Sooner Politics.org
  • Front Page
  • Oklahoma News
    • Oklahoma Reports
    • OCPAC
    • Oklahoma Constitution News
    • Citizen of the Year
    • Oklahoma History
    • Today, In History
    • Oklahoma Center Square
    • Faked Out Sports
    • AP Wire
    • NewsBreak Oklahoma
    • Inside the Capitol
    • Lawton Rocks
    • Muskogee Now
    • OSU Sports
  • Podcasts
  • SPTV
    • Fresh Black Coffee, with Eddie Huff
    • AircraftSparky
    • Red River TV
    • Oklahoma TV
    • E PLURIBUS OTAP
    • Tapp's Common Sense
  • Editorial
    • From the Editor
    • Weekend Report
    • 3D Politics
    • Reagan Speaks
  • Sooner Issues
    • Corruption Chronicle
    • Constitutional Grounds
    • State Groups
  • Sooner Analysts
    • OCPA
    • Muskogee Politico
    • Rooke Report
    • SoonerPoll
    • Everett Piper
    • Andrew Spiropoulos
    • Tulsa Devil's Advocate
    • Eddie Huff & Friends
    • 1889 Institute
    • Steve Byas
    • Michael Bates
    • Steve Fair
    • Josh Lewis
    • Tulsa Today
    • OK2A
    • Dr. Jim Meehan
    • AFP Oklahoma
    • Sooner Tea Party
  • Nation
    • Bongino Report
    • Breitbart News
    • Daily wire
    • Steven Crowder
    • InfoWars News
    • Jeff Davis
    • Alex Lains
    • The F1rst
    • Nigel Farage
    • NewsMax
    • America's Voice
    • Ron Paul Institute
    • Bill Gertz
    • Emerald
    • Just the News
    • Trey Gowdy
    • Fox Politics
    • National Commentary
  • Wit & Whimsy
    • Libs of Tiktok
    • It's Still The Law
    • Terrence Williams
    • Witty Cartoons
    • Will Rogers Said
    • Steeple Chasers
    • The Partisan
    • Satire
  • SoonerPolitics.org

Retiree Saves Lives At Texas Church

12/30/2019

Comments

 

Jack Wilson's service to his fellow congregants required heroism, & lethal force.

  Jack Wilson became a hero on Sunday morning. His position of leadership in his local church is simple. Organize a volunteer security team to assure the peace & safety of his church family at West Freeway Church of Christ, near Fort Worth, Texas.
  Jack is a former peace officer and has operated a firearms training school. He's also currently a candidate for County Commissioner in  Hood County, TX.
“I just want to thank all who have sent their prayers and comments on the events of today. The events at West Freeway Church of Christ put me in a position that I would hope no one would have to be in, but evil exist & I had to take out an active shooter in church,” he wrote.
“I’m thankful to GOD that I have been blessed with the ability and desire to serve him in the role of head of security at the church. I am very sad in the loss of two dear friends and brothers in CHRIST, but evil does exist in this world and I and other members are not going to allow evil to succeed. Please pray for all the members and their families in this time. Thank you for your prayers and understanding.”
Picture
Jack Wilson is seen here, ending the deadly shootout with one headshot to the assailant.

Read More
Comments

2019 Citizen of the Year: Don Spencer

12/28/2019

 
  2019 was a long time in coming, for Don Spencer. The retiree had always been a passionate and principled advocate for constitutional respect for personal rights of self defense and citizen empowerment. But this year Don was able to gather together so many advocates toward a common cause and pathway for success.
  I was with him in January when common citizens did what the elected officers could not do.. Defeat an overreach of the State's Ethics Commission. they were slated to enact some oppressive requirements on our constitutional rights of redress of grievance and petitioning of govt. Don and so many others did their part to tell these un-elected bureaucrats that they have forgotten their place and their limited mandate. We prevailed.
  In February he had a docket of bills authored by collaborative lawmakers to restore major 2nd amendment rights to keep and bear arms. His efforts for Permitless Carry turned into Governor Stitt's 1st signing of a new law. It was a repeal of onerous restrictions on peaceable citizens.
  A collection of other laws then followed, but none will be as big as Permitless Carry. 
  Don showed he wasn't sheepish about establishing his rights in the face of police threats. He stared into the faces of more than a half dozen real and pretend cops at the Tulsa OctoberFest.  While the cops blocked his armed entry, he's still assessing a lawsuit option, based on the video evidence he methodically keeps at every expected confrontation.
Picture
Don Spencer, on his way from a successful day at the Oklahoma Supreme Court, on a cold morning, last fall.

Read More

Opinion: SQ808 Would Create A State Commune For Free Marijuana

12/27/2019

Comments

 
 It didn't take long to review the petition language that Paul Tay presented, today. He filed SQ808 to completely end Oklahoma's Marijuana Prohibition. 
 But Paul Tay goes much further than decriminalizing. In fact, Paul Tay's SQ808 would;
  1. Mandate reparations for past incarcerations based on cannabis possession charges.
  2. Require employers to retain marijuana-impaired workers.
  3. Provides an infrastructure for free cannabis to those who cannot buy it at market prices.
  At first, several were expressing positive comments about the simple & short constitutional framework he submitted. But when proper time and concentration is given to an expository breakdown, it becomes little more than a pipe-dream for a statewide hippy commune. It's not a serious proposal for a liberty-loving, responsible Oklahoman. But a loony libertine might get enamored by the notion, until it got implemented.
 To quote the words of an epic rocker..
  I still haven't found what I'm looking for.
Picture
Paul Tay is notorious for his efforts to get attention.

