Be an Informed Voter
Have you done all you can do to make an informed vote?
Today I ask a favor of you. I do not ask for me. I ask for my kids, your kids and for the Country that I love so dearly. As I write this there are 12 days left until the primary election. Will you spend the next 12 days confirming that the man you intend to vote for is the right guy for the job? I am asking for 6 hours of your life. Will you take one half of an hour each day for the next 12 days to investigate your favorite candidate? Will you go beyond the candidate's website and pushcards? If you have already made a tentative decision of who you intend to vote for I would simply ask that you make a list of the top ten reasons you chose that particular candidate and if INTEGRITY is not at the top of that list, then I would challenge you to reexamine your reasoning. Did you choose your favorite candidate because he has a great commercial or you think he is a nice guy? There are seven men in the race to be the Republican nominee to represent Oklahoma's 5th District and what ever your political ideology there is likely a man that will come close to yours. When it comes to the big issues like spending, taxes or abortion we are all pretty much the same, but when it comes to character, and integrity there are a few differences. Take the time and be honest with yourself when you examine your preferences. Remember one thing, the issues we are dealing with today are not necessarily the issues we will be dealing with next year, so integrity and strength may actually be the most important character traits we can look for in our representatives. Our Country is counting on you.
I have put together a list of internet links that may help you to learn a little more.
If there is one thing a career politician knows it is "Dance with the one who brung ya" If you would like to know who "brung em" this is a great place to start.
http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/imaging_info.shtml
A great place to get an idea of the actual voting record of current and past legislators is
or
Use google and dig deeper than just the first page or two. Put the candidates name in quotation marks then add another word or two about an issue that is important to you.
KEVIN CALVEY
Immigration:
Mr. Calvey says he is opposed to government benefits going to illegal immigrants, yet in 2003 he authored, and was head cheerleader for and ultimately passed House Bill 1559 which granted in-state tuition benefits to illegal immigrants
http://www.vdare.com/guzzardi/cruz.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZwZtOBrZM8
or do a google search using "kevin calvey" tuition (use the quotation marks to help narrow results)
To see the language of the bill http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/TextOfMeasures/TextOfMeasures.aspx
Select "house" and "2003" and "enrolled" then scroll down to HB1559
Campaign contributions:
Mr. Calvey announced recently that he has refused a campaign contribution from a member of CAIR because he opposes what they stand for. I am proud of him for doing so, but does this mean that he did not oppose what the people who have been implicated in a huge tax credit scam were doing when they made the maximum contribution to his 2006 campaign while he wrote a bill to protect them.
http://prowlingowl.com/AltusVentures/index.cfm
http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?C00421750
or do a google search using ("kevin calvey" quartz) (use the quotation marks to help narrow results)
Corporate welfare:
Mr. Calvey says that he is opposed to corporate bailouts but he authored at least two different bills to create transferable tax credits . In 2005 he was the House author of SB435 which created the "Railroad Modernization Act." This act created a tax credit for Railroad companies equal to fifty percent (50%) of an eligible taxpayer's qualified railroad reconstruction or replacement expenditures.
To see the language of the bill http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/TextOfMeasures/TextOfMeasures.aspx
Select "senate" and "2005" and "enrolled" then scroll down to SB435
Mr. Calvey was also the house author of SB610 which created a transferable tax credit for home builders
To see the language of the bill http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/TextOfMeasures/TextOfMeasures.aspx
Select "senate" and "2005" and "enrolled" then scroll down to SB610
Follow the Rules:
Pay particular attention to 2. APPLICABILITY and 4.3. Additional Limitations on Nomination or Candidacy and Campaigning
http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/134410p.pdf
MIKE THOMPSON
Government involvement with private business:
Representative Thompson says on his website that he will work to "Reduce burdensome bureaucratic red tape, regulations and unfunded mandates that make it difficult for small businesses to succeed." Yet in 2009 he was the primary House author of SB276 which lays out very specifically the relationship between a manufacturer and a dealer of motorized off road equipment. This bill places huge over reaching government regulations on contracts negotiated in good faith between manufacturers and retailers. The argument has been made that this bill will help to increase competition buy reducing the risk for retailers who fail, but I ask you to read the bill and see if you believe this to be the case. Any one who has ever had a direct retailer contract with a manufacturer will tell you that when all of the risk is removed from the retailer and placed upon the manufacturer that the manufacturer will not sign new contracts with new retailers and this will have the effect of reducing competition. We all know who loses when competition is reduced.
To see the language of the bill http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/TextOfMeasures/TextOfMeasures.aspx
Select "senate" and "2009" and "floor version" then scroll down to SB276
SHANE JETT
Illegal immigration
Representative Jett has publicly railed against HB1804 which was a bill to crack down on illegal immigrants in Oklahoma. He was quoted in USA TODAY as saying the law "will be the single most destructive economic disaster since the Dust Bowl,"
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-09-immigcover_N.htm
yet when it came time to cast a vote he did not vote Yes or No.
http://www.noticiasok.com/noticias/index.php/es/component/content/article/620-beyond-hb-1804
Representative Jett says that he is opposed to amnesty, but he proposes a taxpayer ID card for illegal immigrants so that they can work in Oklahoma without fear of deportation. This plan in essence would turn Oklahoma into a sanctuary State for any illegal with a job.
http://www.okagchwy.com/immigration%20proposal%20Jett.pdf
I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution ... or have failed their purpose ... or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden. I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is 'needed' before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should be attacked for neglecting my constituents' 'interests,' I shall reply that I was informed that their main interest is liberty, and in that cause I am doing the very best I can
