Last week Keith Ballard expressed hostility to tax cuts, smaller government, and school choice, and in yesterday’s Tulsa World David Averill picked up on Ballard’s education-is-being-starved theme. But a shrewd observer with many years of experience under the dome sent along some interesting observations which I think are wor...

Constitutional Scholar Trent England takes on (page 9 of the PDF) the “conservatives” who support the National Popular Vote movement to eliminate the Electoral College for Presidential elections. OCPA Distinguished Fellow and Constitutional Law Professor Andy Spiropoulos offers his take here.

In an article last year I made the argument that “state legislators should shrink the Department of Human Services budget and enlarge your family budget: Redirect a portion of Oklahoma’s daycare subsidies toward a tax break for families with a parent at home.”This idea enjoys overwhelming popular support. A scientific telepho...

The Washington Post reports that three-year college degree programs are not catching on. Heck, at this point I’d be happy if the four-year plan—or even the six-year plan!—would catch on.                       &nb...

Last week the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) Board voted unanimously to raise the salary of director Mike Fogarty more than $18,000 a year to $152,000 and also gave him a “performance” bonus of $20,000 (with another potential $20,000 bonus available in 2012). With a new salary of $5,000 a year more than the governor ea...

In the most recent state budget, Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities received a 5.8 percent cut in state appropriations. Given how poorly higher-education officials are using the resources they are currently given (see table), OCPA will recommend an even larger reduction for next year, in conjunction with our recommen...

Governor Rick Scott of Florida signed a measure Tuesday requiring adults applying for welfare assistance to undergo drug screening. This is a common-sense reform for the state-operated and -administered federal program Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. It better ensures that welfare benefits are a temporary, behavior-i...

Former OCPA President and Army National Guard Colonel Hopper Smith is being deployed to Afghanistan this month as part of the 45th Infantry Brigade. Hopper served as OCPA President from June 2007 until January 2009, and was a dedicated advocate for free markets and liberty. “Hopper Smith is absolutely a hero and a true friend...

Last week Florida Gov. Rick Scott vetoed nearly $4.8 million for public broadcasting. And he’s not the only Republican governor who realizes that government shouldn’t be in the broadcasting business.

By a 52 to 12 split, Oklahomans consider themselves "conservative" rather than "liberal." If that is the case, shouldn't Oklahoma's legislative leaders and governor be pursuing much more aggressively conservative health policies? Oklahomans don't like Obamacare ─ even going so far as to pass a Constitutional amendment last No...

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Overconsumption of healthcare services is the primary driver of escalating healthcare spending. But what contributes to overconsumption? The third-party payment system of employer sponsored insurance is the single biggest factor, but defensive medicine ── where a physician orders unnecessary tests or prescribes unnecessary tr...

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has requested parties to both the Liberty University and Virginia lawsuits seeking to overturn Obamacare to file supplemental briefs explaining how application of the “Anti-Injunction Act” would affect each case. The Anti-Injunction Act is a tax statute that prohibits a claim against the go...

The "problem" of uncompensated care -- where an uninsured person obtains health services and cannot or does not pay -- was the primary justification for Obamacare. These "free riders," as they are known, are driving up health costs, Obamacare proponents say. Unfortunately, this "problem" is greatly overstated. For a few ratio...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie recently sought a waiver from the federal government to trim his state’s Medicaid eligibility in order to save more than $300 million in program expenditures for taxpayers, while Rhode Island’s “global waiver” has dramatically reduced Medicaid spending in that state. Now it’s Oklahoma’s turn. Si...

Universal government preschool is a policy beloved of utopian visionaries and Western Europeans, but one which conservatives should oppose on fiscal and even more serious grounds. Unsurprisingly, leading conservatives (Heritage Foundation, Eagle Forum) and libertarians (Cato Institute, Reason Foundation) do in fact oppose it....

The expansion of Medicaid under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – also known as “Obamacare” – that will expand eligibility to everyone with an income up to 138 percent (133 percent plus a 5 percent income disregard) of the federal poverty level (FPL) will have a devastating impact on the state budget, according...

Oklahoma’s Medicaid program – known as SoonerCare − is growing at a staggering rate, making the program nearly unsustainable. According to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority’s FY-2010 Annual Report, total program expenditures grew 169 percent between 2000 and 2010, while the state’s share of expenditures grew 165 percent duri...

Editor’s Note: At $16.6 billion, Oklahoma government spending is at an all-time high. At $26 billion, Oklahoma’s debt load is staggering. Oklahoma voters have installed a center-right government to do something about it. As the legislative session winds down and the FY-2012 budget is finalized, policymakers should keep ...

Oklahomans may not realize this, but our state constitution originally required compulsory school attendance for children “between the ages of eight and sixteen years, for at least three months in the year.” The legislature later expanded the school year and lowered the age to seven, then to five. Today, an astonishing 71 per...