Principle of "Cause and Effect," Beyond Tulsa World's Grasp?

Basic Principle: A Rose By Any Other Name Is Not a Rhododendron.

Yesterday the Tulsa World flashed this headline on its front page:

State economy grows in April

Great news, right? Let's read on:

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma's economy continued to grow in April, helped along by major increases in oil and gas taxes.

If you're a liberal, you've just read this and thought, "So what's so wrong with that?" If you're a conservative, you may not be able to put your finger on it, but there's something in that statement that doesn't quite sound right. There's a good chance you conservatives read this lead paragraph and tilted your head to the right, causing you to resemble that dog in front of the phonograph megaphone on the old RCA logo; "his master's voice."

So let me answer, for our liberal friends, what's "so wrong" with the World's lead paragraph.

How was Oklahoma's economy helped along by "major increases in oil and gas taxes?" Increases in taxation are generally a burden on an economy. Does the writer, Angel Riggs, mean that the state's oil and gas taxes were increased, which fueled an economic recovery? Does the writer mean Oklahoma's current oil and gas tax collection rates resulted in higher revenues due to greater gross revenues that are the result of higher prices at the pump and on the average citizen's utility bill?

Let's read on:

Preliminary reports showed that the state's general revenue fund collections for April were $688 million -- $134.8 million, or 24 percent, above the same month last year.

Oh wait! Now it's becoming clearer.

When the headline writer wrote, "State economy," they weren't talking about the whole state. They didn't mean all of the small mom and pop businesses, or even the mega-corporations like Chesapeake. When a liberal paper like the World writes about "revenue fund collections," such statements must be translated into the conservative equivalent, which is "tax collections."

So here is how the statement should have read:

Preliminary reports showed that the state's general tax collections for April were $688 million -- $134.8 million, or 24 percent, above the same month last year.

Good. Now we're getting somewhere.

Let's review one final paragraph from this front-page, above the fold story and then sum up:

[Meacham] attributed steady improvement in Oklahoma's economy since mid-2003 to price increases for natural gas and oil.

Hmmm...Maybe I don't read so well, but here's my take on this comment. Oklahoma's State Treasurer is "attributing" the steady improvement in gross "tax collections" to an improvement in the state's economy, AND that he attributes the improvement in the state's economy to steady improvement in the increased costs being charged to the consumer for natural gas and oil.

Gee...I feel better all ready.

This story smacks of how the press in the former Soviet Union used to tell the masses, "Good news from the steppes, comrades! The Ministry of Agriculture reports that this year's wheat harvest set another record." This would then be followed by the standard party rhetoric designed to indicate that socialism was working, completely ignoring that bumper harvests are more the doing of the farmers who tended the crops, and God who provided the weather.

Implying that results of one industry's toil and Divine providence as indicators of successful governmental policy, stretches credulity like it was Laffy-Taffy.

The chief reasons Oklahoma's economy is in recovery are factors that lie completely outside of state's locus of control. Oil and gas prices are up because of the war and instability in the Middle-East and the fact that our elected officials in Washington, D.C. can't seem to agree on a federal energy policy that makes us less dependent on foreign sources. As such, it is beyond ironic, that Oklahoma's Democrats may be successful in maintaining control of the Governor's Mansion and the Oklahoma Senate, because Democrats in the minority in the U.S. Senate are using the threat of philibuster to block drilling in A.N.W.A.R. and other energy related reforms. But that's for another column, because I promised to sum up.

First, the World's editorial should have read;

State's Tax Coffers Grow in April

Why? Because Oklahoma's economy is not the same thing as Oklahoma's tax collections.

Secondly, the first paragraphs of the article give the casual reader the appearance that this growth is due to our tax policy.

Thirdly, as a conservative, the only good news I'm seeing in the World's story is that the argument is growing every month for the state to begin to wean itself off of the Income Tax completely. I would say do it now, but unfortunately, all it would take is peace in the Middle-East or Congress getting its act together on energy policy for us to be back in deep "item."

I'm not going to be comfortable taking a bold, conservative step like that, until I know that we have bold conservatives at the helm of the ship-of-our-state, to implement such reforms.