Read More
Comments

Paul Tay Files A Simple Initiative To Repeal Marijuana Prohibition

12/27/2019

Comments

 
  In stark contrast to the massive document filed by a national PAC, Tulsan Paul Tay submitted a very simple and clean constitutional amendment which would shrink govt. while restoring individual liberties as they pertain to cannabis consumption, possession, cultivating, processing, and distribution.
  SQ808 was file just minutes after the ACLU's state director refiled the reworked SQ806, as SQ807.  A hallmark of Kiesel's SQ807 is the huge tax that it mandates into Oklahoma's constitution.  But Paul Tay's SQ808 grants the legislature very limited ability to set a tax which "only covers the cost of implementing this oversight, and nothing else".
  Paul Tay has been a colorful and erratic perennial candidate for elective office. This document is likely to surprise several who follow Sooner State politics. We'll be researching this development and especially seeking to identify the legal minds who put together this vision of drug policy reform.
  This sets up a contrast of visions for liberty and the size of government. While neither of the proposals have been subjected to broad legal reviews, if they both maintain legal integrity in court challenges, it will likely divide the cannabis consumers into two separate camps and result in neither proposals succeeding at the ballot box.
  And then there's the wildcard of Paul Tay's affiliation with SQ808, & the suspicious out of state shadowy figures affiliation with SQ807
Picture
Tulsan, Paul Tay, is a well known entity in city hall.

Read More
Comments

BREAKING: New Marijuana Legalization (& Taxation) Bill Filed

12/27/2019

Comments

 
Sources closely involved with the ill-fated SQ806 have notified SoonerPolitics that a revised document has been filed as SQ807. Media rumors allege that this new document is a simple edit of a few matters that were heavily condemned as they appeared in the text of SQ806.
  ACLU is seen as closely involved with this effort. the leftist civil litigation group has often advanced Democrat Party policies in court interventions. Ryan Kiesel presents himself as having been extremely active in drug policy reform efforts, in Oklahoma. He leads the Oklahoma ACLU.

  The group issued this ​press release.
There is also a companion FAQ sheet.
We have the text of the measure posted here.
Picture

Read More
Comments

Marijuana Petition Filer Admits It Was Designed To Grow State Govt. Spending

12/27/2019

Comments

 
  Critics of SQ806 (the short-lived proposal to sell marijuana to everyone, but at a 24% tax rate) said the idea smacks of "a west coast leftist big govt form of legalization". Libertarian advocates insist that wellness choices should never involve confiscatory taxation beyond the broad rates that other herbs are subject to. 
  But one of the filers of SQ806, Amy Young; has withdrawn her affiliation with the lawyers and PAC who designed the initiative language. She told the Oklahoman that she's stepping aside, and stopping the legal action that she helped launch. 
​  Here's what the Oklahoman reported...
Proponent and Oklahoma City resident Amy Young said in a Facebook post she is no longer affiliated with the initiative petition campaign. In an extended post, she said her gut reaction to pull the petition came at the same time others involved in the campaign came to her to suggest rescinding the measure.
An educator for 25 years, Young said she signed onto the measure because she hoped it would boost state revenue for education, mental health and infrastructure and would result in many prisoners being released.
"Speak up about what you want," she wrote. "I’m sure they will be watching. I am no longer affiliated with that group but I believe that they are trying to do something good here."
Picture
Social media photo from the acct of Amy Young, filer of SQ806

Read More
Comments

Marijuana Initiative Petition Withdrawn

12/26/2019

Comments

 
  Attorney Ron Durbin reports that the filers of SQ806 have withdrawn their petition for the repeal of Oklahoma's prohibition on Marijuana possession and distribution.  The language in the proposed constitutional amendment received harsh scrutiny from multitudes on social media, especially current patients who believe the language has multiple significant flaws. 
  The legislators who have enacted several 'fixes' to the last initiative petition have pledged their assistance toward a further review of Oklahoma's prohibition, and insist that grassroots advocates not use the option of a constitutional amendment for future initiatives, because lawmakers could not remedy unforeseen problems when it involves constitutional mandates. Only a statewide vote of the people can change any constitutional language.
Ron Durbin posted this message on his lawfirm's social media   acct.
" ​DING DONG THE WITCH (806) IS DEAD. State Question 806 has been withdrawn. I’m glad they came to this decision, and hopefully if they want to still run something, they will get input and assistance drafting it. You guys are rock stars for all your effort to get the word out about this. You all did this, and this is a shining example of how the people can come together. Now, let’s keep it going!!!"
Picture
Ron Durbin is perhaps Oklahoma's most known lawyer for the medical marijuana industry and the quarter million licensed patients. He strongly opposed the language of the ill-fated SQ806.
Comments

Rand Paul's Festivus 'Airing of Grievances'

12/26/2019

Comments

 
  US Senator, Rand Paul has commemorated another year of Festivus with his fiscal 'Airing of Grievances' in federal spending. He gives particular attention to the Homeland Security Agency budget.
“Good morning and Happy Festivus! Today there will be many, many grievances aired, almost all in good fun,” 
THE FESTIVUS REPORT 2019
​   Happy Festivus! Another year gone already. It seems like just yesterday I was sounding the alarm over a $20 trillion debt, and now the U.S. has pushed past $23 trillion! The more things changed in 2019, the more they stayed the same. Hollywood continued going back to tried and true classics, releasing hits like The Lion King and Aladdin. And the federal government clung to old ideas such as failing to fund the government on time and spending even more taxpayer dollars. Americans rang in 2019 with a government shutdown. Democrats, perhaps bolstered by a new House majority, instantly blocked funding to stop Republican action on the border.
Picture
Read Senator Rand Paul's Festivus Report, here.

