One Bad Apple Can Spoil the Entire Barrel

The tentacles of corruption run very deep in Oklahoma. My theory is that due to the nature of how we became a state, Oklahoma attracted some very unsavory people, and let's just say the the apple never falls far from the tree.

Pictured are just a few examples of corruption. First is convicted former State Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher. Second is the infamous Gene Stipe currently charged with numerous crimes of corruption. Third is former Governor David Hall who plea bargained his way out of a jail term. Fourth is the Kingfish, Huey Long, not of Oklahoma fame, but certainly associated with Louisiana corruption on a large scale. And lastly is former Governor David Hall, who I personally met briefly as he was helping his daughter move into Bennett Hall at OSU in 1974 just a few weeks before he was to start serving his sentence.

According to the FBI, Oklahoma has the distinction of having the largest political corruption scandal in the history of the United States. During the 1970's a majority of the county commissioners were convicted of corruption, including taking bribes and kickbacks. To this day, there are still few controls on each county's 3 county commissioners!

In Oklahoma History, I learned that Oklahoma had impeached so many of our territorial governors, that one more would have jeopardized our status as a state.

Just like a spoiled apple or potato will spoil all the rest in the bag it comes in contact with, so too does political corruption. As with the bag of potatoes, sometimes it becomes necessary to throw out the whole bag and get a new one.

We know that corruption is a reality in our politics. Now the rot continues to spread. It is commonplace to see someone charged with embezzlement. Banks, churches, businesses, schools, you name it and its there. We see long time politicians get term limited out of office and suddenly they get cushy jobs that take a political appointment. Or they turn right around an start a PAC and become a lobbyist. We also see it when the same contractors are awarded contracts for public projects. And the list goes on and on.

Term limits have helped flush out some corruption. It was a start. We should ban any retirement programs for "public service". It should be just that, service. I don't mind that they get paid something reasonable, but it should never be considered a career with retirement benefits. I think our society as a whole would be better served and we would have better checks and balances, if we saw regular turnover in all levels of politics.

Unscientific Poll Results

The results are in. The numbers were not great, nor are they statistically significant, but the readers of Tulsa Chiggers voted 8-2 that they are not satisfied with their "choice" for public schools in the Tulsa district.

The numbers were extremely low in light of over 1,400 people who visited Tulsa Chiggers over the time the poll was open. I guess that most of my readers don't like on-line polls, or perhaps they did not like my question. And after all, it is at the bottom of the page, so it could be easily missed.

Now I have posted a new poll question regarding the decision by the TPS Board to file suit against the Oklahoma Charter School Act, claiming it is unconstitutional. Please take the time to vote.

Illegal Immigrants Cost the U.S. More Than the Iraq War

The URL's are included for verification of the following facts:

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year.http://tinyurl.com/zob77

2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html

5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare and Social Services by the American taxpayers.http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html

9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens.http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two-and-a-half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US.http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border. Homeland Security Report. http://tinyurl.com/t9sht

12. The National Policy Institute, 'estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period.'http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin. http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm

14. 'The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States'.http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml

Total cost is a whooping... $338.3 BILLION A YEAR!!!

Snopes is provided for doubters:http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/bankofamerica.asp