ACORN IN OKLAHOMA
ABOUT TO BE CRACKED!

ACORN-Oklahoma was effectively shut down last September, but watch the news media for what was found on the organization's computers and in their abandoned office. Their "political strategy" included two points:

First, build powerful city organizations in Oklahoma City and Tulsa that would control those municipalities.

Second, become an influential organization by shaping a handful of strategic legislative districts that, by themselves, can change who controls the state legislature. In other words, by taking credit for controlling some swing seats that return state senate power to progressives in 2008 and the state house to progressives in 2010, ACORN may not have members in a majority of districts, but we will be seen as the force that is making Oklahoma a progressive state in the way that it was 100 years ago.

All of this with YOUR tax dollars!

Weekly Opinion/Editorial

DOGGONE DOG RETAINS ATTORNEY!
by Steve Fair

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is an office within the Office of Management and Budget that is part of the Executive branch of the federal government. OIRA is staffed by both political appointees and career civil servants, who evaluate economic and regulatory issues for the President. Last week, Cass Sunstein, a Harvard educated law professor, was confirmed to head the office by a Senate vote of 57 to 40. In committee hearings, only Senator Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, voted to not send Sunstein’s appointment to the Senate floor for a vote.

Senator Coburn didn’t vote against Sunstein’s appointment because of his position on economic issues, but because of Sunstein’s radical views on animal rights. Sunstein isn’t just your average pet lover. He is a radical animal rights advocate along the lines of PETA. Sunstein loved his pooch Perry so much that when the Rhodesian Ridgeback died, he created a scholarship at the The University of Chicago Law School in Perry’s memory. Ridgebacks are a South African breed known for their bravery. The scholarship goes to a student with an interest in animal welfare. That in and of itself is not that radical, but some of the things Sunstein has written and stated are.

In a book written in 2004 entitled Animal Rights- Current Debates and New Directions- Sunstein and then girlfriend, fellow University of Chicago prof, Martha Nussbaum, contended that animals should be allowed to sue their human owners. “Animals should be permitted to bring suit, with human beings as their representatives, to prevent violations of current law … Any animals that are entitled to bring suit would be represented by (human) counsel, who would owe guardian like obligations and make decisions, subject to those obligations, on their clients’ behalf,” Sunstein writes.

Sunstein also says in the book, “We ought to ban hunting, I suggest if there isn’t a purpose other than sport and fun. That should be against the law. It’s time now.” He also advocates eliminating greyhound racing, cosmetic testing and meat eating. He has debated in support of veganism on several college campuses.

In 2002, Sunstein wrote, "There should be extensive regulation of the use of animals in entertainment, scientific experiments, and agriculture.” At a Harvard lecture, he stated, “that the current treatment of livestock and other animals should be considered “a form of unconscionable barbarity not the same as, but in many ways morally akin to, slavery and mass extermination of human beings.”

Sunstein’s views mirror those of PETA who has repeatedly attacked research foundations like the March of Dimes, the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and the American Cancer Society, solely because they support animal-based research aimed at curing life-threatening diseases and birth defects.

No one should be cruel to animals, but those that advocate protection for every animal no matter the cost to mankind and the animals have a distorted, humanist world view. In the scripture, man is given authority over all that was created on the earth. Man is to take care of and use the resources on the earth. We are to assume control and protection over all that was created, which includes the animal kingdom. After Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God killed animals and used their skins to cloth Adam and Eve. In Genesis 9, we see a change in the relationship between man and animals. God tells man there are certain types of animals that are acceptable for him to eat, but even with this pronouncement, He still tells man to watch over the animals.

Animal cruelty should never take place if men truly understand the command to be “caretakers” of the earth. We are to control the numbers of animals so disease and sickness do not kill them off; we are to use the animals for our needs; we are to control animals in a manner in which they are not harmful to humans; and finally we should protect them from over-killing and abuse. The problem lies in the fact that many do not understand this balance and tend to over-protect or under-protect animals. Animals were created for us to enjoy, so protecting a remnant for others to enjoy is also proper.

Sunstein’s view is not only radical, but it is frightening. When someone with this radical of a viewpoint rises to a position of influence, it should concern all Americans. If Sunstein has his way, we would all be vegetarians and your dog would have an attorney on retainer in case you purchased the wrong brand of dog food or scolded him to get off the couch.

