May 2008 Volume 15 Number 5
- OCPA's New Health Care Plan Provides Market-Based Solutions
- May 05, 2008
- In our efforts to help the less fortunate, we have created a jumble of uncoordinated programs, most of which cater to just a limited part of the overall problem, such as a lack of food, housing, or health care. The result is that too often, our attempts to help the less fortunate prove counterproductive. In many cases, the poor would be better off if we did nothing. Read More >
- O-CHIP Objectives
- May 05, 2008
- Provide Oklahomans greater ability to improve and maintain their own health.• Good health avoids costly health care. • Foster more interest in wellness by employers and individuals.• Remove barriers to more effective programs for the chronically ill. Preserve and enhance health care markets and let them heal the sick.• Do no harm to a system ... Read More >
- Why Are Some Businessmen Hostile to Free Enterprise?
- May 05, 2008
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"People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices." Most people are surprised when they discover the author of this quote is not Marx or another socialist luminary. It comes from the Wealth of Nations (1776), authored by the eighteenth-century apostle of free markets, Adam Smith.
Read More >
- In Praise of Private Infrastructure
- May 05, 2008
- An economy depends on infrastructure to facilitate the flow of goods, people, information, and energy. Accordingly, ports, roads, bridges, railways, airports, communication networks, power lines, waterworks, and many other infrastructure systems represent important inputs into an economy. Read More >
- Oklahoma's Inflated Test Scores
- May 05, 2008
- Oklahoma's public schools perform abysmally on the Nation's Report Card. By David V. Anderson Nearly every state in the country, including Oklahoma, administers achievement tests to public school students in the K-12 years to determine, among other things, who is proficient (at or above grade level) in reading and mathematics skills. The federal governmen... Read More >
- School-Choice Programs Still Not ‘Free Market'
- May 05, 2008
- Conservatives have long championed central planning in addition to parental choice, but in recent years centralization has been ascendant. Department of Education alumni William Bennett, Chester Finn, and Diane Ravitch, all appointed under Republican administrations, now place greater emphasis on national standards than on choice. In January, Mr. Finn faulted Ohio's charter school system for placing "too much trust in market forces." Read More >
- Teachers Union Thwarts Reform ... Again
- May 05, 2008
- The recent defeat of a modest school-choice measure in the Republican-controlled Oklahoma House of Representatives reminded us again of a very important truth: the Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) and its allies in the public education sphere are extremely powerful political entities at the state capitol. Read More >
- Profiles in Courage
- May 05, 2008
- Though 17 House Republicans voted against the New Hope legislation (see page 12), thanks and appreciation are extended to the 38 House Republicans who supported the measure. Moreover, a special tip of the cap goes to the two House Democrats who had the courage to buck the unions and vote in favor of giving new hope to children trapped in the worst of the worst urban schools. Read More >
- House Republicans Doom School-Choice Measure
- May 05, 2008
- On March 13 the Oklahoma Senate passed the New Hope Scholarship Act by a vote of 30 to 18, with all 24 Republicans voting in favor. Read More >
- Superintendents Wrong About School-Choice Bill
- May 05, 2008
- A recent letter signed by 30 superintendents of eastern Oklahoma school districts was critical of SB 2093, the New Hope Scholarship Act. The bill would give a tax credit to taxpayers who contribute to organizations that provide private-school scholarships for low-income children currently attending failing public schools in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Read More >
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Perspective
Check out OCPA's monthly journal, Perspective, which contains articles, information and analysis on timely policy issues. View current or View Archived.
OCPA Blog 
- Letters to the Editor: Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008
September 29, 2008
- The People Speak: Economic renaissance needs education push
September 25, 2008
- State Highway projects hit roadblock.
September 16, 2008
- Congress Addresses Energy Issues
September 10, 2008
- No Economic Silver Lining in Tax Hikes
September 10, 2008
- Why an Income Tax Cut Would Be Good for Oklahoma
September 10, 2008
- Democrats join the school choice fight
September 03, 2008
- Sometimes bipartisanship can be a bad thing.
August 27, 2008
- Turnpike Leasing is Debated in Other States
August 27, 2008
- "Find bad teachers another line of work!"
August 20, 2008
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