Taxpayer Money Used To Pay A Drunk's Salary

Taxpayer Money used to Pay a Drunk's Salary

By the Watchman

  What is it about our politicians continuing to make our state look like a bunch of fools? Have they lost their moral compass or is it they just don't care what people think. Why isn't his driver's license been suspended? Why hasn't he been in jail? Why this man is even allowed to be in control of our states money? There has to be a reason somewhere. We the citizens of Oklahoma are being a disservice by having this man holding the position.

Preston Doerflinger. - Photo credit, the Lost Ogle. 

  What brought our attention to this story was this article  Sooner Politics.org. This article was dated November 7, 2016. We saw that he was back in court again only this time it was on two counts. He had been charged with speeding and failure to provide proof of insurance. We find it hard to believe that an individual with his salary cannot afford to maintain insurance on a vehicle. We were unable to locate any information as to whether or not his vehicle was impounded during this stop. This article also gave credit to a report from The Lost Ogle, so we went there to see what we could find.

  Our search for the report of The Lost Ogle on this incident produced this Mary Fallin's right-hand man is in trouble… again | The Lost Ogle. This report, dated June 22, 2016, is one that we urge you to open the link and read. It spells out in plain English what having money and friends in high places can get you. The man was arrested on a Driving Under the Influence charge in Oklahoma City in January of 2015. To quote the Lost Ogle "Because he's not poor or a minority, has friends in very high places and can afford an attorney, the charges were eventually reduced to a speeding ticket as part of a plea deal. "He had several other catches in the plea deal. He was required to go through assessment and treatment, attend DUI school and AA. He was also required to maintain a clean driving record. He has failed to do so on several of these items.

Death of a Veteran but where are the Criminal Charges?

Death of a Veteran but where are the Criminal Charges?

By the Watchman

  We in this nation are fully aware of the mistreatment of our Veterans that have been going on for the last few years. These tales of not being able to get in to see a doctor too late to cure an illness have often ended in the death of an individual far before his or her time was due. We've always blamed it on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It was logical because that was where the whistle blowers were coming from. Oklahoma's news channels failed to report on the local delays in getting appointments. They didn't want to upset the citizens of the state.

  What if you were to find out that there has been a death due to neglect by a state agency? What would be your reaction? We ask that for one simple reason. The Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs runs several facilities in our state and they are failing those that need the care. The list of the facilities the run is found here Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs. The facility in question is in Talihina. The care this Veteran received harkens back to the treatments given to the wounded in the dark ages.

Senator or Lobbyist?

By the Watchman

What is it about educated people that they seem to lack the one vital element that truly makes them intelligent? That one element is common sense. In all appearances Senator Yen is ignoring the medical evidence out there in favor of lobbying for the vaccine industry. It appears that he has taken up his effort to force vaccinations on children in the State of Oklahoma once again in the upcoming legislative session. In case you haven't noticed Senator, there are far graver problems to address this year than placing our children under the communist rule of vaccination.

As is our custom we began our research by going to his home page at www.ok.gov here Oklahoma State Senate - Senators. As is common with the Senators in Oklahoma, they give you as little information as possible. We do know that he was born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1954. We do recognize the politically harrowing times between Taiwan and China that existed at those times and we fully understand their legal immigration to the United States while he was a child. He has done well for himself.

Buying your Way into Leadership

 THE WATCHMAN: 

  Many of you have read this newsletter and have seen us report that Oklahoma is the most corrupt state in the union. This last election cycle proved it beyond the shadow of a doubt. A little known position in the House is House pro-tem. This season the seat was bought by a candidate by giving donations to other candidates in the amount of $500.00 for their vote for him to fill the position. We call that bribery. Both offering and accepting such a bribe, even if it's called a campaign donation, is a crime. In short we have a bunch of criminals running the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

We published a story last week that Representative Harold Wright actually gave campaign donations to his two competitors for the seat of Pro-Tem. That's what got us interested into investigating this story.

The Education Caucus Knows Not What they Do

By the Watchman 

  It didn't take long to start talking about the State Budget after the election and we are glad that it is. We decided to report on this subject at this time based on this article here From Ken Miller: Oil and gas tax collections edge up in October gross receipts report. For the first time in eighteen months state revenues showed an increase. A very modest increase at best coming in at just over three percent (3.1%). It falls well short of being able to cover the projected $700 million dollar budget shortfall expected this year. Ladies and Gentlemen that comes to a total of right at $2 billion dollars of a shortfall in our budget over two years. A shortfall that we the citizens have to pay for. We ask the newly formed Education Caucus who they propose to sacrifice in order to give their fellow educators the pay raises they deserve and need. With reports of proposals of between $5,000 and $10,000 dollar increases and the serious shortage of funding we are interested in seeing their proposals.