  Worse than that, in August, Congress undermined the Budget Control Act of 2011, throwing out the budget caps and suspending the debt ceiling for two whole years — setting the stage for even more reckless spending! Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office projects more than $1 trillion annual deficits as far as the eye can see. Needless to say, it’s been a bad year for federal spending. In fact, a November review of Fiscal Year 2019 from the CBO states Congress spent $4.4 trillion in FY2019, 8 percent more than 2018. Net interest payments on the debt also skyrocketed to $423 billion, $52 billion more than FY2018. It’s easy if you’re a conservative to get depressed.
​   But don’t give up. I will continue to fight the wasteful spending. In the future, I will rate each waste of taxpayer dollars I cover on a scale of 1 to 5 pigs as I hand out the “Platinum Pig Awards.” Stay tuned for more about that. Meanwhile, this year, I am highlighting a whopping $50,463,462,292.35 of waste, including a study of Panamanian frog mating calls, sending low-quality textbooks to Afghan students, and a grant to fund a Peruvian Green New Deal. It must need exporting after the Senate unanimously opposed it! So, before we get to the Feats of Strength, it’s time for my Airing of (spending) Grievances! I got a lotta problems with federal spending, and now you’re gonna hear about it! In this report, you will find . . .  What does government waste mean for you?  What could the government have paid for instead?  Spending Solutions: What has Dr. Paul been doing about the problem?  Dr. Paul’s Compilation of Waste Reports o Spring Waste Report o Summer Waste Report o Fall Waste Report Keep track of Dr. Paul’s efforts to expose government waste and reform federal spending at https://www.paul.senate.gov.
Dr. Paul’s 2019 Airing of Spending Grievances
If the waste I found is: $50,463,462,292.35 And the average taxpayer pays about: ÷ $8,215.48 Then Uncle Sam WASTED the taxes of: 6,142,484 people So, what does $50,463,462,292.35 mean to you? Keep track of Dr. Paul’s efforts to expose government waste and reform federal spending at https://www.paul.senate.gov.
That’s 137% of the population of Chairman Paul’s home state of Kentucky Keep track of Dr. Paul’s efforts to expose government waste and reform federal spending at https://www.paul.senate.gov. Do you think you could you have spent $50,463,462,292.35 better than the federal government did? So, what else could $50,463,462,292.35 have bought us? Admittedly, this is a pretty bleak picture. But hope is not lost. The problem of government waste is extremely solvable ... with the right willpower. This year, I’ve been hard at work not only highlighting wasteful spending but trying to make sure Congress addresses the fiscal problems it has created for itself. You might have noticed Congress did not pass a budget this year. But I guaranteed the Senate still held a vote on my Two Pennies Plan budget in June. My plan would have balanced the budget in five years without touching Social Security or Medicare. It is a reasonable plan that requires Congress to find just two pennies out of every on-budget dollar to cut. It doesn’t even mandate where! Congress could have opted to cut five percent from one agency and even increase another agency’s budget. Later that month, Congress passed a $4.5 billion spending package intended to help address the crisis at the southern border (the same one Democrats claimed was non-existent while they were shutting down the government in January). I tried to get Congress to pay for their spending by cutting foreign aid, which, as my discoveries over the last year show, could certainly stand to be cut. As summer waned, years of bloated spending came home to roost as the U.S. reached the debt limit ... again. Congress was planning to end budget caps, a signature achievement of the Tea Party. So, to try to bring the Senate back to its senses, I offered a plan to Cut, Cap, and Balance the budget. In the fall, it was clear Congress yet again was not going to fund the government on time. So, as it often does, it resorted to Continuing Resolutions (CRs), and when it did, I was right there to present an alternative, offering an amendment in line with my Two Pennies Plan. On one of the CRs, I introduced an amendment based on my Penny Plan to Enhance Infrastructure Act (S. 2792). Instead of the U.S. borrowing more money, my plan would redirect current funding levels to provide $12.3 billion in paid-for new infrastructure spending in 2020 alone without touching Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security. It has been estimated this could pay for between 2,500 and 6,200 miles of new 4-lane highways or 2,200 miles of 6-lane interstates. Or it could potentially resurface nearly 20,000 miles of existing 4-lane roads. My amendment version would have redirected just 1% of the CR into infrastructure, including fixing our drinking water infrastructure. While even the common-sense proposals recounted here were too much for the big spenders, rest assured, I will keep working hard in 2020 to solve our fiscal crisis. Congress has every tool and opportunity to solve these problems, and I am making sure my fellow legislators know it!
W A S T E R E P O R T S P R I N G 2 0 1 9 : W A S T E I N F U L L B L O O M BY CHAIRMAN RAND PAUL
Springtime has come again! The flowers are blooming, the leaves are slowly but surely returning to the trees, and the birds are chirping. Hope springs eternal amid all the new beginnings – but so does government waste, as it appears bureaucrats are just as intent on wasting your money as ever. Like clockwork, it is that time of year again when Congress considers the federal budget. And with budget season here, it is incumbent upon us all to remember that the United States is more than $22 trillion in debt. Despite record revenues thanks to tax reform, the federal government still managed to increase the debt by $1.2 trillion in Fiscal Year 2018 due to drastic increases in spending. But rather than address the problem, Congress plans to shirk its responsibility to tackle our fiscal crisis yet again by considering a budget that doesn’t even attempt to balance. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget agree that spending on interest on the debt will exceed defense spending in five years and cost nearly $1 trillion in just 10 short years. So here we are, standing athwart those who would waste Americans’ money, showing the American people and Congress a small fraction – just $42.6 million – of the wasteful projects on which agencies have spent their tax dollars. And we also remind Congress that when agencies have enough money to waste, they have too much money in the first place. The federal government wasted Americans’ tax dollars as it…
 Bought an elementary school gym scoreboard at a 491% markup (BIA) ..... $13,000
 Sent international students to college for free (State) ............................... $15,825,000
 Studied the habits of online dating app users (NIH and NSF) ................. $1,200,000
 Taught Lao to Laotians (USAID) ................................................................ $20,000,000
 Improved the quality of TV in Moldova (State) .......................................... $2,000,000
 Paid to teach social scientists how to apply for grants (NSF) ...................... $103,777
 Allowed the 1033 Program to be abused (DOD) ....................................... $2,711,255
 “Tested” whether social justice improves STEM education (NSF) ............ $649,773
 Funded a week of summer school for grad students (NSF) ........................... $49,990
 Developed 6 undergrad course units on food marketing (NIFA) ............... $128,054
_______________________ TAXPAYER DOLLARS WASTED: $42,680,849

