George Porter is an active member of the Stephens County Republican Party. He writes a weekly column in The Duncan Banner. George's articles are well thought out and well written. He has granted permission for this weeks article to be posted on the blog- enjoy!

Understanding Human Behavior

Al Gore and the media cascade

by George Porter

Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002 for his work with Amos Tversky in understanding human behavior and common human error and biases. Kahneman, an Israeli-American psychologist, was born in 1934 in Tel Aviv, Israel, received a B.A. from Hebrew University in 1954 and a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in 1961. He won the Nobel for his pioneering work on behavioral finance and hedonic psychology. His ideas and terminology have become main-stream today. An example is the op/ed column by Holman Jenkins that appeared in the Dec. 5 Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Al Gore and his motivation. Jenkins refers to Kahneman and defines the terms "availability bias" -- the human propensity to judge the validity of a proposition by how readily it comes to mind. "Availability cascade" is used for the way a proposition can become irresistible simply by frequent media repetition. "Informational cascade" is used for the tendency to replace one's judgment with the crowd's beliefs; and "reputational cascade" for the rational incentive to do so. Enter these terms in your search engine to see the range of current issues being discussed using these terms. Fortune magazine on Nov. 13 reported in an exclusive interview that Al Gore last month joined the venture capital firm of Kleiner, Perkins, to assist in promoting alternative energy investments. Gore three years ago started in London the $1 billion investment firm Generation Investment with David Blood, the former head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Fortune quotes Gore that to halt global warming "What we are going to have to put in place is a combination of the Manhattan Project, the Apollo project, and the Marshall Plan, and scale it globally…It'd be promising too much to say we can do it on our own, but we intend to do our part… We want to give a big shout-out, though that's not the corporate term, to every inventor and entrepreneur and idea generator in the micro, macro, systems-integration level to create with this alliance a clearinghouse for the identification and selection of the most promising ideas on the planet for quickly solving this climate crisis...We all believe that markets must play a central role." This is no small deal. Venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins has in the past backed start-ups like Google, Netscape, Sun Microsystems and Amazon, among others. Gore has effectively created an "availability cascade" on his thesis of a man-made global warming crisis. He estimates that he personally has shown his slide show on global warming over 1,000 times, and the documentary version "An Inconvenient Truth" won the Oscar. A Kleiner, Perkins spokesman recently told a Senate hearing "One does not need to believe in climate change to support climate change legislation….Many executives would prefer to deal with known legislation even if unwarranted." He was referring to the carbon tax proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives that would have more than doubled the home heating costs for the majority of American homes. (It didn't pass.) Global energy currently is a $6 trillion business. Jenkins comments that if Congress were to mandate a one-half replacement of annual U.S. gasoline consumption by a carbon-neutral alternative, it would be a $400 billion annual business opportunity for the green energy lobby. Yet it would have a minimal effect on global carbon emissions. The U.N. Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, ends today. The 180 nations in attendance are trying to forge an agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol expiring in 2012. President Bush has stated the U.S. will not sign unless it applies to all major countries including China and India. China recently said it will not sign any multinational U.N. protocol on global warming. I agree with the many scientists who believe man-made global warming is a myth. World temperatures were both much colder and warmer than they are in today's industrialized world with its seven billion people. The WSJ article concludes with the statement that current global warming politics will certainly end with a whimper once a few consecutive years of cooling are recorded as they have been in the past. Quoting Michigan's representative John Dingell "the world…is great at having consensuses that are in great error."

George Porter is a retired insurance company executive. He may be contacted at geormrty@wmconnect.com

CORN IS VERY GENEROUS!
by Steve Fair

State Senator Kenneth Corn, D-Poteau has filed a bill that would give every high school graduate in Oklahoma free higher education. He wants to give every grad two years free at either a community college or at a career tech school. Corn says, “my legislation will also provide grants equivalent to the average tuition cost of community colleges for students who want to attend a regional college or comprehensive university their freshman and sophomore years.” There are a number of problems with Corn’s proposal.

First, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Somebody has to pay the bill for this “free” tuition and that task would fall to Oklahoma taxpayers. Oklahomans are already overtaxed when compared with other states in the region. We pay income tax, grocery tax and other taxes and fees other states in our region don’t have. We can ill afford the increase in taxes Corn’s proposal would cost.

Second, giving people something normally doesn’t help people. It’s not human nature to appreciate what you don’t work for. If you invest in something, you take equity or ownership in what you’ve invested in.

Third, how does this help Oklahoma? Educating young people is a worthy cause, but what will they do with that education? Most will have to leave the state because there is a shortage of high paying jobs in the Sooner state. Corn can thank his Democratic predecessors for that problem. They stonewalled right-to-work, workers comp reform, and tort reform until they created a business environment in Oklahoma that doesn’t attract companies to our state.

Ken is planning on being awfully generous with my money. If he is truly concerned with how to get Oklahoma moving, he should consider giving back the money he plans to fund his proposed bill to the people whose money it is- the taxpayers.

Letter to the Editor of The Lawton Constitution
by Steve Wilkinson

Reprinted with permission of author

Why Christians Should

Not Vote for Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney sounds very Christian in his recent speech he gave to defend his faith. Romney said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the savior of mankind.”

Again, this sounds very Christian, however, the Mormon definition of “Son of God” and Savior of mankind” is very different from the Christian definition of the same terms. In the Mormon definition, the “Jesus” mentioned is not Almighty God, but merely the son of “a god.” This “Jesus” did not die on the cross for our sins, but only for Adam’s transgression. Thus, in Mormonism, this “Jesus” cannot save any of us from our sins.

Like other Mormons, when Mitt Romney calls Jesus “savior” or speak of him as such, they only mean that “Jesus” saved them from spiritual death. Since, Mitt and other Mormons do not believe that Jesus’ blood can save them from their sins, they obviously are not really saved. Mormons deny fundamental Bible doctrine
Mitt Romney is talking about another Jesus.

When Mitt and other Mormons call Jesus the “Son of God,” what do they mean? Mormons believe that Jesus is the Son of God in two very unbiblical ways. First, it is important to know that the Mormon God is not the God of the Bible. The Mormon God is a man they call Elohim that became a god. They believe this god is now on a planet near the star Kolob, with his wives having spiritual children. In their two-fold meaning of “son of God”, Mormons mean that Jesus (and also Lucifer) was born to Elohim and one of his goddess wives in a preexistence, as a spirit child, and raised in a family unit until it was his time to come to earth and fulfill his calling on earth. They believe Jesus was then physically conceived again by Elohim and Mary, born, and raised the second time. The Mormons do not believe this was a virgin birth. They believe that God the Father through physical sexual relations with Mary physically fathered Jesus. Mormons believe that we are all “sons of God” in this same way. The Bible clearly shows that Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God.

Believers in the true Jesus Christ of the Bible are children of God by adoption, but only Jesus is God’s natural Son. This is essentially what Jesus being the Son of God means. It is a unique term for the most unique Man who ever lived.
Although the Mormon Church has been insisting that it is Christian lately, it is obviously not, and Mitt Romney knows it. The “Jesus” of the Mormon Church is not the true Jesus of the Christian Bible.
Mitt Romney is a Temple Mormon that is bound by a blood oath to obey Mormon Church leadership over U.S. Law and the Constitution. This oath binds Mitt Romney to “consecrate himself, his time, talents, and everything he now has, or will have in the future,” for advancing the physical earthly organization of the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Mitt Romney cannot be trusted. He will literally say whatever needs to be said in order to become President. This includes lying about his commitment to the Mormon Church over the U.S. Constitution and laws.
Steve Wilkinson,
Lawton, Oklahoma

MORALITY IS NOT ONE OF DREW’S ATTRIBUTES!
by Steve Fair
mo·ral·i·ty (m -r l -t , mô-) NOUN: pl. mo·ral·i·ties 1. The quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct. 2. A system of ideas of right and wrong conduct: religious morality; Christian morality.3. Virtuous conduct. 4. A rule or lesson in moral conduct.

