I got the news Monday morning from a journalist that Governor Fallin had announced her intention to not push for an Obama Care Health Insurance Exchange and to refuse to expand Medicaid.

 

I won’t say that I was surprised as Governor Fallin simply didn’t have the people of the state behind her on this issue so every time they tried to implement the new entitlements they provided us a nice hammer to beat them with.   I kept waiting to see them trot out an Acme Insurance Exchange machine, like something that the coyote might try in the Road Runner cartoons.  Here is the text of Fallin’s press release:

 

 

For the past few months, my staff and I have worked with other lawmakers, Oklahoma stakeholders and health care experts across the country to determine the best course of action for Oklahoma in regards to both the creation of a health insurance exchange and the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Our priority has been to ascertain what can be done to increase quality and access to health care, contain costs, and do so without placing an undue burden on taxpayers or the state. As I have stated many times before, it is my firm belief that PPACA fails to further these goals, and will in fact decrease the quality of health care across the United States while contributing to the nation's growing deficit crisis.

 

Despite my ongoing opposition to the federal health care law, the state of Oklahoma is legally obligated to either build an exchange that is PPACA compliant and approved by the Obama Administration, or to default to an exchange run by the federal government. This choice has been forced on the people of Oklahoma by the Obama Administration in spite of the fact that voters have overwhelmingly expressed their opposition to the federal health care law through their support of State Question 756, a constitutional amendment prohibiting the implementation of key components of PPACA.

 

After careful consideration, I have today informed U.S. Secretary of Health Kathleen Sebelius that Oklahoma will not pursue the creation of its own health insurance exchange. Any exchange that is PPACA compliant will necessarily be 'state-run' in name only and would require Oklahoma resources, staff and tax dollars to implement. It does not benefit Oklahoma taxpayers to actively support and fund a new government program that will ultimately be under the control of the federal government, that is opposed by a clear majority of Oklahomans, and that will further the implementation of a law that threatens to erode both the quality of American health care and the fiscal stability of the nation.

 

Furthermore, I have also decided that Oklahoma will not be participating in the Obama Administration's proposed expansion of Medicaid. Such an expansion would be unaffordable, costing the state of Oklahoma up to $475 million between now and 2020, with escalating annual expenses in subsequent years. It would also further Oklahoma's reliance on federal money that may or may not be available in the future given the dire fiscal problems facing the federal government. On a state level, massive new costs associated with Medicaid expansion would require cuts to important government priorities such as education and public safety. Furthermore, the proposed Medicaid expansion offers no meaningful reform to a massive entitlement program already contributing to the out-of-control spending of the federal government.

 

Moving forward, the state of Oklahoma will pursue two actions simultaneously. The first will be to continue our support for Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt's ongoing legal challenge of PPACA. General Pruitt's lawsuit raises different Constitutional questions than previous legal challenges, and both he and I remain optimistic that Oklahoma's challenge can succeed.

 

Our second and equally important task will be to pursue state-based solutions that improve health outcomes and contain costs for Oklahoma families. Serious reform, for instance, should be pursued in the area of Medicaid and public health, where effective chronic disease prevention and management programs could address the trend of skyrocketing medical bills linked to avoidable hospital and emergency room visits. I look forward to working with legislative leaders and lawmakers in both parties to pursue Oklahoma health care solutions for Oklahoma families.

 

Governor Fallin didn’t wake up one morning and have a change of heart on this issue, she woke up and decided she was tired of getting her butt kicked and wanted the political pain to end.   Some groups gushed over the Governor’s actions but we simply welcomed her back to Oklahoma values and Republican values.   No praise from us other than an atta boy for returning to the Republican Party.  One of our rules is to not praise politicians for doing what they should be doing already.

 

As for a state based solution to rising medical care costs there is only one method that will work;   Make people pay for their own medical expenses unless they are truly disabled AND without the means to take care of themselves.   If you want to pass some legislation then make all health care providers provide menus and cost estimates for health care, forget an insurance exchange where companies compete for new customers, make it an online shopping destination for health care procedures.   Make the medical providers compete with other providers.

