Members and friends of the Oklahoma
Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)
Our members and friends meet for lunch every Wednesday, 12 noon at
Italiano’s Restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC.
– THE AGENDA FOR WEDNESDAY’S MEETING
– ELECTION OUTCOMES FOR CANDIDATES SUPPORTED BY OCPAC
– Are those behind Randy Terrill & Mike Reynolds opponents,
supporting Steve Russell?
– INFORMATION AND POLL QUESTION ON THE OCPAC BLOG
– OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
– THE AGENDA FOR WEDNESDAY’S MEETING
The primary business of this week’s meeting will be some discussion
and then we will vote to determine which senate candidates we will
support for the general elections in November. In addition, we will
have Preston Williams speak to us briefly about a recent project with
which he has been involved. Mr. Williams is the Oklahoma State
Director of that branch of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps
affiliated with Chris Simcox.
– ELECTION OUTCOMES FOR CANDIDATES SUPPORTED BY OCPAC
The members of OCPAC had contributed to or endorsed 8 candidates going
into the primary elections. Four of those candidates won their
elections and three lost with one going to a primary run-off which
will be held on August 26th. The run-off race will be between Kyle
Loveless, endorsed by OCPAC, and Steve Russell who had the largest
number of votes in the primary. I will address this run-off race under
the next subject.
As a couple of points of interest, OCPAC Vice Chairman Richard Engle
is headed for a run-off in the Canadian County Commissioner race. In a
race with 5 candidates, Richard was just a couple points behind the
candidate in the lead. One other race of interest, was the county
commissioner race in Tulsa County between Commissioner Randi Miller
and challenger Sally Bell. Bell, campaigning on an absolute promise to
oppose any new taxes received 82% of the vote to Miller’s paltry 18%.
Too bad the voters in Oklahoma county didn’t have the wisdom to boot
Carolyn Caudill and put Stan Inman in office. Just goes to show how
powerful the court house mafia is in Oklahoma County as well as how
much better organized the conservatives are in Tulsa county. In the
weeks to come I will focus on other run-off races but in this e-mail
it will be the Senate District 45 seat between Kyle Loveless and Steve
Russell.
– Are those behind Randy Terrill & Mike Reynold’s opponents,
supporting Steve Russell?
I want to challenge the readers and especially the supporters of Steve
Russell to hear me out and avoid a typical knee jerk reaction to what
I am about to say. This is not an attack on Steve Russell. What I am
about to say are serious questions for which I don’t have an answer.
For your information, I had Lt. Col Russell come to OCPAC about a year
and a half ago and speak about his service to our country, especially
relating to his efforts to capture Saddam Hussein. I believe Russell
is a patriotic war hero who served our country with honor and
distinction. He received a standing ovation from our members after his
presentation, though some of our members have had serious problems
with the war in Iraq from the beginning. As much as he deserves honor
for his service to our county, he is making a major career shift. He
has left the military and is now seeking political office as a
civilian. In that effort he brings with him leadership qualities. But
after that, there are big questions that need to be answered.
Steve Russell informed me he couldn’t appear before the members of
OCPAC the day before his scheduled appearance on June25th. He did not
fill out our survey and send to us or appear to answer questions from
our members and friends. Therefore he wasn’t eligible to receive our
endorsement, which went to Kyle Loveless. Shortly after we endorsed
Kyle and gave him a $2,000 contribution, Steve Russell had a flood of
contributions come in.
He received a $5,000 contribution (the maximum allowed by law) from
Aubry McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy and one of the owners of the
Sonics. He received another $5,000 from the Chesapeake PAC. Larry
Nichols of Devon Energy gave him $5,000 and so did the Devon PAC. He
also received $5,000 from Greg Love’s PAC of the Love’s Travel
stations. In addition he received another $5,000 contribution from a
PAC associated with Clay Bennent, a son in law of the recently
deceased Mr. Gaylord, of the Oklahoman. In addition, Mr. Bennent is
the point man among the 5 millionaires and billionaires who own the
Sonics. In cases such as Greg Love’s PAC, you will find some of these
other people I have mentioned contributing to his PAC and probably the
others also.
I think you will find that some of these people were the same ones
trying to defeat Randy Terrill and Mike Reynolds. Some of these people
are dead set against at least parts of HB1804, legislation passed in
07 to deal with the abuses associated with the invasion of illegal
aliens. If you look hard enough, you will also find that some of these
same people are also those who were against the Taxpayers Bill of
Rights (TABOR) petition as well as being opposed to the petition to
eliminate eminent domain loopholes which was intended to stop
government from abusing private property owners for the benefit of
other “politically well connected” private citizens or corporations.
In addition, Mr. McClendon is an honorary chairman of the election
effort of Democrat Jim Roth, the homosexual appointed by Governor Brad
Henry to the Corporation Commission.
Not to paint them with too broad of a brush as they are sometimes on
the right side of issues; however, by and large, I believe they are
corporate welfare junkies. I believe they view lawmakers as people
they can influence with their big money so that government can be used
as a means to greater wealth or to accomplish their pet projects
largely on the backs of the taxpayers.
So my question is why did they pick Steve Russell? Why did they decide
to fill his campaign coffers with their wads of money? I can
understand them not picking Jerry Foshee, a trial lawyer, but why
Russell rather than Loveless, who was polling in the lead before their
money made a difference. Do they think Russell will be more likely to
support their lust for corporate welfare? Did they decide they would
have more success controlling Russell than Kyle Loveless?
Let me say I am not trying to paint a picture of Steve Russell as
someone who would become a lackey or a puppet on a string of the rich
and powerful, checking with them before every vote he would cast as a
Senator. However, I will say if Russell hasn’t developed a
conservative ideology by which to measure issues and votes, then when
faced with the desires of the rich and powerful, as expressed through
armies of lobbyists, he may never know when he is being manipulated to
do their bidding. I had a lawmaker call me on his own during this past
session to profusely apologize for caving on a key vote regarding
corporate welfare. He said he just buckled under the pressure on the
issue.
Truth is Russell has never been grilled on the principles of good
government. That is what our interview process is designed to do. He
is pro-life as we are but that important issue is only 10% of the
tough issues he will face. Does he believe in corporate welfare which
is immoral and a violation of God’s 8th commandment? I don’t know and
his supporters probably don’t either. Therefore, why take a chance?
Kyle Loveless has developed a conservative ideology and understands
the principles of a republican form of government. Does Russell?
If Russell wins he may become a fine lawmaker, but I believe there
will be enormous pressure on him to “go along to get along” with the
power brokers who control parts of the government of Oklahoma. Check
out the OCPAC Blog at www.ocpac.info and link on to Mike McCarvile’s
blog to read an article from the Tulsa World about Oklahoma’s
corporate giants losing in the primaries (regarding Terrill’s and
Reynold’s races). Then realize, they may win in the Senate district 45
race if Russell wins.
Let me say on final thing regarding these rich and powerful people. I
never want to be guilty of promoting class envy. I don’t care how rich
people become if they inherit or earn their wealth through fair
competition and through moral enterprises. I can’t remember the exact
quote sometimes attributed to Abraham Lincoln. To paraphrase it, the
gist goes something like this: Some people through superior talents or
energies and ambitions will naturally produce more wealth than others.
However, with that said it would be immoral to also give them
advantages through the powers of government! I don’t think I would be
opposed to a thing these men are accomplishing if they accomplish it
through fair market capitalism and without the socialistic re-
distribution of wealth.
– INFORMATION AND POLL QUESTION ON THE OCPAC BLOG
The OEA announced a petition drive to constitutionally force the state
of Oklahoma (taxpayers) to pump even more hard earned tax dollars down
the dark hole of government education. If successful, their efforts
will require massive tax increases or cuts in spending in other
government services to provide the new revenues the OEA wants. Please
log on to the OCPAC blog www.ocpac.info and click on the link to the
Americans For Prosperities’ (AFP) website to read their excellent
response to the proposal by the OEA. Also, the poll question of the
week will seek your opinion as to whether or not Steve Russell will do
the bidding of the powerful elites if he wins the election on August
26th? Please vote your opinion. There is also an opinion section if
you want to express yourself further.
– IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS
TULSA AREA: Tuesday evening August 5th at 6:45 p.m., the members of
Oklahomans For Sovereignty and Free Enterprise (OK-SAFE) will hold
their monthly meeting. The speaker this month will Amanda Teegarden.
Amanda was one of 31 speakers at the Freedom 21 conference which just
wrapped up in the Dallas area about a week and a half ago. Amanda will
give an overview on the wealth of information she gleaned from the
conference. You won’t want to miss this meeting.
OKC AREA: Senator Tom Coburn will hold a town hall meeting Tuesday
morning beginning at 10:00 a.m. in the Council Chamber of the city of
Bethany, 6700 Northwest 36th street. I hope someone will attend to
thank him for outmaneuvering Senator “Dirty” Harry Reid (D-Nev) as
Senator Coburn is credited with saving the American taxpayers $40
billion in earmarks. Then after you thank him for that, please ask him
why he voted to spend $50 billion in the equivalent of earmarks to
wage a global war on AIDS? Ask him where he finds the Constitutional
authority for such spending? Ask him if he is “really” concerned about
the growing debt, we, as well as our kids and grand kids are having to
shoulder? I would love to go but must be working out of town on
Tuesday.
