August 2003 Volume 10 Number 8

No Joke: Lawsuit Abuse Hurts Us All

August 01, 2003

The Washington Post calls Walter Olson an "intellectual guru of tort reform." Investor's Business Daily calls him "perhaps America's leading authority on over-litigation." Mr. Olson's books and writings have helped set the terms of debate about the excesses of America's civil justice system. His new book, The Rule of Lawyers, has already been hailed in the Legal Times/Amer... Read More >

Your Tax Dollars at Work

August 01, 2003

Here are some of the courses offered in the OU Women's Studies program. ? Contemporary Feminist Thought ? Feminist Anthropology ? Women Creating Social Change ? Early Modern Witch-hunt ? Lesbian Literature ? Sociology of Family ? Human Sexuality ... Read More >

The Risks of (Not) Reforming Teacher Retirement

August 01, 2003

As the economy begins to show signs of recovery and the stock market clings to modest gains, media headlines continue to highlight the many public and private retirement pension plans that are facing seemingly intractable financial shortfalls. Oklahoma can count itself on this long list. Currently, the state operates the Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System (OTRS), which... Read More >

Why You Should Care About Medicaid

August 01, 2003

Medicaid is a government program whose expenditures in the state of Oklahoma grew from slightly under $1 billion in 1997 to nearly double that figure in five years. The program's 12.5 percent annual growth rate exceeds both the Oklahoma and federal government's internal growth rate for revenues, i.e. taxes and fees. The federal and state governments share Medicaid expen... Read More >

Hold the Line on State Taxes

August 01, 2003

Across the nation, large budget gaps are forcing state governments to make important policy choices. To balance budgets, many states are turning to tax increases rather than pursuing budget cuts. That is unfortunate because higher taxes impose "budget cuts" on families for their own expenses, which they must meet in a stagnant economy with few wage gains. But that's on... Read More >

Book Exposes Day Care Deceptions

August 01, 2003

Dr. Laura Schlessinger said it best. Faced with a hostile crowd of day care supporters, she asked them: "OK, if you could come back as an infant, stand up if you would rather be raised by a day care worker, a nanny or a babysitter [rather than your own mother]. Stand up now." No one stood up. "Then why," she asked, "are you going to do this to your children?" Just wha... Read More >

Economic Prosperity and Political Freedom

August 01, 2003

In June, one of the best-known economic consultants in the Pacific Northwest provided attendees of the OCPA Summer Speakers Series several thoughts about prosperity and its relationship to freedom. William Conerly (Ph.D. in economics, Duke University), formerly a senior vice president at First Interstate Bank, laid out one of the shrewdest cases for advancing the princ... Read More >

Quote Unquote

August 01, 2003

?We?re ;ing to do whatever it takes.? --Roy Bishop, president of Oklahoma?s largest school employee labor union, saying the OEA is considering a legal challenge to SQ 640, the constitutional provision which requires a three-fourths legislative supermajority to raise taxes ?The litigation lawyers never quite drive the tobacco companies that lay the ;lden lawsuits into liqu... Read More >

Pages: 1

View Archived Items >