PLATFORM SUGGESTIONS FROM

AN ORDINARY CITIZEN!

by Franklin J. Sissons

Dear Republican National Committee:
Dear Oklahoma State Republican Party:


Hello, my name is Frank Sissons. I want to propose an idea or platform if you please, for Republican candidates to run on in the upcoming mid-term elections in 2010. Below I have listed some ideas that, if put before the people, will help Republican candidates to be elected. The ideas will not be popular, but they are common sense ideas that most Americans want. I believe that Americans will vote for candidates that have the courage to run on this platform. I hope you will strongly consider these ideas as part of the Republican platform.



1) Term Limits: We need term limits for our elected senators and representatives. Once they have served two terms, they need to return to become a citizen again. Some of our senators and representatives have been in office so long they have lost touch with what it is to receive a paycheck from working an hourly job and what it is to pay social security taxes on every dollar of pay. We don’t need any more career politicians in Washington D.C. making decisions for the ordinary citizens with whom they have lost touch.



2) Social Security: The law needs to be changed so that it will require all elected senators, representatives and federal employees to pay into the social security system just as every other hard working individual in this country does. It is time they should have to give up 7.65% of their salary to support this meager entitlement retirement program. The government agency should also have to pay the 7.65% just as all businesses have to on their employees.



3) Government Retirement Programs (Civil Service): The guaranteed, plush retirement offered to government employees (especially senators and representatives) needs to be replaced with a 401K type saving and retirement system that will match the employee’s contribution up to 4% of their salary. This is the retirement program most companies offer their employees. If the government employees contribute 4% of their salary, the government employer will match the contribution up to 4%. You see, our elected senators and representatives have no idea how many of the working folks have been hurting because they have lost as much as $200K out of their 401K retirement programs, all because of some companies that ran wild with the greed of their executives. They need to see it, feel it and hurt along with all the other ordinary working citizens. If they do, they will not allow such greed to take place. It is time to end their guaranteed and lavish retirement plan that they do not contribute any money to earn.



4) Salaries: No more salary increases voted on by the senators and representative to give themselves a very nice raise. There needs to be an oversight board that decides if senators and representatives salaries should be increased. This oversight board could be made up of: one senator, one representative, six businessmen (women) appointed by the national governors' association, one appointed by the Democratic national committee and one appointed by the Republican national committee. This committee would be responsible for deciding if the senators and representatives were to receive a raise and if so, how much. No more voting themselves a raise.



5) Tax Reform: Tax reform can be accomplished by doing away with the capital gains tax. Why tax the money I risk by investing in companies, using money I have already paid taxes on, and again tax the gains I make from taking that risk? Move to a flat tax or a national sales tax. I read that the original internal revenue code was 13 pages, now it is several thousand pages. Make it simple.



Now as I stated earlier, these issues may not be popular but if Republican candidates will run on a platform similar to this, they will be elected. You see, the ordinary citizens are tired of our senators and representatives having all the special treatments and forgetting about representing their constituents that elected them to office. Once they are elected and again have the majority, they must stick to their platform and enact these changes. When that is completed, other issues can be tackled such as national security, immigration, English as the official language, smaller government, health care reform, foreign affairs, and national energy policy. Politicians must run on a platform that applies the same rules as the common citizens are required to accept. It will take integrity, character and honesty for you to step up to the podium and present a new and fair platform which represents equal treatment for all citizens.


Respectively submitted,


Franklin J. Sissons
Duncan, OK
Ordinary Working and Proud Citizen of the USA from Oklahoma

Weekly Opinion/Editorial

THE GOOBER AND THE DODGER!

by Steve Fair

Does former President Jimmy Carter really believe Americans care what he thinks? Carter, who was arguably the worst president of the twenty century and has been a source of irritation to every president since, is back in the news after accusing those who disagree with President Obama of being racists. Last week Carter told Brian Williams on NBC he believes a major reason that President Obama is facing declining approval ratings and “push back” from citizens on the health care issue is because of his race. Carter said, "I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African American. I live in the South, and I've seen the South come a long way, and I've seen the rest of the country that shared the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African Americans and that racism inclination still exists. And I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply."

Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, an African-American, immediately called for a direct response from the president to Carter's remarks, accusing Democrats of "playing the race card ... from the bottom of the deck." "As the leader of the Democratic Party President Obama should flatly reject efforts by those in his Party...to inject race into our civil discourse in ways that divide, not unite, Americans," Steele said. To Obama’s credit, he publicly said he doesn’t agree with Carter and thought the opposition came from citizens who didn’t support his ideas and race had nothing to do with it.

