Open Door Policy - August 4, 2008

This past week, we saw the party primary elections in Oklahoma come and go without much interest. I made sure to cast my vote early so as not to get too busy on election day and miss it. Oklahoma is one of the states that makes it easy to vote and ensures your vote will count. In our state, you can vote absentee through the mail, you can vote at the county courthouse on Friday, Saturday and Monday before the election. You, of course, can also vote the old-fashioned way at your polling place (which I can say is run by three wonderful ladies in my hometown). Also, you have the right to cast a vote even if there might might a problem with your registration thanks to the provisionary ballot status that allows for a verification from the state to ensure the registration is accurate (I authored this law several years ago to make sure no voters are disenfranchised).
There were several interesting races around the state, which included many county offices, a few legislative races and the primary race for U.S. Senate. There was a sharp decline in interest by the voters for this election, and depending on who you ask, the hot weather, gas prices, or just disinterest kept voters away from this decision-making.
I had the chance to serve as a commentator on the elections at OETA on election night and saw the returns as they came in. I was surprised to see that we had the lowest recorded statewide vote since 1952, with only about 328,000 voters, or just over 17 percent of the registered voters, taking opportunity of their right to vote.
We have a primary runoff coming up on August 26th, though many areas of the state will not have a race in their area. The general election will be on November 4th, and the State Election Board expects a high turnout due to interest in races at all levels, including the Presidential election. I hope each of you that has the right will take advantage and vote in the upcoming races. After what I saw from my recent trip, the best way people have a voice in their government is to send the best candidates to the elected office. We need more good people elected to do the best job possible of representing the people, whichever office it might be.
It was a busy week outside the elections as Cyril had their rodeo this past weekend and Anadarko has their Indian Exposition going on this week. I also had the chance to attend the arts show for students at the Museum of the Great Plains and also the engagement party on Saturday of Katherine English, the granddaughter of Ada Mae English of Rush Springs. Ada Mae was the first Watermelon Queen of Rush Springs, which leads into my invitation to each of you to attend the Rush Springs Watermelon Festival on Saturday, especially the seed-spitting contest at noon. It will be a great time as always! There is also a tackle show on Friday and Saturday in Duncan with Karl White, an antique tackle appraiser at the Stephens County Fairgrounds that will attract a lot of our local fishermen.
It is an honor to represent your views at the State Capitol. If you wish to contact me and discuss one of these or another issue, I can be reached at my office in Oklahoma City toll-free at 1-800-522-8502, or directly at 1-405-557-7305. My e-mail address is joedorman@okhouse.gov at work. My mailing address is PO Box 559, Rush Springs, OK 73082 and my website is http://www.joedorman.com/ on the Internet. Thank you for taking time to read this column and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Open Door Policy - July 28, 2008

I have finally concluded my trip to Central America with the American Council of Young Political Leaders. It was an amazing experience, but I am certainly glad to be back in our great state!
As distressing as the conditions were in Nicaragua, I felt much better about the accomplishments of El Salvador. The first meeting we had was with a group designed to help local businesses prosper. The meetings throughout the week dealt with governmental programs to assist business and the citizens, visits with elected officials and candidates, opportunities to tour areas of the nation and two debates held at universities. The goal was to teach the citizens of El Salvador about US policies and also for us to learn from them about their culture.
While the nation is still quite poor, El Salvador does rise above the rest of Latin America with their opportunities. Programs similar to agritourism and enhanced food processing to add value to crops were very much in line with what we see here in Oklahoma. I also had the chance to visit with several elected officials and candidates about tax increment financing districts which could develop much of the areas considered blighted. I hope to apply some of the ideas to legislation to benefit Oklahoma this next session.
The connections I established on this trip will hopefully benefit the United States on improved relations. The knowledge I acquired certainly makes me appreciate our system, even with all the flaws that we occasionally see. The ties and friendships I made will last a lifetime and I hope to use them to benefit the state of Oklahoma through improved trade relations, issue exchanges and possible development of tourism incentives for agriculture much like what I experienced through their development.
The critical point I saw was the need to maintain a stable government. I have now seen what can happen when radicals take too much power from the citizens. I hope each of you voted in our primaries on Tuesday and will continue to pay attention to which candidates are the best for Oklahoma and the United States.
It is an honor to represent your views at the State Capitol. If you wish to contact me and discuss one of these or another issue, I can be reached at my office in Oklahoma City toll-free at 1-800-522-8502, or directly at 1-405-557-7305. My e-mail address is joedorman@okhouse.gov at work. My mailing address is PO Box 559, Rush Springs, OK 73082 and my website is http://www.joedorman.com/ on the Internet. Thank you for taking time to read this column and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Open Door Policy - July 21, 2008