“It was my obligation to defend this (HB 1804).” “I only have to argue the legality of it.” “I’ve very grateful I do not have to argue the morality of it.”
Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson in 12/4 edition of The Oklahoman

Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma AG, is between a rock and hard place. He says he has to legally argue for a law that he believes is immoral. Edmondson is an attorney, so it’s difficult to believe he hasn’t faced these dilemmas before. It's a good thing Drew doesn’t have to argue the morality of HB #1804- or any law for that matter. Edmondson’s morals and ethics have been questionable for years. Consider the following examples:

In November 1998, Edmondson and seven other state A.G.s announced they had negotiated a historic settlement with big tobacco. The settlement imposed sweeping bans on tobacco advertising, stopped the tobacco companies from targeting children, allocated funding for tobacco education efforts and pays the states about $206 billion in recovery funds. But Edmondson benefited from the Tobacco Settlement by reaping major campaign contributions from the lawyers who got big fees in the tobacco suit.

In 2000, Edmondson involved the state of Oklahoma in a U. S. Supreme Court case by supporting a New Jersey court decision ordering the Scouts to reinstate a homosexual scout leader. The Boy Scouts of America is a private, non profit organization engaged in instilling its system of values in young people. It asserts that homosexuality is inconsistent with those values. James Dale was an adult whose position as assistant Scoutmaster of a New Jersey troop was revoked when the Boy Scouts learned that he was openly gay and a gay rights activist. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court where the lower court’s decision was overturned. In the majority opinion, written by the late Chief Justice William Rehquist, “Forcing a group to accept certain members may impair the ability of the group to express those views, and only those views, that it intends to express. Thus, "freedom of association ... plainly presupposes a freedom not to associate." Edmondson’s involving of the State of Oklahoma in the Boy Scout case proves he doesn’t understand biblical morality and is completely out of touch with the average Oklahoman. The defeat in the Supreme Court reveals he doesn't understand the law.

In 2002, Edmondson wrote the Securities and Exchange Commission on behalf of an Oklahoma company- Pre-Paid Legal, an Ada, Oklahoma company. He asked the SEC to investigate those who were “short selling” Pre-Paid. In the 2002 election cycle, Edmondson had twenty-eight campaign contributions from Pre-Paid employees and executives. Edmondson said he was comfortable acting on behalf of Pre-Paid because it appeared they were being targeted for illegal manipulation.

In August of 2003, Edmondson filed the first criminal charges against former WorldCom Inc. chief Bernard Ebbers. The complaint accused Ebbers, and other executives of breaking state securities laws by giving false information to investors in 2000. WorldCom collapsed into the nation's largest bankruptcy in 2002 amid an accounting scandal that grew to $11 billion."It is rare that we name a company in a criminal complaint, but in this case it is justified," Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson said at the time. The WorldCom collapse cost the state pension fund $64 million. The indictment of Ebbers brought Edmondson a great deal of publicity. He was lauded as a hero for making corporate America accountable to taxpayers, but was that Drew’s motivation? It would appear not.

Verizon and SBC Communications did their best to insure that MCI did not get out of Chapter 11. After all, the three companies were competitors in a growing the growing cellular phone market. SBC was and is one of Edmondson’s largest campaign contributors. Edmondson denies the campaign contributions influenced his decision to go after Ebbers, but the timing and the enthusiasm Edmondson exhibited for that case doesn’t pass the smell test.

In 2006, Edmondson came under attack for his violations of Oklahoma’s Ethics rules. He used over $2,000 of his campaign’s money to contribute to other campaigns- a direct violation of the ethics rules. He has repaid his campaign for some of the ethical lapses- others he disagrees with. Edmondson was in the middle of the “straw donor” scandal involving former State Senator Gene Stipe and partner Steve Phipps. He donated $3,000 from his campaign after it was revealed that Stipe and Phipps conspired to funnel illegal campaign contributors into several Oklahoma Democratic elected officials, including Edmondson.