  The next article of interest we found was this Oklahoma state budget and finances - Ballotpedia. Now the figures on this document date from 2014, however they are the most current records available. They do indicate a decrease in spending in the state, but we feel these figures are misleading. This document indicates that Property taxes are not collected. Each county in the state does in fact collect property taxes. These taxes are a primary source for school funding. That would change the entire picture on the percentage of school funding.

Department of Education Leadership Facing Felonies and a Mess

By the Watchman

What a mess at the Department of Education. The Superintendent of Public Education along with four other individuals has been charged with felony counts of campaign finance violations. Admittedly we took into consideration the District Attorney involved in this matter and had some initial doubts. After conducting our own research the doubts were eliminated and replaced with the very real idea that the possibility of this being a viable charge did happen.

The first article to bring this to our attention was this Joy Hofmeister, Fount Holland, former teachers' union chief charged with conspiracy to commit election felonies - BatesLine.

The next article of interest we found was this Oklahoma Education Association - OEA Board of Directors. This article lists the board of directors of the Oklahoma Education Association. Unions and Politicians make strange bed fellows.

We next looked at the actual charges filed against the individuals. You can see them here  We were not really surprised to see the legacy of corruption continuing in the teachers union. One of the defendants listed is the current leader of the Oklahoma Education Association. It would appear that a lot of this is surrounding the insurance benefits that teachers and retired teachers receive. We must ask if they are really getting the best deal for their money. We urge our readers to open this link and read the document themselves. It will shock you.

The next article of interest we found was this Oklahoma Democratic Party asks State Superintendent to step down | KFOR.com. We feel they are justified in their request. As the Superintendent of Public Education she should be trying to set the example for our young, up and coming leaders. What kind of an example is she setting by clinging to the office while facing charges? We know that she has repeatedly claimed her innocence and in this country you are innocent until proven quilt. Wouldn't the more proper example be to step aside and let your second in command run the system until you clear your name?

The next article of interest we found was this High-profile losses, criminal investigation hit powerful Oklahoma political consulting firm A.H. Strategies | News OK. This makes a person wonder if they concentrated on one politician to the detriment of other clients. This is an area that needs further investigation for the possibility of fraud.

The next article we found was this MuskogeePolitico.com: Outside groups blame AH Strategies, Fount Holland for Shannon's loss. We urge you to open this link and read the article. This covers one of the high profile loses. That was the loss of Former Speaker T.W. Shannon's bid for the open seat of the U.S. Senate. This occurred at about the same time the alleged campaign violations happened.

We next went to the Oklahoma web site for the Department of Education here Oklahoma State Department of Education. Now this page is a brief biography of the Superintendent of Public Education.

On the same web site we found this OSDE Public Records | Oklahoma State Department of Education.

The next article of interest we found was this Joy Hofmeister - Ballotpedia. There is some more biographical information here. We found the vote tally for both the primary and general races. In addition we found where she was a member of the Oklahoma State Board of Education from January 2012 through April 2013.

The next article we found was this Joy Hofmeister - Wikipedia. Here we found that she has a Bachelor's degree in Education from Texas Christian University and holds teaching certificates in English and Elementary Education. As far as any advanced degrees she may have we were only able to verify that as of April 2015 she was working on her Master's degree in Education Administration with a specialty in Education Policy and Law from the University of Oklahoma. Based on this information she lacks the experience and education to fill the position as the Superintendent of Public Education.

The next article of interest we found was this Oklahoma state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister charged with campaign violations, conspiracy - Tulsa World: Education. This article is the beginning of the downfall of Joy Hofmeister. With her being a former educator, though we know not where, and a small business operator in the Tulsa area; this could devastate her career. We ask again, what is she doing still holding the position and at the very least not being placed on administrative leave. This is not setting a good example for our children.

The next article of interest we found was this State School Superintendent Joy Hofmeister charged with campaign violations | KFOR.com. This is one of the first reports that came out about the pending charges against Superintendent Hofmeister. The way this report is worded it indicates that the most serious charges she faces are the two counts of conspiracy to commit a felony. We however do not feel that is the case. It is our belief that the most serious charge she faces is the appearance of corruption. Whether she's found innocent or guilty, the appearance of public corruption such as this is why Oklahoma is known as the most corrupt state in the union. She is not doing the state any good by hanging on to her job while fighting these charges either.

The next article of interest we found was this Oklahoma State Superintendent pleads not guilty to campaign finance violations, conspiracy | KFOR.com. This article gives us a first look as to why these charges were brought. It appears that it's the same problem the plagues almost every election. Dark Money groups don't have to report who their donors are or anything of that nature. There is a loophole in the law that allows them to get away with collecting donations and supporting candidates without having to reveal who they are. They are buying the offices is what it boils down to.

