OCPAC e-mail

[charlie...@peoplepc.com]

Members and friends of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action
Committee, OCPAC

Just a reminder, we start showing The Truth Project tomorrow evening
Monday the 18th, at the Character First Training Center, 520 W. Main
in downtown OKC. If you didn't contact me for the purpose of eating
you may still attend the showing of the DVD series. There is no charge
if you are not eating. We will begin the program at 6:30 p.m. sharp
with each DVD lasting about 1 hour. We will take a 10 minute break
between the 2 DVDs we show each evening and try to be finished by 8:40
in the evening. If you me with your intentions to eat, please try to
arrive between 5:45 and 6:25 p.m. Each week we will get a head count
as to who will be in attendance the following week with plans to eat.

OCPAC's regular meetings are held every Wednesday, 12 noon at Chen's
Buffet, located in the Windsor Hills Shopping Center, 23rd and North
Meridian in OKC. Our speaker this week will be Stuart Jolly, currently
serving as state director for Americans For Prosperity. Mr. Jolly will
talk about a group of conservatives from Oklahoma who went to
Washington this past Summer to talk with the Oklahoma delegation about
overspending. He will tell us who the worst ear-mark big spenders are
from Oklahoma as well as talk about what will be AFP's legislative
agenda for this year at the State Capitol. He will also explain how
tax dollars from "we the people" are being used to pay lobbyists as to
how to grow government. I also noticed his name mentioned in a recent
TV news cast as opposing the sales tax vote, dubbed by opponents, and
described as the "Maps for Millionaires and Billionaires" tax. All
Oklahoma City voters will have an opportunity to vote on that tax
extension Tuesday, March the 4th.

Following are my opinions on the issue. The proponents are wanting to
extend a temporary one cent sales tax passed in 2001 as the "Maps for
Kids" project which is soon set to expire. The sales tax extension is
to raise about $120 million dollars, of which $20 million is to build
a practice facility for an NBA team, and then $100 million will be to
remodel the Ford Center in downtown OKC, a facility which is only 7
years old.

Mayor Cornett, a former TV sports newsman, has basically said the
sales tax vote will be the determining factor as to whether nor not
the National Basketball Association (NBA) will make OKC the home of a
NBA team. The team everyone is talking about is the Seattle
Supersonics, currently owned by a group of millionaires and
billionaires from Oklahoma.

Perhaps the most "NON news story" ever printed in the Oklahoman was
one recently printed about these owners approving of the sales tax
vote. On the front page above the fold was a picture of Clayton
Bennett, point man for the Sonics ownership group and who is also a
family member of the Gaylord family who have been the principle owners
of the Oklahoman since its inception. The picture and its title was a
leader to a story in another section of the paper about how these
millionaires approved of the proposed sales tax vote.

The reason this was a "non news story" is that only a two year old
idiot wouldn't understand how these folks would prefer to have the
taxpayers spend tax dollars making a first class facility for their
team rather than these folks having to RISK their OWN money to do so.
However, I have a different idea, one that in the long run might be
better for the millionaire owners and the taxpayers alike as well as
the future of OKC.

I urge the VOTERS in OKC to vote NO on March 4th. However, not because
I oppose the Sonics coming to OKC. I believe it to be a very good
thing for OKC to have an NBA team, especially since the ownership of
the Sonics is a group of Oklahomans. I would just like to see it done
differently than is currently being proposed.

The Ford center originally cost the taxpayers around $92 million to
build. Today it is easily worth twice that if not much more. I propose
that the city sell the Ford Center at public auction for a minimum bid
of $92 million, with the most likely bidders being the millionaires
and billionaires who own the Sonics. That way OKC would be donating
the appreciated value of the Ford Center and the taxpayers would get
their original investment back.

Then the owners would own the facility and could put their own money
into the remodeling of the arena. That might actually cost much less
than is currently being proposed. They might want to contract with
some of the local colleges for a training facility, at least in the
immediate future, and they might want to delay or downsize the expense
of a new South entrance into the Ford Center yet making the necessary
improvements to the interior to satisfy the NBA.