“We are sometimes called to defend the state.” “On some occasions, we enter into those defenses with a great deal of enthusiasm,” Edmondson said in Tuesday's Oklahoman. He went on to say, “In some cases, we enter into those defenses because we are required. “In this case, we are defending the law because we are obligated.” Taxpayers deserve an Attorney General that is motivated, prepared, and will effectively argue their position. "The attorney general is not only under a legal obligation to defend House Bill 1804, but also an ethical obligation as an attorney,"said State Representative Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City. "Typically, attorneys don't publicly undermine their client's position by making disparaging statements about them." Reynolds said the State Bar Association should look into Edmondson’s questionable ethics.

The State Attorney General is supposed to be a servant of the people, yet Edmondson has operated the A.G.’s office like a private law firm. Legal fees are collected in the form of campaign contributions. For Drew ,with his track record on ethics, to invoke morality into any conversation is laughable. Reynolds is right about bringing him up before the bar. Edmondson’s statements and actions reveal an unwillingness to be the “People’s Lawyer.” If that's the case, he should leave office.

REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON SUPPORTS 1804!
Yesterday's article in The Oklahoman quoted State Representative Dennis Johnson- R-Duncan. Since that time, he has received a variety of inquires as to whether he SUPPORTS or OPPOSES HB 1804 aka the immigration bill. To clarify his position on the issue, Representative Johnson released a PRESS RELEASE this afternoon.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: State Rep. Dennis Johnson
Capitol: (405) 557-7327

Johnson: Oklahoma’s Immigration Law Moves State in Right Direction

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma’s new omnibus immigration law placed Oklahoma at the forefront of an important national debate and should not be weakened, state Rep. Dennis Johnson said today.
"House Bill 1804, the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, drew a line in the sand on the issue of illegal immigration. By enacting this law, we sent a message across the nation that Oklahoma taxpayers will no longer subsidize illegal activity," said Johnson, R-Duncan. "I was proud to vote for the bill and continue to support it."
In a recent article in The Oklahoman, Johnson discussed the need for new federal immigration reform. Unfortunately, the article made it appear Johnson was calling for repeal of portions of House Bill 1804.
Johnson said he will oppose any effort to weaken the law during the coming legislative session.
"House Bill 1804 was approved because of the complete failure of the federal government to enforce existing immigration laws," Johnson said. "That failure has affected millions of U.S. citizens and is costing this country billions of dollars. Something had to be done and Oklahoma was one of the first states to take a stand by denying most taxpayer subsidized benefits to illegal aliens and by targeting corporations that illegally exploit them."
State Rep. Randy Terrill, a Moore Republican who authored House Bill 1804, said Johnson was a key ally in the fight to approve the legislation.
"Representative Johnson was an integral part of the team that got House Bill 1804 passed in the Legislature," Terrill said. "No one should doubt his commitment to cracking down on illegal immigration."
Johnson noted that approximately 30 other states are now considering legislation modeled on Oklahoma’s law and said that trend should serve as "a wakeup call" for federal legislators.
"I am not in favor of amnesty or legalization for people who are here illegally," Johnson said. "However, I do support efforts to simplify the federal process for law-abiding people to legally obtain U.S. citizenship. I also support temporary work permits that allow people to work here legally while being tracked by the federal government."
Johnson said modern technology would make it simple for the federal government to process citizenship applications and cull criminals and other undesirable elements from the applicant pool. Currently, the process takes years, "which makes no sense."
"If federal lawmakers create an efficient citizenship process, there will be less temptation for people to break the law and enter the country illegally," Johnson said. "It’s easy to understand why so many people want to come to America and improve their lives and care for their families. But that doesn’t mean the U.S. should have open borders with no way to know who has entered our nation or why they are here. It’s time for the federal government to act."

WHO IS ENDORSING WHO?
The Hill has a list of what presidential candidates the members of Congress are throwing their support behind. As expected, the Washington crowd is endorsing their Washington brethren. For a complete list, click on the link below:
http://thehill.com/endorsements-2008.html

IMMIGRATION NOT AN EASY ISSUE
Appropriately 1.1 million illegal immigrants entered the United States in 2007, most from Mexico. Since about three million illegal aliens gained legal status in the amnesty of 1986, the flow of illegal immigration has increased, and today that population is estimated at between nine and eleven million illegal alien residents in the United States.

