OCPAC e-mail

8 views
Skip to first unread message

Charlie Meadows

unread,
Mar 5, 2012, 5:46:41 PM3/5/12
to Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee
Members and friends of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)

++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
++ PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION THIS TUESDAY
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS


++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING

Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, March 7th will be held at
Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Our speaker this
week will be Avi Lipkin. Avi is a former Israeli Defense Forces media
spokesman and has advised several Israeli Prime Ministers. He is a
fascinating wealth of information and perspective on the history as
well as current events in the Middle East. In addition, for the first
time of which I am aware, his wife Rachael will also be with him. She
grew up as an Egyptian Jew and as such is thoroughly aware of Arab as
well as Muslim culture. So much so, she is currently the official
translator of Arabic into Hebrew for the government of Israel. This
will be a fascinating meeting, you won’t want to miss this Wednesday.

If you can’t make our meeting, they will also be appearing tonight
(Monday the 5th), 6:00 p.m. at University Christian Church in Norman
(616 Bud Wilkinson Dr. SW), Tuesday morning, 9:30 a.m. at The Bridge
Assembly of God Church in Mustang, Tuesday evening 7:00 p.m. at the
Living Waters Lighthouse (4500 SE 89th in OKC) and at Fairview Baptist
Church (6:45 p.m.) in Edmond, which is at the intersection of Danforth
and Sooner Roads (Danforth is one mile North of 2nd street and Sooner
is 1 block West of I-35. Folks will be welcome at any of these
locations.

++ PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION THIS TUESDAY

About 6 months ago I suggested there were 4 establishment candidates
in the race (the establishment always backs more than 1 candidate to
see which one gets the most traction). They were Mitt, Newt, Rick
Perry and John Huntsman. I suggested the 3 non establishment and more
conservative candidates were Michelle, Herman and Ron Paul. I didn’t
mention Santorum as he wasn’t even a blip on the radar screen at that
time. It was my suggestion to wait until close to the election in
Oklahoma and then for conservatives to rally around the one of those 3
who was polling the best, with the intent of electing the best
candidate possible other than an establishment candidate.

About 3 months ago, I broke it down as follows. Mitt, Rick Perry, and
Newt were professional flip floppers, with Newt being the king of the
bunch at flip flopping. Michelle, Herman and Huntsman were out of the
race, leaving only Ron Paul for a choice for me. I did at that time
mention Santorum as having had a career in Washington of compromise
and deal making.

Now that we are only a day before our Primary, there are only 4 left
in the race. Santorum is leading in the polls in Oklahoma, with Mitt
and Newt in 2nd and 3 place in that order. Ron Paul is a distant 4th
place, not even going to come close to gaining the necessary 15% of
the vote to be eligible to receive any delegates from Oklahoma (the
absolute most he will get in Oklahoma will be 9% and probably less
than that). So, what to do, what to do. I personally have serious
problems with every one of these candidates. Here is my suggestion. If
you feel passionately about one of these candidates, then by all means
vote for that person. Or, you could vote strategically!

Mitt is the leading establishment candidate. If you are opposed to him
and want to stop him, then I suggest a strategic vote for Santorum. If
you are a Ron Paul supporter, the only chance Ron Paul has to get the
nomination is for there to be a brokered convention with enough of the
delegates favorable toward Paul that they might select him on a ballot
beyond the first round.

However, for that to occur, there must be a brokered convention. To
help accomplish that, as far as Oklahoma is concerned, Santorum or
Newt (most likely Santorum) must get as many votes as possible more
than Mitt to keep Mitt’s delegate count down. It will be interesting
to see if the dedicated Ron Paul folks, after working so hard to
support their candidate, will have enough insight to go beyond their
current strategy of electing delegates favorable to Ron Paul for the
national convention, to now vote for Santorum to accomplish their ends
rather than wasting their vote on Ron Paul?

Ron Paul supporters must also pray that Newt wins in Georgia. To
produce a brokered convention, neither Romney or Santorum can have a
majority of delegates when the convention convenes, therefore Ron Paul
and Newt must have enough delegates to prevent anyone from having a
majority. Again, I repeat, Ron Paul doesn‘t have a snowball’s chance
in Hades of getting delegates in tomorrow’s vote in Oklahoma.

One more thing to consider as far as an overall perspective.
Conservatives should be wary of which candidate wins the Republican
majority in blue states such as California, Oregon, Washington,
Illinois New York, and the rest of the Northeast. Those states aren’t
likely to vote for a Republican in the general election under almost
any circumstance. A candidate chosen by Republicans in those states
will not be as appealing to Republicans in the South and the central
parts of America which are more likely to vote for a conservative
Republican. To beat President Obama, our candidate must be appealing
to voters in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Virginia, North
Carolina and Florida. When it comes to super Tuesday, keep your eyes
on Ohio. I might even suggest, whoever wins Ohio, will be the most
appealing candidate Republicans can put forth in November to beat
Obama. That will be either Mitt or Santorum. Happy voting
tomorrow.

