November 2003 Volume 10 Number 11

November 2003 Volume 10 Number 11

Six Reasons Not to Raise Tobacco Taxes

November 01, 2003

Imagine the following scenario. You receive a summons to appear in court, with the accompanying message declaring: "On June 10, 2002, when the speed limit was 45 miles per hour on Main Street, your vehicle was observed traveling at 43 miles per hour. On June 10, 2003, the speed limit on Main Street was lowered to 30 miles per hour. "Because your speed last year exceeded... Read More >

How to Limit Taxes and Spending

November 01, 2003

Out of adversity comes opportunity. There is more than enough adversity emanating from the states because they have rejected fiscal prudence in favor of a spending binge over the past decade. Thoughtful leaders in many states are fed up with the fiscal roller coaster they have experienced and want to smooth out the ride. As a result there is new opportunity to bring a cons... Read More >

Let Teachers Control Their Own Retirement Money

November 01, 2003

One of the most important, but under-reported, examples of exciting political news this year might be found in the declining power of teachers' unions. According to a recent report, Stand by Me: What Teachers Really Think about Unions, Merit Pay and Other Professional Matters, published by Public Agenda, the tide of union-controlled educational issues may be turning. The r... Read More >

Medicaid Expansion (Still) the Wrong Solution

November 01, 2003

When it comes to what kind of health insurance is best for your family, who is in a better position to decide: you, your boss, or the government? Even a decade after HillaryCare was proposed, health care policy depends more on government plans than family-made decisions. Nearly one in five Oklahomans - 19 percent - have no insurance at all. While most people lose their ... Read More >

Are School Boards Necessary?

November 01, 2003

Eighteen long years ago, Denis Doyle and I wrote this in the New York Times: "Local control of public education is on the way out, as the states take charge of school standards-setting, prescribe curriculum content and teacher qualifications, impose elaborate mechanisms of pupil testing and school accountability, equalize resources and offerings throughout their borders, a... Read More >

This Good Ground

November 01, 2003

Flying into Oklahoma City from Chicago many years ago, the flight became like a wild roller coaster ride. I remember my brother and I were so glad to land that we almost kissed the ground. I guess everyone has had a similar flying experience. There is security in being on the ground that you never quite experience in a plane or on a boat. And planting your feet on the grou... Read More >

Quote Unquote

November 01, 2003

?We?ll all just have to come to grips with that and accept that we?re ;ing to have to have a funding mechanism to fund some of these bold ideas.? --Kathryn L. Taylor, Oklahoma secretary of commerce and tourism, on the possibility of tax increases to fund initiatives in ;v. Henry?s EDGE (Economic Development Generating Excellence) project. ?They are German, hairy, and have... Read More >

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