1 The Bureau of Indian Affairs paid a 491% markup on a scoreboard for an elementary school gym Regular readers of The Waste Report know it typically highlights the many frivolous ways the federal government spends your money. This story is a little different — it shows the wasteful results of needless and costly federal rules that dictate what companies the government is allowed to do business with. In this case, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) spent $13,000, which amounted to a 491 percent markup from what retailers were charging for similar items on the open market, on a gym scoreboard for an elementary school on an Indian reservation.
1 Everyone’s Favorite Topic: Regulations! Why did Uncle Sam pay nearly five times the going rate, you ask? Because it complied with the Buy Indian Act, a law regulating how BIA acquires goods and services for reservations. Department of Interior (DOI) regulations require the BIA “to give preference to Indians whenever the use of that authority is authorized and practicable.”
2 Though the Buy Indian Act does permit purchasers to buy from non-Indian vendors under certain circumstances, the process is so laborious and time-consuming that it is, for all intents and purposes, prohibitive. “Any deviation from [the Buy Indian Act] policy,” according to the BIA, “must be approved by an authorized official and documented in the contract file, except for purchase card transactions”
3 (Emphasis theirs). This includes, according to DOI, a requirement that “[t]he purchaser must conduct market research which shows that he or she cannot reasonably expect to obtain offers from IEEs [Indian Economic Enterprises] that will be competitive in terms of price, quality, and delivery.”
4 (Even in cases where a purchase card can be used, the choice still needs to be justified.
5 ) The various steps in the deviation process, including cases where a price is obtained from an IEE but found to be “unreasonable,” are laid out in Part 1480 of the DOI Acquisition Regulation.
6 These steps require navigating the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), a 1,900-page, 53-part, 312-section tome outlining the federal government’s procedures for everything from purchasing helium to processing donations of food.
7 It is unwieldy, complex, and unnecessarily burdensome. Needless to say, it is highly unlikely someone would take the time to jump through all these hoops, especially if an item is needed quickly. Of course, there is something to be said for buying from IEEs to serve Indian reservations when the prices are comparable to those on the open market. But with current regulations, IEE suppliers are not incentivized to compete with non-IEEs for the government’s business, so higher prices can be more easily charged, which in turn limits the non-governmental patrons willing to buy from IEEs. 2 Economic engineering through federal mandates, though well-intentioned, can generate unintended consequences including hampering job growth, failing to address underlying concerns, and costing the government even more money than it would otherwise spend. It’s past time to remove needless procurement regulations that harm taxpayers and private businesses alike. The State Department is spending $15,825,000.00 on free college for international students For millions of Americans, community colleges offer an affordable option for receiving a college education and gaining a competitive edge in the job market. But despite American families scrimping and saving to afford college, the State Department is using your taxes to pay the tuition of international students enrolled in American community colleges. Avid readers of The Waste Report may recall a 2015 entry in which we exposed the profligate spending of the Community College Initiative (CCI),
8 an exchange program that, according to the State Department, “provides scholarships [to students from other countries] to spend up to one academic year at U.S[.] community colleges.”
9 Since this program is so out of step with the Trump administration’s agenda, one might have expected it to have been ended by now. But one would have been wrong, because the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is still spending millions on the program — committing up to $15,825,000, to be exact, to send a total of about 390 foreign students to American community colleges across academic years 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021- 22.
10 The initiative will cover the costs of “approximately 130 program participants from approximately 12 countries, to include Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa and other countries (subject to change),” according to the funding announcement, each academic year.
11 While the State Department hasn’t nailed down the countries of origin yet (and leaves itself room to make other adjustments along the way.
12 they have so far determined that the lucky students will get to enroll in one of the following areas: agriculture, applied engineering, business management and administration, early childhood education, information technology, media, public safety, or tourism and hospitality management.
13 For some reason, this list excludes several disciplines that would be valuable in many CCI students at the Alexandria, VA, campus of the Northern Virginia Community College. Photo Credit: https://blogs.nvcc.edu/cci/2017/09/21/introducing-the2017-2018-cci-program-participants/. 3 other parts of the world, such as nursing and vocational skills. At the end of the program, the participants are supposed to earn a certificate or similar credential “whenever possible.”
14 But when not possible, it’s unclear what (if anything) they will earn, since the CCI Program lasts no more than half the time it takes to complete an associate degree. And in case you were wondering, the $15,825,000 spent on this initiative would be enough to cover a full year of in-state tuition for more than 3,200 U.S. community college students.
15 The NIH and NSF are spending up to $1,200,000.00 to study online dating user habits The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) “was founded in 1962 to investigate human development throughout the entire life process, with a focus on understanding disabilities and important events that occur during pregnancy,” according to their website, which also states that their “mission is to ensure that every person is born healthy and wanted, that women suffer no harmful effects from reproductive processes, and that all children have the chance to achieve their full potential for healthy and productive lives.”
