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| Josh West: The man with no neck and no self control |
FAILURE BEGETS FAILURE
THERE IS A BULLY OR TWO IN THE HOUSE LEADERSHIP
AND THE SPEAKER LETS THEM GET AWAY WITH IT
THE WATCHMAN
A few weeks ago, there was a survey that asked a simple question. That question was "Is it better to have a former military individual in an elected office or not." As we have a retired military individual on our staff we asked him to respond to that question. His answer was "Not necessarily." With a former military or even a retired military individual you must look at their military background to consider their fitness for office. It is his considered opinion that any military personnel that have seen front line combat duty and have been injured during that time is in need of long term assistance to overcome the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that they deny that they have.
For those of you that have never suffered from it PTSD is a terrible condition. It has been called numerous things throughout the centuries but it's results have always been the same. Most active duty service men and women will not seek help simply because it may end their careers. Regrettably the VA system is not set up to handle the number of cases we see out there today. As a result, an average of 22 Veterans a day commit suicide. Others just become bullies. We need to talk about one that has taken root in our House of Representatives.
What brought our attention to this story was this statement in an article posted in the Sooner Tea Party News Letter. We quote "The new group Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite had a press conference on the 4th floor and as a gentleman legislator was walking toward the press room, Rep. Josh West began screaming at him for attending the press conference. The Josh West, the fairly large and imposing military man began screaming YOU'RE STARTING A CIVIL WAR!" a Capitol Police officer had to intervene. We teach our kids not to bully others, but it does appear that Mr. West believes in the rule of do what I say not what I do.
The first article of interest we found his 2015 Campaign web site. We went through the site and never could find anything that said he was a Republican. We have seen this used before. It started with the Democratic party and has seeped into the Republican Party. It is used primarily by RINO Republicans. This makes us ask how true of a Republican he is? We would say that he is a liberal Republican.
We next went to his biography page at Ok.gov and found this information. His biography page doesn't really tell you about the man himself. There is no mention of his military service or the fact that the injuries he suffered while serving his nation caused him to receive an Honorable Discharge under medical conditions. We, as a state should thank him for his service and his sacrifice. We at the newsletter would like to do so at this time.
We, as parents, try to teach our children not to be bullies. We all know that most schools don't do enough to put a stop to it when it does occur. If they did, we as a nation wouldn't be suffering from the high suicide rate of young teens that we are. It is at this point we must ask why the Speaker of the House is allowing Rep. Josh West and a few others get away with it?
We next went to votesmart.org to see what information they may have available on him. The first page we found was this. This is a political summary of the Representative. It doesn't speak very highly of him either. We would urge you to open the link and read it for yourself.
We next went to the key votes page here. This is another page that we urge you to open the link and read for yourself. This man votes like a Democrat. He's never met a tax increase he didn't like. The state gives out $6.1 billion dollars a year in tax credits to corporate welfare, yet he just had to raise the taxes on the hard-working middle class and lower income Oklahomans. That's disgraceful.
We then went to the ratings and endorsements page here. Now if this is his way of defending the rights of the citizens of Oklahoma then we are in deep trouble. The Oklahoma Constitution gives him a rating of just 10%. He gets a Fiscal Conservative rating of 3% and a Socially Conservative rating of only 3%. These very same ratings indicate that the business community supports him over 90% of the time and the NRA isn't sure about him yet. Those are not Oklahoma values. Of course he had even a worse record on the STP RINO Index.
We next went to his campaign finance page here. This information was from his first campaign. We obtained it from followthemoney.org. It is highly recommended that you open this page and read it for yourself. In it you'll find numerous donations from individuals, but what is disturbing is you'll find donations from special interest groups as well. The donations from special interest groups include the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce and the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. We knew we had to dig deeper and we did.
The next article of interest we found was this. There isn't a lot of information on this page. We find it interesting that some of the major special interest groups that were listed in his campaign report were not listed here. We wonder if he wrote this himself?
The next article of interest we found was this. We take issue with the fact that he claims to be a Conservative. There is nothing in his record that indicates he is a Conservative. In fact, his record shows just the opposite. There is one quote in there that needs to be highlighted that we would like an answer to. The quote is "I realize that the battle for freedom is here at home as well as abroad," West said. "Veterans like me did not serve and sacrifice only to return home to see politicians robbing us of our liberties here in our own communities." We can feel confident that most Veterans feel that way. So, Mr. West that brings up a question that needs an answer. How is robbing the working class of Oklahomans that can afford it the least any different than robbing them of a liberty? How is ranting and raving at a fellow legislator who wants to hear the argument against a tax increase any different than tyranny? You sir are now a disgrace to the uniform you once proudly wore.
The next article of interest we found was this. This is another group that was not able to get any information from Mr. West. What is surprising is that in the financial report listed all of the major players in Oklahoma Politics that did in fact donate to his campaign were not listed. Other special interest groups and many individuals were listed as well, with one noted exception. That exception happens to be a former board member of the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce and the current Speaker of the House Mr. McCall. That gives the appearance of Mr. West having bought his seat at the price of betrayal to his constituents.
If you think that is all conjecture on our part, this article should put your mind at ease. After only one year in the House, Mr. West joined the leadership team as an assistant Majority Floor Leader. We can refer back to his voting record as to why. He's not working for the people. He's working for the State Chamber of Commerce. He has become one of the reasons that Oklahoma is considered one of the most corrupt states in the nation.
In closing we can only say that this man should not be re-elected to office. He has failed to seek the medical treatment he has demonstrated he needs. He has failed to serve his constituents in a manner that is what is referred to as Oklahoma Standards and he has failed to keep his raging temper under control. He has in all appearances failed the state of Oklahoma by selling out to special interest groups. This man is a walking, talking disaster waiting to happen.
