Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Corporatist Quarterback Frustrated, Budget Balancers Quarterback Injured
Corporatist quarterback, Charles McCall, in the Super Bowl of special sessions - has become frustrated with the "Budget Balancers" and sparred with Cory Williams (Defensive end for the BB) who sacked him once again in the media circus by eliciting a bull**** from McCall. McCall has evidently called a "Hail Mary" by keeping the vote open 'til midnight, hoping to rally his corporate lawmakers to victory... by sparing the wealthy and corporate interests from tax increases. By the time you read this, time will probably be expired in the Super Bowl of special sessions, and the Corporatists will have gone down in a stunning defeat. After all, Quarterback Charles McCall's offensive coordinator is none other than a full-time employee of the corporate oil and gas industry, so the defeat is certainly unexpected. While it may not be time for Balancer fans to start chanting the victory anthem "Sha na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" its darn near close, as it's 8:30 PM - and only 3.5 hours 'til midnight, when the cinderella corporatists turn back into pumpkins... More tomorrow!
The "Big Lie" is perpetrated everywhere
The "Big Lie" was a campaign technique invented and perfected by Adolph Hitler during the 1930's in Pre-WWII Germany. The premise was based on the assumption that (if a politician tells a lie big enough and often enough, people will believe it. In Mein Kampf (Hitlers rule book for campaigning) - As a general rule, the most effective big lies are outrageous enough to be unbelievable, yet appeal strongly to the prejudices of the listeners and are stated in as bland and matter-of-fact terms as possible. It is sometimes more effective to string several big lies together in a series of talking points (Rational Wiki, Chapter 10 Mein Kampf). Hitler also wrote "The great masses of the people... will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one".
I was having a conversation with a friend about how state lawmakers are suggesting tax increases for middle income Oklahomans as a way to fill the state budget hole, when another friend suggested that "school consolidation" would "fill the giant chasm" created by the state legislators themselves. The injection of The Big Lie into the conversation was immediately evident. The friend stated "Cut out the top heavy admin cost (sic) in our schools..." as a way to prevent lawmakers from raising taxes on the working poor and middle-class Oklahomans. The "friend" has evidently believed the big lie perpetrated by corporate politicians - Consolidating schools and cutting administrators is the only way to solve the state's budget crisis. Many Oklahoma politicians have continued to perfect the big lie technique, by making statements that have a small amount of truth - which entices the listener to infer a big lie. An example of this "perfected" campaign technique is: A politician was asked the leading question "Do you think public schools in Oklahoma are 'top-heavy'?" His (or her) answer was "Yes, as an example the school superintendents in my county earn $$$." The politician answers the question with a true statement that invariably leads listeners to believe that school administrators and administrative costs are the real "enemy of the state" and the cause of our budget crisis - when it's not true. His answer provokes listeners to believe an inferred big lie.
After I quoted a few facts concerning "our top-heavy public schools" like Administrative expenditures make up about 3% of total school expenditures and Superintendent salaries make up about 1% of total school expenditures, the "friend" said "...I'm not privy to the figures... but schools seemed like a good place to start...". My friend has no ill intent in quoting the political disparagement of public schools, and really believes the "political rhetoric" of administrative and school consolidation is the TRUTH. To find the real truth behind these inferred big lies, one only has to observe their own local senator or representative.
An example of a real big lie perpetrated by Rep. John Bennett, R-Sallisaw, is the statement that state agency employees are terrorists. He said to his fellow lawmakers last Wednesday: "The agencies getting the money are telling our constituents, 'Hey the sky's falling!' And the agencies telling our citizens, they're going we want to cut their services to the most vulnerable. That's terrorism. We should not be negotiating with terrorists, period." Bennett seems to be following Adolph Hitler's rule book for campaigning (Mein Kampf), in which he says "... the most effective big lies are outragious enough to be unbelievable..." which makes them believable to many listeners. To label all state agency employees (teachers, doctors, nurses, state transportation employees, district attorneys, state highway patrol, state prison warden, and all other state employees of ODOT, public schools, health agencies, public safety agencies, etc...) as terrorists is just outrageous enough to be believable to many people. Bennett evidently has no constituents in his district employed by the state, or he believes that most of his constituents will believe the big lie. Let's hope not...
I was having a conversation with a friend about how state lawmakers are suggesting tax increases for middle income Oklahomans as a way to fill the state budget hole, when another friend suggested that "school consolidation" would "fill the giant chasm" created by the state legislators themselves. The injection of The Big Lie into the conversation was immediately evident. The friend stated "Cut out the top heavy admin cost (sic) in our schools..." as a way to prevent lawmakers from raising taxes on the working poor and middle-class Oklahomans. The "friend" has evidently believed the big lie perpetrated by corporate politicians - Consolidating schools and cutting administrators is the only way to solve the state's budget crisis. Many Oklahoma politicians have continued to perfect the big lie technique, by making statements that have a small amount of truth - which entices the listener to infer a big lie. An example of this "perfected" campaign technique is: A politician was asked the leading question "Do you think public schools in Oklahoma are 'top-heavy'?" His (or her) answer was "Yes, as an example the school superintendents in my county earn $$$." The politician answers the question with a true statement that invariably leads listeners to believe that school administrators and administrative costs are the real "enemy of the state" and the cause of our budget crisis - when it's not true. His answer provokes listeners to believe an inferred big lie.
After I quoted a few facts concerning "our top-heavy public schools" like Administrative expenditures make up about 3% of total school expenditures and Superintendent salaries make up about 1% of total school expenditures, the "friend" said "...I'm not privy to the figures... but schools seemed like a good place to start...". My friend has no ill intent in quoting the political disparagement of public schools, and really believes the "political rhetoric" of administrative and school consolidation is the TRUTH. To find the real truth behind these inferred big lies, one only has to observe their own local senator or representative.
An example of a real big lie perpetrated by Rep. John Bennett, R-Sallisaw, is the statement that state agency employees are terrorists. He said to his fellow lawmakers last Wednesday: "The agencies getting the money are telling our constituents, 'Hey the sky's falling!' And the agencies telling our citizens, they're going we want to cut their services to the most vulnerable. That's terrorism. We should not be negotiating with terrorists, period." Bennett seems to be following Adolph Hitler's rule book for campaigning (Mein Kampf), in which he says "... the most effective big lies are outragious enough to be unbelievable..." which makes them believable to many listeners. To label all state agency employees (teachers, doctors, nurses, state transportation employees, district attorneys, state highway patrol, state prison warden, and all other state employees of ODOT, public schools, health agencies, public safety agencies, etc...) as terrorists is just outrageous enough to be believable to many people. Bennett evidently has no constituents in his district employed by the state, or he believes that most of his constituents will believe the big lie. Let's hope not...
Hail Mary Falls Incomplete - Game Over..
Just a quick thought concerning the corporate plan for giving teachers a pay raise, courtesy of an insider at the capitol:
The Bill is written to pro-rate the raise for teachers providing that any and all teachers who are paid any portion of their salary with Federal Funds... shall receive a pro-rated amount as to the percentage of state funds used to pay the salary. For instance, a Title One reading teacher receiving his or her entire salary from federal funds would receive no salary increase from the state. A special needs teacher whose salary is paid with federal special ed. funds would receive no salary increase from the state. Just sayin...
Also in the Bill is the fact that No part of the amount of Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000) provided for each certified classroom teacher shall be used by school districts to fund the employer contribution payments mandated by "Law"... Correct me if I'm wrong, but this means public schools will be forced by corporate lawmakers to pay approximately $514.50 per teacher for the $3000 pay raise. So, a school with 100 teachers would pay $51,450 in extra charges, courtesy of our corporate lawmakers./
Also in the bill, The State Department of Education shall disburse these monies to local school districts... through the state aid formula... Correct me again if I'm wrong, but there are a couple dozen school districts in Oklahoma which do not receive funding through the state aid formula. If the raise for teachers is to sent to districts "through the formula", these locally funded districts will not receive the state monies for their teachers. Sorry, locally funded district teachers, you're out of luck. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is the corporate plan for providing some teachers a pay raise.
In my opinion, this bill to provide a pay raise for teachers is just one more way that corporate lawmakers using to "choke" public schools in Oklahoma. Of course I may be wrong, and the corporate lawmakers at the capitol just want to provide teachers a pay raise because they care...
Update: The front page of the Daily Joke (Oklahoman) says it all - NO DEAL, and if a picture is worth a thousand words... take a look: The photo portrays five corporate lawmakers (corporatists) staring in disbelief as their corporate tax plan is sinking like the Titanic. Unfortunately, the $3,000 teacher pay raise for some teachers... no longer has a funding source. Many public school supporters say it never did. The pay raise was predicated on the basis that regressive tax increases (sales tax and user tax increases) would pay for it. A regressive tax affects the working poor and middle income Oklahomans more than the wealthy and corporations. Back to the hilarious photo: By the looks on their faces, the corporatists can clearly see their "gravy train" screeching to a halt. The "corporate gravy train" would be $ hundreds of thousands in campaign contributions provided by the corporate oil and gas industry. I'm sorry, but this is a serious laughing matter for most Oklahomans. Those pictured obviously voted for the "corporate tax plan", which means no tax increases for corporations - but heavy tax increases for the working poor (teachers). Their philosophy toward teacher pay raises is it's OK for teachers to get a pay raise as long as teachers pay for it! They (the corporate lawmakers pictured) actually look like the coaching staff of the Sooners during the waning moments of the Iowa State game.
They are all back at work this morning though - another day, another dollar... or in a corporate lawmakers sense "another day, another $30,000 dollars", so all is not lost. The only loss may be for those corporatists (2 or 3) who voted no on the budget bill. I'll explain my line of thinking:
The Speaker and corporate leader McCall voted Yes on the bill. He desperately wants his corporate bosses in the oil and gas industry to know that he made a valiant effort in protecting their interests, that he fought the good fight. He has a super eyewitness to observe his efforts - his Chief of Staff, Rick Rose. Mr. Rose has a "day job" of defending poor "defenseless" oil and gas corporations from greedy farmers and land-owners who want to rob them blind. Mr. Rose is an oil and gas attorney who moonlights as McCall's Chief of Staff and is in reality McCall's boss. So, there's the "rest of the story for those who voted Yes on the bill.
Of course, sixteen Republicans broke ranks to vote No on the bill. Most voted No, because they did not want to raise taxes on the working poor and middle class - and they weren't paid off by the corporate oil industry. There were a couple, though, who voted no... but were paid-off to vote yes! I certainly would not want to be in those lawmakers' shoes as they face their boss. One gets the feeling that one at a time, each corporate no voter will be called into a darkened office facing only the outline of the boss. The boss will have a couple of henchmen, one on each side, and then begin the questioning. After about three questions, in which the corporate underling gives trembling answers, the boss hits a button which releases a trap-door directly under the corporatist's feet. The still-trembling lawmaker drops immediately into the alligator pit below. Such a sad story, but there is more news to come as the session grinds on.
What sounds too good to be true probably is, but a $3,000 pay raise for teachers could be on the fast track as the Senate is suggesting the House add 2% (not much) to the present 2% GPT (4%). The "do-nothing" Speaker McCall and his "do-nothing" House caucus, however, may not take the bait - as McCall has fought valiantly to prevent his corporate bosses from being taxed, and reject the Senate's suggestion. But he may "throw in the towel" and accept the 4% GPT, figuring that "protecting his wealthy corporate bosses is now a lost cause, and accept the Senate's offer of 4% GPT. Only time will tell...
