GET ON OUTTA’ HERE

As we approach 2012 we see the turning of a page and the start of a new year. It seems like every year at this time we always look forward to a new year but I have to admit that when I hit that half century mark at my last birthday I kind of hesitate rushing the calendar. It seems like 50 got here pretty quick and I sure don’t’ want to hurry too fast toward 60. I have to say this year has been a tough rascal in a lot of ways and I don’t care if we see another drought like we experienced last year. As always, I try to stay optimistic and hopeful that a new year provides new opportunities and hopefully some better weather scenarios and a chance to get back to some semblance of normal, whatever that means. It’s a time when people make resolutions and plans to do things better or different or to make improvements in their personal lives or their jobs or their family situations or a host of other things that just need tweaked or changed or improved upon. One thing that may look better as we approach the New Year is that the State’s budget may have improved a notch or two. We’re by no means flush with cash but the economy has improved and although the Governor and State Treasurer are cautiously optimistic it does give us some hope that we can maintain and not make other budget cuts. Sometimes you measure success in inches instead of miles. This year may be an “inches” kind of year but at least we are going in the right direction. Another positive that we haven’t seen in a while is simply water. I made a run into North Texas last week to meet my sister and swap gifts that had to go South and one thing I noticed as I crossed the Red River, there was a lot of water standing.

They seem to have some wheat pasture just like we do but their tanks still need to catch some runoff (they call them tanks in Texas instead of ponds). Up here we have ponds and down there they have tanks, I’ve never quite figured that out but that’s another article. It’s no different than here at home. There is wheat pasture and some moisture and it does give you hope. That’s the point of this weeks article, that there is hope, there is always hope. Another old saying that I like is “that which does not kill us makes us stronger.” I think in a lot of ways we’ve been tempered by the heat figuratively and in a lot of real ways too. We come out of tough times tougher.
That’s just how it is.

I think the holiday season for me is a chance to step off the treadmill for a day or two and recharge and kind of reevaluate where I am. There’s plenty of hustle and bustle and activity but the focus is a little different and it does give us a moment to step back and broaden the view finder and maybe look at the big picture and I know that little bit of time always helps me, especially as I prepare to shift gears and head toward session in February and the realignment that has to occur in the Armes’ household for me to do what I do as a State Representative.

There were definitely some bright spots in the past year. We got our oldest daughter Katy out of college at OSU and she is now gainfully employed. We did make it through the drought and managed to hang on to a handful of cows. Our youngest daughter Kelsey is a senior in high school. She’s the president of the Cache FFA and has been accepted to OSU and is extremely excited about the next chapter in her life and for the most part we’re healthy and employed. So 2011 wasn’t a total wreck by any means but it had some pretty sizeable speed bumps, the kind that can do some damage to the old suspension system but nothing that can’t be repaired with a little elbow grease, a couple gallons of optimism and the right set of tools. So 2011, get on outta’ here and don’t let the door hit ya’ in the rear. 2012, come on in here and let’s get to work.

If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
Once you choose hope, anything's possible. ~Christopher Reeve

Major Mystery Solved

I know that typically this time of year you would expect some type of Christmas story and actually, if you’ll bear with me, this will have a Christmas twist. The story starts with me making what I thought was going to be a quick up and back trip to Oklahoma City to pick up some items from the Capitol to allow me to complete my Christmas circuit. I left about mid morning Saturday to make this simple run, little did I know that through the magic of Christmas I would learn the answer that has eluded many of us for years. The question was “why do guys who live in major metro areas drive big jacked up four wheel drives”? It’s an easy answer for those of us in rural areas who must traverse muddy roads, pull trailers, haul cattle and many other day to day chores that often times require four wheel drive and sometimes fairly high GVW’s. Most of us in the farming and ranching business wouldn’t dream of owning a two wheel drive pick up. I can’t tell you the last time that I owned a pickup that wasn’t a 4x4; it’s just not worth it. The mystery remained. Why did the city guys feel the need to drive those kinds of rigs with all the draw backs there are like the inability to park in a multi level parking garage, not to mention poor fuel economy and a whole list of other things that would seem to steer them toward a smaller vehicle, more suited to maneuvering the urban jungle. Now let’s rewind to my Saturday trip to Oklahoma City. As I said earlier, I had to make a stop at the Capitol and needed one more item to fill a Christmas order so, being a country boy, I made a tactical error and decided to make a quick stop by Penn Square Mall. Rookie mistake to say the least. I’m used to wide open spaces, plenty of room to move around and I found Penn Square Mall to be a polar opposite of that scenario especially given that it was “Black Saturday”. I’m quite certain that 94.6% of the residents of Oklahoma City were at that very location at that very moment. It is one of those deals where once you’re committed by turning into that parking lot, you’re there and there’s no way out. Well, of course, as fate would have it I made that commitment and what an adventure it was! I heard all manner of horns as impatient Christmas shoppers in the true Christmas spirit loved thy neighbor and indicated that love by laying on that horn to try to force traffic to move in a situation that was seemingly impossible. As I sat in the line just trying to navigate around the perimeter of the mall, I discovered the need for four wheel drive in the city. It was so simple it’s a wonder I haven’t already figured it out. It’s simply so they can park. It has nothing to do with “man status” or testosterone or any of the things you’d think but a four wheel drive allows you to not only jump curbs but to climb small hills and park on grassy areas that I’m sure some mall architect intended to be used for beautification and to provide some green space around the sea of pavement. But I’m here to tell ya’, the urban cowboys can park those rigs in some pretty unconventional places when necessary. Grassy knolls and buffer strips were utilized in every way shape and form and I’d say the parking was maxed out. I saw some people parked in some places that I wouldn’t have even tried on my Yamaha four wheeler. I can just imagine the white knuckles of some of the wives as their macho urban husbands jammed it down in four wheel drive, jumped the curb and headed up the hill and it would probably be pretty un- Christian to repeat anything that was said inside the cabs of those pickups and SUV’s. Kinda’ like the old phrase “hold my beer and watch this” but park they did and I’m sure they shopped till they dropped and the mystery of the urban four wheel drive was solved. Man cards were maintained and missions were accomplished.

I hope that this Christmas season finds each of you well and I hope that you find time to enjoy your families and enjoy the laughter of children and the excitement in their eyes. It’s a magical season and a time to make memories. Merry Christmas and best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
Once again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice. ~Author Unknown

I’m Not Ready

About a week ago we seemed to have plunged into a deep freeze. We had a pretty decent fall it just seems like it’s never long enough. I actually had a real estate auction around Indiahoma when the black jack trees were really showing off. I didn’t get to go to Colorado and look at aspens, didn’t even get to go down to Eastern Oklahoma not that I would’ve. I think those kind of trips are reserved for retirement years but we did have a little fall color in Western Comanche county and I got to enjoy it as I ran back and forth preparing for the auction. Just like you can’t hang on to those colors neither can you hang on to those really nice temperatures. It seems like if I’m not careful I totally miss the best part of the year I’ve always got great plans to stop and smell the roses but its sure tough for me to do especially when I get busy. I was certainly ready for summer and the historic drought to get its tail on out of here but I don’t think I’m ready for old man winter to come blasting through the door either. I spend a great deal of time outside and I know I’ll get used to it but the older I get the tougher it is to get acclimated. I’m sure at my advanced age its probably poor circulation. It sure seemed like the last few days that the cold has really had a bite of course with no grass and limited hay it always causes stress for a cattleman even though at my place we are almost all hat and no cattle we still have a few and they can plow through a round bail a lot faster than I’d like. I just picked up a couple loads of hay from one of my neighbors and paid more than I’ve ever paid in my life for any type of forage and I was honestly glad to have it. Does it sound like I’m whining, yeah maybe it does and I shouldn’t because really all in all things look pretty good. We’ve had a little rain; still need some more but have had some I think I may have enough hay located to maybe get a few old cows through the winter. Had a pretty good fall auction run and so far everyone is healthy I’m just not ready for the bitter cold and I hope mother nature will ease up on us a little bit and not throw us in to those sub zero temperatures that we saw last year.

The weather cooperated very well Saturday night for the huge Cache Christmas parade. Lots of folks turned out to celebrate Christmas small town style and it was great to see the city park packed with families, kids, and floats, everyone enjoying a small town Christmas festival. I have to say hats off to Laura Folland, Jennifer Holland, David Dorrell and the Masons for putting together quite a successful event. They all stepped out on faith knowing that it might not turn out so well but it was a great event and brought lots of people out. It will be a flurry of activity from here on through the holidays. I hope all of you can spend some time with your families and keep in mind the reason for the season. In the meantime I’ll be outside as much as I can trying to get acclimated to this cold. As an old buddy of mine said the other day, “don’t lighten up, tighten up.” Good advice.

If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

Never worry about the size of the Christmas tree. In the eyes of children they are all

Abolish State Income Tax?

