Summer Events

Summer Speaker Series Every summer, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs seeks to remind the citizens and leaders of Oklahoma of the importance of freedom through this annual event series. Here's a list of some of our speakers.

August 2008: Prof. Andy Spiropolous on An Agenda for Constitutional Reform

The Oklahoma State constitution, fundamentally unchanged since 1907, has been cited as an insuperable barrier to good government.  In 2000, building on previous efforts for reform, the Oklahoma Academy for State Goals sponsored a conference on constitutional reform.   A study was conducted by the Academy which concluded that the constitution does not work and must be revised.  This confirmed what President Theodore Roosevelt said when signing our statehood proclamation, that our state constitution "was not fit for publication."  Professor Andy Spiropoulos addressed "An Agenda for Constitutional Reform," in the Avery Boardroom at OCPA.

Click here to see photos from the luncheon.

August 2007: Lt. Col. Steve Russell on the Hunt and Capture of Saddam

More than 200 Oklahoma citizens and veterans gathered in Oklahoma City on Wednesday to hear a speech about Iraq from an officer that has been there. Retired Lt. Col. Steve Russell is co-founder of Vets for Victory, which is an organization dedicated to fostering support for the soldiers engaged in the war in Iraq and the War on Terror. Since returning home to Oklahoma, LTC Russell has been a highly sought-after speaker, traveling across the country to garner support for U.S. troops.

May 2007: D'Souza on The Enemy At Home

America is under attack as never before—not only from terrorists but from within. Best-selling author Dinesh D'Souza writes about America as it really is in his newest book, The Enemy at Home, which OCPA reviewed in its January 2007 edition of Perspective. Mr. D'Souza spoke at the OCPA luncheon at the Oklahoma History Center. "We are at a critical point in the War in Iraq, one in which we are reconsidering our strategy," said D'Souza to an audience of over 200 Oklahoma citizens and civic leaders. "My main hope for this book is to provide an honest look at our enemy and inject a fresh set of non-military solutions, ones that complement our current military effort, into the larger debate."

August 2006: Laura Ingraham on a Country Divided

The nation is as divided as ever along political and cultural lines, we are fighting a war against terror, investor confidence is low, most of the world resents us--all this adds up to present a daunting leadership challenge to President Bush. Is it possible to cut through the political divide and unite the country on any issue other than the war? The answer is yes, but it will require a trait all-too-often lacking in our political figures: courage. Laura offered her own three-point plan to get the country back on track. The outspoken Ingraham also addressed numerous hot topics, including illegal immigration, government overspending and the War on Terror. OCPA made available copies of her best-selling book, Shut Up & Sing.

August 2005: Dinesh D'Souza on What's So Great About America

Dinesh D'Souza is the Robert and Karen Rishwain Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. D'Souza has been called one of the "top young public-policy makers in the country" by Investor's Business Daily. The New York Times Magazine named him one of America's most influential conservative thinkers. The World Affairs Council lists him as one of the nation's 500 leading authorities on international issues. Newsweek cited him as one of the country's most prominent Asian Americans. In 1987-88 he served as senior policy analyst at the Reagan White House. From 1985 to 1987 he was managing editor of Policy Review. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 1983. Mr. D'Souza's books have had a major influence on public opinion and public policy. His two most recent books are the New York Times bestseller What's So Great About America (Penguin Books) and Letters to a Young Conservative (Basic Books).

August 2005: John Andrews on a Taxpayers' Bill of Rights

Oklahoma's state budget is one of the fastest growing in the country. In 1992, Colorado implemented a Taxpayers' Bill of Rights, ushering a period of unprecendented prosperity and provided more than $3 billion in tax rebates. The former president of the Colorado Senate, John Andrews is coming to speak on why Oklahoma would benefit from this policy. Mr. Andrews, now a Claremont Institute fellow, in 1985 founded the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank in Colorado. In 1993, at the invitation of Dr. David Brown, Mr. Andrews spoke to a group of conservatives gathered at a dinner in Oklahoma City – a dinner that effectively sparked the formation of OCPA.