– OCPAC MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
This past Wednesday we were just $20 short of raising $2,000 to take
advantage of our full $2,000 matching membership challenge. We had 2
join which put us over the top. We have also had some new folks sign
up to have us draft their checking accounts for either $15 or $30 each
month which makes them members of either the Elephant Provider level
of membership or the Elephant Provider and RINO Hunter level of
membership. We are now at 187 dues paying members, just 3 memberships
short of our all time record of 190 reached in 2006.
I want to break that record to continue growing in memberships as well
as the number of people on our e-mail list. If you have not joined as
yet, please consider doing so. None of the officers or volunteers at
OCPAC receive any money for their efforts. Contributing to OCPAC is
the most effective way you can give to advance conservatism in the
state of Oklahoma. Instructions on how to join will follow my sign
off. Thanks a bunch to everyone who has supported this organization.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
charliemeadows@peoplepc.com
To join OCPAC fill out the following and send your check to:
OCPAC
P.O. Box 2021
Edmond, Ok 73083
Yes Charlie, I want to join OCPAC at one of the following levels:
___Basic membership at $50 per year.
Safari Club membership:
___Elephant Provider at ___$180 annual or ___$15 monthly
___Elephant Provider and RINO Hunter,___$360 annual or ___$30 monthly.
For monthly payments please send a voided check so we may draft your
checking account on a monthly basis. If you decide to discontinue
monthly
support, simply contact me and we will stop the withdrawal.
THE FOLLOWING IS REQUIRED BY STATE LAW!
Print Name_______________________________________
Address_____________________City________State____Zip________
Occupation______________________Employer_________________
Date_____________________Amount $____________
I have freely given from my own resources and have not been
compensated
for this contribution. (Corporate contributions not allowed by law!)
Signature_________________
Members and friends of the Oklahoma
Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)
Sorry for the late timing on this notice but I have been working out
of town Monday and Tuesday and had problems with my server Tuesday
night. A really interesting event will happen Thursday evening, August
7th in the Hardeman Auditorium on the campus of Oklahoma Christian
University, 2501 East Memorial Road in Edmond.
iDebate, which is a five-day leadership development camp for 48 of the
finest high school students from across the nation, will have their
final round of debate. Students will gather to voice their views,
positions and concerns about some of the most important public policy
issues of the day.
iDebate’s goal is to develop young leaders of CHARACTER who are well-
informed about our communities’ issues, who are able to communicate a
vision for a better future, and who can work with people from all
walks of life to change the world.
Admission to this event is free but appropriate dress is required.
Please pay close attention, the doors will OPEN at 5:30 p.m. and CLOSE
at 5:45 p.m. If you want to be a part of the studio audience, which
will be covered by Fox News, you will need to be there and enter
during that 15 minute time period. Celebrity judges will be New Mexico
Governor Bill Richardson and former Congressman Jack Kemp, both of
whom are former presidential candidates. Also serving as a judge will
be radio and TV personality, Judge Andrew Napolitano.
The event is being sponsored by the National Center for Policy
Analysis, General Tommy Franks Leadership Institute and Museum and The
Academy of Leadership and Liberty, which is based on the campus of
Oklahoma Christian.
I hope to see as many OCPAC members and friends attend this event as
possible.
Charlie Meadows
charliemeadows@peoplepc.com
Members and friends of the Oklahoma
Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)
We meet for lunch every Wednesday, 12 noon at Italiano’s, 4801 North
Lincoln in OKC. Our speaker this week will be one of the owners of a
large oilfield equipment manufacturing firm in OKC. His firm needed to
open a service center in Mexico as his company does business with
Pemex. He will relate how he avoided having to enter the normal method
of entering into a 51-49 percent partnership to do business in Mexico.
It was a difficult task, but legal. He will discuss his perspective on
the root problems in Mexico and what needs to be done to improve that
nation.
Back in January, while Fox was in OKC, our speaker had a private
conversation with the former Mexican President. Our speaker will give
an interesting analysis of Fox the person. He will also talk about how
he has been successful against those competitors who decided to
relocate their manufacturing facilities in Communist China. In
addition, we will have a brief report form Preston Williams, head of
the branch of the Oklahoma Minutemen which is affiliated with Chris
Simcox. Mr. Williams just returned from duty on the Arizona border and
will give an update about the destruction of property and property
values of American citizens which results from our borders still not
being secured. Your won’t want to miss this Wednesday’s meeting.
It will probably be this Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning that
the vote will occur in the Senate on S.B. 163, the measure to make
English the official language of Oklahoma. What this measure attempts
to do is to allow the people of Oklahoma to vote this November to put
into our State Constitution a provision making English the official,
or business language of Oklahoma. The purposes of this measure are to
stream line government, save taxpayer money and prevent future
lawsuits. Already, the state is being sued for not providing drivers
license study materials and testing in Farsi, the native language of
Iran.
Without this provision there is NO limit to the number of languages
the taxpayers might have to provide for legal papers or interpreters.
This could even reach down to the legal notices we run in our
newspapers. By allowing the citizens to make this a part of our
Constitution, rather than just statutory law, we diminish the
possibility of lawsuits from opponents of this concept. This measure
will not prohibit people from speaking in other languages or teaching
other languages in our schools. It will also not prevent tribal
governments from conducting the affairs of their tribes in their
native languages if they so choose. This measure does not in any way
prohibit the CONTENT of speech, which is protected by the first
amendment to our U.S. Constitution, even though I believe the
application of that amendment was pointed toward the more narrow realm
of political speech.
This issue is rational, important, and should be a “no-brainer,” yet
there is opposition. I attended the house committee meeting when SB
163 was amended with this language. Those in opposition were the
Cherokee Nation Tribal leaders, the Hispanics and Muslims. Most of
these people still have their noses bent out of shape over HB 1804,
the measure passed last year to deal with the problems in Oklahoma
resulting from the invasion of illegal aliens. About the only relation
with this measure and 1804 is an aid in enforcement of 1804. This in
no way expands that measure.
When the vote occurs, most of the opposition will come from Democrats,
though some Republicans may be a little weak in the knees on the
issue. Certainly Senator Harry Coates (R-Seminole) will oppose the
measure as he really seems to have his “panties in a bunch” over HB
1804. I believe our greatest concern with Republicans are those in
rural Western Oklahoma. Senator Owen Laughlin (R-Woodward) is good to
go as this is his legislation, though the amendment was added in the
House. The ones we must be most concerned with are Senator Patrick
Anderson (R-Enid down to Guthrie) and Senator Mike Schultz (R-Altus up
to Weatherford).
Therefore, please make calls one more time on this issue. Please call
your own State Senator and urge them to support SB 163. If you do not
know the direct office number for your Senator you may call the Senate
operator, give the name of your Senator and you will be connected with
the proper office. The number from central Oklahoma for the Senate
operator is 524-0126, the statewide toll free number is 1 800
865-6490. If you do not know the name of your personal State Senator
you may log on to this link, fill our your address and it will give
you information as to the names and contact information for your
elected officials. This information lacks some accuracy but it is
worth using, www.capitolconnect.com/oklahoma/.
Beside calling your own Senator, it is very important to also call the
Capitol offices of Senator Patrick Anderson (405) 521-5630 and Senator
Mike Schultz (405) 521-5612. If you live outside the toll free area
you may use the toll free number I mentioned above. Please urge them
to support this measure, this is very important.
I will send out another e-mail regarding the Republican State
Convention this past Saturday at a later date. Not only am I in a time
crunch, we obtained the largest number of names for the OCPAC e-mail
list of any event we have attended. It takes a little time to add
these names through Google Groups which we use to send out our e-
mails. I wanted to wait, as I believe many of the people attending the
convention may be interested in the perspective on the convention.
On a very sad note, our good friend Ken Sellers wife, Kyong Cha
Sellers was killed in a tragic auto crash sometime following the
convention. The driver of the vehicle, which crossed the center line
to hit her head on, is a foolish young man who was allegedly driving
while intoxicated and has been charged with manslaughter. Though I
spoke briefly with Mrs. Sellers at the convention this past Saturday,
I didn’t know her well. Ken is the Vice President of Oklahomans for
Sovereignty and Free Enterprise (OK-SAFE). Please keep Ken, their 3
children and 9 grandchildren, as well as other family and friends in
your prayers. The funeral will be this Thursday, 12:30 p.m. at the
Floral Haven Funeral Home Chapel, 6500 S. 129th E. Ave in Broken
Arrow.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
charliemeadows@peoplepc.com
Members and friends of the Oklahoma
Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)
Please stop the calls to the Governor, it worked as the Governor has
sent SB 1507 back to the Senate for re-consideration. I have been
informed the legislation will go to conference committee where the bad
language will be removed and then the original legislation about
speeding up government communications and saving the taxpayers money
will proceed toward passage.
I want to say a huge thanks to everyone for responding and trusting my
call for action. This all happened very fast and fast action was
needed. I know some of you looked up the legislation itself and had a
hard time understanding the problem. It was extremely difficult to
understand the problem which is why it got by so many good eyes in the
legislature. I will try to give a run down as I understand it as to
what happened.
The original bill (which was good legislation) by Jay Paul Gumm (D-
Durant) and Representative Joe Dorman (D-Rush Springs) passed in the
Senate and went to the House for consideration. While in the House,
Representative Shane Jett (R-Tecumseh) amended the original
legislation with a section of law passed in around 2004 with one
exception. Jett’s amendment struck one word (heretofore) from the
law.