For several months there have been discussions around the state by some who would like to abolish the state income tax. Some groups just say abolish it and let the chips fall where they may other groups promote what’s called a fair tax. I have to be perfectly frank with you, my friends and constituents; I am really, truly not sure about how I feel about the whole package yet. From a purely individual standpoint the less tax I pay the more I like it and I sure think that for most people it sounds wonderful when you say just abolish the state income tax. I also know from my ten years in the legislature that we have a train to run and it costs money and while the prospect of eliminating income tax sounds good I think it’s something we need to approach with great caution. While I agree that we’ve still got some waste and fat in state government we do have essential services like roads and education and basic government functions that have to continue. Probably my biggest fear is that if abolishing the state income tax created a vacuum and we found ourselves in a situation where the income stream wasn’t enough to take care of the basic functions of government that property taxes could go up considerably and if I had to choose between income tax or increasing the burden on land and property owners I would have to stay with the income tax.

I believe that the elimination of the income tax is an issue that everyone needs to brush up on especially those of us in the legislature that could be charged with making that decision. I started the process of learning about the issue last week when I attended a meeting in Oklahoma City where the featured speaker was a man named Arthur Laffer. Mr. Laffer was President Ronald Reagan’s top economic advisor when Reagan was President. He’s a very dynamic individual. He is a professor of economics at the University of Chicago and a noted expert on this topic. He made a lot of sense as he talked about comparisons between states that did have income tax and those that did not. He’s a firm believer that it is better for a state, economically, to not have income tax and again, while I might agree in concept, I still have many unanswered questions in my head as to how you get there like, are there casualties along the way and a host of other unanswered questions. It’s like many things we deal with, it sounds real good if you say it real fast. It’s an extremely weighty issue and I’m certainly going to do everything I can do to make sure I know as much as I can about it.

One of the groups that are putting a great deal of time and effort into this issue is the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs. They are a conservative think tank, privately funded and have a very bright young staff that does thorough research on the issues that they address. The OCPA will be very aggressive in the promotion of abolishing the state income tax. If you would like to read more on their thoughts go to www.ocpathink.org where you will find a great deal of material. As I said earlier, I’m in study mode on this issue as we speak. I would love to find a way to decrease the burden on Oklahoma tax payers, there may be some merit to this plan but I would encourage you to study and read as much as you can from both sides of the issue and do your best to make an informed, educated decision. My goal is to provide you with as much of that information as I can and would also like to know your thoughts. Feel free to shoot us an email or contact me on facebook and we’ll do our best to inform you as developments occur.

If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
Next to being shot at and missed, nothing is really quite as satisfying as an income tax refund. ~F.J. Raymond

Black Thursday? Really?

I guess I’m continually amazed at the competitiveness that retailers show in vying for consumer dollars. I’ve heard my entire life about how holidays have been commercialized and I think it’s been a natural evolution but to use an old cliché that has been used around the Christmas holiday for many years, “remember the reason for the season”. And yes, maybe I should stamp “old fashioned” across my forehead but it seems that we do lose site of the reason.

Black Friday has become a pretty nationally recognized shopping day and I guess it makes sense for folks to hit the ground running to get a jump on the Christmas frenzy but it sure seems like we are pushing the envelope when the sharks start circling Thanksgiving Day. National attention was brought to this Black Thursday concept when a Target employee expressed his displeasure at that National retailer when Target decided to open Thanksgiving night. Thanksgiving has been a traditional day of family and it seems unreasonable to expect retailers to require employees to miss that family time when there are so few opportunities, especially for working class Americans, to spend quality time with their families. I was amazed at the film footage showing the mobs lined up to get into stores across the country. People camped out or otherwise entrenched to get a jump on other shoppers in order to get bargains on anything from flat screen TVs to computers or a large variety of consumer goods that the retailers so effectively use as “bait.” It’s like throwing chum over the side of a boat and watching the sharks circle.
I guess the sad part is that we fall for it as a society and we push and shove and scratch and claw.

I even heard my minister address the new term “competitive shopping” as she told of a situation in a large city where a mob was pushing and shoving and a lady in the middle of that mess pulled out a can of pepper spray and sprayed the entire crowd surrounding her, sending several to the hospital. I guess she knew how to clear a room. I personally would rather have poison ivy all over my body than to go into any store on Black Friday. It’s just not my thing. Some people enjoy crowds and enjoy being in the center of a mass of humanity, I don’t. I can think of a host of other surgeries or tortures that I’d rather have. I actually think a root canal might be better. I fear sometimes that I might make a good hermit. I’d hate to take a perfectly good, quiet holiday and turn it into a rugby game by trying to shop and I’m not Ebenezer Scrooge. I like the holidays, the lights and the music and the festive atmosphere but I’m a little tougher to bait and I’m certainly not gonna’ get in the mob scene to save a hundred dollars on anything. To each his own and some people thrive on that and this is America and we do have the freedom to choose. But I’m certainly not gonna’ choose to have to fight a bunch of people for any amount of savings. I’ll have plenty of stories to tell without having to tell stories of getting maced or pepper sprayed because I was in the middle of some mob.

So, I hope if you braved the Black Thursday or Black Friday crowds, you got what you were after and I guess no matter what this ol’ timer thinks, Wal-Mart will continue to put up Christmas decorations at Halloween. I just don’t want to see Thanksgiving Day turned into a shopping day, I mean after all, what would we eat? I’ll take turkey and dressing over a food court any day of the week. I don’t think there’s anything you can put on a corndog to replace that day of family togetherness.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
Once again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice. ~Author Unknown

Got a Match?

Since I will be dressed in camo this week and hopefully concealed from the deer and maybe even politics, here is a reprint of one of my old favorites that if you have not seen, I hope you will enjoy. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

What ever happened to strike anywhere matches? I happened upon this little clandestine plot and I am not sure who is responsible but I think it could be the commies or maybe even terrorist, or at the very least those forces within our government that think we are too stupid to make our own decisions. Who ever is responsible I would like to take them to task.

As a young child I remember my great uncle, who kinda served as my grandfather in my formative years, always striking a match on the seat of his pants. If you are old enough to remember black and white TV then you remember the pose, you hike your leg and reach around and strike that wooden kitchen match on the seat of your britches. They are called friction matches, they have the little white sulfur tip and you can strike them anywhere. You didn’t have to have the box or anything like that. A pill bottle full of these little wonders could be kept in the tool box or by the burn barrel or just about anywhere. Who out there doesn’t remember the little tin box on the wall in Granny’s kitchen? It held a whole box of these little wooden wonders and it was gravity fed. They just fell to the bottom in the little tray, always at the ready to light the stove or the pilot light on the floor furnace and I don’t remember anybody’s Granny being in any kind of jeopardy because of this ignition source. High cholesterol from all that fried chicken was more of an issue but I don’t ever remember an obituary where a kitchen match was the culprit. Kitchen matches were so common and so simple, but I challenge you to try to find them and I think you will see what I mean. I think that you will be surprised how scarce they have become. I know you are probably thinking," My goodness Don, get a life" but here’s how I got to this point.

The conversation occurred quite by chance as a bunch of guys were gathered at a friends house watching Texas Tech beat the stuffin’ out of our beloved O-State Cowboys. As the score became more lopsided the conversation veered towards what it should be this time of year, deer camp. This same group used to make an annual pilgrimage to Southeast Oklahoma during deer season and sometimes we even hunted. But the camp and the camaraderie were what we really enjoyed. My friend Rod Smith asked "has anybody seen any strike anywhere matches lately?" and we all said "well sure, you can get them anywhere" and he said "No, no you can’t. I’ve looked at the dollar stores, Wal-Mart and even the grocery store; I think they have been taken off the market." Well friends and neighbors, in the twenty-first century you know what we do…we Google it. So when I got home the first thing I did was do a quick little search for strike anywhere matches. Interesting what you find out when you Google. Apparently this is not a local problem, this may be global. There is an entire chat room devoted to this very subject, with people from all walks of life bemoaning the difficulty of finding this very common household product. There is even talk of these matches being outlawed in some states. You guessed it, liability issues. I hope I don’t find out that the office of Homeland Security has determined in its infinite wisdom, that the strike anywhere match is now to dangerous too be sold on the open market, but I think it has.

I don’t remember if the terrorists used these in 9-11 or not but I kinda doubt it. There is even talk in these chat rooms about these matches having Hazmat designation, which means they are considered hazardous material, which I believe boarders on the insane. I remember as a child we used to make stink bombs out of an ink pen, a simple bobby pin and one of these matches. I don’t believe anybody ever died or lost an eye or had any kind of permanent scars from the lowly friction match but I do remember an upset teacher or two. But, somebody somewhere in a big fancy office, who probably never lit a match on the seat of their pants, decided for us that these were too dangerous for the American public.

Now I know that I should use this space to discuss this week in Oklahoma politics but I can’t let this go without at least a little rant about big brother protecting us from ourselves. I challenge you to go shopping, and try to find these matches. I did find a source at a small hardware store, I bought the last three boxes and told them to order me a case and I would buy them all. And I think I will keep them under lock and key and hope my name hasn’t been flagged by the secret agents in the U.S. Government or the "double naught spies" that ‘ol Jethro used to talk about on the Beverly Hillbillies. I bet ‘ol Jed Clampett could light a match on the seat of his pants. I promise I am not going to over throw anything, I just want to light my burn barrel with friction matches in a little water proof pill bottle that I keep down by the shop.