The next article of interest we found was this RELEASE: Statement on Joy Hofmeister Indictment – Oklahoma Democratic Party.

The next article we found was this Joy Hofmeister is in trouble… | The Lost Ogle. The headline is an understatement. Even if found not guilty, her political career is over. We acknowledge that the Chair of the Oklahoma State GOP has stated her support as has the Governor; however Oklahoman's are not forgiving to those who give the state a bad name.

It is obvious that due to the current legal situation that she finds herself in, the Superintendent of Public Education should step down from her position. What she is facing makes it impossible to dedicate her efforts to the improvement of our education system here in Oklahoma and fight these charges at the same time. 

A Will to Win that Destroyed a Company

 

By the Watchman. 

  There is nothing like last minute distractions right before an election. It seems that may be what we have going on here. In this article we must ask a simple question. Why in the world would a partner in a business described as a "rising star" risk it all by cheating? Why would they risk throwing their career, reputation and life away just to get a political office? This individual and his firm have brought even more dishonor to our state and to the political process we have so many that have fought and died for. Their actions are just plain disgraceful.

  The company we are talking about is AH Strategies. We began our research by going to their web site here Who We Are | AH Strategies. This is a list of the partners in the firm. The founder, Fount Holland, is the individual we are most interested in. He started this company in his home in 1997. He did show some initiative.

  What brought our attention to Mr. Holland was this High-profile losses, criminal investigation hit powerful Oklahoma political consulting firm A.H. Strategies | News OK. This raises serious doubt about the firm and the individual client that was also charged in this case. What makes matters worse is the candidate implicated happens to be the State Superintendent of Public Education. What kind of an example is this setting for our children?

CAN A POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR GIVE AN HONEST ASSESSMENT OF STATE POLITICS

BY THE WATCHMAN

While going through our various news feeds this week we came across one that struck us as being a little biased and uncommon for the source. We had to ask ourselves why they would use this source as an expert on Oklahoma Politics. The only answer we could find was due to his association with a major university in the state and his willingness to do the interview.

Just so everyone would know, we went to Wikipedia to get a definition of Political Science for you. Here is what we found Political science is a social science discipline that deals with systems of government, and the analysis of political activities, political thoughts and political behavior.^[1] It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics which is commonly thought of as determining of the distribution of power and resources. Political scientists "see themselves engaged in revealing the relationships underlying political events and conditions, and from these revelations they attempt to construct general principles about the way the world of politics works."^[2] Political science is related to and draws upon the fields of economics, law, sociology, history, philosophy,geography, psychology, and anthropology. In short these are the long term political operatives and career bureaucrats that are writing the actual regulations that complicate our lives on a daily bases. We have enough of them already. We don't need to teach these people how to be crooks.

STATE QUESTION 779: A GOOD MOTIVE AT A BAD TIME

BY THE WATCHMAN 

  We all know that it’s political season. By now we are all tired of getting the mail from the candidates that tells us lies and half-truths. We go through this every two years. It’s especially bad this year when it gets to the state questions. Many of us are fans of Toby Keith and have a reason to be proud of him. Now we can’t say for sure if he was told the entire truth about State Question 779, but we can say that the commercial he made in support of it is misleading and incorrect. In fact he makes it sound like the entire tax increase is going to the classroom. It’s not. In fact the University of Oklahoma President and initiator of this question David Boren made sure there was a nice little chunk carved out for them.

  What we find really misleading in the advertisement was the part where Mr. Keith indicated that the funds would be put in a lock box and used for educating our children. Right off the bat we first hope it’s nothing like the lock box our Social Security Retirement Funds are supposed to be put into. But the statement is far from the truth. We encourage you to open this article and read it Oklahoma One Percent Sales Tax, State Question 779 (2016) - Ballotpedia. Granted 69.5% of the money goes to our K through 12 education, but a big chunk of that is going towards a pay raise for teachers not to the classrooms. If the teachers want that big of a pay raise than we as parents should expect a better return for our dollar. We should see a higher standard for receiving and education degree from our universities. A 2.5 GPA just isn’t going to cut it anymore.

  Higher education gets a good chunk of this money too. We’ve seen our colleges and universities raise tuitions every year just to fatten the pay checks of their faculty and now they want 19.25 percent of this tax increase. If they want that much we need some kind of guarantee that they will not raise tuition. That big of an increase should more than cover the cost of their pay hikes.

  The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education get the lowest proportion of the tax at a mere 3.25%. This will barely cover pay raises for the instructors they have.

