ObamaCare: Nothing Less Than Full Repeal

U.S. House Republican leadership finally released their version of  ObamaCare "Repeal & Replace"....... complete with practically no Repeal, and more Repair than Replace.

President Trump is making it clear that he supports this plan. Vice President Pence, sadly, is out essentially telling House Republicans that the choice is either full-blown ObamaCare or this (which is ObamaCare Lite).

Republicans told us for seven years that if we gave them the House, they'd repeal ObamaCare. We did, and then they said "give us the Senate, and we'll repeal ObamaCare". We did, and then they said "give us the White House, and we'll repeal ObamaCare". We did, and now Republican leadership is balking.

In 2013, Mitch McConnell told CPAC attendees "Obamacare should be repealed root and branch." Paul Ryan and others repeatedly told us they would "Repeal and Replace" ObamaCare with conservative, free-market proposals. This strategy of simply amending portions of ObamaCare is not the answer.

Congress passed a repeal bill in 2015. There is no reason why they can't do it again. Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee, as well as members of the House Freedom Caucus, have re-introduced measures identical to that legislation.

This proposal is opposed by Heritage Action, Club For Growth, Americans For Prosperity, FreedomWorks, many members of the House Freedom Caucus (including Oklahoma's Jim Bridenstine), conservative Senators like Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul. Just about every trusted conservative organizations and member of congress is against this.

Republicans were elected to power based on the promise of full repeal. We expect nothing less than full repeal.

Keep your promise. Full repeal of ObamaCare.

Heritage Action slams House GOP healthcare bill

GOP PLAN FAILS TO MOVE PAST OBAMACARE’S PROGRESSIVE PROMISE

Washington — Monday evening, House Republican leaders released text of their long-anticipated American Health Care Act (AHCA). Despite widespread conservative criticism and the lack of score from the Congressional Budget Office, the proposal (committee summaries here and here) is being called the “health bill you’ve waited for” by Republican leaders and key committee chairmen. Heritage Action released the following statement from chief executive officer Michael A. Needham:

“In many ways, the House Republican proposal released last night not only accepts the flawed progressive premises of Obamacare but expands upon them. Ronald Reagan once said, ‘Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.’ The AHCA does all three.

“Many Americans seeking health insurance on the individual market will notice no significant difference between the Affordable Care Act (i.e., Obamacare) and the American Health Care Act.  That is bad politics and, more importantly, bad policy.

“Rather than accept the flawed premises of Obamacare, congressional Republicans should fully repeal the failed law and begin a genuine effort to deliver on longstanding campaign promises that create a free market health care system that empowers patients and doctors.”

Music Monday: Finlandia

This week's Music Monday is Finlandia by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

Enjoy!



Click to go below the page break to see all previous Music Monday posts. Do you have a song you'd like to submit for a future Music Monday? Email me at JamisonFaught@MuskogeePolitico.com.

Tressa Nunley Enters House District 75 Race

Republican Businesswoman Tressa Nunley Enters House District 75 Race

March 3, 2017 – Republican Tressa Nunley has officially filed as a candidate for State Representative in the upcoming special election for House District 75. Nunley, 49, is a lifelong Tulsa resident and conservative Republican.

Nunley has served the Tulsa community as a licensed realtor since 2005, with previous experience in administration with Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City and St. John Medical Center in Tulsa, as well as an Employee Programs Coordinator in Strategic Practices for Williams Communications. Tressa is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management, with an emphasis in Communication and Business Law.

“I believe that both my business and life experience have uniquely qualified me to represent the needs of individuals and families. I know that I can put that experience to work in advancing fiscal responsibility and opportunities for job growth,” Nunley said.

Tressa was born and raised in Tulsa, and is a graduate of Nathan Hale High School. She is married to Marc Nunley, and enjoys spending time with her three adult stepchildren and four granddaughters.

“As a mom and grandmother, I understand the need for quality education, and will work to ensure our tax dollars reach the teacher and students in the classroom,” said Nunley.

Tressa and Marc are longtime active members at Tulsa Bible Church. Together, they have volunteered with numerous nonprofit and faith-based organizations, ranging from overseas missions trips to tornado cleanup in Moore and Joplin.

“My foundation is built on Christian values. Those beliefs influence every decision in my life. I pledge to serve the people of House District 75 with honesty and integrity,” Nunley said.

The House District 75 primary election date is set for May 9th and the general election is July 11th. The district covers portions of Tulsa and Broken Arrow, roughly from S. Sheridan Road to S. 193rd East Avenue and E. 31st Street to E. 61st Street.