 

Some will squall “We have to take care of poor people.” or “The federal government requires us to provide health care for the indigent.”   But does federal law say we can’t bill them for the treatment and collect the money?    That federal law is just another unfunded federal mandate that needs kicked back into their territory.  I do believe that as a society we should provide a basic safety net at the emergency room for true emergency cases, not for the sniffles or for a chronic illness that a clinic could treat for one twentieth of the cost.   When people snivel about providing health care for those who prefer not to work or choose other priorities for spending their money on they ought to be the first to open their checkbook.

 

Allowing people to freeload on the emergency room system or giving them free medical care when they are able to work is creating a moral hazard.   You give them free Section 8 housing along with the utilities, 250 minutes of “free” minutes on food stamp phones, free food stamps, then free medical care and you know what?   They have little reason to get up at six am and go to a job like the rest of us poor fools that actually pay for all the “free” benefits.

 

Here is a real life case of exactly how providing “free” health care is a moral hazard.   About a month ago I needed an extra hand to rush a finish job on a set of cabinets so I called the temporary labor service that I use from time to time.   They sent out a fellow that turned out to be a steady worker, fairly bright, and like most of the people they send out he was an ex con.  So after a few days watching him show up on time and put in an honest day’s work and getting to know him a bit I asked why he was working at the temporary labor service.   No one would offer him a job, I was told, and every day he had to show up at the temporary labor service to look for work and if he didn’t get sent out that day he had to check in at his parole officer’s office near downtown.   His wife was just days away from having their first baby, the mistakes he had made in the past had taught him a lesson, so he was ready to get on with his life and take care of his family.   Dang… you’d be heartless not to try to help a guy in that situation if he was truly sincere about changing his life.

 

So I asked what the temporary labor service was paying him, $7.20 per hour I was told and that he usually got to work three or four days a week if he was lucky and was only guaranteed four hours per day.  So I made him an offer, I would call the labor service and bump his pay up to $10.00 per hour (and increase my costs from $12.20 to around $17.00 per hour) if he could promise me that he would show up five days a week, on time, and put in eight hours a day.   I would work him till Christmas as long as he worked as steady as he did the last few days.   That was a great deal for him, I got dependable help to get out my backlog of work and I didn’t have to deal with all the payroll accounting and paperwork from hiring an employee.   The guy jumped at the offer.

 

So the next work day was Monday and the guy didn’t show up.  Okay, maybe his baby came early, and sure enough he called in around 11 am with the news of a new baby.  Great, see you tomorrow, right?  Uh, well no, maybe Tuesday I was told.   And that was the last I heard from him.

 

Now this isn’t rocket surgery as the joke goes, the guy had a situation where he worked just enough to keep his butt from going back to jail on a parole violation, depended on the government dole to provide an apartment, utilities, food, and pay for the delivery of his baby.  Two days a week he didn’t have to actually work, just show up and wait at the temporary labor service till no more call for workers came in then go down to check in at the parole office and he was free the rest of the day.    Should he work a 40 hour a day job for 45% more money per hour plus getting to work a full 40 hours?  The hell with that, he would prefer to work three days per week earning $30.00 to $60.00 per day and have a lot of time off.  Just enough for gas, smokes, beer money, and a few luxuries.

 

My first two children came at a time when I was building my first factory so while money was tight because we were plowing everything back into building the business we had the cash flow to deal with the cost of prenatal care and delivery.   The third child came at a time when things weren’t that easy but we scrabbled for work and saved enough money to pay the medical bills.  There was no other choice, I had responsibilities and I did what was needed to meet them.  But times were different then I suppose or they were just starting to slide down the slope into socialism.  In the seventies and early eighties people would work two, sometimes three jobs if they couldn’t get by on one paycheck.   The people that you saw using food stamps, and at the time they were just that, coupon looking things with dollar amounts on them, were usually the trashy looking people and most everyone looked down on the ones that used them.   And there should be a stigma for being on the government dole, even more so now as even disabled people can work from home, at call centers, or sell stuff on Ebay.  Well, not all could, but the vast majority is capable of performing some sort of work if they are sufficiently motivated.

