WHY IS THE OKLAHOMAN PICKING THIS FIGHT?

Mike McCarville has an excellent analysis op/ed on The Oklahoman's repeated attacks on conservatives. EVERY concerned Oklahoman should read it. Assess it at: http://wwwtmrcom.blogspot.com/

WATTS EDITORIAL

Former Congressman J.C. Watts Jr. has an op/ed on Ripon Forum entitled, "What do we do now?" You can read it at:http://www.riponsociety.org/forum410g.htm

“Hi, I'm Average Voter. Does anyone want to represent me?”

by Steve Fair

The Oklahoman had another op/ed this morning attacking conservatives. This time they took a swipe at newly elected Insurance Commissioner John Doak and State Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones for being what they described as 'partisans.' They fail to mention that Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland, Doak's opponent, was an OBAMA delegate to the Democrat National Convention. You can't get more 'partisan' than that.

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Jones' opponent, State Auditor Steve Burrage, maxed out in contributions to John Edwards for President and contributed heavily to Democrats. That's pretty 'partisan.' The op/ed praises some organization called 'No Labels' http://nolabels.org/ that advocates governing from the center. You can read the entire editorial at http://newsok.com/no-labels-movement-an-effort-to-restore-center-in-u.s.-politics/article/3519447

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The head of No Labels is Mark McKinnon, a GOP political ad consultant from Texas who is also a country songwriter. McKinnon is nothing less than a political 'hired gun,' who has little or no convictions. He quit the McCain campaign because he thought the election of OBAMA would be good for the country. Now that's not PARTISAN? McKinnon is just trying to create a business environment for his ad consulting business with Democrats because he knows he has burned a bridge with Republicans.

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The Oklahoman's op/ed writer's ultimate conclusion is the 'average' voter in Oklahoma will not be represented by all these GOP PARTISANS that were elected to statewide office and the legislature on November 2nd.

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What is a Partisan? A Partisan is defined as 'someone who is devoted to or biased in support of a party, group, or cause.' Partisans are people of conviction who are devoted to a cause. When did having strong character and firm convictions become a political liability?

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As I have stated repeatedly on this blog(See WHY FAIR &BIASED to your right), EVERYONE IS BIASED-EVERYONE IS PARTISAN. The person who doesn't recognize that fact is woefully ignorant or intelligently dishonest. Our views, values, and opinions are all filtered through the prism of our life experiences, education, culture, and theological views. The key is to know what is right and more importantly to know the ONE who knows what is right.

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Back to the editorial- just who is this average voter The Oklahoman is talking about? Here are seven(7) characteristics of the AVERAGE Oklahoma voter who voted so PARTISAN on November 2nd and what those voters expect from their newly elected Oklahoma government:

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First, they are decidedly against government intrusion in their lives. They want a government that is small and efficient. They recognize that taxes and regulation on business gets passed down to the consumer and that fosters a hostile environment for business.

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Second, they want government to be transparent. They want an honest government. They are sick of backroom deals, corruption and cover ups in both Parties.

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Third, they want government to provide a safe environment to raise a family. That means funding law enforcement and keeping lawbreakers behind bars.

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Fourth, they want a government that provides infrastructure (roads, bridges) so they can travel safe and so business can transport goods to market.

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Fifth, they want a government that will uphold the tenets of the U.S. and Oklahoma constitutions equally for all people. That means taking a stand on the 2nd amendment, illegal immigration and other issues that create an 'environment and culture of integrity.'

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Sixth, they want elected officials to be risk takers and think outside the box. They don't want some 'center of the road/go along to get along' joker whose only concern is reelection. That's why Tom Coburn is so popular in Oklahoma- he's a Partisan and he is a risk taker.

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Seventh, they want a government that listens to everyone, not to just a few select 'big donors,' or elitist whose only goal is to control the agenda of government to benefit their financial interests. They are sick of elected officials who come to their town and talk ONLY to their donor base to the exclusion of the average citizen.

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You will note I did not mention the average voter wants the government to help them get a job. Most of them recognize the government does a terrible job 'recruiting' industry. If government will just get out of the way and let the free market system work, business will do just fine in our state.

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On another note, what the AVERAGE OKLAHOMA NEWSPAPER READER should expect from their paper is honest reporting without a 'sour grapes' op/ed everyday because their hand picked candidates didn't win an election.