I need to stop and say, several lawmakers called me or sent me e-mails
to assure me that Representative Jett had no malice or deceit intended
in his actions. He probably had no understanding of the implications
but was doing the attachment at the request of Senator John Sparks (D-
Norman) and Senator Jonathan Nichols (R-Norman). I will also say they
probably had no understanding of the implications but were doing this
at the request of someone in the Commerce department or perhaps a
local economic development (central planner) person.
Once the Jett amendment was successfully attached last week, the
legislation went back to the Senate on Monday of this week for
consideration as amended. It was Senator Anthony Sykes (R-Moore),
while reading the amendment noticed the word “heretofore” was being
struck and became suspicious. He was the only no vote, so the measure
passed and went to the Governor’s desk on Tuesday for signing sometime
in the next 5 days. Meanwhile, Senator Sykes went to a law library to
look up the significance of the legal term “heretofore”. Here is what
it is all about.
In about 2004 legislation was passed which allowed for free trade
zones. In that legislation was the word “heretofore” which meant this
legislation could only apply from this point forward. Somewhere around
8 to 12 years ago an authority was formed to purchase land South of
Purcell to create a huge depot, for the NAFTA Superhighway. At the
time it drew a lot of press and then fell off the radar screen. None
of us understood the implications of this project 10 or so years ago.
When Kansas City was selected to be the Smart Port (inland port of
entry and sovereign territory of Mexico) I had assumed the plans for
the Purcell area had been abandoned. I work in Purcell 3 days each
month and never hear anything about the project, except people will
occasionally ask me if I know what happened to it.
By removing the word “heretofore,” the 2004 legislation could then
reach back to this property. We absolutely do not want that to happen
as the project was associated with the plans for the NAFTA
Superhighway. While I am not sure on this, I believe this would have
also applied to another piece of property in the Durant area.
As a point of interest, the two times David and Linda Stall, from
Shoreacres Texas and founders of Corridor Watch, have come to Oklahoma
to speak, they have shown a map of the proposed route of the Trans
Texas Corridor (NAFTA Superhighway). In their presentation, part of
the route is actual as they have obtained ariel photos through
freedom of information requests from the Spanish company with the
contract to build the TTC. However the Route from about Dallas North
to the Red River is still not set as yet. Their map shows two possible
paths from somewhere North of McKinney Texas with the most likely path
heading close to where I-35 crosses the Red River in the Gainsville
area. However, they do say, at the request of a Senator from Oklahoma
there is an alternative route crossing the Red River near Durant.
As another point of interest, Tuesday night Representative Dorman, who
I understand is firmly against the creation of a North American Union,
was warned that his legislation was about to become “radio active” and
he should urge the Governor not to sign the legislation but return it
to the Senate for re-consideration. Wednesday, your calls made it
become “radio active” and again I say, thank you so very much for
responding.
The price of LIBERTY is eternal vigilance. For everyone who saw the
DVD yesterday about what has, and what is happening to England as a
result of becoming swallowed up by the European Union, you well know
why we must stop the formation of the North American Union.
A couple of final thoughts. A big thanks to the many lawmakers like
Dorman and the host of Republicans who have educated themselves on
this as well as similar issues. On the other hand there are other
lawmakers that are either too lazy to bother with educating themselves
or perhaps they have been deceived by someone telling them this is
just a big conspiracy theory propagated by people who wear tin foil
hats and see black helicopters behind every cloud. Meanwhile, people
in Texas are losing their property, financing is being obtained and
concrete is being laid on this massive project.
Let me suggest a great opportunity for anyone, especially lawmakers,
who might want to resign their membership in the “head in the sand
club.” July 24th through the 26,th the 9th Annual Freedom 21 National
Conference will be held in Dallas Texas. Speakers will include Dr.
Jerome Corsi, Phyllis Schlafly, Tom DeWeese, Texas Congressman Ron
Paul, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Larry Pratt of Gun
Owners of America, Oklahoma State Senator Randy Brogdon, Arizona State
Senator Karen Johnson, Dr. Allen Quist, author of the book FED ED, and
the only 2 I have never met or know nothing about, Congressman Sam
Rohrer and Marc Morano.
Why don’t you contact your state Representative or Senator and ask
them to attend, if they don’t have an opponent for their re-election
effort. If they don’t want to go because of money, pay their way or
raise the money through bake sales to pay their tuition for the
conference cost. Oklahomans for Sovereignty and Free Enterprise (OK-
SAFE) is a co-sponsoring organization of this event for the first time
this year. For more information, log on to www.freedom21.org.
Another huge event closer to home will be the 3rd Annual Reclaiming
Oklahoma For Christ conference. The dates are Friday evening, July
11th and Saturday morning the 12th. Speakers will be two of Americas
top Christian Historians, David Barton of www.wallbuilders.com and
Bill Federer of www.amerisearch.net. In addition Mat Staver www.lc.org
and John Morris www.icr.org will also be speaking. The event will
again be held on the campus of Oklahoma Christian University in
Edmond. For the first time, admission will be free. I will have more
on this later on, but I would urge everyone to put this on your
calender now.
Charlie Meadows
charliemeadows@peoplepc.com
Members and friends of the Oklahoma
Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)
For the 2007 session the members of OCPAC voted to award Shane Jett (R-
Tecumseh) as the winner of the dubious RINO (Republican In Name Only)
award. True to his earned reputation as a liberal Republican, and the
leading proponent of globalism of anyone in the legislature, he was
successful in amending a Senate Bill last week which has serious
consequences.
The legislation is SB 1507. Jett’s amendment facilitates multi-modal
transportation corridors for rail, utilities, pipe lines and even a
inland “smart” port. These are all components for the NAFTA
Superhighway and is an important step toward creating a North American
Union.
The legislation got by the conservative and patriotic lawmakers until
today, when is was sent to the Governor. It is imperative, let me say
it again, it is vital that everyone contact the Governor immediately
and tell him you want him to VETO this legislation. The phone numbers
for his office are: (405) 521-2342 or 1 800 865-6490 and 1 800
522-8502. His OKC fax is (405) 521-3353 and the Tulsa fax is (918)
581-2835.
If you want to send an e-mail that is fine, but please, the more
important communication method is by phone or fax. Please leave a
message that you are opposed to this legislation and to veto it!
Charlie Meadows
charliemeadows@peoplepc.com
Members and friends of the Oklahoma
Conservative Political Action
Committee (OC PAC)
We meet for lunch every Wednesday, 12 noon, at Italiano’s 4801 North
Lincoln in OKC. Members, friends, and sometimes enemies also, who
attend our meetings know, that besides the mentioned agenda any number
of additional announcements or individuals with bits of information
might be a part of our meetings. With that in mind, we will watch one
DVD this week with the possibility of seeing a second, depending on
time. The main DVD, is called NO REMOTE CONTROL and lasts for 21
minutes. This was produced just a few weeks ago in England and only a
handful of people in Oklahoma have viewed it as yet. The program
features the serious problems brought on the citizens of England by
mass migration (unlimited immigration) and the almost complete loss of
sovereignty and lawmaking ability as a result of being a member of the
European Union.
The second DVD, which will be available for purchase at the minimal
cost of one dollar, will detail how the European Union came about and
how the formation of the EU correlates to the effort to build a North
American Union. Of course many of those working toward the
“integration” of Mexico, the United States and Canada deny there is
any attempt to create a North American Union. They deny this as they
are going down the near identical path of events which lead to the
formation of the EU.
Americans are being informed of the plans of the globalists to create
a North American Union. As a result, those pursuing those goals, are
typically using the tried and true tactics of changing the names of
programs and working working groups, as well as denying any intended
goals. They love to label those of us exposing their agenda as
“conspiracy theorists.” That is supposed to end any further
conversation and stop us from continuing to shine the light on their
plans and discourage of from resisting their efforts. They use these
techniques to discredit patriotic Americans who oppose them, while at
the same time they meet together in private to plot and plan
(conspire), to bring about this “supranational” regional government.
In other words, they “lie” or ignore patriots, as you will see in the
DVDs. You won’t want to miss this Wednesday’s meeting.
– NEW ACTIVISTS IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, THE RON PAUL SUPPORTERS
– HOW SENATORS VOTED ON TAXPAYER GIVEAWAY TO SONICS’ OWNERS.
– WHY YOU SHOULD JOIN OCPAC
– LEGISLATION THAT PASSED OR FAILED LAST WEEK
– THE RON PAUL SUPPORTERS
Some on our e-mail list have responded to me regarding my recent e-
mail about speaking to a Ron Paul meet-up group about 3 weeks ago and
then another meeting with several Ron Paul supporters along with
Huckabee supporters and traditional conservatives. I have suggested a
coalition is forming which should probably be called a Liberty Values
Coalition. Rather than trying to answer the many e-mails, let me
suggest reading the article written by Richard Engle in the current
issue of the Oklahoma Constitution Newspaper. It is excellent and does
a better job of discussing these issues than I could ever hope to
write. If you don’t take the paper, and you should ($10 per year),
then log on to www.OklahomaConstitution.com. The name of the article
is titled: THE CONCEPT OF A CONSERVATIVE PARTY.
Along the same lines, nationally syndicated talk radio was aflame last
Thursday with Republicans angry at John McCain for throwing all
conservatives and even moderates under the bus. He attacked the North
Carolina State Chairman, demanding their ads cease. The ads were
making the point about the Democrat candidate for Governor who had
endorsed Obama, who is associated with the loose cannon, Pastor.
Jeremiah Wright. Rather than going after these radical Democrats, he
turned on his base and also bashed President Bush for the handling of
the Katrina relief efforts.
McCain may be elected with a lot of conservatives holding their noses.
However, the maverick as he likes to be known, is pointing out the
critical necessity for people with conservative values to get off
their duff’s and get involved in the political process. That is why it
is so important for new Ron Paul conservatives, who are fine folks, to
attend the State Convention this next Saturday, along with other
traditional conservatives to learn the process and make a difference
in the years to come..
– HOW STATE SENATORS VOTED ON THE BASKETBALL SUBSIDY
First I want to list the 21 Senators in the “hall of honor” who voted
against legislation to subsidize the millionaires and billionaire who
own the Sonics. The legislation was just passed hours before the NBA
voted to move the team to OKC. Because of the tax credits (subsidies)
going to the owners over the next 15 years, the State will miss out on
several million dollars per year in new revenues. Had these new
revenues gone into effect it would have been easier for the state to
reduce the income tax on all Oklahomans. Following are the good guys
who voted NO:
CLIFF ALDRIDGE (R-Midwest City)
PATRICK ANDERSON (R-Enid)
ROGER BALLENGER (D-Okmulgee)
ANDY BASS (D-Lawton)
RANDY BROGDON (R-Owasso)
MARY EASLEY (D-Tulsa)
JUDY McIntyre EASON (D-Tulsa)
EARL GARRISON (D-Muskogee)
TOM IVESTER (D-Elk City)
CONNIE JOHNSTON (D-OKC)
RON JUSTICE (R-Chickasha)
OWEN LAUGHLIN (R-Woodward)
DAVID MYERS (R-Ponca City)
JEFF RABON (D-Hugo)
JIM REYNOLDS (R-OKC)
ANDREW RICE (D-OKC)
MIKE SCHULTZ (R-Altus)
JOHN SPARKS (D-Norman)
JOE SWEEDEN (D-Pawhuska)
ANTHONY SYKES (R-Moore)
As a point of interest, 7 of the 9 Republicans voting against this
legislation have been recipients of support from OCPAC. Owen Laughlin
has never been eligible for support and our by-laws didn’t allow us to
be involved in Senator Schultz’s primary as he didn’t appear before
our group prior to the general election.
Now for those Senators who support the socialistic principle of re-
distribution of wealth through corporate welfare (economic
development), rather than promoting (economic liberty) which creates
an environment where those with a true entrepreneurial spirit have a
chance to succeed through a fair and level playing field. Those voting
to force Oklahoman’s all over the state to pay 60 to 100 million of
their hard earned tax dollars to the owners of the Sonics are:
TOM ADELSON (D-Tulsa)
DON BARRINGTON (R-Lawton) if a Democrat uses this against him, he will
lose.
BRIAN BINGMAN (R-Sapulpa)
CLIFF BRANAN (R-OKC)
BILL BROWN (R-Broken Arrow)
SEAN BURRANGE (D-Claremore)
HARRY COATES (R-Seminole)
GLEN COFFEE (R-OKC)
KENNETH CORN (D-Poteau)
BRIAN CRAIN (R-Tulsa)
JOHNNIE CRUTHFIELD (D-Ardmore)
JOHN FORD (R-Bartlesville)
JAY PAUL GUMM (D-Durante)
MIKE JOHNSON (D-Kingfisher)
CLARK JOLLEY (R-Edmond)
TODD LAMB (R-OKC)
CHARLIE LASTER (D-shawnee)
DEBBIE LEFTWICH (D-OKC)
RICHARD LERBLANCE (D-Hartshorne)
MIKE MAZZEI (R-Tulsa)
MIKE MORGAN (D-Stillwater)
JONATHAN NICHOLS (R-Norman)
SUSAN PADDACK (D-Ada)
NANCY RILEY (D-Tulsa)
KATHLEEN WILCOXSON (R-Mustang)
JAMES WILLIAMSON (R-Tulsa)
CHARLES WYRICK (D-unFairland)
Of the 15 Republicans who voted for the measure, OCPAC has contributed
to 2 of them. Senator Wilcoxson, who seems to have lost her
conservative way, is a great case for term limits. The other was
Senator Brian Crain of Tulsa. When I talked with him at the Capitol
before the vote, he seemed to be opposed to the measure, saying he
told the lobbyists for the measure, if they weren’t going to promise
to subsidize something more substantial than an Arena Football team
for Tulsa, then he wasn’t interested. I now wonder, was he just
kidding, was he promised something more substantial, or did he just
fold under heavy arm twisting?
Regardless, all the Tulsa area Republicans (Bingman, Crain, Mazzei and
James Williamson) must be in agreement with Democrat Mayor Kathy
Taylor, that by subsidizing the owners of the Sonics so OKC can have a
basketball team, it will be good for Tulsa.
It has been estimated that somewhere around 5 to 6 thousand folks from
Tulsa will attend the home games in OKC. I believe OKC Mayor Cornett
should express more gratitude to these Tulsa area Republican lawmakers
for helping thousands of Tulsans travel down the turnpike to spend
their money on meals, shopping and hotel rooms as well as pay the
price of game tickets In OKC. That will be a huge business and sales
tax boost to OKC (I have always said OKC will benefit). By voting for
the subsidy these lawmakers will help prevent OVER-CROWDING at the
restaurants, movies, theater, arts and arena events in the Tulsa area
on the same nights as home games in OKC.
Another point of interest, Senator Mazzei from Tulsa, had a fund
raiser on the evening after the vote at a home in Nichols Hills. It
would sure be interesting to know if any of the sponsors of his fund
raiser or those who contributed to his re-election campaign were
connected to the Sonics? If you are one of his constituents why don’t
you ask him? It will eventually show up in an ethics committee report.
Next week I will list how the House members voted on the measure.
– REASONS FOR JOINING OCPAC
When I publish the House votes next week we will pretty much see the
same results as far as Republicans that OCPAC has supported in the
past. For the most part they voted against the measure and those we
did not support for the most part voted for the taxpayer giveaway. Is
that because we tried to hold our financial contributions over their
heads? Absolutely not, we have never reminded an elected official of
our financial support. It is because our interview process works
remarkably well in spotting those candidates with core conservative
values and the degree to which those values have been developed into
policy positions.
Therefore may I suggest, if all you want are candidates elected with
the word “Republican” by their name then keep on contributing to the
Republican Party, as well as the House and Senate PACs. After all,
that is where the owners of the Sonics have put their money and some
might suggest it has produced the best Republican majority money can
influence. On the other hand, if your really care about limited
government conservatism, then you need to join with us at OCPAC and
help us make Oklahoma a more conservative state. I have just lined up
the first person to agree to match dollar for dollar everything we
raise now through the end of May up to a certain amount of money. I
will contact some additional folks who have helped us in the past and
let everyone know the targeted amount. You will find instructions on
joining following my sign off.
– PASSED AND FAILED LEGISLATION FROM LAST WEEK
A huge thanks to everyone who went to the Capitol this past Wednesday
to support Representatives Terrill (R-Moore) and Faught (Muskogee).
The Republicans really stood strong in passage by a 70 to 28 vote with
3 excused. Now the measure will go back to the Senate as the language
was attached in the House to a Germain Senate bill. I will try to keep
everyone informed on this bill’s progress.
Senate Bill 1413, regarding the protection of citizens from an overly
intrusive federal government also passed 58 to 33 with 10 excused
absences. This legislation, pushed by Rex Duncan (R-Sand Springs)
allows law enforcement the tools it needs, but protects citizens from
excessive exposure to bureaucrats and data base sharing through Real
ID.
However, not all went well this past week. One of the most important
pieces of legislation this year, SB 2093, by Ken Miller in the House
failed 40 to 57. Besides last year’s RINO (Republican In Name Only)
award winner Shane Jett (RINO-Tecumseh) voting against the measure,
Representative Lisa Billy (R-Purcell) also voted against the measure.
I bring up Representative Billy for 2 reasons.
First she attended the recent breakfast sponsored by The Oklahoma
Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) where Star Parker was the speaker.
Any lawmaker with a reasonable amount of intelligence and intellectual
honesty should have understood how valuable it is to provide a way for
children of poor parents to be able to escape the many failures of
inner city schools. Representative Billy also appeared on OETA’s
program that evening hosted by Quin Tran. During the meeting Lisa
indicated she voted against the measure because her superintendent was
against the measure and in Purcell when problems arise, the parents
get involved to fix the problems. In effect, she said that is what
parents everywhere should do.
Let me suggest another thought. Representative Billy and her husband
are both educators. I believe she was urged by her local
superintendents to oppose the measure. Many school superintends don’t
want any legislation they “perceive” could adversely impact revenues
coming to their schools. This measure, if Representative Billy would
have properly understood it, would actually provide more money for all
rural school districts, thus providing more for them, not less. If
Lisa would have been able to understand the measure she could have
educated her superintendents rather than pander to them. That is the
difference between “leadership,” doing what is right and best for
everyone in a win-win situation, rather than pandering to a handful of
leaders in the education industry.
Following are the basic tenets of the legislation. Lets say the XYZ
Corp put 5 million in the scholarship fund and the state would rebate
half or 2.5 million (the capped amount) back to the XYZ Corp. At an
average price of $5,000 per student for tuition for private schools,
the 5 million would provide scholarships for 1,000 students. The cost
to the state would be 2,500 per student. However, if those same inner
city kids were to stay in those failed schools, at say 7,000 per
student, the cost for the taxpayers to keep the same 1,000 kids in
those inner city schools would mount up to 7 million dollars. Thus
costing the state 4.5 million more to keep kids in the failed inner
city schools. In the second year after implementation of the measure,
the extra 4.5 million would to go into the education formula which
would have increased the amount available to rural schools like
Purcell. It was such a win-win measure with 1,000 kids having a shot
at a good education and the government school superintendents having
more money to throw down the rat hole of government schools. Way to go
Representatives Billy and Jett.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
charliemeadows@peoplepc.com
To join OCPAC fill out the following and send your check to:
OCPAC
P.O. Box 2021
Edmond, Ok 73083
Yes Charlie, I want to join OCPAC at one of the following levels:
___Basic membership at $50 per year.
Safari Club membership:
___Elephant Provider at ___$180 annual or ___$15 monthly
___Elephant Provider and RINO Hunter,___$360 annual or ___$30 monthly.
For monthly payments please send a voided check so we may draft your
checking account on a monthly basis. If you decide to discontinue
monthly
support, simply contact me and we will stop the withdrawal.
THE FOLLOWING IS REQUIRED BY STATE LAW!
Print Name_______________________________________
Address_____________________City________State____Zip________
Occupation______________________Employer_________________
Date_____________________Amount $____________
I have freely given from my own resources and have not been
compensated
for this contribution. (Corporate contributions not allowed by law!)
Signature___________________________________
Members and friends of the Oklahoma
Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)
I got home about 9:45 tonight (Tuesday) and had a message that the
vote on SB 163, the English as the official language of Oklahoma
legislation, has been moved to after lunch, probably shortly after
1:30 p.m. In my most recent e-mail I had indicated it would be
sometime in the morning which is now incorrect. By the way, the
legislation if passed actually calls for a vote of the people to
change this in our Constitution. So if it passes there will be plenty
of debate on the measure before next November when we the people will
vote on it.
Charlie Meadows
charliemeadows@peoplepc.com
Members and friends of the Oklahoma
Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)
I received word last evening that SB 163, the legislation to make
“English” as the official language of Oklahoma, will be heard on the
House side in Wednesday’s session. Session starts at 9:00 a.m. It is
expected there will be Hispanic, American Indians and Muslims present
in opposition to the legislation. Representative Terrill (R-Moore)
contacted me and indicated it would be really helpful is patriotic
citizens could be present to support the measure. The House gallery is
on the 5th floor. The bill will probably be taken up somewhere between
9:30 and 10:30. If you can’t attend, please call your personal State
Representative. If you don’t know the direct number just call (405)
521-2711 or 1 800 522-8502 and give the operator the name of your
State Representative. Urge your Representative to support this measure
as it will save the taxpayers millions of dollars over time and will
harm NO ONE that is a citizen or here legally.
In yesterday’s e-mail I failed to mention another very important piece
of legislation to be heard in the House, either today or tomorrow. I
don’t have the bill number in front of me but it is being called THE
NEW HOPE SCHOLARSHIP ACT. This is legislation to start a very minimal
school choice program to empower parents to direct the educational
choice for their children through tax credits. It is designed for poor
families as businesses or more people could contribute to a
scholarship fund and receive a tax credit back for part of their
contribution. Then poor families could access the funds to pay tuition
to a private school. This will save the taxpayers money as the cost of
educating children will be less this way and it will begin to break
the monopoly on funding, currently enjoyed by the government schools.
That is why the teacher unions (NEA, OEA & AFT) are against this
measure. Please contact your State Representative at the numbers
mentioned in the above paragraph and urge them to support this
legislation.
There probably won’t be more than one or maybe two Democrats that will
support this measure and Republicans, especially those in the rural
areas, will be under extreme pressure from their greedy local school
system “tyrants” to oppose this legislation. If you care about
children you will support school choice, if on the other hand, all you
care about is propping up failed or underperforming “school systems,”
then you will be opposed to any kind of school choice.
Charlie Meadows
charliemeadows@peoplepc.com
Members and friends of the Oklahoma
Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)
We meet for lunch every Wednesday, 12 noon, at Italiano’s, 4801 North
Lincoln in OKC. Please pay when you first enter, then proceed to get
your pizza or pasta and your salad will be served in our meeting room.
The cost is $8 for the meal with water and $9 with a soft drink or
tea. The price includes tax and tip. Our speaker this week will be
John McLaughlin, editor and publisher of the magazine THUNDER ROADS of
OKLAHOMA. The magazine is read by ten’s of thousands of bikers in over
20 states. It just recently surpassed the circulation of the EASY
RIDER publication. John will talk about his publication, its objective
and also profile his readership. In addition, he will talk about an
article he just wrote about the Real ID ACT. I am really glad he is
informing so many bikers about this privacy infringement legislation
and the federal government’s attempt to strong arm Oklahoma into
compliance. Last year Oklahoma opted out of the Real ID Act and this
year we have some more legislation pending this week to even further
protect citizens from the overly oppressive “BIG BROTHER.” The
legislation is SB 1413 and is due to be heard by the full House this
week if leadership will allow it to be heard. Your may want to call
your State Representative and urge that person to support this
legislation.
– ANNOUNCEMENTS
– THE BEST AND THE BAD
– EXPELLED THE MOVIE
– ANNOUNCEMENTS
Two important events will occur this Thursday evening. First, our
friends at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) are holding
their major fund raiser for the year at the National Cowboy & Western
Heritage Museum. This year’s speaker will be Peggy Noonan, Wall Street
Journal columnist and author of 7 books. Perhaps Noonan is most famous
for being a very conservative speech writer for Ronald Reagan. If you
want to attend, please call OCPA at (405) 602-1667. You will need to
do this asap to see if there is seating still available.
Also, on Thursday evening the “Crossroads” ministry in Guthrie, “An
Open Door for Life Choices” will be holding a fund raiser to support
their pro-life and medical clinic efforts. The speaker will be Kurt
Dillinger, President of Life International. This will be held at the
former Masonic Orphanage, beautifully restored today and now known at
the Dominion House. There is no charge to attend but an opportunity to
support the ministry will be available. I would urge those folks
attending to give their best contribution possible. For more
information please call 405 969.3816. You will need to do so
immediately as there were just a few seats still available toward the
end of last week.
This Friday, April 25th, several thousand schools across the nation
will be observing “Day of Silence (DOS).” DOS is a nationwide push to
promote the homosexual lifestyle in public schools. Opponents of this
lunacy are urging you to contact your local school to find out if they
are observing the Day of Silence. While the national day is April
25,th some school districts may observe it on a different day. The
observation is intended to persuade your children that homosexuals,
lesbians, cross-dressers and etc., are victims of unrelenting
harassment and hate. Your children will be taught that homosexuality
is a worthy lifestyle with few risks and that those individuals are
born homosexual and CANNOT change. Of course the latter is absolutely
false.
Contact your school to find out if they are observing the DOS. If so,
please keep your children at home on that day. Some Oklahoma schools
thought to be observing the DOS are: Booker T. Washington (Tulsa),
Choctaw High, Enid High, Jenks High, Norman High and Norman North, my
old school - Northwest Classen, Putnam City High, Tulsa School of Arts
& Sciences, Union Independent High and West Moore High. Call your own
school to ask, or you may never know!
Our friends at Americans for Prosperity (AFP) will be hosting an
unusual event one week from Thursday on May 1st. It is being called
the HOT AIR TOUR. The purpose is to expose the ballooning costs of the
global warming hysteria. It will be a rally, cook-out and rides in a
70 ft. tall hot air balloon, weather permitting. It will start at 5:00
p.m. and the location is the Bricktown Baseball Ballpark parking lot
in downtown OKC. There is no cost to attend.
– THE BEST AND THE BAD
First the bad, this past week the legislature passed legislation to re-
distribute wealth from the citizens of Oklahoma to the millionaire’s
and billionaire’s who own the Sonics. Perhaps, Representative Randy
Terrill (R-Moore) had the most clever line in the debate against the
measure. He said it was like going fishing, with the fish already in
the boat. I have been out of town since noon on Friday and didn’t
return until Sunday evening so I haven’t had time to research how
everyone voted on the measure. I hope to have that information by the
next e-mail. Especially the lawmakers who voted against the measure
and then voted for the emergency clause. Had the emergency clause not
passed, the citizens of Oklahoma could have started a petition drive
to bring it to a vote of the people. If the petition drive were
started, the measure would not go into effect until the petition
process was played out. Also, the number of signatures necessary to
bring that about, would be one half the normal number.
Now for the BEST. Last Thursday, both the House and Senate voted to
override the Governor’s veto of this year’s featured piece of pro-life
legislation. The Governor used the tired, stale, worn out verbiage
that the legislation didn’t protect those mothers who had been victims
or rape or incest. Protect them from what? For the most part, the
legislation requires every woman contemplating an abortion to have an
ultrasound and then a doctor to interpret the images on the monitor.