The funny thing is, some would argue that they have been replaced by the these new fangled long stemmed lighters but I am here to tell you whoever designed that little gem is an idiot, they light about three times and then you throw them away. But I am sure that we are much safer. But I promise you we went backward not forward, kinda like "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it." I know this seems like a little thing but I think it shows how silly we can get when we start having discussions on safety.

Notice I didn’t tell you where my source was, it’s my own little honey hole, like a secret bass pond or a secret grove of trees where the big buck hangs out. You can torture me, but I ain’t talking. So if you find any strike anywhere wooden matches you better buy them before the government totally outlaws them, for your own good. My goodness what’s next, the round toothpick? God help us. Kinda makes me want to eat paste and run with scissors just to make sure I am still alive, I am such a rebel.

If you would like to contact me, while I’m at the Capitol, please don’t hesitate to call 800-522-8502 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 800-522-8502 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or send an email to donarmes@okhouse.gov .

And here’s a little something to think about, as you go down the road:

"The sky never falls all at once – it’s always a little at a time." -Don Armes

Where Did It Go?

Where Did It Go?

I know that the older you get the faster the years click off, at least that’s what those old 50 year old guys used to say when I was 30, and now that I’m in the 50 year old club I think I understand more and more what they mean. About this time last year I had written about the fact that Veterans Day would always be much more remembered at our house because of the passing of my dad on the 8th. That seems like a long time ago but as usual I was busy with day to day life and it snuck up on me and I realized that hey, it’s been a year since dad passed and its Veterans Day again.

I went to a very nice program last week at the VFW on the anniversary of his passing and then for the first time in a year made a trip to the Veteran’s Center where we honored all branches of the Armed Services. For the first time I walked the halls where dad had spent the end of his life. I saw a lot of familiar faces and shook the hands of a lot of the Veterans who live there that had become friends. It was an emotional experience as I reacquainted with many of the staff members who cared for my dad as well as countless other Veterans that live there. I got to say thanks to some people who I had probably failed to properly thank for the great job that they did in caring for him at the end of his life. It’s a wonderful facility with a great staff of very caring compassionate people who do a wonderful job taking care of America’s war heroes and I will forever be in their debt even though I know that they were just doing their job. It takes a special person to do that but thank God we have them.

There are certain items that for me are non-negotiable. One of those items is the funding of the Lawton Veterans Center. I know full well the day to day operations of that facility from being there every day for a year or so when my dad was a resident. They did not give my dad extra care because of my position and I don’t think they should have. What was interesting was that my dad seemed to be the complaint department for many of the residents because they knew that I was an elected official and could probably get someone’s attention and many times did; when things were not right or the food was not as good as it should have been or a host of other issues. Each time that one of the residents would file an unofficial complaint to dad, I would stop by the administrator’s office and very gently let the administrator know that the troops were restless, knowing full well that they were peddling as fast as they could and operating on thin budgets. The bottom line is they all did a very good job with what they had to work with and deeply cared for the residents all of whom served their country and earned the right to be there by their service.

It’s a tough job because they deal with the passing of heroes on almost a daily basis. When you’re in and out of the building every day you often see a young nurse wiping away tears as she makes her rounds, knowing that they lost another one. And you know there are people in those jobs that have wonderful and compassionate hearts.

So will I vote to fully fund Ok veterans centers? You bet I will cuz my father died in one. And I know how much they care.



If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:


Patriotism... is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. ~Adlai Stevenson

Earthshake

It’s amazing how adults talk using some of the funny things their kids learned growing up. Our oldest daughter Katy had a favorite movie when she was little called The Land Before Time. It was about dinosaurs and it was on a VHS tape and it’s one of those movies that she almost wore completely out playing over and over again. In that movie when the Earth rumbled the little dinosaurs would say “Earthshake!” so that is what first came to my mind when I was standing in the lobby at the Cowboy Hall of Fame Saturday night when I experienced my very first Earthquake. I guess I’ll add that to the list of things that I’ll always remember where I was when they occurred. It was kind of odd, it was definitely a strange feeling and the best way I know to describe it is like you were in a football stadium and everyone was stomping their feet and you could feel a little shaking under your feet. A small group of us were standing around visiting and weren’t really sure what was going on until it was pretty much over, almost like it didn’t register. For us it’s not all that common of an occurrence. Since Saturday I’ve heard numerous accounts from people all over the place that felt the tremor. I guess if you lived in California it would probably be a normal thing because we all know that eventually California is supposed to slide off into the Ocean anyhow. I thought we had been relatively unscathed across the state until I saw the news reports Monday morning about the damage to St. Gregory’s College where there was some brick damage to a building. I also wonder after talking to the store manager at the Lawton Coop that there may be some yet undetected grain elevator damage across the state as some of those concrete elevators are getting quite a bit of age on them. Probably the funniest thing I saw as people reported the event on facebook was the scene of the white plastic lawn furniture where one plastic chair had fallen over and it said “Oklahoma Earthquake 2011, we will rebuild”. Quite a little event and I’d say it got everyone’s attention.

We all know now that we’re not immune and one good thing about living in flat country with very few skyscrapers is that we don’t have much to fear unless it was a big one. I haven’t heard any reports of tsunamis at Lake Hefner or small children being lost in huge cracks, in fact I think there was a greater danger of falling into cracks from the drought than from our Earthquake. As I said earlier it will be one of those little items that you tuck in your memory that will probably stick with most of us that we can pinpoint our location and what we were doing when the event occurred, although it pales in comparison to many of those big events like 9/11 or the space shuttle disaster or for some that are a couple of years older than me, the assassination of President Kennedy. As I said before I was at the Cowboy Hall of Fame and had just finished the auction for the Diamond Hats which is a group of ladies that have an annual fundraiser to raise money to help with the premium sale at the Oklahoma Youth Expo. We had a great event and everybody was kind of milling around preparing to go home when the quake occurred. What will be interesting now is to see if we have any more. Living near the Meers fault as I do, we’ve always known it was possible but again it’s not something that we lose a lot of sleep over unless of course the Earth opens up and Mt. Scott falls in or it knocks over some big building, Heaven forbid.

As a follow up to last weeks article about our pharmacy situation, we’re starting to hear a little more about meetings that are occurring between OSEEGIB and the Oklahoma Pharmacy Association on ways to save the state money without driving all the state employees and teachers to mail order prescription service. I think the important thing is that the dialog has been started and we’re considering many of the other people, which is extremely important. I feel pretty good about the possibilities of a good outcome and hopefully it will be something that will work for everyone and still allow neighborhood pharmacies to exist while gaining some efficiencies and savings for the state coffers. It’s an ongoing saga and we still don’t totally know the outcome, but again, the important part is that all the parties are in the discussion and of course we’ll inform you of developments.

If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
An earthquake achieves what the law promises but does not in practice maintain - the equality of all men. ~Ignazio Silone

Not On My Watch

It seems like, in this business, that an issue can arise seemingly out of nowhere that can inflame a large number of people rather quickly. It usually happens when we are in session and there is an issue being discussed before the legislature. This one was different and it has the potential to impact anyone out there who carries Health Choice insurance. The board that oversees the state insurance program is called OSEEGIB which is the Oklahoma State and Education Employees Group Insurance Board. OSEEGIB decided that they would take a step that they claim would save the state 8 million dollars in insurance costs. Like a lot of things sounds real good until you analyze how they are going to do it. The proposal was to take all state employees and require them to order their maintenance drugs by mail order. I was first alerted to this issue by Corey Fikes down in Grandfield Oklahoma, the owner and pharmacist of Fikes Pharmacy, a small privately owned pharmacy that serves a great deal of that area. Maintenance drugs are things like blood pressure medications, cholesterol medications, and heart medications that must be taken daily, any number of pharmaceuticals or medicines that many Oklahomans take on a daily basis. My first thought as I analyzed what was happening was one of the simplest reasons, it was the extreme temperatures we had this summer. I’ve yet to get a good explanation on how you could get a guarantee on how these maintenance drugs would sit in a rural mailbox in 110 degree temperatures and not have some detrimental effects on any type of pill and that was just the first layer of the onion. As you continue to peel back the layers you continue to find problems, one of which was even bigger and that was the fact that it had the potential to hurt the smaller pharmacies across the state. Requiring people to order maintenance drugs from some pharmacy in Timbuktu and take away the relationship between the pharmacist and customer. For example, Ms. Smith who may take a heart medication comes in to fill a prescription for some type of antibiotic or some other medication, she relies on the pharmacist to check on drug interactions which can be detrimental to her or a whole host of potential problems. Many times that pharmacist is the same person who knows her medical history and is that kind of 2nd layer of protection for her that a mail order house would not be. The person in the mail order house could be pharmacy grad student or someone of that nature who may, or may not have any idea of the patient or their medical history and may not even care. If they happen to mess up, no big deal, it’s some lady in Grandfield Oklahoma or wherever that they don’t really know so there is really no motivation to be careful and I believe human error would be a huge factor in requiring people to go mail order. One of the main reasons I think its bad is that it’s the classic example of the Walmart business plan. While we all trade at Walmart from time to time because many of the options have been eliminated, I still blame Walmart for destroying main street businesses. Now I’m not a Walmart hater and I don’t believe in my heart that Sam Walton started the Walmart kingdom with the idea of driving people out of business but the fact is that’s exactly what it has done. I believe that ordering prescription customers to order maintenance drugs through the mail will be detrimental to these local pharmacists and their employees. We are supposed to try to promote jobs in our state not eliminate them and I truly believe that while the idea was well intentioned it will do just that. Everyone seems to be engaging in what may be the battle of the year and it’s a battle we must absolutely win for the sake of our constituents and our locally owned pharmacy businesses because the result could be catastrophic

