It seems like there is a new reason to get rid of Obamacare every day, probably because many policy experts are still reading the more than 2,000-page law. By now, you are probably familiar with the legal challenges to Obamacare, particularly those challenges that focus on the unconstitutional nature of the individual mandate...

Oklahomans who favor increased government spending on early-childhood programs like to tout the “return on investment” these government programs could provide. But intelligent investors, before committing resources to a project, will consider not only the potential rewards but also the risks.“Because Oklahoma’s advocates of e...

When it comes to pension reform, state Treasurer Ken Miller is flat-out bringin’ it. Which is good.One of the reasons for Oklahoma’s pension woes is that many public-sector workers go back to work after retiring. Miller points out that “this practice, commonly referred to as ‘double-dipping,’ lengthens the years that benefits...

In a house editorial today, The Wall Street Journal takes note of Oklahoma’s bold move to reject ObamaCare money.So now the Sooners are devising their own insurance plan to comply with the ObamaCare mandate that every state create an insurance exchange by 2013. The Oklahoma plan is to create an insurance “network” that would ...

Oklahoma higher-education officials are hosting a public hearing this week to seek citizen input on the cost of a college education. In all likelihood these officials won’t pass up the opportunity to remind citizens that, even though a college education is expensive, it’s still a bargain: It costs the colleges more to provide...

When Governor Mary Fallin recently decided to reject the federal “early innovator” health-care grant of $54 million, the Tulsa World reported that one state legislator was very disappointed. “When we have our disasters in Oklahoma, we are the first ones to reach out and ask the same government for help,” the legislator was qu...

Many of us remember a parent who warned us against envying another child’s Christmas or birthday gifts. We were taught not to let envy destroy us because of some athletic or academic achievement of others that we did not experience.Unfortunately, many policymakers, taxpayers, tax users, and voters have forgotten these warning...

Oklahoma City anesthesiologist Keith Smith understands that freedom works. As you’ll see in this video, Dr. Smith treats health-care refugees—from Canada. He also lists his prices for surgical procedures on his website and encourages other facilities to do the same, in hopes of beginning—for the benefit of patients—a friendly...

On February 25, Oklahoma leaders announced our state would accept a $54.6 million “Early Innovator” grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The “Early Innovator” grants were authorized under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to begin developing the information technology (IT) infrastruc...

It has been reported that the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department will close seven state parks this year on August 15. This decision by the leadership at the department should be praised and supported. With this action, the department is providing an example for all state agencies of how to analyze past spending effort...

In a decision that has school choice advocates jumping for joy, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Arizona’s tax credit scholarship program by a 5-4 vote on Monday, holding that the challengers did not have standing. Arizona’s tax credit program gives taxpayers a dollar-for-dollar reduction in state income tax payments to donors w...

It was recently reported that the Oklahoma Employees Benefits Council (EBC) hired a private lobbying firm, Capitol Gains, to work on its behalf at the state Capitol this session. The contract pays $4,000 a month, and up to $48,000 a year. The EBC, according to the agency’s website, “is your employee benefits department. We de...

As the “National Popular Vote” (NPV) bill is currently being considered by the Oklahoma Legislature, the proponents of NPV have distributed a tome of more than 800 pages explaining their position. However, the reasons to oppose NPV can be summed up in much fewer words. Here is what you need to know about NPV.Supported by Soro...

“Above all, Reagan’s conservatism was rooted in constitutionalism,” Steven F. Hayward wrote in the February 7 issue of National Review, “which is the aspect most closely connecting it with the Tea Party movement and the conservative challenge to Obama. Reagan understood that many of our problems descended from the decay of th...

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Oklahoma’s college presidents and higher-education bureaucrats are always asking for more money (no surprise there; that’s what governments do). But Professor Vance Fried pointed out something this week that often goes unnoticed: “The wealth of American colleges is massive.”Dr. Fried, a lawyer and a CPA, is the Riata Professo...

There’s been a lot of talk lately about investing in “early education” in Oklahoma. And while everyone agrees that early education is vital, it is important not to lose sight of Oklahoma’s most important early educators: moms and dads. A new paper by economists Pedro Carneiro, Katrine V. Løken, and Kjell G. Salvanes found tha...

Kudos to Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who wants professors at public universities to teach more classes. Oklahomans agree with that idea. According to a new SoonerPoll survey, 63 percent of Oklahomans believe that "professors should be paid based on how much teaching they do, especially how many students they teach" (only 25 percen...

On the one-year anniversary of the enactment of Obamacare, conservatives are out in force detailing how the health "reform" law is no better today than it was one year ago -- and is probably worse now that we know what is actually in the bill. Chris Jacobs at the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee is running a short...

The dire financial condition of Oklahoma’s state pension systems is an undeniable reality. This is due to numerous factors, including irresponsible legislative action, employee union lobbying, lack of transparency in reporting the conditions of the systems, and overextension of benefits to beneficiaries. The task of dealing w...