  The most surprising of all may well be the Oklahoma State Department of Education will receive 8% of this tax increase. This is pure ignorant. All this will be spent on is pay raises. There will be none of this money funneled to the classroom where it is so desperately needed. How in the world can the citizens of Oklahoma allow this to happen?

  The next article of interest we found was this Counterpoint: Sen. Kyle Loveless opposes SQ 779 - NonDoc. Senator Loveless makes a very good point and in fact adds another point to the ones we mentioned above. He stated in part “By raising the sales tax, we would make virtually impossible for local governments---especially cities and towns---to increase taxes for local projects. Much like Oklahoma City has done with the MAPS program, city and county governments can increase sales taxes for a variety of projects, from improving public safety to quality of life. However, if the state sales tax is already high, voters will likely turn their noses from these proposals.”  What he didn’t say was this increase will make Oklahoma the highest sales tax paying state in the nation. Can anyone tell us who is going to want to relocate a business to this state after that. You might as well start making plans to go visit your kids and grandkids on the holidays.

  The next article of interest we found was this Players and Money Behind Penny Sales Tax Campaigns | Oklahoma Watch. Oklahoma‘s Children Our Future, a tax exempt group according to the IRS, expexts to spend $6.8 million this election season.  We find the name chosen for the group to be misleading and deceptive. While Oklahoma’s Children should indeed be our future, making us one of the highest paying taxed states in the union will only drive our children away. Not necessarily because they want to go, but because the state will lose the ability to diversify the economy from an agricultural and oil base into other ventures which will draw. This organization doesn’t sound like it has the children’s welfare in mind at all. It appears to have their bank accounts in mind only.

  Then we found this article Educate Oklahoma: Breaking Down State Question 779 - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |. Right off the bat the alleged $600 million this was supposed to raise on an annual basis is reduced to $427.4 million. Of that the first $369 million will go to teacher pay raises. So there goes the lock box Mr. Keith mentioned in the ad he did for these people. The rest is alleged to go towards recruitment initiatives, based on the student population of each district. Now remember folks there is nothing tied to this sales tax. There is no sunset date on it. We, as citizens and parents, will not see an increase in the quality of our educators. All we will see is a mass migration of our children leaving the state to find jobs unavailable here because the taxes are too high.

  The next article we found was this Voting no on State Question 779 | News OK. Now this is actually a letter to the editor but it makes several good points. How can we as citizens vote to raise the taxes on everyone while our legislature doesn’t have the gumption to even raise sales tax on cigarettes. How can we raise the taxes on ordinary citizens when our legislators give $2 billion dollars a year away in tax credits mostly to the firms that get them re-elected.  

  The next item of interest we found was this Lamb opposed to State Question 779 | News | edmondsun.com. This is one of many articles we could find of state, city, and county officials who stand against this legislation. To us  we see this as a betrayal by the legislature of the people. Should the teachers have received a pay raise before now? Without doubt. Do they deserve a $5,000.00 a pay raise for importunity no way.

  They say this is for the kids, but in the end it’s the same old shuck and jive that the teachers unions have been feeding the public for decades. It’s for their children not yours. They want the same things we want. To put better things on the table. To afford better clothes for the kids and to afford them a college education.  The difference is they want to do it off the back of people who work hard every day while they, in most cases, indoctrinate our children in the Marxist theology we call public education today.

  In the end this may not change a lot of minds. We do call on the Oklahoma Board of Regents to remove President David Boren from his post at the University of Oklahoma. As the initiator of this petition and the driving force behind it, the mere fact of asking for funds for higher education from the tax means that he directly benefits from it and nullifies his contract with the state.

Lying Republican or a Truthful Democrat?

By The Watchman

  It would appear that the first RINO who has yet to be elected has already shown his colors. In fact before the runoff after the primary we covered both contenders on the Republican ticket. Those articles were published in July. Naturally a winner was selected and that turned out to be Adam Pugh. What has prompted this article was an article we found here COMMENTARY -- The problem with Pugh. Now it appears that during the primary and the runoff election that Mr. Pugh presented himself as a stalwart conservative that people could rely on. This turned out to be far from the truth.

  Now to be fair we went to the blog mentioned above and obtained a copy of it here #OKElections16 Apples to Apples: SD41 - Kevin McDonald (D) & Adam Pugh (R) | Blue Cereal Education. We were aware that Mr. Pugh was a selectee for the group APPLE, which is a pro-teacher's group. Most parents are on the side of teachers as it is. Where the surprise came was in the reply to the bloggers questions when Mr. Pugh stated "I don't support the current efforts for ESAs or vouchers." That's completely opposite of a majority of the Republican voters in District 41. His opponent doesn't even take that hard of a stance and he's an educator.