 

So Governor Fallin, if you really want to make a difference in people’s lives then work to get them off government assistance.   Start by driving the illegal aliens out of Oklahoma so that wages rise to catch up with inflation.  At the same time start weaning people off assistance unless there is absolutely no way they can hold a job such as being blind, mentally defective, bed ridden, are a politician (just checking to see if you are paying attention),or have a major disability that prevents them from functioning.  Slash the minimum wage for companies that hire the disabled then make up the difference with public assistance.  That would be cheaper than paying a person to stay home all day and their health care costs will likely go down once you get them off the sofa and moving around.  Give people a chance to earn their keep and become taxpayers instead of tax eaters and watch them prosper.  While you are at it slash payroll taxes, reform workers comp so that injured workers are restored to health and then required to return to work without feeding legions of lawyers so that you can slash the worker comp rates, and as you are doing all of this continue to squeeze people off the government dole and into jobs.  The ones that won’t work can move to other states or their families can deal with them.

 

Is this possible?   Well, look at the Santiago McDonald restaurants down along I-40 near Meridian.  One at Meridian and Reno, another at MacArthur and I-40, and another at Council and Reno.  For years they were staffed by 100% Mexicans and you know that the majority of them were illegal aliens from their appearance and lack of English skills.   The last few months there has been a lot of black and white faces working there; someone must have turned them in to ICE because they are replacing illegal alien workers with American citizens.   No doubt they had to raise the pay to attract American citizens but I don’t mind paying 50 cents more for lunch if it means paying better wages.

 

So Governor Fallin, forget about trying to pay for lazy people’s medical bills.  Make medical care more open and transparent on cost, foster price competition among medical providers, make people pay their own way, and put people back to work where they will likely climb the ladder to better paying jobs that provide health insurance.    Keep a safety net for the truly needy and force all the others to find a way to contribute.  Those are Republican values that you should be pursuing instead of opening a spigot for temporary federal dollars to pour into the trough.

 

 

 

 

By The Watchman

 

Oklahoma got off easy during so far in this recession. We have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation along with one of the fastest growing economies in the nation. One thing we also have, and should be ashamed of, is the fastest growing state government spending in the nation. The attitude of our elected officials is that spend as much as you can and finance the rest.

 

It’s become an annual ritual at the State Capitol over the budgeting process. Borrowing the words from someone more knowledgeable than I, “It is said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” If this does not fit the budgeting process, I don’t know what does.

 

I found this article that describes the situation rather well. Former legislator and current State Treasurer Ken Miller uses the Department of Corrections as an example. At the beginning of each legislative session, they repeatedly approach the legislature for supplemental funds to continue operations to the end of the fiscal year. That’s no way to run such an important department.  But let’s not forget that in the article Miller made much of the constitutional requirement to balance our budget while conveniently forgetting that he and his RINO cohorts passed the Health Provider tax in 2010 knowing that they didn’t have the required super majority vote to pass constitutional muster and that the bill would be struck down in the State Supreme Court.  How do we know that they knew this?  Because they said so during the debate on the final bill!

 

Then we turn to revenue. Since his election to office State Treasurer Ken Miller has repeatedly reported increases in revenue to the state coffers. When first elected, Mr. Miller was reluctant to use federal dollars in the budget. According to this article his attitude has changed. I also find it interesting that the author of the article has forgotten that Ken Miller authored almost a billion dollars in new taxes and tax increases in his final year at the Capitol.  Ken Miller’s attitude hasn’t changed a whit but maybe Patrick McGuigan has finally opened his eyes.

 

The fact of the matter lies with the leadership in the House and the Senate. Under the leadership of the liberal House Speaker Kris Steele, we saw an increase of state spending on an average of five percent (5%) per year even during the recession. This was done with federal dollars and borrowing. The Senate leadership went along with this. Now it’s time to pay the price.

 

Speaker-elect T. W. Shannon had enough fore-thought to do an interim study on various scenarios of federal spending drops including a collapse in federal spending. Here is what he had to say about Oklahoma and federal spending.