16 The National Science Foundation (NSF) was created “to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense...”
17 Apparently, NICHD and NSF think a good way to advance these missions is by studying dating app user habits, funded by cobbling together several grants totaling $1.2 million.
18 Some of the findings have made more headlines than others, though what they all have in common is that they have nothing to do with either the NIH’s or NSF’s purpose. Most notable was a finding published in The New York Times that “sexual desirability peaks at age 50” for men and at age 18 for women.
19 But the Times did not highlight the other findings this research unearthed, which included finding that online dating app users pursue potential mates “who are on average about 25% more desirable than themselves,” as well as finding “that the probability of receiving a response” on an app “markedly” decreases when the pursued is more desirable than the pursuer, and that dating app users exert greater effort to pursue “more desirable” mates than they do to pursue less desirable ones.
20 Another groundbreaking finding funded by these tax dollars was that the users “enact screeners (‘deal breakers’) that encode acceptability cutoffs,” such as physical distance from the user.
21 There is no reason research like this should receive federal funding. In truth, the only suitable financiers would be dating app companies themselves. It is silly to pretend this study has anything to do with reproductive and childhood development, “public health” or “science promotion” more generally. NIH and NSF grant review panels would do the taxpayers a favor by following a strategy 4 of dating app users: only swipe left on the most attractive proposals. USAID is spending $20,000,000.00 to teach Lao to Laotians If we told you the U.S. government was spending money to address illiteracy in the United States, you might not object. But what if we were to tell you the U.S. is spending $20 million teaching Laotians their own language? Well, that’s exactly what USAID is doing, committing 20 million American taxpayer dollars to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, a communist nation controlled by one party, in pursuit of (according to USAID): 1.) “Improved Lao reading ability for non-Lao speakers and vulnerable students,” 2.) “Improved classroom instruction through enhanced teacher competencies and resources to meet needs of target children,” and 3.) “Strengthened community engagement to provide a conducive learning environment for improved reading skills, particularly for nonLao speaking and vulnerable communities.”
22 The USAID outpost in Bangkok, Thailand, has opted to focus the agency’s efforts on, as it says, “children in the preprimary education (pre-primary classrooms attached to primary schools), and in early grade classrooms through grade 2 with monitoring of children in grade 3 to see if interventions are successful.”
23 USAID says, “[w]ith limited funding” (though since when is a $20 million award “limited funding?”), it will concentrate “on a selected number of communities.”
24 USAID also points out that a portion of Laotians are not native Lao speakers and do find it difficult to “learn the national curriculum provided in the textbooks and learning materials.”
25 Granted, these are serious concerns. But, for some reason, the U.S. government has deemed it appropriate to spend your tax dollars on tackling another country’s issues with education even though, despite all the government funds poured in at home, reading proficiency here shows a lot of room for improvement. “More than 36 million adults in the United States cannot read, write, or do basic math above a third grade level,” literacy advocates note.
26 In New Jersey alone, which has only a slightly larger population than Laos,
27,
28 a report showed that “17% of adults lack basic literacy skills.” 29 In 2015, the Organisation [sic] for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found the mean U.S. reading score was second tier, “not significantly different from the OECD average,” and a point lower than the three-year trend.
30 The U.S. ranks 22nd in literacy globally, tied with Taiwan, and trails far behind the top five: Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, Finland, and Ireland.
31 In other words, even after millions upon millions of dollars, the government can’t seem to teach English to American kids, but thinks it can use millions more of your money to teach Lao to Laotian kids. 5 The State Department is spending $2,000,000.00 to improve TV programming in Moldova There is widespread international agreement that the Moldovan television industry is not internationally competitive. But apparently the State Department has determined it is worth saving, because it is devoting $2 million of taxpayers’ money to the effort. Why the State Department would use American tax dollars to support direct competition with an American industry is beyond us. Nevertheless, it is spending $2 million to “increase the quality and quantity of locally produced content on Moldovan television through coproductions that expand investment and employment in the media space,” according to a State Department funding notice.
32 Countering Russian TV Influence In theory, the grant is designed in part to counterbalance Russian-produced television content shown in Moldova. According to the State Department, “entertainment content rebroadcast and/or repackaged from the Russian Federation continues to maintain a dominant local position, given its low costs and high quality, when contrasted against primarily low-quality domestic production of entertainment programs. ...”
33 Citing a 2017 report from the Independent Press Association (IPA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported in February 2018 that the “Russian media ‘broadcast propaganda messages and constantly manipulate public opinion’ both in its informational and entertainment programming.”