It seems that the OSEEGIB board may have done this when we were not in session on purpose with the intention of having it in place before anybody could react. I think what they are finding is that legislators are reacting in an almost unified voice to preserve their constituents right to deal directly with the druggist that they know and trust and still have some control over their own healthcare. There was a meeting held last Friday in Oklahoma City between the pharmacy association and the OSEEGIB board where the pharmacy association had some alternative measures that would show some savings without having to lay waste to small town pharmacies across Oklahoma. I don’t know the results of that meeting as of yet but I’m certainly hoping that the outcome was positive. I can assure you that the legislature will engage and that something will happen to rectify this situation. We’ll see.

If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor. ~Hubert H. Humphrey

It’s ______Weather

Everyone has a phrase that they seem to use when fall rolls around. Probably the most common one is when that first good chill hits the air and people say its football weather. I believe the funniest one that I remember from my days as a young Ag teacher in Jackson County was what the cowboys across the river called Eldorado weather. It took me a minute to grasp what that meant when I first heard it back in 1984. What it meant was, the county across the river in Texas was dry, right across the river on the Oklahoma side was a little joint called Dub’s and there was also a little road side liquor store and when the weather got cool they would get in the pickup and ease up into Oklahoma and get a little nip to break the chill. Thinking back to some of my horse back adventures on both sides of that river I’m not sure they really needed crisp fall weather but it made a catchy little phrase that welcomed the exodus of summer’s heat and the arrival of a new season.

It’s hard to believe, given where we’ve been last summer that it would ever cool off but seasons always change and the natural rhythm of the Earth seems to kick in right about the time it’s supposed to. I guess fall has always been one of my favorite times. It’s that time of year when you can start out in a light jacket or a vest and a long sleeved shirt feels about right even late in the day. Some people like to take a swing down through Eastern Oklahoma to take in the fall colors. Some folks go Northwest to look at the aspens in Colorado. Whatever your thing, it’s always nice to usher in a new season. It seems like we always welcome the change and I guess that’s one of my favorite things about our state. About the time you think you can’t take another day of heat or another day of cold it’s about time for that change to occur. With this years drought I don’t anticipate any beautiful fall but at least it feels better and this ol’50 year old fat boy is sure ready. I guess in my world the last couple of years fall has kind of become chuck wagon weather and we sure seem to have done a lot of cooking this fall which my partners and I enjoy and we’ve done some pretty cool events this fall. About a month ago we cooked for about 70 folks from all over the state with Leadership Oklahoma’s visit to Ft. Sill. We cooked right in the quadrangle in Ft. Sill among the historic buildings under the oak trees and you can’t find a better or more scenic place for an outdoor event. We cooked for the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association fall cattle drive at Ken Holloway’s Coyote Hills ranch and we turned out some of the best stew I’ve ever tasted. I think we even filled up Colby Collins who I believe came back to the stew pot four times but that’s just a guess, I think I lost count. Last Saturday we cooked at the L.O. Ranch and fed about 60 for the Comanche County Cattlemen’s annual fall gathering.

Its our little side business or I guess I should say side hobby that makes a little bit of pocket money and allows us to dazzle folks with meat and bread cooked over a fire in a Dutch oven as well as what’s fast becoming our famous cobblers. It sure is a nice diversion from the hustle and bustle and the stress of politics which will really start gearing up in the next couple of months as we head toward February when the starter pistol fires signaling the start of the 2012 legislative session and when there will be little time for almost anything else. It seems that my career path has always included a lot of shifting of gears and a lot of changing of hats and I guess I must like it because for well over 20 years that just seems to be how I roll. Between my State Representative job, my auction business, our chuck wagon, and chasing a few cows I don’t have much time to get into any trouble. I certainly don’t suffer from boredom. We’ll keep you advised as things develop as we head toward the legislative session. As always there will be some interesting topics that will arise and I’ll try to give you my take and my read on how those things really look. Until next week.

If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

The seasons are what a symphony ought to be: four perfect movements in harmony with each other. ~Arthur Rubenstein

Congratulations Mr. Speaker

I know by the time you read this that all the major news outlets and daily papers will have already made the announcement but I would like to personally congratulate Representative T.W. Shannon for becoming Speaker-designate for the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Every now and then somebody shows up on the political scene that just seems to kinda’ have natural electability. It always on the surface looks like those folks kinda’ fall into it but most of the time it’s kinda’ like the analogy of the duck. While they look like they are gliding effortlessly across the water, just below the surface they are paddling like crazy. Let’s go back a few years to my first relationship with a young high school senior named T.W. Shannon. I was the Ag. teacher at Lawton high school for 9 years, from 1988 to 1996. In that short span of years I, as well as my co-sponsor Mrs. Sue Wiginton, sponsored the senior class two different times. There was a tall young African American man who you just kinda’ had a feeling was headed for something big, just his natural charisma and his good looks and just that little something that made him stand above the crowd. T.W. had it back in those days and he’s got it now. It looks like the vote was taken Monday in the republican house caucus and in about a year he will be the new Speaker of the House. Representative Shannon has worked his tail off over the last year to earn the respect and trust of the republican house caucus. He left no stone unturned, he reached out to every single member, even those opposed to him including his actual opponents. He was thorough and very systematic in his approach. T.W. Shannon does not come from any kind of political legacy he just kinda’ did it the old fashioned way, he worked at it. He spent time as a field rep. for Congressman JC Watts and Congressman Tom Cole. He’s been a quick study in the political game. He’s blessed with above average intelligence and I hope that he will be a uniter of the republican caucus as we move forward. He’s a strong conservative but with enough sense to know that we still have a state to run and that the train must run on time. Speaker -designate Shannon will not actually take the reigns in the House until the current Speaker Kris Steele finishes his two year term as Speaker of the House. The Speaker -designate position was created to allow the designate to study under the seated Speaker so that the transition can be smoother.

Some will say that T.W. Shannon may be a little young to be the Speaker of the House and one could argue that point and not be too far off base but term limits, which everyone clamored for a few years ago, have created this new dynamic. It creates a conveyer belt if you will, that is 12 years long. Gone are the days of 20 year political careers in the House or Senate. We now have a fast track and it has totally changed the complexion of the Oklahoma legislature. A young member that hits that conveyer belt at a run and has some political background doesn’t have quite as much to learn and can sometimes be propelled forward and gain momentum early in their career, especially one who has the charisma and the overall perfect political package that Shannon possesses. I told him early in the process that I would support him in his quest to be Speaker but that I also would reserve the right to box his ears if I saw him heading down the wrong road. In this new political environment in Oklahoma, I’m an old guy, having been in the legislature for 10 years. I told T.W. that I was heading into my last term and that if he won I really had nothing to lose in jerking his reigns and have no fear of doing just that. I think he’s extremely bright and won’t need much of that and I hope and pray he’s the natural born leader that I think he is.

Historically it’s very difficult for anyone in Western Oklahoma to win an election to represent the whole state. We’ve had only a handful in the history of Oklahoma politics. One was former speaker Lloyd Benson and another was former Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins. If you look back through the history books of Oklahoma politics, few Western Oklahoma members win elections to state wide positions. A lot of it has to do with the fact that Western Oklahoma is more sparsely populated and the votes are much more concentrated East of I-35. Another historical road block that TW Shannon will have to overcome is the fact that the only Speaker to ever go on to any elected office higher than that was Alfalfa Bill Murray and that’s been way before any of our time. I believe this young man has the ability, the charisma and the political savvy to even rewrite that part of Oklahoma history one day. Time will tell and in the meantime we will chalk up a win for Southwest Oklahoma. Once again we are in the game. Congratulations Speaker-designate Shannon. We’re proud of you.