Speaker McCall, aka Dapper Dan or The Atoka Strangler, must be high-fiving his corporate bosses since the 4% GPT was flushed town the commode - along with any small hope of teacher pay raises. Plan B, which was really Plan A for the corporate oil and gas industry, will now probably be triggered (literally for state services) since many will suffer massive cuts. Public schools will reportedly suffer what the Atoka Strangler calls "minor adjustments" a 3.1% cut, and a nada, zip, zilch pay raise for teachers. All is not lost, though, as Dapper Dan will reportedly see a hefty Christmas bonus, along with his crooked caucus. And out-of-state shareholders in the 7 working oil and gas wells in Atoka County, along with all Oklahoma oil and gas producers will see massive profits. We''ll continue to monitor the "super bowl" of special sessions on Monday AM, as our do-nothing lawmakers continue to gouge state tax payers for $30,000 per day...
Some factual afterthoughts after the oil and gas corporations have whined and cried their way to no increase in GPT: I know a retired teacher and oil royalty recipient who collects a mere pittance in retirement benefits ($2000 per month). Her "landowner" production check is $100 per month, but oil company "fees" take that total down to $70 per month. Among the "fees" is a "gross production" reduction of 2%, which amounts to $2 being deducted from the check. If GPT is increased to 4%. the resulting reduction from her check will be $4. So who really pays for the GPT increase? I'll give you a hint: It's not the oil producers...
Here's the resulting analysis - If corporate oil and gas producers receive an increase in GPT... THEY WILL PASS IT ON TO FARMERS, RANCHERS, RETIRED TEACHERS, AND OTHER MINERAL OWNERS. THE WEALTHY WILL BECOME WEALTHIER! Long live the corporate oil industry and their cronies...
The oil producers' cronies would be Dapper Dan and other corporate lawmakers, and corporate attorneys such as Dee Dee's Chief of Staff Rick Rose. Rose, an oil company executive attorney, regularly defends poor oil and gas producers against farmers and other mineral owners, but his day job as Dee Dee's Chief of Staff - is making sure the state legislature passes no law which would reduce Billionaires' piles of money. Heaven forbid, Billionaires could become less wealthy Billionaies if their piles were reduced - and the fallacy that drilling for oil and gas would stop in Oklahoma, and oil companies would leave the state - is a big lie perpetuated by the corporate oil industry and their cronies!
Last Update for the special session that wasn't...
After charging Oklahoma taxpayers almost half a million dollars to balance the state budget, corporate (not conservative) legislators did not do their job! It is now evident the state legislature (House and Senate) is clearly divided, with corporatist lawmakers on one side (dubbed the axis powers) and the constituent lawmakers (allies) on the other. The Axis Powers of the state legislature shouldn't be confused with the Axis Powers of WWII (Italy, Germany, and Japan) often called the Axis of Evil by the Allies (United States, Great Britain, and France), although they are similar. For instance, Italy was led by a dictator, Benito Mussolini, who considered himself a Corporatist. A Corporatist is a government official who rules a state by partnering with corporations. In other words the government for the people shares power with corporations. It is reasonable to assume then, that state legislators who share power, or equally govern with corporations be called the Axis Powers. They get their marching orders from corporate interests...
The Axis Powers, which includes some Republicans and a few Democrats, have successfully defended the oil and gas industry against GPT increases, unlike the Axis of Evil - which was soundly whipped by the WWII Allies. The Axis of the Legislature will now cut funding for state services such as the Department of Transporatation, Department of Corrections, our public schools, and all county and state health services.... and the Allies of the legislature cannot stop them. (Note: the Allies include all those conservative legislators who supported an increase in the GPT, both Republicans and Democrats.)
Another result of the Axis Powers' resounding victory is that teachers will probably not see a pay raise anytime soon. BTW, the cut to our public schools will probably be about 3.1%, which will amount to about $150,000 in state aid for Blanchard. The Axis of Power will now move on to more critical issues (for them), such as acquiring more tax dollars for private and corporate charter schools and consolidating our rural public schools, which you may read about in other posts...
Dead Last Update:
The Axis of Power (corporate lawmakers, corporate bosses, and their cronies) has looked over its shoulder while departing the scene of devastaion, and tossed Oklahoma teachers a bone (proposal for a $1,000 pay raise. While this proposal won't place teachers in the corporate oil and gas industry category, $1000 is most certainly a hefty raise (Corporate Lawmakers, 2017). Let's just look at what a $1,000 raise (about $1.50 a day) can pay for, and anyone with half a brain can see that it is a great raise. As a matter of fact, if OK teachers get that windfall - they will move from being paid dead last in the nation... to dead last.
If teachers are earlybirds and get that worm (to quote a recent TV ad), they will be able to pay the increased taxes on a pack of cigs (almost passed), or they may drink an extra can of strong beer from Wal Mart, or they may pay a small amount of the increased fuel costs, or they may use it to pay pay for the increased insurance costs... I could go on and on about the plethora of options teachers have for spending their $1.50 a day salary increase, but in the interest of time - I won't. I will make one more sarcastic statement, though, concerning the proposed $1,000 pay raise: This corporate pay proposal should certainly stem the tide of teachers leaving the state for better pay...
Super Dead Last Update:
In what could be the last day of the never-ending story.. the special session that not even a wooden stake can kill, the Senate is preparing to launch a Hail Mary to balance the state budget. The nuclear missile is aimed directly at the Corporate House Leadership and Corporate Representatives. The "budget plan" will increase taxes for the working poor and middle class Oklahomans by increasing the tax on a pack of cigs by $1.50, increasing the tax on a gallon of gasoline by 6 cents, and increasing many more regressive taxes (affects the poor and working Oklahomans more than the wealthy and Corporatists). It also increases the GPT from 2% to 4% for the first 36 months of an oil well's production, which will ensure that Oklahoma's GPT rate stays the lowest in the nation. Of course, we all know by now who really rules Oklahoma... I'll give you a hint - it's not Oklahomans. Or maybe it is.. two Oklahomans - Harold Hamm and Larry Nichols.
We will see what happens today - The "nuclear missile" will strike the target, and the Corporate House will fold under pressure by approving the measure or the Corporatists will survive to fight another day by rejecting it.
Super Duper Dead Last Update:
The Corporate House of Representatives or the Criminal Headquarters for the Underworld's Master Plan (CHUMP), has torpedoed the latest budget balancing teacher pay raise plan. Baron von Butcher (House Speaker) will now proceed to cut our state agencies (health care, safety, public schools, and transportation) to ribbons, and teachers will be unlikely to ever receive a pay raise. Corporate Lawmakers and other CHUMPs have succeeded in protecting the oil and gas overlords, like Milburn Drysdale (banker) protected Jed Clampett on an old Beverly Hillbillies episode. (Drysdale didn't want the Clampetts to leave town either).
The Bill is written to pro-rate the raise for teachers providing that any and all teachers who are paid any portion of their salary with Federal Funds... shall receive a pro-rated amount as to the percentage of state funds used to pay the salary. For instance, a Title One reading teacher receiving his or her entire salary from federal funds would receive no salary increase from the state. A special needs teacher whose salary is paid with federal special ed. funds would receive no salary increase from the state. Just sayin...
Also in the Bill is the fact that No part of the amount of Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000) provided for each certified classroom teacher shall be used by school districts to fund the employer contribution payments mandated by "Law"... Correct me if I'm wrong, but this means public schools will be forced by corporate lawmakers to pay approximately $514.50 per teacher for the $3000 pay raise. So, a school with 100 teachers would pay $51,450 in extra charges, courtesy of our corporate lawmakers./
Also in the bill, The State Department of Education shall disburse these monies to local school districts... through the state aid formula... Correct me again if I'm wrong, but there are a couple dozen school districts in Oklahoma which do not receive funding through the state aid formula. If the raise for teachers is to sent to districts "through the formula", these locally funded districts will not receive the state monies for their teachers. Sorry, locally funded district teachers, you're out of luck. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is the corporate plan for providing some teachers a pay raise.
In my opinion, this bill to provide a pay raise for teachers is just one more way that corporate lawmakers using to "choke" public schools in Oklahoma. Of course I may be wrong, and the corporate lawmakers at the capitol just want to provide teachers a pay raise because they care...
Update: The front page of the Daily Joke (Oklahoman) says it all - NO DEAL, and if a picture is worth a thousand words... take a look: The photo portrays five corporate lawmakers (corporatists) staring in disbelief as their corporate tax plan is sinking like the Titanic. Unfortunately, the $3,000 teacher pay raise for some teachers... no longer has a funding source. Many public school supporters say it never did. The pay raise was predicated on the basis that regressive tax increases (sales tax and user tax increases) would pay for it. A regressive tax affects the working poor and middle income Oklahomans more than the wealthy and corporations. Back to the hilarious photo: By the looks on their faces, the corporatists can clearly see their "gravy train" screeching to a halt. The "corporate gravy train" would be $ hundreds of thousands in campaign contributions provided by the corporate oil and gas industry. I'm sorry, but this is a serious laughing matter for most Oklahomans. Those pictured obviously voted for the "corporate tax plan", which means no tax increases for corporations - but heavy tax increases for the working poor (teachers). Their philosophy toward teacher pay raises is it's OK for teachers to get a pay raise as long as teachers pay for it! They (the corporate lawmakers pictured) actually look like the coaching staff of the Sooners during the waning moments of the Iowa State game.
They are all back at work this morning though - another day, another dollar... or in a corporate lawmakers sense "another day, another $30,000 dollars", so all is not lost. The only loss may be for those corporatists (2 or 3) who voted no on the budget bill. I'll explain my line of thinking:
The Speaker and corporate leader McCall voted Yes on the bill. He desperately wants his corporate bosses in the oil and gas industry to know that he made a valiant effort in protecting their interests, that he fought the good fight. He has a super eyewitness to observe his efforts - his Chief of Staff, Rick Rose. Mr. Rose has a "day job" of defending poor "defenseless" oil and gas corporations from greedy farmers and land-owners who want to rob them blind. Mr. Rose is an oil and gas attorney who moonlights as McCall's Chief of Staff and is in reality McCall's boss. So, there's the "rest of the story for those who voted Yes on the bill.
Of course, sixteen Republicans broke ranks to vote No on the bill. Most voted No, because they did not want to raise taxes on the working poor and middle class - and they weren't paid off by the corporate oil industry. There were a couple, though, who voted no... but were paid-off to vote yes! I certainly would not want to be in those lawmakers' shoes as they face their boss. One gets the feeling that one at a time, each corporate no voter will be called into a darkened office facing only the outline of the boss. The boss will have a couple of henchmen, one on each side, and then begin the questioning. After about three questions, in which the corporate underling gives trembling answers, the boss hits a button which releases a trap-door directly under the corporatist's feet. The still-trembling lawmaker drops immediately into the alligator pit below. Such a sad story, but there is more news to come as the session grinds on.
What sounds too good to be true probably is, but a $3,000 pay raise for teachers could be on the fast track as the Senate is suggesting the House add 2% (not much) to the present 2% GPT (4%). The "do-nothing" Speaker McCall and his "do-nothing" House caucus, however, may not take the bait - as McCall has fought valiantly to prevent his corporate bosses from being taxed, and reject the Senate's suggestion. But he may "throw in the towel" and accept the 4% GPT, figuring that "protecting his wealthy corporate bosses is now a lost cause, and accept the Senate's offer of 4% GPT. Only time will tell...