34 Their article was written in context of a then-recent development in Moldova. On January 10, 2018, more than five months before the deadline for this grant application,
35 Andrian Candu, acting president of Moldova at the time, approved a law “ban[ning] most television and radio programs not produced in the European Union, the US, or Canada, or by the states that have not ratified the European Convention on Transborder Television,” 36 according to a news report. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has also reported the move “effectively bans the rebroadcasting in Moldova of Russian television programs on news, analysis, politics, and military issues.”
37 So the Moldovan government is already moving to counteract certain Russian influence — without any need for help from the U.S. State Department. A Priority for American Taxpayers? With our national debt now exceeding $22 trillion, and many domestic needs to Animal welfare activist appearing on Moldova's stateowned network, Moldova 1. Photo Credit: https://megliovivere.com/2018/07/31/appearing-onmoldovan-tv/. 6 consider, it simply makes no sense to spend American tax dollars on this project, especially since the State Department isn’t just planning to support Moldovan programming; it’s seeking to build the Moldovan domestic TV industry from the ground up. The U.S. Embassy in Moldova acknowledges that the Moldovan TV sector isn’t viable on its own, with the Embassy noting the goal of the $2 million grant as being “to create an environment in the creative television content industry which will allow Moldova’s creative content industry to mature to a level where it can be sustainable. Ideally,” it continues, “Moldovan production companies would have the capacity to conceive, produce, and distribute high-quality programming and formats within Moldova and abroad.”
38 Ultimately, this fool’s errand certainly has the makings of a great TV show — one that could be a comedy or a tragedy. We’ll have to stay tuned to find out. The National Science Foundation spent $103,777.00 to teach social scientists how to apply for grants In fiscal year 2017, the National Science Foundation awarded $6.2 billion in funding for various proposals.
39 As part of its review process, the NSF rates proposals on a scale from zero to five.
40 But the NSF must think the quality of the proposals can be improved, because that year it issued a $103,777 grant to the University of Mississippi to teach “early-career PhDs” how to apply for grants.41 Working college professors, for whom the classes are designed,
42 must be knocking down doors, asking to be taught how to write grant proposals, right? That’s why NSF approved this expenditure? Wrong. The NSF is clear the “Summer Course on Grant Writing in the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SCG)” is being provided to “early-career scientists who ... will be recruited to participate.”
43 The NSF award abstract states the course’s focus as being on “the social, behavioral, and economic (SBE) sciences with mentorship and training in grant writing.”
44 Aims include giving participants “a brief appreciation of research design …,” along with “help[ing] [them] locate NSF and other federal research support” agencies, “improv[ing] [their] ability to develop and write a scientifically well-conceived research proposal,” and “promot[ing] the spread of appropriate, robust scientific research in the SBE sciences in underrepresented communities…,” according to the abstract.
45 Just in this edition, The Waste Report has once again documented instances of government waste through NSF grants. As we say elsewhere, this is simply out of our desire to see the NSF better use the money Americans work hard to earn. We’re not so sure it inspires greater confidence for taxpayers to hear the NSF, with such a track record, is using more of their money to fund training in how to … get even more of their money from the NSF. One can only hope that at some point during the program, these social scientists will learn how to be frugal with the taxpayers’ money. 7 The Pentagon sent $2,711,255 in surplus military gear to police in Thetford Township, Michigan (pop. <7,000) Put yourself in the shoes of a police officer for a moment. What would you need to do your job? Perhaps a pistol, a bullet-proof vest, or a squad car? The chief of police of Thetford Township, Michigan, seems to have had a more expansive wish list. Ultimately, a department that serves a population of fewer than 7,000 people
46 received $2,711,255 worth of surplus military equipment from the Department of Defense (DOD), according to the Genesee County sheriff.
47 And that stunning figure is only part of the story. So how did such a small town manage to amass a small fortune in materiel from DOD? The 1033 Program Those seeking answers need only look to the DOD’s 1033 program. The program allows registered law enforcement agencies to receive surplus military supplies “for bona fide law enforcement purposes that assist in their arrest and apprehension mission,” according to the DOD’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).
48 The DLA reports that “[o]ver 8,000 federal and state law enforcement agencies from all 50 states and the U.S. territories participate in the program.”
49 It also notes these agencies must place specific requests, justify them, and get approval from the State Coordinator and Law Enforcement Support Office.
50 Somehow, despite the requirement that 1033 requisitions serve “bona fide law enforcement purposes,” Thetford Township PD managed to accrue nearly 4,000 items from the program,
51 including:  Four mine detector sets
52  Three hydroseeders
53  Two parachutes
54  A bounce house
55  A rock-climbing wall
56  A 7-ton forktruck
57  Humvees
58  Snowshoes
59  Dive boots
60  1,000 kitchen items
61  A tractor
62  A riding lawnmower
63 The Pentagon must be facing some unusual challenges if it needs hydroseeders, “kitchen items,” a riding lawnmower, and a bounce house to defeat our nation’s adversaries. And who knew that these were vital tools of domestic law enforcement, too?
​he trick. 49 According to the grant notice, the State Department is paying “for two organizations to plan, organize, and implement local 
There's plenty more in grievance reporting by Senator Paul. Read it all, here.
Comments

