Tulsa County ObamaVision plan unveiled
A clique of corporate welfare queens and pork barrel princes today announced a plan to bring Barack Obama's proven* economic development strategies to Tulsa County.
The $747.9 million borrow, spend, and tax ObamaVision plan embraces five central principles of Obamanomics:
(1) Use government spending to stimulate economic development, because government knows best. And we've seen what Obama's stimulus has done for unemployment.
(2) Saddle our kids with debt: The proposal would have the county borrow money now against pledges of sales tax revenues starting five years from now and continuing from 2017 to 2029. If we get to 2017 and need money for a higher priority, we'll just borrow against revenues starting in 2030.
(3) Use tax dollars to subsidize bankrupt companies in failing industries. Don't diversify your economy -- double down!
(4) Spread the wealth around: Take money away from taxpayers and their personal priorities and give it to politically connected construction companies. Take money that would have been available for cities to tax for city priorities, take a cut of it, then give some of it back to the cities with strings attached. From each according to his ability, to each according to his greed.
(5) Let politicians pick winners and losers in the private sector: A committee of politicians will decide how to spend a $50 million slush fund to subsidize private business. They'll use the same economic judgment that brought us Solyndra and Great Plains Airlines, both typical examples of what happens when government gets involved in the private sector.
The key objectives of the proposal: (1) Give politicians a chance to claim they're doing something to improve the economy. (2) Allow politically connected special interests to get a share of the money. The group rejected the free market approach of lowering taxes and improving the general business climate because the free market approach doesn't let politicians take credit for jobs and it doesn't allow the Chamber, bond advisers and bond brokers, construction and program management companies to "wet their beaks."
Republican primary voters in Kansas got rid of corporate-welfare backers earlier this week, with the help of the local branch of Americans for Prosperity and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, which prefers encouraging a healthy business climate for everyone, rather than shoveling subsidies at a favored few companies. Here in Oklahoma, however, the Tulsa Metro Chamber will continue to support corporate welfare, cronyism, and pork barrel spending, and Republican political consultants, pollsters, and PR firms will line up at the trough -- the chance to work for the vote yes campaign.
* Proven not to work.
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Michael,
You and I are on the opposite ends of the political spectrum, but the gist of your comments is absolutely correct.
Who's going to organize an effort to stop this?
Tulsa has fast become a city where the Metro Chamber is the ultimate decider on the political agenda. This must stop.
The Chamber is using the path of least resistance, the Tulsa County Commissioners, to get this on the ballot for November.
How do we organize an effort to make sure this goes down in November?
The slush fund is not limited to $50 million. It will most likely be much more. $50 million is just an estimate, based on very conservative sales tax growth projections. The resolution the Commissioners are voting on actually reads:
“All sales tax revenues in excess of the amounts necessary to complete the above listed projects (not to exceed $254,000,000.00 in total) plus any advance funding costs associated therewith shall be used to fund land, buildings, infrastructure and other capital improvements for the purpose of promoting economic development within Tulsa County, Oklahoma, including funding job creation programs, as determined by a public trust having Tulsa County, Oklahoma, the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the City of Bixby, Oklahoma, the City of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, the City of Collinsville, Oklahoma, the City of Glenpool, Oklahoma, the City of Jenks, Oklahoma, the City of Owasso, Oklahoma, the City of Sand Springs, Oklahoma, the Town of Skiatook, Oklahoma and the Town of Sperry, Oklahoma, as its beneficiaries. Such public trust shall have seven trustees consisting of, ex-officio, the three members of the governing body of Tulsa County, Oklahoma, and the Mayor of the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and three members each of whom shall be at the time of appointment the Mayor of a municipality, other than the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, located in whole or in part in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, appointed by the presiding officer of the governing body of Tulsa County, Oklahoma, and confirmed by a majority of the persons who constitute the governing body of Tulsa County, Oklahoma. In the expenditure of all funds hereunder, preference shall be given to local vendors and contractors to the extent permitted by law. In addition, such public trust shall approve any deletion or addition of projects from those listed above and any major change in scope, following a public hearing by such trust."
http://www.tulsacounty.org/agendalinks/bocc081312/Resolution%20Hilborne%20Weidman%20V2%20%2014106%204-%20BOCC%20REVISED.pdf
This sales tax grab ploy has been under development for many months. The Tulsa County Commissioners hearing this proposal on Thursday, and voting on it the following Monday is a cruel joke.
Besides serial positive "puff-piece" coverage in the Lorton's World which has already begun, expect that the local TV channels will provide positive coverage in exchange for heavy advertising revenue. Money rules their ethics.
Expect that King Kaiser at Bank of Kaiser, the perennial Sole-Sourced bond underwriter for every local tax ploy, will again pressure his employees to have Vote Yes campaign signs placed in their residential yards, or else "opt-out" of their banking careers.
If any public forums are held, do NOT expect the Vision2 promoters to be willing to engage in any debate. They will hold forums in name-only on private property so that they can both control the message, control the speakers, and also control admission to the venue.
That way, if any Vote No dissenters try to add their opinion to the forum, their personal rent-a-cops can drag them outside by their hair, followed by pepper-spraying, Tasering, and beating with metal batons to silence dissent.
Isn't Crony Capitalism just grand?
Bob,
Everything you wrote is accurate accept for the police beatings. I don't think that would happen. However, if they do control the public venues and some serious (non-occupy Tulsa types) decide to ask questions and are escorted away then the camera phone would become a great tool for YouTube videos for this site and for discussion on KFAQ radio.
Remember, it was KFAQ in 2007 that damned near single handedly defeated the River Tax.
Ted
Ted:
The Tulsa Police dept.'s violent over-reaction to the totally peaceful Occupy Tulsa movement was one of the most violent police-state reactions of any city police department in the U.S.
With their excessive force actions approved and rubber-stamped by local prosecutors, and compliant judges cooperating by throwing the book at peaceful dissenters, who were basically only chargable with a park curfew violation, getting maximum JAIL TIME.
For a municipal park curfew violation.
Jail time.
Think about that.
That is Oppression.
IF a Vote NO dissenter choses NOT to get escorted away from a propective Vision2 "forum", their rent-a-cops will beat, pepper-spray, and Taser them into submission, after dragging them out of the meeting by their hair.
Their rent-a-cops know full well that they will suffer no consequences. It takes an independent and functioning local judiciary to control the police. Tulsa has neither.
Our local rulers hand-pick the judges to oppress US and rubber-stamp our exploitation, and the police are the instruments of their oppression.
Being "escorted" away is total coercion by men with guns, clubs, Tasers and Pepper-Spray. The local media would simply slant the beat down as a case of trespassing and/or a "violent" protester getting out of control, and had to be escorted out of the building for everyone's safety.....
You don't actually believe the propaganda that they broadcast on Channels 2,6, and 8, do you? Their ethical posture is inversely related to the size of their advertising billings to Vision2...