A Time Saving Idea! Voter ID

by Russell Turner

Recently the governor of Oklahoma vetoed a bill that would have required voters to produce a photo ID when they went to vote. If the governor feels there is no need to produce an ID when voting, maybe he should use his influence and remove the requirement of a photo ID in other parts of our society.

Maybe we should tell banks to no longer require an ID when someone comes into the bank and wants to cash a check or take out a loan. I am sure that most banks would simply take the word of anyone who would come into their bank and ask for cash. Another good starting point would be to allow people who drive a car to simply tell the police officers who they are when they are stopped for a traffic violation. I am sure that the police officers would be glad to accept the word of anyone that they might stop on the roads. Another place to save some time would be in the local airport. Surely no one would ever think of doing anything improper while flying on an airplane.

The above scenarios in my opinion would be absurd. All of us want the protection of our banks checking the ID of someone that might assume our identity and clean out our bank account. We rely upon law enforcement to make our society safe; it is essential for the officers to check IDs while doing their job. Whenever I fly in an airplane, I want the people that provide security to know who is traveling on the same plane as I am. If you go to the local pharmacy you will have to show a photo ID just to buy some cold remedy. The list can go on and on. The point that I want to make is simple; some things are worth a little time and inconvenience.

The integrity of our election system is just as important as the other things I mentioned earlier. All of us should demand that the voters who put politicians into office are who they say they are. After the veto, the House passed Senate Bill 692, which will send the voter ID requirement to a vote of the people. I just hope that the people of Oklahoma will be willing to spend more time than our governor and insure honest elections for future generations.

Russell Turner is Chairman of the County Commissioners of Adair County and writes a weekly column for several area newspapers.

Shovel Ready!

Voter ID Protects Democracy!

Letter to the Editor - printed Tulsa World:

Gloria Caldwell's column on voter ID ("League of Women Voters opposes bill," Feb. 26) claims no less than seven times that Senate Bill 4 mandates use of photo IDs. Actually, voter registration cards would suffice under the bill ­ and every registered voter gets a voter card.

To be precise, "a voter identification card issued by the appropriate county election board" allows an alternative to presentation of a government (or tribal) photo ID. Caldwell says requiring voter ID would cause longer lines at the polls, but the Comanche County election secretary says identification would, "if anything," make the process "quicker." Through democratic choice and the rule of law Americans have steadily expanded the franchise.

Voices as diverse as former President Jimmy Carter and Wall Street Journal writer John Fund, author of "Stealing Elections," agree that honest elections require transparency and a widely shared confidence that those voting are in fact voters, i.e. individuals actually qualified under American law to cast their ballots. It is a cornerstone of representative government to enfranchise qualified voters and then assure that they, not cheaters, decide our political future.

There is too much evidence of fraud nationwide to assume it never will visit Oklahoma. Let's be prepared rather than perplexed. This debate is all about responsibility. The alternative to measured reforms is the theft of democracy.

Patrick B. McGuigan, Oklahoma City

Tulsa Editor's Note: McGuigan is research fellow at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

Gpve note: McGuigan is Managing Editor and Sports Editor for The City Sentinel in OKC.

This bill is on the Governor's desk! IF you WANT voter ID to become law......call Gov. Henry and ask him TO SIGN this bill.
Call now! (405) 521-2342.

'Honest Abe' has it RIGHT!

Gun Grabbers Already Busy!

With the Obama Administration now in power, it comes as no surprise that the gun-grabbers are beginning to flex their muscle.

Among the most cockamamie ideas to hit the Capitol is one that would prohibit the owning or selling of a firearm without a license issued by the office of the Attorney General of the United States....and the current attorney general is a gun-grabber who doesn't believe in the 2nd Amendment but who does believe in an unarmed, or disarmed, American citizenry.

Gee...one has to wonder if the goofball behind this idea has been studying how Hitler disarmed Germany's population in the 1930s.

Incorporated into this idea is yet another provision, one that would effectively bring gun control to all but a few American households...it would be illegal to keep a loaded, or unloaded, firearm and ammo anywhere there are children younger than 18.

In this proposal, we see again efforts to control firearms indirectly, sneaking in the back door, so to speak. Expect more proposals like this in the months to come.

The Obama Administration is peopled with those whose opposition to the 2nd Amendment is well known. It will be up to those in Congress who believe in the 2nd Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms to erect a firewall to stop this kind of nonsense.

~ Mike McCarville - <http://wwwtmrcom.blogspot.com/>

INHOFE Battles 'Hush Rush' Doctrine!

From Fox News ~ A political battle is brewing over control of the radio airwaves as Democrats consider pushing for the revival of the Fairness Doctrine, an FCC policy that requires broadcast stations to provide opposing views on controversial issues of public importance.

Democratic lawmakers who support the doctrine say it will help increase the number of liberal shows in a landscape dominated by conservative talk radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh.

"I absolutely think it's time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves," Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., told liberal radio host Bill Press last week. She said she expects hearings soon on reviving the policy, which was introduced in 1949 and abolished in 1987. Stabenow's husband, Tom Athans, is and has been an executive at several liberal radio talk groups.
[note: lost several jobs due to NO interest in the liberal rhetoric, guess Debbies tired of him slepping around in his jammies all day]

But Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe said radio programming should be based on what brings in listeners and advertisers. "I can't think of anything worse than to have government in a position to dictate the content of information going over public radio," said Inhofe, a Republican.

"The whole idea is that it has to be market driven. We have a lot of progressive or liberal radio shows but nobody listens to them and every time one tries to get on, they are not successful." Inhofe and other critics believe those pushing to bring back the Fairness Doctrine -- nicknamed the Hush Rush Doctrine -- want to diminish the influence of Limbaugh and other conservative talk show hosts.

Supporters insist that's not the case. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, told Press Wednesday that the Fairness Doctrine is needed not to remove any conservative voices, but to ensure that there are a few liberal shows on the air. During the presidential campaign, a spokesman said Barack Obama did not favor reinstating the Fairness Doctrine. But his White House spokesman has since left the door open.
"I pledge to you to study up on the 'Fairness Doctrine' so that, one day, I might give you a more fulsome answer," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Inhofe says Democrats and liberal advocacy groups aren't going to let the matter drop. "They are committed to make this happen," he said. "We got to be ready." Inhofe introduced a bill this year to prevent reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine, but he said he has not gotten a single Democrat to co-sponsor it.

Originally posted McCarville

INHOFE says bill packed with PORK!

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., says the nearly trillion-dollar stimulus package the House of Representatives is heaping on Americans is nothing more than a huge spending bill with projects in it for people the Democratic-led Congress wants to buy off.

Inhofe, who says the bill will do nothing to stimulate the economy, also tells Newsmax TV that the superfluous bill will provide tax refunds to people who don't pay any taxes, and would even give government checks of up to $1,000 to illegal aliens.

“You have a stimulus bill that's supposed to stimulate the economy,” Inhofe explains. “We know how to do that. We did it under John Kennedy; we did it under Ronald Reagan. We know what it does and what you have to do for capital gains and for all these things to open up the economy. But this [stimulus package] doesn't do any of that. There’s so many things in there that are just bad.”

Inhofe notes that a lot of the pork lies in projects that have nothing to do with stimulating the U.S. economy, including: $30 billion on federal government building improvements, $1.5 billion for homelessness prevention, $650 million for digital TV coupons, $650 million for wildlife management, $600 million for the federal government to buy new green cars, $570 million for climate change, and $75 million for smoking cessation activities.

http://www.newsmax.com/; www.tmrcom.blogspot.com