++ ANNOUNCEMENTS

* TUESDAY EVENING - GUTHRIE AREA - The Guthrie chapter of OK2A
(Oklahoma 2nd Amendment) will hold their monthly meeting, Tuesday
evening March 6th in the Patriot Industries gun store which is located
at 211 East Oklahoma in downtown Guthrie. The meeting will start at
7:00 p.m.

* THURSDAY EVENING - ADA AREA - The Ada chapter of OK2A will hold
their monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m., at JD’s Café, located at 911 North
Broadway in Ada. Either Senator Susan Paddack (D-Ada) or
Representative Todd Thomsen (R-Ada) will be speaking. Please arrive a
little early if you want to eat.

* THURSDAY EVENING - MOORE AREA - The Sooner Republican Assembly
(affiliated with the National Federation of Republican Assemblies)
will host their monthly meeting at Earl’s Rib Palace in Moore,
beginning at 6:00 p.m. for dinner with the meeting starting at 6:45
p.m. The speaker this Thursday will be Les White, owner of Liberty
Coin and Gold in Norman. He will be speaking about the monetary value
of gold and silver coins and investing in such. Also, if you have old
gold or silver coins, or jewelry, bring them and Les will give a
ballpark estimate of their value. In addition, they are bringing back
the bully pulpit. Anyone will be allowed 2 minutes to get anything off
their chests, but the time will be strictly enforced.

You will not want to miss this week’s OCPAC meeting. I would suggest
arriving early if at all possible to get a good seat.

Charlie Meadows
Charlie...@gmail.com


To join OCPAC fill out the following and send your check to:

OCPAC
P.O. Box 2021
Edmond, OK 73083

Yes Charlie, I want to join OCPAC at one of the following levels:
___Basic membership at $50 per year.
Safari Club Membership:
___Elephant Provider at ___$180 annual or ___$15 monthly
___Elephant Provider & RINO Hunter, ___$360 annual or ___$30 monthly
For monthly payments please send a voided check so we may draft your
Checking account on a monthly basis. If you decide to discontinue
monthly support, simply contact me and we will stop the withdrawal.

THE FOLLOWING IS REQUIRED BY STATE LAW !

Print Name____________________________________________
Address___________________City___________State____Zip_____
Occupation____________________Employer_________________
Date___________________Amount $_______________
I have freely given from my own resources & have not been compensated
for this contribution. (Corporate contributions not allowed by law!)

Signature_____________________________________

Charlie Meadows

unread,
Mar 6, 2012, 2:47:49 PM3/6/12
to Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee
Members and friends of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)

Sorry for the extra e-mail, but when announcing the various speaking
locations for Avi and Rebecca Lipkin, I mentioned their speaking at
Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond. I failed to mention they would be
speaking this “Wednesday” evening. The time is as I mentioned at 6:45
p.m.

Also, when I voted last Friday, I jokingly asked if I could vote in
the Democrat primary. The folks at the election board, knowing I was a
Republican, answered with a resounding “no”. However, there is an
excellent Democrat on the ballot in Oklahoma. He is an ardent pro-life
leader, trying to get at least 15% of the vote to embarrass President
Obama. His name is Randall Terry. If you are a pro-life or
conservative Democrat, this is the person on the ballot that you will
want to vote for. If on the other hand, you are a wild eyed, hairy
legged femi-Nazi loving, left wing liberal progressive, then by all
means, vote to re-elect President Obama.

Thanks for your time and attention.

Charlie Meadows
Charlie...@gmail.com

Charlie Meadows

unread,
Mar 12, 2012, 8:47:43 AM3/12/12
to Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee
Members and friends of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)

++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS
++ HEADING TOWARD TAX REDUCTION - IS THERE A FLAW?


++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING

Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, March 14th will be held at
Italiano’ restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. A huge thanks to
Richard Engle for conducting our meeting this past Wednesday and sure
hope everyone enjoyed Avi Lipkin. I had to be at an Aunt’s funeral in
Southwestern Oklahoma, and therefore really missed hearing Avi. Also,
thanks to the 30 or so volunteers who went to the Capitol a week ago
Thursday to lobby Senators regarding SB 1629 and SB 999. It appears as
though those efforts were well received as there was an announcement
on Thursday of last week that SB 1629 will be taken off the docket
until after the U.S. Supreme Court rules on Obamacare. Depending on
that outcome, Oklahoma lawmakers will review other options regarding
the health care insurance exchanges.

