OCPAC – Big Brother Wants to ID You
John Michener
1. Program April 13: Candidates for Senate District 39
2. Big Brother Wants to ID You
3. To Keep and Bear Arms
4. Bureaucrats Protecting Programs
1. Program April 13: SD 39 Candidates
This Wednesday at noon at Mama Roja we will have a candidate forum for Senate District 39 (Tulsa). Two of the four Republican primary candidates have confirmed their attendance: Alan Staab and Amanda Teagarden. At the end of the meeting, our dues-paying members will vote whether or not to endorse one of these candidates for SD 39.
2. Big Brother Wants to ID You
SB 1362, “Unreal ID,” passed out of the Appropriations and Budget
Committee last week by a vote of 19
to 6. The meeting was full
of lies and misinformation. This bill is
an imminent threat to our personal privacy and liberty, and it will come not
only with a cost in sovereignty, but in dollars as well. It must be stopped. In direct violation of the Fourth Amendment,
this bill would gather personal data about you and share it with the Department
of Homeland Security, the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA. The state should be protecting us from the
federal government, not accepting federal bribes to administer whatever Gestapo-style
controls Washington wants to put in place.
Please send a respectful email and leave a voicemail at (405) 557-7339 for Speaker of the House Jeff Hickman asking him NOT to hear SB 1362 on the floor of the House.
3. To Keep and Bear Arms
The following update comes from the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association:
The Senate Rules Committee heard two important pro-gun bills on Wednesday, April 6.
HB 3098 passed the committee 10-3; the three nays were Senators Bass, Floyd, and Garrison. HB 3098 would allow citizens of Oklahoma, aged 21 years or older with no felony convictions, to carry an unconcealed handgun without any license. The bill now goes to the Senate floor. Once the Senate passes it, it will have to go back to the House for a final vote.
HJR 1009 also passed the Rules Committee Wednesday 10-4; those casting nay votes were Senators Bass, Fields, Floyd, and Garrison. HJR 1009 now awaits a hearing and vote on the floor of the Senate. Once passed on the floor, it will proceed to the Secretary of the State to be placed on the November state-wide ballot. Once adopted, HJR 1009 would replace the current language of Article 2, Section 26 of the Oklahoma Constitution (our state version of the Second Amendment). But, why amend the state constitution?
Many will be surprised to learn the Oklahoma Supreme Court has said that the Legislature could ban the possession of handguns in our state if they chose to do so. In Williams v. OSBI (1998), the court reaffirmed and built on existing case law to totally eviscerate our state- level protection for the right to keep and bear arms. It is important that this be restored; HJR 1009 will do that.
4. Bureaucrats Protecting Programs
This is no joke and no laughing matter, but on April Fools’ Day, The Oklahoman reported that the Oklahoma Health Care Authority has plans to extend health insurance coverage to 175,000 people and create a new “Insure Oklahoma” program. The new program would cost $100 million in state money in order to receive federal funds.
Bob Donohoo, OCPAC Vice President, provides this analysis: “What do Obamacare and Common Core have in common? Answer: Bureaucrats protecting their programs. Citizens in the liberty movement persuaded the Oklahoma Legislature to reject both of these programs, but the bureaucrats, working through their respective state agencies, have figured out a means to get them anyway, along with their federal dollars. For Common Core, it is with vague standards, and with Obamacare it is by shifting federal funding from Medicaid to Insure Oklahoma. The end result is the same.
“The answer is to focus our energies on shifting the business and funding of education and health care to where it belongs: local communities, families, and churches. As long as state level bureaucrats are getting paid they will find a way to protect their domains. Think locally, act locally, and fund locally.”
Additional Notes
· Join our Facebook group.
· Become an OCPAC member with this form.
· We currently meet on Wednesdays at noon at Mama Roja Mexican Kitchen.
· The views expressed in this email are the personal opinion of John Michener and do not necessarily reflect the views of OCPAC, its leadership team, or its members.