Speaker McCall, aka Dapper Dan or The Atoka Strangler, must be high-fiving his corporate bosses since the 4% GPT was flushed town the commode - along with any small hope of teacher pay raises. Plan B, which was really Plan A for the corporate oil and gas industry, will now probably be triggered (literally for state services) since many will suffer massive cuts. Public schools will reportedly suffer what the Atoka Strangler calls "minor adjustments" a 3.1% cut, and a nada, zip, zilch pay raise for teachers. All is not lost, though, as Dapper Dan will reportedly see a hefty Christmas bonus, along with his crooked caucus. And out-of-state shareholders in the 7 working oil and gas wells in Atoka County, along with all Oklahoma oil and gas producers will see massive profits. We''ll continue to monitor the "super bowl" of special sessions on Monday AM, as our do-nothing lawmakers continue to gouge state tax payers for $30,000 per day...
Some factual afterthoughts after the oil and gas corporations have whined and cried their way to no increase in GPT: I know a retired teacher and oil royalty recipient who collects a mere pittance in retirement benefits ($2000 per month). Her "landowner" production check is $100 per month, but oil company "fees" take that total down to $70 per month. Among the "fees" is a "gross production" reduction of 2%, which amounts to $2 being deducted from the check. If GPT is increased to 4%. the resulting reduction from her check will be $4. So who really pays for the GPT increase? I'll give you a hint: It's not the oil producers...
Here's the resulting analysis - If corporate oil and gas producers receive an increase in GPT... THEY WILL PASS IT ON TO FARMERS, RANCHERS, RETIRED TEACHERS, AND OTHER MINERAL OWNERS. THE WEALTHY WILL BECOME WEALTHIER! Long live the corporate oil industry and their cronies...
The oil producers' cronies would be Dapper Dan and other corporate lawmakers, and corporate attorneys such as Dee Dee's Chief of Staff Rick Rose. Rose, an oil company executive attorney, regularly defends poor oil and gas producers against farmers and other mineral owners, but his day job as Dee Dee's Chief of Staff - is making sure the state legislature passes no law which would reduce Billionaires' piles of money. Heaven forbid, Billionaires could become less wealthy Billionaies if their piles were reduced - and the fallacy that drilling for oil and gas would stop in Oklahoma, and oil companies would leave the state - is a big lie perpetuated by the corporate oil industry and their cronies!
Last Update for the special session that wasn't...
After charging Oklahoma taxpayers almost half a million dollars to balance the state budget, corporate (not conservative) legislators did not do their job! It is now evident the state legislature (House and Senate) is clearly divided, with corporatist lawmakers on one side (dubbed the axis powers) and the constituent lawmakers (allies) on the other. The Axis Powers of the state legislature shouldn't be confused with the Axis Powers of WWII (Italy, Germany, and Japan) often called the Axis of Evil by the Allies (United States, Great Britain, and France), although they are similar. For instance, Italy was led by a dictator, Benito Mussolini, who considered himself a Corporatist. A Corporatist is a government official who rules a state by partnering with corporations. In other words the government for the people shares power with corporations. It is reasonable to assume then, that state legislators who share power, or equally govern with corporations be called the Axis Powers. They get their marching orders from corporate interests...
The Axis Powers, which includes some Republicans and a few Democrats, have successfully defended the oil and gas industry against GPT increases, unlike the Axis of Evil - which was soundly whipped by the WWII Allies. The Axis of the Legislature will now cut funding for state services such as the Department of Transporatation, Department of Corrections, our public schools, and all county and state health services.... and the Allies of the legislature cannot stop them. (Note: the Allies include all those conservative legislators who supported an increase in the GPT, both Republicans and Democrats.)
Another result of the Axis Powers' resounding victory is that teachers will probably not see a pay raise anytime soon. BTW, the cut to our public schools will probably be about 3.1%, which will amount to about $150,000 in state aid for Blanchard. The Axis of Power will now move on to more critical issues (for them), such as acquiring more tax dollars for private and corporate charter schools and consolidating our rural public schools, which you may read about in other posts...
Dead Last Update:
The Axis of Power (corporate lawmakers, corporate bosses, and their cronies) has looked over its shoulder while departing the scene of devastaion, and tossed Oklahoma teachers a bone (proposal for a $1,000 pay raise. While this proposal won't place teachers in the corporate oil and gas industry category, $1000 is most certainly a hefty raise (Corporate Lawmakers, 2017). Let's just look at what a $1,000 raise (about $1.50 a day) can pay for, and anyone with half a brain can see that it is a great raise. As a matter of fact, if OK teachers get that windfall - they will move from being paid dead last in the nation... to dead last.
If teachers are earlybirds and get that worm (to quote a recent TV ad), they will be able to pay the increased taxes on a pack of cigs (almost passed), or they may drink an extra can of strong beer from Wal Mart, or they may pay a small amount of the increased fuel costs, or they may use it to pay pay for the increased insurance costs... I could go on and on about the plethora of options teachers have for spending their $1.50 a day salary increase, but in the interest of time - I won't. I will make one more sarcastic statement, though, concerning the proposed $1,000 pay raise: This corporate pay proposal should certainly stem the tide of teachers leaving the state for better pay...
Super Dead Last Update:
In what could be the last day of the never-ending story.. the special session that not even a wooden stake can kill, the Senate is preparing to launch a Hail Mary to balance the state budget. The nuclear missile is aimed directly at the Corporate House Leadership and Corporate Representatives. The "budget plan" will increase taxes for the working poor and middle class Oklahomans by increasing the tax on a pack of cigs by $1.50, increasing the tax on a gallon of gasoline by 6 cents, and increasing many more regressive taxes (affects the poor and working Oklahomans more than the wealthy and Corporatists). It also increases the GPT from 2% to 4% for the first 36 months of an oil well's production, which will ensure that Oklahoma's GPT rate stays the lowest in the nation. Of course, we all know by now who really rules Oklahoma... I'll give you a hint - it's not Oklahomans. Or maybe it is.. two Oklahomans - Harold Hamm and Larry Nichols.
We will see what happens today - The "nuclear missile" will strike the target, and the Corporate House will fold under pressure by approving the measure or the Corporatists will survive to fight another day by rejecting it.
Super Duper Dead Last Update:
The Corporate House of Representatives or the Criminal Headquarters for the Underworld's Master Plan (CHUMP), has torpedoed the latest budget balancing teacher pay raise plan. Baron von Butcher (House Speaker) will now proceed to cut our state agencies (health care, safety, public schools, and transportation) to ribbons, and teachers will be unlikely to ever receive a pay raise. Corporate Lawmakers and other CHUMPs have succeeded in protecting the oil and gas overlords, like Milburn Drysdale (banker) protected Jed Clampett on an old Beverly Hillbillies episode. (Drysdale didn't want the Clampetts to leave town either).
Monday, October 23, 2017
Conservative - A belief in retaining traditionally successful institutions
If a "conservative" political philosophy is a belief in retaining traditional social institutions, then I guess I'm conservative. If a "liberal' political philosophy is a belief in moving forward to destroy traditional social institutions such as our public schools and our family farms, then many state legislators are liberal. These flaming liberal state legislators claim to be conservative, but it's NOT conservative to spend tax dollars hand over fist - on out-of-state and foreign corporations (their bosses). It's NOT conservative to crush our rural public schools by de-funding them in favor of privatization and corporate charters. And it's certainly NOT conservative to be convicted of sex crimes and tax crimes, like so many of our self-proclaimed conservative lawmakers have been. They and many more state lawmakers, only claim to be conservative, but they are not. They are wolves in sheeps' clothing, or corporate fascists in conservative clothing!
One traditional social institution that I believe in retaining is Friday Night Lights or high school football. It is a tradition that many corporate lawmakers would like to bring down. Friday night's high school football game, pitting our Blanchard Lions against the Ada Cougars, marks the first time ever the Daily Oklahoman has referred to Blanchard football being a "tradition-rich program". The DO acknowledged the Blanchard - Ada game as a "top-ten" high school football game this week, ranking it #5 among all 150+ games. The Ada Cougars own more state titles (13) than any other team in the state, and have usually played in classes 4A and 5A. As a matter of fact, Ada just recently dropped from class 5A to class 4A, while Blanchard has risen from 3A to 4A and the reason they're playing in the same district. Jacob Unruh, DO sports writer says that "The District 4A-2 title will go to Blanchard with a win, but a loss could lead to a three-way tie. Talk about drama between two tradition-rich programs!" This game with Ada brings back some old memories for me...
Two high school football programs with which I've been personally associated, Duncan and Lindsay, have taken on the Ada Cougars in years past... and lost. In 1992, while coaching in Duncan, we faced Ada in the 5A state title game at O.S.U. Although the Duncan Demons were very good, they lost 23-7 to the Cougars. On a Friday night, September 20, 1968, the class 'A' number five ranked Lindsay Leopards took on the class 2A number one ranked Ada in what was the Daily Oklahoman's number one game that week. My Leopards lost to the Ada Cougars 34-0. I was a fifth grader at Lindsay Elementary at the time, and it was Joe Tunnell's first year as head coach of the Leopards. Lindsay went on to face the Clinton Red Tornadoes in the class 'A' state semi-finals that year, and lost to the traditional powerhouse 35-7. Coach Joe Tunnell was on his way to becoming a legend in Oklahoma high school football, though, as Lindsay won more games than any other class 2A team during the 1970's and Tunnell won more high school games than any high school coach in the 1980's.
The "clash of traditional titans" this Friday night in Blanchard promises to be legendary, and standing-room only, so be there early and be a part of The Tradition... high school football's Friday Night Lights.
One traditional social institution that I believe in retaining is Friday Night Lights or high school football. It is a tradition that many corporate lawmakers would like to bring down. Friday night's high school football game, pitting our Blanchard Lions against the Ada Cougars, marks the first time ever the Daily Oklahoman has referred to Blanchard football being a "tradition-rich program". The DO acknowledged the Blanchard - Ada game as a "top-ten" high school football game this week, ranking it #5 among all 150+ games. The Ada Cougars own more state titles (13) than any other team in the state, and have usually played in classes 4A and 5A. As a matter of fact, Ada just recently dropped from class 5A to class 4A, while Blanchard has risen from 3A to 4A and the reason they're playing in the same district. Jacob Unruh, DO sports writer says that "The District 4A-2 title will go to Blanchard with a win, but a loss could lead to a three-way tie. Talk about drama between two tradition-rich programs!" This game with Ada brings back some old memories for me...
Two high school football programs with which I've been personally associated, Duncan and Lindsay, have taken on the Ada Cougars in years past... and lost. In 1992, while coaching in Duncan, we faced Ada in the 5A state title game at O.S.U. Although the Duncan Demons were very good, they lost 23-7 to the Cougars. On a Friday night, September 20, 1968, the class 'A' number five ranked Lindsay Leopards took on the class 2A number one ranked Ada in what was the Daily Oklahoman's number one game that week. My Leopards lost to the Ada Cougars 34-0. I was a fifth grader at Lindsay Elementary at the time, and it was Joe Tunnell's first year as head coach of the Leopards. Lindsay went on to face the Clinton Red Tornadoes in the class 'A' state semi-finals that year, and lost to the traditional powerhouse 35-7. Coach Joe Tunnell was on his way to becoming a legend in Oklahoma high school football, though, as Lindsay won more games than any other class 2A team during the 1970's and Tunnell won more high school games than any high school coach in the 1980's.
The "clash of traditional titans" this Friday night in Blanchard promises to be legendary, and standing-room only, so be there early and be a part of The Tradition... high school football's Friday Night Lights.
State Budget Deal?!?!?!