Toward that end, I have invited State Senator Gary Stanislawski (R-
Tulsa) to speak at our meeting regarding what was trying to be
accomplished through SB 1629 and going forward what might be some of
the other options. We have had Amanda Teegarden present valuable
information on this subject and I believe it is important to hear
Senator Stanislawski’s perspectives on the issue as I had nearly an
hours conversation with him a week ago Thursday. We will try to keep
this segment to 20-25 minutes including Q&A.

Our main speaker this week will be Jonathan Small, talking about
surplus monies and how they might be used to repair the Capitol and
build a new Medical Examiners’ office in Edmond, rather than incurring
additional debt. In addition he will also discuss the real
possibilities regarding the elimination of the state income tax, how
that fits and why it is likely to have a positive impact on our
economy. This meeting will be jam packed with information, so arrive
early if possible as we will try and hit the ground running right at
12 noon.

++ ANNOUNCEMENTS

* TUESDAY EVENING - ADA AREA - The Ada-Seminole area tea party
will hold their monthly meeting this Tuesday evening, 6:30 p.m. at the
Ada Chamber of Commerce building, 209 West Main street in Ada.
Speaking will be State Senator Gary Stanislawski, on defending the
Republic and then 2nd District Congressional candidate Wayne Pettigrew
will speak about his campaign.

* WEDNESDAY NOON - TULSA AREA - The Tulsa County Republican Men’s
Club will hold their monthly meeting, 12 noon, on March 14th at the
Hibachi Grill & Buffet, 8110 East 74th Street on Memorial Drive.
Speaking will be Lt. Col. (USAF ret.) Jim Mazzei. Jim is the father of
State Senator Mike Mazzei (R-Tulsa).

* THURSDAY EVENING - TULSA AREA - OK2A (Oklahoma 2nd Amendment)
will hold their monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m. at 2A Shooting Center,
located at 4616 East Admiral Place in Tulsa.

* THURSDAY EVENING - OKC AREA - Dr. Steve Kern, pastor of Olivet
Baptist Church in OKC, will be debating an OU graduate student this
Thursday evening, 7:00 p.m. on the question, “Should Intelligent
Design be taught to our children in public schools? The debate will be
held in the College Union on the campus of Oklahoma City Community
College (OCCC), located just South of I-240 on May Avenue in OKC. The
previous debate on a different subject produced a packed room, so you
may want to arrive a little early. This will be an excellent
opportunity to understand what Intelligent Design really is and what
it is not. I doubt you will hear the truth of the matter from the
graduate student.

++ HEADING TOWARD TAX REDUCTION - IS THERE A FLAW?

Between the Governor, Senate and House members there are several tax
reduction ideas that have become bills to consider. They generally
want to reduce the state income tax over time, perhaps even
eliminating the tax altogether. They basically propose savings through
government modernization, reducing or eliminating non-core government
functions, reducing or eliminating tax subsidies and a dependence on
new growth monies produced from a growing economy. The idea is that
the reduction or elimination of state income taxes will stimulate the
economy and leave more of people’s hard earned money in their own
pockets to do with as they see fit, rather than have government spend
their money the way government wants to spend it.

However, I question if the personal income tax is a higher priority to
reduce or eliminate than reducing or eliminating our corporate income
taxes, that is if you really want to stimulate the economy?

As the debate is developing, those receiving government subsidies are
working overtime to convince lawmakers as to how valuable and needed
their subsidy or special tax treatment happens to be toward the
economy or people of Oklahoma.

An interesting case in point is the Hollywood corporate welfare made
available to film makers who determine to shoot all or parts of a film
in Oklahoma. There is currently a cap of $5 million dollars each year
to be used as an (economic development) kick-back scheme for film
makers producing movies in Oklahoma.

The advocates of the program point out that these (generally) out of
state film producers spend a lot of their capital in Oklahoma, paying
for the construction of sets, furnishings and equipment as well as
salaries for the large numbers of locals used as extras in the movies.
They also point out how much is spent in local restaurants, stores and
lodging for employees during the time spent shooting the films. In
addition, a lot of sales taxes are collected and state income taxes
are paid to the state from the salaries of those working on the film.
Therefore, the advocates want the $5 million cap to be more, even much
more, as they “claim” the kick back money spent is far less than the
value it produces.

Just for the sake of argument, lets say they are correct in their
declaration that the kick backs are a net positive for the state. So
how will eliminating the personal state income tax stimulate the film
making industry and grow our economy?

I will suggest it will not stimulate the economy, at least not in the
film industry, since the principle business is located out of state
and the principles of the film company (which will likely be the stock
holders of a corporation) will probably not pay any personal state
income taxes in Oklahoma. They are likely to pay corporate taxes, but
the stock holders are not likely to pay personal income taxes. Of
course directors, set crew, actors and extras will all have to pay
state income taxes, but that is out of their pay checks, the
corporations don’t pay those taxes, the working people do. So again,
how does eliminating the personal state income tax help the
corporations?