There are several problems with the peanut farmer from Plains charge. First, Obama won every demographic in November. He won the “white, “brown” and the “black” vote. Carter’s accusation those who oppose the President’s policies are racists is petty and not fact based. Carter’s contention that citizens who are not in total agreement with Obama on every issue are racists is itself promoting a “racist” position.

Carter is not above playing the race card. He did it in his first statewide race for governor of Georgia. Carter, a State Senator, was trying to succeed Lester Maddox, in 1970, who was an admitted segregationist. Maddox was wildly popular in the Peach State but could not run for a second term as Governor, so he ran and won the race for Lt. Governor that year. Matt Towery, one of Carter’s staffers at the time, says Carter proudly proclaimed in public campaign appearances and literature that he was a “Maddox” Democrat. Carter recognized the segregation issue was on the minds of the voters and he needed votes to get elected. If Brian Williams were an honest journalist, he would have asked Carter about that campaign strategy in 1970 and asked him to explain the inconsistency.

Obama, appearing on Letterman Monday said, "I think it's important to realize that I was actually black before the election." "One of the things that you sign up for in politics is that folks yell at you," the president said, noting that "whenever a president tries to bring about significant changes, particularly during times of economic unease, there is a certain segment of the population that gets very riled up." He pointed to the experiences of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan as examples. But Obama is not Reagan, JFK or FDR. They were willing to go into the lion’s den and face their opponents- thus far Obama has not exhibited that characteristic. He is like the undefeated football team that only played unranked opponents, but expects to be in the BSC title game.

On Sunday, the president made the rounds of the Sunday talking head shows, but choose not to appear on Fox News. Fox has more than twice the viewers of the closest competitor, but the prez decided to skip the”fair & balanced network” to “preach to the choir.” That was wrong for a number of reasons, but primarily because if the president expects to persuade citizens on the merits of his programs by doing a media blitz, he can’t ignore Fox. That was a childish, immature decision that exhibits a weakness in leadership. Real leaders take on their detractors- they don’t dodge them.

Lester Maddox was a quite a character; after Maddox left office, he and a former employee, who was a convicted felon, formed a comedy team called, “The Governor and the Dishwasher” and played comedy clubs. If Obama continues dodging his detractors, he and Carter can do the same thing in 2013 and bill themselves as, “The Goober and the Dodger.”

Weekly Opinion/Editorial

CEILING HAS A HOLE IN IT!
by Steve Fair

When an individual spends more than they make it’s called “deficit spending.” If they continue that over the course of a lifetime, they are called legislators and get public buildings and highways named after them.

According to the Cato Institute, from 1962 to 1995, the federal government spent more than they took in. It wasn’t until 1995 when the Republicans took control of the U.S. House under the leadership of Newt Gringrich as Speaker that a balanced budget was passed. Since 2001, the budget has not been close to being balanced, partially because of the war on terror, but mostly because most of the politicos( in both parties) in Washington lack the courage to say no to entitlement programs.

When the government deficit spends, it increases our “national debt.” A “national debt” is nothing new. Since our inception, the U.S. government has incurred debt. Debts were incurred during the Revolutionary War. We got to zero in 1835 under President Andrew Jackson, but shortly thereafter, the Civil War came along and the country came out on the other side in debt by 2.7 billion dollars. The early 1900s brought WWI and once again the country borrowed for defense and the “national debt” rose to 22 billion. The “national debt” really took off under FDR and Truman when it ballooned to 260 billion. Who do we owe this money to?

The “national debt” is the amount of money owed by the government to holders of U.S. debt instruments(Treasury notes, bills, bonds, and Inflation-Protected Securities) China owns the most of any foreign government, around 800 billion as of June 2009. Most of the US “national debt” (65%) is owned to taxpayers. Government takes money from trust funds like Social Security and leaves an I.O.U. and uses the money in budgeting.

The Second Liberty Bond Act of 1917 established a statutory limit on federal debt. Up until that time, Congress had to approve each debt issuance separately. The debt limit provided the U.S. Treasury with more flexibility and leeway in the administration of debt, but it also allowed for government to mortgage you and your descendents future income.

When the federal stimulus package was passed in February, the federal debt ceiling was raised to a record 12.104 trillion. Now just six months later, the Obama administration has asked that the debt level be raised to 13 trillion- double what it was just six years ago.

Back in 2006, President Bush was attacked by then Senator Obama on the floor of the Senate for asking for an increase in the debt ceiling. “Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren,” “America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership,” Obama said. This is probably the ONLY thing he has said I agree with. But back in 2006, Obama joined his Democratic colleagues in voting as a bloc against raising the debt ceiling. Now Obama is now asking for his second “debt ceiling” increase in six months.