Nothing works as well as 'threatening to cut state legislators pay', to get them to pass a budget. One must remember that "money talks" to Corporate lawmakers. Last week, the head of the committee which sets state lawmakers' salaries threatened to cut legislator pay, if they didn't get on the ball and do some actual work - like passing a balanced state budget by increasing revenue. Lo and behold, when the legislature went back to work today, they immediately announced that a budget deal has been reached - by increasing taxes on... you guessed it - middle income Oklahomans (6 cents a gallon increase on fuel and $1.50 tax increase on a pack of cigs.
While it's a safe bet that Oklahoma Corporate taxes, like the Gross Production tax on oil and gas won't increase, sales tax on goods and services that we all buy will increase. The reason corporations and wealthy Oklahomans have been spared tax increases is simple. Many corporate state lawmakers signed the Grover Norquist pledge "I will never vote to raise taxes", but the pledge was a 'contract' to never raise corporate taxes, so no "breach of corporate contract" is evident as lawmakers vote to increase taxes on the working poor and middle class individuals. If state lawmakers actually did vote to raise corporate taxes, those who contracted with corporations to never raise taxes could face a corporate lawsuit. Corporations would also undoubtedly discontinue campaign donations (pay cut) to their corporate employee lawmakers. Remember... money talks to corporate lawmakers..
While it's a safe bet that Oklahoma Corporate taxes, like the Gross Production tax on oil and gas won't increase, sales tax on goods and services that we all buy will increase. The reason corporations and wealthy Oklahomans have been spared tax increases is simple. Many corporate state lawmakers signed the Grover Norquist pledge "I will never vote to raise taxes", but the pledge was a 'contract' to never raise corporate taxes, so no "breach of corporate contract" is evident as lawmakers vote to increase taxes on the working poor and middle class individuals. If state lawmakers actually did vote to raise corporate taxes, those who contracted with corporations to never raise taxes could face a corporate lawsuit. Corporations would also undoubtedly discontinue campaign donations (pay cut) to their corporate employee lawmakers. Remember... money talks to corporate lawmakers..
Sunday, October 22, 2017
The Rise of Corporativism for Our Public Schools
A friend and fellow rancher, James Albert Campbell, from Hugo recently wrote the following:
"All my life I have heard 'You get the government you deserve', and I get that. If my fellow ranchers and farmers ignore JFK's warning and 'vote not only against himself, but against the welfare of every farmer and every farm' in the Country, then I guess that is our own fault. If everyone of us that comes from a family that lost fortunes and/or nearly starved to death during the Great Depression forget the admonitions of our Fathers and Grandfathers, then I guess we have no one to blame but ourselves.
If our municipal and county leaders choose to side with the forces that gut our REAP funds and continue to shift more and more tax burden upon local governments, then they do so at their own peril.
If our commissioners stand by while the CIRB is raided every year, then it's them that have to take the cussing when our county roads and bridges fall to pieces.
If the many men and women that depend on an ODOT salary continue to back a regime that uses our roads funds like a piggybank, eventually all the projects will be cut and the only thing left to be cut will be their jobs.
If small local business men think they are wealthy enough to demand respect from the Party of the Rich, they will learn their fortunes are directly with that of their poor neighbors.
If our educators and state employees still cannot realize 'who's hitting them over the heads', then they are in store for a world of hurt.
If each of us that claim to be pro-life froth at the mouth over the unborn child, yet continue to elect politicians that don't give a damn about that child outside the womb, then God have mercy on our souls for we truly know not what we do.
So, all of us adult Oklahomans may deserve the utterly incompetent ruling regime we have.
But, please tell me - what in the hell has our foster children, public school students, and disabled Oklahomans done to deserve the GOP?
I agree with everything James says, except for one thing - it's the Corporatist Party, not the GOP per say or the Democrats who've screwed our most vulnerable. James is an avowed Democrat, but not a Liberal Democrat but a "Conservative" in its most traditional definition - Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes retaining traditional social institutions such as our public schools and our family farms/ranches. It's a philosophy that "gets votes" for Corporatist legislators across America, and they know "to lie" about being farmers and ranchers will always ensure victory at the ballot box.
President John F. Kennedy (JFK) was probably the last "Conservative" Democrat to hold the White House and said "The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways". James Campbell can identify with JFK, and so can I. I didn't vote for JFK in the 1960 Presidential Election and I'm sure James didn't either, because we were too young, but certainly would have - as Dick Nixon, a Corporatist Republican, was the alternative. (Remember the Dick Nixon scandals, much like the state Corporatist scandals of Oklahoma today.) But I digress (ramble) once again...
Abraham Lincoln, a Conservative Republican President, penned a letter to Col. William F. Elkins on November 21, 1864, and wrote "I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country... corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed." Lincoln evidently foresaw the rise of today's Corporatists in state legislatures and the U.S. Congress.
Benito Mussolini, Italy's dictator before and during World War II, once said "Fascism should be more properly called Corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power." As the Allies swept through Italy concluding WWII, Mussolini was "hanged" upside down in the town square as he tried to flee. (My uncle, Warren Beckham, earned an Army Silver Star in Italy, helping to defeat the Nazi/Fascists.)
The bottom line today is to defeat Corporativism at the ballot box, not by "hanging" or running them out of the country. The real problem for Oklahomans is to distinguish the Corporatist Candidates from the true Conservative Republicans or Democrats. It's easy though, if a voter knows where to look. Just go to the website followthemoney.org, type in the name of the office holder or candidate - and become enlightened. The information provided gives the out-of-state and international corporations, including "dark money groups", which have paid-off candidates to do their bidding. If you don't want to know that "your local legislator" is a Corporatist, then I advise you not to look, but remember that "knowledge is power"...
"All my life I have heard 'You get the government you deserve', and I get that. If my fellow ranchers and farmers ignore JFK's warning and 'vote not only against himself, but against the welfare of every farmer and every farm' in the Country, then I guess that is our own fault. If everyone of us that comes from a family that lost fortunes and/or nearly starved to death during the Great Depression forget the admonitions of our Fathers and Grandfathers, then I guess we have no one to blame but ourselves.
If our municipal and county leaders choose to side with the forces that gut our REAP funds and continue to shift more and more tax burden upon local governments, then they do so at their own peril.
If our commissioners stand by while the CIRB is raided every year, then it's them that have to take the cussing when our county roads and bridges fall to pieces.
If the many men and women that depend on an ODOT salary continue to back a regime that uses our roads funds like a piggybank, eventually all the projects will be cut and the only thing left to be cut will be their jobs.
If small local business men think they are wealthy enough to demand respect from the Party of the Rich, they will learn their fortunes are directly with that of their poor neighbors.
If our educators and state employees still cannot realize 'who's hitting them over the heads', then they are in store for a world of hurt.
If each of us that claim to be pro-life froth at the mouth over the unborn child, yet continue to elect politicians that don't give a damn about that child outside the womb, then God have mercy on our souls for we truly know not what we do.
So, all of us adult Oklahomans may deserve the utterly incompetent ruling regime we have.
But, please tell me - what in the hell has our foster children, public school students, and disabled Oklahomans done to deserve the GOP?
I agree with everything James says, except for one thing - it's the Corporatist Party, not the GOP per say or the Democrats who've screwed our most vulnerable. James is an avowed Democrat, but not a Liberal Democrat but a "Conservative" in its most traditional definition - Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes retaining traditional social institutions such as our public schools and our family farms/ranches. It's a philosophy that "gets votes" for Corporatist legislators across America, and they know "to lie" about being farmers and ranchers will always ensure victory at the ballot box.
President John F. Kennedy (JFK) was probably the last "Conservative" Democrat to hold the White House and said "The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways". James Campbell can identify with JFK, and so can I. I didn't vote for JFK in the 1960 Presidential Election and I'm sure James didn't either, because we were too young, but certainly would have - as Dick Nixon, a Corporatist Republican, was the alternative. (Remember the Dick Nixon scandals, much like the state Corporatist scandals of Oklahoma today.) But I digress (ramble) once again...
Abraham Lincoln, a Conservative Republican President, penned a letter to Col. William F. Elkins on November 21, 1864, and wrote "I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country... corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed." Lincoln evidently foresaw the rise of today's Corporatists in state legislatures and the U.S. Congress.
Benito Mussolini, Italy's dictator before and during World War II, once said "Fascism should be more properly called Corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power." As the Allies swept through Italy concluding WWII, Mussolini was "hanged" upside down in the town square as he tried to flee. (My uncle, Warren Beckham, earned an Army Silver Star in Italy, helping to defeat the Nazi/Fascists.)
The bottom line today is to defeat Corporativism at the ballot box, not by "hanging" or running them out of the country. The real problem for Oklahomans is to distinguish the Corporatist Candidates from the true Conservative Republicans or Democrats. It's easy though, if a voter knows where to look. Just go to the website followthemoney.org, type in the name of the office holder or candidate - and become enlightened. The information provided gives the out-of-state and international corporations, including "dark money groups", which have paid-off candidates to do their bidding. If you don't want to know that "your local legislator" is a Corporatist, then I advise you not to look, but remember that "knowledge is power"...
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Legislator Pay Cut on the Way?
The front page headline in the Daily Oklahoman on Wednesday, October 18 screams "Lawmakers' 'performance' could trigger a cut in pay". Dale Denwalt, the author of the article, goes on to report "The panel in charge of setting legislator salaries said it will meet again soon to talk about lowering the compensation paid to the state's 149 representatives and senators", in January. This bit of news is absolutely hilarious for public school supporters everywhere, for several reasons:
1) LOL - Corporate legislators have been screaming for years that teachers' pay should be performance based. They believe 'when students fail, teachers fail', so bad teachers should get a pay cut or be fired, and good teachers should get a pay raise. The only problem with this scenario is that corporate lawmakers want to be the judge of which teachers are good and bad.
2) LOL - Corporate legislators have been screaming for years that teachers can't get a pay raise because of high administrative pay. They want the public to believe that if we consolidated schools and reduced school administrative costs, teachers could get a pay raise. The fact is that school administrative costs average about 3% of total school expenditures, and could not be reduced by cutting schools or administrators.
3) LOL - In December 2016, I posted that Oklahoma Legislators should receive a pay cut, because they're not doing their job and they make too much money ($62,000 per year including per diem and benefits). My suggestion drew the ire of one corporate legislator, not to be named, who has sponsored several school consolidation bills. Double LOL!
My only suggestion for legislative 'performance' pay is to pay less for bad performance - voting for illegal and unconstitutional bills (2016 Budget Bill), voting for bills that do nothing (all school consolidation bills), and voting for corporate bills which funnel tax dollars away from state public services, and towards out-of-state and international corporations.
State Representative Bobby Cleveland (C), a documented corporate lawmaker (He introduced House Bill 1065x, which consolidates all public schools, but not private and corporate schools, with less than 1000 students.) said "As far as I'm concerned, it wouldn't bother me, but I think it would have an impact on the quality of people who decide to run." This is also an LOL statement. Does Cleveland mean "higher quality" Oklahomans will run because of the pay cut? Or does he mean "lower quality"? Oklahoma Lawmakers' salaries are ranked 17th in the nation, among all fifty states, which is now relatively high. It can be legitimately argued that because of the high pay, the quality of lawmakers is low. It can also be argued that if lawmaker pay was cut, higher quality Oklahomans would run. In the opinion of many - Oklahoma lawmaker pay is high and the reason we have so many attorneys holding state office. Some consider attorneys "low quality" lawmakers, LOL again, so if legislator pay is cut, maybe fewer attorneys will run for office. If legislator pay is cut, higher quality candidates may run for office. Only those citizens wishing to serve, like teachers, may run. No highly paid attorneys would even think of running for office if Oklahoma legislator pay matched the salary that Texas lawmakers bring home (about $8000 per year). If Oklahoma lawmaker pay was cut in half, we would have more constituent lawmakers and fewer corporate lawmakers...
