Tommytime's Turn (1-2021)
February 8, 2021 - In a bold, courageous split from politics-as-usual, Governor Kevin Stitt sided with constitutionalism and the people of Oklahoma against the memorandum mandates of Washington, D.C.
In his Executive Order 2021-03, Governor Stitt reminded us that President Biden's E.O. 13990 violates the spirit and intent of both Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 and the 10th Amendment to our U.S. Constitution.
Specifically, this order applied to the president's decision to re-enter the Paris Climate Accords without treaty ratification by the U.S. Senate and the dismissal of Oklahoma's constitutional right of natural resource production and its use through executive fiat and not by established legal statute.
For saving hundreds of thousands of Oklahoman jobs and maintaining the cleanest energy in the United States, Governor Stitt must be commended. However, this positive present action runs future risks.
As a retaliatory act, might the masterminds of our national Congress increasingly target and reduce the percentage of federal tax dollars across all programs supporting the people of Oklahoma?
Underfunded and unfunded mandates could be left in this wake. Oklahomans would then be faced with equally negative choices of tax increases or reduction of services.
In this author's opinion, it is far better for Oklahoma to control its own destiny than be reliant on the whims of an overreaching federal government.
This means that for the purposes of the Article V Convention of States, any proposed amendment specific to the fiscal life of Oklahoma must first gain support from the people, then the legislators who vote in their name, and ultimately the convention delegates who aggregate on their behalf.
Fortitude will be required. Regardless, Governor Stitt's action is proper and upholds the best interests of Oklahomans.
Next Tommytime's Turn: Oaths, the Constitution, and Enforcement Mechanisms.
Thomas A. Jensen is a retired U.S. Navy cryptologist, historian, and now State Content Writer for Convention of States Oklahoma. His editorials comment on current events impacting the U.S. Constitution and Convention of States. Opinions offered are strictly his own.