If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
A leader leads by example, whether he intends to or not. ~Author Unknown

A Nice Rain

I don’t know what we did to prime the pump but we finally got what may have been a life saving rain. I dumped out three inches at our place and I’ve heard reports from friends, anywhere from two to as much as four inches. There’s been a lot of wheat planted in this country over the last few weeks and this rain may have been just what the doctor ordered to at least have a chance to get some wheat up. It was actually foggy Monday morning about daylight. We haven’t had enough moisture in many months to create fog. There’s a little water in the bar ditches and at least early today there was some water standing in the drill rows. I heard one of the local weathermen say that it looked like the grass was trying to green up even while the rain was still falling. We’re not out of the woods by any means. There was very minimal runoff. So we still have a critical shortage of pond water. But there’s something kinda refreshing about a good solid rain and the optimism it can bring. If a cattle producer can grow even a little bit of wheat it can help get a set of cows thru the winter, for those of us lucky enough to have any left. The critical part of this will be how much rain follows but its mighty encouraging pouring three inches out of a gauge. It does provide some much needed optimism in our old parched corner of the state.

This rain did more than just settle the dust which seemed to be all we could get over the summer. This one could be the one that saves the agriculture economy in southwest Oklahoma. And we’re extremely thankful to have received it. Don’t let up prayin for more because we’re certainly not out of the woods but that little light at the end of the tunnel just got brighter.

We’ve been extremely busy over the past few weeks with plenty of things non political which can be as refreshing as a good rain. We’ve had at least one wedding per weekend for the last five weeks and seen a lot of young people start lives together with all the hope and anticipation that comes with a young couple getting married. I’ve seen several dads that looked a little bit vapor locked as they tried to figure out how to pay for these shindigs and guys I’m not makin fun at all. I’m very sympathetic cuz I know that I have a 23 year old daughter as well as an 18 year old daughter and I know my turn’s comin. It’s like the old standard joke says. It would be cheaper to buy them a pair of plane tickets to Vegas than it would be to put on the dog like some of you have. But of course it’s easy for us guys to stand back and talk that trash when we know we only want the best for our daughters.

My partners and I have also been very busy adding a little cowboy flavor to several different events with our chuckwagon. One of the highlights was a week ago last Friday when Class 25 of Leadership Oklahoma made their annual stop at Ft. Sill where they got a first hand glimpse at what a strong military economy looks like and also had up close and personal visits with actual soldiers and their families, which gives these leaders from across the state a little better way to understand the sacrifices that a military family makes to keep us free. It’s a very important message to deliver and Ft. Sill, from the Commanding General on down, do a wonderful job of hosting this event. Here in Southwest Oklahoma we’re blessed to have two major military installations and most people realize how important the air base at Altus and the army post at Ft. Sill can be to the Southwest Oklahoma economy and actually to the whole state.

We talked last week about the race for the White House and I’m still watching with great interest as that race shapes up. It’s a little like dirt track stock car racing. Seems like somebody can be way out in the lead and all of a sudden they blow an engine. And then they’re back to the pits and all of a sudden there’s a new leader. I think if you care about my analyses I’d be watching Cain very closely. Seems to be very astute, extremely literate and while this is in no way an endorsement of any kind I think he bears watching. And I’m still not sure Perry’s not out of it yet. It’ll be lots of fun as this race continues and the dust settles, not only on the political landscape but as it finally has on the Oklahoma landscape.

And here’s a little something to think about as you’re goin down the road.

Every day may not be good but there’s something good in every day.
Author Unknown

Smash Mouth Politics

As somewhat of a political insider I might have a little bit different perspective than the average person of the political process in general. The biggest philosophical battle that I deal with inside my own head is to not become jaded and negative to the whole thing. Now I don’t mean I’m smarter than you or better or any of that, all I mean is simply the view from the inside is much different because I know a lot of the dynamics that occur. I’ve watched with some interest as we try to select the right person to get Obama out of office there seems to be a pretty clear message coming from America that says that needs to happen. The question is who will it be? The next thing we have to ask ourselves as a country is can whoever we pick to run against an incumbent president win? Now before I start chewing us out let me say that this is still the greatest country in the world and I certainly don’t wanna’ live anywhere else I just wish we could select a candidate without slashing and burning everything in our path. Rick Perry seemed at one point to have a decent shot but the media started in on him and to hear people talk you’d think he is a blubbering idiot. I don’t think you can be Governor of a state the size of Texas as long as he has been there and be stupid. I’ve heard him speak in a fairly small meeting where we were able to ask questions and interact and I’ll tell ya’ the guy is pretty impressive and you can’t overlook the fact that the Texas economy is pretty solid. I’m still not convinced he wouldn’t make a fair president but the damage the media can do from the left pales in comparison to the damage in character assassination that we inflict from the right. I’m not sure that we on the right won’t scare off anybody of any quality. Then all of a sudden the powers that be, whoever the heck that is, decide that we need to push New Jersey Governor Chris Christie toward the nomination. I don’t know a lot about him but I kinda’ like the guy, he’s kind of a no nonsense common sense Governor, pretty plain spoken, doesn’t seem to have a lot of patience for idiots which I have to admit kinda’ appeals to me. I don’t know for sure how conservative he is or isn’t but I think even though he’s from New Jersey, he seems to be the type of person that might understand “cowboy logic.” So what do we do, we start calling him fat. I mean the guy hasn’t even said he’s running and we start picking on him because he’s a portly gent. I mean come on people the last I checked there are no super humans out there that run for these offices, these are human beings with families but we tend to wanna’ chew them up and spit em’ out, stomp em’ to death and cuss em’. Makes me wonder again, are we smart enough to pick someone who can win whose enough of a conservative to get the nomination but yet centrist enough to win the election? I mean really do we even know what we want? I can tell ya’ from experience that there’s a great deal of stress involved in this business of politics and a guy like Christie who struggles with his weight is definitely gonna’ dive into some comfort food every now and then, it’s just how it is. I’ve been there. I think what our country did to former President George W. Bush is unforgivable. Something has changed in the political process and I think we’ve lost our manners. I think we’ve come to a point in our country that it is not enough to disagree we have to inflict pain and bodily harm. It’s not enough just to kill a guy we have to dismember him as well. It’s a wonder we can get anybody to run for anything from city council on up because our country has become very mean spirited and the rules of engagement have totally changed. As a matter of fact, and I’m gonna’ go out on a limb here, I’m certainly not a fan of Obama, his healthcare mess, or his thoughts that we can tax ourselves into prosperity but I don’t think that gives me or anyone else the right to impugn the person. It seems we think we have a license to do that now.

There seems to be some interest in a new candidate by the name of Cain. He’s an African American gentleman, seems pretty conservative and may be pretty solid, might could have a shot but we’ve only begun to dismantle him. I’m sure if you look hard enough he’ll have some warts as well and I’m sure that we’ll have him beat to a pulp in short order because it seems that that’s just how we roll. But obviously that is part of the political process at least in this new environment that we find ourselves in. I guess we call it the pressure test. If we apply enough pressure and the guy can stand it maybe that’s how it should be but it just really seems like there ought to be a better way. I think maybe the smartest one in the whole game is Sarah Palin. We treated her as bad as I’ve ever seen anyone treated and I think what she’s doing is laughing all the way to the bank. She’s definitely a political force, probably no way in the world she would ever run for President and I’m not sure we deserve her. I know we must change the complexion of Washington, that’s a given I just hope that whoever survives the beating can win. It seems that we loose track of the mission from time to time and I’m not sure why anybody would want to go through that but there seems to be no shortage of folks willing to be beat to a pulp so I guess the beatings will continue until morale improves. Lord, help us.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or send an email to donarmes@okhouse.gov

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so. ~Gore Vidal

Too many legislators?

Last week as a member of the rules committee, I attended an interim study to examine a proposal by Representative Gary Banz of Midwest City. Representative Banz intends to amend his House joint resolution 1021 in the 2012 session to send a constitutional amendment to the voters that would reduce the Oklahoma legislature by approximately 10%. What that would mean, in numbers of House members, is that it would reduce 101 representatives down to 91. It would reduce the number of State Senators from the current 48 down to 43. The House fiscal staff estimated that this could reduce legislative expenses by approximately 1.2million dollars annually which at first glance sounds great, especially if you say it real fast. There are several schools of thought on this issue and before I go any further, let me say that in my opinion Gary Banz is a good man. I consider him well intentioned and I believe that he has no malice in his heart toward any specific legislators or particular districts. Gary Banz is a former educator and I am thoroughly convinced that it is nothing more than a mathematical equation. There are some venomous attacks from some concerned groups on his character which I believe are totally unwarranted. I know Gary well and I know that he just sees this as a cost savings and an opportunity to reduce the size of government. That being said let me give you a rural legislator’s perspective on why this may not be such a good idea. First of all, I was the chairman of the Southwest region last session when we drew the new maps and I saw first hand the size and square miles of many of the rural districts. My concern is that you can overburden a rural legislator because many times rural districts are comprised of several hundred square miles. When I had House staff give me a rough estimate of the square miles of my district it was about 1500 square miles with numerous school districts and taking in two county seats. There is a stark difference between an urban district that may be made up of square blocks. Now this measure, should it pass, really will not affect me because I will be termed out before it could possibly take effect, but if you’ve ever tried to make all the different civic events and school functions, parades and festivals in a rural district you’ll know exactly what I mean. I’ve got ten school districts in district 63 and in each of those communities they like to see their Senator or Representative from time to time and if you don’t make the rounds often times they get offended. In rural districts folks usually at least know who their legislators are and in many cases they know them personally. Its much like living in the country, you probably know your neighbor a mile down the road and in many big cities people may not know the neighbor next door. I believe that Representative Banz may not be as in touch with the size and scale of rural districts. Again, as I said earlier I don’t think he intends any harm I just think, to him, the mathematical equation says we will save money. There is another school of thought that some have expressed that says that some folks will be under represented and that it will make it tougher to gain access to legislators and I might tend to agree due to the size of districts that will be created. Under Representative Banz’ proposal the average number of constituents per House district would increase from today’s 37, 142 to 41,224. This would add about 4,000 people for a House member to have to reach, or from the other side of the equation, it would be 4,000 more people that would have to struggle for access to their Representative. Senate districts would increase from 78,153 to 87,241 constituents. If this measure went to the vote of the people in November 2012, the change would be implemented in 2021 following the next census and redistricting process.