Senate Protects Earmarking in Spite of Debt Crisis

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released the following statement today after the Senate rejected an earmark ban by a vote of 39 to 56. The earmark moratorium, sponsored by Senators Coburn, McCaskill, McCain, and Udall, would have applied to all bills in fiscal years 2011, 2012 and 2013.
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“Today’s vote shows that many in Congress still do not get it when it comes to understanding the severity of our economic challenges. Pork-barrel spending distracts Congress from doing the hard work of tackling our debt and deficit crisis. Still, the American people should be encouraged that more Senators are willing to listen. Five years ago, the Senate voted to protect the Bridge to Nowhere by a vote of 82 to 15. Today, 39 Senators vote to end earmarking altogether. I’ll continue to offer this amendment until Congress ends this egregious practice once and for all,” Dr. Coburn said.
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“In Congress, earmarking is not our prerogative; it is our pleasure. Our nation flourished for 200 years without an earmark favor factory run by career politicians and lobbyists. For instance, earmarks in the highway bill went from 10 in 1982 to more than 7,000 in 2005. This year, members of Congress have requested more than 37,000 earmarks. Our national survival is at stake because politicians have discovered constitutional powers in all kinds of areas that were never envisioned by our founders. If our founders wanted Congress to indulge in pork-barrel spending they would have included that in the enumerated powers. They clearly did not,” Dr. Coburn said.
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“Some claim that debating a practice that accounts for a small percentage of the budget distracts Congress from the important work of balancing the budget. That argument might have merit if Congress was doing the hard work of balancing the budget, which it has not been doing for decades. We have a $14 trillion debt and are on brink of becoming Greece or Ireland in part because earmarks are the gateway drug that has facilitated Congress’ addiction to spending. As earmarks exploded so did the size of the federal budget, which has doubled in the past decade,” Dr. Coburn said.

"SHED FRED" IN THE NEWS!

Fred Harris, from Walters, OK, beat OU coach Bud Wilkinson in 1964 and served in the US Senate for 8 years. He was very liberal, was DNC Chairman, and ran for President in 1972. I had a 'SHED FRED' bumper sticker on my Super Beetle in college. Harris teaches Political Science in New Mexico. More on Fred at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_R._Harris. Below is an interesting article about him from The Hill. Steve

Former Sen. Fred Harris (D-Okla.) visited Capitol Hill in September according to The Hill to drop off some documents that link President John F. Kennedy to some of the most important figures in Senate history. The 79-year-old Harris handed Senate Historian Donald Ritchie two bulging file folders from a committee headed by then-Sen. Kennedy in 1957 that chose the first five of the eight senators whose portraits now hang in the Senate Reception Room. Harris, who was elected in 1964 to serve out the term of late Democrat Robert S. Kerr and won a full term in 1966 before retiring in 1972 to run for president, was given the files by then-Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.), whom he sat next to in the Senate. The documents, which include many in JFK’s handwriting, chronicle the panel’s deliberations as it chose Henry Clay of Kentucky, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, Robert LaFollette Sr. of Wisconsin and Robert Taft Sr. of Ohio as the five “most distinguished” senators whose portraits would be displayed in the ornate room. Three other senators’ portraits have since been added — those of Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan and Robert Wagner of New York, in 2000, and of Oliver Ellsworth, a drafter of the Constitution and later Senator from Connecticut and U.S. Chief Justice, in 2002.

by Steve Fair

JINGO: ‘One who vociferously supports one's country.’

The Oklahoman’s editorial this morning (http://newsok.com/how-house-leader-get-his-wish-for-focus-on-substance/article/3519085?custom_click=headlines_widget) attacking ‘the right fringe’ of the House GOP caucus borders on blasphemy. It also reveals they are out of touch with their readership and clueless on what will move Oklahoma forward.
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The editorial attacks so called ‘jingo’ bills as legislation that is unnecessary and irrelevant. Most of these so called ‘jingo’ bills are the ones that define who we are and what we stand for. Jingo activists have been the driving force of why Oklahoma has a Republican majority in the legislature and Republicans in all the statewide elected offices. Jingos are why Oklahoma has the most conservative congressional delegation in Washington. Jingos are capitalists who provide jobs for hard working Oklahomans. They buy papers out of the racks (that only work half the time), and purchase advertising. Jingos are principled, ethical people who want to leave the state in better shape than they found it.
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The Oklahoman seems intent on pushing a policy of ‘governing from the center.’ In recent op/eds, they have encouraged incoming Speaker of the House Kris Steele, (R-Shawnee) and incoming GOP statewide elected officials to be pragmatic and to not get bogged down with ‘jingo’ issues and to concentrate on economic development in Oklahoma.
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What they fail to understand is that economic and moral issues are linked. Henry Hazlitt, an American economist and Wall Street Journal writer, said “Economics and ethics are, in fact, intimately related. Both are concerned with human action, human conduct, human decision, human choice… There is hardly an ethical problem, in fact, without its economic aspect. Our daily ethical decisions are in the main economic decisions, and nearly all our daily economic decisions have, in turn, an ethical aspect.”
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In 'The Inseparable Link between Morality and Economics' (http://jpatton.bellevue.edu/biblical_economics/morality-economics.html) published in 1992 by the Bellevue University Economics Department, author, Dr. Judd Patton wrote: “Economic principles reveal cause and effect relationships and simultaneously “tell” mankind what he ought to do or advocate because they are in harmony with moral precepts, The Ten Commandments. Our conclusion is that morality and economics are components in one indivisible body of science.”
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In his well known book entitled, The Truth About the Great Depression, Dr. Hans Sennholz said: “In God’s world, causes and consequences are connected logically. To offend against an economic principle, or to disobey an ethical commandment is to suffer the inexorable consequences of our action… His eternal laws and principles invariably exact a price for all offenses.”
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The right ‘jingo’ bills will foster a climate of moral and economic development. Ignoring the Creator of heaven and earth in legislation will guarantee moral and economic failure.