  The article we wrote warning the public of Mr. Pugh's deceit were published on July 26, 2016 in the Sooner Tea Party Newsletter and on www.SoonerPolitics.org  dated July 27, 2016. We told you that this man had experience working for politicians in Washington D.C.  We warned you that he was not all that he was claiming to be, yet you chose him anyway.

  We went to his campaign web site to see what information we could find there.  We find this to be rather ironic in nature. We don't doubt his patriotism, however he states "A patriot, not a politician. All too often our government, both locally and nationally, is made up of career politicians who have never served in the private or military sectors. That reality leaves a stark void of accomplishments where certain critical virtues of leadership and sacrifice are developed and proven," He's correct. We can't figure out why he doesn't consider himself a career politician. He ran for the House seat in 2014 and was defeated. He originally filed for the House seat again this year until he found that the Senate seat was open and he then filed for the Senate seat. He worked with career politicians in Washington D.C. That sure sounds like someone who wants to be a career politician to us.

  We also warned you that he was trying to make his career look better than it was. Throughout His biography he attempts to mislead the public by using the word "Aviator". Many will get the impression that he was a pilot. That is far from the truth of the matter. Those within the military community are fully aware of what his job was as an aviator aboard the type of aircraft he flew aboard. What it amounted to was a glorified airborne air traffic controller. Don't let this smooth talking politician fool you.

  Now that the truth about his political leanings has come out we cannot recommend this man to be elected to the Oklahoma State Senate. We don't need another Senator who owes their allegiance to the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce. At this point and time the Democrat has at least been honest with the people.

HD 101, a Contentious Race

PART 1

By the Watchman

We were asked about the validity of a statement made by the Republican candidate for House District 101 in a Facebook post she made last year regarding the protection of our second amendment rights. What raised these concerns among some Republican supporters and 2^nd Amendment supporters was a posting made by the Republican Candidate Tess Teague on her Facebook page last year. To be honest it raises a concern in us as well. There are actually three postings of which we have screen shots of. We will not post the entire screen shots however we will quote them in part.

The first posting in part says "I like my second Amendment rights, I own a gun and I come from a military family that owns more than several firearms." Now this is common from members of military families. There is nothing unusual here. Where it takes a turn is in the following statement in part "I'm more than overwhelmed at the blood spilled in mass shootings."

  Who isn't? She makes no direct mention of what she would do to get the situation under control. She has failed to identify the fact that where these mass shootings are occurring are in "Gun Free Zones" imposed by various laws throughout the country. She also fails to recognize that the states with the lowest murder rate by guns are those with the most freedom of use and carry of weapons for personal protection. She fails to recognize that more people are beat to death with hammers than shot to death with guns.

SQ 779: The Cloward-Piven Plan

SQ 779

By the Watchman

   Senator Boren has proven to be just another tax and spend liberal Democrat sitting at the most powerful chair in the City of Norman. A city well known for its liberal attitudes and t's liberal indoctrination at the University of Oklahoma. This year they have either failed to look at the effect of a proposal or they are following the Cloward-Piven plan to ensure the destruction of the economy of the State of Oklahoma. They are not alone in failing the citizens of this great state. We can add both chambers of the legislature and the greed for money and power they seek to the problem. A true tragedy will strike this state if State Question 779 is passed in November.

HOW THE CAR OWNERS ARE BEING SCAMMED BY THE STATE.

  WHO IS MAKING THE MONEY

THE WATCHMAN

There is an old saying in politics. If you want to know what’s going on all you have to do is follow the money. We citizens of Oklahoma who own a motor vehicle have just been scammed by the legislature and the Governor. Now they claim they didn’t raise any taxes and technically they didn’t. They did however cancel the tax cut that the citizens were supposed to get this year. Yet every single one of them up for election claims the mantel of being a Conservative. Most of them should pick up a dictionary and look the word up, because Conservative they are not.

The first item we need to bring up is this webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2015-16 ENR/hB/HB3208 ENR.PDF. This is the legislation passed this last session by the legislature and signed by the governor that changed the license plates for the state of Oklahoma. Now since now tax increase bills would be approved, they added a five dollar ($5.00) fee to the citizens to be able to change their plates and then made it a requirement. To put it mildly, this is an under the table tax increase and the legislators are hoping that you won’t notice. To their misfortune, this is also one of the bills we included in our 2016 Rino Index.

The next article of interest we found was this http://newsok.com/article/5516697. Now the state has had a contract with the 3M Company for a long time. With the change in the license plates comes a new contract with 3M. In short more of that five dollar ($5.00) increase is going into the pockets of an out of state company that contributes little to nothing to the economy of the state of Oklahoma. Did they even try to find an in-state vendor? Did they use a bidding process? None of this is known. This is a simple knee jerk reaction to fill a billion dollar plus gap in the budget at the expense of the tax payers. For a state that is technically in a depression, this is a poor attempt to reign in cost at the expense of the tax payers.