 

 

How do you fix this mess? You start with personnel. You shrink the work force by replacing every two retirees with one new hire only in core government functions. You add personnel where needed such as in the Corrections Department. You build more prison beds and incarcerate the felons instead of releasing them on the public. You allow more conservative ideas to reach the floor of both the House and the Senate. There are more solutions out there than you think. You use the rainy day fund to repair the capitol and a good step would be to start enforcing the immigration laws in the sanctuary cities of Oklahoma City and Tulsa.  Above all, you live by the States Constitution and you balance the budget within the means of the state appropriation.

 

It is vital that the Great State of Oklahoma stop relying on federal dollars for as much as possible. Too much dependence on federal money will leave the State of Oklahoma in the same shape as California.

 

 

Actually not just a reader but someone that was mentioned in one of our articles last week on the chilling effect that Oklahoma County Reserve Deputy Eli Jarjoura’s lawsuit would have on activists in the freedom movement.   Cleveland County journalist/researcher Kay Beach sent a series of texts in response to our mentioning that she had removed her story on our initial Jarjoura/Sheriff Whetsel article from her blog after receiving a threatening letter from Jarjoura’s attorney.  Here are the texts:

 

11/19/2012  11:06 am

Kay Beach:  Hey Al, I can’t wait to see you!

 

11/192012 12:37 am

Al:  What?  Does the truth sting?  People saw it for what it was when you backed down.

 

11/19/2012 12:49 pm 

Kay Beach:  No, the truth doesn’t sting.  I would not have been sued, it would have been my husband who has already taken on more with my activism than any man would.  I chose to withdraw for that reason.  I am looking forward to seeing you because when I do, I am going to beat the hell out of you.

 

11/19/2012 121:57 pm

Kay Beach:   Enjoy your lawsuit dummy

 

Actually it would have been impossible for Jarjoura to sue Kay’s husband as it was Kay that researched our article, and then republished it, agreed with the need to ask some serious questions of Whetsel, and even found more supporting information that buttressed the case.  Hiding behind family members if they threaten your family is one thing that the other activists might understand but claiming others would be sued for your activism isn’t going to pass the smell test.   Just admit it Kay, the threat of a lawsuit sent a chilling effect over your research and publishing activities.  Add to that the fact that Kay is literally judgment proof under Oklahoma law and you get an idea of just how chilling a lawsuit for defamation can be.  It incites unreasonable panic and the abandonment of civil rights and natural rights.

 

But really Kay, threats of physical violence?  Yeah, you admitted to making a threat last time I wrote about something you did even though I didn’t identify you, then you went on the McCarville Report and outed yourself as to making the threat.  But threatening me twice?  Not cool Kay.   No class, bad dog, no biscuit.

 

For those that don’t know Kay, well to put it politely she is of, shall we say, Denneyesque proportions.   Not rubenesque, Denneyesque, as in Rep. Lee Denny.   That’s right, old Kay is a big un so she might well do some damage if she goes on the warpath.  To make matters worse I was raised old school so hitting a woman is not acceptable under any circumstances.  

 

That upbringing made it difficult to defend myself from my second wife, a slender wisp of a woman to be sure but boy would she come at you tooth and nail when she cooked off.   I mean scratching and biting when she wasn’t throwing stuff or swinging at you.  The only defense was to duck, grab her by the waist, spin her around and toss her on the couch or on the bed while you ran like hell.  A humongous Mormon family bible to the back of the head taught me to try to gently bounce her off the bed to allow a few precious seconds to make it through a door and around a corner because that tiny woman had an arm like a major league pitcher.  I swear she had a laser sight because she could hit anything she threw at when mad and the areodynamics of the hurled object didn't seem to matter.

 

You were okay once you got out of missile range though and she would cool down and come to her senses.  Well, except for that one time when she tried to run over me when we were dating.   She had actually taken my car keys away from me during a disagreement so I couldn’t leave.  My way was to not argue when angry, take a walk or a drive and cool down so that I didn’t say something I didn’t mean.  Oh no, that was abandoning her….  So I said she could keep the car keys but go ahead and take her shower so she would have the time to calm down before we talked.   That is right, my butt was out that door as soon as I heard the water slashing.   I was walking home to get spare keys.  Or so I thought.

