ON TOP OF A MASSIVE PAY RAISE, THEY NOW WANT TO BE ABLE TO SPEND CAMPAIGN FUNDS ON PERSONAL EXPENSES
THE WATCHMAN
We have always known that politics has always been a dirty business. If you ever wanted to know what was happening all you needed to do was follow the money. There was a time when influence was bought by corporations using their own money but now, here in Oklahoma, they have found a way to use the taxpayer's money to buy that influence. We honestly thought things could not get much worse, and thankfully, for this year anyway, they did not.
Now as usual towards the end of any legislative session bills are submitted that are of the offensive nature to many citizens. One such bill was brought to our attention by this article from the MuskogeePolitico.com. This piece of legislation that started out as a simple modification of what can and cannot be done with campaign contributions was successfully passed by the House of Representatives. The version of the bill they passed was to serve a legitimate purpose. We have no problems with the House of Representatives version as passed.
For those of you who would want to know how they voted in the House on this bill we provide you with this link to how they voted in the House. We also provide you with the version that passed the House and was sent to the Senate for their consideration at this link. We encourage you to read it and we feel confident that you will find little flaw in the bill.
Where the problem arose was when the legislation was sent to the Senate Appropriations Chairman and his committee for review and consideration. The Chairman of the committee tried to insert an amendment to the legislation that would have allowed politicians to use their campaign funds for personal use. This was so repugnant that even the press raised enough complaints to have it removed. We fear that we have not heard the end of this bill.
The bill did not pass the Senate, so it has in effect died. The next session of the legislature will be an entire new legislature with many changes we fear. There is a chance that something like this will be inserted into a piece of legislation somewhere along the line. It is something that every liberty loving individual in the state must be prepared to look for. Rest assured that we will do our part.
One of the most interesting items that we have found during this entire pandemic episode has been another example of the willingness of leadership to violate the Constitution. The idea of a proxy vote is beyond believe. How can you ever have a quorum by using a proxy vote. Yet we know that our legislators pay little heed to our own state constitution. We know that because they must bring up a vote for a state constitutional convention every twenty years. The last convention was held in 1974. .
“Section XXIV-2: Constitutional convention to propose amendments or new constitution.
"No convention shall be called by the Legislature to propose alterations, revisions, or amendments to this Constitution, or to propose a new Constitution, unless the law providing for such convention shall first be approved by the people on a referendum vote at a regular or special election, and any amendments,
alterations, revisions, or new Constitution, proposed by such convention, shall be submitted to the electors of the State at a general or special election."
So many items raised by this legislative session and pandemic go unanswered that it is time to call for a vote for a State Constitutional Convention. It is time that the power be returned to the people after a thirty-six-year reign of terror elected officials
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