The next article of interest we found was this Oklahoma Tax Commission - Motor Vehicle. This is an

 Official site for the Department of Motor Vehicles. We included this page in this article because it is our understanding that we will have to start paying the additional five dollar ($5.00) fee almost immediately, but you won’t be able to obtain the new plate until January of 2017. Now if that isn’t running a scam we don’t know what is. These guys must have taken lessons from the Chicago School of Political Science.

The next article of interest we found was this Oklahoma House passes bill to require new motor vehicle license plates | News OK. This is the article reporting the passing of the bill. It’s not often that we agree with Democrats, but we do in this case. While the Republicans stand fast and insist on calling this a fee, the Democrats are correct in calling this a backdoor tax increase. They argue that changing the design of the plate makes it easier to detect unregistered vehicles on the road. That is a load of crap if we’ve ever heard one. The major cities in our state already use tag readers in some vehicles. Others can be found on traffic stops. Most can be seen in plain sight. We are not as stupid as you mouth pieces at the capital think we are.

We have to face it folks. We are stuck in the most corrupt government in the United States. You can count on one hand the number of Republicans in office who uphold the platform of the Republican Party. What is needed here is a State Constitutional Amendment that would place all tax increases and all fee increases to a vote of the people before they can go into effect. The same should apply to all new proposed Turnpikes.

What we are proposing are three Constitutional amendments to be driven by initiative petitions. If you know of someone skilled in writing these type of initiative petitions have them contact us. We can no longer live under the disgrace we call a government. We the unwilling led by the unqualified to do the unnecessary for the ungrateful. We have done so much with so little for so long that we are now qualified to do practically anything with nothing.

STATE QUESTION 781: PUTTING CRIMINALS BACK ON THE STREETS

  Government and the legal system move in mysterious ways. The state of Oklahoma has known for decades that they had an overcrowding problem in the prison system. Instead of doing the right thing and expanding the prisons themselves, they allowed the money of lobbyist to convince them to give contracts to private prisons at the tune of $95 million dollars a year. That in turn led to the increase in the incarceration of individuals for offenses that could have been handled in another way. It also led to a complete lack of training and rehabilitation of inmates in marketable skills needed to reduce the recidivism rate for the prison population. This is a clear indication that greed is running the government not the common sense necessary to maintain a Constitutional Republic.

  While they may have good intentions of saving money and easing overcrowding in the prison system, they fail to take into consideration that the money saved will be sent to the counties to cover the cost of the programs they are required by the passage of this law to establish. In addition they will still be under contract with private prisons for a certain amount of beds even if they are unable to fill them. That will still cost the state $95 million dollars a year.

  Last year there was a $1.3 billion dollar shortfall in the state budget. We do not recall any of the television or radio stations saying exactly why except for the lower price of oil. This article will tell you how much trouble we are in Oklahoma unemployment rate tops national average for first time in 13 years | KFOR.com. The headline says it all. By releasing these individuals with no known useful skills the crime rate in the state of Oklahoma is going to soar. The federal government has placed Oklahoma into an official recession. After six consecutive quarters of downturn in the state we are sitting on the edge of a depression. How in the world can we afford to put criminals back on the street? We would only be putting our law abiding citizens in danger again.

  The State Question we are talking about is well explained here Oklahoma Rehabilitative Programs Fund Initiative, State Question 781 (2016) - Ballotpedia. We urge you to open the link and read the article itself. It basically transferred what they call "calculated savings" and "averted cost" on a proportional basis to the counties. These funds can be claimed by privately run drug and mental health organizations. We can only see that the passage of this bill will prevent the Department of Corrections from returning to the legislature annually for additional funding to complete the fiscal year. There will be no savings from the Department of Corrections until such time as our State Legislature frees itself of the campaign donations from the private prisons and severs the contracts with them. This also fails to address those that are mentally disabled and being warehoused in state prisons instead of getting the help they truly need. Although well intentioned, it fails to address the overall problem with the corrections system and the lack of true rehabilitation for those that are incarcerated.

  The next article of interest we found was this Oklahoma 2016 ballot measures - Ballotpedia. We included this in this article so that you would be aware of all the State Questions on the ballot this November. This will allow you to do your own research and draw your own conclusions on each question. An informed voter is more likely to make the right choice.

  The next article of interest we found was this question. This actually goes into a little more detail about each question that made it onto the ballot in November. It will give you a head start on your own research.

  The next article of interest we found was dated August 22, 2016. It is the last group of State Questions to make the ballot State questions Oklahoma voters will see on the November ballot | KFOR.com. There were two initiatives that failed to make the ballot. One was for the lack of the amount of required signatures. The other was because the Attorney General changed the language of the title and the sponsor of the initiative appealed it to the State Supreme Court.