 

I got maybe five blocks, walking down the sidewalk on North Penn around 50^th street when her car hurled itself over the curb and sidewalk, just brushing my leg hard enough to knock me sideways.   There sat my beautiful girlfriend in the driver’s seat wearing nothing but a bra and panties, broad daylight 3 pm on a Sunday afternoon, screaming at me for “abandoning” her.   I calmed her down, accepted a ride back to her house so she could get dressed, and got her to agree to begin taking anger management classes.  And yes I got my car keys back and went home.

 

But I digress; we were discussing Kay Beach’s threats of violence.  Like my ex wife Kay is a volatile person that soon calms down but she isn’t one that you could grab around the waist and toss anywhere safe, well, maybe with a John Deere front end loader you could… so I thought I should look into taking some precautions and spoke with legendary big foot hunter John Reed who runs a Pennsylvania group called Lykens Valley Sasquatch Hunters.

 

 John’s advice to hikers and campers that are attacked by a Sasquatch is to run uphill if it is a Bigfoot male because they have trouble looking up due to their big forehead. If it’s a female, run downhill because they’re so top-heavy, they have trouble running downwards.  His other advice is to always carry a sack of Ho Ho snack cakes or Twinkies to distract an attacker.  Thanks John, now that Hostess Baking Company is out of business what am I going to do?  Maybe substitute glazed donuts so that I have a defense against emotionally distressed reserve deputy sheriff/dentists as well?  Or would a sugar coated donut simply drive a dentist off into the deep end?  One look at Kay will convince you that carrot sticks or apple slices ain’t gonna do the trick.

 

All joking aside Kay isn’t a bad person by any means; she is just both volatile and timid in some weird manner.  Too timid to hold her ground against those that would strip her 1^st Amendment rights away from her but volatile enough to blame a fellow activist for pointing out the obvious.  Kay has done a lot of research on liberty issues and has a knack for looking at the big picture.   She has worked tirelessly for longer than most trying to motivate people to stand up and for that we have no complaint; our complaint is her entering the arena without considering the consequences of her actions.  She has an excellent guide for prospective activist on her website that provides an insight into her thinking.

 

I would point out to her that point #2 (credibility is everything), #5 (allies require honorable interaction), #6 (highest nail gets hit first so lower your profile if you can’t take the hits), #7 (build trust, even opponents respect that), #8 (be impeccable in your word, intent, and message), and # 10 (be relentless and you’ll win) are points that she needs to consider.  Backing down destroys credibility and as she says credibility is an all or nothing deal, folding under pressure especially if you are nearly judgment proof as Kay is hardly honorable, that you should consider if you can take the hits before you occupy a foxhole rather than flee in terror once the fight gets real, that backing down destroys your image of being a freedom fighter and is hardly impeccable in word, intent, or message, and that without being relentless you will indeed lose the fight.

 

Sometimes people say or write things just to try the ideas on for size; they don’t mean them as much as they would like to mean them.  Many women are notorious for thinking out loud, leaving a clear message to men to pay little attention to what she says and a lot of attention to what she does.  My advice for Kay would be to spend less time threatening others for their opinions and more time either rewriting her list to live by or living up to the list she asks others to live by.

 

 

 

 

By The Watchman

 

 

We, as law abiding citizens of Oklahoma, expect our state and Federal Agencies to obey and comply with the law. When they violate the law, they should, and in most cases are punished for it. So, why does the Transportation and Security Administration place itself above the law?

 

We have all heard the arguments over whether or not TSA body scanners are safe or not. What we have not heard a lot about is the procedure used to implement the usage of body scanners in airports around the country. The reason you haven’t heard anything, is because TSA has violated its own regulations when it put the scanners into use. Since July of 2011 they have been under a Court Order to implement those procedures. On July 17, 2012, the Electronic Privacy Information Center returned to Court and again asked the Court to compel the Agency to comply. To date, there has been no decision rendered. You can read the story here.

 

Other questions about the safety of airport body scanners have arisen. Many people opt for the pat down over the scans because of the concerns over radiation. You can read about those concerns here.The concern over these body scanners has spread internationally. Europe has banned the use of body scanners. You can read about that here.