Franklin Graham Repudiates Magazine His Father Founded

12/20/2019

Comments

 

'Christianity Today' Calls For Trump's Removal From Office.

  Several decades ago, the great evangelist, Billy Graham, founded a magazine devoted to issues facing the Christian community in a modern era.  the current leadership of that diminishing publication just politicized their venture to the alienation of 80% of their target market.
​  Franklin Graham, Billy's son & successor in ministry; responded with this message of disavowal of the publication.
​My Response to Christianity Today:

Christianity Today released an editorial stating that President Trump should be removed from office—and they invoked my father’s name (I suppose to try to bring legitimacy to their statements), so I feel it is important for me to respond. Yes, my father Billy Graham founded Christianity Today; but no, he would not agree with their opinion piece. 
Picture
President Trump asked Housing Secretary Ben Carson to lead the cabinet in prayer, before a recent white house meeting.

Read More
Comments

SQ806 Faces Growing Opposition Within Patient Community

12/20/2019

Comments

 
Picture
  Last week a somewhat obscure group filed an initiative petition with the state of Oklahoma, to seek a ballot question about further marijuana access. They did not conduct open meetings across the state either before or after the filing.  One source goes so far as to say they wanted publicity kept to a minimum until the 10-day legal protest period had expired. Well, The filing happened on Dec. 12th, but the news didn't break until Monday, the 16th. On Thursday of this week the first mandated public notice in a newspaper was distributed.
  Thursday night, the most noted marijuana attorney in the state held a marathon webcast to detail all the problems he sees in the proposal. Attorney Ron Durbin took to Facebook for a live video which was viewed by hundreds of advocates and proprietors in the medical marijuana circles. In more than 2 hours of continuous video, he took apart the proposal and repeatedly called for it to be pulled from consideration. He says he will likely file a formal contest.
  It's still not clear who wrote the proposal. We only know the 2 Oklahoma City residents who filed it. Durbin openly disparaged what he sees as shabby legal work.
​ 

Read More
Comments

Congressman Hern Condemns Impeachment Process

12/19/2019

Comments

 
Rep. Kevin Hern posted this:

 "Madam Speaker, Public hearings began in November 13th .
  Less than a month later, Speaker Pelosi announced articles of impeachment. December 5th, saying that the investigation had revealed enough information to move forward with articles of impeachment.
  Let's think about that 22-day investigation..
  •   Six of those days are weekends where hearings were weren't happening and the house was not in session.
  •   Seven of those days are weekends in which the house is in recess, including Thanksgiving.
  •   Two of those days are 'flying days' where Congress doesn't hold hearings.
So out of the 22 days just seven days.. SEVEN DAYS were used to investigate debate and vote on the impeachment of the duly elected leader of our country.
  No wonder my constituents upset. Seven days to impeach the president of the United States.
  The 7-Day investigation uncovered 0 facts in support of impeachment.

  I spent every minute I had, in there, and all I learned is that if you hate someone so strongly, & if enough people agree with you; that's grounds enough to be impeached.
  We asked for 12 hours of debate.. the same amount of time allotted to President Clinton's impeachment. 12 hours of debate for the possibly the biggest vote I will cast in my tenure as representative isn't asking too much.
  But, no! They want to get out of here before Christmas.   So it's okay to rush through the process.
  I'm ashamed to be a part of this today even as I vote against the impeachment.
My constituents are calling every day, mad as hell, saying; "This historic chamber has fallen so low, to allow something like this to happen!".
The House spent just 7 days investigating impeachment before moving forward with a vote. I am ashamed to be apart of this sad day in our history.

pic.twitter.com/TTNSgsoIWw
— Kevin Hern (@repkevinhern) December 18, 2019

pic.twitter.com/TTNSgsoIWw— Kevin Hern (@repkevinhern) December 18, 2019
Comments

Polling: Trump Enjoys Massive Oklahoma Support During Impeachment

12/14/2019

Comments

 
Picture
  Evidently the Oklahoma voters have largely discredited Eastern news media narratives, because President Trump is enjoying support exceeding that of President Reagan, at the same point in 1983.
  The new polling and public relations firm, Amber Integrated; has released their first public opinion survey since their merger. 
  The survey results point to 3 key issues;
  1.   Trump's job approval on Oklahoma rests at 61%. This is 20% higher than his most recent national average. It reflects support for his policies and how effectively they are carried out. Economic factors are historically a big part of this equation.
  2. Trump defeats an unnamed Democrat by 2:1 ratio. This is the polling scenario where incumbents typically look bad. When a specific challenger is named in an identical way, the incumbent's support is usually significantly higher.
  3. On the question of impeachment, Oklahomans oppose it by more than 2:1 ratio. This is an indicator that the monolithic narrative of leftist media outlets are completely out of line with the convictions of Oklahomans.  This ought to be regarded as a warning to radio and television outlets in Oklahoma who have committed themselves to being affiliates for national networks like CBS, NBC, & ABC.
  Readers can view the entire press release at the Amber Integrated website. We're including an expanded graphic, below.

Read More
Comments

Sen. Sharp Faces Slander Lawsuit For Defaming Epic Charter

12/13/2019

Comments

 
  As we projected last Summer, Epic Charter School Is filing a major slander lawsuit against Rep. Ron Sharp (R-Shawnee). The left-leaning 3rd term politician and educator has repeatedly leveled harsh criticism against the fastest growing public common education institution in Oklahoma. Here's a press release from Epic, and a video from their leadership, detailing what and why.
OKLAHOMA CITY – EPIC Charter Schools filed a lawsuit Tuesday against state Senator Ron Sharp, R-Shawnee, for defamation and libel.
The lawsuit, filed in Oklahoma County District Court, said Sharp has continued to make false, misleading and inaccurate statements about the school. The lawsuit said Sharp’s statements – often made is press releases issued by the senator – have exposed the school’s staff, teachers, parents and students to “public hatred, contempt and ridicule; and, Sharp’s statements have tended to deprive the plaintiff of public confidence in its mission.” 
Picture
Ten years ago, there was no Epic Online Charter School. Today, Epic is the 3rd largest district, with over 28,000 students enrolled. Tulsa Public School District has 36,000 and dropping.

Read More
Comments

Impeachment As A Political Strategy

12/13/2019

Comments

 
Picture
  The far left has successfully pulled the Democrat party over the cliff of nuclear politics. To keep from facing a caucus vote of 'no confidence', The head of the House Democrats has conceded to the radicals who believe that impeaching the U.S. President is a smart political strategy.
  And it may be a smart move for those who beat the drum for a socialist revolution. Every radical leading this effort comes from an urban district who would rather have Che Guevara as president than a free market advocate who has turned the U.S. economy into the envy of the world.
​  Here's the rationale that Rep. Al Green detailed...
MSNBC HOST: "You have been calling for starting articles of impeachment since 2017, but a new Quinnipiac poll taken after the release of the redacted Mueller report said 66% say Congress should not start impeachment proceedings, there's a sharp partisan divide, with only 4% of Republicans favoring impeachment. Are you afraid this talk will help the president's re-election?"