Can you say rational and reasonable? Many women feel victimized AGAIN,
later in life when they realize they weren’t really informed as to
what they were doing by having an abortion. With the override of the
veto, Oklahoma now has the BEST pro-life laws on the books of any
state in the Nation.
With the passage of HB 1804 last year, Oklahoma now has the
distinction of having the BEST legislation in the nation to deal with
the problems associated with illegal aliens. Another really important
piece of legislation to be heard in the House this week, is
Representatives Terrill and George Faught’s (R-Muskogee) bill, to
establish English as Oklahoma’s official language. This harms no
person with legal status and will save the Oklahoma Taxpayers untold
millions of dollars in the future.
With the recent response by State Representative Sally Kern toward her
vicious attackers and the resounding support from the good people of
Oklahoma, Oklahoman’s have shown the way to BEST stand up to the
radical homosexual agenda. Great going Representative Kern, and may
the good people of Oklahoma pat themselves on the back.
– EXPELLED THE MOVIE
I had the opportunity to see Ben Stein’s EXPELLED - NO INTELLIGENCE
ALLOWED this past Friday in Dallas. I don’t want to spoil if for
anyone who has yet to see the movie, but just let me say this one
thing. Toward the end of the movie, Mr. Stein interviewed Richard
Dawkins, (a man Neal Boortz idolizes) considered by some to be the
most intelligent person alive today. Ben Stein toyed with Dawkins and
made him look like an utter fool. Of course that is how the Bible
labels a person who says in his heart, there is no God. The Bible says
that person is a fool!
Please join OCPAC if you have not done so as yet. Information to join
will follow my sign off. I look forward to seeing everyone this
Wednesday.
Charlie Meadows
charliemeadows@peoplepc.com
To join OCPAC fill out the following and send your check to:
OCPAC
P.O. Box 2021
Edmond, Ok 73083
Yes Charlie, I want to join OCPAC at one of the following levels:
___Basic membership at $50 per year.
Safari Club membership:
___Elephant Provider at ___$180 annual or ___$15 monthly
___Elephant Provider and RINO Hunter,___$360 annual or ___$30 monthly.
For monthly payments please send a voided check so we may draft your
checking account on a monthly basis. If you decide to discontinue
monthly
support, simply contact me and we will stop the withdrawal.
THE FOLLOWING IS REQUIRED BY STATE LAW!
Print Name_______________________________________
Address_____________________City________State____Zip________
Occupation______________________Employer_________________
Date_____________________Amount $____________
I have freely given from my own resources and have not been
compensated
for this contribution. (Corporate contributions not allowed by law!)
Signature___________________________________
Members and friends of the Oklahoma
Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)
– UPDATE ON CORPORATE WELFARE FOR SONICS MILLIONAIRES
– DARK DAY FOR EVOLUTIONISTS
– CORPORATE WELFARE UPDATE
SB1819, the legislation to provide a corporate welfare subsidy for the
owners of the Sonics is moving with lightening speed. The measure was
brought to the floor late on Monday. With a floor substitute and
several amendments attached, all of which reduced the benefits to the
millionaire owners of the Sonics and changed the bill to a significant
degree, the bill passed and went to a conference committee. Not
everyone will understand this but SB 1819 was an appropriations “shell
bill” meaning the type of legislation where Republican puppet masters
like Speaker Benge and Senator Coffee can use maximum trickery and
maneuvering to move legislation along they want passed.
Part of the “deal” made to get rural Republican legislators on board,
as they had been resisting it, was to give them a bunch of wealth
redistribution pork. Basically it was the concept introduced by
Democrat Congressman Brad Carson when he was running against Senator
Coburn. Carson wanted to pander to people in Western Oklahoma, an area
which has been losing population. Carson, wanting to “central plan”
where people live and use government to manipulate that, proposed
giving tax dollars to people for a down payment on a home if they
would move to certain parts of the state. Representative Jeff Hickman
(R-Woodward) has a similar plan, only I believe it would exempt people
from having to pay any state income taxes for several years if they
will relocate.
With these pork goodies in the bill, now a doubly bad measure, it
passed and went to conference committee where most of the new language
was stripped out and the goodies for the Sonics owners were put back
into the bill. A bill out of conference can’t be amended so by Tuesday
afternoon it was in the Senate for an up or down vote. It passed the
Senate 27 yes to 21 no.
Not totally surprising were yes votes by Clark Jolley (R-Edmond) and
Mike Mazzei (R-Tulsa) as I believe they are both vying for leadership
once Senator Coffee is term limited out in two years. Another person
voting for the measure, who was a disappointment, was Senator Jim
Williamson (R-Tulsa). A disappointment but not a total surprise. While
Senator Williamson is solid on the life issues, illegal aliens and
recently has been working hard for a tax credit measure for select
parents to send their children to private schools, his whole career
has been one of too many compromises.
When he ran for Governor in 2006 the main reason our members didn’t
endorse him was his low lifetime average on the Oklahoma Constitution
Newspaper’s Conservative Index, then a 63. I have found that after
about 4 years in the legislature, the average index score is a very
accurate measure of the ideological bent or the performance and
consistency of a lawmaker. I believe our members really liked Senator
Williamson but couldn’t endorse him because of his low score.
Once passed in the Senate it went back to the House Wednesday morning
for a final up or down vote. Because of a 24 hour rule, they won’t
vote on it before 11:00 a.m. this morning. Will the rural lawmakers
vote against the measure since their goodies have been stripped from
the measure? We will know later today. Sources tell me Ken Miller (R-
Edmond) another lawmaker being promoted for leadership once Speaker
Benge is term limited, is under heavy pressure. Does he really like
the measure or does he just believe he must deliver for the money
boys, so his chances for leadership will not be diminished?
Personally, I believe any Republican lawmaker voting for this measure,
not repentant and willing to admit it was a bad vote, should be
replaced. Now please pay close attention. I am not suggesting they be
replaced by a Democrat. I am suggesting the be replaced by a more
conservative Republican. A Republican who is honorable and understands
that all re-distribution of wealth is a moral issue and is nothing
more than legalized thievery.
One of the greatest challenges for conservatives and especially
Christians to understand is, where do you draw the line on what are
the proper functions of government, for which we are to pay taxes, and
what are the IMPROPER functions of government for which we should not
be paying taxes? This will be a shock to most Christians, but learning
how to make that distinction is as important of an issue in God’s eyes
as the abortion or homosexual issues. Thievery, weather done by an
individual or by government is still a violation of the 8th
commandment. Thou shall not steal!
DARK DAY FOR THE EVOLUTIONISTS
Friday, April 18th will be a dark day for evolutionists all across
America and perhaps the world. Ben Stein’s new movie EXPELLED - NO
INTELLIGENCE ALLOWED will debut in over 1,100 movie theaters across
America. This is not a Christian film, but Stein has produced a
humorous documentary which details the fraud of evolution, weather it
be humanistic or Theistic in its motivation.
I want to urge everyone to try and see this movie, THIS weekend. If it
is a top box office draw it will propel it to receive national
notoriety, extend the time it is in the theaters, and will cause many
more people to see this film. Big science, which could also be called
“fraudulent science”, is going nuts trying to suppress this docu-
movie. After all, it lifts their skirts to show the bare nakedness of
their deception and evil tactics to punish those in academia and
science who would dare to disagree with their fraud.
Charlie Meadows
charliemeadows@peoplepc.com
Members and friends of the Oklahoma
Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)
We meet for lunch every Wednesday, 12 noon, at Italiano's, 4801 North
Lincoln in OKC. This Wednesday State Senator Anthony Sykes (R-Moore
down to Duncan) will speak briefly about his legislation to shine the
light of day upon the practice of taxpayer funded lobbyist using their
skills to "cut the size of government", oh excuse me, I meant to say
"GROW the size of government." While his bill passed out of the
Senate with a 44 to 0 vote, it was killed in a house committee this
past week. While the bill, carried in the House by Representative
Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie), looked likely to pass, it was none other
than Representative John Wright (R-Broken Arrow) who began the
verbiage which led to the bill's defeat. Senator Sykes will fill us in
on the details. I will try to contact Representative Wright should he
also want to speak. Our main speaker will be Ron Marlett. You may
recognize Ron's name as the person who has announced he will oppose
Representative Sally Kern in the November elections. Mr. Marlett,
contacted me after reading one of my e-mails about Representative Kern
and wanted to come speak to our OCPAC members. Since we ACTUALLY
practice freedom of speech at OCPAC he will be here this Wednesday. It
will be interesting to hear what he has to say as to why he believes
it is necessary to replace Kern or as to why he believes he might do a
better job than Kern. I have always said our reputation at OCPAC is
"tough but not mean" and our motto is "conservatives and
constitutionalists we love and liberals we enjoy." That pretty much
covers just about everyone.
- WILL OR SHOULD CORPORATE WELFARE FOR SONICS OWNER'S BILL PASS?
- CONCEALED CARRY ON CAMPUS SQUELCHED
- REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION-INVOLVEMENT FOR CONSERVATISM.
- CORPORATE WELFARE FOR SONICS OWNERS
Sources tell me House leadership may not as yet have the votes for
passage of (SB 1819) the 60 to 100 million dollar corporate welfare
package for the millionaire and billionaire owners of the Sonics. This
is almost unheard of for leadership to put legislation they want
passed on the docket to be voted on when they aren't assured
beforehand to have the necessary votes for passage.