I have just finished my first week in Central America for the two-week trip I am on with the American Council of Young Political Leaders. This organization is set up to send younger political officials to different countries to learn about the aspects of the nations, the politics that govern them and the societies they live in. The first week was spent in Nicaragua and the second will be in El Salvador. Both of these nations experienced wars in recent years and both are trying to move past that era.
Nicaragua is a nation that suffers from great amounts of poverty. Over 60 percent of the nation lives on average of $2 per day. We also saw that only have of the country has access to electricity and much of the nation does not have clean water.
The Sandinistas, the soldiers from the revolution, took back control of the nation in the last national election after the liberal party did not bring about advancements for the country. During their time in office, not much has changed either. Corruption is charged on all sides and the ruling party, officially called the FSLN, has strong ties to Hugo Chavez, the leader of Venezuela, a country tied heavily to other nations heavily opposed to the United States.
Our delegation, a bipartisan group from across the United States, had the chance to meet with several leaders that will hopefully bring Democratic principles to the people and give them opportunities through growth in agriculture, the textile industry and the other areas of the economy. The most striking leader we met was Eduardo Montealegre, an investment banker that spent time in New York. He ran for President of Nicaragua in the last election, but lost due to three parties splitting the vote, which placed Daniel Ortega back in power. The FSLN charged him with stealing over $600 million dollars, which has no evidence was shown to be prove this accusation. I believe it was simply used by the controlling government to defeat a man who could end their power. Montealegre is currently running for Mayor of Managua, the capitol city.
The time here has made me appreciate our system of government even more. While our races may get nasty at points, it does not compare to this environment and come to the point where candidates have to fear for their lives from the other parties. I hope the region will stabilize after the next election and we have greater opportunities to export our goods to help our own people with sales and improve the conditions of these people. It certainly makes me appreciate the work our founding fathers did to establish our nation as a strong Democracy.
It is an honor to represent your views at the State Capitol. If you wish to contact me and discuss one of these or another issue, I can be reached at my office in Oklahoma City toll-free at 1-800-522-8502, or directly at 1-405-557-7305. My e-mail address is joedorman@okhouse.gov at work. My mailing address is PO Box 559, Rush Springs, OK 73082 and my website is http://www.joedorman.com/ on the Internet. Thank you for taking time to read this column and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Convincing the People to Pay More Money

How can you tell the difference between those politicians who have sold out and bought into the "government as usual" status-quo, and the elected officials who remain representatives of the people? During past columns, I have described two of the criteria that I have formed, based on observing the political process. In my next two columns, I would like to explain the third, and I believe most important, criteria that best defines the difference between these two groups.

In recent years, local, state and federal government has placed a heavy burden of taxation on the people in Oklahoma. You might think that having all of these financial resources would mean that the government would not ever have to ask the people for more funding.

In the free market, the consumer rewards those businesses that do a good job by buying their products. Businesses are thus rewarded for having the best products at the lowest possible prices. And those who work in the business world are forced to work hard and perform well for their consumers. If they stop working hard, the result will be that consumers will stop buying their products and those businesses will cease to exist.

In the government world, those who run the government do not have to react to free market forces. Consumers (we, the people) are forced to use government services no matter what the quality is -- and we are also forced to pay the bill. Even if the government does not perform to our satisfaction, it will still exist; and rarely does the price of government go down.

The burden of doing a good job in government is not based on employees acting under free market principles, but on the ability of government officials to cut prices for taxpayers while providing a quality product.

When the need for more funding faces government officials, all too often, established politicians choose the easier task of launching a massive public relations campaign to convince people to pay more money, rather than fighting the tougher battle of lowering their own budgets.

In my years of observing local, state and federal government, I have never seen a proposed fee or tax increase that I felt was justified. There is usually a way for the government to make ends meet without having to resort to an increase, although it might mean the government has to tighten their own belt and use existing resources in a wiser manner.

I have certainly seen how hard government officials work at trying to convince people that any number of Armageddon-type scenarios will most certainly occur if they do not give in to the government and increase taxes. I have also seen how quickly a cottage industry of businesses profiting from new expenditures can develop in order to convince people to "do the right thing."

As a result, all too often the people give in to the hype and give the politicians what they want: more money.

Next week, I will provide you a recent example of how people may have narrowly avoided having to pay an unnecessary fee increase.

Rep. Murphey Named Oklahoma Rifle Association Legislator of The Year

GUTHRIE - Oklahoma Rifle Association (ORA) President Don Scott presented the award of 2008 Legislator of The Year to State Representative Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie, at the ORA's annual convention banquet Saturday night in Oklahoma City. Murphey was cited for his continued support of the 2nd Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms.

ORA Executive Director Charles Smith also credited Murphey for his advocacy of concealed carry laws.

Murphey, who serves as Vice-Chairman of the Oklahoma House Homeland Security subcommittee, believes that concealed carry laws protect victims from the aggressors. "Oklahoma's concealed carry laws are an important component of allowing Oklahomans to exercises their 2nd amendment rights," Murphey said.