REP. AL GREEN: "I'm concerned that if we don't impeach this president, he will get re-elected. If we don't impeach him, he will say he's been vindicated. ​"

Read More
Comments

The Oklahoma Earthquake Crisis Is Over

12/8/2019

Comments

 
  On Labor Day weekend of 2016, Oklahomans were furious.
At 7am, homes throughout most of the state were violently shaken by a quake registering near 6.0 on the richter scale.
 I jumped from my bed and called my family into the upstairs hallway while we feared the destruction of our home. the quake resided in about 15 seconds, but we didn't know if it was going to be the last 15 seconds of our lives.
  The legislature did nothing to abate the quakes during the previous 5 years. In fact, they passed laws to prohibit counties from putting moratoriums on petroleum production activities.
  State Rep. Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie) reported on industry attempts to press OU president David Boren to put a gag order on Austin Holland, of the USGS Oklahoma affiliate. 
Back to my hallway...
  With my daughter & wife terrified and asking questions, I decided to go to my computer and pull up the USGS website.  Within 15 minutes the initial data came in, complete with map coordinates. I entered those longitude/latitude numbers into Google Earth and zoomed into the epicenter.. I was shocked!
Picture
The 2016 numbers were halted by the Labor Day moratorium on injection well dumping. And since then the caps have been tweaked further, leading to even lower quakes.

Read More
Comments
<<Previous

    Sooner Politics
      Editorial  

    Picture
    David Van Risseghem reports the events and adds some perspective. 


    Search Our Archives.

    Get A Daily News Email

    * indicates required

    Get new posts by email:


    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    August 2015
    January 2015


    Subscribe in a reader
    ​We recently moved our blog. Our archives are still partially stored at our old site. 

    Author

    David Van Risseghem  is the Publisher of SoonerPolitics.org. The resource is committed to informing & mobilizing conservative Oklahomans for civic reform.  This endeavor seeks to utilize the efforts of all cooperative facets of the Conservative movement...

    ​"No politician 'checks off every box" in your list of issues. You have to prioritize and use personal discretion regarding every current and future issue that you can imagine. Then you have to also judge integrity & consistency. A candidate's openness to study the issues & courage to think for themselves. Then you need to review their honesty & work ethic.  I respect any voter's decision, when they've informed themselves and took voting seriously." - David Van Risseghem
​FRONT PAGE •  OKLAHOMA NEWS • EDITORIAL • SOONER ISSUES •​ STATE GROUPS •​ SOONER ANALYSTS •​ LAWMAKER'S JOURNAL •​ NATION •​ NATIONAL COMMENTARY •​ CARTOONS •​ ​
Picture

918 . 928 . 7776

 SoonerPolitics.org is committed to informing & mobilizing conservative Oklahomans for civic reform & restored liberty. We seeks to utilize the efforts of all cooperative facets of the Conservative movement... Content of the diverse columns are solely at the discretion of the dozens of websites who create the content.   David Van Risseghem  is the founder of this platform.
 Sooner Politics News is a platform, not a media site. All our bloggers get their feeds promoted regardless of content. As soon as We suppress or delete even one posting, we become an endorser of whatever We didn't censor..The publisher doesn't (and could not) logically agree with all the content, so we would not expect any rational reader to agree, either. What we do hope, is that readers will think for themselves, and at least be better informed of the issues, events, and values that our citizen journalists work hard to provide for free.. We automate much of the tasks so that our sources' content gets as much exposure as possible. We encourage constructive discussion & debate. The solution is more free speech, not less.​

  • Front Page
  • Oklahoma News
    • Oklahoma Reports
    • OCPAC
    • Oklahoma Constitution News
    • Citizen of the Year
    • Oklahoma History
    • Today, In History
    • Oklahoma Center Square
    • Faked Out Sports
    • AP Wire
    • NewsBreak Oklahoma
    • Inside the Capitol
    • Lawton Rocks
    • Muskogee Now
    • OSU Sports
  • Podcasts
  • SPTV
    • Fresh Black Coffee, with Eddie Huff
    • AircraftSparky
    • Red River TV
    • Oklahoma TV
    • E PLURIBUS OTAP
    • Tapp's Common Sense
  • Editorial
    • From the Editor
    • Weekend Report
    • 3D Politics
    • Reagan Speaks
  • Sooner Issues
    • Corruption Chronicle
    • Constitutional Grounds
    • State Groups
  • Sooner Analysts
    • OCPA
    • Muskogee Politico
    • Rooke Report
    • SoonerPoll
    • Everett Piper
    • Andrew Spiropoulos
    • Tulsa Devil's Advocate
    • Eddie Huff & Friends
    • 1889 Institute
    • Steve Byas
    • Michael Bates
    • Steve Fair
    • Josh Lewis
    • Tulsa Today
    • OK2A
    • Dr. Jim Meehan
    • AFP Oklahoma
    • Sooner Tea Party
  • Nation
    • Bongino Report
    • Breitbart News
    • Daily wire
    • Steven Crowder
    • InfoWars News
    • Jeff Davis
    • Alex Lains
    • The F1rst
    • Nigel Farage
    • NewsMax
    • America's Voice
    • Ron Paul Institute
    • Bill Gertz
    • Emerald
    • Just the News
    • Trey Gowdy
    • Fox Politics
    • National Commentary
  • Wit & Whimsy
    • Libs of Tiktok
    • It's Still The Law
    • Terrence Williams
    • Witty Cartoons
    • Will Rogers Said
    • Steeple Chasers
    • The Partisan
    • Satire
  • SoonerPolitics.org