As for now, wouldn't it be nice to mandate that reporters and headline writers actually understand the issues they are reporting on? If not the issues, at least the basic concept of cause and effect?

Until then, they're going to try to sell us that a rose by any other name, could
be a rhododendron, if this is an election year.

Cheers and Jeers I

Cheer: Kudos to Mayor Kathy Taylor for her selfless (but let's be honest, mostly symbolic) decision not to collect her $105,000 salary. Despite the fact she has her own jet and lives in a house that costs more than the homes of my immediate and extended families combined, it is a nice gesture.

Jeer: A great big "Boo-Hiss" for Tulsa World writer P. J. Lassek for her work in reporting Mayor Taylor's decsion to forego her salary. Not content with trying to score PR points for the new mayor with her legitimate action to save taxpayer dollars, Lassek decided to attempt to sell the fact that Taylor is better than previous mayors, because of the way she communicates with city employees.

This may or may not be true. However, Lassek chose City Council aide Cheral Crossland for several quotes to make the point. Here's how Lassek's work appeared in print.

"Several city employees contacted by the Tulsa World on Saturday said they thought the e-mail was a positive gesture by the new mayor.

"City Council aide Cheral Crossland said she was impressed and the news was more sincere because it was released quietly to the employees.

"To me, she's really doing the job because I think she wants to make a difference," Crossland said.

She said Taylor may be the first mayor who regularly communicates with the employees. "Before there was no communication, we always had to read what was going on in the newspaper," Crossland said.

On the surface, this seems innocuous enough, right? But what pushes these paragraphs to the edge of "Propaganda Canyon" are the facts that Lassek doesn't share with the reader.

First, Lassek doesn't tell you that Cheral Crossland's husband is a major player in the Public Works Department. Dan Crossland is Tulsa's Street Maintenance Manager, making him one of Charles Hardt's top lieutenants. Given that both halves of this double-income family derive their salaries from the city, is it any wonder that Ms. Crossland is willing to gush?

Secondly, Ms. Crossland is a friend of Ms. Lassek's. More than once, I've had to turn around during committee meetings to give the pair a "do you mind" stare, because they were so vociferously chatting behind me. Ms. Lassek is also a frequent visitor to Ms. Crossland's office, (the most tucked away and hidden office on the second floor of City Hall).

Thirdly, and perhaps most significantly, Ms. Crossland spent the previous four years as the Council aide to two councilors who have just this year left the Council. Who you ask? Why none other than former District 4 Councilor Tom Baker and former District 9 Councilor Susan Neal. "BakerNeal," as they were known to the Gang of Four (because they almost NEVER voted differently) are of course the latest acquisitions by Team Taylor. In fact, it appears the two occupy her top two staff positions.

For those that need a refresher, "propaganda" is defined as, "The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause."

When a reporter uses a personal friend who is very closely tied to a new mayor's top aides, and who has a vested interest via her job, to "propogate" information advocating the efficacy of an elected official who is a close friend and neighbor of the publisher of that reporter's newspaper and employer, then I'd say a reasonable argument can be made that this definition has been met.

Don't you think?

Whose Bread I Eat -- His Song I Sing

I've just returned from having attended the Dan Keating for State Treasurer party held at the IPE Building at the fairgrounds. While the turnout was a little sparse, no doubt due to the rain, the President speaking at the OSU Commencement, the Blues Festival and other events, the highlight of the event, as expected, was the speech by U.S. Senator Tom Coburn.

Coburn acknowledged that he does very few endorsements for other candidates. His primary qualification for such an endorsement is that the candidate must have a vision for what he wants to accomplish in the office. He will only support those that "want to do something, not to be somebody."

Dan Keating should be very honored that Sen. Coburn has such faith in him.

However, the highlight of the speech was a story he read from a source he didn't reveal. Given that the events were an unknown storyteller's recollection of a political speech he heard as a boy growing up in rural Georgia, most surmised that the writer must be former Georgia Senator Zell Miller.

My curiosity was such, as was the power of the very simple tale he shared, that the instant I got home, I "Googled" some of the key word I remembered and "lo and behold," there was the story, simply entitled, "Whose Bread I Eat -- His Song I Sing," by J. G. McDaniel, M.D.