I would speculate they are willing to take that risk, hoping to put
even greater pressure on any House member still on the fence on the
issue. The reason, the NBA owners vote this Thursday or Friday to
relocate the team. AFTER the vote, which by some accounts is already a
done deal that the team will move here, legislative leaders will lose
their only excuse for passage of this taxpayer give away plan to the
people who have been so very generous to many of the sitting
lawmakers. Time is of the essence. If it passes in the House, it will
need to be rushed over to the Senate for passage before the vote by
the NBA owners later this week.
Therefore, it is imperative to call your State Representative
immediately (Capitol switchboard is (405) 521-2711). Tell them you are
opposed to this legislation. Do so again, even if you have already
called before. Some sources tell me those supportive of the measure
are OKC House members Guy Liebman and David Dank. I have heard Ken
Miller (R-Edmond) is uncommitted and some suggest Randy McDaniel (R-
OKC) is leaning toward passage. I was so happy our OCPAC members voted
to oppose this taxpayer give-away plan this past Wednesday. The vote
was unanimous. I am confident this will become a Conservative Index
Vote.
I heard a short blip on the radio with Senator Glen Coffee stating
that the approval by the NBA owners for the team to be brought here is
dependent upon approval of the SB 1819 legislation to subsidize the
team with taxpayer dollars. As I said in the previous e-mail, if you
believe that you will believe almost anything.
However, lets play Alice in Wonderland and say, it is true. What that
means is that there really isn't a market for an NBA team in the metro
area. In other words, if there aren't enough people in the metro area
to pay enough for the tickets to make this team successful, then there
isn't a market here and we don't really need a team here. If you are a
private enterprise capitalist you will agree with that statement. If
on the other hand you believe it is alright to re-distribute taxpayer
dollars from citizens all over Oklahoma to the team's owners, then you
believe in "socialist capitalism."
If you really want to be honest, you will realize this legislation is
being crafted specifically for the owners of the Sonics, even though
the legislation will be couched in terms of being applicable to a
wider range of professional sports. Anytime government determines who
it is that gets the special privileges, rather than the opportunities
being available to any in the private sector, then that is the
definition of fascist capitalism. Government picking the winners and
the privileged for the opportunities is in opposition to private
enterprise capitalism.
One final word on this. If you are a socialist capitalist, since the
state will NOT receive any DIRECT benefit from this NBA team being
here, if there is to be redistribution of wealth, let it be done by
the citizens of OKC. Oklahoma City is the big winner in this, not the
state or the people who live in the other areas of the state. Even
Larkin Warner, an economist and regents professor emeritus at OSU,
warned that to keep expanding the Quality Jobs Act is to eventually
put the state budget at risk. Larkin favors this type of "economic
development" but is concerned it is being expanded to include too many
jobs that should be paying their own way in the state.
For the most up to date information on this issue log on to
www.reverserobinhood.com. By the way, the information coming out of
the trial in Seattle, including e-mails between the Sonics owners is
fascinating. While some of the most embarrassing information was on
the Chanel 9 news cast this past Thursday at 10:00 p.m., I believe
Kelly Ogle worked hard to give the best cover possible for the "good
ole boy" owners in his "my 2 cents worth" commentary which follows the
weather. Of course that is his prerogative as it is an opinion piece
and not to be confused with news.
- CONCEALED CARRY ON CAMPUS AMENDMENT FAILS
This past Thursday before the vote on the amendment to legislation
which contained the wording to allow concealed weapons to be carried
on college campuses by highly qualified citizens, the Republicans and
Democrats went into caucus meetings. It is evident by the fact that
the amendment was never voted on, that at least a majority of the 24
Republican Senators are more interested in "CONTAINING" conservatism
rather than advancing conservatism.
As a point of interest, OU President David Boren (often referred to as
KING DAVID by lawmakers) was so opposed to this bill that he offered
to get down on his knees and beg the lawmakers not to pass this
legislation. I have to admit, the thought of a picture on my wall of
David Boren on his knees begging was almost tempting enough to want to
put the legislation off for another year. Then I snapped out of my
momentary dream world and remembered, if some crazed shooter began
killing students and professors on an Oklahoma campus between now and
next year, it wouldn't have been worth the picture. On the other hand,
should that occur, God forbid, the failure to move on this legislation
and some responsibility for that tragedy will rest squarely on the
shoulders of Republican Senators who opposed the vote. Most especially
Mike Johnson who stopped the legislation in his committee. We can only
hope the conservative Republicans in the legislature will never give
up on this badly needed legislation.
Another point about King David. The Norman Transcript, through freedom
of information requests, discovered Boren pressured lawmakers to
oppose the legislation. He even sent letters to lawmakers in the House
who voted for the bill, urging them to change their position. He even
threatened to resign if this legislation passed. I have to admit,
Boren has been a private sector money raising machine, which has to
make many OU supporters happy. However, the thought of that dedicated
liberal who masquerades as a moderate, resigning makes me have a tinge
of happiness in my soul. Boren is certainly one of the top 10 most
powerful people in the state. He wields an enormous amount of
influence over the legislature, not only through his taxpayer paid
lobbyists, but he is also willing to roll up his sleeves and go to
work on lawmakers himself.
- CONSERVATIVE INVOLVEMENT AT THE STATE CONVENTION
Over the weekend I attend 2 interesting meetings. First I attended my
first Ron Paul meet-up meeting as an invited speaker to talk about
OCPAC. This was my first time to attend one of these meetings and I
found it to be a large gathering of mostly young folks who are new to
the political process. Most of them appeared to be serious Christians,
highly motivated and dedicated to the concepts of liberty, limited
government, keeping America's national identity and sovereignty as
well as a sound money supply and avoidance of deficient spending. The
current system of course, sees the many manipulations by the Fed which
is causing such rampant inflation and explosive national debt growth.
I was impressed with the folks I met and find it disturbing that some
of the old time more liberal party hacks are besmirching the integrity
of so many fine newcomers who are working toward a more active role in
the party. I was really happy to get so many new names for the rapidly
growing OCPAC e-mail list.
Particularly disturbing was a hit piece sent out this past week on a
site called redoklahoma. It blasted Republican party Vice-Chairman
Cheryl Williams as being a Ron Paul lackey following the success these
new party activists had, a week ago Saturday at the 5th District
Convention in OKC. They elected several of their folks as delegates to
the Republican National Convention to be held later this Summer. I was
in attendance as an observer and found out from the Ron Paul folks
they decided to support Cheryl for an alternate delegate because she
had treated them with respect and fairness anytime they had questions
over the past few weeks. That has not been the case with everyone in
the party.
I called Cheryl to give her a chance to confirm or deny several of the
allegations made in the hit piece. She confirmed she voted absentee
for Fred Thompson, before he dropped out of the race as I was also
told by a Paul supporter. She also indicated she has always been
willing to help the supporters behind any candidate if they needed
information about party rules and procedures. The accusations about
Cheryl stacking the Rules Committee with Ron Paul supporters was also
BS (blue smoke) as the Ron Paul supporters indicated that was not the
case and again Cheryl confirmed. The thoughts about Cheryl snuggling
up to the Ron Paul people to be able to get Gary's job next year was
highly speculative and off base for now. Cheryl informed me,
Republicans should be concentrating on getting Republicans elected
this coming November rather than distracting our attention toward
speculating about next year's Chairman's election. She also informed
me of her enjoyment with her current employment.
The other meeting I attended was with Huckabee and Ron Paul supporters
together. The election of John McCain is so alarming to faith and
family values conservatives as well as liberty conservatives that I
believe many folks are realizing there is going to have to be more
effort put into the area of politics, government and the culture war.
There may be a significant coalition forming between some of the
supporters of Huckabee and Ron Paul. It was suggested to me, it would
be a faith and liberty values coalition. There is no better place to
begin learning the ins and outs of activism than at the up-coming
State Republican Party Convention to be held in Tulsa on Saturday, May
3rd.
If you have not been able to attend your precinct meeting or county
convention, it is not too late to attend the state convention. All you
need to do is contact your county chairman to have your name added as
a delegate. If you do not know the name of that person, you may call
State party HQ at 405 528-3501 or e-mail okgop@okgop.com. You will
need to do this soon as the deadline to become a delegate is this
Friday. In addition, there will be a County Officer and Grassroots
Training seminar held on Friday, May 2nd from 9 until 12:00 noon at
the convention site which is the Renaissance Hotel in Tulsa.
I want to urge folks to become a dues paying member of OCPAC so we may
continue to find and support truly conservative Republicans and elect
them to office. Instructions on joining follow my sing off.
I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday
Charlie Meadows
charliemeadows@peoplepc.com
To join OCPAC fill out the following and send your check to:
OCPAC
P.O. Box 2021
Edmond, Ok 73083
Yes Charlie, I want to join OCPAC at one of the following levels:
___Basic membership at $50 per year.
Safari Club membership:
___Elephant Provider at ___$180 annual or ___$15 monthly
___Elephant Provider and RINO Hunter,___$360 annual or ___$30 monthly.
For monthly payments please send a voided check so we may draft your
checking account on a monthly basis. If you decide to discontinue
monthly
support, simply contact me and we will stop the withdrawal.
THE FOLLOWING IS REQUIRED BY STATE LAW!