In addition to the presentation of awards the well attended convention heard speeches from the President of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, Oklahoma Lt. Governor Jari Askins, Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole, Congresswoman Mary Fallin and Congressman Dan Boren.

Using the Internet to Hold the Government Responsible

A few weeks ago, I wrote in my column about the inexplicable efforts by some in Congress to crack down on the ability of congressmen to communicate with their constituents through the use of new, Internet based technologies. These technologies allow congressmen to bypass the media and communicate directly with the people.

The importance of this type of communication could not be better illustrated than with the recent efforts of some congressmen to bring attention to the fact that Congress leadership is not allowing an important vote on expanding domestic oil production. As part of a demonstration against this inaction, the congressmen have been holding ongoing protests on the floor of the House of Representatives. This protest has received very little coverage from the media, and leadership has made sure the C-Span cameras do not show the protests. By sending updates on Internet social media outlets, the congressmen have been allowed to bypass traditional media and report the events as they unfold.

Hopefully, any effort to crack down on these new technologies has been suspended for now. But make no mistake, these technologies will give people more insight into and knowledge about how the government works (or does not work), and will allow them to hold government more responsible than ever.

The Internet also plays an important role in allowing people to share information and to work together to understand what is going on in government. One of the interesting developments along this line has been the emergence of an Internet message board right here in Oklahoma known as the McAlester Watercooler.

This web site resides in the heart of "Gene Stipe Territory," an area where locals were likely pressured to refrain from speaking out in the past due to fear that they would be retaliated against by the many individuals in power who were allied with Stipe and his political empire.

With the advent of the Internet, people now have a forum to which they can go and talk about government affairs without fear that their identities will be disclosed or that they will face retaliation by the powerful people of the community.

Those who are acquainted with some of my experiences as a public official know that I have always been a strong opponent of those who spread lies and untruths anonymously. I am a firm believer in the important laws that allow those who are victimized by the dishonest to pursue a civil action in order to hold them responsible.

Last week, however, the actions taken by the district attorney for Pittsburg County were, in my view, an attempt to intimidate those who are using the forum to discuss local affairs. Instead of filing a civil action, the district attorney appears to have filed a criminal complaint of libel based on comments by the users of the message board. And now the owner of the web site is being subpoenaed for the identities of those posting on the board as part of that criminal action. This action appears to be little more than an inappropriate use of power in an attempt to quell dissent in the age-old tradition of southeast Oklahoma power politics.

I remain confident, however, that attempts to discourage Internet use and thereby to hold the government responsible, will be ineffective.

Paying Professional Politicians

A few weeks ago I wrote about a checklist containing the key principles that define an elected official as being one of the people, or as having been co-opted into the system and no longer representative of the people.

In that article I wrote about the importance of opening up access to government affairs using televised public meetings. I think that if we study history we will find that the common theme possessed by most totalitarian governments is secrecy. A closed government has the ability to deceive and trick their own people because there is no way for the people to discover the truth. As such, an important cornerstone of our Republic is openness and ease of access by the people to the affairs of government. Due to the prevalent availability of technology, this openness should be more prevalent than ever. There is a need for our elected officials to allow today's technology to open up government in ways that have not been possible in the past. An important test for those seeking my vote is whether or not they support initiatives to further open up access to the government.

Another item that I believe is important when determining the motives of elected officials is the consideration of how they act regarding their own compensation. I believe that our system of government is designed to run efficiently when members of the citizenry make sacrifices and give up a few years of their life to serve their neighbors by being an elected official. Over the years, however, we have seen the rise of a class of professional politicians. Because salaries for elected officials have become too generous, it encourages people to become politicians as an occupation instead of sacrifice. Those who choose to make it an occupation will often be beholden to special interest groups to keep them in office since they probably view their political careers as a necessity of life, rather than a temporary sacrifice.

I strong disagree with the ability of any officer holder to vote for a raise for him/herself. While I cannot think of one instance where a raise is necessary, if a raise is needed, then at the very least, the raise should not take effect until the next term of office. In addition, any proposal for a raise should be voted on by the people at the same time the official is up for re-election. I think this concept would make an elected official think twice before asking for an unnecessary raise.

I enjoy following government affairs in other states. One of the recent national stories in the news has been the effort of the Louisiana Legislature to greatly increase their own compensation. I was especially excited to see how the people of Louisiana spoke up in opposition to the plan and forced the governor to veto the idea under the threat of recall. This event follows a similar effort conducted by the Pennsylvania Legislature which had to reverse a pay increase. This was, however, not accomplished in time to pacify the outrage of the citizens who proceeded to vote a number of the legislators out of office.

The next time a politician asks for your vote, please be sure to ask him/her how they feel about their compensation. If they are willing to make a sacrifice in order to serve their fellow citizens, their hearts are probably in the right place.