Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee
"We are about religion and politics, the only two things that matter."
-John Michener, President

1.  Speaker June 10:  Art Thompson, CEO of John Birch Society
2.  Trade Promotion Authority (TPA)
3.  Principles of Good Government
 
1.  Speaker June 10:  Art Thompson
 
Art Thompson, CEO of the John Birch Society, will be our speaker this Wednesday.  I will mention his subject matter in my second point below.  Since 1958 the mission of the John Birch Society (JBS)has been clear and simple:  “To bring about less government, more responsibility, and—with God's help—a better world by providing leadership, education, and organized volunteer action in accordance with moral and Constitutional principles.”  That sounds a lot like the mission of OCPAC.  Whereas OCPAC is focused on Oklahoma, JBS is focused on preserving freedom, the constitutional rule of law, and our republican form of government at the federal level.
 
2.  Trade Promotion Authority (TPA)
 
I received a big, full-color post card in the mail last week in favor of the TPA.  It communicated these messages: 1) Fear China without TPA 2) Fear Democrats who do not support TPA, 3) tell Tom Cole to support TPA, and 4) TPA is conservative.
 
I have been around long enough to know that someone spent a lot of money to send these fancy cards to millions of voters in an effort to convince key states that TPA is conservative.  Just because they paid to put the word “conservative” on their postcard does not make TPA conservative.  If trade should be free, why do we need a bunch of government agreements to let private people enter into voluntary trading relationships?  It is because these agreements are not about free trade.
 
Art Thompson, our speaker on Wednesday, will address how our national sovereignty, freedom, and independence are being traded away in international trade agreements.  Of particular interest to us will be, What can Oklahoma officials do to protect the sovereignty of our state and the freedom of our citizens?
 
3.  Principles of Good Government
 
At last week’s meeting, Charlie Meadows, OCPAC President Emeritus, and I provided an overview of the 2015 legislative session.  Charlie gave the session a grade of D+, and he defended that grade by highlighting some of the good and bad things that were accomplished.
 
After the meeting, several members asked me to share the list of topics and issues that our organization is watching.  These topics should sound familiar to you, because they are the ones we write about from week to week.  We care about:

As we attempt to advance principles of good government, we run into a major challenge.  What should our position be when a proposed policy change moves in the right direction, but still allows for the violation of a core principle of good government?
 
For example, HB 2014 allows certain public school employees to carry a sidearm.  That sounds great.  People have a right to defend themselves and others, and the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution even codifies that natural right.  So, this should be a good law that we support.  In another sense, however, it is a bad, discriminatory policy because it says you can defend your life on school grounds only if you meet certain qualifications and are licensed by the state.  A few years ago, Oklahoma considered a similar policy to allow judges to conceal a weapon in the courtroom.  We applauded this protection of natural and civil rights to self-defense.  Again, though, that policy communicated that you can only defend your life if you are a bailiff or a licensed judge.  The lawyers and spectators in a courtroom are still deprived of their God-given right to defend themselves.
 
So, are these policies good or bad in our view?  They are bad in a strictly principled sense, but they are good in that they move us in the right direction.  Generally, we favor a move in the right direction, even if it continues a systemic violation of rights, because that is the political game in which we are trapped, and there are political rules by which we must play.
We cannot just check out of the game and go play another one.  This is the legislature, governor, and court system that we currently have.
 
Faced with a chasm between what is and what ought to be, we must do our best to lessen the gap between the real and ideal.  We must use politics to move us closer to principles.  Therefore, we will support any moves in the right direction, realizing that we will still be trying to close the gap further, or all the way, in the next session.
 

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.