1) LOL - Corporate legislators have been screaming for years that teachers' pay should be performance based. They believe 'when students fail, teachers fail', so bad teachers should get a pay cut or be fired, and good teachers should get a pay raise. The only problem with this scenario is that corporate lawmakers want to be the judge of which teachers are good and bad.
2) LOL - Corporate legislators have been screaming for years that teachers can't get a pay raise because of high administrative pay. They want the public to believe that if we consolidated schools and reduced school administrative costs, teachers could get a pay raise. The fact is that school administrative costs average about 3% of total school expenditures, and could not be reduced by cutting schools or administrators.
3) LOL - In December 2016, I posted that Oklahoma Legislators should receive a pay cut, because they're not doing their job and they make too much money ($62,000 per year including per diem and benefits). My suggestion drew the ire of one corporate legislator, not to be named, who has sponsored several school consolidation bills. Double LOL!
My only suggestion for legislative 'performance' pay is to pay less for bad performance - voting for illegal and unconstitutional bills (2016 Budget Bill), voting for bills that do nothing (all school consolidation bills), and voting for corporate bills which funnel tax dollars away from state public services, and towards out-of-state and international corporations.
State Representative Bobby Cleveland (C), a documented corporate lawmaker (He introduced House Bill 1065x, which consolidates all public schools, but not private and corporate schools, with less than 1000 students.) said "As far as I'm concerned, it wouldn't bother me, but I think it would have an impact on the quality of people who decide to run." This is also an LOL statement. Does Cleveland mean "higher quality" Oklahomans will run because of the pay cut? Or does he mean "lower quality"? Oklahoma Lawmakers' salaries are ranked 17th in the nation, among all fifty states, which is now relatively high. It can be legitimately argued that because of the high pay, the quality of lawmakers is low. It can also be argued that if lawmaker pay was cut, higher quality Oklahomans would run. In the opinion of many - Oklahoma lawmaker pay is high and the reason we have so many attorneys holding state office. Some consider attorneys "low quality" lawmakers, LOL again, so if legislator pay is cut, maybe fewer attorneys will run for office. If legislator pay is cut, higher quality candidates may run for office. Only those citizens wishing to serve, like teachers, may run. No highly paid attorneys would even think of running for office if Oklahoma legislator pay matched the salary that Texas lawmakers bring home (about $8000 per year). If Oklahoma lawmaker pay was cut in half, we would have more constituent lawmakers and fewer corporate lawmakers...
Monday, October 16, 2017
Corporate Legislators... We Knew Who They Were, but Still Elected Them
During the 2015 Legislative Session state Lawmakers faced a $611 million state budgeting shortfall, much like the 2017 Session in which they created a $1.2 billion budget deficit. In order to fill in the 2015 budget and avoid the embarrassment of a special session, Oklahoma Corporate (C) Senators and Representatives raided the County Improvement for Roads and Bridges (CIRB) program of over $50 million. It was Corporate lawmakers, both rural and urban, who raided the county program of much needed funds for road and bridge improvements. No Conservative Republican or Democrat Lawmakers supported the Raid on County Roads Funding (RCRF) of 2015. Several rural, and even urban Lawmakers voted against the RCRF, but there were too many Corporate Lawmakers to overcome, so the Raid was approved. In a Daily Oklahoman article dated June 9, 2015 - At times, rural lawmakers go against rural interests, the editors lament "... spending decisions may not always be based on what actions will bring the most benefit to the most people..." and indicates that some rural lawmakers actually voted against their constituents' wishes and well-being. The editorial goes on to state that much of the CIRB program's benefit goes to rural areas such as Garvin County, which was raided of $7.4 million, and Grady County which had $7.1 million taken by Corporate Lawmakers. McClain County lost a similar amount of CIRB tax money, along with many more rural counties, to the Corporate Raiders. An in depth look at how my own rural lawmaker (District 42 - Garvin and McClain Counties) voted on the Corporate Raid revealed that my own rural lawmaker supported the raid in her counties! By the way, the CIRB raids of rural roads and bridge funding continued in 2016 and 2017.
At the end of 2015, a retired superintendent friend in Lindsay arranged a meeting for Lindsay citizens, an Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) official, and the House District 42 Representative at the time. The subject of the "hearing" and concern of Lindsay citizens was the neglectful and atrocious state of Highway 76 north out of Lindsay to Dibble. Several Lindsay High School students and former students had been killed in accidents along this stretch due to the sorry shape of the highway. I thought it important that I should attend the meeting to express my concern, since I traveled that neglected stretch daily (my ranch is south of Lindsay and I work in Blanchard). Highway 76 is a state road, not a Garvin/ McClain County road, and the responsibilty of ODOT, not County Commissioners. The only questions that Lindsay citizens posed were concerns about how the Department of Transportation would improve the road stretch, and how the local District 42 Representative could help solve the problem. The ODOT official stated that plans were underway to re-pave, widen, and improve almost all of the 9 mile stretch of roadway, but it would take three years to complete all projects, dependent on state funding. Several in the audience, including myself, thought this was a great plan and thanked the official. The District 42 Rep. stated concern and sympathy to those who had lost loved ones along the stretch, now called "dead-man's curves", but also lamented - it is illegal for a Representative to direct state funding to a specific stretch of highway. The same Rep., however, has no problem directing state funds to private and corporate charter schools outside Garvin and McClain County, but that's another story.
When it came my turn to speak, the moderator called my name, so I approached the podium preparing to voice my concerns. At that time, as I introduced myself, the Rep. turned to the moderator sitting beside her and asked who invited me or something similar - I only heard the word invited, and saw the angry look. I could not help myself from responding, even though the statement or question was not meant for me to hear, I said "The moderator did not invite me, I came on my own." I digress, however.
Flash forward to the present: Highway 76 north to Dibble has been widened and improved for the first 3 or 4 miles out of Lindsay, just as the ODOT official said it would be. No widening or improvement has been done, however, on the most dangerous stretch starting about 4 miles north and ending about 3 miles south of Dibble. This is where most of the fatal accidents have occurred. ODOT is now broke, due to the Legislature cutting transportation funding, so the needed highway improvements will be unlikely, and probably never happen. The Legislature, including the District 42 Rep., has robbed Peter (County road funds) to pay Paul (state road funds), but has still cut state highway road funds!
The Corporate Senators and Representatives now in office who cut and steal public school funds or re-direct our rural school funds to corporate and private education, are the same ones who stole County road funds or re-directed them to their pet projects. The sad part is, We knew who they were, but still elected them...
At the end of 2015, a retired superintendent friend in Lindsay arranged a meeting for Lindsay citizens, an Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) official, and the House District 42 Representative at the time. The subject of the "hearing" and concern of Lindsay citizens was the neglectful and atrocious state of Highway 76 north out of Lindsay to Dibble. Several Lindsay High School students and former students had been killed in accidents along this stretch due to the sorry shape of the highway. I thought it important that I should attend the meeting to express my concern, since I traveled that neglected stretch daily (my ranch is south of Lindsay and I work in Blanchard). Highway 76 is a state road, not a Garvin/ McClain County road, and the responsibilty of ODOT, not County Commissioners. The only questions that Lindsay citizens posed were concerns about how the Department of Transportation would improve the road stretch, and how the local District 42 Representative could help solve the problem. The ODOT official stated that plans were underway to re-pave, widen, and improve almost all of the 9 mile stretch of roadway, but it would take three years to complete all projects, dependent on state funding. Several in the audience, including myself, thought this was a great plan and thanked the official. The District 42 Rep. stated concern and sympathy to those who had lost loved ones along the stretch, now called "dead-man's curves", but also lamented - it is illegal for a Representative to direct state funding to a specific stretch of highway. The same Rep., however, has no problem directing state funds to private and corporate charter schools outside Garvin and McClain County, but that's another story.
When it came my turn to speak, the moderator called my name, so I approached the podium preparing to voice my concerns. At that time, as I introduced myself, the Rep. turned to the moderator sitting beside her and asked who invited me or something similar - I only heard the word invited, and saw the angry look. I could not help myself from responding, even though the statement or question was not meant for me to hear, I said "The moderator did not invite me, I came on my own." I digress, however.
Flash forward to the present: Highway 76 north to Dibble has been widened and improved for the first 3 or 4 miles out of Lindsay, just as the ODOT official said it would be. No widening or improvement has been done, however, on the most dangerous stretch starting about 4 miles north and ending about 3 miles south of Dibble. This is where most of the fatal accidents have occurred. ODOT is now broke, due to the Legislature cutting transportation funding, so the needed highway improvements will be unlikely, and probably never happen. The Legislature, including the District 42 Rep., has robbed Peter (County road funds) to pay Paul (state road funds), but has still cut state highway road funds!
The Corporate Senators and Representatives now in office who cut and steal public school funds or re-direct our rural school funds to corporate and private education, are the same ones who stole County road funds or re-directed them to their pet projects. The sad part is, We knew who they were, but still elected them...
Thursday, October 12, 2017
The OPSRC, AFC, and OFC - Illegal Campaign Donations?
I've analogized our Oklahoma public school system to "the world's greatest man-made natural disaster" - the Dust Bowl of the 1920's and 1930's, for good reason. Many historians believe the Dust Bowl in early Oklahoma was not man-made at all, but corporate-made. The facts are - The Dust Bowl of Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico was created by "suitcase farmers" from the east coast. A "Suitcase Farmer" was the name given to "corporate farming entities" from outside Oklahoma, which swooped in on the wings of generous federal tax subsidies (the Wicked Witch of the East). These suitcase farmers did not farm our land at all, but simply unpacked suitcases in hotel rooms, and directed the devastation of our farmland from there - hence the name. When local farmers and ranchers spoke out to to the state government about the pillaging of our top-soil by suitcase farmers, the locals found out very quickly that many state legislators were on the side of the corporate pillagers. One pillager even responded to local farmers that he "does not farm suitcases, but wheat", implying that local farmer and ranchers are ignorant buffoons. My own great-grandfather, Virgil Beckham, was killed in a farming accident (1933) as a result of the Dust Bowl. Some locals say he was murdered, so I'm still quite angry, but I digress...
Of course all Oklahomans know what happened to our farmland as a result of the corporate raiding and pillaging - it was destroyed or passed over Washington D.C. on its way to the Pacific Ocean.
In many Oklahomans' opinion, what is happening in Oklahoma public schools is parallel to what occurred during the Oklahoma Dust Bowl. Just as our farm and ranch land was pillaged and ultimately destroyed by corporate suitcase farmers from the east coast with the help of State and Federal Legislators - Our local public schools are being pillaged and will ultimately be destroyed by corporate public educators with the help of corporate state Legislators and Federal officials such as Betsy DeVos, the U.S. Secretary of Education. Our own State Legislature and the Federal Government have provided massive state tax breaks and Federal subsidies to out-of-state corporate schools in order to "take-over" our local public schools.
The corporate scheme for taking over our public schools is evidenced in one Latimer County example. EPIC Virtual Charter School is a notorious corporate public school which saw a profit opportunity in "taking over" Panola Public Schools. Panola was losing students because the invalid and unreliable corporate school grading system had awarded it a "low" grade. The school was in danger of collapse, and the board and superintendent saw no way to keep it from consolidating with other public schools around it. Enter EPIC... EPIC Virtual Charter School executives allegedly told the board and superintendent that they (EPIC) could keep Panola open for business, if Panola would only give them the keys to the school. Panola officials readily agreed to turn their school over to EPIC as they did not want their school to be consolidated or dissolved... at any price.