  The next article of interest we found was this Oklahoma state questions on criminal justice reform to be on November ballot | News OK. This is a news report announcing that the companion bill and this bill would both be on the ballot in November.

  The next article of interest we found was this State Supreme Court keeps its version of state question ballot titles - News - Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise - Bartlesville. Law enforcement had complained about the title of the State Question to the Supreme Court. It was taken into consideration and the Supreme Court decided to stick with the title they had originally agreed upon. Needless to say law enforcement wasn't happy.

  The next article of interest we found was this Oklahoma Group Begins Petition Drive For Criminal Justice Reform. This shows how in such a short period of time they were able to gather enough signatures to get their petition approved for inclusion on the November ballot.

  We find it interesting that this State Question and its companion, State Question 780 are very similar to the bill that former Speaker Kris Steele tried to get passed while he was the Speaker of the House. We also know that he pushed for this type of legislation in the House this year. We haven't been able to find a connection to the initiative drive and him however we do know he works for one of the companies that would stand to make millions out of this project. We would not be surprised to find the hands of David Prater involved either.

  We find this bill to be a well-intentioned but misguided bill. It's funded on an expected savings that just isn't going to be there until such time as the state separates itself from the private prison industry. It puts criminals out on the street that have no support system to back them. The county systems they talk about will take years and dollars to put in place and become functional. It is the recommendation of this group that this receive a negative vote at this time.

  We would like to see the Corrections Department truly give people a chance at a life when they are released. The Federal threat of intervention due to overcrowding has been neglected by the state for decades. Try teaching the inmates usable skills and have them expand the prisons. Then you're only out the cost of material.

DISTRICT 39 RACE HEATS UP

 PART 2

By the Watchman

In politics name recognition seems to go a long way. The other candidate for the Republican seat in Senate District 39 has a lot of name recognition. One would expect that from a former Head football coach for the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane. He was once the starting quarterback for the team. What else does he offer to the citizens of District 39?

The first article of interest we found was this Former University of Tulsa football coach Dave Rader announces bid for state senate District 39 seat - KJRH.com. With his name recognition and the troubles that Representative Sullivan was having at the time, this would have been a good time for him to hit the national political stage. We know there was a crowded field, but he stood a decent chance. Why not run for office then?

After his coaching career had ended, the citizens of Tulsa seemed to have gone all out to get him to run for the U.S. Congress. We found this article Draft Dave Rader For Congress Effort Underway | Tulsa Today. We cannot say why, but Mr. Rader couldn't be persuaded to run for the party's nomination or the citizens urging to run for the office.

Senator Yen Poster Boy for a Recall Law

By the Watchman 

  Thomas Jefferson is famous for numerous reasons. One saying that he is quoted to have said is "When the people fear the government there is tyranny; when the government fear sthe people there is liberty." Lately we sure have put a lot of petty tyrants in office from local governments on through the national government. We will present to you the facts as we have found them on one of those petty tyrants that are only half way through his first, and with any luck, only term as a State Senator. A man who believes that because he is a physician that he feels that he knows everything there is to know about all things medical. Yet he has the backing of the Governor and they both ignore the facts on medical records showing them to be wrong.

  The individual we're talking about is Senator Ervin Yen. We started our research by going to his web page at www.ok.gov. You can see it here Oklahoma State Senate - Senators. As we have found to be typical of our state Senators it was for the most part void of any information outside of bragging on himself.

Too Little Too Late we Think…

By the Watchman

  After decades of campaigning by the various teachers unions in the United States combined with the continuing decline of the quality of the education our children are receiving is it any wonder that the unions now want to take over state government. We think not. Do we feel the teachers have a legitimate complaint, the answer is yes? Do we feel that they are going about it the right way, the answer is no. We also wonder why they have ignored the repeated request for their backing from grass roots organizations trying to improve education in the state until now. We also wonder why they are going after the wrong target.

  A recent report put out by the State Treasurer which you can read here State Treasurer's Report: Oklahoma's Recession Hits The 1-Year Mark | KGOU clearly indicates that the state of Oklahoma has been in a depression for at the minimum of a year. We encourage you to open this link and read the article for yourself.  Everyone across the board took a cut in their budgets. Even education took a cut. Since the Democratic party is so much into paying their fair share why should you as teachers, followers of Alinski and Union members feel you should not have to pay your fair share? Wait I forgot. You're liberals. That only applies to Conservatives. How many people and especially teachers were aware of that? According to this report there is every indication that there will be less money available next year unless you take the time to identify the real problem and take it on.

How's it feel Adam Pugh?