I won't comment much on the story, because commentary would merely dilute the simple message. I would just encourage you to take five minutes, at the most, to read this story.

Click Here.

SB 1324: My E-Mail to the Senators

Thought I'd share a copy of the e-mail I sent to each member of the State Senate regarding SB 1324.

Senator:

As a former Tulsa City Councilor and recent candidate for mayor, I can assure you that the issue of land use and zoning regulations are a hot-button issue in Tulsa. Attempts by a rogue element of our local development community to control both the planning commission and the Boards of Adjustment have energized citizens across party lines.

Having failed to win the support they need at the ballot box, these developers are now trying to co-opt the State Legislature to do what they couldn’t do locally; force the average home or business owner to face the specter of hiring an attorney to fight unwelcome developments that are poor fits for the area.

Local government should be granted latitude by the state to pursue development guidelines that fit the goals of the local community as a whole. Sweeping legislation that restricts a community’s ability to pursue unique policies will leave Oklahoma with cookie cutter cities and towns.

I urge you to defeat SB 1324. Let each community govern itself. This bill is destructive to that end.

Chris Medlock
Tulsa

I only have received two response so far. Sen. Nancy Riley wrote a succinct, "Thank you for your input."

Sen. Randy Brogdon of Owasso wrote,

Chris,
Thanks for the heads up. I have already talked to the
attorney about this situation and plan on voting NO.

Martinson Cronies Say, "Stop Stalling."

It hasn’t even been a year yet, so it shouldn’t be hard for most of you to remember.

Then District 7 City Councilor Randy Sullivan said the “process” was a distraction. As such, he was calling for an election on the earliest possible date in which another election was already scheduled.

District 8 City Councilor Bill Christiansen said an election date needed to be set so that the city could “move on with its business.”

“If we delay [setting an election date], it will just cause more dissension in the city," Christiansen was quoted as saying.

Christiansen continued by asking the candidate in question, “What is he afraid of?” He asked if the candidate feared giving the matter to the voters.

Then District 9 City Councilor Susan (the Most Reasonable) Neal said there were “citizens on both sides of this issue with strong feelings and it will embroil the community and council in a controversy that I don't think we need right now.”

The Tulsa World editorialists were rending their garments and calling for an end to politically motivated stall tactics. Let the voters decide! Let’s get this behind us and move on!

Remember?

All of this occurred just before the recall election date was set. More of note, all of this was said before the judges had ruled on the validity of the process and other questions.

Oh yeah! At the same time, then candidate Bill Martinson, as part of the special election to name a replacement following the departure of District 5 councilor Sam Roop, was making the rounds at the forums and debates, saying what an embarrassment the council was, and how he would insist on civility and decorum.

All this makes it ironic, now, to see Sullivan, Christiansen and Neal’s good buddy Bill Martinson, using stall tactics (after a judge has ruled) as transparent tactics designed to assure the re-match election between him and Jon Kirby will occur on as expedient a day as possible.

I might be shocked by this, but then, logical and intellectual consistencies are not traits that one uses, if one wants the logically and intellectually inconsistent Tulsa World to continue to refer to you as “reasonable.”

In the rough and tumble game of politics, employing such a strategy in order to attain political advantage is the norm. As such, I will refrain from criticizing their use in this matter.

What is Martinson stalling for? Most likely to ensure that the election occurs on the party runoff date scheduled for August. Given the nature of Martinson’s council district, it is very likely there will be some competitive runoff races for statewide seats. It is equally unlikely such will be the case with the democrats. In a race that was separated by 25 or so votes, this could give Martinson a substantial advantage in getting out his base.

However, I can’t let this opportunity go by without crowing just a bit, now that the shoe appears to be on the other foot. Amazing how such efforts to unseat a public official is a “distraction” when you’re the public official. Amazing how stalling can be come a legitimate tactic to save one’s job.

Then there’s Martinson’s legal eagles. The Scheme Team includes such luminary attorneys as Wilson (Where’s the Red Meat?) Busby and Paul (Just what IS your relationship with Chris Medlock, Mr. Westcott?) Prather, and you have a surreal prescription for a bad case of “who you calling a cartel?”