Print Name_______________________________________
Address_____________________City________State____Zip________
Occupation______________________Employer_________________
Date_____________________Amount $____________
I have freely given from my own resources and have not been
compensated
for this contribution. (Corporate contributions not allowed by law!)
Signature___________________________________
Members and friends of the Oklahoma
Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC).
- CONCEALED CARRY ON CAMPUS ALIVE AGAIN
- CORPORATE WELFARE FOR MILLIONAIRES MOVING FORWARD
CONCEALED CARRY
The wording for the legislation to allow certain highly qualified
citizens to carry concealed weapons on university and college campuses
was successfully inserted as an amendment to a House bill to be
considered in the Senate today. If you care about the safety of
students and professors on campus, then you need to contact your
personal State Senator immediately. If you don't know the direct
office number, call the Senate switch board (405 524-0126), tell the
operator your Senator's name and the operator will connect you. Ask
your Senator to support the concealed carry amendment to HB 2606.
CORPORATE WELFARE FOR SONICS OWNERS
Wednesday afternoon SB 1819, the legislation to give corporate welfare
to the OWNERS of the Sonics, was put on the docket in the House. That
means the 7 lobbyists hired by team owners are close to having enough
arms twisted to bring it to a PASSING vote on the floor, probably next
Monday. Have you ever wondered, what's the rush? Our friend David
Glover points out, that the vote by the NBA owners to relocate the
Sonics from Seattle to OKC will occur Thursday or Friday of next
Week. Why not wait?
The advocates of this legislation are telling us, this corporate
welfare scheme needs to pass to make sure the league votes to relocate
the Sonics to OKC. If you fall for that you will fall for anything.
The voters of OKC voted to tax themselves to remodel the Ford Center
which was supposed to be the only concern of the NBA. That is now a
done deal. In my opinion, The reason for the rush on this legislation
is to get it done BEFORE the NBA vote so as not to show the phoniness
of this subsidy as a necessity to get the team here.
Folks, over the past few years, the owners of the Sonics have put a
lot of money into the campaigns of Republican candidates and
lawmakers. They have also probably put huge sums into the House and
Senate PACs. In my opinion, they now want something back for their
investments.
The advocates are claiming it is revenue neutral. This is what they
mean. All of the employees, the players, coaches and administration of
the team, will pay taxes to the state. The state will then turn around
and send that same amount of taxes dollars back to the owners. It is
estimated to be 60 to 100 million dollars (depending on salary
increases) that will go back into the pockets of the millionaire
owners over the next 15 years. Not a bad deal for the owners, invest a
few hundred thousand into campaign coffers and get millions in return.
The owners are smart, if they can get free money, they will go after
it, don't you think?
Of course the state will miss out on those taxes over the next 15
years which just puts more of the burden for the cost of government
for the rest of us. What is crazy, the state will get no direct
benefit from this team being here. There will be no income tax benefit
to the state, and the tickets to the games are even exempt from sales
taxes. While it will be a boon for OKC as people come from other
communities to eat, shop and stay in hotels, paying sales taxes to
OKC, the state doesn't benefit as those same people would be likely to
spend their money somewhere else in the state. In fact the state would
probably receive more sales taxes from monies spent at other
entertainment events which do charge sales taxes for admission.
This could possibly be the most important phone call you will make
this year to your state representative. You will need to call by
Monday morning at the latest, preferably by Friday. Again, if you
don't know your representative's direct office number, call the House
operator (405) 521-2711 and give them the name and they will connect
you to the proper office. This is really important please call right
away and tell your state representative to vote NO on this corporate
welfare. For much more information on this issue, log on to this web-
site: www.reverserobinhood.com.
Members and friends of the Oklahoma
Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)
IMPORTANT NOTICE !!! We are moving our luncheon location to Italiano's
4801 N. Lincoln, just 2 miles North of the Capitol or about 6 blocks
South of I-44. We have 2 choices, all the salad you want plus 3 pieces
of pizza or salad and pasta with bread. The price is $8 with water or
$9.50 with a soft drink or tea. Please pay when you enter the
restaurant, then proceed to the food bar for your pizza or pasta. The
salads will be served on the tables and wait staff will bring your
drinks. As always we start just a little after 12 noon and our speaker
this week will be former State Representative Kevin Calvey. Kevin
returned about 3 months ago from serving in Iraq for a year. While
there, among other duties, he was primarily serving as a prosecutor in
trials involving suspected "terrorists." He will talk about the
formation of Iraq's justice system and other observations about what
is happening in Iraq. This is your chance to hear information
unfiltered by the main stream media. If time permits,
Also during our meeting I may preach about a 5 to 7 minute sermon on
Pastor Jeremiah Wrights statements about God "damning" America, Pastor
John Hagee's statements about hurricane Katrina being the judgement of
God upon New Orleans for holding the Mardi-Gras, and how those ideas
might line up with scripture? I may also reference Abraham Lincoln's
statements about his belief that the great war was God's judgement on
America when he called for a national day of fasting and prayer. If
you are a deist or an unbeliever, please bear with me as these
thoughts will be folly to you. However, for anyone believing there is
a God my brief sermon may be of interest.
We finished showing The Truth Project this past Monday evening at the
Character First Center. However, a large number of those attending
indicated an interest in meeting for an additional Monday evening to
view a DVD called AMERICA'S CENSORED HERITAGE by Michael Chapman. The
production is masterfully put together and reveals how our government
schools have moved away from educating and producing a well educated
citizenry, a citizenry capable of critical thinking skills. Mr Chapman
will reveal an agenda of anti-American indoctrination. That is a
shocking statement, but until you understand the method and results,
much of what is going on in America today won't make sense to you
until you see this DVD. We will start at 6:30 p.m. sharp and the time
of about 2 hours is the same as our previous times together. The
location is the Character First Training Center, 520 W. Main in
downtown OKC. In addition, I will have some copies available of the
book, America's Schools - The Battleground for Freedom, by Dr. Allen
Quist, a colleague of Mr. Chapman's.
The business and professional chapter of the John Birch Society will
have their regular monthly breakfast meeting this Wednesday morning at
the Character First Training Center, 520 W. Main. Breakfast buffet
($6.00) is served at 7:00 a.m. and the meeting starts at 7:30. Our
speaker this month will be State Representative Rex Duncan (R-Sand
Springs). Representative Duncan is another one of those sharp
lawmakers with leadership skills elected during Oklahoma's Republican
landslide of 2004. He is an attorney and in the National Guard. He
will be speaking about the need to abolish boards and commissions used
by Oklahoma's Governor to serve as little more than advocates for
political correctness and propaganda. He will also address other
important legislation he is involved with during the current session.
The Oklahoman has been very hard on their editorial page toward State
Representative Sally Kern for her social issues as well as
Representative Randy Terrill for his leadership in the "immigration"
and "English as Oklahoma's official language" efforts. This past
Friday afternoon, radio talk show host Mark Shannon (KTOK 1000 AM from
4 - 7 p.m.) played about a minute and a half of an online audio
editorial by Ed Kelley, editorial manager for the Oklahoman. Most
conservatives and Christians felt ridiculed by the pompous arrogance
of Mr. Kelley. As a result, Mark Shannon announced he would be
canceling his subscription to the paper. In addition, one caller after
another was expressing the same.
I thought the most accurate description of Mr. Kelley's statements
came from Paul Blair, pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond. In
an e-mail he said: "I always wondered what Balaam's jack-ass must have
sounded like when he spoke in Numbers 22:28. Now we know." Pastor
Blair's "plain spoken words" must be considered an example of
emulating Jesus. Just remember, the Lord shunned political correctness
and spoke plainly to the Pharisees in Matt 23:33. Jesus informed the
Pharisees that they were serpents and a brood of vipers. I hope
everyone understands, a brood of vipers are a bunch of baby snakes. I
sometimes think "snakes" well describes some of the folks who work in
the editorial department at the Oklahoman!
I will need to keep getting the Oklahoman to keep up with who the good
guys and bad guys are in Oklahoma so I will know who to write about in
these e-mails. Calling Representative Kern a "one trick pony" didn't
bother me as much as it did some. Just remember, I am not above using
colorful words to describe people in these e-mails. However, I do my
best to use them as an accurate description of someone, based on their
position, an issue or their behavior.
What I didn't like about the Oklahoman's reference to Representative
Kern is its lack of accuracy. Sally Kern is one of the hardest working
lawmakers in the legislature. She is continually attending seminars,
meeting, researching or responding to constituent requests. She
probably knows as much or more about what is wrong with the education
"industry" as anyone in the legislature. She also is the author of
legislation to prevent the State of Oklahoma from selling or leasing
our turnpikes to some public private partnership (PPP), a plan which
would facilitate the fleecing of those using the turnpikes for an
immensely higher fee to travel those roads. Of course that is another
issue the Oklahoman is on the opposite side of with Kern. Thanks Sally
for watching out for the turnpike users of Oklahoma.
I am doing a little more research before I send out a special e-mail
on what I believe will be the number one vote in the legislature this
year for the Oklahoma Constitution's Conservative Index. If is becomes
law, it will become the most immoral, and abusive use of taxpayer
money in the State of Oklahoma. It is the plan to make a special
exception to Oklahoma's Quality Jobs Act. It is a plan to force the
taxpayers of Oklahoma to subsidize t