I always want the private sector to own and control businesses rather
than government. And of course that is what the Ford Center is, an
event venue business. Remember, there are 3 basic kinds of capitalism.
Free market capitalism, where the private sector or individuals own
the business, Socialist capitalism, where the government owns the
business (as in the case of the Ford Center), and Fascist capitalism,
where the government doesn't own the business but they control and
regulate who owns the business and who gets the privileged
opportunities and locations (which is why I want to sell the Ford
Center to the highest bidder and not just automatically to the owners
of the Sonics).

In the long run, this could be very beneficial to the private sector
owners (most likely the team owners) as they would put into place a
management team and would make a profit off of every event in the Ford
Center, as well as be a home for their team. Of course there is some
risk here, but the Ford Center is a proven commodity which will only
get better with completion of the remodel.

The next question is what would OKC do with the $92 million? It should
be placed in an endowment called something like, "Making Oklahoma City
The Greatest Foundation." Unlike university endowments which don't
seem to want to spend their money but just watch it grow, this
endowment would require 80% of the EARNINGS to be spent each year to
improve the infrastructure of OKC. The other 20% would be reinvested
into the endowment to INCREASE its size and future earnings power. In
addition, people in the private sector could also make tax deductible
donations to the endowment which would accelerate its growth and make
it an ever more powerful engine of wealth creation.

As an example, the first full year's earnings might be around $5
million. One million would be reinvested and $4 million would be used
to improve the "bricktown," "core to shores," or "Oklahoma River"
areas of OKC. As the endowment grows each year, the amount available
to improve the city would also grow each year. The money could be used
to improve and beautify streets, sidewalks, lighting, parking, parks,
landscapes and etc.

This endowment would lessen the need or size of future tax increases.
While I believe that in the initial years the earnings should be spent
in the downtown area, future earnings could be spent for
infrastructure anywhere in the city. I believe the new private sector
owners of the Ford Center would make a profitable return of their
investment, the taxpayers would get their original investment back and
the city would be improved throughout the future. I call that a win,
win, win situation for everyone involved.

Two other points to note. If the sales tax is defeated the sales tax
rate for OKC will go down by about 27%. OKC would then have the lowest
sales tax of any community in central Oklahoma and would become an
increased draw for citizens to spend their money there and save on the
things they purchase. This would also increase the revenues to the
city that weren't earmarked for a particular project as the current
sales tax is.

If it passes, it will be shameful to realize that most OKC residents
will never attend or rarely attend professional sporting events in
that arena. Yet they will be required to pay for the upgrades for the
fans of professional sports to enjoy. Something those fans won't have
to pay for when they buy their tickets. You see, part of the deal to
get the Hornets to locate in OKC following Hurricane Katrina was
accomplished in what I would describe as a "back room deal," done with
leaders in the legislature.

The deal was, that as soon as the legislature went into session, they
would to it that a law would be passed exempting sales taxes from
tickets for professional sporting events. I don't believe the deal was
made to save a few shekels for the average sports fan, but to reduce
the cost of tickets to the local corporations or wealthy millionaires
who were going to spend thousands of dollars for season tickets for
their employees and people they might want to impress.

Who knows, maybe some of the lawmakers passing that law may become
invited guests of some of those millionaires? I wonder if any of them
buying large blocks of season tickets might be among the ownership of
an NBA team wanting to locate here? There may not be anything legally
wrong here if that is the case, it just seems like too much influence
for the benefit of a few at the tax expense of the many.

I believe the best place for government to acquire its needed revenues
is from consumption taxes rather than property taxes or income taxes.
With news this past week of an expected revenue slowdown for the
legislature to appropriate for next year's budget, Republican leaders
are going to have to face the hard cold truth that budgeting for state
government is very different than budgeting for the federal
government.