Panola Public Schools (EPIC Corporate) has now begun recruiting students from across the state by offering parents $800 per enrolled student. Parents are supposed to use the money for school supplies, but many parents use the funds for things like private dance lessons or field trips (vacations). One must bear in mind that EPIC Virtual Charter School is a corporation in that it has stock-holders which only care about profits, not students. If the school does not turn a profit, the new CEO (superintendent) will lose his job, and the real CEO could be in trouble with his board of directors (not school board).
The CEO (superintendent) of EPIC is David Chaney,who is paid an unknown salary, since EPIC is considered a "private" company by Corporate Legislators such as Senator Gary Stanislawski. Stanislawski laments that "when the government (referring to himself) pays a private company to do a job, they don't ask how much everyone is getting paid, or how much the materials for the job are going to cost". In other words, 'Stan the Man' Stanislawski doesn't care how much $$$$$$$ Chaney makes, only that Chaney continues Stanislawski's campaign donations. I'd be willing to bet Stanislawski's constituents would like to know how much $$$$$$ EPIC gave Stanislawski to "write the charter school laws", which he did. Again, I digress...
In 2015, K-12 CEO Nathaniel Davis (another Oklahoma Virtual Charter School Corporation) made $5.3 million at the tax payers expense. David Chaney's paycheck from tax-payers in several states must be in the ballpark with the K-12 CEO! The conservative Oklahomans I know are not OK with this! Many Corporate Oklahomans, however, believe it is just fine.
Other than the Corporate and virtual charter schools, another Oklahoma public school Corporate Raider is the Oklahoma Public School Resource Center (OPSRC), led by Brent Bushey, who is a documented raider on his own. Bushey is employed by the Walton Family Foundation, the non-profit (for profit) arm for Wal-Mart. Conservative Oklahomans know that Wal-Mart and other corporate retailers enter a community and promptly run local businesses such as grocery stores, hardware stores, and pharmacies out of town. It's what they do! But, once again, I digress...
The OPSRC set up shop three years ago in Oklahoma in order to capture the rural public school market. The public school market in Oklahoma seemed to be "ripe for picking" by Corporate Tomb Raiders, er uh.. Public School Raiders (PSR) such as the OPSRC (Oklahoma Public School Raiding Council). Just as Wal-Mart is a member of the Oklahoma Local Business Raider Center (OLBRC), Brent Bushey and all Corporate Virtual Charter Schools are members of the OPSRC, along with a few rural public schools. With the exceptions of Panola and ???, the public school members of the OPSRC are unknown. I guess ??? is also unknown...
Billionaire Corporate Raider Betsy DeVos recently sent $16.5 million to Brent Bushey in order to start 25 more Corporate Charter Schools in Oklahoma. Bushey will reportedly use the money to buy 25 public schools from the State Board of Education. Although the Oklahoma State Board of Education doesn't own a single public school, it believes it owns all public schools, so has a right to sell any and all. Brent Bushey has been a regular visitor at the Oklahoma State Department of Education where he normally begs for corporate welfare checks. The welfare checks received by Mr. Bushey have totaled more than $60 million so far this year, which he has forwarded to his Corporate Cronies. Conservative Oklahomans should be aghast at this blatant waste of taxpayer dollars...
Corporate Welfare Legislators (CWL) such as Senator Stanislawski (R) are hard to identify because they often tell their constituents they are conservative. As we've seen in the past, the cloak was pulled back on several Corporatists, disguised as conservative, when they were convicted of sex crimes or kicked out of the Oklahoma Legislature for mis-appropriating Oklahoma tax dollars. You all remember the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in a previous Blog Post...
The Oklahoma Public School Raiding Council (OPSRC) is a Charter member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a corporate group which buys state legislators from across the nation. At its annual conference, usually held in resort cities, corporations provide state legislative members lucrative campaign donations (in order to coax them into introducing favorable corporate legislation). The question many Oklahomans and public services (Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Department of Corrections, Oklahoma State Department of Education, and state health agencies, et al) have now is "If it is illegal for public service agencies to donate money to state lawmakers... and groups such as the OPSRC, the American Federation for Children (AFC), and the Oklahoma Federation for Children (OFC) claim to be public groups (they acquire public funds)... Then why aren't corporate state legislators being prosecuted for accepting campaign donations from these groups?" A few investigations could reveal the truth about illegal corporate dark money...
I'll continue this post later...
Of course all Oklahomans know what happened to our farmland as a result of the corporate raiding and pillaging - it was destroyed or passed over Washington D.C. on its way to the Pacific Ocean.
In many Oklahomans' opinion, what is happening in Oklahoma public schools is parallel to what occurred during the Oklahoma Dust Bowl. Just as our farm and ranch land was pillaged and ultimately destroyed by corporate suitcase farmers from the east coast with the help of State and Federal Legislators - Our local public schools are being pillaged and will ultimately be destroyed by corporate public educators with the help of corporate state Legislators and Federal officials such as Betsy DeVos, the U.S. Secretary of Education. Our own State Legislature and the Federal Government have provided massive state tax breaks and Federal subsidies to out-of-state corporate schools in order to "take-over" our local public schools.
The corporate scheme for taking over our public schools is evidenced in one Latimer County example. EPIC Virtual Charter School is a notorious corporate public school which saw a profit opportunity in "taking over" Panola Public Schools. Panola was losing students because the invalid and unreliable corporate school grading system had awarded it a "low" grade. The school was in danger of collapse, and the board and superintendent saw no way to keep it from consolidating with other public schools around it. Enter EPIC... EPIC Virtual Charter School executives allegedly told the board and superintendent that they (EPIC) could keep Panola open for business, if Panola would only give them the keys to the school. Panola officials readily agreed to turn their school over to EPIC as they did not want their school to be consolidated or dissolved... at any price.
Panola Public Schools (EPIC Corporate) has now begun recruiting students from across the state by offering parents $800 per enrolled student. Parents are supposed to use the money for school supplies, but many parents use the funds for things like private dance lessons or field trips (vacations). One must bear in mind that EPIC Virtual Charter School is a corporation in that it has stock-holders which only care about profits, not students. If the school does not turn a profit, the new CEO (superintendent) will lose his job, and the real CEO could be in trouble with his board of directors (not school board).
The CEO (superintendent) of EPIC is David Chaney,who is paid an unknown salary, since EPIC is considered a "private" company by Corporate Legislators such as Senator Gary Stanislawski. Stanislawski laments that "when the government (referring to himself) pays a private company to do a job, they don't ask how much everyone is getting paid, or how much the materials for the job are going to cost". In other words, 'Stan the Man' Stanislawski doesn't care how much $$$$$$$ Chaney makes, only that Chaney continues Stanislawski's campaign donations. I'd be willing to bet Stanislawski's constituents would like to know how much $$$$$$ EPIC gave Stanislawski to "write the charter school laws", which he did. Again, I digress...
In 2015, K-12 CEO Nathaniel Davis (another Oklahoma Virtual Charter School Corporation) made $5.3 million at the tax payers expense. David Chaney's paycheck from tax-payers in several states must be in the ballpark with the K-12 CEO! The conservative Oklahomans I know are not OK with this! Many Corporate Oklahomans, however, believe it is just fine.
Other than the Corporate and virtual charter schools, another Oklahoma public school Corporate Raider is the Oklahoma Public School Resource Center (OPSRC), led by Brent Bushey, who is a documented raider on his own. Bushey is employed by the Walton Family Foundation, the non-profit (for profit) arm for Wal-Mart. Conservative Oklahomans know that Wal-Mart and other corporate retailers enter a community and promptly run local businesses such as grocery stores, hardware stores, and pharmacies out of town. It's what they do! But, once again, I digress...
The OPSRC set up shop three years ago in Oklahoma in order to capture the rural public school market. The public school market in Oklahoma seemed to be "ripe for picking" by Corporate Tomb Raiders, er uh.. Public School Raiders (PSR) such as the OPSRC (Oklahoma Public School Raiding Council). Just as Wal-Mart is a member of the Oklahoma Local Business Raider Center (OLBRC), Brent Bushey and all Corporate Virtual Charter Schools are members of the OPSRC, along with a few rural public schools. With the exceptions of Panola and ???, the public school members of the OPSRC are unknown. I guess ??? is also unknown...
Billionaire Corporate Raider Betsy DeVos recently sent $16.5 million to Brent Bushey in order to start 25 more Corporate Charter Schools in Oklahoma. Bushey will reportedly use the money to buy 25 public schools from the State Board of Education. Although the Oklahoma State Board of Education doesn't own a single public school, it believes it owns all public schools, so has a right to sell any and all. Brent Bushey has been a regular visitor at the Oklahoma State Department of Education where he normally begs for corporate welfare checks. The welfare checks received by Mr. Bushey have totaled more than $60 million so far this year, which he has forwarded to his Corporate Cronies. Conservative Oklahomans should be aghast at this blatant waste of taxpayer dollars...
Corporate Welfare Legislators (CWL) such as Senator Stanislawski (R) are hard to identify because they often tell their constituents they are conservative. As we've seen in the past, the cloak was pulled back on several Corporatists, disguised as conservative, when they were convicted of sex crimes or kicked out of the Oklahoma Legislature for mis-appropriating Oklahoma tax dollars. You all remember the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in a previous Blog Post...
The Oklahoma Public School Raiding Council (OPSRC) is a Charter member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a corporate group which buys state legislators from across the nation. At its annual conference, usually held in resort cities, corporations provide state legislative members lucrative campaign donations (in order to coax them into introducing favorable corporate legislation). The question many Oklahomans and public services (Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Department of Corrections, Oklahoma State Department of Education, and state health agencies, et al) have now is "If it is illegal for public service agencies to donate money to state lawmakers... and groups such as the OPSRC, the American Federation for Children (AFC), and the Oklahoma Federation for Children (OFC) claim to be public groups (they acquire public funds)... Then why aren't corporate state legislators being prosecuted for accepting campaign donations from these groups?" A few investigations could reveal the truth about illegal corporate dark money...
I'll continue this post later...
Monday, October 9, 2017
Corporatists: School A thru F is Good Thing...
Anyone following public school news lately knows that today's Corporatists in the Oklahoma Legislature would like to destroy our public schools so that corporate charter and private schools can reap the benefits of state aid (tax dollars for public schools). The October 9 headlined article in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper - Test score change could be 'shock to the system', provides insight as to how Corporatists intend to defile our public schools. From past experiences, public school supporters know that the school A-F system for grading public schools was (and is) based on invalid and unreliable methodology used to determine school grades (not student grades). School grades are based on student test scores though, so when student test scores are low in a public school - the school's grade follows suit. Corporatists believe if students fail, the public schools fail. According to those Legislator Corporatists (Corporate Legislators), there is no better way to prove to the public that our public schools are failures.
If Corporate Representatives and Senators can convince Oklahomans that our public schools are failing, then the next logical step is to provide more public funding to corporate charter and private schools and away from our public schools. It makes perfect sense to a Corporatist to access public dollars for private and corporate enterprise, because they will receive out-of-state and international "dark money" in return. More money is the 'name of the game' for Corporate Legislators, and if the new student test scores are a 'shock to the public school system', they will be a 'cash cow' for Corporate Legislators and Corporate Schools...
If Corporate Representatives and Senators can convince Oklahomans that our public schools are failing, then the next logical step is to provide more public funding to corporate charter and private schools and away from our public schools. It makes perfect sense to a Corporatist to access public dollars for private and corporate enterprise, because they will receive out-of-state and international "dark money" in return. More money is the 'name of the game' for Corporate Legislators, and if the new student test scores are a 'shock to the public school system', they will be a 'cash cow' for Corporate Legislators and Corporate Schools...
