SQ744

I sat through a presentation on State Question 744. You know what this does - it forces the state legislatures to delegate the public school budget before it delegates any other money to any other project and it provides a mechanism that brings our spending to the average of very state that touches our state. In other words - your public schools will be funded before prisons and before highways. If you have never had kids, don't like kids, don't want anyone's kids to have an education - please vote against it.

Personally my education K-12 was from the state funded public systems in many, many states too - because I was an Air Force brat. I also believe firmly that children deserve the very best we adults can offer - afterall, they have no vote, they have no say and they can't make us do anything we don't wish to do. I hope you wish your kids had it better than you did. Statistics say they won't live as long as you will - because more suffer from diseases caused by our bad eating habits. Maybe we can educate them to do better than we were taught.

This bill won't fix things overnight - sorry but reality TV shows seem to have everyone thinking that instant fixes are out there - but they are not. We need to put our children first for the first time in a damn long time. Moms and Dads- choose your kids - vote yes on this state question. Grandsparents - let's put our grandchildren ahead of our self-interest. This is a long haul issue. Politians have been mouthing the words that they care about education - but in all reality - it is in bad shape and will get much worse for a while - the economy that has hit the coasts is just waving itself over our part of the USA - bite the bullet - put the kids first - all else will take care of itself.

My Platform - Are you Kidding???

A couple of friends have asked what my platform is - I sat and wondered myself. I am not sure I have what one might call a platform - that means I have a solid ground to stand on. As wet as it has been this year there is little solid ground for anyone to stand on in Oklahoma.

The seed/farm exemption issue with seeds not being listed as a Farm Exempt product and therefore leaving me with having to pay taxes on seeds is in itself a issue of complete nonsense in the area of what the Oklahoma Tax Commission considers to be exempt of taxes. I mean, how does one farm without seeds? Now I don't mean to denigrate anyone who raises animals - that's another aspect of farming but really - I can buy a bungie cord or dog food with farm exemption but I can't buy seeds.

So do I have a platform - no. I have a desire - to do good - to do good for the most people that I can. It's one reason I started two farmers markets. It's why I spent so much time working on a Buy Fresh/Buy Local database back in November - because it was needed by a all the farmers in Green Country. It's why I agreed to tie one market to a school district - it was mutually beneficial. It's why I grow orga. . . dammit - I can't say that word because it belongs to the government - it's why I grow chemical free, pesticide free. It makes my veggies safe for you. It makes my land safe for me to be out on. This is why I recycle taking all my cans, pop bottles and milk containers to SHOW. Recycling is harder to do than just trashing my garbage but it is good for the planet. This is why I bought a car that I plan to drive one million miles. I have always thought about others and tried to be a good citizen of the planet, not just look out for me.

I have planned on doing some videos - I want them to be funny - and informative - and I am finding it very difficult to plan to get it done because I am doing already good for others. Just understand that I do what I can and if I get a chance to look into the way this state is run, and make it better for as many as possible, I will - it is who I am.

Cloning - with a smile

I believe it would be wonderful if I could clone myself fully formed and with all the same thoughts and feelings - man I could do so much. I clone all the time - its called propagation in the plant world - we cut off a stem, stick them down in perlite, water and soon roots follow creating a plant that looks exactly like the parent. Again, I tell you I wish I could clone myself with one caveat - I only want one SSN. Maybe if I could just have myself created as a robot that would be more acceptable to the rest of the world - smiles.

No one wants to pay taxes - no one wants to pay for insurance. The world has gotten so complex that we neeeeeed both. I don't know everything there is to know about taxes - I prepare my taxes and send them off - for two years the IRS sends me more than I expect - they don't tell me where I am missing my deduction they are adding to my tax forms. There then is sales taxes and property taxes and toll roads and taxes on buying cars and boats and fees for licenses to collect sales taxes. Still we pay less taxes than other countries who have naturally included more services because they collect more taxes.

Insurance is another necessary evil in our minds - necessary because we drive vehicles that don't stay on roads, live in houses that can burn down, do business where someone can get hurt and work at jobs so we can have benefits that pay if we get ill.

http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/index.html#event9-pane

The site above is where you need to look regarding healthcare changes - don't listen to the TV stations and those talking heads - go read up about it. I used to assume I knew the answers because I heard it from someone who heard it from someone else. Insurance for everyone isn't the end of the USA - it might prevent the end of the USA. Here's what I was told - but look at it yourself. You children will stay on your insurance until they are 26, you cannot be dropped by any insurance company for any reason, your maximum payout will be removed - catastrophic illness will not take your home, people living at 133% of poverty level will be insured at no cost, people living between 133% and 400% will have coverage on a sliding scale with help from the government and those who have insurance will keep what they have. I am not crazy how much the insurance companies got to control - I am not crazy about corporate America. But surely you all agree that no child should lie at home with a severe fever and not get to a regular doctor until an emergency room visit and an out of control fever takes a kid because mom and dad can't afford insurance. Sometimes we need to change - maybe this will be a hell of a lot better than the talking heads are telling us.