Immigration overhaul has been divisive for years, as some say the borders need to be closed and illegal immigrants should be sent home, allowing for more job opportunities and better wages for U.S. workers. Others argue that illegal workers here now should be given some sort of amnesty and be allowed to apply for citizenship and continue working as an integral part of the nation's work force. This issue is not an easy one but there are several reasons why countries have immigration laws.

First, no single country can support an infinite number of immigrants, especially those that enter their country illegally. Mexico, for example, has harsh restrictions on immigration. No country in the world has open borders with no restrictions on immigration. Controlling immigration is a function of government.

Secondly, contrary to popular belief, Amnesty will not fix the illegal immigration issue. As cited about, after Amnesty, even more illegals entered the U.S., thinking we were a soft touch and would grant them Amnesty at some point in time. The argument that we cannot stop illegal immigration is like saying we can’t stop crime because no matter what we do, a criminal will still commit crime- so why bother making and enforcing laws? If we are unwilling to enforce our immigration laws, perhaps we should abolish them and start letting people who have been trying to enter the country legally, but are stuck on a waiting list at least a chance to immigrant to the U.S.

There are those who want to make illegals legal citizens. That means that people who lie to the government, falsify documents, disregard our laws and our borders should be rewarded for their deceit? Illegals who say they want to be “good citizens” started by ignoring our laws. If we just grant blanket Amnesty, we would be teaching our children that obeying the law doesn’t matter. We are a nation of immigrants, however the vast majority of those immigrants entered the country legally. Immigrants cannot chose to obey our laws “cafeteria style.” What other laws are they willing to break if they are willing to break the law to come to America? If they want to be a part of our country, they should enter it legally.

Third, every country has the obligation and responsibility to their citizens to know who is entering their country. National security is at stake. That’s way most countries have very well controlled borders and strict immigration laws. America has a border control problem. Both our northern and southern borders are fluid. To not recognize that is to jeopardize our own national security.

Fourthly, illegal immigration has an impact on our country’s schools and social services. It costs money to educate the illegals and their children and the taxpayer foots that bill. It’s one thing to give a “hand up” to an American who is downtrodden, but it’s quite another for taxpayers to do that for those who chose not to obey our laws. According to Dr. Donald Huddle, a Rice University economics professor, the cost to taxpayers is over $70 billion dollars each year.

Controlling our borders is a federal issue. But last year the Oklahoma legislature took action and passed the toughest illegal immigration enforcement law in the country. HB 1804 denies drivers licenses and public services to illegals. It makes it a crime to transport, conceal and harbor illegals from detection.

Now State Representative Randy Terrill- R,Moore, has filed a “Son of 1804” bill. The most controversial tenet of that will would deny birth certificates for children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrant parents- the so-called anchor babies. The fourteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship to anyone born in this country. This provision of Terrill’s bill is clearly a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

HB #1804 is one that has Oklahoma employers up in arms. Mike Seney of the Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce, says, “We never said we supported that bill.” But according to Terrill, the Chamber did not come to the table to discuss 1804 until well into the process. “I asked for their input, but they were not interested until it became apparent the bill was going to pass,” Terrill said.

It’s unrealistic to think we can herd up eleven million people and deport them back to Mexico, but we can process them. As GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani says, “The organizing purpose should be that our immigration laws should allow us to identify everyone who is in this country that comes here from a foreign country. They should have a tamper-proof ID card. It should be in a database that allows you to figure out who they are, why they're here, make sure they're not illegal immigrants coming here for a bad purpose, and then to be able to throw out the ones who are not in that database. We can do that. Credit card companies take care of data that is greater than that.”

Rudy is right- American Express could find Osama if he owed them money. Privatizing the process to locate all the illegal immigrates would be a good first step. It should be done at the federal level, but if not, perhaps “Son of 1804” should include that provision.