The “national debt” is now projected to double under the Obama presidency to a level close to 97% of Gross Domestic Product. The national debt has increased by one third in the first nine months of Obama’s administration.

Both the White House and the Congressional Budget Office last month said that they expect the “national debt” to increase by another $9 trillion over the next decade. Should the Senate follow the House's lead and set the new debt limit at $13 trillion, lawmakers would probably have to raise the limit again next year, when the Obama administration expects to run a $1.5 trillion deficit. The “deficit” in this year’s budget is projected to be 1.3 trillion dollars.

A ceiling has a purpose- it is to stop things from going too high. The debt ceiling should be made of iron and not toilet paper. Elected officials should be working overtime to find ways to stay under the debt ceiling by laying off government workers and cutting non-essential government programs. Passing a higher debt ceiling weakens the dollar and prolongs our economic woes. At some point, somebody in Washington has to start making some hard decisions before we go bankrupt as a country.

Ignoring the “debt ceiling” and deficit spending are just two of the reasons that two million average citizens marched on Washington last Saturday. Fed up with a government that spends more than it takes it and rewards irresponsibility has awakened a sleeping giant- the American people. If they stay charged up and engaged through November of 2010, change could be coming to Washington, but not the kind Obama campaigned for.

On Tuesday September 8, 2009, President Obama is scheduled to address the nation’s schoolchildren in a nationwide broadcast. Not since President Roosevelt addressed the nation’s children via radio and talked about the sacrifices their parents and relatives were making to preserve their freedom has a President targeted this demographic specifically.



The US Department of Education has suggested lesson plans for teachers that provide specific activities and assignments for children to do before, during, and after the president’s speech. According to the Heritage Foundation, the pre-k-6 plan instructs teachers to ask children “Why is it important that we listen to the President and other elected officials…” It further directed teachers to have children consider the following while listening to Obama’s speech: “What is the President trying to tell me?” “What is the President asking me to do?” “What new ideas and actions is the President challenging me to think about?”



The plan continues by suggesting that, “Students can record important parts of the speech where the President is asking them to do something." Students might think about: "What specific job is he asking me to do…Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us?”

The original plan was to ask children to “write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.” After a huge public outcry, the administrative changed that to encouraging kids to write down their goals. The former assignment better fit me, so I have written a letter to myself on how I-Steve Fair- can help President Obama.

Dear Steve:

You can help the president by “praying for him.” I Timothy 2:2 commands us to pray for those in authority. While no man knows another’s heart, the president doesn’t appear to manifest the “fruit of the spirit” (Gal.5). Based on the president’s outward “works," it’s highly unlikely he is a believer. You should pray for his eternal salvation. You can pray for his family and for his physical health and protection. You can pray that God place in the president’s path someone who will present the pure unadulterated Gospel to him. You can pray that God will take His word, open the president’s depraved heart, regenerate it and draw him to God in repentance and faith.

You can also help the president by not agreeing with positions he takes that are clearly against the tenets of the U.S. Constitution. While we are to be submissive to those that have rule over us, we are to make sure we hold those accountable to our founding document. You can point out the Constitution clearly guarantees the right to keep and bear arms, and the right of every citizen to defend themselves. You can point out that children in the womb of their mother are guaranteed, as citizens of this country, the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” which clearly makes abortion on demand unconstitutional, not to mention unbiblical. You can point out to the president that while he may believe the Constitution is “deeply flawed,” (he said so in 2001), it is still our nation’s founding document and he swore an oath to “uphold and defend” it.

You can help the president by reminding him the United States is a capitalist nation. America’s economic system rewards those that work hard and government has no right to take from the needy to give to the greedy. You can point out to the president that no government, business, family or individual can spend more than they take in and survive. You can remind him that out of control government spending will be the ruination of America. You can point out that the national debt has increased by over one third in the just the first six months of his presidency with bailouts and stimulus monies and there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight.

You can help the president by directing him to a friend and former colleague who can educate him on the issues of health care. Encourage him to visit with Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. and the other physicians in Congress and ask their opinion on what needs to be done on health care reform.

Yes, Steve, you can help the president, but you must recognize that no matter how much you disagree with Mr. Obama, that a sovereign God placed him in the position of authority he occupies. The best way you can help the president is to pray that God will change his heart and move him toward biblical precepts and principles and that he would take his oath of office seriously.

Sincerely,

Steve