Weekly Opinion Editorial

OKLAHOMA GOVERNMENT & LAYOFFS!
by Steve Fair

Governor elect Mary Fallin said in a interview last week that Oklahomans voted for smaller more efficient government when they swept Republicans into statewide offices. Fallin said in The Oklahoman, “The people of Oklahoma have spoken very clearly in the election that they do want change, that they expect solutions to problems, that they want government to be efficient and effective, that they don't want taxpayer money wasted. But they want results. They want us to give our children and our communities the very best possible future.”
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Fallin went on to say, “I'll spend a lot of time on the budget and budgetary issues, looking at state programs — which ones are functioning, which ones are not functioning, which ones are relevant, which ones are not relevant to today,” she said. “You have to inspect what you expect out of state government.”
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On November 2nd Oklahomans did vote for smaller government, but whether they will get it remains to be seen. Last legislative session, the Republicans missed a golden opportunity to begin the ‘right sizing’ government initiative. Instead they elected to go with ‘across the board’ cuts at all state agencies because it was easier and less time consuming. The across the board cuts did not take into account the mission/importance/relevance of each agency. Instead of implementing ‘zero based’ budgeting and requiring every state agency to justify every dollar they requested, the lawmakers took the path of least resistance.

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What Oklahoma government really needs is a good old fashioned layoff. In the private sector when business is bad and revenue is down, people lose their job. That rarely happens in government. In fact, job security is one of the key selling points government uses to recruit new employees. As Ronald Reagan said, “the closest thing to eternal life on this earth is a government agency.” But that may be changing.

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According to Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, local and state government is the largest employer in the U.S., providing a combined 19.5 million jobs, including 2.2 million in California alone. Over the past two years that number has been cut by more than 400,000. That includes 100,000 in California, just in this past year. According to Zandi, state and local governments across the country are still cutting jobs at a pace of 25,000 to 30,000 per month. But we are not seeing those types of cuts in Oklahoma. Take for example, the largest state agency in Oklahoma.

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The Oklahoma Department of Human Services has over eight thousand employees and has an annual budget of over 1.7 billion dollars. They have offices in all seventy seven counties. Former State Senator Howard Hedrick(an R) now Director of DHS, has a goal of maintaining his staffing numbers over the next five years, not reducing them.
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If you do not believe there is significant waste in an agency the size of DHS, you are incredibly naïve, According to DHS; thirty six (36) percent of the 8,000 employees (2,880) at DHS will be eligible for retirement by 2014, which presents the agency a unique opportunity to ‘retool.’
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In a 52 page strategic plan entitled, “Everyday Heroes,” Hedrick says, “OKDHS’ priorities are to protect the most vulnerable of society and to identify and address social conditions that lead to the abuse and neglect of these individuals. Work has proven a somewhat successful strategy for many of these challenges.” The entire five year strategic plan can be accessed online at: http://www.okdhs.org/NR/rdonlyres/60C99DEC-6447-43D2-8856-53BE0F79B056/0/S080183_OklahomaDepartmentOfHuicPlanFY20072014_oprs_090120081.pdf
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Vulnerable means, “One who is open to attack or damage.” The most vulnerable of society in Oklahoma is the taxpayer! Their income is under attack and their standard of living is being damaged by a bloated wasteful government. Oklahoma government is long overdue for a ‘right sizing,’ but will the elected officials have the courage to do it?

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Three things need to be done to ‘right size’ Oklahoma government: : (1) Implement ‘zero based budgeting’ for all state agencies, (2) Prioritize ‘essential’ government services and fund accordingly, and (3) Consolidate agencies and eliminate duplication of personnel and services. Executing these will take more time and effort than past legislatures have put into the budget process, but the result will be a more efficient and effective government- exactly what was promised during the campaigns.

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Edmund Burke said, “Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises, for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing.” Unfortunately an elected official’s hypocrisy can cost the taxpayer plenty.