 SD 41 Challenger

By the Watchman

This candidate possess a challenge not only to the residents of Senate District 41, but also to the residents of House District 82. It would appear that he was undecided about what office to run for until the very last minute. It appears he thought it would be easier to fill an empty seat than it would be to take on an incumbent. We wouldn't doubt that it is. As of now he faces a run-off election between himself and Paul Blair.

What led to the confusion on which office he was seeking was this article Adam Pugh for Oklahoma State House | Indiegogo. This article indicates that he had every intentions of running for the Seat in the House of Representatives. Don't misunderstand us. We could use a lot more good solid conservatives in both chambers of the legislature. So it makes us sit up and take notice when he doesn't follow through with what he had indicated. Its America he can do as he pleases, but we can't help but ask why?

Frustrated Teachers aren’t Going to Make Good Legislators

By the Watchman

  We here at the Sooner Tea Party fully understand the frustration of our educators regarding pay and classroom size. We have ourselves sat here and been amazed at the lack of leadership demonstrated by our political leaders at the state capitol year after year. We've watched the administrative staffs of most districts grow at a rate four times faster than the rate of the student population and three times faster than the rate of the number of educators. We've also witnessed many of our best educators leave the state because they could get better pay elsewhere. We do not believe that educators leaving the classroom during the school year is the appropriate way to get the changes they seek done.

To be completely open about this, we do not usually write about Democratic candidates or legislators unless they or their supporters have really made a mistake. This is one of those instances. Last week we mentioned one article contained in a blog written by a Tulsa school district teacher who thinks he's so smart that he even amazes himself. It goes without saying that he was following Saul Alinsky's book, Rules for Radicals, to the letter. That's typical of what Democrats do. We hope that the parents in Tulsa have approved that their children are taught History by a socialist.

Public Education Lobbyists And the Big Lies

Nasty Politics Foretells a Nasty Politician

 By the Watchman

  There are several run off races for party nominations for office in November that are coming up next month. A few of them are some of the alleged Education Caucus against regular citizens running for office and some aren't. One article has caught our attention because it clearly shows the dangers involved when an ideology gets control of a system. The writer is brave enough to claim "Tulsa area teacher, educational consultant and general inspirer of minds young and old. Everything I say is so wise even I can hardly believe it. Feel free to concur." You can find that quote on his blog at wwww.bluecerealeducation.com/blog.

  What brought our attention to this particular race was this article.   We get the opinion from the article that he is for the "Education Caucus" candidate. That's his prerogative and we will defend to the death his right to say so. What we cannot defend is his blatant attempt at smearing a candidate without submitting any actual reference material to substantiate his claim. Doing things like that are the ways of a person who has no real facts to support their claim. His blog is so hateful that it presents an actual danger to his students and raises the question of whether or not he uses this type of material in the classroom.

SOME OKLAHOMA HISTORY YOU WERE NEVER TAUGHT

THE PRICE OF FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE

George Price Hays

BY THE WATCHMAN 

  As we prepare to celebrate the Independence of our Nation, we find that most people give very little thought as to what it took to keep our Nation free. Throughout the country you will find National Cemeteries dedicated to the brave men and women who have given their all so that you may enjoy your back yard cook out with your friends, family and neighbors this weekend and that extra day off. We are going to tell you the story of a young Oklahoman born abroad to missionary parents who dedicated his life to protecting this Nation and your freedom.

  The man we are talking about survived his wounds and went on to serve his country through the Second World War He eventually retired with the rank of Lt. General. The first information we found about this hero was here RootsWeb: HAYS-L [HAYS] HAYS, GEORGE PRICE;Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient WW I. We would urge you to open this link and read about the courage and the dedication this young 1^st Lt. displayed at the second battle of the Marne during WW1. It will clearly show that it was his individual courage and fortitude that made that campaign a success. It will also show that it was a miracle that he even survived.

ARE THE EDUCATORS CONFORMING WITH THE CAMPAIGN LAWS

BY THE WATCHMAN

  We are going to bring up a subject that is close to every parent and grandparent in the state these days. That's educating of our children and grandchildren.  We bring this up because the citizens of Oklahoma are facing an assault on our wallets on two fronts this year. Both will be decided in the November election. The first is the penny sales tax increase for education that will be a state question on the ballot. It is being challenged at the Supreme Court however if it passes it will make Oklahoma the highest taxed state in the nation. That tax will eliminate the potential for job growth in Oklahoma.

The second is the attempt to form an education caucus in the legislature by electing current or former teachers who feel they are being short changed by the education dollars in the state. Sadly to a point we must agree with them. Over the last two decades the growth of the administrative staff of most school districts in the state has grown at the rate of four times the rate of the number of students while the growth of the teachers has remained steady or in some districts actually declined.