What’s next? Bob Poe speaking before the Press Club, holding up a photo of Jon Kirby and declaring, “powdered wigs went out of style in the late 18th Century, and we’re not going to tolerate Mr. Kirby’s attempts to bring them back?”

As for me, I’ll just keep chuckling.

Kill the Bill Vol. 1324

Coming Soon to DVD.

Getting An Aspartame High?

Yesterday, Monday, May 1st, 2006, was more than just the national Day Without Immigrants. It happened to be the day that my waste measurement, taken in the morning, equaled exactly 1000 millimeters. Yep…that would be a waist measurement of exactly one meter or 39.37 inches.

I have always considered one of my personal measures for basic fitness to be, that my waist measurement should be less than, or equal to, my inseam measurement, which is 36 inches. I’ve never had to work too hard at maintaining that standard and on the rare occasions when I’ve drifted above it, I’ve had to do very little to get back under the mark.

Well, I’ve officially had enough. I was successful in the month of January in using the South Beach diet to drop fifteen pounds, but they’ve all come back. The pressures of a mayor’s race, with the accompanying diet of pizza and donuts, undermined the effort, so that I now find myself worse than when I started.

It wasn’t always like this. Before getting into office three years ago, I looked and felt six years younger. I weighed, to my recollection, about 185 pounds. Yesterday, I tipped the scales at a whopping 218.5! It’s not just the more than 30 pounds I put on that is of so much concern. Having lost the free time I used to have to go to the gym with regularity, I have lost at least fifteen pounds of muscle. Do the math. That means I’ve put on, since becoming a city councilor, nearly 50 pounds of fat.



Enough!

I recently saw a news magazine…I think it was 20/20…that showed the best way to diet is to make a very public declaration of your intention to lose. As such, I am declaring today that by this time next year…April 30th, 2007 to be exact…it is my intention to either lose thirty pounds in total weight (188.5 pounds) or to reduce my waist measurement from its current 39.37 inches, to 33.5 inches.

I am allowing myself the wiggle room with the waistline, because I recognize one of the traps to diet and exercise to be concentrating solely on pounds, and not recognizing that exercise adds healthy muscle. Being officially middle-aged, I know it will be tough to add back the fifteen pounds of muscle, but I’m hopeful.

For those of you who are my frequent critics, please consider this an open invitation, should I fail to achieve this goal, to view this as a determinant of my character. If I fail, flail away.

So there you have it. Check back periodically and see how I’m doing, and wish me Godspeed and lot’s of sugar-free treats.

With Friends Like These...

Somebody over at the Tulsa World needs to tell the headline writers to keep up with the current spin for the publisher's friends.

I went to a great deal of trouble last week showing my readers how Kathy Taylor had attended a "Gun Control Summit" in New York City, rather than a "Crime Summit" as had been reported by the Tulsa World. If I'd just waited a few more days, I would've had an easier time making my case.

The Washington Post's E.J. Dionne (a liberal) wrote an opinion piece on the summit, which you can read for free, here. Dionne's column is syndicated and carried by the World, and as such, was printed in full as part of Saturday's Opinion Section.

The column's headline in the post read:

A New Gun Argument: Mayor's Turn the Political Issue to Saving Lives

The Tulsa World's headline for the same piece read:





There you have it folks! Even the Tulsa World has come around to admitting Taylor was in the Big Apple to explore tougher gun control.

You Can't Be the "I Told You So" Crowd, Unless...

...you were right in the first place.

Kookie Ken Neal is at it again, twisting logic with a torque wrench.

Since it was revealed earlier this month that Tulsa's iconic arena is going to cost at least $32 million more than what tax payers were led to believe, Ken Neal has developed a mild case of amnesia (forgetting to mention that the reviled Gang of Four councilors were asking questions about arena overruns for nearly a year) and now seems to be making excuses for the very people he supported throughout the arena's development.

In the first two paragraphs of Neal's Sunday editorial, he writes:

Tulsans should be concerned that the major bids for the arena downtown were $32 million higher than expected.

Cause for concern, yes. Wrongdoing or deliberate misleading by public officials? No.

How do you know Ken? Do Tulsa's public officials fill you in on everything they do behind closed doors? Isn't it logical to assume that if some public officials were seeking to deliberately mislead the public, they wouldn't inform the editor of one of the city's newspapers? Isn't it possible, Ken, that you were duped like tens-of-thousands of your fellow citizens?