 

Does the TSA have personnel problems? Like all organizations of this size, the answer is yes. Here again though, buy violating their own procedures, they have created some of their own problems. In their rush to increase the size of their organization, they have repeatedly hired and put to work people without doing the required background checks until months and sometimes years later. That is why we continue to see reports like this and this. These are self-imposed problems created by lack of compliance with regulations and gross negligence on the part of the supervisory and yes Secretarial level of TSA.

 

For your own protection while traveling, we would like to present this to you.This explains some of the things they are doing at airports to rip you off. Armed with this knowledge, maybe your travels will be a little safer this Holiday Season.

 

We all know that nobody and no organization likes to get bad publicity. Retaliation is a natural response. But an individual and an organization is usually more careful than this about who they retaliate against. TSA Threat To Opt Out Journalist: ‘We Know Who You Are. When an organization stands in direct violation of the law, you don’t normally find them warning of retaliation against grass roots movements . 

 

Are there options to the body scanners and pat downs? The answer there is a resounding yes. The model is built on the Israeli method and has proven quite successful. Contrary to what the article states, this is not racial profiling. You can read the article here. In the United States today, the potential terrorist is coming from all racial backgrounds. The Israeli method could be used to detect them.

 

There are some bright spots in the TSA program. One that is showing promise is the PreCheck program. It has some problems that still need to be worked out, but with proper leadership it can be done. You can read about that program here.

 

While researching this article, one question kept coming up. That question was “Will more training for screeners and supervisors help curb the problem?” I found this interesting article on the subject in the Wall Street Journal.  Training always helps. Proper training is one of the reasons our Armed Forces perform so magnificently. In the case of the TSA though, what needs to be accomplished first is to eliminate the culture of corruption that exist at the upper management of the agency on down before this would work.

 

National World Travel Insights did a study with frequent travelers, including pilots, on ways to fix TSA. You can read the report here. You can tell that this was a well thought out study. You will notice that one of the items they recommend is doing away with the body scanners. Imagine that for a while. TSA installs body scanners illegally, then refuses to comply with a court order, then gets everyone upset over them and refuses to take them out. Europe refuses to use them and everyone says they are a waste of time. Why does this agency think it is above the law.

 

So where does that leave us. How do we better protect the citizens of Oklahoma and the many visitors to our great state? The answer lies in the laws that have been provided to us. When an organization has placed itself above the law, it is time to replace that organization. It would not be the first time it has been done. Congress went so far as to make it easier for us. We don’t often site the Liberal New York Times, but we will here.  

It should be easy to find a private security company that can comply with the TSA regulations, and at the same time provide a more polite and courteous screening of passengers at our states airports. Oklahomans, by nature, are a courteous people. We are an honest, law abiding people who believe in the rule of law.

 

So should Oklahoma’s airports abandon the Transportation Security Administration? The answer is yes. The agency was formed with the promise that it would never be allowed to unionize, yet it has been. It has placed itself above the law by violating its own rules and regulations. It has repeatedly hired individuals, and placed them on the line as screeners without doing the proper background checks. It has failed in its assigned task of stopping potential terrorist and weapons from entering airplanes. It has abused its powers by harassing Senators, Congressmen, the elderly, molesting the young and sexually abusing adults during pat downs. This is an organization better suited for investigation under the RICO act than protecting America. It’s time for a change.

 

 

 

 

We received this on Saturday from the Sorrels Campaign.   I don’t think we have seen the last of Darrell Sorrels because he isn’t the kind to just quit trying to make a difference.

 

Thanks to all who supported the Sorrels for Sheriff Campaign.
Two years of trying to educate Oklahoma County citizens about making the right choice for sheriff came to an end with the wishes of the citizens to retain the current sheriff. It was a hard fought battle for liberty and I would like to thank so many people, groups and businesses that supported our campaign with their resources and financial support. It's not over; we will continue to fight for the freedom that was established by our founding fathers. I am humbled by the many individuals that continue to sacrifice their time and efforts in the campaign for freedom and liberty for all.

Thank you,
Darrell Sorrels