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
"Stan the Man" Stanislawski: There is more than one way to skin a cat or consolidate small schools..
In the headlong rush by corporate lawmakers to incorporate (consolidate) our rural Oklahoma public schools, many urban Oklahoma Legislators are resorting to rhetoric, half-lies, white lies, innuendos, false implications, and BIG lies to fool the public.
Senator Stephanie Bice, C-Oklahoma City ("C" for Corporate is the party Bice is affiliated with, not R, D, or L), has filed a bill that would incorporate the administrative services of school districts with fewer than 200 students. In a Daily Oklahoman article on October 2, Bice is quoted as saying "There is a lot of talk, especially in my district, that Oklahoma has too many school districts and too many superintendents". Of course, there is a lot of talk about school consolidation in Bice's Senate District 22. A quick look at Senate District 22 reveals the answer as to why constituents in her district want or don't care if small rural schools are consolidated. There are seven large public schools in or near Senator Bice's district, of which none would face consolidation under SB 9x (the Bice Bill). There are nine corporate charter schools, some of which have less than 200 students, in or near the Bice District (BD) and none would be consolidated. Corporate charter schools are exempted from consolidation efforts. There are twelve private schools in or near the BD, and guess what... private schools are exempted from all consolidation bills. A few of the private schools have less than 200 students and have even acquired state aid, but are still exempt. Many public school supporters believe these facts are the reason Bice has authored SB 9x.
Bice made another questionable assertion in the DOK article - "From a practical standpoint, it doesn't make sense that Yukon (public schools) can have one superintendent for 9,000 students and another county can have 16 different superintendents for fewer students." For most public school supporters, it doesn't make sense that Bice would comment on a subject that she knows nothing about.
In 2010, the Office of Accountabilty conducted a Capacity for Efficiency Study at the request of Governor Fallin which analyzed a (county school administration) consolidation model for public school districts in Oklahoma. The question was "Can public school districts in Oklahoma be more fiscally efficient if all schools in any particular county are administratively consolidated to only one county school district with one superintendent. The methodology utilized by the Office of Accountability was to compare the total administrative expenditures for all public schools in one county to the administrative expenditures for one school district which had a similar number of students. For instance, the total number of students attending all schools in McClain County (my home county) is approximately 8,000, which compared to Yukon Public Schools in BD. When the total administrative expenditures for McClain County schools (8000 students) were compared to Yukon Public Schools (8,000 students), No Capacity for Efficiency was observed when all schools in McClain County were consolidated. The results of the Capacity for Efficiency analysis were astounding, to say the least, and sent a shock wave through those who believed in public school consolidation.
A real example of small school and administrative consolidation may be observed in McClain County also. After the conclusion of the 2014-2015 school year, Byars Public Schools consolidated with Wayne Public Schools. Beginning in 2015-2016, Byars school no longer existed, so an analysis may be provided which shows administrative costs for Wayne and Byars both before and after administrative consolidation. The results of this analysis confounds, shocks, and confuses school consolidation advocates such as our Corporate Legislators:
The total administrative expenditures for Wayne and Byars in 2014-2015 was 5.99% of total expenditures. After consolidation, administrative expenditures were 6.21% of total expenditures (2015-2016), a .22% increase. In addition to losing a Superintendent, Byars also lost a Principal - so, if a Principal's salary is added to the consolidated Wayne/Byars District the Administrative expenditures reached 7.66%. The new administrative expenditures would have increased by $31,913 from '14-'15 to '15 -'16.
If one is a public school supporter who doesn't live in a district with 200 students or fewer, and doesn't believe "school consolidation" will affect his/her district - think again... House Bill 1065x requires the State Superintendent to provide a list of all Oklahoma public schools with 1000 students or less to the State Board of Education (SBE), of which several members are Corporatists (C), to force consolidation. In my House District 42 (Garvin and McClain Counties), there are 7 schools with 1000 students or less - Wynnewood, Paoli, Maysville, Elmore City-Pernell, Whitebead, Dibble, and Wayne. While it is still unknown if HB 1065x will become law, it is reportedly in the Governor's school consolidation budget plan, so has a very good chance. If any public school supporters think that "their" rural representative could never vote for HB 1065x - think again... If the bill comes up for a vote on the House floor, every Corporate (C) Representative, rural or urban, will vote in favor of HB 1065x! If the bill comes to a vote on the Senate floor, every Corporate (C) Senator, urban or rural, will vote in favor of HB 1065x!
So, the question for public school supporters is "How can we determine if an individual Representative or Senator is a public school hater and Corporatist, and not a Republican or Democrat?" It's really very easy -
1) If the Representative or Senator says "We have too many public school districts and superintendents in Oklahoma", then he's probably a Corporatist.
2) If the Representative or Senator has more corporate charter and private schools in his or her District than public schools, then he's probably a Corporatist.
3) If the Representative or Senator has more campaign contributions from out-of-state corporations than from local constituents, then he or she is probably a Corporatist.
4) If the Representative or Senator has authored a school consolidation bill under the guise of saving money, even though evidence suggests otherwise - then he's probably a Corporatist.
5) If the Representative or Senator says "We spend too much money in public schools just for superintendents" then he's probably a Corporatist. (By turning teachers against administrators, schools can be more easily consolidated). "Too much money" is only the (C)'s opinion and one would have to assume that 1% of school expenditures is "too much". The (C) is also betting that the general public does not know the facts about school expenditures.
6) If the Representative or Senator says "I support our local public schools and teacher pay raises", but always votes to the contrary - then he's probably a Corporatist. If the Representative or Senator answers all questions with the same response, then he's probably a Corporatist.
7) The easiest way to determine if your Senator or Representative is a Corporatist is by checking the website votesmart.org... and if his/her donations and support originate from outside Oklahoma - he's probably a Corporatist.
No one knows if school consolidation advocates are Big liars, half-liars, white liars, pants-on-fire liars, false implicaters, innuendo-ers, or just plain spewing rhetoric. One thing is certain though, they will continue to "twist the truth" and falsely implicate public school supporters as "crooks" until they incorporate every small school in Oklahoma.
Senator Stephanie Bice, C-Oklahoma City ("C" for Corporate is the party Bice is affiliated with, not R, D, or L), has filed a bill that would incorporate the administrative services of school districts with fewer than 200 students. In a Daily Oklahoman article on October 2, Bice is quoted as saying "There is a lot of talk, especially in my district, that Oklahoma has too many school districts and too many superintendents". Of course, there is a lot of talk about school consolidation in Bice's Senate District 22. A quick look at Senate District 22 reveals the answer as to why constituents in her district want or don't care if small rural schools are consolidated. There are seven large public schools in or near Senator Bice's district, of which none would face consolidation under SB 9x (the Bice Bill). There are nine corporate charter schools, some of which have less than 200 students, in or near the Bice District (BD) and none would be consolidated. Corporate charter schools are exempted from consolidation efforts. There are twelve private schools in or near the BD, and guess what... private schools are exempted from all consolidation bills. A few of the private schools have less than 200 students and have even acquired state aid, but are still exempt. Many public school supporters believe these facts are the reason Bice has authored SB 9x.
Bice made another questionable assertion in the DOK article - "From a practical standpoint, it doesn't make sense that Yukon (public schools) can have one superintendent for 9,000 students and another county can have 16 different superintendents for fewer students." For most public school supporters, it doesn't make sense that Bice would comment on a subject that she knows nothing about.
In 2010, the Office of Accountabilty conducted a Capacity for Efficiency Study at the request of Governor Fallin which analyzed a (county school administration) consolidation model for public school districts in Oklahoma. The question was "Can public school districts in Oklahoma be more fiscally efficient if all schools in any particular county are administratively consolidated to only one county school district with one superintendent. The methodology utilized by the Office of Accountability was to compare the total administrative expenditures for all public schools in one county to the administrative expenditures for one school district which had a similar number of students. For instance, the total number of students attending all schools in McClain County (my home county) is approximately 8,000, which compared to Yukon Public Schools in BD. When the total administrative expenditures for McClain County schools (8000 students) were compared to Yukon Public Schools (8,000 students), No Capacity for Efficiency was observed when all schools in McClain County were consolidated. The results of the Capacity for Efficiency analysis were astounding, to say the least, and sent a shock wave through those who believed in public school consolidation.
A real example of small school and administrative consolidation may be observed in McClain County also. After the conclusion of the 2014-2015 school year, Byars Public Schools consolidated with Wayne Public Schools. Beginning in 2015-2016, Byars school no longer existed, so an analysis may be provided which shows administrative costs for Wayne and Byars both before and after administrative consolidation. The results of this analysis confounds, shocks, and confuses school consolidation advocates such as our Corporate Legislators:
The total administrative expenditures for Wayne and Byars in 2014-2015 was 5.99% of total expenditures. After consolidation, administrative expenditures were 6.21% of total expenditures (2015-2016), a .22% increase. In addition to losing a Superintendent, Byars also lost a Principal - so, if a Principal's salary is added to the consolidated Wayne/Byars District the Administrative expenditures reached 7.66%. The new administrative expenditures would have increased by $31,913 from '14-'15 to '15 -'16.
If one is a public school supporter who doesn't live in a district with 200 students or fewer, and doesn't believe "school consolidation" will affect his/her district - think again... House Bill 1065x requires the State Superintendent to provide a list of all Oklahoma public schools with 1000 students or less to the State Board of Education (SBE), of which several members are Corporatists (C), to force consolidation. In my House District 42 (Garvin and McClain Counties), there are 7 schools with 1000 students or less - Wynnewood, Paoli, Maysville, Elmore City-Pernell, Whitebead, Dibble, and Wayne. While it is still unknown if HB 1065x will become law, it is reportedly in the Governor's school consolidation budget plan, so has a very good chance. If any public school supporters think that "their" rural representative could never vote for HB 1065x - think again... If the bill comes up for a vote on the House floor, every Corporate (C) Representative, rural or urban, will vote in favor of HB 1065x! If the bill comes to a vote on the Senate floor, every Corporate (C) Senator, urban or rural, will vote in favor of HB 1065x!
So, the question for public school supporters is "How can we determine if an individual Representative or Senator is a public school hater and Corporatist, and not a Republican or Democrat?" It's really very easy -
1) If the Representative or Senator says "We have too many public school districts and superintendents in Oklahoma", then he's probably a Corporatist.
2) If the Representative or Senator has more corporate charter and private schools in his or her District than public schools, then he's probably a Corporatist.
3) If the Representative or Senator has more campaign contributions from out-of-state corporations than from local constituents, then he or she is probably a Corporatist.
4) If the Representative or Senator has authored a school consolidation bill under the guise of saving money, even though evidence suggests otherwise - then he's probably a Corporatist.
5) If the Representative or Senator says "We spend too much money in public schools just for superintendents" then he's probably a Corporatist. (By turning teachers against administrators, schools can be more easily consolidated). "Too much money" is only the (C)'s opinion and one would have to assume that 1% of school expenditures is "too much". The (C) is also betting that the general public does not know the facts about school expenditures.
6) If the Representative or Senator says "I support our local public schools and teacher pay raises", but always votes to the contrary - then he's probably a Corporatist. If the Representative or Senator answers all questions with the same response, then he's probably a Corporatist.
7) The easiest way to determine if your Senator or Representative is a Corporatist is by checking the website votesmart.org... and if his/her donations and support originate from outside Oklahoma - he's probably a Corporatist.