I haven't run the math, Ken, but maybe the $32 million in cost overruns isn't due to the escalation of building material costs due the explosive growth of the economies of China and India. Maybe it's because Bob Poe was right, and the "Gang of Five's" holding up of the condemnation of Peggy Jones' Denver Grill reall DID cost the city $10,000 per day?

No wait, that allegation, trumpted by the Tulsa World editorial pages, was proven wrong within days of it being "dropped" by the bombastic Mr. Poe.

It's amazing how smoothly Neal can construct such simple sentences which have such gargantuan implications. Try this one on for size:

Not that $32 million is a minor matter, but there are ways to reduce that amount or find the extra money for the project.

Oklahoma City reduced the cost of its arena by about $10 million when it faced cost overruns. The result was that some of the upper floors are pretty bare bones. Trying to slice out $30 million is likely to leave Tulsa's arena unpainted, without a roof, air conditioning and seats, don't you think?

We all know, economizing isn't really an option. They're just letting you believe that until after the Third Penny Sales Tax vote next month, to lessen the potential for a tax payers revolt, if the truth were known.

What is the truth? That the only two viable choices are, cease and desist building the arena or come back for more tax dollars. That's it. There are no other possible options.

Oh no...don't go there! Don't try to say that using the overage dollars from the current Vision 2025 thirteen year tax wouldn't be a tax increase, because it would. As justification for approving the arena, the voters were given a dollar figure of $122 million. Somehow, that got moved to $141. But using the overage for cost overruns would prevent the tax from being ended early, which is the preferred position taken by the Tulsa County Republican Party's platform.

If the tax could be ended in twelve years, rather than requiring thirteen years, then any action that caused the tax to be collected for thirteen years has effectively raised taxes.

Neal also reasons:

Yes, it will cost more than public officials hoped. There are reasons for that. Let's not point fingers of blame.

Why not, Ken? You're fond of pointing fingers of blame when the news doesn't break your way!

First of all, the "professional engineers and professionals in the construction business" you cite as being hired to design and build the arena have known about the likelihood of such overruns since November. My source? Mayor Taylor as reported by Omadelle Nelson and KJRH (or is TV News the "fringe" media?).

Secondly, we have been chasing down tips from "insiders" who are telling us that back in early January of this year, both Matrix and Tulsa Vision Builders had worked up budgets that showed the arena project was already over budget, but that they were being "instructed not to release this information until at a minimum after the mayoral primaries." They were also directed to perform cost studies "to try to pin all of this on the "Katrina factor." We have been told that Matrix was reporting the project as still being on budget, but the Tulsa Vision Builders was developing grave concerns.

Let's be perfectly frank here, Ken. The politics around this project have stunk for years. This project has NOT been handled in the full light of day. Dollar figures have changed, advisory panel ballots have disappeared and concerned elected officials have been stonewalled and villified.

Politics, by its nature is often about pointing fingers and assigning blame. If the people guiding the arena project were as competent as you say, then we'd have been getting answers to our questions about potential overruns long before the elections, and Neal's paper wouldn't have been trashing the questioners.

Finally, I am tickled by Mr. Neal's slip as noted in the title of this posting. In trying to trash County Commissioner Randi Miller, who has been critical of the arena project of late, Neal writes:

Tulsa County Commissioners Bob Dick and Wilbert Collins who were the driving force behind Vision 2025 have been rational and responsible in their comments about the arena bids.

But not District 2 Commissioner Randi Miller, who has been bleating and blaming and making empty promises about the situation. She is smarting from a lopsided defeat in her primary run for mayor and still is pandering to the "I-told-you-so" crowd. She managed to be for and against the original 2025 plan.

No one says "I told you so, unless they're pretty danged sure they've been right all along.

"I told you so, Ken!"

Taylor Made Gun Control?

Sure it was unlikely to have been literally true, but if there were some of you in this town that thought Kathy Taylor’s tough-on-crime rhetoric during the mayoral campaign made her the likely nominee as Tulsa’s most recent version of a “Pistol Packin’ Mama,” it looks like you’re going to have to rethink that image of our new mayor.