Banz contends that many other state legislatures have districts of similar size noting that legislators in 28 other states currently represent more constituents per capita than Oklahoma lawmakers do. Two figures tossed out for consideration were that in 1921 in Oklahoma there were just 92 seats in the House but in 1953 there were 124 members in the State House. Banz also feels that with technological changes in communication over the past several years that access to government officials and the governing process is easier than any other time in our state’s history. While he is technically correct I still think we have to be extremely careful to not make the job of being an Oklahoma legislator so cumbersome that we cannot get good people to run. We need to be very cognizant of anything we create as far as obstacles.

I know that many of you, at first glance, think that any time we can shrink government its better. I think we need to think on this one long and hard and look at all the possible scenarios before we jump off this cliff. I’d be interested to hear how some of you see it. Love to hear from ya’ just shoot us an email with your thoughts.

If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.- Ernest Benn

Finally!

I usually try to write this article on Friday because it sure cuts down on the stress for both me and my assistant on Monday when the deadline for the local paper is looming. Last Friday morning I was in a little bit better mood for our weekly visit because at the official rain gauge at the Armes’ place, which is universally recognized as the one I live and die by, I dumped out an inch of rain. We had received 2/10 of an inch on Thursday and 8/10 of and inch on Thursday night and Friday morning. It was the right kind, good and slow and the temps were cool enough that it wasn’t gonna’ just bake right out of the soil. The skies were gray and it was about 55 degrees with prospects of more to come through the weekend. So, by the time you read this on Wednesday or Thursday, I hope we got more than that. Now this is not a license to start playing with matches and I had to fight the urge to go ahead and burn my feed sacks and round bail twine because technically we’re still in a burn ban and my burn barrel is over flowing. But at least maybe the pump is primed and we have a chance to green up some grass. It’s by no means a drought buster but it sure looks good to see a few puddles around because this has been the worst drought of my lifetime and many of you who are years older than me have never seen it this bad either. No we’re not out of the woods but there is a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Cooler temperatures have already got folks moving a little better. It’s been nice to be able to work in the afternoons and not have to deal with the stifling heat. I think the whole world will just be more productive over the next few weeks. The crispness in the air makes it a lot easier to think about things like football and things we should be thinking about this time of year. And I believe there is cause for optimism on a lot of fronts. Rain brings the country back to life a little bit and increases the chances for wheat pasture and some things we have to have in this country. Even the state budget, which has been extremely tough over the last year or so, seems to be on the way up. Reports we are getting from the State Treasurer’s office is that things are improving which always tends to perk folks up a little, especially those that live and die by state dollars. Now I don’t have any of the figures in front of me but it seems the state income is clipping along at a pretty good rate and tax collections seem to be up a little. Fuel prices are still pretty stout which, as I’ve said many times before, is a two edged sword. I always seem to mumble a few mild expletives under my voice when I fill up my diesel pickup which is around $80 if I’ve let it get very low. If any of you have seen me out and around in my old silver Crown Victoria, that rig gets a lot better gas mileage and gas is still cheaper than diesel. So unless I’ve gotta’ have a pickup I swallow my pride and forget about how many cool points it’s costing and suck it up and drive the old Crown but with those higher fuel prices come accelerated state dollars which can be good and bad for schools and county commissioners and folks like that who rely on state dollars but yet consume pretty large quantities of diesel and gas. Whoops, I was slipping back into pessimism again, I apologize. Did I mention the fact that it rained? And by the way, when I started this article I pulled back into the house to get something from my shop and I checked the rain gauge and we got another 2/10, still have cloudy skies and still more chance of rain through the weekend so I guess all those prayers for rain may have been finally answered, but Lord, at the risk of getting struck by lightening do you think you could work in 4 inches? We could really use it.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or send an email to donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger. ~Saint Basil

Terrorists, You’d Better Stick with Big Cities

This past week I’ve seen two really good examples of why I live in Southwest Oklahoma while I don’t think Southwest Oklahoma has a corner on this market maybe its just small town America in general but I like it. The first example was the refuge fire that started near Meers and moved around the mountains and headed for Indiahoma. The original command center was at the Meers fire department and by the end of the Labor Day weekend the command center was moved to the Indiahoma School. Having already seen first hand the destructive power of this fire I made my way out there Monday evening like I usually do when there is an incident, to check in with the civil defense director just to make sure that the state resources were where they need to be, because if I don’t and they’re not, I get the call. As I arrived at the Indiahoma School it was a flurry of activity, firefighters coming and going FFA kids carrying ice chests and water jugs and when you walked in the door you noticed the piles and piles of food, sandwiches, chips, homemade pies, Gatorade, water by the pallet load and enough help to float a battleship. Nobody looking for credit just pulling together as a community to make sure no firefighters were hungry or not well cared for. After all, the town of Indiahoma has a volunteer fire department and they “get it.” These guys are not getting paid, many of them are missing work or at the very least their Labor Day weekend to come to the driest corner of the state, the epicenter of the drought to fight a very dangerous wildfire. There is no way that a town like Indiahoma is not gonna’ show their gratitude to these guys and that’s how it should be. The funny part is, and I hate to use the term funny because it really might not have been, but the FFA moms kind of got sideways with the Red Cross. Now before you start saying that Armes was bad mouthing the Red Cross, as my daughter used to say “you better check yourself before you wreck yourself” my mother was and still is a Red Cross nurse and I’ve been given strict instructions on what is to happen to her Red Cross pin upon her death. It is a wonderful organization that does good things in times of disaster but there was no way that the Red Cross lady was any way, shape or form ready for the Indiahoma FFA moms. Those FFA moms are used to putting on feeds and having fund raisers and all that and really, in essence I’m not sure they needed the Red Cross. The Red Cross is good at helping in times of disaster but they don’t have the man power and in this instance the Indiahoma FFA provided the man power. Actually there was quite a little rub between the two. The Red Cross has guidelines on how to take care of the situation and how to get resources to the right place. The Indiahoma FFA moms DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ GUIDELINES, their guideline is “git-r-done.” And they did, they “got-r-done” and in good order I might add. One of the funniest incidents and I know you want me to name names and I’m not going to, was when a couple of five gallon igloo water jugs showed up from a local retailer out of Lawton. Team mom immediately grabbed the jugs and started filling them with water and ice. The lady from team Red Cross said “wait, wait, don’t do that” team mom says “what do you mean?” Team Red Cross says “those are supposed to go to the fire fighters” team moms flippant response back to the Red Cross was “well, don’t you think they want something in them?” The reason I use this illustration is not only to brag on the town of Indiahoma for their rapid response to a very real need but just to try to show how well a small town pulls together at a moments notice to get a job done or to help defend against a natural disaster, in this case fire. As I said in last weeks column a lot of people deserve lots of credit for a lot of things. This was the kind of fire we only read about and we had one here and lots of people helped at every level.

The second illustration that I saw this week was the cohesiveness of a small community when the town of Chattanooga rallied around the family of their police chief Tommy Reed who died last week in a motorcycle accident. I knew Tommy fairly well and he was a really, really good man. In fact he’d been the police chief for over 25 years and in that length of time he’d raised an entire community from the knot head stage to adulthood. Tommy loved his community and as the law of the town he was an authority figure to a couple of generations of kids. Tommy, I think ,in his mild mannered way as story after story were told at his funeral, sort of lovingly jerked a knot in the tail of many a young person growing up in Chattanooga that might’ve had a lead foot or some other ailment of youth and I guess in essence he kind a’ raised the whole town. As the residents of Chattanooga can attest, Tommy watched over that tight knit community not like an employee but like a father. After all, he was no outsider, it was his community too. He was always trying to help by working on peoples’ vehicles and never charging enough, he drove the afternoon school bus and just sort of cobbled together a living so that he could remain in the hometown that he loved. Tommy was a good one and he loved Chattanooga and Chattanooga loved him and it was very evident as the whole community surrounded his family with love and support at his passing.