The federal government can cut taxes and then simply spend more by
borrowing or PRINTING more money. Leaving more money in the hands of
taxpayers as well as infusing more borrowed or printed money into the
system expands the money supply which then causes inflation. Those
inflated dollars usually result in an increased revenue stream into
the federal treasury. Though those increased federal dollars are worth
less in buying power and never seem to overcome the ever increasing
debt.

However, in Oklahoma where we have a balanced budget requirement, when
we cut taxes they need to be the right kind of tax cuts to stimulate
the economy. There also needs to be a reduction in spending at the
same time or else new growth revenues (the increased amount from year
to year the legislature has to appropriate) will shrink. Unfortunately
too many Republicans have supported expansions of spending programs or
creating new ones. These expansions make it difficult to make further
tax cuts.00

The right kind of taxes to cut are corporate income taxes, capital
gains taxes, franchise taxes and personal income taxes as they all
lower the cost of producing goods and services in Oklahoma, thus
making Oklahoma businesses more competitive in a global market place.
Cutting consumption fees and sales taxes do nothing, let me say it
again, nothing to stimulate the economy. Removing sales taxes from the
tickets for sporting events, groceries, sales taxes spent military
veterans, and a back to school sales tax holiday are "sexy" kinds of
tax cuts (popular with the voters) they are the wrong kind of tax cuts
to improve our economy. Unfortunately more of these silly types of tax
cuts are currently being proposed, some of which by Republicans.

Over the years the Democrats have promoted a class envy atmosphere
causing people to want to tax businesses. A punish the rich attitude.
Truth is, any tax on a business is overhead for that business and the
business must raise the prices on the goods they produce or service
they provide to pay those taxes. Thus, the real payers of those taxes
are still the people who buy the goods or use the services. The
consuming public will always be the ones who pay all taxes whether
they pay them directly or indirectly.

As growth revenues are slowing to state government, partly because of
an economic slow down and partly because of past tax cuts without
sufficient corresponding spending cuts, another challenge Republican
lawmakers will be faced with is how to keep reducing the important tax
cuts?

Republicans and Democrats alike need to realize you can't continue to
practice corporate welfare and lower taxes at the same time. Your
can't give money away to corporations without having a high enough tax
base to have the money to give away. As an example, Oklahoma's Quality
Jobs Act is an economic stimulosus plan, but so would be the removal
of all business taxes. Truth is, you can't do both!

Lowering taxes and regulations on businesses is not only the superior
way to see economic growth, it is also the moral way to go. Just this
past week is was announced several more companies were applying for
Oklahoma's Quality Jobs Act corporate welfare plan. That is where
Oklahoma taxpayers will pay up to 5% of the wages for up to 10 years
for companies who expand their workforce in Oklahoma or locate here
from somewhere else. One of the companies who just applied, and this
is not the first time, is Chesapeake Energy.

Does, anyone really believe taxpayers need to pay 5% of the wages for
hundreds of Chesapeake's new employees when they would have most
likely hired them anyway? Is it morally right for government take tax
dollars from some of Chesapeake's competitors and use those tax
dollars to subsidize the business operations of Chesapeake? I don't
blame Chesapeake for taking advantage of the system, I blame the
citizens and lawmakers who support this immoral and flawed system.

As I have speculated in the past, I believe that is why many of these
very wealthy CEOs of some of Oklahoma's largest corporations and
businesses were opposed to measures like the Taxpayers Bill of Rights
(TABOR) or in some cases support the sales tax extension to remodel
the Ford Center. I believe they want to see government have plenty of
money to spread around for their personal or corporate benefit. Is
there a moral issue in these situations? I believe there is.

Half way through February, the number of dues paying members of OCPAC
have now surpassed 90. If you have not joined as yet, now would be a
great time. Instructions on how to join follow my sign off. I hope to
see a lot of folks for The Truth Project Monday evening and look
forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.

Charlie Meadows
charlie...@peoplepc.com

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OCPAC
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