For more information on Tressa Nunley, please visit facebook.com/TressaNunleyForStateRepresentative.

Yazel, Faught endorse Tressa Nunley in HD75 special election

Tressa Nunley, Republican candidate in the HD75 special election to replace Dan Kirby, has received endorsements from Tulsa County Assessor Ken Yazel and State Rep. George Faught (R-Muskogee).

Yazel was first elected Tulsa County Assessor in 2002, winning reelection in 2006, 2010, and 2014.

Rep. Faught said, "Congratulations to our friend Tressa Nunley for following the call to run for office. She would make an excellent Representative for House District 75 - she is a strong Conservative with a compassionate heart!"

The primary will be held on May 9th. View a map of HD75 here.

Special Election Candidates in HD28 and HD75

With the resignations of Republican State Reps. Tom Newell (for a new job opportunity) and Dan Kirby (to avoid expulsion for behavior unbecoming of a legislator), special elections have been called for both seats, and candidate filing has closed.

HD28 Special Election

The winner-take-all primary is on Tuesday, March 7th. The Republican and Democratic victors will face the Libertarian candidate in the general election on May 9th. View a district map here.

• Steve Barnes (D-Wewoka). Raised $5650, spent $4729, $1521 on-hand as of 2/22.
• Billy Choate (R-Seminole). No finance reports filed.
• Yasminda Choate (D-Saskawa). Raised $5580, spent $4167, $1413 on-hand as of 2/28.
• Blake Cummings (D-Maud). Raised $6579 ($5000 loan), spent $5209, $1370 on-hand as of 2/23.
• Jason Leonard (D-Seminole). No finance reports filed.
• Mike Matlock (R-Prague). Raised $30598 ($20087 loan), spent $10276, $20321 on-hand as of 2/27.
• Daniel Matthews (R-Meeker). Raised $12135, spent $8051, $3834 on-hand as of 2/27. Supported by OCPAC and the State Chamber (ironically enough!).
• Cody Presley (L-Wewoka). No finance reports filed.
• Marilyn Rainwater (D-Seminole). Raised $3672, spent $310, $3363 on-hand as of 2/27. HD28 Democratic nominee in 2012 (37.2%), SD28 in 2014 (28.3%), and HD28 in 2016 (33.18%).
• Zack Taylor (R-Seminole) raised  $42814, spent $27543, $14771 on-hand as of 2/27. Supported by ex-Rep. Tom Newell and former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn.

HD75 Special Election

The winner-take-all primary is on May 9th. The Republican and Democratic victors will face each other in the general election on July 11th. Filing for this race ended yesterday, so there's not much information out there on these candidates yet. View a district map here.

• Nik Berg (R-Broken Arrow) - age 21.
• Karen Gaddis (D-Tulsa) - age 67. Democratic nominee in 2016, got 40.44% of the general election vote.
• Tressa Nunley (R-Tulsa) - age 49. Supported by State Rep. George Faught.
• AJ Oatsvall (R-Tulsa) - age 32.
• Jamie Smith (D-Broken Arrow - age 29.
• Skip Steele (R-Tulsa) - age 67. City councilman from 2011-2014, defeated in 2014, lost re-match in 2016.

Rep. Faught: Tax hike is not the answer

Tax hike is not the answer

by State Rep. George Faught (R-Muskogee)

It seems like everywhere I go someone is talking about taxes. It’s impossible to watch TV without seeing a commercial about filing your personal income taxes. When I drive around town there are an abundance of yard signs advertising tax preparation services. Some signs actually list how much money you should get back on an “earned income credit” per child, even if you do not have any earned income.

The vast majority of state funding comes from taxes in one form or another. Income tax, sales tax, licensure fees, ad valorem, property, gross production... the list of the different taxes payed by our citizens or businesses in Oklahoma seems endless.

In her State of the State address earlier this month, Governor Fallin presented a plan that would add sales tax to 164 different categories of services provided by Oklahoma small businesses and entrepreneurs. By the Governor’s own estimate, this would result in a tax hike of over $1.7 Billion. That comes to approximately $433 per year for every man, woman and child in Oklahoma. Can you afford that?

Consider this: new taxes will be levied on haircuts, cable TV, dental cleaning and visits to the doctor, lawn mowing, oil changes, internet, manicures, real estate transactions, house remodeling, plumbing and electrical repairs, utility services (water, gas, electric), trash pick-up, pet grooming, daycare, funeral services… and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

A new tax on services will impact everyone, and it will cause significant damage to the small businesses across Oklahoma that form the backbone of our economy.