Mayor KT spent the early part of this week in the Big Apple hobnobbing with other big city mayors at New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “Gun Summit.”

Even though Bloomberg is officially listed as a Republican, readers should not assume that his kind of gun summit would consist of avid gun owners and hobbyists wearing fashionable “camo” while standing around a table littered with ammo, clips and self-loader kits, talking about the most effective way to bring down a six-point buck with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun. Remember that Bloomberg is the Republican mayor of a city that is obscenely liberal and democrat.

New Yorkers like Republican mayors because they seem to be tough enough on crime in the big city to keep Gotham’s creative-classes safe while hailing a hack or purchasing a pierogi from a street vendor. To the average New Yorker, buying a hot glue gun one might use to attach fabric remnants to a Moroccan dining room canopy, as seen on Christopher Lowell’s show, is dangerously close to an activity requiring a permit and a three day waiting period to take possession. In New York City, talking about serious gun control is considered talking tough on crime.

So who attended the Bloomberg Gun Summit? According to the Associated Press, “Bloomberg said organizers cast a wide net to a number of cities and the mayors set to attend are those who were able to work it into their schedules.”

Flashback to Tulsa’s reality. Chief Been hasn’t been re-instated, the arena is massively over budget (and no, it should have surprised on one), the FY07 city budget is due on Monday, we have two massive legal judgments that are waiting to be paid, her staff hasn’t been selected, we’ve got two open seats on the TMAPC that are going to draw fire no matter who is named to them and the FAA is now less than a month away from releasing its report on Tulsa, and Mayor Taylor had time to fit a gun control summit into her schedule?

Just the sheer learning curve of the job should keep junkets out of the picture for six months at least. This is especially for junkets, the purpose of which, are wildly out of touch with your community's values.

For those of you who are reading this and thinking that our mayor went to an Illegal Gun Summit, instead of a Gun Control Summit, read on.

The AP’s Desmond Butler writes, “Bloomberg has focused on gun control as a priority for his second term.”

In calling this summit, Bloomberg has teamed up with Boston mayor, Thomas Menino, who has recently begun studying the idea of limiting the sale of ammunition in his city, possibly limiting the amount of ammo one could by at a time. Menino’s team is also looking into micro-stamping, a new technology that could trace bullets to their owners.

All of this sounds wonderfully logical and pro-active, but ignores the simple fact that most liberal policy ignores; criminals, by definition, do not obey the law.

Bullets can be bought over the Internet. Bullets can be bought out of state. Bullets can be stolen, so that when a local Crip or Blood decides to participate in a drive-by shooting, it is likely that the cops will be standing at my doorstep at 3AM, holding a micro-stamped shell casing I got for Christmas last year, while asking me if they can search my garage for a blue, 1968 Chevy Impala.

It will be interesting to see how the Erling/Turnbo spin machine sells this trip to the public. I’m sure they will center in on the “brainstorming” that took place among the bi-partisan assemblage of big city mayors. Can’t you just hear billionaire Bloomberg brainstorming with millionaire Taylor?

Bloomberg: “Okay…but we tried to limit gun ownership by making everyone take a class on gun safety in order to get a carry permit, but record numbers of citizens went out and too the classes and now they’re packing heat on the street!”

Taylor: “Ooh-ooh! I’ve got an idea. Let’s change the law so that you have to take the course in gun safety, but afterwards YOU don’t get to carry a gun. Only your chauffer can carry the gun and only when they’re driving YOU!”

Bloomberg: “Gosh Mayor Taylor…I sure do love that down home, Oklahoma savvy. It’s almost “street smart.”

Aside from fitting this gun control junket into her schedule, I’ve spoken with two city councilors, neither of whom remembers the mayor getting her travel authorized, which is required of all city employees. Not that it will break the Lobeck/Taylor bank account, but failure to get authorization from the Council means that Mayor Taylor will be footing the bill for her travel out of her household soap account. It will be interesting to see if such self-financed trips become a common occurance.

It will be even more interesting to see if she submits a bill to the Council upon her return, as if she had a corporate expense account. I could see the Council forgiving her one such trip, but travel such as this, with the budget so tight, is not something the public should allow our new mayor, if she plans to bill the tax payer.