Yeah, I think if I were a terrorist I’d probably steer clear of the small towns because in our community when you take on one you take on the whole bunch.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or send an email to donarmes@okhouse.gov

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. ~Kenyan Proverb

Fire On the Mountain.

Last Thursday as I headed home from an interim study at the Capitol I received word that one of my friends might be in jeopardy due to a fire that started on the wildlife refuge and had progressed toward Meers and the Mt. Village neighborhood which is just East of my friends place on scenic Highway 115. Of course I’m in a suit and was ill prepared to render much aid because I was in my car and not my pickup and was over an hour away but when I called and reached the Cooks’ Tammy was frantic and said that the fire had burned almost half way down Tarbone Mountain. Their place is called the Tarbone Ranch and it is a veritable paradise where our family has spent numerous weekends and many enjoyable campouts when our kids were in school together. When I asked if they needed anything her response was “I don’t even know.” I decided at that point that I was pretty useless in my car so I decided to go home and get on some work clothes and of course get a pickup. In the meantime, I fought the urge to go on out but I knew I had a friend who might be in jeopardy and I couldn’t just sit there. So I sent her a text and said “are you hangin’ on?” When I didn’t get a response the decision was made. I looked at Dede and said “I’m going” and she said “you probably can’t get in” I said “I bet I can.” So off I went long sleeved shirt, gloves, and toe sacks in the back of the pickup not knowing what I’d find when I got there or if I could be of any help but was dead set that I was gonna’ try. Fearing the worst I headed toward Meers. By this time the sun was low in the West as I approached the mountains I could see the glow of the fire on the horizon. I knew the wind had been a factor and was afraid that it might’ve blown the fire right into them. As I approached the Meers store from the East I fully expected a road block and found nothing but could smell smoke and knew that just around the bend would be flashing lights. By this time dark was setting very quickly and I continued, reaching the Meers store all seemed well and I made the curve, headed north, still no flashing lights or fire fighting vehicles. It was almost eerie as I knew full well there was a major fire and the question was where is this fire? I proceeded North to the curve and could see the lights on top of the wind generators but still no fire and then as I turned back West and made a couple of miles I topped the hill and at the entrance of Mt. Village were several emergency vehicles with lights flashing and as I got closer to the Cooks’ corner, right at their gate, I saw a sea of flashing red and blue and I have to tell ya’ I feared the worst. The last time I had talked to the Cooks’ Tammy said she was wetting down the house with water hoses and Ken was trying to plow a fire break around their house which is nestled in the middle of the beautiful 300 acre Tarbone Ranch surrounded by scrub oak, native grassland and some awfully rough terrain. I was relieved to see another long time friend Brian Demarcus whose ranch gate opens just a hundred yards or so from the Cooks’ gate and when I got out I asked Brian if everyone was ok and he said yes, the fire seemed to be moving East. At that point the wildlife refuge fire crew who seemed to be coordinating the effort was trying to decide how best to attack this huge fire that seemed to be engulfing the whole area and they were getting the logistics together on where to send dozers and graders and how to set strategically placed back fires to do their best to consume the fuel in the path of the fire to have a chance to stop natures fury. By this time I was close enough to Tarbone Mountain to look south and see flames as it burned its way down toward Tarbone Ranch and the Demarcus place and several other surrounding areas. It was eerie in the dark as you looked towards Tarbone you couldn’t help but think that must be what a volcano must look like as it erupts and the liquid fire and molten lava washes down the gullies of a mountain range. Fire in the mountains is a much different animal than a flat land range fire. The biggest challenge is accessibility. The biggest worry in a flat land fire is possibly running a truck into an unseen gully or hitting a tree stump in the dark. In the mountains many times you can’t even get the truck to the fire so it makes the job of saving homes and property even tougher. The chances of getting trapped in a mountain fire are even greater as well as many other hazards most people would not even think about such as rattlesnake bites from an angry reptile whose sleep was interrupted by the fire and is running just as scared as any other animal in that forested area. Of course by this time of night many of the volunteer fire fighters on hand had already put in a days work at their jobs and were looking at a long night of trying to save property and people. It’s just been one of those years. As I’ve said before there’s not much fuel at my house as our pastures are grazed slicker than a cue ball but in those mountains there is enough fuel to reek havoc and that’s exactly what it was doing. I headed home late Thursday night with the Cooks’ at least temporarily safe and prayed for the wind to lay which it finally did and called back Friday morning to check the status only to find out it seemed the fire had gotten closer to them but at least in the daylight there’s a chance and a little bit less risk of injury from hazards hidden in the dark. Little did I know that later that afternoon I would be in the middle of one of the wildest fires I’ve ever seen in my life. The wind had shifted and picked up and some of the areas like Mt. Village and Tarbone were now directly in the path of the fire with the excessive wind and extreme dry conditions things had changed dramatically. Road blocks had been set up and evacuation was under way. I headed back out about noon working my way back up toward the Cooks’ place. Tammy had gotten the boat and their camper and as many keepsakes as she could and tried to get them far away from the oncoming fire. I finally reached her by phone and she said “the fire is coming; Ken and the boys are still down there trying to save the house.” This time I was dressed for it and headed back to Tarbone for what would become the wildest firefight I’ve ever seen in my life. There were firefighters from all over the place lined up at the Meers fire department filling trucks from tankers that had been staged to make sure that water wasn’t an issue and those trucks were being dispatched as quickly as possible to try and save as many homes as they could. I’ve never seen fire change directions so many times or engulf a grove of trees as furiously as this fire did. There is no way that words can describe the helpless feeling that you get when you see a fire roaring towards you. You’re standing there with a garden hose and a wet toe sack knowing you can’t win and then almost out of nowhere comes a brush truck through the flames just when you thought you’d lose the battle and a building would burn. I could write a book on the events of that afternoon but the good news for the Cooks’ is that we were able to save their house and outbuildings but it burned everything else on that pristine 300 acre wild game reserve. That chapter of the fire claimed eleven houses and absolutely scorched the earth. The fact that any homes were saved is nothing short of a miracle. Day 4 of the fire moved the whole operation West where the fire threatened the Treasure Lake job corps center, Phelan Ranch and even the town of Indiahoma. I went to the command center at the Indiahoma School Monday night and after heading out to the fire with the civil defense director, Clint Wagstaff, I knew that the fire would soon be under control because it was coming out of the mountains. They had cut the fire breaks and done enough back burns and had in essence drawn a big enough line in the sand that would be the point that firefighters gained the upper hand. The command center at Indiahoma, in true small town fashion, was an oasis for tired firefighters. I think every FFA mom that knew how to make sandwiches had set up shop. It was all hands on deck with the FFA kids hauling ice and water and making sure that those tired firefighters had something to eat and a place to cool their heels. It was an amazing atmosphere where everyone did what they could and just flat worked their guts out to contain a wildfire of epic proportions. Who gets the credit? EVERYBODY! I’m a proponent of fire as a range management tool but a controlled burn and a wild land fire under extreme drought conditions are two very different animals. So, by all means, pay attention to every thing you do that involves even the smallest spark. And pray for rain.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or send an email to donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
How is it that one match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box of matches to start a campfire? -Christy Whitehead

Carnac Where Are You When We Need You?

Ah, the simpler days. Before cable, smart phones, internet and all those modern day “must haves”. We had three channels from an antenna, four if you were lucky and if your parents would let you stay up you could watch Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon on the Tonight Show. They had a bit that they called Carnac the Magnificent and of course Johnny would be at the desk with a big goofy lookin’ turban and his character was Carnac, a soothsayer or predictor of the future. He would hold an envelope up to his head and he could always tell what was in it. Of course it was all in fun and like most comedy of those days it was simple clean and funny. I wish there was such a guy that could tell us when the drought of 2011 will end.

I can’t count the hours that I’ve spent on the phone the last few weeks trying to help producers through the mind field of government regulations that surround the agriculture business like size regulations for semis hauling hay and what to do about crop insurance and the seemingly non- sensical regulations laid out by the Federal Risk Management Agency. And lest you should loose interest at this point don’t forget if you eat, you are involved in agriculture.

So whether you are a producer or consumer this is gonna’ affect us all. There are several tough spots as we try to plan for whatever the future is. The most immediate concern is with irrigated cotton producers in my district who are scared to death to shut off irrigation wells even though we know the cotton will have dismal yields at best if any at all. Their fear is that if they shut off their wells their insurance will not pay and before you start saying the government shouldn’t be helping with that you need to understand what their input costs are. My closest neighbor raises some dry land cotton and I knew cotton seed had escalated over the last few years by leaps and bounds and I just asked him out of curiosity one day, what does it take to fill your planter before you go the field? His answer reminded me why I don’t grow cotton. He said twenty four thousand dollars, just to fill the seed boxes on his cotton planter. No chemicals, no tillage, just seed boxes. I think you can see the need for risk management. He’s a medium sized producer. We have to remember that someone has to grow the cotton for the fabric we all depend on. It’s gotten to the point where no matter what crop you grow, if you do it without insurance you are insane or just so rich it doesn’t matter.

