This week in government waste

October 28, 2011

Oklahoma’s liberal Democrats think state government wastes a lot of money. And they’re not alone.

OCPA recently commissioned SoonerPoll, a highly respected survey firm used by the Tulsa World and others, to conduct a statewide survey of 587 likely Oklahoma voters. The survey was conducted July 25 through August 11, 2011. The margin of error is ± 4.04 percent. Here’s one of the questions:

“Do you think that Oklahoma’s state government wastes a lot of money we pay in taxes, wastes some of it, or doesn’t waste very much of it?” The results are as follows.

• Wastes a lot … 51%
• Wastes some … 36%
• Doesn’t waste very much … 8%
• Neutral/No opinion … 2%
• Don’t know/Refused … 3%

I encourage you to read more about the survey here, but for now what’s interesting to note is that it’s not just conservatives and Republicans who think state government “wastes a lot of money we pay in taxes.” Indeed, 50 percent of Republicans hold that view, but 53 percent of Democrats do, too.

Among those who identify themselves as very conservative or somewhat conservative, 48 percent say state government wastes a lot. But it’s 51 percent among the very liberal and 62 percent among the somewhat liberal.

People know what they know. With this much waste marbled throughout the government, it’s small wonder Oklahomans aren’t skittish about reducing the state income tax.