It does not help. So if there is no tax advantage to the corporation
and no kick back incentives for the corporations (remember we are
proposing the elimination of the kick backs), what is to keep them
from producing their films in another state that gives them corporate
tax deductions or other direct incentives? Many other states are
offering some kind of incentives, so the film industry is likely to
move on, that is unless we can find a way to offer incentives in
another way.

I have said all that to say this, perhaps we have the cart before the
donkey. Maybe our first priority should be the elimination of
corporate taxes, before we start eliminating personal income taxes? If
we were to do so, we could trade away the kick back scheme for the
elimination of corporate taxes. Eliminating corporate income taxes
would benefit the movie industry, whereas eliminating personal income
taxes would not.

Currently, there is one movie production planned for this year that
could consume all the $5 million tax credit. If that occurs, what is
left for the other dozen or so prospects wanting to make movies here?
If however, we eliminated their corporate income taxes, there would be
no limit on the number of movies made in Oklahoma as they would all
have an incentive to produce here and not only would we not need to
raise the cap of $5 million, we could eliminate that expenditure and
still have an incentive for every movie produced in Oklahoma.

Another point, eliminating the corporate tax would be an incentive for
every kind of corporate industry, whether their corporate office was
located in Oklahoma or out of state. Every profitable corporation
would benefit by having a lower cost of doing business in Oklahoma.
That would make everything we make or do in Oklahoma more competitive
in a national or international economy. This would really be a free
market way to stimulate our economy and really see job growth for
Oklahoma. Also remember, when unemployment goes down and employers
compete for a smaller number of workers, worker salaries increase,
which is good for those in the work force.

Another thing to consider, the state of Oklahoma receives much less
revenues from corporate taxes than it does from the personal income
tax. Therefore, it would be an easier deal to eliminate the corporate
income tax than the personal income tax.

In fact, it would fit on the balance sheet so much better, that we
could get there much faster and then start working on the personal
income taxes. Perhaps we could do some of each at the same time,
though it would make more sense as far as improving the economy and
producing more jobs, to totally eliminate the corporate income tax
first.

This is especially true for any kind of manufacturing corporation,
large or small, while a small service business, like what I operate,
would be better off, tax wise, to eliminate the personal income tax
first. However, I would gladly give up some benefit for myself for the
better way and see our economy boom. Especially, if I also knew we
would start working on the personal income tax after we eliminated the
corporate income tax.

So why have we gotten our tax cutting priorities out of order? I can
only speculate, but most likely, it is because many citizens have been
conditioned to have “wealth envy” toward those “evil corporations”.
Many people see the wealth of corporations such as Chesapeake or Devin
and foolishly believe that corporations should be taxed more, not
less. Their economic ignorance, blinded by their wealth envy, causes
them not to understand that corporations consider taxes as overhead
and as such they adjust the price of their goods or services to cover
that overhead, and thus the purchaser (we the people) actually pay the
tax, not the corporation. The corporation simply becomes the funnel or
tax collector, not a tax payer, for the government. Always remember,
the consumers are the only ones who really pay taxes, not
corporations.

Therefore, it would not be nearly as popular in the minds of citizens
for politicians to cut corporate taxes. It will be far more popular to
cut personal income taxes rather than corporate income taxes, even
though cutting the latter will be far more valuable for the sake of
the economy, more jobs and increased salaries.

Governor Fallin has said eliminating our state’s personal income tax
will send a message to the rest of the nation that Oklahoma is serious
about becoming business friendly. Just think what kind of a message it
would send if we announced that within, say 3 years, we would
completely eliminate corporate income taxes as well as all franchise
taxes in Oklahoma (in some cases franchise taxes cost more in
compliance and collection costs than they produce in taxes).

Of course in that scenario, it would take real leadership. It is a
harder sell to an economically ignorant public. The Governor and
Republican lawmakers would have to go out into the highways and byways
educating the public on the superiority of eliminating corporate taxes
first and then work on cutting personal income taxes later.

It would take work on the part of Republicans and all the while the
Democrats will scream and holler about how much the Republicans cut
taxes for their rich buddies and keep the tax burden upon the backs of
the poor and middle class, yada, yada, yada. In other words it is a
harder sell politically to the public but a much easier and more
valuable fit economically.

Changing direction now will be harder than if they would have started
out on the right path to start with. Also, based on the many
candidates we have interviewed over the years, many Republican
lawmakers don’t even understand the superior value of cutting
corporate taxes over personal income taxes and that is a disturbing
problem.

I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages