October 2009 Volume 16 Number 10

Why Are Taxpayers Funding the Retirement of OEA Employees?

October 05, 2009

By Steve Anderson

The Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) is the most powerful labor union in Oklahoma. Their representatives, including lobbyists who roam the halls of the state capitol building, often are schoolteachers who have left the classroom in order to become OEA employees.

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The Basic Truth About Government

October 05, 2009

By John Hood

I think it's OK to boss people around at the point of a gun.

Sound extreme? Well, unless you are a true anarchist, you agree with me because you believe there should be a government. By definition, any government exists for the purpose of carrying out certain tasks through the use of forceful taxation and regulation-that is, by issuing edicts enforceable at the point of a gun.

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Government 'Cannot Stay the Same'

October 05, 2009

By Patrick B. McGuigan

Indiana's governor says states are facing a near-permanent reduction in tax revenues that will require a reduction in the size and scope of state governments. Is anyone in Oklahoma listening?

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Oklahoma's Budget Problems Worse Than You Think

October 05, 2009

I have friends who suffer from drug or alcohol addiction and others who, when untreated, manifest dreadful misbehavior rooted in mental disease. Those who effectively grapple with such issues tell me repeatedly the verity of an old expression that lies at the heart of recovery philosophies: The first thing is you have to admit you have a problem. Read More >

Labor's Day Is Over

October 05, 2009

By Don Bellante, David Denholm, and Ivan Osorio

Rates of unionization in the United States today are at historic lows and are unlikely to rebound. However, there is one sector in which organized labor is growing in strength: government. This has severe implications for the future of public finances for state and local governments across the nation, and for the nature of organized labor itself.

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Health Care Reform: What Oklahoma Can Learn from West Virginia

October 05, 2009

By Dennis G. Smith

A big casualty of the congressional health care reform legislation would be the loss of states' flexibility in the financing and delivery of affordable health care options for their citizens.

Under the House bill, the federal government would regulate private insurance for the first time and dramatically increase its control over the Medicaid program. Flexibility will be sacrificed for uniformity and federal control.

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Two Keys to Health Care Reform

October 05, 2009

By Tom Daxon

The national health care debate has inflamed public passions. However, participants on all sides consistently ignore two key realities that hold the key to meaningful reform. We can't really fix what ails health care until we face them.

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Productivity Collapse Staggering

October 05, 2009

By Andrew J. Coulson

To boost the economy out of the recession, President Obama has chosen to spend an additional $100 billion on public schooling over the next two years. His education secretary, Arne Duncan, has been touring the nation to promote this education "stimulus."

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Beware of Super-Size Spending

October 05, 2009

By Brett A. Magbee

I can't go to any fast food restaurant these days without being asked if I would like to "super-size" my order. After seeing my waistline gradually expand, I've started to answer, "No thanks!"

Our whole culture seems to be suffering from a super-size-it mentality. Human nature being what it is, we mistakenly believe it's OK because, after all, "we're worth it!" For just a few additional cents you can have much more than you could ever imagine.

 

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