August 2004: John Fund on Oklahoma's Continued Need for Lawsuit Reform

John Fund writes the weekly "Political Diary" column for OpinionJournal.com. Currently on leave as a member of the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal, he is working on a book about voter fraud. Mr. Fund joined the Journal in April 1984 as deputy editorial features editor. He became an editorial page writer specializing in politics and government in October 1986 and was named a member of the Journal's editorial board in December 1995. Mr. Fund worked as a research analyst for the California State Legislature in Sacramento before beginning his journalism career in 1982 as a reporter for the syndicated columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak. He and former Pennsylvania Rep. James K. Coyne are co-authors of the book "Cleaning House: America's Campaign for Term Limits" (Regnery Gateway, 1992).

June 2004: Stephen Moore on Growing Oklahoma's Economy

Stephen Moore is president of the Free Enterprise Fund and a contributing editor of National Review. He previously was the Cato Institute's director of fiscal policy studies. Moore is the co-author of It's Getting Better All the Time: 100 Greatest Trends of the Past 100 Years and the author of Government: America's #1 Growth Industry. Moore served as a senior economist at the Joint Economic Committee, under Chairman Dick Armey (Tex.). There, he advised Armey on budget, tax, and competitiveness issues. He also helped write the Armey flat tax proposal now before Congress. Stephen Moore also serves on the economic board of advisers for Time magazine, and is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, Human Events, and Reader's Digest. Moore has appeared on many TV shows, including CNN's Inside Politics, Crossfire, and Moneyline, NBC's Nightly News, Fox Morning News, and The McLaughlin Group. Stephen Moore is a graduate of the University of Illinois and holds an MA in Economics from George Mason University.

August 2003: Walter Olson on Legal Freedom

"Perhaps America's leading authority on overlitigation." That's what Investor's Business Daily has called Walter Olson, whose books and writings have helped set the terms of debate about the excesses of the nation's civil justice system. His new book The Rule of Lawyers has already been hailed in the Legal Times/American Lawyer as "wry, amusing" and "provocative and enjoyable." A senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a think tank in New York City, Olson is a frequent contributor to Reason magazine, and his writing appears regularly in such publications as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. He has appeared numerous times before Congress and has approximately 300 broadcast appearances under his belt, including "Crossfire," "MacNeil-Lehrer," "Oprah," "Donahue," and NPR. His website, www.overlawyered.com, launched in 1999, has won wide acclaim. Before joining the Manhattan Institute in 1985 he spent five years with the American Enterprise Institute, and worked before that on Capitol Hill. He speaks regularly before professional, business and student audiences. A Yale graduate, he resides in the New York area.

July 2003: Gov. Bill Owens on Educational Freedom

Called "the best governor in America" by National Review magazine, Bill Owens was sworn in as Colorado's 40th Governor in January 1999 and was re-elected in 2002. Gov. Owens, who was recently touted as one of the major emerging leaders in American politics by The Economist magazine, pushed through the largest tax relief package in state history.. Keeping his promise to institute sweeping school reform in Colorado, Gov. Owens created an education accountability system that U.S. Education Rod Paige has called "the envy of the nation." Prior to his election as Governor, Bill Owens served in the state House and Senate and as Colorado Treasurer. Gov. Owens, who holds a Master's degree in public administration from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, worked for 20 years in the private sector with the consulting staff of Deloitte and Touche, with the Gates Corporation and as director of a trade association. He and Colorado's First Lady, Frances Owens, have been married for 27 years and have three children.

June 2003: Bill Conerly on Economic Freedom

Bill Conerly is one of the best-known economic consultants in the Pacific Northwest. For over 20 years he has been helping business managers make better decisions through a better understanding of the economy. His projects have ranged from electronic commerce to strategic planning to public policy. Conerly's firm is called Conerly Consulting. He was previously Senior Vice President at First Interstate Bank. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Duke University. Conerly is coauthor of Thinking Economics, a high school textbook in multimedia format. He has been quoted in Fortune Magazine and the Wall Street Journal, and interviewed on The MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour. Conerly is chairman of the board of Cascade Policy Institute and a member of Governor John Kitzhaber's Council of Economic Advisors.