September 2009 Volume 16 Number 9

Strategic Revision: New Citizenship Survey Supplants Old
July 19, 2010
By Brandon Dutcher

“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion,” goes an old saying attributed to Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “but not to his own facts.”
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Leading Analysts Back School Choice for Special Needs, Early Childhood
September 01, 2009

By Patrick B. McGuigan

In recent months, Oklahoma has become a hotbed for substantive discussion of educational policy.

At the July 27 Oklahoma Economic Summit on Early Childhood Investment, three prominent analysts, including Nobel Prize-winning economist Dr. James Heckman, made the case for increased spending on early childhood education. And in response to a question from this writer, Heckman reiterated his support for school choice, saying it "engages both the private sector and the public sector in production of ideas to meet educational needs." There ought to be "multiple, diverse modes of delivery," Heckman added. "The process of experimentation is necessary, to involve the private sector in development."

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A New Oklahoma Standard
September 01, 2009

By Patrick B. McGuigan  

Instead of growing government, let's allow individual Oklahomans to use tobacco-settlement money to buy high-deductible, mandate-free, private-sector health insurance for themselves-without involving employers or the government.

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Government Spending in Oklahoma: A Runaway Train
September 01, 2009
By J. Scott Moody and Wendy P. Warcholik

When it comes to government spending in Oklahoma, the 800-pound gorilla in the room that everyone ignores is the simple question, Should government grow faster than people's ability to pay?

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Oklahoma Government Jobs Up, Private Jobs Down
September 01, 2009
By Brandon Dutcher

While Oklahoma's private sector has shed more than 36,000 jobs during this recession, one sector of the state economy has shown itself to be remarkably recession-proof: government. Oklahoma's state and local governments have added 8,600 jobs since the recession began.

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The Constitution as Guide
September 01, 2009
By Brett A. Magbee

Can you fathom what is happening to our country?

A lot of people seem to believe there is no end to what government should provide. Now it's nationalized health care. While that debate rages on, it seems to me that such issues clearly demonstrate that we are straying away from the Constitution, the document about which George Washington once said, "The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon." That reflected the mindset of our country's founders.

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Quote/Unquote
September 01, 2009
"We have an organ of the state that is competing with private insurers for premium dollars for workers' comp. It's a fundamental issue of what is the proper function of government. Is it to compete with private enterprise? We think not."
State Rep. Dan Sullivan (R-Tulsa), co-chairman of the Task Force on the Privatization of CompSource Oklahoma Read More >

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