I’ve owned a carpet cleaning and restoration company for almost 30 years. Like many service businesses, our work is performed on location at customers’ homes or businesses, rather than out of a storefront. My company has current customers in at least 71 different sales tax jurisdictions.

If the Governor’s plan were to be enacted, our technicians would need to determine precisely which tax rate to apply on each job, depending on whether the customer was located inside or outside the city limits and on which county they were in. To complicate matters, the technician would also need to know if the individual or organization is tax-exempt.

Then comes the reporting period where each community and county tax must be calculated and submitted, in addition to the state’s share. The sheer volume of paperwork, logistics and headaches this would add to small businesses would be a tremendous burden, and would cause them to not expand, not hire additional employees, or possibly even close their doors, resulting in a loss of jobs in every community.

This new tax may solve one temporary problem, but it creates a bigger, permanent issue in the process. Rather than helping Oklahoma’s economy, this proposal adds to the workload, costs consumers more, and creates more roadblocks to success. Revenue sources must be found in order to meet our state budget commitments, but this can be done by targeting the burgeoning list of corporate tax credits and subsidies, by addressing excessive salaries of government administrators, and identifying waste and duplication in our agencies. Tough times call for tough measures, but a historic tax hike during an economic recovery is not the right move.

MuskogeePolitico series: Read more stories about Fallin's tax hike proposal

Democrat Connie Johnson to run for Governor

Former Democratic state senator, 2014 U.S. Senate nominee and "Bernie Democrat" Connie Johnson has announced her intent to run for Oklahoma Governor in 2018.

From the AP:

Former Oklahoma state senator to run for governor in 2018
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A former state senator from Oklahoma City who is the now vice-chair of the state Democratic Party says she plans to run for governor in 2018.

Democrat Connie Johnson told The Associated Press on Tuesday she represents a progressive voice that the people of Oklahoma are ready to support.

The 64-year-old Johnson is the first candidate to officially confirm plans to run for governor. Tulsa Republican Gary Richardson announced the formation of an exploratory committee last week.

Incumbent Republican Gov. Mary Fallin is barred by term limits from seeking re-election.

Johnson was the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat eventually won by Republican James Lankford in 2014.

Johnson has been a strong supporter of abortion rights and a longtime critic of the death penalty and Oklahoma's high incarceration rate.

Johnson and fellow Democrat Norman Jay Brown are the first official gubernatorial candidates. On the Republican side, Gary Richardson has formed an exploratory committee, and Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb is expected to announce his candidacy later this year.

OCPA Responds to Sec. Doerflinger, Calls for Honesty in Budget Debate

OCPA Responds to Sec. Doerflinger, Calls for Honesty in Budget Debate

State Finance Secretary Preston Doerflinger this week “applauded” and then cast doubt on OCPA’s most recent budget recommendations. Secretary Doerflinger wrote, “OCPA calculates its savings as $413 million, but the majority of those savings go in the category of cost avoidance, not revenue creation.” In other words, Sec. Doerflinger conveys a clear preference for increasing taxation as opposed to reducing unnecessary overhead.

Jonathan Small, President of OCPA and a CPA, responded with a call for a more honest budget debate.

“Those who want higher taxes need to start being honest. While it’s amusing to watch politicians talk about ‘revenue enhancements’ and ‘investment,’ if they want higher taxes they need to admit it. Anything less is an insult to Oklahomans.

“Balancing a budget means matching spending and revenue levels. In a shortfall, this can mean raising taxes or cutting spending or some combination of both. Any attempt to dismiss spending cuts (“cost avoidance”) and insist that the only legitimate topic of debate is raising taxes (“revenue creation”) is nothing more than an attempt to avoid debate altogether.

“Sec. Doerflinger’s statement merely points out that most cost-saving reforms do not increase revenue. He compares ‘OCPA Claimed Savings’ to 'FY 18 Revenue' for OCPA’s most recent 13 recommendations and finds that most items do not produce more revenue. Of course, that was OCPA’s point: serious people involved in the budget process will start out looking for ways to reduce costs rather than jumping immediately to impose higher tax burdens on working Oklahoma families.

“In fact, Doerflinger’s statement shows that he has only minor quibbles with OCPA’s numbers—but then, he has access to more up-to-date data than the public does. His real objection seems to be that OCPA does not recommend higher taxes in order to increase revenue for government. Here, Sec. Doerflinger is absolutely right.