As natural resources chairman I’m in pretty constant contact with not only the State Ag Department but also the soil conservation folks whose money we appropriate and I think without a doubt they believe, and I agree with them, this drought is worse than the dust bowl. The difference is the conservation practices put into place over several generations have made a difference in whether the soil blows or stays in place. We don’t have a Carnac the Magnificent to tell us when this drought will end we’ve been running irrigation wells putting a very fragile water table at risk just to meet requirements that the RMA requires. The next thing that we’re going to do which flies in the face of everything we’ve learned from the dust bowl is that were getting ready to plow where wheat stubble or remnants of a cotton crop remain and till that soil without any knowledge of where we’re going with this drought because the insurance companies say we have to. I don’t think they are trying to be malicious, it’s just that RMA tells us what those practices need to be and they regulate the crop insurance industry. We know that if this drought continues and we plow wheat ground in preparation betting on the come, not knowing whether it will rain or not, about the first good blue norther that blows in about 90% of our topsoil is gonna’ be in Texas. So the dilemma continues. In a normal year with some sub soil moisture we wouldn’t give a second thought to dropping a plow in the ground and getting’ after it but we are in uncharted waters. Very few people alive today have ever seen a drought of this magnitude. In the meantime we’ve been in contact with the Ag Commissioner and we’ve had Congressman Cole down here in the epicenter of the drought on a windshield tour. Congressman Lucas who is also in a very influential position as House Chair of Agriculture in Washington D.C. has been kept up to speed on the situation. The Congressman is also no stranger to agriculture as he is also involved in the farming and ranching business in N.W. Oklahoma. So I guess my plea is if you’re out and about at the feed store or the co-op or the coffee shop and Carnac the Magnificent shows up ask him “When the heck is it gonna’ rain?” We kind of need to know.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or send and email to donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand
miles from the corn field. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Should FFA be a Sacred Cow?

What you are getting ready to read may not affect your community or you directly but save for the grace of God there could go any of us.

I got some disturbing news last week that the Lawton public schools would be cutting one of the Ag teachers in what has been one of the largest FFA chapters in the state for a number of years. The position being cut will be the horticulture teacher at Eisenhower High School. Now you might wonder why that would matter since I graduated from McArthur High School back in ‘79 and spent part of my Ag teaching career at Lawton High school and my daughter is in FFA out at Cache High School. But as I thought about it the FFA family in southwest Oklahoma is very intertwined. I’ve gotten calls from all over southwest Oklahoma about this potential cut to the program and I think everyone’s concern is very valid. And the basic concern is this: once you cut a program, even a small piece of a program it’s very hard to get it back. A great many of the people whose kids are in FFA in outlying communities were at one time FFA members when they were young. So everyone is concerned whether they live in Lawton directly or are alumnus of one of the best Ag programs in the state.

This ball started rolling with the resignation of Jeff Durham who was a former Lawton FFA member himself and was also the head of the department. I’m not completely sure what the situation was but it seemed like there was some bad blood between he and the administration at Eisenhower High School. His untimely exit created a hole that the administration of the high school as well as the superintendant at Lawton decided not to fill. Now to fully understand the Lawton FFA you have to understand that all three schools in Lawton are one combined FFA chapter. For instance, when I taught at Lawton high, I was in charge of cattle and if a kid attended Eisenhower or McArthur, they would attend class under whichever teacher was stationed at that school. And then if they showed cattle, I was the supervisor of their livestock project. Back in the old days under Marvin Bicket, who by the way, started the program in 1943, the teachers actually rotated from school to school, which exposed those FFA members to all three teachers. As the horticulture program was added, in later years, and the number of teachers went to five, the rotation became a little cumbersome and so teachers remained on their campus and each had responsibility for either a greenhouse or a certain species of livestock.

Now as I said before it may be strange to some why anyone would be concerned outside of the boundaries of their school district. Except when you start looking at the family tree of the Lawton FFA. I graduated in 1979, my main Ag teacher at McArthur was Jay Woodward who is from the Indiahoma community but also has reentered the teaching profession and is now the Ag teacher at Geronimo. Jay is obviously concerned because he has spent a great many years teaching in the Lawton program and is still very active as an Ag teacher. My daughter is the President of the Cache FFA this year, which I’m very proud of by the way, but I’m a product of the Lawton FFA and was taught not only by Jay Woodward but also Marvin Bicket and Ron Long. Three men that had a great deal to do with the development of a young kid from a broken home with plenty of excuses to go wrong.
Another interesting side bar, the new young Ag teacher at Cache is a lady by the name of Lindsay Thomas. Lindsay Thomas’ mother Melody and I, as well as Denise DeMastus, who has been the familiar face as the crossing guard at Cache for years, are all three former Lawton FFA members and we all spent many hours traveling to livestock shows together. And that’s just one class. We were the’79 models. So just that small illustration, I hope helps you understand how far reaching the tentacles of the Lawton FFA actually are. That’s just a couple of communities where people live that were once Lawton FFA members. I could write 30 pages of that family tree and show you why there’s great concern all over southwest Oklahoma about one seemingly very small position at one of the high schools. I think most realize that once you go downhill it’s hard to back up.

At the time I’m writing this article I’m just trying to answer some questions as best I can to those who have been calling. Many are concerned and I share that concern a great deal. I’m not sure what the final outcome will be but I have a feeling and I know the reason we’ll be told will be budget cuts. I could complicate this more by adding the how the state money flows to Ag chapters from Career Tech but that really would complicate things more than they need to be. The issue is an administrative decision to cut a teacher from a very viable and tradition rich program. Which from a budget standpoint probably makes sense. I don’t really think this is a call to arms although I know that could be effective. I guess at the time I’m writing this I’m trying to decide whether or not I’m willing to die in this ditch. I’d be interested in your input.

And here’s a little somethin to think about as you’re goin down the road.

No one can whistle a symphony it takes a whole orchestra to play it.
H. E. Luccock

THERE IS HOPE

Last week, about mid week, we finally got a whiff of cooler weather. It was about the time the rodeo kicked off which, for some reason, seems to be a time that the weather cycle always, at least tries, to change. A big front blew through, changed the wind direction and some of us even got some rain. The official Armes gauge which is the one I live and die by showed half inch. Summer is by no means over but at least we know that this high pressure dome might not be welded on top of us. We’re still in a drought, still got lots more hot days ahead and yes kids, school will be open soon. That little change of weather, I believe, actually perked everyone up and boy did we need it. That little brief respite will pale in comparison to the first good rain we get, when that happens, but the important thing is we may be close to breaking this strangle hold that mother nature seems to have on our part of the world and as they say “it aint’ over till it’s over” but I’ll guarantee ya at some point its coming. I’ve talked to people all over this part of the country especially farmers and ranchers and they are all pretty down but its coming guys and its going to look different. Before you global warming folks all start tuning up and arguing that we’ve killed our planet with hairspray and cars just remember that some parts of the United States are dealing with mud. I had a couple of bulldogger friends that rested some horses at my house during last week’s rodeo and they said that up in Kansas they were dealing with a muddy arena so it’s not everywhere but it is our reality here. Speaking of rodeo, what a great show the Lawton Rangers put on this year. With a record hot summer and a tough economy those guys cowboyed up and brought it. No reason to doubt them because they’ve been bringin’ it for 73 years now. One thing I did happen to see as I was visiting with Charlie Throckmorton the announcer was the number of scratches on the entry sheets. Those guys can travel thousands of miles and not make a check and with fuel as high as it is it makes it tough for them to travel and if they don’t draw well they almost can’t afford to come, even so a large number still made it to the Rangers Rodeo this year. So I hope everyone got to go out and enjoy one of the biggest events we have here in Southwest Oklahoma.

By the time this hits the paper and your mailbox, the kids will be headed back to school and before we know it it’ll be Fall fair time and we’ll look up and it’ll be cooler, people will be out moving, buying and selling, swapping and trading, and the wheat drills will be rolling in anticipation of next years wheat crop. We’ve got some rough waters ahead but if we get a little bit of rain and some wheat starts coming up this country will look good again.

In the political arena Congress is in recess, but at least they hammered out somewhat of a budget deal, and the fact that no one seems happy may indicate that it wasn’t too bad. I think most Americans just want them to handle it and get things done and try to stay out of our lives as much as they can. On the State level the budget seems to be looking up and I really believe as we come out of the doldrums of this extra hot summer, business across the state will pick up as people get out and about. We’ve seen the State revenue flatten over the last few weeks and I can’t help but think some of that has to be heat but I’m optimistic about fall and of course all of you sportsmen know what September 1st means, it’s almost dove season and if it continues to be dry they’ll be easy to spot, just find what’s left of a water hole and I think you’ll find birds. So even though we’ve been through the toughest summer I can remember, I have to think that there is hope.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or send an e-mail to donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute. ~Gil Stern