No one knows if school consolidation advocates are Big liars, half-liars, white liars, pants-on-fire liars, false implicaters, innuendo-ers, or just plain spewing rhetoric. One thing is certain though, they will continue to "twist the truth" and falsely implicate public school supporters as "crooks" until they incorporate every small school in Oklahoma.
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Legends of Blanchard High School Athletics
One year ago, the Blanchard Board of Education initiated a "Blanchard Athletic Hall of Fame". The tradition that was created long ago in Blanchard High School athletic teams is legendary among Oklahoma high schools, so the Board thought that former players, coaches, and supporters should be recognized as such. The first two inductees of 2016 were Oscar Brooks (graduated 1950) a former athlete and long time supporter and Sonny Vermillion, a former baseball coach and also long time supporter. The Blanchard Public Schools Alumni Association will now induct the second class of the Athletic Hall of Fame, and the new inductees are just as legendary as the inaugural class. The 2017 inductees are Susan Winters, athlete; Tom Bergman, athlete; David Brooks, athlete; Rebel Paulk, athlete; and Scott Richey, supporter. All five inductees are "legendary" in the history of Blanchard athletics, but you will have to wait until Saturday evening at the Intermediate Cafetorium to learn about the contributions each made to Blanchard High School athletics. They will be honored at the Blanchard Alumni Banquet beginning at 6 PM, October 7.
Monday, October 2, 2017
Legends of the Fall: Lindsay Leopards of the '50's and '60's
I really enjoyed reading B. Kaye's column last week about Lindsay, Oklahoma nostalgia of the 1970's and 1980's social scenes, such as "dragging main", etc... It reminded me of the movie American Graffiti, which depicted the high school social scenes of the late 1950's and early 1960's.
The social gatherings and conversations surrounding many communities in Oklahoma during the 1950's and 1960's were most often related to the local high school football teams, and Lindsay was no exception to the rule. The Lindsay Leopards garnered class B State Titles in 1955, 1958, 1962, and 1963 during the '50's and '60's and was class A state runner-up in 1964. Until the class A finals of 1964, Lindsay had won all 19 play-off games it appeared in (a record). Also, the Leopards tied the state record for consecutive wins, at 30, spanning the 1962, 1963, and 1964 seasons. Their string of wins was finally broken when Holdenville won the class A title, 14 - 0 over the Leopards, on December 11, 1964. By the way, for those of you wondering if Lindsay ever beat Clinton - they did so in the state semi-finals on December 4, 1964, 12 - 12, by having more penetrations (having the ball inside the opponents 20). Over-time rules in high school football did not begin until 1973. The Tradition that is Lindsay Leopard football was born in the fifties and continued through the 1960's, so it is befitting that we remember and dream (if you're a Lady Leopard) about the Legends of the Fall - the Leopard football players of the '50's and '60's. If you have a computer and access to the internet, you may also read this column on mybackpagewithjimbeckhamblog.blogspot.com where a link is provided for highlighted subjects.
I began following Leopard football in 1967 (the year I started playing in 5th grade) so the listed players before 1967 are mainly based on news articles, programs, etc... and I may have missed a few.
The Leopard running backs and receivers (skill players) are Halfback Bill Whitt 1951, Fullback Ray Dodson 1951, Halfback Wayne Estes 1954, Center Byron Terrell 1952, Halfback Bob Hutto 1952, Left End Jerry White 1952, Quarterback Grant Miller 1952, End Tommy Fine 1952, Halfback Dale Henry 1952, Running Back Joe Webb 1952, Halfback Jim Daily 1954, Quarterback Bill Garrett 1954, End Bulldog Henry 1954, End Jerome Walton 1954, Running back Bill Milhauser 1954, Fullback Bruce Bullock 1955, Offensive Line Jim Crawford 1955, Offensive line Mike Spradlin 1955, Halfback Leonard Keck 1958, Fullback Bill Stone 1958, Quarterback Larry Ledbetter 1958, Linebacker Jim Milhauser 1958, Defensive tackle H.O. Estes 1958, Defensive line Bill York 1958, Defensive line Homer Rinehart 1958, Defensive line Don Bridwell 1958, Defensive line Bob Mashburn 1958, Halfback Harrison Durbin 1958 End Dennis Mote 1959, Halfback Loyd Henry 1959, End Butch Thomason 1958, Quarterback Bobby Carpenter 1959, End David Bray 1958, Defensive Line Danny Noles 1962, Quarterback Jim Burger 1962, Fullback John Fine 1962, Halfback Jerry Gill 1962, End Wayne Ardrey 1962, Noseguard Cecil McCoy 1962, Defensive Line Gary Guinn 1962, Defensive Line Roy Goldstron 1962, Defensive Line Dave King 1963, Halfback Gary Goodwin 1963, Fullback Mike King 1963, Halfback P.J. Newby 1963, Center Robert Swinford 1964, Quarterback Gary Goodwin 1964, Kicker John Berthold 1964, Linebacker Tommy Noles 1964, Running back Ken Fleming 1965, Tailback Lindell Shoemake 1966, Halfback Lanny Thompson 1966, Quarterback Sam Howard 1966, Line Bill Clements 1966, Line Dwight Williams 12966, Taiback Doug Scribner 1969, Defensive line Steve Allen 1969, Halfback Joe Sharp 1964, Halfback Bo Boydston 1967, Quarterback/ Tailback Steve Dodd 1967, Defensive line Stanley McCabe 1967, Kicker Gene Wilton 1967, End Ron Newby 1965.
These Lindsay Leopard football players of the past created the tradition of Lindsay High School football. The football legends of the seventies aspired to be what their heroes were - leaders, and as the seventies had their own field general in Coach Joe Tunnell, the prior champions had coaches like Bill Froman who led from the front. Many players of the fifties and sixties went on to become very successful in college and even the pros - among them were Steve Dodd who played at O.U. and became a successful high school coach; Ron Newby played collegiately and went on to also become a high school coach, winning a state championship for Konawa High School; Bo Boydston played at Cameron University; Ken Fleming went on to play at SMU and then the New Orleans Saints; H.O. Estes played for the Minnesota Vikings where his roommate was Carl Eller for a short time. (Remember Eller was one of the "purple people eaters" in Minnesota's defensive line.); Jim Burger played at O.U., and as one quarterback (Danny Heatly) of the seventies told him: "You are the quarterback who all others following aspired to be, but could never equal." This column could go on indefinitely listing the accomplishments of many more, but we'll stop.
These "Legends of the Fall" and several not listed here, are still in and around Lindsay - while still more live outside Oklahoma. The song You've Got to be a Football Hero to get along with the beautiful girls, was just as true during the '50's and '60's as it is today. The gridiron legends of Lindsay will always be the tradition that is high school football in Oklahoma. Of course, I am biased, and always will be.
The social gatherings and conversations surrounding many communities in Oklahoma during the 1950's and 1960's were most often related to the local high school football teams, and Lindsay was no exception to the rule. The Lindsay Leopards garnered class B State Titles in 1955, 1958, 1962, and 1963 during the '50's and '60's and was class A state runner-up in 1964. Until the class A finals of 1964, Lindsay had won all 19 play-off games it appeared in (a record). Also, the Leopards tied the state record for consecutive wins, at 30, spanning the 1962, 1963, and 1964 seasons. Their string of wins was finally broken when Holdenville won the class A title, 14 - 0 over the Leopards, on December 11, 1964. By the way, for those of you wondering if Lindsay ever beat Clinton - they did so in the state semi-finals on December 4, 1964, 12 - 12, by having more penetrations (having the ball inside the opponents 20). Over-time rules in high school football did not begin until 1973. The Tradition that is Lindsay Leopard football was born in the fifties and continued through the 1960's, so it is befitting that we remember and dream (if you're a Lady Leopard) about the Legends of the Fall - the Leopard football players of the '50's and '60's. If you have a computer and access to the internet, you may also read this column on mybackpagewithjimbeckhamblog.blogspot.com where a link is provided for highlighted subjects.
I began following Leopard football in 1967 (the year I started playing in 5th grade) so the listed players before 1967 are mainly based on news articles, programs, etc... and I may have missed a few.
The Leopard running backs and receivers (skill players) are Halfback Bill Whitt 1951, Fullback Ray Dodson 1951, Halfback Wayne Estes 1954, Center Byron Terrell 1952, Halfback Bob Hutto 1952, Left End Jerry White 1952, Quarterback Grant Miller 1952, End Tommy Fine 1952, Halfback Dale Henry 1952, Running Back Joe Webb 1952, Halfback Jim Daily 1954, Quarterback Bill Garrett 1954, End Bulldog Henry 1954, End Jerome Walton 1954, Running back Bill Milhauser 1954, Fullback Bruce Bullock 1955, Offensive Line Jim Crawford 1955, Offensive line Mike Spradlin 1955, Halfback Leonard Keck 1958, Fullback Bill Stone 1958, Quarterback Larry Ledbetter 1958, Linebacker Jim Milhauser 1958, Defensive tackle H.O. Estes 1958, Defensive line Bill York 1958, Defensive line Homer Rinehart 1958, Defensive line Don Bridwell 1958, Defensive line Bob Mashburn 1958, Halfback Harrison Durbin 1958 End Dennis Mote 1959, Halfback Loyd Henry 1959, End Butch Thomason 1958, Quarterback Bobby Carpenter 1959, End David Bray 1958, Defensive Line Danny Noles 1962, Quarterback Jim Burger 1962, Fullback John Fine 1962, Halfback Jerry Gill 1962, End Wayne Ardrey 1962, Noseguard Cecil McCoy 1962, Defensive Line Gary Guinn 1962, Defensive Line Roy Goldstron 1962, Defensive Line Dave King 1963, Halfback Gary Goodwin 1963, Fullback Mike King 1963, Halfback P.J. Newby 1963, Center Robert Swinford 1964, Quarterback Gary Goodwin 1964, Kicker John Berthold 1964, Linebacker Tommy Noles 1964, Running back Ken Fleming 1965, Tailback Lindell Shoemake 1966, Halfback Lanny Thompson 1966, Quarterback Sam Howard 1966, Line Bill Clements 1966, Line Dwight Williams 12966, Taiback Doug Scribner 1969, Defensive line Steve Allen 1969, Halfback Joe Sharp 1964, Halfback Bo Boydston 1967, Quarterback/ Tailback Steve Dodd 1967, Defensive line Stanley McCabe 1967, Kicker Gene Wilton 1967, End Ron Newby 1965.
These Lindsay Leopard football players of the past created the tradition of Lindsay High School football. The football legends of the seventies aspired to be what their heroes were - leaders, and as the seventies had their own field general in Coach Joe Tunnell, the prior champions had coaches like Bill Froman who led from the front. Many players of the fifties and sixties went on to become very successful in college and even the pros - among them were Steve Dodd who played at O.U. and became a successful high school coach; Ron Newby played collegiately and went on to also become a high school coach, winning a state championship for Konawa High School; Bo Boydston played at Cameron University; Ken Fleming went on to play at SMU and then the New Orleans Saints; H.O. Estes played for the Minnesota Vikings where his roommate was Carl Eller for a short time. (Remember Eller was one of the "purple people eaters" in Minnesota's defensive line.); Jim Burger played at O.U., and as one quarterback (Danny Heatly) of the seventies told him: "You are the quarterback who all others following aspired to be, but could never equal." This column could go on indefinitely listing the accomplishments of many more, but we'll stop.
These "Legends of the Fall" and several not listed here, are still in and around Lindsay - while still more live outside Oklahoma. The song You've Got to be a Football Hero to get along with the beautiful girls, was just as true during the '50's and '60's as it is today. The gridiron legends of Lindsay will always be the tradition that is high school football in Oklahoma. Of course, I am biased, and always will be.
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