“OCPA always takes the position that cost-saving reforms are preferable to tax hikes. The OCPA list is about finding ways to cut spending, what some politicians used to call ‘right-sizing government.' Sec. Doerflinger’s objection that OCPA recommends cost-saving reforms rather than tax hikes is a compliment we gladly accept.”

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Redefined: New Lingo for "Tax Hikes"

With Governor Mary Fallin proposing $2.6 Billion in tax increases, we're starting to see some new terminology regarding taxes coming from some in state government who are following the Governor's lead. Let's remember that as a self-proclaimed "conservative Republican", Fallin campaigned on "right-sizing government" and lower taxes.

So, get your dictionaries out, along with some White-Out, and let's get to work replacing those definitions. Here is the new lingo - these are all some alternative synonyms you can use for the topic of "raising taxes":

BOLD REFORMS FOR RECURRING REVENUES
Source: the Governor's budget proposal. Use this when you want to impress people, because it sounds eloquent and exciting.

BROADEN THE TAX BASE
This comes from former State Sen. Owen Laughlin's A Guide to Liberal Terms for the Legislative Session (pictured above), a flier he would hand out while on the campaign trail in 2010 when he ran for State Treasurer. Definition: "People paying existing taxes are fed up, so we need to find new things to tax for the first time in history." Fits the Fallin sales tax hike perfectly.

EXPAND THE SALES TAX BASE
Source: Governor's column on February 14th."If we expand our sales tax base to better reflect our economy, we could lower the overall sales tax rate or income tax." See related phrase below - REDUCED IN THE FUTURE.

INVEST/INVESTMENT
This one comes from House Appropriations & Budget Chair Leslie Osborn in an article from The Oklahoman: "'Out of 101 people in the House, I've got 70 or 80 pragmatic members that will actually look at this and say it's time to invest (with new revenue).'"  'Osborn, speaking on The Oklahoman's Political State podcast, referred to "pragmatic members" as those who might be willing to vote in favor of a tax increase.'  Problem is..... invest/investing/investment usually implies using money you already have.

NEW RECURRING REVENUE
Source: column by Scott Meacham, posted online by the Governor. A much nicer way of saying "higher taxes".

NEW REVENUE STREAM
Source: Governor Fallin's State of the State address: "I am proposing a new revenue stream by increasing our gas and diesel taxes to the regional state average, but still below the national average." That's..... not a new revenue stream, you just want to increase the rate at which it's taken.

PRAGMATIC MEMBER
Same source as INVEST/INVESTMENT. Osborn defined it for us: "pragmatic members" - those who might be willing to vote in favor of a tax increase.

PROUD
This would describe how Democrats feel when Republicans adopt this terminology to justify and advocate for tax-raising policies.

REVENUE CREATION 
Source: Secretary of Finance Preston Doerflinger, in a press release belittling OCPA for "cost avoidance versus actual revenue creation." Actual revenue creation,,, is that similar to Actual Physical Control?

REVENUE ENHANCEMENT
Another old-timer from Laughlin's A Guide to Liberal Terms for the Legislative Session.

TEMPORARY
The Oklahoma sales tax started as a temporary one-year tax in 1933. Two years later, it became permanent, and..... now you know the rest of the story. A related phrase is...

     --    REDUCED IN THE FUTURE

Governor Fallin's budget proposal said this after discussing a $1.7B sales tax increase: "Future legislators may even choose to reduce the overall sales tax rate as growth revenue continues over time." She said something similar in her State of the State: "And it may be possible in the future to further lower the sales tax rate." Fallin's chief of staff, former House Speaker Chris Benge, said this in another interview: "The philosophy behind it, or the logic, is that you broaden the base and lower the rate.". If that's the case, then why didn't Fallin propose a lower rate? There is nothing quite so permanent as a government-imposed tax. See above entry under TEMPORARY.


I hope this new lexicon has been helpful. Feel free to add additional entries in the comments section.

MuskogeePolitico series: Read more stories about Fallin's tax hike proposal

Music Monday: When I Can Read My Title Clear

This week's Music Monday is When I Can Read My Title Clear by the great hymn-writer English Isaac Watts. Pisgah, the most common tune for this hymn (and the one in the video below), originated in Appalachian Tennessee or Kentucky sometime around 1816.

Enjoy!



Click to go below the page break to see all previous Music Monday posts. Do you have a song you'd like to submit for a future Music Monday? Email me at JamisonFaught@MuskogeePolitico.com.