinking,<br />especially in view of such a body of witnesses and warnings.<br /><br />In my 3 minutes to cross examination Senator Russell, I asked a series<br />of yes or no answers as to whether or not he was aware of the book:<br />THE EMERGING CONSTITUTION written by Rexford G. Tugwell (1974 by<br />Harper and Row) and his answer was no.<br /><br />The reason for this line of questions is that about 20 years ago I<br />attended a seminar in Tulsa to listen to a Constitutional Law<br />Professor, by the name of Dr. John Eidsmoe, author of the book<br />CHRISTIANITY AND THE CONSTITUTION. Also speaking that day was a lady<br />from Tulsa that closely followed all the efforts sponsored by the Ford<br />and Rockefeller Foundations to create a new Constitution and have it<br />waiting in the wings should a con-con ever be convened. At that time<br />it was in its 32nd version.<br /><br />I asked Senator Russell if he had ever heard of the CENTER FOR THE<br />STUDY OF DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS, recently headed by socialist leaning<br />University of Denver Chancellor Maurice B. Mitchel? His answer was no.<br /><br />This is the organization behind the 40th revision of the constitution,<br />which is called A CONSTITUTION OF THE NEW STATES OF AMERICA. I asked<br />Senator Russell if he had ever read this new version of the<br />constitution which is waiting in the wings, should a con-con ever be<br />convened. His answer was no.<br /><br />I asked Senator Russell if he had ever considered that some of the<br />organizations pushing for a con-con may be taking advantage of the<br />good intentions of conservative organizations and lawmakers such as<br />himself? To his credit he did answer yes, it was a possibility.<br /><br />Bottom line, the good guys in America are in a minority today, if we<br />ever convene a con-con, we are not likely to improve our lot through<br />such an effort. Rather than waste our time on such foolishness, we<br />must double down on Christian evangelism and teaching our fellow<br />citizens as to the superiority of the ideas of liberty and those of<br />our founding fathers. Our problem is not with our document, our<br />problem is that our citizens are NOT well educated about it and not<br />involved. If they were, we would have congressmen in Washington who<br />would abide by it and not overspend us into oblivion.<br /><br />It is true that I pulled some antics during the debate to paint a<br />vivid word picture that would hopefully remain in the minds of those<br />in attendance. I did wear a coat and tie along with walking shorts. I<br />had on one brown sock and one white along with one black shoe and one<br />white. I pointed out that if a con-con were convened we might come out<br />with a hodgepodge and patch work looking something like the way I was<br />dressed. I also had a box labeled as Pandora’s Box and suggested a con-<br />con would be the equalivant of opening that box. I pulled out of the<br />box 2 jars of the rankest stink bait ever made to show how a con-con<br />could really stink things up. In addition I opened a can of worms,<br />dumped them on a plate and then tried to keep them from running away<br />off of the plate, to signify what a run-away convention might look<br />like. I also picked up several of the worms that I suggested had names<br />on them. Names like the elimination of the 2nd Amendment, the RIGHT to<br />health care from womb to the tomb and etc. My final antic was to<br />suggest calling a con-con would be like trusting the future of America<br />to a roll of dice. I rattled some dice and threw them down on the<br />table and hollered “snake eyes”.<br /><br />To sum it up, even though most in Washington ignore the Constitution<br />or pervert it, there are elements in our nation that would still like<br />to eliminate its objectionable parts so conservative<br />constitutionalists such as ourselves will not even have such a<br />document to point to. Senator Russell is a good man and a real<br />patriot, I just believe he has been deceived on this issue and is<br />being used by people who aren’t patriotic. We must stay vigilant on<br />this issue as it will not go away.<br /><br />++ TIDBITS<br /><br />* TULSA AREA - Katie Henke, the Republican Candidate for House<br />District 71 in Tulsa is 3 votes behind as a result of last Tuesday‘s<br />special election, even after the 4 good provisional ballots were<br />counted. She has called for a recount using the paper ballots, which<br />will be the first recount since we have started to use our new voting<br />machines. It will be interesting to see if they are more accurate than<br />the old machines, which usually were a few votes off, when recounts<br />occurred using the paper ballots. Either way, I sure hope Mrs. Henke<br />will file for the seat this Wednesday through Friday as the outcome<br />this November is not likely to be nearly this close or in the favor of<br />the Democrat. This November, hordes of Oklahoma voters will go to the<br />polls to vote out President Obama and far more of them will vote down<br />line for the Republican candidates than will vote for Democrats. Katie<br />could win big time in November.<br /><br />* TIME TO FILE FOR OFFICE - STATEWIDE - This Wednesday through<br />Friday will be the time period for candidates to file for office to<br />run for the state legislature, congress, corporation commission or<br />several of the county offices. This filing period has been moved up<br />almost 2 months and the primary elections will be held on June 26th.<br />As such we will be interviewing Republican primary candidates starting<br />on Wednesday, April 25th. Candidates endorsed by the voting members of<br />OCPAC will have checks cut for them on that day. That is why it is<br />important to raise as much as possible now so we have an idea as to<br />how much money will be available during this election cycle.<br />Therefore, if you have considered joining OCPAC but have not done so<br />as yet, please consider doing so at this time. Instructions on how to<br />join follow my sign off.<br /><br />I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.<br /><br />Charlie Meadows<br />Charliemeadows7@gmail.com</div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-40329944322431803452012-04-06T11:58:00.000-05:002012-04-06T11:58:03.375-05:00Video of March 28th Meeting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Just click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jud_Cvb1YzI&feature=relmfu" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5431481429087105402.post-69551265421676343132012-04-06T11:54:00.003-05:002012-04-06T11:54:45.999-05:00Video of March 21 OCPAC Meeting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Just click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IajS6_fa2mY&feature=relmfu" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</div>Charlie Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12159891905392720848noreply@blogger.com0