Monday, February 6, 2017

Freshmen Legislators; Read What We Write, or Dismiss At Your own Peril




From the February 5th 2017 newsletter


Freshmen Legislators, Read What we Write
Dismiss it at Your Own Peril

  You are probably really excited at starting your new job at the Capitol and feeling confident after winning a tough election.  No doubt that House and Senate leadership has spent a lot of time patting you on the back and telling you how important you are.  But the single most important thing I can tell you is this:

Leadership will fight till the last drop of YOUR blood.

  There are 35 new House members, men and women that are supposed to represent the men and women in their districts.   House leadership does not have control over you unless you allow them to control you.  It is up to you if you do what is right or if you knuckle under to leadership.

  One of the first items will be an amendment that simply states that all bills filed get a fair hearing in committee and a fair hearing on the floor if they pass committee.  If you fold on this issue you will be breaking your oath of office and your promise to your voters to look out for them.

  The Speaker race is always tight and remind yourself that at any time in session any legislator can stand up and offer a motion that the Speaker be subject to a recall vote.  Historically who wins the Speaker slot depends on three to four votes.  At any time a half dozen of you can band together and force leadership to return the power to the House members simply by banding your small group with the other cliques.

  Next, we have our RINO index that will track and tally every single vote you make and you will be scored at the end of the year.  Other groups do this as well.   A low ranking score will be used against you along with the copies of the legislation you unwisely supported or refused to support, your opponent in 2018 is going to rub your nose in it and unseat you in the primary.

  To guarantee that for the first time ever we will be sending the RINO index to everyone that registered to run at the State Election board last year and we will resend your 2018 score to all those who file for office in 2018

To stay on the right side of Oklahoma values you should keep this list In your wallet or purse:
  1. Real ID shall not pass; it is biometric information that is dangerous and a huge identity theft issue
  2. Do not raise a single penny in taxes or fees.  In any form or manner.
  3. Cut the corporate welfare and the useless tax credits. Do not pick winners and losers in business
  4. Do not be stupid enough to support the National Popular Vote unless you were a Hillary supporter.
  5. Oklahoma has made great strides forward on the 2nd Amendment so no radical gun bills are needed
  6. Parental rights are a third rail, do not force vaccination when we are already above herd immunity
  7. Rent seeking is bad, if you don't know what that is find out before Monday
  8. Do not pass new laws to fix things.  Enforce existing laws on that subject
  9. We need to fix the education system, not pay part time teachers over $50.00 per hour
  10. Increase class sizes to cut the education budget, spending more hasn't worked, make the teachers work
  11. Repeal most of SQ 780 and 781, we need law and order, not non profits with six figure salaried heads
  12. Find a cheap way to run prisons or better yet, find a way to make the prisons self supporting using labor
  13. Ask yourself if freedom and existing laws are not better at solving a problem than more laws
  14. Remember what Trump won on, now it is your turn to follow or lose in 2018
  15. Remember that special interests like the State Chamber of Commerce and the unions are not friends
  Almost everything you need to know to stay out of trouble and have a good index score is now known to you.  Past that, vote to support your constituents at home, not the special interests. Understand that you aren't going to have many friends at the Capitol and if you walk into a meeting and don't know who the mark is then it is you.  We will warn you about the bad legislation as the session continues but it is up to you to decide who you work for, leadership, or your voters that sent you to Oklahoma City.